Taco Bell Founder Dies

Glen William Bell Jr., the founder of the popular Mexican fast-food chain, Taco Bell, died on Sunday Jan. 17, 2010 at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Ca. He was 86 years old. Bell had Parkinson's disease since 1985 but no cause of death was given. He is survived by his wife, Martha, three sisters, two sons, a daughter and four grandchildren.

"Glen Bell was a visionary and innovator in the restaurant industry, as well as a dedicated family man," Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell, said in the statement.

Glen Bell launched Taco Bell in 1962 in Downey, Ca. He sold the first Taco Bell franchise in 1964. By 1978 he had 868 restaurants, which he sold to PepsiCo for $125 million in stock. Taco Bell is now owned by Yum! Brands  and is the largest Mexican fast-food chain in the nation, serving more than 36.8 million consumers each week in more than 5,600 U.S. locations.

Glen William Bell Jr. was born Sept. 3, 1923, in Lynwood, Calif. His father was a construction worker who was always looking for work and even though his mother was resourceful the family did not fare well financially. Glen Bell virtually grew up selling produce to help the family survive. Starting at the age of 5, he sold cottage cheese door-to-door. As a youngster he would sell eggs, apples and flowers.

After graduating from high school in 1941, Bell worked for the U.S. Forestry Service and later joined the Marines, serving as a waiter to top military brass in the South Pacific. After WWII he founded Bell's Hamburgers and Hot Dogs in 1948, which he sold to start other ventures including: Taco Tia, Del Taco, El Taco, and even Der Wienerschnitzel. 

In 1962 Bell opened the first Taco Bell restaurant. Within two years he opened eight more and began to franchise. That was the beginning of the success of Taco Bell. Even after selling the company, Bell remained a lifelong Taco Bell consultant. He was not however responsible for the iconic chihuahua dog, named Gidget, that starred in the popular "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" commercials of the late '90s.

Gidget, herself, died in June 2009, at age 15 from a stroke. At the height of her popularity as the Taco Bell dog, Gidget traveled by limo and first-class in planes. She even got a seat on the company's private jet for a trip to Manhattan to open up the New York Stock Exchange.

Sue Chipperton, who trained Gidget for Studio Animal Services, said the pooch was constantly mobbed by people when she took Gidget out even though she was careful to make sure very few people knew Gidget was the real Taco Bell dog.

"They could come over and go 'Oh that looks like the Taco Bell dog!'" Chipperton said.

Gidget, who had lived with Chipperton for most of her life, was never coddled. Chipperton said she was expected to follow commands and was never carried when she could walk on her own. As a result, Chipperton said, "her personality was that of a big dog."

Her owner, McElhatton, who owns Studio Animal Services which trains animals for film, television and advertising, said Gidget -- unique for her "really huge ears" -- just knew when the camera was on her. And she was very particular about who got her attention.

"She was very much a primadonna," she said. "If she didn't like you, she wouldn't give you the time of day."

In later years, McElhatton said the spunky little dog enjoyed a daily sunbath and had her favorite toys and beds -- everything given to Gidget was simply the best.

"She lived," McElhatton said, "like a queen."

Taco Bell has lost both its founder and spokesman less than a year apart. In fact Glen Bell Jr. is the latest in a number of fast-food moguls that have died recently:

1. Troy Smith, founder of drive-in chain Sonic, died on October 26, 2009, at 87
2. Wilbur Hardee of the Hardee’s hamburger joints, died June 20, 2008, at the age of 89
3 JR Simplott, developer of the first frozen french fries and founder of a potato-processing plant that supplies McDonald’s fries, died at the age of 99 on May 25, 2008
4. Irvine Robbins of Baskin Robbins died at 90 on May 5, 2008
5. Popeyes creator Al Copeland passed at the age of 64 on March 23, 2008
6. Lovie Yancey, founder of Fatburger, died on January 26, 2008, at 96
7. Two weeks before, Carl N. Karcher of Carl’s Jr. died at 90 on January 11

With the exception of Copeland, who died from complications from cancer treatment, everyone died of old age and lived a very long life. Maybe fast-food isn't so bad for you after all!

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Vaya Con Dios Levi King Flores

 The gang violence that brought an end to the life of 17-year-old Levi King Flores could not dampen the spirits of the hundreds of people who showed up at the wake and funeral services for the Newburgh youth. Sure, there was almost universal sadness and tears for a life that ended way too soon but there was also the strength of spirit that unified everyone, knowing that he was loved.

"No mother should bury a son, no daughter should bury a father, whatever happened today should not be happening again, we should not be burying our youth," Fr. Fernando Hernandez of St. Patrick's Church, Newburgh.

However some of Levi's friends see things quite differently:

"We've got one thing on our mind and that's revenge, you know. That's how it is, if the cops can't help us who's going to help us" Sergio Nava.

For scenes of the funeral service click on this link Levi King Flores Funeral. Levi King Flores will be buried in Mexico.

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RIP Levi King Flores

Levi King Flores was only 17 years old. He had not yet graduated from High School. He could not yet vote. He couldn't buy beer. He couldn't even buy a pack cigarettes....and he will never be able to do any of those things because he was stabbed to death on the streets of Newburgh, NY on Jan. 13, 2010. He leaves behind loving parents, siblings, a girlfriend, a daughter and many friends. Levi was a victim of gang violence.

A 13-year-old boy, who goes by the street name of "Pinky", was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Levi Flores. He was arraigned in Newburgh City Court before Judge Harold Ramsey and was placed into the custody of the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Police did not release real name.

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According to reports, a fight broke out at the corner of First St. and Carpenter Ave. in which Levi was stabbed along with a 12-year-old boy. They were both taken to St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital Newburgh Campus. While there, two other teens showed up, also with stabbed wounds - a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. All of them were interviewed by the police. During the course of their investigation, the police learned the identity of the accused 13-year-old.

Levi and two of the other stabbing victims were taken by helicopter to Westchester Medical Center. While en route Levi died. The others are expected to survive.

"It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable that the violence has resulted in this kind of action. What used to be a personal insult or an assault in the school yard that might have resulted in a fist fight is now culminating outside on the city streets...its unbelievable," said Eric Paolilli the chief of police.

The next day at NFA, the high school, there was a lot of tension. A number of fights broke out. The police were called in. By noon they had arrested 4 students. Many parents showed up at the school to get their kids early. Some of the students were angry but many were grieving. The disturbance prompted school officials to cancel all after school activities and close the school system for the following day, Friday. On Monday the schools will remain closed in observance of Martin Luther King's birthday.

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Torture Prince Acquitted

Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, 40, is a member of the royal family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He is the brother of Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed. He was caught on tape torturing a man, an Afghan grain trader named Mohammed Shapoor, in 2004, in the most inhumane fashion. The graphic video below, broadcast by ABC News in April 2009, shows him:

• Stuffing the man's face with sand
• Firing a machine gun close to his body
• Hitting him with a whip and an electric cattle prod
• Cutting his bare buttocks by striking him with a nail embedded in a stick
• Pouring salt into the man's wounds and
• Driving over him again and again with his vehicle.

Not only was Sheikh Issa aware of being videotaped, he was the one that ordered the tape be made so that he could view it later at his leisure. At times he actually directs the cameraman to focus in on some of his particularly sadistic acts. The tape was sneaked out of the country by an ex-business partner, Bassam Nabulsi, who was also jailed and tortured in prison before being released. It was Bassam's brother, Ghassan Nabulsi, who was the cameraman.

Please note this video is explicitly brutal

After the tape was widely shown by the media Sheikh Issa was arrested and ordered to stand trial. He was charged at an opening hearing last October (2009) with endangering life, causing bodily harm and  rape.

In his defense the sheikh claimed that he "was under the influence of drugs [medicine] that left him unaware of his actions."

On Jan. 10 2010 Judge Mubarak al-Awad cleared the UAE President’s brother of all charges in a UAE court despite video footage of the incident, saying he was not responsible for his actions.

Sheikh Issa, who had been in custody for eight months, attended the hearing. He wore a traditional white robe and head scarf and was not handcuffed or restrained. On hearing the verdict, he hugged his defense lawyer, Habib al-Mullah, and left the courtroom without speaking to reporters.

However five co-defendants, the two Nabulsi brothers and three farm workers were all found guilty. Ghassan and Bassam Nabulsi, were sentenced to five years in jail each, in absentia, for administering drugs to Sheikh Issa, endangering the life of Mohammed Shapoor and filming without his permission. The farm workers were sentenced to between one and three years in jail, also in absentia, for drugging the sheikh.

Habib al-Mullah, Sheikh Issa's lawyer, told the court, in the oasis city of Al Ain, that one of the sheikh’s co-defendants was responsible for Sheikh Issa’s medications and had drugged him, then videotaped the incident and tried to blackmail him.  He also told the court that the sheikh had been drugged against his will during the incident and had no recollection of what had happened.

“We submitted medical reports showing that the drugs that the two co-defendants administered to him left him unaware of his actions,” the lawyer said.

The defense did not just center on the medication, he said, but claimed that the videotape and other incidents from that night were all part of a conspiracy aimed at blackmailing the sheikh.

"No one can prove that this videotape has not been tampered with," al-Mullah said. The only person who can confirm the incidents happened as seen on the tape is the victim, and he has not confirmed that, he added. "We deny the incident as it was shown on that videotape."

Habib al-Mullah was taken to task in the following CNN interview.

Judge Mubarak al-Awad, presiding over a three-judge panel, further ordered the two brothers to pay an interim compensation of about $2,500 to the victim, who can file a new lawsuit to claim full compensation.

The verdict, however, is not final as it will have to be reviewed by a higher court if the public prosecution decides to challenge the ruling.

 

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Sheriff Charged in Murder-For-Hire Scheme

Sheriff Raymond Monroe Martin was the top police officer in Gallatin County, Illinois for 20 years, having been elected 4 times to that post. However it's a safe bet that there will be no 5th term in that office. On 5/17/09 an arrest warrant was signed, charging Raymond Martin with 5 counts related to the sale and distribution of marijuana. See the criminal complaint here

Sheriff Martin had an accomplice who would sell the marijuana that he provided. He would provide him with as much as 20 pounds of pot every two weeks. They would then split the profits from the sale. When the accomplice told Martin that he wanted out of the business, Martin threatened the man, telling him that he could set him up on any charge he liked. The accomplice got scared and went to the authorities.

Over a period of several weeks the accomplice allowed the feds to record his conversations and activities with Sheriff Martin, eventually leading to Martin's arrest. At the time of his arrest the authorities found $100,000 in cash in a safe in his $300,000 home that he shared with his wife and five children. The house was mortgage-free even though the reported family income was less than $80,000.

But the story doesn't end there.

When Martin's 36-year-old wife Kristina Renee Martin and 20-year-old son Cody Ray Martin came to visit him at the jail on Saturday, 1/02/10, they were both promptly arrested. All three were charged on state murder-for-hire charges. Authorities claim that, while in jail, Sheriff Martin plotted with his wife and son to have witnesses against him in his upcoming trial killed. See the criminal complaint here. All three are in jail on $1 million bail.

 Although in jail Sheriff Martin is still collecting his $40,400 a year salary and is still technically sheriff of Gallatin County. One of his deputies has been named interim sheriff and his seat is up for election this year. Gallatin County's governing board sent the jailed sheriff a letter, urging him to resign.

"Personally, I think he is just an absolute embarrassment to the county," County Board Chairman Randy Drone said.

"Is it greed? Ignorance? I don't know," Drone said Tuesday before Sheriff Raymond Martin's first court appearance with his wife and 20-year-old son, who also are charged in the murder-for-hire scheme. "Arrogance — maybe that's it. Thinking he's so above the law he could actually get away with this.

"But getting re-arrested while still in jail? That's something."

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