Month: April 2011

Watch where you’re going, people!  You might just get four years in the slammer if you’re convicted of running over ducklings! 

Ann Arbor police said Pearce deliberately ran over the ducklings in the parking lot of the McDonald’s at 2675 Plymouth Road, where he initially stopped to pick up food at 6:15 p.m. Monday.

Police said Pearce stopped at the drive-thru, when one of his friends got out and attempted to pick up a duckling. A duck and at least 8 ducklings had been walking in the lot, police said. Employees at McDonald’s yelled at the man to stop, police said.

The man got back into the Hummer, which left the parking lot, pulling into an adjacent lot for about 15 minutes while the men ate their food, police said. Witnesses told police that the Hummer then returned to the lot and ran over four of the ducklings, police said. Police said Pearce drove away without stopping. Officers arrested Pearce at a nearby gas station after interviewing him and the two other men in the Hummer.

At his arraignment this afternoon, Pearce told Magistrate Thomas Truesdell that he planned to hire a private attorney. Truesdell set bond at $5,000 with the right to post 10 percent.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 4. If convicted of the felony charge, Pearce faces up to four years in prison.

Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for Ann Arbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 and email at leehiggins@annarbor.com.

via annarbor.com 

In honor of World Malaria Day, observed every year on April 25 as a day of awareness and recognition for global efforts to end malaria, we challenge you to educate yourself on the facts, raise awareness, and take action against this deadly but preventable disease.

Malaria is a disease of massive proportions that disproportionately impacts children. Each year, approximately 780,000 people die from malaria, 85 percent of whom are children under 5. World Vision works in 62 countries affected by malaria, 23 of which are in Africa.

 

Impact on children and families

• Malaria is the 4^th leading cause of death for children globally, and is a leading cause of death for children in sub-Saharan Africa.
• More than 1,800 children under 5 die each day from malaria. That’s approximately 1 child every 45 seconds.
• Half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria: There are 106 malaria-endemic countries with 3.3 billion people at risk. Malaria infects approximately 250 million people each year.
• Malaria has been estimated to cost Africa more than U.S. $12 billion every year in lost economic productivity, and can cost households as much as 32 percent of their entire monthly income.
• Insecticide-treated bed nets could prevent as many as 1 million deaths from all causes of malaria for children under 5.

Global malaria prevention

• If universal malaria prevention can be achieved by 2010 and maintained until 2015, an estimated 2.95 million African children’s lives can be saved.
•  If current scale-up trends are maintained until 2015, 1.14 million African children’s lives can be saved.
• If funding ceases and prevention levels are allowed to fall, an estimated 476,000 additional children would die.

(Sources: World Health Organization, UNICEF, Malaria Journal, World Malaria Report)

Ways to take action against malaria

• Join World Vision ACT:S and RELEVANT Magazine in their campaign to end malaria by 2015.
• Ask your elected officials to prioritize funding for malaria programs. Use this easy online action form to send an email.
• Help provide insecticide-treated bed nets to save more children from the deadly bite of mosquitoes.
• Pray for the millions who live in the world’s malaria-prone regions, who remain at risk from this deadly disease. Pray for the collective will within the United States and internationally to eradicate this preventable, treatable disease once and for all.

Read more posts on the World Vision Blog about malaria.