Too Much News For One Title
Genevieve demonstrating the skills she mastered while playing Arctic Thunder, her favorite video game.
Instilling important values and prepping Pax Rev for success in life:
Feet, still huge:
And the Bethel Cookie auction and indoor Christmas caroling:
The above picture is the Bethel Bell Choir in action. Check back here for a little clip we plan on putting on YouTube.
I feel like I've blogged several times about "my first trial." Well, those never happened. But yesterday, I actually had my first trial. And the result was... mistrial. Dangit. One little slip up and you have to start all over again from scratch. Still, it was a good experience, and I learned a lot. I'm actually looking forward to my next trial. Which is a good thing, because I have four next week and two the week after that. One is in St. Mary's, so I will get to travel up to the Yukon River. Jury selection takes a long time here, that's the main thing I learned.
My case involved indecent exposure and sexual harassment. Nearly 25% of the jurors had to be dismissed from the jury pool for cause because they had been raped or molested, or had children that had been. Because of their life experience, they didn't think they could hear the evidence and be fair. I tell you, it's practically a state of emergency out here.
Along similar lines, on Sunday a man was murdered approximately 300 yards from our house. Shot in the head. That's the fourth murder in less than 6 months in our area. Our regional population is less than 20,000. The national murder rate is 5.6 murders per 100,000 population. So basically, for the last 6 months, our little YK Delta has been leading the nation, beating our nearest rivals (Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Detroit) by a 2 to 1 margin. That's right, our rate is about 40 per 100,000.
Is this America? Are we in Darfur?
And to top it all off, Aileen's snow machine was stolen this morning. A cash reward is being offered for its safe return.
It's almost enough to make a person want to move to Unalaska or St. Mary's.
posted by Team Wilco @ 8:20 PM
1 Comments:
While I wish the hooligan had opted NOT to make off with my snowmachine, I have to say that the days since have been chock full of reaffirmations in humanity from friends and perfect strangers alike who are helping me to look for it. So don't pack any bags yet. The few bad apples just make the local spectacular ones that much brighter. (Yes - I go from anger to sadness to whatever. I'm sure I wouldn't be so Hallmark about it all if I had at least been able to ride it more than once, and only to the AC and back at that, and I was in such a rush because I heard there was an appearance of fresh herbs and I wanted to get my share before they sold out for the next 3 months that I hardly appreciated the significance of that one and only ride.) [Sigh.]
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