Baby Sitter

A 37-year-old man has been charged in Patchogue with endangering a child's welfare after one of two toddlers he was baby-sitting was found drunk, officials said. Juan Reyes was arrested by two sheriff's deputies who had gone to the home to get information on a court matter. The deputies saw through a window that Reyes was passed out and two small children were wandering around, authorities said.

An Irvine baby-sitter has been arrested, accused of beating to death an 8-month-old girl in her care, officials said Friday. Sunhye Choi, 30, was arrested outside her home about 10:30 p.m. Thursday and held at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder. Bail was set at $1 million. Police said Choi was baby-sitting Nicole Jeong at Choi's Parkview Lane apartment Monday when the baby stopped breathing.

Re "Suspects Chafing in Ankle Monitors," June 21: Requiring undocumented worker Juan Chavez to wear an ankle bracelet and undergo electronic surveillance for 10 weeks because he "got job after job in Northern California without the required work permits" epitomizes the hypocrisy of how our immigration laws are crafted and prosecuted. If Chavez belongs in ankle bracelets, so does the guy who hired him; so do I, and more than likely, so do you, dear citizen reader. Let those who have never hired an undocumented gardener, baby-sitter, farmworker or handyman cast the first stone.

A man was executed in Huntsville for the fatal stabbing of his children's 84-year-old baby sitter during a robbery. Bryan Wolfe told his relatives and friends that he appreciated their support before he received the lethal injection. "I will be OK," he said. For his last meal, Wolfe, 44, had fried chicken, pork chops, barbecue ribs, french fries, peach cobbler and a banana.

When it comes to winning the voting war in this biggest prize of battleground states, both presidential camps agree: Florida may set a new national standard for ambitious, no-tactic-left-behind politicking. With just five days remaining before election day, Republicans and Democrats are waging a historic get-out-the vote effort, with opposing platoons of volunteers dreaming up ways to get people to the polls -- including offers of baby-sitting services.

As Sen. Christopher J. Dodd unveiled a sweeping plan last week to overhaul regulation of the banking industry, and as the banking industry complained loudly that this would be a horrible idea, I couldn't help but think of Silver Lake resident Jonathan Leahy. Leahy, 31, had shared with me a couple of letters he received recently from Chase Bank regarding his two different Chase credit cards. Both letters arrived the same day. One said that "we are pleased to let you know that your revolving credit access . . . has been increased to $10,300" -- a reward for Leahy being such a good credit risk.

The Sheriff's Department said it would seek a murder charge against a baby-sitter accused of shaking a 16-month-old boy who died Thursday. The toddler, who has not been identified, was placed on life support at Huntington Memorial Hospital on Tuesday. Sheriff's deputies arrested the baby-sitter, Viviana Jennings, 26, on suspicion of child endangerment. Jennings is being held on $630,000 bail, and is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 19.

WE LEAVE THE HOUSE WITH Cheerios in our dress shoes and the teeth-clenched expressions of suburbanites escaping the kids for a few precious hours. Someone's turning 40. Which is an odd expression, "turning 40." Frankly, you're either 40 or you're not. "What time will you be home?" asks the older daughter, home for the weekend. "Ten-ish," I say. " 'Ish' is not a time," she says. "Then midnight," I say. "Midnight-ish," says my wife. This is met with howls of protest.

A Riverside County judge delivered a maximum one-year jail sentence Friday and strongly reprimanded a baby-sitter who ran errands while her pit bull fatally mauled a 2-year-old girl she had left unattended. "It's astonishing to me that people would keep certain types of pets around children," Superior Court Judge Albert J. Wojcik told Jackie Star Batey, 30, of Good Hope. "It's equally bewildering that a baby-sitter would leave a 2-year-old around the pet....