Kip's News Blog

The Los Angeles Times reported that Omaha police released the first surveillance images of the 19-year-old shopping mall shooter Friday.

There were three images that were released just two days after Robert A. Hawkins walked into Westroads Mall in Omaha and killed nine people including himself.

KPTM FOX 42 of Omaha reported that the images showed Hawkins entering the mall wearing dark baggy clothes. The first shows him walking into the Von Maur department store unarmed. The second shows him walking in with an apparent bulge under his clothing. The third shows him with an AK-47 held up to his shoulder in a firing position.

"The shoppers killed were identified as Gary Scharf, 48, of Lincoln, and John McDonald, 65, of Council Bluffs, Iowa," the LA Times wrote. "The six employees killed were Angie Schuster, 36; Maggie Webb, 24; Janet Jorgensen, 66; Diane Trent, 53; Gary Joy, 56; and Beverly Flynn, 47, all of Omaha."

Hawkins had a history of trouble in his past. He had battle depression and drugs, as well as had recently broke up with his girl friend and lost his job.

He had spent time in and out of treatment centers and group homes after threatening to kill his stepmother in 2002. He was released in 2006.

Hawkins left a suicide note, but it did not indicate why he had went to the mall and opened fire, Omaha police said. After taking his life it is unlikely the police will ever know the answer to that question.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Los Angeles Times reported that a man convicted of murder escaped from a medium-security prison in Pennsylvania Sunday after hiding in a trash can.

Malcolm Kysor, 53, was reported missing after gaurds doing a routine inmate count noticed that he was not in his cell at the State Correctional Institution-Albion.

Apparently Kysor hid himself in a garbage can that was taken out to a loading dock and hauled away by a truck. He was helped by another inmate, according to a criminal report.

In 1987 Kysor was found guilty of first-degree murder. He beat Barney Fenton, 40, to death.

The prison is located just southwest of Erie, and houses close to 2,300 inmates, Sue McNaughton, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman, told ABC News.

The FBI are currently searching for Kysor. They are offering a reward to anyone that can disclose his location.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times reported that four transplant recipients contracted HIV from an infected donor, which was the first case the virus has been spread through transplants in at least 13 years.

Hepatitis C was also tranmitted to all four patients. This is the first time that any recipient of an organ transplant has contracted both HIV and hepatitis C.

The occurance of this is rare, but it does point to the inadequate testing process for organ donation. The most commonly used test fails to detect diseases if they are administered too early in the course of the disease.

The Associated Press reported that the transplants took place in January at three different hospitals in Chicago, including University of Chicago Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The recipients didn't find out about their contraction of the diseases until the last two weeks, medical officials said.

The screening questionaire administered by the Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donation in Elmhurst, Ill., stated that the donor had said they took part in high-risk behavior, the New York Times reported.

Their test for HIV and hepatitis, however, came back negative. Therefore the doctors at the hospitals in Chicago went ahead with the transplants.

It is probable that the donor contracted the diseases weeks before their death, medical officials said.

"Dr. J. Michael Millis, the chief of transplantation at the University of Chicago, said the patients were devastated, and the doctors heartbroken," the New York Times reported. "But Dr. Millis said the diseases were treatable."

The ELISA test is the most commonly used, but often fails to detect the viruses in donors that have recently been infected.

Another, more sensitive test known at the NAAT test is more likely to pick-up viral infections earlier, but is expensive and very inefficient. Time is of essence with transplants because the organs go bad very quickly after a donor has died, doctors said.

Dr. Robert Brown, director of the liver transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia told the New York Times, “There is always a drive toward better testing, but if it leads to more organ wastage, we’ll probably hurt more people than we help.�

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ABC 7 of Los Angeles reported that being 25 pounds over weight does not appear to increase the risk of cancer or heart disease, a study said Tuesday.

The study, printed in the Journal of the Medical Association, found that people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25 and 30 are thought to be overweight, but maybe not as unhealthy as researchers thought before.

"BMI is weight divided by height squared," ABC 7 reported.

Being slightly overweight seemed to actually protect some people from other illnesses, Fox News reported.

"Excess weight does not uniformly increase the risk of mortality from any and every cause, but only from certain causes," said the study's lead author Katherine Flegal, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to Fox News.

People that are overweight are actually 40 percent less likely to die from causes such as pneumonia and various infections, than those that are not overweight, the study said.

Being overweight, however, can still lead to kidney disease and diabetes.

"I would like to emphasize that our study doesn't change the basic public health recommendations. You should eat right, get some activity and don't smoke. Nothing about our study changes those recommendations," said Dr. Flegal to ABC 7.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Associated Press reported that NASA reviewed their plan for a risky spacewalk to repair a solar panel on the International Space Station Friday, NASA officials reported.

Repairing the solar panel is taking priority for the shuttle Discovery's visit to the station. There are a few different problems with the space station, but the solar panels, which are extremely expensive, could sustain even greater damage if not fixed immediately, NASA said.

The problem has to be fixed before any more shuttles can fly to the space station.

Scott Parazynski, a veteran spacewalker, will hopefully be sent to complete the repairs Saturday, NASA said.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Parazynski risks the chances of being shocked while trying to fix the solar panel.

The solar wing is producing power and cannot be shut off. If Parazynski makes even the smallest error he could could risk the chance of being shocked or severly burned.

"Just a kind of small slip and you could be touching it," Dina Contella, the lead spacewalk officer in Mission Control, told the Los Angeles Times.

Insulating tape will cover the metal parts on Parazynski's spacesuit, along with all the metal tools he will use to complete the repair.

If NASA is not confident in their repair plan then it could get pushed back to Sunday.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times reported that a woman who killed an expecting mother and then cut the fetus out of her womb and took it home was convicted Monday, despite her lawyers efforts to plead insanity.

Lisa M. Montgomery, 39, was convicted of kidnapping that resulted in death in the 2004 attack in Skidmore, Missouri. The victim was Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23.

Montgomery's defense did not argue that she had killed Stinnett, but rather that a mental disorder kept her from understanding what she had done, the Kansas City Star reported.

“It’s hard to put our arms around mental illness, because we don’t understand it. … I’m not asking for sympathy. I want you to have empathy,� defense attorney John P. O’Connor told the Kansas City Star.

It only took jurors about four hours to decide against her the plea of insanity, the New York Times reported.

The Kansas City Star also reported that Montgomery's defense will shift their focus, Wednesday, in the penalty phase of the case. They want to keep her away from the death penalty.

Prosecutors plan to pursue the death penalty.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Associated Press reported that bison that reside at Yellowstone National Park in Montana have fully recovered following the slaughter of more than 1,000 two years ago to prevent the speard of disease, park administrators said Monday.

There are 1, 100 more bison in the park than last year. Around 4,700 bison are estimated to currently be roaming the park, compared to 3,600 last year. This is the largest bison population in the world.

The bison heard reached a record high of 4,900 in the winter of 2005-2006. However, during that time 1,000 bison roamed outside of the park looking for food. When captured, they were killed as a precaution to prevent the spread of brucellosis, a disease that has been a problem in the herd at Yellowstone for years. The disease can cause female bison and cattle to abort their calves.

It is still not certain if the same problem will be faced this year, said Glenn Plumb, Yellowstone's chief of natural resources.

The problem with brucellosis will likely loom over the Yellowstone herd until the disease can be eradicated, said Amy McNamara with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

Brucellosis can also be carried by other large animals like elk.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NPR reported that the Chicago Police Department will disband its elite Special Operations Section that has been the subject of recent state and federal investigations, Tuesday.

The drug and gang unit at the department is under investigation for allegations ranging from armed violence to kidnapping and planning a murder-for-hire, officials said.

Fox News reported that seven officers of the SOS have been charged with using their badge to intimidate and shake down people. All officers have pleaded not guilty.

Two weeks ago one of those officers, Jerome Finnigan, was charged with planning to hire someone to murder another member of the unit to keep them from talking to the government.

"We cannot monitor every single police officer's behavior," said interim Police Superintendent Dana Starks.

Starks does plan to reorganize the SOS along with other specialized units, and heavily monitor their behavior.

Other recent problems within the department have only been compounded by the allegations surrounding the SOS. Other recent problems have included allegations of an incident where police beat up four business men and department veteran, Anthony Abbate, being charged with beating up a female bartender.

The department's announcement is a way to try to fix the public's perception of the police department, University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman said.

"A Band-Aid isn't going to cure a broken system," Futterman said.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The LA Times reported that five workers survived the intial chemical fire at a hydorelectric plant in Colorado Tuesday, but died before rescue workers reached them.

Nine workers of RPI Coating of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., were sealing the inside of a pipe at Xcel Corp.'s Cabin Creek power plant in Georgetown Colorado to prevent corrosion around 2 p.m. when chemical fire ignited.

Five of the workers were trapped 1, 500 feet underground. Authorities had made contact with those trapped, 45 minutes after the fire and they said they were uhurt. Air tanks and breathing masks were dropped down to the workers while rescuers waited to enter the pipe, authorities said.

When rescue workers were able to reach them hours later though, they were dead.

Four other workers under the fire were able to escape and were taken to a nearby-Denver hospital, Clear Creek County undersheriff Stu Nay said.

Investigators for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board were working Wednesday to figure out how the workers died. Officials have yet to retrieve the bodies because they are awaiting air quality tests Fox News reported.

The names of the victims have yet to be released as officials are waiting for all families to be informed first.

"We're devastated over the loss," said RPI Coating spokesman Marc Dyer. "They were very experienced guys. They were some of our best."

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Star Tribune reported that six nuns were excommunicated for herecy Tuesday in Arkansas after refusing to disband from a Canadian sect whose leader claims to be the Virgin Mary reincarnated, the Diocese of LIttle Rock announced Wednesday.

The nuns were notified Tuesday after they refused to give up the sect of the Community of the Lady of all Nations, said Rev. J. Gaston Herbert, the diocese administrator.

This was the first excommunication in the diocese's 165-year history. "It is a painfully historic moment for this church," Hebert told Fox News.

The sect's 86-year-old founder, Marie Paule Giguere, claims to be the Virgin Mary reincarnated and that God speaks to her directly.

The nuns were released after the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican issued a delcaration stating that the sect's teachings were herecy, and anyone associated with the sect was to be excommunicated. The declaration was made on July 11.

The excommunication means that the nuns will no longer be able to participate in the liturgy or receive sacraments.

"We pray that the church will open their eyes before it is too late. This is God's work through Mary, the blessed mother, and we're doing what we're asked to do, " said Sister Mary Theresa Dionne, one of the excommunicated nuns the Star Tribune reported.

The Canadian based Community of the Lady of all Nations was started in 1971.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ABC news reported that prosecutors charged O.J. Simpson with 11 criminal offenses Wednesday.

Simpson appeared in court Wednesday to hear the 11 charges, 10 of which were felony charges. The most serious of the offenses is kidnapping, which if convicted carries a sentence of life in prison.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred in Las Vegas last week when Simpson and a group of men broke into a hotel room to collect sports memorabilia that Simpson claimed belonged to him. Police reports state that Simpson and the other men stormed into the room and ordered the collectors to turn over the memorabilia at gunpoint.

Simpson, 60, has been held in a jail cell in downtown Las Vegas since Sunday.

The LA Times reported that the courts set his bail at $125,000 Wednesday. "They want to get him out as soon as possible," said Yale Galanter, Simpson's lawyer.

Simpson is expected to leave the jail today and return to his home in Florida.

It was only 13 years ago that Simpson was tried and aquitted for the murder of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday prohibiting the use of cellphones, PDAs, laptops and pagers while driving for those under 18, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

In a LA Times report, Teresa Becher, chief of the Golden Gate Division of the California Highway Patrol said motor vehicle accidents were listed as the leading cause of death among 16- to 20-year-olds. "A person's first year of driving is the most dangerous of their life," Becher said.

Fifteen other states are reported as having exsisting laws similar to the one in California.

" I told my daughters: 'I give you the car keys, I give you the cellphone, but if I see you one time using both at the same time, both of them are gone,'" Schwarzenegger said.

Teens cited for violation of the law will face a $20 ticket for the first offense and $50 each time after that. Emergency calls, however, will be exempt from the law.

"It's going to make it harder to pick someone up or make phone calls - like an interview (for a job) or if something happened in your family, " said Allan Quach, a student at Galileo High.

The law goes into effect July 1, 2008.

Posted by Kip Reynolds at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)