I know I need to get started on this, so bear with me, please. There are no pictures in this one, I know. But there hopefully are interesting news alerts.
I am a creature of habit, so it's good for me to start up new habits ASAP. Please consider this one started, and any feedback is welcome. I'll try to do this once a week.
Miep
LA offers Skid Row homeless leniency on citations (AP link here)
By CHRISTINA HOAG (AP) – 1 day ago
LOS ANGELES — Some 200 homeless people wait outside a Skid Row shelter, clutching citation slips for minor offenses: jaywalking, sitting on a curb, pushing around shopping carts.
In the past, many would have faced stiff fines and possible arrest for neglecting the tickets. But now they are eager to settle the cases with prosecutors, who are offering to forgive the infractions in exchange for four hours of community service.
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Dunk Tank Benefits Homeless (link here)
Dunk Tank Benefits Homeless
Essex Junction, Vermont - September 4, 2009
This is the second and final weekend of Vermont's largest fair. The Champlain Valley Fair wraps up Monday evening. This weekend is historically the busiest part of the Fair's 10-day run. With perfect late summer weather in the forecast, the same should be true this year. And a Burlington nonprofit hopes that foot traffic translates into financial support.
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U.S. Team Headed for Milan and the Homeless World Cup (link here)
They will not be mistaken for players from the two giants of Italian soccer — Inter Milan and A.C. Milan– who call the same northern city home.
Still, eight committed soccer players were in New York on Wednesday night to take part in a two-day training camp as they prepared to represent the United States in the 48-nation Homeless World Cup in Milan, Italy. The players come from San Francisco; Los Angeles; Sacramento; New York; Charlotte, N.C.; and Minneapolis.
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Island homelessness falls by 22% (link here)
Homelessness on Anglesey has fallen by more than 20% in the last year, according to the island's council.
Officials said the numbers asking for help fell by 22% from 385 to 303. A new housing allowance has helped.
Head of housing services at the council Rhys Jones praised the work of the authority's homeless team.
He said: "This is excellent news and the success of our housing advice services has undoubtedly played a major part in reducing homelessness."
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Muslim effort helps homeless on Humanitarian Day (link here)
ONTARIO - The increased homeless population in the past couple of years has prompted organizers of Humanitarian Day to bring their event to the Inland Empire for the first time.
Today's event will be hosted by the 2009 Coalition to Preserve Human Dignity, a social network of people, organizations and sponsors.
Humanitarian Day is from 11 to 1 p.m. at Mercy House, 905 E. Holt Blvd. in Ontario
"We chose Ontario because of the growing population of homeless in the area. The location of our event, Mercy House, is but a couple of blocks from the 'Tent City' where so many homeless live," said Fuad M. Dadabhoy co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of UPLIFT Charity, Inc.
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Update: Sacramento police arrest 17 at 'safe ground' homeless camp (link here)
Sacramento police arrested 17 homeless residents at their "safe ground" campsite this morning, including one advocate for the homeless.
Rev. David Moss, a Methodist Minister, was taken into custody along with other campers, charged with illegal camping, Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong said.
A press release by Loaves & Fishes early morning claimed Sister Libby Fernandez, executive director of the Loaves & Fishes homeless services group, was arrested together with other campers. But later Sacramento police clarified that she was only detained for a short period when police arrived to search the camp.
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Indonesia earthquake leaves thousands homeless (link here)
JAKARTA, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - More than 25.000 people were left homeless after an earthquake which shook the southern part of Indonesia's West Java earlier this week, local media reported on Friday.
The quake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, struck on Wednesday afternoon, with the epicenter some 144 km (89 miles) to the south of the city of Bandung. The quake left five regions without electricity and destroyed thousands of homes.
According to Indonesian emergency officials, at least 110 people were hospitalized after the quake, 10 of them in a critical condition. Local media said at least 59 people died and hundreds were injured, with some four dozen still missing under a landslide that hit a village in the Cianjur district.
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Homeless Man Sets Fire to Jackson Memorial (link here)
LOS ANGELES -- A homeless man was taken into custody after he interrupted a small gathering near Michael Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and set fire to a makeshift memorial there, according to police.
It happened shortly after midnight on Hollywood Boulevard near Highland Avenue, said Sgt. Don Lawrence of the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Station.
A Michael Jackson impersonator claims he was dancing in the middle of a crowd of people near Jackson's star when a homeless man broke into the circle and "aggressively" approached as if to attack him.
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