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2 Dead in 150-Car Pileup | (Nov 22, 2012 1:24 PM) Dense fog may have contributed to a horrific Thanksgiving morning pileup in Texas: At least 150 cars were involved, and two fatalities have been confirmed so far, Reuters reports. As many as 120 people were injured; KFDM reports that at least eight of them were in critical condition. Emergency workers were searching for more people who may be trapped inside their vehicles. We have 18-wheelers on top of cars, we have cars on top of cars. It's just catastrophic, says a sheriff's spokesman. The man and woman who died were in an SUV that was crushed by a tractor trailer. Interstate 10 was shut down in both directions after the pileup, which occurred about 15 miles west of Beaumont, and several hundred cars were stuck on the highway. The westbound lane has since reopened, but the eastbound lane is expected to stay closed hours longer. People were cleared from the area around an 18-wheeler when it began leaking, as authorities attempted to determine what chemical it was carrying, 12 News reports. |
Jerry Brown: Cali Budget Shortfall Hits $16B | (May 13, 2012 4:50 PM CDT) California Gov. Jerry Brown broke the bad news yesterday by YouTube: His state is facing a $16 billion deficit, not the $9.2 billion shortfall he had projected in January, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Brown blamed the budget gap on lower-than-expected tax receipts and the loss of spending cuts, which were blocked by court order and federal officials to protect the needy. Now, Brown says, the public had better support his ballot measure in November to boost taxes and raise $9 billion. A balanced budget is required by June 15, but the state Senate's Republican leader predicts that another phony budget will be passed by a simple majority of Democrats. Advocates for those who use health and human services, however, are predicting harsh cuts when Brown reveals his proposed budget tomorrow: The cuts are expected to be big, bad and brutal for California families, says one. A state senator calls the new deficit as bad as our worst fears have been. The options get fewer and fewer. |
21 Set Selves Ablaze in Cleveland—for Charity | (Oct 21, 2013 6:54 AM CDT) On Saturday night, some 1,500 people gathered near Cleveland's Cuyahoga River to watch nearly two dozen locals literally set on fire. In a charity event backed by Cleveland printing company Hotcards, 21 people, including mayoral candidate Ken Lanci, a local radio host, and Hotcards' owner, wore gear to protect them from the flames; materials were soaked with special gel, WKYC notes. They walked and waved as they burned for 32 seconds before being extinguished, setting a new Guinness World Record, the Plain Dealer reports. It was a little gratifying,'' says one woman who set her husband on fire. Not really. To pour the (lighter) fluid all over and then to light it was pretty scary. While some said they felt nothing, others felt a little warm, the paper notes. The event raised money for the Cleveland Foodbank and a nonprofit fighting poverty in South Africa, Brick by Brick. It was organized by Ohio stuntman Ted Batchelor, who was also in charge of the earlier record of 17 people simultaneously on fire. It's all about bringing positives to Cleveland, and if we have to set ourselves on fire to do it, then so be it, said radio host Archie Berwick. |
Irish Angry at U2's Tax Evasion | (Mar 3, 2009 3:02 PM) U2 is under fire for possible tax evasion as the Irish government pushes for a bigger slice of the band’s earnings, the Christian Science Monitor reports. U2 moved its publishing company to Amsterdam in 2006 after a tax bill limited artists’ tax-free earnings to $315,000. With Irish deficits mounting, some fans say U2 needs to pay its fair share. Despite its humanitarian activism, U2 is taking advantage of the same tax-avoidance schemes that multinational companies use to deprive developing countries of important revenue, an Irish economist said. The band claims to be fully tax-compliant. On a personal note, singer Bono said, the thing that stung us was the accusation of hypocrisy for my work as an activist. |
West Side Story Playwright Dead at 93 | (May 6, 2011 2:30 AM CDT) Arthur Laurents, writer of landmark Broadway musicals including West Side Story and Gypsy, has died at his Manhattan home at the age of 93. Laurents' career as a playwright spanned seven decades. He also enjoyed success as a director and as screenwriter of movie classics including Rope and The Way We Were, AP reports. The Brooklyn-born Laurents served as a writer of military training films and radio scripts during World War II. His first Broadway play, 1945's Home of the Brave, dealt with anti-Semitism in the military. The famously blunt writer once told the New York Times that he was happiest alone, putting his daydreams on paper. I say mean things as a defense, he told the Los Angeles Times in a 1984 interview during the smash success of La Cage Aux Folles, which he directed. People who get their feelings hurt don't realize I have a very developed set of defenses. But also I will not suffer fools and amateurs. Laurents' partner of 52 years, actor-turned-real estate developer Tom Hatcher, died in 2006. |
Miley Cyrus: 2009's Worst Celebrity Influence | (Oct 28, 2009 9:58 AM CDT) Even her fellow teens and tweens are sick of Miley Cyrus' slanty-eyed pictures and pole dancing hijinks. The Disney starlet was voted Worst Celeb Influence of 2009, winning out over drunk-driving Shia LaBeouf, racy-photo-posing Vanessa Hudgens, Taylor-Swift-interrupting Kanye West, and the self-explanatory Britney Spears. Cyrus got an impressive 42% of votes in the poll on AOL's Just So You Know website for 9- to 15-year-olds—although she also got 16% of votes for Favorite Female Artist. I think Miley is in an interesting space where she is trying to graduate from being Hannah Montana and a Disney Channel celebrity and coming into her own and having a career beyond Disney, the editor tells Reuters. I think her fans still want her to be the sweet Hannah Montana and she is trying to age up. Parents are definitely resisting it. |
Bridget Jones 3 in the Works | (Jul 15, 2009 9:30 AM CDT) Bridget Jones and her oversized underwear are coming back for a third movie, Variety reports, with Renée Zellweger set to reprise the title character. Cate Blanchett is also on board for Indian Summer, expected to be based on Bridget Jones’ Diary author Helen Fielding’s columns for a British newspaper. This time a 40-something Bridget struggles to have a baby before time runs out. |
Families Slam 'Crass' 9/11 Museum Gift Shop | (May 19, 2014 5:21 AM CDT) The National 9/11 Memorial and Museum opened last week to survivors, first responders, and relatives of victims—and some of them were shocked to find a gift shop on the premises hawking things like mugs, mousepads, and key chains. At the shop, which will help fund the museum's operating cost, visitors can buy a Darkness Hoodie printed with an image of the Twin Towers for $39, Survivor Tree earrings for $64, or silk scarves printed with 1986 photos of Manhattan for $95, the New York Post finds. To me, it's the crassest, most insensitive thing to have a commercial enterprise at the place where my son died, says Diane Horning, whose 26-year-old son's remains were never recovered. (Thousands of unidentified remains are in a repository in the museum building.) She calls the museum essentially our tomb of the unknown, and slams the gift shop as a money-making venture to support inflated salaries. Other visitors, however, say they understand the museum's need to raise funds, reports Gothamist, which notes that even the Holocaust Museum has a gift shop. NBC News reports that it's expected to take $63 million to operate the site each year, a cost that will also be defrayed by its $24 entry fee. (At the museum's dedication last week, the man in the red bandana was honored.) |
GOP's 20-Week Abortion Ban Fails in Senate | (Sep 22, 2015 5:30 PM CDT) Abortions will continue to be legal past 20 weeks of pregnancy after Senate Republicans failed to garner enough votes for a ban today, the Hill reports. The final tally was 54-42 in favor of the measure—with three Democrats voting for it and two Republicans voting against it—but it needed 60 votes to move ahead. Supporters of the bill, which passed the House in May, say fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks, reports NBC News. Critics say that such late abortions are rare but occasionally medically necessary and that the exemptions written into the bill—for rape, incest, and the safety of the mother—were too vaguely worded. Republican Susan Collins, who voted against the ban, says it would make a criminal out of a physician for trying to keep pregnant women from being seriously injured. The Hill reports that even had the bill passed it likely would have been legally challenged, as federal courts have struck down similar state bans for violating the Supreme Court's protection of abortion rights. Harry Reid called the vote a waste of time and insinuated it was merely an attempt by Republicans to ingratiate themselves with the pope, who speaks at the Capitol Thursday, according to NBC. I guess they want to do that before the pope gets here, he says. But it's not going to change the pope, how he feels about the fact that Republicans have ignored poor people in America. Meanwhile, a contingent of anti-abortion Republicans is attempting to force a government shutdown Oct. 1 if Planned Parenthood isn't defunded. But the New York Times reports that Republican leaders in the Senate today made an important breakthrough in avoiding that by scheduling a vote on a temporary spending bill. |
2 Firefighters Killed in Calif. Blaze | (Aug 31, 2009 3:04 AM CDT) Two California firefighters drove off a treacherous road to their death as they helped battle a 43,000-acre inferno in the Angeles National Forest, reports the Los Angeles Times. More than 2,800 firefighters, 12 helicopters and eight air tankers have converged on the area where the blaze now threatens some 13,000 homes in Los Angeles County. The blaze is only 5% contained, and has already destroyed 18 homes. In this rugged, steep terrain, with this brush as thick as it is, we are having difficulties establishing containment lines where we can make a stand, said a spokesman for the county fire department. This fire is still very much out of control. |
Why Have 25 out of 26 'Sexiest Men' Been White? | (Nov 15, 2012 12:25 PM) Forget how outraged you are that Ryan Gosling was once again not deemed the Sexiest Man Alive by People: There's a real controversy here, and it has nothing to do with the Gos. In 26 years of choosing a sexiest man, the magazine has selected white guys 25 of those times, writes Tricia Romano in the Daily Beast. Even the one exception, Denzel Washington in 1996, is a lazy choice, says one of the media professionals Romano spoke to for her column. While Blair Underwood, Taye Diggs, and Idris Elba have been ignored, Johnny Depp and his rotting teeth have won twice, Romano writes. Of course, Underwood, Diggs, Elba, and other diverse choices are featured inside the pages of the magazine's special issue. But the media professionals Romano spoke to found this even more insulting, as it basically carries the message that men of color are good enough for the inside pages, but not good enough to sell the magazine by appearing on the cover. The issue reflects a larger problem in Hollywood—where are all the leading men of color? Washington and Will Smith are pretty much the only black men who Hollywood deems worthy of being able to carry a big-budget movie as its lead, says another media professional. Click for the full piece. |
Dell Going Private in $24B Move | (Feb 5, 2013 7:47 AM) Dell has reached a deal to go private, the company has announced. Shareholders will receive some $13.65 per share in a $24 billion deal, the New York Times reports, which marks a 25% premium over Dell's January share price. The privatization deal with Microsoft and private equity company Silver Lake Partners is the biggest since the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal notes. Once the biggest PC maker on the planet, the struggling Dell is now third; the move comes as founder and CEO Michael Dell hopes to retool his company. The deal incorporates Michael Dell's own 16% stake, some $700 million from his investment company, $1 billion from Silver Lake, and a $2 billion Microsoft investment. In return, Dell will likely work more closely with Windows, as was previously rumored. Meanwhile, four banks are backing the deal with $15 billion in evenly-divided debt. For Michael Dell, the company's floundering image is central to the overhaul, the Journal adds: It's pretty simple: His name is on the door, says a former exec. |
90-Year-Old Drug Mule Handed Prison on Birthday | (May 8, 2014 1:03 AM CDT) Leo Sharp turned 90 yesterday ... while sitting in federal court in Detroit, where he was sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a drug smuggling operation. The Indiana man, a World War II veteran, was convicted of hauling cocaine between Mexico and Detroit for a Mexican drug cartel; he was arrested in 2011 near Ann Arbor, where he was found with almost $3 million worth of cocaine in his pickup during a traffic stop, the Detroit Free Press reports. In court yesterday, Sharp said he's heartbroken about his crime, and threatened suicide: I won’t live in prison, I’m just going to end my life if I end up there. His lawyer pleaded with the judge to reconsider the sentence, arguing that Sharp suffers from dementia and the condition caused him to use bad judgment, the AP reports. He also spoke at length about Sharp's military service, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star ( before we were even born, he was on top of mountains fighting Nazis, the lawyer asserted). But the judge would not relent, noting that the dementia argument was an insult to all the people who have dementia and don't get involved in illegal activity. She added that she'd basically be sending a message to drug dealers that if you want to inoculate your organization from punishment ... get an elderly person to do your deliveries for you. Sharp, who the government says was paid more than $1 million by the cartel, agreed to pay the government $500,000 and give up property in Florida; his prison date has not yet been set. |
4.8 Earthquake Rattles Kansas, Oklahoma | (Nov 13, 2014 1:00 AM) Kansas has seen an uptick in earthquakes since the fall of 2013, and yesterday marked the latest rumble in the state. Given a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, the earthquake struck at 3:40pm in Conway Springs, 25 miles southwest of Wichita. It hit less than 24 hours after a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded in the southern Kansas town of Anthony, reports the AP. I felt the earth move, says Andrea Hutchison, who was in a state Senate committee room at the Capitol at the time. It was a little spooky, adds farmer Scott Van Allen, who was 15 miles from the epicenter. Still, no structural damage has been reported aside from a tree that cracked a home's foundation when it uprooted. More than 90 earthquakes have been recorded in Kansas so far this year, but Gov. Sam Brownback says there's not enough evidence to blame the increased seismic activity on oil and gas exploration. (Meanwhile, scientists say the Bay Area is due for a big earthquake soon.) |
Brain Trauma Found in 25-Year-Old Football Player | (Jan 5, 2016 8:11 AM) Before he died of a heart condition at age 25, Michael Keck told his wife that he wanted to donate his brain to Boston University. The former football player thought he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), NBC News reports, the degenerative brain disorder caused by repeated blows to the head that has made headlines in recent years for affecting NFL players. Doctors, performing an autopsy on Keck's brain, confirmed his self-diagnosis in a case study published Monday in JAMA Neurology. It was the worst CTE I've seen in an individual this young, study coauthor Dr. Ann McKee says. Keck's 16-year football career began when he was 6 years old, the study notes. During that time, he sustained more than 10 concussions, the first when he was 8. That's a lengthy exposure, says McKee. Brain injury is cumulative. As a freshman playing for Missouri State, Keck momentarily lost consciousness after a hard hit. That was followed by symptoms, such as blurry vision, headaches, and forgetfulness, which forced him to quit playing football his junior year. Previously having a 3.8 GPA, the study notes, Keck left school with a GPA of 1.9, 12 credits short of earning his bachelor degree. Symptoms, including feelings of worthlessness and suicidal ideations, persisted until his 2013 death of an unrelated congenital heart defect. Some, including the doctor who first identified CTE, have called for an end of high-impact sports for kids. Others, though, say the concern is overblown. The medical director for Pop Warner football tells NBC that the Keck study doesn't indicate the brain trauma was the result of childhood injuries. It is more likely that the exposure that he got in high school or college, or even doing other activities, led to the accrual of CTE changes, he says. (Researchers recently found CTE in 96% of 91 deceased NFL players.) |
Because of Grindr, 2 Men Learn They Have HIV | (Jul 12, 2016 1:50 PM CDT) Researchers are pushing for banner ads that offer free HIV test kits to gay men on the dating and hookup site Grindr after a UCLA and Indiana University study. Results from the study, reported in the journal Sexual Health, suggest that greater access to free testing will improve rates of testing. The team says that after posting 300,000 banners ads and three broadcast messages targeting a high-risk HIV population in Los Angeles in the fall of 2014, 333 tests were requested, 56 men took them and filled out questionnaires, and two men ultimately learned that they were HIV positive. Engadget notes that given 5 million men in 192 countries use Grindr, the simple step could be a very effective means of slowing the spread of HIV. Paper author Dr. Jeffrey D. Klausner, an HIV specialist at UCLA's school of medicine, tells the New York Times that using the app to encourage home testing is ripe for expansion in other cities and possibly countries. He says they used Grindr because it's the oldest and biggest gay dating app, and they focused on black and Hispanic men who have sex with men because they are four times more likely than their white counterparts to not know they are HIV positive. Recipients received test kits in the mail, via a pharmacy voucher, or via a code that produced a vending machine kit at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. The test relies on a simple swab of the gums and results are available in 20 minutes. (The CDC predicts that one in two gay black men alive today will become HIV positive in their lifetime.) |
Despite Big Upsets, $1B Payout Still Possible | (Mar 21, 2014 2:43 PM CDT) A few too many upsets has ended any hope that a college hoops fan will be $1 billion richer at the end of the NCAA tournament. Thanks to upsets of Duke and Ohio State, among others, only three people were still alive in the Warren Buffett challenge heading into yesterday's game between George Washington and Memphis, reports USA Today. All three picked picked George Washington, incorrectly. If Warren Buffett wants to donate the (billion) to our university, we will take it and use it in good company, said Memphis coach Josh Pastner after the game, reports AP. Still, the top 20 bracket pickers will get $100,000 each when all is said and done. |
Russia Plans Moonwalk by 2030 | (Mar 14, 2012 4:35 PM CDT) Russia will finally send a human to the moon. At least it's planning to—by 2030, according to a leaked document from Roskosmos, the Russian Space agency. The Russians have intermittently laid forth enthusiastic goals for space exploration in recent years, reports the Telegraph, but never with a set deadline for a moonwalk. A moon journey could resuscitate the shaky Russian space program, which has seen its share of mishaps recently, including a series of satellites crashing last year and a botched Mars probe mission in January. The Soviets were the first nation to send a man to space more than 60 years ago, but they effectively shelved their moon ambitions after the US beat them there in 1969. |
Americans Want 3DTVs —Until They Watch One | (Sep 13, 2010 8:53 AM CDT) American consumers are eager to buy 3DTVs, until they actually try to watch one. In a new Nielsen study, 25% said they were very likely to buy a 3DTV in the next year. But after donning the glasses for themselves, that number dropped to just 12%, while the number who said they were not at all likely to buy jumped from 13% to 30%, Fast Company reports. Consumers had a number of reservations about the sets, with 68% saying they were too expensive, 44% complaining that there wasn’t enough programming, and 57% objecting to wearing 3D glasses. And while prices should eventually drop, and program options expand, the glasses aren’t going anywhere. But at least one group of nerds is determined to see past those worries; 71% of self-proclaimed hardcore video gamers intend to take the 3D plunge. |
Study Finds 48% of Chicken Could Be Tainted by Poop | (Apr 12, 2012 8:12 AM CDT) There's a pretty good chance your chicken has been contaminated by poop. Some 120 chickens bought from grocery stores in 10 major cities were tested in a new study, which found that 48% were contaminated by E. coli, an indicator of fecal contamination, the New York Times reports. Most consumers do not realize that feces are in the chicken products they purchase, says the president of the group that conducted the study, which advocates a vegetarian diet. But food safety specialists say the study isn't worth clucking over, both because its sample size is so small (42 million pounds of raw chicken occupy grocery store shelves each day), and because the strain of E. coli it tested for isn't actually harmful (though the study head points to research linking it to urinary tract infections). What’s surprising to me is that they didn’t find more, says one doctor. Poop gets into your food. Some samples did have E. coli levels higher than the Department of Agriculture allows for birds leaving a processing plant, but experts say it's impossible to know how much bacteria developed en route to the store. |
Rubio's Water Bottles Bring in $100K | (Feb 18, 2013 8:09 AM) It looks like Marco Rubio's self-deprecating fundraiser is working. After weathering merciless teasing over his infamous swig during the State of the Union response, the Florida senator began offering water bottles to benefit his political action committee, Reclaim America. Supporters have snapped up more than 3,100 bottles (the fancy reusable kind, not the bitty plastic ones) in exchange for donations of $25 or more, scoring $100,000 for the PAC in about five days, a Rubio insider tells BuzzFeed. The PAC's pitch: Send the liberal detractors a message that not only does Marco Rubio inspire you ... he hydrates you too. |
1 in 10 Young People Admits Sexual Violence | (Oct 8, 2013 4:50 AM CDT) Sexual violence is frighteningly common among young people between ages 14 and 21, according to a new study. Almost a tenth of young people admit perpetrating at least one act of sexual violence and 4% say they have attempted or completed rape, researchers found after speaking to more than a thousand young people, the LA Times reports. The researchers defined sexual violence as coercing or forcing some type of sexual contact upon another person. Young people who reported watching violent or X-rated material were more likely to have been involved in sexual violence, researchers found. Sexual violence can be perpetrated by anybody—a dating partner, a friend or somebody you don't know, the president of the Center for Innovative Public Health Research, the nonprofit group that conducted the study, tells USA Today. We asked perpetrators about their relationship with their most recent victims, and one in four said it was not a dating partner. Disturbingly, 40% of the perpetrators of sexual violence believed the victim was somewhat or completely responsible—and only two reported being arrested. |
Bus Plunges 60 Feet in One of Vietnam's Worst Crashes | (May 18, 2012 9:15 AM CDT) A crowded overnight bus plunged off a bridge into a river in central Vietnam last night, killing 34 people and injuring 21 others in one of the country's deadliest road accidents. The 50-seat coach lost control and ripped through the bridge's guardrails, diving about 60 feet and landing on its top, partially submerged in the Serepok River, says a local official. It took rescuers four hours to pull the bodies from the bus. When the accident happened, everyone in the bus was sleeping, a survivor tells a local news website. I vaguely heard a noise like gunfire and then people were screaming when the bus was overturned. ... I managed to escape through a window that was smashed opened by others. Rescuers used axes to try to free trapped passengers. Photos showed a body hanging limply out the side of the ripped-open vehicle, which was hoisted out of the river by crane early this morning. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash. Vietnam has one of the world's highest traffic fatality rates, with more than 11,000 people killed each year. |
Hedge Fund to Pay Record $614M for Insider Trading | (Mar 15, 2013 2:00 PM CDT) Two affiliates of a major hedge fund agreed today to pay $614 million in the biggest-ever insider trading settlement on Wall Street, the New York Times reports. One affiliate of SAC Capital, CR Intrinsic, agreed to pay $600 million after a worker was accused of using confidential data on drug makers Elan and Wyeth to make trades. That worker still faces criminal and civil charges. In the smaller case, Sigma Capital Management approved a $14 million payment over charges of insider trading on Dell and Nvidia stocks. Now the SEC is trumpeting the settlements: The historic monetary sanctions ... are sharp warning that the SEC will hold hedge fund advisory firms and their funds accountable, said an official. SAC also spun the tale happily, calling the settlement a substantial step toward resolving all outstanding regulatory matters. And the hedge fund will pay the bill through its management company, thereby leaving investors off the hook. (Is this a newly inspired SEC? The commission recently accused Illinois of deceiving investors and suspected insider trading in the big Heinz deal.) |
Hunters Kill 2 Moose ... Behind a Fence, in a Zoo | (Oct 19, 2015 5:00 PM CDT) Hunters in Norway bagged two moose, somehow without realizing they were shooting at the animals through a fence. And not just any fence, but the fence of the Polar Park zoo, The Local reports. As the hunters explained to the zoo, their hounds somehow got inside the animals' enclosure and gave chase, and the hunters simply didn't realize the hounds were inside a zoo at the time. I reacted with disbelief, and the first few seconds afterwards were pretty unreal, says the zoo's chief executive. I think this is very sad, and it’s not OK. We had five elks, now we have only three. (As the San Francisco Chronicle explains, the animals are what North Americans call moose, but in Norway they're called elk. The zoo exhibits animals in their natural surroundings, the Chronicle further explains. While the zoo isn't pressing charges, it does intend to seek compensation. Beyond that, a wildlife tribunal chairman says the hunters shouldn't be punished. This is a regrettable mistake made in connection with lawful hunting on the outside of the park, he says. It was a fatal error, but everyone understands that it was not done at all on purpose. Police, however, are still investigating the incident, which happened Oct. 7, and one official says the hunter who fired the shot could be prosecuted, in which case he'd face a fine or jail, CNN reports. |
Kardashian Robbery Lasted 6 Terrifying Minutes | (Oct 4, 2016 2:28 AM CDT) Kim Kardashian's robbery ordeal in Paris on Sunday night lasted only six minutes, but they were six minutes of pure terror, sources tell TMZ. The sources say she was only wearing her robe and feared she would be raped when masked men broke into the apartment where she was staying and tied her hands with plastic handcuffs. The robbers duct-taped her mouth shut as she pleaded for her life, the sources say. A friend sleeping in a downstairs bedroom phoned bodyguard Pascal Duvier after hearing the noise, and the insiders say he arrived just two minutes after the intruders made their getaway. The robbers are believed to have made off with a ring and other valuables worth around $11 million. A source tells People that Kardashian was very badly shaken by the ordeal and will be dealing with the aftermath for some time. She was just hysterical when she talked to Kanye, the source says. He told her that he couldn't care less about the jewelry; he’s just thankful that she’s OK. Kardashian returned to New York on Monday and was reunited with husband Kanye West and their two children. The AP reports that West—who abruptly cut a concert short after learning of the robbery—has canceled two concerts this week and will resume touring in Chicago on Friday. (Did Kim make herself a target?) |
N. Korea Fires 2 New Missiles | (May 26, 2009 3:28 AM CDT) North Korea raised international tensions even higher today by test-firing two new missiles off its east coast, AP reports. The missiles—one ground-to-air and one ground-to-ship—had a range of some 80 miles, according to South Korean officials, who believe North Korea fired an additional three missiles after its nuclear test yesterday that outraged world leaders. The UN Security Council yesterday called the nuclear test a violation of a weapons resolution and is weighing sanctions. |
Vast Study Pinpoints 4 Types of Breast Cancer | (Sep 24, 2012 7:02 AM CDT) A sweeping, 348-author study has made giant leaps in scientists' understanding of breast cancer, with genetic analysis dividing the disease into four different types that call for different treatments. While it could take years, and perhaps dozens of clinical trials, before these therapies hit the mainstream, this is the road map for how we might cure breast cancer in the future, one of the researchers tells the New York Times. In studying tumors in 825 patients, scientists made some significant findings. One of the four types, known as basal-like cancer, actually looks less like other breast cancers and more like ovarian cancer—and routine ovarian cancer treatments might be the way forward. The majority of breast cancer cases fall into categories dubbed luminal A and luminal B. Those with luminal A respond well to hormonal treatments, while those with the latter type may need chemotherapy. Finally, there's HER-2 enriched breast cancer, which involves an extra gene copy and generally calls for a drug called Herceptin. But some patients with this type of cancer don't necessarily take well to Herceptin, calling for more clinical trials. Despite the long road ahead, we are really getting at the roots of these cancers, says the study's lead author. The full study, published by Nature, is here. |
Alabama Nightclub Shooting Leaves 3 Dead, 1 Injured | (Aug 10, 2012 9:21 AM CDT) Three people were killed and one injured in a nightclub shooting last night near Dothan, Alabama, reports the AP. The suspected shooter, 22-year-old Ryan Clark Peterson, was kicked out of the club last night, then allegedly got a gun from his car and re-entered the club, reports DothanFirst. He was arrested at around 7:15 this morning, found in the woods half a mile from the shooting site. Police said they had not questioned Peterson yet because he was still under the influence of alcohol. |
10 Killed, Warden Hurt in Suspected Jailbreak | (Aug 12, 2016 12:32 AM CDT) Officials in the Philippines say 10 inmates died in a suspected grenade blast that rocked a jail Thursday night. Senior Inspector Xavier Solda, spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management, says an initial investigation suggests the inmates, including two Chinese nationals facing drug charges, had sought to talk with the warden of Paranaque City jail in metropolitan Manila upon learning they would be transferred to another facility, the AP reports. Solda says investigators are looking at whether the blast was part of an escape attempt, but they are waiting to get details from the warden, who was seriously injured. (Police and vigilantes in the Philippines have killed hundreds of drug suspects. |
Shutdown Odds: 52-48 | (Apr 7, 2011 12:22 PM CDT) The rhetoric is sounding more and more dire about a government shutdown, and the Intrade markets had the odds in favor of it happening at 52%-48% about 1pm ET. That's up from 40% about noon. President Obama, Harry Reid, and John Boehner have another come-to-Jesus meeting today, following a morning of pessimistic comments, notes the Washington Post. |
Debt Battle Sets Stage for Hyper-Partisan 2012 Election | (Aug 2, 2011 8:20 AM CDT) As nasty as the debt ceiling fight was, it was just a warm-up for the 2012 presidential election, which is shaping up to be a major referendum on the size, role, and philosophy of government, reports the Washington Post. This had nothing to do with the debt ceiling, said a consultant who runs a political leadership program for elected officials. This was about the 2012 election, and the lines were drawn about as clearly as possible on both sides. This has helped crystallize the debate, said Obama strategist David Axelrod. There is no doubt there will be a very distinct choice. If past elections saw candidates sanding off rough edges and going for a mushy middle-ground, expect a fierce battle this time, with positions drawn in sharp relief. Whereas Obama was able to run on abstract hope and change in 2008, political analysts say that will not be an option this time. If he wants the power to make transformative change, he’s going to have to make the argument for the change he wants to bring about, said a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. |
Trump Just Gave Clinton the Perfect '3AM' Ad | (Sep 30, 2016 12:34 PM CDT) Hillary Clinton made the idea of a president receiving a 3am phone call famous in her 2008 race against Barack Obama, and now columnist Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post thinks she should resurrect a slightly different version for Donald Trump. Except the question now may be: Do you want Donald Trump up at 3 a.m. tweeting crazy stuff? Rubin is referring to Trump's flurry of tweets beginning at 3:20am Friday, the first advising, Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying ‘sources said,’ DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies! He then went on to ramp up his attacks on former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. His invitation for Americans to go look at a 'sex tape' is beyond bizarre and may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back of his campaign, writes Rubin. This is plainly a man unhinged, unable to accept his defeat in the debate and—tweeting in the middle of the night—lacking any impulse control. At the Atlantic, David A. Graham suggests it's a waste of time to overthink Trump's motives here. To ask what the strategy behind Trump’s tweets is, or to question the wisdom of the strategy, is to miss the point. There’s no strategy in play, just knee-jerk reflexes. Read Rubin's column here, or Graham's here. |
Psychiatrist Kills Too Fat for 15 Son, Self | (Aug 5, 2011 4:50 AM CDT) A prominent Maryland psychiatrist specializing in women's health shot her 13-year-old son dead before killing herself, police say. The son, Ben Barnhard, had recently completed a year at the boarding school for overweight kids featured in the Style Network show Too Fat for 15, which tracked his loss of more than 100 pounds, NBC reports. Associates describe Margaret Jensvold as a hard-working psychiatrist and loving mother who doted on her son. She put a great deal of effort into her son's educational and psychological well-being, a lawyer who represented Jensvold when she divorced Barnhard's father tells the Washington Examiner. I never had any indication that Margaret had any sort of violent tendencies or even shortness of temper. |
Iraqi Court Convicts First Westerner Since 2003 | (Feb 28, 2011 10:15 AM) An Iraqi court today convicted a British man and sentenced him to 20 years in prison over the shooting deaths of two contractors, making him the first Westerner convicted in an Iraqi court since the 2003 US invasion. Danny Fitzsimons, 30, was found guilty of fatally shooting a British and Australian contractor who worked with him in a bar fight, and of attempting to kill an Iraqi guard who spotted him fleeing the scene. Fitzsimons, who had been facing the death penalty, told the AP as he was being led from the courtroom by Iraqi guards that he was happy with the sentence. But when asked whether he thought the trial was fair, he said: No. The former security contractor from Rochdale, England, admitted to shooting the men but claimed it was self-defense. His Iraqi lawyer says he will appeal, but added, This is a very good sentence. I saved him from the gallows. |
Guy Clocked at 112mph Was on Way to Court ...for Speeding | (Sep 10, 2015 11:59 AM CDT) A Vermont state trooper pulled over a 33-year-old man driving 112mph and weaving in and out of traffic on the interstate (speed limit: 65mph) yesterday. Where was the guy, who hails from Connecticut, headed in such a hurry? Traffic court, where he was due to take care of a speeding ticket, he told the officer. Now he also has a date at the Vermont Superior Court, the AP reports; he was charged with excessive speeding and negligent operation. |
Russian Cop Gets 2 Years for Killing Journo | (Dec 11, 2009 8:12 AM) A court in southern Russia has convicted a policeman of involuntary homicide in the death of a journalist critical of the government. The former head of a local police chief's guard service today received a two-year sentence for shooting journalist Magomed Yevloyev in 2008; Yevloyev's relatives, who claim the killing was premeditated, reacted angrily to the light sentence. Yevloyev ran a website that reported on abuses, abductions and killings in the southern Ingushetia province, AP reports. |
Toyotas Linked to 34 Deaths Since 2000 | (Feb 15, 2010 5:09 PM) Complaints of deaths connected to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles has surged in recent weeks, with the alleged death toll since 2000 reaching 34, according to new data gathered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While the government typically receives a surge in complaints following a recall, reports about the popular Toyota Prius hybrid jumped by nearly 1,000 in just over a week. Toyota has recalled 8.5 million vehicles globally during the past 4 months. The new complaints reflect the heightened awareness among the public and underscore a flurry of lawsuits on behalf of drivers alleging deaths and injuries in Toyota crashes. In the past three weeks, consumers have told the government about nine crashes involving 13 alleged deaths between 2005 and 2010 due to accelerator problems, according to a NHTSA database. The latest complaints come on top of information from consumers alleging 21 deaths from 2000 to the end of last year. |
740 Evacuated in Latest Eurostar Snafu | (Feb 22, 2010 3:00 AM) Some 740 passengers had to be evacuated from a packed Eurostar train from Paris last night after the electricity failed. Passengers were plunged into darkness as they awaited rescuers with ladders shortly after the train left the chunnel and headed toward London. It is stiflingly hot, the loos are not working and the only light we have is from mobile phones and someone's laptop, one stranded passenger phoned the Telegraph. It's only the latest major snafu to strike the high speed train operation, and company officials have already launched an investigation. |
2 Dead, Scores Hurt in 100-Car Bridge Pileup | (Feb 11, 2015 2:59 AM) Nightmare on a cross-sea bridge nearly 3 miles long: Two people were killed and at least 65 were injured in a pileup involving about 100 vehicles in foggy weather on a bridge near South Korea's Incheon International Airport today, officials say. The damaged cars have now been removed from the 14,400-foot Yeongjong Bridge on the highway from the airport to the capital, Seoul, according to an official who says it's not clear how the pileup began; it was likely aggravated by thick fog and icy road conditions. In 2006, a 29-car pileup in foggy weather on another cross-sea bridge in South Korea left 11 people dead and more than 50 injured. |
ABC May Move Kimmel to 11:35 | (Jan 28, 2009 9:29 PM) ABC is exploring the idea of moving Jimmy Kimmel's show to 11:35 later this year, in place of Nightline, so he can compete directly with Conan O'Brien, the New York Times reports. ABC denies it, and the speculation all comes from anonymous sources. But those sources say that ABC is trying to figure out how to better compete with NBC once the Leno-O'Brien time-slot changes kick in. Kimmel now starts at 12:05. All of which begs the question: What happens to Nightline, which has been in the 11:35 slot for nearly 30 years. The news department is anxious to protect its show, the Times notes, which has seen resurgent ratings of late. But the rise of network entertainment divisions and the corresponding descent of news departments' clout could make that difficult. |
Now at Costco: A $1M Diamond Ring | (Apr 8, 2011 11:57 AM CDT) Finally, Costco is catering to its multi-millionaire clientele. The discount retailer is now selling a 6.77 ct diamond ring for a million bucks, the Consumerist reports. Costco has sold some high-end diamond jewelry in the past, starting with a $180,000 ring in 2005, but a million is quite the step up, the blog notes. And while it might seem out of place at a store known for bulk-priced groceries, it is a discount; Costco lists the ring’s IGI value at $1,601,875. |
Syria Death Toll Hits 3K: UN | (Oct 14, 2011 7:00 AM CDT) Three thousand people have died in the seven-month protest campaign against President Bashar al-Assad, including at least 187 children, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has announced, urging international action to end Syria’s ruthless repression of its people. The onus is on all members of the international community to take protective action in a collective manner, Navi Pillay said according to the BBC. A UN spokesman added that the figure didn’t include the hundreds who’d been arrested and tortured, or who had mysteriously disappeared. Just hoping things will get better isn’t good enough, clearly, he said. Russia and China have already vetoed one UN resolution to take measures against Syria, but they have recently urged Assad to implement reforms, a sign that even they may be losing patience with him. |
Sea Change on Immigration? 64% Support Citizenship Path | (Apr 11, 2013 9:56 AM CDT) Support for a citizenship path for undocumented immigrants has reached 64%, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds. While 80% of Democrats and 54% of independents agree, Republicans are more divided, with 51% opposing the idea and 47% supporting it. That changed, however, when respondents were informed of fines, required back taxes, and background checks necessary for citizenship: Provided that information, some 76% of those polled—including 73% of Republicans—backed the idea. Evangelicals are embracing it, too. Meanwhile, some 54% of Americans now say immigration strengthens the US; in 2010, only a minority was in agreement. In other poll data, 55% of Americans support stricter laws on gun sales, down from 61% in February, but in line with a January poll. The figures show a giant political gap: Some 82% of Democrats support tougher laws, compared to 27% of Republicans. Meanwhile, President Obama's approval rating has fallen to 47%, marking the first time since before the election that it's sunk below 50%, according to NBC News. |
Deficit to Shrink ... to $1.1T | (Jan 31, 2012 11:42 AM) Good news/bad news time. Good news: The deficit will fall this year, thanks to additional tax revenue and major cuts in government spending. Bad news: It's still going to be $1.1 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office estimate released today; last year's total was $1.3 trillion. If the figure is accurate, 2012 will be the fourth year in a row that the government has run at least a trillion dollars short, Bloomberg reports. The CBO is assuming that GDP will grow 2%, but that unemployment will climb to 8.9% from 8.5%. The federal budget deficit—although starting to shrink—remains very large by historical standards, the report said. How fast it declines will depend in part on the speed of the economic recovery. Probably more critical, though, will be the fiscal policy choices made by lawmakers, as they face the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and $1 trillion in scheduled automatic spending cuts. |
Courtney Stodden Announces She's 4 Weeks Pregnant | (May 17, 2016 9:14 AM CDT) Courtney Stodden, former child bride, announced Monday that she is four weeks pregnant. If it seems a bit early for such an announcement to be made, let Stodden explain: It's a bittersweet time for me right now. I'm dealing with a lot of stress and emotions surrounding life and its ups and downs, she tells Us. Doug and I weren't planning on going public with this so soon. ... But some things are out of your control. (As Fox News notes, a source had been circulating video husband Doug Hutchison apparently shot showing Stodden with a positive pregnancy test.) Stodden, now 21, was 16 when she married Hutchison, who is 34 years older than she is. Stodden, whose Twitter account is totally terrific, went on Couples Therapy with her husband in 2012, the year after they wed; they separated in 2013 and got back together in 2014. This year, Stodden went on Lifetime's The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition with her mother, where it was revealed that, among other things, Stodden had cheated on Hutchison before their separation—and that Stodden's mom was also in love with Hutchison. Apparently things still aren't going well between Stodden and her mom, because her mother told Fox that if it wasn't for the media I would not get to know the news about my daughter's pregnancy. (Anderson Cooper's impression of Stodden will definitely make you feel better.) |
GMAC Gets New $7B Bailout | (May 21, 2009 7:19 AM CDT) The Treasury is prepared to inject another $7 billion into GMAC as the first stage in a new bailout that could double to $14 billion, putting the government on a trajectory to be the majority stakeholder in both GMAC and General Motors by year's end, the Wall Street Journal reports. GMAC, which provides fleet financing for dealerships as well as consumer financing for car-buyers, needs to increase reserves by $11.5 billion to offset exposure to troubled subprime lending assets. What started as a $20 billion bailout for GM and Chrysler in December may now inflate beyond $50 billion and could approach $100 billion before year’s end, the Journal predicts. The Treasury has already poured $16 billion into GM, $12.5 billion into Chrysler and $5 billion into GMAC, while the Energy Department plans to guarantee $25 billion in loans to automakers to help them retool factories for low-emission cars. |
California Holds Off on Executions for 6th Year | (May 4, 2011 3:21 AM CDT) Officials in California have given up on efforts to resume executing convicts this year, meaning that the state will have gone at least 6 years without executions. A review of lethal injection procedures has been delayed until at least January because the new warden of San Quentin prison wants to recruit a new 20-person execution team to replace the one that was assembled and trained last year, reports the Los Angeles Times. Gov. Jerry Brown has scrapped plans to build a new $356 million death-row facility, and the nationwide shortage of execution drugs is likely to be yet another obstacle that will prevent the state from resuming executions. California has the largest death row in the nation, with 713 inmates. But only 13 convicts have been executed since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978. During the same period, 78 condemned men have died from suicide, prison violence, or natural causes. |
4 Kids Dead in Philadelphia Rowhome Fire | (Jul 5, 2014 7:51 AM CDT) A fast-moving rowhouse fire in southwest Philadelphia early today left four children dead and destroyed eight rowhomes, officials said. The unidentified victims were twin 4-year-old girls, a 4-year-old boy, and a month-old boy, reports Philly.com. All were found in the same rowhome where the fire broke out about 2:45am. The cause is unclear. Officials said more than 40 people were displaced. This is a tragic, tragic day for the city of Philadelphia. Tragic, says Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer. We lost four children today. |
Canada Raises Age of Sexual Consent to 16 | (May 1, 2008 2:43 PM CDT) Canada increased the minimum age of sexual consent by 2 years to 16 today, the Canadian Press reports. The law is intended to snare sexual predators who prey on 14- and 15-year-olds, and exempts sex that occurs between two individuals less than five years apart in age. Canada's age of consent has been 14 since 1892. |
Spacecraft Lost During Test Found—22 Months Later | (Aug 23, 2016 3:00 PM CDT) In a tale of perseverance rivaling that of Westley looking for Buttercup in The Princess Bride, NASA never gave up on STEREO-B, a spacecraft that went missing 22 months ago while studying the sun. But CNN is now sharing the good news that the space agency has regained contact with the vessel using its Deep Space Network (think a juiced-up space version of our more Earth-focused telecommunications systems). Per the NASA website, the DSN established a lock with STEREO-B—the STEREO part stands for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory —just before 6:30pm on Sunday. STEREO-B had been hurled into space in October 2006 alongside companion craft STEREO-A, sent out with a joint mission to study matter and energy flow between sun and Earth, with one of the crafts inside the Earth's orbit and one outside of it, per Gizmodo. Things went amiss in October 2014, however, when the team decided to test a reset timer on STEREO-B designed to keep the craft working when it eventually moved to the opposite side of the sun and lost contact for more than three months. But the test went awry, and STEREO-B fell off the radar. The STEREO team didn't give up, tapping into the DSN's powerful radio antennas for nine hours a week to reestablish contact. But even though STEREO-B is now back in scientists' sights, a STEREO team member tells Business Insider the very hard and scary work is just beginning : When they turn STEREO-B's computer system back on to check its condition, they'll have about two minutes before its battery drains to send a fix to keep its solar recharging system working. As for STEREO-A, it’s been chugging along nonplussed this whole time. (NASA's research is now online—for free.) |
Signals Detected, but Officials Deny They're Flight 447's | (Jun 23, 2009 6:28 AM CDT) Rescuers are hot on the track of signals picked up deep in the Atlantic that could be from one of Air France Flight 447's black boxes, Le Monde reported today, but a French official denied that the signals could be originating from the doomed plane's flight recorder. The black boxes have not been detected, the official tells the AP. While Le Monde says a submarine was sent to investigate, a source tells Reuters it wasn’t the first time sounds had been heard. |
Kim Jong Un's Bloody Tenure: 70 Executions | (Jul 9, 2015 7:45 AM CDT) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has executed 70 officials since taking power in late 2011 in a reign of terror that far exceeds the bloodshed of his dictator father's early rule, South Korean officials said today. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, at a forum in Seoul, compared Kim Jong Un's alleged 70 executions with those of his late father, Kim Jong Il, who Yun said executed about 10 officials in his first years. An official from South Korea's National Intelligence Service confirmed that the spy agency believes the younger Kim has executed about 70 but wouldn't reveal how it obtained the information. Yun said Kim's reign of terror affects significantly North Koreans working overseas by inspiring them to defect to the South, but also didn't reveal how he got the details. Information about North Korea's inner workings is often impossible to confirm, but high-level purges have a long history. To strengthen power, Kim Jong Un's grandfather, Kim Il Sung, removed pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese factions in the senior leadership in the years after the Korean War. Kim Jong Un has also removed key members of the old guard through a series of purges; The most spectacular to date was the 2013 execution of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, for alleged treason. South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers in May that Kim ordered his then-defense chief Hyon Yong Chol executed with an anti-aircraft gun. Experts say Kim could be using fear to solidify his leadership, but those efforts could fail if he doesn't improve the country's shattered economy. |
One for the Ages: Phelps Nabs 23rd—and Final?—Gold | (Aug 14, 2016 1:03 AM CDT) Standing atop the medal podium for the 23rd time, Michael Phelps teared up, bit his lip, and gave a little nod. This was how he really wanted to go out. On top of his game in the water. Totally content away from the pool. It turned out pretty cool, Phelps said, another gold medal around his neck. It's just a perfect way to finish. Phelps put the United States ahead to stay on the butterfly leg of the 4x100-meter medley relay, reports the AP, giving the most decorated athlete in Olympic history his 23rd career gold medal Saturday night. If that was the end, and Phelps insists it is, the numbers are simply astonishing. No other Olympian has more than nine gold medals. With 28 medals in all, he's 10 clear of anyone else. It's not even once in a generation, said his coach, Bob Bowman. It might be once in 10 generations that someone like Michael Phelps comes along. One night after his only setback of the games, an upset loss to Joseph Schooling in the 100 fly, Phelps was back on top. At age 31, he leaves Rio with five golds and a silver. I wouldn't change anything, he said. This is the best place I've ever been in my life. In the stands, his fiancee, Nicole Johnson, bounced along to the music with their son, 3-month-old Boomer, cradled in her arms. Phelps is eager to spend a lot more time with them. He plans to marry Johnson after the Olympics and said he wants to watch his son grow, maybe even dole out a swimming lesson or two. And what if Boomer wants to take all those medals to show-and-tell someday? I might let him take one, Phelps said with a grin. Maybe a bronze, Bowman chimed in. |
Toddler Buys $20K Digger Online | (May 22, 2009 7:41 AM CDT) A tech-savvy New Zealand 3-year-old bought a $20,000 piece of heavy machinery while her parents were sleeping, the Daily Telegraph reports. Pipi Quinland went to the family computer after waking up early, entered the online auction site TradeMe—her mom had logged on earlier—and won an auction for a Kobelco digger with a few clicks of the mouse. I saw an email from TradeMe saying I had won an auction, Pipi's mother said. I'd been looking at bulk lots of lego for my son and I thought a digger must be in one of those toy sets. Then I saw the price and got the shock of my life. The sale has been canceled—and Pipi has been banned from using the computer on her own. |
Lunch With Warren Buffett Goes for $3.5M | (Jun 9, 2012 6:16 AM CDT) If this is how much lunch costs, one shudders to think of dinner. A private lunch with investor Warren Buffett was sold for $3.5 million yesterday, at a charity auction to help the homeless in San Francisco, reports the AP. While the Glide Foundation has raised $11.5 million over its past 13 auctions, it never had a bidding war like this one for the Buffett lunch. Last year's winning bid for the Buffett lunch went for $2.6 million—paid for by a hedge fund manager (surprise, surprise). In fact, the last four winners have all topped $2 million. Buffett has been slowly giving away his fortune since 2006, much of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Past winners have often spent the long lunch talking about philanthropy, says Buffett, although last year's winner was hired by Buffett to help manage Berkshire Hathaway's investment portfolio. |
Fashion's Mr. Blackwell Dead at 86 | (Oct 20, 2008 7:29 AM CDT) Richard Blackwell, the man who created the cheeky annual Worst-Dressed List, died yesterday at 86 of complications from an intestinal infection, People reports. Calling himself Mr. Blackwell, the designer issued wittily scathing reviews of celebs’ outfits, recently hammering Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and frequently targeting Anna Nicole Smith and Barbra Streisand. Don’t bother with a new designer, he told Smith, just hire a structural engineer. Born in a poor area of Brooklyn, the former Richard Sylvan Selzer won a Broadway role as a teen that took him to Hollywood; he later became a personal manager. When people paid more attention to his clothing designs than his clients, he launched his own label, promoting it with the Worst-Dressed Lists. The year the list came out everybody was mad as hell. They made me a name, he said. |
'Deeply Concerning': 7 Die of ODs in 1 Day in Cleveland Area | (Sep 26, 2016 12:03 AM CDT) Authorities are trying to discover the types of drugs involved in a spate of overdoses that killed seven people in the Cleveland area Sunday in the latest outbreak of drug overdoses in Ohio. Officials suspect they were either heroin or fentanyl, the AP reports. This cluster of deaths is deeply concerning, Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson said in a statement. Although there is no clear link between the individuals, this number clearly raises the possibility of a very deadly drug in our community. He issued a warning to take extreme caution while also advising people not to use illicit drugs. The deaths were reported across the county—in both Cleveland and its suburbs—and weren't limited to one area, a spokesman for the medical examiner says. The outbreak comes after 52 people died from heroin or fentanyl during August in the same area. The opioid deaths last month were the most in the county's history, the medical examiner's office said. Cuyahoga County, which has about 1.2 million residents, is on pace to record more than 500 overdose deaths from heroin or fentanyl this year, Cleveland.com reports. The wave of deaths follows outbreaks of overdoses in Akron and Cincinnati involving the animal sedative carfentanil, which is used on elephants. |
925 Pigs Found Dead Inside Pennsylvania Barn | (Nov 16, 2010 7:08 PM) Authorities in Pennsylvania are investigating what could be an unprecedented case of animal cruelty. They found 925 dead pigs inside an abandoned barn and are conducting autopsies to determine whether to file criminal charges, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The animals had been dead for months, and the owner reportedly left the farm in August amid a nasty divorce with his wife. Because the pigs were trapped inside the barn, passers-by didn't notice. These animals were fully at people's mercy, said the president of a farm-animal rescue group. The employee of another shelter who found them adds: I want to see justice for what happened in that building. I and the ASPCA had our hands on those animals. It's personal. |
$100 Bills Have Been Hidden All Over Oregon's Capital | (Jul 15, 2016 8:29 AM CDT) Oregon's capital is rolling in Benjamins thanks to a generous yet mysterious Benny-factor. The Statesman Journal reports $100 bills began appearing around Salem in May 2013 and more than $50,000 has been discovered since, including $8,600 last month alone. The individual responsible—nicknamed Benny after Benjamin Franklin, who graces the bill—has yet to be revealed, though he has left the trademark folded bills, signed Benny on the right edge, in 26 different stores and several neighborhoods and at eight events. Some 156 bills have been found at a single grocery store and 65 at a Walmart, hidden in boxes of cereal, feminine hygiene products, diapers, and toilet paper, per the Journal. But the bills have also been found in strollers, stuffed into tip jars, and slipped through open car windows, reports CBS 8. The best part? They have a way of finding those who need help affording rent or medication. A homeless couple even used a bill to spend a few nights in a motel. And about 50% of so-called Benny-ficiaries report paying it forward. These include children who've bought school supplies for classmates, groceries for a food bank, and toys for charity. A market vendor who found 10 bills, the most of anyone, says she's donated each one to a non-profit; other Benny-ficiaries have donated the $100 plus $100 of their own money. Others are actually keeping the Benny bills and donating their own funds. People are posting them on refrigerators, displaying them on bedside tables, carrying them in their purses, and putting them in protective sleeves, Capi Lynn writes at the Journal. It's a reminder, they say, to give and be like Benny. (Cash has also been found across California.) |
Say Goodbye to $600 Jeans | (Oct 29, 2009 11:53 AM CDT) If you couldn't afford a pair of premium jeans last year, maybe you can now. Though the basic components of jeans haven't changed in decades, prices skyrocketed early in the decade—but thanks to the recession, designer denim that might have gone for more than $300 two years ago is now priced in the $200 range. It was all just a fad, one exec tells the New York Times. During the boom, customers didn't think twice about extravagantly-priced clothes—but some began to question what they were paying for when even jeans began to push credit card limits. Now, retailers like Gap and J. Crew offer premium-look jeans for $60, and even high-end designers are offering lower-priced options. Charging $600 for jeans for no reason at all, says another exec— those days are over . |
US May Leave Less Than 5K Troops in Afghanistan | (Apr 22, 2014 7:30 AM CDT) The US military has said at least 10,000 troops must remain in Afghanistan in order to continue training Afghan forces while also keeping themselves safe—but the White House is now telling Reuters that State Department and Pentagon officials are considering dropping well below that threshold, possibly leaving fewer than 5,000 soldiers in the country after the US-led mission ends this year. White House officials reportedly believe the Afghan security forces are now strong enough to contain the Taliban insurgency, while any remaining US troops focus on counterterrorism or training. That belief was bolstered by Afghanistan's April 5 general election, which saw huge voter turnout and no high-profile attacks. But some US military officials expect the Taliban to increase attacks when US forces and other Western troops, including the British, leave the country, and think that Afghanistan's forces could grow weaker at that point. That matter is still cause for debate in Washington—debate that's ongoing as the US and Afghanistan still have not finalized a Bilateral Security Agreement authorizing the continued presence of American troops in the country beyond this year. It may not end up finalized until President Hamid Karzai's successor takes office; results of the presidential election could take weeks or even months to determine. |
Flying Off the Shelves: Bush's Memoir Hits 2M Mark | (Dec 24, 2010 12:42 PM) For a guy who's not really known for his grasp of the English language, George W Bush has done a heckuva job hawking his memoir: Decision Points has sold 2 million copies since its release in early November, notes the Daily Mail. Bill Clinton's My Life, in comparison, has sold roughly the same number—in the six years since its publication. What's more, Bush's tome has yet to be released in paperback. |
Utah 11-Year-Old: I Brought Gun to School for Protection | (Dec 18, 2012 4:50 PM) Authorities say an 11-year-old boy caught with a gun at school in Utah told administrators he brought the weapon to defend himself in case of a Connecticut-style attack. School officials say the boy has been arrested on suspicion of possessing a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault after other students told police he pointed the handgun at them on a field at a suburban Salt Lake City elementary school. Officials say school staff confronted the boy in class after hearing he had a weapon and seized the unloaded gun and ammunition from his backpack yesterday. He was due in juvenile court. |
US Plans $100M in Somalia Famine Aid | (Aug 8, 2011 12:55 PM CDT) As top US officials warn that hundreds of thousands of children could die in Somalia's famine, Washington is preparing to send $100 million in new aid, two officials tell the AP. To raise awareness of the crisis, Jill Biden traveled to a refugee camp to ask Americans and people worldwide, the global community, the human family, if they could just reach a little deeper into their pockets and give money to help these poor people, these poor mothers and children, she says. Biden met with two Somali mothers and their children as well as the Kenyan president and prime minister. It is difficult for aid to reach militant-controlled regions of Somalia, forcing tens of thousands to cross the border to refugee camps; a top humanitarian official says aid is only reaching around 20% of the 2.6 million who require it. More than 29,000 Somali children under 5 years old have died so far in the famine, and 640,000 more are acutely malnourished. |
Teen Gets $20K for Huge Diamond She Found | (Apr 11, 2014 11:33 AM CDT) An Oklahoma City girl has sold a 3.85-carat diamond she found at an Arkansas park for $20,000. Tana Clymer told television station KWTV that she plans to use the money from the recent sale of the yellow diamond to help pay for college. Tana found the diamond last October while hunting for gems with her family at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Ark. She says she couldn't believe her good luck and asked her father if she was dreaming. The park is the only diamond-producing site in the US that is open to the public. Other gems discovered at the state park include amethyst, garnet, peridot, jasper, agate, calcite, barite, and quartz. The yellow diamond the teen found is teardrop-shaped and about the size of a jellybean. |
Senate Panel Clears $3.6T Budget Plan | (Mar 27, 2009 5:59 AM CDT) President Obama's spending plans have passed a major hurdle in the Senate, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Senate Budget Committee passed a plan largely similar to Obama's $3.6 trillion request in a 13-10 vote split along party lines. The House committee passed its version Wednesday, clearing the way for debate in both houses of Congress next week. The Senate plan trimmed the president's spending request slightly, but left his agenda on energy, education, and deficit reduction mostly intact. The plan leaves room for an overhaul of health care, but defers a decision on how to fund it until later this year. Republican efforts to freeze spending on public services to curb the deficit—$1.2 trillion in 2010 under the Senate plan—were rejected. |
Taliban Kidnapped 500 From Boys' School: Pakistan | (Jun 1, 2009 12:10 PM CDT) Police are negotiating with the Taliban to release hundreds of people abducted in a northwest tribal region, a Pakistani official says. Around 500 students and staff from a boys’ school and their relatives were being held captive today in the militant stronghold of Bakka Khel in North Waziristan, he said. Other officials put the number at around 400. Suspected militants armed with rockets, grenades, and automatic weapons abducted hundreds who were driving away from the school, police and a witness said. The people were leaving after they were warned to get out in a phone call from a man they believed to be a political official. They were traveling in some 30 vehicles when they were stopped along the road by a large group of alleged militants in their own vehicles. |
New US Fuel Standards: 54.5 MPG by 2025 | (Jul 29, 2011 12:12 PM CDT) Announcing new fuel-efficiency standards, President Obama hailed his administration’s deal with automakers as the single most important step we’ve ever taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. With mileage standards almost doubling, Americans will save some $8,000 per vehicle on fuel, the president said. The new requirements call for an average of 54.5 mpg for cars, light trucks, and SUVs by 2025, the Detroit Free Press reports. CEOs of the Big Three and some Asian automaker executives joined Obama for the ceremony. The deal could revolutionize the auto industry, writes Aaron Kessler at the Free Press, noting that it likely will change how drivers shop for, interact with and think about cars and light trucks over the next 10 to 15 years. The agreement marks an extraordinary shift in the relationship between the companies and Washington, with automakers offering a meek acceptance of tough new rules that a few years ago—before the auto bailout—they would have battled, writes Bill Vlasic in the New York Times. |
As East Broils, 2M Without Power After Violent Storm | (Jun 30, 2012 5:19 AM CDT) Violent evening storms following a day of triple-digit temperatures have wiped out power to more than 2 million people across the eastern United States and caused two fatalities in Virginia—including a 90-year-old woman asleep in bed when a tree slammed into her home. The storms that converged on Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, DC, Indiana, and Ohio packed winds topping 70mph in some places, uprooting trees and damaging numerous homes. They came after a day of sweltering heat across the region. The nation's capital reached 104 degrees just before 3pm, according to the National Weather Service, beating a record of 101 set in 1934. As of 1am this morning, Pepco was reporting 406,000 outages in the District of Columbia and Montgomery and Prince George's counties, Md. We have more than half our system down, said a Pepco rep. This is definitely going to be a multi-day outage. West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency after more than 500,000 customers in 27 counties were left without electricity. |
Guy Fined $600 Over Crazy Sex | (Nov 29, 2013 3:26 PM) A British man's night of wild passion ended up with him fined nearly $600 yesterday, the Liverpool Echo reports. Adam Disney, 28, was out with a female friend in September when—well, we'll just let the defense attorney take it from here: They had been drinking and the couple were passionate in their interest to have sexual relations. On this occasion they were seeking to avail themselves rather quickly. So they did the most logical thing: Let themselves into Disney's old apartment using a key he still had. No one was living there at the time, but around 10:45am the next morning, neighbors heard Disney and his companion going at it, and called police ... who arrived to find Disney, as well as a damaged bed, curtain rail, and window sill. As the defense attorney puts it, the couple was carried away with the intensity of physical relations, and their sexual antics broke the bed and pulled down the curtains. As for the sill, that was broken as Disney leaned out the window to smoke and a board dislodged. Disney was charged with burglary, but ended up pleading guilty to a lesser charge of criminal damage instead. |
Husband, 86, Gets Probation in Wife's Mercy Killing | (Mar 29, 2013 3:54 PM CDT) An 86-year-old man who carried out a mercy killing by shooting his ailing wife in the head was sentenced to probation today after an emotional hearing where family members tearfully spoke on his behalf. George Sanders could have faced more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter. The judge opted for probation. The World War II vet told authorities his wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1969, and the couple moved from Washington state to the retirement community of Sun City outside Phoenix in the 1970s for the warm, dry climate. Virginia Sanders, 81, had been diagnosed with gangrene on her foot just a few days before the shooting and was set to enter the hospital and then a nursing home. It was just the last straw, Sanders told police. She didn't want to go to that hospital ... start cutting her toes off. In a videotaped confession, Sanders said his wife begged him to kill her. I said, `I can't do it honey,' he told police. She says, `Yes you can.' |
'iPad Mini' to Debut Oct. 23 | (Oct 12, 2012 11:42 AM CDT) Word has it a smaller iPad will debut at an Apple event on Oct. 23—though, to be fair, word has previously been wrong. This time, however, AllThingsD sounds pretty sure about it. The invite-only event, set for three days before Microsoft's Surface tablet hits stores, will take place on a Tuesday, unlike most Apple launches, which occur on Wednesdays. The so-called iPad mini will have a 7.85-inch liquid crystal display, a smaller Lightning connector, and is likely to be thinner than the regular iPad, according to the report. The Atlantic Wire, which has a link to photos, notes that it may be WiFi-only. |
9/11 First Responders Aren't Terrorists, FBI Confirms | (Aug 18, 2011 8:39 AM CDT) The FBI has finished screening the 60,000 September 11 first responders against the terrorist watch list to determine if they’re eligible for health care benefits and—surprise!—all of them passed, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. New York lawmakers decried the screenings, which were thrown into a law providing special care for Ground Zero workers at the insistence of Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns. It was shameful, and it put a cloud over extraordinarily good people for no reason, said fellow Republican Peter King. Manhattan lawmaker Jerrold Nadler agreed, asking, Did anyone really think the heroes of 9/11 were terrorists? It's absurd. The FBI finished its initial screenings in June, but will continue to screen new applicants as they become eligible. |
Man May Get US Citizenship —200 Years After Death | (Jul 10, 2014 8:13 AM CDT) A hero of the American Revolution who gave Galveston, Texas, its name may finally become an American. Some 200 years after he died, a bill that would give Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid honorary citizenship will be considered by the House Judiciary Committee this week, the New York Post reports. If the bill—authored by Republican Jeff Miller and co-sponsored by the entire Florida delegation—is passed, Gálvez will be just the eighth person to get the designation from Congress and, it appears, the first Spanish-speaker. As for why Florida is pushing the move, Miller notes that capturing Pensacola was key to defeating the British forces, and it was achieved in large part due to the efforts of Gálvez. (Miller's chief of staff notes, however, this is clearly an honorary situation and has nothing to do with the current immigration debate. Some background: As governor of Spanish Louisiana, Gálvez backed the Americans even before Spain officially entered the war; he supplied US forces with weapons and medicine, and later led a 7,500-strong army that emerged victorious in Baton Rouge, Natchez, Mobile, and the Siege of Pensacola, a nearly two-month-long fight that snatched the last British naval base on the Gulf Coast from them. Voxxi points out Gálvez helped draft the Peace of Paris, which ended the war, in 1783, and his efforts earned him recognition from George Washington. But the Los Angeles Times noted in May that Gálvez's citizenship isn't a foregone conclusion: Mother Teresa is one of seven to have been conferred it thus far; Anne Frank didn't make the cut. |
700 Missing as Typhoon Sinks Philippines Ferry | (Jun 22, 2008 6:10 AM CDT) A Philippines passenger ferry sank in a typhoon, leaving at least four known dead and some 700 missing, Reuters reports. A rescue ship arrived at the scene to find none of the missing, AP reports, and only three people were found alive in various villages. Some of them may have transferred to another ship, officials said. Typhoon Fengshen has killed 85 people amid high winds and flooding. Many more are trapped atop their houses, stoking fears the death toll could rise. One region is like an ocean—this is the worst disaster we have had in our history, said its governor. Nearby, 2,000 houses were destroyed, and 20,000 people are staying in evacuation centers. Roads are impassable so we cannot penetrate the municipalities, said an official. |
3 Firefighters Dead in Washington State | (Aug 19, 2015 8:20 PM CDT) Tragedy in Washington state today as three firefighters were killed fighting a wildfire in the north-central part of the state, reports KING5. At least three more were injured, one of them critically. It's not clear what happened, but firefighters earlier were battling what KOMO describes as strong, erratic winds near the small towns of Twisp and Winthrop. The bottom line is this is hell in here, said Okanogan Sheriff Frank Rodgers earlier in the day. It's just obvious. The wind's blowing in every damn direction. Gov. Jay Inslee also confirmed the deaths, saying his heart breaks over the loss of life and that conditions remain extremely dangerous. |
Guy Fined $2.4K for Renting Out Condo on Airbnb | (May 21, 2013 6:43 AM CDT) This may give you pause if you were considering renting out your apartment on Airbnb: A New York City man did just that, and now he'll have to pay a $2,400 fine. New York officials initially fined Nigel Warren $7,000 after he rented part of his condo to a woman for three days in September, arguing that he violated the city's law against illegal hotels as well as unrelated building and zoning codes. Airbnb stepped in on Warren's behalf and ultimately the building and zoning code fines were tossed out, but the illegal hotel fine remained, CNET reports. Airbnb argued that the 2011 law prohibiting New Yorkers from renting out a property for less than 29 days was not meant for occasional hosts like Warren, but rather for landlords who bought residential properties and started running them as hotels. Warren says he'll talk to Airbnb (which he still considers a great startup ) before deciding whether to appeal. And would-be Airbnb hosts may not need to freak out just yet: CNET notes that New York only enforces the illegal hotel law when a complaint is filed; it's not clear who complained in this case, but Warren did have a housemate at the time of the renter's stay. |
2 States Stop Paying Builder of Bungled Health Care Sites | (Dec 27, 2013 7:17 AM) The federal health care exchange isn't the only one that CGI Federal screwed up. The much-maligned contractor also built seven exchanges for individual states, and now two of those states—Massachusetts and Vermont—have stopped payment, with Vermont even requesting a refund, thanks to the company's failure to deliver, the Boston Globe reports. Until recently, Massachusetts' site had failed to enroll even a single customer, while Vermont residents weren't able to buy coverage until early December. Massachusetts already had a health care exchange site, but opted to build a new one to accommodate the extra features the federal law demanded. CGI has consistently underperformed, a state spokesman said, promising that the state won't pay another cent on its $69 million contract until the site is fully functioning; it's paid $11 million so far, and state health officials will meet next month to discuss formally suspending payments and possible refunds. Vermont has already halted a $5.1 million payment. A CGI Group spokesman tells the New York Times that it's intent on getting the sites up and running and not wasting a lot of time and effort in the clauses of the contracts when we're doing that. It added that not all of its state exchanges were underperforming; California's, which it had a hand in, has outperformed its federal counterpart. |
Airport Bomb Joke Costs Surgeon $89K | (Dec 3, 2014 4:47 PM) It might be the most expensive failed joke ever: A neurosurgeon has to pay more than $89,000 because he thought it would be funny to tell a ticket agent at Miami International Airport that he had explosives in his bag, reports Local10. Most of the money will go to five airlines that had to delay flights in the chaos that ensued last October, but the Miami-Dade Police Department will get a slice, too. One bright spot for 60-year-old Manuel Alvarado: The Venezuelan will not face formal charges of making a false bomb threat. I feel very ashamed and sorry for that stupid thing I said, wrote Alvarado in a confession. I am very, very sorry. The Miami Herald has details on the joke: When the ticket agent asked Alvarado whether he had explosives in his luggage, he answered, C-4. When the agent asked whether that was a gun, Alvarado explained that C-4 was an explosive—a response that led to a massive police response and delays for thousands of passengers, all while the good doctor was trying to explain that he was just kidding. |
Jaguar Bites 3-Year-Old's Neck at Zoo | (Oct 11, 2014 3:09 PM CDT) A jaguar bite to the neck left a three-year-old boy in critical condition—but he's now stable and ... expected to improve, the Arkansas Children's Hospital says. The boy was visiting a zoo in Little Rock, Ark., when he fell into the jaguar display, USA Today reports. Hearing calls for help, a zookeeper hurried to the spot to see an animal biting the boy's neck, she told police. Now the boy, whose name hasn't been released, is being treated for injuries to his skull and scalp, police say. The wounds aren't life-threatening, hospital staff say, per THV11. Zoo staff are trained to use fire extinguishers to safely overwhelm potentially dangerous animals if an incident like this were to occur, an officer says. That's what they did while other zoo staff lowered a ladder into the exhibit, he notes. A zoo staffer then climbed into the exhibit and retrieved the child, who was conscious and responding. The boy's father also threw things at the animals, and one such throw prompted the biting animal to let the child go, per the police report. |
Auto Worker Powerhouse Doug Fraser Dead at 91 | (Feb 25, 2008 2:47 AM) Former United Auto Workers president Doug Fraser, who played a vital role in saving Chrysler from bankruptcy, died yesterday at age 91. The cause of death was unknown, but Fraser had been suffering from emphysema, the Detroit Free Press reports. As UAW president during the ’70s and ’80s, Fraser helped win comprehensive health care and improved working conditions. In 1979 the labor leader pushed for $1.5 million in federal loan guarantees for Chrysler to save the auto giant from financial ruin. Fraser later served on Chrysler’s board of directors and taught labor studies classes at Wayne State University. His integrity and enduring commitment to protecting the rights of workers will continue to inspire us, said the union's current president. |
Painting Likely by Raphael Found in 300-Year-Old Scottish House | (Oct 5, 2016 5:03 PM CDT) High up in a corner of a 300-year-old house in Scotland, unnoticed, hung a painting by a Renaissance master worth more than $25 million. It's getting a lot more attention now. The Guardian reports the painting by Raphael, famous Italian artist and ninja turtle namesake, was discovered by art historian Dr. Bendor Grosvenor at Scotland's Haddo House. He was there to look at other works, but the painting of the Madonna drew his eye despite being obscured by discolored varnish. I thought, crikey, it looks like a Raphael, Grosvenor says. The 500-year-old painting was purchased in the early 19th century as a legit Raphael, but it was later credited to Innocenzo da Imola, according to the BBC. Restoration and further examination of the painting showed it almost certainly is the work of Raphael. Grosvenor tells the Guardian it's simply too good to be by Innocenzo. The painting still needs to be verified by Raphael scholars, Smithsonian reports. But if it's confirmed, it would be Scotland's only publicly owned work by the great artist. Finding a possible Raphael is about as exciting as it gets, Grosvenor tells the BBC. The painting has since been moved to a more prominent dining room location in Haddo House, which is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and open for tours. There are not many places where you can experience the work of one of the Renaissance’s giants in a dining room, Smithsonian quotes a press release from the National Trust. (A rare work by Renaissance master was found in Kansas City.) |
23 Hurt in Bloody Pamplona Pileup | (Jul 13, 2013 7:32 AM CDT) This morning marked the penultimate running of the bulls in Spain's storied San Fermin Festival, and it turned bloody quickly, with 23 revelers in Pamplona injured in a pileup of bulls and humans outside the bull ring. As the AP reports, dozens of falling runners clogged the ring's narrow entrance, prompting one bull to charge them and two steers to jump over. Officials scrambled to open a side door normally used by matadors, in order to let the bulls through. We all know that alley is a funnel and a critically dangerous point at the entrance to the ring, says an Interior Ministry official. Pileups there are one of the biggest risks that can occur in the running of the bulls. Two people were gored (one in the butt, another in the armpit), and one man's thorax was crushed, while another suffered asphyxia in the melee. It is a very grave situation. He's in a stable condition, but it's very serious, said a health official of the thorax injury. The toll further included a spectator who suffered a heart attack, and today's events come in the wake of three people being gored yesterday. (The AP has the gory video here.) Pamplona wraps up tomorrow; no one has died since 2009. |
Transocean: So Sorry for Calling 2010 'Best Year' Ever | (Apr 4, 2011 2:33 PM CDT) How to win a King-of-No-Tact award, in three easy steps! Step one: Dish out meaty bonuses to your company's top execs. Step two: Base said bonuses, in part, on the fact that 2010 was your best year ever in terms of safety—the pesky Gulf oil spill and 11 dead workers aside! Step three: Apologize ... by saying your best year comment may have been insensitive. In a statement to CNN, Transocean gave a sort of foot-in-mouth apology, saying, We acknowledge that some of the wording in our 2010 proxy statement may have been insensitive ... and we deeply regret any pain that it may have caused. Nothing in the proxy was intended to minimize this tragedy or diminish the impact it has had on those who lost loved ones. Everyone at Transocean continues to mourn the loss of these friends and colleagues. Click to read about how big those bonuses were. |
50 Years After Inaugural, JFK's Archive Goes Online | (Jan 13, 2011 9:07 AM) It's been a half-century since John F Kennedy admonished his fellow citizens to ask not what their country could do for them, and his presidential archive is going online today, just ahead of the anniversary, reports the Boston Globe. The $10 million project took four years to complete, but Camelot has gone digital—from key foreign policy speeches to intimate family photos and podcasts describing how Jackie Kennedy entertained at the White House. In all, the archive contains 200,000 pages, 1,500 photos, 1,250 audio and video files, and 17 1/2 hours of phone conversations. Among the gems: A rough draft, in Kennedy's handwriting, of his aforementioned inaugural address. Click for the JFK Library and Museum. |
14% of Death Row Inmates Are There Because of Just 5 Prosecutors | (Jul 1, 2016 6:02 PM CDT) Just five prosecutors representing less than 0.2% of US counties are responsible for 14% of all people currently on death row and 5% of people sentenced to death in the past 40 years. That's according to a recently released report from Harvard Law School's Fair Punishment Project. The report—subtitled How overzealous personalities drive the death penalty —found the death penalty was more about prosecutors cultivating an over-aggressive and reckless style than the actual crimes, the Huffington Post reports. And, according to the Guardian, that leads to a highly arbitrary use of the death penalty. The five prosecutors, who have sentenced a total of 440 people to death, are Joe Britt in North Carolina, Bob Macy in Oklahoma, Lynne Abraham in Pennsylvania, Johnny Holmes in Texas, and Donnie Myers in South Carolina. Only Myers is still serving as a prosecutor. All five prosecutors seem to relish securing the death penalty. Myer has an electric chair paperweight. Macy, who got a 16-year-old sentenced to death, saw it as his patriotic duty. Abraham says she's never doubted one of her death sentences, despite two of them later being exonerated. And that leads to another problem: the illegal or unethical behavior that seems to go hand-in-hand with a passion for the death penalty. Misconduct was found in a third of Macy's 54 death sentences, and three of them were exonerated. Britt was found to have committed misconduct in more than a third of his 38 death sentences and had two developmentally disabled teens exonerated. Myers was found to have a 46% misconduct rate, often for excluding jurors on the basis of race. He once referred to a black defendant as King Kong and a beast of burden. Read the full report here. |
iPhone Users Report MMS 2 Weeks Early | (Sep 13, 2009 7:34 PM CDT) Some iPhone users are already adding photos, voice memos, and video to their instant messages, Mashable reports. Anecdotal reports of MMS messaging on iPhones cropped up on the Web today and soon turned into a Twitter stream. AT&T isn't talking, MobileCrunch reports, but it looks like the company beat its Sept. 25 release date for the service. |
2 US Soldiers Killed in Philippines | (Sep 29, 2009 3:49 AM CDT) Two American soldiers and a Filipino marine were killed when their vehicle rolled over a land mine in the southern Philippines today. The men were fetching supplies for a school when their vehicle was hit, officials say. The American soldiers, part of a 300-strong force helping the Filipino army fight al-Qaeda-linked Islamic insurgents, are the first to be killed in the Philippines since 2002. |
Spam King Ordered to Pay Facebook $711M | (Oct 30, 2009 4:53 AM CDT) Spam king Sanford Wallace has been slapped with a $711 million judgment for spamming Facebook users. A California judge found that Wallace, who used phishing techniques to access Facebook accounts, violated a law against sending false and misleading marketing emails. The judge permanently banned Wallace from accessing Facebook and recommended he be prosecuted for criminal contempt, CNET reports. Wallace, who filed for bankruptcy in June, may face jail time for violating a restraining order issued during the case. While we don't expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent against these criminals, a Facebook lawyer wrote in a company blog post. |
Dow Falls 777 On House Vote | (Sep 29, 2008 3:42 PM CDT) The Dow saw its biggest single-day drop ever today after the House rejected the financial bailout bill and adjourned until Thursday, MarketWatch reports. Equities and commodities were pounded equally as the Dow plunged 777.68 to close at 10,365.45 and oil fell $10.52, to $96.37 a barrel. The Nasdaq shed 199.61, closing at 1,983.73, while the S&P 500 lost 106.59 to settle at 1,106.42. We're stunned right now, just trying to figure out what comes next, one broker told the Wall Street Journal. Added another: There's an increasing realization that the cleanup and the mending of all that's gone wrong is going to take an extended period to work through, and we're going to see an extended recovery period. |
Legendary New York Editor Dead at 82 | (Jul 1, 2008 2:45 PM CDT) Clay Felker, founder and editor of New York magazine, died today at 82. Felker was the pioneer of a distinctive format that has become the model for weekly magazines: long, novelistic features alongside short, spicy service pieces. Clay was obsessed with power, and he invented a magazine in the image of that obsession, current New York editor Adam Moss told the New York Times. At New York, Felker attracted a stable of feature writers, among them Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, and Gloria Steinem, who helped raise the magazine's national profile and introduce New Journalism, an approach Felker once said communicates not only the facts but the emotions. His era at New York ended in 1977 when Rupert Murdoch bought the magazine, but his influence endures there and throughout magazine journalism. |
Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 Civilians in Gaza City | (Nov 18, 2012 10:15 AM) An Israeli missile flattened a two-story house in a residential neighborhood of Gaza City today, killing at least 10 civilians, medical officials say, as Israel expanded its targets of its offensive to target homes of wanted militants. The attack, the single deadliest incident of the five-day-old Israeli operation, was likely to raise international pressure for a halt to the offensive. The airstrike targeted the home of the Daloo family in Gaza City's Nasser neighborhood, reducing it to rubble. Five women, including one 80-year-old, and four small children were among the dead, says a Gaza health official. The Israeli military said the target of the attack was a top rocket mastermind of the Islamic Jihad militant group. The claim could not be verified, and the official says the two men killed in the attack were also civilians. Israel's new tactic of hitting the family homes of suspected militant figures runs the risk of increasing civilian casualties. More than a dozen Hamas-linked houses were hit today. Some were empty after residents fled to find shelter elsewhere, but in several strikes, women, children, and civilian men were killed or wounded. US President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both spoke about the Israel-Gaza conflict today. |
Calif. Prop 8 Back in Court Tomorrow | (Mar 4, 2009 3:34 PM) Protesters around California are gearing up for tomorrow's state Supreme Court session on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the voter referendum that banned gay marriage, the Los Angeles Times reports. The decision isn’t due for 3 months, but the opinion is already written, and the court's stand may be revealed in the judges' responses to oral arguments, which will be televised. Legal scholars see many possible outcomes, but only one likely one: that the court will uphold Prop 8, but not strip already-married same-sex couples of their marriage rights. The present court is the same one that authorized gay marriage last May, but they aren't expected to have the votes to overturn the ban. One scholar thinks the only way to give gays equality and uphold Prop 8 is to replace the term marriage with something else, and apply it to all couples. Otherwise, you rewrite the Constitution in a way that undermines a basic principle of equality. |
Bullish Earnings Boost Dow 104 | (Jul 20, 2009 3:18 PM CDT) Stocks gained late today on bullish earnings from the S&P 500, the Wall Street Journal reports, with data showing that quarterly earnings from 71% of those firms beat expectations. CIT Group surged 81.4% on a possible plan to save it from bankruptcy. The Dow rose 104.21 to close at 8,848.15. The Nasdaq gained 22.68, closing at 1,909.29, and the S&P 500 added 10.75 to settle at 951.13. |
Markets Close Lower for 5th Consecutive Day | (Jun 15, 2016 3:16 PM CDT) Stocks extended a losing streak to five days after a decline in late afternoon trading erased an early gain, the AP reports. Utilities and health care stocks fell more than the rest of the market Wednesday. Edwards Lifesciences declined 3%. Whole Foods dropped 5% after the Food and Drug Administration said there were serious violations at a kitchen in Massachusetts that may have resulted in contaminated food. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 34 points, or 0.2%, to 17,640. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3 points, or 0.2%, to 2,071. The Nasdaq composite gave up 8 points, or 0.2%, to 4,834. |
Lehman Sues to Reclaim $350M Lost in Swindle | (Mar 31, 2008 8:15 AM CDT) Lehman Brothers is suing Japanese trading company Marubeni, seeking to recover $350 million lost in a scam apparently engineered by two of the company’s employees. The scheme involved forged documents purportedly bearing a board member’s seal and two meetings at Marubeni headquarters, including one with an impostor posing as an executive, reports the Wall Street Journal. Marubeni has denied wrongdoing and says it won’t pay. Lehman invested in a funding partnership with a Tokyo pharmaceutical company that it thought was backed by Marubeni; Marubeni says it had no involvement in the deal. The scheme may stretch back three years to other investment banks. Those investments were paid back—with interest—in part by funding from later investors in what is commonly called a Ponzi scheme. |
Mystery 'TipsforJesus' Diner Drops $54K in Huge Tips | (Dec 3, 2013 12:38 PM) Someone is going around the country leaving humongous tips at restaurants under the moniker TipsForJesus, and the Daily Dot estimates they've added up to $54,000 so far. Think tips like $1,000 on a $152 tab—you can see pictures of the receipts on Instagram. The anonymous Good Samaritan leaves their @TipsForJesus handle on the receipts, but so far there are few other clues to his or her identity—though Eater reports that the person is taking credit for the huge tips left in Utah earlier this year. More than one person could be behind it: Eater notes that the Instagram account often uses the word we, and some of the receipts have featured different handwriting. And it's apparently a football fan, as some of the receipts have lined up with the dates and places of college football games and USC's Fight On slogan has been written on some; a server tells the South Bend Tribune a member of the group that left two $5,000 tips was wearing a USC jersey. Whoever it is, he or she is making sure servers actually get their tips: When the aforementioned server said she did not, TipsForJesus posted a picture of the AmEx statement showing the tip went through, and recommended that if the server was being cheated, she should call the local paper and ESPN and lawyer up, because what they're doing flys [sic] in the face of what Jesus would do. |
10-7: Senate Panel OKs Force in Syria | (Sep 4, 2013 2:40 PM CDT) A Senate panel has voted to give President Obama the authority to use military force against Syria in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack. The tally in the Foreign Relations Committee was 10-7, setting up a vote in the full Senate next week. The resolution would permit Obama to order a limited military mission against Syria, as long as it doesn't exceed 90 days and involves no American troops on the ground for combat operations. The voting breakdown suggests the White House has some work to do before next week's vote. Obama won the support of three Republicans—John McCain, Jeff Flake, and Bob Corker—but he lost the support of two Democrats—Tom Udall and Chris Murphy. Democrat Ed Markey voted present. In all, five Republicans, including Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, voted against the measure, reports Politico. |
New Mayor in Mexico Officially Died 3 Years Ago | (Jul 12, 2013 5:47 PM CDT) A zombie mayor would make for one hell of a headline (not to mention a movie), but the newly elected leader of a small town in Mexico isn't dead in real life—just on paper. According to Mexican newspaper Reforma, Lenin Carballido faked his own death in 2010 due to police charges for allegedly participating in a gang rape, the AP and Washington Post report. He successfully obtained an official coroner’s certificate, and the charges were dropped. Carballido then resurrected himself this year to run for local government in San Agustin Amatengo, Oaxaca. The Oaxaca state prosecutors' office says the statute of limitations has not run out on the crime he was originally charged with, and it plans to revive the case and arrest him. The state attorney general's office will investigate and bring charges, even if the suspect is recognized by electoral authorities as a municipal authority, it says, per the AP. Carballido's party, the Democratic Revolutionary Party, says it wasn't aware their candidate was legally dead. He fooled the prosecutors' office, he fooled the office of records, he fooled electoral officials, says the PRD's state leader. If all this is true, he cannot take office as mayor. |