Newser Story Index from July, 2009
Welcome to the Newser Story Index. Here you find stories written by Newser writers and editors, assembled with supporting photos and videos from the files of the news story.
Want to Locate Sex Offenders? There's an App for That
Chicago Tribune
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Jul 30, 2009 12:34 PM CDT
(Newser) -
It’s getting harder and harder to be a sex offender these days. A new iPhone app called “Offender Locator,” available for a mere 99¢, is growing in popularity and recently cracked the App Store’s Top 10, the Chicago Tribune reports. Just input an address, and the device will point out anyone nearby who’s on the...
Anti-Earmark Rep. Scores Earmark for Blimp Research
Politico
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Jul 30, 2009 12:21 PM CDT
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Rep. Pete Sessions is a vocal opponent of earmarks, but last year he scored one for a company that's not even in his district. Thanks to Sessions, $1.6 million for airship research went to a firm with no experience in either government contracting or blimp-making, Politico reports. Seems that a lobbyist who has made more than $446,000 working for the...
Top US Commander Wants Troops Out of Iraq Pronto
Washington Independent
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Jul 30, 2009 12:11 PM CDT
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The US should get out of Iraq sooner rather than later, a top Army officer wrote in a recent memo obtained by the Washington Independent . Col. Timothy Reese, the chief of the Baghdad Operations Command Advisory Team, says American forces “smell bad to the Iraqi nose,” and their presence—currently scheduled to extend until 2011—jeopardizes...
Fla. Python Hunt More Wild Goose Chase
Palm Beach Post
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Jul 30, 2009 12:05 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The “Great Florida Python Hunt” is on, but the prey population is likely smaller—and less dangerous—than advertised, Paul Quinlan writes in the Palm Beach Post . Proponents have said there could be 100-150,000 Burmese pythons in the Everglades, a figure the media has seized upon. But the biologist who’s the source of...
Our Decrepit Democracy Can't Fix Health Care: Klein
Time
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Jul 30, 2009 11:52 AM CDT
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Powerful special interests are killing health-care reform, which is par for the course in Congress, writes Joe Klein of Time . “We’ve gotten rusty at legislating,” says one Tennessee Democrat. That’s overly kind, Klein retorts. The only bills that pass these days are essentials like budgets and “cotton-candy giveaways.”...
Obama's Kitchen Has Too Many Chefs
Washington Post
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Jul 30, 2009 11:42 AM CDT
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President Obama has broken his promise to restore the power of Congress “by appointing a virtual army of ‘czars,’” Republican Eric Cantor writes in the Washington Post . The administration now has at least 32 czars—more than Russia ever did—with each spearheading major policy initiatives. That’s an “end-run...
Tiffany's Little Blue Box Keeps Recession Out
New York Times
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Jul 30, 2009 11:30 AM CDT
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Amid the global economic downturn, one American institution stands strong: Tiffany & Co. “Tiffany is as American as guns,” writes Cintra Wilson for the New York Times . “Tiffany has always managed to navigate the dark spells of the economic cycle. It has survived the Civil War, two World Wars, the Panic of 1893, the Great Depression,...
No. 3 Republican Throws Support to Sotomayor
Politico
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Jul 30, 2009 11:18 AM CDT
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Lamar Alexander today became the first Republican leader to support Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Politico reports. Her “political and judicial philosophy may be different than mine, especially regarding Second Amendment rights,” the third-ranking GOP senator said, but “I will vote to confirm her because she is...
Why Congress Won't Face the Fat Problem
Politico
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Jul 30, 2009 11:10 AM CDT
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Congress is “in denial” on one key health issue: obesity, writes Lisa Lerer for Politico. Obesity-related illnesses reportedly cost $147 billion, or 10% of medical spending, last year—and lawmakers say they’re focused on cost-cutting. But, experts say, “no one wants to tell Americans the bad news.” Notes one professor:...
Clothier: Gisele Is Preggers
Boston Globe
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Jul 30, 2009 10:55 AM CDT
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The latest entity to weigh in on the Gisele Bundchen: pregnancy debate: London Fog, the Boston Globe reports. In a statement regarding recent—retouched—ads featuring Bundchen, an exec says, “Nobody is sexier or more beautiful than Gisele Bundchen in nothing but a London Fog trench coat, even with her visible baby bump.” Elsewhere:...
Anti-Business? Didn't I Just Bail You People Out?
BusinessWeek
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Jul 30, 2009 10:46 AM CDT
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President Obama says anyone calling him “anti-business” has an awfully short memory. “It was just three or four months ago when, at great political expense, we yanked them out of the fire,” he tells BusinessWeek in a lengthy interview. And of Chrysler and General Motors bondholders, “They had no problem with government...
Abrams' 'Gossip Cop' Worst of Both Worlds
New York Daily News
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Jul 30, 2009 10:34 AM CDT
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It seems that Dan Abrams just launched Mediaite, but he’s already back with another venture: Gossip Cop. The initial post compared it to "TMZ meets Smoking Gun," but Laura Schreffler, in the New York Daily News , deems it “sort of like TMZ meets the Huffington Post.” The first “brilliant exposé”? A piece...
Tweeting Beethoven a Noteworthy Development
Washington Post
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Jul 30, 2009 10:23 AM CDT
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In a bid to win over multitaskers and technophobes, the National Symphony Orchestra will tweet along with tonight's performance of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, the Washington Post reports. Audience members with appropriate gadgets can sit in a special section on the lawn at Wolf Trap, in suburban Virginia, and follow posts from the conductor....
Top iPhone Annoyances and How to Fix Them
PC World
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Jul 30, 2009 10:10 AM CDT
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Even a gadget as good as the iPhone isn't without its annoyances, although luckily bigger geeks than you have cooked up workarounds for most of them, Jared Newman writes in PC World . Some major gripes: AT&T: The carrier's stranglehold in the US is becoming even more irksome as foreign iPhone users start to enjoy better tethering...
Kate 2.0 Spills Romantic Beans
Star
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Jul 30, 2009 9:58 AM CDT
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After much anticipation, Kate Major—aka “Kate 2.0” of Jon & Kate fame—has given former employer Star her exclusive story. On her romantic first meeting with Jon: “I introduced myself as a reporter and said, ‘I’d like to meet Jon.’” His classy bodyguard snapped a photo and said, “I...
Older White Men Take Big Hit From Recession
USA Today
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Jul 30, 2009 9:40 AM CDT
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Typically it’s the young who lose their jobs in a recession, but not in the current slowdown. Aging white workers at the theoretical peak of their earning power are losing their jobs this time around—and they can’t find new ones, USA Today reports. The jobless rate for white men over age 55 is at its highest level since the Great...
Holder Warns of Homegrown Terror Risk
ABC News
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Jul 30, 2009 9:28 AM CDT
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The chilling big picture suggests that “the radicalization of Americans” who leave the country and return wanting to do “harm to the American people” is a growing threat, Eric Holder tells ABC News. It’s “something that didn’t loom as large a few months ago as it does now," says the AG. "That’s...
Idol Hit-and-Run Suspect Will Fight Case
People
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Jul 30, 2009 9:21 AM CDT
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The 23-year-old charged in the hit-and-run death of American Idol wannabe Alexis Cohen will plead not guilty on all counts, his lawyer tells People. Daniel Bark is mounting a tough defense case, says the lawyer. “We don't have anything in regards to the mechanics of how this young woman was killed,” he says, noting that no witnesses...
Beck Wins It All in Stewart's Jackass Derby
Comedy Central
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Jul 30, 2009 9:15 AM CDT
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“Apparently, any jackass in a suit willing to go on television and criticize the president can make a pretty hefty living,” Jon Stewart said last night on The Daily Show . To crown the biggest jackass of all, Stewart trotted out a new segment: "So You Think You Can Douche."
Tax Cheats Flood IRS, Looking to Come Clean
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 30, 2009 9:07 AM CDT
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A crackdown on tax evasion has led to a flood of wealthy Americans lining up to reveal their offshore accounts to the IRS, reports the Wall Street Journal . A limited-time offer of lower fines, coupled with the ongoing probe of Swiss bank accounts held by UBS, has produced a stampede of tax sinners eager to pay up. "Last week we had 400 applicants,...
Jellyfish Journeys May Affect Climate
NPR
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Jul 30, 2009 8:57 AM CDT
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Jellyfish may be secretly affecting the climate of the oceans: Their movements appear to help change the balance of carbon in the atmosphere, NPR reports. Many jellyfish hide from predators deep underwater during the day and head to the surface at night for a snack, says an oceanographer. When they return, a study in Nature says, they may be carrying...
My Client's Corrupt, But Who Isn't?
Washington Post
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Jul 30, 2009 8:50 AM CDT
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Former Rep. William Jefferson’s lawyer tried a novel defense tactic in his closing arguments yesterday: putting all of the political class on trial. Sure, his client had stashed bribe money in his freezer—but hasn’t everyone, metaphorically speaking? “We all occupy the gray area,” said attorney Robert Trout. “We’re...
Michael's Mom Gets Custody of Jackson Kids
CBS News
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Jul 30, 2009 8:44 AM CDT
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The custody battle between Katherine Jackson and Debbie Rowe is over, sources tell CBS News. The Jackson matriarch has been awarded full custody of Michael Jackson’s three children, and Rowe will have visitation rights—but receive no money. “It’s an agreement for the best interests of the children. This is not a money deal,”...
House Bill Loaded With $6.5B the Pentagon Doesn't Want
Washington Post
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Jul 30, 2009 8:30 AM CDT
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They gave up on the F22, but Congress is still trying to give the Pentagon $6.9 billion in planes, helicopters and ships the Defense secretary doesn’t want, the Washington Post reports. House Democrats have loaded the defense spending bill with earmarks for programs Barack Obama and Robert Gates have specifically targeted as waste, and the...
Shatner Graces Conan With More Palin 'Poetry'
NBC
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Jul 30, 2009 8:27 AM CDT
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After realizing Sarah Palin’s incoherent resignation address was not actually a speech but rather poetry, Conan O’Brien started investigating her Twitter feed. “Some people have found her tweets to be a little rambling, confusing, and off-topic,” O’Brien said on last night’s Tonight Show , but that’s because...
US Warms to 'Cool' White Roofs
New York Times
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Jul 30, 2009 8:22 AM CDT
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White roofs, which energy efficiency advocates have been pushing for 20 years, are finally catching on with homeowners and business across the country, the New York Times reports. The object of a campaign by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, so-called "cool roofs," which absorb less sunlight, can cut AC costs by 20% or more. Since they cost...
Police Beat Neda Mourners, Turn Mousavi Away
Reuters
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Jul 30, 2009 8:01 AM CDT
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Iranian police beat demonstrators gathered in a Tehran cemetery to mourn victims of post-election violence, including Neda Agha-Soltan—the 26-year-old whose killing was witnessed by hundreds of thousands on YouTube. A witness told Reuters that some mourners were arrested. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi defied threats from the Revolutionary...
Huffington Post: A Hotbed of Junk Medicine
Salon
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Jul 30, 2009 7:51 AM CDT
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During the height of swine flu panic, a Huffington Post blogger advised dumping the Tamiflu and sticking with "deep-cleansing enemas," which will supposedly keep you influenza-free and help you lose weight, too. HuffPo is a hotbed of junk medicine, Dr. Rahul K. Parikh writes in Salon, with pseudoscientific columns on everything from...
Silly Security Overkill Is Hurting Public Officials
Washington Post
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Jul 30, 2009 7:37 AM CDT
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Sure, our public officials need protection—but things are getting out of hand, writes David Ignatius in the Washington Post . Since 9/11, “we have gotten so cranked up about security in the United States that senior officials travel in cocoons, as if they are under constant threat.” And of what, exactly? “Al-Qaeda? Crazy people?...
China Reports 13M Abortions Annually
Associated Press
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Jul 30, 2009 7:06 AM CDT
(AP) -
China performs about 13 million abortions every year, mostly for single young women who experts say know little about contraception, according to a rare disclosure by government health officials. China imposed strict birth controls in the 1970s, limiting most couples to just one child, but the policy tends to overlook the contraception needs of unmarried...
Nigerian Troops Attack Militants' Mosque, Kill 100
Associated Press
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Jul 30, 2009 6:52 AM CDT
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Nigerian security forces killed more than 100 militants yesterday as they shelled then stormed the mosque and compound of an Islamist sect blamed for days of violence across northern Nigeria. The bodies of barefoot young men littered the streets of Maiduguri this morning as the army conducted a house-to-house manhunt on the outskirts of the city for...
Goldman Sachs Subpoenaed in Fraud Probe
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 30, 2009 6:38 AM CDT
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A Senate committee has subpoenaed Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and other financial institutions as part of an investigation into mortgage-market fraud, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . The probe appears to focus on emails and other internal communications that may show bankers' doubts about the safety of mortgage-backed securities, which collapsed...
Snakebites Surge in Texas, Calif.
USA Today
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Jul 30, 2009 6:30 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Poison control centers have witnessed a steep rise in snakebites in parts of the country this summer, USA Today reports. Authorities in central Texas say bites are up 35%, and southern California has seen many more serious cases than usual. Some experts suspect more snakes are developing powerful toxins in their venom, although conclusive evidence...
Northwest Busts All-Time Sizzle Record
Seattle Times
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Jul 30, 2009 6:17 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Fans, ice cream, and AC were in short supply yesterday as Seattle recorded the hottest temperature in its history, a sizzling 103 degrees, and heat records melted across the region, reports the Seattle Times . Relief is still a sweaty few days away as a heat warning remains in effect for much of the state throughout the week.
7 Women Who Might Beat Palin to the White House
Washington Post
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Jul 30, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Sarah Palin's resignation has fueled talk of a presidential bid, but the first female occupant of the Oval Office may yet be a Democrat, the Washington Post surmises. Here are some of the leading possibilities. Kirsten Gillibrand: the New York senator has impressive fundraising chops and a killer instinct—her nickname is "Tracy...
Beck Pushes 'Racist' Obama Charge Further
New York Daily News
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Jul 30, 2009 5:48 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Glenn Beck refused to back away from his claim that President Obama is a "racist" on his radio show yesterday, telling detractors that "you are never going to shut me up." Beck mounted an angry defense of his comments on Fox News that the president has "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture," and said...
Whale Saves Drowning Diver
Telegraph (UK)
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Jul 30, 2009 5:35 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A beluga whale came to the rescue of a woman who got into trouble during a free-diving contest at a Chinese aquarium, the Telegraph reports. The woman, who wasn't wearing breathing equipment, suffered cramps near the bottom of the aquarium's Arctic pool and found herself unable to rise. The whale, sensing she was in trouble, took her leg and guided...
Bad Loan Fees Too Juicy to Give Homeowners a Break
New York Times
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Jul 30, 2009 4:56 AM CDT
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The government's foreclosure prevention program is failing largely because of mortgage companies who can make more money when loans go delinquent, industry insiders tell the New York Times . Companies servicing mortgage loans charge many lucrative fees as loans go bad—recoverable, if necessary, out of the proceeds when the foreclosed home is...
Paris 'Haunted' by Sex Tape
Sun (UK)
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Jul 30, 2009 4:35 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Who knew? The apparently always-bored Paris Hilton is still deeply upset about a sex tape of her recorded by a former boyfriend, according to an MTV documentary about the professional camera hog. "It's something that haunts me to this day," said the socialite. "It's embarrassing." On the tape, Paris has desultory sex with former...
Eau de Stampede: Perfume Panic Fells 34 at Texas Bank
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Jul 30, 2009 4:09 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A spray of strong perfume by an employee sparked chaos at a Bank of America call center in Texas yesterday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. After two employees complained of feeling dizzy from a colleague's strong perfume, an announcement was made saying anyone feeling ill should exit the building. Hundreds of people left the building, emergency...
Trouble Brews Over Prez Foreign Beer Pick
Wall Street Journal
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Jul 30, 2009 3:44 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Obama's next round of peacemaking beers at the White House might have to include US brewery owners, reports the Wall Street Journal . The cooling off confab today will be providing busted Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates and cop James Crowley's favorite brews Red Stripe and Blue Moon, and some Bud Light for the president. All three, American...
Russia to Drill for Oil Off Cuba
BBC
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Jul 30, 2009 3:17 AM CDT
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A government-controlled Russian oil firm will be allowed to search for and extract oil from Cuba's portion of the Gulf of Mexico under a deal signed yesterday, the BBC reports. The Russian firm will work alongside Cuba's state-run oil monopoly a matter of miles off the coast of America. Cuba believes it has some 20 billion barrels of oil in offshore...
Pregnant Women Win Priority for Swine Flu Vaccine
Washington Post
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Jul 30, 2009 2:58 AM CDT
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Pregnant women and people who care for infants will be first in line for the swine flu vaccine this fall, the Washington Post reports. Infants, children and young adults under 24, chronically ill adults aged 25 to 64, and health care workers are the other top priority groups under guidelines drawn up by experts at the Centers for Disease Control...
Brother, Can You Save a Park?
Los Angeles Times
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Jul 30, 2009 2:35 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Cash-strapped California parks are searching for private money to cope with the state's sweeping budget cuts, the Los Angeles Times reports. Up to 100 of California's 279 state parks and beaches could be forced to close after Labor Day. Just 13 of them make enough money to survive without state funds, and officials hope to find corporate sponsorship...
Man Charged With 2nd Sex Attack on Horse
SCnow.com
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Jul 30, 2009 2:15 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A shotgun-toting stable owner rigged a stall with a surveillance camera to catch an unbridled perv having sex with her horse—again, authorities said. "I feel like I’ve been raped,“ said the furious owner, who caught the suspect getting down to business on a chair behind her filly Sugar.
Baby Cut From Murdered Mom Found Alive
Boston Globe
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Jul 30, 2009 1:47 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A baby girl police believe was cut from the womb by her mother's killer has been found alive and healthy, the Boston Globe reports. Two people have been arrested in the killing of Darlene Haynes, 23, in her Massachusetts home. She was 8 months pregnant at the time of her murder. The suspects, a woman and her male companion, were arrested after friends...
Cops Suspended for Running Background Check on Obama
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Jul 30, 2009 1:20 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Two Atlanta-area police officers have been placed on paid leave for running a background check on President Obama, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Secret Service was notified after the president's name was sent to the National Crime Information Center from a computer in the cops' police car. The Internal Affairs Division of...
ESPN's Andrews to 911: I'm Being Treated Like Britney
New York Post
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Jul 29, 2009 9:15 PM CDT
(Newser) -
As if being videotaped in hotel rooms weren't bad enough, ESPN's Erin Andrews now has to deal with reporters outside her Georgia home, the New York Post reports. "I'm being treated like fucking Britney Spears and it sucks," she complains to a 911 dispatcher. After describing herself as the "girl that was videotaped without her knowing,...
Liberals Near Revolt Over Health Care Deal
Politico
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Jul 29, 2009 8:29 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Blue Dogs had a good day, but now liberals are howling. After the conservative Democrats managed to shift health care legislation to the center, progressive Democrats say they might mount a rebellion of their own, report Politico and the Hill . They're mostly upset that Henry Waxman agreed to water down a government-financed public option for insurance....
Florida's New Boom Crop: Potent Indoor Pot
Time
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Jul 29, 2009 7:35 PM CDT
(Newser) -
California gets most of the attention when it comes to marijuana headlines, but Florida leads the nation in indoor pot cultivation, reports Time . Last year, police raided more than 1,000 so-called grow houses, more than double the number in 2006. The trend has the attention of authorities because pot grown indoors—with powerful lights and chemical...
