Man docked for allowing unlicensed 15-year-old daughter drive causing death of her friends

A suburban New York man who allowed his unlicensed 15-year-old daughter to drive an SUV that crashed in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, killing three of her friends, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Michael Ware, 54, was given a lengthy sentence partly because he lied to investigators about giving his daughter the keys, allowing her to shoulder all the blame for the crash.

Wayne County President Judge Ray Hamill branded his behavior 'reckless, stupid and selfish.'
He blasted him asking: 'What kind of father does this?'

The crash on August 30, 2014, killed Ryan Lesher, Shamus Digney and Cullen Keffer, all 15-year-old sophomores at Council Rock High School in suburban Philadelphia. Three others were hurt.

Ware, who pleaded guilty last month to three counts each of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, apologized in a brief statement.

'I cannot begin to say how sorry I am,' Ware, of Scarsdale, told the judge. 'Neither I nor my daughter meant any harm to anyone day. May those boys rest in peace.'

His words rang hollow to the parents of the dead teens. They spoke in court of their pain and their anger toward Ware, who had allowed his daughter to drive on several occasions before the crash, including from New York to their vacation home in Pennsylvania.

'Your desire to be the cool dad devastated an entire community,' said Ryan's mother, Lisa Lesher

Hamill, his voice rising, repeatedly called Ware's actions 'preventable, irresponsible, reckless, stupid and selfish' and said he had failed as a father.

Ware's lawyer, Robert Reno, had asked for a sentence of 12 to 23 months. Outside court, he called the sentence 'ridiculous' and said there would be an appeal.

Prosecutors said Ware allowed his daughter to drive his Chevrolet Suburban from their Paupack Township home with one of her friends. She then picked up four boys and drove to a restaurant for breakfast. On the way back, the teen lost control of the SUV and flipped it.

'He basically gave his daughter a gun and put the bullets in it for her,' said Wilson Black, Shamus' uncle.

Ware told authorities at the crash scene that his daughter took the vehicle without permission. The girl backed his story 'so as not to get him in trouble,' according to court documents.

It wasn't until two months later that one of the passengers came forward and told police that Ware had given his daughter the keys.

Ware's daughter acknowledged responsibility in juvenile court to vehicular homicide counts and was placed on indefinite probation.

She also was ordered to perform 300 hours of community service, pay restitution and write a 2,000-word essay on the impact of her crime.

The victims' parents said Ware was not only responsible for their sons' deaths but had also wrecked his daughter's life.
'You gave her too much independence, too soon,' said Joe Keffer, Cullen's father. 'You failed to protect

Daily Mail

Man walks into his own funeral

A Syrian man witnessed his own funeral after pulling himself out from a mountain of rubble where he had survived for 36 hours.

It was believed that Mohammed Rayhan was among 117 people who had died when government forces shelled the market place in Douma, just over six miles north east of Damascus. His family had given up all hope when he failed to return home and started mourning Mr Rayhan’s death.

However after three days beneath the rubble he was extricated by rescuers.

With the dust still embedded in his beard and long hair, he returned home.

In doing so he interrupted the final day of mourning, much to the delight of his family.

Mr Rayhan is now being called the “Living Martyr” after his miraculous survival.

The Telegragh

Pastor Oyakhilome: wife opens up on divorce saga

Nigerians especially the religious community where shocked to the marrow when in April 2014, news broke out that Pastor Anita Oyahilome had filed for a divorce from her pastor husband, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy and Loveworld ministries.

The divorce which was filed at Divorce Section A, Central Family Court, First Avenue House, High Holborn, London, United Kingdom caught most observers by surprise.

She filed for divorce on the grounds of ‘unreasonable behaviour’ and has been rather silent since then. The pastor who now goes by her maiden name, Ebhodaghe has now spoken up for the first time about the divorce through her blog and her post suggests she may have suffered abuse from her exhusband.

She wrote, “It is my desire to reach out and inspire you especially if you feel vulnerable and in need of a change. I hope to inspire you to believe in yourself no matter the circumstances. I want to help you recreate your life going forward, so you can live beautifully. I have been through this journey of rediscovery and nothing is as beautiful as realising one’s uniqueness as I have done. Life is a precious however, your life can go through different seasons: winter, spring, summer or autumn. Life can hit you with financial loss, disappointments, death of a loved one, a broken relationship, loss of a job, a divorce, being falsely accused or being a victim of crime. These can shatter you to pieces but you can do something about it.

Life is a gift from God and you deserve to be happy irrespective of your age, race, gender, background or financial situation. I urge you to appreciate the gift you are, you are precious and valuable. Never lose sight of who you are; begin to create new visions and dreams for your life. Let nothing stop you from growing every day. My story is not one of a bed of roses, far from it but I had a choice to either beat myself over the regret of tolerating abuse for so long or put a stop to the abuse and recreate my life for the best. My journey was not in vain. I can now help others realise that their situation does not define them.

In order to move on with life, I have come to realise that nothing is permanent. Your problem is not permanent; you can do something to change it by ensuring you do not allow the situation or the person make your life miserable. Pain is a fact of life, it is inevitable but suffering is optional. You can do something to change the pain by over looking every obstacle, take control as a force of nature to grow and expand. Do what is necessary now to use the gift God has given you to unleash your purpose.

My message to all is simple: you have value therefore discover your potential. Do not allow anybody destroy you or rob you of living a joyful life. Your life is not wasted; you have just started a different phase of life. God will show you how to use your testimony to help others and restore their lives to exuberance. Please join me to encourage and inspire others. You have a story to tell, you can contribute and participate in the dialogues here. Let us all learn from one another’s experience and reach others with the gift of love and kindness. Share your experience by emailing me or making a comment. Celebrate your uniqueness because there is only one of you.”

In another post titled “There is always something to be thankful for”, she also wrote about how one can cope after an abusive relationship or marriage.

Albino Foundation demands investigation into member’s death in Lagos

It was reported in some sections of the media that one 23-year-old albino, Ugochukwu Ugogbua, committed suicide on Sunday, Aug 16.

Yesterday the deceased's family house was besieged by members of the Albino Foundation, who demanded to know what made him kill himself.

There were rumours that Ugo had killed himself because his parents wanted him to join Jehovah's Witnesses, a claim his family has since denied. 

The members of the Albino Foundation commiserated with the bereaved family then proceeded to the police station to enquire about the outcome of their investigation on the incident. 

At Festac Police Division, Lagos State Coordinator of Albino Foundation, Mrs. Omolala Joseph, said, “We are here on behalf of the national headquarters of Albino Foundation in Abuja to find out what exactly led to the death of our colleague. “Though he was not a registered member of the Foundation, he was an albino like us, therefore, we have a duty to pay a condolence visit to the family, counsel them and orientate them. “Things like this cannot just happen. We need to know the exact cause so as to help re-orientate others.” 

A member of the family, who simply gave her name as Oluchi, said, “We have read a lot of reports on my brother’s death. I want to categorically state that he did not kill himself because he was forced to become a Jehovah’s Witnesses member. “It was not also because he was stigmatised as an albino. The truth is that what led him into the act were powers beyond him and he never left any note for us concerning his death.” 

It was gathered that late Ugochukwu started behaving strangely a few months before he took his life.

Corroborating the claim, Oluchi said, “We discovered a month before his death that he started moving with some boys in the area. Later, he became reserved and then resigned from his job as a dry cleaning attendant. We started counselling him, unknown to us that he was planning to take his life. We prevented his first attempt when he mixed cement and water and was on the verge of drinking it when he was stopped.” 

It was also gathered that late Ugo’s mother left him and his sister in the care of his aunt in Festac several years ago after the demise of his father. His aunt, who is yet to come to terms with his death, refused to speak with at the police station.

Police sources said investigation into the incident was still ongoing.

FIRE INCIDENCE: I lost everything but I am alive and well - Kate Henshaw

Speaking up for the first time on what the fire that razed her home really cost her, Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw in a recent interview with City People Magazine reveals that she lost "everything".

Here is the full account of the unfortunate event that cost her everything, in her own words:

"It is true. The house got burnt and I lost everything. I really don't know what happened because I was here on the 'Do Good' set, I was filming, and was about to have lunch when my nanny called me and was like "madam fire". I told her to get people to throw water on it and didn't even know it was like a big fire. 

I immediately got up and by the time I turned into the street before mine, I could see the sky was black. I got there and there were people everywhere and nobody could get in. Because the first thing about fire is the smoke, it's going to make it totally impossible to get in, and it could kill you. And my next door neighbour was having his daughter's birthday and there were children there, that was IK Osakioduwa, he happens to be my next door neighbour, and he had sent a message to all radio stations about the fire."

Also disclosing how the inefficiency of the state fire service hastened her woes, the actress said:

"I called the fire service for over 2 hours and there was no response, by the time they came everything had gone. The house was razed completely. But I am talking to you now, and I am glad to be alive. Winning this award further goes to show that as long as there is life, you can hope for tomorrow. 

"There are two choices, either you stand up or you stay down. There are many people who have gone through such fire experience and lost their lives but there is no scratch on me, the will power is what matters. I was at that point where I said what's the use, where I am going to start from but I thank God."

N78.3M WEBSITE: CACOL REPLIES FASHOLA, INSISTS ON ALLEGATION

The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders on Saturday took a swipe at the former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, describing his administration as draconian and anti-people.

The activist group was reacting to Fashola’s condemnation of its call on President Muhammadu Buhari not to consider the ex-governor for appointment for his alleged mismanagement of state funds.
CACOL said the Fashola-led administration was engulfed in several controversies which could not be overlooked.

Fashola had come under fire after the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency posted a report on its website, stating that N78.3m was paid to a firm, Info Access Plus Limited, for the upgrade of his website,www.tundefashola.com, through the Office of the Chief of Staff to the Governor.

The ex-governor had last week defended the decision by his government to spend N78.3m on the upgrade of the website in a five-page letter he personally signed, in which he admitted that the money was actually spent on his website.

Fashola also berated CACOL, in his letter titled ‘When you wrestle with a pig, the pig gets happy and you get dirty,’ for dragging him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and for calling on President Buhari not to give him a political appointment.

Fashola said, “I cannot conclude without responding to the crusade of CACOL and their ilk seeking my prosecution on allegations that have no proof and writing pre-emptive letters to the Presidency.

“In case they are unaware, I am not looking for a job. I expect them to know that allegations of wrongdoing are not resolved without evidence, neither are they resolved in press conferences.”

However, the Executive Chairmain of CACOL, in a statement titled, ‘We Don’t Mind Wrestling With The Pig As Long As It Produces The Pork,’ on Saturday, said if the former governor could justify the cost of his personal website, no matter what he used it for, then there might be many more shenanigans to be unearthed by the relevant anti-graft agencies.

He said, “The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines a “pig” as an unpleasant or offensive person; a person who is dirty or greedy. Based on this premise, leaders who deliberately run elitist, oppressive and draconian government can only be described by no other name, but pigs.

“A government that causes so much hardship to the largest stratum of the socio-economic ladder, whereas it engages in obscene affluence all in the name of white elephant projects that have no direct bearing on the suffering Lagosians, is nothing but a pig.

“It will be foolhardy for a man who requires pork to say he wouldn’t wrestle with a pig. How does he intend to get it? After all it has been said, ‘No willing pig provides pork; whoever desires pork wrestles the pig down for it!’

Adeniran asked of what use was a N78.3m-website when several other developmental needs of people in Lagos were begging for attention.

Adenira further said, “Basically, what concerns us more is the issue of suspected corruption embedded in the award and execution of contracts in the regime of Babatunde Fashola, as illuminated by the award of this N78.3m website contract.

“Every IT person CACOL has contacted put an over-bloated estimate of the cost of the website at about N6m. We are not surprised that a contract that could have cost N6m could be ballooned to N78.3m, because that is a trademark of Mr. Fashola’s administration.

“The website contract is an eye opener and lending credence to the allegations of the ‘True Face of Lagos’ where most of the contracts awarded before 2010 were said to have been immorally inflated by the regime of Babatunde Raji Fashola.”

Lemon juice for your hair?

For health-conscious people, lemons play a big role. They say lemon tea is good for those who want to keep trim. Hot lemon is also good for sore throats and colds. Now, lemon juice also has health benefits for your hair. It is a natural agent and is not likely to damage your hair like chemicals do. Instead, it fights hair problems. Here is how it is beneficial for your hair:

Adding shine: When you rinse your hair with lemon juice, it achieves a great shine and shimmery look. The lemon juice rinse should be diluted with a cup of water. You could also mix equal amounts of lemon juice with a conditioner of your choice then apply the mixture on your hair. Leave the mixture on the hair for two to three minutes then rinse thoroughly. The result is soft, shiny hair

Hair growth: Women worry most about the length, thickness and strength of their hair. Mix lemon juice with olive oil or coconut oil and use the mixture to massage your scalp. This stimulates hair growth and also remedies hair loss. The vitamin C found in the juice also strengthens the hair. For best results, the scalp massage should be done regularly.

Dandruff: Dandruff is a cause of embarrassment for many women. Mix a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice with three teaspoons of water, one teaspoon of vinegar add a quarter teaspoon of salt then apply this to your scalp. Leave it on for 20 minutes before rinsing with warm water then shampooing. This will rid your hair of dandruff for about four months.

Oily scalp: The citric acid in lemon juice helps to remove the excess build-up of oil on the scalp. Mix lemon juice and vinegar in equal amounts and apply on the scalp to remove clogged follicles that give rise to an oily scalp.

Drink lemon juice: Drinking lemon juice regularly will help clear body toxins thus keeping your hair strong and healthy.

Itchy scalp: There is nothing as irritating as an itchy scalp. Add a few drops of lemon juice to your regular hair shampoo or conditioner and massage into you hair for about ten minutes before rinsing off with cold water. Regular application will soothe your itchy scalp.

Split ends: Lemon juice also prevents split ends. Ensure you trim the split ends before or after the treatment; this is because split ends that already exist can only be treated by chopping them off. Simply mix equal amounts of olive oil and lemon juice and apply the mixture on your hair. Do this at least once a month and the problem will be history.

Hair loss: Lemon juice also prevents thinning hair. Mix lemon juice, vinegar, ground black pepper and powdered cumin seeds and apply to the hair. The juice also thickens the hair since it stops hair from falling while encouraging new hair to grow. To thicken you hair, mix lemon juice from half a lemon, an egg yolk, a teaspoon of honey and a tablespoon of olive oil and apply this to wet hair. Let it stay on for half an hour before rinsing it off.

Highlights: When highlighting the hair, it is good to be cautious with the products we use. Freshly squeezed lemon juice offers a natural way to lighten hair without side effects. Lemon juice has bleaching properties and the citric acid in it, combined with sunlight, will naturally lighten the hair. Mix one cup of fresh lemon juice with a quarter cup of slightly warm water. Wash your hair clean, pat it dry, and then apply lemon juice onto sections you want highlighted. Use a hair brush to apply the juice. Sit under the sun until the juice dries out completely. You can then rinse it off with warm water.

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