Former Greenwich Man ID'd as Hudson River Jumper

Stamford Advocate- The man who committed suicide last week by jumping off a Hudson River bridge was a 1996 graduate of Greenwich High School.

New York State Police say the body subsequently recovered from the river near the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge last weekend was that of 34-year-old Frank D. Rende, most recently of Bridgeport.

Police say Rende jumped from the westbound side of the bridge around 7 p.m. on Sept. 20.

Troopers were called to the bridge for a report of an abandoned vehicle midway across the bridge in the westbound lanes. State police say a pedestrian on the bridge spotted the body floating in the middle of the river Sunday morning. Firefighters from Newburgh recovered Rende's body.

Poor Man..

NYPost- A Bronx school bus driver died yesterday from the beating he suffered after he accidentally knocked a side-view mirror from a double-parked car, a spokeswoman for his bus company said.

Juan Delvalle, 65, never regained consciousness after Joey Scott, 30, allegedly punched him twice in the face June 11, said Carolyn Daly, a spokeswoman for the Atlantic Express bus company.



He died peacefully at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx. “The family had been struggling all week with whether or not to take him off life support,” Daly said..



“The swelling and bleeding in the brain were extensive,” Daly said. “He was hooked up to a ventilator and that was the only reason he could breathe. He never regained consciousness. It was a very, very severe injury.”



Delvalle had asked to not be hooked up to artificial life support.



Once his family gathered last night — some from as far as Colorado and Puerto Rico — doctors turned off the life support machines, and he died at 6:19 p.m.



Delvalle, who'd driven for Atlantic Express for eight years, was driving two middle-school students in his yellow bus on Anthony Avenue near Echo Place when he clipped Scott's illegally-parked Chrysler Sebring.



The passing school bus ripped off the Chrysler's mirror.



In an extreme display of road-rage, Scott lost it and punched the grandfather twice, police said.



Delvalle fell backward and his head struck the pavement. He was rushed to the hospital and never woke up again.



Delvalle's family and friends hope the Bronx DA's charges will charge Scott with homicide, Daly said.



“You don’t lose it over a mirror and you certainly don’t punch a 65-year-old man wearing a uniform who’s got children in his care,” Daly siad.



Scott, who has a long rap sheet, fled the scene. Cops found him at his Tremont apartment, and needed two hours to negotiate his arrest.



Scott remains in custody, unable to post $250,000 cash bond. He has a court date Monday.

Jerry Sandusky, ex-Penn State Coach, Guilty on 45 of 48 Sex Abuse Counts

He may not last long in jail...

ABC- Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky has been found guilty of nearly all of the allegations of child sex abuse leveled against him.




After 20 hours of sequestered deliberations, the jury of seven women and five men read 45 "guilty" verdicts late Friday as Sandusky stood and looked at the jury with his left hand in a pocket of his brown sport coat. There were three not-guilty verdicts.



One of the victims -- identified as Victim 6 during the proceedings -- was surrounded by his family and they cried as the verdict was read.



After court was adjourned, the former Penn State defensive coordinator was led in handcuffs to a waiting police car to be taken to the local county jail.



"The legal process has spoken and we have tremendous respect for the men who came forward to tell their stories publicly. No verdict can undo the pain and suffering caused by Mr. Sandusky, but we do hope this judgment helps the victims and their families along their path to healing," Penn State president Rodney Erickson said in a statement.



Sandusky likely will be sentenced to life in prison. He faces a maximum sentence of 442 years and will be sentenced in approximately 90 days.



Sandusky's wife, Dottie, looked forward stoically as the counts were read off and her husband repeatedly was found guilty. At one point, dozens of counts in, she started shaking her head.



Sandusky's daughter, Kara, broke down as her dad was handcuffed, and held her hand over her heart as her father walked out of court.


The jury found Sandusky not guilty of three sex abuse crimes, including the alleged rape of Victim 2, the boy assistant coach Mike McQueary said he saw being raped by Sandusky in a Penn State locker room shower in 2001. He was also acquitted of indecent assault on Victim 5, who testified in court, and Victim 8, who was the subject of an eyewitness account from a Penn State janitor.




Sandusky and his lawyers, along with prosecutors, had been summoned to court to hear the verdict. Assembled spectators shouted jeers such as "pervert" as Sandusky and his wife walked into the courthouse lit up by flashbulb bursts.



The crowd of hundreds outside the courthouse let out a cheer as word emerged that Sandusky was guilty.



After the verdict, Attorney General Linda Kelly said the jury believed that Sandusky "calculatingly and with meticulous planning mercilessly preyed" upon his victims.



"The jury here in Bellefonte, Pa., would and did believe a kid," she said, referring to testimony by Sandusky's victims. "I hope this outcome allows the victims to heal and encourages other victims to come forward."



Sandusky's attorney, Joe Amendola, said the defense plans to appeal the guilty verdicts, arguing it was not prepared to go to trial as soon as the judge ordered.



"The Sandusky family is very disappointed, obviously, by the verdict of the jury but we respect their verdict," he said. "We had a tidal wave of public opinion against Jerry Sandusky."



He added that Sandusky fully planned to testify in his own defense, but the plan to have him do so was scuttled when the prosecution threatened to have Matt Sandusky, his adopted son, testify as a rebuttal witness that he was molested by his father.



After the verdict, the family of the late Joe Paterno, the legendary Penn State head coach who was Sandusky's boss, released a statement.



"Although we understand the task of healing is just beginning, today's verdict is an important milestone," it read. "The community owes a measure of gratitude to the jurors for their diligent service. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the victims and their families."

The two-week trial was remarkable for the graphic tales of abuse that ranged from Sandusky playing tickle monster in the shower to aggressive sex including oral and anal sex on boys as young as 8. At one point, jurors were brought to tears by the testimony of the alleged victims who are now grown men.




The defense scored some points back during week two of the trial by putting Sandusky's wife on the stand and hearing her testify that she never saw anything inappropriate between her husband and children and knew some of the accusers to have behavioral issues. They also poked holes in the stories of two lead investigators on the case by showing that the men told potential victims that others had already come forward claiming Sandusky raped them.



During 30 hours of testimony over two weeks, the jury heard from eight accusers, one eyewitness, a string of character witnesses testifying to Sandusky's character, and members of the police who investigated the case.




Two people the jury did not hear from include Sandusky himself, who waived his right to testify, and Sandusky's adopted son Matt. Matt Sandusky was one of his father's most ardent supporters following Sandusky's November arrest, but contacted prosecutors at the end of last week saying he was, in fact, a victim of his father's abuse and would be willing to testify, sources told ABC News. The prosecution did not put him on the stand, and the revelations about Matt Sandusky's willingness to testify are not known by the jury and will not factor into deliberations.

New Canaan Girl's Case Continued After Power Outage

NORWALK -- The case of a 16-year-old New Canaan girl charged with negligent homicide in the death of a Norwalk jogger this spring was continued Friday morning when a power outage closed the courthouse for the day.

Brianna McEwan, a three-sport athlete at New Canaan High School, is being charged as an adult in the case.

Police say McEwan was looking at the New Canaan High website on her cell phone when she hit jogger Kenneth Dorsey while driving on New Canaan Avenue on March 24.

McEwan, a member of the school's soccer, basketball and lacrosse teams, turned herself over to Norwalk police May 12 after learning there was a warrant for her arrest.

It wasn't immediately clear Friday when her next court date would be.

Outrage in Cos Cob

Cos Cob, CT- A disgraceful act of vandalism left this 9/11 memorial bench looking like it was hit by a bomb. This bench is a dedication to Joseph Lenihan, a town resident who died in the September 11th, 2001 attacks.

The bench faces Cos Cob Pond in Pomerance Park, off of Orchard Street.  Pomerance borders Pinetum and the entrance is near Central Middle School.

My mother took my little sister for a walk today and stumbled upon this mess. My mom posted these pictures on her facebook and called the perputrator a hideous beast. I think she's right.

More police patroling needs to be done, as this is a public town park.  It is so disgusting that someone would do such a thing.  What a sick person.

Add caption

For a while, there was one small chip in the top beam of the bench, and that was enough to upset my family and friends when we walk through Pomerance, which is very often.

I hold out hope that they may be able to figure out who did such a thing, but it looks like it would be hard.

A family portait of Joe Lenihan an his family, courtesy of Connectict Post.

Before the vandalism:

Courtesy of 9/11 Living Memorials on Voices of September 11th website.

The plaque reads:

"In loving memory

JOE LENIHAN

9-11-01

He loved coming here with his family

'Some people come into our lives, touch our hearts, and we are never, ever the same' "

 According to the Living Memorial site, his family were the ones to donate this bench in the first place. God forbid his family sees this bench now.

I'm seriously considering starting a collection for a reward for information, or at least enough money to help rebuild this bench.




If anyone has any information, please contact the Greenwich Police Department. 

If it was a group of stupid teenagers who did this, and I think that is a strong possibility, then all it takes is just ONE person to come forward.  It takes just one person to let the proper people know who's responsible for such a disgusting act, and it would clear his or her conscience. 

Or just live with it.  But don't forget, karma's a b*tch.

5 Killed in Christmas Morning House Fire

Who could fathom such a thing happening on Christmas morning? What a world..


LA Times-A Christmas morning house fire in an upscale Stamford neighborhood killed five people, three of them children, leaving neighbors and firefighters in tears.

Firefighters rescued two people from the blaze: Madonna Badger, 47, the mother of the children, and a man whose identity was not available. Badger is a New York advertising executive. Police later said the man was a contractor renovating the home, and the two dead adults were Badger's parents, who were visiting for Christmas.

Neighbor Charles Mangano said he saw rescuers walking Badger and the man away from the house toward an ambulance.

"I heard her say, 'My whole life is in there,' as she walked out," Mangano said. "They were both obviously in a state of shock."

Neighbors in the Shippan Point neighborhood, which juts into Long Island Sound, said they were awakened by screaming and ran outside to see fire consuming the house.

"I heard someone yell, 'Help, help, help me!' and I started sprinting up my driveway," Mangano told the Advocate of Stamford. Firefighters were already there.

"I just came out as a neighbor," he said. "There's really nothing I could do."

Stamford Fire Chief Antonio Conte said firefighters got the call at 4:52 a.m. and arrived to find the house engulfed. They rescued Badger and the man, but could not reach the other five.

"There was so much flame and heat it drove the firefighters back," Conte said. "They tried several times. We knew all five were in there. We just couldn't get to them."

Conte became emotional as he talked about the fire.

"I've been on this job 38 years," he said, his voice cracking. "Not an easy day."

Stamford's fire marshal is investigating, but Conte said it would probably take several days to determine what happened.

Badger had three daughters — a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins. Her husband, Matthew Badger, was in New York City. Police said they drove him to Stamford on Sunday.

Badger bought the three-story, 3,300-square-foot, five-bedroom house overlooking Long Island Sound in December 2010 for $1.72 million. The house had been undergoing extensive renovations, neighbors said.

Becki Anderson, 43, of Stamford grew up in the home and said her parents sold it to Badger.

"Our hearts go out to Madonna and her family," Anderson said. "Our entire community is shocked and stunned."

Anderson said she and her husband took a long walk Christmas afternoon, and everyone they met was talking about the fire.

"Everybody's speaking in hushed tones, and it's sad," she said. "I don't think it matters it's Christmas. It would be sad any day of the year."

Badger, an advertising executive who founded the New York-based Badger & Winters Group, gained fame for Calvin Klein underwear and Obsession perfume ads. She founded her company at the age of 30.

Stamford, a city of 117,000, is about 25 miles northeast of New York City.

"It is a terrible, terrible day," Mayor Michael Pavia said. "There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford."

Casey Anthony Trial Conclusion

I realized in all my anger and frustration over the verdict in the Caylee Anthony murder trial that I failed to update this blog.

I must remain faithful and conclude my reporting of this fiasco since I've been so vigilant since the dawn of it's creation; but I'm posting this so long after when the verdict first came out because I simply want to refuse it's reality... I can't believe that she was found not guilty (July 5th, 2011).

Yes, we all felt that way when O.J. raped the court system those seemingly few years ago, but somehow for me this hit me as way worse of a defilement of justice.

So I suppose no one is responsible for Caylee's untimely and probably torturous death? No one will be held accountable? No justice for the most innocent of victims... No justice for Caylee.

She can run, but she can't hide. Karma's a bitch, and there are many, many people looking to take an active role in the future of hers...

All that time of my being consumed by this case (mostly before the hopeless trial even began) and I have to conclude it like this. Tis a shame.


That's all I would like to say.

HORRIBLE Merrit Accident in Greenwich

Just in time for the Holidays..

10:13 AM
The911Center The911Center.com
RT @BelltownFire: E9, E62, R66, R1, U65, C612, Greenwich E1, DC, GEMS, SEMS operating on the parkway. Probably missed some too. #CTTRAFFIC

10:30 AM
StamAdvocate Stamford Advocate
by The911Center
The Merritt Parkway is closed between exits 31-33 because of an accident. #cttraffic

10:50 AM
The911Center The911Center.com
RT @BelltownFire: Physician from Stamford Hospital enroute to the accident scene #CTTRAFFIC

10:59 AM
The911Center The911Center.com
GREENWICH CT Merrit Parkway Trauma surgeon on scene. Extrication complete. Extended operation. Highway closed. #CTTRAFFIC

11:25 AM
The911Center The911Center.com
Photo from News12 CT of the Accident RT-15 exit 33 #CTTRAFFIC http://yfrog.com/oel05esj

How many more cars are involved that they closed down more than one exit off the Merrit?

----*UPDATE:*----

News 12: State police have identified the driver in the Greenwich crash as a 19-year-old from New Hampshire. Police say Branden Myers sustained serious injuries in the crash. Click here to see extended video of the crash from Chopper 12.

HOLY SHIT, he survived! Although with serious injuries. Miraculous. I wonder if he'll hold on.. And hope no one else was in the car.

----*UPDATE 2:*----

(12/16/11) STAMFORD - Police say the teen involved in a serious accident on the Merritt Parkway has died.

Police say Branden Myers, 19, was headed home to New Hampshire when he lost control.

Emergency crews say it took nearly an hour to get him out using the jaws of life.

He died after all. So sad... You almost wish it could've been an instant death in this case.

Elevator Kills Madison Ave. Ad Exec

NY Post- An ad executive taking the elevator to her Midtown office like any other day was crushed to death in front of two horrified fellow passengers yesterday when the car suddenly shot upward with the doors still open.

Suzanne Hart, 41, a top exec at Young & Rubicam, was halfway aboard an elevator in the ground-floor lobby of 285 Madison Ave. when suddenly it shot upward like a bullet.

Hart fell forward into the car, part of her body inside and part still outside the entryway, said authorities. The elevator — its doors still open — then got stuck between the building’s first and second floors.

Inside the elevator, the man and woman stuck with Hart were forced to look on in horror as she died just inches away — a scene so harrowing that both were left “in severe distress,” said Fire Lt. Glenn Berube, one of the first rescuers on the scene.

The surviving woman “was crying . . . She was so physically shaken, she looked like she was convulsing. It was very traumatic for her,” Berube said.

Though they were not physically hurt, both witnesses were hospitalized for treatment of psychological trauma.

It was hours after the 10 a.m. accident before workers could remove Hart’s body from the scene.

The elevator had been taken out of service in 2003 after Department of Buildings inspectors found a “hazardous safety violation,” a city-government source said. But that unspecified problem was corrected long ago, said the source.

City records indicate that the building’s 13 elevators — known to workers as creaky and scary — have piled up 56 violations in the past 11 years. Most were cleared up.

However, inspectors in June found several unspecified “administrative” violations of safety rules regarding the elevators.

City sources said the violations — though still listed as “open” on Department of Building records — appear to offer no explanation for yesterday’s tragedy.

Hart had everything going for her — a loving family and a solid career as one of the agency executives responsible for bringing new business to the worldwide advertising giant.

“She was a fantastic young woman,” said her grieving father, Alex Hart, who was flying to New York last night from his home in Florida.

“She was a talented woman. She had a lot of family and friends who loved her,” the distraught dad said between tears.

“I’m grateful for every day I had with her. I’m just sorry it happened so soon . . . I miss her.”

Suzanne moved about a year ago from Manhattan to a brownstone apartment in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, with her boyfriend, Chris Dicksen.

“She’s a beautiful person, and I don’t have words for this,” Dicksen said.

Just the day before she died, Suzanne had lunched with Young & Rubicam’s Global CEO, David Sable.

She was “someone I worked closely with, truly respected and, quite simply, adored,” Sable wrote in a memo to employees.

Hart grew up in California and graduated from Knox College in Illinois.

Away from work, she was interested in landscaping and had just completed a two-year course at New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx.

After yesterday’s accident, employees were evacuated from the building, which is expected to remain closed today.

Young & Rubicam, which owns the 25-story building on Madison Avenue at 40th Street, is preparing to move to a new location near Columbus Circle.

Bloomington man Charged in Hit-and-Run Turns Himself In

Another hit-and-run, and this one killed an 85 year old on my birthday...
How horrible- not to mention maximum penalty is THREE YEARS? Are they kidding!

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- A suspect in the hit-and-run accident that killed an 85-year-old woman in Bloomington on Oct. 21 turned himself in, according to Bloomington Police.

According to a criminal complaint, Mark Lindgren, 54 of Bloomington, was charged with Felony Hit and Run last Friday. Lindgren turned himself into police around 2:15 a.m. Tuesday and is currently being held at the Hennepin County Jail.

The complaint says on the night of Oct. 21, Lindgren struck and killed Dorothy Hanson with his truck at the intersection of 10th Ave. S. and E. Old Shakopee Rd. without stopping. A witness of the crash said the truck accelerated its speed drastically after it hit the victim.

Hanson was walking home after having dinner with her husband, who lives in a nearby care facility.

The complaint says an attorney representing the owner of the truck contacted police on Oct. 26 and made arrangements to turn the vehicle over to investigators the next day. The truck was registered to Lindgren and a search warrant was conducted of his apartment.

There, police collected a one-page document that listed Lindgren's timeline for the date of the accident, the complaint states.

It said he had one drink the night of the crash, then stopped by a friend's bonfire before heading home. The document said Lindgren didn't notice the headlight and damage to his vehicle following the accident until he got home.

The document said he assumed it was "a deer or bird."

If Lindgren is convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

----------------

I think I'd know if I hit a "deer or a bird" with my car.... You should stop your vehicle after hitting a "deer", you'd FEEL yourself hitting the deer, and wouldn't ACCELERATE IN SPEED- especially if you only had "one" drink-
WHAT A F*CKING LIAR!!

Child Thrown From Balcony To His Death

Oh how I wish I could be the one to put this woman out of her misery...

NY Times- A 2-year-old boy was thrown to his death from the balcony of a seventh-floor apartment in Queens on Tuesday night by a distraught woman who had been living with his family, the authorities said.

The woman, whom the authorities identified as Xiao Aiu Cai, 53, had a confrontation with someone else in the apartment and — for unknown reasons — lashed out at the boy, grabbed him, ran onto the balcony and threw him from it about 8:35 p.m., the authorities said.

Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, said at the scene that the woman had been fighting with her daughter just before she turned to the boy and threw him from the home.

He said that the woman had been on medication and was very depressed.

The woman was taken into custody and was expected to be charged with murder.

The boy, whose name was not released, landed on the sidewalk in front of the building, at 35-06 Leavitt Street, a condominium tower in Flushing, the police said. He was pronounced dead at New York Hospital Queens.

The woman was not related to the child, but she and her daughter had been living in the multi-bedroom apartment along with the boy and his parents, the police said.

The woman had a history of depression and had recently been under psychiatric care, the police said. They said she had no prior criminal record.

A neighbor across the street, Young Kim, 60, said she was at home when the boy was thrown and heard a woman screaming in Chinese and crying.

“She was screaming, ‘Somebody call 911,’ ” she said.

Another neighbor, Anna Zheng, 26, a cashier who lives across the street, said the building where the boy died was relatively new and was known to be very family-friendly.

She said she often saw many families with small children coming in and out of the building in the summer.

“It was fine over there,” she said. “I never heard anybody fighting. It’s so sad.”

Late Tuesday night, directly below the balcony, a pink slipper lay near a blue cap.

Teens Charged in Racing Crash That Killed Mother, 2 Children

This sort of thing should NEVER happen.

HOUSTON – Two teenagers were charged Tuesday with illegal racing in a crash that killed a mother and her two children.

Authorities said 17-year-old Christopher Yovino and 18-year-old Brett Taylor were racing on September 27 near the 7300 block of North Gessner when Yovino, who was driving more than 90 mph in a 40 mph zone, slammed into a vehicle containing 37-year-old Mayra Torres and her children, 14-year-old Christopher Nuno and 6-year-old Katia Nuno.

Torres and her son died at the scene. Her daughter died two days later.

A witness said Taylor appeared visibly upset at the time.

"We were racing and going so fast," Taylor told the witness. "I was right next to him and he couldn’t stop and he hit them."

According to authorities, an investigation of the crash data showed Yovino was going 93 mph one second before the accident and 81 mph just before impact. An analysis of the data also showed Yovino’s accelerator was pushed down 100 percent immediately before braking, which authorities said is consistent with accounts of racing.

Yovino and Taylor were charged with felony fatality racing and were released after posting bond.

Related:

• Girl, 6, dies after crash that witnesses blame on street racing
• Deputies: Woman, teen killed in suspected street-racing collision

Source: Explosives Found in Suspicious Packages Packed Powerful Punch

(CNN) -- Two suspicious packages found abroad that were bound for Jewish organizations in the United States contained a massive amount of explosive material that -- had the suspected terror plot not been thwarted -- would have triggered a powerful blast, a source close to the investigation said Friday.

U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, commonly referred to as AQAP, is behind the plot.

President Barack Obama confirmed that the packages -- intercepted in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates -- originated in Yemen, the stronghold of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

"We also know that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ... continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies," he said during a press briefing on the incident.

One suspicious package, found at the UK's East Midlands Airport, contained a "manipulated" toner cartridge and had white powder on it as well as wires and a circuit board, a law enforcement source said. A similar package set to be shipped on a FedEx cargo plane was discovered in Dubai, the law enforcement source and Dubai officials said.

"Initial examination of those packages has determined they do apparently contain explosive material," Obama said.

The source close to the investigation said the type of material found in the devices was PETN, a highly explosive organic compound belonging to the same chemical family as nitroglycerin. Just six grams of PETN is enough to blow a hole in the fuselage of an aircraft.

PETN was allegedly one of the components of the bomb concealed by Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the Nigerian man accused of trying to set off an explosion aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it approached Detroit, Michigan, on December 25. AbdulMutallab is alleged to have been carrying 80 grams of PETN in that botched attack -- also believed to be the workings of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

By comparison, the source said the two devices found Friday contained multiple times more PETN. The source also said it appears the devices were designed to be detonated by a cell phone with the help of a smaller amount of a second unidentified explosive substance.

The cell-phone theory was seconded by a wireless engineer for a major U.S.-based manufacturer, who analyzed a photo of one of the devices at CNN's request.

"This size and the shape of the PCB (printed circuit board) are typical to a handset cell phone type device," wrote Olivier Clerc, hardware application engineering manager for a cell-phone-parts manufacturer.

Both packages were bound for the United States, "specifically two places of Jewish worship in Chicago," Obama said.

The packages led to increased searches of cargo planes and trucks in several U.S. cities, said law enforcement sources with detailed knowledge of the investigation.

White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said that "the materials that were found and the device that was discovered were intended to do harm."

Brennan said the discovery of the packages was made with help from Saudi Arabia, and issued a statement thanking the country for its "assistance in developing information that helped underscore the imminence of the threat emanating from Yemen."

A source with firsthand knowledge of the information told CNN that the Saudi Arabian government gave the United States tracking numbers of the two packages, allowing for quick tracing to the United Kingdom and Dubai.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, called the potential plot "a new novel thing -- and that is using FedEx and UPS planes to perhaps bring in something that might be explosive."

The Transportation Security Administration issued Friday afternoon a halt in the United States on all packages originating from Yemen, and shipping companies UPS, FedEx and DHL all said they were complying with the order.

Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told CNN she is very concerned about holes in the system to screen cargo coming into the United States, said that had a credible intelligence source not warned about the suspicious packages, they may not have been detected with standard security procedures.

Collins, who was briefed by TSA chief John Pistole, said intelligence officials do not know yet if this was part of a larger plot, but she does believe al Qaeda is "continuing to test for vulnerabilities in our security system, and it appears we do have vulnerabilities in our system for transporting cargo."

After the packages were found Thursday night and Friday morning, authorities were tracking other packages shipped from Yemen in the same time frame, a law enforcement source said.

A Yemeni diplomat in Washington said that his government has opened a full-scale investigation into the incident but that it was too early to speculate or reach any conclusions.

Counterterrorism officials are taking the threat "very seriously," Obama said.

The Department of Homeland Security said it "had taken a number of steps to enhance security," including "heightened cargo screening and additional security at airports."

Some Jewish religious leaders in Chicago were alerted to the potential threat Friday, said Linda Haase, spokeswoman for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

"We were notified about this earlier this morning," she said. "We are taking appropriate precautions, and we are advising local synagogues to do the same."

Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, California, said that if synagogues were indeed the intended recipients of the packages, "this is just another indication of the dangerous world we live in where Jews are the principle target."

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities seemed most focused on inspecting cargo planes.

Investigators examined two UPS planes that landed at Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania and another at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, said Mike Mangeot, a UPS spokesman. Authorities later gave the "all-clear" at both airports, the Transportation Security Administration said.

The TSA said authorities acted "out of an abundance of caution."

Baby Killed For Interrupting Facebook Time

And my boyfriend said I was obsessed with the game..

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A north Florida mother has pleaded guilty to shaking her baby to death after the boy's crying interrupted her game on Facebook.

Alexandra V. Tobias pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Wednesday and remains jailed.

The Florida Times-Union reports that she told investigators she was angered because the boy was crying while she was playing the game FarmVille.

The paper also reports that she told investigators she shook the boy, smoked a cigarette to compose herself and then shook him again.

She will be sentenced in December. State guidelines call for 25 to 50 years, but a prosecutor said it could be shorter than that.

A telephone message and an e-mail sent by The Associated Press to her attorney weren't immediately returned.

APD Officer Indicted On Sex Crimes Charges

KOAT- Albuquerque Police Department Officer Tank Guenther has been indicted on 26 charges of criminal sexual contact of a minor, bribery of a witness and tampering with evidence.

Action 7 News obtained a copy of the indictment against Guenther on Thursday.

Investigators said the alleged abuse spanned from August 2002 until December 2005, but authorities didn't know about the accusations until the victim stepped forward in 2009.

Guenther is under investigation for allegations he raped a family member under the age of 13. Chief Ray Schultz said the department learned of the investigation last summer, and Guenther has been on administrative duties until now.

"When felony allegations are made against an officer, the department, a detective or even a civilian, the first thing we do is put them in a position where there's minimal contact with the public, obviously not doing any law enforcement duties or functions," Schultz said.

The department has launched an internal affairs investigation as the criminal aspect is also being reviewed.

According to the indictment filed on Thursday in district court, Guenther is charged with 26 counts of criminal sexual penetration in the first-degree. Investigators also said he bribed a witness and tampered with evidence for four years after the alleged abuse.

A spokesperson for the district attorney's office said that while the charges are against a police officer, it's important to remember that the case is about alleged child rape.

"The community rightly should expect a lot from a public safety officer, a police officer, but we expect more of them," the spokesperson said. "But in this case, this deals with a family matter, about his role in his family abusing a family victim."

Guenther is not in custody, but the district attorney's office said he will soon be getting a notice to appear in court.

If convicted, Guenther could face a maximum of 306 years in prison.

EPD Arrest Man, 52, After Little Girl, 7, Gets STD

This creature should be put down:
EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - Evansville man is arrested and charged with child molestation.

Police say the girl, 7, came to Holly's House after it was discovered that she had a STD.

The little girl told police that the suspect, Timothy D. Montgomery, 52, had molested her.

Police say they went to interview Montgomery.


At first he denied it, but police say he later admitted to molesting the girl.

Police say his wife's daycare was shut down in the 1990s, after molestation allegations were made against Montgomery.

Police say Montgomery is also under investigation for another molestation.

He was taken to jail and charged with two felony counts of child molesting.

Rutgers Student's Facebook Status: "Jumping off the gw bridge"

F*cked-up...
Gothamist- Authorities have released the identity of the 18-year-old victim of a sick internet broadcast as Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, a talented violinist.

Two other freshmen, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, have been accused of invasion of privacy for broadcasting a hidden-camera video of Clementi during a sexual encounter on the Internet, which allegedly led to Clementi's suicide last week. He reportedly wrote on his Facebook page on September 22nd, "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry." His family released this statement:

Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all. The family and their representatives are cooperating fully with the ongoing criminal investigations of two Rutgers University students.

One Rutgers student called the alleged spying "extremely obscene," while another said, "I mean we all live in such close conditions with each other, it’s like breach of privacy…I think it’s gross." According to Ravi's Twitter account, which has since been deleted, Clementi asked Ravi to have the room to himself on the night of September 19th. Ravi then set up his webcam and went to Wei's room, where he watched the feed and saw Clementi "making out with a dude." Student Tiwa Adediji said, “It's my dorm. It's my private space. I expect...my privacy to be respected and to be able to do whatever I want. There should be no one there invading my privacy."

Police have not yet found a body in connection with Clementi's suicide, but Ridgewood high school (Clementi's alma mater) principal John A. Lorenz told parents, "We have been informed by a family spokesperson that Tyler Clementi, Class of 2010, has been reported missing. We remain in contact with the family and law enforcement agencies and will keep you informed as we receive updates." Clementi's RA, Daryl Chan, said, "His roommate was a very tech-savvy-type dude. He set up cameras all over the room and didn't tell him. A lot of the RAs are troubled by it."

Students Discover Classmate's Brain In Jar On Field Trip

Map of medical examiner:

View Creepy Staten Island in a larger map

Of course, only in Staten Island..

A Staten Island couple who had just buried their 17-year-old son after a car accident were horrified to learn the medical examiner held onto his brain.

And the way they found out was even more gut-wrenching:The teen's schoolmates - including his girlfriend - spotted the organ floating in a jar during a field trip to the mortuary.

Now Andre and Korisha Shipley have gotten the go-ahead to sue the city - which is still claiming it did nothing wrong.

"It turns out to be this horrible, horrible situation," the Shipleys' lawyer, Marvin Ben-Aron, said after the appeals court ruling Friday.

Jesse Shipley, a student at Port Richmond High School, was killed in a car crash Jan. 9, 2005 - and his dad gave permission for an autopsy the next day.

The family had no idea that Dr. Stephen de Roux at the Richmond County Mortuary removed Jesse's brain for further study before releasing his body later that day, Ben-Aron said.

Almost three months after the funeral, the Port Richmond Forensics Club took a field trip to the mortuary.

In what the court called a "surreal coincidence," the students saw a brain in formaldehyde labeled with Jesse's name.

"There was a case that you could see through, and there were brains in jars and names on the jars. One said 'head trauma, Shipley, J,'" said Samantha Feldman, 22, one of the students.

Jesse's girlfriend and her best friend were there.

"The best friend went outside and was flipping out," Feldman said. "She started crying and called her mom and said, 'Mom, Jesse's brain is here! I can't be here.'"

Some students who didn't know Jesse took out their cell phones and took pictures, while others cried, Ben-Aron said.

The teacher cut the visit short, but back at school, the students told the story to Jesse's younger sister, Shannon, who had survived the car crash that killed her brother. She started screaming, and her parents had to come pick her up, the lawyer said.

The family went to court to get their son's brain - which wasn't even dissected until after the field trip - returned to them.

In a deposition, de Roux explained it was his practice to have several brains tested at once because it's more efficient.

"I wait months, until I have six brains, and then it's kind of worth while to make the trip to Staten Island to examine six brains," he said. "It doesn't make sense for him to come and do one."

The Shipleys' priest told them the first burial - without the brain - wasn't proper so they had to endure an exhumation and second funeral, Ben-Aron said.

They sued the city, which tried to get the case tossed. An appeals court ruled this week that the suit can proceed because there's a "question of fact" about whether the medical examiner had the right to hold back the brain.

The Shipleys' suit also alleged that the jar containing the brain was labeled: "This is what happens when you drink and drive."

The appeals panel decided there was no proof that was true or that the mortuary "mishandled" the brain. Ben-Aron said alcohol was not involved in the accident, and Jesse Shipley was a passenger, not the driver.

It's unclear if the city will try to settle the suit or go to trial. "We are evaluating our legal options," said city lawyer Ronald Sternberg.

Jail for Couple Whose Baby Died While They Raised Online Child

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- A couple whose baby starved to death while they raised a virtual child in an online fantasy game was sentenced Friday, their defense attorney said.

Prosecutors at Suwon District Court had sought a five-year sentence for negligent homicide, but the court handed out a two-year sentence.

Sentence was suspended for the female defendant, Kim Yun-jeong, 25, who is expecting the couple's daughter in August. Her partner, Kim Jae-beom, 41, will serve two years.

The unmarried couple's defense attorney said he was satisfied with the sentence.

"This is the first legal case regarding Internet addiction in Korea," said Kim Dong-young, a lawyer with the Korean Legal Aid Corp. "I am pleased that the female defendant's Internet addiction was taken into consideration, and she was bailed."

Three-month-old Kim Sa-rang died of malnutrition in September while her parents were engaged in 12-hour sessions of Prius Online. In the 3-D fantasy game, players nurture an online girl who gains magical powers as she grows.

Kim's mother is a former factory worker while her father is a taxi and truck driver.

During their trial, the court heard that the toddler weighed 6.4 pounds (2.9 kgs) when she was born, but was only 5.5 pounds (2.5 kgs) at the time of her death.

The trial was in March, but sentencing was delayed after the court requested a psychological examination of the mother. Both defendants appeared contrite during the trial, with the mother frequently breaking down in tears.

Internet gaming is hugely popular in South Korea, with some 21,500 'PC Bangs' -- or Internet cafes -- offering ultra-high speed Internet connections nationwide.

The case has highlighted the dark side of the nation's Internet, an industry touted by South Korean officials as cutting edge. A public debate is under way in the nation over online privacy and regulating Internet rumors.

There is particular concern about gaming addiction and its effects on teenagers and those estranged from mainstream society. "Consequently, it comes as no surprise to me that two people who were disconnected from society in general found a common psychological space that kept them physically and socially divorced from reality," said Tom Coyner, Seoul-based author of "Mastering Business in Korea."

Suwon, the satellite town south of Seoul where the tragedy occurred, was named "Intelligent City of the Year" this month by a New York-based think-tank Intelligent Community Forum.

The honor was awarded because of the town's investment in broadband infrastructure and its push to increase connection speeds to 1 gigabyte per second, according to reports.

ANOTHER Child Left In a Car.. How Does This Happen??

Officials: 21 Month Old Child Dead, Was Left Inside Parked Van

MONROE COUNTY, Ga. -- The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a 21-month-old child.

A preliminary investigation indicates Joseph Chatmon was left inside a parked vehicle at Samuel E. Hubbard Elementary School in Forsyth, officials said.

Investigators said the child, restrained in a child safety seat, was left inside the vehicle from the time his mother, 23-year-old India Chatmon, arrived at work Friday morning, until she left work late that afternoon.

Chatmon is an employee at the school.

Officials said as soon as Chatom discovered her son in the van, she immediately drove to the Monroe County Emergency Room with the child where he died.

The body was transported to the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur for an autopsy, officials said.

This incident is still under investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.