Nanny Cam caper captures cruel Canton caretaker -Cherokee County Collars

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/cherokee/stories/2007/12/28/nannycam_1229.html

'Nanny cam' catches woman beating Canton toddler

By KAREN ROSEN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/28/07

A 23-year-old Rockmart woman was charged with cruelty to children in the first degree after parents of a 13-month old Canton boy filmed her with a "nanny cam."

The Cherokee County Sheriff's detectives arrested her Thursday.

Cherokee County Sheriff's Office

Constance Smith

In one hour of footage, Constance Smith was shown slapping the child in the face, pushing him to the ground and pinching him on the leg.

Sam Yaun, the boy's father, disguised the camera and microphone in a pair of speakers atop the television set in the living room. After viewing the video, he said, "I felt like throwing up. I felt sick. And my wife was hysterical."

Smith had been caring for the boy three days a week since September. She was released from the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center Thursday night on a $22,000 bond.

"We're pretty traumatized by the whole thing," Yaun said. "You can't trust anybody."

Yaun said he and his wife, Jessica, became suspicious because their son was "clingy" when she left the house in the morning.

All of his toys that made noise were turned off and a blanket he loved was left in the crib. They didn't notice any marks on his body, although after seeing the video they saw a bruise on his thigh.

Yaun, who works for a home theater company, said he encourages all parents with nannies or babysitters to set up a hidden camera.

"This is the first time we recorded her and it was for one hour, and that's what we got," Yaun said, "so I just hate to think what she may have been doing that we didn't know and we'll never know."

The Yauns had found Smith on a website.

"Her resume was awesome," Yaun said. "She had supposedly taken care of autistic children, Down syndrome children, hyperactive children."

He said they did a background check and checked three references who all gave Smith high marks.

"I feel like we covered our bases and were really careful about who we let into our house to care for our child," Yaun said. "The fact it's turned out this way is disheartening."

Yaun said that before his wife became suspicious, she wanted him to install a hidden camera "just out of curiosity" to see how Smith interacted with the child.

"I didn't do it," he said. "I told her that I felt really confident with her. It seemed like my son really liked her. I felt like we would be spying on her and didn't feel she deserved that."

Yaun said the video would not be released.

So buy a nanny cam/hidden camera and save a child.

Near the beach,.. and Rats with wings???

Went down to the beach and the truck gets checked out

This seagull walked along the bed rail checking out everything in the bed of the truck.

One pigeon jumps onto the mirror, I asked the pigeon what it wanted and it just cocked it's head, I told it, you want something? just come on in, and it did! Another took it's place on the mirror. How bold can these rats get?

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Pacific Dunes RV resort, close to the Pacific Ocean and right on Pismo Dunes National Preserve

On the Coast.. In the Redwoods..

Stayed at River Grove RV just outside Santa Cruz, Ca. the last two weeks.


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The trees made it very shady for most of the day, I get some early morning sun light like this and a little in the late afternoon. It's very calm and quiet here, the San Lorenzo River is just steps away and Henry Cowell State Park surrounds the RV park.

Under the giant Redwoods

I made several daytrips, I spent a day in Santa Cruz, then the next day drove to Monterey and had dinner. I stopped several places around the bay and checked out the sights, like the Pacific Ocean crashing beaches in front of the oncoming storm. (It rained for 16 hours the next day.)

Monterey Bay in the fog/smog from an overlook on Highway 1

We traveled down to Gilroy, an experience everyone should have, (home of garlic ice cream) and the World Famous Garlic Festival.

On the way back from Gilroy, and passing through the south part of San Jose, I spotted "City Diner-The Fabulous Fiftys" off in the corner of a mall, since it was about seven in the evening, I decided to stop. Glad I did, the chicken fried steak is the best I've had since the Mt. Air cafe in Park City, Ut. The potion was a little small for the price (everything is more expensive in California) but the taste and tenderness was right on. It was covered with pepper base country gravy instead of sausage gravy, but had real mashed potatoes on the side. Score this place a "10" I think it's the best score I've ever given since the Mt. Air.

P.S. Despite the name of the blog, I only get CFS about once a month, I've had so many bad ones, I always hesitate to order, since it ruins my tastebuds for a couple of months.

Delta Dawn, whats that flower.... Oh Delta Shores aka "on an island"

Stayed at Delta Shores RV resort for 2 weeks, Delta Shores is a flower in the center of California, with potlucks and ice cream socials every weekend, it's on Brannon Isle in the Delta area of the Sacramento River. Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, and Stockton are within an easy days drive back and forth (daytrip.) I had a Thanksgiving in nearby Rio Vista, at the Moose Lodge and another on Saturday at the Delta Shores Park. The breeze is usually warm and moist, it's nice and cool at night (50F) and 65F to 70F during the day.

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Unbeknownst to most RV'ers, Delta Shores is a K/M resort, so K/M members only pay two dollars a night here for full hookups. Coast to Coast people pay $8. It's a benefit of having a camping membership.

On checking in, I met one of the McLoeds, I forget which one, not Doug, maybe Kevin, (I've become terrible with names since I don't write them down anymore.) He was cool, we discussed Neskowin Creek resort in Oregon (another K/M resort) and Two Springs resort, (he invited me over since I was going to stay at CatSpa again.)

We went on several daytrips in the area, one was to the Sacramento LDS Temple and one to the Oakland LDS Temple.

Evening Christmas Lights 2007-Oakland

Ready for Christmas-Oakland Temple

No more maps- How neat is that?

As I travel around the country, my dash was covered with maps, The Next Exit book and countless guidebooks...... I had my computer in the back seat, ready to put on the pedestal, (it takes up passenger space-duh). I've had Microsoft Streets and Trips, and Delorme Mapping Software.............. NOT ANY MORE!!
I broke down and bought a Personal Travel Assistant-known to some as a GPS, but it's so much more than a GPS, it certainly uses GPS technology. After much research, I went with one of the big names, Garmin, and got the Nuvi 350, looked like the best value for the price and it came with the latest maps.
So you enter an address and follow the voice prompts-easy, even gives street names.

You want to know where the nearest fuel is? Press Menu on the Map screen, and come up with the following screen. Press Where to? and you get to pick Fuel, Lodging (even RV parks), Food, Favorites (custom entries) or have the unit do a search for a name or partial name. Put in GMC and it'll find GMC dealers, showing closest first, how many miles away and direction with arrows, same with Rest Areas, RV dumps, and Walmarts.
You get hungry on the road?, Press Menu, Where to? and Food and choose a food style, from All foods, Barbeque and Chinese to Fast Foods, Italian, Mexican, Seafood, Steaks/Grill and Chicken Fried Steaks.

It'll quickly show the direction and distance to each and then ask if you want to add it to the route. My dash is cleared, I can't believe how useful this PTA is, replacing all the junk.

Safety Alert!! Corporate Liability?? Walmart..........

I got some Michelin 265/75/16 (E) tires at Walmart, after all, they have the best price. After a couple of months, I happened to go to a real tire dealer getting my heavy trailer on new 3750# rims. He took one look at the trucks rear tires and said "you carrying that 16k trailer on those tires?" I said I was going to, and he said well you have low pressure valve stems in the rims, and he had seen the low pressure valve stems blow out under 80 psi and a heavy load. I of course went Whaaaaaaaa.... He showed me the difference between the low pressure and high pressure valve stems. It seems the low pressure stems handle up to 65 psi, and the high pressure stems up to 120 psi.
I went to the Walmart that installed the tires and complained....they had no clue..... they said "thats the only valve stems we stock"(TR413)....I wander around in a daze looking at the stacks of E rated tires with 80psi and 95 psi and just wondering about the liability of it all, (now that I informed them)...

Anyway, I got some high pressure valve stems (TR600HP) on Walmarts' dollar and they mounted and balanced them again for me, putting the HP valve stems in.

Seems like it's happened all over as the following article describes..

Many "calls have come into the International Tire & Rubber Association (ITRA) from commercial light truck owners complaining of a sudden loss of air in their tires, sometimes at high speeds. One major problem we found is that these individuals were using the wrong valve stems."

Above from Tire Review...
Link to Tire Review Article



TR413, all rubber/EDPM stem. Marked on the bottom/inside part of valve stem.






TR600HP, metal tire stem/EDPM base

TR800HP-TR802HP are longer tire stems, or bent longer stems for dually trucks.

Photos

I'm really sorry, I tried to upload my photos and the computer I was using began doing strange things to my compact flash card, now the photos can't be accessed. I'm working on the card, but am not holding out much hope for the photo's to be recovered. I had some of the International Kite Fest that I promised and a few signs along the way.

We retreated from Chinook and went down to Neskowin Creek for a while, just above Lincoln City, Oregon. There are five used book stores in Lincoln City, I added a few to my Laurell K. Hamilton collection and finished up a Janet Evanovich collection for my mother.

So the rig is now in NorthBend/Coos Bay at my uncles, full hookups 1.5 miles from the ocean and free, ( less the occasional buying a dinner). My mother and I traveled to Hagerman, Idaho to winterize her house and pick up her car. It seems she will spend the winter in North Bend or perhaps on the road with me. I'm going to travel around Washington State for a month, then journey down to Quartzsite, stopping at Delta Shores near Isleton, Ca., River Grove near Santa Cruz, Ca. and Catspa near Desert Hot Springs, Ca. First of the year I'll be back in Quartzsite, Az. keeping warm and NOT SHOVELING SNOW, not worrying about the cold, the flu or slipping and getting hurt. Although I will miss that great Event, the Sundance Film Festival,"snort". I'm still trying for some photos as I think many times a "picture can say a thousand words." I'll leave a short video on a shoplifter in Aberdeen. :Video:

Wow.... IQuad kite team

If you ever want to see magic in the air (or indoors) you should check out the IQuad kite flying team. I am currently in Chinook/Ilwaco/Long Beach, Washington attending the International Kite Festival once again. Seems I enjoy the weather, the colors and the area a lot. Back to the story, I watched the team last night fly LED lighted kites, in a magical dance of beauty, passion and rhythm. It was truly awe inspiring, and no way to get pictures of these fast moving marvels. Dancing in the sky appeared simple, from old fashioned starbursts to playing tag and follow the leader, the kites took on a life of their own. I highly recommend anyone within reach of a kite festival to attend and watch these highly skilled pilots. They even fly indoors, without wind, to the delight of grownups and children alike.

I will be posting some kite photos again soon.

I don't want to be...

an organizational terrorist, but......

Reading through a RV trade digest offered me insight on Park City Municipal Corporation. I'm glad to know PCMC is ahead of the curve here. Also note the turnover rate near the end of the article.

http://www.rvtradedigest.com/interactive/2007/08/07/in-the-new-corporate-america-how-much-is-enough/

The article is "on-point" to say the least....

Woman fends off her attacker with pepper spray

Out of Chicago area, a woman fends off a sexual assault/rape attack with a keychain pepper spray.

Personally I don't think the keychain pepper spray has enough spray to be effective for very long, but it sure makes it handy. This video shows the woman to be "heads up" and actually have the pepper spray in her hand, even though she didn't see the attack coming. Good job on someones part on preparing this non-victim.

Video-NBC in Chicago

In memoriam

Zen Blend

I found and downed my last bottle of Zen Blend the other day, this concoction was made by SOBE in the early 2000's. Originally Zen Blend was billed as a triple ginseng tea blend with schizandra. The bottle ingredient label reveals it contains Panax Ginseng (50 mg.), siberian ginseng (100mg), American ginseng (50mg), and schizandra (100mg) with 100% RDA Vitamin C.

Other ingredients included grape juice, tea solids, high fructose corn syrup and filtered water. At only 250 calories per 20 ounce bottle it was a treat.

It started getting harder and harder to find, after talking to a SOBE rep, he said rumors were going around about ginseng overdose from people drinking too much. No word yet from SOBE on that one.

The current Zen Tea reminds me of "red zinger" more than the Zen Blend of yesteryear and of course doesn't have the kick it used to have.

Another writers' comments here.


REST in PEACE

Got bit because I didn't have my "bear repellent?"

http://www.sungazette.com/outdoors/articles.asp?articleID=19842

Grizzly attacks, seriously wounds husband of former Montgomery Borough resident

By ERIC LONG elong@sungazette.com

A man with connections to Montgomery was seriously wounded, but is recovering from, an attack by a grizzly bear on June 13.

Dennis Van Denbos, 54, of Lander, Wyo., is married to Paula McCormick, a former Montgomery resident. He is the son-in-law of Delmar and Marion McCormick of Allenwood.

Van Denbos is a high school science and physical education teacher in Lander and was attending an educators’ conference at the lodge near where he was attacked.

While taking an early morning walk at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, Van Denbos suddenly found himself in the worst possible position — far too close to a sow grizzly and her cubs. The bear attacked, biting Van Denbos on his buttocks and back.

Now recovering from his wounds, he said he is lucky to be alive.

Contacted at his home by telephone last week, Van Denbos said the bear that attacked him was estimated at 350 pounds — small by grizzly standards, but still big enough to be deadly.

“I walked down a road close to the cabins at about 6 a.m.,” he said. “They call it the Wagon Road and it goes through a little draw and up to a bluff.”

On the way out, he saw a cow and calf moose and some elk as well. But, when he decided to come back the same way, his outing took a dramatic change for the worse.

“It was time for me to get back, so I turned around to head back up the road and saw a cow elk in the sagebrush running and acting erratically,” he said. “It ran down back at me and stopped and moved off to my right.”

When he turned again to head back to the lodge, Van Denbos suddenly found himself about 10 feet away from the sow grizzly, which was charging at him.

“I knew this was a really bad situation,” he said grimly.

“The attack was three bites. She came at me and decided not to take me. I was yelling and she moved to the side a little, then I dove to the side of the road away from her, pulled my arms up underneath me and she bit me in the back.”

He told the Wood River Journal, a Hailey, Idaho, newspaper that he was not thinking about pain during the attack but felt the power of the bites.

The two other bites followed while he played dead. Van Denbos said he was not aware how long the attack lasted.

People from nearby cabins, which were only 40 feet away, heard him yelling and also began yelling in an effort to distract the bear.

Van Denbos was rescued by Amy Gray, a recent high school graduate, who was driving a chuckwagon pickup truck up the road. She was on her way to cook breakfast for a horseback trail ride.

When Gray saw the bears, she slammed on the brakes of her truck, scaring the bears away from Van Denbos.

“I got up and walked to the truck and they said, ’Are you OK?’ ” Van Denbos said.

He got into the truck and immediately was attended to by a doctor from Montana who happened to be there.

Van Denbos was taken to St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson and later transferred to a hospital in Lander. He underwent surgery and now is recovering at home, although he still must receive regular treatments at the hospital to clean out the wounds he suffered.

The attack was the first bear attack in the Grand Teton since 2001. No action has been taken against the bear by wildlife officials and Van Denbos said he is not angry at the bear.

“She was just trying to make a living and raise a family,” he said. “She has gotten used to people and a lot of people have photos of her.”

Park officials have closed roads and trails off in that area as a precaution.

Van Denbos said he normally would have had bear repellent, which actually is a strong mace pepper spray, but did not on that occasion.

“I will definitely be carrying bear spray with me in bear country from now on,” he said.

Section: Posted: 7/1/2007

HOT days and hot nights

Ok, so I trip down to Salt Lake to clean out my storage shed, and the weather is unseasonably HOT, Damn HOT. I'm standing in the shed at noon, feeling heat from all sides, it's a real oven, I should just bring my panini for lunch and crisp it a little. This is almost a repeat from last year, cleaning out the condo, a bit more dust and heat here. So far , about 40 boxes/bags to Deseret Industries, five to Salt Lake County Library, and about 25 to trash. I'm about 2/3 done as I write this.

Anyway, I should be around until the first week of July, then up to Wyoming to see if it's any cooler up there. Third week of August is the International Kite Festival in Washington State, I'll probably head up there again and down the Oregon Coast in September. I think I'll stay on the West Coast this year. (unless something comes up :o))

Pepper Spray/Bear Spray WORKS

Here is another reason to have a canister of Pepper Spray around.

Only if the original link goes down, the article is reprinted in full below.

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2007/06/14/features/open_spaces/530d85f1a47cfbf0872572f900544af9.txt

Jackson Hole Star Tribune/June 14, 2007

Bear spray can save your life

By BRODIE FARQUHAR
Casper Star-Tribune correspondent

[oas:jacksonholestartrib.com/features:Middle]

As a visitor to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, you're naturally curious about bears. You'd like to see bears, but not up close and personal -- that's more than a little scary -- especially after a Montana photographer recently got mauled in Yellowstone.

You'd like to do some hiking in and around Yellowstone, ranging from maybe half an hour's walk to a full day. Maybe you're more ambitious and plan on a backpacking trip.

You've heard that pepper spray is a good deterrent to bears, both black and grizzly. Heck, you already have a little key-chain canister of mace or pepper spray, so you're good to go, right?

Wrong.

A charging grizzly bear is not the same thing as a mugger on a street corner, or even a charging pit bull. A grizzly bear can weigh up to 1,000 pounds and outrun an Olympic sprinter, so you need a "bear" pepper spray deterrent that's up to the job.

The Sierra Club Grizzly Bear Project's Monica Fella said to make sure that the canister:

* Says the product is made for stopping or preventing bear attacks.

* Contains at least 7.9 ounces of spray.

* Contains 1-2 percent capsaicin/capsaicinoids.

* Can spray a minimum of 25 feet.

* Has a minimum spray duration of 6 seconds, and is EPA registered.

* Is immediately at hand in a belt or chest holster. It doesn't do any good in a knapsack.

Canisters smaller than this may not last long enough or spray far enough to stop a bear's charge.

Fella said she worries that visitors to bear country might rationalize the purchase of smaller canisters, when shopping for pepper spray.

"You really need the bigger canister," she said.

Unlike a gun, bear pepper spray does not have to be aimed precisely to stop a charging bear. The bear pepper spray makes a hanging fog in the air, and when the spray hits the bear, or visa versa, it causes immediate irritation in the eyes, nose, mouth, throat and lungs, temporarily disabling the bear. According to experts, there is no better way to stop an attack by an aggressive grizzly.

University of Calgary grizzly bear expert Stephen Herrero analyzed dozens of human-bear encounters and found bear pepper spray to be 94 percent effective in deterring aggressive bears.

Of course, bear pepper spray is not a substitute for staying alert and taking basic precautions. In the backcountry, hikers should exercise good judgment and follow recommended safety procedures, such as making noise and traveling in a group.

Bear pepper spray should only be used if you are charged by a bear. Point the canister toward the charging bear, slightly downward, and if possible, spray before the bear is within 30-40 feet. Do not use bear pepper spray to harass or chase animals out of your yard. Call your local wildlife management agency to assist you.

Fella said the Sierra Club is working with Idaho and Montana wildlife agencies to offer practice sessions with inert (no active ingredients) canisters of spray. Wyoming has long offered such practice sessions.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department allows people to practice spraying inert training canisters at the annual Hunting and Fishing Heritage Expo and offers demonstrations for community groups by special request. Mark Bruscino, leader of the department's bear team, said you don't want to practice with real bear pepper spray, because mistakes can be extremely unpleasant.

"We offer chances to practice at all our workshops," Bruscino said. Game wardens play the role of a charging grizzly bear. "Of course, that's when we really want to make sure that they're using an inert can," Bruscino said.

Gary Clutter, a big game hunter from Bozeman, had a face-to-face encounter with a grizzly while hunting a few years ago, and says bear spray saved him from a dire situation.

"I caught the bear (with bear pepper spray) full in the face when it was four feet away. It was like it hit a wall. The grizzly turned and ran so fast toward her cub she ran over it," Clutter said. "Then, cub and sow were gone. This worked exactly the way it was designed to work. The bears didn't die and all I'm out is a can of bear pepper spray."

Stop and smell the ...

Roses



As I said in my June 16th, 2006 blog, sometimes we find the most beautiful things in our own backyard. The shots are from my mothers yard in Idaho.











These roses are called "Josephs Coat." The roses go through at least four distinct color changes and many shades in between.


Hint: Click on the photo and view it "full size"

CatSpa

Catalina Spa and RV park for those "in the know." A wonderful place, not too far from Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs. Luxurious spas with hot tubs and warm pools, quiet neighbors and little fellows.


The hummingbirds and other birds in the area eat all the bugs, like this one is. I stayed for a week and could have stayed longer. My total cost for the weeks stay? $56 including water, electric, sewer and wifi. This is one of the best places I've stayed at, even if it was in California.

A year?

Theres been a lot of changes I see. Still can't get the stop lights right?

Has it really been that long? Well howdy all, it's been a year since I left Park City. I hear people have left both the city and the county. Most likely because of the people in power and the work conditions. Seems there is no trust in law enforcement these days. It's a damn shame when cops are treated as suspects for internal matters. Nuf said on that subject. Thanks to all that correspond, it's fun hearing about the shit and not having to play the game. Anyone else retire, isn't it about time? I'm having the time of my life. I've driven around the US once, so far. I plan on doing it again, visiting more places, meeting more friends. Canada is not for this year, but next year. Passports are getting here slowly. Y'all can leave a message for me here in the comments or email me directly. :o) Best of luck and stay safe!!

I figured I'd just post this picture for the hell of it.
I don't have to worry about my friends either, or what we do.

I cringe

Every time I see someone hauling a car with the 1 inch ATV straps on it. I found this in Southern California, behind you can see the Fraizer Park Chevron just off I-5. I think his tongue weight is too high. Why don't the damn brakes work on this Humvee? It's not the acceleration that gets you, it's the braking.

Movin on..

This is my site in Quartzsite, AZ since December 27.
I'm moving on today and heading to the West Coast,
up the coast ending up in Oregon in April or so.
I'm trying to make it to Canada this summer.
I may hit some RV rallies in the US, but I stocked up
on RV items here and made many upgrades to both
the truck and the fifth-wheel, from AGM batteries
and new trailer rims to a lift pump/pre filter on the truck.

Wonderful views of ....

Saguaro Cactus, Chaparral, Palo Verde and
mountains with weird sounding names like Harquahala

I saw this T-shirt ....

and immediately thought of Leo Witt, what do you think?

Pepper Spray

Here is some more reasons everyone should carry pepper spray.

Police Chief said "Mace more effective than a gun"


Woman fends off attacker with pepper spray

Woman fends off feral dogs with pepper spray

Students find ways to protect themselves