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Monday, July 20, 2009
· Steve McNair's Alcohol Level Was Twice Legal Limit. Authorities say former NFL star Steve McNair had a blood-alcohol level twice Tennessee's legal limit for driving when his girlfriend shot him to death. 
· Citigroup seizes resort where AIG held retreat. The St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point resort where American International Group Inc. sponsored a luxury retreat after receiving federal bailout money has been seized by Citigroup.
· U.S. bill for banks bailout could cost $24 trillion. The government's maximum exposure to financial institutions since 2007 could total nearly $24 trillion, or about $80,000 for every American, the watchdog overseeing the federal government financial bailout said Monday.
· Cronkite's voice will still introduce CBS newscast. CBS says the voice of Walter Cronkite will continue to be heard announcing the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric."
· The 10-year-old who helped Apollo 11. On July 23, 1969, as Apollo 11 hurtled back towards Earth, there was a problem - a problem only a kid could solve. It sounds like something out of a movie, but that's what it came down to as Apollo 11 sped back towards Earth after landing on the moon in 1969.
· Lawsuit: dentist dropped tools down man's throat. A Florida dentist is being sued for allegedly dropping tools down the throat of an elderly patient — twice. Relatives of 90-year-old Charles Gaal Jr. recently filed the suit in circuit court accusing Dr. Wesley Meyers of negligence.
· Airman Loses Legs in Botched Surgery, A Texas Airman stationed at an Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif. has lost both legs after surgeons botched a routine surgery to remove his gallbladder.
· N.H. jail windows to be painted to protect public. The windows at a New Hampshire jail will be painted over to protect the public from witnessing lewd behavior by inmates.
· Drive-Through Weddings Offered at Fla. Store for $20. Couples who pull up with a marriage license, a witness and $20 can tie the knot without turning off their car engine.
· Ex-NFL star Vick released from federal custody. Suspended NFL star Michael Vick's federal dogfighting sentence ended Monday, freeing him to lobby for a return to the field.
· Pennsylvania Boy, 10, Accidentally Shoots Friend With Shotgun. Allegheny County police say a 10-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was accidentally shot by another 10-year-old boy in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Oliver.
· Suspect's wife, her relatives among 6 slain. The wife of a man suspected of killing five people in Tennessee and one in Alabama was among the victims found in southern Tennessee, along with her son, father and brother, police said Sunday.
· Football Player Falls 35 Feet From Park Ride. A University of South Florida football player is recovering at a hospital after falling 35 feet from a ride while working at Busch Gardens in Tampa.
· Columbus Man Killed When Homemade Plane Crashes. Police say the two-seat, single-engine plane was taking off shortly after 6 p.m. when it hit a maintenance hangar that was about 50 yards from the runway.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
· 10 Mexican police officers held in killings of 12 federal agents. A federal judge ordered 10 municipal police officers arrested Saturday in connection with the slayings of 12 off-duty federal agents in southwestern Mexico.
· Ambulance worker sues over lifting injury caused by obese patient. An ambulance worker is suing the Australian government for more than $700,000 over injuries he says he suffered lifting an obese patient into an ambulance.
· Postal worker sentenced for stealing cash from birthday cards. A man who stole cash from children's birthday cards while working at the U.S. Postal Service facility in Olivehurst, California will serve five months in federal prison
· MSNBC challenges credibility of new CNN commerical. In a new television spot aimed at getting advertisers to spend more on the network, CNN proclaims it is "No. 1, with more viewers than Fox and MSNBC." The ad goes on to say that CNN has held the top spot for seven years in a row. That will be a big news flash to the other two networks, considering that both topped CNN in the ratings.
· Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashes into Wis. home. One southern Wisconsin homeowner is probably not in love with the Oscar Mayer wiener. The famed hot dog's Wienermobile crashed Friday into the deck and garage of a home near Milwaukee.
· Body Found Decapitated, Dismembered in Georgia Woods. Authorities say a body found in a wooded area near Buford had been decapitated and dismembered at the thighs and upper arms.
· California officer admits to sexual assault while on duty. A former California police officer accused of sexually assaulting a motorist during a traffic stop pleaded guilty in federal court, federal prosecutors said Friday.
· Eagle Scout Lost on Mountain Fined $25,000 for Rescue. A Massachusetts teenager who spent three nights alone on Mount Washington after he sprained an ankle and veered off marked trails has been fined more than $25,000 for the cost of his rescue.
· Pirated copies of Orwell books pulled from Kindle. Users of Amazon.com's e-reader device were surprised and unsettled over the past day to receive notice that George Orwell works they had purchased, including "1984" and "Animal Farm," had been removed from their Kindle and their money refunded.
· Black Philly police sue over message board. A group of black Philadelphia police officers filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against their department, alleging an online forum geared toward city police is "infested with racist, white supremacist and anti-African-American content."
· Man Molested Boy in Disney's Typhoon Lagoon. A man has been arrested on a sex-related charge at an Orlando water park, the fifth such incident in the area in a month.
· Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite dies. Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman known as both "Uncle Walter" for his easygoing, measured delivery and "the most trusted man in America" for his rectitude and gravitas, has died. Cronkite was 92 years old.
· House passes $700 million bill to protect wild horses. Galloping to the aid of the nation's wild horses and burros, the House voted Friday to rescue them from the possibility of a government-sponsored slaughter and give them millions more acres to roam. Enacting the Restore our American Mustangs Act will cost about $200 million over the next five years, and another $500 million by the Bureau of Land Management to acquire an additional 20 million acres.
· Dad digs son's grave to save on funeral. After cancer took the life of a 15-year-old boy, his family dug the teen's grave themselves to save on funeral costs and also received assistance from complete strangers to give him a proper burial.
· Tiger Woods misses British Open cut. World number one Tiger Woods slumped to a four-over-par 74 in Friday's second round at the British Open and missed the cut in a major championship for only the second time as a professional.
· Fire Destroys Miami Beach 'Castle.' A fire broke out at a well-known mansion on Miami Beach Friday morning. The house, which was currently on the market for $6.9 million, boasted iron gates, gargoyles, turrets, towers, parapets, a draw bridge and a 65,000-gallon salt water moat filled with sand sharks.
· Goldman Sachs' Financial Boom: A Political Mess for Obama? In a clear departure from the historical norm, the White House is not cheering the return of huge profits to Wall Street. On the contrary, the recent windfalls at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, and the promise of giant year-end paydays for banking executives and traders, has caused a bit of consternation in the West Wing, coming as it does so soon after the taxpayer bailouts saved the entire financial system from total collapse.
· Feds make arrest in McNair killing. Federal agents have arrested a convicted felon for allegedly providing the gun later used to kill ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair.
· BMW heiress in new sex video blackmail case. Three men have been arrested on suspicion of trying to blackmail Germany's richest woman with footage of her steamy encounters with a con man known as the Swiss Gigolo, prosecutors said Friday.
· Debbie Rowe sues woman over TV interview. Michael Jackson's ex-wife Deborah Rowe is striking back at a woman who claimed in a TV interview that Rowe told her she didn't want custody of the pop star's children.
· Starbucks adds booze to its menu at Seattle location. The Seattle-based gourmet coffee chain said it is changing the name of one of its existing stores in its hometown to a name that reflects the neighborhood location. The store will be called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea. It will open next week and will serve coffee and tea as well as wine and beer.
· 'Child Bride' Says Sex With Pastor Began at Age 9. A 9-year-old girl was considered too young to answer the office phone at evangelist Tony Alamo's compound, but old enough for frequent sex with the ministry leader, she alleged at his federal trial on child-sex charges.
· Missouri withheld lake safety report. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said Thursday that his Department of Natural Resources was wrong to withhold a report showing unsafe levels of E. coli in the Lake of the Ozarks in May. DNR officials were concerned the report might affect tourism in the lake's most popular season.
· 'Frugal' SC gov flew in style. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford shed his fiscal conservatism on several taxpayer-funded international trips, including a South American jaunt that included time with his mistress, choosing expensive first-class or business-class seats while his aides sat in coach.
· Man Arrested in Wife's Death on Cruise to Mexico. Carnival says the 55-year-old woman was killed during a domestic dispute on Tuesday evening as the ship was midway through a five-night trip to Cabo San Lucas.
· NASA lost moon footage, but Hollywood restores it. NASA could put a man on the moon but didn't have the sense to keep the original video of the live TV transmission. In an embarrassing acknowledgment, the space agency said Thursday that it must have erased the Apollo 11 moon footage years ago so that it could reuse the videotape. But now Hollywood is coming to the rescue.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
· Raped girl went for help, raped again. A postal worker charged with four sexual attacks assaulted one of the victims when she came to him for help after she had been raped by another man a short time before, police said.
· Toddler Rescued After Drifting Eight Miles Down River in Toy Truck. A three-year-old toddler who drove his battery-powered toy truck into a river survived by clinging to it as he was swept almost eight miles downstream.
· Boy, 17, Becomes Youngest Person to Sail Around the World Solo. Zac Sunderland docked Thursday in Marina del Ray, completing a 28,000-mile trip that began last year.
· Woman who beat her mom wanted to go surfing. A San Diego resident severely beat her mother after the 60-year-old woman refused to take her surfing, a prosecutor told a Superior Court judge yesterday.
· Stage for French Madonna show collapses; 1 dead. The Marseille fire department says a stage being built for a Madonna concert in the French port city has collapsed, leaving one dead and six injured.
· 2-year-old found hanged in barn. A young boy has been found hanged with baling wire in a Tennessee dairy barn.
· NYC teen admits to leaving kitten in oven to die. A New York teenager has admitted that she failed to let a kitten out of an oven after a friend put the animal inside and left it to roast to death.
· Woman catches on fire outside rehabilitation center. A 42-year-old female caught on fire Wednesday morning outside a Peoria rehabilitation center. Employees found the woman sitting on an outside patio engulfed in fire.
· Social Security spends $700,000 on Phoenix conference. A Social Security Administration motivational management conference held at the Biltmore, a high-end Valley resort, cost $700,000, the SSA told the ABC15 Investigators.
· Prison officer 'was too pretty.' A former prison officer was forced out of her job after being bullied because she was pretty, a tribunal has heard.
· Man about to rob bank calls 911 on himself. A 52-year-old Waynesville man called 911 on Wednesday to tell police he was about to rob a bank.
· Police arrest sex offender for growing pot on front porch. A Mount Pocono sex offender was arraigned Tuesday after police stumbled upon marijuana plants on his front porch.
· Video emerges of Michael Jackson's hair catching fire in 1984 Pepsi ad. Never-before-seen footage of Michael Jackson’s hair catching fire while he filmed an ad in 1984 - the accident said to have led to his addiction to painkillers and plastic surgery - has been released by a US magazine.
· Calif. tax officials: Legal pot would bring $1.4 billion. A bill to tax and regulate marijuana in California like alcohol would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue for the cash-strapped state, according to an official analysis released Wednesday by tax officials.
· Police chief blames bar for getting two of his officers fired. After two area police officers were seen drinking and exposing their buttocks to families, Horry County Police Chief Johnny Morgan said he has "suggested" to his officers that they avoid attending events at The Boathouse Waterway Bar and Grill.
· Eighth Person Charged in Fla. Couple's Deaths. Eight people have been charged in a precisely executed, deadly break-in at the Florida home of a couple with 13 special needs children, but authorities are still seeking at least one more accomplice who they believe failed his assignment to disable the house's surveillance system.
· Democrat's health plan a poison pill for many New Yorkers. Congressional plans to fund a massive health-care overhaul could have a job-killing effect on New York, creating a tax rate of nearly 60 percent for the state's top earners and possibly pressuring small-business owners to shed workers.
· Playmates in Lettuce Mark National Veggie Dog Day. Lunch time on Capitol Hill got a little more interesting Wednesday as PETA hosted its annual veggie dog lunch, turning the heads of vegetarians and meat eaters alike.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
· Man Bitten by Rattlesnake While Shopping at Walmart. A Florida Walmart had an unwelcome guest Tuesday, and it left a customer in the hospital.
· PETA suggests nondairy Michael Jackson sculpture. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have come up with an idea for sculptor Sarah Pratt and the Iowa State Fair - instead of using butter for a Michael Jackson sculpture, how about a nondairy spread?
· Fort Worth mayor apologizes for raid on gay bar. Mayor Mike Moncrief apologized for a raid on a gay bar that sparked claims of brutality and procedure violations after several members of a gay rights group were escorted out of a City Council meeting.
· Court Praises Drunk Driver. Travis Peterson knew he was too drunk to drive home after an outdoor concert three years ago at Alpine Valley south of Milwaukee. So he fell asleep in his car, only to be awoken by a state trooper.
· 'World's Oldest' Mom Gave Birth at 66, Dead at 69. A Spanish woman who deceived a U.S. fertility clinic about her age and become the oldest woman to give birth has died at 69, leaving behind 2-year-old twins.
· Sears Tower name change. Known as the Sears Tower since it opened in 1973, the tallest building in the United States is set to change its name to Willis Tower.
· Photos of Michael Jackson Show Signs of Vitiligo and Needle Punctures. Exclusive photos of Michael Jackson obtained by ABC News show a serious wound on the pop star's right leg, which a medical expert said appears to be surrounded by unusual needle punctures.
· Keeping body in fridge is legal, officials say. Maryland prosecutors said it is legal to not report a death and to put the body in a freezer - as was discovered in a Glen Burnie apartment over the weekend.
· Georgia Officer Accused of K-9 Abuse Resigns. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into claims that a Gainesville police officer tied an electric collar to the dog's genitals as a way of teaching it not to bite.
· Funeral Home Shut After Body's Legs Cut. A South Carolina judge Tuesday revoked the license of a funeral home where a worker cut the legs off a 6-foot-7 body so it would fit in a casket.
· 40 years after moon landing: Why can't we cure cancer? Forty years ago this month, humans landed on the moon for the first time. Life Science asked Christopher Wanjek why, four decades later, we can't cure cancer.
· Man Uses Beer to Lure Drunk Intruder Out of Home. A homeowner in Maine used a beer to entice an intoxicated intruder to leave. The intruder apparently didn't realize that it was a nonalcoholic beer, police said.
· Man killed when car plunges into Grand Canyon. A man died after his car plunged 600 feet off the edge of the Grand Canyon's South Rim, authorities said Tuesday.
· Air Force Project Being Probed Is Linked to Murtha. When an Air Force command in north Florida sought new battlefield technologies, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) steered millions in federal dollars its way to hire defense contractors. The research effort at the Pensacola Air Force base fell apart, however, when investigators found evidence that it was used to improperly pay a series of companies linked to Murtha.
· Stiff sentence sought for man who killed wife with barbecue fork. King County prosecutors plan to seek an exceptional sentence against a Seattle man who fatally stabbed his estranged wife to death with a barbecue fork in front of their two young children, ages 4 and 5, last year.
· All-pet airline hits skies. On Tuesday, the first flight for the husband-and-wife team's Pet Airways, the first-ever all-pet airline, took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
· Billboard Claiming Martin Luther King Was Republican Angers Black Activists. A billboard proclaiming that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican has stirred a religious and political hornets' nest in Houston, where a church leader is trying to draw black voters into the Republican Party.
· West Virginia man arrested after allegedly having sex with dog. A man was arrested over the weekend after allegedly breaking into a Farmington home and having sex with the dog inside, according to a criminal complaint filed in Marion County Magistrate Court.
· Home of Murdered Arkansas Anchorwoman Demolished for 'Closure.' A construction crew on Monday demolished the small bungalow where an Arkansas television anchorwoman was fatally attacked.
· Lavish Kennedy book to sell for $1,000 a copy. At a time when publishers are scrambling to keep customers willing to pay $26 for a hardcover book instead of $9.99 for an electronic version, the publisher of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s forthcoming memoir is going in the opposite direction - issuing a limited edition it plans to sell for $1,000 a copy.
· Jet makes landing with football-sized hole. A Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday after a football-sized hole in its fuselage caused the cabin to depressurize, an airline spokeswoman said.
· Woman dies after sticking head out of truck. A 20-year-old Ocala woman was killed early Tuesday morning when she apparently struck her head on a mailbox while leaning out the window of a moving truck.
· Company to pay Florida $2 million in gas price-gouging. Morgan Stanley reached a record-setting $2.3 million price-gouging settlement with state officials over allegations that one of the company's subsidiaries overcharged retailers for gas after Hurricane Ike, running up the price of fuel in Florida. As is customary, the state of Florida will receive $1.3 million, the attorney's fees $1 million - and consumers: zip.
· Life in prison for mom in child sex case. A Middletown mother — convicted of prostituting her 11-year-old daughter to a registered sex offender for money and drugs — has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years.
· Sotomayor defends 'wise Latina' remark. Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's pick to become the high court's first Hispanic and third woman, responded to sharp Republican criticism of a 2001 speech in which she suggested a "wise Latina" would usually reach better conclusions than a white man without similar experiences.
· Man Reportedly Kidnapped, Force-Fed Beer in Utah. A man was kidnapped, force-fed beer and then abandoned on a Utah roadside in a possible case of mistaken identity, police say.
· Drunk Dad tells 11-year-old: 'Drive Us Home.' Las Vegas police say last Thursday, Jonathan Aguilar's father became so intoxicated that he told his kid to get behind the wheel and drive them home, so the 11-year-old hopped in the driver's seat.
· Oops: Obama's Teleprompter Breaks Mid-Speech. President Barack Obama had just started a spirited defense of his economic stimulus plan on Monday when one of his teleprompter screens came loose, crashed to the floor and shattered into pieces.
· Bank robber cites economy during holdup. A pistol-wielding robber blamed the nation's troubled economy for a holdup this morning at a northwest Houston bank, authorities said. While demanding cash from a teller at a Compass bank branch, the armed robber said, “I'm only doing this to eat. They're not letting me work,“ FBI officials said.
· United guitar video shows online gripes can get results. YouTube sensation Dave Carroll got his payback Friday when United Airlines donated $3,000, in his name, to support music education through the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.
Monday, July 13, 2009
· LA worker killed in cardboard recycling shredder. Fire Department spokesman Devin Gales says paramedics found the man's body still stuck in the machine when they arrived.
· Man allegedly punched over barking dog dies. A man accused of sucker-punching an Abington Marine over a dispute about a barking dog could face more serious criminal charges now that the victim has succumbed to brain injuries.
· Facebook Employees Offered $100 Million for Shares. A Russian investment firm will buy as much as $100 million of Facebook common stock from current and former employees.
· Wife given 18 months in sex-game death of husband. A judge has sentenced a Tennessee woman to 18 months in jail in the death of her husband during a sex game. She was accused of tying up and gagging her husband as part of a bondage fantasy and leaving him alone in their mobile home for 20 hours while she was with another man she had met on the Internet.
· Detroit public school system is $259 million in the hole, faces bankruptcy. The Detroit Public Schools may have no choice but to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which would make it the first big-city school district to use bankruptcy court to avoid paying millions to vendors, employees and bondholders, experts said Thursday.
· Joe Jackson Makes Bid for Care of Michael's Kids. While his role as the driving force in the Jackson family success has never been in question, father Joe Jackson's parenting - especially with Michael - has long been a subject of scrutiny and controversy. So it's all the more surprising that the driven patriarch is now working to forge a larger role for himself in the lives of Michael's three children.
· Budget deficit tops $1 trillion for first time. Nine months into the fiscal year, the federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time. The imbalance is intensifying fears about higher interest rates and inflation, and already pressuring the value of the dollar.
· Swearing can make you feel better, lessen pain. Researchers from the school of psychology at Britain's Keele University have found swearing can make you feel better as it can have a "pain-lessening effect," according to a recent study.
· Lose your wallet? Hopefully you were carrying a baby picture. In a recent study, the baby photograph wallets had the highest return rate, with 88 per cent of the 40 being sent back. Next came the puppy, the family and the elderly couple, with 53 per cent, 48 and 28 respectively. At 20 per cent and 15, the charity card and control wallets had the lowest return rates.
· Toy-Gun Robber Foiled by Bat-Wielding Store Worker. Authorities in south Alabama say a gas station employee used a cricket bat to chase away a would-be robber who brandished a toy gun.
· Woman Found Dead in NYC High-Rise Tied, Gagged. A woman found dead in a skyscraper where a cleaning woman had vanished days earlier was bound and gagged and had a gold crucifix taped to her mouth, police said Sunday.
· "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest signs $45 million deal. Ryan Seacrest is Fox's 45-Million-Dollar Man. The "American Idol" host has closed a major new three-year deal with CKX, parent of "Idol" producer 19 Entertainment, worth $15 million per year.
· Children Recant Sex-Abuse Tales After Father's 20-Year Prison Stint. Former Vancouver, Washington police officer Clyde Ray Spencer spent nearly 20 years in prison after he was convicted of sexually molesting his son and daughter. Now, the children say it never happened.
· Torched Topless Coffee Shop Owner Vows to Rebuild. The owner of a topless coffee shop in central Maine that burned down in an arson fire will appear before the local planning board seeking to build a replacement shop.
· Gov. Ritter Steered Stimulus Money To Ex-Employer. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has awarded some of the state's first stimulus money to his former employer in a no-bid contract.
· Alleged bank robber tried getting ride from undercover officer. Just two blocks from the Citizens Bank at 2815 E. Genesee in Saginaw that he allegedly robbed five minutes earlier, Mark White, 50, flagged down Saginaw Township Detective Scott Jackson of the auto theft division for a ride.
· Man steals beer in his underwear. Austin police arrested two men for stealing beer from a convenience store on South First Street, and one of which was in his underwear.
· Suspected burglar arrested after he shoots himself in the foot. Kelly Roan, 28, and his girlfriend might have gotten away with multiple burglaries, police say, if he hadn't shot himself in the foot. Literally. [D]
· Smoking Ban May Strike Military. U.S. soldiers are trained to handle deadly weapons and smoke out enemies but they may soon find that they aren't allowed to handle cigarettes and light up a smoke. [D]
· Cab Driver Beheads Self in Bizarre Suicide. The man, believed to be in his 30s, tied a rope to a lamppost and the other end around his neck before driving off in Southwark, southeast London.
· Teen Girl Falls In Open Manhole While Texting. It was an accident waiting to happen - an open sewer and a 15-year-old girl who was texting while she walked. Alexa Longueira was walking on Staten Island Wednesday evening when she felt the earth move and was plunged into smelly darkness.
· Update: Missing mom's body found in air duct of building where she vanished. The body of a Manhattan mom who disappeared from her office-cleaning job was found Saturday in a 12th floor air conditioning duct, police said.
· Fat Northwest flight attendants cry foul over dress size limits. The union that represents flight attendants who worked for Northwest Airlines before it was bought by Delta Air Lines is crying foul over Delta's failure to offer dress sizes larger than size 18 for its signature red dress uniform designed by Richard Tyler. A union representative said "The job isn't about being sexy. It's about safety," and wants all attendants to be able to wear the stylish dress.
· Astronaut Couple in Controversial Love Triangle Engaged. A Florida attorney says a couple who were rocketed into the public eye by the antics of a former astronaut are getting married.
· Pilots May Have Averted Disaster Aboard Obama Campaign Plane. Skillful piloting may have prevented a disaster for President Obama and his campaign last summer, a former federal safety official said Friday.
· Couple who adopted 12 children slain. Eight children were found in the Florida home of their slain parents, who apparently were the victims of a home invasion.
· 50 Years of Pantyhose. Love them or hate them, the once-ubiquitous women’s accessory was a revolutionary invention that helped transform women’s fashion.
· GM hopes to sell its cars through eBay. Fresh out of bankruptcy, the new General Motors hopes to soon start selling its whole line of cars on eBay through a pilot program.
· Death and taxes: Big IRS bill looms for MJ estate. Creditors and heirs of Michael Jackson hoping for a cut of his musical empire will have to line up with the Internal Revenue Service, which could lay claim to $80 million or more in federal estate taxes.
· Jackson May Play London After All, Via Footage. Michael Jackson would have turned 51 on Aug. 29, and the promoters of his planned This Is It tour are hoping to celebrate with a concert. It would take place in London and feature Jackson's rehearsal footage and appearances by members of his family. In other words, it would be a Michael Jackson concert - with all the ingredients except the King of Pop himself.
· Cemetery workers made $300K in gravedigging scheme. Four former employees accused of digging up bodies and reselling plots at a historic black cemetery near Chicago made about $300,000 in a scheme believed to have stretched back at least four years, authorities said Friday.
· Wireless Cybercriminals Target Clueless Vacationers. Vacationers on their way to fun in the sun, or already there, think they're using designated Wi-Fi access points. But instead, they're signing on to fraudulent networks and hand-delivering everything on their laptops to the crooks. A check at 27 airports found fake Wi-Fi hot spots set up by hackers phishing for suckers — and there were plenty of suckers to be had.
· Signs of Progress or Stimulus Spending Outrage? Road signs with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act logo are plastered at stimulus-funded construction project sites around America. The signs cost $500 apiece in Maryland and New Hampshire, $1,700 in Georgia, $2,000 in Pennsylvania and New York, and $3,000 per project in New Jersey. For the price of one $2,000 sign, 40 potholes could be repaired.
· Ugly Men More Fertile, Produce More Sperm. Women wanting to get pregnant should find themselves an ugly man, new research suggests.
· Strong wind, turbulence caused Fossett crash. Strong wind and turbulence likely caused the millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett to lose control of his plane and plummet to his death, US federal safety investigators said Thursday.
· Jackson's pill consumption emerges. Singer Michael Jackson took more than 10 Xanax pills a night, asking his employees to get the prescription medicine under their names and also personally traveling to doctors' offices in other states to obtain them, said a confidential document.
· "Cash for Clunkers" wins over U.S. drivers, dealers. Having driven the equivalent of six smoke-belching laps of the planet, Tony Metzler figured his aging Chevrolet Blazer SUV would not make a good trade for a new car. Until now that is. With a $1 billion federal "Cash for Clunkers" program that pays consumers $3,500 or $4,500 in credit to swap aging gas-guzzlers for new, more fuel efficient models, he made the plunge.
· NY Times admits to altering photos. The New York Times inadvertently published digitally manipulated photographs in the latest issue of its Sunday magazine, the newspaper said Thursday.
· Man Gored to Death During Pamplona Bull Run. A charging bull gored a young man to death Friday at Pamplona's San Fermin festival, the first such fatality in nearly 15 years. Nine others were injured in a particularly dangerous and chaotic chapter of the running of the bulls.
· Billy Mays remains a TV pitchman, even in death. Death won't still the voice of Billy Mays or his mighty powers of persuasion. Viewers will continue to find the boisterous, bearded TV pitchman hawking household products for the indefinite future. And at least one of his commercials is being introduced posthumously.
· After raising $845 for his re-election campaign, Roland Burris decides not to run. Democratic U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, his political prospects and personal legacy weakened by controversy, is expected to announce Friday he will not seek election to the seat he was appointed to by Rod Blagojevich after the then-governor's arrest, sources close to Burris said. So far, he raised $845 with more than $111,000 in debt, a campaign filing showed.
· McNair taped suicide prevention ad before death. Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair taped a youth suicide prevention public service announcement before he was fatally shot in a murder-suicide, Tennessee health officials said.
· French tourists seen as world's worst. French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant, according to a survey of 4,500 hotel owners across the world.
· Woman Vanishes While Working at New York City High-Rise. Police are trying to figure out what happened to a cleaning woman who vanished midway through her shift Tuesday evening at an office tower a few hundred feet from the World Trade Center reconstruction site.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
· Latest Metro Train Fail: Sleeping on the Job. In the latest Metro fail, a 14-year-old boy took video of an operator apparently nodding off while a train is speeding down Green Line tracks between College Park and Greenbelt.
· Train hits car in Mich.; 5 thought to be teens die. An Amtrak passenger train carrying about 170 people struck a car that had skirted a gate at a road crossing near Detroit on Thursday, killing all five people in the sedan, authorities said. The victims were believed to be teens.
· Woman admits she falsely accused man of rape. A Newport Beach woman was sentenced to 127 days in jail after pleading guilty today to trying to extort $15,000 from a man she met online and falsely reporting that he raped her, county prosecutors said.
· Oops! LAPD's public database omits nearly 40% of this year's crimes. The map, touted as a way for residents to monitor the safety of their neighborhoods, doesn't include about 19,000 serious crimes reported in other LAPD data. Officials say they're looking into it.
· Billions in aid go to areas that backed Obama. Billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year's presidential election. The reports show the 872 counties that supported Obama received about $69 per person, on average. The 2,234 counties that supported McCain received about $34.
· Idaho Babysitter Accused of Having Sex With 14-Year-Old. A 28-year-old Idaho woman face charges that she had sex with a 14-year-old boy that she was hired to watch.
· Update: Michelle Obama flashes expensive taste, carries $6,000 $875 leather purse. Michelle Obama showed off her more expensive taste in fashion by carrying a $875 VBH black leather manila clutch while strolling the wooded landscape outside of Moscow, Russia.
· Sen. Ensign Paid Mistress $25,000 Severance, Husband Says. The sex scandal engulfing Sen. John Ensign deepened Wednesday after his former mistress's husband revealed new details about the relationship, saying the senator paid the woman over $25,000 in severance when she stopped working for him.
· Jackson's dermatologist: I warned him about drug. Michael Jackson's dermatologist says he on occasion gave the pop star the painkiller Demerol but warned him about using the powerful sedative Diprivan.
· Miss Obama's peacenik T-shirt sends a message to G8 leaders. Her father had just won agreement from the Russians to cut back on the world's stockpiles of nuclear weapons. And Barack Obama's eldest daughter made her own statement on the issue - even if it was merely a fashion statement.
· Cemetery workers accused of digging up graves, reselling plots. Employees at a historic African-American cemetery near Chicago allegedly dug up more than 100 graves as part of an off-the-books scheme to resell burial plots to unsuspecting customers, authorities said Wednesday.
· Six charged with defrauding investors out of $140 million. Six men have been charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, accused in a $140 million investment fraud and stock manipulation scheme.
· Banks to Stop Accepting California IOUs After Friday. After taking multibillion-dollar bailouts from the federal government, some of the nation's biggest banks are declining to lend a hand with a different financial mess: the California budget stalemate.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
· McNair shot dead in sleep by girlfriend. Former NFL star Steve McNair was shot dead in his sleep last week by a 20-year-old girlfriend distraught about mounting financial problems and her belief that he was seeing someone else, police said Wednesday.
· 'Harry Potter' Star Could Face 14 Years for Growing Marijuana Farm. “Harry Potter” star Jamie Waylett has been charged with growing ten cannabis plants.
· Politics part of Palin-hack jury selection. The lawyer for a Tennessee college student accused of hacking into Sarah Palin's e-mail wants to query prospective jurors about their political preferences.
· N.J. Worker Dies After Falling Into Vat of Chocolate. A 22-year-old factory worker died Wednesday after he fell into a vat of boiling chocolate at a manufacturing plant in New Jersey.
· Federal buildings get 'F' after bombs smuggled in. Plainclothes investigators sent to test security at federal buildings in four U.S. cities smuggled bomb components through guard posts at all 10 of the sites they visited.
· Update: Mechelle McNair Didn't Know of Affair. An associate said Wednesday the wife of ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair didn't know about Sahel Kazemi before the 20-year-old woman shot her husband four times on the Fourth of July. Kazemi's family told reporters that the woman was so confident McNair was divorcing his wife of 12 years that she was preparing to sell her furniture and move in with the former quarterback.
· Metrorail Operator Caught Texting on Job. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the operator was suspended for a week without pay after officials learned of the incident. A passenger on the blue line in Alexandria apparently recorded the incident with a cellphone camera, then posted it to YouTube.
· Woman Hangs Self on Webcam, Survives. A Phoenix woman has been rescued after attempting to hang herself live on her webcam. The 23-year-old got into a fight with her boyfriend and tried to kill herself on the internet - and police are worried that other people may have been watching.
· Stimulus: Where's the $787 Billion? A Seattle company that tracks federal spending estimates that only $65 billion of the $420 billion that was in the stimulus package for contract and infrastructure spending has gone out the door.
· Couple Arrested for Digging Up Dead Girl. An Oklahoma couple has been arrested in Montana for investigation of burying a young girl then digging up her remains and moving the body from state to state for more than a year, authorities said Tuesday.
· Jury sees videos of La. congressman accepting cash. A federal jury has seen video of a former Louisiana congressman accepting a suitcase filled with $100,000 in cash outside a northern Virginia hotel.
· Ex-Figure Skating Champ Charged in Meth Bust. Former figure skating champion Nicole Bobek has been charged with being part of a Northern New Jersey drug ring.
· Government Web sites attacked. A widespread computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of the Treasury Department, the Secret Service and other U.S. government agencies.
· Stun Guns Used on Kids Visiting Florida Prisons. More than 40 children shocked with stun guns while visiting prisons in April may not have been the first ones zapped, according to a report released Tuesday.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
· Of the 15 "foreclosure rescue" companies in Maine, not one has saved a house from foreclosure. State regulators have ordered 15 so-called "foreclosure rescue" companies to stop doing business in Maine. According to the Bureau of Consumer Protection, none of the companies saved a single home from foreclosure, but they still collected more than $36,000 from residents in upfront payments.
· Update: Marion Barry Hired Woman During Romance. D.C. Council member Marion Barry hired ex-girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt to work on his staff shortly after they began dating last year, according to city records.
· LA detective from King trial kills self at station. A Los Angeles police detective who testified at the Rodney King trial has shot herself to death after walking into a sheriff's station. Police said Tuesday that sheriff's deputies are investigating what prompted Detective Susan Clemmer to kill herself.
· Michael Jackson to be buried without his brain. Michael Jackson will be buried this week– without his brain. As his family tries to finalize details for the King of Pop’s funeral on Tuesday they have been told it will be held back for tests.
· Iowa Woman Owes Almost $300,000 for Vet's Care. After caring for Vietnam veteran Roger Lennon for more than a dozen years, two months after his death Sarah Miller received a bill from the state of Iowa for almost $300,000 for medical care he received at a state-run veteran's home.
· Madoff Hires Consultant to Find Best Possible Jail. Bernard Madoff has hired a veteran prison consultant to help him to find the best possible jail in which to serve his 150-year sentence for Wall Street’s biggest fraud. [D]
· Need Some Weed? Just Check Twitter. Some California pot sellers are living the high life this summer — because high-tech social-networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter are allowing them to legally swap street corners for the Internet.
· Bookkeeper who embezzled $10 million gets 18 years. A former bookkeeper accused of embezzling nearly $10 million from her company and spending some of the money on 400 pairs of shoes has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
· Virginia to Close Half of Rest Stops. Travelers who count on Virginia's no-frills rest areas as places to stop are about to find their passage through the state less comfortable.
· Social Security codes cracked. For all the concern about identity theft, researchers say there's a surprisingly easy way for the technology-savvy to figure out the precious nine digits of Americans' Social Security numbers.
· Woman seeks to decrease $1.92M fine for downloads. Attorneys for a Minnesota woman ordered to pay $1.92 million for illegally sharing copyright-protected music are asking a federal judge to reduce the damages she must pay, or grant a new trial.
· Mass. mom pleads not guilty to denying son meds. A woman accused of withholding cancer treatment from her autistic son by not filling prescriptions and misleading his doctors pleaded not guilty Monday to an attempted murder charge in the 9-year-old boy's death.
· Drunken breast-feeding arrest touches off debate. Police responding to a domestic disturbance arrived at Stacey Anvarinia's home to find the mother breast-feeding her 6-week-old baby in front of them. And she was drunk, they said.
· Teen Tries to Sell Nude Pics of His Mom. A New Zealand teenager tried to sell sexy pictures of his mother on an online auction site last week, according to the Melbourne Herald Sun.
· World’s biggest thesaurus is born. With 800,000 meanings for 600,000 words organized into more than 230,000 subcategories, the thesaurus is twice the size of Roget’s version.
Monday, July 6, 2009
· Boy, 13, recovering after playground choking game goes wrong. A 13-year-old schoolboy has been hospitalized after being held in a choke hold during a playground game that apparently went wrong.
· Update: Ex-NFL star McNair's girlfriend bought gun. The pistol found at the scene of the shooting that killed former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and his girlfriend was purchased by the woman two nights before, police said Monday.
· Higher minimum wage coming soon. The federal minimum wage is set to increase later this month as the job market shows signs of further decay. The federal minimum wage will go to $7.25 an hour on July 24 from its current level of $6.55.
· Pair charged with stealing skunk from pet store. Authorities arrested two people connected to the theft of a baby skunk from a pet store. The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office reported that the skunk was stolen Wednesday from Animal Crackers Pet Store. The animal was valued at $400.
· Michael Jackson's Doctor Not Licensed to Prescribe Controlled Drugs in California. According to federal drug regulations, Michael Jackson's personal physician couldn’t legally prescribe even a powerful cough medicine for the King of Pop in California, and he couldn’t go to the pharmacy to get drugs for him, either.
· Church allows pets to attend service. City Community Church in Austin is a place where everyone is welcome at Sunday service, including four-legged friends.
· Saving electricity could end up costing Missourians. Some Missouri residents and businesses soon could see a new charge on their electric bills — a fee for using less energy.
· Robert McNamara, ex-defense secretary, dies. Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, architect of the U.S. war in Vietnam under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has died at age 93.
· Formula One Racing Chief Praises Hitler, Saddam Hussein. Bernie Ecclestone, the man who controls Formula One auto racing, said Friday that he preferred totalitarian regimes to democracies and praised Adolf Hitler for his ability to "get things done."
· Budget airline 'to make passengers stand.' The low-cost airline would charge passengers less on "bar stools" with seat belts around their waists. Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, has already held talks with US plane manufacturer Boeing about designing an aircraft with standing room.
· Man arrested for defacing TV at Sears. A Cincinnati man was charged with criminal damage after taking a permanent marker to a $1600 plasma TV at Sears. According to WCPO, Jordan Puckett, 20, was caught on surveillance video drawing a one foot penis on the screen.
· Bankruptcies low in states that don't seize wages. States that allow debt collectors to seize consumers' wages have sharply higher bankruptcy rates than neighboring states that prohibit or strictly limit the practice.
· Jackson's Doc Tight-Lipped on Drug. The lawyer for the doctor who was at Michael Jackson's home the day he died tells TMZ he did not give Jackson OxyContin or Demerol that day, but he wouldn't sdiscuss the powerful anesthesia found at the singer's home.
· Cops in Michigan protect — and serve doughnuts. "Cops & Doughnuts" is more than a punchline. It's now a bakery in Michigan — owned by nine employees of the Clare Police Department.
· Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry Arrested. The United States Park Police said Barry, a current D.C. Council member, was arrested Saturday in Washington after a woman flagged down an officer and complained that Barry was stalking her.
· Update: Girlfriend suspected in NFL star's death. Former NFL star quarterback Steve McNair was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in a Nashville condominium Saturday. Police hinted he was murdered by a girlfriend who then turned the gun on herself.
· 1.6 million seek 8,750 Jackson memorial tickets . Some 1.6 million fans had registered for a chance at fewer than 9,000 tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service by the time registration closed Saturday, organizers said.
· Former quarterback McNair dead, police say. Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was killed in a shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, authorities said Saturday. Police said they found McNair and a woman shot to death in a Nashville residence.
· Unemployed Ariz. Mom Leads Sons on Crime Spree. Cynthia Mary Roberson is an unemployed mother who led her 12- and 14-year-old sons and their friends to commit at least 20 armed robberies and assaults, including the beating of a teenage boy who had nothing more than an orange lollipop.
· Mississippi to Auction 855,000 Cartons of Contraband Cigarettes. The FBI said the raids are part of an ongoing investigation into a tobacco black market with ties to Mississippi, Kentucky and South Carolina. The estimated value of the seized cigarettes is $20 million.
· Amsterdam considering financial help for prostitutes. Amsterdam city council is turning its attention to a pressing problem for one of the city's key business sectors - banking and credit for prostitutes who can't get accounts from mainstream institutions.
· 82-Year-Old Identical Twins Die in Sweltering Home. Eighty-two-year-old identical twin sisters were found dead in their San Antonio home after the city sweltered through days of 100-degree heat.
· Ruth Madoff Asks to Keep Her Fur Coat. The U.S. Marshals Service on Thursday took possession of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's $7 million Manhattan home, an action that forced his wife to move elsewhere despite her plea to stay.
· Funeral for TV pitchman Billy Mays. Most mourners wore stickers showing a cartoon image of his distinctive bearded face. The six pallbearers did not wear suits, instead choosing bright blue button-down shirts like the ones Mays wore on TV. At the conclusion of the ceremony, they gave a "thumbs up," just as Mays did at the end of one of his commercials.
· Oops: Teacher Accidentally Gave Self-Made Sex Tape to 5th Graders. A Northern California elementary school teacher sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch.
· Palin quitting early as Alaska governor. Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she will step down as Alaska's chief executive by the end of the month. She will not seek election to a second gubernatorial term in 2010.
· Apple blames the weather on overheated phones. Apple has admitted that its latest iPhone 3GS model can overheat but blames the problem on sunshine rather than a glitch with its design.
· Government health care plan: Pay your health insurance premiums, or face fines. In a revamped health care system envisioned by senators, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. Those who refuse to sign up would face fines of more than $1,000. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines would raise around $36 billion over 10 years.
· Cynthia McKinney Remains Imprisoned in Israel After Gaza-Bound Boat Is Seized. Former U.S. lawmaker and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and several other human rights activists remained in an Israeli prison Thursday after refusing to sign a deportation form.
· Source: Jackson traveled with 'mini-clinic.' Michael Jackson traveled with a "mini-clinic," complete with an IV pole and an anesthesiologist who medicated the insomniac singer.
· Rabbit-Obsessed Woman Hops Back to Jail After Hotel Find. An Oregon woman obsessed with bunnies has been ordered back behind bars after police found her in a hotel room with more than a dozen rabbits.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
· Los Angeles police under scrutiny in Jackson death. The investigation of Michael Jackson's death is widening as questions intensify about the drugs he took, the doctors who provided them and the actions of police. Why did they tow away a doctor's car right after the death but not declare the home a crime scene?
· Jackson active in video clip of rehearsal. Michael Jackson appeared active in a video of his rehearsal two nights before he died.
· Update: "Our stupid snake strangled the baby!" Charges will be brought against the owner of a pet python that strangled a 2-year-old Florida girl in her crib, killing her. "The baby's dead!" a sobbing caller from the house screamed to a 911 dispatcher in tapes released by police. "Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby!"
· Woman left newborn in portable toilet. A 44-year-old Maryland woman faces charges of child abuse after police say she gave birth in a portable toilet and dropped the newborn into the waste tank.
· Cops Taser Pastor 'Helping' Driver in Traffic Stop. Police used a Taser on a pastor and pepper spray to disperse his congregants Wednesday after the pastor allegedly interfered with a traffic stop in the church parking lot.
· The battered and bruised face of a 24-year-old burglar who got on the wrong side of a 72-year-old former boxer. Gregory McCalium, 24, was left with severe facial wounds after the knife-wielding thug attempted to rob his elderly neighbor near Oxford, England, Britain's SkyNews reported. The would-be burglar broke into the home of Frank Corti - without realizing the 72-year-old was a retired boxer.
· Congress's Travel Tab Swells. Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows. The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995. The cost of so-called congressional delegations, known among lawmakers as "codels," has risen nearly 70% since 2005.
· US Airways Flight Diverted After Man Strips Mid-Flight. A US Airways flight to Los Angeles was diverted to Albuquerque after a passenger removed all of his clothing mid-flight, forcing flight attendants to cover him with a blanket before he was arrested, authorities said Wednesday.
· Air France plane went down 'almost vertically.' The Air France plane that crashed last month with 228 people aboard "did not break up or become destroyed in flight," the French air investigation agency announced today. "The plane went straight down, almost vertically," accident investigator Alain Bouillard told reporters.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
· Jackson death: Nuts starting to come out of the woodwork. In a petition in L.A. County Superior Court, Nona Paris Lola Ankhesenamun Jackson, who lives in London, claims all of Michael's children are hers and that she didn't authorize them to live with Katherine Jackson. She claims, "Though he died to this earth he lives with my father [Satan the Devil] Khalid Lucifer."
· David Carradine died of asphyxiation - pathologist. The medical examiner who oversaw a private autopsy on David Carradine said on Wednesday that the "Kung Fu" star died from asphyxiation and the way the actor's body was bound allowed him to rule out suicide.
· Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dead. Veteran actor Karl Malden, who won an Academy Award for his role in "A Streetcar Named Desire," has died at age 97.
· Jackson funeral set for Tuesday in downtown L.A. Michael Jackson's funeral is being scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, sources said.
· Pet Python Strangles Toddler. A man woke up Wednesday morning and found his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter being strangled by his 12-foot pet Burmese python. Emergency workers could not revive the girl.
· Mississippi's still fattest but Alabama closing in. Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers. It's time for the nation's annual obesity rankings and, outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news. Obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states.
· Citi raises rates on millions of credit cards. Citigroup Inc has increased interest rates on up to 15 million U.S. credit card accounts just months before curbs on such rises come into effect.
· Insomniac Jackson begged for drug. Michael Jackson was so distraught over persistent insomnia in recent months that he pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be harmful, says a nutritionist who was working with the singer as he prepared his comeback bid.
· Arizona House rejects immigration enforcement bill. The Arizona House has defeated a bill that would have made it the only state in the nation to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants by expanding its trespassing law.
· Fashion designer crashes car into Calif. store. A celebrity fashion designer has crashed her car through the front window of a hardware store in San Diego, injuring a customer inside.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
· Pastor Allegedly Steals Millions From Church. A former pastor and his sons were charged with securities fraud in Indiana on Tuesday in what officials said was a multimillion-dollar scheme aimed at church members who thought they were helping build churches but were actually buying the men planes and sports cars.
· Franken declared Senate winner, Coleman concedes. Democrat Al Franken, a satirist turned politician, was declared the winner of a Senate seat in Minnesota on Tuesday, clearing the way for President Barack Obama's party to secure a critical 60-seat majority in the Senate.
· Child found alive in ocean after jumbo jet crash. A massive rescue effort was under way Tuesday after a young child was found among the wreckage of a downed Yemeni jet off the coast of Comoros in the Indian Ocean. 153 people were on the plane.
· First $1 million find for U.S. Antiques Roadshow. A woman who inherited some Chinese carved jade from her father has scored the first $1 million appraisal from experts on the U.S. television program "Antiques Roadshow," the producers said on Monday.
· Duke researcher allegedly offered adopted 5-year old son for sex. Sitting in a Durham County jail cell, Frank M. Lombard, the Duke University researcher accused of offering his adopted 5-year-old son for sex, awaits a trip to Washington, D.C., this week to face federal criminal charges.
· Obama EPA blocks its own report questioning 'climate change.' A top Republican senator has ordered an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency's alleged suppression of a report that questioned the science behind global warming.
· Obama Vows to Be Gay 'Champion.' Countering criticism that he's done little on gay rights, President Obama commemorated the 40th anniversary of the birth of the modern movement by welcoming its leaders to the White House and reaffirming his commitment to their top priorities.
· New Miss Georgia Quits Day After Winning Crown. One day after winning the title Saturday night at the annual pageant in Columbus, Gwinnett County school teacher Kristina Higgins relinquished the post. Higgins said she stepped down because her responsibilities as a middle school teacher would not leave her time she would need to serve as Miss Georgia.
· Queen Elizabeth II's costs rising. Public funding for Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family cost British taxpayers $68.6 million last year, and her costs are rising.
· Man charged for spraying wife with garden hose for smoking. A man was charged with domestic battery after he drenched his wife with a garden hose and attacked her for smoking in the house, according to a police report.
· Jackson ticket holders offered refund or souvenir ticket. Michael Jackson fans who purchased tickets for his final concerts will receive a full refund or, if they chose, a commemorative ticket, the concert promoter said Tuesday.
· Jackson's death returns his father to spotlight. At the BET Awards over the weekend, Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, was back in front of the cameras. Wearing a black fedora and oversized sunglasses, he paid tribute to "a superstar" and promoted his own new record label. Joe Jackson has been accused of beating his kids - which Joe disputes - telling the BBC in 2003: "I whipped him with a switch and a belt. ... I never beat him.
· Jackson Left Father Out of His Will. A will drafted by Michael Jackson in 2002 which divides the singer's estate among his mother, three children and charities could play a central role in determining how his tangled financial relationships will be unwound.
· Battle to control Jackson's fortune begins. So, who gets Michael Jackson's riches? His mother took the first step Monday when she petitioned the Superior Court of California to be named the administrator of the late singer's estate. Katherine Jackson said in the filing she was acting to ensure Michael Jackson's three children are the beneficiaries.
· Jackson wrapped video before death. Two weeks before he died, Michael Jackson wrapped up work on an elaborate production dubbed the "Dome Project" that could be the final finished video piece overseen by the King of Pop.
· Missing Moon-Landing Videotapes Possibly Found. Just in time for the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, NASA may have found the long-lost original Apollo 11 videotapes.
· 10 others to be charged in Madoff probe. Federal authorities are pressing a probe of 10 associates of Bernard Madoff despite a sentence that means the mastermind of one of the biggest financial frauds in history will spend the rest of his days behind bars.
Monday, June 29, 2009
· $24 billion deficit forces California to issue IOUs. California is preparing to issue IOUs to its creditors this week as it grapples with an unprecedented cash crunch and prepares to begin its new fiscal year deep in the red.
· Bernard Madoff gets maximum 150 years in prison. Historic swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday for a fraud so extensive that the judge said he needed to send a symbolic message to potential imitators and to victims who demanded harsh punishment.
· Michael Jackson weighed 112 pounds at death, paper reports. The Sun of London report painted a tragic picture of a 50-year-old man so frail he weighed only 112 pounds and whose stomach contained no food - just semidigested pills. Several of Jackson's ribs were broken in the frantic attempt to pump life back into his heart. Jackson had lost most of his hair, and his haggard face was disfigured by 13 plastic surgeries, The Sun said.
· Court rules for white firefighters over promotions. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.
· Woman Caught Robbing Worshippers in Church. Patricia Adams saw an opportunity during services at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church – and it wasn't for worship. While a devout parishioner knelt down in prayer, the 46-year-old learned over a church pew and stole cash from her purse, police said.
· Arizona Moves to Allow Concealed Guns in Bars. A bill moving through the Arizona Legislature has some bar owners fearful that the state is turning back the clock to the Old West. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow anyone with a concealed-weapons permit to bring a handgun into bars and restaurants serving alcohol. [D]
· Gainesville Mayor Arrested After Found Nude at Campsite. Authorities arrested Mark Musselwhite and charged him with public indecency last weekend after state Department of Natural Resources officers found him sitting nude at his Rabun County campsite.
· Did Rough Plane Landing Cause Mays' Death? Family, friends and colleagues mourned Billy Mays, 50, who was found unresponsive in his Tampa home Sunday, and awaited an autopsy to determine the cause of his sudden death. Police said Mays told his wife he didn't feel well when he went to bed Saturday night. Earlier in the day, he said he was hit on the head when his airliner had a rough landing at Tampa Bay's airport.
· Nanny says Michael Jackson's stomach had to be pumped regularly. The shattered and suspicious family of Michael Jackson ordered a second autopsy on the late King of Pop Saturday as his children's longtime nanny revealed his frequent prescription drug binges forced her to pump his stomach "many times."
· Jackson was acquitted at trial but never recovered. Michael Jackson called his trial on child molestation claims, "the hardest thing I've ever done in my life." Acquitted of all charges by a jury but convicted by public opinion, he spent the rest of his life trying to recover from the ordeal.
· Famous pitchman Billy Mays has died. Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday. Police said there are no signs of forced entry to the residence and no foul play is suspected. He was 50.
· Jackson's Son Thought Pop King Was Joking When He Collapsed. Michael Jackson's eldest son thought his father was joking around when he collapsed on the living-room floor — but soon stood "in a trance" as the King of Pop's personal doctor frantically tried to revive him, a family confidant said.
· NYPD Says Brooklyn Day Care Used as Drug Haven. Police said Saturday they found 10 pounds of marijuana and $100,000 in cash in the basement of the Special Moments Daycare.
· 'I'm better off dead. I'm done': Michael Jackson's fateful prediction just a week before his death. During the last weeks and months of his life, Michael Jackson made desperate attempts to prepare for the concert series scheduled for next month – a series that would have earned millions for the singer and his entourage, but which he could never have completed, not mentally, and not physically, according to reports.
· Airline policies juggle larger passengers. Frequent flier Ross Murphy, 54, has been sandwiched between larger fliers in coach, and he believes they should have to shell out for a second seat. "They have a right to sit in the seat next to me," said Murphy, who travels cross-country at least 15 times a year to watch his sons' sporting matches. "But they don't have a right to sit in my lap."
· Jackson's physician hires Houston law firm. A Houston lawyer says his firm has been hired by the doctor who reportedly was with Michael Jackson when the pop star was fatally stricken in his Los Angeles home.
· Jesse Jackson: Family wants 2nd autopsy. Michael Jackson's family wants an independent autopsy to determine the cause of the King of Pop's death.
· Sanford's wife: 'His career is not a concern of mine.' Jenny Sanford said Thursday that her husband Mark Sanford's political career is "not a concern of mine" and that she'd be just fine - regardless of whether their marriage survives. Jenny Sanford is an heir to the Skil tools fortune.
· Person close to Jacksons: Will, AEG role unclear. Most of Michael Jackson's family members have gathered in their Encino compound, where they are contemplating funeral arrangements and caring for his three children. They are feeling confused, upset and angry by the lack of information about those who were around the pop superstar in his final days, a person close to the family told The Associated Press.
· Bernard and Ruth Madoff have been stripped of their vast riches. The government announced Friday night that it had seized all of Bernard Madoff's property in a deal that also forces his wife to give up homes and property worth millions. Federal prosecutors obtained a $170 billion legal judgment against Madoff.
· The Most Dangerous Sport: Cheerleading. Cheerleading safety efforts have led to modest reductions in the number of serious injuries in recent years, according to a new report about college and high school sports and cheerleading mishaps. But cheerleading continues to cause more serious and deadly injuries by far than other sports.
· South Carolina first lady told him to stop affair. South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford sat in her oceanfront living room Friday, recalling how her husband repeatedly asked permission to visit his lover in the months after she discovered his affair. "I said absolutely not. It's one thing to forgive adultery; it's another thing to condone it," Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press.
· Detroit councilwoman pleads guilty in bribery case. City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of powerful and popular Democratic congressman John Conyers, pleaded guilty Friday to accepting cash bribes in exchange for supporting a sludge contract with a Houston company.
· House narrowly passes major energy-climate bill. In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation Friday that calls for the nation's first limits on pollution linked to global warming and aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy. Energy production costs would increase $770 per household. Industry groups have cited other studies showing much higher costs to the economy and to individuals.
· Michael Jackson's Last Photo. Entertainment Tonight posts the last photo of Michael Jackson as paramedics transport him to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
· Michael Jackson Rehearsed at Staples Center The Night Before His Death. Last night Michael Jackson had the “best show ever”—a rehearsal at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Sources say he was thrilled about the show and very excited about his upcoming London shows.
· Quincy Jones: 'Part of my soul has died with Jacko.' Award-winning music producer Quincy Jones who collaborated with Jackson on three of his best-selling albums Thriller, Off the Wall and Bad, led tributes for the pop legend. He told MSNBC: 'I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news.
· Jackson lived like king but died awash in debt. Michael Jackson the singer was also Michael Jackson the billion-dollar business. Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the U.S. and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, the "King of Pop" died Thursday at age 50 reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt, on the cusp of a final comeback after well over a decade of scandal.
· Report: 'Collapsed after an injection of potent Demerol.' An Emergency Room source at UCLA hospital said Jackson aides told medics he had collapsed after an injection of potent Demerol — similar to morphine. A Jacko source said: “Shortly after taking the Demerol he started to experience slow shallow breathing."
· Did addiction take Michael's life? His death may have stunned the world of music, but those who knew Michael Jackson say the warning signs of his fading health were clear. They claim his long-term addiction to painkillers is the obvious underlying health issue which – combined with the considerable pressure of attempting a showbusiness comeback - may just have claimed his life.
· Paramedics Worked To Resuscitate Star For More Than 40 Minutes. Jackson's personal physician tried to resuscitate him at his home, as did the paramedics, Jermaine Jackson said. Then at the hospital, doctors tried to revive him for more than an hour, but were unsuccessful.
· Michael Jackson autopsy expected Friday. An autopsy on entertainer Michael Jackson has been scheduled for Friday and results are expected by afternoon, according to the Los Angeles, California, coroner's office.
· Pop Legend Michael Jackson Dead at 50. Music icon Michael Jackson, whose fame spanned from his childhood with the legendary Jackson 5 to a superstar solo career that earned him the nickname 'King of Pop,' died Thursday afternoon at a Los Angeles hospital. Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. When paramedics arrived, Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back. He was 50. [Developing]
· Key senator says $1 trillion health-care bill possible. A senior lawmaker trying to break the logjam on health care overhaul says his committee has come up with elements of a plan that would allow them to produce a bill under $1 trillion that would be fully paid for.
· Climate bill would be 'biggest tax in American history.' Britain's Taxpayer Alliance estimates the average family there is paying nearly $1,300 a year in green taxes for carbon-cutting programs in effect only a few years. Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history, according to the Wall Street Journal.
· Iowa Football Coach's Alleged Killer Led Cops on Chase Days Before. The man who allegedly gunned down a popular Iowa football coach, was to have gone to a hospital psychiatric ward after allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase Saturday - several days before the shooting.
· Farrah Fawcett Dead At 62. Farrah Fawcett, whose stunning looks and blinding smile made her a pop icon of the 1970s, has died. Her spokesman, Paul Bloch, says Fawcett died Thursday morning in a Santa Monica hospital. Her 2 1/2-year battle with cancer was depicted in the TV documentary "Farrah's Story."
· Court says strip search of Ariz. teenager illegal. The Supreme Court said Thursday school officials acted illegally when they strip-searched of an Arizona teenage girl looking for prescription-strength ibuprofen.
· Sanford e-mail to mistress: Situation 'hopelessly impossible' In one email message, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said "I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light - but hey, that would be going into sexual details ..."
· Billy Bob Thornton's daughter indicted. The estranged daughter of actor Billy Bob Thornton has been indicted on several charges in the death of a 1-year-old girl she was baby sitting in central Florida.
· Church's 'Gay Exorcism' Sparks Outrage. The video shows the 16-year-old boy lying on the floor, his body convulsing, as elders of a Connecticut church cast a "homosexual demon" from his body.
· Woman Stabs Sleepwalking Boyfriend in the Face. Police said the man had a history of sleepwalking and ignored his girlfriend's repeated efforts to wake him up. He pushed her out of the way as he walked toward the kitchen, and she reportedly became scared that he might hit her.
· Egypt confirms tycoon to hang for Lebanese diva murder. A Cairo court confirmed a death sentence against an Egyptian tycoon and an ex-cop hitman for the murder of a Lebanese pop star after the verdict was approved by the country's top cleric.
· Sanford Scandal Is Latest Blow to Republicans. South Carolina governor's infidelity admission adds to an ever-growing list of woes for the out-of-power Republican Party as it looks to rebound against President Obama and Democrats.
· Investigators eye problems with DC track circuit. Commuter rail tracks in the nation's capital are studded with devices that detect passing trains and tell them when to stop or slow down. But those devices on the stretch of track near where nine people were killed in a train crash didn't pass tests by investigators.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
· GLAAD asks Perez Hilton to apologize for anti-gay slurs against Will.i.am. Hilton, who is openly gay, said in interview with The Associated Press that he called will.i.am a "faggot," a gay slur, inside the club after the musician told the blogger not to write about his band on his Web site.
· Tennis legend Martina Navratilova sued for millions by 'wife' after being 'dumped without warning.' Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is being sued for millions of pounds by a former lover who claims she was dumped without warning after nearly eight years.
· San Francisco DA Defends Job Program That Trained Illegal Immigrants. San Francisco's district attorney is defending a city-led job program for first-time drug offenders that has included at least six illegal immigrants.
· Girl Shot, Killed at Own Birthday Party. Authorities say a 5-year-old girl was apparently accidentally shot and killed at her own birthday party in southern Utah.
· Sanford: 'I have been unfaithful to my wife.' South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday that he has been engaged in an extramarital affair with an Argentinian woman. The news conference followed days of speculation surrounding his whereabouts. Sanford's staff had said the governor was hiking in the Appalachian Trail.
· Déjà vu: Barney Frank asks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to relax mortgage lending rules. Barney Frank again wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to relax recently tightened standards for mortgages.
· Program Pays Girls $1 Per Day To Not Get Pregnant. A buck-a-day - that's the incentive being offered to young girls to keep them from getting pregnant. The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies.
· Nine Nasty Online Scams You Need to Be Aware Of. Internet scams have been around for years, but the Federal Trade Commission’s recent crackdown on robocallers pushing car warrantees has put a spotlight on the thousands of tactics used by scammers to bilk Americans out of millions.
· Spector wants TV, music player for new prison cell. Phil Spector is hoping to get a few comforts of home in his new prison cell, and a television, iPod and computer access are at the top of his list.
· Woman pleads guilty in drunken breast-feeding case. A Grand Forks mother who police say was “extremely intoxicated” while breast-feeding her 6-week-old pleaded guilty to child neglect Tuesday.
· Oklahoma City woman trades sex for potato chips. A woman pleaded no contest last week to prostitution charges, accused of agreeing to be paid for services with a box of chips by a man who said he was a Frito-Lay employee.
· Missing South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he was in Argentina, not hiking trail. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford popped up at the Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta Wednesday and sheepishly admitted he had been in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
· Owners torch own cars for insurance. More and more burned cars are turning up in tow yards these days. These are cars reported stolen from their owners, but law enforcement says it’s the owners themselves who are committing the crimes.
· Disabled woman sues clothes store. A woman claims clothing firm Abercrombie & Fitch made her work in the stockroom because her prosthetic arm did not fit the store's image.
· Missing Ohio girl found with mom, sex offender. Haylee Donathan, the 4-year-old Ohio girl who vanished more than three weeks ago, was found alive Tuesday in the company of her mother and her boyfriend -- a fugitive sex offender, authorities said.
· Iowa football coach shot at high school. An Iowa high school football coach was shot Wednesday inside the school as athletes were lifting weights, the district superintendent told CNN.
· Man Fatally Shoots Himself at Florida Gun Range. Authorities say a man fatally shot himself after renting a gun at a Delray Beach shooting range. Authorities say they found a detailed suicide note with his belongings.
· Police: Man advertised pot sales on Craigslist. Drug dealers, take note: potheads aren’t the only ones who know what 420 means. Quincy police arrested a man advertising his wares on the online classified site Craigslist with the words “420 help is here.” Drug detectives knew that in the cannabis culture, 420 means getting high on marijuana.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
· Computer failure may have caused D.C. train crash. Investigators looking into the deadly crash of two Metro transit trains focused Tuesday on why a computerized system failed to halt an oncoming train, and why the train failed to stop even though the emergency brake was pressed.
· New York Times Bribed Taliban in Effort to Recover Abducted Reporter. The New York Times bribed Taliban guards through a private security company with CIA ties as part of its attempt to gain the freedom of one of its reporter and of two people taken hostage with him in Afghanistan, ABC News reports.
· Girl who said she woke up with 56 tattoos on her face admits lying. A Belgian girl who claimed 56 stars were tattooed on her face while she slept has admitted she lied and that she willingly asked for the design. Kimberley Vlaeminck said she "initially adored" the tattoos, but when her father reacted furiously she had decided to lie about it and blame the tattooist.
· Minneapolis spending nearly $200,000 to promote tap water. The city of Minneapolis is spending nearly $200,000 to sell something that would seem to sell itself: tap water.
· 'You Light Up My Life' writer accused of NY rape. A New York City prosecutor says the Oscar-winning songwriter and director behind "You Light Up My Life" has been charged with rape and sexual assault.
· Pregnant Mass. woman drives off garage's 4th floor. Police say a pregnant woman and her unborn baby escaped injury after she accidentally drove off the fourth floor of a Springfield parking garage.
· Work begins on world's deepest underground lab. Far below the Black Hills of South Dakota, crews are building the world's deepest underground science lab at a depth equivalent to more than six Empire State buildings — a place uniquely suited to scientists' quest for mysterious particles known as dark matter.
· 700 NYC teachers are paid to do nothing. Hundreds of New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around all day playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet or just staring at the wall, if that's what they want to do.
· 'Tonight Show' Sidekick McMahon Dies. NBC News reports that Ed McMahon, the longtime sidekick of Johnny Carson on the "Tonight Show," has died after long battle with cancer. He was 86.
· NTSB: Crash train was recommended for phaseout. The subway train that plowed into another, causing a crash that killed seven and injured scores of others in the nation's capital, was part of an aging fleet that federal officials had sought to phase out due to safety concerns, an investigator said Tuesday.
· Creepy Burger King Ads Not Working. Burger King's ad campaign featuring the creepy "King" mascot isn't driving sales like the company had hoped, according to Reuters
· TV show helps Utah boy survive night solo in woods. When he realized he'd been separated from his family on a weekend hike in a northern Utah forest, 9-year-old Grayson Wynne's thoughts turned to television.
· Ryan O'Neal says he plans to marry Farrah Fawcett. Ryan O'Neal says he plans to marry Farrah Fawcett, who is struggling to overcome cancer. The 68-year-old actor says in an interview with Barbara Walters for ABC's "20/20" that he asked his longtime companion to marry him and "she's agreed." O'Neal says they will tie the knot "as soon as she can say yes."
Monday, June 22, 2009
· Brown agrees to plea deal in Rihanna assault case. R&B star Chris Brown accepted a plea deal Monday, avoiding jail time for beating up his ex-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown, 20, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to to one count of felony assault.
· Six die after two D.C. Metro trains collide. At least six people were killed Monday in a rush-hour collision between two Metro transit trains in northeast Washington. A number of other passengers were severely injured.
· People on terrorist watch list allowed to buy guns. When people on the government's terrorist watch list have tried to buy guns or explosives in recent years, the government has let them the vast majority of the time.
· Dad Kills Son During Argument on Father's Day. Police say a 62-year-old northeastern Pennsylvania man shot his 19-year-old son to death during an argument on Father's Day.
· Washington state congressman earmarks $250k in federal funds for his private club. A $250,000 request to fund a "window repair and limestone sill replacement" at The Rainier Club — one of Seattle's premier private clubs, whose members include some of the city's most well-heeled and politically connected residents.
· Bug Bomb Explosion Rocks Apartment Complex. Three Citrus Heights families are without a home after an explosion rocked their apartment complex apparently because one of the tenants was tired of cockroaches. Sacramento Metro Fire says they found evidence of up to 18 bug bombs.
· Pilot buries helicopter crash survivor in sand. A pilot dragged his passenger to safety and buried him neck-deep in sand to protect him from hypothermia Sunday night after their helicopter crashed in crocodile-infested mudflats in Australia's Northern Territory.
· 83-Year-Old Pilot Lands Plane on Expressway. An 83-year-old pilot was forced to land on a busy Miami expressway Sunday morning after experiencing engine trouble.
· Dog walker trampled to death by cows. A woman was trampled to death by cows while walking her dogs in northern England, police said Monday.
· Iacocca urges fast loan repayments. "They're on you day and night. Their oversight is just too extreme," said Lee Iacocca, who is promoting a new limited-edition customized Iacocca Ford Mustang. "That's why our 10-year loan, we paid it back in three years. We couldn't stand the government. The bureaucracy kills you."
· Study: Chubby people live longest. Health experts have long warned of the risk of obesity, but a new Japanese study warns that being very skinny is even more dangerous, and that slightly chubby people live longer.
· Man Dies After Bid to Stop Verizon Van. A 79-year-old Vienna man who was fed up with his Verizon service died after trying to stop a technician's van from pulling out of his driveway.
· Vt. farmers cut cows' emissions by altering diets. Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows' diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp — dairy cows' contribution to global warming.
· Thief preys upon purses during mass. After a thief struck during Mass, the Shrine Church of Saint Bernadette is warning parishioners to take their bags when they leave their pews to accept Holy Communion.
· Montana City Drops Request That Government Workers Turn Over Web Passwords. A flood of criticism has prompted a Montana city to drop its request that government job applicants turn over their user names and passwords to Internet social networking and Web groups.
· Scientology's response to church defectors: 'Total lies.' The Church of Scientology pressed vigorously Friday to delay publication of the Times' Scientology story. Its lawyers said that the few days the newspaper gave the church to respond to Mike Rinder, who only recently agreed to go public, was not enough time.
· Florida Man Killed By Computerized Vehicle While Inspecting Tracks. The computerized vehicle, which is not driven by a conductor, was stopped, but moved forward for an unknown reason, killing a supervisor.
· Coroner Tells Jury That Kercher's Stab Wound Not Made by Knife With Knox DNA. A coroner told a jury Saturday that a stab wound to the neck of a British student slain in Italy was caused by a shorter knife than the one believed to be the murder weapon.
· House impeaches Texas judge accused of sex crimes. The House of Representatives voted Friday to impeach a federal judge convicted of obstruction of justice while in office. U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent of Texas pleaded guilty in February, admitting he lied to investigators about nonconsensual sexual contact with two employees in his courthouse.
· Steve Jobs Had Liver Transplant. Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave from Apple Inc. since January to treat an undisclosed medical condition, received a liver transplant in Tennessee about two months ago, according to reports.
· Skateboarder takes a glide through White House. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk on Friday took a brief ride at the White House as part of a Father's Day celebration. Hawk, 41, skated in the grand foyer and the nearby Old Executive Office Building, with the permission of White House officials.
· Boxer Balks at Apologizing for 'Ma'am' Dressdown. The controversy began when Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh was testifying during a hearing before Barbara Boxer's Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and he called the California senator "ma'am." Boxer immediately interrupted him before he could answer one of her questions. "You know, do me a favor," a clearly agitated Boxer said. "Could you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?" "Yes, ma'am," Walsh replied. Walsh was following military protocol, which advises officers to use "sir" or "ma'am" when addressing anyone higher than them on the chain of command.
· Airlines add fees, and some fees on top of fees. As if charging $15 to check a bag weren't enough, two airlines are asking for $5 more this summer if you pay at the check-in counter — a fee on top of a fee. Of course, you could always pay your baggage fee from home. The airlines call it the "online discount."
· New Mexico breaks ground on commercial spaceport. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson broke ground on Friday on construction of Spaceport America, the world's first facility built specifically for space-bound commercial customers and fee-paying passengers.
· Tax dollars at Work: $423,500 to Study Why Men Don't Like Condoms. The federal government is spending $423,500 to find out why men don't like to wear condoms, a project government watchdogs say is a nearly-half-a-million-dollar waste of taxpayer money.
· Wendy's Employee Kills Co-Worker. A Wendy's employee was killed Thursday afternoon after being shot by a co-worker, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
· Aide: Husband of Ensign's ex-mistress sought cash. An aide to Sen. John Ensign says the husband of the Nevada senator's former mistress demanded "cash and other financial benefits" through an attorney. Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola says the demands from a lawyer for Doug Hampton were made within the past month.
· Police officer accused of pulling gun at McDonald's. A Denver police officer has been suspended after allegedly brandishing his gun at a McDonald's restaurant in Aurora, Colorado after his order took too long to fill. The officer has been placed on administrative leave with pay.
· Woman Fined $80,000 Per Song in File-Sharing Retrial. A federal jury ruled Thursday that Jammie Thomas-Rasset willfully violated the copyrights on 24 songs, and awarded recording companies $1.92 million, or $80,000 per song.
· “Love Guru” Pirate Sentenced to Six Months in Prison. Jack Yates, 28, was sentenced to six months in prison today for making an unauthorized pre-release copy of “The Love Guru,” the Mike Myers comedy that Paramount Pictures released last summer.
· Texas billionaire Stanford arrested in U.S. Texas billionaire Allen Stanford was taken into custody Thursday night on a fraud-related charge in Stafford, Virginia, the FBI said. Stanford, who is accused of a $9.2 billion fraud by U.S. regulators, had complained that he had to fly commercial airlines after the federal government confiscated his six private jets. "They make you take your shoes off and everything," he said. "It's terrible."
· Consumers could get up to $4,500 toward new car. Car shoppers could take advantage of government incentives worth up to $4,500 this summer to send their old gas guzzler to the scrap heap in favor of a more fuel-efficient new vehicle. President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law the "cash for clunkers" program.
· Mom Accused of Burning Daughter in Voodoo Ritual. A New York City woman has been accused of burning her 6-year-old daughter during a voodoo ritual and then ignoring her cries for help and sending her to bed.
· NHL players sue developer over $25M Mexican golf resort deal. Nearly two dozen angry NHL players slammed a California developer with a lawsuit Thursday, charging he blew $25 million they'd invested in a Mexican golf resort on porn stars, private jets and parties.
· Woman cancels wedding after finding fiance was porn star. Haylie Hocking, 27, only found out that strapping 30-year-old fitness fanatic Jason Brake made adult films just weeks before the big day. A friend organizing her bachelorette party searched online for a male stripper and spotted Jason with a woman in a porn movie.
· DNA tests show Michigan man is not 1955 missing toddler. DNA test results reveal that a Michigan man is not a Long Island, New York, boy who went missing 54 years ago, according to the FBI. John Robert Barnes, of Kalkaska, Michigan, approached police in New York twice in March claiming to be Steven Damman, a toddler who vanished while on a shopping trip with his mother in 1955.
· The perks of marrying Google. When it comes to raising capital in the current economic environment, being married to a Google co-founder has its advantages. Regulatory forms filed Thursday showed the internet search giant recently invested another $2.6 million in biotech firm 23andMe, which was co-founded in 2006 by Anne Wojcicki - wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
· Town Reels After Child Sex Charge Against Mom of 4. Allegations that a mother of four young kids in Maine Webcast the sexual assault of one of her children have rocked the small town in which she lives.
· Mafia blamed for $134bn fake Treasury bills. Few details have been revealed beyond a June 4 statement by the Italian finance police announcing the seizure of 249 US Treasury bills, each of $500m, and 10 “Kennedy” bonds, used as intergovernment payments, of $1bn each. The men were apparently tailed by the Italian authorities. The mystery deepened on Thursday when it was reported that the two men carrying the US Treasury bills had been released from custody.
· Dead pilot's wife: He was in 'perfect health.' The Continental Airlines pilot who died on a trans-Atlantic flight from Brussels to Newark was in "perfect health" and fellow crew members initially thought he had just fallen asleep, his wife told a Houston television station.
· House eyes new taxes as senators pare health bill. Early work on the ambitious health care overhaul the Obama administration is seeking has exposed the kinds of in-house fights that typify just how hard it will be to get meaningful legislation this year. Case in point: A proposal to help bankroll universal health coverage with a dime-a-can increase in the price of soft drinks.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
· Canseco Plans to Sue MLB, Union Over Steroids. Jose Canseco plans to file a class-action lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the players’ association, saying he’s been ostracized for going public with tales of steroids use in the sport.
· Ensign's Ex-Lover Suggests More Details to Emerge. Nevada Sen. John Ensign's ex-lover says she did "everything possible" to keep their affair private, but a spokesman for the Republican lawmaker refuted the claim Thursday, saying the woman's husband approached a major television news channel before Ensign's public confession.
· Yearbook cover contains hidden F-word. High school students in a posh Cleveland, Ohio suburb already know who deserves the superlative "Most likely to write the F-word in school yearbook."
· Continental pilot dies midflight, FAA says. A captain on a Continental Airlines flight died today while flying from Brussels, Belgium, to Newark, New Jersey, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said. Two first officers are now in command of the Boeing 777, the FAA said.
· Ohio teen sentenced in parking lot noose attack. A central Ohio teenager accused of putting a noose around a Hispanic boy's neck and dragging him in a parking lot has been sentenced to 10 days in jail.
· Parolee spit in deputy's sandwich at Michigan McDonald's. Jacob Skipworth, who spent 14 years in prison for a violent home invasion, is facing criminal charges for allegedly spitting in an Egg McMuffin purchased by a cop at the McDonald's where the convicted felon worked.
· Woman Drowns in Same Pool Her Children Did. Police in Texas say a woman has died in an apparent drowning at the same swimming pool where her two children drowned less than a year ago.
· Gay critics say 'too little, too late' from Obama. President Obama's decision to grant some benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees is seen by some as his attempt to extend an olive branch to the gay and lesbian community, but critics say it's "too little, too late."
· Ex-Major Leaguer Sentenced 45 Years for Raping Girl. Former major league outfielder Mel Hall was sentenced to 45 years in prison Wednesday after being convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl he coached on an elite basketball team.
· PETA wishes Obama hadn't swatted that fly. The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter in chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he's bedeviled by a fly in the White House.
· Former NFL QB Leaf arrested at US-Canada border. Former San Diego Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf posted a $45,000 bond Wednesday in Washington state for drug and burglary charges out of Texas after being arrested by customs agents as he returned to the United States from Canada.
· Mom Fights Off Cougar Attack on 3-Year-Old Daughter. A Canadian mother has fought off a cougar with her bare hands after it pinned down her 3-year-old daughter in a forest.
· Buoyed by Support, Mickelson Aims at US Open Win. When the U.S. Open begins Thursday, Tiger Woods will be the favorite - but Phil Mickelson will be favored by the people. Mickelson isn't planning to play the British Open, since his wife begins treatment for the recently diagnosed cancer July 1.
· 'All-American Car' Company to Build Factory in Louisiana. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has announced that San Diego-based V-Vehicle will create 1,400 new jobs and assemble an all-new vehicle in the state.
· Secretary of State Clinton falls, breaks elbow. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fell Wednesday afternoon on her way to the White House and was taken to George Washington University Hospital.
· Oregon woman obsessed with rabbits arrested again. Washington County's "Bunny Lady" is back in the hutch after violating a court order banning her from owning animals for five years. Miriam Sakewitz, 47, was arrested Tuesday at a hotel in the Portland suburb of Tigard after an employee reported finding rabbits hopping around in her room.
· Cops say man posed as dead mom for money. A man in Brooklyn is charged with posing as his own dead mother to collect social security payments and rent subsidies from the city.
· Got $100? Welcome to your new Detroit home. If an e-mail popped up in your inbox promising a house for $100, you'd expect to see it sent from guy in Nigeria asking you to wire him several thousand dollars first. But this depressed housing market dream is real.
· Store Clerk Murdered; Customers Keep Shopping. A 26-year-old convenience store clerk is shot and killed in broad daylight in Gary, Indiana. Police say witnesses stood by and did nothing.
· Obama to provide benefits for govt workers' gay partners. President Barack Obama, whose gay and lesbian supporters have grown frustrated with his slow movement on their priorities, is extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
· Nearly 60% Won't Graduate At South Side Chicago School. A startling number of children are falling through the cracks at one Chicago Public School. More than half of the kids didn't even pass the eighth grade.
· Accused cat killer out of jail. Tyler Weinman, the teen accused of killing and mutilating at least 19 cats in South Florida in recent months has been released from jail.
· Baby dies after falling into mop bucket at day care center. Police were investigating the death of a Queens baby who perished Monday when he fell headfirst into a mop bucket at his baby-sitter's house.
· NAACP demands apology for gorilla joke. The state NAACP is demanding an apology from a former South Carolina official whose Internet posting suggested a gorilla that escaped from the Columbia zoo was an ancestor of first lady Michelle Obama.
· Killing shows Mexico clergy no longer cloaked from cartels' aim. The killing last weekend of a Catholic priest and two seminary students in southwest Mexico marked the first time that drug cartel hit men have purposefully targeted a clergyman.
· School district's error delays summer break by 34 school days. A bureaucratic boondoggle in the San Bernardino County, California school district will cost the students their summer breaks. "We made an error on the minimum days of about five minutes," said Dickson Principal Sue Pederson. "Realistically, that's our accounting mistake as adults. We're unfortunately making the children pay for it by making them give up their summer." As a result, the district would have lost more than $7 million if classes end before July 31.
· Nevada Sen. John Ensign admits affair. Sen. John Ensign of Nevada admitted Tuesday to an extramarital affair with a woman who had worked for him. Ensign, 51, would not identify the woman but said she and her husband had been "close friends." Her husband, he said, also worked for him.
· Was Cheating Senator Blackmailed? An influential Republican senator went public Tuesday about an extramarital affair he had with a member of his campaign staff - a decision that sources say was prompted by a blackmail threat.
· Man hides in LA drain for 12 hours to avoid arrest. A burglary suspect who tried to evade police by hiding in a narrow storm drain under a busy freeway for 12 hours finally agreed to give himself up after speaking to a TV reporter on his cell phone.
· Obama: Fired IG 'Confused, Disoriented.' Responding to criticism from a Senate Democratic ally, President Obama explained why he fired the Inspector General of the AmeriCorps without the 30-day notification required by law, calling Gerald Walpin so "confused" and "disoriented" that there was reason to question "his capacity to serve."
· Mia Farrow's Brother Found Dead. The brother of Mia Farrow has been found dead in his Vermont home, the second tragedy for the actress, whose daughter died in December.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
· Teen Gets 23 Years for Killing Mom Over Video Game. A northeast Ohio teen who shot and killed his mother and wounded his minister father was sentenced Tuesday to 23 years in prison for crimes rooted in his obsession with video games with violent themes.
· Jewelry goes missing from Lohan shoot. Police say they are investigating the disappearance of more than $400,000 worth of jewelry from a photo shoot involving Lindsay Lohan in London.
· Racist e-mail aimed at Obama raises hackles in Tennessee. The chairman of Tennessee's Democratic Party wants a Republican legislative aide fired for sending out a "reprehensible" e-mail depicting President Obama as two cartoonish white eyes peering from a black background. Sherri Goforth said she mistakenly sent the image "to the wrong list of people."
· Sen. Coburn questions 100 stimulus projects. Among the items on Sen. Tom Coburn's list: a $3.4 million Florida Department of Transportation project for an "eco-passage" - an underground wildlife road crossing for turtles, a $840,000 bridge repair project in Portage County, Wis., that carries 260 vehicles a day largely to a backwater saloon and a country club, and Montana's state-run liquor warehouse receiving $2.2 million in stimulus cash to install skylights.
· Ohioans ticketed for parking in own driveways. Residents of Toledo, Ohio are complaining that they received $25 tickets for parking their vehicles in their own driveways. During a news conference Monday, Mayor Carleton Finkbeiner ignored a reporter's question of whether the crackdown and fines were related to the city's budget crisis.
· Ex-congressman on trial over freezer cash, bribery. Opening statements are scheduled in the trial of a former Louisiana congressman charged with bribery after federal agents found $90,000 in cash in his freezer.
· Airline puts girl on wrong plane. Airlines sometimes send luggage to the wrong city, but in this case one airline sent a child to the wrong state. "The flight crew on the Cleveland flight was supposed to check that they had the right number of passengers, and they didn't do that," Kamens said. "The number of people who must have failed to do what they're supposed to do is mind boggling."
· Jessica Alba won't face vandalism charges. Police have decided against pursuing a criminal vandalism case against Jessica Alba over some posters that were plastered around downtown Oklahoma City.
· Harry Potter publisher denies plagiarism claim. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc on Monday denied allegations that author J.K. Rowling copied "substantial parts" of a book by another children's author when she wrote "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
· Maine Mom Nabbed in International Child Porn Sting. A mother of four young children in Maine was charged Monday with gross sexual assault after British investigators more than 3,000 miles away used the Internet to allegedly catch her in the act of Webcasting a sexual assault of her young child.
· Letterman apologizes again for 'bad' Palin joke. David Letterman said his joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter was a lousy joke, no matter how you cut it, and he's sorry. But the late-night host insisted that what's got people really riled is the misconception over which Palin daughter the joke was about.
· Sarah Palin accepts David Letterman's apology. Sarah Palin says she accepts David Letterman's apology for the joke about her daughter. The Alaska governor, in a statement issued Tuesday, said the apology was accepted "on behalf of all young women, like my daughters, who hope men who `joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve."
· Obama's Air Force One flight to Chicago and back Monday to cost $236,000. As President Barack Obama flies Monday to Chicago for a midday speech on health-care reform, the round trip on Air Force One will run about $236,000. But that does not include such expenses as Secret Service protection, motorcades and helicopter transports. After landing at O'Hare International Airport, Obama is scheduled to spend about 2 1/2 hours.
· Attorney defends trooper in Okla. ambulance stop. Bothered that an ambulance driver failed to yield to him as he raced to provide backup on a call, state Trooper Daniel Martin decided to stop the ambulance and give the driver a piece of his mind. What Martin didn't know then, his lawyer said Monday, was that there was a patient in the back of the ambulance. "He's not this ogre, this depriver of people's rights," the trooper's attorney, Gary James, said. "He's a good man."
· French prosecutor seeks dissolution of Scientology. A French prosecutor on Monday recommended a Paris court should dissolve the Church of Scientology's French branch when it rules on charges of fraud against the organization.
Monday, June 15, 2009
· Oklahoma Highway Patrol finally releases video of trooper attack on paramedic. The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has released video from a police dashboard camera of a scuffle between a paramedic and a state trooper after amateur video of the incident showed an officer grabbing the EMT by the neck.
· PETA pushes to halt Seattle fish mongers from tossing fish. Asserting that the practice of lobbing fish above the heads of patrons and tourists at the market and other venues is disrespectful to creatures that already have gone through a lot, an animal rights group is protesting. "Killing animals so you can toss their bodies around for amusement is just twisted," said Ashley Byrne, senior campaigner for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Washington, D.C.
· Drug suspect turns tables on NYPD with videotape. When undercover detectives busted Jose and Maximo Colon last year for selling cocaine at a seedy club in Queens, there was a glaring problem: The brothers hadn't done anything wrong. Since then, a vindicating video from the club's cameras has spared the brothers a possible prison term, resulted in two officers' arrest and become the basis for a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
· Brother Pushes Sister Out of Fast-Moving Car After Argument. Baltimore County police say a Woodlawn man accused of pushing his sister out of a moving car onto the Baltimore beltway has been arrested.
· Fraud uncovered in restaurant seafood. The high-priced fish on your plate at a restaurant may be a low-priced substitute. In 23 out of 38 meals — too many cases to be by chance or innocent mistake — they found that the red snapper or grouper that they thought they were ordering was instead much cheaper catfish or tilapia. The worst offenders were sushi houses.
· GOP activist says escaped gorilla was "ancestor" of Michelle Obama. A state Republican activist has admitted to and apologized for calling a gorilla that escaped from the Riverbanks Zoo Friday an "ancestor" of First Lady Michelle Obama.
· Puppy rescued after being flushed down the toilet. The tiny cocker spaniel was trapped in a waste pipe for nearly four hours after four-year-old Daniel Blair decided he "needed a wash" and put him in the toilet.
· Car exceeding 100 mph kills 2 on motorcycles. A woman driving a car faster than 100 mph jumped railroad tracks in a North Carolina town and slammed into two motorcycles, killing the bikers and injuring a third rider, police said.
· Arizona Drunk Drivers Face Arrest at Fast Food Joints. The Pima County Sheriff's Department has a new campaign targeting drunken driving. Operation Would U Like Fries, or Operation WULF, will put undercover deputies inside 24-hour fast-food restaurants to spot impaired drivers placing their orders.
· Dog gets 'stoned' at park. A dog that ran off from its owner in Seattle's Seward Park found and ate some marijuana and got high. Owner Jen Nestor Waddell told KING-TV the 11-year-old black Lab mix named Jack was "just stoned" May 12 after they returned home from the park. The dog's eyes glossed over and he had trouble walking.
· Dismembered Woman's Body Found in Colo. Apple Orchard. Authorities say a body found under apple trees in an orchard near the highway was not a young girl but a woman who had been dismembered.
· At Least 25 Lakers Fans Arrested After Near-Riot. Hundreds celebrated in the streets outside Staples Center after the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA title win Sunday night, with some revelers damaging police cruisers, throwing rocks and bottles at officers and setting bonfires in the street, authorities said.
· Shooter's Son Wishes Dad Had Died. The son of James von Brunn said Sunday that his father, who is accused of killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, had long burdened his family with his white supremacist views and that he wishes his father would have died in the shooting instead.
· Tanker Truck Explodes Into Inferno on California Freeway. A tanker truck hauling 8,000 gallons of ethanol crashed on a highway, exploding into an inferno that sent a river of flame into storm drains, officials said. The driver was killed.
· $50M in stimulus will help fish farmers buy feed. The United States is about to spend $50 million in stimulus money on fish food to help fish farmers who have been struggling since feed prices jumped 50 percent last year.
· Miami Teen Accused of String of Gruesome Cat Deaths. A South Florida teenager was arrested early Sunday and accused of killing and mutilating the cats of his neighbors — a disturbing string of deaths that has horrified residents.
· Woman Who Lost File-Sharing Suit Gets Replay. The Minnesota woman who became the nation's only music file-sharing defendant so far to go to trial is getting a replay two years after losing the case.
· Fox's axed man blames Scientologists. Fox News bowed to pressure from Kelly Preston, Tom Cruise and other members of the Church of Scientology when it fired columnist Roger Friedman, the entertainment journo is expected to charge in a wrongful termination lawsuit this week.
· Lincoln Stamp Stolen, Found and Sold for $431,000. A rare Abraham Lincoln stamp that was stolen in 1967 and surfaced 39 years later has sold at auction for more than $430,000.
· Prostitute Dies After Held in Scorching Outdoor Cell. A prostitute doing time behind bars, Marcia Powell was temporarily moved one day last month to an outdoor holding pen with nothing but a chain-link-fence roof to shield her from the searing 108-degree desert sun.
· Umpire ejects entire crowd during baseball game. An Iowa umpire emptied the stands at a high school baseball game, ejecting the entire crowd of more than 100 fans for being unruly.
· Man Charged With Slashing Neighbor With Machete. A Westmoreland, N.H., man has been charged with slashing a neighbor with a machete.
· Blogger Admits Story of Terminally Ill Baby Is a Lie. A blogger who wrote of deciding to give birth to a terminally ill baby, attracting a following of thousands of supporters online, admits now that the entire story was made up.
· Russian builds the largest privately owned yacht in the world. It is the biggest private yacht in existence and comes with a missile-detection system, two helipads, a luxury spa, swimming pool and a submarine. When you're Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, only the most ostentatious displays of wealth will do.
· US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive. Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.
· Obama fires inspector general who investigated crony. The inspector general fired by President Barack Obama said Friday he acted "with the highest integrity" in investigating AmeriCorps and other government-funded national service programs. Obama's move follows an investigation by inspector general Gerald Walpin finding misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group led by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star.
· Inmate's behind-bars bar mitzvah rattles chain of N.Y. officials. New York officials want to know how a jail inmate threw a lavish bar mitzvah for his son inside a detention facility, complete with live music and catered kosher food.
· House Health-Care Proposal Adds $600 Billion in Taxes. Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.
· Amanda Knox in Testimony Alleges Police Abuse, Admits Drug Use. Amanda Knox told an Italian court Friday that police abused her and called her as a "stupid liar" when they questioned her over the murder of Meredith Kercher. Upon being asked about turning cartwheels in the police station after the killing, Knox replied, "In general I'm someone who tends to act a little silly when I feel I'm in difficulty or not at ease."
· Suspect in California girl's death pleads not guilty. A woman accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering an 8-year-old Northern California girl - her daughter's playmate - pleaded not guilty at a Friday hearing, according to a court spokeswoman.
· New York Lawmaker Calls on CBS to Fire Letterman for Palin Comments. New York State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, a Republican, is calling on the CEO of CBS to fire David Letterman for crude comments he made about Sarah Palin and her daughter.
· Stephen Baldwin's foreclosed home to be auctioned. Actor Stephen Baldwin's foreclosed home in the suburbs north of New York City will be publicly auctioned. Baldwin paid $515,000 for the 1.4-acre home in Rockland County in 1997.
· Man Claims He Was Offered Free Pizza for Burning Down Rival Pizzeria. An Austrialian heroin addict was promised free pizza for life in return for burning down a rival's pizzeria.
· 'Foxy Knoxy': I was high when I spoke to police. American college student Amanda Knox took the stand today in an Italian courtroom, defending herself against charges that she took part in the killing of her roommate two years ago. She said she was under the influence of marijuana when she spoke to police and did not realize at the time that her police interview was on the record.
· NYC to gas 2,000 geese in bid to protect jets. New York City plans to trap and kill as many as 2,000 Canada geese this summer in an attempt to avoid the type of collision that caused an airliner to ditch in the Hudson River.
· Malawi approves Madonna's 2nd adoption. Madonna can adopt a second child from Malawi, the southern African country's highest court ruled Friday, overturning a lower court decision it said was out of touch with the times.
· Daily Show visits the New York Times. The Daily Show's segment on the decline of the New York Times reaches its peak when Jason Jones asks an editor to find a single thing in the paper that happened that day.
· Museum suspect: Obama 'created by Jews.' The 88-year-old white supremacist charged with killing a guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum left a note proclaiming President Obama a tool of "Jew owners," according to court records released Thursday.
· 'She's With Me': Obama Writes Girl Absence Note. Ten-year-old Kennedy Corpus has a rock-solid excuse for missing the last day of school: a personal note to her teacher from President Barack Obama.
· Did Firefighters Stand a Chance Against Sotomayor? In a newly released video, Supreme Court nominee gives clues to the reasons that may have been behind her reasoning to vote against the Connecticut men who claimed reverse-discrimination.
· EU: browser-free Windows gives no real choice. European Union regulators said Friday that Microsoft was offering less choice, not more, by vowing to sell the next version of Windows without any Web browsers at all.
· Confusion expected as analog TV broadcasts end. Starting in the morning and going into the night, TV stations across the U.S. are cutting their analog signals Friday, ending a six-decade era for the technology and likely stranding more than 1 million unprepared homes without TV service.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
· Cop Runs Over Woman Sunbathing on Florida Beach. A rookie police officer was suspended for seven days for running over a woman sunbathing on a Florida beach.
· IRS Weighs Rules for Taxing Private Use of Work Cellphones. The IRS is weighing a proposal to deem one-quarter of employees' use of work cellphones as personal use and therefore subject to tax as a fringe benefit.
· Chastity Bono changing gender, spokesman says. Chastity Bono, gay-rights activist and child of performer Cher and the late entertainer and politician Sonny Bono, is in the early stages of transitioning from a female to a male and will be known as Chaz, his spokesman said Thursday: "It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open hearts and minds ... just as his 'coming out' did nearly 20 years ago."
· Slain guard opened door for suspect. The security guard killed at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum opened the door for the gunman, who raised a rifle and shot him, authorities said today. James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist, will be charged with murder.
· No smoking: Historic vote could bring new limits. The Senate struck a historic blow against smoking in America Thursday, voting overwhelmingly to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million people a year, to drastically curtail ads that glorify tobacco and to ban flavored products aimed at spreading the habit to young people.
· US government seeks to rein in executive pay. The Obama administration plans to seek legislation that would try to rein in compensation at publicly traded companies through shareholder votes and less management influence on pay decisions.
· Relief from loud TV advertisements may be near. Congress soon might mute screaming TV-ad announcers who press viewers to "buy now!" — if broadcasters don't beat the lawmakers to the volume button.
· Illinois Man Accused of Strangling Family Allegedly Spray-Painted Threats in House. A southwestern Illinois man accused of strangling his wife and two sons sent his family threatening e-mails from his laptop, and vulgar statements spray-painted throughout his house — including on the children's beds — matched his handwriting, according to testimony.
· Letterman: Jokester or Pervert? On Monday's "Late Show with David Letterman," the comedian came out saying, "One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game. During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez!" Palin's daughter, who attended the game, is 14 years old.
· Air France Jet Possibly Disintegrated in Mid-Air. New evidence suggest that Air France Flight 447 broke up over a number of minutes, rather than in one catastrophic incident, before plunging into the Atlantic Ocean and killing all 228 people aboard.
· Airline got replacement sensors days before crash. Air France received replacement airspeed sensors for its Airbus 330s three days before the fatal crash of Flight 447, but the airline's chief executive said Thursday that he is not convinced faulty monitors were the cause.
· California nears financial "meltdown" as revenues tumble. California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
· Police to probe missing gold at mint. Canadian police will investigate why the Royal Canadian Mint seems to have lost some of its gold and other precious metals, the government said on Tuesday. Media reports say more than $9.1 million in gold and other assets are missing.
· Prison mug shot reveals a different Phil Spector. California corrections officials released a startling new prison mug shot of Grammy-winning music legend Phil Spector, convicted last month of second-degree murder and serving 19 years to life in prison.
· Mentally Disabled Teen Gets 100 Years in Sex Case. Attorneys and advocates are questioning why an 18-year-old East Texan with profound mental disabilities was sentenced to 100 years in prison in a child sex abuse case.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
· Rev. Jeremiah Wright says "Jews" are keeping him from President Obama. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright says he does not feel any regrets over his severed relationship with President Barack Obama. Asked if he had spoken to the president, Wright said: "Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me."
· Holocaust Museum killer is white supremacist. A lone gunman killed a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday before being wounded himself by return fire from other guards. The suspect is James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist from Maryland.
· Michelle Obama: Fashion queen? Her taste for restrained elegance has earned her the title of First Lady of Fashion. But Michelle Obama clearly felt something rather more outlandish was in order for a sightseeing trip in London yesterday.
· Miss California USA Prejean dethroned. Carrie Prejean has been dethroned as Miss California USA for "contract violations." Prejean, 22, retained her title last month despite a controversy over topless photos, missed appearances and her statements against same-sex marriage.
· New GM Chairman: "I don't know anything about cars." Edward E. Whitacre Jr. built AT&T Inc. into the biggest U.S. provider of telephone service over a 43-year-career. By his own admission, he becomes chairman of General Motors Corp. knowing nothing about the auto industry. “I don’t know anything about cars,” Whitacre, 67, said yesterday.
· Woman mistakenly throws out $1 million mattress. An Israeli woman mistakenly threw out a mattress she said had almost $1 million inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfill sites on Wednesday.
· Thieves steal tricycles from special needs school. Calgary police are trying to track down four tricycles stolen from a school for children with developmental disabilities.
· Perv who confessed to molesting teens on quick path to freedom. A computer technician facing more than 50 years behind bars for molesting two Brooklyn teens could be free within a few months under a plea deal announced Tuesday.
· Man convicted of Craigslist rape found dead. A man facing nearly 30 years in prison for raping three women who had advertised in the "erotic services" section of Craigslist apparently committed suicide in his Kansas jail cell.
· Craigslist revenue to climb 23 pct to $100M. Launched as an e-mail list in 1995, Craigslist's revenue is on pace to rise 23 percent this year to reach $100 million for the first time, based on an analysis by classified advertising industry consultants Advanced Interactive Media Group.
· Passengers on Air France Jet Had Terror Links. Two passengers with names linked to Islamic terrorism were on board the Air France flight that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 on board.
· Crank caller wreaks havoc on Arkansas hotel. A telephone prankster posing as a sprinkler company employee caused havoc Saturday morning at an Arkansas Holiday Inn when he convinced an employee to set off the hotel's fire alarm, smash windows, shut down electricity, and break a sprinkler head that flooded the building lobby.
· The Learjet repo man. Nick Popovich is a repo man, but not the kind that spirits away Hyundais from suburban driveways. Popovich is a super repo man, one of a handful of specialists who get the call when a bank wants back its Gulfstream II jet from, say, a small army of neo-Nazi freaks.
· Female detective charged with murder. Veteran Los Angeles Police Detective Stephanie Lazarus, suspected of murdering an ex-boyfriend's wife in 1986, was charged with capital murder.
· 2 dead, 1 missing after Slim Jim plant explosion. Two people were found dead and a third person is still believed missing in a North Carolina food plant heavily damaged in a morning explosion, police said Tuesday night.
· Toddler Has Same IQ Score as Stephen Hawking. Karina Oakley of Guildford, Surrey, near London, has an IQ of 160 — the same as physics professor Stephen Hawking and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
· GPS shoe to track Alzheimer's patients. The embedded GPS tracking system will allow the wearer of the shoe to be located instantly online and for their whereabouts to be monitored in real time.
· Administration to issue new Wall Street pay curbs. Wall Street executives might want to hold off on buying that condo in Aspen. The Obama administration is ready to issue broad new guidelines that would rein in pay at financial institutions.
· Group says poker winnings are frozen. An advocacy group for online poker said Tuesday that the federal government has frozen more than $30 million in the accounts of payment processors that handle the winnings of thousands of online poker players.
· English getting its millionth word Wednesday? English contains more words than any other language on the planet and will add its millionth word early Wednesday, according to the Global Language Monitor, a Web site that uses a math formula to estimate how often words are created.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
· Jessica Alba Photographed Defacing Public Property in Oklahoma. Jessica Alba is now under criminal investigation after photographs hit the internet showing her defacing public property in Oklahoma. The worst part of it though, is that Jessica Alba ruined a United Way billboard, and is pictured celebrating in front of it like she has just won the Super Bowl.
· Girl, 10, arrested for fight with big sis. A 10-year-old girl was arrested and charged for fighting in a park with her 13-year-old sister, police in Texas said. The girl was charged with Class A misdemeanor assault. [D]
· Coroner: Danny Gans died accidentally. Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans' death was accidental, caused by a prescription painkiller, a coroner said Tuesday.
· Suspect claims 'victory' in closing of slain doctor's clinic. An anti-abortion activist suspected in the death of Kansas doctor George Tiller told CNN on Tuesday the closing of Tiller's women's clinic is "a victory for all the unborn children."
· Update: Woman cut open, baby taken. A once-pregnant 21-year-old newcomer to Oregon who was found dead in a crawl space of a home had been cut open and her baby taken from her womb, investigators said Monday.
· Justice Dept.: 1st Gitmo detainee arrives in US. U.S. authorities have brought the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to the United States, flying him into New York to face trial for bombing U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
· Biden Mistakenly Claims New Hudson River Tunnel Project Will Accomodate Cars. Vice President Biden, on a conference call Monday with reporters, claimed that the planned $8.7 billion Hudson River tunnel between New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan would provide a much-anticipated route for automobiles. Problem is, it's for trains.
· Fisherman Reels in Live Missile. Florida authorities say a commercial fisherman reeled in a live missile in the Gulf of Mexico and kept it on his boat for 10 days.
· Boyfriend Charged in Rape, Murder of 8-Month-Old. Authorities say a 17-year-old teenager was charged with aggravated rape and first-degree murder of an 8-month-old child.
· Woman Charged in Death of Son in New Mexico Park. A mother accused of suffocating her 3-year-old son and burying him in an Albuquerque playground was indicted Monday on murder and child abuse charges.
· Pizza Dispute Halts Senator's STD Lecture. Capitol Hill interns might miss out this summer on a famed lecture from Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn on the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases - all because of a dispute over who will pay for pizza.
· Apple drops entry iPhone to $99, unveils new model. Apple slashed the entry price for an iPhone in half and lowered some laptops by $300 Monday, the company's first dramatic price cuts since the recession began a year and a half ago.
· Veteran LA Police Detective Charged With Murder. A veteran detective was charged with murder Monday in the slaying of her ex-boyfriend's wife in 1986 — a crime that went unsolved for more than two decades as she rose through the Los Angeles Police Department ranks.
· NTSB to start hearings on plane's Hudson River landing. The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday will launch three days of hearings into the circumstances surrounding the US Airways Flight 1549 emergency landing on New York's Hudson River. On Monday, the NTSB corrected remarks made by board member Robert Sumwalt, who was quoted by The Associated Press as saying Campbell was being called to contradict statements made by flight attendant Doreen Welsh, who has said a panicked passenger opened the rear door.
· 'Real Housewives' model settles assault case. "The Real Housewives of New York City" cast member accused of punching her ex-boyfriend has reached an agreement in the case.
Monday, June 8, 2009
· Man accused in pitcher's death pleads not guilty. The man charged with murder in the deaths of three people, including Major League Baseball pitcher Nick Adenhart, pleaded not guilty Monday. Andrew Gallo, 22, was on probation before the April crash and his license had been suspended after a previous drunken-driving charge.
· Man sues for damage from 55-hour erection. A former New York state inmate alleges he was permanently injured when a prison nurse failed to treat a 55-hour erection caused by an anti-psychotic drug.
· Daughter breaks mom's legs while learning to drive. A 17-year-old girl who was practicing how to drive broke her mother's legs after stepping on the gas pedal instead of the brake.
· New Jersey police officer pounds man on tape. Surveillance video shows a Passaic, New Jersey, police officer beating a 49-year-old man standing idly on a street corner.
· Newspaper charges more than double for news online vs. home delivery. The 12,000-circulation Rhode Island newspaper is old school — it still publishes afternoons on Mondays through Fridays, with a morning edition on Saturday. Last month, the newspaper announced a new three-tier pricing structure for subscriptions. Want home delivery of the print paper? That’s $145 a year. Want home delivery and online access? That’s $245. And if you want just online access — to an electronic edition that duplicates the appearance of the print product — it’s a whopping $345.
· Man caught speeding tells police someone stole his pot. A Pennsylvania man arrested in a traffic stop told police he was speeding because he was chasing someone who stole his pot.
· Court rejects challenge to 'don't ask, don't tell.' The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting an Obama administration request to maintain the Clinton-era "don't ask, don't tell" directive.
· 10 illegal immigrants killed in SUV rollover near Tucson. Ten illegal immigrants "stacked like wood" in the back of a sports utility vehicle crammed with at least 27 people were killed when the driver lost control and rolled over on a remote southern Arizona highway, authorities said Sunday.
· New Orleans mayor quarantined in China. The mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, has been quarantined in China after possible exposure to the H1N1 virus, his office said Sunday. Mayor Ray Nagin traveled to China on an "economic development trip."
· California contemplates ultimate reform - no welfare. County welfare directors are "in shock" at the very idea of getting rid of CalWORKs, which has been widely viewed as one of the most successful social programs in the state's history, said Bruce Wagstaff, director of the Department of Human Assistance in Sacramento. That doomsday scenario is on the table as lawmakers wrestle with a staggering $24.3 billion budget deficit.
· Actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. honored by FBI. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. finally got his badge. The actor who portrayed cool Inspector Lewis Erskine on the TV series "The F.B.I." was named an honorary special agent Monday - the FBI's highest civilian honor.
· 'Hitman' Arrested in Plot to Kill Cops Before Trial. An Ohio man allegedly hired to kill two police officers in southern New Jersey was captured before he could carry out the killings.
· Chrysler dealers scramble to dump vehicles. Liquidation signs fill the windshields of 788 Chrysler dealers who will lose their right to sell new cars on Tuesday, June 9, 2009, and need to sell the remaining cars and trucks on their lot or face getting stuck with them.
· Reporters get 12-year terms in N. Korea. Two U.S. journalists who were detained in North Korea while covering the plight of defectors living along the China-North Korea border have been sentenced to 12 years in labor prisons for the "grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing."
Sunday, June 7, 2009
· Mexican carnage hits Acapulco; 16 dead. It was a shootout straight from Hollywood: Masked and heavily armed Mexican soldiers battled outlaws holed up in a cliffside mansion in a four-hour shootout that had tourists cowering in hotels nearby. Roughly 3,000 shots flew, and 50 grenades exploded during the raucous gunbattle.
· Parents rammed cars into burning day care. Parents of the children trapped in a burning Mexican day care center rammed their vehicles into the building to try to free the trapped children, witnesses told CNN. At least 41 children died when flames engulfed the building on Friday.
· Conan has strong opening; tanks in subsequent shows. After debuting to record-setting numbers Monday, “The Tonight Show” audience has shrunk with each successive episode. While Conan O'Brien's debut was the highest-rated Monday episode in four years, last night was the lowest-rated Friday episode of "Tonight" in six months.
· Newborn dies, mother found dead in crawl space. A 28-year-old Oregon woman has been charged with murder after the body of a new mother was found in the crawl space of her home.
· Carradine family takes action on probe, photos. David Carradine's family members, dissatisfied with Thai investigators and "profoundly disturbed" by the publication of a forensics photo in a Bangkok tabloid, are seeking help from the FBI and an independent pathologist and have threatened legal action against any media outlet that reprints images of the actor in death.
· Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Tops U.S. Car Sales. A classic toy car is being inducted into an auto museum in Cleveland - and it outsold every other car in the U.S. in 2008.
· `Smart grid' — power lines move into digital age. Thomas Alva Edison, meet the Internet. More than a century after Edison invented a reliable light bulb, the nation's electricity distribution system, an aging spider web of power lines, is poised to move into the digital age.
· Supreme Court asked to block Chrysler sale to Fiat. Three Indiana state pension and construction funds want the Supreme Court to block Chrysler's sale to Fiat so they can pursue an appeal in hopes of getting a better deal.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
· 'Gay Days' Expected To Bring In $100 Million. The annual Gay Days event is expected to bring 150,000 people - and $100 million - into Orlando. The event caused a lot of controversy when it was first held in Orlando 19 years ago, but now organizers say Orlando's tourism industry is supporting it like never before.
· San Francisco bureaucrat scuffs dream of homeless shoe shiner. He sleeps under a bridge, washes in a public bathroom and was panhandling for booze money 11 months ago, and until last week, it looked like Larry Moore was going to have saved enough money to rent a room and get off the street for the first time in six years. But then, in a breathtakingly clueless move, an official for the Department of Public Works told Moore that he has to fork over the money he saved for his first month's rent to purchase a $491 sidewalk vendor permit.
· Patti Blagojevich Plays TV Mom to D-List Celebs. Once she was the first lady of Illinois. Now Patti Blagojevich is gagging down bugs and crawling through tropical slime in a race to be named Queen of the Jungle on a reality TV show.
· Health insurers want you to keep smoking, Harvard doctors say. Health and life insurance companies in the US and abroad have nearly $4.5 billion invested in tobacco stocks, according to Harvard doctors.
· Radio Ads Pulled Over Transgender 'Freaks' Remarks. Bank of America, Verizon, and other companies have pulled advertising from a Sacramento radio station after talk show hosts referred to transgender people as "freaks" with mental disorders.
· NY Car Ticketed Repeatedly With Dead Body Inside. Police made a gruesome discovery this week while getting ready to tow a heavily-ticketed van – a decomposed body in the back seat.
· Husband, not carjacker, charged in wife's death. A man who told Maryland State Police that his wife was killed by a carjacker early Friday morning has been charged in her death.
· Airline did not replace instruments on 447. The agency investigating the crash of Flight 447 says Air France had not replaced instruments that measure air speed on the plane, which the manufacturer had recommended.
· Missing plane sent 24 error messages. Air France Flight 447 sent out 24 automated error messages - including one saying the aircraft's autopilot had disengaged - before it vanished with 228 people on board, aviation investigators said today.
· 'GoodFellas' actor charged with trying to extort money. Anthony Borgese - along with a reputed Gambino crime family soldier - was charged with trying to strong-arm cash from an unlucky soul who owed money to a loanshark.
· 'Hooker for Jesus' weds Christian rocker. She was a call girl working the streets of Sin City. He's a guitarist in a heavy metal band. They found commonality in their Christian faith and Friday evening, the two were married in a Las Vegas, Nevada, ceremony broadcast live via the Web.
· Down-on-Luck Rancher Wins $232M Powerball. A 23-year-old rancher whose family has fallen behind in their taxes and recently had a mobile home repossessed claimed a $232.1 million Powerball jackpot on Friday, one of the largest undivided jackpots in U.S. lottery history. He will take home $88.5 million in a lump sum payment after taxes are deducted.
Friday, June 5, 2009
· Ala. Man Pleads Guilty Wife's Scuba Diving Death. An American man pleaded guilty and was sentenced Friday for the manslaughter of his wife, who drowned during their honeymoon scuba diving trip in Australia. Her body was found on the ocean floor.
· Fired and behind bars, a teacher still gets paid. Former teacher Charlene Schmitz is behind bars in a federal detention center, serving 10 years for using texts and instant messages to seduce a 14-year-old student. Under the law in Alabama, she is still entitled to her $51,000-a-year salary while she appeals her firing.
· Dog Drags Owner To Tragic Train Death. A woman was struck and killed by a Capital Corridor train in Hayward, Calif. when the pit bull she was walking dragged her onto the tracks and into the path of the oncoming locomotive, according to authorities
· South Carolina Mom Charged With Concealing 555-Pound Son. A mother accused of neglecting her 555-pound, 14-year-old son's health has been brought back to South Carolina after she was arrested in Maryland.
· David Carradine's manager suspects foul play in actor's death. David Carradine's wife and his manager disputed suggestions that the actor's death was a suicide, while rescue workers and police in Bangkok, Thailand, said the actor's neck and genitals were found bound with rope.
· Carradine's "Deviant Sexual Behavior." As investigators try to determine how actor David Carradine wound up hanging naked and dead in a Bangkok hotel closet, his most recent ex-wife accused the actor of "deviant sexual behavior which was potentially deadly." Additionally, Marina Anderson alleged in a sworn declaration that Carradine engaged in an "incestuous relationship with a very close family member."
· EMT charged with posting photo of corpse on Facebook. A New York City emergency medical technician is facing misdemeanor charges after being accused of taking a picture of a female murder victim and then posting it to his Facebook page.
· Police Officers Placed on Paid Leave in Criminal Probe Involving Flushed Fetus. Five Mesa, Arizona police officers have been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of criminal and administrative investigations including an incident where an officer allegedly flushed a small fetus down a toilet.
· Tenn. lawmakers approve allowing guns in bars. Handguns will soon be allowed in bars and restaurants in Tennessee under a new law passed by state legislators who voted to override the governor's veto.
· US Airways Employee, Passenger Charged With Concealing Gun on Plane. The FBI charged a US Airways employee with helping his roommate get a concealed, semiautomatic handgun onto a plane departing Philadelphia early Thursday.
· GM to sell Saturn brand to Roger Penske. A person briefed on the deal says General Motors Corp. will sell its Saturn brand to former race car driver and dealership chain owner Roger Penske.
· FTC shuts allegedly rogue Internet provider. The federal government has severed the Internet connection of a company accused of helping criminals serve up a "witches' brew" of nasty content online, from computer viruses to child pornography.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
· Microsoft to move jobs overseas if Obama tax plan goes through. Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the world’s largest software company would move "lots of people" offshore if Congress enacts President Barack Obama’s plans to impose higher taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits.
· No Charges for Neighbors in Rape Suspect's Beating. A mob of furious neighbors of an 11-year-old girl raped on her way to school in Philadelphia won't be charged for beating a man wanted for questioning in the case.
· Fraud charge for Countrywide boss. The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday filed securities fraud charges against former Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo and two other former executives.
· Pastor Invites People to Bring Guns to Church. A Kentucky pastor is inviting people to bring their guns to church to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment.
· Actor David Carradine found dead in Bangkok. Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.
· Mother Charged With Feeding Her Child Feces. A Texas woman has been accused of repeatedly smearing human waste on her 3-year-old daughter's intravenous feeding line, potentially causing life-threatening infections.
· Jolie overtakes Winfrey on Forbes' Celebrity 100. Angelina Jolie has dethroned Oprah Winfrey as the world's most powerful celebrity, according to Forbes.
· Judge Puts Leash on Media Hound Drew Peterson. A judge on Wednesday prohibited murder suspect Drew Peterson, a notorious media hound, from contacting anyone except people on a court-approved list of family, friends and attorneys - jailhouse restrictions in response to Peterson's recent phone call to a Chicago talk radio show.
· Buyer Pays $500 for Casey Anthony's High School Yearbook. An unnamed buyer has shelled out $500 for a copy of a high school yearbook that contains pictures of a central Florida woman accused of killing her daughter.
· New obesity surgery goes through mouth. Doctors are testing a new kind of obesity surgery without any cuts through the abdomen, snaking a tube as thick as a garden hose down the throat to snap staples into the stomach.
· Mom Accused of Duct-Taping Daughter's Boyfriend. Authorities arrested a woman for allegedly trying to kidnap her daughter's boyfriend and haul him away to Northern California. A sheriff's spokeswoman said Tuesday that two women went to the young man's home on Saturday afternoon and tried to tie him up with duct tape.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
· Man arranged wife's rape on Craigslist. A North Carolina man is accused of arranging to have his wife raped through personal ads on the Web site Craigslist, police said Wednesday. The 25-year-old man, of Kannapolis, North Carolina, was arrested in connection with the incident that occurred at his home early Sunday.
· Same-sex couples fight for immigration rights. Many are being forced to comply with federal immigration laws that don't allow Americans to sponsor their foreign-born same-sex partners for citizenship as a man may do for his wife or a woman for her husband.
· 17 year-old breaks into funeral home, beats woman’s corpse. Police allege 17-year-old Dominic Goodmoney broke into a funeral home, removed a female body from refrigeration and used a blunt object to hit the corpse's head and face several times.
· Gingrich backs off 'racist' label for Sotomayor. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday he shouldn't have called Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a racist, when he called Sotomayor a reverse "racist," based on a 2001 speech in which she said she hoped the rulings of a "wise Latina" would be better than those of a white male.
· Crooks may use Twitter to find vacant homes to rob. Many people use Twitter to let friends know where we are but that may be a very public invitation for trouble. All it took was a tweet and 140 characters to let the world know that Israel Hyman and his family were in Kansas City, and more importantly, were not home.
· Teacher accused of working drunk, kissing student. A Spanish teacher at Manvel High School has been accused of being drunk on campus and kissing one of his students, according to school officials.
· Storekeeper changes robber's mind, religion. A potential victim became a compassionate counselor during a recent robbery attempt, changing the would-be criminal's mind - and apparently his religion.
· Man Posts Sex Assault Live on Internet. Phoenix police say a man was arrested after he sexually assaulted his girlfriend while she was passed out and broadcast the attack live on the Internet.
· Brazilian judge suspends order to reunite boy, American father. A Brazilian supreme court judge on Tuesday suspended a lower court's order that would have given custody of a 9-year-old boy to the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro, where he was to be reunited with his American father.
· Bin Laden threatens Americans in new tape. Osama bin Laden has threatened Americans in a new audio tape, saying President Barack Obama inflamed hatred toward the U.S. by ordering Pakistan to crack down on militants in Swat Valley and block Islamic law in the area.
· Man Arrested 153rd Time Says He Will Plead Guilty. A New Hampshire man has been arrested for the 153rd time, after he was accused of punching someone in the face over the weekend.
· Coffee Shop Known For Topless Staff Destroyed By Fire. A three-alarm fire on Wednesday morning destroyed Vassalboro's Grand View Coffee Shop, a business well known for its waiters and waitresses who work topless.
· U.S. Releases Nuke Secrets by Mistake. A 266-page document that gives detailed information about civilian nuclear sites and programs, marked "highly confidential," was accidentally made public by the federal government, the New York Times reported.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
· Continental Pilot Reports Missile Flying Near His Plane Over Texas. A Continental Express pilot reported seeing a "missile or rocket" flying near his aircraft over Friday night over Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported.
· GM to sell Hummer to Chinese company. GM took a key step toward its downsizing on Tuesday, striking a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a Chinese manufacturer, while also revealing that it has potential buyers for its Saturn and Saab brands.
· Brandy Settles Fatal Car Crash with Victim's Kids. We've learned Brandy has just reached a settlement with the kids whose mother died in the singer's 2006 car crash.
· Body found in river IDed as missing philanthropist. Authorities in Missouri say the body of a 102-year-old builder and philanthropist has been found in a river more than two weeks after he reportedly jumped from a bridge.
· L.A. Mayor Dating Another TV Reporter. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is dating a local television reporter - two years after having an affair with another newscaster that resulted in divorce from his wife, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
· $30,000 missing in Maersk pirate rescue. The Navy is investigating how thousands of dollars went missing in the rescue of the captain of the Maersk Alabama in April.
· Phoenix mom coached youthful armed robbers. Police in Phoenix say they've arrested a woman accused of leading an armed robbery gang involving her 12- and 14-year-old sons.
· Calif. bank robber took 5-story plunge. Authorities in Southern California say a bank robber leapt off a five-story parking garage while fleeing police and was badly injured.
· Pilots Saw 'Fire on Ocean' Where Jet Vanished. Pilots flying a commercial jet from Paris to Rio de Janeiro for Brazil's largest airline, TAM, spotted what they thought was fire in the Atlantic Ocean along the same flight path of an Air France jet that vanished Monday, the airline said.
· Man arrested for Facebook gun photo. A 20-year-old Wisconsin man was arrested after his ex-girlfriend reported a photo posted on Facebook that showed him holding a shotgun. His domestic abuse restraining order doesn't allow him to possess a firearm.
· Ford faces competition; bankruptcy gives rivals benefits. Ford Motor, the only one of Detroit's Big 3 automakers not in bankruptcy, now could be at a competitive disadvantage for taking the high road.
· The 12 Strangest Museums in the U.S. Museum of Bad Art: This Massachusetts museum has two galleries, with paintings devoted to portraiture such as "Peter the Kitty," landscape like "Two Trees in Love" and a dog in a hula skirt juggling bones.
· Bodies of 3 Brothers Found in Houston Lake. Investigators say three young brothers whose bodies were found in Lake Houston apparently drowned during a fishing trip. The three were 14, 16 and 21 years old.
Monday, June 1, 2009
· Conn. bride in gown saves family from house fire. A Connecticut family has been saved from a house fire by a new bride who rushed inside through thick smoke while wearing her wedding gown.
· "OJ''s" memorabilia now with the LAPD. The footballs, jerseys and photographs that landed O.J. Simpson in prison have a new home at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's officials say they're waiting to hear from Simpson nemesis, Fred Goldman, before deciding what to do with the items. They could be auctioned to help settle a wrongful death judgment.
· Man Bets on His Life Expectancy, Wins $16,000. A 59-year-old man diagnosed with mesothelioma and given just months to live, placed a bet that he would outlive his doctor’s predictions and is now set to win $16,391.
· Abandoned Newborn Found Inside Box. A search is under way for the parents of a newborn who was found when a driver in Ocala spotted the infant's hand sticking out of a box that was left on the side of an isolated dirt road.
· Man charged in slaying of Kansas abortion doctor. A 51-year-old man was in a Kansas jail Monday, charged with first-degree murder in the killing of a physician whose women's clinic frequently took center stage in the debate over abortion, authorities said.
· Octuplets' mom signs TV show deal. Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets in January, will star in a reality television series about her family, a TV executive said.
· 80-Year-Old Man Arrested For Water Theft. An elderly Sayler Park man is facing criminal charges for allegedly trying to fill his backyard swimming pool from a nearby fire hydrant over the weekend.
· 3 Injured After Florida Deputy Fires on SUV. Three people were hospitalized in Florida after a sheriff's deputy fired at an SUV during a traffic stop.
· Woman 'went too far in fighting rapists.' Police in central China say a woman went too far in defending herself against a sexual assault that led to the death of an assailant identified as a local official. Deng Yunjiao, 21, used "excessive force" when stabbing two officials, one of them lethally, after they tried to rape her.
· Air France jet vanishes. An Air France passenger plane carrying 228 people has disappeared off the coast of Brazil, airline officials say.
· General Motors files for bankruptcy protection. General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday as part of the Obama administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
· $24,000 "date night." Taxpayers footed the bill for president Obama's "date night," which included a total of at least $24,000 for the three aircraft used to ferry the Obamas, aides and reporters to New York and back. Dinner costs and orchestra seat tickets - at $96.50 apiece - were paid by the Obamas.
· Billy Bob Thornton's daughter charged in kid's death. The oldest daughter of Billy Bob Thornton faces charges in the death of a 1-year-old girl she was babysitting in October, a celebrity gossip Web site reported Sunday.
· Chicago Woman Fatally Crushed by Garage Door. Chicago police are investigating the death of a 33-year-old woman who was apparently crushed by her garage door on the city's South Side.
· Berlusconi Blocks Photos of Topless Girls at His House. Premier Silvio Berlusconi is fighting back in a scandal feeding on his fondness for young women, with his lawyer acknowledging Saturday the media mogul has moved to block publication of hundreds of photos taken of guests at his sumptuous Sardinian villa.
· Suspect in custody in abortion doc slaying. A Wichita city official says a suspect is in custody in the shooting death of late-term abortion provider George Tiller.
· Brothers Die While Trying to Save Puppy From House Fire. Firefighters tried to save two young boys who hid in a bathtub to escape the flames, but they just couldn't do it. Mario Angel Cisneros, 5, and David Alexander Cisneros, 4, died at Arrowhead Regional Hospital.
· Off on a technicality. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon may have felt victorious when several of the criminal charges she faces were tossed out by Circuit Judge Dennis M. Sweeney. The ruling may reduce her legal exposure, but she is by no means vindicated.
· Mom in Abduction Hoax Case to Get Mental-Health Treatment. A Pennsylvania woman accused in an abduction hoax that ended in Florida and involved her 9-year-old daughter is staying with relatives following her release from a county prison, her lawyer said.
· Showdown in New York: Same-sex marriage. The New York Assembly approved same-sex marriages earlier this month, and the question now goes before the state Senate. Christine Quinn, the openly gay speaker of the New York City Council who has been lobbying for the measure's approval.
· Couple Thrown Off Motorcycle After Hitting Mattress. A man and woman were thrown from the motorcycle they were riding after it hit a mattress that flew off a pontoon trailer on a Grand Forks County road.
· Ohio man arrested for mowing unkempt grass at park. An Ohio man arrested for mowing unkempt grass at a public park said he just wanted to make his city look nice. John Hamilton said he took control of the situation because the grass in Sandusky's Central Park was about a foot high. According to a police report, a witness said Hamilton was blowing grass onto the sidewalk and shredding trash in the park that had not been picked up.
· Homeowners Association Asks Vet to Remove Bumper Stickers. Frank Larison is a disabled veteran with more than 14 years of service, including more than a year of combat duty in Vietnam. The 58-year-old former Marine now finds himself under attack by his Dallas homeowners association for displaying decals on his vehicle supporting the Marine Corps.
· Cemetery squirrels are nuts about U.S. flags. A squirrel - weighing about 3 pounds - got up on its hind legs, tore a small American flag from a small staff next to a grave stone, rolled it up and carried it up a tree to a waiting mate building a nest. It happened not just once, but about dozen times.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
· Bank robber arrested after boasting of crime on MySpace. According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice in Columbia, S.C., a man's message on his MySpace page helped authorities arrest him on bank robbery charges.
· Pizza man delivers kidnapped rape victim from danger. Delivering a pizza to a remote mountain home, Chris Turner made a horrifying discovery inside: a woman bound and silently begging for help.
· Thief stage $8 million jewelry heist in Paris. Thieves in an upscale section of the city staged a brazen, daylight holdup, stealing around $8 million in jewelry from the prestigious Chopard store, police said.
· What They Get With Your Money. Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a $1,435 digital camera. Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, bought two 46-inch Sony TVs.
· Staff's kids help Leno say goodbye to 'Tonight.' Jay Leno ended his 17-year reign as the host of "The Tonight Show" Friday with the children of people who met and started families while working at the long-running late-night show during his tenure, according to audience members who attended the taping.
· Newspaper Runs Ad Calling for Obama Assassination. A small-town Pennsylvania newspaper is apologizing for running a classified advertisement calling for the assassination of President Barack Obama. A note in Friday's paper says the newspaper "apologizes for the oversight."
· Oklahoma congressman checks into Betty Ford Center. U.S. Rep. John Sullivan, of Oklahoma, checked himself into the Betty Ford Center in California on Thursday night for treatment for alcohol addiction, according to a written statement from his office.
· Wikipedia Blocks Edits by Church of Scientology. After four months of internal discussion, Wikipedia's top administrators decided Thursday to block Scientology-affiliated computers from changing items on any part of the free online encyclopedia.
· Travolta 'struggling' five months after son's death. John Travolta is too distraught over the death of his son last January to help promote the movie he shot with Denzel Washington last summer, Washington said Friday.
Friday, May 29, 2009
· White House: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly. In a bit damage control, the White House on Friday said Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor acknowledges she chose her words poorly by saying in 2001 that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a "better" conclusion than a white male judge.
· Texan gets 45 years for spreading HIV through sex. A jury sentenced a suburban Dallas man to 45 years in prison Friday for knowingly infecting six women with the AIDS virus. Philippe Padieu, described by his own lawyer as a "modern-day Casanova," shook his head and looked down when the decision was read.
· 29 year old man fathers 21 children by 11 different women. Authorities are braced for more women coming forward to claim Desmond Hatchett is the father of their children after he appeared on TV. Many Knoxville residents called for him to be castrated.
· Defense contractor with ties to Murtha suspended. A Pennsylvania defense contractor who got millions of dollars in congressional earmarks from Rep. John Murtha has been blocked from doing business with the Navy amid allegations of fraud.
· Phil Spector gets 19 years to life for murder of actress. Music producer Phil Spector was sentenced Friday to the maximum sentence of 19 years to life for the murder six years ago of actress Lana Clarkson.
· Iacocca losing pension, car in Chrysler bankruptcy. Lee Iacocca, the car executive credited with saving Chrysler from bankruptcy in the 1980s, is to lose a big chunk of his pension and a guaranteed life-long company car due to the U.S. automaker's bankruptcy filing two decades later.
· Cops: Teacher, student had sex in class. A 27-year-old female school teacher has been charged with the statutory rape of a 14-year-old student. "The charges are very disturbing," said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
· Swazi parliamentarian apologizes for HIV branding proposal. A Swaziland parliamentarian has apologized after calling for HIV-positive people to be branded on the buttocks to stop the spread of the virus ravaging the country.
· Lawmaker Pushes for Investigation into ACORN Finances. More than 250 nonprofit groups list ACORN's New Orleans headquarters as their address. Among them is Citizens Services Inc., a firm that was paid more than $800,000 by the Obama campaign for a get-out-the-vote program last year.
· Phil Spector faces sentencing in murder of actress. Phil Spector faces sentencing Friday on second-degree murder of actress Lana Clarkson, a conviction that suggests to some that California prosecutors have broken a decades-long string of celebrity murder case losses. The names O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake come to mind.
· Teen Solves 300-Year-Old Math Puzzle in 4 Months. An Iraqi-born 16-year-old who immigrated to Sweden six years ago, took only four months to find a formula that explains a sequence of calculations known as the Bernoulli numbers, a code that had stumped some of the best experts in the field.
· Woody Harrelson claims he mistook photographer for zombie. Woody Harrelson defended his clash with a photographer at a New York airport Wednesday night as a case of mistaken identity - he says he mistook the cameraman for a zombie.
· NYPD Cop Killed in Friendly Fire Shooting. Police say a New York City police officer who had just gotten off work was shot and killed by a fellow officer while chasing a suspect who had broken into his car.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
· Scientists identify new lethal virus in Africa. Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus. "This one is really, really aggressive" Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist, said of the virus.
· Maine post office refuses to deliver mail. The post office will no longer deliver mail on Ocean Avenue, said York Village Postmaster William Monagle, because to do so would require the driver to make a left-hand turn. "Left-hand turns and backing up, we try to avoid," Monagle said.
· Residents Use Web To Fight Borrowing From Cities. The State of California wants to borrow $2 billion from struggling cities, but citizens from across the state are fighting back online.
· Texan Woman Told to Remove 'Offensive' American Flag From Office. When Debbie McLucas arrived at work at a Texas hospital last Friday, she was stunned to be told that the Stars and Stripes she had hung in her office in advance of Memorial Day were offensive, and that the flag had been removed.
· Reporter dragged kicking, screaming near Air Force One. A reporter for a small newspaper was forcibly removed from a press area near Air Force One shortly before President Barack Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to depart California early Thursday.
· Government will own 72.5% of 'New GM.' The U.S. Treasury will own 72.5 percent of the new GM coming out of a bankruptcy sale process while a trust affiliated with the United Auto Workers union would own 17.5 percent, GM said in a filing with securities regulators.
· Florida’s ‘pilot factory.’ A recent plane crash in Buffalo New York that killed some 50 people led to questions about the training of those in the cockpit. Those questions led CNN to The Gulfstream Training Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
· Remains found in Illinois are not Stacy Peterson. The remains found last week on the bank of an Illinois river and near a blue barrel are not those of Stacy Peterson, Illinois state police said Wednesday.
· Brooklyn tattoo artist files $220M lawsuit against city over alleged sodomy attack by cop. A Brooklyn tattoo artist Thursday will sue the NYPD and city for $220 million claiming a city cop sodomized him with a baton, the man's lawyers said.
· Mom Charged With Faking Abduction. A Pennsylvania woman was arrested Wednesday after her story about being abducted with her daughter unraveled -- quickly turning from a mysterious missing persons case into a criminal investigation that ended in her capture at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando.
· Pastor & wife cited for weekly home bible study by San Diego. A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold bible studies in their home.
· Retired NYPD cop gets life in prison in cold-blooded murder of ex-wife. The daughter of convicted murderer John Galtieri ripped her dad as a remorseless savage Wednesday before the ex-cop was sentenced to life in prison for the cold-blooded killing of his former wife.
· Calif. wants federal government to back its loans. In a move with only one modern-day precedent, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration and members of Congress for federal loan guarantees to help the state out of a desperate, multibillion-dollar jam.
· Sacramento's main psychiatric hospital closes. The steady increase of mentally ill residents combined with Sacramento County's budget woes forced the county's main psychiatric hospital late Friday to close its doors to new patients.
· Md. Girl Accused of Soliciting Dad's Killing on Bus. When Billy Lee Black was fatally stabbed in the alley behind their rented duplex on Halloween, it didn't take police long to question his 15-year-old daughter
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
· Drew Peterson Calls Radio Show From Jail, Suggests 'Win a Conjugal Visit With Drew' Contest. Drew Peterson has broadcast his trademark — and seemingly inappropriate — sense of humor live from jail. [D]
· Supreme Court nominee: "A wise Latina woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male." In 2001, Sonia Sotomayor gave a speech declaring that the ethnicity and sex of a judge “may and will make a difference in our judging.” “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor.
· Cancer Medication Causes Man's Fingerprints to Vanish. Patients undergoing a common treatment for cancer are being warned to carry medical documentation when traveling abroad because the drug can make their fingerprints disappear. [D]
· U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look. With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax.
· Tyson tragedy highlights hidden home dangers. Power cords are a source of manifold dangers. They can cause electrical burns, strangulation, tripping, and serious head trauma from appliances being pulled down by little hands or feet. Parents should unplug and secure power cords whenever possible, and move appliances out of the way.
· Americans' credit scores fall as they struggle to pay bills. From the third quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009 — the latest data available — the average TransUnion credit score dropped 6 points to 651, the credit bureau says.
· Priest Ousted After Patient-Beating Video Surfaces. The Serbian priest running a church-backed drug rehab center was removed by his bishop Wednesday following the publication of videos showing him and members of his staff beating patients with a shovel.
· Gay Marriage Fight to Return to California Ballot. Within minutes of the Supreme Court's 6-1 ruling, gay leaders said they were moving into campaign mode with an eye toward trying to repeal Proposition 8 at the ballot box as early as next year.
· IRS tax revenue plunges 34%. Federal tax revenue plunged $138 billion, or 34%, in April vs. a year ago — the biggest April drop since 1981, a study released Tuesday by the American Institute for Economic Research says.
· Former NYPD commissioner Kerik indicted. Former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik was indicted on charges of making false statements to White House officials vetting him for the secretary's seat at the Department of Homeland Security in 2004, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
· Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With Teen Student. A teacher at a South Florida Catholic School is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old boy. Police say she admitted to the relationship, saying she and the student had been sexually active since March 2009.
· Accenture switches tax havens. Accenture, the outsourcing giant, is switching its accounting base from Bermuda to Ireland, amid growing policial hostility towards tax havens and tax avoidance. Ireland, which has long sought to attract technology firms with tax breaks, is expected to benefit from the US clampdown, along with Switzerland.
· Body of Abducted Crime Reporter Found in Mexico Ditch. The body of a veteran crime reporter was found in an irrigation ditch early Tuesday in the drug-plagued northern Mexican state of Durango, hours after he was kidnapped by gunmen.
· White tiger kills zookeeper as tourists watch. A white tiger mauled a zookeeper to death at a New Zealand wildlife park Wednesday as a group of tourists watched in horror, police say.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
· Update: Tyson's daughter dies after accident. The 4-year-old daughter of boxing legend Mike Tyson died Tuesday, a day after she was injured in a treadmill accident at her home, police in Phoenix, Arizona, said.
· Radio Canada rapped for Obama assassination joke. Canada's public broadcaster was wrong to show a skit that joked about the possible assassination of President Barack Obama and suggested he could be a thief, an industry panel ruled.
· Jockey Suspended for Crash That Paralyzed Rider. Jockey Jamie Theriot was suspended for allegedly causing a violent collision at Arlington Park in Illinois that left fellow jockey Rene Douglas paralyzed from the waist down and Douglas' horse euthanized.