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"They were in the neighborhood driving a meat truck, claiming to be selling meat, when they were caught up in the raid," Ehsanipoor said of Holbert and Richard. "Investigators believe they were purchasing drugs from the residence at the time of the raid."
Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said the bust was a bonus for the community.
"Drugs are often at the root of other crimes, and we will continue to take all steps necessary to address this issue, which impacts crime as a whole," he said.
All those arrested were booked into the Effingham County jail.
Ehsanipoor said some children were at home at the time of the bust. The youngsters were turned over to the Department of Family and Children Services.
OTTAWA—The federal ethics watchdog has cleared Finance Minister Bill Morneau of two Opposition charges he abused his office and used insider knowledge to benefit himself and his former company.
Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson dismissed complaints that Morneau may have acted on insider information about tax changes to sell off about one million shares in advance of pending tax hikes that would hit wealthy Canadians.
She says it was clear to everyone after public statements by the government when it took power in November 2015 that it would make the tax changes, and so Morneau was not using “insider information” that was “not available to the public” when he sold a first tranche of shares then worth about $15 million. He donated the profit on his shares to charity.
Dawson also concluded Morneau was not involved in the renewal of a government contract with his former company to manage the Bank of Canada’s pension plan.
But Dawson, in her final act as the federal ethics commissioner, left Morneau’s fate hanging in a third — and potentially more politically troublesome — complaint.
It relates to whether Morneau was in a conflict of interest when he tabled Bill C-27, on pension reform, in the fall of 2016, because the bill — which has languished on the order paper and not been studied — potentially could create more business for pension management companies such as his former family firm.
Dawson’s failure to complete her investigation in that matter before her term ended Monday leaves it to her successor Mario Dion to decide whether to pursue the finance minister.
NDP ethics critic Nathan Cullen said Monday, “Our concerns remain about Mr. Morneau introducing legislation without clearing it with the ethics commissioner that would directly benefit him. The new commissioner will now be left to pick up the investigations where Ms. Dawson left off.” He added he is concerned that the incoming commissioner hasn’t pledged to do so.
In a letter written to Morneau, but not released publicly by her office, Dawson rejected complaints from the NDP and Conservatives in relation to Morneau’s sale on Nov. 30, 2015 of about one million shares that he had held in Morneau Shepell — the company he built with his father, took public in 2005, and quit after he was elected in October 2015.
Dawson accepted Morneau’s argument that the government had made its intention to proceed with 2016 tax measures that hit high-income earners quite clear, and publicly so.
But she archly rejects Morneau’s contention that it was clear from the Liberal Party’s 2015 platform it intended to raise the income tax bracket on Canadians earning $200,000 or more, from 29 per cent to 33 per cent.
But she did put stock in public pronouncements on Nov. 4, 2015 — the day Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled his new cabinet — by House leader Dominic Leblanc.
Leblanc told reporters the Prime Minister’s intention was to recall Parliament on Dec. 3 in order to introduce legislation to make sure the tax changes were in place for Jan. 1, 2016.
“This was well in advance of the sale of your Morneau Shepell Inc. shares on Nov. 30, 2015, and the tabling of the Dec. 7, 2015 Ways and Means motion on this matter,” Dawson wrote.
Dawson said the law prohibits the use of insider information “which, in light of the above, was not the case in this instance. The same reasoning would apply in respect of the sale of Morneau Shepell Inc. shares by a member of your family.” Morneau’s father, Bill Morneau Sr., also sold about 200,000 shares before the tax changes were tabled that fall.
As for the other Opposition complaint that Morneau had a hand in the renewal contract for the management of the Bank of Canada’s employee pension plan, Dawson dismissed it.
Now, a larger question remains: whether Morneau overstepped the bounds of a “conflict of interest screen” he put in place at Dawson’s request — which should have ensured his chief of staff kept him out of any dealings with policy discussions that could have benefitted Morneau Shepell.
It is not a violation of conflict of interest law for a minister to participate in discussions or decisions that involve laws that apply generally, however the law prohibits a minister from acting to further their or their family's private interests.
“This is the same minister who attacked small businesses, suggesting they were not paying their fair share,” he said.
Dawson’s decision on Monday comes on the heels of her damning report in December that Trudeau was in violation of ethics laws when he and his family accepted free vacations at the Aga Khan’s private island. The Aga Khan had direct business with the government in his request for a $15-million federal grant to the Aga Khan’s Global Centre for Pluralism.
The ethics office would not confirm the contents of Dawson’s letter to Morneau, citing confidentiality requirements of the conflict of interest act. “Our office cannot make public any letters from the commissioner (or) individual public office holders about examinations or any other matter,” wrote spokesperson Margot Booth.
New Delhi: Central Asia's biggest nation and resource rich Kazakhstan made a major foray in Eastern Indian markets through Kazakh-Indian Investment Forum in Kolkata on Friday.
The Forum was organized by the Embassy of Kazakhstan in India jointly with the National Company “Kazakh Invest” and Merchant’s Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI).
Representatives of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), expert and academic circles, media as well as the leaders of more than 50 major Indian companies (India power, RUPA Company Limited, JG Chemicals, KK Group, Multiwyn Group and other) the participated the Forum.
Ambassador of Kazakhstan to India Bulat Sarsenbayev in his welcome speech thanked the MCCI management for establishing contacts between Kazakh and Indian business structures. The ambassador spoke about the main areas of cooperation between Kazakhstan and India, outlined the areas of perspective cooperation between the two countries, and also informed participants of the Forum about the growth dynamics of bilateral trade cooperation, which has a positive trend.
Deputy Chairman of JSC National Company “Kazakh Invest” Marat Birimzhan spoke about the investment climate in Kazakhstan and the prospects for the implementation of business projects in the country. In particular, Forum participants were provided with detailed information on business opportunities in Kazakhstan, conditions, state support and competitive advantages for attracting foreign investments. M.Birimzhan highlighted a number of priority investment projects and encouraged Indian companies to take an active part in the implementation of investment projects in Kazakhstan.
Vishal Jhajhariya, President of the Merchant’s Chamber of Commerce & Industry noted the consistent development of bilateral cooperation between the countries, highly appreciated the large-scale changes carried out by Kazakhstan, which in a very short period became an open and attractive country with a favorable investment climate for doing business.
The businessmen showed their interest in the projects displayed in the presentations of JCS “Kazakh Invest” and JCS “Samruk-Kazyna” in the fields of mechanical engineering, telecommunications, agriculture, mining, health care, etc.
The Forum also held a series of bilateral meetingswith Indian colleagues. Agreements have been reached on the joint implementation of a number of projects. In particular, representative of Kazakh company Shimkent Temir met with Indian partners on the purchase of equipment for the production of direct reduced iron.
Kazakh delegation also held talks with representatives of Tata Steel on cooperation in the field of metallurgy and metal products.
Relations between India and Kazakhstan was established 27 years ago and develop in the spirit of friendship, partnership and are based on the cultural and historical affinity between the peoples of the two countries. Currently, Kazakhstan and India has a very fruitful cooperation in a wide range of areas, such as space, military-technical cooperation, IT, Fintech, oil and gas, banking etc.
Kazakhstan has become the main supplier of uranium to India. Current Kazakhstan-India trade turnover is $ 1.2 billion.
REAL MADRID have reportedly held talks with Iker Casillas despite firming up their interest in David De Gea.
De Gea has been talked up with a £50million move to the Bernabeu, with Manchester United lining up Tottenham's Hugo Lloris and Chelsea shot-stopper Petr Cech as potential replacements.
Real legend Michel tipped Casillas to leave the Bernabeu when he said: "I don’t know if it [Saturday's game against Getafe] will be Iker’s last game but I think it will be the last one he plays for Real Madrid.
The Daily Mail claim Casillas, who has been linked to Arsenal, held talks with Real's president Florentino Perez yesterday as he seeks to fight for his first-team spot.
It is thought De Gea could join Real regardless of whether Casillas stays, although the La Liga giants are yet to make an official offer for the Red Devils goalkeeper.
De Gea was crowned United's Player of the Year at their club gala event last night.
‘Now it’s time for us to move to New Zealand.’ Ruth Bader Ginsberg wasn’t the only one thinking this.
The prospect of a Trump presidency led to some prominent Americans — including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — joking, or perhaps half-joking, that they would move to New Zealand.
Well, as that prospect became a reality this week, a whole lot of other Americans suddenly started looking not just at moving north of the border to Canada, but at the idea of moving far, far away to a small, pristine country at the bottom of the planet, where sheep outnumber people 6 to 1.
With a human population of only 4.4 million, a spectacular environment and socially progressive policies, New Zealand often ranks at or near the top of global surveys of best places to live.
Just this month, the London-based Legatum Institute crowned New Zealand top of its global-prosperity index. “Over the past decade, [New Zealand] has consistently delivered a large prosperity surplus through the combination of a strong society, free and open markets, and high levels of personal freedom,” it concluded.
It’s isolated: a 12-hour flight from Los Angeles, and also 12 hours from major Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Much of the country looks like the backdrop for the Lord of the Rings trilogy — because it was — and New Zealand’s main contribution to international news is a steady stream of weird animal stories, like Inky the escaping Octopus or the roadkill cat that was turned into a purse.
The idea of New Zealand as a safe haven isn’t new. The South Pacific island nation enjoyed a real estate boom after Sept. 11, 2001, when wealthy Americans apparently asked themselves the question: Where’s the last place on Earth terrorists would strike?
Ginsburg gave a nod to this splendid isolation during an interview with the New York Times in July. “‘Now it’s time for us to move to New Zealand,’” Ginsburg said her husband would be urging if Trump won the election.
But the idea has taken off this week. Web traffic from the United States to the New Zealand government websites that deal with immigration has skyrocketed.
The Immigration New Zealand website, the government’s immigration department site, usually gets about 2,300 visits from U.S. Internet addresses each day. In the 24 hours until 9 a.m. New Zealand time on Thursday, it had received 56,300 visits from the United States — a 25-fold increase in traffic.
In the same period, the New Zealand Now website — which contains information about living, working, studying and investing in the country — received 70,500 visits from the United States, said Greg Forsythe of Immigration New Zealand. That’s up from the usual 1,500 visits.
In a typical month, about 3,000 Americans register on New Zealand Now, Forsythe said.
“In the past 24 hours, 7,287 registrations have been received from American citizens — more than twice the number of a typical month’s registrations,” he said, pointing out that these were just registrations of interest in coming to New Zealand, not official visa applications.
Google data shows a sudden spike in searches for “how to move to New Zealand” this week, concentrated in blue states like Washington, Oregon and California.
“The emails and messages have already started pouring in from my fellow countrymen about moving to New Zealand, so I thought I’d jump the ball and share how you escape, too,” Carlson wrote.
She runs through the working holiday visa available to Americans younger than 30 and notes that for skills-based visas, the skills that New Zealand is short of include some surprises, such as builder, baker, snowboarding instructor and winemaker.
If you’re older than 30 or can’t teach snowboarding, it’s not that easy to get a visa to live and work in New Zealand. The immigration authorities use a points-based system that give credit for degrees, experience and sought-after skills, as well as a willingness to live outside Auckland, the biggest and most cosmopolitan city.
And there’s no shortage of lists like this, taunting people with pictures of incredible mountains, clean air and wide open spaces.
But the final word must go to one of New Zealand’s top exports, not potential imports. Here’s the Flight of the Conchords, the Kiwi comedy duo who did this skit of a “trade and migrant expo,” encapsulating the stereotype of the plucky little New Zealander.
ISLAMABAD: Arif Alvi, a close ally of Prime Minister Imran Khan and one of the founding members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was sworn in as Pakistan's new president Sunday.
The 69-year-old dentist was administered the oath of office as Pakistan's 13th President by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar at a simple ceremony held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (the President House) here.
The oath-taking ceremony was attended by top civil-military brass, including Prime Minister Khan and army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and foreign diplomats.
Dr Alvi had defeated Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Aitzaz Ahsan and the Pakistan Muslim League-N nominee Maulana Fazl ur Rehman in a three-way presidential contest.
Alvi was active in the student movement during Field Marshal Ayub Khan's era in 1969. He was shot during a protest in Lahore and proudly carries a bullet in his right arm.
With his close ally Alvi as President, Khan can smoothly implement his agenda, according to observers.
Saudi Arabia on Saturday condemned comments by Russia's human rights envoy on the situation in the kingdom as "hostile" and an unjustified interference in the kingdom's internal affairs, the Saudi state news agency (SPA) reported.
The rare public exchange appeared to reflect tensions over the 16-month-old uprising in Syria where Russia has resisted introduction of Western- and Arab-backed sanction against President Bashar al-Assad.
Russian Human Rights envoy Konstantin Dolgov had expressed "great concern" about the situation in eastern Saudi Arabia following what he described as clashes between law enforcement and peaceful demonstrators in which two people were killed and more than 20 were wounded, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry website.
The Saudi interior ministry has said there were no clashes but that two people were killed by unknown assailants last Sunday in the east, where the country's minority Muslim Shi'ite population is concentrated.
"The Kingdom learned with strong astonishment and surprise about the comment by the Russian Foreign Ministry's representative on human rights which represents a blatant and unjustified intervention... in the internal affairs of the kingdom," SPA quoted a Foreign Ministry statement, attributed to an "official source", as saying.
The agency said the government of Saudi Arabia condemned such comments as "hostile".
"The kingdom hopes that this strange comment was not intended to divert attention from the savage and ugly massacres that the Syrian regime is practising against its own people with support and backing from known parties that are obstructing any honest effort to end the bloodshed of the Syrian people."
Russia has blocked two UN Security Council moves to press Assad to end his crackdown. Saudi Arabia has been in the forefront of Arab countries backing the rebels.
Dolgov had said that people in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia were protesting "against the existing, according to their opinion, impairment of the rights of the Shi'ite community on the part of the authorities of the Kingdom".
Saudi Arabia had said that minor protests had taken place after the arrest of a cleric on charges of sedition, and after he and a group with him opened fire on police.
It said that two men who had been killed were shot dead by unknown assailants and an investigation into who killed them was underway.
A Genoa native has opened a new addiction recovery center in Sandusky.
SANDUSKY - After a decade of working in the addiction recovery field, Nate Kehlmeier decided it was time to open his own treatment facility.
The Genoa native searched the region and found what he considered to be a centralized location in Sandusky.
Kehlmeier opened the Recovery Institute of Ohio in December, with its main Pierce Street office and three in-patient residential homes on Milan Road in Perkins Township that serve residents struggling with addiction and trying to find a path in recovery.
"I've seen what works and what doesn't work," Kehlmeier said, as he sat in the Recovery Institute's new office Monday.
Kehlmeier, 36, went through his own battle with drug addiction before getting sober more than a decade ago.
He made a one-minute video in 2016 for the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Seneca, Sandusky and Wyandot Counties as part of the board's efforts to reach out to residents and educate them about the impacts of drug addiction.
When he lived in Toledo, Kehlmeier said he got a calls from people in Sandusky seeking help for addiction issues.
He liked the fact that Sandusky sat between Toledo and Cleveland and served as a good place for recovering addicts to get away from those larger cities and focus on their recoveries.
Kehlmeier said The Recovery Institute accepted its first client Dec. 7 and has people from Toledo, Sandusky, Cleveland, Bellevue and Ottawa County seeking treatment through its residential houses and outpatient services.
The Recovery Institute's operations manager is Pat Murray.
Kehlmeier said a lot of the facility's staff lives in Ottawa County and commutes to Sandusky.
The facility's three residential homes are staffed 24 hours a day with behavioral health technicians and can accommodate up to 18 people.
Residents in those homes go to 12-step meetings, are drug screened and are taught life skills that they can use when leave the facility.
Kehlmeier said residents do not have cell phones or computers while they are in treatment at the residential homes.
"They're just supposed to focus on recovery the whole time," Kehlmeier said.
The Recovery Institute can reached at 888-468-1441, with its website at www.RecoveryInstituteofOhio.com.
Kehlmeier said prospective clients need to call and go through an admission process and pre-assessment over the phone.
The institute takes private insurance or self-paying patients, with a minimum of a 30-day stay required to live in the residential homes.
Kehlmeier said patients can stay up to three months at the homes, which are currently at between 60-to-70 percent occupancy.
He said the facility can take some mental health patients and does not offer detox services on-site.

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