NewsTalk by Erik Williams

Five men were arrested in relation to several armed robberies that occured in the University Avenue corridor over the past week, the Star Tribune reports.

The five men were arrested near 15th and Brook avenues Tuesday night after attempting to rob a woman. Despite having abandoned the vehicle they were seen using last weekend, the men were busted with purses and other belongings of the woman that had been robbed. The items were found both on the men and in their new vehicle.

Police have also released surveillance footage of a separate man believed to be involved in four downtown robberies. The man is armed and dangerous.

Posted by will2484 at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Five men were arrested in relation to several armed robberies that occured in the University Avenue corridor over the past week, the Star Tribune reports.

The five men were arrested near 15th and Brook avenues Tuesday night after attempting to rob a woman. Despite having abandoned the vehicle they were seen using last weekend, the men were busted with purses and other belongings of the woman that had been robbed. The items were found both on the men and in their new vehicle.

Police have also released surveillance footage of a separate man believed to be involved in four downtown robberies. The man is armed and dangerous.

Posted by will2484 at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The city of Detroit has long been known as the center of the auto-industry. It is home to General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. But now the Big Three giants of the auto industry are facing bankruptcy and are looking to the government for a $25 billion bailout--a recovery plan the government has been opposed to thus far.

In Detroit, auto dealers and auto parts suppliers have seen drops in sales as high as 45 percent, with almost every company having to lay off large numbers of employees.

It is estimated that more than one million people are employed by the auto industry, according to the BBC. If one of the Big Three were to be forced into bankruptcy, it's thought that up to 500,000 jobs would be affected within the auto supply industry as well.

Business analysts in Detroit estimate that a collapse of the auto-industry could mean the end of Detroit as a city.

While almost no one in the city opposes the idea of a bailout, many agree that any measurements taken should include conditions that will lead to stricter improvemens for the auto industry.

Posted by will2484 at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Leaders from Poland and Georgia accused Russian forces of firing upon a motorcade they were traveling in Sunday.

President Mikhail Saakashvili was on his way to visit victims of the recent conflict between Russia and Georgian forces. The BBC reports that the Russian-Georgia border has seen much cross-fire in the past few weeks, and Saakashvili took the opportunity to shed light on the situation to other European leaders.

Despite Russia and Georgia falling from headlines as of late, Saakashvili made it clear that the region is still unstable and wanted to emphasize Russia's "immoral" and "illegal" presence in the Georgian state.

Russian officials and Russian media denied the incident, claiming none of their soldiers had fired upon the Georgian president's motorcade.

Posted by will2484 at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A sword-wielding man was shot by security officers at a Scientology complex in Los Angeles Sunday.

Police are now investigating the shooting to discern whether or not the shooting was justified.

According to a report by Fox News, witnesses and surveillance camera coverage both make it clear that the man approached the downtown L.A. Scientology building with samurai swords in both hands. When the man got within range of striking the security guards, one of them opened fire on him, killing him.

The investigation is ongoing.

Posted by will2484 at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The La Crosse Tribune recently ran an article on the La Crosse city's Hispanic population celebrating the Day of the Dead.

The article opened with a backstory on a woman, Nemecia, and her journey across the Rio Grande into the U.S. The report moves beyond the stereotype by going into details of the woman's life and bringing to life the struggles, both culturally and physically, of adapting and traveling into a new country.

The story shares about the traditions of celebrating the Day of the Dead and its blend with the Roman Catholic holiday of All Souls Day.

The story does this through both quotes and data about the way the holiday is celebrated.

Posted by will2484 at 9:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eric Hahn has a lot of hair.

The Omaha man recently had his hair cut and styled into a 27-inch mohawk, donating the remnants of his hair to raise money for the cancer charity organization Locks of Love.

The musician told his local news station that he thought he'd take advantage of all the time he'd invested in growing his hair and now use it to raise awareness for a cause as important as cancer.

He also claimed title to world's tallest hair in the Guinness Book of World Records with his new hairstyle.

Posted by will2484 at 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More than 700 people gathered in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday to protest the passing of Proposition 8 in California, the Star Tribune reports. Prop. 8, as its come to be called, was on the ballot Nov. 4 in California and called for the definition of marriage to be between a man and a woman.

The demonstrators gathered on the plaza of the Hennepin County Government Center and waved flags and signs in dismay at the passing of Prop. 8.

The demonstrators were joined by brethen in many other major U.S. cities such as St. Paul, Duluth, Boston, and more.

Posted by will2484 at 7:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In what has become an eerily familiar scene, fires once again threatened the downtown area of Los Angeles Saturday with high winds and boiling temperatures only adding fuel to the flames.

CNN reported that the fires has spread along high-voltage lines along Interstate 5 corridor and threatened to cause rolling blackouts in the Los Angeles area.

The fire began in the Sylmar area near L.A. and has caused 4 firefighters to be injured and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 citizens from their homes. Two other fires in the Southern California area had also caused several injuries and forced even more evacuations.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in reaction to the fires, while L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Villaraigosa also stated that by midday Saturday only 10% of the fire that had originated in Sylmar was contained.

Both power and water supplies whose lines run through the I-5 corridor were shut down at various times throughout the day to ensure continued safety of the firefighters battling the blaze.

Firefighters were taking several preventive methods to help stop the fire that included ground and air support and being "on the defense" by putting trucks and firefighters in position of where the fire is expected to go.

Posted by will2484 at 7:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Global leaders met this weekend to talk about the problems facing their countries in light of the global recession.

Leaders from all over the world including such countries as the U.S., England, Japan, Germany, Brazil, India, and many more were at the summit. 85% of the world's economy was represented there, according to the BBC.

England's Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared some of the agreements reached at the summit "historic" while U.S. President George W. Bush said that countries now had detailed reform proposals to get working on and report back with when the next G20 summit occurs in April, 2009.

Included in the proposals agreed upon at the summit were a call to reform global financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, a promise to establish global free-trade by the end of 2008, and a call to make sure financial institutions incentives "prevent excessive risk taking."

All of this came together after over a month of rollercoasting markets. Bush said in his closing address at the summit that there was "no doubt" the problem face the U.S. and other countries was severe. He even went as far to say that in today's world, a depression in the U.S. brought about by falling markets could be worse than that of the 1929 market collapse.

World leaders headed back to their home countries after the conference to begin testing and implenting the new proposals. They will report how they are coming along when the G20 summit reconvenes April 30, 2009, in what is expected to be London.

Posted by will2484 at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)