JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Supreme Court overturned a man's death sentence Tuesday because his attorney failed to question the character of a murder victim who had child pornography on his computer.
The high court acknowledged in its unanimous ruling that character evidence about murder victims typically is barred. But when relatives of victim Ralph Lape Jr. testified about his generous character during the sentencing phase of Mark Gill's murder trial, defense attorneys should have countered by highlighting the smut on Lape's computer, the Supreme Court said.
Had Gill's attorneys done so, the Supreme Court said, jurors may have been less inclined to sentence him to death for the July 2002 kidnapping, robbery and shooting. The Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court for a potential new sentencing hearing.
Gill was living in a camper trailer on Lape's rural Cape Girardeau County property at the time of the slaying, according to court records. When Lape took a Fourth of July weekend trip to a Kentucky lake, Gill remained behind and one of his friends, Justin Brown, found papers in Lape's home indicating he had a large amount of money in the bank.
Gill and Brown then plotted Lape's murder, kidnapped him when he arrived home and drove Lape to a rural area near Portageville where he was shot in the head and buried, according to court records. Gill and Brown each fingered the other as the triggerman during their separate trials. But Gill was sentenced to death and Brown to life in prison.
About a month before Gill's trial, prosecutors provided defense attorneys with a police report listing the file folders and directories found on Lape's computer, which Brown and Gill had used to transfer $55,000 from his bank account. The report included a list of instant message accounts with sexually explicit names.
The Supreme Court said that should have alerted Gill's defense attorneys to inquire about the computer's contents or interview the police officer who prepared the report. Because they did neither, defense attorneys were unaware that Lape's computer contained images of child pornography and bestiality and instant messages about sexual conversations.
"When the state introduced evidence of the victim's good character in the penalty phase, Gill's counsel should have rebutted the state's good character evidence with the sexually explicit contents of the victim's computer," the Supreme Court said in an opinion written by Judge Mary Russell.
Attorneys for Brown, whose trial occurred after Gill's, requested a copy of the victim's computer contents. Lape's relatives toned down their good-character references during the penalty phase of Brown's trial, so the computer pornography never was used as a rebuttal, the Supreme Court said.
If prosecutors go forward with a new sentencing hearing for Gill, he will be assigned different public defenders than those who originally handled his case, said attorney William Swift, who argued Gill's case on appeal.
Swift also had sought unsuccessfully to overturn Gill's conviction based on ineffective aid by his attorneys.
"We're happy that the court has ordered what it did. Obviously a new penalty phase is a good result for Mr. Gill," Swift said.
Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Morley Swingle was not immediately available Tuesday for comment, his office said.
Source: AP
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Beauty Queen Dies After Cosmetic Surgery on Her Buttocks
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A 38-year-old former Miss Argentina has died from complications after undergoing cosmetic surgery on her buttocks.
Solange Magnano, a mother of twins who won the crown in 1994, died of a pulmonary embolism Sunday after three days in critical condition following a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires.
Close friend Roberto Piazza said the procedure involved injections and the liquid "went to her lungs and brain."
"A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind," he said.
Magnano's burial Monday was shown on Argentine television.
Dr. Gonzalo Cortes y Tristan said she arrived at his hospital with an acute respiratory deficiency. Her condition deteriorated until she suffered the embolism.
Source: AP
Solange Magnano, a mother of twins who won the crown in 1994, died of a pulmonary embolism Sunday after three days in critical condition following a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires.
Close friend Roberto Piazza said the procedure involved injections and the liquid "went to her lungs and brain."
"A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind," he said.
Magnano's burial Monday was shown on Argentine television.
Dr. Gonzalo Cortes y Tristan said she arrived at his hospital with an acute respiratory deficiency. Her condition deteriorated until she suffered the embolism.
Source: AP
6 Accused in Alleged Homecoming Gang Rape of Girl, 16, Plead Not Guilty
RICHMOND, Calif. — Six defendants accused in the gang rape of a 16-year-old Northern California girl have pleaded not guilty.
The males, who range in age from 15 to 21, entered their pleas to rape and other charges Tuesday in Contra Costa County Superior Court.
Three juveniles — 15-year-old Cody Ray Smith, 16-year-old Ari Morales and 17-year-old Marcelles Peter — are being charged as adults. The other defendants are Jose Montano, Manuel Ortega and Elvis Torrentes.
Investigators believe as many as 10 people raped the victim, while another 20 or so watched without calling police outside Richmond High School's homecoming dance on Oct. 24.
Source: AP
The males, who range in age from 15 to 21, entered their pleas to rape and other charges Tuesday in Contra Costa County Superior Court.
Three juveniles — 15-year-old Cody Ray Smith, 16-year-old Ari Morales and 17-year-old Marcelles Peter — are being charged as adults. The other defendants are Jose Montano, Manuel Ortega and Elvis Torrentes.
Investigators believe as many as 10 people raped the victim, while another 20 or so watched without calling police outside Richmond High School's homecoming dance on Oct. 24.
Source: AP
Access to H1N1 Vaccine Easing as Interest in Shot Wanes
With 66 million doses of H1N1 vaccine now available in the U.S., municipalities have begun easing restrictions to access, and federal officials believe the vaccine may soon be available to all.
Starting Tuesday, the Tennessee counties of Memphis and Shelby will begin administering H1N1 vaccine to everyone who wants it, joining several other municipalities across the country that have already opened access or are considering doing so.
“I get the sense that more areas are starting to vaccinate outside the priority groups,” said Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Skinner said federal officials have been clear in their desire to have priority groups, such as pregnant women and children, vaccinated first.
"But federal guidelines also give states the flexibility to vaccinate outside the priority groups if the states feel that’s the best thing to do given the issues surrounding supply and demand at the local level," Skinner said.
States are in the best position to make the call to open the vaccine to everyone, Skinner said, adding that more states will be vaccinating outside the priority groups in the coming weeks and months as more of it becomes available.
“There will come a time when everyone will have access to it,” he said.
The H1N1 vaccine became available in the U.S. in early October, about a month after schools and colleges opened. By mid-month, 14 million doses of the vaccine were available, about half of what the U.S. expected to have received from manufacturers.
A top Dallas County (Texas) health official on Saturday called for distribution of the H1N1 vaccine to everyone, as more vaccine appears to be headed toward North Texas pharmacies.
The move comes as interest in obtaining the shot by high-risk groups appears to be waning.
Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, told the Dallas Morning News he was concerned that the vaccine supply already shared with local pharmacies had not found enough takers among the targeted high-risk groups.
A spot check of local pharmacies by The Dallas Morning News last week found that some stores still had hundreds of shots available for people in high-risk groups.
In addition to local pharmacies, chain drugstores including Walgreens and CVS are offering the vaccines in Dallas County.
Walgreens, which is distributing vaccine in 25-30 states, is complying with federal guidelines and immunizing only high-risk groups against the virus, said spokesman Jim Cohn. He said the company would be willing to offer the vaccinations to everyone if that were the directive of the municipal health department.
“We work on a state-by-state and county-by-county basis,” he said. “In some cases, we’re sitting and waiting for the vaccine. In other cases, the (municipal) government came to us early on and asked us to be part of the supply chain so that the vaccine could be distributed as efficiently as possible. We would like to be able to receive and offer vaccine in all 50 states and it is becoming more widely available as time goes on.”
Despite reports of an H1N1 virus mutation in Norway, a federal health official said Tuesday that the H1N1 vaccine is well-matched and still a person’s best defense against the virus.
“We have not seen clusters of resistance,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The cases reported are interesting, but they are not of concern.”
Frieden said the H1N1 virus is gradually decreasing in the United States, but is still widespread in 32 states and people should remain vigilant.
"Although the flu is going down," Frieden said, "it’s far from gone. … And flu season lasts until May so there’s still a lot of time to see what will happen."
The CDC polled 12 health experts who were split as to whether the country will see another surge of H1N1 this flu season.
"One (expert) said flip a coin," Frieden said. "We don’t know what the future will hold. ... What we do know is that the vaccine is the very best way to protect yourself."
To find a Walgreens that offers the vaccine, click here. To find a CVS store that offers the vaccine, click here.
Jessica Doyle contributed to this story.
Source: Fox News
Starting Tuesday, the Tennessee counties of Memphis and Shelby will begin administering H1N1 vaccine to everyone who wants it, joining several other municipalities across the country that have already opened access or are considering doing so.
“I get the sense that more areas are starting to vaccinate outside the priority groups,” said Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Skinner said federal officials have been clear in their desire to have priority groups, such as pregnant women and children, vaccinated first.
"But federal guidelines also give states the flexibility to vaccinate outside the priority groups if the states feel that’s the best thing to do given the issues surrounding supply and demand at the local level," Skinner said.
States are in the best position to make the call to open the vaccine to everyone, Skinner said, adding that more states will be vaccinating outside the priority groups in the coming weeks and months as more of it becomes available.
“There will come a time when everyone will have access to it,” he said.
The H1N1 vaccine became available in the U.S. in early October, about a month after schools and colleges opened. By mid-month, 14 million doses of the vaccine were available, about half of what the U.S. expected to have received from manufacturers.
A top Dallas County (Texas) health official on Saturday called for distribution of the H1N1 vaccine to everyone, as more vaccine appears to be headed toward North Texas pharmacies.
The move comes as interest in obtaining the shot by high-risk groups appears to be waning.
Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, told the Dallas Morning News he was concerned that the vaccine supply already shared with local pharmacies had not found enough takers among the targeted high-risk groups.
A spot check of local pharmacies by The Dallas Morning News last week found that some stores still had hundreds of shots available for people in high-risk groups.
In addition to local pharmacies, chain drugstores including Walgreens and CVS are offering the vaccines in Dallas County.
Walgreens, which is distributing vaccine in 25-30 states, is complying with federal guidelines and immunizing only high-risk groups against the virus, said spokesman Jim Cohn. He said the company would be willing to offer the vaccinations to everyone if that were the directive of the municipal health department.
“We work on a state-by-state and county-by-county basis,” he said. “In some cases, we’re sitting and waiting for the vaccine. In other cases, the (municipal) government came to us early on and asked us to be part of the supply chain so that the vaccine could be distributed as efficiently as possible. We would like to be able to receive and offer vaccine in all 50 states and it is becoming more widely available as time goes on.”
Despite reports of an H1N1 virus mutation in Norway, a federal health official said Tuesday that the H1N1 vaccine is well-matched and still a person’s best defense against the virus.
“We have not seen clusters of resistance,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The cases reported are interesting, but they are not of concern.”
Frieden said the H1N1 virus is gradually decreasing in the United States, but is still widespread in 32 states and people should remain vigilant.
"Although the flu is going down," Frieden said, "it’s far from gone. … And flu season lasts until May so there’s still a lot of time to see what will happen."
The CDC polled 12 health experts who were split as to whether the country will see another surge of H1N1 this flu season.
"One (expert) said flip a coin," Frieden said. "We don’t know what the future will hold. ... What we do know is that the vaccine is the very best way to protect yourself."
To find a Walgreens that offers the vaccine, click here. To find a CVS store that offers the vaccine, click here.
Jessica Doyle contributed to this story.
Source: Fox News
Monday, November 30, 2009
5 Brits Taken to Iran After Yacht Stopped in Iranian Waters
A racing yacht carrying five British crew members was stopped in Iranian waters Wednesday and its crew taken to Iran, the British government confirmed.
"On 25 November, a racing yacht owned by Sail Bahrain and crewed by five British nationals, was stopped by Iranian naval vessels," reads a statement from Britain's Foreign Office.
"The yacht was on its way from Bahrain to Dubai and may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. The five crew members are still in Iran."
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said U.K. officials have been in touch with Tehran and are trying to resolve the matter swiftly.
"Our Ambassador in Tehran has raised the issue with the Iranian Foreign Ministry and we have discussed the matter with the Iranian Embassy in London," Miliband said.
The Foreign Office statement added that all the crew members aboard the yacht are "safe and well" and their families were informed before the information went public.
Sail Bahrain's Web site identified the yacht as the "Kingdom of Bahrain" and said it had been due to join the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race, which was to begin Nov. 26.
The event was to be the boat's first offshore race, the Web site said, adding that the vessel had been fitted with a satellite tracker.
Richard Schofield, an expert on international boundaries in the Middle East at King's College in London, said it was difficult to understand how the boat could have ended up in trouble with Iranian authorities.
"It's hard to see why, on a regular journey from Bahrain to Dubai, they would have gone through Iranian territorial waters," he said.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard has the responsibility for protecting Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf. Officials from the Guard and from the regular navy could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Iran is holding three young Americans who strayed across the border from northern Iraq in July. The U.S. has appealed for their release, saying they were innocent hikers who accidentally crossed into Iran. Tehran has accused them of spying, a sign that they could be put on trial.
Fifteen British military personnel were detained in the Gulf by Iran under disputed circumstances in March 2007. Iran charged them with trespassing in its waters, and the Iranian government televised apologies by some of the captured crew.
All were eventually freed without an apology from Britain, which steadfastly insisted the crew members were taken in Iraqi waters, where they were authorized to be.
Click here for more on this story from Sky News.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Source: Fox News
"On 25 November, a racing yacht owned by Sail Bahrain and crewed by five British nationals, was stopped by Iranian naval vessels," reads a statement from Britain's Foreign Office.
"The yacht was on its way from Bahrain to Dubai and may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. The five crew members are still in Iran."
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said U.K. officials have been in touch with Tehran and are trying to resolve the matter swiftly.
"Our Ambassador in Tehran has raised the issue with the Iranian Foreign Ministry and we have discussed the matter with the Iranian Embassy in London," Miliband said.
The Foreign Office statement added that all the crew members aboard the yacht are "safe and well" and their families were informed before the information went public.
Sail Bahrain's Web site identified the yacht as the "Kingdom of Bahrain" and said it had been due to join the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race, which was to begin Nov. 26.
The event was to be the boat's first offshore race, the Web site said, adding that the vessel had been fitted with a satellite tracker.
Richard Schofield, an expert on international boundaries in the Middle East at King's College in London, said it was difficult to understand how the boat could have ended up in trouble with Iranian authorities.
"It's hard to see why, on a regular journey from Bahrain to Dubai, they would have gone through Iranian territorial waters," he said.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard has the responsibility for protecting Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf. Officials from the Guard and from the regular navy could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Iran is holding three young Americans who strayed across the border from northern Iraq in July. The U.S. has appealed for their release, saying they were innocent hikers who accidentally crossed into Iran. Tehran has accused them of spying, a sign that they could be put on trial.
Fifteen British military personnel were detained in the Gulf by Iran under disputed circumstances in March 2007. Iran charged them with trespassing in its waters, and the Iranian government televised apologies by some of the captured crew.
All were eventually freed without an apology from Britain, which steadfastly insisted the crew members were taken in Iraqi waters, where they were authorized to be.
Click here for more on this story from Sky News.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Source: Fox News
'Armed and Dangerous' Texas Inmate on The Loose
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is searching for an escaped inmate who is considered armed and dangerous, MyFoxHouston.com reports.
Baytown Police Department has ordered Lee College on lockdown.
Officials said Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr., 49, took two transport officers hostage on Monday morning and then escaped from the vehicle and took off on foot, MyFoxHouston.com reports.
Comeaux, a 6-foot, 200-pound black male, was serving a life sentence for crimes he committed in three Texas counties.
He was sentenced to life in prison for indecency with a child, aggravated sexual assault and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, MyFoxHouston.com reports.
The guards were transferring Comeaux from a prison in Huntsville, north of Houston, to one in Beaumont, in southeast Texas, when he pulled out a gun and told the guards to stop the vehicle, said Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
"At some point he brandished a firearm. We do not know how he was able to obtain that firearm and ordered officers to pull off to the side of the road," Lyons said.
Comeaux allegedly handcuffed the officers together in the vehicle and then took off with their weapons, MyFoxHouston.com reported.
The officers were found to be unharmed at 10 a.m. Comeaux is believed to be wearing one of the officer's uniforms — a grey correctional uniform and black boots.
Comeaux had filed a lawsuit in March 2008, alleging that his rights were violated in disciplinary punishment he received in connection with the damage of a library book. The court denied his appeal on November 3.
Source: Fox News
Baytown Police Department has ordered Lee College on lockdown.
Officials said Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr., 49, took two transport officers hostage on Monday morning and then escaped from the vehicle and took off on foot, MyFoxHouston.com reports.
Comeaux, a 6-foot, 200-pound black male, was serving a life sentence for crimes he committed in three Texas counties.
He was sentenced to life in prison for indecency with a child, aggravated sexual assault and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, MyFoxHouston.com reports.
The guards were transferring Comeaux from a prison in Huntsville, north of Houston, to one in Beaumont, in southeast Texas, when he pulled out a gun and told the guards to stop the vehicle, said Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
"At some point he brandished a firearm. We do not know how he was able to obtain that firearm and ordered officers to pull off to the side of the road," Lyons said.
Comeaux allegedly handcuffed the officers together in the vehicle and then took off with their weapons, MyFoxHouston.com reported.
The officers were found to be unharmed at 10 a.m. Comeaux is believed to be wearing one of the officer's uniforms — a grey correctional uniform and black boots.
Comeaux had filed a lawsuit in March 2008, alleging that his rights were violated in disciplinary punishment he received in connection with the damage of a library book. The court denied his appeal on November 3.
Source: Fox News
Man Forced to Choose Who to Save: Wife or Son
It is the choice no parent — or spouse — should ever have to make.
When New Zealand woman Vanessa Horton crashed her car into a river near the family home, her husband had to make the excruciating choice between saving her or resucing his son, who was trapped in the sinking car.
Silva Horton, 13, drowned in New Zealand's Whanganui River on Saturday night after the car, in which he was a front-seat passenger, came off the road and cartwheeled down a steep 32 foot bank into the water.
His father, Stacy, arrived from their nearby home in Whanganui, on North Island, less than two minutes after the crash to hear his wife screaming in the darkness and the family Mazda submerged, nose-down, three feet under the surface.
As his wife floundered in the water, Horton tried to dive down to the car to rescue his son, but said he could not reach the teenager.
"I tried to get down and get him but I couldn't, it was just too deep. And Vanessa was going under," Mr Horton told the Dominion Post newspaper.
"I made a call to pull my wife to safety. I looked back and I could see the tail-lights but it was too far and I couldn't get him," he said.
Source: Times of London
When New Zealand woman Vanessa Horton crashed her car into a river near the family home, her husband had to make the excruciating choice between saving her or resucing his son, who was trapped in the sinking car.
Silva Horton, 13, drowned in New Zealand's Whanganui River on Saturday night after the car, in which he was a front-seat passenger, came off the road and cartwheeled down a steep 32 foot bank into the water.
His father, Stacy, arrived from their nearby home in Whanganui, on North Island, less than two minutes after the crash to hear his wife screaming in the darkness and the family Mazda submerged, nose-down, three feet under the surface.
As his wife floundered in the water, Horton tried to dive down to the car to rescue his son, but said he could not reach the teenager.
"I tried to get down and get him but I couldn't, it was just too deep. And Vanessa was going under," Mr Horton told the Dominion Post newspaper.
"I made a call to pull my wife to safety. I looked back and I could see the tail-lights but it was too far and I couldn't get him," he said.
Source: Times of London
Employers Play 'Dr. Mom' to Limit H1N1 Flu Impact
Big businesses are spending serious time and money trying to limit the swine flu pandemic's impact on operations, from bankrolling video on good hygiene to training employees to cover for co-workers with critical jobs.
Companies from health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. to beverage can maker Ball Corp. are arranging for employees with flu symptoms or sick family members to work from home where possible, holding fewer in-person meetings, even discouraging handshakes. And hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes and tissues are at the ready everywhere as employers make keeping workers healthy their first line of defense.
Employers are playing Dr. Mom, teaching about hygiene, distributing information about the pandemic, telling folks to stay home if they get sick — generally with pay — and scrapping the required doctor's note. Some companies have even distributed "wellness kits" with thermometers and face masks.
Whether those efforts and other measures will protect businesses will depend largely on whether the swine flu mutates into a more-dangerous virus.
"Large and mid-sized organizations are not going to go bankrupt. Small organizations, that could be different," says Jim MacMicking of business continuity consultants SunGard Availability Services.
Source: Fox News
Companies from health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. to beverage can maker Ball Corp. are arranging for employees with flu symptoms or sick family members to work from home where possible, holding fewer in-person meetings, even discouraging handshakes. And hand sanitizers, disinfectant wipes and tissues are at the ready everywhere as employers make keeping workers healthy their first line of defense.
Employers are playing Dr. Mom, teaching about hygiene, distributing information about the pandemic, telling folks to stay home if they get sick — generally with pay — and scrapping the required doctor's note. Some companies have even distributed "wellness kits" with thermometers and face masks.
Whether those efforts and other measures will protect businesses will depend largely on whether the swine flu mutates into a more-dangerous virus.
"Large and mid-sized organizations are not going to go bankrupt. Small organizations, that could be different," says Jim MacMicking of business continuity consultants SunGard Availability Services.
Source: Fox News
Sunday, November 29, 2009
ACORN Can Receive Pending Federal Payments, Justice Department Says
The Obama administration can legally pay the embattled community organizing group ACORN for services performed under contracts before Congress banned the government from providing money to the group, the Justice Department has declared.
The Obama administration legally can pay the embattled community organizing group ACORN for services performed under contracts approved before Congress banned the government from providing money to the group, the Justice Department has declared.
David Barron, the acting assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, wrote in a memo last month that the ban "should not be read as directing or authorizing HUD to breach a pre-existing binding contractual obligation to make payments to ACORN or its affiliates, subsidiaries or allied organizations where doing so would give rise to contractual liability."
Click here to read the memorandum.
Republicans quickly blasted the ruling that was made public Friday.
"The bipartisan intent of Congress was clear -- no more federal dollars should flow to ACORN," said Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
"It is telling that this administration continues to look for every excuse possible to circumvent the intent of Congress," the California Republican said in a written statement. "Taxpayers should not have to continue subsidizing a criminal enterprise that helped Barack Obama get elected president."
"The politicization of the Justice Department to pay back one of the president's political allies is shameful and amounts to nothing more than old-fashioned cronyism," he added.
The federal government has poured about $53 million into The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now since 1994, mostly in grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for affordable housing services.
But the group has been brought to its knees in recent months following the release of undercover videos showing a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute receiving advice from ACORN employees on how to skirt tax laws and acquire illegal home loans to establish a brothel that could house underage girls who illegally crossed the border.
Footage showed staffers advising the "pimp" and "prostitute" on how to falsify tax forms and seek illegal benefits for 13 "very young" girls from El Salvador that the pair said they wanted to bring to the country to work as child prostitutes. The videos set off a firestorm in Congress.
ACORN pledged an internal inquiry and fired the staffers who were caught on tape, but it was only the latest of many legal troubles for the group.
Republicans led the charge to ban all federal funding to the group as the Obama administration quickly distanced itself from the group.
ACORN has fought back, filing a lawsuit against the government in an attempt to regain the millions of dollars in funding Congress voted to block after the undercover videos were released in September.
The suit charges Congress with violating the Constitution when it passed legislation in September that specifically targeted ACORN to lose federal housing, education and transportation funds.
ACORN claims it has been badly hurt by the congressional actions and has had to fire workers and close some of its 1,200 branches around the country.
Though it remains unclear precisely how much money the national organization was receiving from federal sources and aid programs, a lawyer pressing the suit said ACORN has already lost an amount "in the millions" since the freeze took effect.
Source: Fox News
The Obama administration legally can pay the embattled community organizing group ACORN for services performed under contracts approved before Congress banned the government from providing money to the group, the Justice Department has declared.
David Barron, the acting assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, wrote in a memo last month that the ban "should not be read as directing or authorizing HUD to breach a pre-existing binding contractual obligation to make payments to ACORN or its affiliates, subsidiaries or allied organizations where doing so would give rise to contractual liability."
Click here to read the memorandum.
Republicans quickly blasted the ruling that was made public Friday.
"The bipartisan intent of Congress was clear -- no more federal dollars should flow to ACORN," said Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
"It is telling that this administration continues to look for every excuse possible to circumvent the intent of Congress," the California Republican said in a written statement. "Taxpayers should not have to continue subsidizing a criminal enterprise that helped Barack Obama get elected president."
"The politicization of the Justice Department to pay back one of the president's political allies is shameful and amounts to nothing more than old-fashioned cronyism," he added.
The federal government has poured about $53 million into The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now since 1994, mostly in grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for affordable housing services.
But the group has been brought to its knees in recent months following the release of undercover videos showing a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute receiving advice from ACORN employees on how to skirt tax laws and acquire illegal home loans to establish a brothel that could house underage girls who illegally crossed the border.
Footage showed staffers advising the "pimp" and "prostitute" on how to falsify tax forms and seek illegal benefits for 13 "very young" girls from El Salvador that the pair said they wanted to bring to the country to work as child prostitutes. The videos set off a firestorm in Congress.
ACORN pledged an internal inquiry and fired the staffers who were caught on tape, but it was only the latest of many legal troubles for the group.
Republicans led the charge to ban all federal funding to the group as the Obama administration quickly distanced itself from the group.
ACORN has fought back, filing a lawsuit against the government in an attempt to regain the millions of dollars in funding Congress voted to block after the undercover videos were released in September.
The suit charges Congress with violating the Constitution when it passed legislation in September that specifically targeted ACORN to lose federal housing, education and transportation funds.
ACORN claims it has been badly hurt by the congressional actions and has had to fire workers and close some of its 1,200 branches around the country.
Though it remains unclear precisely how much money the national organization was receiving from federal sources and aid programs, a lawyer pressing the suit said ACORN has already lost an amount "in the millions" since the freeze took effect.
Source: Fox News
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
Fire Breaks Out Among Christmas Trees at N.Y. Walmart
WESTBURY, N.Y. — Police say a fire has broken out among Christmas trees for sale outside a Walmart on New York's Long Island during a busy holiday shopping weekend.
Nassau County police say in a statement that the blaze was reported around 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Westbury store. There are no immediate reports of injuries.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokesman Dan Fogelman says the busy store was evacuated because of the fire in the store's garden shop.
Fogelman says it is unclear how many people were in the store at the time or how much damage was caused. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The store remains closed and will reopen on Sunday.
The Westbury Fire Department had no immediate comment.
Source: AP
Nassau County police say in a statement that the blaze was reported around 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Westbury store. There are no immediate reports of injuries.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokesman Dan Fogelman says the busy store was evacuated because of the fire in the store's garden shop.
Fogelman says it is unclear how many people were in the store at the time or how much damage was caused. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The store remains closed and will reopen on Sunday.
The Westbury Fire Department had no immediate comment.
Source: AP
Italian Chef Missing at Sea on Caribbean Cruise
ROME — Colombian maritime authorities searched Sunday for an Italian chef believed to have gone overboard from a U.S. cruise ship off Colombia's Caribbean coast, officials and the man's family said.
There were different accounts about when and where Angelo Faliva, 31, was last seen as the Princess Cruises "Coral Princess" sailed from Aruba to Cartagena, Colombia, between Nov. 25 and 26.
Princess Cruises spokeswoman Julie Benson said Faliva was last seen on a deck at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 26, when he spoke with another crew member as the ship neared Cartagena.
His family, however, said they had been told that he had unexpectedly walked out of the ship's galley at about 8:15 p.m. the night before, while he was working the dinner shift, and never returned and hadn't been seen since.
The Faliva family said it was alerted Thursday that he had been reported missing and that a life preserver was also missing, with its nighttime illumination flares torn off and left aboard the ship.
"He surely didn't jump off. It wasn't suicide," his sister Chiara Faliva told The Associated Press from the family's home in Cremona. "We think there was an accident or a homicide."
The "Coral Princess" left Miami on Nov. 23. The ship, currently en route from Panama to Acapulco, Mexico, is due to dock in Los Angeles on Dec. 7, at which point the FBI is expected to join the investigation, she said.
Benson said Faliva's cabin had been sealed, the ship has been searched and its CCTV footage reviewed. No cameras captured video of a crew member going overboard.
"Obviously, we're very concerned," Benson said. "This is highly unusual and clearly we are concerned for his safety. It very well may be that he went overboard, but we don't know that for a fact."
The commander of the Colombian Coast Guard station in Cartagena, Lt. Javier Sanchez, said officials there received a report from the "Coral Princess" at 10 a.m. Thursday that one of the cooks had last been seen the night before between 7-8 p.m. when the ship was navigating Colombian waters near La Guajira.
But like the Princess spokeswoman, he too said the Coast Guard received word from the ship later Thursday that a person had seen the chef at about 6 a.m. Thursday morning.
The ship docked in Cartagena at 10 a.m. Thursday. By 3 p.m., the Coast Guard began searching for the chef, using a helicopter and two boats.
The search continues, using boats. "The case is not closed," Sanchez said.
An Italian Foreign Ministry official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said Italian embassy officials in Bogota were working with Colombian maritime authorities conducting the search and that the FBI was expected to investigate as well since the ship is part of the U.S.-based Carnival Corp. cruise empire.
The family is hoping Venezuelan maritime authorities also will take part in the search since the ship passed through Venezuelan waters during the time Faliva is believed to have gone overboard.
Chiara Faliva said her brother had been working for Princess Cruises since 2006 and that this was his third six-month tour with the line. He was a sous chef in the ship's Italian restaurant "Sabatini's."
She said she had received an e-mail from her brother the day before he went missing, and he reported that everything was going well. She said the captain had told the family that her brother had last been seen in the kitchen preparing dinner.
"He left quickly without saying anything to anyone and left the kitchen," she said. "From that point on, they don't know anything."
The "Coral Princess," launched in 2003, can accommodate 1,970 passengers and 900 crew.
Source: AP
There were different accounts about when and where Angelo Faliva, 31, was last seen as the Princess Cruises "Coral Princess" sailed from Aruba to Cartagena, Colombia, between Nov. 25 and 26.
Princess Cruises spokeswoman Julie Benson said Faliva was last seen on a deck at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 26, when he spoke with another crew member as the ship neared Cartagena.
His family, however, said they had been told that he had unexpectedly walked out of the ship's galley at about 8:15 p.m. the night before, while he was working the dinner shift, and never returned and hadn't been seen since.
The Faliva family said it was alerted Thursday that he had been reported missing and that a life preserver was also missing, with its nighttime illumination flares torn off and left aboard the ship.
"He surely didn't jump off. It wasn't suicide," his sister Chiara Faliva told The Associated Press from the family's home in Cremona. "We think there was an accident or a homicide."
The "Coral Princess" left Miami on Nov. 23. The ship, currently en route from Panama to Acapulco, Mexico, is due to dock in Los Angeles on Dec. 7, at which point the FBI is expected to join the investigation, she said.
Benson said Faliva's cabin had been sealed, the ship has been searched and its CCTV footage reviewed. No cameras captured video of a crew member going overboard.
"Obviously, we're very concerned," Benson said. "This is highly unusual and clearly we are concerned for his safety. It very well may be that he went overboard, but we don't know that for a fact."
The commander of the Colombian Coast Guard station in Cartagena, Lt. Javier Sanchez, said officials there received a report from the "Coral Princess" at 10 a.m. Thursday that one of the cooks had last been seen the night before between 7-8 p.m. when the ship was navigating Colombian waters near La Guajira.
But like the Princess spokeswoman, he too said the Coast Guard received word from the ship later Thursday that a person had seen the chef at about 6 a.m. Thursday morning.
The ship docked in Cartagena at 10 a.m. Thursday. By 3 p.m., the Coast Guard began searching for the chef, using a helicopter and two boats.
The search continues, using boats. "The case is not closed," Sanchez said.
An Italian Foreign Ministry official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said Italian embassy officials in Bogota were working with Colombian maritime authorities conducting the search and that the FBI was expected to investigate as well since the ship is part of the U.S.-based Carnival Corp. cruise empire.
The family is hoping Venezuelan maritime authorities also will take part in the search since the ship passed through Venezuelan waters during the time Faliva is believed to have gone overboard.
Chiara Faliva said her brother had been working for Princess Cruises since 2006 and that this was his third six-month tour with the line. He was a sous chef in the ship's Italian restaurant "Sabatini's."
She said she had received an e-mail from her brother the day before he went missing, and he reported that everything was going well. She said the captain had told the family that her brother had last been seen in the kitchen preparing dinner.
"He left quickly without saying anything to anyone and left the kitchen," she said. "From that point on, they don't know anything."
The "Coral Princess," launched in 2003, can accommodate 1,970 passengers and 900 crew.
Source: AP
Transsexual Sportswriter Found Dead in Suspected Suicide
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles Times sportswriter, who announced two years ago he was a transsexual and was changing his gender to female, was found dead in a suspected suicide, the paper reported Saturday.
Mike Penner, 52, who shocked colleagues and readers after he announced he was becoming a woman in April 2007, then returned to work as a man, was found dead at his Los Angeles home, according to the paper.
Penner had worked for 25 years on the sports staff of the Times.
"He was one of the most talented writers I've ever worked with," wrote Times Sports Editor Mike James on a blog on the Times Web site. "He was a gentle man, a kind man. It's just a tragedy," James wrote.
Penner revealed his transsexuality in a column in the paper, telling readers that he would continue to cover sports news under the name of Christine Daniels.
"How do you go about sharing your most important truth, one you spent a lifetime trying to keep deeply buried, to a world that has grown familiar and comfortable with your facade?" Penner wrote in his column.
"I am a transsexual sportswriter," he wrote. "It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them."
Penner covered the NFL, tennis, the Olympics and the Los Angeles Angels in his tenure at the paper.
Source: Fox News
Mike Penner, 52, who shocked colleagues and readers after he announced he was becoming a woman in April 2007, then returned to work as a man, was found dead at his Los Angeles home, according to the paper.
Penner had worked for 25 years on the sports staff of the Times.
"He was one of the most talented writers I've ever worked with," wrote Times Sports Editor Mike James on a blog on the Times Web site. "He was a gentle man, a kind man. It's just a tragedy," James wrote.
Penner revealed his transsexuality in a column in the paper, telling readers that he would continue to cover sports news under the name of Christine Daniels.
"How do you go about sharing your most important truth, one you spent a lifetime trying to keep deeply buried, to a world that has grown familiar and comfortable with your facade?" Penner wrote in his column.
"I am a transsexual sportswriter," he wrote. "It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them."
Penner covered the NFL, tennis, the Olympics and the Los Angeles Angels in his tenure at the paper.
Source: Fox News
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