Teacher gets 6 years for sex, cops snag lotto ticket.

Cops snag lotto ticket from accused drug dealer .

ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) -- His lottery ticket was a $1,000 winner, but police have seized it saying it was bought with proceeds from an illegal drug sale.
Michael David, who had been staying at an Ellsworth motel, sold four 10-milligram methadone pills for $15 each last week, Police Chief John Deleo said. He then went to a convenience store and bought lottery tickets and other merchandise and went back to his motel room, where he was busted... read more - Cnn.com

DVD in firefighter’s coat pocket blocks a bullet.

He was walking out of the Waffle House when a bullet from a fight hit him.
WALTERBORO, S.C. - A South Carolina man is thankful for a DVD that ended up taking a bullet for him. Colleton County Fire and Rescue Director Barry McRoy said he was leaving a Waffle House restaurant in Walterboro on Saturday morning when two men ran in fighting over a gun. Police say a bullet hit one of the struggling men, shattered a window and then hit McRoy. The bullet hit a DVD McRoy was carrying in his pocket. He suffered a bruise but didn't realize he had been shot. As he told a police officer what happened he noticed a bullet hole in his jacket, the shattered DVD case and a piece of the bullet... read more - msn.com

Treating death as a commodity.

Robert Mannheim was stunned when he found out that strangers wanted to lend his mother in West Los Angeles money to buy her a $2-million life insurance policy and pay her premiums.
The deal got better after two years: She would sign over her death benefits to investors and collect $200,000. The idea of leveraging the value of her newly acquired insurance into a big cash payoff tickled Selma Mannheim, a child of the Great Depression, who knows the importance of having money in the bank. "I have no complaints because it did not cost me anything," she said... read more - latimes.com

Health goods sold on Web raise concern.

The National Retail Federation warns that many such products might be stolen and could be dangerous.
Popular health and beauty products sold on Internet auction sites could be stolen, tainted and possibly dangerous, according to a warning issued today by the National Retail Federation. Advil, Visine, baby formula, diabetic testing strips and other goods are being stolen from stores, warehouses and cargo trailers and peddled on EBay and other online auction sites, said Joseph LaRocca, the group's vice president of loss prevention. Because crooks typically don't keep what they steal in temperature-controlled environments, baby formula and medicines might be contaminated before they're delivered, he said. Although many retailers market health and beauty products online, the anonymity of those who use auction sites heightens buyers' vulnerability... read more - latimes.com

Police find 'Rhys murder weapon'.

Merseyside detectives investigating the death of 11-year-old Rhys Jones say they have found a gun believed to be the murder weapon. The development comes almost six months to the day Rhys, a fanatical Everton supporter, was killed as he walked home from football practice in Croxteth Park, Liverpool, on August 22. Officers also revealed they have established the exact make of bicycle used by the mystery hooded youth who left Rhys dying in a pool of blood after he was shot at while crossing the car park outside the Fir Tree pub...read more - channel4.com

Teacher gets 6 years for sex with teens.

LAURENS, South Carolina (AP) -- A former middle school teacher was sent to prison for six years Tuesday for having sexual encounters with five teenage boys.
Authorities said Allenna Ward, 24, met 14- and 15-year-old boys at the school where she taught as well as at a motel, a park and behind a restaurant. "I apologize from the depths of my heart," Ward said in court Police began investigating last year after school officials found a note believed to have been written by Ward to one of the boys. Some of the victims were students at Bell Street Middle School in Clinton, where Ward taught. She was fired about a year ago... read more - CNN.com

NTSB: Near-collision videos show runway dangers.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The National Transportation Safety Board has released dramatic animation of two runway near-collisions this year to illustrate what the agency says is the need for improvements in runway safety. The first animation shows a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 and a United Airlines Airbus A320 coming within 230 feet of colliding on the runway at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida in July... read more - Cnn.com

4 students killed in Minnesota school bus crash.

Police: Van struck bus, which then hit pickup, tipped over; at least 14 hurt.
COTTONWOOD, Minn. - Four students were killed Tuesday in a school bus crash in southwestern Minnesota, authorities said.
The students were in a Lakeview School bus that was hit by a van around 3:25 p.m. on Minnesota Highway 23 north of Cottonwood, Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Mark Peterson said. The bus then collided with a pickup and tipped on its side... read more - msn.com

Brother of gunman who killed SWAT officer offers condolences.

Wilfredo Rivera offers condolences to the family of an LAPD SWAT officer killed by his brother last week.
The lone surviving brother of the youth who shot and killed LAPD SWAT Officer Randal Simmons expressed his condolences to the officer's family Tuesday and said his brother had been depressed. But Wilfredo Rivera, 27, said he could not explain the events that left his father, three brothers and Simmons dead. SWAT Officer James Veenstra was wounded in the incident. The family is at a loss," said Rivera, an air-conditioning installer who had married and moved from the family home in Winnetka. "We are grief-stricken." ...read more - latimes.com

Britney loses battle for visiting rights.

Britney Spears has failed to regain rights to see her two sons. A Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman said that the current order denying the pop star from visiting two-year-old Sean Preston and Jayden James, one, had not been changed. The singer had been barred from visiting her children last month after refusing to give them back, leading to a police stand-off at her home. She was taken to hospital following the incident and spent another six days in a psychiatric unit earlier this month...read more - channel4.com