Ore. Mom Busted in Son's Drowning

Comfort in water may help prevent drowning

(NEWSER) - Just in time for Memorial Day, experts are relaxing their recommendation that children under 4 not be given swimming lessons. New evidence suggests lessons could help save little kids from drowning, the No. 2 cause of death for people aged 1 to 19, reports HealthDay News . "Children need to learn to swim," says the pediatrician who led the team behind the new guidelines More»

(NEWSER) - The latest trend in nomenclature rings false to at least one person who recently realized that "Mom" has become "the now generic name for every female parent in our country." Thinking it over, Anne Albeck dates the phenomenon to the early '90s, but familiarity—and overfamiliarity—really does breed contempt. "Being called Mom by everyone from the shoe store clerk to the pediatrician is a little too intimate for me," Albeck writes for the Chicago Tribune. More»

Family expected to file it in court today; assets going into trust

(NEWSER) - Michael Jackson's will calls for his mother to take custody of his three children, People reports. The family is currently reviewing the document—its very existence had been in doubt even a day ago—and is expected to file it in court today, adds TMZ. It includes no numbers, but Jackson's assets will reportedly go to the family trust. More»

He was also depressed over parents' split

(NEWSER) - Detroit's police chief calls it "unfathomable": A 7-year-old boy hanged himself from his bunk bed with a belt, depressed over his parents' separation and because he got bullied constantly at school and around his neighborhood, reports the Detroit Free Press . He was discovered by his 14-year-old-sister, who saw him through the keyhole of his locked door. More»

Tonya Thomas, children had troubled past

(NEWSER) - Tonya Thomas shot her four children 18 times in Tuesday's massacre , and two of them were shot as the gun pressed against their chests, according to the medical examiner's report. She used jacketed, hollow-point bullets, which cause more damage than full-metal jacket rounds, and used a single Taurus .38-caliber revolver, which she would have had to reload three times. About 36 minutes passed from when the first shots were reported to 911 until the last shot was heard, Florida Today reports. (Thomas reportedly smoked a cigarette after killing her children and before killing herself.) Previous reports from the AP and Fox News paint a tragic picture of the family's history: More»