Month: December 2012

Shooter’s Persona Drew Concern at School
By TAMARA AUDI, ANTON TROIANOVSKI and JOSH DAWSEY

Not long into his freshman year, Adam Lanza caught the attention of Newtown High School staff members, who assigned him a high-school psychologist, while teachers, counselors and security officers helped monitor the skinny, socially awkward teen, according to a former school official.

Their fear wasn’t that he was dangerous. “It was completely the opposite,” said Richard J. Novia, the director of security at Newtown School District at the time in 2007. “At that point in his life, he posed no threat to anyone else. We were worried about him being the victim or that he could hurt himself.”

Long before Mr. Lanza allegedly killed his mother and then blasted his way into a Connecticut elementary school on a rampage that left 27 dead, authorities were concerned about a young man who was unusually withdrawn and socially maladroit. The scrawny teenager with a mop of brown hair evoked feelings of sympathy, not fear, from teachers and the few classmates who even noticed him.

https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324677204578183910797348422.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

 

 

( Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images)

Newtown tragedy could put mental health in spotlight
Liz Szabo, USA TODAY12:05a.m. EST December 17, 2012

Could the nation’s mental health services be improved in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting?

Families and doctors who treat the mentally ill say they hope that Friday’s tragedy in Newtown, Conn., will refocus the nation’s attention on improving mental health services.

Police have not yet released details about the motives or mental state of shooter Adam Lanza. But the perpetrators of similar mass murders — at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University and a Tucson gathering for Rep. Gabby Giffords, for example — all suffered from serious mental health conditions.

“We wait for things like this to happen and then everyone talks about mental health,” says Priscilla Dass-Brailsford, an associate professor of psychology in the psychiatry department at Georgetown University Medical Center. “But they quickly forget.”

There are hundreds of multiple-casualty shootings every year, says forensic psychologist Dewey Cornell, director of the Virginia Youth Violence Project. People have become so desensitized to the horror, however

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/16/newtown-mental-health/1773479/

Religious services in North Jersey focus on the tragedy in Connecticut
Sunday December 16, 2012, 7:19 PM
BY  LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER
The Record

RIDGEWOOD —It was Guadete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent in the Christian faith. It’s considered a day of rejoicing, so much so that Roman Catholic priests have the option of wearing rose-colored vestments.

But the Rev. Thomas Quinn began the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Ridgewood by explaining he was wearing purple, not the rose vestments signifying joy, because of the tragedy in Connecticut.

He dedicated most of his homily to the Newtown murders, in part talking about the difficulty he himself has had in coming to grips with the inexplicable event — including the death of the first graders.

“We know in our Christian faith that these children are in heaven,” Quinn said. “As we pray for their families … we can also pray to [the child victims].”

https://www.northjersey.com/community/religion/Religious_services_in_North_Jersey_focus_on_the_tradegy_in_Connecticut.html

Santa’s Little Helper Coleman wins 2nd Annual Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital’s Favorite Pets Calendar Contest

Ridgewood NJ,The 2nd Annual Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital’s Favorite Pets Calendar Contest has officially ended. Thank you to everyone who participated.

It was a really fun contest with beautiful pictures. The First Place winner is: Santa’s Little Helper Coleman with 206 “likes” Santa’s Little Helper has won the front of the calendar in addition to a $250 Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital Gift Certificate.

The Second Place winner is: Nuzzle & Barlow Cerf-Novo with 167 “likes”. The following pets have also won and will be featured in our calendar. Sasha Williams, Piaget & Dino Vojack, Millie Esposito, Mushy Moo, Braxton Smith, Groo & Grux Finn, Rory & Tuxedo Williams, Maggie Maffetone, Bella DeGroot & Sienna Jensen.

NBC Reports Lanza denied gun purchase
December 15,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, NBC’s Pete Williams has reported that, according to federal and state officials, there were four handguns found at the scene of the Connecticut school shooting, instead of two as previously thought.

Adam Lanza also had an assault-style rifle that he reportedly left in his car. Williams also told the Today audience that on Tuesday of this week, December 11, Lanza attempted to purchase another rifle from a sporting goods store in Danbury, Connecticut, but was denied.

According to Williams, Lanza was unable to buy the rifle for several reasons, one of which was Connecticut’s stricter gun laws which mandate a waiting period.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/reports-lanza-attempted-to-buy-rifle-days-before-shooting-was-denied/

 

Smart TVs can spy on their owners
Published: 15 December, 2012, 01:11

Viewers, beware: while you’re watching TV, your TV might be watching you back. A security firm discovered that Samsung’s Smart TV can give hackers access to the device’s built-in camera and microphones, allowing them to watch everything you do.

The Malta-based firm ReVuln posted a video showing its team of researchers hacking into one of the Samsung TVs and accessing its settings, channel lists, widgets, USB drives, and remote control configurations. The security flaw allows hackers to access any and all personal data stored on the TV.

https://rt.com/usa/news/smart-tv-security-access-092

Police look for answers as Connecticut town mourns victims of deadly shooting

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2012 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY DECEMBER 16, 2012, 12:36 AM
BY JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN AND MATT APUZZO

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Investigators tried to figure out what led a bright but painfully awkward 20-year-old to slaughter 26 children and adults at a Connecticut elementary school, while townspeople sadly took down some of their Christmas decorations and struggled Saturday with how to go on.

The Town of Newtown is an upscale municipality of about 27,500 people. It covers 60 square miles in a mostly rural area of northern Fairfield County. Sitting about 65 miles northwest of New York City and just to the east of Danbury, it has about the same number of people as Paramus, but is about six times the size. More than half the adults in Newtown have college degrees, and nearly half the households are families with children. Here are the demographics of the town, according to the U.S. Census Bureau:

The tragedy brought forth soul-searching and grief around the globe. Families as far away as Puerto Rico began to plan funerals for victims who still had their baby teeth, world leaders extended condolences, and vigils were held around the U.S.

Relatives of the shooter, whose victims included his mother, were at a loss for words.

“The whole family is traumatized by this event,” said a police official who knows the family. A family statement read: “We reach out to the community of Newtown and express our heartfelt sorrow for this incomprehensible and profound loss of innocence.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/Police_look_for_answers_as_town_mourns_for_victims_of_deadly_school_shooting.html

 

Family, friends remember the brave, caring legacy of Sandy Hook teacher Vicki Soto, 27

Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade teacher Vicki Soto tried to shield her students from the maniacal shooter. ‘She put herself between the gunman and her students,’ her cousin Jim Wiltsie told the Daily News.

BY KERRY WILLS , HENRICK KAROLISZYN AND CORKY SIEMASZKO / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2012, 1:45 PM
UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2012, 11:09 PM

She took a bullet for her kids.

Teacher Victoria Soto used her body to shield her students from the maniacal gunman who launched a massacre at a Connecticut school, relatives said Saturday.

Soto paid for her bravery with her life. But in doing so, the 27-year-old may have saved her first-graders from the murderous wrath of Adam Lanza — and became a hero.

“The family received information she was found shielding her students in a closet,” Soto’s cousin Jim Wiltsie told the Daily News. “She put herself between the gunman and her students.”

Wiltsie said police told the family of Soto’s bravery at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“I’m very proud to report she was a hero,” said Wiltsie, who is a police officer in Fairfield, Conn. “I would expect nothing less from Vicki. Instinctively her training kicked in. She did what she was trained to do, but also what her heart told her to do.”

Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/newtown-teacher-vicki-soto-remembered-article-1.1221004#ixzz2FDcadpe

Attorney General Secretly Granted Gov. Ability to Develop and Store Dossiers on Innocent Americans

In a secret government agreement granted without approval or debate from lawmakers, the U.S. attorney general recently gave the National Counterterrorism Center sweeping new powers to store dossiers on U.S. citizens, even if they are not suspected of a crime, according to a news report.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Eric Holder granted the center the ability to copy entire government databases holding information on flight records, casino-employee lists, the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students and other data, and to store it for up to five years, even without suspicion that someone in the database has committed a crime, according to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story.

Whereas previously the law prohibited the center from storing data compilations on U.S. citizens unless they were suspected of terrorist activity or were relevant to an ongoing terrorism investigation, the new powers give the center the ability to not only collect and store vast databases of information but also to trawl through and analyze it for suspicious patterns of behavior in order to uncover activity that could launch an investigation.

The changes granted by Holder would also allow databases containing information about U.S. citizens to be shared with foreign governments for their own analysis.

https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/12/gov-dossiers-on-us-citizens/

NJ schools vulnerable, even with tough safety standards
Friday December 14, 2012, 11:44 PM
BY PATRICIA ALEX
STAFF WRITER
The Record

New Jersey is thought to have some of the most aggressive school safety measures in the nation — including twice-monthly mandated emergency drills — but even the most prepared and vigilant couldn’t help feeling shaken after Friday’s school shooting in Connecticut.

“I can assure you that in Wayne as well as in other districts this will spur discussion of what more can be done,” said Ray Gonzalez, the township’s schools superintendent. “We can’t put a bulletproof glass bubble around the schools. The reality is we have to stay vigilant and keep looking at ways to improve.”

In Fort Lee, police were at the schools when they let out on Friday, Lt. Patrick Kissane said, to give worried parents and students an added sense of security. In Ridgewood, Schools Superintendent Daniel Fishbein assured parents in a note sent via email Friday afternoon that the police will increase their presence around the schools in the short term.

“Acts of insanity like this are not always preventable, but we do all we can to make our children safe,” he wrote, adding counselors will be available at the schools on Monday.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/NJ_schools_vulnerable_even_with_tough_safety_standards.html

file photo Boyd Loving

Survey launched to aid N.J. businesses impacted by Sandy

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012, 5:13 PM
BY ANTHONY CAMPISI
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
THE RECORD

Governor Christie announced the launch of a new survey Friday that he said would aid state officials in tailoring a response to businesses impacted by superstorm Sandy.

Volunteers will be fanning out over the weekend in storm-ravaged communities across the state to administer the survey, which was developed in concert with business groups including the New Jersey Business and Industry Association and the state Chamber of Commerce.

Christie also encouraged businesses to fill out the survey online and said it would be crucial in helping his administration target efforts to get the state’s business community on its feet and could be used in determining how $2 billion requested by President Obama for small business grants in the storm’s wake would be spent.

“The heartbeat of both the economy and the fabric of the culture are all these small businesses,” he said at an event in Sea Bright meant to announce the survey and several other small business initiatives launched in the past week.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/recordpolitics/Survey_launched_to_aid_NJ_businesses_impacted_by_Sandy.html