Odds 'N Sods

Garbage not private: Supreme Court
A former national team swimmer kicked his privacy rights to the curb when he put out trash bags containing evidence of a home-based ecstasy lab, says the Supreme Court of Canada. The high court ruled 7-0 yesterday that Russell Patrick abandoned such legal protections when he put the four bags out for collection alongside a public alleyway in Calgary.
"The police did not breach (Patrick's) right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure," Justice Ian Binnie wrote on behalf of the court.
The police did not have to step onto Patrick's property to retrieve the bags, Binnie noted. But "they did have to reach through the airspace over his property line."
The case was considered a key test of whether garbage is constitutionally protected, like homes and telephone conversations.
Mass killer gets life
VANCOUVER -- A man who pled guilty in a mass killing in a Surrey highrise has been sentenced to life in prison, with 15 years before he can apply for parole. Dennis Karbovanec, 27, quietly pleaded guilty last week to three counts of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy in the October 2007 murders.
Chopper survivor talks
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- The sole survivor of a helicopter crash off Newfoundland that killed 17 last month says he escaped through a window and remained calm until rescued.
In a statement, Robert Decker says he doesn't know how Allison Maher escaped the helicopter. Maher was the only other person who managed to get out of the helicopter, but she died. Decker says he has spoken with the RCMP in an effort to help out with the Transportation Safety Board's investigation and won't be speaking publicly until its final report is released.
Kids to be evacuated
A First Nations community in northern Ontario is preparing to evacuate 700 children over fears that harmful fuel fumes are making them ill, an aboriginal leader said yesterday.
Plans are underway to airlift the children out of Attawapiskat First Nation near James Bay this month, even though it could cost millions of dollars, said Grand Chief Stan Louttit. "Both levels of government refuse to help."
Residents say they have been suffering from headaches, nausea and other ailments since an abandoned elementary school was torn down in March.
Khawaja appeals
OTTAWA -- Momin Khawaja is appealing his conviction. Khawaja's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, served notice yesterday he's asking the Ontario Court of Appeal to overturn a finding that his client aided a group of British extremists.
Topless pic scandal
HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia's Liberal leader distanced himself yesterday from a campaign worker's attempt to smear a potential NDP candidate. Stephen McNeil says he did not authorize the worker to send out a topless photo of Lenore Zann. The blurred pic -- broadcast Wednesday on TV -- was taken from Zann's appearance on the U.S. cable TV show The L Word.