It's the second DNA-related case I've written about; the previous one involved a man who was linked to an unsolved rape case through DNA, then led camouflage-clad detectives on a chase through a vineyard, across a field and up to a roof before he surrendered and later pleaded guilty.
But this is the other side, the one that initially makes headline news and is then forgotten. DNA, in essence, solved part of this most recent case, though there are still so many unknowns. While this man, Peter Rose, and his attorneys have every reason to celebrate, there's also an element of sadness. A man lost 10 years of his life, and no amount of DNA will return that decade to him.
I haven't posted anything lately ("too busy" is my current excuse), but this news shocked me into a post.
Yes, it's true: Pulitzer-winning humor columnist Dave Barry is taking a leave of absence for at least a year, maybe longer. You can read the Miami Herald's article about it here by using "nomail@juno.com" and "bugmenot" as the e-mail and password required to access the page.
I don't have anything else to say at the moment, because I'm still too surprised.
Christopher Reeve, aka Superman, died today. This news came as a shock to me, as I'd only just finished catching up on various news Web sites and moved on to non-news things. But then a TV news broadcast suddenly had the news, so I was once again back to the news online.
It's hard for me to imagine that Christopher Reeve is actually gone, because he was just so determined to conquer everything in his path. He was paralyzed, but that didn't stop him from doing everything he possibly could. Though he was confined to a wheelchair, he kept going. He worked even harder for the causes he felt were important. And he continued to live life.
He'd vowed to walk again by the age of 50 and, though that didn't happen, he was still pushing for more research. Reeve is, somehow, gone now, but he left marks that won't fade away.
From commenter jpb comes this item, which begins this way: "A Sunnyvale police officer has been arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol with a slew of firearms and a dead pig in his truck..."
I think the article stands on its own and doesn't need any more commentary from me. And I'll leave you guys to ponder possible jokes, puns or plays on words.
I do wonder, however, if they've determined a cause of death for the pig.
The man who pulled strings to get me into UC Davis at the last minute (as in, submitting my application shortly before classes started) has died. As I do every week, I was reading my home town newspaper online when I got to the obituaries. "Oh!" I said aloud when I saw Forrest Brigham's name listed.
I wound up transferring to a different university two years later, but if Forrest Brigham hadn't pushed me to take my full-ride scholarship to somewhere other than the local community college, my life would be different. I doubt I would come home from work and marvel, "Wow, I got paid today to chase after cops, go to a murder trial and then write about it." I may even have stayed in Weed, gotten married, started having kids and still be working at the local grocery store. There's nothing wrong with that, but there's so much more to this world that I'd have never seen.
DNA proof
It's a story reporters dream of -- especially a certain reporter who covers crime, once wanted to major in genetics and then settled for putting together a big newspaper project on unsolved cases: After spending nearly 10 years in prison for a rape conviction, a Lodi man walked free Friday when DNA evidence cleared him of the crime.It's the second DNA-related case I've written about; the previous one involved a man who was linked to an unsolved rape case through DNA, then led camouflage-clad detectives on a chase through a vineyard, across a field and up to a roof before he surrendered and later pleaded guilty.
But this is the other side, the one that initially makes headline news and is then forgotten. DNA, in essence, solved part of this most recent case, though there are still so many unknowns. While this man, Peter Rose, and his attorneys have every reason to celebrate, there's also an element of sadness. A man lost 10 years of his life, and no amount of DNA will return that decade to him.
Posted by Layla at 11:49 AM, October 30, 2004. Comments (0)