Highly Poisonous Ricin May Have Been Found At Hotel

POSTED: 9:28 pm PST February 28, 2008
UPDATED: 10:55 pm PST February 28, 2008

Ricin 6,000 Times More Toxic Than Cyanide

LAS VEGAS — Metro Homeland Security reports four people were sent to the hospital for possible ricin poisoning at the Extended-Stay America hotel at West Flamingo Road and South Valley View Boulevard.

Video: Highly Toxic Substance May Be At Hotel

At about 3 p.m. Thursday, an employee found a substance in one of the hotel’s apartments when he was cleaning it and took it to the office. The four people, three of whom were employees, who were exposed to the substance were sent to the hospital, and the area surrounding the apartment was evacuated, according to Metro.

As of Thursday night, the four people were OK.

Preliminary reports indicate the substance may have been ricin, a substance that is 6,000 times more toxic than cyanide. There is no known antidote.

For full story click here.

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Breaking News – Fox News Network: 3rd wife of Scott Peterson, Kathleen Savio, has now been ruled as a homocide

Fox News TV 10:00pm
Thursday, February 21, 2008

Greta VanSustren of Fox News has just announced the 3rd wife of Drew Peterson, Kathleen Savio has now been ruled a homocide.  It was initially ruled death by drowning but after they exhumed and re-examined the body they reversed their decision as a homicide.  They also learned that there was no forced entry.

Drew Peterson Bombshell: Dr. Baden Was Right!

by Jamie Colby

Breaking news….the Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow advises that Kathleen Savio’s death (Drew Peterson’s third wife) was a homicide. The new autopsy performed after the case was reopened confirms that her death was not an accident as originally ruled but a drowning and that is why it is now re-classified a homicide. This conforms to Dr. Baden’s conclusions after the independent autopsy he performed for the Savio family.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Feb. 21, 2008JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced today that his office has received the final report on the autopsy performed on the remains of Kathleen S. Savio on Nov. 13, 2007       Check GretaWire.com

6.0-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Nevada

Thursday, February 21, 2008

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit northeast Nevada on Thursday, causing at least one building to crumble, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The quake was reported about 6:16 a.m. local time near Elko, about 430 miles north of Las Vegas, according to wire reports. It was originally estimated at 6.3, but downsized later to 6.0.

“Definitely a lot of people felt this, and if they were sleeping, they were awoken,” said USGS geophysicist Carrieann Bedwell.

Elko County Undersheriff Rocky Gonzalez said there were reports of some damage to buildings. At least one building collapsed, he said, and a Flying J truck stop was evacuated because of a propane leak.

There were no immediate reports of serious injuries, but a manager at a truck stop said the store was a wreck, with groceries and goods scattered. One woman was reportedly hurt when a cigarette rack fell on her.

“It was pretty bad,” said Jane Kelso, who answered the phone at a Motel 6 in Elko. “Everything in our whole building shook. “We have cracks in our walls.”

The earthquake had an epicenter of only 3.7 miles and struck in a sparsely populated area 11 miles southeast of Wells near the Nevada-Utah line.

It was felt across eastern Nevada, Utah and as far away as Southern California. There were reports of buildings swaying in downtown Salt Lake City, which is about 230 miles from Elko.

In Wendover, Utah, on the Nevada-Utah line, Tammy Wadsworth was ironing clothes when the quake hit.

“I kept thinking, ‘When is it going to quit?’ A couple pictures fell off the walls,” she said. “One of my grandkids ran outside. They didn’t know what else to do.

Man Arrested After N.Y. Bank Lets Him Withdraw Millions

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

“What’s in a name”?  Ask Benjamin Lovell that question and he’ll be sure to tell you. 

What would you do if you went to the bank, asked them to check your account and they insisted you had $5 million dollars in your account and was told you could withdraw $2 million dollars.  You try to tell the bank that couldn’t be your account but the bank assures you it is the right account and you could withdraw $2 million dollars.  You withdraw the money and then you are arraigned on grand larceny charges?  Should you or the bank be charged with the crime?……flagranny2

NEW YORK —  A man was charged with withdrawing $2 million from an account after a bank confused him with a man who has the same name.

Benjamin Lovell was arraigned Tuesday on grand larceny charges. The 48-year-old salesman said he tried to tell officials at Commerce Bank in December that he did not have a $5 million account. He says he was told it was his and he could withdraw the money.

Prosecutors said the bank — which advertises itself as America’s Most Convenient Bank — confused Lovell with a Benjamin Lovell who works for a property management company.

The lesser-funded Lovell gave away some of the withdrawn money and blew some of it on gifts, but lost much of it on bad investments, prosecutors said.

The district attorney’s office did not immediately have information on his lawyer. Calls left with Commerce Bank on Wednesday were not immediately returned.

Breaking News:Fidel Castro Resigns Cuban Presidency After Half-Century in Power

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Although his resignation was anticipated due to his declining health I don’t think it was expected this early….flagranny2

HAVANA —  An ailing Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba’s president Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power, saying he will not accept a new term when the new parliament meets Sunday.“I will not aspire to nor accept — I repeat, I will not aspire to nor accept — the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief,” read a letter signed by Castro published early Tuesday in the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma.The announcement effectively ends the rule of the 81-year-old Castro after almost 50 years, positioning his 76-year-old brother Raul for permanent succession to the presidency. Fidel Castro temporarily ceded his powers to his brother on July 31, 2006, when he announced that he had undergone intestinal surgery.Since then, the elder Castro has not been seen in public, appearing only sporadically in official photographs and videotapes and publishing dense essays about mostly international themes as his younger brother has consolidated his rule.A new National Assembly was elected in January, and will meet for the first time Sunday to pick the governing Council of State, including the presidency that Fidel Castro has held for decades. There had been wide speculation about whether he would continue in that role.

Castro rose to power on New Year’s Day 1959 and reshaped Cuba into a communist state 90 miles from U.S. shores. The fiery guerrilla leader survived assassination attempts, a CIA-backed invasion and a missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Ten U.S. administrations tried to topple him, most famously in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961.

His ironclad rule ensured Cuba remained communist long after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe.

Monarchs excepted, Castro was the world’s longest ruling head of state.

Raul Castro had long been his brother’s designated successor. The longtime defense minister had been in his brother’s rebel movements since 1953 and spent decades as No. 2 in Cuba’s power structure.

The United States, bent on ensuring neither brother is in power, built a detailed plan in 2005 for American assistance ………[continued]

USDA Orders Largest-Ever Beef Recall After Alleged Animal Cruelty

Monday, February 18, 2008

143 million pounds of beef recalled

We are almost to the point of being afraid to eat anything any more.  Is it due to laziness or lack of concern of the USDA or due to our economy forcing those who raise cattle for a living to try and include as many of their cattle as possible in order to make a living?…..(flagranny2)

LOS ANGELES —  An undercover video showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts has led to the largest beef recall in the United States and a scramble to find out if any of the meat is still destined for school children’s lunches.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of beef from a Southern California slaughterhouse that is the subject of an animal-abuse investigation.

The recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006, that came from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the federal agency said. The company provided meat to various federal programs.

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.

“We don’t know how much product is out there right now. We don’t think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take this action,” said Dr. Dick Raymond, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety.

Click here for the USDA recall release (PDF)

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.

“Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall,” Schafer said in a statement. [For the complete article click here]

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE:Bobby Cutts Jr. Found Guilty of Killing Pregnant Girlfriend Jessie Davis

Friday, February 15, 2008

  Request for Mistrial Denied !!!

CANTON, Ohio  —  A former police officer who tearfully told jurors he accidentally killed his pregnant lover was convicted Friday of murdering her and their unborn child.Bobby Cutts Jr. could face the death penalty. He had claimed he accidentally killed Jessie Davis by putting an elbow to her throat, then panicked.

• Click here for photos.

Cutts, 30, was convicted of aggravated murder in the death of the nearly full-term female fetus, which carries the possible death penalty. Jurors will return later this month to weigh a sentencing recommendation.

The jury found him not guilty of aggravated murder in Davis’ death, a count that includes intent to kill with prior calculation. But they convicted him of a lesser charge of murder in her death.

Defense attorneys asked Stark County Common Pleas Judge Charles E. Brown Jr. to declare a mistrial because the differing verdicts on the two counts.

Brown rejected the request, saying the allegations involved separate individuals: Davis and the fetus.

Jurors reached their decision on their fourth day of deliberations. Cutts sat with his hands on his lap and held his head erect without emotion as the verdicts were read.

Prosecutors told the jury that Cutts killed Davis, 26, last June at her Lake Township home to get out of child support payments for a fourth child.

The couple’s 2 1/2-year-old son, Blake, who was found home alone, gave investigators their first clues to his mother’s disappearance when he said, “Mommy’s crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy’s in the rug,” and, later, “Daddy’s mad.”

For more than a week, Cutts, then an officer on the Canton police force, denied knowledge of her whereabouts as thousands searched in the area. He finally led authorities to the body, wrapped in a comforter and dumped in a park about 20 miles from her home.

Cutts testified for four hours Monday, saying tearfully [continued]