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Tuesday, February 28, 2006
· Mass killer too psychotic for execution. A judge has ruled that a former prison guard convicted of killing 13 people in a 1982 shooting rampage can't be executed because he is mentally ill. 
· Boy Sticks Gum On $1.5 Million Painting At Museum. The Detroit Institute of Arts is stuck with having to repair a painting worth $1.5 million. It has to remove a stain left by a wad of gum stuck on the painting by a 12-year-old visitor.
· Police: Woman Fakes Death To Avoid Paying Traffic Tickets. An investigation concluded that a Des Moines woman faked her own death to avoid paying traffic tickets. Polk County investigators said Kimberly Du, 36, faked her own obituary and forged a letter telling a Polk County judge she was dead. The case began to unravel when investigators said Du was stopped for another traffic ticket in January, which was a month after the obituary was dated.
· Disabled Teen Kicked Out Of Theater For Laughing Too Loudly. The mother of a disabled teen complained to the American Civil Liberties Union after she and her son were kicked out of a movie theater because he was laughing too loudly. Susan Brown said she and her 19-year-old son, Matt, were asked to leave an AMC Woodlands 20 theater during a showing of "The Pink Panther" Sunday.
· Smithsonian preparing for hip-hop exhibit. For nearly three decades, hip-hop relics such as vinyl records, turntables, microphones and boom boxes have collected dust in boxes and attics. On Tuesday, owners of such items - including pioneering hip-hop artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Fab 5 Freddy - will blow that dust off and carry them to a Manhattan hotel to turn them over to National Museum of American History officials.
· Supreme Court Hears Ex-Playmate's Case. With an oil fortune on the line, former stripper Anna Nicole Smith encountered a sympathetic audience at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Several justices said they were concerned that the one-time Playboy Playmate was kept from pursuing a piece of her late husband's fortune.
· Mother sad daughter didn't carry out bombing. The mother of a woman arrested in a suicide-bombing attempt told a Palestinian TV interviewer she was upset by her daughter's capture, but only because it meant the 21-year-old wouldn't be able to kill Israelis targeted for attack, including children.
· Update: Crash Of $1M Ferrari A Growing Mystery. The mystery of the $1 million sports car continues to spin out new subplots and story lines. The rare Ferrari Enzo that disintegrated in a spectacular crash last week was roaring along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu at 162 mph when it hit a bump in the road, flew into the air and slammed into a telephone pole.
· Psssst ... wanna buy a wedding dress? Blakely Smith dreamed of getting married in a Monique Lhuillier wedding gown - the kind she'd always loved when she saw them on pop stars like Pink in People magazine. Now she's out $2,400 to an eBay scammer, and thinking maybe she should get married in a courthouse. After desperate pleas for her money, her scammer responded in an e-mail with: "I just scammed you, sorry for that, it's nothing personal... It's what I do, and it pays well."
· From Cash to Yachts, Convicted Congressman Set Bribery Rates. Prosecutors call it a corruption case with no parallel in the long history of the U.S. Congress. And it keeps getting worse. Convicted Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham actually priced the illegal services he provided. His note cards reveal an escalating scale for bribes, starting at $140,000 and a luxury yacht for a $16 million Defense Department contract. Each additional $1 million in contract value required a $50,000 bribe.
· Teacher Allowed To Teach After Sex Change Operation. To students at Eagleswood Elementary School, she used to be Mr. McBeth. Now, after undergoing a sex change, 71-year-old Lily McBeth is ready to return to teaching as Miss McBeth.
· Sen. Clinton: Rove obsesses about me. Reacting to a new book quoting Karl Rove as saying she will be the 2008 Democratic nominee for president, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that President Bush's chief political strategist "spends a lot of time obsessing about me."
· Distributed computing cracks Enigma code. More than 60 years after the end of World War II, a distributed computing project has managed to crack a previously uncracked message that was encrypted using the Enigma machine.
· Doherty arrested for 'car theft.' Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty has been arrested on suspicion of stealing a car and possessing class A drugs.
· More of the world's most unusual buildings. These are not the typical buildings you see on every street corner.
· Man comes up with good excuse for losing wedding ring. Pieter Abrahamse has an original excuse for a lost wedding ring: a crocodile ate it, along with the arm it was attached to. "He took my wedding ring, I suppose he ate it up," Abrahamse told Reuters by telephone from his hospital Monday as he recounted his life-or-death struggle with a man-eating reptile.
· Airline hostess sparks panic. A panic-stricken airline stewardess sparked terror on her turbulence-hit flight by screaming: "We're going to crash." The hostess, named only as Wendy, stunned hundreds of passengers on the Gatwick-to-Las Vegas Virgin flight by repeating the outburst three times. She cracked as the jet began shaking and sharply dived 8,000ft.
· Michael Douglas Sues 2 Fla. Companies. Actor Michael Douglas sued two Boca Raton companies Monday claiming they improperly used his name and image to promote their own products and services.
Monday, February 27, 2006
· Woman Burns To Death After Cigarette Apparently Ignites Housecoat. A 72-year-old woman was burned alive after a cigarette apparently ignited her clothes as she stood inside of her Pennsylvania home.
· Distillery To Revive 184-Proof Whisky. A Scottish distillery said Monday it was reviving a centuries-old recipe for whisky so strong that one 17th-century writer feared more than two spoonfuls could be lethal.
· 'McCloud' actor Dennis Weaver dies. Dennis Weaver, who played the slow-witted deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic western "Gunsmoke" and the New Mexico deputy solving New York crime in "McCloud," has died, his publicist said Monday. The actor was 81.
· Disney Star Runs Afoul of Law. The Florida Monroe County Sheriff's Office have again been "messing around" with the agency's online arrest database again. Now, one Donald Luis Duck of 1201 Happy Place Lane in Orlando appears on the blotter, complete with photo and pedigree information.
· Chicago schools chief faces shoplifting trial. The recently hired superintendent of North Chicago schools has been charged with felony shoplifting in connection with an incident last summer at a Springfield Wal-Mart store.
· Auditor loses McAfee security software firm's employee data. An external auditor lost a CD with information on thousands of current and former McAfee employees, putting them at risk of identity fraud. The disc was lost on Dec. 15 by Deloitte & Touche USA, McAfee spokeswoman Siobhan MacDermott said.
· Parking Crusader Issues Tickets, Makes Enemies. She's becoming a familiar, though sometimes unwanted, sight in Glassboro, New Jersey. Maryann Cottrell bounds out of her car door with a tiny camera in hand, snapping photos of vehicles parked in handicapped spaces. So far, she's reported nearly 300 motorists. The 53-year-old Cottrell has nabbed two Philadelphia Eagles players, mail trucks and so many college students that Rowan University has barred her from campus.
· Former Teacher Convicted of Having Sex With Student Out of Jail. She was sentenced to 9 months in jail, but ended up serving just a little more than six months due to good behavior. Rogers was serving the sentence for her sexual relationship with a 13 year-old male student from Centertown. At the time, Rogers was married and went by the name Pamela Turner.
· Gum Flap Gets Inmate Dentist As New Cellmate. A man accused of stealing a plane in Florida and flying it to metro Atlanta has a new cellmate after his parents complained their son has dental problems. Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway moved Daniel Andrew Wolcott Friday night to the cell with a dentist facing murder charges in the death of his wife.
· Girlfriend Dies After Man Drops Her Out High-Rise Window. A 25-year-old Pennsylvania man is charged with criminal homicide in the high-rise death of his girlfriend. Authorities said the man dangled the woman out the window during horseplay Saturday night and lost his grip on her arms. Rachel M. Kozlusky, wearing only underwear and a sweater, fell 23 stories, breaking a portico skylight and landing on the pavement in front of the building.
· Man Charged In Prostitution Sues Clients. A Dutch man who was deported for running one of the largest escort services in Florida has sued six former customers. Arthur Vanmoor, 46, said the customers broke the law after purchasing time with the escorts, which he claims ultimately led to his arrest, incarceration and deportation. To pay the $245-per-hour escort fee, the men signed a credit card slip that said, "Cardholder states that this transaction is not for illegal activity," said Vanmoor's attorney, Montgomery Sibley.
· President Bush crashed by trying to 'pedal, wave and speak at same time.' He may be the most powerful man in the world, but proof has emerged that President George Bush cannot ride a bike, wave and speak at the same time. Scotland on Sunday has obtained remarkable details of one of the most memorably bizarre episodes of the Bush presidency: the day he crashed into a Scottish police constable while cycling in the grounds of Gleneagles Hotel.
· Burglar Leaves Parole Card Behind. A woman didn't have to look far to figure out who likely broke into her home and took a camera from her purse. Police said the burglar left behind his probation and parole card.
· Hussein gets hungry - decides to end hunger strike. Citing health concerns, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has ended his hunger strike after 11 days, his attorney said Monday from Amman, Jordan. Khalil Dulaimi said he met with his client for seven hours in Baghdad on Sunday and the defense team had convinced him it was time for him to start eating again.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
· Singer George Michael arrested in drugs probe. British singer George Michael was allegedly arrested on Sunday on suspicion of possessing drugs after he was found slumped in a car in central London. Michael, 42, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide during a 25-year career, was arrested in the Hyde Park area of the capital early on Sunday, according to sources.
· Asking for police complaint form stirs up injunction. After CBS aired a piece where several South Florida police officers were caught on camera intimidating would-be complainants against their police departments, one officer has taken action against the station in court. Sergeant Peter Schumanich, who filed the lawsuit, was caught on camera cursing and screaming at a member of a police watchdog group who went to his department asking to file a complaint against an unspecified officer.
· Anna Nicole Smith's Legal War Continues. Anna Nicole Smith went to work in a Houston strip club and wound up as the trophy wife of an aging multimillionaire, setting up an 11-year-long legal war over his estate that now has traveled all the way to the highest court in the land. The case is remarkable in part because of the number of zeros involved — the estate has been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion in 2000.
· Pastor Accused Of Molesting 13-Year-Old Boy. A Central Florida pastor was arrested this weekend amid allegations that he molested a 13-year-old boy on several occasions.
· Illegal immigrant detained after fatal crash. A police detective who provided security for Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio died Saturday after a car crash on Interstate 75 in Florida yesterday. Jose Luis Espinoza was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving a death and having no valid driver's license in a crash involving a death, both felonies. Officials said Espinoza will be held on an immigration detainer after his release from the hospital.
· Students Suspended For Snowball Fight. Two Ramona High School students were suspended for bringing dangerous objects to school - snowballs. Seniors Michael Sepulveda and Daniel Zavala, the snowball co-conspirators, made a pre-dawn run to the San Bernardino Mountains to fill their pickup trucks with snow and bring it to school for what they hoped would turn into an annual "bring Big Bear to Riverside" ritual.
· Actor Darren McGavin Dead At 83. Darren McGavin, the tough-talking performer was one of the busiest actors in television and film, starring in five TV series, including "Mike Hammer," and endearing holiday audiences with his role as the grouchy dad in the 1983 comedy classic "A Christmas Story."
· S.D. Gov. 'Inclined' to Sign Abortion Ban. Gov. Mike Rounds said he is inclined to sign a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in South Dakota, making it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless it was necessary to save the woman's life. The ban, including in cases of rape or incest, was approved Friday by South Dakota lawmakers, setting up a deliberate frontal assault on Roe v. Wade at a time when some activists see the U.S. Supreme Court as more willing than ever to overturn the 33-year-old decision.
· Bode Miller: "I did it my way." Unbent, unbowed and ultimately unsuccessful, Bode Miller said in an interview Saturday he is skiing away from these Olympics on his own terms — content without any medals and impressed by the local nightlife. "I just did it my way. I'm not a martyr, and I'm not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here," Miller said.
· Germany takes most medals. Germany has taken the most Olympic medals, slightly beating out the U.S. and Canada.
· Oops! Authorities now say powder in dorm not likely ricin. Authorities doubt that the whitish-brown powder found in a roll of quarters at the University of Texas at Austin is ricin because no one has shown symptoms of exposure to the powerful poison, an EMS spokesman said late Saturday afternoon.
· Streaker Runs Across Ice In Curling Match. The men's bronze medal match Friday was interrupted by a streaker. Midway through the United States' 8-6 win over Britain, a man wearing what appeared to be a strategically placed rubber chicken ran onto one of the covered sheets of ice not being used in that session. He danced around for a bit but never tried to approach any of the players.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
· Don Knotts, star of 'The Andy Griffith Show,' dead at 81. Don Knotts, the saucer-eyed, scarecrow-thin comic actor best known for his roles as the high-strung small-town deputy Barney Fife on the 1960s CBS series "The Andy Griffith Show" and the leisure-suit-clad landlord Ralph Furley on ABC's '70s sitcom "Three's Company," has died. Knotts, who lived in West Los Angeles, died Friday night of lung cancer at a Los Angeles hospital.
· Pushy new aides signal Hillary's run for White House. Hillary Clinton has recruited two loud-mouthed consultants who masterminded her husband's "back from nowhere" presidential run in a clear hint at her own White House ambitions. James Carville, known as the "Ragin' Cajun", for his no-holds-barred approach and Louisianan roots, became the world's most sought-after election adviser after Bill Clinton's 1992 victory. Officially, he and his long-time partner, Paul Begala, have been hired by Mrs Clinton to raise funds for her campaign for re-election as a senator for New York state in November.
· Thieves make off with $26,000 of beer. Authorities are hoping to break up what must be quite the party after beer thieves made off with almost $26,000 worth of suds from a delivery truck.
· Psycho Path Voted Wackiest Street Name. Farfrompoopen Road, the only road to Constipation Ridge, lost to Divorce Court and Psycho Path, which placed No. 1 in an online poll of the nation's wildest, weirdest and wackiest street names.
· Police Catch Man Who Escaped Prison In Dog Crate. Prison officials said that escaped inmate John Manard and his alleged accomplice were captured Friday night in Tennessee. Authorities said they captured John Manard, 27, who escaped from the Lansing, Kan., Correctional Facility on Feb. 12. U.S. Marshals also arrested 48-year-old Toby Young, who is accused of helping Manard escape in a crate used to transport dogs in a prison animal training program.
· Elementary school teacher accused of sex with young boy. It's the latest case of a female schoolteacher accused of having sex with a young boy. Authorities in Laurens, South Carolina, have arrested a 36-year-old elementary school teacher on charges that she'd had sex with one of her eleven-year-old students. Wendie Schweikert was booked on two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
· Polygamist Judge Ordered Off Utah Bench. A small-town judge with three wives was ordered removed from the bench by the Utah Supreme Court on Friday. The court unanimously agreed with the findings of the state's Judicial Conduct Commission, which recommended the removal of Judge Walter K. Steed for violating the state's bigamy law.
· Winning Powerball Ticket Found Under Bed. After hearing of a newspaper account of an unclaimed $853,492 Powerball ticket from October, Steve Jones decided to do a little housecleaning. Of the three tickets he swept out from under the bed, one wound up being the prizewinner. Jones took the ticket to the Louisiana Lottery Corp.'s headquarters in Baton Rouge and walked out with $597,447 after taxes.
· Toledo councilman Steamed Over Mayor's New Shower. A Toledo city council member is steaming over the mayor's new $10,000 shower stall. Councilman Frank Szollosi questions the expense, particularly with the city facing a $4.5 million dollar shortfall for this year.
· Soldiers face court-martial for Web porn. The U.S. Army has charged seven soldiers for contributing to an Internet gay porn site, the service announced Friday.
· Chicago Man Gets 190 Years for Deadly Fire. A former Chicago commodities trader convicted of setting a house fire that killed his 90-year-old mother was sentenced Friday to 190 years in federal prison. Marc Thompson, 54, desperate for cash, got $730,000 in insurance money plus $300,000 for sale of the lot after burning down his house with his mother inside, prosecutors said.
· Al-Qaida Threatens to Hit More Saudi Sites. Al-Qaida suicide bombers will attack more Saudi oil facilities, the terror group purportedly threatened Saturday in an Internet statement that claimed responsibility for the foiled attack on the Abiqaiq plant in eastern Saudi Arabia. Two suicide bombers tried to drive cars packed with explosives into Abiqaiq, the world's largest oil processing facility, on Friday afternoon, but security guards opened fire and the vehicles exploded outside the gates, killing the bombers and fatally wounding two guards.
· Bonds tells media no more interviews without release waiver. Barry Bonds won't conduct interviews with media members until they sign a release waiver allowing footage of them to be shown on his upcoming reality TV show on ESPN. Bonds is being followed this spring by a videographer, who is filming his every move, including his interaction with media members. ESPN is working with Bonds for a behind-the-scenes look at his quest for baseball's all-time home-run record.
· Crow Recovering From Breast Cancer Surgery. Sheryl Crow says she is recovering from breast cancer surgery and doctors have assured her she should make a full recovery. Crow had the surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday and is recovering without complications.
· Ricin discovered in University of Texas dorm. A substance discovered by a student in a University of Texas dormitory has tested positive for ricin, a potentially deadly poison, officials said. The chunky powder was found at the Moore-Hill dormitory Thursday and reported to university police, officials said.
Friday, February 24, 2006
· 4 robberies + 1 cell phone = 12 years. The boyfriend of the woman dubbed the "cell phone bandit" was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for his role in four bank robberies last year. Dave C. Williams, of Fairfax, Virginia, apologized profusely for helping Candice R. Martinez rob four Wachovia Bank branches from October 12 to November 4 - while she chatted with Williams on her cell phone.
· Driving tip: Don't honk at the cops. A Tennessee judge gave a college student a driving lesson in court this week: don't correct the police. Clay Palmer, a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, honked his car horn when he saw a policeman turn on blue flashers to pass through a red traffic light. The officer then turned the flashers off after moving through the intersection.
· Current TV Facing Two Lawsuits Over Name. A cable television network co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore is facing at least two lawsuits challenging its use of the name Current TV.
· Injured woman can sue Postal Service. A woman who tripped and fell over letters, packages and periodicals left on her front porch can sue the U.S. Postal Service for damages, the Supreme Court ruled.
· No Money: New Orleans May Release 4,000 Prisoners. The New Orleans court system may be forced to start releasing an estimated 4,000 prisoners - from potheads to murder suspects - if money isn't found to run the local public defender's office, a state judge warned Thursday.
· Inmate Says Andrea Yates Said to Copy Her. Andrea Yates once advised a fellow inmate that she could escape prosecution by pretending to be mentally ill and persuading a psychiatrist she suffered from serious disorders, according to court documents filed Thursday by prosecutors.
· H&R Block goofs on its own taxes. H&R Block, which provides tax advice to millions of Americans, made an embarrassing confession on Thursday. It goofed on its own taxes. The company said it had underestimated its own “state effective income tax rate” in previous quarters - meaning it owes another $32 million in back taxes.
· FCC to deliver bad news to networks. CBS, Fox and NBC are about to get some bad news from the Federal Communications Commission, Daily Variety reported Thursday. Fox will reportedly be fined for two obscenities uttered by Nicole Richie during the 2003 Billboard Awards broadcast, and will also lose its appeal of a $1.2 million fine for an episode of "Married by America." CBS will also lose its appeal of the $550,000 fine levied for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.
· U.S. to end funding abstinence-only program. The federal government agreed to stop funding a nationwide program that promotes teen abstinence to settle a lawsuit alleging the money was used for Christian proselytizing.
· Rob Reiner Denies Impropriety in Preschool. Hollywood director Rob Reiner denied any wrongdoing Thursday in response to recent scrutiny about the potential misuse of taxpayer funds for a June ballot initiative he is spearheading.
· London mayor guilty over Nazi jibe. London's mayor has been found guilty of bringing his office into disrepute when he compared a Jewish journalist to a German concentration camp guard. The Adjudication Panel for England ruled Ken Livingstone had acted in an "unnecessarily insensitive" manner.
· Suspected Burglar Gets Stuck In Chimney. Screams for help from a home in Alburquerque, N.M., led to the discovery of a suspected burglar trapped inside a chimney Thursday.
· Midwest Oil fined for selling gas too cheaply. The Minnesota Commerce Department on Thursday announced plans to fine a gas station chain $140,000 for repeatedly selling gas below the state's legal minimum price.
· 'Pieces' author's book deal nixed. Author James Frey, who admitted last month he made up parts of his best-selling memoir "A Million Little Pieces," has been dropped by his publisher, Riverhead Books, Frey's representative said Thursday.
· Man on murder charge after TV boast. A man who bragged on national television about the killing of his former sister-in-law after a murder charge against him was dropped before he could stand trial has again been charged over her death.
· Famous but forgotten. They are the guys that have graced our screen but without recognition - actors who are adored by fans but ignored by critics. Empire magazine has picked its Top 10 most underrated actors and the list starts with all-American hero, Kevin Bacon.
· What a difference a day makes. Every year, since 1976, a family has taken individual photographs of themselves to show an interesting progression of aging.
· Most dangerous destinations 2006. From the black plague to avian flu, Attila the Hun to Osama bin-Laden, Mount Vesuvius to the Indian Ocean tsunami - and let's not even mention biological or nuclear warfare - people and cultures are eternally prone to natural disaster, social upheaval and just plain killing each other. Some places have it worse than others.
· Pentagon Told to Release Gitmo Transcripts. A federal judge ordered the Pentagon on Thursday to release the identities of hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to The Associated Press, a move which would force the government to break its secrecy and reveal the most comprehensive list yet of those who have been imprisoned there.
· Dead Baby Found Hidden In Woman's Closet. An anonymous tip to police in Titusville, Fla., led to the discovery of a dead baby found wrapped in plastic, hidden inside an apartment's bathroom closet.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
· Teacher Arrested For Alleged Sexual Relationship With Student. A Wayne County, North Carolina teacher has been arrested and charged with a felony for allegedly having sex with an 18-year-old male student.
· Why poor people win the lottery. It's not karma that rewards hotel maids and ditch-diggers with huge jackpots. Studies show that the heaviest lottery players - the 20% of players who contribute 82% of lottery revenue - disproportionately are low-income.
· Police Charge 9-Year-Old In Rape. An 9-year-old southern Delaware boy faces adult charges for an alleged rape. The state attorney general's office signed the arrest warrant Tuesday, although the boy has not been arrested.
· Stockton Coach Accused of Lewd Conduct with Student. A part-time coach and physical education teacher at a private school in Stockton was arraigned this afternoon on charges she had an inappropriate relationship with a student. The coach is 25, the female student is 15.
· German court convicts man for insulting Islam. A German court today convicted a businessman of insulting Islam by printing the word "Koran" on toilet paper and offering it to mosques.
· Building 19 Apologizes for T-Shirt Ad. Discount retailer Building 19 has apologized for an advertisement in a recent flier that offered three "wife beater" undershirts for $5.98. The tank-style T-shirts are called "wife beaters" because of a stereotype that physically abusive men wear them.
· Unmarried Couple Denied Right to Move In. A Missouri couple say they were denied an occupancy permit for their new home because they're not married.
· Update: Former Gizmondo exec's crashed $1m Ferrari Enzo. Stefan Eriksson - the former Gizmondo executive who stepped down amidst allegations of his involvement in the Uppsala Mafia Swedish organized crime ring - no longer has his 2003 Ferrari Enzo, of which 399 were made, and each cost a million dollars.
· Offender won't wear monitor, cites religion. A convicted sex offender in southern Iowa with ties to a doomsday commune has refused to wear an electronic monitor, saying the device conflicts with his religious beliefs.
· Heist cash haul may be record $70 million. Detectives on Thursday launched a huge manhunt for an armed gang who posed as police officers to steal what could be up to $70 million in what would be Britain's biggest-ever cash robbery.
· 'Brokeback Mountain' shirts auctioned. Tom Gregory just spent more than $100,000 on two used cowboy shirts. And he couldn't be happier. The shirts are the ones worn by the ill-fated lovers, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, in Oscar front-runner "Brokeback Mountain." The shirts that represent their relationship. The shirts that, to Gregory, represent the ongoing plight of gays for acceptance in society. "They really are the ruby slippers of our time," said Gregory, 45.
· Christian mobs seek avenge deaths. Christian mobs in southern Nigeria attacked Muslim motorists and traders Wednesday, leaving more than 30 people dead, according to witnesses, as riots sparked by the publishing of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad continued into a fifth day. Nationwide, the death toll reached at least 80.
· Pesci Will Not Be Prosecuted In Alleged Punching Case. Oscar-winning actor Joe Pesci will not be charged for allegedly punching a fan who photographed him in a shopping center parking lot, officials said Wednesday.
· Behold the power of poop. San Francisco city officials hope to harness the power of dog waste in this dog-friendly city where animals make up nearly 4 percent of residential waste. San Franciscans already recycle more than 60 percent of their garbage, but officials hope to turn into energy the 6,500 tons of dog waste a year - nearly as much as disposable diapers.
· Fishermen to be paid for snagging sub. A local fisherman will be getting paid for an unusual catch of the day - a nuclear submarine. Alan Chaplaski said the Navy has agreed to pay him for damages to his boat from an incident last summer when the USS Montpelier, a 362-foot-long submarine, allegedly snagged his gear and almost capsized the boat.
· Marines Caught Selling Combat Gear Online. A civilian and several Marines have been convicted on charges connected to an operation that stole ballistic vests and other gear from Camp Pendleton and sold it on the Internet, authorities said.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
· Paul McCartney's brother 'assaulted 16-year-old.' The brother of Sir Paul McCartney flew into a rage and demanded "don't you know who I am?" after he was accused of groping the bottom of a teenage waitress, a court heard today.
· Videotape Shows Natalee Holloway and Joran Van Der Sloot Together at Aruba Casino. Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who disappeared last May on a school trip to Aruba, sat at a blackjack table with Joran van der Sloot in a casino the night she disappeared, according to a videotape obtained exclusively by ABC News from a confidential source.
· Ugly Costumes Make Figure Skating a Nightmare on Ice. There's something very bad going on in figure skating. Not the new judging system — no one understands that enough to know if it's good or bad. Not the abundance of techno-pop music. Not even the exit of Michelle Kwan. No, it's much, much worse. It's Halloween on Ice.
· U.S. Says Will Help Rebuild Bombed Shrine. Top U.S. officials strongly condemned the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine Wednesday, calling it a desperate and despicable act designed to foment sectarian strife. "Given the historic, cultural and religious importance of this shrine, this attack is a crime against humanity," the U.S. ambassador said.
· Powerball jackpot goes to 8 meat plant workers. Eight workers at a Nebraska meat processing plant claimed the record $365 million Powerball jackpot Wednesday, each getting about $15.5 million after taxes. When one of the winners, Eric Zornes, 40, was asked whether he was still working at the plant, he replied: "No. I've been retired for about four days now."
· Fla. Man Charged With Trespassing At Jail. A 26-year-old Florida man refusing to leave a county jail is jailed.
· Mystery surrounds Ferrari crash in Malibu. Authorities were investigating the circumstances behind a spectacular crash on Pacific Coast Highway that destroyed a rare Ferrari Enzo that experts said was worth more than $1 million. Authorities said Stefan Ericksson, 44, of Bel Air, told them that he was a passenger at the time of the crash and that the driver - a German acquaintance he knew only as Dietrich - ran into the nearby hills. A three-hour foot and helicopter search failed to turn up anyone else connected to the car. Ferrari Enzos have a top speed of 200 mph and investigators believe the sports car was traveling at least 100 mph.
· New Orleans officials: Get a job or don't come back. New Orleans doesn't want its poorest residents back — unless they agree to work. That was the message from three New Orleans City Council members who said government programs have "pampered" the city's residents for too long.
· Yates' lawyer wants photos of kids barred. The image of 7-year-old Noah Yates floating facedown in the murky brown water that filled a bathtub after he and his four siblings were drowned is something Andrea Yates' defense attorney doesn't want jurors to see during her second capital murder trial, claiming the photographs could cause jurors to be unfairly prejudiced or serve to confuse and mislead them.
· Unreturned camera story takes an unusual twist. A person claiming to be a Canadian barrister has threatened to sue the website Boing Boing, over a post they made about a Canadian family that refused to return an expensive digital camera owned by "Judith" that they found while on holiday in Hawaii.
· Angry Bond Fans Threaten to Boycott Film. They're shaken, stirred and just plain angry. And several months late with their response. A group of James Bond fans have launched a Web site to protest British actor Daniel Craig replacing Pierce Brosnan in the 007 film franchise, and boycott the upcoming Bond movie "Casino Royale."
· Police Identify Man With 'Cecil' Tattoo. Officers began to suspect that the man they pulled over was lying when he identified himself as Robert despite a tattoo with the name Cecil on the back of his neck.
· U.N. Guard Reprimanded for Swastikas. The United Nations has reprimanded a security guard for drawing swastikas on a log sheet later seen by a guard from Israel, a U.N. spokesman said.
· Holocaust Denier Gets Three Years in Jail. Right-wing British historian David Irving was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after admitting to an Austrian court that he denied the Holocaust — a crime in the country where Hitler was born.
· Hells Angels feeling 'depressed.' The Stockholm chapter of the biker gang Hell's Angels is being investigated for fraud after police found 70 per cent of members were certified as depressed by the same doctor and were getting state sickness benefits.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
· Fireman Who Spoke After Being in Coma Dies. A brain-injured firefighter who suddenly spoke after nearly a decade in a stupor, giving hope to families of countless other patients, died today.
· Bikers roll to military funerals to oppose anti-gay protests. Wearing vests covered in military patches, a band of bikers roll around the country from one soldier's funeral to another, cheering respectfully to overshadow jeers from church protesters.
· Dallas remake in Louisiana? It is a betrayal as galling as anything cooked up by JR Ewing, the arch schemer of the 1980s soap opera Dallas. The Texan oil city that spawned the sex-drenched drama could be ignored as a backdrop for a big-screen update of the soap in favor of Florida or Louisiana. Producers of the long-awaited film, which has been in development since 2002, say the Lone Star State cannot compete with the financial incentives offered to film productions elsewhere.
· Retired Doctor Says Anti-Smoking Law Too Risky. Washington state's tough new anti-smoking law has an unlikely opponent: a retired doctor who argues the ban is forcing elderly smokers in nursing homes to take unnecessary risks.
· Man Charged With Killing Man Over Toilet Tissue. A Central Florida man was arrested for fatally beating his roommate with a sledgehammer and a claw hammer because there was no toilet tissue in the home, authorities said.
· Osama bin Laden watches Larry King. It may seem a rather trite observation considering the numbing frothiness of King's CNN talk show compared with the gravity of all that surrounds the world's most hunted terrorist. But it may reveal much about the role al-Qa'ida's leader sees the Western media playing in his bloody war against the infidel.
· Anesthesiologists Delay Calif. Execution. The planned execution of a man convicted of raping and murdering a 17-year-old girl was delayed until Tuesday night after two anesthesiologists refused to participate because of ethical concerns. No word yet on whether they have concerns over the killer's victim, Terri Winchel, who was attacked with a hammer, stabbed and left to die half-naked in a vineyard.
· Bus driver leaves four-year-old at stranger's house. All a four-year-old boy wanted to do was go to the bathroom. Now a Dayton ISD bus driver is suspended for what happened next. That bus driver is in hot water for leaving the child alone while she continued with her bus route.
· Former Stripper Not Typical Evangelical. Heather Veitch is not your typical evangelical Christian. The 31-year-old married mother of two visits one strip club a month, paying for lap dances so she can talk to the strippers about God.
· Funds restored to energy lab before Bush visit. On the eve of a presidential visit to a renewable energy lab in Colorado, the Department of Energy said it has transferred $5 million to the operation, which had its funding cut and employees laid off this month due to budget shortfalls.
· Man Dies In Fall Down Shopping Center Elevator Shaft. A man fell several stories to his death Monday night while trying to climb out of a stuck elevator in a Seattle suburb. Authorities said five people were in the elevator when it stopped between floors at a parking garage of a new shopping center and entertainment complex.
· Town's Offer of Free Land 'Snowballed.' An offer of free land prompted more than 1,200 hits in two weeks on this western Iowa town's Web site. "It snowballed," said Marne Mayor Randy Baxter, following coverage of the free land offer by nearby newspaper, radio and television outlets. The land giveaway is the first step in the process of increasing the town's population from 149 to 200 in the next four years.
· Yahoo! Mail bans Allah and Dirty Harry handles. Yahoo! is banning the use of allah in email names - even if the letters are included within another name. This was uncovered by Reg reader Ed Callahan whose mother Linda Callahan was trying to sign up for an email address. She could not get it to accept her surname.
· Celebrity's and their homes. Here's a look at what your movie and concert tickets are buying these days.
· Connecticut Casino Offers $3,000 Martini. Connecticut's Foxwoods Resort Casino is offering a new signature cocktail. It's called the Sapphire martini and is made with Blue Curacao, Bombay Sapphire Gin, a splash of dry vermouth and is coated with blue sugar on the rim.
· Who won? Who won the record $365 million Powerball jackpot? Stories circulated throughout Lincoln on Monday, with possibilities including a group of eight co-workers from a food-processing plant or a 54-year-old man who was treating everyone to lunch at Village Inn. Lottery officials, however, weren’t confirming anything.
Monday, February 20, 2006
· Burned Home Next To Fire Station Raises Concerns. A home destroyed by flames just feet from a Central Florida fire station has raised concerns about the department's ability to protect the community.
· Mississippi to put rapists on posters. Mississippi plans to put the names and faces of convicted sex offenders on roadside billboards. About 100 posters showing offenders, particularly those who prey on minors, will be put up, a state official said.
· High school senior discovers ironing deactivates anthrax. Protecting yourself from biological weapons might be as simple as using a hot clothes iron. Through a project for a statewide science competition, Central Catholic High School senior Marc Roberge discovered truth in the urban legend that ironing can kill anthrax spores in contaminated mail.
· RadioShack CEO Quits Amid Resume Questions. Radio Shack's embattled president and CEO, David Edmondson, resigned Monday following questions about his resume's accuracy.
· Sportscasting great Gowdy dies at 86. Curt Gowdy, one of the signature voices of sports for a generation and a longtime broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox, died Monday.
· Scientists Study 4.5 Billion-Year-Old Comet Dust. Scientists said Monday they have begun slicing and dicing the first of hundreds of microscopic specks of comet dust, virtually unchanged since the birth of the solar system, that a NASA spacecraft successfully returned to Earth in late January.
· Mom jailed after dropping off girl at school - on Saturday. A 27-year-old League City woman who police said confused the weekend with a weekday and dropped her 6-year-old off at school was arrested Saturday. A few hours later a passer-by saw the child, who was coatless in a chilly drizzle, and called police.
· T-shirt, bumper-stickers have the last laugh. It isn't over for Dick Cheney just yet. Now come the bumper stickers and T-shirts. One of the more popular includes the "I'd rather hunt with Dick Cheney than ride with Ted Kennedy" bumper sticker.
· Success after death. For many musicians, death is not a final reckoning - it's the best career move they ever made.
· A Catholic millionaire's dream town draws fire. For Tom Monaghan, the devout Catholic who founded Domino's Pizza and is now bankrolling most of the initial $400 million cost of the 5,000-acre project, Ave Maria is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to spreading his own strict interpretation of Catholicism. Though he says nonbelievers are welcome, Monaghan clearly wants the community to embody his conservative values.
· 'Godfather' Actor Killed by Bus in NYC. Richard Bright, a character actor who appeared in all three "Godfather" movies and more recently on "The Sopranos," was struck and killed by a bus, police said. Bright, 68, was hit by a private Academy Bus as he crossed the street at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday in his Manhattan neighborhood, police Detective Bernard Gifford said.
· Trump to Stewart: 'Take Responsibility.' Sometimes there is too much of a good thing. Martha Stewart believes her version of NBC's popular reality show featuring Donald Trump flopped this past fall because of too much "Apprentice." Her show was supposed to be the sole show, starting out by having her fire Trump on the air, she told Newsweek.
· Couple could be evicted for helping their soldier son’s family. Outside the Riviera Estates clubhouse a flag flies stating “We Support our Troops”, but some residents in the Clearwater mobile home park say that support is pretty limp. Debbie and Tom Boyette are being threatened with eviction, because they’ve taken in their son’s family into the adults-only park while he serves in Iraq.
· Bin Laden Vows Never to Be Captured Alive. Osama bin Laden promised never to be captured alive and declared the U.S. had resorted to the same "repressive" tactics used by Saddam Hussein, according to an audiotape purportedly by the al-Qaida leader that was posted Monday on a militant Web site.
· Stripping away the mystery. Amsterdam's famed red light district held its first ever "open day" Saturday as its peep-shows and brothels gave crowds of wide-eyed visitors free entry to help shed the area's increasingly negative reputation.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
· Circumcision battle lands parents of son in court. A clash over of their son's circumcision has landed the parents of an eight-year-old Chicago boy in a court battle.
· SUV tax break far outweighs hybrid deal. New tax breaks are available to anyone who wants to help the environment by purchasing fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles. But if owners of small businesses really want to save money, they can get even bigger federal tax breaks by buying the largest gas-guzzling SUVs.
· The Case of the Missing Camera. A lady, Judith, lost their $500 digital camera on a trip to Hawaii, the camera had well over 500 pictures from the trip. She received a call from a park ranger informing her that somebody found the camera and Judith was given the contact information. After a phone call, the finder informs Judith that they gave their diabetic son the camera and was not going to return it. After asking to at least get the memory card with the photos, Judith received a package two weeks later that had burned CDs of the pictures and a note saying that they needed to keep the memory card for the camera.
· 007 actor already loses two front teeth in first fight scene. New James Bond Daniel Craig has already failed to make the grade as a tough guy - after a villain knocked out two of his teeth in his first fight scene. Craig, 37, was in Prague filming the remake of Casino Royale when the stunt went wrong.
· Sex offender sentenced to cut hair of the homeless. A judge sentenced former St. Louis firefighter Reginald Morris to 60 days in jail, probation and 750 hours of cutting the hair of homeless men as punishment in a molesting case.
· Rule #1: Close door before take-off. An Alaska Airlines flight bound for Seattle had to turn around and make an emergency landing early Saturday at Washington Dulles International Airport after the aircraft did not pressurize properly, airport officials said. Once the aircraft landed at Dulles, maintenance crews determined a rear door had not been latched properly.
· FBI Archives. Cross-dressing FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover apparently wrote a drooling fan letter to Lucille Ball in 1955 to tell her how much he enjoyed the previous episode of "I Love Lucy."
· Mom Charged With Letting Man Have Sex With Daughter. A man has been charged with the second-degree assault of a child. Police said Aaron Corkill met a 15-year-old Wisconsin girl over the Internet, visited her there and had sex with her four times. The girl's mother is accused of giving the man permission to do so.
· Here's a guy that goes shopping at Best Buy. What would you do? Apparently the employees of my local Best Buy aren't familiar with annoying pedantic individuals who will choose principals over convenience when walking out with a shopping cart full of expensive home entertainment gear. I manage to get about 5 steps out the door before the door guard catches up to me and grabs my cart, with the "sir" in his "I need to see your receipt, sir." This is apparently a stalling tactic, as shortly a few more blue-shirted employees make a move to block me from making any more progress toward my car. I ask, still calm, if I am being detained for shoplifting. This suggestion apparently shocks my captor into regaining some of his senses, and he lets go of my cart. I explain that unless he wishes to do so, he has no right to stop me.