Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Hope Solo’s partner at Dancing With The Stars show got into a blazing row with judge Len Goodman following the couple’s Rumba to “Seasons Of Love” from the Broadway Musical Rent.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy, 31, lost his nerve with Len Goodman, 67, after he dubbed the pair’s performance as “the worst of the whole season”.
The retort ended up in a back and forth between the two men.
“Let me tell you, Maks, the audience likes the effect,” said Len Goodman.
“I’ve been in this business for nearly 50 years.”
Maksim Chmerkovskiy got into a blazing row with judge Len Goodman following the couple's Rumba to “Seasons Of Love” from the Broadway Musical Rent
And Maksim Chmerkovskiy replied: “Maybe it’s time to go.”
The fellow judge Carrie Ann Inaba yelled at Maksim Chmerkovskiy:
“Don’t be disrespectful like that.”
Judge Len Goodman arguing back and forth with Maksim Chmerkovskiy
But Maksim Chmerkovskiy could not be silenced, and even after Bruno Tonioli attempted to calm the situation, he continued his wrath:
“Everybody on that balcony has been dying and killing themselves only to hear your guy’s a little judgmental comments.”
“I am not being disrespectful, I’m protecting my partner.”
Then, Maksim Chmerkovskiy continued his protests to host Brooke Burke:
“With all due respect, this is my show.”
“I help make it what it is.
“I love every aspect of it, I love every professional that’s ever been here and I love every celebrity that puts effort into every week.
“Having said that, I’m a little tired that we’re being judged, some on effort and some being picked on, on heel leads!”
In the end, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Hope Solo scored 20 points for their performance.
But they were not the couple with the lowest score.
Chaz Bono and his partner Lacey Schwimmer were given the lowest points of the night, just 19.
After he succeeded with samba which kept him in the competition last week, Chaz Bono failed with his tango to theme song from Phantom Of The Opera.
Cheered on by girlfriend Jenny Elia from the crowd, Chaz Bono emerged on the floor in the famous white mask and tuxedo combination.
This time the judges thought the transsexual contestant looked out of place.
“This character didn’t fit you,” said Bruno Tonioli.
“At week 6, I want to see a little more content,” fellow judge Carrie Ann added.
Little Azra, a two weeks old baby girl, has been rescued this morning from the shattered ruins of a building in the city of Ercis, after she miraculously lived more than 47 hours trapped.
Baby Azra was found naked in the rubble, making her survival all the more remarkable because of the freezing temperatures in the region.
Azra was immediately rushed to a medical unit.
Little Azra, a two weeks old baby girl, has been rescued this morning from the shattered ruins of a building in the city of Ercis, after she miraculously lived more than 47 hours trapped
Thousands of people spent a second night under tents, in cars or huddled round small fires in towns affected by the massive earthquake that hit eastern Turkey on Sunday.
The earthquake death toll has risen to 366 overnight, and hundreds more are still missing after the quake and more than 200 aftershocks.
The town of Ercis and the provincial capital Van are by far the most affected areas after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
Seven people were rescued overnight.
Mesut Ozan Yilmaz, 18, who survived for 32 hours under the rubble of a tea house where he had been passing time with friends, said it seemed like the end of the world.
“It was like the judgment day.”
Mesut Ozan Yilmaz told CNN Turk how he survived by diving under a table.
“The space we had was so narrow. People were fighting for more space to survive. I rested my head on a dead man’s foot. I know I would be dead now if I had let myself go psychologically.”
Crowds of residents gathered around collapsed buildings in the city, falling into silence as each person strained to hear even the faintest signs of life under the crumbled concrete and twisted steel.
According to Disaster and Emergency Administration, 1,301 people had been injured and 2,262 buildings had collapsed.
Up to now, the Turkish Red Crescent distributed up to 13,000 tents, and was preparing to provide temporary shelter for about 40,000 people, although there were no reliable estimates of the number of people left destitute.
Ahmet Arikes, 60, from Amik, a village outside Van that was reduced to rubble, said:
“We were sent 25 tents for 150 homes. Everybody is waiting outside, we’ve got small children, we’ve got nothing left.”
Soon after, the Turkish Red Crescent announced that 12,000 more tents would be delivered to Van today.
Van, usually a vibrant city with a large population, resembled a ghost town with no lights in the streets or buildings.
In Ercis, thousands of people, mostly men, paced the streets, stopping to look at the destruction or whenever there was some commotion at a rescue operation site.
At least 366 people are now known to have died and over 1,300 injured after the Sunday’s deadly earthquake in the eastern Turkey.
Turkish government said 12,000 more tents would be delivered to the cities of Ercis and Van and also to nearby villages affected by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake.
The government has been accused of failing to help some of the most needy people, who spent the second night in freezing conditions without heating and tents.
At least 366 people are now known to have died and over 1,300 injured after the Sunday's deadly earthquake in the eastern Turkey
On Tuesday, the Disaster and Emergency Administration said that more than 2,000 houses collapsed due to the quake.
Rescue teams with sniffer dogs continued through the night to search for survivors under the rubble of hundreds of collapsed buildings.
Cranes and other heavy equipment have been lifting slabs of concrete, and many residents have been joining in the rescue effort, digging with shovels.
It was reported that hopes of finding more survivors are fading, with no-one being pulled alive in the last seven to eight hours.
In one building there are fears that up to 50 are missing – buried under the rubble.
Authorities are now warning that the death toll is expected to rise further.
Besir Atalay,Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, who is in charge of the relief operation, said late on Monday that “from today there will be nothing our people lack”.
Authorities were also setting up more field hospitals and kitchens to help the thousands left homeless or too afraid to return to their homes amid continuing aftershocks.
However, survivors complained that not enough help was reaching them.
“We spent the night under freezing temperature. We shivered all night long, nobody provided us any blankets or heaters, we don’t even have a toilet,” one woman said.
“People are getting sick. It is very dirty here.”
A resident of Van said that even tents were in short supply.
“All the nylon tents are on the black market now,” Ibrahim Baydar, a 40-year-old tradesman from Van.
“We cannot find any. People are queuing for them. No tents were given to us whatsoever.”
Opposition politicians earlier decried what they called “a lack of crisis management”, saying that many people still lacked food, heating and tents.
Opposition also said Ankara was wrong to refuse offers of foreign aid.
The 75,000 population of Ercis town, which has been the worst hit, has dozens of collapsed buildings.
Most of those destroyed buildings in Ercis are apartment blocks with dozens of people missing at each site.
Ercis and Van, about 100km (60 miles) to the south, lie on a high plateau surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office visited the area on Sunday and said many villages made of mud brick had been almost completely destroyed.
Hurriyet Daily News reported that some of the rescue workers have complained of a lack of adequate equipment.
“We are working with primitive tools, we have no equipment,” one rescuer said.
Five people were pulled from the ruins of one collapsed building in Ercis on Monday after one of them called for help on his mobile phone, Anatolia news agency said.
Another man was rescued later on Monday, some 30 hours after the earthquake struck.
The earthquake struck at 13:41 (10:41 GMT) on Sunday at a depth of 20km (12 miles), with its epicenter 16km north-east of Van in eastern Turkey, according to US Geological Survey.
About 200 aftershocks have hit the region, it added, including one of magnitude 6.0 late on Sunday.
Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.
Every woman living on the planet is going to go through menopause eventually.
It is just one of the things that makes a person female. Many women do everything they can to put it off, but the fact is that, at some point, their bodies will stop having that monthly cycle. The start of menopause can be traumatic for many women especially if they are unfamiliar with menopause symptoms. There are all sorts of stories about what women go through when they enter “the change” but what real symptoms should women be looking for? Keep reading to find out!
For many husbands, one of the most traumatic menopause symptoms is the loss of libido or dryness of her “lady bits”.
Now remember guys, just because she says “no” tonight doesn’t mean she will another night, she might truely just not be in the mood, rather than going through the change. If, on the other hand, your wife or girlfriend suddenly loses her drive completely or has a lengthy “not in the mood” dry spell, it could be a sign that her body is going through some important changes. Try to understand what she’s going through. Menopause is just as miserable for her as you think it is for you.
For a woman wanting to have another child, menopause can be quite traumatic because of the similarity in symptoms between pregnancy and menopause. Fatigue is among the signs of menopause that also occur during pregnancy. When a premenopausal woman experiences fatigue so great that she can’t help but sleep often this is called “crashing” fatigue. I am not talking about just feeling a little tired after a long day at work, i’m talking about major fatigue. This is the kind of fatigue that might prevent her from being able to get out of bed at all. It could become so strong that she cannot get through her day without taking several naps. If your partner is suddenly sleeping longer hours or experiencing difficulty waking up consult a physcian to determine whether she is going through menopause.
Increased levels of itchiness is a symptom of menopause that many women ignore because they don’t know what it is.
Some women who are dealing with the change of life say that their skin constantly itches and crawls. This is different from the sensation of simple dry skin. The most accurate description is that of “ants crawling under the skin.” This can be hard to deal with if you don’t know what you are going through. You should call your doctor if your skin is particularly itchy or you can’t seem to stop scratching. It could just be a skin condition. It could also be a sign of impending menopause (or actual menopause).Most women have a very difficult time when they go through menopause. During this time, women do not have a lot of control over their feelings and bodies so it is important that the people who surround them understand that, if it were up to the woman, she wouldn’t be going through the change. Women might be glad not to have to deal with their monthly “cycles” anymore but the truth is that real menopause is quite hard to deal with. Learning how to identify the symptoms of menopause will help you be prepared to help the women in your life deal with their “change of life.”
Muammar Gaddafi, his son Muatassim and a top aide’s dead bodies have been removed from the cold storage and buried in secret in the desert.
According to a National Transitional Council (NTC) official, the bodies were buried at dawn in an unknown location.
This follows days of apparent uncertainty among the new leadership about what to do with the bodies.
Muammar Gaddafi’s dead body has been removed from the cold storage and buried in secret in the desert
Muammar Gaddafi’s family wanted the bodies to be buried outside the former leader’s hometown of Sirte.
But, NTC officials had expressed a preference for a secret burial.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that it received confirmation in a text from a military council official in Misrata that the burial took place at a secret location at 05:00 local time.
It also reported that a few relatives and officials were in attendance as Islamic prayers were read over the bodies.
Reuters news agency reported that Muammar Gaddafi would be buried in a “simple” ceremony with “sheikhs attending” on Tuesday.
“It will be an unknown location in the open desert,” said an NTC official speaking to Reuters, adding that a burial was needed because decomposition of the body had reached the point where the “corpse cannot last any longer”.
According to some witnesses, the bodies of the three men were removed overnight from the cold storage warehouse in Misrata where they had been on display. Prayers were said over the bodies before they were driven away.
A security guard at the warehouse, Salem al Mohandes, told the Arabic television station al-Jazeera.
“Our job is finished.”
“[Gaddafi] was transferred and the military council of Misrata took him away to an unknown location. I don’t know whether they buried him or not.”
Islamic tradition dictates a burial should happen within a day of the death.
But the NTC leadership was concerned that any public grave could become a shrine for Muammar Gaddafi loyalists or as a target of hatred for those who opposed his regime.
In the end, the decomposition of the body meant the NTC had to act.
Questions have been raised over Gaddafi’s death after video footage showed him alive at the time of capture in Sirte on Thursday. NTC officials said he had been killed subsequently in a cross fire.
According to autopsy report from Sunday, Muammar Gaddafi had received a bullet wound to the head.
Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the acting Libyan leader, said the NTC had formed a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
An apparently healthy Central Park carriage horse collapsed and died in the street of New York yesterday.
The beautiful white horse collapsed during the early morning commute, from its stables in western Manhattan to Central Park, to begin its shift yesterday morning.
The horse death will fuel the argument for the carriage animals to be taken off the streets permanently.
The horse collapsed and died on West 54th Street near Eighth Avenue at about 9.30 am
The horse collapsed and died on West 54th Street near Eighth Avenue at about 9:30 am, according to the ASPCA.
The famous Central Park carriage horses, which number around 220 in New York, work nine hour shifts, after making the two mile journey to the park, where they pick up tourists.
According to activists, the stress of the work and the inadequate stabling causes the horses to live short miserable lives.
Campaigners also claim that the number of collisions also makes the cost of the industry unacceptable.
Contrary to popular belief the Central Park carriage horses do not live in the park, but in four stables in western Manhattan.
The four stables are located on 37th, 38th, 45th and 52nd street, all between 10th and 11th avenue.
After the horrific incident, animal rights campaigners have called for an investigation.
“The life of a carriage horse on New York City streets is extremely difficult and life threatening and the ASPCA has long believed that carriage horses were never meant to live and work in today’s urban setting,” said Stacy Wolf of the ASPCA.
Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages representative, Elizabeth Forel said:
“Healthy horses do not drop dead on the street.
“The drivers always like to profess that they are such horse experts.
“If that is so, then shouldn’t the driver have been more sensitive to this horse and noticed that something was wrong.”
Speaking to New York Daily News, a spokesman for the Horse and Carriage Association of New York said that the unexplained death was “a tragedy.”
“It’s not something that happens regularly. … Our horses are taken care of.”
According to ASPCA, the horse dead body was transported to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy to determine the cause of death. Results are expected tomorrow morning.
6,810 bottles of the world’s finest wine and champagne crashed on the floor at Superior Discount Liquors in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
The 78 feet long shelving unit suddenly has becoming detached from its anchoring wall.
A total of 6,810 bottles of wine and champagne, standing four shelves high, smashed on the floor.
The floor turned into a sea of red liquor and broken glass.
6,810 bottles of the world's finest wine and champagne crashed on the floor at Superior Discount Liquors in Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Managers at Superior Discount Liquors are stumped as to why or how it happened, but they admit the shelves are 31 years old.
Peter Guske, an employee of Superior Discount Liquors told a local ABC station:
“It just kept rolling away from the wall from front to back, and I was in disbelief. I didn’t know what to do or say. The whole thing only took 10 seconds.”
Watch as a stunned store worker near the tumbling shelves breaks the land speed record as he scrambles to safety.
After the initial shock, store workers kept their cool and cleaned the blood-red mess up as quickly as possible with snow shovels, shop vacuums and floor scrubbers.
They didn’t even have to close the store.
The incredible wine incident was captured by two surveillance cameras in the store, in black and white and colour!
The images caught on camera were uploaded on Youtube on October 10 and has already had nearly 266,000 views.
Madonna hits the red carpet at the W.E. movie premiere during the BFI London Film Festival at Empire Leicester Square on Sunday in London.
Wearing a long, flowing black L’Wren Scott dress with a plunging neckline and a diamanté pattern, Madonna, 53, also did not seem to care that the film has been widely panned.
Madonna declared: “It doesn’t matter what the critics think, it’s what the public thinks.”
Madonna also revealed she loved directing and would want to do so again, saying that she would like a musical of her life made, adding:
“I’d want Andrea Riseborough to play me, because she’s incredible to work with and I’d work with her again.”
Madonna hits the red carpet at the W.E. movie premiere during the BFI London Film Festival at Empire Leicester Square on Sunday in London
Andrea Riseborough, 29, plays Wallis Simpson in W.E., part of the 55th BFI London Film Festival.
W.E. follows a two-tiered love story about Wally Winthrop, a woman in 1999 who is infatuated with the 1930s marriage of King Edward VIII.
W.E. is Madonna’s second venture as a director, with her first being in 2008, stepping behind the camera for Filth And Wisdom.
But critics were unkind to Madonna, giving the musical comedy poor reviews, despite British favourite Richard E Grant starring in it.
Yesterday, Madonna was joined by some of fashion’s biggest names including Georgio Armani and Valentino.
Madonna also walked the red carpet with lesser known faces like Graham Norton and Claudia Winkleman.
The superstar caused controversy at the Venice Film Festival press conference last month while promoting her new film.
Madonna was overheard ridiculing a bouquet of hydrangeas a fan gave her, but later mocked herself in a YouTube video to recover from the incident.
Earlier this month, Madonna has been accused of neglecting her older brother, Anthony Ciccone.
Superstar’s brother said Madonna, along with the rest of their family, has left him to rely on food handouts from charities after he lost his job at a successful vineyard run by their father, Tony, in Michigan.
Anthony Ciccone, 55, claims he has been homeless for the past 18 months as a result.
He said: “My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time.”
“You think I haven’t answered this kind of question a bazillion times – why my sister is a multibazillionaire, and I’m homeless on the street?”
Anthony Ciccone, the second of eight children, said he had been forced to resort to extreme measures to survive.
“I don’t have any income and I’ve got to go collect bottles and cans, do odd jobs.”
Madonna’s spokesman didn’t make any comment so far.
Muammar Gaddafi’s will was published on a loyalist website, Seven Day News, as the debate continued over what to do with his body.
Colonel Gaddafi’s will appeared to be a short one and is said to be one of three copies given to relatives, one of whom was killed, one arrested and one managed to escape the fighting in Sirte, where he was killed.
The former Libyan dictator said in his will: “I call on my supporters to continue the resistance, and fight any foreign aggressor against Libya, today, tomorrow and always.”
Muammar Gaddafi apparently made it clear he had decided to die in Libya rather than flee, telling his supporters: “Let the free people of the world know that we could have bargained over and sold out our cause in return for a personal secure and stable life.”
“We received many offers to this effect but we chose to be at the vanguard of the confrontation as a badge of duty and honour.”
Gaddafi’s dead body is currently in a refrigerated vegetable warehouse in Misurata where crowds, who suffered some of the worst attacks by dictator’s forces, are queuing to catch site of the dead dictator
The dictator asked to be buried, clothed as he died, with his body unwashed, in a graveyard in his home town of Sirte, not far from where he was killed as he fled the city on Thursday.
Gaddafi’s dead body is currently in a refrigerated vegetable warehouse in Misurata where crowds, who suffered some of the worst attacks by dictator’s forces, are queuing to catch site of the dead dictator.
Muammar Gaddafi also called for his family to be treated “well” adding that the Libyan people should protect their “heroes.”
Reports said that Gaddafi’s body will be handed over to his remaining relatives after tribal leaders backed calls for his corpse to be given a traditional Muslim burial.
Tribal honour underpins much of the country’s public life and the demand will prove to be a big test for the country’s new government because the Gaddafi tribe has benefited enormously from the 42-year dictatorship of the Libyan strongman.
The Libyan new regime will not want an obvious shrine in Sirte, although the National Transitional Council (NTC) indicated Muammar Gaddafi’s surviving relatives would have a say in what happened to his body.
An NTC official, Ahmed Jibril, said:
“The decision has been taken to hand him over to his extended family, because none of his immediate family is present at this moment.”
“The NTC are in consultation with his family. It is for his family to decide where Gaddafi will be buried, in consultation with the NTC.”
The new Libyan authorities had originally wanted the body to be buried in an unmarked grave in the desert. However, they ran into resistance from the Masrata militias who had captured him and who did not want the responsibility for burying the dead leader.
Muammar Gaddafi’s widow Saifa had issued a statement demanding that the body is turned over to his family.
Jessica Simpson showed off what appeared to be a baby bump under a tight black Lycra T-shirt she was wearing while she jetted out of Los Angeles airport yesterday.
For many weeks Jessica Simpson, 31, didn’t say anything about the persistent pregnancy rumours which have hounded her.
The 31-year-old singer’s mid-section was larger than normal in the translucent clingy top, which she paired with black leggings and a green army style jacket.
Jessica Simpson showed off what appeared to be a baby bump under a tight black Lycra T-shirt
Jessica Simpson was carrying again her favourite over-sized leopard print bag, which she has on many occasions cleverly used to shield her middle.
This time, the singer held the purse to the side exposing her stomach.
Jessica Simpson, who has kept everyone asking “is she or isn’t she” for the last few weeks, has been seen with what appears to be a baby bump as early as July.
But yesterday it seemed like more than ever she may soon make an important announcement.
Jessica Simpson’s appearance is not the only thing which has been sparking the pregnancy rumours, it has been her actions too.
About ten days ago Jessica Simpson was physically helped to the car by her mother Tina. She was assisted by her mother as they left Los Angeles International Airport following a flight from New Orleans.
Her mother held on to her daughter’s arm and placed a protective hand on her back as she escorted her out of the building and into a waiting car.
Her mother action was certainly not the behaviour you would expect from the mother of a perfectly healthy 31-year-old woman who is fully capable of walking on her own.
Jessica Simpson was set to wed former NFL player Eric Johnson this November, but the couple have postponed the wedding with sources claiming the delay is due to Jessica being pregnant.
Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson, who have been together for two years, got engaged in November 2010.
Steven Hayes from Connecticut, who is convicted of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters in a deadly home invasion, spoke about how he killed 17 others and raped dozens of women in leaked letters revealed yesterday.
Steven Hayes, 48, described in detail how in two of the attacks he had tied up, tortured and killed women – and even made a 16-hour video of him murdering one of his victims.
The serial killer, who is on death row for his role in the 2007 home invasion, boasted to a female companion about how he had collected the sneakers of all of his victims as trophies, but said “the 17 kill trophies” meant the most to him.
Steven Hayes, a Connecticut home invasion triple murderer speaks about killing other 17 women and raping dozens in sickening prison letters
In 2010, Steven Hayes was convicted of raping and strangling Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, before tying her daughters, Hayley, 17 and Michaela, 11, to their beds and setting the house on fire.
Steven Hayes is currently appealing the conviction.
Steven Hayes’ accomplice was Joshua Komisarjevsky, who was also convicted for his role in the killings earlier this month and is due to be sentenced on Tuesday.
Three of Steven Hayes’ victims pictured in a 2007 photo, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, right, and her daughters Michaela, front, Hayley, centre rear
In the four letters revealed yesterday, which were written in August and September, Steven Hayes wrote that he would have killed Joshua Komisarjevsky if he had not been jailed because while he had the same “capacity for evil”, the accomplice was not committed enough.
Steven Hayes told a female in North Carolina, only identified as “Lynn”, that he wanted to share his “dark secret” as “someone else really should know the truth about” him.
In the letters which were obtained by the New Haven Register, Steven Hayes wrote:
“Yes, I’ve killed before.”
“I have 17 kills throughout the Northeast United States. Perfect victims and well executed, controlled endeavors.”
There are 17 pages of handwritten letters, which were confiscated by prison authorities.
Steven Hayes also recounted the rape and murder of his first victim in 1982 and the eighth. The killer wrote that all of his victims were aged between 14 and 25.
According to the New Haven Register, which has not detailed how it acquired the letters, they read “like a twisted pornographic fantasy”.
Steven Hayes wrote that he spotted his first victim, a girl who was hitchhiking, as he was driving home from a bar, describing her as “short, hot and the perfect victim”.
“Like any great hunter, timing is critical,” Steven Hayes wrote about how he chose his victims.
The serial killer told how he picked up the girl and drove her to a secluded location where he tied her up and threw her in the trunk before taking her to a cheap motel, which he said became his “location of choice” for his attacks.
He described in detail how he sexually assaulted the woman and then pinched her nose and suffocated her.
“A monster was born,” Steven Hayes wrote.
“This carried on with my top 17 sexual conquests and kills.”
“The trophies, the signature kill, the thrill of the hunt and the disposal of my adventure buddies.”
He said that he picked up his eighth victim, who he found drunk walking along a road, and told her he would take her back to his house to smoke crack cocaine and drink beer.
Steven Hayes claimed that he tied her to his bed for an entire weekend and tortured her before killing her.
“The more pain and emotional abuse she went through, the better I liked it.”
“And believe me, I was in heaven.”
The serial killer also claimed that he recorded the assault and killing on a 16-hour video, which he described as “by far the best snuff film ever created”.
Steven Hayes said that he kept hold of the tape for six months before it “found a home” in Portland, Oregon.
He described Joshua Komisarjevsky, who could also face the death penalty for his part in the attacks, as being a disappointment to him in the letters.
“I’ve searched my whole life for someone who could embrace and had the capacity for evil as I possess,” Steven Hayes wrote, according to the newspaper. “I thought I finally found it in Josh.”
“But events show Josh, while [he] had the proper evil intent, lacked in the most serious aspects, commitment and control.”
Steven Hayes asked the recipient to hold on to the details of the letters until after his execution because the information “could be worth millions to the right people”.
Michael Dearington, State Attorney and FBI spokesman have declined to say whether Steven Hayes’ purported crimes are being investigated or whether authorities are aware of 17 unsolved homicides matching details in his letters.
Turkish rescue teams are desperately searching for people trapped under rubble after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the country’s eastern Van region on Sunday.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay, 239 people died and 1,300 were injured in the massive earthquake.
The city of Ercis was the worst-hit, where more than 80 buildings fell.
Tens of thousands of people have been sleeping outside in freezing conditions last night.
Woman pulled from rubble in Van city
Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.
Two earthquakes in 1999 with a magnitude of more than 7 killed 18,000 people in densely populated parts of the north-west of the country.
The earthquake on Sunday struck at 13:41 (10:41 GMT) at a depth of 20km (12 miles), with its epicentre 16km north-east of Van in eastern Turkey.
The earthquake was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, also centered north of Van, including two of magnitude 5.6 soon after the quake and one of 6.0 late on Sunday.
The earthquake on Sunday struck at 13.41 (10.41 GMT) at a depth of 20km (12 miles), with its epicentre 16km north-east of Van in eastern Turkey
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been visiting the affected area by helicopter.
The prime minister said that villages close to Van were the worst affected as most buildings there were made of clay bricks.
He thanked other countries for their offers of help, but said Turkey could cope with the disaster on its own.
Up to 80 buildings, including a dormitory, collapsed in the worst-hit city of Ercis, about 60km north of Van, while 10 fell in Van itself.
Ambulances, soldiers and rescue teams rushed to Ercis, a Reuters photographer reported.
Survivors complained of a lack of heavy machinery to remove chunks of cement floors that had pancaked on to each other, the Associated Press reports.
There were also reported serious damage and casualties in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis.
“There are many people under the rubble,” said Celebibag mayor, Veysel Keser.
“We can hear their screams for help. We need urgent help.”
According to Turkey’s seismology institute, Kandilli Observatory, hundreds of people could have been killed.
“We estimate around 1,000 buildings are damaged and our estimate is for hundreds of lives lost – it could be 500 or 1,000,” said Mustafa Erdik from Kandilli Observatory.
Turkish seismologist Polat Gulkan claimed that building regulations were often ignored in Turkey.
“The enforcement of the code provisions is not at the standard that we would like to see it,” Polat Gulkan said.
It was reported that residents of Van and Ercis have been spending the night huddled around camp fires in the open air, fearing more aftershocks.
Rescuers could be seen working by torchlight, using their bare hands and shovels.
Turkish rescue teams are desperately searching for people trapped under rubble after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the country’s eastern Van region on Sunday
The earthquake cut electricity and telephone lines and the authorities in some areas have cut gas to avoid the risk of fire.
More search and rescue teams were being sent from other parts of the country.
Hakki Erskoy, from the Turkish Red Crescent, said aid teams from the north and east of Turkey were being sent to the earthquake-hit area.
Hakki Erskoy said camps were being set up to shelter people and blankets, and that food and water were being sent, along with mobile kitchens.
Military aircraft were being deployed to help with the rescue and relief efforts, Hakki Erskoy said.
Ashton Kutcher appears with his distraught and thinner than ever wife, Demi Moore, for the first time since their marital problems became public.
Demi Moore, 48, and Ashton Kutcher, 33, kept their distance as they left their Los Angeles home, apparently on the way to a counselling session at the Beverly Hills centre for the Kabbalah religious group.
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher kept their distance as they left their Los Angeles home, apparently on the way to a counselling session at the Beverly Hills centre for the Kabbalah religious group
Demi Moore’s skeletal frame caused a sensation last week when she appeared alone at Margin Call movie premiere in New York. Fears are growing that her dramatic weight loss could cause permanent damage to her health.
There are reports suggesting that claims of Ashton Kutcher’s infidelity have led Demi Moore to starve herself.
A friend told a U.S. magazine:
“She’s very upset and hasn’t been eating.”
“It’s taking its toll.”
Demi Moore’s appearance has quickly deteriorated since news of Ashton Kutcher’s alleged affair with 22-year-old Sara Leal broke at the end of last month. Ashton Kutcher is accused of sleeping with the Texan beauty after a hot-tub party at Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego on the weekend of his sixth wedding anniversary. Since then, Ashton Kutcher and his wife Demi Moore have reportedly spent most of the time apart, he in Los Angeles and she in New York.
Demi Moore already had two broken marriages behind her – to songwriter Freddy Moore and actor Bruce Willis – when she wed Ashton Kutcher six years ago.
The actress has three daughters Rumer, 23, Scout, 20, and Tallulah, 17, from her marriage to Bruce Willis, which ended in 2000 after 13 years.
Demi Moore is said to have contacted a divorce after the scandal broke, but she was seen with Ashton Kutcher visiting a Kabbalah camping on Yom Kippur.
If Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s marriage does end in divorce, the couple could be battling it out in a bitter $290 million split.
Tracey Roberts was celebrated as a heroic mother who acted in self-defense to protect herself and her three children from men who broke into her home in Early, Iowa, and assaulted her in 2001.
Now Tracey Roberts, 45, faces jail after a series of revelations over the night when she fired nine shots from two guns into neighbor Dustin Wehde, 20, leaving him dead in her home.
Tracey Roberts murder trial begins on Tuesday and questions will be asked over where she is a manipulator leaving a trail of deceit, who planned the killing and concocted a hoax to let her get away with murder.
Dustin Wehde was found slumped at the bottom of a bed at Tracey and Michael Roberts’ home in December 2001 in a pool of blood. A bullet had gone through his head and out of his eye socket.
Tracey Roberts was heard screaming in the kitchen with her three children and deputies. Her report that two other intruders escaped sent deputies canvassing everywhere and fear spread in the town.
Tracey Roberts, 45, faces jail after a series of revelations over the night when she fired nine shots from two guns into neighbor Dustin Wehde, 20, leaving him dead in her home
Tracey Roberts claimed that with her husband on a business trip, she was home with her three young children – Bert, Noah and Mason – when Dustin Wehde and another man barged through her unlocked door.
She also said that one of the men choked her with panty hose, she lost her glasses and blacked out and woke to the sound of Bert screaming, who was holding a baseball bat to protect his younger siblings.
Tracey Roberts said she ran to the bedroom and reached for the gun safe, as Dustin Wehde tugged at her hair and yanked on her feet. When the safe opened, she grabbed a 9 mm handgun and pulled the trigger.
Then the woman said she grabbed a revolver, spotted Dustin Wehde moving and fired at him. Dustin Wehde stopped moving and the second man fled. Tracey Roberts later said it was only one man, not two, who got away.
An investigation remained open but no second intruder was found and no charges were filed as of late 2002. Then Dustin’s father, Brett Wehde, walked to the grave where his son was buried.
After Dustin Wehde was killed, his father broke up with his wife Mona and filed for divorce. Brett Wehde was distraught over the crumbling of his family. At the graveside, Brett Wehde put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
Dustin Wehde was found slumped at the bottom of a bed at Tracey and Michael Roberts’ home in December 2001 in a pool of blood
After the tragedy, Mona wanted answers and she filed a wrongful death lawsuit attempting to hold Tracey Roberts accountable for Dustin Wehde’s death and to learn what happened that night.
Brett Wehde ex-wife’s attorney picked up on inconsistencies in Tracey Roberts’ story as she retold it. In different accounts, Tracey Roberts said she fired from different positions. But in the end she dropped the suit just days before trial.
On January 2011, Sac County had a new prosecutor in Ben Smith, who went through years of files and months later filed a first-degree murder charge against Roberts, who is now called Tracey Richter.
A key piece of evidence had been found by investigators in Dustin Wehde’s car. After months of speculation in town, prosecutors revealed this month it was a pink spiral notebook that claimed to be his diary.
In Dustin Wehde’s handwriting, it suggested he had been hired as a hit-man by a “mysterious fellow” named John Pitman III, who was Tracey Roberts’ first husband. They split up four years after marrying in 1988.
“J.P. wants me to get/force his ex T.R. to kill her son Burt and then commit suicide, and if that plan fails Plan B is to make it appear as though T.R. had committed the murder of her son & then committed suicide,” Dustin Wehde wrote.
But investigators never believed it was credible. Dustin Wehde, a special education student, did not like to write and he had never met John Pitman. They decided to keep the journal’s existence a secret.
Prosecutors suspect Tracey Roberts had convinced Dustin Wehde to write the diary, perhaps on the day he died.
DCI Special Agent Trent Vileta, who took a fresh look at Dustin Wehde’s death in 2008, told Ben Smith the last three shots went through the back of Dustin’s head while he was face down on the ground.
In 1996, Tracey married Australian businessman Michael Roberts before they divorced around eight years later. Tracey Roberts tried to pin involvement in the home invasion and Dustin Wehde’s death on him.
Defense lawyer Scott Bandstra said Tracey Roberts’ self-defense case in the murder trial will actually be simple for jurors to understand.
He added: “December 13, 2001, was a nightmare for Tracey. The nightmare is not over.” Now aged 45 and facing life in prison if convicted, Tracey Roberts is being held on $1million bail.
A dead body found in a freezer at a storage unit in Lewiston, Maine, which had been rented by Francis “Frank” Julian since 1992.
Police said yesterday that the remains found in the freezer at Moore Self Storage in Lewiston may be Kitty Wardwell, a woman who went missing in 1983.
Francis Julian was the on-off boyfriend of Kitty Wardwell, who went missing 28 years ago, aged 29.
Police said that the remains found in the freezer at Moore Self Storage in Lewiston may be Kitty Wardwell, a woman who went missing in 1983
Francis Julian died on October 1 at 80 years old, and his relatives then found the body when they were cleaning out the storage unit.
Francis Julian, a novelty salesman, was the last person known to have seen Kitty Wardwell before she disappeared when he was 52.
Francis Julian reported Kitty Wardwell missing July 11, 1983, telling Salem, N.H., police that he dropped the 29-year-old woman off at the El Rancho Motel in Salem after a fight and then traveled back to Maine without her.
Marla Collins, Kitty Wardwell’s sister, reported her missing to the Maine State Police on November 23, 1983.
The storage locker where the body was found is at Moore Self-Storage on North Lisbon Street.
The freezer has now been moved to the Maine medical examiner’s office in Augusta, and an autopsy is expected to take place tomorrow.
A spokesman for Maine Department of Public Safety, Stephen McCausland said that officers suspected they had found Kitty Wardwell’s body.
Francis Julian died on October 1 at 80 years old, and his relatives then found the body when they were cleaning out the storage unit
“Yesterday afternoon, relatives of a Lewiston man were cleaning out his storage locker and found a woman’s body inside a freezer,” Stephen McCausland said. “The rental unit was rented by Francis “Frank” Julian, 80, who died October 1.
“Remains have been found, but we don’t know whose body this is definitively at this time.
“We have put both families in the loop about the discovery and we have interviewed a number of members of both families, but the final determination will be made by the medical examiner.”
According to Lewiston Sun Journal, the freezer had not been plugged in.
Kitty Wardwell’s case is the oldest one listed on the police’s missing persons website.
The woman is described as being 5 feet 7 inches and 120 pounds with brown eyes and shoulder length brown hair.
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu has been fined by NFL with $10,000 for using the cell phone from the sidelines after brutal hit during the game.
Troy Polamalu was forced to leave Sunday’s game against the Jaguars after stopping Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew to help preserve a 17-13 Pittsburgh win.
Fearing his wife Theodora probably saw the hit on TV, Troy Polamalu was handed a cell phone by the team doctor to call and say he was all right.
Troy Polamalu has been fined by NFL with $10,000 for using the cell phone from the sidelines to call his wife Theodora after brutal hit during the game
Troy Polamalu, who was the defensive player of the year in 21010, has a history of concussions in his nine-year NFL career, and wanted to ease his wife worries.
But the NFL did not appreciate Troy Polamalu’s gesture, slapping him with a $10,000 fine.
According to NFL rules, phones are prohibited in the bench area before and during games.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to fine Troy Polamalu came as a surprise, at least to his coach.
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin quickly came to his player’s defense, saying: “He wasn’t checking on his bank account.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell’s history with Pittsburgh Steelers is a long story.
Roger Goodell issued a four-game suspension to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and $100,000 in fines for hits by James Harrison in 2010.
However, Troy Polamalu did not appear to be affected by the $10,000 fine.
Besides his NFL salary, Troy Polamalu earns a plenty of money from his shampoo commercials.
But Troy Polamalu’s case is not a singular one, also Joe Horn pulled out a phone after scoring a touchdown for the New Orleans Saints in 2003 and calling from the end zone to tell his wife and kids about it.
That gesture – part of a string of over-the-top touchdown celebrations that the NFL promptly cracked down on – cost Joe Horn $30,000 and may have been the most expensive phone call ever.
Troy Polamalu will play today against Arizona after passing a series of concussion tests.
A massive 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck province of Van in eastern Turkey on Sunday, collapsing about 45 buildings according to the deputy prime minister.
So far, only one person was found dead and immediately confirmed, but experts estimated that up to 1,000 people could have been killed.
The worst damage was caused to the town of Ercis, in the mountainous eastern province of Van, close to the Iranian border. The city of Van also suffered substantial damage.
Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said:
“Around 10 buildings have collapsed in the city of Van and around 25 or 30 have collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory.”
Besir Atalay said authorities had no information yet on remote villages, adding that the governor was now touring the region by helicopter to assess damage.
The Turkish Red Crescent said its rescuers pulled several injured people out of the collapsed dormitory in Ercis, which sits on a geological fault line
The earthquake’s epicenter was in the village of Tabanli.
Turkish authorities did not provide a casualty figure for the moment, but the Kandilli observatory, Turkey’s main seismography center, said the quake was capable of killing many more people.
“We are estimating a death toll between 500 and 1,000,” Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory, told a televised news conference.
Mustafa Erdik estimate was based on the structure of the housing in the area and the strength of the quake.
Television footage showed damaged buildings and vehicles, crushed under falling masonry, and panicked residents wandering the streets.
The Turkish Red Crescent said its rescuers pulled several injured people out of the collapsed dormitory in Ercis, which sits on a geological fault line.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was reportedly heading to Van to see the damage.
At least 50 injured people were treated in the courtyard of the state hospital in Van, a bustling city with many apartment buildings, according to the state-run Anatolia news agency.
Zulfikar Arapoglu, the mayor of Ercis, told NTV television:
“There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed. There is too much destruction.”
“We need urgent aid. We need medics.”
Van province has a population of around 1 million people.
Serious damage and casualties were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis.
Veysel Keser, mayor of Celebibag, told NTV:
“There are many people under the rubble.”
“People are in agony, we can hear their screams for help. We need urgent help.”
“It’s a great disaster,” mayor said.
“Many buildings have collapsed, student dormitories, hotels and gas stations have collapsed.”
Some houses also collapsed in the province of Bitlis, where at least one person, an 8-year-old girl was killed, authorities said. The quake also toppled the minarets of two mosques in the nearby province of Mus, reports said.
Van’s airport was damaged and planes were being diverted to neighboring cities, NTV reported.
Panicked people spilled into the streets as rescue workers and residents using their bare hands and shovels struggled to find people believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings, television footage showed.
Several Cabinet ministers headed to the area as authorities mobilized rescue teams across the country.
The quake had a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), which is relatively shallow and could potentially cause more damage.
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which is crossed by fault lines.
In 1999, about 18,000 people were killed by two powerful earthquakes that struck northwestern Turkey. Authorities blamed shoddy construction for many of the deaths.
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Turkey, in the province of Van, on the border with Iran.
The quake struck at 13:41, local time, at 17 km (10 miles) north-east Van city.
Van province appeared to be particularly badly hit and officials warning of damage to buildings and infrastructure. Some of the buildings in the area of Van have collapsed and casualties are reported.
According to specialists, Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Turkey, in the province of Van, on the border with Iran
In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 hit Turkey and killed almost 20,000 people in densely populated parts of the north-west of the country.
TV footages showed damaged buildings and vehicles, and panicked residents spilling out into streets.
According to Anatolia news agency, the rescue workers were searching the wreckage of a seven-storey building in the city of Van for people thought to be trapped in the rubble.
It was also reported that 50 people had been taken to hospital in Van with injuries.
Bekir Kaya, mayor of Van, told NTV television:
“Two buildings collapsed in Van, but the telephone system is jammed due to panic and we can’t assess the entire damage immediately.”
Zulfikar Arapoglu, mayor of Ercis, another town in Van province, told NTV: “There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed, there is too much destruction.”
“We need urgent aid, we need medics,” Zulfikar Arapoglu is reported by the Associated Press as saying.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) originally gave the magnitude as 7.3 but later corrected it to 7.2.
But Turkey’s Kandilli observatory gave it a preliminary magnitude of 6.6.
The USGS has revised the depth of the quake from 7.2 km (4.5 miles) to 20 km (12.4 miles), which is still relatively shallow and has the potential to cause damage.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was reportedly heading to Van to see the damage.
Jennifer Lopez broke down and had to leave the stage last night in Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Arena’s 15th anniversary celebration as she sang about lost love in front of a packed auditorium.
Jennifer Lopez, 42, had just performed a raw, unembellished rendition of If You Had My Love when she told the audience that the 1999 track was “the first song I wrote about love”
Then Jennifer Lopez shocked the crowd by beseeching: “What is love?”
Adding: “As the last song I wrote about love…a lot has changed since then.”
If You Had My Love lyrics centre on the theme of trust.
Jennifer Lopez broke down and had to leave the stage at the Mohegan Sun Arena's 15th anniversary celebration as she sang about lost love
Jennifer Lopez wrote the song when she was in a fledgling relationship with rapper P Diddy. They had a tumultuous relationship for three years before she married backing dancer Chris Judd.
After a while, Jennifer Lopez became one half of Bennifer with Ben Affleck, and embroiled in one of the highest profile relationships of the last ten years, until it ended in their wedding being called off at the last minute.
Jennifer Lopez found love and motherhood Marc Anthony, and as they headed towards their seventh wedding anniversary in June this year, things seemed to still be hot.
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony wowed American Idol fans with their sizzling performance together on the May final, but just weeks later they announced their split.
Tellingly in the song that Jennifer Lopez penned before all this happened, she ends her entreaty to a lover with the line: “I have to know the truth, If I spend my life with you.”
J Lo had set herself up for the cavalcade of painful feelings by having dancers recreate her important relationships while she sang.
A P Diddy double danced with the female dancer wearing a copy of her infamous slit-down-to-the navel Versace gown, while a ringer for her ex-husband Chris Judd danced with a paired down Jennifer Lopez-a-like in jeans.
Another doppelganger was wearing the mint green gown she wore to the Oscars with fiancé Ben Affleck as she twirled with a square-jawed replica of The Town star.
The most dazzling pairing came from the twosome reliving Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s American Idol performance from May, only weeks before they announced the end of their marriage.
An onlooker told RadarOnline.com: “At the end of the song she started sobbing and had to take a few moments to keep it together.”
“She held it together for one song but then ran offstage crying.
“She only sang a few more songs and she was obviously out of it. Everyone was so sad for her. It was really dramatic.”
Currently, the showbiz world is abuzz with rumours about Jennifer Lopez romance with A-Team hunk Bradley Cooper, 37.
However, Jennifer Lopez pledged not to speak about any romances until she is in another serious relationship at her fashion line launch in Connecticut last week.
Jennifer Lopez said she wants to protect her three-year-old twins Emme and Max in case her relationships do not work out.
“As a mom, and having children, right now they’re my first priority.
“And because of them, I wouldn’t ever comment on anything until I’m in a serious relationship again.
“It would just be confusing for them and it would be unfair. And so at the end of the day, it’s about them.”
Earlier this week, Jennifer Lopez tried to hide her face when she was spotted enjoying some time alone with Bradley Cooper.
Jennifer Lopez and Bradley Cooper are believed to have started dating last month, when they were spotted enjoying dinner at Per Se restaurant in New York.
They had tried to explain the cosy meeting away by insisting it was just a professional meeting.
Italian motorcyclist Marco Simoncelli has been killed in a horrific crash at the Malaysian MotoGP in Sepang.
The Gresini Honda rider, Marco Simoncelli lost control of his bike on the second lap of the circuit in Sepang and appeared to be hit by Colin Edwards and then Valentino Rossi as he slid across the track.
The race was stopped on lap two when Marco Simoncelli‘s bike veered across the track at turn 11 into the path of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.
The Gresini Honda rider, Marco Simoncelli lost control of his bike on the second lap of the circuit in Sepang and appeared to be hit by Colin Edwards and then Valentino Rossi as he slid across the track
Marco Simoncelli, 24, had his helmet knocked off and was hit by both other riders.
American rider Colin Edwards also fell and dislocated his shoulder – while Marco Simoncelli’s fellow Italian, Valentino Rossi was able to return to the pits.
Marco Simoncelli lay motionless on the track after the impact, while the race was immediately red-flagged.
At first officials were looking to restart the race before the extent of Marco Simoncelli’s injuries became clear.
Eventually, the race was cancelled amid confusion in the grandstand, with fans throwing bottles to show their initial displeasure.
Marco Simoncelli’s death is the first fatality in MotoGP since Japan’s Daijiro Katoh died from injuries sustained at the 2003 Japanese GP while, last year, Japan’s Shoya Tomizawa died in a similar crash to Simoncelli in a Moto2 race in San Marino.
Marco Simoncelli’s death comes a week after British IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon was killed in Las Vegas following a crash.
According to officials, when the track medics got to Marco Simoncelli, he was in cardiac arrest
According to officials, when the track medics got to Marco Simoncelli, he was in cardiac arrest. They tried to resuscitate him in the ambulance and the medical centre.
A MotoGP statement read: “On Sunday, 23 October, during the MotoGP race at the Sepang International Circuit, San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Italian rider Marco Simoncelli suffered a serious accident wherein he sustained critical injuries.
“The race was stopped immediately with the red flag and Simoncelli was transported by ambulance to the circuit medical centre where the medical staff worked to resuscitate him.
“Despite their efforts, Marco sadly succumbed to his injuries at 4:56 pm local time.
“Everybody involved in MotoGP extends its deepest condolences to Marco’s family, friends and team at this tragic loss.”
Sepang circuit chairman Mokhzani Mahathir added: “This is one-of-a-kind freak incident where the helmet came off and I am sure FIM [International Federation of Motorcycling] and MotoGP will be looking into this.”
Marco Simoncelli entered MotoGP for the 2010 season and won his first pole position at the Catalunya race in June this year.
His first podium finish came in the Czech Republic in August when he finished third but he bettered that with a second-place finish at the Australian GP.
A body found in a shallow grave was identified as Alexis Rasmussen, the 16-year-old girl who mysteriously vanished in North Ogden, Utah, on September 10 whilst babysitting.
Alexis Rasmussen went missing six weeks ago, on September 10 in the early hours of the morning.
The decomposed remains found in a canyon at a rural site north of Salt Lake City on Tuesday have been identified as hers.
A body found in a shallow grave was identified as Alexis Rasmussen, the 16-year-old girl who mysteriously vanished in North Ogden, Utah, on September 10
Police investigation into the cause of Alexis Rasmussen’s death continues.
Authorities have not named any suspects in the case nor specifically declared it a homicide.
Alexis Rasmussen’s family paid tribute to her on a Facebook page set up during the search to find her, writing today: “Our beautiful Alexis is sadly gone.
“Our family has endured a catastrophe, one that has changed each of us in ways that are far beyond words.
“Alexis touched so many people in the past fifty days, just as she did in the time she was here. Life will never be the same.
“Now sadly we mourn for the loss of our baby girl, as a family we will slowly try to heal, knowing we will never fully recover.”
On Saturday, the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed through fingerprints and dental records that the body found at a rural site on Tuesday was that of Alexis Rasmussen.
The decomposed remains found in a canyon at a rural site north of Salt Lake City on Tuesday have been identified as Alexis Rasmussen
“This is certainly not the outcome we were hoping for,” a police said.
“All indications are that Alexis was a very outgoing and loving person.”
Her family members have acknowledged that Alexis Rasmussen has run away before, and police previously said they were treating the investigation as a missing person case.
A confidential informant gave a hint to the police, which led them to the grave site in Morgan County, a rural county north of Salt Lake City. The hint was directly related to the investigation into Alexis Rasmussen’s disappearance.
According to police, Alexis Rasmussen was last seen when she was babysitting on September 10, but she reportedly left before midnight to meet a friend.
Authorities have talked to that boy, but he claims that he only texted Alexis Rasmussen that night and didn’t meet her.
The couple Alexis Rasmussen was babysitting for has since been arrested, and the mother has been charged with two felonies for fraudulent prescriptions. Police said the charges are unrelated to the disappearance of Alexis Rasmussen.
Alexis Rasmussen’s friends last night paid moving tributes to her.
“It makes me feel so sick inside that this could happen,” Sarah Spencer told ABC4.
Universal Orlando is altering its iconic twin roller coasters Dragon Challenge after a man claims he had his eyeball removed in one of two horrific accidents on the ride.
Dragon Challenge twin roller coasters has been the most thrilling experiences at Universal Orlando for more than ten years, as they race at 60 mph and intertwine within 18 inches of each other.
Universal Orlando officials have announced that they will no longer launch the twin roller coasters simultaneously following an internal investigation stemming from the incidents this summer.
“We believe this is the best path forward for our guests and for the attraction,” a park spokesman told the Orlando Sentinel.
Universal Orlando is altering its iconic twin roller coasters Dragon Challenge after a man claims he had his eyeball removed in one of two horrific accidents on the ride
Universal Orlando started launching the two coasters – the Chinese Fireball dragon and the Hungarian Horntail dragon – on a staggered basis after two riders were thought to have been injured by loose objects. That change has now become permanent.
On July 31, Carlos Montalvo, 52, from Puerto Rico, suffered a lacerated right eye while riding Dragon Challenge. The man’s lawyer says he had his eyeball removed.
Universal Orlando has refused to discuss what exactly happened in the incidents, but in a statement it reminded guests to secure all loose items, suggesting that they may have been caused by items falling out of guests’ hands or pockets.
After two weeks, Jon Wilson, 19, from Ohio, said he was hit on his foot, arm and face by something on the attraction.
Dragon Challenge was built when Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park opened in 1999 and was called “Duelling Dragons” but was re-branded when it received a themed makeover when the park opened the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010.
Passengers on Dragon Challenge twin roller coasters ride, which lasts two minute and twenty-five second, are suspended with their legs dangling below and pass through five inversions.
The ride has had few accidents and was built to calculate the weight of the two coasters when filled with passengers so that their timing was optimized.
There have only been five reported injuries on the ride during the last ten years, but lawyers for the man who lost his eye claim others have gone unreported.
“We are aware of several other incidents where people have been struck by objects [while riding Dragon Challenge],” Carlos Montalvo’s lawyer Clay Mitchell told the Orlando Sentinel.
The issue of loose objects has become more of a problem for roller coaster operating as more guests carry smartphones and other devices.
Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services told the Orlando Sentinel: “Today, we hear a lot about cell phones because people are trying to take pictures while they’re riding.”
“Sometimes they lose their grip, and the thing flies out.”
An Universal Orlando spokesman said that the park has many warning signs and has staff in ride queues to help spot potential problems.
Occupy Chicago protesters stood their ground in city’s Grant Park in noisy but peaceful defiance of police orders to clear out, prompting at least 100 arrests early Sunday.
According to Joshua Kaunert, Occupy Chicago movement spokesman, after the arrests the protests would continue in the Midwest City.
“We’re not going anywhere. There are still plenty of us,” Joshua Kaunert told The Associated Press after the arrests, which took police more than an hour to complete.
Elsewhere in US, police reported 11 arrests overnight in the Occupy Cincinnati protests.
According to police, those arrested had stayed in that city’s Fountain Square after Sunday’s 3:00 a.m. closing time and each was charged with criminal trespass.
Police said they made approximately 100 arrests among Occupy Chicago protesters early Sunday
Police began taking Occupy Chicago protesters into custody just before 1:00 a.m. Sunday.
Arrested protesters were led in groups to vans and two large white buses as others clamored to be arrested.
“Take me next! Take me next!” some of the protesters shouted as police began the arrests.
Others chanted as they were led away: “We’ll be back!”
Police had begun placing metal barricades around the area of Chicago’s Grant Park known as Congress Plaza about 11:10 p.m. on Saturday, minutes after the park had closed.
Afterward, police then went through the crowd and warned people to leave or risk arrest for remaining in the closed park in violation of a city ordinance.
After police warning, some of the protesters who stayed inside the barricades in the park sat on the ground.
Other people joined in from just outside the park. Police said they made approximately 100 arrests early Sunday but did not have an exact count.
Joshua Kaunert, Occupy Chicago spokesman, noted it was the second straight weekend that arrests had been made in the park after 175 arrests the previous Sunday when protesters set up tents past public hours.
Occupy Chicago protesters were taken away one by one and handcuffed with white plastic ties.
About 1,500 people gathered for the protest that began Saturday.
Occupy Chicago demonstrators descended on the city’s Grant Park with hopes of making it the movement’s permanent home.
Protesters had started in Chicago’s financial district before marching to the park.
Along the way, demonstrators chanted “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” and held signs that read “Greed Sucks” and “No War But The Class War” while police on horses blocked them from walking on the street on Michigan Avenue, leaving them with just the sidewalks to occupy.
Dan Wheldon’s funeral has taken place today in his adopted hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida.
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner funeral service began at 10:00 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in St Petersburg, and well-wishers lined surrounding streets as the procession passed by, en route to a private burial.
Order of Service wrote on the front page “Lionheart Forever”, underneath a picture of Dan Wheldon kissing one of his many trophies – in reference to the driver’s nickname, earned for fearless racing.
Dan Wheldon, 33, died in a fiery 15-car crash at Sunday’s season-ending IndyCar race in Las Vegas.
In a statement on Thursday, Dan Wheldon’s wife, Susie said:
“Though we won’t be able to fit everyone inside, I know that Dan would have wanted the community to share in the celebration of his life and to grieve his passing.”
Order of Service wrote on the front page “Lionheart Forever”, underneath a picture of Dan Wheldon kissing one of his many trophies - in reference to the driver's nickname, earned for fearless racing
Susie Wheldon thanked fans for offering support over the past few days, which she described as “unbearable” for the family.
Dan Wheldon is survived by his wife and two young children, Sebastian and Oliver.
Dan Wheldon was one of IndyCar’s most popular drivers and he developed a special bond with fans in both American cities that he called home – Indianapolis and St Petersburg – after moving from his native England.
Fans from Indianapolis and St Petersburg dropped off notes of condolence and items ranging from teddy bears to chequered flags at impromptu memorial sites this week.
“Although the last few days have been unbearable for our family, the overwhelming love and support we have received are rays of sunshine during these dark days,” Susie Wheldon said.
“The outpouring of sympathy and condolences has been so comforting, and I want to thank everyone for their kind notes, letters, gifts and flowers.”
Holly Wheldon, champion’ sister, tweeted yesterday: “Thank you so much to everyone who emailed and tweeted me amazing messages. Really appreciate it. Dan would be proud of all of you. :)”
Dan Wheldon’s funeral took place today at First Presbyterian Church in St Petersburg
During his service, country music star Wynonna Judd sang “I Can Only Imagine” and “Amazing Grace” in tribute to Dan Wheldon, known as Lionheart.
Writing on a sponsor’s blog in 2010, Dan Wheldon explained the moniker: “When I first started racing, a lot of the guys said that I raced with a lot of heart, occasionally not my head, but always with a lot of heart, like the way that Richard the Lionheart fought in battle.”
Dan Wheldon was born in Emberton, England. The future champion raced go-karts at the age of four. Dan Wheldon’s father was a go-kart racer and his mother was the timer at a local track.
Dan Wheldon was an IndyCar rookie in 2003 and won his first Indianapolis 500 two years later.
NASCAR drivers will honour Dan Wheldon with a special decal at this weekend’s race in Talladega, Alabama.
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg city council was scheduled to honour Dan Wheldon with a resolution on Thursday afternoon, and IndyCar officials are holding a public memorial service on Sunday afternoon at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy.
Indy memorial service for Dan Wheldon will open its doors to the public on Sunday at 2:30 p.m., 90 minutes before the service is scheduled to start.
A trust fund for Dan Wheldon’s family has been established. Donations can be sent to Fifth Third Private Bank, attention Dan Wheldon Family Trust, 251 North Illinois St., Suite 1000, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
People wishing to send their condolences to Dan Wheldon family can address letters to The Wheldons, 9600 Koger Blvd N, Ste. 105, St Petersburg, FL 33702.
An alleged mentally ill 14-year-old boy was kept locked in a filthy room of a mice-infested trailer for three years by his own mother.
Amanda Joliff, the teenager’s mother, who described her son as “developmentally delayed”, only allowed him out to take care of the family’s ducks, to clean and to eat, according to police.
It is reported that the boy ate only about four times a week.
It also appears that authorities missed numerous chances to intervene despite visiting the address numerous times.
Police visited the trailer at least three times since 2007, but, incredibly, failed to notice that anything was wrong.
Amanda Joliff, her boyfriend Richard Smith and the boy’s sister had kept him locked in the room since early 2008, the teenager told police.
According to police, the boy's room was filled with junk and had a soiled mattress with no sheets
The boy was found on September 27, hiding under a neighbour’s porch, while his mother and her boyfriend took a trip to New York.
According to police, the boy’s room was filled with junk and had a soiled mattress with no sheets. The only window was boarded up and there appeared to be a leak in the ceiling.
It appears that mice had eaten through boxes of pasta which were his main source of sustenance.
Two dogs, six birds including two ducks, and four toads lived inside the trailer, and another dog lived outside.
The home reeked of animal urine and faeces, police said.
The child’s mother, Amanda Joliff claimed that the lock on the plywood door to the boy’s room was originally installed because he had once run away.
Amanda Joliff admitted to locking the boy up when she got upset with him or when he was in trouble, police said.
Amanda Joliff, the teenager’s mother, who described her son as “developmentally delayed”, only allowed him out to take care of the family's ducks
The boy’s father and sister decided to move out of the trailer on September 27 but told him he would have to wait another day to leave, the teenager said.
His father gave him $5 to find a place to stay and he crawled underneath a neighbour’s porch to sleep, too afraid to ask for help, the boy said.
Police acknowledged Friday that they previously had visited the home but had seen no signs of abuse.
Authorities were first called to the address in February 2007 after the family’s dog bit a boy.
A male child who lived at the home showed up at a bar to listen to country western music in August 2010 after which police took him home.
In 2011, police were again called to the home because neighbors had complained about unlicensed dogs.
Lt Lee Mathis said authorities never entered the home during those visits and didn’t notice anything suspicious.
“If we had any indication of what was going on, we would have taken action,” Lt Mathis said.
Amanda Joliff, 36, and her boyfriend Richard Smith, 31, have been jailed on charges of false imprisonment, child abuse and neglect.
