Free Republic

Sometimes you can really mess up your life by doing something nice for someone, even a senior. It can turn on an entitlement button and then you’re bombarded with demands and guilt tripping, like what happened to the young woman in this story. Read it and you’ll see what I mean. I’m 25 and live in a building with a lot of seniors. One of my neighbors is in her late 80s. She has pretty much been badgering me to help her do stuff and plays the guilt card if I say no. At first I was willing to help,...

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing blowback after he said on Sunday that he might appoint an interim replacement for long-serving Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she is unable to complete her final term. Feinstein’s health has been ailing, and she has announced she will not seek six more years in the Senate. With questions mounting about whether she can make it another 16 months, Newsom told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday he would not appoint a permanent replacement. Probed about the issue, Newsom told Chuck Todd that a senator would be appointed on an interim basis while the...

NEWLAND, N.C. — A caretaker for a western North Carolina woman who was found dead last week in her home, buried in concrete, has been arrested and charged with murder, a sheriff said on Sunday. Sheriff’s Det. Tim Austin has said he and another detective opened the door to Keene’s basement, where a mass of hardened concrete was discovered. State Bureau of Investigation agents broke enough of the concrete to discover human remains inside, according to WBTV. An autopsy and dental records confirmed that it was Keene.Elizabeth Carserino, 53, of Goose Creek, S.C. was in the Avery County jail on...

London (AHN) - A British playboy who once hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton at his Florida home has been convicted in the 2000 murder of a caretaker who stood in the way of a multi-million property deal. Thanos Papalexis, 37, was found guilty of murdering Charalambos Christodoulides at a warehouse in northwest London in March 2000. The jury failed to reach verdicts on two Albanian men, Ylli Xhelo and Robert Baxhija, who also had been charged in the murder, Christodoulides, 55, was a caretaker at the warehouse, where he lived in an apartment. Prosecutors alleged that Papalexis killed the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A U.N. envoy proposed Wednesday that the U.S.-appointed Governing Council cease to exist June 30 and said the United States should surrender sovereignty to a "caretaker" government of respected Iraqis. U.N. Undersecretary-General Lakhdar Brahimi said the new government should be led by a prime minister, a president and two vice presidents until elections are held in January. The proposed new structure would give Washington a way to dissolve the fractious and unpopular 25-member Governing Council named by the United States. Brahimi's proposals came as Iraq's U.S. administrators have been anxious to show progress on the political...

WASHINGTON – Confronted with the likelihood that Gov. Gray Davis will face a recall election, California's congressional Democrats are talking about uniting behind an alternative candidate on the recall ballot. They are contemplating trying to enlist a prominent Democrat who could keep fellow Democrats with gubernatorial ambitions from running by promising to serve only the rest of Davis' term and not run for a full term in 2006. Though big-name Democrats say they won't be candidates to replace Davis, lawmakers at a meeting last week with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco said she expressed concern about the...

BY ANA RHODES arhodes@herald.com A Tamarac woman was arrested Wednesday and charged with stealing $45,000 from a 101-year-old woman she was caring for. The caretaker said she needed the money to buy a new car to take her to doctor's appointments. ''It's a sad situation,'' said Veda Coleman-Wright, spokesperson for the Broward Sheriff's Office. ``This lady was entrusted to care for this 101-year-old lady and instead she victimized her and stole from her.'' The victim, Isabelle Reese, died Nov. 6 of natural causes. Her caretaker, Joellen ''Jody'' Vrooman, 47, was charged with one count of exploitation to the elderly, a...