Heroic yellow Lab helps save her pal from icy river

TOPSFIELD — A dog named Fred was saved from a freezing death yesterday by a rescue team and the incredible actions of another dog named Ginger.


Both dogs belong to the Giraud family of Topsfield, both are yellow Labrador retrievers, and both danced into the same waters of the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. Ginger, however, made a quick escape, while Fred was left immobile, front paws on the ice, the rest of him immersed.


It was then that events began to resemble an episode of the old television series "Lassie." Ginger remained on the bank, barking until she attracted the attention of nearby hikers and nature lovers. Once people began to respond to Fred's plight, telephoning for help, Ginger hurried home.


There, she behaved in a way that alerted Joy Howell, the mother of owner Joanna Howell-Giraud, that something was wrong.


"She was trying to tell us what happened," Howell said.


The family quickly set out to find Fred.


Meanwhile, Fred was the object of a rescue effort mounted by Topsfield police and fire, Environmental Police, the Wildlife Sanctuary, and Northeast Regional Ambulance. At first, fire Capt. Jen Collins-Brown said, the assumption was that two dogs were in the water with the second perhaps under the ice.


"It was a little sad," Brown said. "A lot of us have pets."


Moreover, they realized a survival suit would be needed in order to get out far enough to pull Fred to safety. Capt. Darrell Moore put it on and headed for the suffering animal.


"He was in a position where he couldn't get himself out," Brown said.


The water wasn't as deep as feared, and Moore was able to walk the distance to Fred, who reacted calmly to being pulled off the ice.


"Fred was a very cooperative victim," .


Moore was assisted by Capt. Chic Denault. The whole rescue took less than 30 minutes. Brown noted that it proved a good exercise for the team, preparing them perhaps for the day when they might have to rescue some stranded person.


A plan to bring Fred to the veterinarian was sidetracked when the ambulance neared the Giraud home and saw all the cars. They delivered the dog "none the worse for wear," according to Brown, to his owners instead. "They were very excited. Very relieved. And very grateful."


The rescuers were equally pleased to discover that both dogs were safe.


Retrievers like the water, so it wasn't surprising to find one in it.


"Fred was probably having a great time for a while,.


Lindsay Lohan returns to NYC, goes bar-hopping with pal Samantha Swetra while working on sobriety

Lindsay Lohan didn't waste any time hitting up bars with pal Samantha Swetra though she's supposedly on a sobriety kick as of late.
The Girl is Back
Do you think it's appropriate for Lohan to be bar-hopping even if she's not drinking?


Yes. If she can control herself, she has every right to be there.No, the temptation is too great and she'll be back on the bottle in no time.
I'm not sure.




Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel has revised his recent decision about former Bloomberg campaign adviser John Haggerty. In a March 14 ruling requiring Haggerty to stand trial on charges he stole $1.1 million from Hizzoner's 2009 campaign,


Zweibel raised eyebrows when he bluntly wrote that "the evidence of guilt, whether admissible in trial or not, is overwhelming." The line was shortened in a number of press reports to "the evidence of guilt ... is overwhelming," which read like a pretty decisive stance in advance of a trial.


Perhaps Zweibel regretted his initial exuberance, because, while reporting our story on Haggerty in Wednesday's column, we learned that the judge has since issued an amended decision, which softens his original assertion. The line, which we've truncated to spare you a lot of legalese, now reads: "the evidence of guilt ... is certainly legally sufficient, if not overwhelming, based upon this Court's review of the Grand Jury presentation."


A rose by any other name ...


Jayson Blair: Disgraced reporter or MTV heartthrob? Both, it turns out! An actor on "The Hard Times of RJ Berger" shares his creatively spelled name with the journalist whose plagiarized and fabricated articles caused a scandal for the Gray Lady in 2003. After resigning, that Jayson Blair recast himself as a "life coach"; this one plays a character he describes as "the a—hole jock everyone loves to hate."


The handsome actor, who's now shooting an unnamed pilot with "Traffic" director Stephen Gaghan, admits he's got a bit of a Google problem, but tells us, "I never really considered using a different name."


Janet's star may be waning


Do Janet Jackson's fans like her better when she's "Nasty"? A source tells us the singer's March 19 book-signing for her self-help volume, "True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself," at the Fifth Ave. Barnes & Noble wasn't exactly mobbed. According to the insider, after Simon & Schuster's Gallery imprint shelled out $30,000 for a stylist to primp Jackson for the signing, she autographed only 200 copies. We initially heard that even fewer sold, but a spokeswoman for the book insisted our story was "false." She wrote that 475 copies of "True You" were sold and Jackson presigned another 200 for the store, making the event "a huge success."

 PAL employees prepare to strike

PHILIPPINE Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), which represents over half of the flag carrier Philippine Airlines' employees, said on Friday that it is "all systems go" for its first nationwide strike since 1998.

In a statement, PALEA said a nationwide strike would push through any day after today. 

PALEA filed a notice of strike on March 7. A strike vote among union members held on March 25 revealed that 95.44% of the employees were backing the proposed strike. 

PALEA said it needs to observe the seven-day "strike ban" period or a "cooling period", which means the labor union may strike on April 2 the earliest.

"The only thing that can prevent a strike is for PAL to heed the demand to stop outsourcing and open collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations without preconditions," Gerardo F. Rivera, PALEA president, was quoted saying in the statement.

"PALEA is 100% ready for a strike that will paralyze the operations of PAL that in cahoots with the Aquino government wants to deny workers the right to regular jobs and a CBA," he added. 

PALEA, he added, is set to conduct a "dress rehearsal" today for its planned strike. 

"This mass action is an expression of the unity of the labor movement in the common fight for regular jobs and against the government’s policy of contractualization," Mr. Rivera said in the statement.

Last March 27, PAL said it wanted to talk with the labor union to ensure a smooth implementation of restructuring its workforce, following a Malacanang ruling last March 26 affirming the airline's plan to outsource some of its operations. 

But PALEA said then that it was not amenable to such talks, and insisted that CBA negotiations should be pursued first.

By
Neha Jain

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