Sex Offender Registry

Sex Offender Registry

California's sex-offender registry has ballooned to more than 90,000 people now from about 45,000 in 1994, according to the California attorney general's office. Not only has the number of law-enforcement officers failed to keep pace, but recent state budget cuts have forced some local agencies to cut officers assigned to sex offenders, according to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, for example, said funding cuts have forced it to field only five officers dedicated to tracking sex offenders in the county, down from eight officers five years ago. Last year, California's Sex Offender Management Board criticized the system as it stands in a 225-page assessment, highlighting failures in the collection and analysis of data on sex offenders. It's "difficult if not impossible" to track the effectiveness of registry laws, the report said.

Mr. Garrido, who allegedly kidnapped the 11-year-old girl in 1991, was considered high-risk because of a 1977 conviction for rape and kidnapping. But he received about the same number of visits from officers at his Antioch, Calif., home as the 200 or so other sex offenders in Antioch and adjacent Pittsburg, said the Contra Costa County Sheriff, even though many weren't convicted of violent offenses. During dozens of visits to Mr. Garrido's home, authorities never found the tents and shacks hidden behind a backyard fence.

Ernie Harwell

Ernie Harwell

Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, the voice for the Tigers for more than four decades and an icon for the Tigers well beyond his retirement from broadcasting in 2002, has been diagnosed with cancer. Harwell has an incurable tumor around his bile duct. He revealed the diagnosis in Friday's edition of the Detroit Free Press, for whom he has worked as a columnist for several years, and where he explained his outlook. "We don't know how long this lasts," Harwell told the newspaper in a phone interview. "It could be a year. It could be much less than a year, much less than a half a year. Who knows?

Harwell, 91, was hospitalized for a few weeks with a bile duct obstruction. He returned to his home in suburban Detroit while doctors ran tests and was under orders to rest, though he still remained pretty active with his work, he told MLB.com recently, as he awaited news on what was causing the trouble. The tests eventually revealed the tumor and the outlook. His spirit, however, has remained surprisingly strong. "I think that when I heard the news -- that I had this cancer -- that I had a feeling of security and serenity," Harwell told the Free Press, "but I had a feeling of acceptance because of my belief in Jesus and the Lord."

Harwell's life and his ability to remain incredibly active into his 90s has become an example for people across the state through his role as a spokesperson for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. He has long credited his daily workouts, including walking and jumping rope, for helping him work for so long on Tigers radio broadcasts and defy the conventional limitations of his age well after he left the baseball airwaves. Now that he has received a worst-case prognosis, he has been forced to cut back on a lot of those activities. He'll reportedly close out his spokesperson engagements next week and will run a final column in the Free Press later this month. Still, he said he isn't in pain, and he joked that he has been able to eat like a kid again as he tries to keep up his weight.

LeGarrette Blount

LeGarrette Blount

Oregon tailback LeGarrette Blount slugged Boise State’s Byron Hout with a sucker punch, after Oregon’s 19-8 loss Thursday night. The teams had been talking all night, and it looked like Hout was flapping his jaws after the game, but no matter, you can’t go slugging people. Such a volatile mix is why some coaches want no part of the AFCA request. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy has talked repeatedly about the combustible mix of emotions before a game, how it only takes one thing to be said and one reaction for a firestorm to hit.

It was the performance of a lifetime. A big-time coming out party for the new guy in charge and his disciplined, workmanlike team. It was a beautiful, proud performance by the Imperial Stormtroopers from the University of Oregon. Every pass was caught. Every quarterback read was perfect. The Ducks' players were in control, focused and sportsmanlike. It was Boise State 19, Oregon 8. Also, it's so long to Ducks running back LeGarrette Blount, who should be kicked off the team today for what he did on Thursday at Bronco Stadium.

Blount punched Boise State's Byron Hout in the face on the field after the game. Then, Blount put a fist to the helmet of Ducks' teammate Garrett Embry, who was trying to play peacemaker. And what we have here is a low moment that can not be greeted with tolerance. Blount left the field struggling with two police officers and two stadium security guards, and with Ducks assistant Scott Frost being towed along. There was a hostile brush with a Boise State fan, too. In the end, there was chaos and volatility all around this team, courtesy of Blount.