US NEWS

Sunday, September 20, 2015

City Lawyers Claim That the Murder of a Woman in a Public Housing Development Was Her Own Fault

A college student who was murdered at an East Harlem housing project in 2013, should have known the “risks” of being there, say city lawyers who don’t want to give her family a settlement.

In 2013, Olivia Brown was shot and killed by Michele “Mohawk” Graham after they got into anargument at the Lincoln Houses development,Gawker reports. Graham, who used to live in the building, was homeless at the time of the shooting.

Crystal Brown, Olivia’s mother, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city, claiming that her daughter’s death was due to a lack of security in the building. Lawyers for the New York City Housing Authority have argued otherwise, saying that the shooting was “spontaneous” and “unavoidable.” “All the risks, hazards and dangers were open, obvious and apparent to [Brown] and said risks, hazards and dangers were openly and voluntarily assumed by [Brown],” the lawyers wrote in a statement.

By: Unknown On 6:49 PM

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Police arrest suspect in string of Phoenix freeway shootings

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PHOENIX (AP) — Police arrested a man Friday for a string of seemingly random freeway shootings in Phoenix, adding that they had linked the man's gun to four of the 11 cars hit.

Leslie Allen Merritt Jr., 21, was arrested at a Wal-Mart in Glendale, a suburb west of Phoenix at about 7 p.m., said Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for Gov. Doug Ducey.

Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead, announcing the arrest at a news conference two hours later, said Merritt had not been formally charged yet.

Milstead said the suspect was arrested in the first four shootings, which took place on Aug. 29 and 30. The agency says the suspect faces a range of charges that include criminal endangerment, assault and unlawful discharge of a firearm.

The four shootings that police say he committed hit a tour bus, SUV and two cars, all of them on Interstate 10. No one was injured.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the suspect's father was adamant that his son had nothing to do with the shootings and that anyone who says he was involved is a "moron."

By: Unknown On 2:46 AM

Friday, September 18, 2015

Boston 'Baby Doe' ID'd as 'Bella,' Suspect Charged With Her Murder

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The identity of the young girl found dead inside a trash bag in Massachusetts earlier this summer was finally revealed today, officials said, and a man has been charged with her murder.

The girl found dead on Deer Island in June and nicknamed "Baby Doe" by authorities was a girl named Bella Bond, authorities said today. Her case captivated the country and computer composites used in an attempt to identify her were viewed by millions.

By: Unknown On 6:16 PM

Russia threatens Poland over dismantling Soviet monument

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — In a new dispute exposing the complexity of Poland's relations with Russia, Moscow is threatening Warsaw with "most serious consequences" for dismantling a monument to a Soviet World War II general.

The removal of the 1970s memorial to Gen. Ivan Chernyakhovsky began Thursday in the northern town of Pieniezno, where the general died of wounds in February 1945. He is buried in Russia.

Local authorities argue that Chernyakhovsky crushed units of Poland's clandestine Home Army during the war and also symbolizes the imposition of communism on Poland.

By: Unknown On 6:12 PM

Islamist shot dead after stabbing German policewoman

Berlin (AFP) - An Iraqi man who spent time in jail for membership in an Islamist terrorist group was shot dead by German police Thursday after he stabbed and seriously wounded a policewoman.

The 41-year-old man had been convicted in 2008 of planning an attack in Berlin against former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi, a prosecution spokesman told AFP.

Thursday's incident began around 0700 GMT, when four police cars were called to the western Berlin district of Spandau because the man was reported acting aggressively and threatening passers-by, police said.

By: Unknown On 5:29 AM

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Here’s a photo of the clock that isn’t a bomb but got 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed arrested anyway

14-year-old Irving, Texas native Ahmed Mohamed was practically born a mechanical engineer. He loves robotics and he regularly builds things like clocks and radios at home. Earlier this week, the young MacArthur High School student went to school with one of his latest projects in hand, a homemade clock of which he was particularly proud.

Ahmed was promptly arrested.

DON’T MISS: 15 hidden features in iOS 9

That’s correct. The image above shows a bright young 14-year-old engineering wiz in a NASA t-shirt being hauled off by police in Irving, Texas for bringing a homemade clock to school. A more attentive teacher might have seen the device and known that the budding engineer loves to build gadgets at home. Ahmed’s teacher called the police.

From The Dallas Morning News:

School officers questioned Ahmed about the device and why Ahmed had brought it to school. Boyd said Ahmed was then handcuffed “for his safety and for the safety of the officers” and taken to a juvenile detention center. He was later released to his parents, Boyd said.

“The follow-up investigation revealed the device apparently was a homemade experiment, and there’s no evidence to support the perception he intended to create alarm,” Boyd said, describing the incident as a “naive accident.”

Asked if the teen’s religious beliefs factored into his arrest, Boyd said the reaction “would have been the same” under any circumstances.

Of note, police acknowledged immediately following the incident that at no point did the young 14-year-old claim the device was anything but a homemade clock. Meanwhile, Irving authorities continued to call the clock a “hoax bomb.”

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd confirmed that the department would not be filing charges against the young boy. Police also released an image of the homemade clock, which can be seen below.

While the entire ordeal is obviously upsetting, it does have a happy ending: Ahmed may not be allowed to bring his incredible creations to school, but they’ll be welcomed at the White House.

Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.

— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015

By: Unknown On 6:52 PM

Mom Who Killed Son By Injecting Hand Sanitizer Into His Feeding Tube Gets 40 Years

A Louisiana mother who confessed to putting hand sanitizer and perfume in her toddler's feeding tube - ultimately killing him - has been sentenced to 40 years behind bars.

Erika Wigstrom, 22, was handed the maximum sentence after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2014 death of 17-month-old Lucas Ruiz, Plaquemines Parish District Attorney Charles Ballay said on Tuesday. She does not have the possibility of probation.

Read: Mom Killed Her 17-Month-Old Daughter By Giving Her Methadone to Help Her Sleep

Her toddler son had Down's syndrome and a heart condition, which left him needing surgery and a feeding tube.

By: Unknown On 1:22 AM

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Northern California wildfire kills 1, destroys 400 homes

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (AP) — Earlier this summer, this small mountain town north of San Francisco opened its modest high school to residents fleeing an unusually ferocious wildfire nearby.

The town's small cluster of shops and cafes was spared, but behind them erratic winds sent flames zigzagging down leafy streets, torching some houses and sparing others. On Monday, some residents returned to find their homes reduced to concrete foundations, chimney stacks and rubble.Now it is Middletown itself that has been evacuated — and gutted — by another blaze that shocked firefighters with its strength and speed.

By: Unknown On 6:35 PM

2 bodies found in ruins of Sierra Nevada foothills fire

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (AP) — Two bodies were found at the site of a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills, while dogs were used Wednesday to search for a former police reporter and several other people who authorities fear were killed in a separate, fast-moving blaze in Northern California.

Both bodies were found inside burned-out homes Tuesday, Calaveras County coroner Kevin Raggio said.

One of the victims was identified as Mark McCloud, 65, who was found inside his residence in the Mountain Ranch area. Raggio wouldn't release the name of the second victim, also found in Mountain Ranch, because the family has not been notified.

By: Unknown On 6:31 PM

Apple Software Update: iOS 9

iOS 9 is full of enhancements you’ll appreciate every day. Your apps become more essential. New multitasking features on iPad make you even more productive. Siri can do more than ever, and new proactive suggestions help you get things done before you ask.

What’s new in iOS.

And improvements at the foundation of the operating system enhance performance, battery life, and security. The more you do with iOS 9, the more you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.

By: Unknown On 7:07 AM

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Cops: Son Who Tried to Murder His Parents Had Been Planning Attack Since He Was 11

Cameron Ervin, 17, and his 22-year-old brother Christopher are accused of brutally attackingtheir parents, Yvonne and Zachary Ervin, at their Atlanta-area home on September 5.

Read: Mom Attacked by 2 Sons Begs for Help in Chilling 911 Call: 'My Children Are Trying to Kill Me'

As the brothers spoke to police afterwards, "one of the sons… stated that he had been planning this since he was eleven years old," according to a search warrant that was released on Monday and cited by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It is not clear which brother made the claim.

By: Unknown On 7:21 PM

Professor killed at Mississippi university, fellow teacher sought

JACKSON, Miss. (Reuters) - A Mississippi college professor was shot and killed in his campus office on Monday, and police said a fellow Delta State University teacher was "a person of interest" in the shooting.

Authorities said they were searching for geography and social science instructor Shannon Lamb in connection with the killing of Ethan Schmidt, an assistant professor of American history.

Lamb was also a suspect in the killing of a woman in Mississippi earlier on Monday, police said.

The shooting left students and staff at the Cleveland, Mississippi, school on edge for several hours as police locked down the campus and searched buildings following reports of active gunfire.

Cleveland Police Chief Charles “Buster” Bingham told an afternoon news conference that authorities did not believe Lamb was still on the campus, which is near the Arkansas-Mississippi state line.

By: Unknown On 7:33 AM

Appeal by 'Diva of Distressed' spotlights SEC in-house court

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's controversial use of in-house judges to enforce federal securities laws is about to undergo a major test.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York on Wednesday will hear arguments over whether to revive a lawsuit by Lynn Tilton, a private equity chief dubbed the "Diva of Distressed," to block the SEC from pursuing fraud charges in an in-house administrative proceeding instead of federal court.

Critics say the proceedings are unfair because there are no juries, and defense lawyers have a limited ability to depose witnesses and gather evidence. Some, including Tilton, also say the appointment of administrative judges, who are on the SEC payroll, is unconstitutional.

By: Unknown On 7:20 AM

Inmate who raped Arizona prison teacher gets life in prison

accused of attacking a state prison teacher
in Florence, Ariz.

FLORENCE, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona inmate who pleaded guilty to raping a prison teacher apologized to the woman in court Monday before being sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Jacob Harvey's apology came after the teacher's attorney read a lengthy statement from her describing how the January 2014 rape had traumatized her and led to what she called "unwanted psychological reactions, unwanted memories and psychological distress."

The 35-year-old woman sat with her parents in the courtroom while her attorney, Scott Zwillinger, read her words.

By: Unknown On 7:14 AM

Woman killed, 400 homes destroyed by California wildfire

By Curtis Skinner

Firefighters throw dirt on a hot spot while battling
the Valley Fire near Middleton, California
September 14, 2015. REUTERS/Noah Berger

LAKEPORT, Calif. (Reuters) - A Northern California wildfire ranked as the most destructive to hit the drought-stricken U.S. West this year has killed a woman and burned some 400 homes to the ground, fire officials said on Monday, and they expect the property toll to climb.

The so-called Valley Fire erupted on Saturday and spread quickly to a cluster of small communities in the hills and valleys north of Napa County's wine-producing region, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

By: Unknown On 6:31 AM

Mississippi college instructor suspected of killing partner, college professor commits suicide

An instructor at Mississippi's Delta State University suspected of killing the woman he lived with and a colleague -- possibly as the result of a love triangle -- died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound late Monday, authorities said.

Local media, citing the Washington County Sheriff's office and other agencies, reported that Shannon Lamb, 45, was being chased by police in his black Dodge Avenger on Highway 1 near Greenville when he pulled the car over, bailed out on foot, and ran into some woods along the side of the road. Delta State University police chief Lynn Buford told the Associated Press that the pursuing officers heard a single gunshot before finding Lamb wounded. The suspect was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Prof. Ethan Schmidt was killed in a shooting
on Monday morning. (Delta State University)

Cleveland Police Chief Charles "Buster" Bingham told reporters that Lamb was returning from Arkansas when a license plate reader picked up his plate as he crossed a bridge over the Mississippi River. Bingham said police followed Lamb but did not try to apprehend him, and were waiting for backup to pursue Lamb on foot when they heard a single shot. When backup arrived, they searched and found Lamb with a gunshot wound to the head. Late Monday, the university lifted a campus lockdown that had been in place since Lamb allegedly shot and killed Professor Ethan Schmidt, 39, as Schmidt sat at his desk in a university office.

By: Unknown On 6:19 AM