Artists Built Secret Apartment in Mall
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The leader of an artists' cooperative has been sentenced to probation for setting up a secret apartment inside a shopping mall's parking garage as part of a project on mall life.

Michael Townsend, 36, said he and seven other artists built the 750-square-foot apartment beginning in 2003 and lived there for up to three weeks at a time.

The artists built a cinderblock wall and nondescript utility door to keep the loft hidden from the outside world.

But inside, the apartment was fully furnished, down to a hutch filled with china and a Sony Playstation 2 — although a burglar broke in and stole the Playstation last spring, Townsend said.

There was no running water — instead they used the mall bathrooms.

On his Web site, Townsend said he was inspired by a Christmastime ad for the mall which featured a "an enthusiastic female voice talking about how great it would be if you (we) could live at the mall."

He built the dwelling "out of a compassion to understand the mall more and life as a shopper."

Townsend said plans to make the apartment "super-sweet" with laminated wood flooring and other perks fell apart last week after he and a visiting artist from Hong Kong walked into the room and were greeted by three security guards. He pleaded no contest to a trespassing charge.

Providence Place Mall spokesman Dante Bellini Jr. described the living space as little more than "an area with stuff in it."

But Providence Police Maj. Stephen Campbell said he and other detectives were so intrigued they visited the apartment to see for themselves.

"I was surprised at what he was able to accomplish," Campbell said. "But what he did was clearly criminal. The mall is private property."

Assault suspect gives police officer ‘wet willie’ following arrest
Tim Hudson E-E County Reporter
October 5, 2007
http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/articles/2007/10/05/news/news203.txt
A Bartlesville man found that giving a police officer a “wet willie” after his arrest Thursday was not such a good idea.

According to court records, Louis Carlos Perales, 38, picked up an additional charge of assault and battery on a police officer after he put his finger in his mouth and then into an officer’s ear.

Perales was already under arrest for threats to kill and public intoxication at the time of the incident.

According to police, officers were dispatched to a residence on the 200 block of N.W. Mistletoe in reference to a domestic assault. Officers were told that the suspect was not currently at the residence but was on his way there.

Officers saw Perales get out of a white SUV and “immediately started crowding” an officer. The report indicates Perales was “loud, belligerent, and uttering a steady stream of profanity towards his wife.” Perales reportedly told his wife “You better be gone when I get out because I’m going to kill you,” in Spanish.

Perales’ wife told police that problems started when her husband was drinking at a party in Caney, Kan. He reportedly began threatening other party guests before going into a rage, pulling her hair and tossing her around. She said that she left Perales at the party. When she learned that another family member was bringing him home, she called police.

Bond was set in the case at $10,000.

Deadly Wildfires Force Mass Evacuations in Southern California
Monday , October 22, 2007

This is a developing story. Click "refresh" for updates.

San Diego County on Monday ordered massive evacuations using Qualcomm Stadium to house evacuees as wildfires that had already killed one remained "zero percent contained" and raging out of control.

"Listen to emergency personnel. Lives are what's more important in this particular situation. The property, you can replace it, but you can't replace the lives," said Supervisor Dianne Jacob of the second district in San Diego County, adding "the best thing that all of us, all of you can do today, is make sure you are prepared. This fire could go in any direction."

The flames threatened thousands of Southern California homes as firefighters raced to beat back the blazes that have engulfed the region. Helicopters were unable to drop water over the blazes in San Diego because of the winds.

"It’s basically zero percent contained," said Bill Metcalf, chief of the North County Fire Protection District, which is overseeing the firefighters.

City personnel in San Diego had opened Qualcomm Stadium as a shelter as well as the Del Mar Fairgrounds, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said. He asked that residents limit cell phone use as they prepared to evacuate.

"This fire will probably be the worst fire this county has ever seen," San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender said.

The fires, which covered swaths of drought-parched land from the high desert to the Pacific Ocean, were being fanned by hot, dry Santa Ana desert winds. Some of the worst damage was in Malibu, where a church, homes and a castle were charred.

"We expect the weather to continue for another couple of days," Metcalf said.

Things worsened early Monday, when several new fires sprouted in San Diego County, adding to about a dozen blazes that already have burned more than 40,000 acres. Though firefighters had been on high alert because forecasters predicted the winds, they admitted Sunday night that they were overwhelmed.

"You do not expect something to stretch our resources to this magnitude," Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Sam Padilla said. "To try and staff something this big, you cannot predict it."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency late Sunday in seven counties. One person died in a fire near San Diego, which burned more than 14,000 acres — or about 22 square miles — about 70 miles southeast of San Diego, just north of the Mexican border town of Tecate, California Department of Forestry spokesman Matt Streck said.

• VIDEO: Tanya Tucker Describes Fire

Four firefighters and at least 10 others were hospitalized, Streck said. Some of the injured were hikers, and others may be illegal immigrants.

Another blaze devoured more than 5,000 acres in northern San Diego County and forced the evacuation of the community of Ramona, which has a population of about 36,000.

Several structures were burned on the edge of town, and sheriff's deputies called residents to alert them the fire was approaching the city, said San Diego sheriff's Lt. Phil Brust.

"The winds are up. It's very, very dangerous conditions," San Diego County spokeswoman Lesley Kirk said. "Fires are popping up all over the place."

In Malibu, about 700 firefighters worked to protect hundreds of homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills. About 1,500 people were evacuated and the blaze destroyed a church and several homes, one of them the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home with turrets and arched windows. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning building overlooking the coast.

No residents or firefighters were injured, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said.

The castle belonged to Lilly Lawrence, the daughter of a former Iranian oil minister. She said she was able to gather a few things before the fire engulfed her home, including some jewelry and memorabilia that included Elvis Presley's Army fatigues.

She didn't seem too worried about losing most of her belongings in the fire.

"My parents taught me not to allow my possessions to posses me," Lawrence told KABC-TV. "So, that's the story. The house is a house."

Winds carried embers across the Pacific Coast Highway, closing the popular road and setting fire to cars and trees in the parking lot of a shopping center where a supermarket, drug store and other shops were damaged.

"This fire is zero percent contained, which means we're at the mercy of the wind," acting Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said.

In all, five homes and two commercial buildings had been confirmed lost throughout the Malibu area, Freeman said. Nine more homes were damaged, he said.

The fire is expected to burn for another two to three days, he said. Until the blaze is extinguished, "there will literally be thousands of homes that will be threatened at one time or another," he said.

The fire may have been started by downed power lines, Capt. Mike Brown said.

"This is a conflagration we knew was going to come at some point," Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said at a Malibu press conference Sunday, noting Southern California's ongoing dry spell.

"We were cruising for a bruising. We are very, very lucky as we stand here tonight that the damage has been as limited as it has been."