Store Owner Accused of Stealing $5.7M Lottery Win

December, 18 2007

A convenience store owner was charged yesterday for stealing a winning lottery ticket and claiming it for $5.7M. Hafiz Zulqarnain Malik, 60, was accused of stealing a winning lottery ticket back June 2004 and cashed it 6 months later in January 2005.

The police stated the the ticket belonged to a group of four people from the Toronto area. The customers simply wanted him to check to see if they won and he took the ticket from them.

Malik's assets have been seized. The assets include a house worth around $5M two cars, and a savings account.

The OPP have been searching for more and more convenience store owner and lottery employee frauds that occurred between 1999 and 2006.

I think things like this are awful. I mean when people come into stores expecting to see their lottery ticket validate, and then the store owner lies to them and tells them they lost. Thats not right. Then the man 6 months later cashes it and buys him self a house? Thats not right. At least buy a house in a country where the police can't take it away from you, but still cheating people out of their rightful money is just wrong.

CBC.ca

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/12/18/lottery-charges.html

Rescuers Race Weather to Find Missing Family

December, 19 2007

With another storm heading towards Butte County rescuers frantically search for a husband and his three children. The family went on a trip to find a Christmas tree on Sunday and they never returned home. Their car was found along a road on Monday night.

Reports say that the snow can be 7 feet deep in some areas. More snow is expected to come on today.

The missing are Frederick Dominguez, 38, Christopher Dominguez, 18, Alexis Dominguez, 15, and Joshua Dominguez, 12.

They were reported missing by Fredericks' ex-wife and a search team was sent out Monday night. So far they have had no luck finding them.

This is a tragedy. A whole family missing especially in the winter is not a good thing. I hope that they are found healthy and well. People should be aware of the weather before planning trips to go out, especially with children.

KCRA.com

http://www.kcra.com/news/14888194/detail.html

Fire at Building Next to White House

December, 19 2007

A fire was put out quickly in the historic Eisenhower Executive Office Building today. This building houses the Vice Presidents ceremonial offices and most of the White House Staff. This building is right beside the White House.

The fire started at around 9:30 am and started right near Vice President offices. The blaze happened on the third floor and so far there are no injuries reported. The office building was evacuated and the fire could have started either in a telephone bank or an electrical closet.

I think events like this occur often and there is not much to do when something like this happen. There was minimal damage and no one was hurt so all in all this was not a bad thing.

Associated Press

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/19/eob.fire/index.html

Cops' Locker Room Robbed During Hockey Game

December, 18 2007

A thief snipped a police badge along with a few wallets from a dressing room Tuesday. The theft happened while a few police officers were playing shinny at the Canlan Sports Complex.

The police were sharing the room and left the door unlocked. There were civilians around and there is a description out of the man who apparently stole the wallets and badge.

The only things stolen was one badge, a few wallets, and a couple of cell phones. This was not the first time that a police badge was stolen. A few years ago in Aurora several badges were stolen at an arena.

I think that even though that is very gutsy that this has received to much publicity. If this had happened to civilians there would have been no news paper article printed and the police would have just searched for the suspect themselves. Things like this happen all the time to normal people and even though it is hard to prevent things like this you should always lock your door for you locker room in any arena or sports facility.

Jackson Hayes
Tamsyn Burgmann

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/286703

Girls Lacing up Skates for Charity in Tourney

Dec, 12 2007

Fernando Spigarelli came up with the idea of hosting a tournament that would raise money for oncology at Sick Kids.

Spigarelli son Nicholas was diagnosed with Leukemia and was receiving treatment at Sick Kids. 11 years later Spigarelli finally decided to start the tournament. So far the tournament has raised almost $35,000. The money was donated to Sick Kids.

23 schools participated in the tournament, and took place at Canlan Sports Complex. The money was raised through raffles and corporate donations.

I think Spigarelli's initiative is amazing. If more people could put together events to try and raise money for charities then the world would be a much better place. Coming up with simple ideas like this could help many needy organizations get the money that they so badly need. Events do not even have to be big like this they can be small fund-raisers, but if more people did things like this the world would be a much better place.

David Grossman

http://www.thestar.com/article/284770

Lennon's Hair Fetches $48,000 at Auction

December, 12 2007.

A lock of John Lennon's was sold for $48,000 Wednesday. The hair was sold at an auction of Beatle memorabilia. The hair was donated by the hair dresser for The Beatles.

The hair was taped inside an autographed copy of John Lennon's book "A Spaniard in the Works". The item was sold to an anonymous bidder. The people who ran the auction did not expect to get this much money. There estimates on its price was about $5,000.

Lennon gave the book and the hair to their hair dresser back when they were big. The reason that the book was worth so much is because it is an original copy of John Lennon's book, a lock of his hair, and a signature. Glasow (the hair dresser) decided that she wanted to give the book and the hair to a fan and donated it to the auction of Beatle memorabilia. Another item that was donated by Glasow was a signature to her from George Harrison signed, George "Dandruff" Harrison. She stated, "Rather than these things being stuck in a drawer with nobody enjoying them, real enthusiasts could get their hands on these things."

I think what Glasow did was a good thing. By the looks of the article she did not seem like a big Beatle fan. By her late statement this proves I am write, she also gives the chance for someone who would treasure it more to have it.

I think that the amount spent on buying this is a little much, but they are a lot of people who loved The Beatles. Maybe this person favored John Lennon but I am sure that since $48,000 was spent on it the person who bought it must have either liked The Beatles or really admired John Lennon.

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/284898

No author named. Associated Press.

Illicit Grow-op Leaks Into Outremont Daycare

Monday, December 10, 2007 | 2:50 PM ET

On Monday (today) a Montreal daycare was closed because flooding caused by marijuana growing operation the floor above.

The daycare was forced to close on the weekend because of the leaking that came from the room above. Further investigation discovered that there was an illegal marijuana growing operation. The room was crammed with more then 1,500 fully grown marijuana plants.

Employees working at the daycare said they had no idea that their neighbors above them were doing anything like this. They said they could not detect a smell which usually would come from these plants.

Firefighters discovered these plants when investigating the leak. The plants are now being brought into the police lab.

I personally think that this situation has a little humor. Sure it is not a good thing that the daycare was forced to close but I think that it is a good thing that the plants were found. The humor I see is that probably if the leak had not occurred and the flooding had not taken place then I am sure that the plants would never have been found or would not have been found for a while. This people did not have luck on their side seeing as since one of their pipes broke the daycare below them started flooding. None the less it is a good thing that so much marijuana can be taken off the street.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/12/10/qc-yeshivagrowop1210.html

Files from the Canadian Press.