Abate of Florida 
Next State Meeting

AM-JAM TATTOO EXPO 
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January 21-23, 2005 Syracuse, NY http://www.am-jam.com/Tattoo.htm 518-893-2273 Have you been wondering about tattoo conventions? Where are they, where can I find one? It seems that it isn't just the motorcycle/Marine thing to do anymore. Everyone from executives to grannies are getting them. Bold or discreet, folks want them. So, for a tattoo experience you'll never forget, check out the 19th Annual EXPO -held at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Syracuse-Liverpool. 

Come watch World class artists at work. Be sure to check out the piercing and tattoo competition each day, plus flash competition (all tattoo entries will be judged on quality and consistency of the outline, color, aesthetic appeal, placement on body, use of space on the body, composition and presentation. All tattoos must be fully healed (except tattoo of the day). 

1,500 Acres Added to Northwest Florida Greenway WALTON COUNTY — Florida added 1,500 acres of land to the Northwest Florida Greenway this week through a land preservation agreement with a Walton County landowner. The conservation easement, donated by M.C. Davis to the State of Florida, protects the acreage from development while allowing the property owner continued use of the land. 

“By preserving miles of natural landscape, the Northwest Florida Greenway protects habitat for wildlife and contributes to the nation’s military mission,” said Secretary Castille. “This unique partnership is a testament to the ability of governments and non-profit organizations to join forces for a lasting impact.” Established in November 2003, the Northwest Florida Greenway creates a conservation corridor spanning six counties and following the flight path of military aircraft on training and testing exercises from the Apalachicola National Forest and the Gulf coast to Eglin Air Force Base. Home to five U.S. Air Force and Navy installations, the region is also a known biological "hot spot" for wildlife and native flora. 

The Greenway is a partnership between the Department of Defense, DEP and The Nature Conservancy. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Florida Department of Community Affairs, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Northwest Florida Water Management District, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Okaloosa County also joined the effort last summer. 

The Safetycrats are at it again.
The computer circuits that control handheld music players, cell phones and organizers may soon be in a new location: inside electronically controlled guns. 

Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark are building a handgun designed to fire only when its circuitry and software recognize the grip of an authorized shooter. 

Sensors in the handle measure the pressure the hand exerts as it squeezes the trigger. Then algorithms check the shooter's grip with stored, authorized patterns to give the go-ahead.
FLFLHTC: OH HELL NO!!!  Now I ask you a very simple question.  In an age when supermarket checkouts can't scan any better than they do right now, how many of you would be willing to place the lives of law enforcement and our soldiers in an emergency situation on the line?
Gun responsibility not technology is gun safety!

By BRENDAN LYONS, TIMESUNION.COM
Staff writer 
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 In a decision that could dramatically affect criminal investigations nationwide, a federal judge has ruled police didn't need a warrant when they attached a satellite tracking device to the underbelly of a car being driven by a suspected Hells Angels operative.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd clears the way for a federal trial scheduled to begin next month in Utica in which seven alleged Hells Angels members and associates, including several from the Capital Region, face drug-trafficking charges.

The use of satellite tracking devices has stirred controversy and Hurd's ruling differs from a decision last spring by a Nassau County Court judge, who decided police needed a warrant when they used the technology to follow a burglary suspect.

An old Indian chief sat in his hut on the reservation, smoking a ceremonial pipe and eyeing two US government officials sent to interview him. 

"Chief Two Eagles" asked one official, "You have observed the white man for 90 years. 

You've seen his wars and his technological advances. 

You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done." 

The Chief nodded in agreement. 

The official continued, "Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?" 

The Chief stared at the government officials for over a minute and then calmly replied ..... 

"When white man found the land, Indians were running it. 

No taxes, No debt, Plenty buffalo, Plenty beaver, Women did all the work, Medicine man free, Indian man spent all day hunting and fishing, All night having sex." 

Then the chief leaned back and smiled ... "Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."

The male praying mantis often loses his head – literally – after courting the female. The latter is known to decapitate the earnest suitor, and she often completely devours him. 

Eliminates static electricity from your television screen. 
Since Bounce or even a generic brand is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling. 

Microsoft on Tuesday released two critical patches for its Windows operating system, but a patch for the underlying security problems with Internet Explorer 6 is not yet ready for prime time. 

As part of its monthly update release, the company issued three patches--one rated important and two critical. That announcement reflects a more active month than December, when the software giant issued no critical patches for the period. 

"Even though we did not rate any patches critical in December, the two we have in January are not indicative of a year more of this type of situation," said Stephen Toulouse, a Microsoft security program manager.

From the Buffalo Field Campaign
We just now got word from Helena that Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission voted 4-1 to CANCEL THE BUFFALO HUNT for this year! 
BFC applauds Governor Brian Schweitzer for his leadership on behalf of the Yellowstone buffalo.

We're so happy about this decision, we have to say it again: There will be NO HUNT this year! Please check our web site for updates, as more breaking news will come soon. 
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org Thanks to each and every one of you who applied for a permit, wrote letters to the editor, contacted Governor Schweitzer, and encouraged your friends and family to do these things. And thank you again to Patagonia for your ceaseless support. YOU ALL MADE THE DIFFERENCE FOR THE BUFFALO!

The buffalo are not in the clear by a long shot. While the hunt is cancelled for this year, the buffalo are still under attack because the current management plan that allows for the hazing, capture, test-and-slaughter of our last wild buffalo continues. Buffalo are also threatened with a new quarantine program and a new vaccination program by the agencies who would foolishly attempt to eradicate brucellosis. Very likely, plans to hunt buffalo next year will also be underway.

Take this great news for today and give yourself a high-five! This is the first good news that has come the buffalo's way in a long time.

Stay with us, and stay strong.

For the buffalo, All of us at BFC 

Article published Jan 7, 2005 
North Port man killed in motorcycle-car crash By David Hackett 
SOUTH VENICE -- A 51-year-old North Port man died from injuries sustained after a vehicle driven by an elderly woman turned in front of his motorcycle.

William E. Bogner was riding his 2004 Harley-Davidson motorcycle east on U.S. 41 near Jacaranda Boulevard at about 6 p.m. Wednesday when a 1998 Buick driven by Barbara Dixon Morton, 82, turned in front of him from the westbound lane.

Bogner suffered head injuries after being thrown from the motorcycle.

He was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers and died later Wednesday, said Cpl. Duane Rolli, traffic homicide investigator for the Florida Highway Patrol.

No criminal charges are expected against Morton, Rolli said. But she is expected to be cited with a traffic violation for making an illegal turn. There was no traffic light in the area of U.S. 41 at which Morton turned, and Bogner clearly had the right of way, Rolli said.

Reached by telephone at her home in Venice on Thursday afternoon, Morton said she was meeting with her minister. She refused to comment about the accident.

Rolli said it was unclear whether Bogner was wearing a helmet.

"A helmet went flying at the scene," he said. "Whether he was wearing it or not, we don't know at this time."

Property records show Bogner moved to North Port from Ohio in 1983.

Posted on Fri, Jan. 07, 2005 
Hell's Angels declare war on Pagans 
By KITTY CAPARELLA
Ever since the notorious Hellraiser's Ball was crashed by the rival Pagan Outlaw Motorcyle Club in 2002, leaving one Pagan dead and others injured, the Hell's Angels have vowed to get revenge.

On Monday, the Angels' East Coast leader John "John the Baptist" LaFranco officially declared war on the hated Pagans, said a law-enforcement source.

LaFranco's pronouncement came two days after an Angel pal was critically beaten on New Year's Day outside the Woodshed Bar in Burlington County, N.J., according to the source.

It was one of countless other area clashes between the two clubs since 2002, the source added.

LaFranco could not be reached for comment.

At 6:36 p.m. Saturday, Angels' member Vincent Henrich, 36, of Bloomfield, N.J., "was sitting at the bar minding his own business" when five assailants walked into the Woodshed, on Route 72, in Woodland Township, according to N.J. State Police Lt. Kevin Rehmann.

Law-enforcement sources identified the assailants as Pagans, who confronted Henrich about being in their turf, then used a board and/or walking sticks to beat him on the head outside the taproom.

Henrich was "bleeding so profusely from the head," noted one source, that he was flown by a medi-vac helicopter to Cooper Hospital in Camden, where he was admitted in stable condition.

He was discharged on Wednesday.

Henrich, an Angels member sponsored by the New Roc chapter in New Rochelle, N.Y., had been trying to help at least four Angels prospects, or recruits, open a chapter in Burlington County in the past year, a law-enforcement source said.

But the Angels require at least six members or prospects to open a chapter, the source added.

The Pagans, meantime, opened a chapter in Burlington City about a year ago, and considered the county and all of South Jersey and the Philadelphia area their turf, sources said.

Steven "Gorilla" Mondevergine heads the South Jersey and Philadelphia Pagan chapters, including the Burlington chapter.

He could not be reached for comment.

Only a couple of hours earlier, Henrich had been cautioned by the Warlocks that Pagans stop in the Woodshed, a source said. He dismissed the warning.

Henrich had been meeting with four Warlocks about a business deal about 2 p.m. inside the Woodshed, crowded with New Year's revelers, sources said.

"The Warlocks did not set him up," said a law-enforcement source.

The Woodshed attracts a variety of clientele including biker enthusiasts, but it is not affliated with any one biker club, said Rehmann.

Anyone with information about the incident should call the N.J. State Police at 609-859-2282.

By TIMOTHY APPLEBY UPDATED AT 5:49 PM EST Friday, Jan 7, 2005 A former heavyweight wrestler and biker has been charged in the 1998 double slaying of a Hamilton-area lawyer and her husband.

Jon William (Johnny K-9) Croitoru 41, onetime president of the now-defunct Hamilton chapter of the Satan's Choice biker gang, faces two charges of first-degree murder and two counts of conspiracy in the deaths of Lynn and Fred Gilbank.

A shotgun-wielding intruder killed the Gilbanks, both 52, on Nov. 16, 1998, as they slept in their expensive home in Ancaster, outside Hamilton.

Hamilton-Wentworth police have long believed the execution-style killings were a contract hit and that Mrs. Gilbank was the primary target. Her husband worked as a consultant for IBM. 

The couple's bodies were discovered on the upstairs floor of their home by their 27-year-old son, Mark.

Asked yesterday whether the killings are thought to stem from Mrs. Gilbank's work as a lawyer, Superintendent Ken Bond said, "If that's the road you're going down, I'm not going to question it."

Shortly before the pair was slain, Mrs. Gilbank had helped a drug courier gain immunity and enter Ontario's witness-protection program. The man had been arrested at Toronto's Pearson airport while bringing in cocaine for a Florida-based smuggling network. 

Supt. Bond described the six-year, multimillion-dollar investigation of the couple's slaying as the biggest in the history of the Hamilton force.

"And we are hopeful more arrests will be made."

Mr. Croitoru, a Vancouver resident and former weightlifter who once benched 625 pounds, is no stranger to the limelight.Variously known as Johnny K-9, Bruiser Bedlam, Taras Bulba and the Terrible Turk, his wrestling career spanned the late 1980s and early 1990s. He spent four years with the World Wrestling Federation -- a stint that included a bout with the legendary Hulk Hogan -- and toured Japan. 

Later, he became heavyweight champion of the less famous International Championship Wrestling circuit, based in Cambridge, Ont.

In the mid-1990s, Mr. Croitoru was president of the Hamilton chapter of the Satan's Choice biker gang, many of whose members "patched over" to the Quebec-based Hells Angels four years ago. 

But he was apparently not among the new recruits. He is believed to have been expelled from the Choice two years earlier.

A 10-second outburst of temper cost Phil Boudreault almost nine months of freedom. The former Olympic boxer pleaded guilty Monday to intimidation and threatening to use violence against two veteran Greater Sudbury Police sergeants during a bail hearing April 20, 2004.

BOUDREAULT Boudreault had been arrested after being charged with a violent assault against two men at a Valley East bar and restaurant. A judge will rule Jan. 21 on whether Boudreault is guilty of aggravated assault in that matter.

Boudreault uttered the words “you dead motherf....both of you...witness protection eh? You f..... punks.” One of the officers Boudreault uttered the words to works full time in a special unit focusing on criminal activity involving biker clubs, said assistant Crown attorney Philip Zylberberg. During the bail hearing, Boudreault was wearing a Hells Angels T-shirt and has acknowledged he’s a member of the Sudbury chapter.

Police had approached Boudreault “about ongoing matters” and it was obvious he didn’t want that conversation to continue when he uttered the profanities and threats.

Not only did the two officers hear the words, many other people who were in open court did, and the words were recorded on a tape recording device used in bail court, said Zylberberg.

The words and tone used were uttered in a menacing manner that made both officers feel intimidated and charges were laid. Boudreault has remained in custody at the Sudbury district jail since being charged.
Excerpt from Northern Life