Gang members target School for the Deaf
$55,000 and counting is the grand total for all the damage done at a Mesa school, according to administrators.
Police said there were four separate break-ins between June and July.
"I received a phone call about the damage and I was shocked," said Dr. Angel Ramos, superintendent and principal at the Sequoia School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, near U.S 60 and Horne.
The destruction includes painted computers, floors and walls along with ripped out and damaged equipment.
But the worst part for the school is the damage done to all of the video phones.
"It's very precious to us because that's how deaf people communicate," said Ramos. "And it's expensive; video phones cost about $900.
There are six schools on the Sequoia Campus in Mesa.
The Principal of Sequoia Secondary, Ryan LoMonaco said what they can't get back is all of the personal items teachers had inside their classrooms.
"I would say about half of the stuff was teachers' personal items that insurance will not cover," said LoMonaco.
School starts on August 10th and adminstrators said they will be prepared.
Police said one juvenile and three men are behind bars for the crime.
They include 22-year-old Russell Wesergard, 20-year-old Raymond Steele and 18-year-old Levi Blanton.
Police said they are all known gang members called "Juggalos."
If you would like to help the school recover from the $40,000 out-of-pocket deductibles, just go to their website.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Deaf child loses hearing equipment in house fire
Deaf child loses hearing equipment in house fire - KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA
A couple who lost everything in a fire Thursday is in desperate need of help. Their 3-year-old son is deaf, and his hearing equipment was destroyed in the fire.
19-year-old Brandon Behurst and his fiance, 22-year-old Cyrstal Nevin say their 3-year-old son needs some very expensive equipment in order to hear.
All of it was burned in the fire at their home in the Chinook Trailer Park on West 45th Avenue and South Olympia in Kennewick.
Their son had surgery when he was two, and had a cochlear implant put in his ear to help him hear, along with devices that will help him use the telephone or the internet when he's older, and they can't afford to replace them.
"Everything he had left is gone. Insurance will only cover one side and it only had a one year warrantee on it. And we don't know how much longer it will last," said Brandon Behurst.
Brandon and Crystal are also having to pay for the $18,000 trailer. They had just moved in and don't have insurance.
They've set up an account at Wells Fargo for donations under Tonya Vibbard who is Brandon's mother.
You can also call Brandon at 509-396-9054.
A couple who lost everything in a fire Thursday is in desperate need of help. Their 3-year-old son is deaf, and his hearing equipment was destroyed in the fire.
19-year-old Brandon Behurst and his fiance, 22-year-old Cyrstal Nevin say their 3-year-old son needs some very expensive equipment in order to hear.
All of it was burned in the fire at their home in the Chinook Trailer Park on West 45th Avenue and South Olympia in Kennewick.
Their son had surgery when he was two, and had a cochlear implant put in his ear to help him hear, along with devices that will help him use the telephone or the internet when he's older, and they can't afford to replace them.
"Everything he had left is gone. Insurance will only cover one side and it only had a one year warrantee on it. And we don't know how much longer it will last," said Brandon Behurst.
Brandon and Crystal are also having to pay for the $18,000 trailer. They had just moved in and don't have insurance.
They've set up an account at Wells Fargo for donations under Tonya Vibbard who is Brandon's mother.
You can also call Brandon at 509-396-9054.
A pioneer in services for the deaf — in Cambodia
A pioneer in services for the deaf — in Cambodia | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
When he was a seminarian in the late 1960s, the Rev. Charles Dittmeier figured he would specialize in counseling. But some older priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville urged him to join them in doing ministry for the deaf.
“I never met a deaf person until I was 25,” he said. But he soon embarked on a long journey in every sense of the word. He now lives in the other side of the world from his native Louisville — in Cambodia since 2000, and in Asia for a total of more than two decades.
And he's helping to pioneer services for the deaf in an impoverished, war-torn country that has had virtually no programs for the deaf — in schools or elsewhere, he said.
“What that means effectively is that no deaf adult can read or write, because there was nothing for them,” he said.
Dittmeier is working in cooperation with a New York State-based religious order, the Maryknolls, to help rectify that.
They operate schools for deaf adults in the capital, Phnom Penh, and some outlying provinces. The first step — teaching them the still-developing sign language in the native language, Khmer.
“Then we teach simple literacy, simple mathematics, and life skills,” he said. “How do you bargain in a market, hygiene and things like that.”
I met with Dittmeier, a gentle, bearded priest with an easy smile, during a visit to his native Louisville earlier this summer. He returned home to visit with family, friends, the Maryknolls in New York and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz in Louisville.
Unknown to him, I'd been following his work for years on his Web site, (Charles Dittmeier: Maryknoll/Deaf Ministry/Cambodia), where he regularly posts updates about life in Cambodia — along with photos of the ever-present motorbikes in the capital, some heavily laden with boxes and other cargo, others plowing through floodwaters or stopped at a fruit stand.
“I never know who's reading that,” Dittmeier said with surprise. He said he didn't even know the word “blog” until friends began describing his site as such.
Dittmeier's vocation began when he was a seminarian in Baltimore, close enough to Washington's Gallaudet University for the deaf that he could train with some of its staff.
Three other priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville led the local Catholic deaf ministry, but soon after Dittmeier's ordination, in 1970, they all moved away. “They said, ‘You're it.'”
For years he worked in the archdiocese's office for the deaf, ministering to local deaf Catholics while also teaching at Angela Merici High School off Dixie Highway and serving as a chaplain for the Holy Cross brothers. At a national conference on Catholic deaf ministry, he learned about missionary efforts among the deaf in Asia.
At first he put it on the back burner, but he finally realized, “There's never a good time to leave everything. I said, ‘What the heck.' So I applied.”
He was accepted, and received permission from Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly to go to a Catholic deaf program in India from 1983 to 1985.
“I just fell in love with Asia,” he said.
Dittmeier returned to Louisville for two years and then joined a program with the Maryknolls in Hong Kong, working in a well-established deaf program at Catholic schools and parishes.
After 13 years, he moved on to a very different area — Cambodia, where there are virtually no Catholics and where he helped build a program almost from scratch.
Often the parents of potential students — older teens and young adults — are wary of the opportunity.
“We have a great deal of trouble recruiting in this age group because they have such high economic value,” Dittmeier said. “Sometimes they're the main support of the family. Very often the parents are disabled from land mines, disease, old age. Life is rough in Cambodia. There's no medical care. They're living on malnutrition.”
But he also reminds parents that after they die their children will need some way of earning a living, and education would help. Those who get the message value the education highly.
On his visit here, Dittmeier brought with him a crucifix made by an artist, depicting Jesus Christ as a Cambodian on a bamboo cross with a maimed lower leg — a common tragedy in a land strewn with landmines from decades of warfare.
Add to that the chronic poverty and political corruption. I asked Dittmeier why he persists.
“It's discouraging, but we see it as planting seeds,” he said. “It's not going to stay this way forever.”
When he was a seminarian in the late 1960s, the Rev. Charles Dittmeier figured he would specialize in counseling. But some older priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville urged him to join them in doing ministry for the deaf.
“I never met a deaf person until I was 25,” he said. But he soon embarked on a long journey in every sense of the word. He now lives in the other side of the world from his native Louisville — in Cambodia since 2000, and in Asia for a total of more than two decades.
And he's helping to pioneer services for the deaf in an impoverished, war-torn country that has had virtually no programs for the deaf — in schools or elsewhere, he said.
“What that means effectively is that no deaf adult can read or write, because there was nothing for them,” he said.
Dittmeier is working in cooperation with a New York State-based religious order, the Maryknolls, to help rectify that.
They operate schools for deaf adults in the capital, Phnom Penh, and some outlying provinces. The first step — teaching them the still-developing sign language in the native language, Khmer.
“Then we teach simple literacy, simple mathematics, and life skills,” he said. “How do you bargain in a market, hygiene and things like that.”
I met with Dittmeier, a gentle, bearded priest with an easy smile, during a visit to his native Louisville earlier this summer. He returned home to visit with family, friends, the Maryknolls in New York and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz in Louisville.
Unknown to him, I'd been following his work for years on his Web site, (Charles Dittmeier: Maryknoll/Deaf Ministry/Cambodia), where he regularly posts updates about life in Cambodia — along with photos of the ever-present motorbikes in the capital, some heavily laden with boxes and other cargo, others plowing through floodwaters or stopped at a fruit stand.
“I never know who's reading that,” Dittmeier said with surprise. He said he didn't even know the word “blog” until friends began describing his site as such.
Dittmeier's vocation began when he was a seminarian in Baltimore, close enough to Washington's Gallaudet University for the deaf that he could train with some of its staff.
Three other priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville led the local Catholic deaf ministry, but soon after Dittmeier's ordination, in 1970, they all moved away. “They said, ‘You're it.'”
For years he worked in the archdiocese's office for the deaf, ministering to local deaf Catholics while also teaching at Angela Merici High School off Dixie Highway and serving as a chaplain for the Holy Cross brothers. At a national conference on Catholic deaf ministry, he learned about missionary efforts among the deaf in Asia.
At first he put it on the back burner, but he finally realized, “There's never a good time to leave everything. I said, ‘What the heck.' So I applied.”
He was accepted, and received permission from Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly to go to a Catholic deaf program in India from 1983 to 1985.
“I just fell in love with Asia,” he said.
Dittmeier returned to Louisville for two years and then joined a program with the Maryknolls in Hong Kong, working in a well-established deaf program at Catholic schools and parishes.
After 13 years, he moved on to a very different area — Cambodia, where there are virtually no Catholics and where he helped build a program almost from scratch.
Often the parents of potential students — older teens and young adults — are wary of the opportunity.
“We have a great deal of trouble recruiting in this age group because they have such high economic value,” Dittmeier said. “Sometimes they're the main support of the family. Very often the parents are disabled from land mines, disease, old age. Life is rough in Cambodia. There's no medical care. They're living on malnutrition.”
But he also reminds parents that after they die their children will need some way of earning a living, and education would help. Those who get the message value the education highly.
On his visit here, Dittmeier brought with him a crucifix made by an artist, depicting Jesus Christ as a Cambodian on a bamboo cross with a maimed lower leg — a common tragedy in a land strewn with landmines from decades of warfare.
Add to that the chronic poverty and political corruption. I asked Dittmeier why he persists.
“It's discouraging, but we see it as planting seeds,” he said. “It's not going to stay this way forever.”
Deaf club refused late licence over noise fears
Deaf club refused late licence over noise fears - Telegraph
The Reading Deaf Social Club had hoped to stage late-night entertainment for its members, including music, and cabarets with stripteases.
However, Reading Borough Council has refused a late licence following concern that nearby residents would be disturbed.
Tony Page, a councillor, said the licensing committee was following long established guidelines.
"Our concerns were simply that we did not want a de facto nightclub operating in the middle of a residential area until 2am in the morning," he said.
"We are glad the application has been cut back to a more civilised time."
One nearby resident complained that weekends were already noisy "due to the amount of people and cars visiting the centre. An alcohol licence would make it worse."
The ruling was a disappointment to Angus Tweedy who argued on behalf of the club, through a deaf signer, in favour of the proposal at the licensing hearing on Tuesday.
The club asked for the right to sell alcohol until 2am on Friday and Saturday but the councillors only allowed sales until 11pm on the two nights.
The club had also hoped to be able to conduct indoor sports, perform plays and play recorded music.
The council also set up a hotline for any complaints from residents.
The Reading Deaf Social Club had hoped to stage late-night entertainment for its members, including music, and cabarets with stripteases.
However, Reading Borough Council has refused a late licence following concern that nearby residents would be disturbed.
Tony Page, a councillor, said the licensing committee was following long established guidelines.
"Our concerns were simply that we did not want a de facto nightclub operating in the middle of a residential area until 2am in the morning," he said.
"We are glad the application has been cut back to a more civilised time."
One nearby resident complained that weekends were already noisy "due to the amount of people and cars visiting the centre. An alcohol licence would make it worse."
The ruling was a disappointment to Angus Tweedy who argued on behalf of the club, through a deaf signer, in favour of the proposal at the licensing hearing on Tuesday.
The club asked for the right to sell alcohol until 2am on Friday and Saturday but the councillors only allowed sales until 11pm on the two nights.
The club had also hoped to be able to conduct indoor sports, perform plays and play recorded music.
The council also set up a hotline for any complaints from residents.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Priest admits he fathered child
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Manchester | Priest admits he fathered child
A Catholic priest has told parishioners in Greater Manchester that he is leaving the church after confessing he has a four-year-old child.
Father Peter McDonough revealed to his congregation at St Joseph's Mission to Deaf People in Salford on Sunday that he had broken his vow of celibacy.
After a "time of reflection", he decided his responsibility should lie with his family, Salford diocese said.
Vicar General Mark Davies said he would be greatly missed.
'Many conversations'
Mr McDonough, who is deaf himself, had dedicated the past 27 years to pastoral care for deaf people.
Mr Davies said: "It was with great sadness that the deaf community and the whole Catholic community in Collyhurst learnt of Father Peter's decision.
"Following much reflection and many conversations with his Bishop, Father McDonough has reached this personal decision.
"The outstanding work of St Joseph's Mission to Deaf People to which he dedicated so many years of his priestly life will continue to be fully supported by the Salford Diocese."
Father Frank Parkinson will take over Mr McDonough's duties in September.
A Catholic priest has told parishioners in Greater Manchester that he is leaving the church after confessing he has a four-year-old child.
Father Peter McDonough revealed to his congregation at St Joseph's Mission to Deaf People in Salford on Sunday that he had broken his vow of celibacy.
After a "time of reflection", he decided his responsibility should lie with his family, Salford diocese said.
Vicar General Mark Davies said he would be greatly missed.
'Many conversations'
Mr McDonough, who is deaf himself, had dedicated the past 27 years to pastoral care for deaf people.
Mr Davies said: "It was with great sadness that the deaf community and the whole Catholic community in Collyhurst learnt of Father Peter's decision.
"Following much reflection and many conversations with his Bishop, Father McDonough has reached this personal decision.
"The outstanding work of St Joseph's Mission to Deaf People to which he dedicated so many years of his priestly life will continue to be fully supported by the Salford Diocese."
Father Frank Parkinson will take over Mr McDonough's duties in September.
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