Higgs Raccoon's stories

Formic Hivemind indicted by grand jury
Tue 3 May 2011 - 17:52

Formic Hivemind, charged in April with sexually abusing a boy he met over the internet, has been indicted on nineteen charges by a Monroe County grand jury.

It is alleged that Formic Hivemind (the online alias of 19-year-old Richard J. Kretovic) abused the 12-year-old boy after meeting him through Xbox Live. The indictments handed down by the grand jury are for nine counts each of the felonies of first-degree criminal sexual acts and second-degree sexual abuse, and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Kretovic is currently free on $50,000 bail. A date for his appearance in Monroe County Court or the state Supreme Court has yet to be set.

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Anthro graphic novel amongst winners at the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes

Tue 3 May 2011 - 16:08

duncan-the-wonder-dog-cover.jpgThe 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were awarded on Friday (April 29, 2011), in a ceremony at the Chandler Auditorium of the Los Angeles Times in California, USA. Amongst the winners, the award for graphic novels went to Adam Hines for the anthropomorphic tale Duncan the Wonder Dog: Show One.

Duncan tells the story of an animal uprising in a world where talking animals chafe under the cruel hand of human dominion. Judges praised the story as a "powerful, prodigious work about the question of who the world belongs to, with an incredibly strong, original visual and narrative aesthetic".

Upon receiving the award, Hines, 27, said "I started working on this book back in 2002 when I was 18, and only just finished last March, and that’s a long time to work on something that you don’t know will be of any good use to anyone". He also stated that he is already working on the second book in what he plans to be a nine-volume epic: "I’ll be working on these books until I’m 70".

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'Formic Hivemind' charged with sex abuse of a minor
Tue 19 Apr 2011 - 21:22

Richard Kretovic/Formic HivemindPolice in Greece, New York have arrested Richard Kretovic, 19 - known in the furry fandom as Formic Hivemind - on a charge of sex abuse. Police say the victim is a boy younger than thirteen.

Police Sgt. Joseph Antinora further said that Kretovic met the alleged victim chatting on Xbox Live; and that upon discovering he was local to the boy, Kretovic arranged a meeting with him, after which sexual acts occurred in Kretovic's basement.

The boy's mother suspected he may have been abused and contacted police near the end of March. Their investigation lead to Kretovic, who was arraigned in Greece Town Court, and remanded to the Monroe County Jail before being released on $50,000 bail.

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Mistrial after jury deadlock in Alan T. Panda case
Thu 14 Apr 2011 - 03:42

The trial of Alan Berlin, known in the furry fandom as Alan T. Panda, has begun. Berlin, a resident of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was arrested on May 28, 2009, on accusations that he had propositioned a fifteen-year-old boy over the internet. His arrest came after the boy's parents found sexually explicit messages on his computer and they contacted the Attorney General's Child Predator Unit.

Amongst furries, Berlin presented himself as a "daddyfur and caretaker" who was "looking for a babyfur to be (his) mate and companion in a long-term committed relationship." When Berlin's home was searched, wolf and cat-like costumes were found, and it was alleged that Berlin discussed dressing up in animal costumes and engaging in sex.

Update (14 Apr): The jury failed to reach a verdict. A new trial is set for May.

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Outrage over video showing squirrel being pepper-sprayed
Wed 13 Apr 2011 - 02:28

Police were called to Kimbrough Middle School in Mesquite, Texas, after a squirrel was seen behaving erratically. The concern was that this can be a sign of rabies.

As a baby squirrel hopped towards a policeman in the grounds of a school, he took out his pepper spray, apparently to defend himself against the potentially infected animal. As school children pleaded with the officer not to harm the creature, the squirrel advanced and the man reacted by spraying it. The squirrel became disorientated and started writhing on the ground.

A Mesquite Animal Control officer was called and cleaned the spray off the squirrel. After being given a satisfactory bill of health, it was released back into the wild.

A video recording of the pepper-spraying incident, made by students, generated outrage after it was posting on YouTube. Having received over 700,000 views in one week, comments on the video are split between those condemning the officer's actions as heavy-handed, and those sympathising with his need to maintain personal safety in the face of a possibly rabid animal.

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Oklahoma City police hunt vandal squirrel
Fri 8 Apr 2011 - 21:46

For the past few weeks, deputies at the Oklahoma Sheriff's Office have found their vehicles being vandalised, with tampering to the electrical wiring.

Closer examination revealed the wiring had been chewed through, with the culprit leaving a mass of tiny footprints in the engine compartment. Deputies have since observed a squirrel dropping down from under one of the vehicles, which showed signs of recent squirrel habitation, and have called in animal control. So far, attempts to trap the vandal squirrel have failed.

In a sign of the times, the Scofflaw Squirrel now has a Twitter account.

Thousands audition to voice the Aflac Duck
Wed 6 Apr 2011 - 09:27

AflacDuck.jpgAflac Incorporated is a U.S. insurance provider. Since December 1999, the company's commercials have featured the Aflac Duck, who "frustratedly quacks the company's name to unsuspecting prospective policyholders".

For eleven years the Duck was voiced by comedian Gilbert Gottfried, until Aflac fired him last month after he made jokes about the T?hoku earthquake and tsunami on his Twitter account. Since then, Aflac has sought a new voice for the Duck, and on Monday and Tuesday 650 people auditioned in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and New York. 11,200 additional video and audio auditions were accepted on quackaflac.com, a website set up for the search.

Aflac executives hope to have chosen a winner in about a month's time. The new voice will be paid in the low six figures.

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Furry 'Fritter' charged with possession of child pornography
Sat 2 Apr 2011 - 08:14

Occasional furry artist Fritter, also known in the fandom as FrittMonster, FireLover343, and Anium, has been arrested in Ottawa, Canada, on a charge of possessing child pornography.

Known in real-life as Adam Boyko, 19-year-old Fritter was arrested on Wednesday, March 30, by the Ottawa police Internet Child Exploitation unit after they received a tip-off. Police seized a laptop they allege contains images and videos of child pornography.

Originally from Cranford, New Jersey, Fritter was in Ottawa on a temporary visa to study Information Technology at Carleton University.

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'Teen Wolf' reboot coming to MTV June 5
Sat 2 Apr 2011 - 03:58

TeenWolfLogo.jpgIn 1985, Michael J. Fox starred in Teen Wolf, playing a highschool student who found himself transforming into a werewolf due to hereditary lycanthropy. The movie spawned a TV cartoon series and a sequel (Teen Wolf Too).

Now Teen Wolf is being rebooted as a live-action series on MTV. The network has opted for an edgier feel than the original movie, hoping to attract fans of The Lost Boys and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

A three-minute trailer has been released; the series itself is to premier June 5, after the MTV Movie Awards.

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New York artist retires animal-costume performances
Fri 1 Apr 2011 - 02:46

New York City artist Nate Hill has retired his performance-art pieces, several of which involved animal mascot costumes. Described as "part furry fandom, part street theater, and part creepy perv", Hill's spectacles included: