Greek Orthodox leader installed
Oakland, Calif. The Greek Orthodox Church on Saturday installed a new leader for the western United States as about 1,500 faithful watched.
Gerasimos Michaleas, the new metropolitan of San Francisco, will preside over 70 Greek Orthodox parishes with 150,000 members in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii.
“I have tried to serve without asking the Lord about my place at the table. I have followed the road before me, prayerful that I would not lose my direction or my purpose, which was, is and always shall be to serve God and his people,” Michaleas said in ceremonies at the Ascension Cathedral in Oakland.
Michaleas, 59, replaces Metropolitan Anthony Gergiannakis, who died on Christmas.
Michaleas was born in Kalamata, Greece, and moved to the United States in 1969 to attend college. He received a bachelor’s degree from Hellenic College in Brookline, Mass., and continued studies at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.
He was ordained in 1979 and appointed archdeacon to Archbishop Iakovos of Chicago.
In 1990, he became dean of students at Hellenic College and later earned a doctorate in psychology from Boston College.
Striptease surprises cable-access viewers
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. George Morton got an eyeful when he came home from Mass on Palm Sunday and turned on public access television.
Morton saw a tape of a striptease contest – a far cry from the usual public access programming of local meetings and talk shows.
“I thought, this is terrible,” Morton said. “I don’t get HBO or anything like that.”
Cablevision said Thursday that a “program switching error” had occurred.
“When it was detected, the programming was removed immediately,” Cablevision spokesman Bill Powers told the Poughkeepsie Journal.
“We have taken appropriate steps to prevent this from happening again.”
Morton said he planned to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. The mistake affected customers in four counties.
Handcuff key found in inmate’s stomach
Santa Cruz, Calif. A jail inmate swallowed what could have been his key to freedom.
During a sweep of the high-security wing of County Jail, deputies discovered that inmate Jose Angel Juarez had swallowed a handcuff key. Lt. Craig Wilson said Juarez set off the metal detector during a walkthrough screening.
At first, deputies weren’t sure what set off the metal detector, but they knew it was in Juarez’s midsection, so he was taken for an X-ray.
A 1 1/2 -inch handcuff key could be seen in Juarez’s belly.
“It’s our belief that the inmate would be using this to escape from custody,” Wilson said.
Juarez, 29, is awaiting trial on felony charges of conspiracy, assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, robbery and carjacking, stemming from a Dec. 18, 2003, robbery of a produce market.
Francisco Antonio Alvarado, 25, accused of being Juarez’ partner in the robbery, pleaded guilty in October to robbery, conspiracy, assault and receiving stolen property and was sentenced to 10 years, four months in prison.
It wasn’t known where Juarez got the handcuff key.
Deputies waited for the key to eventually emerge.