Eduardo Arellano Felix

The city of Tijuana, situated at the border with the U.S., witnessed yet another drug related shooting, yesterday. This time, the parties involved were the Mexican federal police and a group of drug dealers lead by Eduardo Arellano Félix, also known as ‘The Doctor’.

Arellano Felix, one of the most powerful traffickers of the Tijuana drug cartel, has been taken into custody by the police forces. He is believed to be one of the most violent dealers in the region and responsible of the deaths of dozens of people.

The drug dealer resisted arrest and shot at the police forces with an AK-47 for several minutes; when he ran out of ammunition, he was apprehended and declared his name was Samuel Bracamontes. The authorities identified him after the burn marks on his chest and both arms.

Eduardo Arellano Felix is accused of various charges related to drug trafficking, and organized crime. A warrant for his arrest had been issued by a Federal Court in California, and the Interpol had been searching for him in over 180 countries ever since 2004.

Consequently to Eduardo’s arrest, the drug band is now under the command of his sister and nephew Enedina Arellano Félix and Fernando Sánchez Arellano.

Students of Vasquez High School

The Vasquez High School, in Acton, California, witnessed the death of yet another bullying victim. Teenager Jeremiah Finton Lasater, of 14, committed suicide in the boys’ restroom, on Monday, 20th of October.

The boy was a junior varsity football player, but his learning disability and his stature (he was 6-foot-5), made of him one of his colleagues’ favorite bullying targets. Even his fellow special needs students laughed at him and made pranks on him.

Students who remember having seen Lasater on the day of his death say two boys threw food at him in the cafeteria, and that at the end of the lunch break he went into the boys’ toilet and never came out. Then everybody heard the gunshot and they found the body of the boy who had shot himself in the head.

The school direction, friends and parents were all in a state of shock and were worried Jeremiah’s gesture could influence other depressed and bullied teenagers. The state of shock and grief quickly turned into one of anger when they found out there were people who actually knew all about the bullying episodes.

Unfortunately, when confronted, all those involved denied being aware of any such episode. Nobody wants to take the blame for the shocking death of a 14-year old nerdy kid, even though to his parents he was the best kid ever.

Minimalist House on Wheels

The crashing economy has made popular a new real estate movement – minimalism. How to minimalise a 1,800 square-foot house into a 100 square-foot one? The answer is apparently a very simple one and a Californian family is ready to share it with the world.

In Calistoga, California, Bill and Sharon Katrinos have decided to show people that one can live perfectly without using too much space or resources, for that matter.

They have given up their 1,800 sq foot home and moved into a 154 sq foot one, that has the aspect of a children’s playhouse.

After realizing that all that was driving them in life was competing with their neighbors on who has the bigger house, the bigger car, the bigger everything, they have decided this is not the way they want to live.

Bill was working in the construction business but when the market collapsed, they had to regroup and take measures.

As hard to believe as it may seem, the house actually has a sitting area, kitchen and bathroom and even an upstairs bedroom. The house is on wheels, so they can move any time they like. The downsize is that they keep the extra clothes in the car, but for a $15,000 home with $15 monthly expenses, who cares about storage space?

Bill Kastrinos and other construction entrepreneurs like fellow Californian Jay Shafer have started building and selling small-size houses and the business is growing more and more popular.

Britney Behind the Wheel

Last August, Britney Spears “hit it one more time”….this time in a parking lot, and it was a classic case of hit and run. Unfortunately for her, the whole incident was caught on camera and the case went to court.

After many hours of deliberations, the jury could not reach a verdict as not all of the members were of the same opinion regarding this incident.

It is more than possible that some of them did not want to see one of their favorite singers in jail for six months and also paying a fine.

The surprise of this trial comes when one takes a look at the charges brought to the singer. She was not accused of causing an accident; she was trialed for not having a California driving licence when she is actually living in Beverly Hills.

As the jury could not make their mind, Superior Court Judge James A. Steele has ruled this as a mistrial and it is not sure whether this case will be trialed again.

Marijuana Plants

Over the last 10 years the Police and environmental organizations have discovered over 159 illegal marijuana plantations only in the Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park.

Marijuana cultures have transformed the California national parks and forests in some of the most polluted ones in the United States, mostly because of the chemicals used to help the plants grow.

In 2007 and 2008, only in California the U.S. Forest Service have found approximately 700 marijuana “farms”, and many others in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

In the 1,800 square mile Sequoia National Forest, environmental workers have found all types of spray cans used to protect the marijuana plants from weeds and bugs, growth hormones packages, and elaborate PVC pipes system through which the smugglers transport water from the mountain streams.

Also, the “farmers” use rat poison to keep the animals away and do not hesitate to kill any wild animal that comes near their precious crops.

The government and local authorities are working together and investing high amounts of money in the discovery and uprooting of marijuana plants; in 2007, nearly 5 million plants have been uprooted in California.

Researchers have discovered that with time smugglers have managed to develop hybrid plants which have a larger adaptability to various types of climates. That is why, only last year they uprooted about 500,000 plants in Kentucky and almost 300,000 in Washington.

Same-sex Married Couple

After months of legal battles, the gay and lesbian couples in the state of Connecticut have won the war – the Supreme Court of Connecticut has ruled that they do have the right to get married.

Taking Massachusetts and California as precedents, eight same-sex couples have asked for the right to say “I do” in Connecticut as well. This sentence only comes to recognize what the American constitution stated in the first place: the right of citizens to be treated equally when they apply for marriage license, not depending on their sexual orientation.

The court said it was only the right decision, as ruling against it would have meant applying different set of rules to gay people and to all the other.

But things are not as bright as they may seem; gay and lesbian couples in Connecticut may have the right to get married, but The Defense of Marriage Act (1996), does not allow the federal recognition of their union, and does not give them the same treatment when it comes to Social Security, taxes and immigration issues.

Ever since 2005, civil unions have been allowed in Connecticut, but also in Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire; but Connecticut has now taken a step forward and legally allow same-sex marriages.

Eight couples have sued the state for same marriage rights as all the others, and the suit was called Kerrigan and Mock v. the Connecticut Department of Public Health, after the couple which was most strongly involved in this initiative.

Burning Forest

After the fire in Napa Valley, on Friday, that caused the loss of 300 acres of forest, a home and a barn, the firefighters received another emergency call; this time, in another area of California, North of Los Angeles.

The wildfire that started on Sunday destroyed over 750 acres of forest and more importantly threatened to burn out several houses, as well as the establishment of an animal sanctuary.

About 400 firefighters were called off to fight the fire that started 20 miles North of the downtown area of Los Angeles, at Angeles National Forest; they also received help from the aerial strike teams.

A house, some motor homes and other buildings have been turned into ashes by the raging fire, and about 1,200 have been forced to leave the area as the fire was getting closer to the city.

Stanton Florea, the U.S. Forest Service, declared that the fire was located South of the Wildlife Waystation, an animal sanctuary with over 400 animals. Also, they still do not have an exact cause of the fire, but thorough investigations are being carried out.