Mother accused of drowning baby

Christi Denice King pleaded not guilty Thursday to one count of murder in connection with the drowning death of her infant son one year ago.King, 33, of Greenville, was the sole subject of a special Tuesday meeting of the Hunt County grand jury, which returned a murder indictment.Prosecutors are already trying to amend the indictment.King entered the not guilty plea during a Thursday morning arraignment hearing in the 196th District Court. Judge Joe Leonard set an interim hearing in the case for March 28.King remains in custody in the Hunt County Jail and had previously filed a writ of habeas corpus seeking a reduction in her $1 million bond.King's defense attorney, Jack Paris, had also filed a motion, requesting an examining trial in an effort to have the bond lowered. That hearing was scheduled to take place Thursday, prior to Tuesday's special meeting of the grand jury and the issuance of the indictment.A motion was filed Friday, seeking an amendment in the wording of the indictment, details of which were not available at press time.

Pad Concept baby car seat

Ever tried changing a baby's nappy while they're sitting in a car seat? Well, no. It's impossible. At least, it was impossible. The Pad Concept has been made at California State University, and is a baby car seat that transforms into a changing station, then back again.

Designed by Ravi Itiravivong, it was recently named as one of the winning entries in the iF Concept Product Awards 2007. It has a swivel base that lets it be rotated to the right or left while in place, so that the backrest can be folded back to leave your baby in a lying position. One swift nappy-change later, and it turns back into a seat again.

Hopefully someone's already turning this into a commercial product: it's genius!

iF Design Awards – Household/Residential category

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Buckling up, even in a stroller

One young Attleboro mother apparently took the time to strap her baby boy into his stroller in such a way that when a car struck the pair last week in Attleboro, he remained snug as his seat rolled over a couple of times.

Stacy Wetherell and her baby, who is a year old, were treated at hospitals and released. Jacob, officials said, suffered cuts to his cheek.

Who knows what could have happened had Ms. Wetherell not, prior to the outing, bent over her baby, tucking and buckling, just so.The outcome sets an example for other parents. Sometimes a walk on a pretty day can be shattered by the unexpected. Attention to detail is critical.Education on child seat safety usually focuses on cars. Consumer Reports last week had to admit, red-faced, that its alerts on reliability of certain models may have been in error and re-testing is slated.

Cheney's daughter makes a baby and political statement

Mr. Dobson is the founder of Focus on the Family, a conservative activist group, and ordinarily I couldn't see eye to eye with him on the day of the week. But I agree with him about Mary Cheney.

He wrote about the vice president's pregnant, lesbian daughter in a Time magazine essay in December. Here's part of what he said:

"With all due respect to Cheney and her partner, Heather Poe, the majority of more than 30 years of social-science evidence indicates that children do best on every measure of well-being when raised by their married mother and father. That is not to say Cheney and Poe will not love their child. But love alone is not enough to guarantee healthy growth and development. The two most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a little boy - any more than the two most loving men can be complete role models for a little girl."

In other words, fathers matter, something we seem to have forgotten, so busy are we pretending that women and men are interchangeable.