June 27, 2011

There were 3 posts published on June 27, 2011 (this is page 1 of 1).

The power of mentors

We took the kids to the neighborhood pool on Sunday and Hallie happened to meet a classmate there from one of her earlier grades. He’s an African-American boy who came to the pool with his grandfather and his cousins. These kids all were hanging around the shallow end and seemed to be hungry for some activity, so in between games of tag with my own kids, I wandered over to them and said hello.

Hallie’s classmate was friendly and wanted to play tag, too, but during one such tagging expedition he abruptly stopped.

“I can’t go that far,” he said solemnly. “I can’t swim.”

“Well,” I said. “You can float, can’t you?”
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Michelle Young jury deadlocked

It looks like the jury in the Michelle Young murder case is stuck. I saw the Tweets on a note the jury passed to the judge and figured the jury has not been able to reach a verdict.

I thought at first that Jason Young was probably guilty. After seeing the route that Jason Young was supposed to have traveled between Raleigh and central Virginia were he were the murderer and the lack of any blood evidence in his vehicle, I have a difficult time believing he did the deed. Could he have done it? Maybe, but it seems unlikely he could’ve pulled it off.

But who killed Michelle Young? I’m not sure. I don’t know who else other than Jason Young might have had the anger to do this. But Jason Young can’t be in two places at once (or time travel). So I’m not surprised that the jury is hung.

I feel for the family of all involved, especially little Cassidy who has lost her mother.

The jury foreman in the first-degree murder trial of Jason Young sent a note to the judge Monday morning, telling him that the jury is "immovably hung."

But Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens instructed jurors to return to the jury room to continue deliberating.

“I want you to continue to deliberate, and if you find yourself unable to resolve the matter unanimously, then you will advise me,” Stephens said.

Jurors spent about two hours Monday morning before sending the note to Stephens.

via Jury ‘immovably hung’ in Jason Young murder trial :: WRAL.com.

Crispy lawns

The Triangle is in another drought, with little substantial rain falling in the last few weeks (ever since I planted the garden, it seems. Hmm). The lawns around the neighborhood are all crispy brown. While I wish we had some rain to refresh those lawns, I’m very happy to see that everyone is resisting the urge to water their wilting grass because it means folks are conserving water.

Because of everyone’s efforts, Raleigh’s main fresh water reservoir, Falls Lake, is at 251.2 feet, just four inches below full. This is in contrast to December 2007, when Falls Lake dropped to a record low of 242.62 feet, or almost nine feet below full.

I know the city’s public utilities department has conflicting goals of conserving water and selling it (as the Raleigh Public Record so eloquently pointed out), but it’s hard to sell something you don’t have. Although the area lawns might taking a beating, at least the city is in good shape to weather this drought.

Update 2:30 PM: Rain! Glorious rain! Bucketsfull! Half an inch so far in the past half-hour! It’s wonderful!