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AP Photo/ Bill Gorman In this photo taken Nov. 14, 2014, 71-year old Diana Miller, who agreed to be interviewed by The Associated Press under her middle and married names, talks about her rape by Arkansas parolee Milton Thomas. The elderly widow says that, Thomas who was mowing a nearby lawn, asked for a glass of water and then forced his way in and raped her. He pushed her on her bed with enough force to knock her front teeth loose she said. You realize that youre a parolee, this is going to mean youre going to spend the rest of your days behind bars, she told Thomas. She said he laughed and went back to mowing. Thomas is currently in custody at the North Central Unit at Calico Rock, Arkansas. His trial date is expected to be March 2015.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) On a hot Friday last July, a parolee was mowing a lawn in a small cul-de-sac on the west side of the city when he stopped to ask for a glass of water.
The 70-year-old widow whose yard he was mowing told him to wait on her porch. Instead, she said, he jerked the storm door open, slammed her against the wall, forced her into the bedroom and raped her. The parolee pushed her with such force, she said, that her front teeth were knocked loose.
Then he went back to mowing the lawn.
Milton Thomas, 58, said he's not guilty. His trial is set for March.
Thomas has been in and out of Arkansas prisons since 2008 for nonviolent crimes, including check fraud. After he got out in November 2013, the state predicted he was a low risk to commit another crime, Thomas said, and assigned him the least amount of supervision.
His low-risk prediction would have been calculated based on answers to a lengthy questionnaire, the latest tool among the nation's court systems to try to predict the likelihood that an offender will commit a crime again.
Across the country, states have turned to a data-driven movement to drive down prison populations, reduce recidivism and save billions of dollars. One emerging practice is the use of risk-and-needs assessment tools, which are questionnaires that explore issues beyond criminal history. They are based on surveys of offenders making their way through the justice system.
Supporters cite some research, such as a 1987 Rand Corp. study that said the surveys can be up to 70 percent accurate in predicting the likelihood of repeat offenses, if they are used correctly. Even the Rand study, one of the seminal pieces of research on the subject, was skeptical of the surveys' effectiveness.
It's nearly impossible to measure the surveys' impact on recidivism because they are only part of broader efforts.
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States predict inmates' future crimes
By Mark Jenkins February 25 at 9:55 AM
Blanketed under a few inches of snow, the new rain garden at Tifereth Israel doesnt look like much. Thats partially because the garden borders the side and rear of the Shepherd Park synagogue, not its 16th Street frontage. But its also because the water-loving new plantings havent started to bloom.
Unfortunately, it got put in at the very end of the season. It will be fun to see it burst forth in flower this spring, said Ethan Seidel, the congregations rabbi.
The garden, designed to absorb and filter water that would otherwise go directly to the citys sewer system, is a project of the synagogues environmental committee. Carla Ellern, one of the committees members, said the group has been trying to do a rain garden for a very long time.
Ellern is a landscape architect who works for Montgomery Countys RainScapes program, which has the same basic goals as the Districts RiverSmart initiatives. The program offers incentives to communities, congregations and businesses to take steps to reduce stormwater pollution.
Ellern took courses at the Anacostia Watershed Societys Watershed Stewards Academy, and that connected the dots for me about where I should be putting my energies, she said. It just seemed like a no-brainer that we should be doing something here at the synagogue.
It fits within the ethos of our congregation, which is very much focused on environmental issues, Seidel said.
The project began with a $1,000 grant from Hazon, a nonprofit Jewish organization that supports sustainable communities. The next stop was the D.C. Department of the Environment, which provided a $65,000 grant.
I think were the first synagogue or religious organization, period to do it, Ellern said. The city wanted to do it, but we were kind of the guinea pig.
The three varieties of permeable paving used in the project were more expensive than the committee expected, and working with existing buildings is more complicated than installing rain-capture features in new construction. Ultimately, the synagogue went back to the city for an additional $17,000.
Originally posted here:
D.C.s Tifereth Israel waits for new rain garden to bloom
When Carlson set the wheels in motion to create the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee in the late 1990s, there wasnt a single conservation easement along the banks of the Little Tennessee River in Macon County. Today, 34 miles of river frontage are permanently protected, and thousands of acres of farms and forests have been conserved, thanks to his vision.
Carlson was at the forefront of a revolution in conservation circles. He introduced the region to a new paradigm, one where humans could co-exist alongside conservation, where the landscape supported cultural heritage and vice versa.
A lot of land trusts dont mess with the cultural side. But from day one, our mission was to conserve the waters, forests, farms and heritage of the Little Tennessee watershed, Carlson said. Whats fun is that conservation story has fallen into place.
He molded public perception like he did the landscape incrementally yet steadily, subtly not brazenly.
Eventually, a movement was born. It was so measured, many didnt realize a movement was afoot, one that would forever alter how people viewed the landscape, both emotionally and economically.
From the outside, it may all seem like a big coincidence.
LTLT was saving a piece of land here, a piece of land there picking up the scattered chips of an increasingly fragmented landscape, merely answering the door when opportunity knocked.
But eventually, the tracts were no longer lone life rafts, but a cohesive flotilla.
It is very satisfying to see a vision coming together with some consistency, Carlson said. This is one place you can make a stand. There was a defined constituency for the river. It is place-based conservation.
Carlson is quick to deflect any accolades, and instead credits the deep bench of supporters who lent their voice to the cause over the years, and ultimately the landowners who have signed on to the movement.
The rest is here:
Changing attitudes Carlson reshaped ideas about conservation
Feb. 25, 2015, 4 a.m.
WEEKENDS, my mate Pud and I hitched billy-carts to our pushbikes and sweated our way up a lonely track on the slope of a long-dead volcano.
WEEKENDS, my mate Pud and I hitched billy-carts to our pushbikes and sweated our way up a lonely track on the slope of a long-dead volcano.
The ruins of the old native police barracks on Mount Eckersley at Heywood. Picture: Heritage Victoria
It was a hard ride, the slope getting steeper, the landscape below spreading forever, but we had the hill and a fast dusty track to ourselves.
Drifting around south-west Victoria the other day, I drove out to the hill to check the authenticity of memory. The track was still there among the trees, the slope as terrifyingly steep, the view as extensive as ever.
The place has come to assume a treasured spot in my personal dreaming, but it has a larger, barely whispered role in Australian history.
The old volcano is known as Mount Eckersley. It rises above the small town of Heywood. A branch of my family a century ago lived and laboured up there on the grazing station, Oakbank, that flows over the hill and boasts a fine bluestone homestead.
In a corner of the property, however, not far from our childhood billy-carting adventures, exists a ruin with the power to haunt.
A stone chimney stands above broken stone walls, the roof and the floorboards gone.
Read more here:
Heywood ruins hide a sinister history
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A DEVELOPMENT of greenproperties has been completed in Kings Hill.
Environ Communities built the detached eco homes at Keepers Court in Kings Hill.
The new properties have followed the principles of biophilia - biophilic design incorporates fresh air, daylight and natural materials, with a view to creating a more pleasurable environment in which to live.
The benefits of biophilia include faster recovery rates for patients, decreased dependency on medication, reduced stress, and improved emotional wellness.
The five bedroom properties at Keepers Court are light with significant expanses of glass used throughout.
The large picture window in the upstairs landing and sky lights in the roof allow light to flood down on to the landing and stairs.
The landings are double height and some master bedrooms have cathedral ceilings, to continue the light and airy feel.
Natural materials are used throughout the properties, including oak wood flooring and granite Pyram kitchen worktops.
The ground floors have a seamless continuation of the indoor space outdoors.
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couriereditor published New green homes for sale in Kings Hill will keep you healthy -...
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A marriedcouple has spent nearly 200,000 on clearing an eyesore mountain of waste wood from their land following legal action.
Syed Akhtar and his wife Ilyas allowed thousands of tonnes of wood to be dumped at Dottrell Hall Farm near Royston without permission.
They have also been ordered to pay an additional 6,000 in fines and costs after being prosecuted by Cambridgeshire County Council.
Cllr Peter Topping, who represents the area, said: This dumping of thousands of tonnes of waste wood was not only an eyesore but was a real concern for local residents.
Although he did finally remove the wood it was after legal action had started and shows that enforcement action was needed.
He added: I hope this will act as a warning to others who think they can get away with dumping waste.
On Monday, the Old Bailey heard that the council served a planning Enforcement Notice on the couple instructing them to stop the dumping and to restore the land by June 24, 2013.
Though no further dumping of wood took place, the waste was not removed until a year later once the council began legal action against them.
The total cost of removing the waste wood and restoring the land came to 192,000.
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Royston couple Syed and Ilyas Akhtar ordered to pay 6,000 for allowing flytipping on land
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