August 2009 Archives

Carol Daniels, a pastor in Oklahoma, was murdered in a horrific crime scene at Christ Holy Sanctified Church in Anardko, OK.

Her death was the result of "multiple sharp force injuries," AP reports.

District Attorney Bret Burns said, "This is the most horrific crime scene I've ever witnessed."

Police are choosing not to elaborate on the details on the crime scene, for fear of jeopardizing the investigation. But authorities said whoever killed a pastor inside her small Oklahoma church "staged" the body, meaning it was moved into an unnatural position after the murder.

Daniels, who lived in Oklahoma City, made the 60-mile drive to Anadarko every week, even though the small, weather-beaten church had no regular congregation.

Authorities, who do not have much to go on so far, are offering a $10,00 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

Nearly a year after surviving a plane crash in South Carolina, disc jockey Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein was found dead in his New York apartment Friday afternoon, his publicist said. He was 36.

Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein was one of two people who survived a 2008 plane crash in South Carolina.

"The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear," his publicist, Jenni Weinman, said in a statement confirming the performer's death. "Out of respect for his family and loved ones, please respect their privacy at this time."

Goldstein was found unconscious and unresponsive in his lower Manhattan apartment Friday afternoon, New York police said. The cause of death would be determined by medical examiners, but "there is no criminality suspected at this time," a police statement reported.
Goldstein and Travis Barker, the former drummer for rock band Blink-182, were the only survivors of a September plane crash in South Carolina that left both critically injured. Four others aboard the plane were killed when the Learjet skidded off a runway during takeoff from Columbia.
 
"Daily I live with the guilt and grief of what happened that night, what I saw, who was lost and why I was spared," he wrote in a December post on his Web site. "I have no words to express the pain that comes with knowing four people died, while I lived."

In addition to spinning beats at clubs and festivals, Goldstein was known for dating reality-TV star Nicole Richie and singer-actress Mandy Moore.

"I am absolutely heartbroken," Moore said in a statement. "For those of us lucky enough to have known him, Adam radiated a contagious exuberance for life and also personified the very definition of a true friend. To say that he will be missed beyond words is an understatement. My heart goes out to his loved ones."

At the time of his death, he had been working on an MTV show about drug addiction that had been scheduled to debut in October. Goldstein himself had been a crack cocaine addict who said he wanted the show to help others recover.

Story from CNN.com

Maxine Johnson, African-American woman and mother of 6 who attended a health care town hall meeting in Hillsboro, MO, was dragged out by four policeman after another attendee assaulted her and snatched away her Rosa Parks poster and the crowd applauded. Original reporting by CNN.com focused on Senator McCaskill's comments, which lead viewers to believe that Johnson was somehow at fault for the incident.

Mall-goers in Miami were shocked to see a woman engulfed in flames casually walking through the mall. Two were injured in an attempt to help the naked, inflamed woman.

PITKIN COUNTY, Co. -- A Sprint executive died Friday night when a boulder fell off a Colorado mountain and landed on his car.

Thomas Murphy, 45, and his family had just finished their vacation and were on their way back to their Kansas City area home.

The Colorado State Patrol said they were driving on Colorado Route 82 in Pitkin County, which is where Aspen is located.

A boulder that was the size of a briefcase fell off a mountain and hit the family's 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe.

It hit Murphy and knocked him unconscious.

His wife, Jennifer, put the SUV in neutral, hoping it would stop.

After traveling a little more than one mile, Jennifer Murphy, working from the front passenger seat, finally managed to get the vehicle stopped.

Thomas Murphy was transported to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, where he was pronounced dead.

The Murphys were traveling with their three boys, ages 6, 8 and 11.

The 11-year-old was injured.

The other two were not.

Murphy worked for Sprint since September 1996, most recently serving as a vice president in the Corporate Brand Marketing division.

He was a member of Sprint's NASCAR team and served as chairman of the Sprint Foundation.

A statement released by Sprint says, "The employees of Sprint are deeply saddened on the death of Tom Murphy... All of those at Sprint who knew and worked with Tom express deepest sympathy and concern for his family."

Coutesy of KMBC.com

John Taylor is one of several African American Costco shoppers who was reminded of pre-Civil Rights discrimination when they saw a African American doll with a hat labeled 'Lil Monkey' on the Greensboro, NC stores shelves this month.

Costco has decided to pull the doll, which is manufactured by Brass Key Keepsakes and sold exclusively to Costco. While many African American shoppers were instantly offended by the doll, others had a different reaction.

"When I first look at it, no I don't think anything about it, but now that I see the 'Lil monkey', yes I can see how that could probably present a problem," said Teresa Slaughter. Brass Key Keepsakes said the racial insensitivity wasn't apparent because the dolls are part of a set of three that also portray white and Hispanic ethnicities.

Anyway you look at it, this incident demonstrates a need for more racial sensitivity.

More than 1,300 people are still trapped in remote mountainous villages in southern Taiwan, victims of treacherous mudslides and floods from Typhoon Morakot, the country's semiofficial Central News Agency said Saturday.
Rescuers brave raging torrents to pull survivors from mudslides in Taiwan.

Rescuers brave raging torrents to pull survivors from mudslides in Taiwan.

Rescue officials quoted by the news agency said 1,373 were trapped, and 75 helicopters were scheduled to conduct rescue missions Saturday in the counties of Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Taitung and Chiayi.

The storm hit last weekend, dropping 2.6 meters (102 inches) of rain on Taiwan. After hitting Taiwan, Morakot roared on to mainland China on Sunday, killing at least six people and displacing 1.4 million, authorities said.

The toll was much higher in Taiwan, where the storm was blamed for killing 123 people, according to the latest figures from Taiwan's National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission.

Mary Yu, spokeswoman for the commission's Central Emergency Operation Center, said 53 people were unaccounted for.

Full story at CNN.com

It was supposed to be a pleasant surprise, but turned into the shock of a lifetime.
A woman scours a garbage heap in Tel Aviv for her mother's missing mattress.

A woman scours a garbage heap in Tel Aviv for her mother's missing mattress.

A woman in Tel Aviv, Israel, gave her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise gift, throwing out the old tattered bed her mother had slept on for decades. The gesture ended up bankrupting Annat's mother, who had stuffed her savings of nearly $1 million inside her old bed for decades, Annat told Israel Army Radio.

A massive search is under way at the city dump, where security has been beefed up to keep out treasure-seekers who have heard Annat's story in Israeli media.

Annat, who did not want to reveal the rest of her name, told Israel Army Radio that she woke up early Sunday to get a good deal on a new mattress as a surprise for her mother.

Sound off: Which bizarre places have you hidden money?

She fell asleep that night, exhausted after lugging up the new mattress and hauling down the old one to be taken out with the trash.

When her mother realized the next day what her daughter had done, she told her that she had been using the mattress to stash away her life savings and had nearly $1 million padding the inside of the worn-out mattress. Video Watch more on the mattress search »

Annat ran downstairs, but it was too late. The garbage truck had already taken away the money-stuffed mattress.

Full story at CNN.com

The heated national debate on health care reform has taken an unusual turn, with many eyes focused on a minor provision regarding end-of-life care embedded in the House bill.

The measure provides coverage for Medicare beneficiaries who elect to meet with their medical team once every five years to discuss options for treatment if they become seriously ill. It's called end-of-life care or advance care planning.

Some opponents of the House bill have expended great energy and resources in recent weeks to convince seniors that this provision will somehow result in government-sponsored euthanasia.

We have seen the volatile response to these allegations at town hall meetings across the country.

This argument is completely false. This provision simply provides for Medicare to pay for voluntary conversations between patients and their health care practitioners on the difficult but important subject of planning for care at the end of life.

The provision is purely optional, and patients would be able to choose whether to discuss the issue with their practitioners. For those who decide to do so, there would be clear benefits.

Full story at cnn.com

Known for building skate parks and shaping the skateboarding scene in New York, Andy Kessler, 48, died this week after an allergic reaction to an insect sting, friends and family told news media.

Andy Kessler, seen in 2005, reportedly died this week after suffering an allergic reaction to an insect sting.

Kessler's death is a reminder that stings can be deadly for those with an allergy to certain insects, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology said Friday.

At least 40 people in the United States die each year as the result of insect stings, the academy said. As many as 5 percent of Americans are at risk for a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction from insect stings, according to the organization.

In a typical week in the emergency room, doctors at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia, see about six or fewer cases of people with allergic reactions to insects, said Dr. James P. Capes, director of the emergency department.

"It's common, but not incredibly common," he said.

Full story at CNN.com