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Crashed Plane Was Carrying $470K in Cash | (Aug 17, 2015 6:01 AM CDT) The twin turboprop plane that crashed into a mountainside yesterday in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua was carrying almost half a million dollars in government cash in addition to 44 adult passengers, five children and infants, and five crew members, all Indonesian nationals, Reuters and the AP report. The $468,750 in cash from the Social Affairs Ministry, carried by four postal workers, was to be handed out to poor families in Oksibil after President Joko Jokowi Widodo's administration raised fuel prices last year and cut government subsidies. The plane, which took off from Jayapura, crashed just seven miles from its destination. Rescue officials are now trying to reach the wreckage of the Trigana Air Service plane, located near a waterfall in a rugged area, by air and foot, reports the BBC; it's not yet known if there are any survivors. Smoke was still billowing from the wreckage when it was spotted by a plane search, says a rescue official, who notes the rescue operation has been slowed by bad weather and difficult terrain. The area around the crash site was experiencing heavy rain, strong winds, and fog at the time of the crash. The official adds air force and army officials will build a helipad near the crash site, located at an altitude of about 8,500 feet. |
Castro Addresses Parliament After 4-Year Absence | (Aug 7, 2010 2:10 PM CDT) Fidel Castro continued his gradual re-emergence into Cuban politics today by giving his first speech to parliament in 4 years. It was a solid, polished performance, Mr Castro's voice stronger than at any point since he re-emerged into public life, observes the BBC. In the speech—it lasted 10 minutes, in contrast to his hours-long rants of years past—Castro implored the US to avoid war (and a nuclear holocaust ) with Iran. |
Iconic Yankees Announcer Bob Sheppard Dead at 99 | (Jul 11, 2010 2:25 PM CDT) Bob Sheppard, the public-address announcer who welcomed generations of fans to Yankee Stadium in a career that spanned more than 55 years, has died at 99, the team announced today. Reggie Jackson nicknamed Sheppard The Voice of God, and a recording of his voice continued to announce Derek Jeter after he left the booth in 2007, reports the Daily News. Sheppard was a perfectionist who managed to enjoy himself on the job. Mickey Mantle's name was one of his favorites to announce, because of the perfect alliteration, he once said, But if I had to pick just one it would probably be the Japanese pitcher for the Angels, Shi-ge-toe-shee Ha-se-gaw-a [Shigetoshi Hasegawa]! How much fun it was to work my tongue around that one! |
7.8-Magnitude Quake Hits Iran | (Apr 16, 2013 6:17 AM CDT) A 7.8-magnitude earthquake has rocked Iran near the Pakistan border, according to the USGS. State-run TV initially reported that at least 40 were killed, but it has since retracted that, saying only 5 were injured, the BBC reports. Fortunately, the earthquake resulted in no fatalities, a provincial governor tells Reuters. There have been reports of at least five deaths on Pakistan's side of the border. Tremors were reportedly felt throughout the Middle East, and as far away as Dubai and New Delhi. The AP reports that across the Gulf, high-rise buildings swayed and officials ordered evacuations. A 6.1-magnitude quake killed 37 in Iran last Tuesday; officials said that temblor didn't damage the Bushehr nuke plant. The Russian company that built the plant tells Reuters there was again no damage. |
Judge: Iran Owes US Families $813M | (Jul 7, 2012 7:40 AM CDT) A US court has ruled that Iran owes $813 million to the families of 241 US soldiers killed in the 1983 bombing of a Marines barracks in Lebanon, reports the AFP. The two Beirut bombings on Oct. 23, 1983, which also killed 58 French paratroopers, have been blamed on Hezbollah, a Shiite terrorist group backed by Iran. The judgment is the eighth against Iran related to the attacks, adding up to $8.8 billion in damages. Iran is racking up quite a bill from its sponsorship of terrorism, said the Washington judge, adding, no award—however many billions it contained—could accurately reflect the countless lives that have been changed by Iran's dastardly acts. |
New Mexicans Dish Up 116-Foot Tamale | (Aug 23, 2015 11:18 AM CDT) A group of people in New Mexico say they cooked the world's longest tamale yesterday morning. Luis Hernandez of the ABQ West Chamber of Commerce says that a team of more than 30 chefs at Viva II, a three-day celebration of the state's heritage, assembled a 116-foot, 7-inch long tamale at the Valencia County fairgrounds in Belen. Organizers say the ingredients, which were provided by Bueno Foods, included 120 pounds of masa and 50 pounds of green chile. We have to follow a 29 page booklet of rules from Guinness, an organizer told KRQE ahead of time. Come one, come all and come very hungry, added another. A local manufacturer of home improvement material has also designed a special steamer out of aluminum to cook the tamale in. Hernandez says the team plans to submit all the required documentation to Guinness World Records to get official recognition for the achievement. According to Guinness World Records, the longest tamale assembled was in Cancun, Mexico, in 2011 and measured a little longer than 66 feet. |
One in 4 South African Men Admit to Rape | (Jun 18, 2009 8:35 AM CDT) One in four men in South Africa admitted to rape in an anonymous study, and many say they’ve attacked multiple times, the Guardian reports. Three-quarters of rapists first did so as teenagers and half are repeat offenders; 5% of the men surveyed said they’d raped a woman or girl in the past year, the study by South Africa’s Medical Research Council found. We have a very, very high prevalence of rape in South Africa, said a researcher. I think it is down to ideas about masculinity based on gender hierarchy and the sexual entitlement of men. It's rooted in an African ideal of manhood. Only 7% of reported rapes in the country result in conviction; the criminal justice system is woeful, she noted. |
87% of Drivers Could Switch to Electric Car With Little Hassle | (Aug 21, 2016 11:13 AM CDT) Drivers are generally leery of electric cars over the simple fear that the battery's charge will run out and leave them stranded. But now researchers from MIT and the Santa Fe Institute report in Nature Energy that range anxiety is overblown in the vast majority of the US. They used the Nissan Leaf for the study—at $29,000, a relatively affordable alternative to pricey Teslas—and concluded that it has a real-world range of 73 miles, reports Ars Technica. (That's less than the advertised range because it takes into account air conditioning, etc.) Bottom line: What we found was that 87% of vehicles on the road could be replaced by a low-cost electric vehicle available today, even if there’s no possibility to recharge during the day, says MIT's Jessika Trancik, per the Washington Post. The figure rises above 90% in the city and bottoms out at 81% for rural driving. Of course, range isn't the only barrier when it comes to widespread adoption. Drivers would still need to figure out alternatives on days when an EV vehicle won't do—long business trips or vacations, for example. One researcher suggests car-sharing programs could help with that, though he acknowledges that would require further business innovation. Still, they conclude that the excuse that an electric car's range doesn't cut it is, for almost everyone, just that—an excuse. (The 2017 Tesla Model 3 has reached unprecedented sales.) |
3 Dead, 7 Missing After Avalanche Near Plane Crash | (Apr 1, 2015 1:12 PM CDT) Another tragedy in the same mountain range where the Germanwings plane went down: Three people are dead, one is critically injured, and seven others are missing after an avalanche in the French Alps swept away a group of skiers, reports CNN. The avalanche occurred around Alpine Ecrins National Park in southeastern France, reports the Local. That's about 75 miles north of where the passenger jet crashed. The area doesn't have official slopes, reports ABC News, but skiers are known to hike up on their own in order to ski down. Heavy snow in recent days apparently drew them in. |
Feds: Jackson Jr. Stole $750K in Campaign Funds | (Feb 15, 2013 3:27 PM) Looks like Jesse Jackson Jr. didn't exactly work out a sweetheart plea deal for himself. Prosecutors intend to recommend 46 to 57 months of prison time for the former congressman, along with a fine of between $10,000 and $100,000, Politico reports. As part of the deal, Jackson will admit to having conspired with his wife to illegally spend $750,000 in campaign money on such vagaries as fur coats, airplane tickets, a $43,000 Rolex watch, celebrity memorabilia, booze, cigars, and even groceries. Jackson was formally charged today with felonies including conspiracy, reports the Chicago Tribune. His wife, former Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, was charged with filing false tax returns. No public money is believed to have been included in the $750,000 of misused funds, at least some of which will be forfeited as part of the sentence. I offer no excuses for my conduct and I fully accept my responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes I have made, Jackson said in a statement. |
Costa Concordia Owner Fined $1.3M | (Apr 10, 2013 9:25 AM CDT) A judge in Tuscany has fined Italian cruise line Costa Crociere SpA $1.3 million in administrative sanctions for the 2012 wreckage of the Concordia cruise ship that killed 32 people. Costa had asked for a plea deal to respond to the administrative sanctions, which under Italian law are for companies whose employees commit crimes. Costa, a division of Carnival Corp., has sought to blame the disaster entirely on Capt. Francesco Schettino, who took the cruise ship off course and rammed it into a reef off the Tuscan island of Giglio on Jan. 13, 2012. Prosecutors are seeking indictments for Schettino and five others. A preliminary, closed-door hearing is scheduled for Monday. Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning the vessel before all passengers evacuated. Schettino has depicted himself as a hero, claiming it was his deft steering after the collision that allowed the ship to move closer to the port and helped to save lives. He also maintained the reef was not marked on the ship's navigational charts. Sailors in the area, however, say the reef is a well-known tourist attraction. |
Teen Who Sued Parents: I Got $56K Scholarship | (Apr 2, 2014 8:44 AM CDT) New Jersey's Rachel Canning made headlines in early March with her ultimately fruitless attempt to sue her parents for college tuition (she dropped the suit shortly thereafter). According to a Sunday post on her Facebook account, she may not have needed to go to so much trouble. Decision made, Canning wrote of her decision to attend Western New England University. And then the kicker: WNE U class of 2018 BME Major w/ 56,000$ (sic) scholarship. Though her post was either removed or made private yesterday afternoon, the Daily Record got confirmation from the Springfield, Mass., school that the 18-year-old had indeed been accepted.The full price for the 2014-2015 school year (that's tuition, fees, and room and board) is roughly $47,000, and the expenses may not stop there. NJ.com notes Canning plans to major in biomedical engineering; 20% of grads of that program at WNEU then attend medical school. (In even more impressive college news, a Long Island teen has managed to get into every single Ivy League school.) |
2 Afghan Trainees AWOL From US Base | (Dec 11, 2015 12:11 AM) Two Afghan airmen who didn't show up for training at a US Air Force base in Georgia on Monday are missing, and authorities suspect it's because they don't want to go home. An Air Force spokesman tells USA Today that law enforcement officials are searching for Mirwais Kohistani and Shirzad Rohullah, who were being trained in aircraft maintenance. The spokesman tells 11Alive that the men were nominated by the Afghan Air Force and heavily vetted by US authorities before being accepted for training at Moody Air Force Base, so they probably don't pose a threat to anybody in the US. It's not the first time it's happened, so we just want to find them if we can, he says. Another Air Force spokesman tells the AP that the trainees, who were allowed off the base over the weekend and haven't been heard from since, were due to graduate from the training program next week and return to Afghanistan. The police chief in the nearby town of Valdosta tells the AP that there is zero indication that the men are terrorists. You've got to remember these folks were cleared by the US military and by the Department of Defense to come in and train, he says. These guys have been here since February of 2015, and they have not caused a problem at all. Three Afghan soldiers who vanished during a training exercise in Massachusetts last year were sent back to their homeland after being caught at the Canadian border. |
AIG Has Already Spent Most of $123B Bailout | (Oct 24, 2008 9:05 AM CDT) Struggling insurance giant AIG, recipient of the largest government bailout in history, has burned through three-quarters of its $123 billion financial lifeline, the Washington Post reports. As of yesterday, AIG has withdrawn $90.3 billion from the Federal Reserve’s credit line, mostly to pay off bad bets insuring toxic mortgage investments made by banks, and the company’s new CEO warned that the bailout may not be enough. In September, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York gave AIG an $85 billion loan to keep it afloat, and the Fed later offered $38 billion more in credit liquidity. The insurer has tapped $72 billion of the first loan and $18 billion of the second. Attempts to sell its assets for cash have been hindered by a lack of financing, a problem AIG helped to create. |
Baseball Fan Who Shot Her Idol Dead at 83 | (Mar 18, 2013 4:56 AM CDT) An obsessed baseball fan's near-fatal attack on her idol became a movie—but the fan herself quietly died three months ago. Ruth Ann Steinhagen, whose story inspired the Robert Redford movie The Natural, was 83 when she died Dec. 29 of a subdural hematoma that arose after a fall in her home, reports the Chicago Tribune. The paper talks to the biographer of the Philadelphia Phillies' Eddie Waitkus, who explains the depth of her obsession: In 1949, at age 19, she was in a Chicago hotel where Waitkus was staying. She managed to slip him a note telling him she had something of importance to speak to you about, and he visited her room. When he sat down, she told him she had a surprise for him; she took a rifle from the closet and shot him in the chest, then held his hand, the AP reports. She was ruled insane and spent three years in a psychiatric hospital. Following her release, she worked in an office and lived with her sister. Even workers at the morgue didn't at first realize who she was, the AP notes. She chose to live in the shadows and she did a good job of it, says a baseball historian. Waitkus, on the other hand, kept on playing—and the Phillies won the pennant that year. The Tribune, which first reported her death, notes that it accidentally stumbled upon her death record while researching another story. |
Report: Raising Today's Child Tops $245K | (Aug 18, 2014 2:05 PM CDT) A child born in 2013 will cost a middle-income American family an average of $245,340 until he or she becomes an adult, with families living in the Northeast taking on a greater burden, according to a report out today. Those costs—food, housing, childcare, and education—rose 1.8% over the previous year, the Agriculture Department's new Expenditures on Children and Families report said. As in the past, families in the urban Northeast will spend more than families in the urban South and rural parts of the US, or roughly $282,480. When adjusting for projected inflation, the report found that a child born last year could cost a middle-income family an average of about $304,480. Housing costs remain the greatest child-rearing expense, as they did when the reports started in the 1960s, although current-day costs like childcare were negligible back then. For middle-income families, the USDA found, housing expenses made up roughly 30% of the total cost of raising a child. Child care and education were the second-largest expenses, at 18%, followed by food at 16%. Expenses per child decrease when a family has more children, the report found, as families with three or more children spend 22% less per child than families with two children. That's because more children share bedrooms, clothing, and toys, and food can be purchased in larger, bulk quantities. |
Netflix Introduces 5-Minute Bedtime Movies for Kids | (Nov 9, 2015 5:33 AM) Heeding the pleas of parents around the globe and across the ages who deal with cries of Just five more minutes! on a nightly basis, Netflix has introduced five-minute episodes of the popular kids DreamWorks TV show Dinotrux—cut down drastically from their typical 23 minutes. The reason? Kids stall at bedtime, and Netflix is marketing these short videos as win-win for parents and kids alike, reports KFOR 4. Netflix and DreamWorks Animation engineered the new shows knowing exactly what kids love most: rewatching their favorite scenes, Netflix says in a press release. Its bedtime routine survey—of more than 7,200 parents in the US, UK, Brazil, Mexico, France, Canada, and Australia—found that American kids are especially good at employing creative stall tactics, and that it takes parents in the US 19 minutes to put kids to bed, compared to the 17-minute average across all countries polled. Parents in France are fastest, at 12 minutes. Netflix says parents will look like the good guys when they let their kids watch a five-minute episode of Dinotrux before bed, but it remains to be seen whether it speeds or slows the typical bedtime routine or impacts a child's ability to fall asleep. And while Mashable calls it a truce, it also notes a disturbing trend found by a recent Nielson report that finds TV viewing among kids at an eight-year high, with children ages 2 to 5 spending 32 hours a week in front of a TV. (Netflix has determined the exact time at which people get hooked on certain TV shows.) |
House Votes to Add $2B to Clunkers Program | (Jul 31, 2009 3:50 PM CDT) The House voted today to beef up the cash for clunkers program to the tune of $2 billion, but that doesn’t mean shoppers and dealers are any clearer on the federal program, the Detroit Free Press reports. It is an absolute total mess, one dealer says. One customer who made a last-minute deal is more charitable. I know how the laws go—they go through and they don’t have the processes in place to handle them. She works for the Social Security Administration. We’re flying on the full strength and credit of the United States government, another dealer says. For better or worse. And it could be worse, the New York Times reports, as the bill the House passed today moves to the Senate next week. Some senators are resolutely opposed, while others are demanding higher fuel economy standards for new cars bought through the program. An optimistic President Obama offered a ray of hope after the House vote: We’re already seeing a dramatic increase in showroom traffic. |
500K Jobless Lose Benefits Earlier Than Expected | (May 29, 2012 7:31 AM CDT) Come June, about 70,000 people will lose long-term unemployment benefits sooner than they expected, bumping the number of people who've had the rug pulled out from under them in the first six months of the year to nearly 500,000, the New York Times reports. Congress renewed its extended unemployment program in February, but reduced the maximum number of weeks from 99 to as low as 63. How quickly benefits disappear is determined largely by how much unemployment has increased recently, meaning hard-hit states like California, which has 11% unemployment, lost benefits early because things hadn't gotten worse. Extended benefits are controversial; liberals argue that they're an effective form of stimulus, while conservatives complain that they encourage prolonged joblessness. People are subsidized to become a structural unemployment problem, says one conservative economist. But if you just reduce the weeks of unemployment for people already unemployed but don’t do anything else, it’s a bad deal, because they’re already about the worst-off people in society. Some states have made things even tougher; Florida, for instance, changed its application procedures, and now rejects half of all new claims. |
Petition to NBC to Dump Trump Racks Up 215K Names | (Jun 29, 2015 1:30 PM CDT) Donald Trump apparently doesn't have NBC's vote. This, from the company today: At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values. Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump. The Miss USA pageant will not air on NBC on July 12 as previously scheduled, reports CNN. That pageant, along with Miss Universe, had been jointly owned by NBC and the GOP candidate, NBC News reports. The AP notes that Trump has said he will no longer appear on The Apprentice; per NBC, Celebrity Apprentice will continue without him. The news followed the creation of a petition that was asking for this very thing, and had garnered more than 215,000 signatures as of NBCUniversal's announcement. I grew up wondering if Rachel and Ross would stay together, my favorite psychiatrist would finally have a relationship, and trying to figure out if George was really the master of his own domain, Guillermo Castaneda Jr. wrote in his Change.org plea to the network to cancel the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, as well as Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. I watched show after show in the good and the bad times. … Which is why I am wondering as to why the Latinos are being treated as second class citizens. |
Colombian Volcano Sends 15,000 Fleeing | (Apr 15, 2008 8:17 AM CDT) As many as 15,000 people living near Colombia's Nevado del Huila volcano were evacuated today as the mountain spit hot ash onto the area. Officials report no injuries, but say it's too early to assess the damage or offer a prognosis for the eruption. Other types of material could come, like lava, but we don't at the moment know the exact situation, a local authority said. |
Dead 50-Foot Whale Found in Boston Harbor | (Oct 8, 2012 8:08 AM CDT) A rare and unwelcome sight in the Boston Harbor: A dead finback whale was discovered floating in the harbor yesterday, and authorities are waiting for it to wash up on shore so they can examine the body and then dispose of it. The whale, more than 50 feet long, may have died after some sort of trauma—a lot of blood surrounded it in the water, and it has marks on its body—but it may also have died of disease or other causes and experienced the trauma after death, a New England Aquarium spokesperson tells the Boston Globe. Adds a Coast Guard officer, It’s not rare to see a whale in the Boston Harbor, but it’s rare to see a dead whale in the Boston Harbor. The majority of these cases happen out to sea. |
Woman Survives 3 Days Buried in Snowbank | (Dec 24, 2008 2:53 AM) The family and friends of a Canadian woman missing for three days in a winter snowstorm are hailing her survival as a Christmas miracle, the National Post reports. Police believe the woman, 55, became disoriented after going for a walk in heavy snow near her Ontario home. A rescue dog found her under two feet of snow in a field, still conscious. I've done many, many searches and that woman should not be alive, said an amazed member of the rescue team. Police believe the snow helped the woman retain her body heat and stay alive despite sub-zero temperatures and near-blizzard conditions. The woman is now in intensive care, being treated for hypothermia and severe frostbite with her husband and son by her bedside. |
Body May Have Been in Public Pool 3 Days | (Jun 30, 2011 3:33 PM CDT) An inexplicable one from the Boston area: Police think a 36-year-old woman drowned in a public pool on Sunday and was not pulled from the water until Tuesday night, reports the Boston Globe. Nobody noticed the body in the interim, apparently. The victim is 36-year-old Marie Joseph, who went to the Fall River pool with a neighborhood group on Sunday, reports the local News Herald. A 9-year-old boy, her neighbor, tells police that Joseph went down a pool slide, landed on top of him, and went under. He never saw her surface. Somehow, Joseph's body was not spotted until Tuesday night, when passersby saw her floating in the water. The pool had been open on Monday, too. We’re not certain about anything, other than the fact that we have a death and that this person was at the pool, and what took place with respect to the slide, says an assistant district attorney. Everything beyond that is absolutely under investigation. |
Toyota Recalls 7.43M Cars | (Oct 10, 2012 8:13 AM CDT) Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 7.43 million vehicles in the US, Japan, Europe, and elsewhere for a faulty power-window switch, the latest quality woe for Japan's top automaker. The recall, announced today, affects more than a dozen models produced from 2005 through 2010. The power-window switch on the driver's side didn't have grease applied evenly during production, causing friction in the switch and sometimes smoke, according to Toyota. No crashes or injuries have been reported related to the problem, but more than 200 problems were reported in US. Recalled in North America are the Yaris, Corolla, Matrix, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, Tundra, Sequoia, and Scion models xB and xD, spanning 2.47 million vehicles. Toyota has been trying to salvage its reputation after a series of massive recalls of 14 million vehicles over several years. |
Australia Is About 5 Feet From Where We Left It in 1994 | (Jul 29, 2016 4:13 PM CDT) For the love of GPS, somebody stop Australia from moving. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports the country is located smack dab on top of the fastest moving tectonic plate in the world. That means Australia is approximately 5 feet north of where it was in 1994—the last time the Geocentric Datum of Australia was updated—and where current mapping shows it, according to CNET. If you want to start using driverless cars, accurate map information is fundamental, Dan Jaksa at Geoscience Australia tells the BBC. We have tractors in Australia starting to go around farms without a driver, and if the information about the farm doesn't line up with the coordinates coming out of the navigation system there will be problems. To fix it, Geoscience Australia is updating the country's latitude and longitude to better reflect its actual location. Those new coordinates will be released in 2017 but will be based on projections for 2020. By the time 2020 rolls around and the coordinates are accurate, Australia hopes to have switched to a new system that takes the continent's drifting—about 2.75 inches per year—into account. (Click for the story of how the US shrank one square mile.) |
Barefoot Bandit Gets 7+ Years | (Dec 16, 2011 6:02 PM) Colton Harris-Moore, the Barefoot Bandit, was sentenced today to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to dozens of state charges. The 20-year-old man gained international notoriety while evading police across the country in stolen planes, boats and cars during a two-year crime spree. Today's proceedings consolidated cases against Harris-Moore in three Washington counties. He has already pleaded guilty to federal charges in Seattle and will be sentenced for those crimes early next year. He will serve his state and federal sentences at the same time. In a statement provided to the judge, Harris-Moore said his childhood was one he wouldn't wish on his darkest enemies. He said he studied manuals and online videos to teach himself to be a pilot, and the thrills he experienced while flying stolen planes renewed his passion for life and will help him rehabilitate while in prison. He said he'll use his prison time to study and get ready to apply to college, with the hope of earning an aeronautical engineering degree. State prosecutors asked for a nine-and-a-half year sentence. |
2M to Visit Shroud of Turin | (Feb 19, 2010 1:47 AM) Some 2 million visitors are expected to view the mysterious Shroud of Turin when it goes on display in Turin this spring. The 14-foot-long piece of linen, which is believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ and to miraculously bear his image, has only gone on public display six times in 100 years. Some 1 million people have already reserved tickets to see the restored shroud when the exhibit opens in Turn Cathedral, notes the Independent. The cloth has set off one of the great historical debates of all time. Scientists have revealed that carbon dating tests indicate the cloth dates from 1260 to 1360, which would mean it was created by pranksters. But other researchers argue that the cloth was contaminated over the years, which would skew test results, while others have dated it to the time of Christ. Pope Benedict will visit the shroud in May. The Vatican hasn't taken an official stand on the shroud's authenticity, but officials consider it a powerful symbol of Christ's suffering. |
1959: The Apex of Jazz | (Jul 20, 2009 12:36 PM CDT) 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of jazz’s best year jazz ever, Martin Johnson writes for the Root. 1959 saw canonical discs from genre royalty: Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, Ornette Coleman’s The Shape of Jazz to Come, Dave Brubeck’s Time Out and two by Charles Mingus, Blues and Roots and Ah-Um. This was the era, Johnson writes, when commercial success and artistic inspiration merged. They had all come of age during the World War II era, bebop revolution of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Johnson writes. Musicians who sought to be the next wave of stylistic leaders knew the bar had been set high. And the ‘50s had seen the tragic deaths of many earlier greats: There was an almost communal endeavor to highlight a new generation of leaders, and these musicians fit the bill better than anyone could have imagined. |
Syria Rebels Free 21 UN Peacekeepers | (Mar 9, 2013 10:15 AM) Syrian rebels today freed 21 UN peacekeepers after holding them hostage for four days, ending a sudden entanglement with the world body that earned those trying to oust President Bashar Assad a flood of negative publicity. The Filipino peacekeepers, part of a force that has spent four decades monitoring an Israeli-Syrian cease-fire without incident, safely crossed from Syria to Jordan this afternoon. The peacekeepers were seized Wednesday and were held in the village of Jamlah in southwestern Syria, near Jordan and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Their captors from the Martyrs of the Yarmouk Brigades initially said they would only release the hostages once Syrian troops withdrew from the area. However, as the abduction made headlines, the rebels eventually dropped their demand and began negotiating a safe passage for the peacekeepers with UN officials. Many rebel groups operate independently, despite efforts by the Syrian opposition to unify the fighters under one command. The abduction appeared to have been such a local initiative, and leaders of the political opposition repeatedly urged the Jamlah rebels to free the hostages. |
B-12 May Stave Off Alzheimer's | (Oct 19, 2010 12:55 PM CDT) Vitamin B has already been linked to Alzheimer’s, but new evidence shows that vitamin B-12, specifically, may help to fend off the disease. In a recent study of 271 people published in the Neurology journal, those with the highest levels of B-12 were the least likely to have dementia, the BBC reports. Even so, one Alzheimer’s charity says it’s too early to recommend taking supplements of B-12, which is found in meat, fish, eggs, and milk. B-12 may protect against Alzheimer’s by lowering levels of a body chemical called homocysteine, which is associated with strokes and dementia. Another recent trial also found a link between high levels of B-12 and lower risk for dementia. For one researcher, that’s enough proof that a large scale trial with homocysteine-lowering therapy using B vitamins is warranted, to see whether such a simple treatment may slow the development of Alzheimer's or other dementia. For more Alzheimer's research, click here. |
Wisconsin Clinic: 2K Possibly Exposed to HIV | (Aug 30, 2011 8:33 AM CDT) A Wisconsin health clinic has warned that 2,345 patients may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis, or other blood-borne diseases by a nurse who improperly used diabetic injection devices. The nurse, whose job involved teaching newly diagnosed diabetics how to use insulin pens, used the same pen every time when demonstrating the device on patients, Reuters reports. She changed the needle each time but backwashes of blood may have contaminated the device itself. Clinic officials say the insulin pen was intended for use on oranges or pillows, not people. The nurse, who left her job two weeks ago after the misuse of the device was uncovered, worked at various Dean Clinic locations. The clinic is trying to track down each patient she treated over the last five years, though the clinic's chief executive notes the risk is small, as the HIV virus degrades within days, and hepatitis within a month. While this is a serious matter, I don't believe there was anything malicious, he says. |
New Millipede Species Has 414 Legs, 4 Penises, 0 Eyes | (Oct 25, 2016 5:54 PM CDT) Scientists recently revealed a highly improbable discovery: a creature with 414 legs, four penises, and no eyes. Cave biologist Jean Krejca stumbled across the creature, a millipede now known as Illacme tobini, a decade ago inside Lange Cave in California's Sequoia National Park, the Washington Post reports. A study on the new millipede species was finally published last week in ZooKeys. According to Live Science, Illacme tobini is only the second species in the genus Illacme. Illacme plenipes, whose 750 legs are the most in the world, was discovered in California in 1928. Illacme tobini now has the second most legs. I never would have expected that a second species of the leggiest animal on the planet would be discovered in a cave 150 miles away, a millipede expert who examined the creature says in a press release. In addition to its 414 legs and four penises (called gonopods), Illacme tobini features 200 glands that secrete what is likely a defensive poison, hairs that produce silk, and peculiar mouth parts of undetermined purpose. Despite searching for another Illacme tobini for years, researchers have come up empty handed. That means that, without a female to study, researchers are unfortunately left to guess about exactly why the millipede has four penises. (New dolphin species hid in museum for 55 years.) |
Charles Manson Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi Dead at 80 | (Jun 9, 2015 11:18 AM CDT) The man best known for putting Charles Manson away and penning the best-selling book on the Manson Family's murderous spree died Saturday at age 80, reports the AP. As the New York Times reports, Vincent Bugliosi was the unknown and intense, ambitious Los Angeles prosecutor who stepped into the role of a lifetime and tried Manson and three of his followers—Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten—in one of America's most sensational trials. The trial detailed how Manson influenced dozens as a cult leader, and the media pounced on the entwinement of sex, drugs, and The Beatles' single Helter Skelter. Manson, 80, is serving a life sentence. Bugliosi detailed the gruesome murders—which included Sharon Tate, the pregnant actress married to director Roman Polanski—and the subsequent investigation and prosecution, in his 1974 book, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders. The best-selling release won the 1975 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book and inspired two television movies. The Minnesota-born attorney went on to publish a dozen more books, including Reclaiming History—a massive examination of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that took more than 20 years to complete. Bugliosi’s son, Vince Jr., said it was his father’s proudest work, per the Times. Bugliosi is also survived by his wife of 59 years, Gail, and a daughter, Wendy. He had fought cancer in recent years. |
Record Arctic Melt 'Like Doubling CO2' | (Sep 6, 2012 1:48 AM CDT) The accelerating loss of Arctic sea ice is having an effect equivalent to doubling the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the problem in the first place, warns one of the world's leading sea ice experts. The ice reflects sunlight, but as it disappears, the energy is absorbed by the open water that replaces it, causing a contribution to global warming the equivalent of about 20 years of additional CO2 being added by man, Professor Peter Wadhams tells the BBC. Wadhams, a professor of ocean physics at Cambridge University, warns that Arctic ice is rapidly headed for oblivion. The volume of ice in the summer is only a quarter of what it was 30 years ago, and that's really the prelude to this final collapse, he warns. The extra open water already created by the retreating ice allows bigger waves to be generated by storms, which are sweeping away the surviving ice. He predicts that Arctic summer ice cover will be entirely gone as soon as 2015, although other experts don't expect that to happen until 2030. |
Apple: iPhone 6, 6 Plus Sales Break Record | (Sep 22, 2014 5:12 PM CDT) Apple says it sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, a record for a new model, in the three days after the phones went on sale. A year ago, Apple Inc. said it had sold 9 million of the then-new iPhone 5C and 5S models. The iPhone is available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the UK. It will go on sale in 20 more countries on Sept. 26 and others by the end of the year. CEO Tim Cook said today that demand for the phones has exceeded the company's expectations. Basically, they hit a home run with this release and fulfilled an unmet need by releasing bigger-screen iPhones, analyst Gene Munster tells the Washington Post. But Apple didn't reveal how many of each new phone it sold, and crammed the number of phones sold to customers, to retailers, and in pre-orders under the 10 million umbrella. So it's unclear how many of those phones are actually being held by customers. According to Munster, about 2 million were likely sold to retailers—which is fewer than in 2013, and would mean that sales are up more than 40% from last year's launch of new iPhones. (See why Apple won't unlock its devices for law enforcement officials.) |
52-Year-Old Convicted of Murder— as a Juvenile | (Dec 22, 2012 8:37 AM) Under normal circumstances, it would be a clear-cut sentencing: A 52-year-old New Jersey man got convicted this week of raping and murdering his neighbor, reports the Star-Ledger. The catch is that the crime occurred more than three decades ago when Carlton Franklin was 15, explains the New York Times. As a result, the trial took place in juvenile court, and now the judge must figure out whether to sentence Franklin as if were still a teen, with an emphasis on rehabilitation instead of punishment. I don’t even think I can answer, because it’s so unusual, says Franklin’s lawyer. I’ve never seen it before. Franklin could get up to 20 years if the judge goes by 1976 guidelines, but, under those same guidelines, it's unclear whether he can be sentenced to an adult prison after being convicted in juvenile court. We'll find out in January. |
7.1 Earthquake Rocks Tokyo | (Aug 9, 2009 8:37 AM CDT) A 7.1 earthquake rattled Tokyo and surrounding areas today, AP reports. The strong quake, which struck just before 8 pm local time, disrupted trains and a professional baseball game, but so far there are no reports of damage or casualties, and no threat of a resulting tsunami. Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, and experts say Tokyo has a 90% chance of being rocked by a major quake within the next 50 years. |
$1 Gas Could Soon Be Reality in Some US States | (Feb 9, 2016 6:01 PM) You're not imagining things: Gas prices could soon fall as low as $1 per gallon at some US gas stations, USA Today reports. Some Midwest states—Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Indiana, Ohio, and Kansas—are already seeing the lowest prices in 12 years. And one in four US gas stations is currently selling gas for $1.50 per gallon or less, according to Time. Incredible as it sounds, we wouldn’t be shocked to see a few stations in these states as low as 99 cents a gallon, says one expert. As of Tuesday afternoon, the nationwide average was $1.72 per gallon. That's approximately 7 cents less than last week, 26 cents less than last month, and 46 cents less than last year. It's the lowest average price the US has seen in six years. The low prices—caused by a combination of falling demand and increasing production in the US and Middle East—are good news for consumers but bad news for oil companies. Oil prices hit 13-year lows last month, and the stocks of companies like BP and Exxon Mobil were down Tuesday. But not everyone is enjoying the savings. CNN reports the average price of gas in California is around $2.50 per gallon. That's due to both a larger-than-average gas tax and cleaner-than-average gasoline. California's requirement for gasoline that creates fewer emissions keeps prices higher but has made a huge impact on the state's air quality. One expert warns the rest of the country better enjoy low gas prices while it can. Refineries not turning a profit at these prices may close down for maintenance, sending gas supplies down and prices up. |
Iowa Town Dreams Up Really Odd $5 Raffle | (Jul 1, 2015 10:26 AM CDT) If you've ever felt like tasing a city official, well, Van Meter, Iowa, is the place for you. The town is giving one member of the public the chance to do just that by way of a $5 raffle. The winner will get to use a Taser on City Administrator Jake Anderson or Councilman Bob Lacy (the lucky guy being the one with the most votes, per a poster about the raffle) at a July 18 event in the town of roughly 1,100. Police will be on hand to help and will reap the financial benefits, with funds raised going to beef up its force, which relies on a single squad car. It apparently started as a bit of a joke, along the lines of Yeah, let's tase the administrators. They make all the friends, Anderson tells the Des Moines Register. I was like, 'Yeah, that's funny. Do you think you could raise some money?' He volunteered, and Lacy joined in. The Register notes that the poster reads, Don't tase me bro!!!!! The police chief, however, says that part isn't really a joke. It has no meaning to it. It was just a saying that's out there. (Meanwhile, an Arizona hockey fan got to take out her frustration with a mayor via Taser.) |
Honda's New Hybrid Will Sell for $20K | (Mar 11, 2009 1:35 AM CDT) Honda's much-anticipated 2010 Insight hybrid car will sell for a base price of just $19,800, the Los Angeles Times reports. The recession-friendly price tag makes the Insight the cheapest hybrid in the country at $2,200 less expensive than the Toyota Prius. The company aims to lure buyers who wouldn't have otherwise chosen a hybrid. |
Deadly Sterilizations: Doctor Paid $1.22 per Patient | (Nov 13, 2014 7:56 AM) One of the women who died in the botched India sterilization drive was told she'd receive the equivalent of 10 days' wages and be ready to return to work in the fields in 48 hours, reports the Guardian. A man received the astronomical amount of $3,250 from the government after his wife died on Monday; most in the area earn less than $5 a day. He brands the money as useless, telling the New York Times, Who is going to take care of my children? Families say the women were pressured to take the money and get the surgery—the main method of birth control in the country—but cash incentives drove more than just the victims: Village motivators usually get about $2.44 for each patient they recruit; government nurse-midwives can see their salaries docked if they don't meet sterilization targets ; and the surgeon involved received about $1.22 per patient. That surgeon, Dr. RK Gupta, was arrested last night on culpable homicide charges; at least 13 women who attended Saturday's sterilization camp have died, and there have been more victims from a second camp (reports differ on whether Gupta was involved with that one). The surgeries went well but the problem was with the medicines given to the women, Gupta said, according to the BBC. Indeed, owners of the factories that produce the drugs used have been called in for questioning, Reuters reports, but the exact cause is still not clear. Witnesses tell stories of a dust- and cobweb-strewn clinic and little concern for hygiene. Though Gupta says he performed 83 surgeries in six hours Saturday, one nurse who assisted said it was more like two hours. Government rules cap a surgeon's daily maximum at 35 operations, per the BBC. |
10 Kids Gunned Down in Mexico | (Mar 30, 2010 6:41 AM CDT) Ten students were gunned down on their way to pick up scholarships in Durango, Mexico, officials said yesterday. The victims ranged in age from 8 to 21, with half under 16. Their pickup truck appears to have been hit with guns and grenades Sunday, after failing to stop at a checkpoint that was manned by drug traffickers, authorities tell the LA Times. The Zetas control parts of Durango, and often set up ad-hoc road blocks. The students were on their way to pick up scholarships from the federal Opportunities program for low-income students. The mayor of the nearby town said he feels powerless to stop the drug violence. We need more military presence, he said, more police who are trained and equipped to fight the kind of criminals we are facing. |
Within 20 Years, an Alarming Water Shortage | (Feb 28, 2011 12:23 PM) The world is facing a vast water shortage within the next 20 years, say scientists who are gathering in Canada this week to talk about such things. In many countries, demand will exceed supply by 40%, leaving one-third of the planet's population with only half the water they require to meet their basic needs. Agriculture will also likely suffer, as it currently uses 71% of the water supply. To blame? Climate change and population growth, scientists say. Focusing on simply increasing supply would cost around $200 billion per year, but this could be reduced to between $50 billion and $60 billion per year if demand is lowered at the same time, according to a water economist. That would require a different way of thinking: Consumers may not be aware that the production process for many common items uses up quite a bit of water, the Daily Mail reports. (Desktop computer: 396 gallons; a pair of jeans, up to 1,600 gallons.) |
98-1: Senate OKs Bill to Review Any Iran Deal | (May 7, 2015 2:56 PM CDT) The Senate overwhelmingly backed legislation today that would let Congress review and possibly reject any final deal with Tehran. The vote was 98-1 for the bill that would give Congress a say on what could be a historic accord that the United States and five other nations are trying to finalize with Iran. The lone no vote came from freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who wants the administration to submit any agreement to the Senate as a treaty. Under the Constitution, that would require approval of two-thirds of the Senate. The House is expected to vote next week on the measure. A nuclear-arms agreement with any adversary—especially the terror-sponsoring, Islamist Iranian regime—should be submitted as a treaty and obtain a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate as required by the Constitution, said Cotton. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the bill offers the best chance for our constituents through the Congress they elect to weigh in on the White House negotiations with Iran. The Hill notes that if Congress reviewed a deal and rejected it, President Obama could override the move. The president initially opposed any such review, but he changed his mind given the number of Democrats in support of it. |
Beethoven Sheet Music Scores $100K | (Dec 20, 2015 10:34 AM) Sheet music written by Ludwig van Beethoven and found in a Connecticut home has fetched $100,000 at auction. Appraiser Brendan Ryan spotted the sheet music when he visited the home of a Greenwich woman looking to sell some belongings. He recognized Beethoven's handwriting in the German words, directions, and symbols on the page, he tells the Greenwich Time. I knew what it was. I’d seen his handwriting before. Ryan turned to an old mentor to authenticate the music; he determined it was from a sketchbook dating to 1810 and used by the composer for brainstorming. Beethoven would write out his ideas. With most composers, we just have the final product—they threw the rest out. Beethoven didn’t throw anything out, says the mentor. I found the sketchbook, and referenced the exact piece, we put it all together. The sketchbook is pretty revealing, continues the mentor. We can see the fire as it happened. He just went wild with a crescendo of activity. There’s so much impatience there—I can’t imagine working for the guy. But that aspect of his character is wonderful. It's unclear what happened to the sketchbook after Beethoven's death in 1827. It was sold in portions, with fragments turning up. Ryan says finding a complete sheet is rare. It was purchased by a German antiques dealer. It's unclear how the page found its way to the Greenwich home. |
Google to Pay $500M Fine for Pharmacy Ads | (Aug 24, 2011 12:44 PM CDT) Google has agreed to pay $500 million to settle a US government investigation into its distribution of online ads from Canadian pharmacies illegally selling prescription and non-prescription drugs to American consumers, a US attorney announced today. The settlement means the Internet search engine giant will not face criminal prosecution. The $500 million represents the gross revenues Google collected in ad buys from the Canadian pharmacies, plus the earnings generated from the illegal sales of drugs to American consumers, federal investigators said. Federal officials say Google knew as early as 2003 that its ad system was allowing Canadian pharmacies to make illegal sales, including sales to people without valid prescriptions. |
Katie Holmes Prepping for Baby No. 2 | (Mar 1, 2010 8:39 AM) Suri Cruise may soon be getting a present even better than her $30,000 toy car or $850 handbag: a little brother or sister. Katie Holmes has been spending more time than usual at the Hollywood Scientology Center—more than four hours last week—leading some to believe she’s being prepared for a second child. This is exactly what happened just before she got pregnant with Suri, a source tells the New York Post. Tom has made no secret of the fact that he would like another baby. |
For 20 Minutes, Eatery Staff Thought They Won $900M | (Jan 13, 2016 9:45 AM) Bet it was hard to come down from this high: Workers at a New Jersey restaurant thought they'd hit the jackpot—literally—when they accidentally matched the numbers on their ticket for Saturday's $900 million Powerball draw with the winning numbers from last Wednesday's drawing. A video shows employees at Grissini Restaurant screaming and hugging after the numbers were read out, reports NBC New York. A dishwasher threw his apron on the floor and quit, and a parking attendant told a customer to go get his own car, per CBS New York and WABC. It was a feeling of excitement, glory, the adrenaline—it was just an amazing feeling, a server says. We can donate some money; change our lives; be happy. Bartender Charles Poveromo, who organized the 42-person pool, says his friend texted him what he thought were Saturday's winning numbers, which Poveromo matched to the workers' ticket. When he called his wife to tell her the good news about 20 minutes later, she asked him to confirm the numbers online. I got on the phone and I'm shaking, Poveromo says. The website had a whole set of different numbers. Employees—including the dishwasher, who has returned to work—were heartbroken when they realized the mistake. They pooled their money for tickets for Wednesday's $1.586 billion drawing, but, alas, the three winning tickets were sold in Florida, California, and Tennessee. (Here are 10 awful things we're willing to do for money.) |
100 Dunkin' Donuts Stores Closing | (Oct 2, 2015 1:57 AM CDT) Bad news for Dunkin' Donuts fans and worse news for its investors: The chain announced on Thursday that 100 locations across the US will close over this year and next, reports CNNMoney, which notes that shares dived more than 12% following the announcement. All the stores that are closing are in Speedway gas station locations, NBC New York reports. Dunkin' execs stress that only a small fraction of US locations are closing and that the company is still on course to open more, CNN reports. The president of Dunkin' Donuts US and Canada says sales figures have been disappointing, but things should perk up with new items like the Maple Bacon Square Donut. (Earlier this year, the chain ditched a controversial ingredient.) |
Democrats Winning 2012 Money Race (Sort of) | (Aug 24, 2011 10:23 AM CDT) Republicans appear to be on the ropes in the race to raise money for the 2012 election—depending on how you look at it. The Republican National Committee, Congressional Committee, and Senatorial Committee raised a combined $105 million through July—compared to $129 for their Democratic counterparts, Politico reports. The major reason? The DNC is trouncing the RNC, thanks to copious fundraising from President Obama. Republicans argue that even being close is impressive, given the president’s inherent advantage. At this point in Bush’s first term, Republicans note, they had an $80 million edge. But Republicans aren’t leveraging their advantages as well; they control the House, yet the DCCC has actually out-raised the NRCC by a hair. We should be kicking their butts, said one former GOP official. For them to be trailing, I find that to be astounding. Then again, the GOP also has loads of outside groups raising money, including American Crossroads, Karl Rove’s so-called shadow RNC. |
53 Killed in Attack on Mexican Casino | (Aug 26, 2011 1:36 AM CDT) At least 53 people were killed yesterday when gunmen burst into a casino in Monterrey and started a fire that trapped gamblers inside. Survivors say the Casino Royale gunmen sprayed gasoline and ordered people to get out, but panicked gamblers fled further inside the building, the Wall Street Journal reports. Authorities commandeered backhoes from a nearby construction site to break into the casino's walls to rescue victims inside. Many of the victims were women and elderly people. This is a night of sadness for Mexico, a federal security official said in a televised address. These unspeakable acts of terror will not go unpunished. The state's attorney general says drug cartels, which often extort money from casinos and other businesses, appear to have been behind the attack, the deadliest in Monterrey since drug violence in the northern city exploded more than a year ago. |
Venus Out in 4th-Round Upset | (May 30, 2010 9:38 AM CDT) Venus Williams' celebrated corset went under wraps today, reports the AP, and now it's out of the French Open. Playing with a long-sleeve top over her black lace outfit on a chilly afternoon, Williams lost in the fourth round to Nadia Petrova, 6-4, 6-3. Williams came into the tournament seeded No. 2 behind her sister Serena, but Petrova spoiled the possibility of a sibling showdown in the final. Petrova has been a nemesis for the Williams family lately—she beat Serena in the third round at Madrid less than three weeks ago. She controlled rallies with steady play from the baseline and finished strong, a problem for her in the past. Venus converted only one of seven break-point chances. In the second set she lost serve three times after taking a 2-love lead. Petrova, seeded 19th, is a two-time semifinalist, but she's into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005. The victory was her first against Williams in their five meetings. |
Dow Plunges 239 Points | (Jul 28, 2008 3:39 PM CDT) The markets plummeted today as worries over the economy and problems in the financial sector outweighed high spirits over the rescue plan for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, MarketWatch reports. The Dow plunged 239.61 to 11,131.08, the Nasdaq nosedived 46.31 to 2,264.22, and the S&P 500 fell 23.39 to 1,234.37. Financials took the biggest thrashing, with AIG plummeting 10%. Verizon fell sharply after a report that landline use is down more than anticipated, and Tyson dropped on news of higher feed costs. I would refer to today as a death by a thousand cuts, said an equity strategist. It's not an event in particular but more of a reflection of concerns everywhere, especially in financials. |
Woman With 36-Character Last Name Wins Fight With Hawaii | (Dec 31, 2013 6:22 AM) You will never, ever, ever see Janice Lokelani Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele's last name in lights or a headline, but the Hawaii woman can now at least see her hefty surname in its entirety on her driver's license. As the AP reports, Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele (try writing that without the crutch of copy-and-paste, just try it) has won her fight to get Hawaii to expand the number of characters that can appear on state-issued IDs; the previous limit of 35 chopped off the last letter of Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele's surname (which consists of 35 letters and an okina, a mark used in the Hawaiian alphabet) and left out her first name altogether, leading a cop to give her a hard time about it at a traffic stop earlier this year. Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele, who got her name from her Hawaiian husband (who got it from a dream his grandfather had), lobbied the state for a change, and Hawaii will now allow 40 characters for last names, 40 for first, and 35 for middle. Next up for Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele: the Social Security Administration, which only allows a paltry 52 characters for first, middle, and last names. |
Death Toll in Italy Quake Rises to 150 | (Apr 6, 2009 2:33 PM CDT) The death toll in today’s Italian earthquake rose to more than 150 as rescue workers and volunteers continued the search for survivors, the Times reports. About 15,000 buildings were damaged, and residents are being warned to stay away until engineers can evaluate them. We are working without stopping for breath, a Red Cross official said. We believe there may be hundreds of people still alive underneath. Aside from the human cost, ancient churches, museums, and other architectural landmarks were damaged at the epicenter of the quake in L’Aquila, ANSA reports. The apse of a 13th century basilica collapsed, and the cupola sheared off another church rebuilt in 1703 following its destruction by an earthquake then. The National Museum of Abruzzo, housed in a 16th-century castle, also suffered a collapse, and is too dangerous to enter. |
Surgeons Remove 6 Organs to Save Girl, 7 | (Mar 10, 2009 1:53 PM CDT) A smiling 7-year-old was released from a New York hospital today after surgeons undertook a rare, high-risk operation to save her life, USA Today reports. The operation, performed last month, called for surgeons to temporarily remove her stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver and large and small intestines in order to reach a baseball-sized tumor. It was only the second time the procedure has been executed, and the first time on a child. Cancer had irrevocably damaged her stomach, pancreas, and spleen, so surgeons were forced to construct a stomach from intestinal tissue. Without a pancreas Heather McNamara will be diabetic, and she’ll be more susceptible to infection without a spleen. But for now, the McNamaras are thrilled to have their daughter back. She's doing fantastic, Joseph McNamara said. |
Florida Nixes 2 ObamaCare Features | (Jul 2, 2012 6:16 AM CDT) And then there were three: Florida will join Wisconsin and Louisiana in refusing to implement two features of the Affordable Care Act, said Gov. Rick Scott yesterday, stating that Florida does not have the money to expand Medicaid or to create a private insurance exchange, reports Reuters. The Medicaid expansion would cost the state $1.9 billion annually and cause insurance premiums to rise, said Scott, though the Orlando Sentinel notes that the expansion is not slated to kick in until 2014 and any additional expenses would be covered by the federal government for the first three years. Florida's Medicaid program currently covers around 3.3 million families; the Sentinel reports that the expansion would add another 2 million people over the next six years. Florida economists peg the cost to the state of doing so at about half of what Scott quoted—$1 billion. If there is any part of the law that requires action before November, Florida will comply, but he is committed to repealing the law before it ever takes effect, said a spokesman for Scott. The fact that all three states opting out have Republican governors has led some political analysts to say the announcements are more about politics than policy. State Democrats noted that Florida's heath-care groups would be more than happy to file lawsuits to force the state to comply with the Affordable Care Act. |
Nelson Mandela Dead at 95 | (Dec 5, 2013 3:58 PM) Nelson Mandela is dead at age 95, the president of South Africa told the world today. Our nation has lost its greatest son, Jacob Zuma announced to his nation, as quoted by CNN. Our people have lost a father. The anti-apartheid icon had been in failing health and spent about 3 months in the hospital with a lung infection earlier this year. He is now resting, said Zuma. He is now at peace. Zuma ordered all flags in the nation to be flown at half-staff. What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human, said Zuma. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves. (President Obama declared that he belongs to the ages. ) Mandela spent 27 years in prison after being convicted of treason, but he emerged to become president of South Africa in 1994 and brought about the end of apartheid, recounts the New York Times. Mandela will get a state funeral, though no details were immediately available. Click to see images of Mandela through the years. |
Fey's Everywhere; 30 Rock MIA | (Oct 13, 2008 3:09 PM CDT) Tina Fey’s popularity is at an all-time high, but NBC hasn’t tried to capitalize by moving up the season debut of her critically acclaimed sitcom 30 Rock. NBC has struggled to boost the show’s ratings, the New York Times reports, and hopes three Saturday Night Live specials on Thursdays will keep audiences when 30 Rock returns in that slot Oct. 30. The SNL specials, and a series of ads promoting this season’s guest stars, were designed to pull 30 Rock out of its 6.5-million-viewer rut. But should NBC have sacrificed its strategy to capitalize on Fey’s importance to the zeitgeist? If we knew then what we know today about how hot Tina was going to be, would we do it differently? Maybe, said a network exec. |
Mengele Victim Avoids Doctors for 65 Years | (Dec 11, 2009 9:26 AM) An Auschwitz survivor finally saw a doctor for the first time in 65 years after suffering a near-fatal heart attack. Upon recovery, the 85-year-old Israeli man explained why: As a young man imprisoned at the camp, notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele tied him to a table and removed his kidney without anesthesia. I saw the kidney pulsing in his hand and cried like a crazy man, Yitzhak Ganon tells Der Speigel. I screamed the 'Shema Yisrael.' I begged for death, to stop the suffering. Afterward, he had to work in the camp sewing room without painkillers. From then until his recent heart attack, he stayed away from doctors and hospitals. Whenever he was sick, even when it was really bad, he told me it was just fatigue, says his wife. |
40 Years Later, RFK's Children Remember | (Jun 5, 2008 9:29 AM CDT) To mark the anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, 40 years ago today, the New York Times offers vignettes from three of his children—Kerry Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend—of life with their father. For Kerry, RFK was the arbiter of fairness, whose teachings in the home mirrored his nationwide calling for courage, love, and an abiding commitment to justice. Joseph writes of his father's rare empathy, seeing at home the same intensity with which he later listened to coal miners, Native Americans, and the urban poor, as RFK held long conversations with his own father even after a stroke left him functionally mute. Kathleen remembers Bobby Kennedy as a social crusader who took his kids to Appalachia and Harlem and told them, as affluent Americans, You have a great responsibility. |
Playboy Must Pay $6M to Fired Whistleblower | (Mar 7, 2014 7:15 AM) A former controller at Playboy Enterprises who was fired in 2012 may have just won the largest payout ever under a 2002 law that protects whistleblowers. Playboy has been ordered to pay Catherine Zulfer $6 million for her wrongful termination, Reuters reports. Zulfer says in 2010 she refused to accrue bonuses for top executives worth $1 million because the board hadn't OKed them, and that she then told management about actual and suspected frauds and improprieties. A jury found that she was unlawfully fired in retaliation, and also found she was discriminated against based on her age, which was 56 at the time. Last year, Courthouse News Service reported that Zulfer accused Playboy CFO Christof Pachler of pressuring her to accrue the aforementioned bonuses in a year in which the company saw significant losses, her complaint notes, and that much of the money would have gone to him. Zulfer's lawsuit accuses Pachler of purposely setting her up to fail and excluding her from meetings after she reported her suspicions of fraud—and of then announcing a company plot to save money by terminating employees who'd been there more than a decade; Zulfer was a 30-year employee. In a statement, Playboy said it strongly disagree[s] with the jury's decision and may appeal. Playboy may owe Zulfer even more after punitive damages are decided today in California. (In even crazier fraud-related news, a Florida psychic was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison over an insane $17.8 million fraud scheme.) |
1157-Year-Old Library Will Reopen to Public | (Sep 20, 2016 6:14 PM CDT) What is believed to be the world's oldest library is set to reopen to the public in the coming months, and the architect behind its restoration can't wait to share its magical aura, the Guardian reports. One of the startling aspects about restoring a building this old is that you never know what’s behind a wall, Aziza Chaouni tells the National. You could scrape it and find a painting, take out the painting and find a door. One such door at Morocco's Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin library—founded in 859—is made of iron and has four locks, the keys for which were held by four separate people. The ancient library was committed to protecting its most valuable works. That spirit of protection continues on in the restoration of Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin. Chaouni and her team have added underground canals and temperature controls to keep unwanted moisture from the ancient texts, some of which date back to the 600s. They've also added a machine to keep the works just moist enough to prevent cracking. Of the 4,000 or so books the restoration is protecting, the most valuable is a copy of the Koran written on camel skin from the ninth century, Bustle reports. The library is scheduled to reopen by 2017—five years after the restoration project began. Chaouni hopes it will be embraced by the people like a second home. (Researchers made a fantastically exciting Koran discovery at a library last year.) |
Obama Debuts $210B Jobs Plan | (Feb 13, 2008 5:20 PM) Democrat Barack Obama today laid out a $210 billion plan to create 2 million environmental and construction jobs over 10 years. This agenda is paid for, the Illinois senator said at a General Motors plant in Wisconsin, adding that the money would come from ending the Iraq war, cutting corporate tax breaks, taxing carbon pollution, and hiking taxes on the wealthy. The AP reports $150 billion would go toward development of eco-friendly energy—so-called green collar jobs—and $60 billion to rebuilding highways, bridges, and other infrastructure. Ahead of Tuesday's Wisconsin primary, Obama, perhaps out of deference to GM's ongoing troubles, did not say he’d require auto manufacturers to raise fuel-economy standards—despite his regular claim he takes that argument to Detroit. |
Woman's New Tattoo: 152 Facebook Friends | (Jun 7, 2011 4:54 PM CDT) She’s become her own personal social network. A woman has posted a YouTube video of herself getting a tattoo of 152 of her Facebook pals. After months of work I want to show you all my social Tattoo. Pretty amazing right ? says YouTube user Suzyj87 of the Netherlands, reports MSNBC. Notes Adrian Chen of Gawker: If this is going to become a trend, then Facebook needs to add a privacy setting that lets you not allow people to get your Facebook profile picture tattooed on a person's arm. |
Pole Slices Through Bus in California, Killing 5 | (Aug 2, 2016 10:43 AM CDT) A charter bus veered off a central California freeway before dawn Tuesday and struck a pole head-on, killing five people and sending at least five others to hospitals, authorities say. The pole of a highway exit sign sliced the unmarked white bus nearly in half lengthwise, reports the AP. The pole went through the center of the bus, and that's where the injuries were sustained, California Highway Patrol Officer Moi Onsurez says. Emergency workers climbed in through the windows to pull passengers out; about 30 were aboard. The five injured were airlifted to hospitals, Onsurez says. The bus was heading from Southern California to Sacramento on State Route 99 when it crashed around 3:30am between the cities of Atwater and Livingston, approximately 65 miles northwest of Fresno, Onsurez says. It isn't clear what caused the crash. |
Microsoft Fixes 17-Year-Old Bug | (Feb 5, 2010 4:34 PM) Microsoft will fix a bug that's enjoyed a longer life than most software firms in its February security update. The 17-year-old vulnerability, which first appeared in Windows NT 3.1, involves a utility that allows new versions of Windows to run old programs. The monthly update will fix 25 security holes, 5 of which are rated as critical —meaning that a remote user can exploit them to effectively take over the PC and put it to potentially nefarious uses, the BBC reports. |
'10-Day Drama' Ends for Boy Left in Forest | (Jun 7, 2016 4:00 AM CDT) The 10-day drama is finally over for Yamato Tanooka, reports the Japan Times. The 7-year-old was on Tuesday afternoon released from a hospital in Hakodate under the watchful eyes of television cameras, which captured him waving and telling a reporter, I am fine. Also fine, at least legally speaking: The child's parents, who will not face child-neglect charges. The Hokkaido Prefectural Police say that Yamato's comments in an hour-long interview jibed with what father Takayuki Tanooka and his wife told authorities about deciding to leave the boy alone in the forest for a few minutes on May 28 as punishment for throwing rocks; Yamato was found six days later. The AP reports the case may still be transferred to a local children's welfare center. A rep with the Hakodate Children's Welfare Center had no comment. As for Yamato being fine, the AP reports that while he went without food for the length of his time in the woods (tap water was available in the military training ground hut where he sought shelter), he suffered only mild dehydration and had some insignificant bruises on an arm and his legs. He told those gathered outside the hospital that he is eager to go back to school and take part in a school sports day. The BBC notes that in a Monday interview, the boy's father recounted a conversation he had with his child in which he apologized for making him go though such a hard time. The boy's reply, per Tanooka: You are a good dad. I forgive you. |
1 in 12 US Babies Born to Illegal Immigrants | (Aug 12, 2010 3:33 AM CDT) One out of every 12 babies born in the US are born to illegal immigrants, according to a new study. Undocumented immigrants make up just over 4% of the American adult population, but their babies made up 8% of all births in the US in 2008, according to the report by the Pew Hispanic Center. The Washington organization is nonpartisan, but the figures will likely fuel conservatives' calls to withdraw the automatic granting of US citizenship to everyone born in America. Pew also found that 79% of the 5.1 million children of illegal immigrants living in the US last year were born in the country and are therefore citizens, notes the Wall Street Journal. Unauthorized immigrants are younger than the rest of the population, are more likely to be married and have higher fertility rates than the rest of the population, said Pew demographer Jeffrey Passel. Some 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the US; Latinos account for 75% of that figure, and about 85% of the births of that population. |
March Madness Expands to 68 Teams | (Apr 22, 2010 12:41 PM CDT) March Madness will be just a wee bit madder next year, expanding from 65 teams to 68, the NCAA announced today. Essentially there will be three extra early play-in games, ESPN explains. There had been talk of expanding the tournament to as many as 96 teams and engulfing the NIT, but the committee unanimously passed the 68-team proposal instead. At the same time, the NCAA announced a new 14-year, $10.8 billion TV deal with CBS and TBS. The deal will ensure that, for the first time, every tournament game will be broadcast live, with four stations –CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV—teaming up to handle the first and second rounds. CBS will keep the Final Four and national title game through 2015, and after that will have to split them with TBS. |
UC Students Protest Ahead of 32% Fee Hike | (Nov 19, 2009 4:00 AM) Angry students took to the streets yesterday to blast a proposed 32% fee hike for University of California schools. The Board of Regents is expected to finalize the increase today during a meeting at UCLA. It will hike tuition bills some $2,500. UC students will soon be paying $10,500 a year in tuition, triple a decade ago, on top of an estimated $16,000 in living and book costs. Fees for graduate students at Berkeley's business school will hit $42,000, and UCLA law school costs will reach $40,000. Fees are going to be so high that people are not going to be able to attend this institution, said a UCLA law student at the protest, where 14 were arrested. It is a devastation to what is supposed to be a public institution. The university system is struggling with costs as California staggers under debt nearing $21 billion. |
$90M+ Manhattan Penthouse Sets Record | (May 18, 2012 4:22 AM CDT) A mystery buyer has smashed a New York City record by shelling out more than $90 million for a duplex penthouse, reports the New York Times. The 10,923-square-foot property—with 23-foot ceilings—occupies the 89th and 90th floors of One57, a midtown residential building that is still under construction. Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development Company, has declined to reveal the exact price, but says it didn't break the $100 million barrier. Foreign buyers, especially Russians and Ukrainians, have been snapping up trophy properties in New York and Miami, but the One57 buyer is not from Russia or any other part of the former Soviet Union, says Barnett, describing the buyer as a very nice family that people would recognize. Barnett says the previous record sale in NYC, the $88 million Manhattan pad bought by a Russian heiress late last year, was not a good deal. He predicts that the $100 million barrier will be broken by another purchase in One57. |
Congress OKs $50B Sandy Aid Bill | (Jan 28, 2013 6:00 PM) Congress is sending a $50.5 billion emergency relief measure for Superstorm Sandy victims to President Obama for his signature. The Senate today cleared the bill, 62-36. Northeast lawmakers say the money is desperately needed to help recovery efforts from the one of the region's worst storms. The House passed the bill two weeks ago. The measure is aimed primarily at helping residents and businesses as well as state and local governments rebuild from the Oct. 29 storm. It passed despite opposition from fiscal conservatives worried about adding to deficits. Sandy roared up the East Coast and has been blamed for more than 130 deaths and billions of dollars in residential and business property damage. The biggest chunk of money is $16 billion for Housing and Urban Development Department community development block grants. Of that, about $12 billion will be shared among Sandy victims as well as those from other federally declared disasters in 2011-2013. Obama has said he will sign the bill. |
How 2 Great American Musicians Simply Vanished | (Apr 14, 2014 8:15 PM CDT) Elvie Thomas and Geeshie Wiley aren't exactly household names, but they recorded a batch of old country-blues songs that scholars consider masterpieces. What's vexing is that Thomas and Wiley totally fell off the map, gone from history despite decades of research. Enter John Sullivan, who, writing for the New York Times Magazine, delves into the eccentric world of blues scholarship on a hunt to find the women who recorded Motherless Child Blues and Last Kind Words Blues in 1930. His ace in the hole: a middle-of-the-night meeting with Mack McCormick, a renowned blues scholar in his 80s who's sitting on a lifetime of research he calls the Monster —because it's so overwhelming, he can't bring it all together. Sullivan learned a little from McCormick, but made a quantum leap by teaming up with a disgruntled, ex-McCormick assistant who'd copied interviews with Thomas herself—that McCormick had forgotten about or preferred to keep secret. Turns out that a Paramount man had teamed up Thomas and Wiley, they never saw a cent beyond their initial payment, and Wiley allegedly murdered her husband a year later. Sullivan learned a whole lot more by tracking down members of Thomas' family in Texas, who described her as a fiercely independent, pistol-packing lesbian who kept all her cash in the outhouse. So, were Thomas and Wiley once a couple? Did Wiley kill her husband for Thomas? Wiley did keep the line Gamblin' for Sadie, she is my lady in one song, which Sullivan calls a slender clue. For now though, the only thing sure is we don’t have it all. Click for his full piece, which includes great audio samples. |
It's Never Hit 69 in Alaska in March— Until Now | (Apr 1, 2016 11:21 AM CDT) Alaska has experienced some unusual natural phenomena lately—including a burping volcano and a desperate need for snow—and it just took another turn into some more weather-related weirdness. Per the Alaska Dispatch News, the mercury at an airport in Southeast Alaska registered at 71 degrees on Thursday, which University of Alaska Fairbanks climate scientist Brian Brettschneider says set a record high for temps in March, beating out a peak of 69 degrees set in March 1915. The fact that it's March—it's pretty amazing, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Juneau says. It's a big deal. What scientists say has brought on this thermometer-busting breach in Klawock, which KTVA notes is northwest of Ketchikan on Prince of Wales Island, is a high-pressure ridge that Brettschneider tells the Dispatch News is basically [like we] had a June or July air mass move in in March. If we had June or July sun, it would have been 80 degrees, but we didn't. Other towns have similarly recorded record highs, and the warm weather is, as of now, anticipated to continue through May. (Alaska also just had the weirdest murder plot in a while.) |
Treasury Taps $50B to Insure Money Market Funds | (Sep 19, 2008 8:14 AM CDT) The US Treasury moved today to temporarily insure investors against losses on money-market funds, Bloomberg reports. As much as $50 billion from the government’s Exchange Stabilization Fund will be used to back for a year funds that pay to participate in the program. Money-market funds, in which investors normally aren't at risk of losing their principal, are considered one of the safest investments, but confidence in them was shaken this week as the credit crisis widened. For the first time in 14 years, a fund exposed its investors to losses because of the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy. Nervous Investors yanked a record $89.2 billion out of money market funds Wednesday—2.6% of total assets invested in them. And Putnam Investments closed its $12.3-billion Putnam Prime Money Market Fund, returning all cash to investors but further shaking confidence in the funds. |
Irate Movie Critic Calls 911 on Cell Phone Users | (Sep 10, 2013 2:35 PM CDT) A movie blogger irate about the use of cell phones during a Toronto International Film Festival screening called 911 to report the offense. At a midnight screening yesterday, FirstShowing.net blogger Alex Billington became increasingly annoyed by constant texting and emailing at a screening for press and film industry members. After first complaining to theater managers, Billington took the extreme step of dialing the police. He said the emergency dispatcher laughed at his complaint—and he's taken some heat for not taking first responders' time seriously—but Billington took to Twitter to vent his anger. He claimed to be concerned that the movie, the horror film The Sacrament, was being pirated, and that drastic measures were called for in restoring moviegoing etiquette. I'm just trying to fight the good fight, wrote Billington, even if others don't agree with my methods. |
2 US Bombers Defy China's New Defense Zone | (Nov 26, 2013 6:40 PM) China's newly declared air-defense zone over disputed islands in the East China Sea is apparently a defense zone in name only. Just days after Beijing announced the controversial move, two B-52 bombers from the US put it to the test by flying over the islands unannounced in defiance of the new rules, reports Reuters. The flights went off without a hitch, and without any interference from China. We have conducted operations in the area of the Senkakus, said a US military spokesman, using the name that Japan uses for the islands. China calls them the Diaoyus. We have continued to follow our normal procedures, which include not filing flight plans, not radioing ahead, and not registering our frequencies. Over the weekend, China demanded that any planes in the region must do all of the above. The tensions might not be over yet, though: USA Today reports that a US carrier battle group arrives tomorrow in the area with Japanese warships for training exercises. And all of this takes place a week before Joe Biden visits both countries. |
Merck May Pay $700M for Schizophrenia Drug | (Jan 3, 2008 11:42 AM) Merck today finalized a deal worth as much as $700 million to license a schizophrenia drug from Swiss biotech firm Addex Pharmaceuticals. Addex will get $22 million up front, and qualify for another $680 million in milestone payments. Such licensing deals are growing commonplace, Reuters reports, as big pharma turns to little biotech to refill drug pipelines. Addex, one of a number of newly public Swiss biotech firms, saw its stock rise 6.5% on the news; analysts expect more deals from it before 2008 is over. Addex has signed two deals with Merck alone—the other is a $170.5 million pact to develop a Parkinson's drug—but will still burn $22.2-26.6 million in 2008. |
How a Policy Change Kept 120 People From Getting HIV | (Sep 3, 2015 1:28 PM CDT) Beginning in 1998, Washington, DC, wasn't permitted to use its funds to support needle exchanges. Changing that policy spared an estimated 120 drug users from HIV infection over a two-year period, per a study by George Washington University published today in AIDS and Behavior. The change came in late 2007, and USA Today reports that the needle exchange's initial two-year period cost the city's health department $1.3 million. But the avoided cases saved far more than that: A lifetime of HIV treatment for 120 people works out to $45.6 million, for a net savings of $44.3 million, per the researchers, who point out that many injection drug users are covered by publicly funded health plans. How lead author Monica Ruiz sees it: Our study adds to the evidence that needle exchange programs not only work but are cost-effective investments in the battle against HIV. In addition to allowing users to swap used syringes for fresh ones, the DC program offered free HIV tests and condoms. While the programs are gaining support across the country (by USA Today's count there are about 220 of them nationwide), they are not without their opponents. My fundamental concern is that many of the needle exchanges aren’t going after the core problem, which is drug abuse, says the chair of the Institute on Global Drug Policy. (DC's program does provide referrals to those looking for treatment.) The federal government's ban on spending on such programs has remained in place since 1998. (Meanwhile, an insurer has just announced a major HIV breakthrough.) |
Wife: American Held 5 Years in Cuba Is 'Wasting Away' | (Dec 3, 2014 9:19 AM) As of today, American Alan Gross has been in a Cuban prison for five years, Reuters reports, and his wife is calling on President Obama to bring him back before it's too late. I am afraid that we are at the end, says Judy Gross. After five years of literally wasting away, Alan is done, though he's far from done with his 15-year sentence. She says her husband has lost more than 100 pounds—as well as five teeth—over that period, and he's now hobbling and blind in one eye. His lawyer says Gross is more and more suicidal and said his goodbyes to his wife and daughter in July. Gross, who turned 65 in May, said he would rather die than turn 66 in prison. He's been refusing medical care and threatening a hunger strike, ABC News reports. He was arrested Dec. 3, 2009, while working for USAID as a subcontractor and sentenced for bringing telecommunications gear into the country. US officials have turned down one potential avenue to freedom: a prisoner exchange involving three Cuban agents. They say Gross shouldn't be compared to spies, Reuters notes. But the White House, which has said that the detention is hurting the relationship between the United States and Cuba, tells ABC it's working on securing his release. |
Around Flight 93 Memorial, a Tourist Wasteland | (Aug 21, 2011 10:35 AM CDT) Residents near where Flight 93 crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania once feared that souvenir hawkers and fast-food entrepreneurs would try to cash in on the 9/11 memorial. The opposite has been the case, the Wall Street Journal finds. The memorial, which opens next month, is expected to draw nearly a quarter of a million visitors a year, but the area is underserved by businesses, meaning travelers will have a hard time finding a meal or a place to stay anywhere near the site—especially if they come by the busload. The county could definitely use more jobs, but a lack of infrastructure and the weak economy are discouraging people from starting new businesses, as is a wish not to be seen to be exploiting the tragedy. Visitors are here to pay their respects and I don't want to take advantage of people—but of course I'm hoping business improves, says the owner of a sports bar a few miles away from the memorial. |
Stephen Covey, 7 Habits Author, Dead at 79 | (Jul 16, 2012 12:25 PM CDT) Stephen R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People as well as three other books that have all sold more than a million copies, has died. He was 79. In a statement sent to employees of a Utah consulting firm Covey co-founded, his family said the writer and motivational speaker died at a hospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho, early today due to complications from a bicycle accident in April. In his final hours, he was surrounded by his loving wife and each one of his children and their spouses, just as he always wanted, the family said. Covey was hospitalized after being knocked unconscious in the bicycle accident on a steep road in the foothills of Provo, Utah. At the time, his publicist said doctors had not found any signs of long-term damage to his head, but Covey's daughter later said that her father had suffered some bleeding on his brain. |
Palin Won't Dine With Journo— Even for $60,000 | (Sep 19, 2009 7:28 AM CDT) A journalist willing to fork over $60,000 for a dinner with Sarah Palin found himself frozen out of a charity auction at the last minute, the Huffington Post reports. Joe McGinnis, a Palin critic who wrote a piece last fall slamming her handling of Alaska's gasline, slipped through the pre-approval process but found himself shut out as he closed in on first place in the auction's last hour—shortly after the Alaska Dispatch ran a story identifying him as one of the bidders. Auction rules stated that Palin had the right to reject dinner companions based on her subjective standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors, which apparently applied to McGinnis. The winner, owner of an Alabama defense contracting company, says she's a big advocate for Palin and is looking forward to the trip to Alaska—even though she has to pay her own way. |
First US Execution of 2015: Vietnam Vet With PTSD | (Jan 14, 2015 8:29 AM) A man who fatally shot a sheriff's deputy who stopped him for speeding on a Georgia interstate was put to death yesterday for the 1998 killing, which was captured on the patrol car's video camera. Andrew Howard Brannan, 66, was pronounced dead at 8:33pm after a single-drug injection at the state prison in Jackson. He was convicted of the January 1998 shooting death of Kyle Dinkheller, a 22-year-old sheriff's deputy in Laurens County. I extend my condolences to the Dinkheller family, especially Kyle's parents and his wife and his two children, Brannan said in a statement moments before the injection was administered. Lawyers for Brannan, a Vietnam veteran, had unsuccessfully argued to authorities to spare the inmate's life, saying the shooting was tied to mental illness directly traced to Brannan's military service. Veterans Affairs doctors had diagnosed Brannan with post-traumatic stress disorder in 1984 and determined that his condition had deteriorated to the point of 100% disability by 1990, the petition said. In the 1998 incident, Dinkheller stopped Brannan for driving 98mph and demanded he take his hands from his pockets during a traffic stop; officials said Brannan then began cursing, dancing in the street, and saying shoot me before he rushed the deputy. After a scuffle, Brannan pulled a high-powered rifle from his car and shot Dinkheller at least nine times. Police found Brannan the next day hiding under a camouflage tarp near his home. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied a request to commute his sentence to life without parole. |
Lakers Take Game 3 | (Jun 10, 2008 11:09 PM CDT) Kobe Bryant scored 36 points to lead his LA Lakers to an 87-81 victory over Boston in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the LA Times reports. Los Angeles now trails the best-of-seven series 2-1. The Lakers also got a strong lift from Sasha Vujacic (20 points), who came up big during game's closing minutes. Game 4 is Thursday in Los Angeles. |
100 Species of Bugs Live in Your Home | (Jan 19, 2016 10:00 AM) You thought Asian camel crickets were bad. A new report in journal Peer J finds hundreds of bugs likely lurk in your home, including spiders, beetles, ants, and book lice. Scientists got down on their hands and knees and combed 50 houses in the suburbs of Raleigh, NC, picking up any bugs they found, to determine the diversity of arthropods indoors. They found far more diversity than most people would expect, study leader Matt Bertone tells National Geographic. More specifically, they gathered 10,000 bugs from 579 species. If that doesn't freak you out, this probably will: Each home housed 100 species on average, per New Scientist, though one revealed 211 species. And less than 1% of rooms were bug-free. That old wives' tale that you're never more than 10 feet away from a spider? If you're in your home, that might be true, Bertone says. Every home contained ants, carpet beetles, cobweb spiders, and gall midges, which rely on things we produce or have in our homes, says Bertone. About 98% held book lice, which eat mold and mildew, reports Wired. There were even some bugs scientists suspect might be new species. Since scientists searched carpets, floorboards, and shelves, but not behind walls, under heavy furniture, or in cabinets, they say more bugs are probably hiding nearby. On the plus side, most were harmless. The residents were really surprised and often horrified that we found so much, says Bertone. But except for the occasional cockroaches, termites, and fleas, the bugs are not dangerous and you won't see them unless you really look for them. Just think of them as quiet roommates, adds a co-author. (Your home's dust contains 9,000 species of microbes.) |
Abramoff Sentenced to 4 Years | (Sep 4, 2008 5:39 PM CDT) Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to 4 years in prison today for his role in a massive corruption scandal that shook the upper echelons of Washington, the Post reports. The sentence means that Abramoff, who traded ritzy junkets and gifts for political favors, will remain in prison until 2012. He is currently serving 6 years in a separate Florida fraud case, though his lawyers are working to get that term reduced. I come before you as a broken man, Abramoff told the judge before sentencing. I'm not the same man who happily and arrogantly engaged in a lifestyle of political and business corruption. He added, It is hard to see the exact moment that I went over the line but, looking backwards, it is amazing for me to see how far I strayed and how I did not see it at the time. |
Spider-Man Weaves $65M Web | (Jul 8, 2012 1:16 PM CDT) The Amazing Spider-Man had a pretty decent six-day run, pulling in $65 million over the weekend to notch a $140 million total domestically, notes the Hollywood Reporter. That gives Spidey a $341.2 million tally worldwide, but the AP notes that it still lags behind the previous incarnation of the franchise. Ted captured the No. 2 spot, with $32.5 million for the weekend, while Oliver Stone's The Savages opened at No. 4 with $16.2 million. Katy Perry: Part of Me languished with $7.2 million. |
1st Openly Gay Bishop to Retire | (Nov 7, 2010 11:12 AM) Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopalian whose election to bishop reverberated through the religious world, will take early retirement in 2013, reports the Boston Globe. The last seven years have taken their toll on me, my family, and you, Robinson told an annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, adding, this decision comes after much prayer and discernment about what God wants for us. Death threats, and the now-worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop, have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark, who has faithfully stood with me every minute of the last seven years. Robinson added that he would not be a lame-duck bishop over the next two years, and pledged to be fully engaged. |
Happy Days' Tom Bosley Dead at 83 | (Oct 19, 2010 1:16 PM CDT) A sad week for iconic TV parents. Tom Bosley—Mr. C from Happy Days—has died of heart failure at age 83. He had been suffering from lung cancer. TV Guide ranked Bosley's Howard Cunningham character No. 9 on its list of the 50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time in 2004. He was my husband for 11 years, said Marion Ross, who played Marion Cunningham on the show. He was so smart he could fix the end of a joke or a scene on the spot. We made a perfect couple. I played piccolo to his tuba. Said Ron Howard: I miss him already. After Happy Days ended, Bosley went on to a recurring role in Murder, She Wrote as Sheriff Amos Tucker. He also was the crime-solving priest in television's The Father Dowling Mysteries, which ran from 1989 to 1991. His death follows that of Barbara Billingsley, who played the mom on Leave It to Beaver. |
Prober Posts 100M Facebook Profiles Online | (Jul 29, 2010 1:22 AM CDT) A security researcher has collected and posted the details of 100 million Facebook users to highlight privacy issues. Ron Bowes of Skull Security used a piece of code to trawl the Internet for the names and unique URLs of users who didn't change their privacy levels from Facebook's default settings, and placed them in a downloadable file, the BBC reports. The list has already been downloaded by more than 1,000 users on the Pirate Bay. The information was already available online via search engines, and Facebook issued a statement clarifying that no personal data has been compromised. But security experts say Facebook should have anticipated a trawl of this size and taken steps to prevent it. Now would be a good time for Facebook to set their default search to 'Friends Only,' TechCrunch suggests. Why? Because most people aren’t quite aware that the check mark next to 'Everyone' includes a hacker who can grab your personal info, package it up and sell it to the highest bidder. |
Dubai Sheik Pays $2.7M for Camel | (Apr 9, 2008 12:28 PM CDT) A Dubai prince broke the bank yesterday at an Abu Dhabi event billed as the world's top camel festival, spending $2.7 million on a prize-winning female. That was a record—until an Abu Dhabi sheik outdid him, shelling out $7 million for a pair of racing camels, RIA Novosti reports. The more expensive of that duo was also a contest winner. Fine camels are a mark of wealth and power in the Persian Gulf, and are often used for racing. The Mazayin Dhafra Camel Festival is intended to celebrate the United Arab Emirates’ Bedouin traditions, and has as its centerpiece a camel beauty contest. More than 17,000 camels competed this year, in categories such as best neck, best lips, and best hump. |
Banks, Energy Fall; Dow Off 201 | (Jun 22, 2009 3:18 PM CDT) A global rout in materials and energy stocks combined with a sell-off in financials to wreak havoc on US markets today, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow closed down 200.72 at 8,339.01. The Nasdaq lost 61.28, closing at 1,766.19, and the S&P 500 dropped 28.19 to close at 893.04. The Dow is now down 1.1% for the year, while the S&P is off 5%. |
Okla. Coroner Drops Death Toll to 24 | (May 21, 2013 1:42 AM CDT) The Oklahoma state medical examiner's office has dramatically dropped the confirmed death toll in yesterday's horrific tornado to 24, reports the AP. A spokeswoman said that some bodies were apparently counted twice in the chaotic aftermath of the storm, and that confusion was exacerbated by knocked-out communication lines. Seven children are among the dead, and the ME's office says the overall death toll is still expected to climb as rescue teams continue to search through rubble. Officials had initially reported 51 deaths. Click for more. |
Girl Wins $500K From Denny's Over Hot Coffee | (Oct 25, 2014 5:23 PM CDT) The hot-coffee (and cider) lawsuits keep rolling in. In the latest case, parents sued a Denny's location in Angola, New York, after their one-year-old daughter was burned by coffee. The now-5-year-old girl's case has been settled for at least $500,000. Parents Jose Adames and Sally Irizarry argue that a waitress negligently put the coffee within the girl's reach, the Buffalo News reports. The girl received first- and second-degree burns, and the family says the cost of medical care throughout her life will run to some $340,000. Some of her skin was pulled off when her clothes were removed, and health workers put her under conscious sedation to remove the remaining dead skin, WIVB reports. As in the famous McDonald's coffee case, plaintiffs held that the coffee was too hot. Denny's handbook for wait staff says workers should never set hot items directly in front of a child, WIVB notes. |
9 Buzziest Looks at the Met Gala | (May 6, 2014 2:00 AM CDT) Last night's annual Costume Institute gala at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art featured, as it usually does, quite a few dramatic dress choices. The theme this year honored Vogue editor Anna Wintour and Charles James, a British-born designer who revolutionized American fashion in the mid-20th century, as the New York Times puts it. Click through our slideshow for nine of the buzziest looks. |
Bruins Eke Out 2-1 OT Win | (Jun 16, 2013 5:29 AM CDT) All those missed shots added up to one big blown opportunity for the Chicago Blackhawks. They couldn't bury the Boston Bruins in the early going and paid for it in the end. Now, home-ice advantage is gone. So is their lead over the Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals. Daniel Paille fired a shot past Corey Crawford's glove to give the Bruins a 2-1 overtime victory last night and tie the series at 1-1 with Game 3 coming up tomorrow night in Boston. You've got to kind of swallow this one and move on, said Patrick Sharp, who scored his ninth goal of the postseason. We know what's on the line in this series and going into Boston's going to be tough, but we're ready for the challenge. The Blackhawks squeezed out a 4-3 triple-overtime thriller in Game 1 but couldn't pull this one out. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were quiet again, just as in the opener. Looking tired late in the game, the Blackhawks made a series of blunders, including a turnover that led to Paille's winning goal. They outshot Boston 35-28 for the game and really came out firing in the early going, blistering the Bruins 19-4 in the first period, but all they had to show for it was Sharp's goal. Tuukka Rask was simply outstanding in net again for the Bruins, getting through that early siege and finishing with 33 saves. |
NYC Puts Bronx Boy, 5, Under Ebola Watch | (Oct 27, 2014 8:24 AM CDT) Ebola may have infected another New Yorker—a 5-year-old Bronx boy who returned from Guinea with his family on Saturday, ABC reports. The boy is currently under observation at Bellevue Hospital, but hasn't been diagnosed with Ebola and isn't under quarantine, officials say. The boy has been in the hospital since yesterday, when his fever spiked to 103 degrees and he began vomiting. EMTs in Hazmat suits took him from his home and five of his family members are now under quarantine in their apartment, adds the New York Post. He looked weak. He was really, really out of it, a neighbor tells the paper. Meanwhile, Dr. Craig Spencer—still the only confirmed New Yorker with Ebola— is entering the next phase of his illness, a hospital spokesman tells WABC, which reports he's awake and communicating. |