opinions?
SAVANNAH, Ga.- An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas.
Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders because the only family she had to care for her 10-month-old son _ her mother _ was overwhelmed by the task, already caring for three other relatives with health problems.
Her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, said Monday that one of Hutchinson's superiors told her she would have to deploy anyway and place the child in foster care.
"For her it was like, 'I couldn't abandon my child,'" Sussman said. "She was really afraid of what would happen, that if she showed up they would send her to Afghanistan anyway and put her son with child protective services."
Hutchinson, who is from Oakland, Calif., remained confined Monday to the boundaries of Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, 10 days after military police arrested her for skipping her unit's flight. No charges have been filed, but a spokesman for the Army post said commanders were investigating.
Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn't know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child.
"I don't know what transpired and the investigation will get to the bottom of it," Larson said. "If she would have come to the deployment terminal with her child, there's no question she would not have been deployed."
Hutchinson's son, Kamani, was placed into custody overnight with a daycare provider on the Army post after she was arrested and jailed briefly, Larson said. Hutchinson's mother picked up the child a week ago and took him back to her home in California.
Hutchinson, who's assigned to the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, joined the Army in 2007 and had no previous deployments, Sussman said. She said Hutchinson is no longer in a relationship with the father.
The Army requires all single-parent soldiers to submit a care plan for dependent children before they can deploy to a combat zone.
Hutchinson had such a plan _ her mother, Angelique Hughes, had agreed to care for the boy. Hughes said Monday she kept the boy for about two weeks in October before deciding she couldn't keep him for a full year.
Hughes said she's already having to care for her ailing mother and sister, as well as a daughter with special needs. She also runs a daycare center at her home, keeping about 14 children during the day.
"This is an infant, and they require 24-hour care," Hughes said. "It was very, very stressful, just too much for me to deal with."
Hughes said she returned Kamani to his mother in Georgia a few days before her scheduled deployment Nov. 5.
She said they told her daughter's commanders they needed more time to find another family member or close friend to help Hughes care for the boy, but Hutchinson was ordered to deploy on schedule.
Larson, the Army post spokesman, said officials planned to keep Hutchinson in Georgia as investigators gathered facts about the case.
"Spc. Hutchinson's deployment is halted," Larson said. "There will be no deployment while this situation is ongoing."
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Russ Bynum has covered the military based in Georgia since 2001.
Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders because the only family she had to care for her 10-month-old son _ her mother _ was overwhelmed by the task, already caring for three other relatives with health problems.
Her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, said Monday that one of Hutchinson's superiors told her she would have to deploy anyway and place the child in foster care.
"For her it was like, 'I couldn't abandon my child,'" Sussman said. "She was really afraid of what would happen, that if she showed up they would send her to Afghanistan anyway and put her son with child protective services."
Hutchinson, who is from Oakland, Calif., remained confined Monday to the boundaries of Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, 10 days after military police arrested her for skipping her unit's flight. No charges have been filed, but a spokesman for the Army post said commanders were investigating.
Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn't know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child.
"I don't know what transpired and the investigation will get to the bottom of it," Larson said. "If she would have come to the deployment terminal with her child, there's no question she would not have been deployed."
Hutchinson's son, Kamani, was placed into custody overnight with a daycare provider on the Army post after she was arrested and jailed briefly, Larson said. Hutchinson's mother picked up the child a week ago and took him back to her home in California.
Hutchinson, who's assigned to the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, joined the Army in 2007 and had no previous deployments, Sussman said. She said Hutchinson is no longer in a relationship with the father.
The Army requires all single-parent soldiers to submit a care plan for dependent children before they can deploy to a combat zone.
Hutchinson had such a plan _ her mother, Angelique Hughes, had agreed to care for the boy. Hughes said Monday she kept the boy for about two weeks in October before deciding she couldn't keep him for a full year.
Hughes said she's already having to care for her ailing mother and sister, as well as a daughter with special needs. She also runs a daycare center at her home, keeping about 14 children during the day.
"This is an infant, and they require 24-hour care," Hughes said. "It was very, very stressful, just too much for me to deal with."
Hughes said she returned Kamani to his mother in Georgia a few days before her scheduled deployment Nov. 5.
She said they told her daughter's commanders they needed more time to find another family member or close friend to help Hughes care for the boy, but Hutchinson was ordered to deploy on schedule.
Larson, the Army post spokesman, said officials planned to keep Hutchinson in Georgia as investigators gathered facts about the case.
"Spc. Hutchinson's deployment is halted," Larson said. "There will be no deployment while this situation is ongoing."
___
Russ Bynum has covered the military based in Georgia since 2001.
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Days after his youngest son survived a heart transplant, Michael Calhoun made sure he was the first one to cradle the boy in his arms.
It was May 2008, and after four months of waiting, doctors had finally found a new heart for 1-year-old Daniel, who along with his two other brothers suffers from a rare heart-related disease called Barth syndrome.
But his son's surgery wasn't the only thing on Calhoun's mind. Amid a year that involved moving across the country, finding new schools and dealing with three chronically ill children, Calhoun had another worry.
Things weren't going so well at work.
Calhoun, a 40-year-old father of five, says that UPS, a company he'd worked at for three years, fired him in the fall when he missed too much time from work to care for his sick sons.
He filed a civil lawsuit last month in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, claiming that the company violated his rights under the Family Medical Leave Act and committed disability discrimination.
"There was a change in their attitude toward me when I started taking off time under FMLA," Calhoun said. "We never thought in a million years that I'd be fired."
UPS disputes Calhoun's claims.
"We don't believe that any discrimination took place," said Susan Rosenberg, a spokeswoman for the UPS corporate office in Atlanta. "Mr. Calhoun was given all the leave he requested."
Calhoun began working for UPS in October 2005. At that time, he and his family were living in Arizona. They moved to Lakeland in 2007, and Calhoun eventually ended up in the company's Clearwater office.
Everything seemed fine until Calhoun's youngest son, Daniel, got severely sick in early 2008 because of complications from Barth syndrome.
Barth syndrome is a rare genetic disease that is passed on to boys through the x-chromosome. The disease is marked by heart problems, short stature, muscle weakness and fewer white blood cells. There is no specific treatment or cure.
Only 50 families worldwide are known to be affected by the disease, which is thought to be underdiagnosed, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The Calhouns are one of only five Barth syndrome families in Florida.
Their case is even more unusual because three of their sons - 13-year-old Ben, 8-year-old John and 3-year-old Daniel - have the disease. A fourth son and a daughter do not have it.
The boys with Barth syndrome require loads of pills and medicines. They must frequently visit doctors and specialists. They consistently contend with weakness and, because of vulnerable immune systems, they are susceptible to other illnesses.
The Calhouns knew their other two sons had health problems, but didn't find out it was a genetic disease until around the time Daniel was born.
It turned out that Daniel had the most severe form of Barth syndrome in the family. The Calhouns found that out on Valentine's Day 2008, when the then-1-year-old was rushed to All Children's Hospital with heart failure. If Daniel didn't get a new heart soon, doctors told the couple, he could die.
So as his son was put on the transplant list, Calhoun signed up for the family and medical leave provision, a federal law that in place since 993.
He received 12 weeks of unpaid intermittent leave, which could be taken during a 12-month period.
But Calhoun said that every time he would take time off to care for his family, his division manager would pull him aside and question his loyalty and dedication to the company.
"He would ask me on a regular basis what I was doing. . and I told him that my responsibility was to my family," Calhoun said.
Calhoun said he tried to make up for it by working long hours and taking off time only if he absolutely needed to.
"More often than not, I worked 60 to 75 hours a week just to maintain my position," he said.
But Calhoun said it seemed as if his bosses resented his absences. Things came to a head in fall 2008.
At the end of September, a couple of months after Daniel's transplant, Calhoun said he asked his bosses for some leave time to care for his kids.
The toddler was sick again, and the load was heavy for Calhoun's wife, Angela, a stay-at-home mom.
Daniel was not only adjusting to a new heart, but his white blood cell count had plummeted, weakening his immune system and withering his strength. His health problems required both parents to be home.
A few days later, when Calhoun was back at work, he was pulled into a meeting with his bosses, he said.
They accused him of being undependable, untrustworthy and again questioned his priorities, he said. They had hired a private investigator to keep an eye on him, he said. Calhoun said he had seen the man sitting in a car, watching him, outside his home.
Calhoun said his bosses gave him an ultimatum: Sign a piece of paper saying you've resigned or be fired.
Calhoun said the company offered him a month's salary - about $4,500 - but he refused to resign.
Instead, he hired an attorney. At the point Calhoun and UPS parted ways, he had taken seven of the 12 weeks allowed under the leave act, he said.
Rosenberg, the UPS spokeswoman, said Calhoun resigned during that October 2008 meeting, which she said was called because of concerns by local management.
Rosenberg wouldn't go into detail about the concerns, but said they were connected to Calhoun's leave.
Calhoun's attorney, Angela Outten of Palm Harbor, said UPS illegally discriminated against him for having a sick child. The company violated the leave act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Florida Civil Rights Act and Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the lawsuit alleges.
Outten said she's seeing more cases like this in bad economic times.
"I think employees with issues like this are targeted because they're seen as more of a problem than someone who can come in every day and work," Outten said.
The lawsuit has added another layer of stress to Calhoun and his family.
"As a father, my identity has been built around being a provider," Calhoun said. "To have that taken away . it's a big blow to your self-esteem."
The family has had to downsize, moving recently to a home that is 800 square feet smaller than the home they had in St. Petersburg, which they got right after Daniel's surgery in order to be closer to doctors.
The children's health care costs are now being paid for by Medicaid. Church and family members also have helped.
Calhoun, who is receiving unemployment checks, is taking classes at the University of South Florida. He's pursuing a chemical engineering degree, which he hopes will lead to a career that could ultimately help his kids and others with Barth syndrome.
Calhoun said the lawsuit isn't about the money, but about principle.
"If they're doing it to me, who else are they doing it to? This isn't vindictive," he said. "I just want my life back."
Kameel Stanley can be reached at (727) 893-8643 or kstanley@sptimes.com.0 -
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/77-Year-Old-Grammas-Arrest-Caught-on-Video-169569466.html
At 77 she should know the rules, she has no case.0 -
Anybody following this?
What's the chances of the guy being right about the riser blowing off the wellhead and the top kill 'mud' being pumped in the wrong place?
Also wondering about the dispersant being used to hide the size of the spill.
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2010/05/prominent-oil-industry-insider-theres.html
I'm beginning to think the 'live feed' cam I was watching was a loop.
Pretty good discussion going on here.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6516#more
Stolen from a pipefitter.
hey ya gotta give credit where it's due
Allen0 -
how 'bout it? yes or no? 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLxAUfs2TDk0 -
Pro-Con?
Howscome this hasn't been in the news?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=85542
Take note of the one dissenter.
Allen0 -
I am going to go with crazy 0 -
She looks like the kind of woman who would bite your junk off, if she had a chance. 0 -
Hahahahaha [;)] 0 -
There are many wonderful drugs that could keep that from happening. 0 -
She's actually kinda hot.....in a crazy kinda way.[:D] 0 -
There is a difference between "crazy" and "psycho"
She is crazy.
Redheads are psycho.
I prefer psycho.
Doug0 -
Yes,..........I would use her for a target, nothing else.[xx(] 0 -
PCP - my best guess
Shrooms - #2
Alcohol - #3
However, I'd say the link is not worth clicking and this thread should die off...0 -
Everybody looks OK to me! 0 -
If given only the choice between the psycho, or the pic Zip posted,.........I believe I will look into becoming a monk! 0 -
stupid 0 -
WOW! How refreshing it is to find one that will admit it !
"Women, ... never meet one yet half as reliable as a horse !" ...John Wayne0 -
Nothing a .22 rifle wouldn't take care of. What a waste of skin.[:o)] 0 -
That chick needs to lay that crack pipe down or get off the lsd, pcp or whatever..... Some one needs to put her out of her crazy mind. 0
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