Cheryl L. Nemetz, a 49-year-old disabled woman from Port Orange, Florida, allegedly had sex with her 14-year-old neighbour five or six times, before the boy’s friend told his mother.
The sexual relationship between Cheryl L. Nemetz and the teenager allegedly lasted around three months.
During this time the teenger got poor grades and had been suspended from school after getting caught with marijuana seeds, according to an affidavit.
Cheryl L. Nemetz allegedly took the boy to Daytona Beach to buy marijuana, and also offered him prescription drugs which he declined, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The boy said he was never compelled to have sex with the older woman, but “was confused on whether he should continue or stop”.
The teen said he was being paid $50 a week to sleep with the older woman, police were told.
Cheryl L. Nemetz acknowledged she owed the boy $50, but claimed it was a fee for moving furniture.
Cheryl L. Nemetz, 49, allegedly had sex with her 14-year-old neighbour five or six times, before the boy's friend told his mother
The boy said Cheryl L. Nemetz told him he should tell police nothing happened.
“I’ll go to jail and I’ll never see my kid again,” the woman told the boy.
“I’m disabled. I can’t go to jail.
“I’ll die there.”
Cheryl L. Nemetz is charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child younger than 16. She is being held without bail in the Volusia County Branch Jail near Daytona Beach.
Ford has decided to recall 128,616 of its Mercury Milan and top-selling Ford Fusion amid concerns their 17-inch steel wheels may fall off – while the vehicle is moving.
In some vehicles from model years 2010 and 2011, the wheel studs may fracture and make the car shake.
If ignored, the wheels may fall off a moving car, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a posting on its website.
Ford, the No. 2 U.S. carmaker, said the issue may stem from wheel mounting pads or rear brake discs that have been incorrectly built and cannot support the wheel.
Ford has decided to recall 128,616 of its Mercury Milan and top-selling Ford Fusion amid concerns their 17-inch steel wheels may fall off - while the vehicle is moving
The sedans were built at Ford’s Hermosillo stamping and assembly plant in Mexico in April 2009 and from December 2009 through November 13, 2010, reports Reuters.
One front wheel was affected and the other five incidents involved a rear wheel.
Cars with alloy wheels are not affected.
Ford said that 128,616 cars were affected by the recall.
Ford’s sales have rebounded partly because of the improved quality of its lineup, according to Reuters.
Ford Fusion sales were up about 15 percent for the first 11 months of 2011.
The sedan competes against Honda Motor Co’s Accord and Toyota Motor Co’s Camry.
Paul Browne, a man who was suspected of groping a teenage girl and another woman in a subway station was shot in buttocks by an off-duty officer on the train platform when he tried to run away.
The incident happened in Harlem, New York, at the 125th Street station in front of dozens of horrified passengers.
According to police, the mother of a teenage girl yelled for officers at about 12:30 p.m. in the station.
The off-duty transit officer, who happened to be nearby, came to the woman’s aid.
Another woman also told the officer she was groped by the same man, nbcnewyork.com reports.
The mother called 911 from a pay phone inside the train station after the officer told her to call for backup.
There were shouts of “police – get down” before one shot was fired, witnesses said.
Paul Browne was hit once in the buttocks and was in a stable condition in hospital Friday afternoon.
Witness Orbit Clanton said: “He had the suspect face down, facing north. And when the trains entered the station, what happened was the suspect tried in an aggressive move to get up.”
Police said that in the preliminary stages of their investigation it was unclear whether the officer fired the gun or if it went off in the struggle with the suspect.
A knife was found on the tracks nearby but it was not clear whether the knife was part of the interaction between the officer and Paul Browne, the department’s chief spokesman, said.
The incident resulted in delays on four subway lines afterwards.
There were residual subway delays Friday evening along the A, B, C and D lines.
Kris Humphries gave his first television interview on Good Morning America since his split from Kim Kardashian.
Kris Humphries, 26, feebly attempted to deflect questions about his personal life on Good Morning America today.
The NBA star was grilled by host Josh Elliot, who would not let up as Kris Humphries tried to turn the conversation around to sport and charity awareness.
Sources close to Kris Humphries say he is “livid” in wake of the sit down chat and he was not expecting to be so heavily laden with questions about his estranged wife Kim Kardashian, who split from him after just 72 days of marriage.
Kris Humphries was accompanied by his mother Debra, who held his hands at times during the chat.
Kris Humphries gave his first television interview on Good Morning America since his split from Kim Kardashian
The NBA star repeatedly avoided questions about his divorce from Kim Kardashian, 31, only saying he was trying to “move forward” with his life when asked if he was still in love with her.
“I’m not focused on that, right now I’m focused on basketball,” Kris Humphries said when asked about his proposed annulment from his short-lived marriage.
Kris Humphries also revealed that he is not watching himself on the Kardashian’s reality show, Kourtney & Kim Take New York.
When asked by the host if it was tough for him to watch himself on the reality show – considering he already knew the ending – Kris Humphries said: “The only things I watch of myself on TV are me playing basketball.
“I have never really been someone to watch the show, on TV, or anything like that.”
Kris Humphries’ mother added: “The important thing is that we stay close as a family – it’s our faith in God that carries us through all of these times.
“We have so much to be thankful for right now. We’re looking forward not backward.”
TMZ reports Kris Humphries only agreed to take part in the show to plug his “foundation” and his mother’s “cookie bake”.
Good Morning America sources told TMZ that no ground rules were set on the line of questioning.
Kris Humphries says that he is fighting childhood obesity with his foundation: “Life is more about giving back,” the NBA star said.
When asked if he thought his public image had taken a hit, Kris Humphries replied: “If people know me and they know who I am and what I stand for I think that they’ll know that I love to give back, and I, you know, I’m a fun guy.
“You know I don’t really play into all the gossip and things that take place, but you know, that’s life.”
The circadian rhythm (time clock) of human body has to be respected in order to be in a good state of health. Repeated lack of sleep, working at night can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, high blood sugar, type 2 diabetes and depression.
Researchers from Boston, Massachusetts, have conducted a study that enrolled two groups of women, for almost 20 years. The study, which appeared this December in PLoS Medicine, showed that women who worked rotating night shifts had greater risk of type 2 diabetes than women with regular hours. The risk increases in time, longer they have worked, greater the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
“The association is quite strong and very consistent between the two cohorts. For nurses who spent a couple of years working rotating night shifts, there was a minimal increase in risk. But, for those with a very long duration of rotating shifts, the risk was almost 60 percent higher. This provides pretty strong evidence that the longer the rotating night shift work, the greater the risk of diabetes,” said Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
In the study, rotating shift work means working three or more nights a month, plus days and evenings. An Pan, Eva S. Schernhammer, Qi Sun, Frank B. Hu conducted the U.S. Nurses’ Health Studies I and II. In NHS I 69,269 women aged 42–67 were enrolled, and 107,915 women aged 25–42 in NHS II. They had no diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer and were followed for almost 20 years. In this period of time, 6,165 women in the NHS I and 3,961 women in the second group developed type 2 diabetes.
Women who did rotating shift work were compared with women who did not. Women who did one to two years of shift work had a 5 percent increase in type 2 diabetes, those who worked shifts for 3 to 9 years had a 20 percent, and nurses who worked for 10 to 19 years on rotating shifts had a 40 percent greater risk of type 2 diabetes. Women with more than 20 years on a rotating night shift had the highest risk, with a 58 percent increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes.
The medical scientists adjusted the data to account for body mass index and the linkage between shift work and type 2 diabetes was reduced. Overweight and especially obesity appeared to be greater risks for diabetes.
The researchers said “results suggest that an extended period of rotating night shift work is associated with a modestly increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women, which appears to be partly mediated through body weight. Proper screening and intervention strategies in rotating night shift workers are needed for prevention of diabetes“.
Nurses who did night shifts for over 20 years had a 58 percent risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a recently published study shows.
An association between varying or unusual work schedules and obesity and metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure and insulin resistance, was pointed out by some studies. Those factors are linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Several studies on Japanese men showed a link between working the night shift and type 2 diabetes, but the linkage for men is still to be documented.
An Institute of Medicine report on breast cancer and environmental factors cited this week “growing evidence” that rotating shift work is “probably associated with increase risk for breast cancer“. They said more research is needed to establish the linkage and to find out what measures (aside from renouncing rotating shifts job) could lower these effects.
Why rotating shift work can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and breast cancer?
Probably there are biological and behavioral reasons. Rotating shift work unbalance the body’s circadian rhythm (its natural time clock), the body’s ability to balance its need for energy is affected. This can lead to high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) and insulin resistance, both the key notes of type 2 diabetes.
Working on rotating shifts also disrupts eating and sleeping behaviors, and there was a tendency to smoke more between those who worked rotating shifts.
The hormonal balance (their secretion and their function) is disturbed by irregular sleep patterns, scientists think. Also “clock genes” are affected by lack of sleep or irregular sleep patterns, and this may set off cancerous cell growth in the breast tissue.
Obesity is a common factor in type 2 diabetes and in breast cancer, and shift workers appear to be at greater risk of weight gain, cause they eat at night.
“Shift work is an important risk factor for obesity and type 2 diabetes. This study increases the awareness of diabetes risk among people who work on a rotating shift, and the importance of diabetes screening, detection and prevention in this high risk group,” Dr. Frank Hu said.
However, more research is needed to confirm the findings, the scientists said.
Around 346 million persons have diabetes worldwide. Lots of them have type 2 diabetes, commonly caused by excess body weight, sedentary life, and lack of exercise. Untreated diabetes can damage eyes, arteries, heart, kidneys and nerves.
Apparently rotating shift work is becoming more common in an industrial society, thus is necessary to find a balance between work an rest, sleep and activity, to try to exercise at least two times a week, to have healthy meals and to see a general practitioner regularly.
Bautista Riera, a 12-year-old boy from Argentina, is in a critical condition being paralyzed from the neck down after going on a sudden-drop ride at Disneyland Paris.
Bautista Riera is in intensive care after riding the amusement park’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction which simulates a lift plunging 199 ft after being hit by lightning.
According to reports, x-rays showed the boy suffered a “spine and bone contusion”.
Bautista Riera reportedly complained to his father, a doctor, that he felt sick shortly after leaving the ride and was taken to the park’s infirmary.
The boy’s condition rapidly deteriorated and he was taken to Paris’ Necker hospital for children.
By the time Bautista Riera arrived at the hospital’s neurology unit he was already paralyzed in his upper limbs.
The paralysis quickly spread to his lower limbs and he suffered respiratory arrest before being rushed to intensive care.
According to a report in the Buenos Aires Herald, Bautista Riera suffered spinal cord injuries and is in a serious condition.
Bautista Riera, 12, is in a critical condition being paralyzed from the neck down after going on a sudden-drop ride at Disneyland Paris
Bautista Riera’s uncle told the paper that the boy’s condition has stabilized although he is breathing with the help of an artificial respirator after suffering complications and pneumonia.
Disneyland Paris is Europe’s most popular tourist attraction and the Tower of Terror, which was opened in 2008, is one of its most adrenalin-fuelled rides.
On its website Disneyland Paris states: “Prepare yourself for a mind-blowing adrenalin rush The ascent is followed by a dizzying drop faster than the speed of gravity. The abyss awaits you – Drop in if you dare!”
According to the boy’s family, Bautista Riera was in good health and played rugby, basketball and practiced martial arts.
A spokesman for Disneyland Paris said Bautista Riera had been on three rides at Walt Disney Studios before feeling unwell.
The spokesman said: “When he was accompanied to the care centre, the child could walk.”
In 2009, a British teenager claimed that going on an almost identical Disney ride at the Florida park had caused her to suffer a heart attack.
In 2005, the then 16-year-old Leanne Deacon’s heart stopped and she suffered a brain hemorrhage after riding the Disney World-MGM Studios’ The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride several times.
RQ-170 Sentinel, the U.S.’ most sophisticated spy plane, was captured by Iran and it was paraded on Iranian state television earlier today in near mint condition.
Iran claims the lost RQ-170 Sentinel was on a surveillance mission last week when it was detected by Iranians over Kashmar and was downed by their armed forces.
But the drone appears to be in good shape contradicting Iran’s claim it was shot down – and backing up U.S. claims that Tehran did not bring it down through electronic, cyber or any other means.
A senior U.S. official confirmed it was the drone earlier today.
“Yep, that’s it – it’s intact,” a source told Fox News.
“This is a big prize in terms of technology.”
Meanwhile the official added that President Obama decided not to retrieve or destroy the drone because that could have been seen as an act of war.
Iran displays the alleged captured US drone RQ-170 Sentinel in near mint condition on national TV
U.S. officials have admitted the drone was lost on a mission last week, but say it was probably because of a malfunction on board.
The officials also pointed out it would have probably been badly damaged – and therefore less sensitive – if it had fallen from a height of up to 50,000 ft. However the video shows the drone pretty much intact.
The tour of the drone on Press TV is clearly political maneuvering by Iran as the U.S. tries to find out more about the country’s nuclear programme.
Iran claims the drones are a violation of its sovereignty and feels they are an aggressive act against them, reported Yahoo News.
U.S. said earlier this week the drone was only supposed to fly over Afghanistan looking for insurgents then flew off course.
U.S. officials are concerned about the Iranians potentially sharing or selling what they could have recovered of the aircraft to China or Russia.
These fears will be heightened following the broadcast, as it shows the cream-coloured drone seemingly intact despite its crash.
Press TV also reported that Iran will now “carry out reverse engineering” on the drone, which was manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
The RQ-170 was used to watch former Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden during the Navy SEAL mission that killed him, reported ABC News.
A senior U.S. official claimed any capture shines a light on the U.S. spying mission, but will not tell Iran much it did not already know.
Experts and officials acknowledge that there is no self-destruct mechanism on the Sentinels, which are used both by the military and the CIA.
This is bound to raise questions about why an aircraft would be developed that stays intact when it crashes and could get into anybody’s hands.
Iranian state radio reported on Wednesday that the country would soon broadcast video footage of the downed drone. It was shown on Thursday.
Downtown Portland Macy’s store has decided to forego years of tradition, booting out truly old Saint Nicks who have been posing as Kris Kringle for decades in favor of agency Santas.
The new Father Christmases come from a national vendor instead of the much beloved community Santas, and families who have been coming to get their holiday photos with the same Santas are livid.
The worst part – the agency Santas have costume beards.
Joe Hawes, 54, owns The Portland Santa Company, which outfitted Meier and Frank and Macy’s with authentic, beard-sporting Santas. He says the style the new East coast company does is a “caricature of Santa”.
“We’ve always had naturally bearded Santas who play the role of Santa for year after year. The experience is dramatically different.
“The children come in and identify with an individual rather than a costumed character.”
The two current Santas – Santa Tom and Santa Phil – have been working for the company for seven and twelve years, respectively, and have taken great pride in maintaining their festive personas all year round.
The men groom their white beards, are jolly throughout the year, and pretend to be “on vacation” when they run into youngsters during the summer months.
Families have been bringing their children to Santaland at Macy’s for years and have looked forward to seeing the same jolly and plump face during each Christmas
“I’ve been doing this my whole adult life, so it’s a real personal loss to me not to be involved with Santaland this year,” Joe Hawes told Today.com.
“This year they notified us that, for the sake of corporate uniformity, they’re going to have the Santas look like they do on the East coast – costume-bearded Santas, so every Santa can look the same in every Macy’s store.”
Families have been bringing their children to Santaland at Macy’s for years and have looked forward to seeing the same jolly and plump face during each Christmas.
“We’ve been visiting Santa every year for 18 years,” Portland resident Peggy Friedl-Yee wrote on Santaland’s Facebook page.
“first at Meier & Frank and then at Macy’s. Macy’s this is unbelievable! You have ruined a favourite family tradition. We’ll be seeing Santa at Pioneer Square. Shame on you.”
Nikki DeShane also took to Facebook to complain about the new, fake-bearded St Nicks.
“We have been taking our kids to see this Santa for 14 years, our oldest is 18 and youngest two. We will continue to see our “real” Santa on the bricks.”
Veteran Santas are setting up shop at a rival Santa display a block away from the Macy’s Santaland. The event will start December 14 in nearby Pioneer Square.
Macy’s told Today.com that the new Santaland “has a new look while retaining its holiday traditions”. They also said Santa is attired in “a classic St Nick suit”, but declined to comment on the lack of real facial hair.
Joe Hawes told Today.com that getting a portrait taken with Santa is “such a personal thing”.
Joe Hawes added: “It’s not just a public display that’s inanimate. It’s personal and emotional, especially for young children, and for people who have built this into their annual family traditions, it’s very significant.”
Heidi Damon from Florida, the victim of a brutal sexual assault confronted her attacker Javon Cooper in court and told him: “I am not the victim, I’m the victor.”
Heidi Damon, 40, waived her right to anonymity and allowed to be filmed in court unleashing her anger as her attacker Javon Cooper, 18, was jailed for 15 years after attempting to kill and rape her.
She told Javon Cooper: “I just want to tell you – and I want you to look at me when I address you – I woke up ecstatic today, happier than ever.
‘You know why? Because I’m alive. I’m alive, alive, alive.
“You have not broken my spirit. You have not changed my belief in God. If anything, you’ve strengthened both. I am not a victim. I am the victor, the stronger and the winner.”
Heidi Damon, 40, waived her right to anonymity and allowed to be filmed in court unleashing her anger as her attacker Javon Cooper, 18, was jailed for 15 years after attempting to kill and rape her
As Heidi Damon spoke, Javon Cooper, dressed in a prison issue orange jumpsuit, shifted uncomfortably and tried to avert his gaze from his victim.
Javon Cooper had pleaded guilty to attempted murder and attempted sexual battery.
The attacker was 16 when he pounced on Heidi Damon in a multi-storey car park in Ybor City, Florida, in August 2009.
Javon Cooper choked Heidi Damon until she blacked out, and stripped her off her trousers and underwear.
Such was the force of the strangling that her eyes turned red and she was covered in bruises.
Heidi Damon was out of work for a year and still suffers from chronic headaches. She told the court she is still afraid.
At his sentencing Heidi Damon stood a few feet from her attacker as she lashed out at him.
Heidi Damon told her attacker: “My desire to be all that I can be cannot be broken by you or anyone. I survived.”
The woman told Javon Cooper that he will always be a boy, that a man could never do what he had done.
Heidi Damon said: “I will never forgive you because what you have done to me is never forgivable.
“I contribute to my community. You help decay yours.
“My life will never be the same. You know why? It’s going to be better than itwas before.
“My tears are out of joy.
“Because I’ll never see you again. Ever.
“Oh and by the way, I do have one more thing.
“My name is Heidi Elizabeth Damon. I have a name. I have a name that will go on forever.
“You have a number and the title of the crimes that you’ve committed. Your name is Sex Offender, Attempted Murderer. Nice to put you away.”
Javon Cooper, 18, was jailed for 15 years after attempting to kill and rape Heidi Damon
Heidi Damon said she agreed to waive her anonymity as she wanted to speak out for other “silent victims” of rape.
“I feel proud because I was able to stand there and get what I wanted out and articulate it without falling apart.
“I’m satisfied with the fact that he’s going away. I’m ecstatic that I lived to tell the story, and he was caught and that I potentially saved someone’s life that day by being the one that was chosen to be attacked, and I lived through it.”
Javon Cooper was jailed for 15 years and ten years probation.
The judge told him he would have liked to lock him up for life.
Timothy Grimmer, the 10-year-old boy who was shot by his mother during a standoff at a Texas welfare office on Monday has died – 24 hours after his sister, Ramie Marie Grimmer lost her life.
According to Laredo police spokesman Joe Baeza, Timothy Grimmer died Thursday at a San Antonio hospital.
Timothy Grimer’ sister, Ramie, 12, died of her wounds the day before.
The children’s mother, Rachelle Grimmer, 38, was found dead on Monday inside the office in Laredo.
Authorities say Rachelle Grimmer killed herself after shooting her children during a seven-hour standoff with police, after she had been denied for food stamps.
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services said the agency rejected Rachelle Grimmer’s application because she did not submit enough information.
Rachelle Grimmer had been embroiled in a battle with the welfare department to try to gain benefits for her family since July.
The woman took her children to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission office in Laredo on Monday at 5pm and demanded to speak to a supervisor.
Rachelle Grimmer then pulled out a handgun and began threatening several employees, authorities said.
The mother held two employees hostage until a male supervisor stepped in and stayed with Grimmer while she released the other workers.
She took the man and her two children into another room while a SWAT team managed to evacuate 30 people.
Rachelle Grimmer released the supervisor at 7:45 p.m. but remained in the building with her children.
During the seven-hour stand-off, the apparent Facebook profile of Ramie Marie Grimmer was updated regularly.
Hostage negotiators were in communication with Rachelle Grimmer but it was intermittent as she frequently hung up, according to police.
Officer Joe Baeza said Tuesday: “About 11:45 last night, she hung up the phone with negotiators, and a little bit later, negotiators heard three shots.”
The SWAT team at the front of the building heard children crying and officers stormed in, finding the three in the front office.
The children were airlifted to a hospital in San Antonio in critical condition. The mother was dead at the scene.
Two days ago, the eccentric Irish singer Sinead O’Connor announced she would wed her unknown boyfriend of three months in a ceremony on Thursday.
Sinead O’Connor tied the knot for the fourth time in a quickie Las Vegas wedding on her 45th birthday yesterday.
The singer walked down the aisle with Irish therapist Barry Herridge, who she met online, at the famous Little White Wedding Chapel in Nevada’s Sin City.
The wedding ceremony lasted just 15 minutes and the couple invited no guests – even Sinead O’Connor’s four children – apart from the cameramen.
Sinead O’Connor dressed unusually girly and looked to have lost weight, looking more like her Nothing Compares 2 U heyday in the 1990s.
She wore a strapless pastel pink maxi dress and chunky pink metallic and silver heels.
Sinead O’Connor failed to conceal her numerous tattoos, including a massive design on her chest, and is still sporting her trademark shaved head.
Sinead O’Connor tied the knot for the fourth time with Irish therapist Barry Herridge in a quickie Las Vegas wedding on her 45th birthday
Barry Herridge wore a suit over a pink shirt that matched Sinead O’Connor’s dress and had a red rose in his lapel that matched her bouquet.
The couple looked smitten with one another, sharing a passionate kiss for the cameras and staring into each other’s eyes as they walked sown the isle after being pronounced husband and wife.
The newlyweds cuddled up on a pink Cadillac – reminiscent of Elvis Presley’s iconic car – before heading to a hotel in the gambling capital of America.
Sinead O’Connor even shed a few tears as she sat with her new husband before they headed to a hotel for their wedding night.
The singer has only been dating Barry Herridge, who works as a counselor for people with addiction problems in Dublin, for three months.
Barry Herridge replied after Sinead O’Connor wrote on her blog in September that she was “sex-starved” and asked potential suitors to apply online.
“Barry sent me this wonderful email, which just took my heart away,” Sinead O’Connor told the Irish Independent before flying out from Heathrow to the U.S yesterday.
“It had to be him… I had no intention of getting married again but Barry was extremely persuasive. He proposed to me on every single date we have had since August. He is extremely persuasive – and other unprintable things.”
Sinead O’Connor and Barry Herridge met up at a coffee shop and apparently “talked for hours”.
He revealed the contents of the email to the paper.
“I was getting off a train at Connolly Station one morning when I saw this woman acting strangely on the platform,” Barry Herridge said.
“At first I didn’t know what she was doing, and then I realized she was playing hopscotch. It wasn’t Sinead but a business woman in a suit and in her 30s, just having a bit of fun.
“I wondered why more women that age weren’t doing the same thing? And it struck me that this was exactly what Sinead was doing with her search for love, having fun, and I told Sinead about this woman in my first email.”
Barry Herridge added: “I love Sinead more than anyone I have ever met, or anybody I will ever meet. I am going to look after her.”
Sinead O’Connor said she didn’t want a big ceremony.
“I’ve been married before, but I’ve never had my dream wedding in Vegas. I wanted to do it there because it’s casual, quick, not religious and, most of all, very romantic.
“People always complain, <<you never invited me to your wedding>>, but I prefer casual weddings. I’m so happy.”
The newlyweds have no time for a honeymoon as Sinead O’Connor is due back in Dublin tomorrow to attend the aftershow party for a concert marking the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International.
The Little White Chapel has been the venue for several celebrity weddings, including that between Britney Spears and childhood friend Jason Alexander in 2004.
Other notable ceremonies include the wedding of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore in 1987, that between Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow in 1966, and Judy Garland and Mark Herron in 1965.
Sinead O’Connor announced on her blog on Wednesday she was marrying Barry Herridge in an “undisclosed location”, although reports speculated they would be walking down the aisle in Las Vegas.
The singer wrote: “With enormous joy myself and my beloved boyfriend Barry Herridge will be getting married tomorrow, December 8th 2011 at <<an un-disclosed location>> in my absolute dream wedding ceremony.
“We will post a photo or two here on the site as soon as possible afterward. Very happy girl. : )”
Sinead O’Connor also posted a picture up of the couple beaming at the camera.
She kept the happy news quiet when she appeared on the Ian Dempsey breakfast radio show on Today FM the day before, telling him she had no gossip to share.
But Barry Herridge rang back into the show on Wednesday morning to reveal all to the host about the wedding.
Ian Dempsey wrote on his Twitter page following their chat: “So Sinead O’Connor was holding back yesterday. Boyfriend Barry Herridge got back to us today to reveal that they will wed tomorrow.
“And it’s Sinead’s birthday tomorrow too. Congrats to them both. And Sinead’s new album is sounding great too.”
Sinead O’Connor shocked the nation by writing a series of candid blog posts on her website earlier this year, detailing specific requirements she was looking for in a man.
The singer wrote in September that she was in “desperate need of a very sweet sex-starved man”, but specified that they “must be no younger than 44, must not be named Brian or Nigel, must be blind enough to think I’m gorgeous, has to be employed and he has to like his mother”.
And it seems Sinead O’Connor is found her perfect partner in Barry Herridge after a whirlwind romance.
Sinead O’Connor has been married three times before – including to music producer John Reynolds, journalist Nicholas Sommerlad and most recently to Steve Cooney, who she wed in July 2010, but divorced in April this year.
Sinead O’Connor has four children from various relationships.
Angelina Jolie has confessed during an interview with U.S. Marie Claire that there is at least one thing missing in her life – female friends.
In the interview with the new issue of Marie Claire, Angelina Jolie spoke frankly to the magazine about her lack of female confidantes.
“It was nice for me to play with other girls; I don’t really have girlfriends in movies, if you’ve noticed,” she said.
“Well, I have a few girlfriends, I just… I stay at home a lot. I’m just not very social. I don’t do a lot with them, and I’m very homebound.”
Angelina Jolie, actress, director and mother-of six, who looks stunning in a blue top and gold statement ring, has previously bemoaned the fact that she really only chats with her partner, Brad Pitt.
“I’ll talk to my family,”Angelina Jolie said.
“I talk to Brad … But I don’t know, I don’t have a lot of friends I talk to. He is really the only person I talk to.”
Angelina Jolie‘s reputation as the ultimate man-eater and husband-stealer may account for her lack of gal pals.
The actress famously enticed Brad Pitt away from his wife, Jennifer Aniston, and her second husband Billy Bob Thornton broke off his engagement to Laura Dern to elope with his Pushing Tin co-star.
In the interview with the new issue of Marie Claire, Angelina Jolie spoke frankly to the magazine about her lack of female confidantes
One of the few close female friends that is not deterred by Angelina Jolie’s reputation is singer Gwen Stefani.
Earlier this year Angelina Jolie were spied with Gwen Stefani getting together at Gwen’s home in London for a fun-filled playdate .
“All of the kids are very close in age. They’ve attended each other’s birthday parties and gotten together several times at each other’s homes,” a source to Yahoo news at the time.
Angelina Jolie and Gwen Stefani have been friends since 1998.
“Somehow Gwen and I keep ending up pregnant at the exact same time,” Angelina Jolie has explained.
Best known for action films such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Wanted, Angelina Jolie also reveals that she may want to move on from acting.
“I woke up one day realizing, God, I’m an actor,” she said.
“I don’t think I intended to be an actor. I think my mother wanted it for me.
“I loved telling stories, and I enjoyed the profession, but is it too late to be something else?”
When asked whether she and partner Brad Pitt were planning to extend their already considerable brood, she would only say: “Nothing planned at the moment, but we just don’t know. I could end up pregnant.”
Angelina Jolie credits Brad Pitt with helping her juggle her career with raising children.
“I have a wonderful partner in Brad and we take turns working always,” the actress said in the interview.
Angelina Jolie also touched on the subject of her children wanting her to marry long-term love Brad Pitt, 47.
“They have mentioned it, yes,” the actress admitted.
The star also opened up about her daughter Vivienne being a “girly girl”, divulging: “She is so elegant and delicate. Vivi will pick flowers from the garden and put them in her hair.
“She likes to get her nails done and collects stuffed animals.”
Angelina Jolie added: “It’s very funny for me to have to buy all things pink and watch princess movies!”
“Knox is very much a dude. Very physical, tough. He loves dinosaurs and swords.”
Angelina Jolie also gushed about her happiness saying: “Brad has expanded my life in ways I never imagined. We built a family. He is not just the love of my life, he is my family. I hold that very dear.
“I suppose what I’ve learned from Brad is to be able to have the kind of family whose happiness and well-being comes before your own.
“I’m very, very grateful to have such a loving family, and I wouldn’t have that without him.”
Speaking about the subject of her film Angelina Jolie said: “I think it’s still hard to understand what happened and how it could happen 40 minutes away from Italy in the ’90s at the time Schindler’s List came out.”
Explaining the inspiration for the movie Angelina Jolie said: “It began as a private exercise, an excuse to get out some of my frustrations with international community and justice issues.
“Some of the very darkest sections of the film were conceived in Shiloh’s art class; I was in the back waiting for the kids to finish.”
Angelina Jolie has also revealed she plans to do another war film focusing on Afghanistan, where she made humanitarian trips to recently.
In the Land of Blood and Honey is is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 23.
The new issue of Marie Claire is on newsstands Tuesday December 13.
High Court of Australia has decided to lift the ban on the sale of Samsung’s tablet, Galaxy Tab, in the country in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Apple won a ban on Galaxy Tab, claiming Samsung had copied its iPhone and iPad.
South Korean Samsung had been unable to sell products in Australia since July.
Apple and Samsung are engaged in legal battles in more than 10 countries since April accusing each other of infringing smartphone and tablet patents.
Apple won a ban on Galaxy Tab, claiming Samsung had copied its iPhone and iPad
Last month, Samsung won an appeal against a temporary ban on sales.
However, Apple was awarded a stay of the orders. On Friday Apple’s bid to extend the ban was turned down by the High Court.
The ruling is a rare win for Samsung as it allows the company to sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in time for the busy Christmas shopping season, a lucrative time for the industry.
The decision comes after a US court ruled against Apple’s bid to ban Galaxy phones and tablets, another win for Samsung. Apple has appealed against that ruling.
However, the legal tussle in other markets is not going as well for Samsung.
The company said on Friday that a French court had turned down its request to ban sale of the latest iPhone in that country.
Indian officials say at least 73 people have been killed in a fire that broke out in a hospital in the city of Calcutta (Kolkata).
Many of the dead people were patients who were trapped after the flames spread through the AMRI hospital in the southern part of Calcutta.
The fire started early on Friday in the multi-storey hospital’s basement, where flammable materials were stored.
Fire engines fought the blaze for five hours before bringing it under control.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the license of the hospital had been cancelled.
Mamata Banerjee said fire was an “unforgivable crime” and that those responsible would be given the harshest punishment.
Officials say the death toll is likely to rise as rescue workers are trying to reach the upper floors of the six-storey hospital in Dhakuria.
A Upadhay, a senior vice-president of the AMRI hospital company, told Associated Press there were 160 patients in the 190-bed hospital.
West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said many of the patients who died had suffocated on fumes.
A number were rescued. “We have taken 50 patients to an adjacent hospital. The situation is grim at the moment,” fire brigade chief Gopal Bhattacharya told Agence France-Presse news agency.
Bodies of patients wrapped in white sheets have been brought out by rescue workers, BBC reported.
Local people climbed into the hospital compound to rescue patients before fire engines arrived, our correspondent says.
The narrow surrounding streets made it difficult for the rescue service to arrive quickly.
The fire spread swiftly from the basement to the upper floors of the private hospital.
Television pictures showed patients being carried out on stretchers, with distraught relatives of trapped patients crowded outside the building.
One rescued patient said: “The attendants woke me up and dragged me down the stairs. I saw 10-15 patients at the top of the stairs trying to get down.”
Ananya Das, 35, who underwent surgery at the hospital on Thursday, said she was recovering when the fire broke out.
“I managed to walk towards an exit and then climb out of a window. I saw a lot of bodies,” she said.
More than 40 people died in a huge fire in a historic building in Calcutta in March last year.
Fires in high-rise buildings are fairly common in the city. There have been at least 10 major incidents since 2008.
Electrical short circuits have been responsible for most of these fires.
The first signs of the ultra-elusive Higgs boson particle have been detected by teams working at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland.
Existence of Higgs boson particle – believed to have given shape to the universe after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago – was proposed some four decades ago.
Two separate LHC teams – using the ATLAS and CMS detectors – have smashed protons in 350 trillion collisions this year, hoping to see the Higgs in the debris.
The CERN scientists are now reporting that “significant progress” has been made in tracking it down with a big press conference taking place next Tuesday in which the teams will announce what they’ve found.
Needless to say, the world of physics is breathless with excitement at this news.
The Higgs particle is essentially a missing piece of the “Standard Model” of physics jigsaw, which explains how the universe is glued together.
So far, it’s the only elementary particle predicted by this model that scientists have not been able to create with atom smashers.
Rolf Heuer, general director of CERN, said recently that he doesn’t think confirmation of Higgs boson particle’s existence will be made until around October 2012.
Two separate LHC teams – using the ATLAS and CMS detectors – have smashed protons in 350 trillion collisions this year, hoping to see the Higgs in the debris
However, reports from inside the LHC suggest that its scientists are on the brink of something monumental, with Professor John Ellis, a former head of theoretical physics at CERN, telling the BBC that he expects to see the “first glimpse” of the God particle next week.
Prof. John Ellis said: “There seem to be some hints emerging there… and that’s what we’re going to learn on Tuesday.”
The veracity of the results has been ensured by two separate teams, each comprising of hundreds of researchers, searching using different experiments.
One team, using scientists from 169 universities, has been working on the ATLAS detector, which at 148 feet long and 82 feet high, is the biggest ever constructed.
The other team is using the CMS – or Compact Muon Solenoid – a 13,000-ton detector that sits 330 feet underground.
However, there are some scientists, who have poured cold water on the news, with Nobel Prize winner Martinus Veltman from the Universities of Michigan and Utrecht telling the Guardian that “there is no Higgs”.
French television has broadcasted today the incredible live images of New York Sofitel’s chamber maid Nafissatou Diallo reporting Dominique Strauss-Kahn for alleged attempted rape victim.
The CCTV images were taken inside New York’s Sofitel hotel and show Nafissatou Diallo, 32, some 40 minutes after performing oral sex on Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62.
Pictures shot inside the Times Square hotel on May 14th shows a clearly shocked Nafissatou Diallo gesticulating wildly as she tells colleagues about what happened.
In turn, other images show DSK checking out of the hotel, and heading off for lunch with his daughter in a yellow cab.
Sofitel released the images through French TV news channel BFMTV because they want to put an end to conspiracy theories claiming DSK was set up by French government agents because he wanted to be the country’s next Socialist president.
Part of the footage shows two male hotel workers appearing to take part in some kind of “victory dance” before high-fiving each other in a 13-second segment.
It is not clear why Sofitel workers celebrate together, but reports of the episode fuelled speculation that DSK was set up by his political enemies.
U.S. investigative journalist Edward Epstein had claimed their “celebration” lasted some three minutes, and made it look as though they had executed a trap to perfection.
In fact the tapes show that the “victory dance” lasted less than 10 seconds, with the hotel staff allegedly celebrating a “sporting result”, according to a spokesman for the Sofitel.
Edward Epstein has since admitted a “mistake”, with the New York Review of Books, which originally published his conspiracy theory, publishing a correction.
Henri Leclerc, a lawyer for DSK, admitted today: “I have no proof that there is a conspiracy. I have no evidence that there is a conspiracy.”
DSK was arrested by U.S. police on May 14th and imprisoned, but after a lengthy legal process was finally cleared and returned home to Paris.
DSK admitted having a sexual encounter with Nafissatou Diallo, but said it was consensual.
Back in France, DSK was accused by writer Tristane Banon, now 32, of trying to rape her in 2001, but the statute of time limitations on the case meant it could not be reopened.
Last week, DSK claimed that his “uninhibited” sex life cost him his chance to become president.
He is at the centre of a judicial inquiry into a vice-girl ring operating out of a hotel in Lille, northern France.
DSK has admitted attending “sex parties” but said: “I have a horror of prostitution and pimping. Can you imagine the damage caused to my wife, our children?”
At the weekend, France’s Interior Minister Claude Gueant revealed that Dominique Strauss-Kahn was stopped by police in the Bois de Boulogne, a notorious red light area after dark, five years ago.
Claude Gueant also rubbished conspiracy theories linking President Nicolas Sarkozy with a bid to undermine his political rival.
Virginia Tech campus is on lockdown after two people – including a police officer – are shot dead by a crazed gunman who went on a shooting rampage this afternoon.
According to Virginia Tech, a police officer pulled someone over for a routine traffic stop and was shot and killed. The ganman ran toward a nearby parking lot, where he gunned down the second victim, believed to be a student.
Montgomery County Schools are now on lockdown, sparking fears the gunman may have left the campus.
Virginia Tech campus is on lockdown after two people - including a police officer - are shot dead by a crazed gunman who went on a shooting rampage this afternoon
The suspect was described as a white male wearing gray sweat pants, a gray hat with neon green brim, a maroon hoodie and backpack.
TV footage showed heavily armed officers walking around campus. Caravans of SWAT vehicles and other police cars with emergency lights flashing patrolled nearby as students remained on lockdown.
Police were tracking several white males on campus who fit the description but it was unclear if any of them were the suspect.
It was the first shooting on campus since 33 people were killed in 2007 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
FBI agents were called to the Performance Arts Building where they believed the gunman was hiding, but it turned out to be a false alarm as a student wearing similar clothes surrendered.
A SWAT team was placed at the Squires Student Centre but left after finding no suspicious persons inside.
Senior Virginia Tech police and university officials were all in Washington DC today to appeal the $55,000 fine for the way they handled the 2007 shooting.
Police are investigating if an armed robbery in the area which occurred at 11:25 a.m. is related.
Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski held a news conference and told reporters they have all hands on deck and are dealing with the situation in the most efficient, effective way possible. He told all students to stay inside and keep doors locked.
The university issued a statement saying: “Shortly after noon today, a Virginia Tech police officer stopped a vehicle on campus during a routine traffic stop in the Coliseum parking lot near McComas Hall.
“During the traffic stop, the officer was shot and killed. There were witnesses to this shooting.
“Witnesses reported to police the shooter fled on foot heading toward the Cage, a parking lot near Duck Pond Drive. At that parking lot, a second person was found. That person is also deceased.
“Several law enforcement agencies have responded to assist. Virginia State Police has been requested to take lead in the investigation.
“The status of the shooter is unknown. The campus community should continue to shelter in place and visitors should not come to campus.”
The shooting came the same day as Virginia Tech was appealing a $55,000 fine by the U.S. Education Department in connection with the university’s response to the 2007 rampage, when a student gunman killed 32 students and faculty and then shot himself.
A report of a possible gunman at Virginia Tech on August 4 set off the longest, most extensive lockdown and search on campus since the 2007 bloodbath led the university to overhaul its emergency procedures.
No gunman was found, and the school gave the all-clear about five hours after sirens began wailing and students and staff members started receiving warnings by phone, email and text message to lock themselves indoors.
Alerts were also posted on the university’s website and Twitter accounts.
The emergency was triggered by three teens who were attending a summer programme on campus and told police they saw a man walking quickly across the grounds with what might have been a handgun covered by a cloth, authorities said.
Police searched some 150 buildings on the square-mile campus and issued a composite sketch of a baby-faced man who was said to be wearing shorts and sandals, but they found no sign of him. They continued to patrol the grounds as a precaution even after the lockdown was lifted.
“We’re in a new era. Obviously this campus experienced something pretty terrible four years ago,” Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said at the time.
“Regardless of what your intuition and your experience as a public safety officer tells you, you are really forced to issue an alert.”
That incident marked the first time the entire campus was locked down since the 2007 shooting, and the second major test of Virginia Tech’s improved emergency alert system.
The system was revamped to add the use of text messages and other means besides email of warning students.
It was also put to the test in 2008, when an exploding nail gun cartridge was mistaken for gunfire. But only one dorm was locked down during that emergency, and it reopened two hours later.
Virginia Tech has opened a student help line on (540) 231-3787 and a police tip line on (540) 231-6411.
Dorothy Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant coach’s wife has arranged his $250,000 bail today – after one accuser claimed she was upstairs while her husband allegedly tried to rape young boys at their home.
Jerry Sandusky had spent the night in jail following a new round of sexual abuse charges from two new victims were filed against him.
Dorothy Sandusky handed over a $50,000 cheque in addition to Jerry Sandusky using $200,000 in real estate holdings to post the bail, according to online court records.
Jerry Sandusky remained at the jail in Bellefonte as of late morning and the warden said he was quiet and cooperative during his overnight stay, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The former coach was hauled away from his home in handcuffs yesterday after prosecutors filed amid startling new testimony has emerged from one of his latest alleged victims.
The ninth alleged victim said in sworn testimony that he suffered abuse at Sandusky’s hands for years, often in the basement of the coach’s house.
He said Jerry Sandusky made him perform oral sex multiple times and tried to anally rape him at least 16 times and succeeded a number of times.
During one of those incidents, the victim screamed for help knowing that Dorothy Sandusky was upstairs, but no one ever came down to help him.
It’s not the first time Dorothy “Dottie” Gross Sandusky’s name has come up in the allegations.
Dorothy Sandusky, 68, attempted to call one of the victims in the weeks leading up to his testimony, despite the fact the now 26-year-old had cut off all contact with Sandusky two years prior.
Dorothy Sandusky left a message on Victim 7’s phone saying the matter was “very important” but the man, who told the Grand Jury that as a 10-year-old in 1994, Sandusky hugged and inappropriately touched him, did not return the call.
Part of that alleged abuse took place in the Sandusky family’s home, in which Dorothy and Jerry raised their six adopted children.
Jerry Sandusky claimed he and his wife could not have any of their own.
Over the years Jerry and Dorothy Sandusky became the parents to Ray, now 46, a businessman living in Nashville, EJ, 41, former Nittany Lions player, and now a football coach at West Chester University, Kara, 38, a Penn State graduate, Jeff, 35, a former Marine, and 33-year-olds Matt, a Penn State graduate and Jon, who is Director of Player Personnel for the Cleveland Browns.
Quite how much any of them knew about the sexual abuse, which occurred between 1994 and 2009 with a number of incidents at the family home, is now under scrutiny.
The number of boys Jerry Sandusky is accused of molesting now stands at ten.
Natalie Johnson, a Macy’s worker at a San Antonio store was fired for refusing to allow a transgender customer to use the women’s fitting room.
Natalie Johnson, 27, admits she was watching the customer from the start, claiming she could tell he was a man shopping for women’s clothes.
When the transgender tried to go into the women’s fitting room, Natalie Johnson stopped him from entering.
The woman told KSAT 12: “I had to just straight forward tell him, <<You’re a man>>, and of course that really got him steamed.”
Macy’s has a policy in place that allows transgendered individuals to use the fitting room of the gender they have chosen.
Natalie Johnson, a Macy’s worker at a San Antonio store was fired for refusing to allow a transgender customer to use the women's fitting room
Natalie Johnson was fired last week after telling her manager that she refused to go along with the policy, citing her devout Christian beliefs.
Natalie Johnson told KSAT 12 that she has filed a complaint with the federal employment commission, saying her views on religion prevent her from recognizing transgendered people.
“There are no transgenders in the world. A guy can dress up as a woman all he wants, that’s still not going to make you a woman,” Natalie Johnson said.
Liberty Council, a conservative Christian organization dedicated to religious freedoms, sided with Natalie Johnson, arguing Macy’s policy should be changed.
Matthew Staver, Liberty Council founder and CEO, said in a statement: “This policy will cause significant problems and will alienate the majority of Macy’s customers.
“Macy’s has essentially opened women’s dressing rooms to every man. The LGBT agenda has become the theater of the absurd.”
Macy’s would not comment on this specific case, but released a statement of their own that said: “At Macy’s, we recognize and appreciate the diversity of our customers and associates.”
12-year-old Ramie Marie Grimmer, who was shot by her mother during a standoff at a Texas welfare office, has died yesterday.
According to a Laredo police spokesman said Ramie Marie Grimmer died yesterday at a San Antonio hospital.
Her 10-year-old brother is still in a critical condition.
Rachelle Grimmer, 38, the mother of children was found dead on Monday inside the office in Laredo.
Rachelle Grimmer shot her children and then she killed herself during a seven-hour standoff with police, after she was denied for food stamps.
Ramie Grimmer’s Facebook profile had been updated to read “may die 2day” just hours before the shootings.
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services says the agency rejected Rachelle Grimmer’s application because she did not submit enough information.
Rachelle Grimmer had been embroiled in a battle with the welfare department to try to gain benefits for her family since July.
The woman took her children to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission office in Laredo on Monday at 5:00 p.m. and demanded to speak to a supervisor.
Rachelle Grimmer then pulled out a handgun and began threatening several employees, authorities said.
Rachelle Grimmer held two employees hostage until a male supervisor stepped in and stayed with her while she released the other workers.
The mother took the man and her two children into another room while a SWAT team managed to evacuate 30 people.
Rachelle Grimmer released the supervisor at 7:45 p.m. but remained in the building with her children.
Laredo police spokesman said Ramie Marie Grimmer died yesterday at a San Antonio hospital
During the seven-hour stand-off, the apparent Facebook profile of Ramie Marie Grimmer was updated regularly.
At 7:50 p.m., the girl wrote: “May die 2day” on her wall. She then accepted a friend request before writing “I’m bored” at 10:34 p.m. and tagged her location as Laredo, Texas.
The girl then “liked” the band Evanescence and wrote “ahhhhhhhhhhahhhhhh” at 10:52 p.m.
At 11:28 p.m., Ramie Grimmer wrote “tear gas seriasly”. [sic]
Hostage negotiators were in communication with Rachelle Grimmer but it was intermittent as she frequently hung up, according to police.
Joe Baeza of the Laredo Police Department reported on Tuesday: “About 11:45 last night, she hung up the phone with negotiators, and a little bit later, negotiators heard three shots.”
The SWAT team at the front of the building heard children crying and officers stormed in, finding the three in the front office.
The children were airlifted to a hospital in San Antonio in critical condition and the mother was dead at the scene.
Officer Joe Baeza said: “She had issues and felt that she had been let down by social services in general.
“She was making all sorts of outlandish claims.”
Authorities said Rachelle Grimmer, from Ohio, had arrived in Laredo about eight months ago and had lived with her kids in several locations around the border city.
The children’s grandmother, Mary Lee Shepherd said Rachelle Grimmer “was mentally ill” and she tried to get her help.
Mary Lee Shepherd said her son Dale Grimmer, the children’s father, was flying Wednesday from Montana to San Antonio hospital to be with the children.
Dale and Rachelle Grimmer divorced six or seven years ago, after she and the children moved from Montana to Ohio, Mary Lee Shepherd said.
Dale Grimmer also moved to Ohio and was able to visit the children from time to time, but Rachelle Grimmer moved and did not inform him or the court, Mary Lee Shepherd said.
The grandmother said she or her son contacted social workers in Montana twice and in Ohio once because they were concerned that Rachelle Grimmer could harm the children.
Mary Lee Shepherd declined to detail her former daughter-in-law’s mental problems or say what caused them to make those calls.
Her claims could not immediately be verified Wednesday with state child welfare officials in Montana and Ohio.
However, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services reported finding two cases Wednesday involving Rachelle Grimmer and her children.
In the first case, reported September 15, 2010, the department received a possible neglect report after Rachelle Grimmer and her two children were found living in a tent on a South Texas beach.
Investigators found no evidence of neglect and closed the case, spokesman Patrick Crimmins said.
In a report made last June, Corpus Christi police said Rachelle Grimmer had come to police headquarters with her two children and reported that she had been a domestic violence victim.
Caseworkers checked on her and the children, determined the children were not at risk and took no further action, Patrick Crimmins said.
Patrick Crimminis said the findings had been delayed until Wednesday because Rachelle Grimmer’s surname was spelled differently in the department database, and she was listed under a different first name.
Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission, confirmed that Grimmer applied for food stamps in July and was denied.
The spokeswoman said Rachelle Grimmer’s application was incomplete and that she was not sure whether the woman qualified for assistance.
Five people, including a pilot, died after a Sundance helicopter crashed Wednesday afternoon during a tour of Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam.
According to National Park Service spokesman Andrew Munoz, the helicopter crashed into the River Mountains surrounding Lake Mead just before 5:00 p.m.
A security guard from the national recreation area heard the crash and reported seeing smoke about four miles west of the lake’s edge.
Andrew Munoz told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was “saddened” that a search-and-rescue mission turned into a “recovery investigation”.
He added that it was too early to release the names of the victims.
The crash site about 30 miles from the Las Vegas Strip is not accessible by road.
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said several witnesses reported smoke and what appeared to be wreckage in the area where police were investigating.
Ian Gregor said police were having troubling reaching the crash site because it’s in a ravine.
The tour helicopter was an Aerospatiale AS350, which can hold up to six passengers and are often used for air tours.
A spokesman for Sundance Helicopters, who declined to give his name, said the tour was not full. He declined to answer further questions.
The tour helicopter that crashed in Las Vegas was an Aerospatiale AS350, which can hold up to six passengers and are often used for air tours
It’s unclear what may have triggered the crash.
The weather was mostly clear near Lake Mead yesterday, with a low temperature around 29 and winds around 5 mph.
Sundance Helicopters is no stranger to fatal accidents.
Seven people were killed in September 2003 when a helicopter hit a wall near the Grand Canyon.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s report into that accident determined that: “The probable cause of this accident was the pilot’s disregard of safe flying procedures and misjudgment of the helicopter’s proximity to terrain, which resulted in an in-flight collision with a canyon wall.
“Contributing to the accident was the failure of Sundance Helicopters and the Federal Aviation Administration to provide adequate surveillance of Sundance’s air tour operations in Descent Canyon.”
There was video evidence to support passenger complaints that the pilot was prone to veering close to canyon walls, and performing risky maneuvers.
Sundance Helicopters received two complaints about the pilot in 2001 and though it initially said it would suspend the pilot, the ban was never enforced.
One tourist who recently took a similar tour said that his pilot prompted him to pay a tip in exchange for a more exciting flight.
The tourist said: “The pilot told us that he was so low-paid that all tips were gratefully received, and that in exchange for the tip he would perform some low-level flying.
“He flew close to the ground and close to the walls, on the edge of things, for more excitement.
‘I didn’t feel I was in danger at the time but I did think he was taking more risks than he needed to.”
Sundance Helicopters’ website promotes only one local tour that flies over Lake Mead.
The 30-minute “Twilight City Tour” spans downtown Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam and the Las Vegas Strip.
Packages start at $210 per person.
“Fly in a state of the art luxury air-conditioned 6 passenger jet helicopter,” Sundance Helicopters says on its website.
A September 2003 crash of a Sundance Helicopters flight killed its pilot and six passengers in Arizona.
Unsafe flying procedures and misjudgment were cited as the probable cause of that crash.
Blowfish, the “hangover cure” from Rally Labs comes in two dissoluble tablets and will be available across U.S. store shelves.
Blowfish, the newly approved remedy by the Food and Drug Administration is the first specifically hangover targeted product, not containing an entirely new ingredient, but pain-relieving concoction.
Rally Labs founder Brenne Haysom explains on the product’s webpage:
“After some research, I found a combination that did the trick, fast.
“I started sharing it with my friends, and they kept asking for more.”
The “Alka-Seltzer”-like tablet is different from most other products on the market in that you dissolve and administer the brew the morning after a heavy night’s drinking, in comparison to other remedy’s that advise it to be taken before or between each glass.
“Out of personal experience, the worst hangover is the one you didn’t expect on a morning you have to do stuff,” Brenne Haysom told ABC News.
“It really came out of my own experience of wanting to go out but having to work really hard the next morning,” she explained.
Blowfish, the “hangover cure” from Rally Labs comes in two dissoluble tablets and will available across U.S. store shelves
While Blowfish’s active ingredients are aspirin and caffeine – two basic and wildly known remedies though usually taken and offered separately – the product is considered a new drug by the FDA because of its packaged combination.
Because of this, a product of similar nature must undergo FDA review before it can be stamped with their approval, according to the FDA’s website.
With 500 mg of aspirin and 60 mg of caffeine, Blowfish claims its combination “helps restore mental alertness or wakefulness when experiencing fatigue or drowsiness associated with a hangover”.
A similar product by Bayer called Bayer AM, however, advertises itself as “Asprin and Alertness air tablets”, containing the same amounts of aspirin and caffeine, however, it doesn’t offer the packaging devoted to fighting the morning buzz or Blowfish’s same guarantee.
Let them “make it up to you”, the company offers customers if they feel slighted or dissatisfied.
Rally Labs’ website invites users to give them call or email, once better, as well as share competing remedies that may have worked better.
Though if your hangover is severe enough to cause continuous vomiting, diarrhea and severe fatigue, this still may not be the “fast” or “guaranteed” cure for you.
Star magazine obtained a private diary purporting to have been written by Lindsay Lohan, in which is revealed she was “in love” with Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger at the time of his death in 2008.
The diary details the depth of Lindsay Lohan’s feelings for Heath Ledger and hints at a romantic relationship between them.
“Today Heath died,” she wrote on January 22.
“I’m in love with him… He was the love of my life.
“He taught me so much, and he was everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I want to hear him laugh and hold me. I crave his touch and care.”
Star magazine obtained a private diary purporting to have been written by Lindsay Lohan, in which is revealed she was “in love” with Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger at the time of his death in 2008
Star magazine writes Lindsay Lohan was even planning to visit Heath Ledger in New York City three days after he passed away, with the actress intent on introducing him to her mother Dina.
Lindsay Lohan is reported to have broken down in tears in the middle of a Los Angeles restaurant when she learned of Heath Ledger’s death.
“When a person dies the world stops. I’m numb,” Lindsay Lohan wrote in the diary.
“There’s an emptiness. And a desire to feel loved.
“A need to be held in the arms of someone who understands. But what do you do when the one who understands is gone?”
The new revelations add weight to rumours that Lindsay Logan and Heath Ledger were once romantically involved.
Indeed, in a 2008 phone conversation obtained by RadarOnline, Dina Lohan told Lindsay’s father Michael that Lindsay “was dating Heath when he died”.
Lindsay Lohan, who has struggled with addictions of her own, was also philosophical in the wake of Heath Ledger’s untimely death at 28-years-old.
“It’s like a game of Jenga, and when one piece slips, it all falls apart,” Lindsay Lohan wrote.
“One pill, one slip and it goes down the slope, crashes and burns and it’s over. Why? I ask myself over and over. Cry is all I can do.”
In an entry dated January 31, Lindsay Lohan wrote: “Heath is a prime example of what this industry can do to someone.
“It craves to see someone fail. It brings enjoyment to us to watch one die. The tragedy and cravings for it can kill. And will.”
Heath Ledger split from his actress girlfriend Michelle Williams around September 2007. They had together a daughter, Matilda Rose, now six-years-old.
Wednesday in the afternoon, Jerry Sandusky left his home in handcuffs after prosecutors filed amid startling new testimony has emerged from one of his latest alleged victims.
The ninth alleged victim said in sworn testimony that he suffered abuse at Jerry Sandusky’s hands for years, often in the basement of the coach’s house.
The victim said Jerry Sandusky made him perform oral sex multiple times and tried to anally rape him at least 16 times and succeeded a number of times.
During one of those incidents, the victim screamed for help knowing that Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dorothy, was upstairs, but no one ever came down to help him.
It’s not the first time Dorothy “Dottie” Gross Sandusky’s name has come up in the allegations.
Dottie Sandusky, 68, attempted to call one of the victims in the weeks leading up to his testimony, despite the fact the now 26-year-old had cut off all contact with Jerry Sandusky two years prior.
Jerry Sandusky’s wife left a message on Victim 7’s phone saying the matter was “very important” but the man, who told the Grand Jury that as a 10-year-old in 1994, the former coach hugged and inappropriately touched him, did not return the call.
Part of that alleged abuse took place in the Sandusky family’s State College, Pennsylvania, home, in which Dorothy and her husband raised their six adopted children.
Jerry and Dottie Sandusky claimed they could not have any of their own.
Over the years Jerry and Dottie Sandusky became the parents to Ray, now 46, a businessman living in Nashville, EJ, 41, former Nittany Lions player, and now a football coach at West Chester University, Kara, 38, a Penn State graduate, Jeff, 35, a former Marine, and 33-year-olds Matt, a Penn State graduate and Jon, who is Director of Player Personnel for the Cleveland Browns.
Wednesday in the afternoon, Jerry Sandusky left his home in handcuffs after prosecutors filed amid startling new testimony has emerged from one of his latest alleged victims
Quite how much any of them knew about the sexual abuse, which occurred between 1994 and 2009 with a number of incidents at the family home, is now under scrutiny. The number of boys the former Penn State University coach is accused of molesting now stands at 10.
The newest men – aged 10 and 12 – said Jerry Sandusky preyed on them when they sought help at his charity for underprivileged children, the Second Mile.
Victim No. 9 said Jerry Sandusky took him to Penn State football games, lavished him with gifts and even gave him money, and when the abuse began he was told to keep it a secret.
Jerry Sandusky is likely to spend Wednesday in jail, though his lawyer says he should be released on $250,000 bail Thursday.
Four Pennsylvania State Police detectives arrived at Jerry Sandusky’s house outside State College, Pennsylvania, this afternoon in unmarked cars.
A video from NBC News shows the detectives knock on the former coach’s door then go inside. Moment later, emerged with the white-haired Sandusky.
Jerry Sandusky is wearing a blue and white Nittany Lions tracksuit with a jacket on his shoulders covering his hands, which are cuffed behind his back.
Shortly after his arrest, Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer, Joe Amendola, walked in the courtroom to see his client for a bond hearing.
“Told you. We had this discussion. Some day you will listen to me,” Joe Amendola said to his client, ABC6 in Philadelphia reported.
Jerry Sandusky smiled in reply.
Prosecutors argued the judge should set Jerry Sandusky’s new bond at $1 million.
However, the judge decided $250,000 was sufficient, however he ordered Jerry Sandusky must wear an electronic tether that will notify authorities if he goes near the Penn State campus.
Joe Amendola said Jerry Sandusky was likely to post the money and be released Thursday.
Victim No 9, who is now 19, said he was raped at Penn State’s football facilities after Jerry Sandusky plied him with alcohol on campus.
Jerry Sandusky was first arrested November 5 on charges that he sexually assaulted eight boys over the course of 15 years.
The former coach was released on unsecured bail of $100,000 – meaning he only has to pay if he doesn’t show up for court – and has been keeping a low profile at his home outside State College, Pennsylvania.
Joe Amendola, denied Jerry Sandusky is guilty of committing the newest set of allegations. The onetime heir to the Penn State coaching throne has maintained his innocence since his first arrest.
The two newest accusers say they met Jerry Sandusky through his charity, the Second Mile, when they were troubled young boys.
“As in many of the other cases identified to date, the contact with Sandusky allegedly fit a pattern of <<grooming>> victims,” Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a statement.
“Beginning with outings to football games and gifts; they later included physical contact that escalated to sexual assaults.”
Victim No 9, who went public Tuesday night through his lawyer Charles Schmidt, is now a 19-year-old man. He says Sandusky gave him gifts and money – in addition to molesting him – after they met in 2004.
“He suffered one incident of abuse, to use the legal term – involuntary deviate sexual intercourse – allegedly at the hands of Mr. Sandusky,” Charles Schmidt said.
“That occurred on the Penn State campus, we believe in the area of the football facilities.”
The new claim came the day a lawyer for another young man who accused Jerry Sandusky of sexual abuse said he expects his client and at least five other accusers to testify at a preliminary hearing next week.
The lawyer said he has information that the six young men whose testimony before a grand jury contributed to a report detailing allegations against Jerry Sandusky will be called to testify next Tuesday.
Jerry Sandusky, 67, is charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse, and prosecutors allege he met his victims through a charity he founded in 1977 to help at-risk children, The Second Mile.
He denies being a paedophile and has vowed to fight the charges. In interviews with NBC and The New York Times, he has said he showered and horsed around with boys but never sexually abused them.
The existence of Charles Schmidt’s client was first reported by WHP-TV in Harrisburg.
Charles Schmidt told the AP that his client was 12 years old, dealing with the death of his mother and suffering emotional issues at the time of the campus incident.
He said the two met through The Second Mile and his client claims Jerry Sandusky gave him liquor while in the office on campus. The grand jury report did not allege any instances of Jerry Sandusky giving boys alcohol.
Charles Schmidt said his law firm is conducting its own investigation into the client’s claims.
The preliminary hearing, at which a judge would determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to take the case to trial, could last a day or more since the defense has the right to cross-examine the state’s witnesses.
The state attorney general’s office would not comment on the evidence authorities plan to offer to show probable cause the crimes occurred.
Mike, a New York investment banker, met Lauren at the Philharmonic and he asked her to go on date; date didn’t go well, she ignored his incessant calls and psychotic emails, and she got fed up and posted his 1,615 word email on internet, and email goes viral.
When Lauren didn’t call Mike back, he felt the only course of action was to Google stalk her to find an email address and proceed to write a lengthy letter as to why she should agree to a second date.
Lauren was so appalled by the point-by-point reasons as to how she supposedly led Mike on, that she posted the letter on the internet.
According to Mike, Lauren played with her hair – a lot and she made eye contact – a lot. She also told him at the end of the date: “It was nice to meet you”. All sure signs she wanted to see him again.
Mike wrote: “You played with your hair a lot. A woman playing with her hair is a common sign of flirtation. You can even do a Google search on it.
“In my opinion, leading someone on (i.e., giving mixed signals) is impolite and immature. It’s bad to do that.”
Mike also believes that because he and Lauren like the Philharmonic, are both “intelligent people” of the same age, that surely they must be soul mates.
Mike tells Lauren: “I could name more things that we have in common, but I’ll stop here. I don’t understand why you apparently don’t want to go out with me again. We have numerous things in common.”
It seems glaringly obvious to Mike that he and Lauren should spend their life together, going to the Philharmonic.
“You said that you’re planning to go the NY Philharmonic more often in the future. You’re very busy. It would be very convenient for you to date me because we have the same interests.
“We already go to classical music performances by ourselves. If we go to classical music performances together, it wouldn’t take any significant additional time on your part.”
Luckily for Lauren, despite all his criticisms, Mike wants to give her another chance: “I suggest that we continue to go out and see what happens. Needless to say, I find you less appealing now (given that you haven’t returned my messages) than I did at our first date.
“However, I would be willing to go out with you again.”
Lauren was so appalled by the point-by-point reasons as to how she supposedly led Mike on, that she posted his 1,615 word email on the internet
Despite his method of communication, Mike would prefer it if Lauren called him, as he doesn’t like emails, feeling they can be “misinterpreted”. But if she doesn’t want to call, an email is acceptable.
“I hope you will call me back at xxx-xxx-xxxx (if it’s inconvenient for you to talk on the phone when you read this email, you can let me know via email that you are willing to talk on the phone and I’ll call you).”
When Lauren posted the email on the internet site Reddit, she gave a brief back story which said: “Friend couldn’t make it to philharmonic at last minute so I went alone, met this guy, went on ONE, HORRIFIC date. Then got this…”
Mike’s email to Lauren in full
“Hi Lauren,
I’m disappointed in you. I’m disappointed that I haven’t gotten a response to my voicemail and text messages.
FYI, I suggest that you keep in mind that emails sound more impersonal, harsher, and are easier to misinterpret than in-person or phone communication. After all, people can’t see someone’s body language or tone of voice in an email. I’m not trying to be harsh, patronizing, or insulting in this email. I’m honest and direct by nature, and I’m going to be that way in this email. By the way, I did a Google search, so that’s how I came across your email.
I assume that you no longer want to go out with me. (If you do want to go out with me, then you should let me know.) I suggest that you make a sincere apology to me for giving me mixed signals. I feel led on by you.
Things that happened during our date include, but are not limited to, the following:
– You played with your hair a lot. A woman playing with her hair is a common sign of flirtation. You can even do a Google search on it. When a woman plays with her hair, she is preening. I’ve never had a date where a woman played with her hair as much as you did. In addition, it didn’t look like you were playing with your hair out of nervousness.
– We had lots of eye contact during our date. On a per-minute basis, I’ve never had as much eye contact during a date as I did with you.
– You said, <,It was nice to meet you>> at the end of our date. A woman could say this statement as a way to show that she isn’t interested in seeing a man again or she could mean what she said–that it was nice to meet you. The statement, by itself, is inconclusive.
– We had a nice conversation over dinner. I don’t think I’m being delusional in saying this statement.
In my opinion, leading someone on (i.e., giving mixed signals) is impolite and immature. It’s bad to do that.
Normally, I would not be asking for information if a woman and I don’t go out again after a first date. However, in our case, I’m curious because I think our date went well and that there is a lot of potential for a serious relationship. Of course, it’s difficult to predict what would happen, but I think there is a lot of potential for a serious relationship developing between us one day (or least there was before your non-response to my voicemail and text messages).
I think we should go out on a second date. In my opinion, our first date was good enough to lead to a second date.
Why am I writing you? Well, hopefully, we will go out again. Even if we don’t, I gain utility from expressing my thoughts to you. In addition, even if you don’t want to go out again, I would like to get feedback as to why you wouldn’t want to go again. Normally, I wouldn’t ask a woman for this type of feedback after a first date, but this is an exception given I think we have a lot of potential.
If you don’t want to go again, then apparently you didn’t think our first date was good enough to lead to a second date. Dating or a relationship is not a Hollywood movie. It’s good to keep that in mind. In general, I thought the date went well and was expecting that we would go out on a second date.
If you’re not interested in going out again, then I would have preferred if you hadn’t given those mixed signals. I feel led on. We have a number of things in common. I’ll name a few things: First, we’ve both very intelligent. Second, we both like classical music so much that we go to classical music performances by ourselves. In fact, the number one interest that I would want to have in common with a woman with whom I’m in a relationship is a liking of classical music. I wouldn’t be seriously involved with a woman if she didn’t like classical music. You said that you’re planning to go the NY Philharmonic more often in the future. As I said, I go to the NY Philharmonic often. You’re very busy. It would be very convenient for you to date me because we have the same interests. We already go to classical music performances by ourselves. If we go to classical music performances together, it wouldn’t take any significant additional time on your part.
According to the internet, you’re 33 or 32, so, at least from my point of view, we’re a good match in terms of age. I could name more things that we have in common, but I’ll stop here. I don’t understand why you apparently don’t want to go out with me again. We have numerous things in common. I assume that you find me physically attractive. If you didn’t find me physically attractive, then it would have been irrational for you to go out with me in the first place. After all, our first date was not a blind date.
You already knew what I looked like before our date. Perhaps, you’re unimpressed that I manage my family’s investments and my own investments. Perhaps, you don’t think I have a ‘real’ job. Well, I’ve done very well as an investment manager. I’ve made my parents several millions of dollars. That’s real money. That’s not monopoly money. In my opinion, if I make real money, it’s a real job. Donald Trump’s children work for his company. Do they have ‘real’ jobs? I think so. George Soros’ sons help manage their family investments. Do they have ‘real’ jobs? I think so.
In addition, I’m both a right-brain and left-brain man, given that I’m both an investment manager and a philosopher/writer. That’s a unique characteristic; most people aren’t like that. I’ve never been as disappointed and sad about having difficulty about getting a second date as I am with you. I’ve gone out with a lot of women in my life. (FYI, I’m not a serial dater. Sometimes, I’ve only gone out with a woman for one date.) People don’t grow on trees. I hope you appreciate the potential we have.
Am I sensitive person? Sure, I am. I think it’s better to be sensitive than to be insensitive. There are too many impolite, insensitive people in the world.
I suggest that we continue to go out and see what happens. Needless to say, I find you less appealing now (given that you haven’t returned my messages) than I did at our first date. However, I would be willing to go out with you again. I’m open minded and flexible and am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I wish you would give me the benefit of the doubt too.
If you don’t want to go out again, in my opinion, you would be making a big mistake, perhaps one of the biggest mistakes in your life. If you don’t want to go out again, then you should have called to tell me so. Even sending a text message would have been better than nothing. In my opinion, not responding to my messages is impolite, immature, passive aggressive, and cowardly. I spent time, effort, and money meeting you for dinner. Getting back to me in response to my messages would have been a reasonable thing for you to do. In addition, you arrived about 30 minutes late for our date. I’m sure you wouldn’t like it if a man showed up thirty minutes late for a first date with you.
If you’re concerned that you will hurt my feelings by providing specific information about why you don’t want to go with me again, well, my feelings are already hurt. I’m sad and disappointed about this situation. If you give information, at least I can understand the situation better. I might even learn something that is beneficial.
If you don’t want to go out again, that I request that you call me and make a sincere apology for leading me on (i.e., giving me mixed signals). In my opinion, you shouldn’t act that way toward a man and then not go out with him again. It’s bad to play with your hair so much and make so much eye contact if you’re not interested in going out with me again. I have tried to write this email well, but it’s not perfect. Again, I’m not trying to be harsh, insulting, patronizing, etc. I’m disappointed, sad, etc.
I would like to talk to you on the phone. I hope you will call me back at xxx-xxx-xxxx (if it’s inconvenient for you to talk on the phone when you read this email, you can let me know via email that you are willing to talk on the phone and I’ll call you). If you get my voicemail, you can a leave a message and I can call you back. Even if you don’t want to go out again, I would appreciate it if you give me the courtesy of calling me and talking to me. Yes, you might say things that hurt me, but my feelings are already hurt.
Sending me an email response (instead of talking on the phone) would better than no response at all, but I think it would be better to talk on the phone. Email communication has too much potential for misinterpretation, etc.
