PORT CARBON, Pa. — Police in eastern Pennsylvania say a driver who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence was distracted by a puppy in the front seat and crashed into a day care center full of children, all of whom escaped injury.
About 40 people were at Little Sunshines Day Care Center in Port Carbon on Friday afternoon when the accident occurred.
Port Carbon police Chief Jon Bowman says the distracted driver swerved to avoid a stopped vehicle but ended up smashing into the day care center.
The car traveled 20 feet inside the building, destroying an entrance near a children's coat rack. A 22-year-old employee was treated for a minor leg injury and released from the hospital.
Bowman says the driver failed field sobriety tests. She was taken to the hospital for a blood-alcohol test then released. Charges will be filed if the test comes back positive.
Source AP
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Five Killed in Louisiana Interstate Crash
NEW ORLEANS, La. — A crowded minivan blew a tire, clipped a delivery truck and rolled on a Louisiana interstate Saturday, killing five people and critically injuring another 10, state police said.
Thirteen people were thrown from the van, including four of the dead who were found in the median of Interstate 10 near Baton Rouge, Louisiana State Police spokesman Doug Cain said. The killed and injured were all aboard the GMC Safari minivan carrying 15 people, most of them children.
The crash occurred after the tire blew out on the van's front driver side, Cain said. The van then hit the delivery truck traveling in the same direction, rolled about 200 feet across the median and landed on its tires in the oncoming lanes. No other vehicles were involved.
"It appears the tire blew out and the driver overcorrected," said Trooper Russell Graham.
Only the driver, who was killed, and a front-seat passenger appear to have been wearing seatbelts, Cain said.
"The Louisiana Legislature just passed a law making it mandatory to wear seatbelts in both the front and back seats," Graham said. "This is a good illustration of why they did."
The 10 survivors were in critical condition Saturday afternoon at two Baton Rouge hospitals, Graham said.
The driver of the truck managed to steer to the side of the road and was not injured.
The interstate was closed in both directions for about three hours Saturday afternoon.
No identities were immediately released.
Source: AP
Thirteen people were thrown from the van, including four of the dead who were found in the median of Interstate 10 near Baton Rouge, Louisiana State Police spokesman Doug Cain said. The killed and injured were all aboard the GMC Safari minivan carrying 15 people, most of them children.
The crash occurred after the tire blew out on the van's front driver side, Cain said. The van then hit the delivery truck traveling in the same direction, rolled about 200 feet across the median and landed on its tires in the oncoming lanes. No other vehicles were involved.
"It appears the tire blew out and the driver overcorrected," said Trooper Russell Graham.
Only the driver, who was killed, and a front-seat passenger appear to have been wearing seatbelts, Cain said.
"The Louisiana Legislature just passed a law making it mandatory to wear seatbelts in both the front and back seats," Graham said. "This is a good illustration of why they did."
The 10 survivors were in critical condition Saturday afternoon at two Baton Rouge hospitals, Graham said.
The driver of the truck managed to steer to the side of the road and was not injured.
The interstate was closed in both directions for about three hours Saturday afternoon.
No identities were immediately released.
Source: AP
Body Found in Septic Tank Believed to Be That of Missing Florida Toddler
The body of a child found at the bottom of an uncovered septic tank is believed to be that of a missing Florida toddler, MyFoxTampaBay.com reported.
Luis Martinez, 2, disappeared Friday afternoon from a neighbor's house on Silver Lane in Valrico, Fla. His parents reported him missing at about 3:30 p.m.
Police are waiting for the medical examiner's office to confirm the identity of the body, according to MyFoxTampaBay.com.
Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said grass was covering most of the tank, which had an opening about 11 inches wide.
"It was a very dangerous situation," Gee told MyFoxTampaBay.com. "You couldn't even see the hole plug — it was missing, probably for several years, and grass had grown over it."
About 400 volunteers helped search for Luis Saturday morning, according to the sheriff.
"Our hearts broke ... just the manner in which this all happened," said Gee.
Hillsborough Sheriff's Col. Greg Brown said earlier Saturday that investigators had identified sex offenders who live within a 5-mile radius of the house where Luis disappeared, which is standard procedure in missing child cases.
Officials from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted interviews at the scene and helped in the search for Luis. Authorities used dogs, horses and helicopters in the hunt for the child on Friday.
Source: Fox News
Luis Martinez, 2, disappeared Friday afternoon from a neighbor's house on Silver Lane in Valrico, Fla. His parents reported him missing at about 3:30 p.m.
Police are waiting for the medical examiner's office to confirm the identity of the body, according to MyFoxTampaBay.com.
Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said grass was covering most of the tank, which had an opening about 11 inches wide.
"It was a very dangerous situation," Gee told MyFoxTampaBay.com. "You couldn't even see the hole plug — it was missing, probably for several years, and grass had grown over it."
About 400 volunteers helped search for Luis Saturday morning, according to the sheriff.
"Our hearts broke ... just the manner in which this all happened," said Gee.
Hillsborough Sheriff's Col. Greg Brown said earlier Saturday that investigators had identified sex offenders who live within a 5-mile radius of the house where Luis disappeared, which is standard procedure in missing child cases.
Officials from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted interviews at the scene and helped in the search for Luis. Authorities used dogs, horses and helicopters in the hunt for the child on Friday.
Source: Fox News
Multiple Victims Shot at Wisconsin Home
MADISON, Wis. — Police in Madison, Wis., say four people, including two children, were shot early Saturday morning in a domestic incident.
Police Sgt. Phil Moore says a 42-year-old woman, 38-year-old man, 7-year-old-boy and 8-year-old girl had "various states" of gunshot wounds and were taken to a local hospital.
Moore says they were beginning to emerge from surgery midday Saturday and some had stabilized. All lived in a duplex, but Moore didn't elaborate on their relationships.
He says police are waiting to speak to the victims later Saturday afternoon.
Moore says one victim ran across the street and called police about 6:20 a.m. By 11 a.m., crime scene tape surrounded the single-story, A-frame duplex as police officers went in and out of the home.
Source: AP
Police Sgt. Phil Moore says a 42-year-old woman, 38-year-old man, 7-year-old-boy and 8-year-old girl had "various states" of gunshot wounds and were taken to a local hospital.
Moore says they were beginning to emerge from surgery midday Saturday and some had stabilized. All lived in a duplex, but Moore didn't elaborate on their relationships.
He says police are waiting to speak to the victims later Saturday afternoon.
Moore says one victim ran across the street and called police about 6:20 a.m. By 11 a.m., crime scene tape surrounded the single-story, A-frame duplex as police officers went in and out of the home.
Source: AP
Friday, November 27, 2009
Poland Imposes Strict Ban on Communist Symbols
WARSAW, Poland — Poland's president has approved legislation that allows for people to be fined or even imprisoned for possessing or buying communist symbols, two decades after communist rule ended.
The new law says that people who posses, purchase or spread items or recordings containing communist symbols could be fined or be imprisoned for up two years.
The new law has drawn criticism from left-wing lawmakers and other observers who say it is ill-defined and will be hard to implement. The law does not list the banned symbols and it also exempts from punishment their use for artistic, educational or collectors' purposes.
The legislation was initiated by Law and Justice, a right-wing opposition party that President Lech Kaczynski helped found and which has sought to purge Poland of the legacy of four decades of communist rule. The law was also supported by the governing Civic Platform party.
The law expands on legislation that already made it a crime to promote Nazism or other totalitarian systems. Communist symbols, however, were not specifically named in the earlier legislation.
A Law and Justice senator, Zbigniew Romaszewski, said the law was needed because the atrocities committed by communist regimes are being forgotten, allowing the flourishing of businesses that sell images of Soviet leaders, state symbols like the hammer and sickle and the red star.
"Communism should be treated just like Nazism," Romaszewski, who promoted the legislation, told The Associated Press.
"The numbers of their victims are comparable, taking into consideration the famine in Ukraine under Stalin and deportations to Siberia" that caused tens of millions of deaths, including Poles, he said. "We in Poland lived between these two extreme systems and we know what they were."
Communism was imposed on Poland after World War II and overthrown peacefully in 1989.
Marcin Krol, a prominent historian and philosopher with Warsaw University, said he believes scientific research or widely accessible information about the communist era would be more effective in keeping alive the memories of communist crimes.
He said the law would be hard to implement, given the imprecise definition of communism and the numerous exemptions it grants.
"The cruelty of that reality should be clearly described to the wide public, but banning and punishing seems artificial and ineffective," Krol said.
Source: AP
The new law says that people who posses, purchase or spread items or recordings containing communist symbols could be fined or be imprisoned for up two years.
The new law has drawn criticism from left-wing lawmakers and other observers who say it is ill-defined and will be hard to implement. The law does not list the banned symbols and it also exempts from punishment their use for artistic, educational or collectors' purposes.
The legislation was initiated by Law and Justice, a right-wing opposition party that President Lech Kaczynski helped found and which has sought to purge Poland of the legacy of four decades of communist rule. The law was also supported by the governing Civic Platform party.
The law expands on legislation that already made it a crime to promote Nazism or other totalitarian systems. Communist symbols, however, were not specifically named in the earlier legislation.
A Law and Justice senator, Zbigniew Romaszewski, said the law was needed because the atrocities committed by communist regimes are being forgotten, allowing the flourishing of businesses that sell images of Soviet leaders, state symbols like the hammer and sickle and the red star.
"Communism should be treated just like Nazism," Romaszewski, who promoted the legislation, told The Associated Press.
"The numbers of their victims are comparable, taking into consideration the famine in Ukraine under Stalin and deportations to Siberia" that caused tens of millions of deaths, including Poles, he said. "We in Poland lived between these two extreme systems and we know what they were."
Communism was imposed on Poland after World War II and overthrown peacefully in 1989.
Marcin Krol, a prominent historian and philosopher with Warsaw University, said he believes scientific research or widely accessible information about the communist era would be more effective in keeping alive the memories of communist crimes.
He said the law would be hard to implement, given the imprecise definition of communism and the numerous exemptions it grants.
"The cruelty of that reality should be clearly described to the wide public, but banning and punishing seems artificial and ineffective," Krol said.
Source: AP
BBC Abandons Ballet With Deformed Rapist Pope
The BBC has abandoned plans to screen a ballet featuring a deformed Pope who rapes nuns that it had announced as one of the highlights of its Christmas schedule.
Last month the corporation said it would televise "In The Spirit Of Diaghilev" from London's Sadler's Wells Dance Theatre as part of a season of ballet programs.
The tribute to the Russian impresario comprises four acts, each by a groundbreaking choreographer, with the entire production due to be screened on BBC Four next month.
But it wasn't until the production premiered at Sadler's Wells that the BBC discovered that one of the acts, "Eternal Damnation To Sancho And Sanchez" by Javier de Frutos, centers on a group of "horny" priests and a fictional hunchback Pope, who rapes eunuchs and pregnant nuns. The act prompted boos from the Sadler's Wells audience and a number of walk-outs.
After extensive discussions within the BBC, the corporation has decided to drop the de Frutos section. The three other acts will air as planned during the broadcast on Dec. 18.
The BBC is keen to avoid another "blasphemy" row with Christian groups who complained bitterly over its decision to screen "Jerry Springer: The Opera." Watchdogs rejected those complaints and said the BBC decision was justified.
Sources: The Times of London
Last month the corporation said it would televise "In The Spirit Of Diaghilev" from London's Sadler's Wells Dance Theatre as part of a season of ballet programs.
The tribute to the Russian impresario comprises four acts, each by a groundbreaking choreographer, with the entire production due to be screened on BBC Four next month.
But it wasn't until the production premiered at Sadler's Wells that the BBC discovered that one of the acts, "Eternal Damnation To Sancho And Sanchez" by Javier de Frutos, centers on a group of "horny" priests and a fictional hunchback Pope, who rapes eunuchs and pregnant nuns. The act prompted boos from the Sadler's Wells audience and a number of walk-outs.
After extensive discussions within the BBC, the corporation has decided to drop the de Frutos section. The three other acts will air as planned during the broadcast on Dec. 18.
The BBC is keen to avoid another "blasphemy" row with Christian groups who complained bitterly over its decision to screen "Jerry Springer: The Opera." Watchdogs rejected those complaints and said the BBC decision was justified.
Sources: The Times of London
Arizona Man Teaching English in Germany Vanishes After Concert
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A 22-year-old Arizona man who teaches English overseas has been missing since he attended a concert in Germany last weekend.
Devon Hollahan was last seen at around 3 a.m. Nov. 21 after a concert in Frankfurt, Germany.
He was traveling back to a hostel with a friend, who stopped to ask for directions. When the friend turned back around, Hollahan was gone.
Hollahan's father, Jeff Hollahan, told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that hearing his son had vanished is "every parent's worst nightmare."
Jeff Hollahan plans to travel Sunday from his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., to Germany to help search for his son.
Devon Hollahan had been teaching English in Prague since July.
Source: AP
Devon Hollahan was last seen at around 3 a.m. Nov. 21 after a concert in Frankfurt, Germany.
He was traveling back to a hostel with a friend, who stopped to ask for directions. When the friend turned back around, Hollahan was gone.
Hollahan's father, Jeff Hollahan, told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that hearing his son had vanished is "every parent's worst nightmare."
Jeff Hollahan plans to travel Sunday from his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., to Germany to help search for his son.
Devon Hollahan had been teaching English in Prague since July.
Source: AP
Holiday Shopping Season Revs Up With Black Friday Sales
As shoppers around the nation crowded stores and malls in the wee hours Friday to grab discounts and hard-to-find items, early reports pointed to some renewed spending vigor.
The nation's retailers ushered in the traditional start of the holiday shopping season with expanded hours and deep discounts on everything from toys to TVs in hopes of getting consumers, many of whom have slashed spending to focus on basics amid high unemployment and tight credit, to open their wallets.
Online sellers including Walmart.com and Amazon.com also pushed to grab a piece of the action, pushing deals on Thursday and even earlier in the week.
Several large retailers, including Walmart and many Old Navy locations, opened on Thanksgiving, hoping to make the most of the extra hours.
Early reports from Best Buy and mall operator Taubman Centers offered some encouraging signs that consumers were buying more for themselves and that crowds were larger compared with last year. Toys R Us CEO Gerald Storch said that on average about 1,000 were in line for the midnight opening for each store.
"So far, we are seeing that consumer are willing to spend a little more than what was on their intended list," said Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry analyst at NPD Group Inc. "This is a big gift for retailers. It was missing from the equation last year."
Still, worries about jobs clearly were on shoppers' minds as they lined up for big bargains on TVs and practical gifts.
At a Best Buy in suburban Cincinnati, store officials said some people starting camping out with tents at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The store started handing out tickets for big items, like laptop computers and televisions, around 4 a.m. Friday.
Robin Fryman, 47, of Mount Orab, Ohio, said she and her daughter, a friend and her husband got out at 6:30 a.m. for deals at Best Buy. Her hours as a food worker were recently cut from 40 to 25 per week.
"I've definitely cut down. You have to cut down, because you have to eat," Fryman said.
She said she usually shops on Black Friday, but got out earlier this year to find a camera for her daughter. They bought a $300 Nikon camera for $172. Other than that, she's focusing mostly on practical items like clothing.
Dondrae May, a manager at Best Buy's Framingham, Mass., store, said shoppers started lining up at 4 p.m. Thursday for the 5 a.m. opening for such specials as the $299 32-inch Dynex flat-panel TV.
Crowds were larger than last year, he said, and shoppers were filling their baskets with more items than a year ago, when they were shellshocked after the financial meltdown. The biggest draws were laptops, TVs and GPS systems, he said.
"A year ago, they were focused on what they needed," he said.
At a Walmart in suburban Marietta, Ga., early morning specials on flat-panel TVs, cameras and other electronics were sold out before 7 a.m., two hours after the store started selling the early morning specials. Aside from electronics, store clerks said $2 bath towels, kitchen items and children's toys also were selling well.
Most of the Walmart stores were open on Thanksgiving to prevent the mad dash for the 5 a.m. opening in the aftermath of the death of a Walmart worker on Black Friday in a Long Island store.
After suffering the worst sales decline in several decades last holiday season, the good news is that the retail industry is heading into the Christmas selling period armed with lean inventories and more practical goods on their shelves that reflect shoppers' new psyche.
Still, with unemployment at 10.2 percent, many analysts expect that total holiday sales will be at best about even from a year ago.
Optimism rose in early fall as shoppers spent a little more, but stores say they've seen a sales slowdown since Halloween, putting merchants more on edge.
The holiday weekend has high stakes for retailers who've suffered through a year of sales declines. It's also important for the broader economy, which could use a kickstart from consumer spending.
Black Friday gets its name because it traditionally was the day when huge crowds would push stores into "the black," or profitability. But the weekend doesn't necessarily predict spending for the rest of the season, which accounts for as much as 40 percent of annual sales and profits for many stores.
Still, retailers closely study buying patterns for the Thanksgiving weekend to gauge shoppers' mindset — what kinds of items they're buying and what deals are luring them.
Source: AP
The nation's retailers ushered in the traditional start of the holiday shopping season with expanded hours and deep discounts on everything from toys to TVs in hopes of getting consumers, many of whom have slashed spending to focus on basics amid high unemployment and tight credit, to open their wallets.
Online sellers including Walmart.com and Amazon.com also pushed to grab a piece of the action, pushing deals on Thursday and even earlier in the week.
Several large retailers, including Walmart and many Old Navy locations, opened on Thanksgiving, hoping to make the most of the extra hours.
Early reports from Best Buy and mall operator Taubman Centers offered some encouraging signs that consumers were buying more for themselves and that crowds were larger compared with last year. Toys R Us CEO Gerald Storch said that on average about 1,000 were in line for the midnight opening for each store.
"So far, we are seeing that consumer are willing to spend a little more than what was on their intended list," said Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry analyst at NPD Group Inc. "This is a big gift for retailers. It was missing from the equation last year."
Still, worries about jobs clearly were on shoppers' minds as they lined up for big bargains on TVs and practical gifts.
At a Best Buy in suburban Cincinnati, store officials said some people starting camping out with tents at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The store started handing out tickets for big items, like laptop computers and televisions, around 4 a.m. Friday.
Robin Fryman, 47, of Mount Orab, Ohio, said she and her daughter, a friend and her husband got out at 6:30 a.m. for deals at Best Buy. Her hours as a food worker were recently cut from 40 to 25 per week.
"I've definitely cut down. You have to cut down, because you have to eat," Fryman said.
She said she usually shops on Black Friday, but got out earlier this year to find a camera for her daughter. They bought a $300 Nikon camera for $172. Other than that, she's focusing mostly on practical items like clothing.
Dondrae May, a manager at Best Buy's Framingham, Mass., store, said shoppers started lining up at 4 p.m. Thursday for the 5 a.m. opening for such specials as the $299 32-inch Dynex flat-panel TV.
Crowds were larger than last year, he said, and shoppers were filling their baskets with more items than a year ago, when they were shellshocked after the financial meltdown. The biggest draws were laptops, TVs and GPS systems, he said.
"A year ago, they were focused on what they needed," he said.
At a Walmart in suburban Marietta, Ga., early morning specials on flat-panel TVs, cameras and other electronics were sold out before 7 a.m., two hours after the store started selling the early morning specials. Aside from electronics, store clerks said $2 bath towels, kitchen items and children's toys also were selling well.
Most of the Walmart stores were open on Thanksgiving to prevent the mad dash for the 5 a.m. opening in the aftermath of the death of a Walmart worker on Black Friday in a Long Island store.
After suffering the worst sales decline in several decades last holiday season, the good news is that the retail industry is heading into the Christmas selling period armed with lean inventories and more practical goods on their shelves that reflect shoppers' new psyche.
Still, with unemployment at 10.2 percent, many analysts expect that total holiday sales will be at best about even from a year ago.
Optimism rose in early fall as shoppers spent a little more, but stores say they've seen a sales slowdown since Halloween, putting merchants more on edge.
The holiday weekend has high stakes for retailers who've suffered through a year of sales declines. It's also important for the broader economy, which could use a kickstart from consumer spending.
Black Friday gets its name because it traditionally was the day when huge crowds would push stores into "the black," or profitability. But the weekend doesn't necessarily predict spending for the rest of the season, which accounts for as much as 40 percent of annual sales and profits for many stores.
Still, retailers closely study buying patterns for the Thanksgiving weekend to gauge shoppers' mindset — what kinds of items they're buying and what deals are luring them.
Source: AP
Thursday, November 26, 2009
UFO Chaser: Aliens Involved in Mysterious Calf Mutilations
SAN LUIS, Colo. — A creepy string of calf mutilations in southern Colorado has a rancher and sheriff's officials mystified.
Four calves were found dead in a pasture just north of the New Mexico state line in recent weeks. The dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage. One calf had its tongue removed.
But rancher Manuel Sanchez has found no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks. And there are no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion. Usually predators leave pools of blood or drag marks from carrying away the livestock.
Two officers from the Costilla County Sheriff's Office have investigated the mutilations but say they don't know what's killing the calves.
"There's nothing really to go by," said Sanchez, who's ranched for nearly 50 years. "I can't figure it out."
A spokesman for the sheriff's office told The Pueblo Chieftain that investigators doubt a person butchered the calves because there is no blood at the scene.
"I've butchered a cow before and I know what kind of a mess it leaves," Sgt. James Chavez said.
Some in the area believe the mutilations are the work of aliens. An area UFO chaser, Chuck Zukowski of Colorado Springs, has been to the Costilla County pasture to investigate.
He told the paper there have been other unexplained calf mutilations in the area, including three in March. One of the other calves, found dead on a ranch near Trinidad, had its ears removed, Zukowski said.
"We're trying as much as we can to find a pattern," said Zukowski, who runs a UFO Web site called ufonut.com.
Sanchez said he has sold off his 32 remaining calves out of fear more would be mutilated. He hasn't decided how he'll manage the remaining 40 animals in his herd.
"It's a big loss for a small rancher," he said.
Source: AP
Four calves were found dead in a pasture just north of the New Mexico state line in recent weeks. The dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage. One calf had its tongue removed.
But rancher Manuel Sanchez has found no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks. And there are no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion. Usually predators leave pools of blood or drag marks from carrying away the livestock.
Two officers from the Costilla County Sheriff's Office have investigated the mutilations but say they don't know what's killing the calves.
"There's nothing really to go by," said Sanchez, who's ranched for nearly 50 years. "I can't figure it out."
A spokesman for the sheriff's office told The Pueblo Chieftain that investigators doubt a person butchered the calves because there is no blood at the scene.
"I've butchered a cow before and I know what kind of a mess it leaves," Sgt. James Chavez said.
Some in the area believe the mutilations are the work of aliens. An area UFO chaser, Chuck Zukowski of Colorado Springs, has been to the Costilla County pasture to investigate.
He told the paper there have been other unexplained calf mutilations in the area, including three in March. One of the other calves, found dead on a ranch near Trinidad, had its ears removed, Zukowski said.
"We're trying as much as we can to find a pattern," said Zukowski, who runs a UFO Web site called ufonut.com.
Sanchez said he has sold off his 32 remaining calves out of fear more would be mutilated. He hasn't decided how he'll manage the remaining 40 animals in his herd.
"It's a big loss for a small rancher," he said.
Source: AP
6,000 Invading Camels to Be Shot in Australian Town
ALICE SPRINGS, Australia — Australian authorities plan to corral about 6,000 wild camels with helicopters and gun them down after they overran a small Outback town in search of water, trampling fences, smashing tanks and contaminating supplies.
The Northern Territory government announced its plan Wednesday for Docker River, a town of 350 residents where thirsty camels have been arriving daily for weeks because of drought conditions in the region.
"The community of Docker River is under siege by 6,000 marauding, wild camels," local government minister Rob Knight said in Alice Springs, 310 miles northeast of Docker. "This is a very critical situation out there, it's very unusual and it needs urgent action."
The camels, which are not native to Australia but were introduced in the 1840s, have smashed water tanks, approached houses to try to take water from air conditioning units, and knocked down fencing at the small airport runway, Knight said.
The carcasses of camels killed in stampedes at water storage areas are contaminating the water supply, he added.
The government plans to use helicopters to herd the camels about nine miles outside of town next week, where they will be shot and their carcasses left to decay in the desert. The state government will give a $45,000 grant for the cull and to repair damaged infrastructure in the town.
"We don't have the luxury of time because the herd is getting bigger," Knight said.
It is common to see some camels in the remote community, but a continuing drought and an early heat wave have dried up other water sources and forced great numbers of them into town. Much of Australia is gripped by some of the worst drought conditions on record.
In August, the federal government set aside 19 million Australian dollars for a program to slash the wild camel population, including a possible mass slaughter.
Glenys Oogjes, executive director of national advocacy group Animals Australia, said the plan to kill camels by helicopter was barbaric, and that the community could instead focus on setting up barriers to keep out the camels.
"It's a terrible thing that people react to these events by shooting," she said. "The real concern is the terrible distress and wounding when shot by helicopter. ... There will be terrible suffering."
Camels were first brought to Australia to help explorers travel through the desert, and now an estimated 1 million roam wild across the country.
They compete with sheep and cattle for food, trample vegetation and invade remote settlements in search of water, scaring residents as they tear apart bathrooms and rip up water pipes.
Docker River residents were not especially concerned when about 30 camels came into the town looking for water a few weeks ago, said Graham Taylor, head of the local council. But their fears grew as more animals arrived day by day.
He said many people were too frightened to leave their homes because of the big, strong animals, which can grow up to 7 feet tall and weigh 2,000 pounds.
"We need to get the risk and that threat away from the people," Taylor said.
Source: AP
The Northern Territory government announced its plan Wednesday for Docker River, a town of 350 residents where thirsty camels have been arriving daily for weeks because of drought conditions in the region.
"The community of Docker River is under siege by 6,000 marauding, wild camels," local government minister Rob Knight said in Alice Springs, 310 miles northeast of Docker. "This is a very critical situation out there, it's very unusual and it needs urgent action."
The camels, which are not native to Australia but were introduced in the 1840s, have smashed water tanks, approached houses to try to take water from air conditioning units, and knocked down fencing at the small airport runway, Knight said.
The carcasses of camels killed in stampedes at water storage areas are contaminating the water supply, he added.
The government plans to use helicopters to herd the camels about nine miles outside of town next week, where they will be shot and their carcasses left to decay in the desert. The state government will give a $45,000 grant for the cull and to repair damaged infrastructure in the town.
"We don't have the luxury of time because the herd is getting bigger," Knight said.
It is common to see some camels in the remote community, but a continuing drought and an early heat wave have dried up other water sources and forced great numbers of them into town. Much of Australia is gripped by some of the worst drought conditions on record.
In August, the federal government set aside 19 million Australian dollars for a program to slash the wild camel population, including a possible mass slaughter.
Glenys Oogjes, executive director of national advocacy group Animals Australia, said the plan to kill camels by helicopter was barbaric, and that the community could instead focus on setting up barriers to keep out the camels.
"It's a terrible thing that people react to these events by shooting," she said. "The real concern is the terrible distress and wounding when shot by helicopter. ... There will be terrible suffering."
Camels were first brought to Australia to help explorers travel through the desert, and now an estimated 1 million roam wild across the country.
They compete with sheep and cattle for food, trample vegetation and invade remote settlements in search of water, scaring residents as they tear apart bathrooms and rip up water pipes.
Docker River residents were not especially concerned when about 30 camels came into the town looking for water a few weeks ago, said Graham Taylor, head of the local council. But their fears grew as more animals arrived day by day.
He said many people were too frightened to leave their homes because of the big, strong animals, which can grow up to 7 feet tall and weigh 2,000 pounds.
"We need to get the risk and that threat away from the people," Taylor said.
Source: AP
Investigation Finds Irish Bishops Covered Up Decades of Priests' Child Abuse
DUBLIN — The Roman Catholic Church in Dublin covered up decades of child abuse committed by priests because bishops wanted to protect the church's reputation at the expense of victims, an expert commission reported Thursday after a three-year probe into previously secret church records.
Abuse victims said they welcomed publication of the probe into the mishandling of 1975-2004 child-abuse cases in the Dublin Archdiocese, home to a quarter of Ireland's 4 million Catholics. But they said government and church leaders still had far to go to compensate for past wrongs.
The government said the investigation "shows clearly that a systemic, calculated perversion of power and trust was visited on helpless and innocent children in the archdiocese."
"The perpetrators must continue to be brought to justice, and the people of Ireland must know that this can never happen again," said the government, which also apologized for the state's failure to hold church authorities accountable to the law.
This is the second major government-ordered report this year exploring how and why Irish authorities permitted widespread abuse of boys and girls at the hands of the Catholic Church throughout most of the 20th century, the gravest scandal in the history of independent Ireland.
Thursday's 720-page report — delivered to the government in July — analyzes the cases of 46 priests against whom 320 complaints were filed. The 46 were selected from more than 150 Dublin priests implicated in molesting or raping boys and girls since 1940.
The report named 11 priests because they all were convicted of child abuse. But 33 others were referred to only by one-name aliases, and two others had their names blanked out after the Dublin High Court ruled that publication would prejudice their chances of receiving a fair criminal trial.
Investigators spent three years poring over 60,000 previously secret Dublin church files. They were handed over by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, a veteran Vatican diplomat appointed to Dublin in 2004 with a brief to confront the scandal once and for all. Among the files were more than 5,500 that Martin's predecessor, retired Cardinal Desmond Connell, tried to keep locked in the archbishop's private vault.
The investigators, led by a judge and two lawyers, said they had no doubt that the 46 priests were responsible for abusing many more than 320 children.
"One priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another accepted that he had abused on a fortnightly basis during the currency of his ministry which lasted for over 25 years," they wrote.
They said it was not their job to confirm the scale of abuse cases, but "it is abundantly clear ... that child sexual abuse by clerics was widespread throughout the period."
The commission found that three archbishops of Dublin — John Charles McQuaid (1940-72), Dermot Ryan (1972-84) and Kevin McNamara (1985-87) — did not tell police about clerical abuse cases, instead opting to avoid public scandals by shuttling offenders from parish to parish.
It was not until 1995, seven years into his reign, that then-Archbishop Connell allowed police to see church files on 17 clerical abuse cases. The documents were kept in a secret, locked vault in the archbishop's Dublin residence.
Records show Connell actually had records of complaints against at least 29 priests at the time.
The report rejected the bishops' key claim that they were ignorant of both the scale and criminality of priests' abuse of children. It dug up a documentary trail showing that the Dublin Archdiocese negotiated a 1987 insurance policy for future legal costs of defending lawsuits and compensation claims.
The investigators said McNamara, Ryan and McQuaid knew about at least 17 priests linked to child abuse in their archdiocese when that policy went into effect.
"The taking out of insurance was an act proving knowledge of child sexual abuse as a potential major cost to the archdiocese and is inconsistent with the view that archdiocesan officials were still `on a learning curve' at a much later date, or were lacking in appreciation of the phenomenon of clerical child sex abuse," the report said.
In May, the government published an investigation into decades of child abuse in Catholic-run schools, workhouses and orphanages. That probe also found that thousands of boys and girls suffered rape, beatings and mental abuse by members of Catholic religious orders. More than 12,000 of those victims already have received compensation payments from a government panel exceeding $1.2 billion.
Source: AP
Abuse victims said they welcomed publication of the probe into the mishandling of 1975-2004 child-abuse cases in the Dublin Archdiocese, home to a quarter of Ireland's 4 million Catholics. But they said government and church leaders still had far to go to compensate for past wrongs.
The government said the investigation "shows clearly that a systemic, calculated perversion of power and trust was visited on helpless and innocent children in the archdiocese."
"The perpetrators must continue to be brought to justice, and the people of Ireland must know that this can never happen again," said the government, which also apologized for the state's failure to hold church authorities accountable to the law.
This is the second major government-ordered report this year exploring how and why Irish authorities permitted widespread abuse of boys and girls at the hands of the Catholic Church throughout most of the 20th century, the gravest scandal in the history of independent Ireland.
Thursday's 720-page report — delivered to the government in July — analyzes the cases of 46 priests against whom 320 complaints were filed. The 46 were selected from more than 150 Dublin priests implicated in molesting or raping boys and girls since 1940.
The report named 11 priests because they all were convicted of child abuse. But 33 others were referred to only by one-name aliases, and two others had their names blanked out after the Dublin High Court ruled that publication would prejudice their chances of receiving a fair criminal trial.
Investigators spent three years poring over 60,000 previously secret Dublin church files. They were handed over by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, a veteran Vatican diplomat appointed to Dublin in 2004 with a brief to confront the scandal once and for all. Among the files were more than 5,500 that Martin's predecessor, retired Cardinal Desmond Connell, tried to keep locked in the archbishop's private vault.
The investigators, led by a judge and two lawyers, said they had no doubt that the 46 priests were responsible for abusing many more than 320 children.
"One priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another accepted that he had abused on a fortnightly basis during the currency of his ministry which lasted for over 25 years," they wrote.
They said it was not their job to confirm the scale of abuse cases, but "it is abundantly clear ... that child sexual abuse by clerics was widespread throughout the period."
The commission found that three archbishops of Dublin — John Charles McQuaid (1940-72), Dermot Ryan (1972-84) and Kevin McNamara (1985-87) — did not tell police about clerical abuse cases, instead opting to avoid public scandals by shuttling offenders from parish to parish.
It was not until 1995, seven years into his reign, that then-Archbishop Connell allowed police to see church files on 17 clerical abuse cases. The documents were kept in a secret, locked vault in the archbishop's Dublin residence.
Records show Connell actually had records of complaints against at least 29 priests at the time.
The report rejected the bishops' key claim that they were ignorant of both the scale and criminality of priests' abuse of children. It dug up a documentary trail showing that the Dublin Archdiocese negotiated a 1987 insurance policy for future legal costs of defending lawsuits and compensation claims.
The investigators said McNamara, Ryan and McQuaid knew about at least 17 priests linked to child abuse in their archdiocese when that policy went into effect.
"The taking out of insurance was an act proving knowledge of child sexual abuse as a potential major cost to the archdiocese and is inconsistent with the view that archdiocesan officials were still `on a learning curve' at a much later date, or were lacking in appreciation of the phenomenon of clerical child sex abuse," the report said.
In May, the government published an investigation into decades of child abuse in Catholic-run schools, workhouses and orphanages. That probe also found that thousands of boys and girls suffered rape, beatings and mental abuse by members of Catholic religious orders. More than 12,000 of those victims already have received compensation payments from a government panel exceeding $1.2 billion.
Source: AP
Judge Erases $525G Mortgage for N.Y. Couple, Citing 'Repulsive' Acts by Bank
A Long Island couple is home free after an outraged judge gave them an amazing Thanksgiving present — canceling their debt to ruthless bankers trying to toss them out on the street.
Suffolk Judge Jeffrey Spinner wiped out $525,000 in mortgage payments demanded by a California bank, blasting its "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive" acts, the New York Post reported.
The bombshell decision leaves Diane Yano-Horoski and her husband, Greg Horoski, owing absolutely no money on their ranch house in East Patchogue.
Spinner pulled no punches as he smacked down the bankers at OneWest — who took an $814.2 million federal bailout but have a record of coldbloodedly foreclosing on any homeowner owing money.
"The bank was so intransigent that he [the judge] decided to punish them," Greg Horoski, 55, said about Spinner's scathing ruling last Thursday against OneWest and its IndyMac mortgage division.
It erased up to $291,000 in principal and $235,000 in interest and penalties.
The Horoskis — who had been paying only interest on their mortgage — had no equity in the home.
Horoski, who had begged the bankers to let him restructure the loan, said, "I think the judge felt it was almost a personal vendetta." Dealing with the bank, he said, was "like dealing with organized crime."
OneWest said, "We respectfully disagree with the lower court's unprecedented ruling and we expect that it will be overturned on appeal."
It claimed it "has been extremely active in working with consumers on home loan modifications through the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program and other loan modification initiatives."
The bank is owned by a private equity group that purchased the failed IndyMac bank.
Yano-Horoski, a college professor of English and cognitive reason, and Horoski, who sells collectible dolls online, bought their 3,400-square-foot, one-level house 15 years ago for less than $200,000.
In 2004, court records show, they refinanced, paying off their original mortgage with part of a $292,500 sub-prime loan from Deutsche Bank. They used what was left for health care and for his business.
The loan carried an initial adjustable interest rate of 10.375 percent, which soared to 12.375 percent.
It eventually ended up being either owned or serviced by IndyMac, and the bank sued the couple in July 2005 when they began having trouble making payments because of Horoski's health problems.
After a foreclosure was approved last January, Yano-Haroski successfully asked for a court settlement conference.
Spinner excoriated OneWest for repeatedly refusing to work out a deal, for misleading him about the dollar amounts at stake in the case, and for its treatment of the couple over months of hearings.
OneWest's conduct was "inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious," Spinner wrote.
He canceled the debt because the bank "must be appropriately sanctioned so as to deter it from imposing further mortifying abuse against [the couple]."
The bank is involved in a similar case in California, where it's trying to foreclose on an 89-year-old woman, despite two court orders telling it to stop.
Source: Nypost.com
Suffolk Judge Jeffrey Spinner wiped out $525,000 in mortgage payments demanded by a California bank, blasting its "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive" acts, the New York Post reported.
The bombshell decision leaves Diane Yano-Horoski and her husband, Greg Horoski, owing absolutely no money on their ranch house in East Patchogue.
Spinner pulled no punches as he smacked down the bankers at OneWest — who took an $814.2 million federal bailout but have a record of coldbloodedly foreclosing on any homeowner owing money.
"The bank was so intransigent that he [the judge] decided to punish them," Greg Horoski, 55, said about Spinner's scathing ruling last Thursday against OneWest and its IndyMac mortgage division.
It erased up to $291,000 in principal and $235,000 in interest and penalties.
The Horoskis — who had been paying only interest on their mortgage — had no equity in the home.
Horoski, who had begged the bankers to let him restructure the loan, said, "I think the judge felt it was almost a personal vendetta." Dealing with the bank, he said, was "like dealing with organized crime."
OneWest said, "We respectfully disagree with the lower court's unprecedented ruling and we expect that it will be overturned on appeal."
It claimed it "has been extremely active in working with consumers on home loan modifications through the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program and other loan modification initiatives."
The bank is owned by a private equity group that purchased the failed IndyMac bank.
Yano-Horoski, a college professor of English and cognitive reason, and Horoski, who sells collectible dolls online, bought their 3,400-square-foot, one-level house 15 years ago for less than $200,000.
In 2004, court records show, they refinanced, paying off their original mortgage with part of a $292,500 sub-prime loan from Deutsche Bank. They used what was left for health care and for his business.
The loan carried an initial adjustable interest rate of 10.375 percent, which soared to 12.375 percent.
It eventually ended up being either owned or serviced by IndyMac, and the bank sued the couple in July 2005 when they began having trouble making payments because of Horoski's health problems.
After a foreclosure was approved last January, Yano-Haroski successfully asked for a court settlement conference.
Spinner excoriated OneWest for repeatedly refusing to work out a deal, for misleading him about the dollar amounts at stake in the case, and for its treatment of the couple over months of hearings.
OneWest's conduct was "inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious," Spinner wrote.
He canceled the debt because the bank "must be appropriately sanctioned so as to deter it from imposing further mortifying abuse against [the couple]."
The bank is involved in a similar case in California, where it's trying to foreclose on an 89-year-old woman, despite two court orders telling it to stop.
Source: Nypost.com
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
4 Found Dead in Chicago-Area Home in Apparent Murder-Suicide
Four people, including two children, were found dead Wednesday in a home in suburban Chicago in what police believe was a murder-suicide, MyFoxChicago.com reported.
Addison authorities are investigating the deaths of a man, woman and two boys discovered just after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Officers went to the scene after getting a 911 call.
Police aren't providing details on how the people died or when they were killed.
"The preliminary investigation indicates this was not a random act of violence, but an isolated incident at this location," said Addison Police Officer Megan Freeman. She said it appears that no one outside the home was involved and neighbors shouldn't be concerned.
Another law-enforcement source told MyFoxChicago.com that the crime was being handled as a murder-suicide.
Autopsies are scheduled for Thursday.
More from MyFoxChicago.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News
Addison authorities are investigating the deaths of a man, woman and two boys discovered just after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Officers went to the scene after getting a 911 call.
Police aren't providing details on how the people died or when they were killed.
"The preliminary investigation indicates this was not a random act of violence, but an isolated incident at this location," said Addison Police Officer Megan Freeman. She said it appears that no one outside the home was involved and neighbors shouldn't be concerned.
Another law-enforcement source told MyFoxChicago.com that the crime was being handled as a murder-suicide.
Autopsies are scheduled for Thursday.
More from MyFoxChicago.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News
Mothers of Hikers Held Captive in Iran Record Video Message
MINNEAPOLIS — The mothers of three Americans held captive in Iran the last 117 days have recorded video messages they are asking Iranian authorities to deliver to their children.
From their homes in Minnesota, California and Pennsylvania, the mothers of Shane Bauer, Nora Shourd and Josh Fattal ask their kids to stay positive and express hope that Iranian authorities will take mercy on them.
Click here to view video message.
The three were hiking in northern Iraq in late July when Iranian authorities took them into custody for crossing into the country. The families say their kids were on a hike, but an Iranian prosecutor recently said the three are facing espionage charges.
The families sent copies of the video to the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations and to Iranian authorities asking they be given to their children.
Source: AP
From their homes in Minnesota, California and Pennsylvania, the mothers of Shane Bauer, Nora Shourd and Josh Fattal ask their kids to stay positive and express hope that Iranian authorities will take mercy on them.
Click here to view video message.
The three were hiking in northern Iraq in late July when Iranian authorities took them into custody for crossing into the country. The families say their kids were on a hike, but an Iranian prosecutor recently said the three are facing espionage charges.
The families sent copies of the video to the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations and to Iranian authorities asking they be given to their children.
Source: AP
Paralympian Drags Himself to Plane After Airline Makes Him Check Wheelchair
A paralympic champion who dragged himself through an airport after a budget airline made him check in his wheelchair has received an apology.
Kurt Fearnley had just crawled along a 60-mile jungle track in Papua New Guinea.
But when he arrived at Brisbane airport a few days later, Jetstar— an offshoot of Qantas airlines — asked him to check in his wheelchair.
The Australian budget airline offered him its own wheelchair, specially designed for planes, but told Fearnley he would have to be pushed by airline staff.
Fearnley, who won marathon gold in the Beijing and Athens Paralympics, was insulted at being asked to give up his independence.
He said the equivalent for an able-bodied person "would be having your legs tied together, your pants pulled down and be carried or pushed through an airport."
In protest, he rejected the airline's wheelchair and dragged himself through the terminal, in and out of the toilet, and onto the plane.
Jetstar has now issued an apology, saying any embarrassment and hurt was not intentional.
It said its policy for passengers in wheelchairs was for them to transfer to the airline wheelchair, which is more maneuverable on the plane, at the boarding gate.
Jetstar have now assured Fearnley they are working on an alternative boarding procedure for disabled passengers.
He said: "As long as that's going ahead, I'm more than happy."
Since the incident, a man from Melbourne has said he spent six days in hospital after he fell out of a Jetstar wheelchair while being pushed by staff.
Trevor Carroll, of South Morang, told ABC news he handed over his four-wheeled walking frame on a Jetstar flight earlier this month, but it was broken in the baggage hold.
The airline offered to fix it, but he had no way to get home.
Source: Sky News
Kurt Fearnley had just crawled along a 60-mile jungle track in Papua New Guinea.
But when he arrived at Brisbane airport a few days later, Jetstar— an offshoot of Qantas airlines — asked him to check in his wheelchair.
The Australian budget airline offered him its own wheelchair, specially designed for planes, but told Fearnley he would have to be pushed by airline staff.
Fearnley, who won marathon gold in the Beijing and Athens Paralympics, was insulted at being asked to give up his independence.
He said the equivalent for an able-bodied person "would be having your legs tied together, your pants pulled down and be carried or pushed through an airport."
In protest, he rejected the airline's wheelchair and dragged himself through the terminal, in and out of the toilet, and onto the plane.
Jetstar has now issued an apology, saying any embarrassment and hurt was not intentional.
It said its policy for passengers in wheelchairs was for them to transfer to the airline wheelchair, which is more maneuverable on the plane, at the boarding gate.
Jetstar have now assured Fearnley they are working on an alternative boarding procedure for disabled passengers.
He said: "As long as that's going ahead, I'm more than happy."
Since the incident, a man from Melbourne has said he spent six days in hospital after he fell out of a Jetstar wheelchair while being pushed by staff.
Trevor Carroll, of South Morang, told ABC news he handed over his four-wheeled walking frame on a Jetstar flight earlier this month, but it was broken in the baggage hold.
The airline offered to fix it, but he had no way to get home.
Source: Sky News
Human Remains Found at California Home Where 3 Missing Teens Last Seen
Human remains were found Wednesday in the backyard of a Southern California home where three missing teens were last seen, police said.
The discovery comes after investigators unearthed another set of remains in a search Nov. 18 at the property on Bluejay Way in Hemet, Calif., according to The Press-Enterprise.
Felicia Sharpe, her boyfriend Jose Campos and Adrian Rios, all 17, vanished more than a week ago, MyFoxLA.com reported. Campos lives at the home on Bluejay Way.
Police describe their disappearance as suspicious.
The three teenagers were reported missing Nov. 17. Hemet Police Sgt. Dave Quinn said detectives believe they may be together but don't think they ran away or were abducted, according to MyFoxLA.com.
Authorities have not identified the remains or said whether they belong to more than one person, but don't believe they are Sharpe's, according to The Press-Enterprise.
Sharpe was last seen Nov. 9, but wasn't reported missing until Nov. 17, Quinn said. She apparently logged on to her MySpace page on Nov. 14, the newspaper reported.
Rios was last seen Nov. 15 when he went to watch football at Campos' home, according to Rios family spokeswoman Melissa Montanez. Relatives handed out fliers the day after Rios vanished, she said.
Rios told his mother he would be home after the game, according to Montanez. His cell phone has been off since he disappeared.
"His mom's a mess. That's her boy," Montanez told The Press-Enterprise. "I told his mother until someone tells us he's not coming home, we're not going to lose faith."
Neighbors said the house where the remains were found has been vacant for the past week, though it was usually full of teenagers, The Press-Enterprise reported.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Hemet police at (951) 765-2400.
Source: Fox News
The discovery comes after investigators unearthed another set of remains in a search Nov. 18 at the property on Bluejay Way in Hemet, Calif., according to The Press-Enterprise.
Felicia Sharpe, her boyfriend Jose Campos and Adrian Rios, all 17, vanished more than a week ago, MyFoxLA.com reported. Campos lives at the home on Bluejay Way.
Police describe their disappearance as suspicious.
The three teenagers were reported missing Nov. 17. Hemet Police Sgt. Dave Quinn said detectives believe they may be together but don't think they ran away or were abducted, according to MyFoxLA.com.
Authorities have not identified the remains or said whether they belong to more than one person, but don't believe they are Sharpe's, according to The Press-Enterprise.
Sharpe was last seen Nov. 9, but wasn't reported missing until Nov. 17, Quinn said. She apparently logged on to her MySpace page on Nov. 14, the newspaper reported.
Rios was last seen Nov. 15 when he went to watch football at Campos' home, according to Rios family spokeswoman Melissa Montanez. Relatives handed out fliers the day after Rios vanished, she said.
Rios told his mother he would be home after the game, according to Montanez. His cell phone has been off since he disappeared.
"His mom's a mess. That's her boy," Montanez told The Press-Enterprise. "I told his mother until someone tells us he's not coming home, we're not going to lose faith."
Neighbors said the house where the remains were found has been vacant for the past week, though it was usually full of teenagers, The Press-Enterprise reported.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Hemet police at (951) 765-2400.
Source: Fox News
Monday, November 23, 2009
Florida Police Search for 300-Pound 'Big Baby' Suspected in Double Shooting
The family of a man shot to death in Miami made a tearful plea to the public to help find the killer on Sunday.
Miami Police said Franco Rodriguez, 39, and Manual Suarez, 32, were shot and killed in their SUV early Friday morning, WSVN.com reported.
Police are now searching for a 6'3", 300-lb. man known as "Big Baby," suspected in the shooting. Authorities are also looking for a blue Chevy Malibu with tinted windows.
Rodriguez's wife, Michelle, stood next to her sister-in-law, Margie Tores, as she spoke out on behalf of the family.
"This has been the biggest impact in our lives right now. This was a family man. A good man. A caring man. A generous man that two monsters decided to destroy our lives," Tores said, according to WSVN.com.
"They destroyed five children's lives, his wife's life. I urge you and anyone that knows anything to please come forward, let the police do their job. Come forward because these monsters have destroyed our lives."
Police said a car approached the SUV carrying Rodriguez and Suarez before the car's driver opened fire and fled the scene.
The shooting might have been related to a fight that Rodriguez was involved in at a local strip club, according to police. Surveillance video provided by the club shows a person of interest, WSVN.com reported.
Police are asking the public to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS if they have any information.
Source: Fox News
Miami Police said Franco Rodriguez, 39, and Manual Suarez, 32, were shot and killed in their SUV early Friday morning, WSVN.com reported.
Police are now searching for a 6'3", 300-lb. man known as "Big Baby," suspected in the shooting. Authorities are also looking for a blue Chevy Malibu with tinted windows.
Rodriguez's wife, Michelle, stood next to her sister-in-law, Margie Tores, as she spoke out on behalf of the family.
"This has been the biggest impact in our lives right now. This was a family man. A good man. A caring man. A generous man that two monsters decided to destroy our lives," Tores said, according to WSVN.com.
"They destroyed five children's lives, his wife's life. I urge you and anyone that knows anything to please come forward, let the police do their job. Come forward because these monsters have destroyed our lives."
Police said a car approached the SUV carrying Rodriguez and Suarez before the car's driver opened fire and fled the scene.
The shooting might have been related to a fight that Rodriguez was involved in at a local strip club, according to police. Surveillance video provided by the club shows a person of interest, WSVN.com reported.
Police are asking the public to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS if they have any information.
Source: Fox News
Report: News Corp Considering Removing Content From Google
Media giant News Corp. (NWSA) has held discussions with Microsoft (MSFT) about a partnership that could result in News Corp. removing its newspaper content from Google's search engine while continuing to feature it on Microsoft's online properties, according to a report in Monday's Wall Street Journal.
It remains unclear how Microsoft might compensate News Corp. for the content, and negotiations between the companies were said to be in the very early stages.
News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch has been outspoken in his criticism of Google’s (GOOG) lack of payment to content providers.
News Corp., the parent company of FOX Business, is one of the largest producers of news content in the world, publishing the Wall Street Journal, the U.K.’s Sun and the New York Post, among other properties.
The Financial Times first reported the talks between News Corp. and Microsoft on Sunday.
According to the Journal and the Financial Times, the current skeleton of the deal would have News Corp. delist, or remove, its content from Google’s search engine and move it exclusively onto Bing. It’s unclear if the deal would include News Corp.’s film and entertainment content as well, the Journal and FT reported.
News Corp. is not the only major content provider to express frustration over Google’s aggregation and free dissemination of content. The non-profit Associated Press has also expressed their concerns to Google, while newspaper companies like The New York Times (NYT) have considered “pay walls” to boost falling revenues.
Source: Fox Business
It remains unclear how Microsoft might compensate News Corp. for the content, and negotiations between the companies were said to be in the very early stages.
News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch has been outspoken in his criticism of Google’s (GOOG) lack of payment to content providers.
News Corp., the parent company of FOX Business, is one of the largest producers of news content in the world, publishing the Wall Street Journal, the U.K.’s Sun and the New York Post, among other properties.
The Financial Times first reported the talks between News Corp. and Microsoft on Sunday.
According to the Journal and the Financial Times, the current skeleton of the deal would have News Corp. delist, or remove, its content from Google’s search engine and move it exclusively onto Bing. It’s unclear if the deal would include News Corp.’s film and entertainment content as well, the Journal and FT reported.
News Corp. is not the only major content provider to express frustration over Google’s aggregation and free dissemination of content. The non-profit Associated Press has also expressed their concerns to Google, while newspaper companies like The New York Times (NYT) have considered “pay walls” to boost falling revenues.
Source: Fox Business
Hasan Won't Plead Guilty, May Use Insanity Defense, Lawyer Says
The defense attorney for the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood reportedly has said his client will probably plead not guilty and that an insanity defense is possible.
"I anticipate that the plea will be not guilty," Retired Army Col. John Galligan told ABC News.
Maj. Nidal Hasan will be confined until his military trial, initially staying in a hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wounds, the attorney said. Hasan has no feeling from the chest down and has limited movement in his arms.
When asked if he would enter an insanity plea for Hasan, Galligan said, "I'm fairly confident that that's going to have to at least be examined. And that's problematic. But we haven't reached that stage yet."
During a hearing in Maj. Nidal Hasan's room in a Texas hospital on Saturday, a magistrate ruled that there was probable cause that Hasan committed the Nov. 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood, said his civilian attorney, John Galligan.
Hasan has been at Brooke Army Medical Center since the shooting, and his attorney said Hasan has been told he has permanent paralysis.
"In the 36 years I've dealt with military justice cases," Galligan told ABC, "this is the first time I have ever had to go to an ICU to conduct a hearing. We could have conducted this hearing next week. He is paralyzed. He is not going on leave."
Galligan told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the judge also ordered Hasan to pretrial confinement, which usually means jail, until his court-martial. The military justice system does not have bail for defendants.
The magistrate ruled that Hasan will initially remain in the hospital, where he is in intensive care, Galligan said.
Saturday's hearing was closed to the media. Officials at Fort Hood declined to comment.
Hasan was shot by civilian members of Fort Hood's police force after the shooting spree in a crowded building where soldiers must go before they are deployed to finalize wills, update vaccinations and get vision and dental screenings.
Hasan has been under guard at the hospital, Galligan said, and military officials have not told him how the pretrial confinement status will change anything.
"I don't know what rights and privileges he had that will now be changed, such as visitors of if they'll open his mail," Galligan said. "There are still many issues that haven't been addressed. I feel like I just wasted a day."
Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder. Authorities have not said whether they will seek the death penalty, his attorney said.
Galligan said he is concerned about where Hasan will be moved once he's released from the hospital, but he does not know when that will happen.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News
"I anticipate that the plea will be not guilty," Retired Army Col. John Galligan told ABC News.
Maj. Nidal Hasan will be confined until his military trial, initially staying in a hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wounds, the attorney said. Hasan has no feeling from the chest down and has limited movement in his arms.
When asked if he would enter an insanity plea for Hasan, Galligan said, "I'm fairly confident that that's going to have to at least be examined. And that's problematic. But we haven't reached that stage yet."
During a hearing in Maj. Nidal Hasan's room in a Texas hospital on Saturday, a magistrate ruled that there was probable cause that Hasan committed the Nov. 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood, said his civilian attorney, John Galligan.
Hasan has been at Brooke Army Medical Center since the shooting, and his attorney said Hasan has been told he has permanent paralysis.
"In the 36 years I've dealt with military justice cases," Galligan told ABC, "this is the first time I have ever had to go to an ICU to conduct a hearing. We could have conducted this hearing next week. He is paralyzed. He is not going on leave."
Galligan told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the judge also ordered Hasan to pretrial confinement, which usually means jail, until his court-martial. The military justice system does not have bail for defendants.
The magistrate ruled that Hasan will initially remain in the hospital, where he is in intensive care, Galligan said.
Saturday's hearing was closed to the media. Officials at Fort Hood declined to comment.
Hasan was shot by civilian members of Fort Hood's police force after the shooting spree in a crowded building where soldiers must go before they are deployed to finalize wills, update vaccinations and get vision and dental screenings.
Hasan has been under guard at the hospital, Galligan said, and military officials have not told him how the pretrial confinement status will change anything.
"I don't know what rights and privileges he had that will now be changed, such as visitors of if they'll open his mail," Galligan said. "There are still many issues that haven't been addressed. I feel like I just wasted a day."
Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder. Authorities have not said whether they will seek the death penalty, his attorney said.
Galligan said he is concerned about where Hasan will be moved once he's released from the hospital, but he does not know when that will happen.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News
Twins' Mauer Wins American League MVP
NEW YORK — Joe Mauer has become only the second catcher in 33 years to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
The Minnesota Twins star was a near-unanimous winner in voting announced Monday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, receiving 27 of 28 first-place votes and 387 points. Yankees teammates Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter were second and third.
Mauer topped the AL in batting with a .365 average. He also led in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Teixeira finished with 225 points after leading the league with 122 RBIs and tying for first with 39 homers. Jeter had 193 points while Detroit's Miguel Cabrera drew the other first-place vote and was fourth.
Source:AP
The Minnesota Twins star was a near-unanimous winner in voting announced Monday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, receiving 27 of 28 first-place votes and 387 points. Yankees teammates Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter were second and third.
Mauer topped the AL in batting with a .365 average. He also led in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Teixeira finished with 225 points after leading the league with 122 RBIs and tying for first with 39 homers. Jeter had 193 points while Detroit's Miguel Cabrera drew the other first-place vote and was fourth.
Source:AP
U.S. to Propose Emissions Reduction Target at Copenhagen Next Month
The United States will propose an emissions reduction target at a U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen next month, the White House said Monday.
The United States will propose an emissions reduction target at a U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen next month, the White House said Monday.
An administration official said that a decision will be made soon on whether President Obama will attend the meeting, at which the attending nations plan to map a strategy to combat global warming.
China and the United States are the world's top two carbon polluters, according to the World Resources Institute. The European Union on Monday urged the two nations to commit to new targets at the Copenhagen summit.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt called both nations' refusal to commit "untenable." Inaction "does not solve the threat of climate change," he wrote on an EU Web site.
The EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels to 30 percent if others follow suit. By 2050, it wants to eliminate most emissions, with a target of up to 95 percent.
Congress has stalled on climate change legislation as it battles over health care. That leaves the world body unlikely to reach a legally binding agreement at the summit, and instead aiming for political commitments.
Obama said during his trip to Asia last week that the U.S. and China want the Copenhagen summit to lead to an agreement that has "immediate operational effect."
We "agreed to work toward a successful outcome in Copenhagen," Obama said after his meeting last week with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
"Our aim there is... not a partial accord or a political declaration, but rather an accord that covers all the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational effect."
Monday's White House announcement came as Michel Jarraud, the head of the U.N. World Meteorological Organization, reported that concentrations of greenhouse gases are at their highest levels ever recorded and climbing.
Scientists who support climate change theories say the rise in temperatures expected in coming decades demands urgent action, but skeptics are arguing that the evidence is being manipulated by a group of scientists who seek to benefit.
About 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents covering a decade's worth of exchanges among the leading scientists were stolen last week from England's University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. The materials were posted on Web sites and seized on by climate change skeptics.
Kevin Trenberth, of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and the lead author of the U.N.'s 2001 and 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments, is among a group whose private e-mails were recently stolen by hackers and posted online.
Trenberth, who saw many of his e-mails posted, said he believes leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's summit.
"It is right before the Copenhagen debate, I'm sure that is not a coincidence," Trenberth said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News
The United States will propose an emissions reduction target at a U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen next month, the White House said Monday.
An administration official said that a decision will be made soon on whether President Obama will attend the meeting, at which the attending nations plan to map a strategy to combat global warming.
China and the United States are the world's top two carbon polluters, according to the World Resources Institute. The European Union on Monday urged the two nations to commit to new targets at the Copenhagen summit.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt called both nations' refusal to commit "untenable." Inaction "does not solve the threat of climate change," he wrote on an EU Web site.
The EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels to 30 percent if others follow suit. By 2050, it wants to eliminate most emissions, with a target of up to 95 percent.
Congress has stalled on climate change legislation as it battles over health care. That leaves the world body unlikely to reach a legally binding agreement at the summit, and instead aiming for political commitments.
Obama said during his trip to Asia last week that the U.S. and China want the Copenhagen summit to lead to an agreement that has "immediate operational effect."
We "agreed to work toward a successful outcome in Copenhagen," Obama said after his meeting last week with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
"Our aim there is... not a partial accord or a political declaration, but rather an accord that covers all the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational effect."
Monday's White House announcement came as Michel Jarraud, the head of the U.N. World Meteorological Organization, reported that concentrations of greenhouse gases are at their highest levels ever recorded and climbing.
Scientists who support climate change theories say the rise in temperatures expected in coming decades demands urgent action, but skeptics are arguing that the evidence is being manipulated by a group of scientists who seek to benefit.
About 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents covering a decade's worth of exchanges among the leading scientists were stolen last week from England's University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. The materials were posted on Web sites and seized on by climate change skeptics.
Kevin Trenberth, of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and the lead author of the U.N.'s 2001 and 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments, is among a group whose private e-mails were recently stolen by hackers and posted online.
Trenberth, who saw many of his e-mails posted, said he believes leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's summit.
"It is right before the Copenhagen debate, I'm sure that is not a coincidence," Trenberth said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Fox News
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Ceiling Collapses Over Pennsylvania Baby's Crib
ERIE, Pa. — Fire officials say an infant was hurt when part of a ceiling collapsed over a crib at home in Erie.
A family member called 911 around 3:45 p.m. Saturday to say that a child was trapped in its crib.
Firefighters say part of a plaster ceiling had collapsed and fallen into the crib.
Paramedics treated the infant, who is about two weeks old, and took it to a hospital for observation.
The child suffered cuts and scrapes.
Firefighters say they didn't find any significant structural damage at the home. They say that water damage had probably weakened part of the ceiling.
Source: AP
A family member called 911 around 3:45 p.m. Saturday to say that a child was trapped in its crib.
Firefighters say part of a plaster ceiling had collapsed and fallen into the crib.
Paramedics treated the infant, who is about two weeks old, and took it to a hospital for observation.
The child suffered cuts and scrapes.
Firefighters say they didn't find any significant structural damage at the home. They say that water damage had probably weakened part of the ceiling.
Source: AP
Rare Charles Darwin Book Found on Toilet Bookshelf
LONDON — An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England.
Christie's auction house said Sunday the book — one of around 1,250 copies first printed in 1859 — had been on a toilet bookshelf at a family's home in Oxford.
The book will be auctioned on Tuesday — the 150th anniversary of the publication of the famous work. Christie's said the book is likely to sell for $99,000.
Darwin's "The Origin of Species" outlined his theory of natural selection — the foundation for the modern understanding of evolution.
Celebrations around the world this year have marked the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.
Source: AP
Christie's auction house said Sunday the book — one of around 1,250 copies first printed in 1859 — had been on a toilet bookshelf at a family's home in Oxford.
The book will be auctioned on Tuesday — the 150th anniversary of the publication of the famous work. Christie's said the book is likely to sell for $99,000.
Darwin's "The Origin of Species" outlined his theory of natural selection — the foundation for the modern understanding of evolution.
Celebrations around the world this year have marked the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.
Source: AP
Spanish Crew Return Home After Pirates Hijacked Ship
MADRID — The Spanish crew members of a tuna trawler who spent 47 days as hostages of Somali pirates before they were freed for a reported $3.3 million ransom returned home to emotional reunions at their home port Saturday.
At a crowded press conference in the northern Spanish city of Vigo, the captain of the fishing vessel Alakrana said his men endured anxious moments just after they were set free Tuesday because a boat belonging to another group of pirates was waiting in Somali waters as they set sail.
"Our liberation was charged with nerves and fear — at the moment we were about to be freed there was a boat belonging to another group of pirates waiting for us," said Ricardo Blach.
"The pirates were telling us, 'Be very careful, the other group is going to try and capture you,' so I had to inform the navy frigates and helicopters to be alert," Blach said.
Blach said the Spanish navy frigates then escorted the Alakrana day and night until it safely reached port in the Seychelles. The 16 crewmen flew from the Seychelles to an air base in Madrid before embarking on planes bound for Bilbao and Vigo.
The 36-member crew included non-Spanish citizens.
The Spanish government has refused to confirm if a ransom was handed over, but Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has not denied it, simply saying the government "did what it had to do."
Defense Minister Carme Chacon has said that all Spanish fishing boats working the Indian Ocean now have private security guards armed with military equipment, including high velocity rifles, aboard.
Crews and ship owners have asked for troops aboard the fishing boats, but the government says Spanish law forbids military personnel from being deployed on board private property.
Two suspects, Cabdiwell Cabdullahl, also known as Abdu Willy, and Raageggesey Hassan Haj, were caught by Spanish naval forces a day after the trawler's Oct. 2 hijacking and flown to Spain where they await trial on kidnapping and other charges.
Source: AP
At a crowded press conference in the northern Spanish city of Vigo, the captain of the fishing vessel Alakrana said his men endured anxious moments just after they were set free Tuesday because a boat belonging to another group of pirates was waiting in Somali waters as they set sail.
"Our liberation was charged with nerves and fear — at the moment we were about to be freed there was a boat belonging to another group of pirates waiting for us," said Ricardo Blach.
"The pirates were telling us, 'Be very careful, the other group is going to try and capture you,' so I had to inform the navy frigates and helicopters to be alert," Blach said.
Blach said the Spanish navy frigates then escorted the Alakrana day and night until it safely reached port in the Seychelles. The 16 crewmen flew from the Seychelles to an air base in Madrid before embarking on planes bound for Bilbao and Vigo.
The 36-member crew included non-Spanish citizens.
The Spanish government has refused to confirm if a ransom was handed over, but Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has not denied it, simply saying the government "did what it had to do."
Defense Minister Carme Chacon has said that all Spanish fishing boats working the Indian Ocean now have private security guards armed with military equipment, including high velocity rifles, aboard.
Crews and ship owners have asked for troops aboard the fishing boats, but the government says Spanish law forbids military personnel from being deployed on board private property.
Two suspects, Cabdiwell Cabdullahl, also known as Abdu Willy, and Raageggesey Hassan Haj, were caught by Spanish naval forces a day after the trawler's Oct. 2 hijacking and flown to Spain where they await trial on kidnapping and other charges.
Source: AP
Woman Loses Benefits Over Facebook Photos
BROMONT, Quebec — A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave says she lost her benefits because of photos on Facebook and she's fighting to get them reinstated.
Nathalie Blanchard has been on leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, for the last year.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday she was diagnosed with major depression and was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits from insurance giant Manulife.
But the payments dried up this fall and when Blanchard called Manulife, she says she was told she was available to work because of Facebook.
She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on Facebook, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday.
Blanchard said Manulife told her it's evidence she is no longer depressed. She says her lawyer is exploring what the next step should be.
Blanchard told the CBC that on her doctor's advice, she tried to have fun, including nights out at her local bar with friends and short getaways to sun destinations, as a way to forget her problems.
Manulife wouldn't comment on Blanchard's case, but did say they would not deny or terminate a claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook.
Source: AP
Nathalie Blanchard has been on leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, for the last year.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday she was diagnosed with major depression and was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits from insurance giant Manulife.
But the payments dried up this fall and when Blanchard called Manulife, she says she was told she was available to work because of Facebook.
She said her insurance agent described several pictures Blanchard posted on Facebook, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday.
Blanchard said Manulife told her it's evidence she is no longer depressed. She says her lawyer is exploring what the next step should be.
Blanchard told the CBC that on her doctor's advice, she tried to have fun, including nights out at her local bar with friends and short getaways to sun destinations, as a way to forget her problems.
Manulife wouldn't comment on Blanchard's case, but did say they would not deny or terminate a claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook.
Source: AP
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