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Mexican President Kisses Papal Ring, Breaking a Taboo

For Decades, Politicians Shied from Public Shows of Faith

MEXICO CITY, JULY 31, 2002 (Zenit.org).- When President Vicente Fox kissed John Paul II's ring during Tuesday's welcome ceremony, he broke a decades-old taboo in Mexican politics.

What the heck, give religion a shot.... nothing else has worked.

I wonder how the teenager was at the scene? Did her father or her stepmother bring her to the hotel?

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/front/1518183

Slain orthodontist's ex-wife sues over estate
Associated Press

GALVESTON - The mother of a teen-age girl who watched her stepmom repeatedly run over and kill her orthodontist father is seeking a court order to freeze the father's assets so his estate isn't depleted to pay for the stepmom's defense.

"I saw my step-mother, Clara Harris, kill my father, David L. Harris, by hitting him with her Mercedes Benz," 16-year-old Lindsey Harris said in an affidavit attached to a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of herself and her 3-year-old twin brothers, Brian and Bradley Harris.

In the lawsuit, David Lynn Harris' ex-wife, Debra Shank, said her daughter tried to stop Clara Harris from killing her father but "despite her efforts ... was forced to witness the death of her father."

Shank asked in the lawsuit filed Wednesday that a temporary restraining order be issued to freeze David Harris' estate so Clara Harris, who has been charged with murder, cannot benefit from it. Shank said David Harris' estate should go to his three children, not its sole heir, Clara Harris.

"This court must act to stop defendant Harris from becoming unjustly enriched by her wrongful acts," said the lawsuit which was obtained by The Galveston County Daily News.

Prosecutors in Harris County say Clara Harris intentionally and knowingly murdered her husband of 10 years in a Houston-area hotel parking lot July 24 after confronting him and another woman at the hotel.

Hard liquor is only sold in state-owned liquor stores in Washington.

State to pay $185,000 in drowning case

Thursday, August 1, 2002

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

The state has agreed to pay $185,000 to the family of an Eastside teen who drowned at a Seattle beach park after a night of drinking.

Lloyd Edwards and Sylvia Van Tunen contend the state was responsible for selling liquor to a friend of their 17-year-old son, Jonathan George Edwards.

The Sammamish High School student was found dead in February 2000 at Magnolia Beach Park, where investigators say he likely drowned when the tide came in.

The Eastside couple is still pressing their case in King County Superior Court against their son's friend, Brett Van Der Vliet, accusing him of abandoning their son at the park.

Edwards was believed to be drunk and wasn't dressed for the cold night.