redfern originals

SNELLVILLE, Ga. (AP) ― A man died of a heart attack after being head-butted by an armless man during a fight over a woman, and no felony charges will be filed, authorities said Wednesday.

Investigators said they made the determination after learning that Charles Keith Teer, 49, had heart problems long before the confrontation with William Russell Redfern, an artist who has won recognition for drawings he does with his feet.

"The autopsy revealed he had serious heart disease and blockages and they'd been there for quite awhile," Snellville Police Chief Roy Whitehead said.

He added, however, that misdemeanor charges such as criminal trespass or simple battery against the 44-year-old Redfern were still a possibility.

Teer and Redfern scuffled Monday in the driveway of a suburban Atlanta home.

Redfern, who was born with no right arm and a stump below his left shoulder, kicked Teer, and Teer hit Redfern during the fight, authorities said. Teer complained of feeling dizzy after the fight, collapsed, and died.

The fight stemmed from bad blood over a woman who once dated Teer and now dates Redfern, authorities said.

A woman who answered the phone Tuesday at Redfern's home in suburban Tucker said he had no comment. She declined to identify herself.

Known by the nickname "Rusty," Redfern made a name for himself in the late 1980s for pen and ink drawings he does using his foot.

According to the Web site for VSA Arts ― an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that promotes and showcases artists with disabilities ― Redfern's drawings take one to six months to complete.

He was one of six Georgians who represented the state at the 1989 International Arts Festival in Washington, and was commissioned by Georgia's then-Secretary of State Max Cleland for a series of illustrations depicting the state capitol.

According to the site, he started Redfern Originals Inc. in 1987, producing Christmas cards, stationery and limited-edition prints.

IT'S the 21st century equivalent of a pub with no beer. Russell Crowe's idea of a leagues club with no poker machines left Redfern gracious but guarded yesterday.

"I like the idea because it's original and it would definitely benefit the community," local Laura Mansfield, 19, said.

"But some of the older people would probably be upset."

Indeed, Ms Mansfield's elders at the Tudor Inn Hotel - only a decent drop punt from the Rabbitohs' licensed premises - were less convinced.

Forced to shift her casual pokie habit up the road when the Chalmers St building was closed for re-developments in March, Susan Morton, 47, said "old folk" felt less safe playing machines in pubs.

"They are chopping off an arm to save a leg," Ms Morton said.

"Old folk around here feel safer playing the pokies at a club where they can get a courtesy bus to and from home."

As he watched the mid-week die-hards try their luck, gaming room attendant Vic Narayan told how pokies dictated the lives of the community's most disadvantaged people. Mr Narayan said he now refused to work on Thursdays - otherwise known as "pension day" - because of the influx.

"Thursdays are always the busiest days in here - people can do what they like because they have money," the 28-year-old said.

Mr Narayan said problem gamblers had manifested themselves over the years with threats of physical abuse.

"Just two weeks ago, I had a bloke in here who lost $400 and threatened to rob the pub to get it back. The worst thing is they blame us workers when they lose."

The Salvation Army lavished praise on Crowe's idea, adding that it would break the State Government's "addiction to poker machines".

Just down the road from Redfern, it runs the William Booth centre - a specially designed live-in facility for recovering gamblers.

In his seventh month of rehab, Glyn Hicks, 30, said his 10-year addiction regularly played out at nearby Redfern pubs such as the Cauliflower Hotel on Regent St.

Costing $1500 a week, it reduced him from a carpenter to a vagabond who slept under a bridge at St Leonards. "If we want to fix this problem we've got to start somewhere," Mr Hicks said Over an hour away from Manhattan, way out in the coastal area of Far Rockaway, Queens, there is a tree-filled housing project called Redfern Houses. In the news, the Redfern Houses are often associated with violent crime, but within the trees there an interesting nature story is unfolding. A few years ago, a heron colony arrived, and neither the ecologists who study the birds nor the project's residents have any idea what they're doing there.

A local birdwatcher first spotted the birds ― a species called yellow-crowned night herons ― four years ago. Last year, the New York City Audubon Society decided to make a pit stop at Redfern Houses during their annual harbor heron survey. They found 29 yellow-crowned herons, according to their survey report, a relatively large amount for an urban colony.

When I contacted the Audubon Society about going out to look at the colony, they recommended against visiting the area alone. I went there in April, and although I only walked around the Redfern courtyard during the day, I didn't find the area menacing. The greens are well-kept, and one of the nine or so red brick buildings includes a daycare. The yellow-crowned herons seem to favor the trees that shade the daycare for their nests.

While the birds seem comfortable in their new home, not all of Redferns' residents are excited about their new neighbors. About a month after my visit, Andy Bernick, the ecologist who's been leading the NYC Audubon Society's annual harbor heron survey since 2005, returned to Redfern to check on the herons. He also talked to some of the people living there. "I spoke with about 12 residents," he recalls. "Most were ambivalent about the birds, several liked the birds and were all in favor of them being left alone, two yelled from their window 'kill those birds' and one woman said she doesn't care for birds in general."


Yellow-crowned night heron seen on beach on Great Exuma, Bahamas. [CREDIT: David M. Jensen]
That the colony settled at the Redfern Houses at all could imply that the environment there is improving. The islands around New York City were all but devoid of birds like herons before 1972, the year the federal Clean Water Act was passed. When fish-eating bird species, such as herons and egrets, began to settle around Staten Island in the 1970s, many citizens took it as a sign that the water quality in the city's harbor was rehabilitated.

Still, not all the herons that live around New York City are thriving. In 2001, researchers counted 242 nests of black-crowned night herons, the dominant heron species in the New York Harbor, on North Brother Island in the East River. By last year's survey, there were only 87 nests on the island. Meanwhile, the original colonies on Staten Island have been abandoned for several years.

Bird experts don't really know all of the factors that cause one colony to be successful while others fail, but they know that human activity and changes in nesting trees affect the birds' choices. Contamination of the fish the herons eat may also be causing colonies to dwindle. "Until we know what caused it, it's hard to know what to do about it," says Tim Kubiak, who helps supervise environmental contaminant research for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services' New Jersey field office.

The yellow-crowned herons at the Redfern Houses may be doing well for now, but just as it's unclear why they settled there, it's also uncertain how long they'll stay. There's not much the experts can do except monitor the harbor herons' activities and lobby for their protection. This year, Bernick counted 20 yellow-crowned night herons at the Redfern Houses, a slight decrease from last year's 29, but still a stable population. Whether or not the Redfern colony will remain strong may depend on the Audubon Society's ability to work with the housing project's employees and residents.

As for why herons are settling in populated areas like Far Rockaway, Bernick proposes the birds might not have an alternative now that human development has taken over much of their natural habitat. "Maybe they're here because it's all that's left," he says.