It was a rough day for bodies, I've figured, after reading through
the day's wire stories.

I almost feel sorry for the South Lyon 17-year-old girl accused of
firing a BB gun at school buses. Charged with a felony, I wonder what
the damages were. She'll pay for the damage if convicted (one story
said her father reported the girl admitted to admitting to the
shootings but did so only to cover for friends, not knowing the
ramifications of signing the police statement.) We'll see, but if
someone gets convicted they will likely pay fines and have their
records cleared if they stay out of trouble.

They should anyway, after I found these stories on the AP wire:

1. In Jackson, Michigan, a man's conviction for the 1999 slaying of
his wife will not be thrown out. The man, Kevin Artz, claims now that
his attorney should have used this defense against charges he killed,
chopped up and then cooked his wife — that he was in a marijuana-
induced psychosis when he did so. I cannot avoid making a mention of
a 'munchies;' I'm sorry. He committed the crime at a restaurant they
owned, so I'm guessing the cooking was part of the hiding/eliminating
of the body and thus evidence. The story did not mention him eating her.

2. In Ohio, a man already in prison is facing new charges of having
sex with the bodies of dead women while he worked at a morgue. He is
serving three years already (half of it for violating parole for a
prior drug case), and DNA led to the new charges. But because he
worked their 16 years and DNA was not collected for so long,
prosecutors suspect he may have violated more than 100 bodies. The
drug case, by the way, led to the DNA sample being given, opening up
the man's past deeds to investigators.

3. This one is not worse than the prior one, but it is puzzling and
I'm sure very frustrating for family and law enforcement leaders.
Funeral workers discovered that a person who had supposedly died of
natural cause in fact had three bullet holes in his body, two of them
in his head. A paramedic thought initially that natural causes were
to blame do to being told about a heart condition and finding
medications; plus, there was not much blood. Officers agreed, and
detectives were not called. By the time they were summoned, family
members had cleaned the home. D'oh.

I'd say a BB gun offense with only property damage is just small
potatoes in a world with such vicious, disgusting and perplexing
situations.

In what has become a point of interest in Oakland County, another
child faces a potential life sentence for murder.
This time it is in Pennsylvania, where prosecutors have charged an 11-
year-old boy as an adult, accusing him of killing his father's
pregnant girlfriend. According to an Associated Press story,
prosecutors point out that the boy had threatened the girlfriend, 26,
prior to the shooting and jealousy is a possible motive.
While it's easy to say that if someone were 18 and committed such a
crime, when they are 11, can they form the same premeditation and
intent as an adult?
I don't know, but it seems to be an important difference. The boy's
attorneys will seek to have the case sent to juvenile court, but if
it ends there, the boy will grow into a young man and be freed at 21,
no matter how his rehabilitation goes, this depending of course on if
he is convicted of the charge.
While my 4-year-old is showing incredible savvy in making up excuses
and getting around directives (for instance, the command to stop
throwing snowballs was ignored after she saw that Baby Tiger was on
my back causing mischief, an excuse that tickled me because it was a
new form of cleverness expressed by her), some suggest a child cannot
register the intent and premeditation, and they cannot appreciate the
consequences for their actions.
Here, many believe that Nathaniel Abraham, who killed at age 11 in
1997, never had a chance at success as an adult even though he was
deemed a juvenile. Many defended his fall — sent to prison after
being arrested with hundreds of ecstasy pills, just over a year after
his release from juvenile custody — as coming from a life that saw
much of his childhood spent in custody.
So then if the child is deemed a child, can he or she truly be
rehabilitated.
It's a tough one and one case for which I would not want to be a juror.

I didn't want to call it a Black Monday, after last week's was much
darker with tens of thousands of jobs lost from some of America's
most prominent and stable companies.
But it's not getting any better, unless hearing the doctor say,
"You're bleeding much less than earlier" counts as progress.
In the biggest news of the day, but not at all a surprise after
December's report for retailers, Macy's announced it would eliminate
7,000 jobs (4 percent of the work force), which continues an earlier
announcement promising store closings and the loss of 1,000 jobs.
Many people locally complain about job losses while investors get
dividends; however, Macy's also announced the dividend would be cut
from 13.5 cents to 5 cents a share.
Also cutting, Lincoln Electric Holdings said it would cut 10 percent
of its work force, estimated at 9,000 total employees, and reduce
executive compensation. With those cuts, the welding products
manufacturer also will stop paying into the 401(K) funds for employees.
And adding to the misery is Morgan Stanley, the Wall Street firm that
will cut 1,500 to 1,800 jobs, likely this month. These losses add to
the 7,000 lost jobs in 2008 for the company.
The second month of the new year and new administration continues to
provide worsening news about an economy that I hope can be fixed.

OK, so I use example of snow plowing in looking at other things city
leaders in Rochester Hills could be examining as residents stew over
the current deer culling.
And though it took a couple days longer than it used to, my
neighborhood and my street were plowed by Friday evening.