Kvlocke's News Blog

On the Hampton University campus in Virginia, a former student shot two people in a dormitory and then shot himself, university police and officials told CNN. university's president, Dr. William Harvey said in a press conference the former student entered the dorm by following a pizza delivery man into the building. The former student shot the deliveryman and the night manager of the dorm. The motive for the shootings is unclear, according to officials. No one was killed in the incident. According to WDBJ7.com the suspect is an 18-year-old Richmond, Virginia man. The dormitory where the two victims where shot was Harkness Hall. The school was locked down on Sunday while police investigated.

Posted by lock0186 at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A gunman entered the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York and began shooting after he barricaded the door of the center with his car so no one could escape. Zhanar Tokhtabayeba, her teacher, and 15 other students hide n the classroom's storage room. Police told CNN news that once it ended, 14 were dead. Tokhtabayeba told CNN, ""I heard shootings, very long time, about five minutes, and I was thinking when it will be stopped, but it was continued. No screaming, yelling ... just silence, shooting, silence, shooting, silence." According to CNN, 37 people made it out of the building alive. msnbc said the gunman killed 13 people before shooting himself Friday. Investigators said they had yet to establish a motive for the shooting. The shooting was at least the fifth deadly mass shooting in the U.S. in the past month. The killer is believed to be a Vietnamese immigrant. Pakistani Taliban militant leader Baituallah Mehsud claimed on Saturday that he was responsible for the attack but was unable to provide evidence to support his claim. Police didn't hear any gunfire but waited an hour before entering the building to ensure it was safe for the officers.

Posted by lock0186 at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times said Sunday, researchers in Brooklyn are researching an experimental drug delivered to areas of the brain critical for holding specific types of memory, like emotional associations, spatial knowledge or motor skills. So far, the research has only been done on animals. According to the Times, scientists would be able to make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, or even a bad habit. They said that nueroscience is becoming more prevalent, The National Institutes of Health last year spent $5.2 billion,on brain-related projects, the Society for Neuroscience told The New York Times. “This possibility of memory editing has enormous possibilities and raises huge ethical issues,” said Dr. Steven E. Hyman, a neurobiologist at Harvard said. Researchers have already tried to soften painful memories and addictive urges using existing drugs but blocking PKMzeta could potentially be far more effective. PKMzeta is the chemical in the brain that erupts when one cell stimulates another, and this is the area of the brain that researchers are experimenting delivering drugs to.

Posted by lock0186 at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to Forbes, Paul Ridley was the youngest American to complete a solo row at age 25. On Sunday he rowed into Antigua's English Harbor. It took him 88 days to cross the Atlantic. Ridley wrote a daily blog via a solar-powered satellite phone. CNN reported that the trip took 3,000 miles. He started from the Canary Islands off the north African coast on Jan. 1 and ended on the Caribbean island of Antigua at 2:30 p.m. on March 29. His goal was to raise $500,000 for research at the Yale Cancer Center. He started an organization Row for Hope to raise money for cancer. The idea came after his mother died of skin cancer in 2001. CNN said Ridley was not the first to row across the Atlantic alone; he was the third American, but at age 25 he broke the record for the youngest. Ridley told CNN his sister spent $60,000 of their own savings to have his boat custom built.

Posted by lock0186 at 9:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to AOL News, a 23-year-old Milton, Mass., man named Kerby Revelus killed two of his sisters and injured one on Saturday. He first fatally stabbed 17-year-old Samantha. Sarafina, his 9-year-old sister called 911, around 5 p.m. Saturday. Police arrived on the scene and witnessed Revelus decapitating his 5-year-old sister, Bianca. Revelus then went after Sarafina and police shot him. According to AP and AOL News, Sarafina was hospitalized Sunday at the Boston Medical Center with wounds to her hands and stab wounds in her abdomen and one of her legs. 24 hours before killing two of his sisters, Revelus got into a fist-fight with a neighbor. According to the Boston Globe, police broke down the door to Revelus' apartment to find him slashing the throat of his 5-year-old sister. Police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr., told the Globe that His intent was clear; He was trying his best to kill all of them." The Globe stated that it was Bianca's birthday and her cake was decorated with candles and sitting on the table. The grandmother, who was watching the children was in the basement doing laundry at the time of the attack.

Posted by lock0186 at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three people were arrested Saturday after a disruption at the audition for the television show America's Next Top Model at Park Central New York hotel in Manhattan, according to CNN. Of the six people injured two of them went to the hospital. Police told CNN they are unsure what caused the chaos. Three people were charged with disorderly conduct and inciting a riot in connection with the incident. Authorities told CNN the audition was shut down after the incident. According to BBC, thousands of people were in line when the incident occurred, and it was police that shut down the audition. Reports suggest matters were made worse when a man attempted to steal handbags, BBC said. Clothes and shoes were left in the street as women ran away. CW Network is working with investigators in an attempt to figure out what happened.

Posted by lock0186 at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to BBC News, on Monday, Barack Obama will lift the ban put in place by President George W Bush which blocked government funding of stem cell research. Support from the lifting of the ban comes from stem cell researchers. The ban meant that studies had to be separated based on funding. Privately funded studies had to be separated. While on the campaign trail, Obama said, "I believe that the restrictions that President Bush has placed on funding of human embryonic stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations."
CNN.com reports that Obama sign an executive order Monday that will lift the ban. Tony Perkins of the conservative Family Research Council who accused the White House of releasing the plans early so that it didn't get as much attention, told CNN that "a slap in the face to Americans who believe in the dignity of all human life."

Posted by lock0186 at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Marquis Cooper of the Oakland Raiders and NFL free agent Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions have not returned from a Saturday fishing trip off Florida's Gulf Coast according to CNN News. Former University of South Florida football players William Bleakley and Nick Schuyler were also with Smith and Cooper and did not return from the fishing trip either. The Coast Guard began searching for the missing men around 2 a.m. Sunday. They were expected to return Saturday evening. Cooper's wife contacted Brian Miller, one of Cooper's friends who then contact the Coast Guard. According to FoxNews.com, the 4 men where on a 21-foot vessel that left Clearwater Pass Saturday morning. The Coast Guard used a helicopter and an 87-foot ship to search a 750-square mile area.Poor weather has made the search for the 4 men difficult, but the search continues.

Posted by lock0186 at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This month in Hawaii, a bill was passed in the State House that would allow same sex marriage. On Tuesday, the Senate will vote on whether or not to allow same sex unions in Hawaii. According to the New York Times, the two chambers of the Legislature are controlled by Democrats. Religious groups have been placing ads and have made websites in an attempt to persuade voters against passing this bill. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Hawaii was the first state to “defense of marriage” constitutional amendment a decade ago. They would be the 5th state to legalize gay unions if it passes. Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, has not commented on whether or not she will veto the bill. the "defense of marriage" of amendment banned marriage but did not rule of gay unions. The House Judiciary Committee passed the proposition by a 12-0 vote

Posted by lock0186 at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An investigator told the Star Tribune Sunday, that the plane that crashed near Buffalo was on autopilot, which violated the airlines policy as well as a federal safety guideline for flying in icy weather conditions. The plane onto a house Thursday night, killing all 49 people on board and one person who was on the ground. Investigators who examined the engines found them to be working correctly at the time the plane crashed. According to the Pioneer Press, the crew on the plane reported ice build-up on the wings and windshield. Pioneer Press reports that the plane requested for decent to avoid haze.

Posted by lock0186 at 3:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Westchester county has started a program that will take excess cooking oil from restaurants and use it to run vehicles. There are currently seven vehicles that run on the cooking oil and 125 cars that run on a mixture of oil and diesel fuel. For every 10,000 gallons of cooking oil collected Westchester can save $25,000, Andrew Spano, the county executive told the New York Times. Restaurant owners will be able to save money because they won't have to a hire a disposal company to come and collect the excess oil. According to NBC New York, the county uses a promotion vehicle called the Veggie Van and have converted seven trucks to run on excess cooking oil.

Posted by lock0186 at 5:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

(CNN) Phelps apologized in a statement on Sunday for a picture of him smoking a marijuana pipe that was printed in a British tabloid newspaper. "I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," he said in his statement. The U.S. Olympic Committee stated publicly that they are disappointed in his behavior. Phelps was also arrested in 2004 for driving under the influence. He pleaded guilty and issued an apology at that time as well.
The Star Tribune reported that the newspaper did not claim that Phelps was smoking pot, but they stated that water pipes are generally used for spoking marijuana. Phelps did not make promotional appearances at the Super Bowl as planned, even though he was in Tampa, Fla., the week of the game.

Posted by lock0186 at 3:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Star Tribune reported that Ervin Lupoe of California shot himself after killing his wife and five children. Lupoe had his SUV packed and had planned to move to Garden City, Kan., to live with his brother-in-law after Lupoe and his wife were fired from their jobs at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in West Los Angeles.

They had lied about their income to receive cheaper child care and were terminated. Lupoe called his brother-in-law, Caesar Ramirez the day of the murders. He told his brother-in-law that he had killed his family and that left everything to him, including a small settlement. Ramirez contacted Garden City police, who contacted Los Angeles police.
The Star Tribune states that Ramirez faxed a two page letter to the local news station stating that, hospital administration told him he shouldn't bother showing up to work and that he should blow his brains out. Hospital administration denied using such language when speaking with Lupoe.

CNN.com reports that Police believe Lupoe called KABC and threatened suicide which then caused the station to call police. CNN also states that around the same time Lupoe called 911. He told them that he had returned home to find his family dead. CNN also states that the school was notified weeks before the children's deaths that they would no longer be attending school because they were moving to Kansas.

Posted by lock0186 at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)