A New Low

Mailed notice told Spanish-speakers that they can't vote

THELMA GUERRERO
Statesman Journal

http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/STATE/611050343/1042

November 5, 2006

A message sent to immigrants-turned-citizens in California that falsely claims it's a crime for them to vote has raised concerns close to home.

The Oregon AFL-CIO is urging voters in the state to report any attempts to interfere with their right to vote.

"A healthy democracy depends on every citizen's vote being counted," said Tom Chamberlain, the president of the Oregon AFL-CIO.

The labor federation's concerns stem from a letter, written in Spanish, sent to Spanish-surnamed naturalized U.S. citizens born in Latin American countries who are registered voters in Orange County, Calif.

The letter purportedly warned people that only U.S. citizens can vote, that voting by immigrants is a crime and a deportable offense, and that immigration-restriction organizations have access to federal databases of properly registered voters.

A California state investigation into who sent the letter has focused on a Republican congressional candidate who was running on an anti-illegal-immigration platform.

Nutbag Mom Uses Child as Weapon

I am seriously, completely, sick to my stomach after reading this:


Prosecutor: Mom used baby to beat boyfriend
October 9, 2006
Associated Press



ERIE, Pa. - A woman used her 4-week-old baby as a weapon in a domestic dispute, swinging the infant through the air and striking her boyfriend with the child, authorities said.

The boy was in serious but stable condition Monday at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, police said.

"Never, never, never. I can never remember anything like this," District Attorney Bradley Foulk told the Erie Times-News.

Chytoria Graham, 27, of Erie, was charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and simple assault. She was held Monday in the Erie County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.

The infant, whose name was not released, suffered a fractured skull and some bleeding in the brain, authorities said. His head hit Graham's boyfriend, the baby's father, police Lt. Dan Spizarny said.

Authorities removed four other children from Graham's home and placed them with the Erie County Office of Children and Youth, Foulk said.