what Phase are you on?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Shit Face
A San Diego judge has declared a mistrial in a kidnapping and assault case after the defendant smeared excrement on his lawyer's face and threw it at jurors. The judge boosted defendant Weusi McGowan's bail from $250,000 to $1 million after the Monday incident.Prosecutor Christopher Lawson says McGowan was upset because the judge refused to remove public defender Jeffrey Martin from the case.
McGowan had smuggled a bag of feces into court and spread it on Martin's hair and face before flinging the excrement at jurors. No jurors were hit.
McGowan has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping for robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and other counts in connection with a 2007 home invasion.
An 'Un'vitation?
Police say a northern Indiana woman who wasn't invited to her sister's wedding reception showed up anyway and attacked the bride, pulling out clumps of her hair.Twenty-three-year-old Annmarie Bricker of Valparaiso faces a misdemeanor battery charge for last Friday's attack outside a Porter County home.
The Porter County Sheriff's Department says a friend was hosting a reception for Nicholas Landry and Lori Kappes — Bricker's sister — when Bricker attacked Kappes on the front porch.
Police say that after the attack, Kappes had smeared makeup and clumps of hair missing from her head but sought no medical treatment.
Bricker told police she arrived at the home to confront her sister and parents and "just wanted to talk" about family problems. She says she never touched her sister.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Kenneth Lee Johnson
An Illinois middle school teacher charged with 10 counts of illegal possession of child pornography has reportedly admitted to molesting dozens of boys."Right now, we have no indication there were any victims in our school district," Antioch Elementary District 34 superintendent Scott Thompson told MyFOXChicago.
Johnson, who taught social studies in District 34 for 20 years was arrested Jan. 20 after an FBI tip led local authorities to interview him.
Johnson admitted to watching child pornography and sexually abusing 75 boys, Det. Sgt. George Manis told MyFOXChicago.
Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran told the station the police had not be able to substantiate any of Johnson's victims, but they did seized DVDs, floppy disks, printed materials and a computer containing more that 1,000 images and nearly 100 videos of child pornography from his home.
Robotic Gorilla
Authorities in Tampa are on the lookout for a robotic gorilla dressed in Arizona Cardinals garb.The owner of a Tampa vacuum store says surveillance video caught two women dragging the fake gorilla away from his business Wednesday. The gorilla, which is programed to wave at passers-by, is valued at $1,200.
Another motorized gorilla, which is wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers shirt, is still outside the vacuum store. The Steelers and the Cardinals will meet in the Super Bowl on Sunday in Tampa.
The store's owner has reported the theft to police, but said he thinks it was a prank.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Fiddler's Neck, Flautist's Chin And Cellist's Chest
A medical ailment that has worried male members of string sections across the music world for over 30 years has been exposed as a hoax.A senior British lawmaker confessed to making up the condition known as "cello scrotum" -- which relates to chafing from the instrument -- after reading about another musically-related ailment called "guitarist's nipple" in the British Medical Journal in 1974.
Elaine Murphy, who is a member of The House of Lords and a trained doctor, came clean about the prank she devised with husband John in a letter to the BMJ published on Wednesday. She said: "Perhaps after 34 years it's time for us to confess that we invented cello scrotum.
Murphy's confession may have been hastened by the fact that cello scrotum was referenced by a medical researcher in the BMJ late last year.
The article, entitled "A symphony of maladies," focused on health problems among musicians and contained references to such ailments as fiddler's neck, flautist's chin and cellist's chest.
Pipes & Drums
John Coleman, who was suspended as the drum major of a band for giving President Obama a nod during last week's inaugural parade, resigned from the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes & Drums."It's come to a point where I don't want embarrassment anymore between the pipe band and myself," Coleman, who is a firefighter, told WEWS on Tuesday.
Coleman was seen during the nationally televised January 20 parade nodding toward the new president while marching with the band. A few steps later, he appeared to wave briefly.
He told WEWS that as the band was marching past the grandstand where Obama was sitting, he made eye contact with the president. "Contact was made with our eyes both together and he smiled and waved at the band," he told the station. "And just as a gesture, I nodded my head. I gave him a slight wave and went on."
Representatives from the group did not return calls from CNN. But bandleader Mike Engle told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Coleman was suspended because he ignored military protocol.
"We had gone over and over time and again with everyone in the band that this was a military parade," Engle told the newspaper. "Protocol and proper decorum had to be followed at all times. Unfortunately, John chose to ignore that."
Coleman had been suspended from the band for six months.
Armyworms
Liberia's president has declared a state of emergency after hordes of ravenous caterpillars infested the country.Tens of millions of the worm-like larvae have appeared in the northern part of the country, where they are destroying green crops like cabbage and collard greens and contaminating the water supply, Liberian Information Minister Laurance Bropleh told CNN Wednesday from the capital of Monrovia.
"I am not aware that they have been here before, ever, and certainly not in this great number," Bropleh told CNN. "That is why it was so overwhelming initially when we first discovered it."
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told legislators Monday that 350,000 people in 62 communities in those three counties may have been affected.
Investigators suspect the caterpillars are African armyworms, the FAO said. The infestation is "quite alarming," said Winfred Hammond, the FAO representative in Liberia.
The pests multiply rapidly and adult moths are able to fly long distances at night, the FAO said. Worsening the situation, the area's water supply has been contaminated by the huge volume of feces dropped by the caterpillars, the FAO said.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Balls Of Death
Seven diners in northern Japan fell ill and three remained hospitalized Tuesday after eating blowfish testicles prepared in a restaurant not authorized to serve the poisonous delicacy.The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence, police official Yoshihito Iwase said.
Blowfish, while extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets.
Iwase said the seven men ordered sashimi and grilled blowfish testicles at the restaurant Monday night.
Shortly after, they developed limb paralysis and breathing trouble and started to lose consciousness — typical signs of blowfish poisoning — and were rushed to a hospital for treatment, Iwase said.
Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa Health Service Association. It can cause death within an hour and a half after consumption.
Eight Is Enough
Newborn octuplets in Southern California are a feisty bunch and appear healthy even at nine weeks premature, a doctor said Tuesday.Three babies are being given oxygen but appeared to be doing well, said Dr. Mandhir Gupta, a neonatologist at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center. At least four could be ready for their first oral feeding later Tuesday.
"All the babies were delivered vigorously, crying and kicking," he said.
The mother, who has not been identified, gave birth Monday to the six boys and two girls weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces, and 3 pounds, 4 ounces (0.67 kilograms and 1.47 kilograms). She was resting comfortably Tuesday and was elated at welcoming eight children to her family, Gupta said.
The eighth baby surprised the parents and doctors, who had prepared to deliver seven children.
The babies — dubbed with the letters A-through-H — will probably remain in the hospital for at least two months and the mother could be released in a week.
The world's first live octuplets were born in March 1967 in Mexico City, but all died within 14 hours, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
The United States' first live octuplets were born in Houston in 1998, three months premature. The tiniest died a week after the birth. The surviving siblings turned 10 in December.
Going Down (Under)?
Australia's military chief personally apologized to a London-based entertainer for falsely accusing her of having sex with elite special forces soldiers while on a concert tour at a military base in Afghanistan.Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston met with Tania Zaetta and her family Tuesday to apologize for naming her in the baseless defense briefing note, which was leaked to the press and landed the 38-year-old on the cover of many tabloids.
"There was no substance to the allegations," Houston said in a statement. "Ms. Zaetta gave her time and her talent to entertain our forces serving in Afghanistan and she deserves our praise and our thanks. I have also made clear to Ms Zaetta that she is welcome to again join a Forces Entertainment Tour in the near future."
Late last year Australia's defense department and Zaetta reached an agreement to compensate her for "an unacceptable breach of privacy" in relation to "false allegations," the statement said,
Zaetta, who is of Australian and Italian heritage, has been featured in a number of Bollywood productions in recent years, including a Charlie's Angels-style movie called, "Mr Black, Mr White.”
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wake Up Call
Emma Ray suffered a heart attack nearly two weeks after giving birth to her son and failed to regain consciousness.Her husband, Andrew, spent two weeks by her bedside waiting for her to wake up from a coma – but her condition did not improve until he leaned over and asked her for a kiss, the Daily Mail reported Monday.
“What happened next was beyond my wildest dreams,” he told the newspaper. “She turned her head towards mine, puckered up her lips and gave me a little kiss.”
“I couldn't believe it. My heart felt like it was going to leap from my chest — it suddenly felt like a huge weight had been lifted.”
Ray collapsed while shopping with her husband 10 days after giving birth. She was taken to the hospital where doctors were able to restart her heart, but warned she could remain in a coma indefinitely.
Despite waking up after the kiss, Ray still had a long road ahead of her. The heart attack left her with short-term memory loss — and as a result she’s had to undergo extensive brain injury rehabilitation.
100-0
The coach of a Texas high school basketball team that beat another team 100-0 was fired Sunday, the same day he sent an e-mail to a newspaper saying he will not apologize "for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity."Kyle Queal, the headmaster for Covenant School, said in The Dallas Morning News online edition that he could not answer if the firing was a direct result of coach Micah Grimes' e-mail disagreeing with administrators who called the blowout "shameful."
On its Web site last week, Covenant, a private Christian school, posted a statement regretting the outcome of its Jan. 13 shutout win over Dallas Academy. "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition," said the statement, signed by Queal and board chair Todd Doshier.
Grimes, who has been criticized for letting the game get so far out of hand, made it clear in the e-mail Sunday to the newspaper that he does not agree with his school's assessment. "In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Web site, I do not agree with the apology or the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel embarrassed or ashamed,"
Grimes wrote in the e-mail, according to the newspaper. "We played the game as it was meant to be played. My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent, and it will not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity."
A parent who attended the game said Covenant continued to make 3-pointers — even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points. Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.
Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.
The Streak Is Over!
Well, it didn't last long.The NJIT Highlanders' one-game winning streak came to a screeching halt on Saturday afternoon when they fell to Longwood, 63-51.
Isaiah Wilkerson, a Curtis product, scored 15 points off the bench. In an ironic twist, Longwood was the last team NJIT had beaten prior to their 51-game losing streak.
NJIT ended the nation's longest losing streak -- 51 games -- on Wednesday night when they defeated Byrant University, a first-year D-I program, 61-51 in Newark.
Proud to be New Jersey.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Obama....From Space!
With 2 million people in Washington for President Obama's historic inauguration Tuesday, who had the best seat in the house?
Perhaps the most scenic vantage was from high in the air — really high.
GeoEye, provider of satellite and aerial photos, has unveiled exclusive images from the GeoEye-1 satellite free of charge on the corporation's Web site.
The GeoEye-1 produced color photos of the inaugural celebration from 423 miles above the National Mall during the swearing-in ceremony.
The pictures were taken as the satellite traveled from north to south at about 17,000 mph — or four miles per second, according to GeoEye.
The 4,300-pound satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sept. 6, 2008.
Perhaps the most scenic vantage was from high in the air — really high.
GeoEye, provider of satellite and aerial photos, has unveiled exclusive images from the GeoEye-1 satellite free of charge on the corporation's Web site.
The GeoEye-1 produced color photos of the inaugural celebration from 423 miles above the National Mall during the swearing-in ceremony.
The pictures were taken as the satellite traveled from north to south at about 17,000 mph — or four miles per second, according to GeoEye.
The 4,300-pound satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sept. 6, 2008.
Don't Make Me Turn This Bus Around!
A school bus driver in northern Illinois has been found guilty of intentionally slamming the brakes to throw children from their seats.A McHenry County judge Tuesday found Lake in the Hills resident Julieta Clinton guilty of reckless conduct and child endangerment as part of a plea deal in which she did not admit guilt.
The 38-year-old could face up to a year in prison when she's sentenced April 3.
McHenry prosecutors say Clinton was driving 54 kids to school in Huntley last April when she became frustrated with their unruly behavior and braked hard twice.
The children ranged in age from 5 to 10 years old. One was sent to an Elgin hospital and paramedics treated 18 others at the scene.
Her attorney maintains that the incident was an accident.
It Never Stops...
Jill Hull pleaded guilty Tuesday to deserting the mail, a misdemeanor. The case is rare but it happens: From North Carolina to North Dakota, carriers in recent months have been hauled to court for failing to fulfill their routes.Mail has been found in basements, garages and, in Hull's case, a self-storage unit in Michigan's Livingston County. In North Carolina, a mail carrier admitted to keeping junk mail buried in his backyard.
In September, after she had failed to pay her bill, managers opened Hull's unit and discovered thousands of pieces of unopened mail, including 988 first-class letters. Some had postmarks from 2005. "I was unable to deliver all the mail," Hull, 34, said during a brief hearing in federal court in Detroit.
In a court filing, postal investigator Douglas Mills said Hull had planned to catch up with late payments and apparently keep the mail under lock and key until she died.
"Looking back at her time sheets, she was leaving early everyday," said Koss, who became postmaster shortly after the discovery. "It's like it got dark and she didn't know what to do with the mail."
In North Dakota, Allen Prochnow, 62, will be sentenced in March for delaying mail for 10 years. Four tons were removed from his house in Wahpeton, including 3,000 pieces of first-class mail. "He'd see a magazine he'd like to read and pretty soon it was quite a bit of mail," lawyer John Goff said. "A lot of it was piled neatly along walls in the house. In his own mind he was building a bunker. ... His most frequent answer has been, 'I don't know why."'
Friday, January 16, 2009
Boy George O'Dowd
A British judge has sentenced former Culture Club frontman Boy George to 15 months in jail after he was convicted of falsely imprisoning a male escort.Last year, Norwegian escort Audun Carlsen told a trial that in 2007 he was handcuffed to a wall hook at the east London apartment of the singer -- whose real name is George O'Dowd.
Prosecutors said Carlsen was held by O'Dowd for under an hour. The singer had denied the charges, but he was convicted in December. O'Dowd was sentenced on Friday.
Pintar Con Pulverizador
Four teenagers say police in a northern Mexican town spray-painted their hair, shoes and buttocks to teach them not to paint graffiti on public property.Emilio Alfaro of Nuevo Leon state's Human Rights Commission said Thursday the youths have filed a complaint alleging that police in Guadalupe slapped, kicked and painted them with spray cans after detaining them for vandalism.
The youths are aged between 14 and 16. They presented paint-stained shoes and photos of their painted heads as evidence.
Guadelupe's police department says several officers have been suspended while the matter is being investigated. The youths were fined more than $200 before being released on Tuesday.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
A Raven?? Nevermore.
If you're the mayor of Pittsburgh and your beloved Pittsburgh Steelers are playing one of their archrivals for the right to go to the Super Bowl, certainly not "Raven."
So goodbye, Luke Ravenstahl; hello, Luke Steelerstahl.
A look ahead to the AFC Championship Game between the Ravens and Steelers in Pittsburgh.
Ravenstahl -- er, Steelerstahl -- says he decided to remove "Raven" from his name just as he predicts the Steelers will remove the hated Baltimore Ravens from contention in Sunday's AFC Championship Game.
On Wednesday morning, the mayor began, but did not complete, an official name change petition, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Civil court staff gave the petition a docket number but said they did not expect to file it, in part because they did not receive the required check for $108 to process the change, the newspaper reported.
Ravenstahl said he did not come up with the idea for the name change, according to the report. That honor, he said, belonged to callers to a local radio station's morning show, who "called in and thought it would be a good idea to change from Ravenstahl, given we are playing the hated Baltimore Ravens this weekend, to Steelerstahl. "As soon as I heard it, I thought it was a great idea."
Ravenstahl will keep the name at least through Sunday.
Coincidentally, "stahl" is German for steel.
So goodbye, Luke Ravenstahl; hello, Luke Steelerstahl.A look ahead to the AFC Championship Game between the Ravens and Steelers in Pittsburgh.
Ravenstahl -- er, Steelerstahl -- says he decided to remove "Raven" from his name just as he predicts the Steelers will remove the hated Baltimore Ravens from contention in Sunday's AFC Championship Game.
On Wednesday morning, the mayor began, but did not complete, an official name change petition, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Civil court staff gave the petition a docket number but said they did not expect to file it, in part because they did not receive the required check for $108 to process the change, the newspaper reported.
Ravenstahl said he did not come up with the idea for the name change, according to the report. That honor, he said, belonged to callers to a local radio station's morning show, who "called in and thought it would be a good idea to change from Ravenstahl, given we are playing the hated Baltimore Ravens this weekend, to Steelerstahl. "As soon as I heard it, I thought it was a great idea."
Ravenstahl will keep the name at least through Sunday.
Coincidentally, "stahl" is German for steel.
Swing-(And Miss)-Town
Disco is dead. Again.CBS president Nina Tassler kicked off the net's portion of press tour this morning by confirming the obvious:
Swingtown has been cancelled.
"We're not going back to Swingtown," Tassler said. "At the end of the day the show was well executed, it was well received, the performances were great, the writing was great. It was a risk, we took it, and we're proud of it."
"The show that inspired numerous Halloween Costumes will be missed..." -FMB MGMT
Going Through Withdrawal
Police say a northeastern Pennsylvania couple did not call the bank when a $1,772.50 deposit showed up in their account as $177,250.
Authorities say 50-year-old Randy Pratt and 36-year-old Melissa Marie Pratt of Bloomsburg took out all the money, quit their jobs and moved to Florida.
The pair, now legally separated, faces felony theft charges, counts of receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy to commit theft, Pennsylvania's Press Enterprise reported Wednesday on its Web site.
Police say Melissa Pratt told them her husband often got large checks and she wasn't aware of any banking error. However, the Press Enterprise reported that police said Randy Pratt was employed as a metal roofing installer and only earned about $3,800 as a roofer all last year.
Police say Melissa Pratt deposited the check at FNB Bank last summer. When the big balance showed up investigators say the two wrote checks to another account, bought a new vehicle and were buying a house in the Orlando area when the mistake was traced.
The newspaper reported that the couple managed to spend all but about $50,000 of the money.
Authorities say 50-year-old Randy Pratt and 36-year-old Melissa Marie Pratt of Bloomsburg took out all the money, quit their jobs and moved to Florida.
The pair, now legally separated, faces felony theft charges, counts of receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy to commit theft, Pennsylvania's Press Enterprise reported Wednesday on its Web site.
Police say Melissa Pratt told them her husband often got large checks and she wasn't aware of any banking error. However, the Press Enterprise reported that police said Randy Pratt was employed as a metal roofing installer and only earned about $3,800 as a roofer all last year.
Police say Melissa Pratt deposited the check at FNB Bank last summer. When the big balance showed up investigators say the two wrote checks to another account, bought a new vehicle and were buying a house in the Orlando area when the mistake was traced.
The newspaper reported that the couple managed to spend all but about $50,000 of the money.
Like A Bad Movie...
A singer took center stage at a Nashville honky-tonk to promote his new album. He had the good looks and easy charm of a movie star.Kevin Costner recently celebrated the release of "Untold Truths" -- his debut country record -- with a free show at The Stage on Broadway. He was backed by his band, Modern West, which also features guitarist John Coinman and bassist Blair Forward -- two men he met 20 years ago in an acting class. The three have been making music on and off since then, with Costner on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Back in the day, they called themselves Roving Boy.
Costner sings about freight trains, dusty avenues and broken dreams in a voice that's pleasant, if not terribly distinct. In faded jeans and a toffee-colored cashmere sweater, he commands the stage with the same sex appeal he once had on the big screen.
http://www.myspace.com/kevincostnerandmodernwest
The End Of The Road
It's inescapable: Fox TV is bringing "Prison Break" to an end after four seasons.Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly confirmed that this is the final season for "Prison Break" during the network's portion of the Television Critics Assn.'s winter press tour. The series took a break after its December season debut and will conclude with about a half-dozen episodes starting April 17.
"Prison Break will forever be in our hearts and 'fingers'." -FMB MGMT
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Indecent Proposal
Police have arrested a Greenfield man for allegedly arranging to sell his 14-year-old daughter into marriage in exchange for $16,000, 100 cases of beer and several cases of meat.Police say they only learned of the deal after 36-year-old Marcelino de Jesus Martinez went to them to get his daughter back because payment wasn't made as promised.
Martinez was arrested Sunday on suspicion of human trafficking.
Officers also arrested 18-year-old Margarito de Jesus Galindo on suspicion of statutory rape. Investigators believe the girl went willingly with Galindo, but she's under California's legal age of consent and can't legally marry.
Police say arranged marriages involving underage girls have become a problem in this small Central Coast farming community.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thundercats
A great fan made trailer for Thundercats using Brad Pitt, Vin Diesel, Hugh Jackman and others for this collaboration. All the effects were done frame by frame in Photoshop.
Boy, Are My Arms Tired
The first flying car, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month.If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater car to a plane in 15 seconds, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months’ time.
Its manufacturer says it is easy to keep and run since it uses normal unleaded fuel and will fit in a garage.
Carl Dietrich, who runs the Massachusetts-based Terrafugia, said: “This is the first really integrated design where the wings fold up automatically and all the parts are in one vehicle.”
The Transition, developed by former NASA engineers, is powered by the same 100 bhp engine on the ground and in the air. Terrafugia claims it will be able to fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of gas at a cruising speed of 115 mph. Up to now, however, it has only been tested on roads at up to 90 mph.
Davey Jones' Locker
The body of a Somali pirate who drowned just after receiving a huge ransom washed onshore with $153,000 in cash, a resident said Sunday, as the spokesman for another group of pirates promised to soon free a Ukrainian arms ship.Five pirates drowned Friday when their small boat capsized after they received a reported $3 million ransom for releasing a Saudi oil tanker. Local resident Omar Abdi Hassan said one of the bodies had been found on a beach near the coastal town of Haradhere and relatives were searching for the other four. Three other pirates survived but also lost their share of the ransom.
"One of them was discovered and they are still looking for the other ones. He had $153,000 in a plastic bag in his pocket," he said Sunday.
Until Death...Or Whenever
Blake Fielder-Civil is trying to kick his Amy Winehouse habit now that he's seen photos of the singer cavorting with another man in the Caribbean while he sits in a British jail.Celebrity lawyer Henri Brandman confirmed to CNN that Fielder-Civil has asked him "to commence divorce proceedings on the grounds of Amy's adultery."
Winehouse was quoted by a London tabloid last week saying she was "off the drugs for good" and has a new man in her life, 21-year-old actor Josh Bowman.
"I've finally escaped from hell," Winehouse told the News of the World. "I'm in love again, and I don't need drugs. Look at me; I'm glowing!"
The tabloid also published pictures of Winehouse and Bowman in playful poses on a beach on the island of St. Lucia. "I'm just here on my own, happy and having a good time with Josh," she said. "I'll deal with Blake when I get back. But our whole marriage was based on doing drugs."
Hide And Seek
The pilot who signaled air traffic controllers that his windshield had imploded and that he was bleeding profusely before his plane crashed was apparently faking the call, and was spotted using a false name early Monday, authorities said.
The Piper PA-36 crashed in a swampy area near Milton, Florida, authorities said.
"All indications now are that he made some type of false emergency call [and] abandoned the plane by parachute," said Sgt. Scott Haines of the Santa Rosa County, Florida, Sheriff's Office.
Haines said the pilot -- who has not been publicly identified -- checked into a hotel in the Harpersville, Alabama, under a false name. Haines did not know the whereabouts of the pilot.
Military jets found the aircraft Sunday. The plane was laying upside down, its door open and the cockpit empty, according to Haines.
Kathleen Bergen, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said a "detailed review of radar data" and the fact that the plane had switched to autopilot suggested that the pilot might have parachuted.
Military jets that first spotted the wreckage described the cockpit as empty. Bergen said the cockpit was mostly intact and the door to the aircraft was open.
The corporate plane does not have an ejection feature, and the pilot did not have a parachute when he took off Sunday from Anderson Municipal Airport in Anderson, Indiana, airport manager Steve Darlington told CNN.
The Piper PA-36 crashed in a swampy area near Milton, Florida, authorities said."All indications now are that he made some type of false emergency call [and] abandoned the plane by parachute," said Sgt. Scott Haines of the Santa Rosa County, Florida, Sheriff's Office.
Haines said the pilot -- who has not been publicly identified -- checked into a hotel in the Harpersville, Alabama, under a false name. Haines did not know the whereabouts of the pilot.
Military jets found the aircraft Sunday. The plane was laying upside down, its door open and the cockpit empty, according to Haines.
Kathleen Bergen, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said a "detailed review of radar data" and the fact that the plane had switched to autopilot suggested that the pilot might have parachuted.
Military jets that first spotted the wreckage described the cockpit as empty. Bergen said the cockpit was mostly intact and the door to the aircraft was open.
The corporate plane does not have an ejection feature, and the pilot did not have a parachute when he took off Sunday from Anderson Municipal Airport in Anderson, Indiana, airport manager Steve Darlington told CNN.
Friday, January 9, 2009
The Teflon Don
It is perhaps the most intriguing unsolved mystery from the gaudy gangland career of John Gotti: Whatever happened to the neighbor who accidentally ran over and killed the mobster's 12-year-old son — and then vanished?According to papers filed this week in Brooklyn federal court, John Favara was shot to death on orders of the outraged Gambino crime family chief and his body was dissolved in a barrel of acid. Authorities said a cooperating witness identified Charles Carneglia, a 62-year-old former mobster, as the perpetrator in the 1980 incident.
The court documents said Carneglia told another informant that acid was "the best method to use to avoid detection."
Those details, in a 44-page evidence motion by federal prosecutors for a racketeering trial, offered a new twist on the fate of Favara, a 51-year-old furniture warehouse worker who lived near the Gottis in the Howard Beach section of Queens.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,478124,00.html
Poor James Franklin
A man who would have been on probation for his drug conviction will now have to spend six months in jail, all because he fled before hearing a jury's sentencing verdict.
To make matters worse, James Carroll Franklin was captured after a high-speed chase through three counties, for which he faces more charges that could bring additional jail time.
Franklin, 47, of Azle, apparently panicked Wednesday after hearing prosecutors in the Wise County courtroom urge jurors to sentence him to life in prison, said his attorney, Jim Shaw.
Franklin, who was allowed to remain free after being convicted of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, asked Shaw if he would be able to see his daughter and take care of personal business. Shaw said he told Franklin probably not.
But the attorney said he also explained to Franklin that he likely would get probation and that a sentence of less than 10 years would allow him to go free on an appeal bond within 24 hours.
Franklin then went to the restroom, and less than five minutes later jurors returned with their verdict: a $1,000 fine and six years in prison, which they recommended be probated, Shaw said.
When Franklin couldn't be located, Wise County deputies broadcast a radio message to stop him, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Thursday. Franklin then led authorities on a high-speed chase through Wise and Parker counties before he was captured in Tarrant County by officers who rammed his car and used a stun gun on him when he resisted arrest, Shaw said.
To make matters worse, James Carroll Franklin was captured after a high-speed chase through three counties, for which he faces more charges that could bring additional jail time.
Franklin, 47, of Azle, apparently panicked Wednesday after hearing prosecutors in the Wise County courtroom urge jurors to sentence him to life in prison, said his attorney, Jim Shaw.
Franklin, who was allowed to remain free after being convicted of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, asked Shaw if he would be able to see his daughter and take care of personal business. Shaw said he told Franklin probably not.
But the attorney said he also explained to Franklin that he likely would get probation and that a sentence of less than 10 years would allow him to go free on an appeal bond within 24 hours.
Franklin then went to the restroom, and less than five minutes later jurors returned with their verdict: a $1,000 fine and six years in prison, which they recommended be probated, Shaw said.
When Franklin couldn't be located, Wise County deputies broadcast a radio message to stop him, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Thursday. Franklin then led authorities on a high-speed chase through Wise and Parker counties before he was captured in Tarrant County by officers who rammed his car and used a stun gun on him when he resisted arrest, Shaw said.
'Bus'-ted??
A school bus driver made an unscheduled stop at a liquor store, 
then allegedly asked a student to help hide her purchases when police stopped her, the district superintendent said. It does not appear the driver had been drinking, Billings Public Schools Superintendent Jack Copps said. No charges had been filed but the driver quit her job this week.
Copps said someone spotted the bus at the liquor store on Dec. 12 and called authorities. No students were on the bus at the time, he said.
By the time officers caught up with the bus, the driver had picked up some middle school students and allegedly asked one student to hide a paper bag with bottles of alcohol near the back of the bus, Copps said.
Copps said the school immediately notified its bus contractor, First Student, that the woman was not to transport any of the district's students.
School district policy prohibits alcohol on school property or in vehicles transporting students.
then allegedly asked a student to help hide her purchases when police stopped her, the district superintendent said. It does not appear the driver had been drinking, Billings Public Schools Superintendent Jack Copps said. No charges had been filed but the driver quit her job this week.Copps said someone spotted the bus at the liquor store on Dec. 12 and called authorities. No students were on the bus at the time, he said.
By the time officers caught up with the bus, the driver had picked up some middle school students and allegedly asked one student to hide a paper bag with bottles of alcohol near the back of the bus, Copps said.
Copps said the school immediately notified its bus contractor, First Student, that the woman was not to transport any of the district's students.
School district policy prohibits alcohol on school property or in vehicles transporting students.
I'll Huff....And I'll Puff
An eastern Pennsylvania man may face up to 37 years in prison for tearing open a neighbor's door with a chain saw. Police say 34-year-old Robert Kane began sawing through the front door of Jamie Zaleski's apartment in Scranton while Zaleski and several friends ran out the back.Kane was angry because a friend of Zaleski's parked in front of his house across the street. Police said when Zaleski asked who was at the door, Kane said it was his worst nightmare, told him, "Open the door or I'll cut it down," and started sawing.
A jury convicted Kane on Tuesday of charges including attempted burglary, attempted criminal trespass and terroristic threats.
He was held in lieu of $20,000 bail. A sentencing date wasn't immediately set.
Wet Seal
A young female harbor seal holds a brown trout in her mouth after she traveled two miles from Cape Cod Bay and found her way into one of the trout holding tanks at a fish hatchery on Tuesday in Sandwich, Mass.The female seal briefly had the run of the Sandwich Hatchery, downing untold numbers of trout before Division of Fisheries and Wildlife employees found it, the Cape Cod Times reported.
The seal, just under 3 feet long, was released on a beach by members of the Cape Cod Stranding Network, which rescues marine mammals that end up on land.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Moose Poop Nuggets
Genuine moose poop nuggets, a product of Maine here in the U.S.Now you know what those folks do during those long New England winters!
Collecting moose droppings, drying them, coating them in polyurethane - I assure you there’s NO smell - and rigging them as hypoallergenic dangle earrings.
Nuggets are lightweight and 1" long.
UNUSUAL GIFT for that special someone!
The Death Penalty
A young Papua New Guinea woman was burned to death in what authorities fear is the latest witchcraft killing in the remote and lawless interior of the country.The woman, believed to be between 16 and 20 years old, was stripped naked, gagged and tied to a truck loaded with firewood — which was driven to a town dump and doused with gasoline — before being set aflame, according to witnesses who saw the act near Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands.
"The girl was stripped naked and could not shout for assistance or resist as she was tightly strapped and her mouth gagged," Jessie James, a man who saw the girl's death, told the local Post Courier Mail.
"I don't know the right words to describe it but it's barbaric. Can you find the best words to describe such acts that are rampant here?" said Highlands police chief Simon Kauba.
PNG police believe the girl was either accused of being a witch or that she had been blamed for infecting one of her killers with HIV/Aids, both of which are punished by the death penalty by the jungle justice practiced by the indigenous communities of the Highlands.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
