[underaged patron] has stopped being a fan of Pueblo Mexican Restaurant
A Kennesaw restaurant had its license to serve alcohol revoked today after pictures of underage drinkers were posted on Facebook. Labels: crime drama, facebook, food, local news, youth news
The Cobb County Commission approved a recommendation to revoke the license held by Mi Pueblo Mexican Restaurant on Town Center Drive following a show cause hearing requested by the county license review board.
Cobb County police cited Mi Pueblo last September for serving alcohol to patrons under 21. The restaurant is located near Kennesaw State University and is frequented by students.
Police investigated the restaurant following a written complaint, and after viewing photos of minors drinking at the restaurant that were posted on the social networking site.
Several restaurant employees also did not possess valid work permits, Detective Chip Mercier told commission members.
Ricardo Bernal, the assistant manager and son of Mi Pueblo owner Jesus Bernal, said his father put his life savings into the restaurant.
“All he wanted was a better future for our family,” Bernal said.
“I have been in the U.S. for a long time. I’ve always worked,” Jesus Bernal said through an interpreter. “This is basically the future for me and my kids.”
Cobb Commissioner Tim Lee said the authorities cannot look the other way when local ordinances are violated.
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Only 14 years for killing wife over Facebook row?
A husband who hacked his wife to death with a meat cleaver in fury over her Facebook entry was jailed for a minimum of 14 years at the Old Bailey today. Labels: crime drama, facebook, murder
Wayne Forrester, 34, drank alcohol and took cocaine before driving 15 miles to the family home to attack wife Emma as she lay in bed.
The couple had separated four days before the murder in February and Forrester later told police he had been provoked by his wife changing her marital status to "single" on her Facebook entry, the court heard.
Forrester, a HGV driver, admitted murder in February this year in New Addington, near Croydon.
Emma was found in a pool of blood after neighbours were woken at 6.30am by her screams. Near her body was a large kitchen knife and in another room a blood-soaked meat cleaver.
Jailing him for life, the Common Serjeant of London Brian Barker QC said: "Your wife ended the relationship. Your reaction was one of anger and resentment.
"There is no possible excuse or justification.
"This is a tragic killing of a young woman and what you have done has called untold anguish."
The court heard that the Forresters had a "volatile and unstable marriage characterised by periods of separation and reconciliation".
Alex Lewis, prosecuting, said that while Forrester was in and out of work and cared little for family life, his wife took two jobs to make ends meet.
Her parents supported the pair financially and moved home closer to them to help their daughter.
Four days before the murder Forrester moved out of the family home to stay with his sister in Paddington. He repeatedly called home and threatened to kill her.
Ms Lewis said: "He was angry about an entry on Facebook he said made him look like a fool as she had advertised her marital status as single. He accused her of having an affair."
Forrester drove to Croydon armed with the knife and meat cleaver and forced the front door open. After neighbours called 999 he emerged from the house covered in blood and holding a carton of juice.
When the police arrived he held his arms out for handcuffs and told them: "Who called you? My wife is in there. I killed her."
Inside the house they found Mrs Forrester's body with a large wound in her neck. Two bannister rails had been broken off and there were clumps of long brown hair outside the bedroom.
She had multiple wounds to her neck and head and defence wounds to her arms showing she had fought to ward off the blows.
Forrester later handed detectives a prepared statement in which he said: "She forced me out of the family home and posted messages on the internet website telling everybody she had left me and was interested in meeting other men."
He went on: "The whole incident seemed a blur. I felt I was watching somebody else attacking Emma."
In an impact statement the victim's sister Eliza Rothery said the family had been devastated by the murder.
Peter Dahlsen, defending, said Forrester felt "a deeply held remorse".
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Stuck with a Q and a Z.
Hasbro Inc., the company that owns the word game's North American rights, sued the creators of the Scrabulous program on Thursday, less than two weeks after the release of an authorized version of Scrabble for Facebook. Labels: court drama, facebook, internets, video games
Hasbro said in its lawsuit that Scrabulous violates its copyright and trademarks. Separately, Hasbro asked Facebook to block the game.
In the year since Facebook began letting outside developers write Web programs that Facebook members can plug into their personal profile pages, Scrabulous has attracted some half-million daily users, despite efforts by Scrabble's owners to end it.
Video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. released an official version for American and Canadian Facebook users last week as part of a broader, year-old licensing deal with Hasbro, yet Facebook users have continued to spend countless hours on the unauthorized Scrabulous.
Now, Hasbro is trying to stop Scrabulous completely and collect unspecified damages.
Mark Blecher, general manager for digital media and gaming at Hasbro, said the Pawtucket, R.I.-based company waited until Thursday to file a lawsuit to ensure that Scrabble fans had a legal option first.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, named as defendants Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, the brothers in Calcutta, India, who created the program, along with their Web design and technology company, RJ Softwares.
The Agarwallas did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment made after business hours in India. A 24-hour number for RJ Softwares went unanswered Thursday.
Facebook, which was not named as a defendant, refused to immediately block the application, pending a response from Scrabulous' creators.
"Over the past year, Facebook has tried to use its status as neutral platform provider to help the parties come to an amicable agreement," the company said in a statement. "We're disappointed that Hasbro has sought to draw us into their dispute."
By waiting, Facebook risks losing immunity protection from copyright lawsuits. Under federal law, service providers are generally exempt for their users' actions — at least until they become aware of a specific infringement.
Earlier, Jayant Agarwalla said he was looking forward to competing with the official version, suggesting that Electronic Arts would have a tough time attracting "the attention and patronage of a large and dedicated user base," as Scrabulous has done.
Blecher said that rather than blame Hasbro for trying to block a popular game, "the fans of Scrabble will appreciate an authentic version."
Both games are free.
Mattel Inc. owns Scrabble rights outside the United States and Canada and did not join the lawsuit. It has a deal with RealNetworks Inc. to make a legal version available in other markets.
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