Tag Archives: Mother’s Day

Oregon man charged with decapitating mom on Mother’s Day

(Reuters) – A blood-covered man carrying the severed head of his mother and a knife, walked into an Oregon grocery store on Mother’s Day and stabbed a clerk before being subdued, local law enforcement officials said.

Joshua Lee Webb, 36, faces charges of murder in the death of his mother, Tina Marie Webb, 59, and attempted murder for the attack on the clerk, Michael Wagner, who was recovering from his wounds in a hospital, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department.

Webb is being held in the Clackamas County Jail, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement on Monday.

Customers fled the Estacada Harvest Market Thriftway in Estacada, Oregon on Sunday morning and called police after Webb entered carrying the head, according to local press reports.

After Wagner, 66, was stabbed, he and other store employees subdued Webb and held him until police arrived, the Sheriff’s Department said.

At about the same time, police said they also responded to a call at the Webb home in Colton, about 12 miles away, where they found Webb’s mother dead. Webb lived with his parents, they said.

Police did not provide any details on what led to Tina Marie Webb’s murder. It was not immediately possible to contact Webb or identify an attorney representing him.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)

Roads blocked round Venezuela as anti-Maduro protests persist

By Andrew Cawthorne

CARACAS (Reuters) – Manning barricades, sitting in deck chairs and sharing food, opposition supporters blocked roads in various parts of Venezuela on Monday to try to keep pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Demonstrators have been on the streets daily since early April to demand elections, freedom for jailed activists, foreign humanitarian aid to offset Venezuela’s economic crisis, and autonomy for the opposition-controlled legislature.

Maduro accuses them of seeking a violent coup.

Protesters have used constantly varying tactics. Some rode horses through Caracas on Saturday, women took letters and flowers to police and military posts on Sunday’s Mother’s Day, and hundreds were joining planned daylong sit-ins from 7 a.m. on Monday.

“I’m here for the full 12 hours. And I’ll be back every day there’s a protest, for as long as is necessary,” said human resources worker Anelin Rojas, 30, sitting cross-legged with a novel and earphones in the middle of Caracas’ main highway.

“Unfortunately, we are up against a dictatorship. Nothing is going to change unless we force them,” added Rojas, surrounded by banners saying “Resistance!” and “Maduro, Your Time Is Up!”

Using branches, rocks and garbage, demonstrators blocked the main Francisco Fajardo thoroughfare in Caracas from soon after dawn. Many brought chairs, mats and food to last the day.

There were similar protests in other major cities around the South American nation of 30 million people.

In western Tachira state, some farmers were striking on Monday in solidarity with the protesters. They gave away milk and cheese so it would not go to waste, witnesses said.

The opposition, which commands majority support after years in the shadow of the ruling socialists, is more united than during the last wave of anti-Maduro protests in 2014.

But they have been unable to stop violence in their ranks, with youths hurling stones and petrol bombs, vandalizing property and starting fires when security forces block marches with tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

At least 39 people have died, including protesters, government sympathizers, bystanders, and security forces, during six weeks of protests. Hundreds have also been hurt and arrested.

The current wave of protests, which have attracted hundreds of thousands of demonstrators on some days, has drawn greater support from the poor – who backed late leader Hugo Chavez massively but have soured on his successor Maduro and who have suffered most from four years of recession. But the main protests have still been taking place in middle class areas.

Maduro, 54, who narrowly won election to replace Chavez in 2013, says he is the victim of an international right-wing conspiracy that has already brought down leftist governments in Brazil, Argentina and Peru in recent years.

As international pressure on him grows, the European Union on Monday became the latest to call for elections in its most outspoken statement yet on the Venezuela crisis.

Authorities thwarted an opposition push for a referendum last year and have also delayed state gubernatorial elections. But Maduro vowed at the weekend the next presidential election, due in late 2018, would go ahead.

“We will thrash them!” he predicted, though pollsters widely foresee defeat for the ruling Socialist Party at any open vote.

The government is also setting up a controversial body called a constituent assembly, with authority to rewrite the constitution and shake up public powers.

Maduro says that is needed to bring peace to Venezuela, but foes view it as a cynical tactic to buy time and create a biased body that could perpetuate the socialists’ rule.

(Additional reporting by Anggy Polanco in San Cristobal, Maria Ramirez in Ciudad Bolivar; Robin Emmott in Brussels; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Happy Mother’s Day To Our Mom…Lori Bakker

Proverbs 31:28, 29 (NIV) 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

Dear Mom,

Years ago, God fulfilled a dream for all of us by bringing you into our lives!  You have always gone above and beyond as a mother and have never wavered for what God wanted for us. We know it has been hard for you sometimes.  You have held our hands when we were hurting, and rejoiced when we were happy. We appreciate so much how you have always strived to do your best as well as knowing when to be loving and when to be firm.   You never compromised when you knew what you felt was the right thing to do and stood strong through every struggle, always ready to share your wisdom.  When we have struggled, it has been your prayers that lifted us up and helped us move forward.  Most important of all, you have loved us, each of us…unconditionally. In so many ways you have shown us how special we are to your heart. Continue reading →