Masked man tries to rob car wash but gun falls apart

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A man who robbed a northeast Portland car wash is on the loose and police are asking for the public’s help apprehending him.
Police said a masked man robbed the Washman Carwash on NE 81st Avenue Saturday morning, Dec. 13, but his gun fell apart in the middle of the heist.
Surveillance cameras caught the bungled robbery on tape.
The suspect approached Washman employee Chris Truax, who was dressed that day as Santa Claus, at about 10:45 a.m. The robber then pulled a gun from underneath his sweatshirt and demanded money.
He then dropped his gun and it fell apart, police said.
“Right when he pulled it out the top piece of the gun came off and you could see an exposed spring, white plastic, so I knew it wasn’t a real gun,” Truax said. more

Who said that crime doesn’t pay?

Crime shouldn’t pay but in the case of perverted Plattsburgh politico predator George “Chris” Ortloff, he will reportedly collect a $53,000 a year pension for the rest of his life, courtesy of the state taxpayers, even while he’s serving a minimum sentence in federal prison after admitting that he used the Internet to attempt to engage in sexual acts with girls he believed to be 11 and 12 years old.
Ortloff, 61, a former 10-term Assemblyman from Plattsburgh and most recently a commissioner on the state Parole Board, pulling down an annual salary of $101,600, was arrested in the nude on Oct. 13 at a Colonie motel where he thought he was meeting the pre-teen girls. He pleaded guilty this week to a single felony count to avoid being indicted and to gain his release until sentencing.

Police said that between June of 2008 and his arrest on Oct. 13, Ortloff had been communicating over the Internet with an undercover investigator with the New York State Police, trying to set up a sexual liaison in Albany although he believed he was communicating with the girls’ mother. The “mother” was actually an undercover investigator assigned to the New York State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in Albany.

Ortloff could be sentenced up to life in prison when he returns to federal court on April 23, after posting a $100,000 bond and released so he could be home for Christmas. The minimum term he must serve, unless there’s some sweetheart deal, is 10 years during which the state will pay him over a half million dollars. more

Man who helped start free shuttle accused of driving drunk

Oconomowoc - A business leader who helped launch a free shuttle program to prevent drunken driving is facing charges that he drove under the influence on a night the shuttle was available.
Robert John Manders, a used-car dealer who donated a vehicle for the shuttle service known as LIMOS, was arrested Dec. 13 while heading home from a Christmas party, according to a criminal complaint obtained Tuesday.
It would be his third drunken-driving conviction, following incidents in 1990 and 1999, if he is found guilty.
The Waukesha County district attorney's office alleges that Manders failed a sobriety test after he was stopped while driving a vehicle emblazoned with the shuttle program's logo.
"I realize I made a mistake," the 47-year-old business owner said Tuesday.
Conceding that he thought about calling the shuttle service for a ride home that night, Manders said he did not think he was too intoxicated to drive.
"I'm sorry about the situation," he said. "It should be no reflection on the program."
Launched under the name LIMOS, which stands for Late-night Initiative Making Oconomowoc Safe, the program has served hundreds of tipsy motorists who needed transportation in western Waukesha County in the past two years. more

Jena 6' figure shoots himself

(CNN) -- A teenager whose arrest in a racially charged assault case drew thousands of protesters to his rural Louisiana hometown was in a hospital early Tuesday after a shooting that his lawyer said was accidental.

Mychal Bell was cleaning a gun when it accidentally discharged, shooting him in the shoulder, his attorney, Carol Powell-Lexing, told CNN. He had surgery Monday night at a hospital in Monroe, Louisiana, and has not yet been able to talk, she said.
Monroe police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten said the wound was not life-threatening.
Bell was one of six black teenagers who faced adult felony charges in the 2006 beating of a white classmate in the town of Jena. The beating followed months of racial tensions in the community of 3,000 after three white students hung a noose in a tree whose shade was traditionally off limits to blacks at Jena High School. more

Man stabbed over karaoke selection argument

A man was stabbed early Friday when he and a family friend had a disagreement over which karaoke song to sing.
Salt Lake City police said the two men -- 33 and 23 -- were at a family party near 1900 West and Gander Lane (1790 North) when they began to argue about which song they wanted to perform.
The 23-year-old found a large kitchen knife and stabbed it into the 33-year-old's upper-right chest. The attacker then drove off in a white Honda, police said.
Witnesses guided officers to the alleged stabber's home, where he was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault.
The victim was taken to an area hospital in stable but serious condition, police said.

Phila. man shot because family talked during movie

Phila. man shot because family talked during movie
A South Philadelphia man enraged because a father and son were talking during a Christmas showing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button took care of the situation when he pulled a .380-caliber gun and shot the father, police said.
James Joseph Cialella Jr., 29, of the 1900 block of Hollywood Street is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and weapons violations. more

Grade School Break-up Ends in OC Stabbing

PLACENTIA - Authorities say a woman stabbed and wounded three people outside an Orange County childcare center.
Police Sgt. Ken Alexander says the suspected assailant, 32-year-old Diana Rodriguez, was arrested Monday.
Alexander says Rodriguez's 12-year-old son had just had a romantic breakup with a 12-year-old girl at the center in Placentia, and that the three adult victims were the girl's mother and two other relatives.
Police Sgt. Kelly Kenehan says after a short argument outside the center's front door, Rodriguez allegedly took out a pocketknife and stabbed the victims, leaving pools of blood.
None of the injuries were life-threatening and all three victims were treated at hospitals and released.
Rodriguez was released from jail after posting bond Tuesday.

Dog shoplifts bone

Management at a Utah grocery couldn’t believe their eyes when a brazen shoplifter caught on a surveillance camera Christmas Eve turned out to be … a dog.

The furry thief entered Smith’s Food and Drug store in Murray through the automated front door and headed for the pet-food aisle before nabbing a rawhide bone and walking out.
Manager Roger Anderson told KSL-TV he confronted the dog telling it to “Drop it,” but the canine ignored him and held onto its loot while it made its getaway out the door.
The Husky-looking dog is still at large. more

Man in a Santa Suit Kills at Least 8 at a Party

COVINA, Calif. — A man in a Santa Claus outfit opened fire on a Christmas Eve gathering of his in-laws in this Los Angeles suburb and then methodically set their house ablaze, killing at least eight people and injuring several others, the authorities said Thursday.


Shortly after the attack, the gunman, identified as Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, killed himself with a single shot to the head at the home of his brother in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles, the police said.

In addition to the eight people whose bodies were found in the ashes of the house here, none of whom were identified, at least one other person was thought to be missing, and perhaps as many as three. Among the total of dead or missing were the couple who owned the home and their daughter, the estranged wife of the gunman, the police said.

Investigators continued to search the charred structure Thursday, and coroners said dental records would be needed to identify some of the remains.

The frenzied shooting occurred just before midnight Wednesday at the two-story house, set on a cul-de-sac in this middle-class town about 22 miles east of Los Angeles. Lt. Pat Buchanan of the Covina Police Department said Mr. Pardo, armed with one or two handguns and fire accelerant, had gone to the house looking for his former wife, Sylvia, with whom he was finalizing a contentious divorce after only a year of marriage.

People who escaped the house got out by smashing through glass and jumping. One woman broke an ankle when she leapt from a second-floor window.

The house was owned by James and Alicia Ortega, an elderly couple who were retired from their spray-painting business and who often invited their large extended family over for parties, particularly around Christmas.

Relatives said about 25 people, among them many children, were inside the home celebrating when Mr. Pardo knocked on the door around 11:30 p.m. He had apparently disguised himself as a hired entertainer for the children in order to gain access.

When a guest opened the door, Lieutenant Buchanan said, Mr. Pardo stepped inside the house, drew a semiautomatic handgun and immediately started shooting, beginning with an 8-year-old girl who was hit in the face but who survived, as did an older girl who was shot in the back.

As Mr. Pardo unleashed a barrage of gunfire in the living room, relatives smashed through windows, hid behind furniture or bounded upstairs. Then he sprayed the room with accelerant, using a device made of two pressurized tanks, one of which held pressurized gas. Within seconds, the house was ablaze.
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Last Vehicle Rolls out of General Motors' Oldest Plant

JANESVILLE, Wis. — As the last SUV rolled off the production line at General Motors' oldest plant here Tuesday, Karen Green promised herself she would keep her emotions in check.
The Janesville plant was built in 1918 for tractor production and converted to a Chevrolet plant in 1923. Green had worked on the assembly line for 14 years.
When plant and union officials began thanking workers for their years of service, however, she couldn't hold back the tears.
"I was pretty good up until the end. Then I lost it," said Green, 55, of Fort Atkinson. "It was just so somber, so sad."
Green was one of 1,200 employees let go when GM ended production at the southern Wisconsin plant.
Another 800 or so jobs have been lost at local companies that supplied GM parts.
Over the years, workers churned out sedans and SUVs, including Chevrolet Suburbans and GMC Yukons. But demand for big vehicles plummeted during the days of $4 gas this summer and failed to recover as fuel prices came down.
"We gave it a pretty good run for 85 years," said Steve Kriefall, 58, of Janesville. "But these are tough times now, and it's hard to see it come to this."

Amtrak Passengers Stranded For 23 Hours

Several Amtrak trains were delayed or cancelled due to frozen equipment.

CBS 2's Jim Williams reports that some passengers were fortunate. Their Amtrak train was able to leave union station for Milwaukee Tuesday afternoon.

Others were delayed for hours. The worst case – more than 600 passengers trying to get to the Pacific Northwest were stuck on the train and in cold waiting rooms for nearly a day. Some said they had little food and water.

"We kept getting updated notifications that the toilets were frozen, the switching lines were frozen," a passenger said. "No one really knew what was going on."

The train finally left Tuesday afternoon – 23 hours late – but would only go as far as St. Paul, Minnesota. more

Mexican beauty queen arrested in gun-filled truck

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – A reigning Mexican beauty queen from the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa was arrested with suspected gang members in a truck filled guns and ammunition, police say.

Miss Sinaloa 2008 Laura Zuniga stared at the ground, with her flowing dark hair concealing her face, as she stood squeezed between seven alleged gunmen lined up before journalists. Soldiers wearing ski masks guarded the 23-year-old model and the suspects.

Zuniga was arrested shortly before midnight on Monday at a military checkpoint in Zapopan, just outside the colonial city of Guadalajara, said Jalisco state police director, Francisco Alejandro Solorio.

Zuniga was riding in one of two trucks, where soldiers found a large stash of weapons, including two AR-15 assault rifles, .38 specials, 9mm handguns, nine magazines, 633 cartridges and $53,300 in U.S. currency, Solorio said Tuesday.

State police identified one of the men caught with her as the brother of an alleged drug trafficker from Ciudad Juarez, a city on the U.S. border, and said the man appeared to have been her boyfriend.

Zuniga told police that she was planning on traveling to Bolivia and Colombia with the men to go shopping. more

Blind Man walks through Obstacle Course

A man who completely lost his sight after brain damage has astonished scientists by negotiating an obstacle course without his cane, in a powerful demonstration of an eerie phenomenon known as “blindsight."

The man, known only as TN, was blinded by strokes on both sides of his brain which left him unable to see and devoid of any activity in the brain regions that control vision. He uses a stick to detect obstacles, and has to be guided around buildings. However, TN was known to exhibit blindsight, a strange ability some blind people have to detect things that they cannot see.

He reacts to the facial expressions of other people, for example, and scans of his brain have confirmed that it registers facial emotions such as joy, anger and fear.

He has now shown evidence of an even more remarkable skill – the ability to navigate without being able to see. In an experiment, scientists arranged a series of boxes and chairs in an obstacle course and asked TN to move through it from one side of the room to the other without using his cane. To their amazement, he completed the course without hitting anything, earning applause from on-lookers.

Professor Beatrice de Gelder, of the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, who led the study, said: “This is absolutely the first study of this ability in humans. We see what humans can do, even with no awareness of seeing or any intentional avoidance of obstacles. It shows us the importance of evolutionarily ancient visual paths. They contribute more than we think they do for us to function in the real world.” more

Paris Hilton's house was robbed

Paris Hilton's house was robbed in the early hours of Friday morning, say police.
A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and gloves forced open the front door and ransacked Hilton's bedroom, according to testimony from a security guard at the residence.

An LAPD officer says the break-in occurred around 5 a.m. at the reality star's home in a gated community in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times reports that $2 million worth of jewelry and other belongings were stolen.
The investigation at Hilton's house is ongoing. The house is equipped with security video equipment, and those recordings are being reviewed.

Hilton told Esquire magazine that "the best thing I've ever bought with money is my house. Having a nightclub in your house really helps for having a party."

Lawyer arrested for giving inmate candy

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) - A lawyer has been arrested after he reportedly ignored orders not to give his shackled client a piece of candy in court, a Yavapai County sheriff's official said. Damon Rossi, 38, was arrested at his home on Thursday, a day after he asked two detention officers if he could feed his client a piece of candy, sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said on Friday. Rossi went ahead and gave the inmate the food despite being warned against it, reportedly asking the officers "what are you going to do, arrest me?"
Detention officers took no action at the time because they didn't want to disrupt court, D'Evelyn said. They turned the matter over the sheriff's criminal division and a decision was made to arrest the lawyer.
"The concern we have is that no contraband should be passed to an inmate," D'Evelyn said. "That's the rule. We don't know what's in it. If we allow attorneys to feed our inmates it would be a security issue - they get fed three squares a day and we don't feed them in court."
Rossi was arrested at his home in Prescott Valley about noon and booked into county jail on a felony count of providing contraband to an inmate. He was released on his own recognizance by early evening on Thursday.

VIOLENT thug stabbed a man eight times for a cig

A VIOLENT thug who stabbed a man eight times after he refused to hand over a cigarette has been locked up for five years.
Dangerous Gary Gollaglee was on police bail when he carried out the frenzied attack on innocent Andrew Fielding as he walked home with his wife from a night out. Gollaglee, 24, jailed yesterday for the shocking attack first appeared in court when he was 14. Over the past decade, he has built up a record of more than 20 convictions for crimes including assaults, carrying illegal weapons and dishonesty.Gollaglee, who was drunk and had taken drugs, savagely attacked Mr Fielding, 40, in Milton Road, off Grange Road, Hartlepool.Teesside Crown Court heard how he shouted "I'm going to stab you" after he and a friend asked Mr Fielding for a cigarette, and he told them to "get lost".Moments later another friend of Gollaglee's started to fight with Mr Fielding and Gollaglee ran down the street before plunging his lock knife into the victim eight times.Prosecutor Alex Menary said: "His wife shouted 'stop it, it's stupid over a cigarette'. more

Man Who Found Remains Called 3 Times

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- There are new concerns surrounding the meter reader who found a child's remains believed to be Caylee Anthony.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that the meter reader had been to the scene before and had called police about the area in August .

Investigators interviewed the meter reader at length about what he knows, but he is not considered a suspect in any way.
"He is not a suspect in this case," Captain Angelo Nieves said early Thursday evening. "He is a credible witness and we consider him so at the Orange County Sheriff's Office."
Steve Triggs, Director of Communications for Orange County, said the meter reader had been a county employee for a “relatively short time” and would appear at a news conference with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Friday afternoon. Triggs said he is being represented by outside counsel at the County’s expense.
The sheriff's office said the meter reader had called in tips about the exact same area to Crimeline and the sheriff's office three times in August, two weeks before Tropical Storm Fay hit and flooded much of Central Florida, including the area where the remains were found last week.
The sheriff's office said it is focusing on its own deputies who came out on August 11 and 13 to inspect the scene. It's unknown what the area looked like on August 11, the first day the meter reader called and reported seeing a gray bag.
Sheriff’s officials said the man called Crimeline on August 12th. A detective checked records and determined the area already had been checked by a cadaver dog.
The sheriff's office is also investigating deputies who came out and cleared the scene on the 13th of August. The meter reader accompanied the deputies but nothing was found.
Officials aren't releasing the names of any of the deputies involved, but they are under administrative investigation.
Nieves said the meter reader went back last week because he had a nagging feeling that it was the place to look.
"He called on the 11th, the 12th and the 13th," Nieves said. "Currently, we are following up on that sequence."
WFTV legal analyst William Sheaffer said the developments would appear to benefit Casey Anthony’s defense attorneys.
“The defense has to regard this information as a godsend,” said Sheaffer. “The defense is ultimately going to make a lot of the fact the remains were discovered after numerous trips from the meter reader… This is probably a game-changer.” more

Oprah Looking For Her Own House Near White House

The talk show titan is reportedly looking at ultra-luxury properties in Washington, DC; something suitable for, say, possible consultations with the President of the United States.
Insiders tell the New York Post that Winfrey's people have been scouting a nine-bedroom mansion in D.C.'s swanky Georgetown neighborhood with a whopping price tag of $50 million. more

Man who killed his mother requests longer sentence

A MAN who had sought the maximum jail term for murdering his mother has said his sentence of at least 17 years is "manifestly inadequate".
Adam Patrick Owens, 36, had pleaded guilty to the stabbing murder of his mother, 69-year-old environmentalist Doris Owens, in her home at Swanhaven, on the New South Wales south coast, in September 2006.Earlier this month, he told the NSW Supreme Court his only regret was that he hadn't murdered her 20 years earlier, and that he would do it again if he had his time over.During that hearing, his lawyer told the court an "extremely substantial sentence is appropriate ... it seems to me you must apply the maximum".In sentencing Owens today, Justice Lucy McCallum said she could not believe such a request had come from someone of sound mind.When she entenced Owens to a minimum of 17 years in prison he called out "manifestly inadequate".His mother was found in her bed with seven stab wounds, fractured ribs and defensive wounds to her hands. Owens initially denied involvement in the murder until he confessed the killing to his brother Dr Caleb Owens, in March 2007. more

Woman gets near-total face transplant in Cleveland

A woman who had suffered severe facial trauma got essentially a whole new face in a first-of-its-kind operation at the Cleveland Clinic, hospital officials said Wednesday.

Only the woman's upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left — the other 80 percent of her face was replaced with one donated from a female cadaver during the 22-hour surgery about two weeks ago.

It was the nation's first face transplant and the fourth worldwide, though the others were not as extensive as this one.

The patient's name and age were not released, nor details on how she was injured. Her injuries were so horrific that she lacked a nose and palate, and could not eat or breathe on her own without a special opening into her windpipe.
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More than 1/6 of households have only cell phones

WASHINGTON) The portion of homes with cell phones but no landlines has grown to 18 percent, led by adults living with unrelated roommates, renters and young people, according to federal figures released Wednesday.

An additional 13 percent of households have landlines but get all or nearly all calls on their cells, the survey showed. Taken together, that means about three in 10 households are essentially reachable only on their wireless phones.

The figures, covering the first half of 2008, underscore how consumers have been steadily abandoning traditional landline phones in favor of cells. The 18 percent in cell-only households compares with 16 percent in the second half of 2007, and just 7 percent in the first half of 2005.

Obama: Time's "Person of the Year"

NEW YORK — President-elect Barack Obama has won another contest: He's been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2008.

The magazine has named Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Gov. Sarah Palin and Chinese director Zhang Yimou as runners-up.

Last year's winner was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Previous individual winners have included Bono, President George W. Bush and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.

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On the Net: http://www.time.com/

House Arrest for Madoff in $7 Million Apartment

Bernard Madoff, accused of the largest fraud in U.S. history, will be allowed to remain in his $7 million Park Avenue apartment instead of being sent to jail, under terms of an agreement announced today by federal prosecutors.

Madoff was unable to meet the bond conditions set last week by a federal magistrate which required him to get four people to sign his personal recognizance bond.


According to the U.S. Attorney's office, only Madoff's wife and brothers were willing to sign the document.


But instead of ordering him held in jail, prosecutors agreed to home detention with electronic monitoring.


Madoff and his luxury apartment on Manhattan's upper east side will be fitted with an electronic monitoring device by the court's pre-trial services and Madoff will be under a curfew of between 7 p.m. through 9 a.m. more

OPEC Announces 2.2 Million Oil Barrel Cut

OPEC has announced it will cut 2.2 million barrels from its daily oil production, the largest proposed reduction in the cartel's 48-year history.

The announcement comes following a steep decline in oil prices in recent months as the worldwide economic slump has dragged down energy demand.

Officials from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, who are currently meeting in Oran, Algeria, want to cut production to raise prices, which have collapsed from as high as $140 a barrel earlier this year.

"Supply is still somewhat in excess … inventories are also higher than normal," Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi told reporters. The cut, he said, would "bring things in balance."

The cut was prompted by concerns of dropping demand for oil in the world's largest economies, underscored by OPEC's monthly market report for December, released yesterday. That report cited a drop in 2008 oil demand growth from 1.3 million barrels per day to negative 0.1 million barrels per day -- in other words, the world economy is using less fuel than it was at the start of the year. more

Body left in car for 2 days after fatal Ohio wreck

CLEVELAND — A man who was killed in a car crash was left dead in the crumpled vehicle when it was towed away, and the body was not discovered until family members found it two days later, police said.

An officer who handled the crash failed to check the vehicle before it was towed, said Martin Flask, Cleveland's safety director. The police department is reviewing the case.


Emil Azzam, 50, of Lakewood, died instantly from head and neck injuries when his car crashed on Friday on a snowy roadway, the Cuyahoga County coroner ruled.

The car was not far from a multivehicle accident, and witnesses had described Azzam's car as an abandoned vehicle, police said.

But the family said paramedics found the phone number of a friend of Azzam's in the car and notified him of the crash. The family rushed to the hospital that the paramedic had mentioned to the friend, but Azzam never arrived, said Victoria Green, his sister-in-law.

"It was like he vanished from Earth," she said. "We had been searching for him for two days." more

Stab Victim Subdues Suspect By Sitting On Her

After being stabbed by a woman Tuesday night, a man sat on her until Kitsap County Sheriff's deputies arrived.

Deputies were called to an apartment in a house on the 4200 block of Dyes Inlet Road NW at about 7:45 p.m., according to initial reports.

Two people had called 911 to report the woman, 39, stabbed the man and that the pair was drinking. The man then sat on the woman so that she couldn't leave the scene.

Sheriff's Office spokesman Scott Wilson said the stab wound was not serious, and that the woman had a warrant for drunken driving. She also would be arrested for assault, Wilson said.

Former Hit Man for Boston Mob Gets Movie Deal

The former hit man for a Boston crime family may soon see his sordid life story on the big screen, "GoodFellas"-style, after selling the rights to a Hollywood movie producer -- and the law enforcement agent who helped him cop a plea is not happy with the money deal.

John V. Martorano pleaded guilty in 1999 to killing 20 people in exchange for becoming a government witness. Now he's sold the rights to his mob tale for an undisclosed sum to Graham King of GK Films in Santa Monica, Calif.

"I'm not happy with it at all," said Thomas Foley, the retired Massachusetts State Police colonel who led the investigation that exposed corruption between law enforcement and the Boston mob. "That wasn’t the intention when we went into an agreement with him, that he was going to benefit from the activities he was involved in all those years."

Martorano worked with the Winter Hill Gang, a notorious family lead by James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi. Nicknamed "The Executioner," Martorano admitted to federal authorities that he'd killed 20 people after he learned Bulger and Flemmi were FBI informants. Bulger is currently on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, and Flemmi is jailed for life.

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police brutality - go skateboarding day: cop vs skaters

Slain student called 911, but no one came in time

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Brittany Zimmerman, a 21-year-old college student who wanted to be a doctor, called 911 as she was being attacked by a stranger, police say.
But the police did not come for 48 minutes. By that time, Zimmerman was dead. Her fiance found her body.

Although the dispatcher claimed later to have heard nothing, the 911 tape captured screams, gasps and what sounds like a struggle, according to the court documents.

Spring was in the air when college student Zimmerman returned April 2 from classes at the University of Wisconsin to the off-campus apartment she shared with her fiance, Jordan Gonnering.

He was out when she arrived home. He discovered her body when he returned.

Zimmerman had been stabbed multiple times in her chest, near her heart. She'd also been beaten and strangled, according to warrants released recently. Watch an update on the case »

Zimmerman managed to call 911 at 12:20 p.m. The call was taken by the Dane County 911 center and an internal investigation revealed the dispatcher did not hear any sounds that would signal an emergency.

Because of that, police were not sent to the apartment until 48 minutes after Zimmerman made the call. Her fiance was already there.

Dane County has taken some harsh criticism from the public regarding the delay, and tough questions have been raised about whether a prompt response might have saved Zimmerman's life.

Police are still looking for her killer. more

Man thrown into air dies after colleagues fail to catch him

Man thrown into air at retirement party dies after colleagues fail to catch him
KUSATSU, Shiga -- A 60-year-old man who was thrown into the air in celebration at a farewell party for his retirement died after his colleagues failed to catch him and he landed on the floor, it has been learned.

Following his death, the man's 59-year-old wife filed a police complaint against three colleagues who threw him up into the air, accusing them of gross negligence resulting in death.

"He worked until the retirement age. We had been looking forward to going to various places as a couple and were excited that we would be able to spend a relaxing time together," she said. "No matter what I say he won't come back, but I want to find out why this happened."

The man had worked at the branch of a major transportation firm in Ritto, Shiga Prefecture. According to the complaint and sources familiar with the incident, about 40 people including the head of the branch and most of the other drivers working there attended a farewell party at an inn in Kusatsu on the evening of Nov. 18, 2007.

During the event, the 60-year-old's colleagues threw him into the air in celebration, but they failed to catch him, and he landed on the tatami floor. He suffered neck and backbone injuries, leaving him with a disability in which he lost the use of his limbs and suffered respiratory failure. He died in September 2008 from blood poisoning. more

Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah

I have watched several performers on these shows and I must admit that this performance pushed me over the edge. This is what its all about!!!!!!!!!! Can you feel it?

Bush ducks the boots

Young Archer Shot Through The Eye

The arrow pierced Liu Cheong's eye socket, travelled through his head and lodged in the back of his skull.

The 11-year-old only survived because the 16in dart missed his brain.

"If the arrow had been shot with just a bit more force, it would have come out the back of his head," said medics at Jida Hospital in Changchun, eastern China.

Surgeons chipped away at parts of the boy's skull for more than four hours to remove the arrow, which had sunk more than four inches into his head.

They even had to cut away part of the shaft just to get the boy in the CT scanner.more

man has been charged with first-degree murder after killing boss

A man has been charged with first-degree murder after a shooting at an office Christmas party in Vancouver Friday.

Police allege Eric Allen Kirkpatrick, 61, opened fire at the TallGrass Distribution Ltd Christmas party, killing Benjamin David Banky, 40.

Banky was the CEO of TallGrass Distribution Ltd., a natural health products company.

At least a dozen employees had been celebrating when the gunman, who had been recently laid off, entered the party and began firing a gun, according to Vancouver Police spokesperson Const. Tim Fanning.

The other partygoers managed to escape unharmed.

"The shock was tremendous but all the other people in the business - and there another dozen other people who were there for a Christmas party - managed to get out safely," Fanning said.

Police locked down the neighbourhood before the suspect turned himself in around 6 p.m. more

Arianna Huffington Interview with Keith

So how long are we going to continue this joke? What more does he need to do? Let it die and move on please...

FBI Arrests 300 in Child Prostitution Sting

A nationwide sweep recently took down child prostitution rings in 16 U.S. cities, netted 300 suspects and rescued 21 children, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III announced Wednesday.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III announced Wednesday, June 25, 2008, that agents took down prostitution rings in 16 U.S. cities as part of a recent nationwide operation.
FBI Operation Cross Country took place between June 18-22, in Boston, Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, Md., Atlanta, Toledo, Detroit, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Reno, Oakland and Sacramento.
Federal agents worked with local and state police on the cases, resulting mostly in local charges. The FBI hopes some of the girls and women who were arrested in the sweeps will provide more information to go after key organizers and pimps.
The FBI, in conjunction with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), announced the operation's results to mark the five-year anniversary of the Innocence Lost program, which has targeted domestic trafficking in child prostitution. more

Man arrested after reporting burglary

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Police got more than they expected when they responded to an early morning burglary call on Lexington.
IMPD Lieutenant Jeff Duhammel said two suspects ran off and one drove way from the scene after taking a flat screen TV and a rocking chair. Within minutes of the burglary, police spotted the getaway truck at Harlan and English. Inside, police found the stolen items from the Lexington Street location.
But police came across a surprise when they returned to the Lexington Street home with one of the burglary suspects.
"When they smelled the marijuana they backed out and thought there's something going on at this house, probably illegal. And that's when they got the warrant and subsequently found all of this growth of marijuana," said Lt. Duhammel.
Detectives said they found more than 200 plants and several large bags of marijuana. The burglars didn't touch the drugs.
"Whether they knew the marijuana was there, I don't know," said Lt. Duhammel.
Now, Juston Massing, one of the burglary suspects, is facing burglary charges and the homeowner, 29-year-old Robert Busone has been arrested for possession and dealing marijuana.
Metro police said it's the second time in two days police have found indoor marijuana operations. They found one Wednesday that netted 16 pounds of the drug and over $28,000 in cash.

Senate Votes Down Bill to Aid Automakers

U.S. Senators killed an effort to rescue Detroit automakers Thursday night after a last-ditch attempt to renegotiate the deal died.

The package was doomed on a 52-35 procedural vote, well short of the 60 votes needed to bring the bill to the floor for passage.
"To all those within the sound of my voice: We have tried very, very hard to legislate for the automobile industry," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the Senate floor before the vote. "I am very sorry we have not been able to find a conclusion."
Reid's comments came after a night of negotiations involving Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who wanted to revise the existing rescue deal to force pay cuts on union workers by demanding that General Motors and Chrysler pay back $14 billion in proposed government loans if they failed to slash labor costs a specified amount by March 31.
Corker met with fellow Republicans Thursday evening after talks with Democrats, and soon afterward, Reid made his announcement on the Senate floor.
"I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow," Reid said. "It's not going to be a pleasant sight."
The White House quickly released a statement of regret after the failed Senate vote. more

teenage girlfriend accused of stabbing her lover because he was not in the mood for sex.

A teenage girlfriend has been accused of stabbing her lover in the lower lip after he said he wasn’t in the mood for sex.
Brittany Phillips, 19, was arrested by US cops in Louisiana and charged with aggravated battery after allegedly stabbing Todd Stewart in his lower lip.

He can be seen with blood on his mouth in his police photo.



The 35-year-old said Phillips approached him in bed to have sex but he was apparently not in the mood and tried to push her off of him.

The woman then says he became violent, while Stewart says he simply left the bedroom to sleep on a living room couch.

He told police Phillips 'would not leave him alone' and then things got physical.

Stewart accuses his girlfriend of stabbing him in the lower lip with 'a long metal object which appeared to be a knife.'
For her part, Phillips acknowledged she struck the man - but said she did it to 'protect herself”.

As well as aggravated assault, she was said to have been arrested for a pair of outstanding warrants for simple battery and damage to property.

As a result of the scuffle Stewart was charged with single battery.

The couple, from West Monroe in Louisiana, were arrested by officers from the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Actor's actually slit his throat audience claps as he collapsed on stage

As actor Daniel Hoevels slumped to the stage, blood gushing from his neck, the audience broke into a rapturous ovation.
But little did they know that the actor's stunningly realistic suicidal scene finale had little to do with his acting talents or clever special effects.
He had actually slit his throat after the fake blade that he was meant to use to 'kill' himself had been swapped for a real one.
The audience were still clapping as he collapsed to the boards, trying to stop the blood flow with his hands.
Mr Hoevels managed to get off stage and find medical attention, but the audience only realised something had gone horribly wrong when he failed to reappear for the curtain call at the Burgtheater in Vienna last Saturday night.
Although he bled profusely, Mr Hoevels, 30, survived because the knife missed the carotid artery in his neck. more

Deputies dressed as an elf and the Grinch ticketed 50 alleged red light runners

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Sheriff's officials in Orange County, Fla., said deputies dressed as an elf and the Grinch ticketed 50 alleged red light runners Tuesday.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office the deputies disguised as Christmas characters patrolled a single intersection from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and dolled out 50 tickets -- each carrying a fine of $201 -- for running red lights, WKMG-TV, Orlando, Fla., reported Tuesday.

"We just want to keep everyone safe," the deputy dressed as the elf said.

"Last year in Orange County, there were 186 traffic fatalities -- probably about 45 percent of those were people running red lights or stop signs," Orange County Cmdr. Ken Wynne said.

Officials said the elf and Grinch would be patrolling other locations later Tuesday.

Unmarked Graves Near Florida Reform School Believed to Contain Bodies of Beaten Boys

Don Stratton, now 63, went to the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Fla., and says he saw the unimaginable at the place known simply as the "White House."

"I witnessed them killing a boy, OK. They beat him to death," Stratton told MyFOXTampaBay.com. "The state of Florida beat him at the White House. And I watched it; I seen it."

He said the school controlled students with fear. Twice a week, the children — ages 9 to 16 — would be taken into a room and beaten.

Police officer 'wannabe' arrested

Ryan William Churchill investigated numerous burglaries, did traffic stops and even wrote tickets.

All good police work. But he wasn't a police officer.

Real law enforcement officers have since arrested Churchill, 23.

A judge Friday ordered him held in lieu of $10,000 bail, and he was released from the Palm Beach County Jail later that day.

Churchill told people "he was a millionaire, he owned a gas station, he owned a Palm Beach mansion, and that he had a Lamborghini," according to a Palm Beach County sheriff's report.

It said he told one woman he was a federal law enforcement officer and told her son he was a sheriff's deputy and had cancer and had once planted 2 kilograms of cocaine on a person who was bothering a friend.

The son said Churchill had bragged "he had rammed a car off the road that wouldn't stop for him when he tried to pull it over," the report said.

A person has since confirmed the incident to investigators, saying he was riding with Churchill, who kept going.

The witness said a dash camera taped the whole thing, but a search of Churchill's car did not uncover the tape, an investigator said.

Investigators also have seized a laptop and, after viewing files in it, "more charges are expected," Detective Alfredo Araujo said. He would not elaborate.

Investigators were led to Churchill after receiving complaints, the detective said.

"Everybody kept saying the reason the person we were looking at kept not getting arrested was he had a cop on the inside," Araujo said.

Churchill, who has no criminal background save some traffic charges, "was a wannabe" who was unable to be a law enforcement officer and so apparently decided to do the next best thing, Araujo said.

First he went to an auction and bought a surplus sheriff's cruiser right out of central casting: a Ford Crown Victoria. more

Indian woman gives birth at age of 70

Rajo Devi, who married 50 years ago, gave birth to a baby girl on November 28, and is now thought to be the world's oldest new mother.
Dr Anurag Bishnoi, a doctor at the Hisar fertility centre in Haryana state, said: "Rajo Devi and (her husband) Bala Ram approached the centre for treatment and the embryo transfer was done on April 19.
"Both the mother and child are in good health."
A 67-year-old Spanish woman who had twins in 2006 was thought to have been the previous oldest mother.
Devi's husband, aged 72, had also wed his wife's sister after 10 years of his first marriage did not result in children. His second wife also failed to become pregnant.
It was not clear whose egg and sperm were used in the successful treatment.
Dr Bishnoi, who helped the couple realise their dream, said both the mother and child were in good health.
"IVF has revolutionised the way we look at infertility," said Mr Bishnoi. "Infertility is no longer a social taboo or a divine curse. It can be treated scientifically."
"Adriana Iliescu, a retired university lecturer in Romania, was the oldest woman to have given birth. She delivered at the age of 66 in 2006. Maria Del, a Spanish woman, gave birth by the IVF treatment at the age of 67. And now, Rajo Devi has become the oldest woman to have given birth and the first woman in her seventies to do so," claimed Dr Bishnoi.
"Another woman of her age is reported to have delivered a child at Muzzafarnagar, but she was previously fertile," he added.
New mother Rajo Devi, "We longed for a child all these years and now we are very happy to have one in the twilight years of our life."
Husband Ram said he wasn't worrying over who would look after the child if they died.
"The upbringing of the child is not a problem. We have a joint family as is common in rural Haryana," he said.
The couple said they were facing social stigma for being childless for the last 55 years.
"We used the usual intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique in her case. The ICSI method enables even poor quality sperms being used creating embryos," said Dr Bishnoi. more

Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal about Obama being ineligible to be president

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth. The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election.

Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject — he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.

At least one other appeal over Obama's citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and Hawaii officials have confirmed.

Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit. Federal courts in Ohio and Washington state have rejected similar lawsuits. more

Christie Hefner stepping down as chairman and chief executive.

NEW YORK — Playboy Enterprises says Christie Hefner, the daughter of founder Hugh Hefner, is stepping down as chairman and chief executive.

Playboy Enterprises Inc. has named Director Jerome Kern to serve as interim non-executive chairman while it looks for a replacement.

Hefner joined Playboy in 1975 and was named chairman and CEO in 1988. She will stay on as CEO until Jan. 31, 2009, and remain on the board until a new CEO joins the company.

In a statement, Hefner said the leadership change was her decision, but it follows signs of trouble for the Chicago-based publishing and entertainment company. In October, Playboy said it planned to cut 55 employees and eliminate 25 vacant positions due to the troubled economy.

Wisconsin woman says she found a wad of cash boots she purchased

Richard and Dimitra Anderson found lots of money in a pair of boots she bought at a resale shop recently. She was showing some of the cash at their home Friday, December 5, 2008. For Jim Stingl column. Rick Wood/RWOOD@JOURNALSENTINEL.COM
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Street cleaner finds $20,000 shredded
MILWAUKEE, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin woman says she found a wad of cash in a pair of boots she purchased at a thrift store.

Dimitra Anderson said she found the undisclosed amount of cash when she tried a pair of boots and found a sock with a bank envelope inside each of the boots, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sunday.

The newspaper said Anderson bought the boots for $3, and did not mention the cash she found to the clerk. more

regional director of Homeland Security charged for hiring illegal immigrants

The regional director of Homeland Security, Customs, and Border Protection was charged today with repeatedly hiring illegal immigrants to clean her Salem home after one cleaner wore a wire during an undercover investigation.

Lorraine Henderson is the director of the Port of Boston, overseeing 190 armed federal officers who patrol major airports and shipping terminals in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

"She’s supposed to be deporting aliens, not hiring them," said Assistant US Attorney Brian T. Kelly, chief of the public corruption unit.

Agents arrested Henderson at her Salem home at 8 a.m. Standing this afternoon in US District Court in Boston, she wore jeans and a gray sweatshirt and did not enter a plea to a charge of encouraging an illegal immigrant to remain in the country. If convicted, she faces as much as 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The initial appearance lasted 15 minutes and Henderson said little, responding to questions from Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings about whether she understood her legal rights with one-word answers. Collings released her on a $25,000 unsecured bond and ordered her to surrender her passport. Henderson has been placed on paid administrative leave, a US Attorney's spokeswoman said.

According to an eight-page affidavit unsealed today, Henderson had employed a Brazilian woman to clean her home for $75 to $80 every few weeks for several years. Henderson's fellow officers at US Customs and Border Protection told her in 2005 and 2006 that it was against the law to hire illegal immigrants and urged her to find another housekeeper. Not only did she ignore the advice, according to the affidavit, but when the housekeeper took time off to have a baby, Henderson also allegedly hired two of the housekeeper's Brazilian friends who were also in the country illegally. more

Simpson sentenced to at least 15 years behind bars

Simpson will be eligible for parole after nine years.
His co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart was sentenced to at least 15 years behind bars.
"We are pleased," said Simpson attorney Yale Galanter after the hearing.
Before Judge Jackie Glass handed down her decision, the 61-year-old fallen football star — clad in a blue prison jumpsuit, shackles and handcuffs — apologized to her and the Las Vegas court after learning he won't be able to be freed on bail if he appeals.
"I stand before you today sorry," an emotional Simpson told Glass, fighting back tears. "I am apologetic to the people of Nevada. ... When I came here, I came here for a wedding. I didn't come to reclaim property."

He said he thought he was taking advantage of an opportunity to retrieve mementos that were rightfully his, including sports memorabilia and his first wife's wedding ring, when he burst into a Las Vegas hotel room on Sept. 13, 2007.

"In no way did I mean to hurt anybody, to steal anything from anyone," Simpson said. "I didn't want anybody else's stuff. I just wanted my own. I realize that I was stupid. I am sorry. I didn’t know that I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was retrieving property from friends. I’m sorry, I’m sorry for all of it."
But the judge emphasized that it was a violent confrontation in which at least one gun was drawn, and she said someone could have been killed. She said the case was unusual because the planning, the confrontation itself and the aftermath were all recorded on audio or videotape.

Armed robbers in drag steal £70m of jewellery from Paris store in 'just minutes' in one of Europe's biggest ever heists

Armed robbers - some dressed as women - escaped with more than £70million worth of jewellery in Paris in one of Europe's biggest ever heists.
As many as four masked men wielding sawn-off shotguns stormed into the exclusive Harry Winston jewellers in a high-speed raid described by detectives as 'terrifyingly efficient'.
While two robbers ordered petrified staff fill a sack with precious gems and watches from the window display cases, another marched the manager to the store's hidden safe.

Within minutes the gang had vanished - without a shot being fired - on powerful motorbikes parked close to the shop in the city's upmarket Avenue Montaigne, close to the Champs Elysees, yesterday evening.

Police said the meticulously prepared robbers knew all the store staff's names, which jewels were the most valuable, and the location of the shop's strong-box where the most precious items were kept.
At least three of the men were dressed as women. The raiders were also speaking a foreign language which police believe may have been Serbo-Croat or a a dialect of Russian.

The raid at 5.30pm on Thursday was the largest ever gems theft in French history and one of the most lucrative armed holds-ups ever in the world.

A spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Paris said: ‘If, as seems likely, this figure is confirmed it will be the biggest robbery ever on mainland France, and certainly one of the biggest in criminal history.’

Designer watches were taken, along with the diamonds, pearls and gold necklaces.

The spokesman added: ‘We’re dealing with highly experienced professional criminals. They entered through the main door without drawing any attention from security guards. In less than twenty minutes, they were on the first floor, emptied the safes and the displays, before leaving through the front door.

‘They pointed guns at staff. At least three were dressed up as women.’

The spokesman confirmed that staff were hit with the butt of guns. They were ‘extremely shocked’ but there were no serious injuries.

The store was robbed in a similar fashion 14 months ago when thieves got away with jewellery worth £9 million. Harry Winston's insurance company offered a £370,000 reward for information leading to the return of jewels after the 2007 heist, but they were never returned. more

Gulf Oil CEO says gas could hit $1 next year

The Enterprise
Brockton-native Gulf Oil CEO Joe Petrowski in his Chealsea office

RANDOLPH — Gulf Oil CEO Joe Petrowski said on Wednesday that the price of oil could sink to $20 per barrel, and there is a chance gasoline prices could drop as low as $1 per gallon by early next year.

Speaking at a South Shore Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Lombardo’s in Randolph, the Brockton native said that after speculators drove oil prices up, there is a chance that the market will overshoot on the way back down, resulting in much lower prices at the pump.



Gas prices have already sunk fairly rapidly this fall, reaching a statewide average of $1.85 for a gallon of regular-grade gasoline this week, following a plunge in crude oil prices.

Gulf Oil, which is based in Newton, is not an oil producer. Gulf stopped producing oil in 1986 and stopped refining oil in 1992, according to Petrowski. He said the company is a “fuel agnostic” wholesaler, and will sell whichever fuels customers and distributors demand.

Though he said the company benefits from lower energy prices, he said he believes the price of oil should range from $40 to $60 per barrel, depending on economic activity, in order to keep pace with inflation. more

A Hornbrook man accused of attempted murder

A Hornbrook man is accused of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and other charges.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office says Tony Devere Parkinson was arrested this week after he reportedly drove a full-size Dodge pickup onto the hood of his former wife's car, with the woman and two teenagers inside. more

NYC Bus Driver Stabbed To Death In Front Of Riders

― Police said a New York City bus driver was stabbed to death Monday afternoon by a rider apparently angry over not receiving a free transfer. The driver of the B-46 bus, identified as 46-year-old Edwin Thomas, was operating the bus in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn and picked up the suspect around 12:30 p.m. Monday at Malcolm X Boulevard near Gates Avenue.Police said the man swiped an invalid fare card and sat down on the bus, then asked for a transfer slip usually available to riders. Police told CBS 2 HD that when the driver told the man that he didn't pay for the ride and couldn't get a transfer, the man punched the driver in the head and stabbed him to death while other riders looked on."It's crazy because, I mean, the bus driver was cool," witness Benjamin Stacking said. "He let me on. I was 50 cents short and he still let me on and gave me a transfer, so that's kind of crazy."No reason to stab a bus driver if you are broke or have no money and can't get a transfer. No reason to stab a person."The suspect fled on foot. Police are looking for a black male between 18 and 20 years old wearing black jeans and an Adidas jacket.The incident marked the first time a NYC bus driver has been killed on the job in 27 years. Police are offering a $12,000 reward for any information on the suspect. more

Birmingham Mayor Arrested on Federal Charges

The mayor of Alabama's largest city, a player in a multibillion dollar sewer bond deal that drove the surrounding county to the brink of bankruptcy, was arrested on Monday on federal criminal charges, an FBI spokesman said.
Larry Langford was taken into custody around 7 a.m. Monday, spokesman Paul Daymond said. It wasn't immediately clear what charges Langford faces.
Authorities are planning to say more at a morning news conference.
Langford was president of the Jefferson County Commission before he was elected mayor last year. Birmingham is in Jefferson County.
He was accused in a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit of taking more than $156,000 from a friend whose firm made millions on risky bond transactions with the county for a new sewer system.
Those bonds went sour as the housing market plunged this year and credit costs skyrocketed and have pushed the state's largest county to the brink of bankruptcy.
The county is trying to avoid filing what would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history over $3.2 billion in bond debt, nearly double the record of $1.7 billion set in 1994 by Orange County, Calif.
The SEC accused Langford of taking the undisclosed payments and benefits from Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount, whose firm collected more than $6.7 million in fees on county bond transactions. The money was allegedly routed through Al LaPierre, a lobbyist who is a friend of Langford.
Langford, Blount and LaPierre have denied any wrongdoing and asked that the lawsuit be thrown out. more