| Hard Times: The winter is harsh on the area's homeless population
After dinner at the shelter, it was time for a house meeting.
The roadways outside had been cleared, mostly. The temperatures had measured a little warmer than they had in recent weeks. People could walk on sidewalks again. But this year's brutal winter still scraped at the 16-17 men and women seated on couches and plastic chairs in the Guadalupe Shelter in north Greeley.
Shelter Coordinator Jesús Flores stood in the middle and delivered the bad news: The supply of bus tokens the shelter doles out to clients was dangerously low.
Bus tokens may sound trivial. The somber faces of the people listening indicated they are not. No bus tokens means walking. Walking means further exposure to a winter that has dropped more than twice the normal amount of snow so far and chilled temperatures to daily highs an average of 20 degrees colder than last year.
Man-made beauty puzzles police
The results of a face-lift can seem miraculous, but patients beware plastic surgery and passports don't always mix. A woman who was returning home after having a face-lift in South Korea left immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong International Airport scratching their heads on Monday as they struggled to match the man-made beauty before them with the picture in her passport. A policeman surnamed Liu stopped the woman because of the obvious difference in her appearance. "Is this really your passport? The woman in the photo is square-faced, but your face is oval-shaped," he said. The woman told Liu that she had traveled to South Korea for a surgical procedure to have her chin built up and her jaw-line reshaped. Liu then telephoned the woman's employer and asked her boss to send him copies of the photos appearing in the woman's work permit.
Dog attack is felony charge for owner under new bill
AUSTIN -- Retired schoolteacher Mary Legorreta, 61, always felt safe carrying an old mop handle to scare dogs away when she walked at a little park just south of her home in Central El Paso. But a brutal attack by two pit bulls in July 2005 scarred her body, drained her savings, and shattered her sense of security. "I felt no pain. I was just so scared," she said. "I felt like I was in the sky and watching myself being attacked." This assault and others similar to it have led state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, and other lawmakers to introduce bills that would toughen penalties on owners who fail to control their dogs. "New laws come from real life," Shapleigh said through his spokesman Anthony Martinez. "When a pack of pit bulls almost kills a wonderful lady in El Paso, we need to protect her and others so it doesn't happen again." After Legorreta tapped her stick on the ground to scare away the two pit bulls, they came running after her.
Noted Plastic Surgeon Sees Rising Trend in Body Contouring Surgery Among Weight-loss Surgery Patients
Oak Park, Ill. plastic surgeon and author Allan Parungao, MD, notes the rising trend in body contouring or skin reduction surgery among people who have lost a massive amount of weight -- a 22% increase from 2004 to 2005 alone. With more than 100,000 Americans undergoing gastric bypass and lap-band surgery each year, many are finding that their skin simply can't keep up with their rapid weight loss. Body contouring surgery frees these men and women of up to 100 pounds of loose, hanging skin and lets them enjoy a normal appearance. .
Rhyl facelift forges ahead
A major development to regenerate Rhyl's historic seafront has taken another step forward as a .£1.4 million revamp of the harbour has got underway. News that the Foryd Harbour construction has begun comes as the .£3.8 million transformation of Rhyl's promenade nears completion allowing visitors to walk around seven themed gardens of the Drift Park. It is hoped the development, part of the Rhyl Going Forward project, will revitalise one of the most deprived areas in Wales creating jobs and attracting new businesses into the area. The work on the harbour, which is being carried out by Daniel Contractors Ltd of Colwyn Bay, will see a new road constructed in front of the May Quay public house to the former timber yard, repairs to the timber yard quay wall, the creation of a secure boat storage area with wash down facilities, and a new cycle route link.
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