Tabloid Archives

Thursday, October 29

Update: Jury Awards $16M in Radio Water Contest Death

A Sacramento County jury has awarded $16.5 million to the family of a 28-year-old woman who died after participating in a radio station's water-drinking contest. [More]

Taxpayers' real cost of Cash for Clunkers: $24,000 a car

Taxpayers ended up paying an average of $24,000 per vehicle for the Cash for Clunkers program over the summer when sales that would have happened anyway are taken into consideration, says car buying research site Edmunds.com. [More]

Man Who Found Caylee's Remains Fired

The meter reader who found the remains of Caylee Anthony has been fired from his job with Orange County. [More]

Update: Suspect gets world series tickets without sex

A Philadelphia woman accused of trying to trade sex for World Series tickets will receive two tickets to game three, a radio host said. [More]

Police look into gunshot at Dobbs' home

A gunshot struck the home of CNN anchor Lou Dobbs this month, and police in New Jersey are trying to determine whether the bullet was fired intentionally or was a stray. [More]

S.C. state attorney fired after stripper incident

A deputy assistant attorney general who said he was on his lunch break when an officer found him with a stripper and sex toys in his sport utility vehicle has been fired. [More]

Man Allegedly Kills Neighbor Over Missing Television

Authorities say a Massachusetts man fired several shots through the front window of a neighboring home, killing an 18-year-old woman, because he thought someone living there had stolen his TV. [More]

Montana Jury Awards $850,000 in Aluminum Bat Lawsuit

A Montana jury has found the maker of Louisville Slugger baseball bats failed to adequately warn about the dangers the product can pose, awarding a family $850,000 for the 2003 death of their son in a baseball game. [More]

Judge pleads guilty to letting air out of tire

Maryland judge has apologized for engaging in a bit of vigilante justice when he let the air out of the tire of a courthouse employee who parked in a restricted area. [More]

Florida Teen Allegedly Kills Younger Brother Over Loud Music

Two teenage brothers were home alone in their suburban neighborhood when an argument over loud music spiraled out of control, police said, leaving one brother dead from a knife to the chest and the other accused of killing him. [More]

FAA Slow to Alert Military of Wayward Plane

The Federal Aviation Administration violated its own rules by taking more than 40 minutes to alert the military after losing communication with a Northwest Airlines flight last week. [More]

'Balloon Boy' Sheriff Denies Violating Privacy Laws

The sheriff in the runaway balloon case doesn't believe he broke the law when he disclosed that child welfare workers were involved in the inquiry, his spokeswoman said Wednesday. [More]

30,000 stimulus jobs figure is way off the mark

The government has overstated by thousands the number of jobs it has created or saved with federal contracts under the president's $787 billion recovery program, according to an Associated Press review of data released in the program's first progress report. [More]

Murder charges tossed in yogurt shop slayings

A judge on Wednesday dismissed murder charges against two men awaiting retrial in the 1991 slayings of four teens at a yogurt shop, after prosecutors admitted they weren't ready to take the case to a jury. [More]

Suspect in Georgia Cracker Barrel beating is out of jail on bail

A Georgia man accused of screaming racial slurs while beating an African-American female Army reservist outside a restaurant was released from jail on bail Wednesday, Clayton County, Georgia, authorities said. [More]

Are you ready for ‘Jon & Nadya Plus 22’?

What does one fallen reality show star (Jon Gosselin) plus one aspirational reality star (Nadya Suleman) equal? If your answer is “a reality show starring the two of them and their 22 collective children,” you might be right. [More]

Missing couple's yacht found abandoned in Indian Ocean

The British Royal Navy has found the yacht belonging to a British couple missing in the Indian Ocean since last week, but the yacht was empty, the British Ministry of Defence said Thursday. [More]

Wednesday, October 28

Burglary suspects wear permanent marker

Police had no trouble identifying two men accused of trying to break into an apartment. Officers found two men with their faces blackened with permanent marker. [More]

Wal-Mart Starts Selling Caskets, Urns Online

Wal-Mart has started selling caskets on its Web site at prices that undercut many funeral homes, long the major seller of caskets. [More]

Man claimed he was drunk from Jack Daniels steak

A Sheboygan man with a fourth drunken driving charge pending is facing a new charge after failing a breathalyzer test, then claiming the test result was from eating a Jack Daniels steak, according to a criminal complaint. [More]

Company Forgets Court Date, Loses $1.26 Billion in Default Judgment

A legal secretary at PepsiCo forgot to deal with a lawsuit notice that came across her desk. Consequently, PepsiCo’s lawyers did not show up to court when expected. The presiding judge summarily handed down a $1.26 billion judgment against the corporation. [More]

Embarrassing Celebrity Endorsements

Jamie Lee Curtis has taken some flak for signing on as Activia's spokesperson (have you seen the SNL skit?). The actress shills the Dannon yogurt, which claims to aids your digestive system, helping you become more, ahem, regular. Click through to see other celebs who have shilled some embarrassing products. [More]

Florida man uses weight as a murder defense

A man accused of running up and down a flight of stairs to kill a former son-in-law is offering a novel defense: At 5 feet 8 and 285 pounds, he was just too fat to have pulled it off. [More]

Miley Cyrus voted worst celebrity influence of 2009

Miley Cyrus, one of Disney's hottest stars of the past three years with hit records and hit films, has been voted the worst celebrity influence of 2009 by the very people who made her a star, tweens and teens, according to an online poll on Wednesday. [More]

Man Cleaning Gun Shoots Off Finger

A Melbourne man suffered serious injuries on Tuesday when he shot himself in the hand while cleaning a firearm, police said. [More]

Hotel Owner Faces Backlash Firing Hispanic Workers

The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at his Southwestern hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence. [More]

San Francisco Approves Law to Protect Illegal Juveniles

The Board of Supervisors gave final approval to a measure that would keep law enforcement from turning over minors to immigration authorities unless they have been found guilty of a felony. [More]

Woman Accused of Offering Sex for World Series Tickets

A Philadelphia woman was arrested Tuesday after she allegedly posted an ad on Craigslist offering to perform sex acts in exchange for World Series tickets. [More]

EFF Launches "Takedown Hall of Shame"

Bogus copyright and trademark complaints have threatened all kinds of creative expression on the Internet. EFF's Hall Of Shame collects the worst of the worst. [More]

Cheated Winner Wants Texas Lotto To Pay Him

A man who said he is the rightful owner of a stolen $1 million winning lottery ticket wants the Texas Lottery Commission to pay him. A clerk at a Grand Prairie convenience store is being sought on allegations that he cashed the Mega Millions ticket presented in May. [More]

Dead celebrities, big bucks

The deaths of so many celebrities in recent months have highlighted the continued public fascination with stars -- even beyond the grave -- and the booming industry surrounding dead celebs. [More]

Host Tapes 'Late, Late Show' By Flashlight

"Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson had to finish taping his program by flashlight on Tuesday after high winds knocked out power at CBS Television City in central Los Angeles. [More]

DirecTV's Spade-Farley ad criticized as in poor taste

DirecTV has raised a ruckus by raising the dead. The 30-second spot features Farley, who died in 1997 of heart failure because of an overdose, in the infamous "Fat Boy in a Little Coat" scene from the 1995 comedy that co-starred David Spade. [More]

Ex-Letterman writer claims hostile environment

A former writer for David Letterman said she quit his NBC talk show in part because of alleged sexual favoritism and a hostile work environment. [More]

Agassi admits using crystal meth

Andre Agassi's upcoming autobiography contains an admission that he used crystal meth in 1997 and lied to tennis authorities when he failed a drug test — a result that was thrown out after he said he "unwittingly" took the substance. [More]

Mich. teen guilty in beating death of homeless man

A jury has convicted a Michigan teenager of first-degree felony murder in the fatal beating of a homeless man. [More]

God cited as reason for theft

Lexington police say a man who smashed a window at a car dealership claimed he was following a higher calling. [More]

U.S. defense bill would pay Taliban to switch sides

The defense bill President Barack Obama will sign into law on Wednesday contains a new provision that would pay Taliban fighters who renounce the insurgency, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said on Tuesday. [More]

CNN drops to last place in primetime cable news viewership

October figures from Nielsen Media Research reflect a new low for CNN in prime time cable news television viewing. The news network now lags behind its sister channel, HLN. [More]

Person reportedly bitten by 2 snakes at same time

ohn Agan was doubly unlucky Tuesday – he got bit by not one but two snakes. Doctors think one was a coral snake and the other was a pygmy rattler. [More]

Lost paper trail allows borrower to ignore $460,000 mortgage debt

A White Plains, NY federal court eliminated a woman's $460,000 mortgage debt because the paper trail was so messy that the mortgage lender couldn't prove that it actually owned the debt. [More]

Nielsen findings show children watch 32 hours of TV weekly

A new report from Nielsen says children, between the ages of five and eight watch more than 32 hours of television per week. [More]

‘Die quickly’ Democrat apologizes for remark

The Florida Democrat who said Republicans want sick people to "die quickly" is apologizing again for his inflammatory rhetoric, this time for calling Fed adviser Linda Robertson a "K Street whore" during an interview. [More]

Man Guilty of Killing Wife During Scuba-Diving Trip

A jury convicted a Rhode Island man of murder Tuesday in the drowning of his wife during a 1999 scuba-diving trip in the British Virgin Islands. [More]

16 Arrested in 'Girls Gone Wild' Sting

Florida police arrested sixteen people connected to adult entertainment franchise “Girls Gone Wild” in Yulee Friday, includeing seven women on charges of indecent exposure, MyFoxOrlando reports. [More]

Sexy Mormon Moms' Calendar Stirs Controversy

A calendar featuring sexy photos of scantily clad Mormon moms is causing controversy within the Church and across the country. [More]

Balloon boy case still up in the air

Prosecutors said Tuesday they haven't decided whether to file charges against the parents accused of falsely reporting their son was in a runaway balloon, sparking a massive rescue attempt before the boy was found at the family's Fort Collins home. [More]

More Immigrants Seek Asylum Over Sexual Orientation

Since 1994, sexual orientation has been grounds for asylum in the United States. That's when former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno ruled in a case that persecution based on sexual orientation could be potential grounds for asylum. [More]

Hollywood burglars driven by "celebrity worship"

Police have arrested six people, mostly teens, on suspicion of breaking into the homes of Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan and other Hollywood figures to satisfy a celebrity obsession and steal from them, authorities said on Tuesday. [More]

Pirates may have captured couple, yacht

Naval forces from several countries were searching Tuesday for a British couple and their missing yacht, which may have been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Africa, military sources told CNN. [More]

Ex-Frat Members Plead Guilty in Hazing Death of Teen

Two former members of a banned college fraternity at a western New York campus admitted Tuesday they plied a student with so much beer, champagne and vodka during a three-day hazing that the young man died of alcohol poisoning. [More]

She-Male Sex Chat Number Printed on School Shirts

T-shirts distributed to Orange County elementary students for a school fundraiser have been recalled after a parent discovered that the phone number printed on the back of the shirts was a sex chat line. [More]

Customs Agents Find Pot Inside Chessboard

A calculated move to inspect a heavy chessboard paid off for customs officers at Philadelphia International Airport. [More]

Tuesday, October 27

Cable Snaps On San Francisco Bay Bridge

A cable apparently broke loose from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and struck a vehicle Tuesday afternoon, a California Highway Patrol officer said. [Developing] [More]

Rhode Island Motorist Drives With Man in Windshield

Rhode Island State Police say a motorist hit someone with his car and then drove more than a mile with him stuck in his windshield. [More]

Albertson's clerk denied bathroom break gets $200,000

A Marin County supermarket clerk who urinated on herself at the checkout counter after her supervisor refused to let her take a bathroom break is entitled to a $200,000 damage award, a state appeals court has ruled. [More]

Drunk clown nabbed after crash

A Vancouver-area man has learned that if driving erratically in a clown suit is not enough to signal intoxication, then crashing into a police car certainly is. [More]

FAA Revokes Licenses of Northwest Pilots Who Missed Airport

Two Northwest Airlines pilots who flew 150 miles past their destination because they were focused on laptop computers instead of cockpit displays had their licenses revoked by the FAA. [More]

Library complains of crossed-out curses

Workers at a Tennessee library said someone has been using blue ink to completely scratch out curse words from books in the collection. [More]

Roach crashes Rachael Ray school visit

Officials at a New York elementary school have promised to investigate after a visit by TV chef Rachael Ray was briefly interrupted by a lone cockroach. [More]

'Balloon Dad' Richard Heene supplies infant son with cigar, beer props

Looking to extend his modest "lame Wife Swap episode" celebrity into his own reality TV show with an elaborate balloon stunt, Heene is now seeing his past bright ideas to photograph and videotape his family come back to haunt him. [photo] [More]

'I would not make it big today': Cindy Crawford

US former supermodel Cindy Crawford says she would have little chance of making it big in the fashion business today with her curvy figure, a German celebrity magazine reported on Tuesday. "I would not have become a supermodel in 2009. I look too healthy," Crawford told Bunte. [More]

Most Women End Up Looking Like Their Mothers

There may be some truth to the saying that all women will eventually turn into their mothers, with a U.S. study finding daughters age and wrinkle like their mothers. [More]

4 Dead Pit Bulls in New York Trash Were Victims of Dogfighting

Authorities say four dead pit bulls found in an upstate New York trash bin earlier this month died of injuries consistent with dogfighting. [More]

Florida Teacher Who Had Sex With Student Wants Contact With Her Kids

A former Florida teacher who had sex with a 14-year-old student wants to be allowed supervised contact with the children of her relatives and friends. [More]

Man gets ring back after 57 years

An Ohio man said he received an unexpected gift at a funeral home during visitation for his high school sweetheart -- the class ring he gave her 57 years ago. [More]

D.C. sniper Muhammad to die by lethal injection

Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad will die by lethal injection when he is executed next month. Muhammad is scheduled to be executed on Nov. 10 for the October 2002 slaying of Dean Harold Meyers. [More]

Nightclubs For The Plus-Size Begin To Weigh In

Move over, it's Saturday night at Club Bounce and people are bouncing onto the dance floor in a big, big way. These are big, big people, all dressed to the nines and many tipping the scales at 250, maybe 300 pounds. [More]

Dogs Rip Bumper Off Car

Animal control officers were searching for two pit bulls that ripped apart the front of a car with their teeth. [More]

Palin makes at least $1.25 million in book deal

Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin reported Tuesday that she has received at least $1.25 million for her hugely anticipated upcoming book "Going Rogue." [More]

Woman Acts Like Dog To Scare Burglar

Police were investigating after an Athens woman scared off a would-be burglar by acting like a dog. According to police, the woman got on the floor and began scratching at the door and acting like a large dog when the suspicious man tried turning the woman's door knob. [More]

Dad Ran Over Daughter, Friend

Police in Arizona are looking for a man suspected of running over his daughter and her friend in a parking lot. [More]

Professor Watches Helplessly as Student Commits Suicide

A graduate student at the Arizona State University in Tempe Arizona has reportedly committed suicide by shooting himself with a handgun during a conversation with a professor. [More]

Man Who Threw Feces In Court Gets 31 Years

A man who sneaked a bag of his feces into a San Diego courtroom during his home-invasion robbery trial, smeared it on his lawyer and threw it at jurors has been sentenced to 31 years in prison. [More]

Church of Scientology guilty of fraud in France

A Paris court on Tuesday convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud and fined it more than half a million euros — but stopped short of banning the group as requested by prosecutors. [More]

Springsteen cancels show after roadie's death

Bruce Springsteen canceled a performance in Kansas City after his cousin and road crew member died. [More]

Cop Pulls Gun on Chain-Saw-Wielding Haunted House Worker

Authorities say a Baltimore city police officer pulled his gun on a chain-saw-wielding haunted house worker who was trying to get "one last scream" out of him. [More]

Police: Woman Molested In Disney Pool

A 19-year-old has been arrested after being accused of molesting a female in the wave pool of a Disney water park. [More]

Study: Amtrak loss comes to $32 per passenger

U.S. taxpayers spent about $32 subsidizing the cost of the typical Amtrak passenger in 2008, about four times the rail operator's estimate, according to a private study. [More]

FHP Called When Woman Strips On Bus

A tour bus driver called authorities on Monday after a passenger began removing her clothes while "putting on a show," according to the Florida Highway Patrol. [More]

Response to 911 Call Questioned in New Jersey Priest's Murder

Authorities are looking into why a 911 call made from the cell phone of a murdered New Jersey priest didn't result in police response. [More]

Officer Shoots Man During Scuffle

A Eustis police officer shot a 62-year-old man at a shopping plaza on Monday after he took her Taser gun during a scuffle and shocked her, police said. [More]

Dozen People Watched Gang Rape, Police Say

Police believe as many as a dozen people watched a 15-year-old girl get beaten and gang-raped outside her high school homecoming dance without reporting it. [More]

Report: Florida Man Says Home Depot Fired Him for Wearing 'One Nation Under God' Pin

A Florida man says he was fired from his job at The Home Depot for wearing an American flag pin that said "One nation under God, indivisible." [More]

Man Gets Pay From Company He Didn't Work For

An Illinois man has admitted banking more than $470,000 in paychecks from a New Jersey company he never worked for. [More]

Fla. officials made prank sex-line calls.

Officials in Volusia County, Fla., confirmed an Arkansas phone sex operator complained about prank calls from a county government line. [More]

Madoff investor who drowned in swimming pool had a heart attack

A major investor in convicted swindler Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme drowned in his swimming pool in Florida after a heart attack, his attorney said Monday. The medical examiner's office confirmed the report. [More]

Polanski victim calls to dismiss case

The victim in the Roman Polanski child sex case has renewed calls for the case against the director to be dismissed and urged the media to leave her alone, court filings showed. [More]

14 pythons, 10 lizards taped to man's body

Norwegian customs officials said a man attempting to enter the country from Denmark had 14 king pythons taped to his body and 10 lizards in his pants. [More]

52 children recovered, 60 alleged child pimps arrested in crackdown

Law enforcement authorities have recovered 52 children and arrested 60 pimps allegedly involved in child prostitution, the FBI announced Monday. [More]

Monday, October 26

Pilots Who Missed Airport Were Using Their Laptops

The pilots of the Northwest Airlines flight that flew far past the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport last week told investigators that they had been distracted from their duties by a discussion of a new computerized crew-scheduling system that the airline was introducing. [More]

Woman who had affair with Phillips was fired

An ESPN spokesman says the sports network has fired the production assistant whose affair with baseball analyst Steve Phillips led to his termination. [More]

Arizona Sweat Lodge Survivor Sues Self-Help Guru

An Arizona woman who survived James Arthur Ray’s sweat lodge is suing the self-help guru. [More]

Mother turns home where sons died into haunted house

The grieving mother of two young brothers who died from injuries suffered in a house fire has transformed the charred and vacant home into a haunted house for Halloween. [More]

Man charged with getting puppy drunk on vodka

An Iowa City man has been charged with animal abuse for allegedly giving a puppy vodka. [More]

Father Arrested For Beating Alleged Molester

The father of a 3-year-old allegedly molested by a family friend may get a harsher penalty than the alleged offender police say he and a neighbor severely beat. [More]

Amputee suspected after one shoe goes missing

Police say a one-legged suspect was caught after only one shoe went missing in a store in Belgium. [More]

Police watching for 'peephole' drivers as winter nears

As snow and temperatures start to fall, it's "peephole driving" season in the USA. Many Americans have done it: gone outside to an ice-covered vehicle on a cold winter's morning, chipped just enough ice off the windshield to see through and driven away. [More]

Shotgun Blast Strikes Woman In Face

A convicted felon fired a shotgun blast through his bedroom wall Sunday morning, striking an unsuspecting 50-year-old woman in the head and face in the apartment next door, Palm Bay police said. [More]

They awoke under car that smashed into home

It was the ultimate rude awakening: A 4 a.m. wake-up call delivered by an automobile in a cascade of noise, debris and hot, leaking engine fluids. [More]

Father-to-be Jailed for Allegedly Fondling Nurse

A 30-year-old Bountiful, Utah man was arrested recently after he allegedly attempted to fondle the nurse wheeling his wife into the delivery room of McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah. [More]

Internet set for change with non-English addresses

The Internet is set to undergo one of the biggest changes in its four-decade history with the expected approval this week of international domain names — or addresses — that can be written in languages other than English, an official said Monday. [More]

Mail truck driver charged with drunken driving

Police said the driver of a mail truck was arrested for drunken driving after he was found speeding in Grand Forks. Police Sgt. Jason Dvorak said the truck was spotted traveling more than 10 mph over the speed limit Saturday morning. [More]

Former Mets GM Phillips fired by ESPN

Baseball analyst Steve Phillips was fired by ESPN on Sunday night less than a week after the former Mets general manager admitted having an affair with a production assistant at the cable network. [More]

First Daughters Not Vaccinated Against H1N1

President Obama's school age daughters have not been vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the vaccine is not available to them based on their risk. [D] [More]

Armed F-16s 'Prepared' to Shoot Down Errant Northwest Flight

Armed F-16s from the Wisconsin Air National Guard were on the runway and could have shot down the errant Northwest flight if the order had come, officials said today. [D] [More]

Harvard: Lab Workers Poisoned by Tainted Coffee

Six Harvard University medical researchers were poisoned in August after drinking coffee that was laced with a chemical preservative, according to university officials. [More]

A kiss with Charlize Theron costs $140,000

Money can definitely buy you anything these days! Even a kiss with famous celebrity Charlize Theron! The star took part in a live auction during a gala for the charity OneXOne in San Francisco. [More]

Sandra Bullock in Custody Battle With Porn Star

America's sweetheart, the actress Sandra Bullock, is being dragged into an unpleasant legal battle to prove that she is a better parent than her husband’s former wife, the star of more than 100 pornographic movies, the Times of London reported. [More]

In Detroit, a housing auction of last resort

On the auction block in Detroit: almost 9,000 homes and lots in various states of abandonment and decay from the tidy owner-occupied to the burned-out shell claimed by squatters. Despite a minimum bid of $500, less than a fifth of the Detroit land was sold after four days. [More]

Polanski could face two years in prison at most

Film director Roman Polanski could face two years in prison if extradited to the United States after fleeing sentencing in California on child sex charges in 1978, the Swiss justice ministry said. [More]

Facebook 'Suggests Contacting Dead Friends'

Facebook's latest revamp has upset some members by recommending they get in touch with friends who have died. [More]

Disgraced cloning researcher convicted in South Korea

A disgraced South Korean scientist - who gained fame in 2004 when he claimed to have cloned human embryonic stem cells - on Monday was convicted of embezzling money and illegally buying human eggs, state media reported. [More]

LA officials to unveil $437M police headquarters

Local officials including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and outgoing police Chief William Bratton are scheduled to open the gleaming 10-story, $437 million downtown structure Saturday morning. [D] [More]

Fidel Castro's sister: "I worked with CIA in Cuba"

The younger sister of Fidel and Raul Castro, Juanita Castro, collaborated with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency against her brothers' rule in Cuba before going into exile in Miami in 1964, she said on Sunday. [More]

Protesters burn Obama's effigy in front of Afghan parliament

Hundreds of Kabul university students who came to streets on Sunday to condemn the alleged desecration of Muslim holy book Quran set on fire the effigy of President Barack Obama in front of parliament and called for halt of what they termed arbitrary operations. [D] [More]

Teen Girls Accept Rape as Price of Joining Gangs

Teenage girls wanting to join violent male gangs are being forced into having sex and ferrying guns, knives and drugs, police and charities have found. [More]

Hospital has 5th wrong-site surgery since 2007

Health officials are investigating how a surgeon at Rhode Island Hospital mistakenly operated on the wrong part of a patient's hand, the hospital's fifth wrong-site surgery since 2007. [More]

Companies work hard to lower earnings bar

Corporate America has a habit of low-balling the earnings forecasts used by analysts to determine their estimates. That way, the bar is lower, and companies can easily jump over when the quarter's results are announced — even if profits and revenues have fallen off a cliff. [More]

Sunday, October 25

Tax Problems of the Stars

News broke recently that Nicolas Cage is suing his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, for incompetence that caused him huge tax liabilities and "catastrophic financial losses." But the "National Treasure" star isn't the first celebrity to owe big money to Uncle Sam. [More]

Bernie Madoff Associate Found Dead in Florida Pool

Palm Beach police said Sunday that Jeffry Picower, a Florida philanthropist and a friend of Bernard Madoff for decades, was found dead in his pool. He was 67. [More]

Cell phone video shows police beating of student

A cell phone video that shows police officers repeatedly hitting an unarmed university student with batons and a Taser gun has prompted a criminal investigation into the officers' conduct, a San Jose police spokesman said. [More]

Pickens says U.S. firms 'entitled' to Iraqi oil

Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens told Congress on Wednesday that U.S. energy companies are "entitled" to some of Iraq's crude because of the large number of American troops that lost their lives fighting in the country and the U.S. taxpayer money spent in Iraq. [D] [More]

Yankee Stadium showing cracks, but ruled safe

New York City Buildings Department engineers have determined that the ramps at the Yankees’ new stadium are sound in spite of large cracks in the cement. [More]

Shirts memorializing slain football player prompt legal threat

The Connecticut attorney general called on a Web site to stop selling T-shirts and towels memorializing slain University of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard or face legal action. [More]

2 Supreme Court Justices Taking Stage in D.C. Opera

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia will appear Saturday night in a production by the Washington National Opera, remaining on stage for nearly 90 minutes during the opening performance of "Ariadne auf Naxos." [D] [More]

Saudi female journalist gets lashes for sex show

A Saudi court on Saturday sentenced a female journalist to 60 lashes after she had been charged with involvement in a TV show in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex. [More]

'Lipstick Killer' behind bars since 1946

William Heirens, the "Lipstick Killer," is believed to be the longest-serving inmate in the United States. He turns 81 on November 15. [More]

Polygamist Sect Focus of Rare Trial in Texas Town

The first jury trial in more than a decade in the sleepy West Texas town of Eldorado involves an alleged polygamist and an accusation of sexual assault of an underage bride, a far cry from the occasional drunken driving cases that normally occupy the Schleicher County court system. [D] [More]

Man stuffs mouth with 16 cockroaches in record bid

A Michigan pet store employee got himself a mouthful of cockroaches — on purpose. The Lansing State Journal reported Sean Murphy on Friday stuffed 16 Madagascar hissing cockroaches into his mouth. [More]

Bill Cosby heads to DC for Mark Twain humor prize

Bill Cosby still thinks America is funny — like the name-calling over health care and the way we drink so much water from plastic bottles that could be toxic — even though he says the nation has some serious problems it needs to tackle. [D] [More]

Saturday, October 24

Lawyer blasts release of affidavit in balloon case

A mother's confession that she and her husband faked their 6-year-old son's disappearance in a runaway balloon shouldn't have been made public, an attorney for the father said. [More]

Church Janitor Charged in Murder of N.J. Priest

A janitor was charged with murder Saturday of the priest whose body was found in the rectory of his northern New Jersey church. [More]

Worker Killed After Falling in Trash Compactor

A worker died Friday after getting trapped inside a trash compactor at a factory north of Los Angeles. [More]

Maine girl with 'mermaid syndrome' dies at 10

Shiloh Pepin, a girl who was born with fused legs, a rare condition often called "mermaid syndrome," and gained a wide following on the Internet and national television, has died. [More]

House to Subpoena Documents on VIP Mortgages for Members of Congress

The chairman of the House oversight committee agreed to subpoena documents from Countrywide Financial Corporation about its VIP loan program that offered special mortgages to members of Congress and other influential figures. [More]

15-Year-Old Charged With Missouri Girl's Murder

Authorities said Saturday that a 15-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder for the death of a 9-year-old central Missouri girl found in the woods two days after she went missing. [More]

DA: ‘Outrageous’ conduct in deadly NYC wreck

A mother accused of being drunk and causing a high-speed wreck managed to pull her own 11-year-old daughter from the mangled, overturned car as another girl lay dying on the roadside, prosecutors said Friday. [More]

California Toddler Mauled to Death by Pit Bull

Authorities say a 17-month old boy has died after being mauled by a pit bull. [More]

Drunk's pimped-out motorized chair up for auction

A small town police department in Minnesota will put a motorised lounge chair up for auction next week after it was seized in a drunk driving incident. It was seized on August 31, 2008 after Dennis LeRoy Anderson, 62, smashed it into a parked car on his way back from a local bar. [More]

Montana Trial to Determine if Aluminum Bat to Blame in Death

A Montana jury will decide whether a baseball bat manufacturer can be held liable for the death of an 18-year-old pitcher who was hit in the head by a hard line drive. [D] [More]

Friday, October 23

Mom confirms 'Balloon boy' saga was a hoax

The wife of a Colorado father at the center of the "balloon boy" saga told authorities that the giant helium balloon was specifically created for a hoax to draw media attention, according to court documents released Friday. Mayumi Heene said she and her husband, Richard Heene, knew that their 6-year-old son Falcon was in their home the entire time. [More]

Police: Ticket for no English a mistake

Dallas police said a rookie officer made a mistake by issuing a woman a citation for being a non-English speaking driver. [More]

Bounty Hunters Nab Innocent Woman

Police in Virginia say three would-be bounty hunters face charges after they impersonated drug task force agents and nabbed the wrong woman. [More]

Black Box May Not Help Solve Northwest Plane Mystery

The Northwest Airlines plane whose pilots flew past their destination by 150 miles had an older model cockpit voice recorder that only captures 30 minutes at a time, safety investigators said Friday. [More]

$205M man says he sold meth chemical

A Chinese-Mexican businessman arrested after police found a $205 million stash of cash in his Mexico City mansion has told U.S. prosecutors he sold tons of a chemical used to make methamphetamine on the black market. [More]

Pilot, 86, in Deadly Ohio Plane Crash Had Been Warned Not to Drive

Federal investigators say an 86-year-old Ohio man at the controls of a plane that crashed last year, killing him and five passengers, had been warned not to drive by his eye doctor. [More]

Woman Flashes $27,000 At Bar, Gets Robbed

Massachusetts police say they are searching for two men suspected of robbing a woman of $27,000 after she flashed the cash in a Springfield bar. [More]

Attorney may face disciplinary action over ad seeking secretary on Craigslist

A Chicago Immigration attorney is facing sanctions after he demanded "sexual interaction with me and my partner" as a job condition from a woman seeking a position as legal assistant at their firm. [More]

Taser makers say don't aim at chest

The maker of Taser stun guns has advised law enforcement agencies to avoid hitting suspects in the chest, partly "to minimize controversy." [More]

Mom Watched Son Smother Infant

A single mother is charged with the attempted murder of her 11-month-old son after she admitted watching as her 2-year-old toddler smothered the infant until he stopped breathing. [More]

Pot Money Paid For College Tuitions

A family-operated marijuana-growing operation helped cover the University of California, Davis, college costs for twin brothers, Stockton police said. [More]

Accountants dupe crime novelist Cornwell for $40 million?

The personal fortune of prolific writer Patricia Cornwell and her spouse has vanished. The suspect in this caper is an accounting firm. With an almost nonexistant paper trail to follow, will the mystery of the missing $40 million be solved? [More]

Airliner overshoots airport; controllers feared hijacking

A passenger flight from San Diego, California, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, overshot its destination airport by about 150 miles Wednesday, and federal investigators are looking into whether the pilots had become distracted, as they claimed, or perhaps fallen asleep. [More]

Balloon boy costume flies for Halloween

A Saskatoon company is cashing in on the story of the Colorado family whose young son supposedly floated off in a homemade balloon. Plantraco Microflight is producing a Balloon Boy Halloween costume kit. [More]

Man blamed for Travolta mistrial to appear in court

A Bahamian judge wants Picewell Forbes to explain why he publicly announced a not guilty verdict in Travolta's trial before a jury announced its verdict. [More]

Ambulance Crashes Into Stopped Truck, 2 Killed

Two people have been killed after an ambulance ran into the back of a state work truck stopped in the emergency lane on a Nashville highway. [More]

TV funny man Soupy Sales dies

Soupy Sales, a comedian from the golden era of television, died Thursday. He was 83. [More]

Congress Approves Law Extending Hate Crime Protections to Gays

To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill the Senate approved 68-29. [More]

6 tips for getting your way when you travel

Travel expert Christopher Elliott asked travelers and the folks behind the counter to share their tips. Here's what they told him. [More]

Baby born on plane, earns free flights for life

An official says a Malaysian woman has given premature birth to a boy on a domestic flight, minutes before it landed in Kuala Lumpur. The mother and baby are healthy and will get lifetime of free flights. [More]

76-year-old B.C. man caught in hooker sting

A pretty police woman posing as a hooker proved too much of a temptation for a 76-year-old man from Abbotsford, B.C. He stopped his car to make a deal. The undercover cop told him to park in an alley and wait for her. Now he is going to John School. [More]

Judge dismisses 'Adult Services' Craigslist suit

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit aimed at driving classified ads for prostitution off the Craigslist Web site. [More]

‘Night Stalker’ named a suspect in ‘84 killing

For 25 years, the unsolved murder of 9-year-old Mei Leung haunted San Francisco police homicide Inspector Holly Pera, a novice patrol officer at the time who now helps solve the department's cold cases. [More]

1 in 5 U.S. kids had flu so far this month

About 1 in 5 U.S. children had a flu-like illness earlier this month — and most of those cases likely were swine flu, according to a new government health survey. [More]

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