April 2012 Archives

Authorities believe that a 51-year-old man killed his ex-girlfriend before killing himself last week, KARE 11 reported.

David Everett was supposed to meet 38-year-old Sharon Love at the apartment they shared in Alexandria.

Everett had moved out of the apartment already, but Love agreed to meet him so he could pick up the rest of his belongings, the Fergus Falls Journal reported.

During the meeting, Everett attacked Love and killed her.

Everett was seen driving away from the scene in Love's car on Wednesday night.

Investigators found Everett's body in Love's car on Friday in a rented garage on rural Osakis.

Authorities do not believe that anyone else was involved in the deaths of Love and Everett.

Mexican immigration to the United States is steeply declining, CNN reported.

According the a report released by the Pew Hispanic Center Monday, the immigration rate from Mexico to the United States has decreased, while the amount of Mexican immigrants leaving the United States has increased sharply.

From 2005 to 2010, only 1.37 million Mexicans immigrated to the United States, about half of the immigrants from previous five year periods.

Between 2005 and 2010, around 1.39 million Mexican immigrants returned to Mexico from the United States, more than twice the amount that have done so in past five-year periods.

Mexican census data shows that there are more U.S. born children living in Mexico, the likely result of their parents being deported, the Denver Post reported.

A nine-year-old boy was found dead after falling off of his dirt bike in Oak Grove Friday night, CBS Minnesota reported.

Nicholas Engler's body was found on a bike path at around 7 p.m. Friday, CBS Minnesota reported.

Investigators believe that Englers might have been riding alone when he fell and became unresponsive.

Engler's friends ran to get his father after they found him unconscious on the bike path.

Engler was wearing a helmet and protective equipment when he fell.

Paramedics were called to the scene and an emergency helicopter was released, but the boy was pronounced dead by paramedics before it arrived.

A Moscow police captain was arrested after accepting a $40,000 bribe in a recent crackdown on police corruption, the New York Times reported.

The captain, who was not identified, was arrested after accepting bribes from a car salesman to ignore legal infractions.

A statement, from Moscow police, said that the captain's superiors would also be punished.

The captain was a member of the Interior Ministry, RAPSI News reported.

The crackdown on corruption came after an incident in March where a man died after being sodomized by police.

The Heart Attack Grill, a hospital themed restaurant in Las Vegas, had a second patron fall ill on Saturday night, KARE 11 reported.

Jon Basso, the owner of the restaurant, told KVVU that the woman was smoking, drinking and eating before she had a medical episode Saturday.

It is unclear whether she fell unconscious because of the food.

The woman was wheeled out of the restaurant by paramedics and her condition is not known, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Heart Attack Grill features a hospital theme, with waitresses in nurses costumes and "Flatliner" fries cooked in lard and "Quadruple Bypass Burger" which can top 10,000 calories.

This incident was the second this year after a man was wheeled out of the restaurant by paramedics in February.

The Secret Service says that new evidence has been discovered, linking 11 personnel to alleged misconduct with prostitutes in Colombia last weekend before President Obama arrived for a meeting, the New York Times reported.

Agents allegedly took women to their hotel rooms before the president arrived for a summit meeting in Colombia last weekend.

Investigators are planning on interviewing the women involved in the case, which includes snipers and other agents who handle explosives.

Around 20 women were brought into the hotel, and many made it into agents' hotel rooms.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security Comittee, said that she feared the women might have ties to groups that are hostile with the United States.

"Could they have planted bugs, disabled weapons, or in any others jeopardized security of the president or our country?" Collins said she had asked of the Secret Service.

Nine military personnel are also under investigation, the Washington Post reported.

More than 140 girls and female teachers were hospitalized after drinking poisoned water at their school in the Takhar province of Afghanistan, CNN reported.

Dr. Hafizullah Safi, the provincial health director, said victims ranging from 14 to 30 were taken to a nearby hospital after their school's water tank was poisoned.

Officials are blaming extremists that are working to stop women's education in Afghanistan.

Some victims lost consciousness while others reported feeling dizzy and vomiting.

A few of the women and school girls remain in the hospital in critical condition, The Guardian reported.

Although attacks on women are less common since the 2001 toppling of the Taliban government, periodic attacks on schools still happen.

Many of these attacks happen in the southern half of Afghanistan where conservative ideals still remain common.

Organizers of the 116th Boston Marathon asked many runners to skip the race Monday because of unseasonably warm temperatures, the New York Times reported.

The marathon began Monday morning with temperatures in the low 70's, scheduled to rise to 80's before the runners made their way to the finish line.

Race organizers gave runners the option to defer their run until the 2013 marathon.

"For the overwhelming majority of those who have entered to participate in the 2012 Boston Marathon, you should adopt the attitude that this is not a race. It is an experience," race organizers said in an email to those registered to run.

The top women ran the first three miles at a pace that would have them finished in 2 hours and 38 minutes, the slowest Boston Marathon finish since 1978, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Although runners have to meet strict qualifications to participate in the Boston Marathon, race organizers urged non-elite runners to skip the race this year and try again next year.

"You've got to know your own body," Mike Buenting of Minneapolis told the Los Angeles Times. "You have to know how to hydrate and the rest will take care of itself."

Olympic skier and World Cup champion from Burnsville, Lindsey Vonn, owes $1.7 in federal taxes from 2010, KARE 11 reported.

Vonn has been going through a divorce with Thomas Vonn, who was also her coach. She has had many high-profile sponsors such as Red Bull, Rolex and Under Armour.

The IRS filed a tax lien for $1,705,437 against Vonn and her husband on April 2 with the Elko County Recorder in Nevada, the Detroit News reported.

Vonn has promised to pay the tax bill.

She credited her marital troubles and financial for her being unaware of the bill until now.

"This matter was only recently brought to my attention and I took immediate and deliberate steps to remedy the situation," Vonn said in an email. "I have made arrangements to pay in full the balance due."

The bill is from the 2010 fiscal year, when Vonn won gold in the Vancouver olympics.

Timothy Bakdash was sentenced to 40 years in jail Monday after a Hennepin County Court found him guilty of second-degree murder, KARE 11 reported.

Bakdash was driving down the wrong side of the road in Dinkytown last April when he hit and killed Benjamin Van Handel.

Bakdash was high and drunk from a night of partying at bars in Dinkytown when he got into an argument with a group of people in the Library bar.

After the argument, Bakdash got into his car and drove into a group of pedestrians, injuring two women and killing Van Handel.

Mike Freeman, a Hennepin County Attorney, originally believed that Bakdash would receive about 25 years in prison for the murder of Van Handel.

Bakdash says that he does not remember hitting the group of pedestrians and has expressed remorse to the Van Handel family.

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch leader that claimed self defense after shooting Trayvon Martin in February, was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday, according to the Washington Post.

Under Florida law, second-degree murder does not imply premeditation but instead says the crime was carried out with "a depraved mind regardless of human life."

Zimmerman turned himself in and will appear before a Seminole County magistrate Thursday.

Martin's parents applauded Florida special prosecutor for charging Zimmerman with second-degree murder.

Martin's parents told Fox News that they were pleased with the results but want more.

"The question I would really like to ask him is, if he could look into Trayvon's eyes and see how innocent he was, would he have then pulled the trigger? Or would he have just let him go on home?" said his father, Tracy Martin.

A mother in Argentina was shocked to find her baby girl alive in a coffin, hours after being pronounced dead, the New York Times reported.

Analia Bouter's baby, named Luz Milagros or "Miracle Light", was born three months premature and pronouced stillborn on April 3.

Bouter said that the baby was quickly taken away to the morgue and placed in a coffin.

Twelve hours later, Bouter and her husband entered the morgue to say their last goodbyes, The Australian reported.

When the couple opened the coffin, the baby trembled. They thought it was their imagination, but a morgue worker confirmed that the baby was alive.

A week later, Luz is still improving in the neonatal intensive care unit at the same hospital that pronounced her dead.

Authorities say that the hospital workers involved in her birth have been suspended and are being investigated.

An avalanche buried as many as 139 people Saturday morning, including around 124 Pakistani soldiers and 11 civilians, CNN reported.

A U.S. team worked Monday to help Pakistani soldiers in a search for the victims near a Himalayan military outpost.

The mountain headquarters has never seen such a disaster during its two decades of existence.

The men were in the main building of the outpost when an avalanche buried them in 70 feet of snow, the Los Angeles Times reported.

So far, no bodies have been recovered and there has been no communication with the soldiers trapped under the snow.

The average winter snowfall around the outpost is around 35 feet and temperatures can reach minus 50 degrees.

A new law will allow Minnesota prosecutors to carry guns while on duty, CBS Minnesota reported.

Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bill Monday, which will allow county attorneys and assistant county attorneys to carry guns while on duty, as long as they have the proper permit.

The bill cleared the Legislature with a large majority of votes.

County attorneys offices can impose their own restrictions on their respective offices.

The bill began to gain momentum after Tim Scannel, a Cook County Attorney, was shot and wounded last year after successfully prosecuting a man, The Republic reported.

The law will come into effect on Tuesday.

There people were killed during a shooting at a residential day care faciliity near the Brooklyn Park campus of Hennepin Technical College Monday, KARE 11 reported.

A woman dropped her child off at the day care Monday morning then called 911 operators a few minutes later to report suspicious activity.

When the woman walked into the day care, she found the bodies of three adult victims.

No suspect has been detained but witnesses say they saw a young black male fleeing the day care after the shooting.

Hennepin Technical College was on lockdown for a few hours after the shooting.

Family members identified the victims as DeLois Brown, 59, and her parents, who all lived in the home together, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

The toddler inside the house was left unharmed.

I thought this article from CNN was especially interesting because the man that they profile is deaf, gay, and HIV positive.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/03/world/africa/john-meletse-deaf-hiv/index.html?iref=allsearch

Although it is obvious that the article is meant to be positive and show that he is capable, I thought the fact that he had to deal with stigmas was the only "special" part of the story. They over sensationalized his accomplishments and the writer made it seem like he shouldn't be able to do anything at all and that this was amazing that he was even able to communicate about the subject. I know of a man, John, who is in a fraternity on campus, that has two deaf parents. He said that many times the media presents deaf people as mentally challenged and that sometimes people treat them as if they can't do anything for themselves.

For example, the article referenced above, quotes Meletese and then writes "in sign language" after his quotes. Would we say "____ said, in Chinese" if we were interviewing someone who simply spoke a different language? No. It seemed degrading and unnecessary.

Also, his last quote in this story is: " I respect the disabled people for trying in this world."

How awful.

Twelve people were injured during a turbulent United Airlines flight Wednesday, CNN reported.

The flight was headed to Houston from Tampa, Fla., and hit turbulence over Lake Charles, La.

Medical crews met the plane on the tarmac when it landed around 7:30 a.m. CT. There were 151 passengers on board when the plane hit turbulence.

More than 400 flights in Dallas were cancelled due to a tornado the night before, 39 News reported.

Many had to stay overnight in the airport and continued their journey in the morning, when the weather seemed to have moved on.

The injuries were minor and all of the injured were transferred to nearby hospitals to receive treatment.

An explosive device damaged a Planned Parenthood clinic outside of Appleton, Wis., Sunday night, CBS Minnesota reported.

The device was placed on a window sill outside of the Grand Chute clinic Sunday at around 7:40 p.m.

A man was seen on the clinic's security cameras leaving the parking lot in a white SUV.

Police have arrested the suspect and have yet to charge him, the Washington Post reported. He is being held on a probation warrant.

Officials said there was minimal damage to one of the exam rooms and that the clinic would reopen Tuesday.

Five members of a Minnesota family were killed when their RV crashed on Interstate 35 in Kansas, KARE 11 reported.

The vehicle first hit a guardrail, then hit a bridge rail and careened off of the highway, crashing in a ravine.

Melissa Kerber, 24, Tom Kerber, 25, Jessica Kerber, 10, Joy Kerber, 14, and James Kerber, 12, were killed in the crash.

There were only two people wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, and 13 other family members were injured.

The Kerber family was coming back from an annual motocross vacation at the time of the crash. Many of the Kerber children race motocross, the Associated Press reported.

Adam Kerber, 17, was driving the RV.

At least nine people are dead, including three American soldiers, after a suicide bomber drove his motorcycle into a crowd of troops and detonated the explosives Wednesday, the New York Times reported.

The Taliban has taken responsibility for the attack in Faryab, one of several in recent days targetting Afghan troops.

Some initial reports said that the attack was a roadside bomb, which the police chief of Faryab, Abdul Khaliq Aqsai, denied.

Afghan intelligence officers said that the bomber might have been wearing an Afghan police uniform, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Faryab is believed to house Al Qaeda-linked militant groups but generally is considered a quiet province.

The three American soldiers killed in the attack have not been identified.

Seven are dead and three wounded after a 43-year-old former student went on a killing spree Monday at an Oakland, California religious college, CNN reported.

No charges have been filed against One L. Goh and police are still trying to discover the shooter's motive.

Shots were fired at around 10:30 a.m. in a small building that houses Oikos University in East Oakland.

The relationships between Goh and the victims are still unknown.

The small university caters to the Korean-American community and was founded around 10 years ago, ABC News reported.

Goh was a nursing student at Oikos University in the past, but it is unclear whether he dropped out or was expelled from the school.

Goh was detained at a local shopping center after a description of the suspect was released.