The good

Local surgeon Dr. Alan Koslow recently joined Team Rubicon to evaluate and organize a newly formed refugee camp in Sudan, Africa, where a humanitarian disaster of almost unprecedented proportions began to occur a month ago. A new refugee camp has sprung up with 30,000 refugees and 1,000 more refugees added daily at a camp with no sanitation, shelter, safe water, food or medical care. Team Rubicon, an organization of veterans dedicated to international and national disaster relief, is organizing the mission at the request of International Medical Corps (IMC). The goal of the team will be to evaluate the situation and plan the response to this humanitarian disaster. There will be sanitation, housing water, food and medical experts on the team. Dr. Koslow will be responsible for evaluating the actual and potential medical problems and what will be needed to treat and prevent them. The team will return July 15, 2012. Good luck.

Bus riders in Greater Des Moines were able to pay their bus fares with donations of nonperishable food items last Friday for the one-day “Food Ride” offered by the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority in support of the Yankee Doodle Drive Against Hunger. The food was donated to the Food Bank of Iowa. Donations of nonperishable food items were accepted in lieu of fares on DART’s fixed-route, On Call, Flex and Paratransit services. Donations will also be accepted at DART’s office at 1100 DART Way, Des Moines. Food must be nonperishable, in its original packaging, and packaged in a can, plastic or box. (No glass containers.)

The bad

People seem to have little respect for their elders today. Kentucky resident Crystal Davis, 27, was arrested last week after she beat her mother up because she wouldn’t give her any money or prescription medication. According to officials, Davis allegedly punched her mom in the face, pushed her into a bathroom and locked the door. Davis’ mother eventually gave her 40 Tylenol 3 pills and $50, and Davis fled the scene. She was arrested a short time later and charged with first-degree robbery and second-degree unlawful imprisonment.

Figures released by Iowa Workforce Development show 3,300 lost jobs in May, according to a recent report by Progress Iowa, which stated “Gov. Branstad is not doing enough to help middle class Iowans seeking work.” The recent report comes at “no surprise” to Progress Iowa Executive Director Matt Sinovic, “given Gov. Branstad’s long track record of ignoring the needs of middle-class Iowans,” Sinovic said. “The Governor may try to fool us with fuzzy math and half-hearted initiatives, but we know his true record: slashing education funding, making sure poor Iowans pay higher taxes by vetoing the Earned Income Tax Credit and shutting down workforce development centers, making it harder for the unemployed to find jobs,” he continued. “If the Governor continues to turn his back on the middle class, he will never be able to keep his promise to create 200,000 new jobs.” A politician failing to keep his promise? No way.

The ugly

It’s hard out there for a pimp, but it’s even harder for the unwilling prostitute. Ohio police arrested Jacqueline Toro-Williams, 37, last week after discovering she had pimped her young daughter out for years. According to police, Toro-Williams offered her daughter several times a day to numerous men beginning when the girl was 11. The daughter, who is now 16 and pregnant with her third child, told police that her mother drove her around to different homes and apartment complexes and forced her to have sex with men for drugs and money. After an investigation, Toro-Williams was arrested and charged with compelling prostitution and promoting prostitution. The girl now lives with a foster family in Ohio.

Every day is hump day for this pervert. Charles Marshall, 28, was arrested last week in Cincinnati, Ohio, after he was caught having sex with a teddy bear in a public place. According to police, Marshall was arrested after witnesses saw him masturbating with a teddy bear in an alley. Upon arrival, officers found Marshall, who was still masturbating. This is the fourth time Marshall has been arrested on similar charges, and in 2010 he was ordered to stay away from all public libraries in Hamilton County. Marshall was charged with engaging in public indecency and disorderly conduct. CV