Employees at Burr Oak Cemetery accused of digging up graves to resell

Cemetery workers accused of digging up graves, reselling plots
Story Highlights
At least four cemetery workers accused of dumping bodies, reselling burial plots

Emmitt Till, other prominent African-Americans among bodies buried at cemetery

Sheriff: Workers may have doctored records to avoid suspicion



CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Employees at a historic African-American cemetery near Chicago allegedly dug up more than 100 graves as part of an off-the-books scheme to resell burial plots to unsuspecting customers, authorities said Wednesday.

Dozens of graves at Burr Oak Cemetery were desecrated by workers as part of a financial scheme, authorities say.

Cook County authorities began investigating the cemetery about six weeks ago after receiving a call from the owners of Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, located about 20 miles south of Chicago.

The owners had concerns about possible "illegalities going on" regarding finances at the business, said Sheriff Tom Dart.

"What we found was beyond startling and revolting," Dart told reporters at the cemetery.

The workers at Burr Oak, where lynching victim Emmett Till, blues legend Dinah Washington and some Negro League baseball players are buried among others, allegedly resold the plots, disinterred the bodies, dumped the remains and pocketed the cash, Dart said.
Watch sheriff discuss gruesome revelation »
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Cemetery workers accused of digging up graves, reselling plots

Deputies say dad asked fifth-grade son to help dump body

Deputies say dad asked fifth-grade son to help dump body
The boy told investigators he helped his dad move the dead body to a field.
Alan John Jett was arrested in the slaying of Lashanda Rae Brand. (Orange County Jail)

Sentinel Staff Writer
Bianca Prieto

Sentinel Staff Writer
9:42 PM EDT, July 7, 2009
The man accused of killing a prostitute last month and then dumping her remains near Eatonville asked his fifth-grade son to help get rid of the body, records show.

Alan John Jett, 40, who is charged with first-degree murder in the June slaying of Lashanda Rae Brand, was held without bail at the Orange County Jail.

Brand was identified last month after Orange County deputies released photos of her tattoos and asked the public for help. Witnesses told investigators she was a known prostitute.

Investigators received a tip that Jett's son told a classmate about the slaying. They interviewed him at school late last month, and the boy spilled his father's secret.

The boy, whom the Orlando Sentinel is not identifying, told investigators an incredible tale, according to an arrest affidavit.
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Deputies say dad asked fifth-grade son to help dump body
When you finish reading this you will know what kind of kid sees a dead body but goes to summer school anyway. With a Dad like this, you'll see the answer.

Firefighter faces jail for killing dogs to go on cruise

Firefighter faces jail for killing dogs
Story Highlights
Columbus, Ohio, firefighter ties his two dogs in basement, shoots them

David Santuomo dumped carcasses in firehouse trash bin

He gets 90-day jail sentence, to be served 10 days at a time

Fire division discipline could range from verbal reprimand to discharge



By Jim Kavanagh
CNN

(CNN) -- An Ohio firefighter faces jail time and may lose his job for shooting his two dogs to death rather than pay to board them while he went on a cruise.


Columbus firefighter David P. Santuomo, 43, took Sloopy and Skeeter to his home's basement, suspended them from a pipe near the ceiling and fired at least 11 shots from a .22-caliber rifle fitted with a homemade silencer, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Ron J. O'Brien said.

Santuomo then wrapped the carcasses in plastic and dumped them in a trash bin behind Firehouse 27, where he worked, O'Brien said.

"This is pretty heinous," said Cheri Miller, spokeswoman for the Capital Area Humane Society, which carried out a search warrant in Santuomo's home. The humane society has limited law enforcement powers in Franklin County.

Santuomo pleaded guilty in June to two misdemeanor counts of improperly killing a companion animal and a felony count of possession of a criminal tool. Santuomo had fashioned a makeshift silencer by taping a 2-liter soda bottle to the end of the rifle. The incident happened in December.

Miller said appalled fellow firefighters turned Santuomo in to authorities.

"There were reports that he was bragging about this," she said.
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Firefighter faces jail for killing dogs

Elderly woman kills fawn for sitting in flowers?

When you see this video, take a good look at the size of the deer we're talking about. My dog is bigger than this size deer.

Elderly woman hits fawn 1:39
An elderly woman says she was defending herself when she hit a 25-pound fawn in her flower bed. WKYC reports.
• Legal News - Crime, Courts, Celebrity Docket, and Law News from CNN.com• WKYC.com Cleveland, OH WKYC-TV -- News & Information for northeast Ohio from Channel 3 News

Okla. couple arrested for digging up dead girl

Okla. couple arrested for digging up dead girl
Police discover the remains in an Oregon storage unit

updated 5:54 p.m. ET, Tues., July 7, 2009
HAVRE, Mont. - An Oklahoma couple has been arrested for investigation of burying a young girl then digging up her remains and moving the body from state to state for more than a year, authorities said Tuesday.

Abel Wolf, 35, and Denise Wolf, 40, were being held without bail in the Hill County jail in Havre after being charged in Oklahoma with unlawful removal of a body, authorities said.

An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death and whether the remains are those of Abel Wolf's 11-year-old daughter Cheyenne, said Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31785206/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Cornyn and Barrett called traitor and booed at Tea Party

Coming from the Boston area, these Tea Parties are way off base aside from the fact that was about taxes going back to England and now it's about taxes to take care of Americans, but I respect their right to speak out. You also have to give Barrett some credit for doing his speech to this crowd.

Cornyn Booed, Called Traitor And "The Problem" At Tea Party Protest (VIDEO)

This one is on Rep. Barrett



South Carolina Rep. Gresham Barrett

Why Barrett brought up the homeland security memo after it turns out it was correct and even FOX backed off on that one, or the fact he pulled in Veterans into the speech against taxes at the same time the VA just had the largest increase in over 30 years to take care of the veterans,,,,you guessed it, with tax dollars, is really rather odd. Does Barrett ever read the newspapers?

Army Reservist not good enough for Freemasons because of being black?

Georgia freemasons at loggerheads over admission of black man to lodge
• 26-year-old African American admitted to Atlanta lodge
• Issue headed for Masonic trial and state courts

Chris McGreal in Washington

There is much about Freemasonry that remains shrouded in mystery to the outside world. But a group of members in the US state of Georgia appear to have clarified one thing - the supreme being in which all Masons are required to believe is not likely to be black.

Freemasonry lodges in Georgia are at loggerheads over the admission of a "non-white" member to an organisation that was founded on the principles of the Enlightenment but which is apparently still struggling to catch up with the latter part of the 20th century.

Now the issue is headed for a Masonic trial and the state courts after some lodges in Georgia sought to revoke the charter of one in Atlanta for admitting Victor Marshall, a 26-year-old African-American army reservist, last autumn.

The Atlanta lodge has fought back in the state courts by seeking to block the move on the grounds that is based on "racial animosity and hatred".
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/03/atlanta-georgia-freemasons-race
linked from RawStory

Gov. "Little Shop of Horrors" Palin Leaving Job

Palin quitting early as Alaska governor
Sarah Palin said today that she will step down as Alaska's governor by the end of the month. She will not seek election to a second gubernatorial term in 2010. Palin, a Republican, was elected governor in 2006. She was tapped as Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate last year. developing story
Palin announces she is stepping down

Palin said it's because lame ducks usually go travel instead of doing their jobs,,,,,excuse me? Isn't that what she's been doing since last year when McCain thought she would just make a dandy VP and was "perfectly capable of being president" at the same time his staff was calling her "little shop of horrors" and trying to keep her under control?

UK:2 police dogs die in locked cruiser

Good Lord! NO EXUSE FOR THIS!

2 police dogs die in locked cruiser

NOTTHINGHAM, England, July 3 (UPI) -- A British police dog handler could face criminal charges for leaving two German shepherds locked in a hot police car where they died.

The cruiser was parked outside Sherwood Lodge, headquarters of the Nottinghamshire Police in Nottingham, The Daily Mail reported Thursday. The county police kennels were nearby.
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2 police dogs die in locked cruiser

Police use Taser on pastor after traffic stop

Police use Taser on pastor after traffic stop
Story Highlights
Police, pastor's son give differing accounts of Taser incident

They don't agree on whether Jose Moran is still hospitalized

Police say Moran interfered with a traffic stop

Police say church congregation surrounded officer
From Melanie Whitley
CNN


(CNN) -- Police in Texas used a Taser on a 42-year-old pastor and pepper spray to disperse members of his church after police said the pastor interfered with a traffic stop.

Jose Moran was arrested early Wednesday morning after interfering with the duties of a public servant in the parking lot of a Webster, Texas, building that is being remodeled for the Iglesias Profetica Peniel Church, Webster police said in a written statement.

Moran's son, Omar, said his father had been trying to help. He added that his father has heart problems.

Moran approached an officer who was handling a traffic stop in the church's parking lot on Wednesday morning, police said.

Moran identified himself as the church's pastor and began yelling at the officer, police said.

The officer told Moran to leave several times, but Moran did not, police said. The officer then tried to arrest him. But Moran pushed the officer and ran into the church building, police said.

Moran's son said after his father asked the officer if he could help, the officer began yelling. The son said his father went back inside the church.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/02/texas.taser.pastor/index.html

Woman gave birth to baby in portable toilet and left baby in tank

Woman left newborn in portable toilet, police say
Story Highlights
Candy Vigneri claims she didn't know she was pregnant

Vigneri left portable toilet, got a cigarette, police say

Baby was unresponsive, covered with a blue antibacterial chemical

Vigneri faces charges of child abuse, reckless endangerment
By Jason Kessler
CNN

(CNN) -- A 44-year-old Maryland woman faces charges of child abuse after police say she gave birth in a portable toilet and dropped the newborn into the waste tank.


A Maryland woman is charged with child abuse after police say she dropped her newborn into a portable toilet.

After exiting the portable toilet in Long Wharf Park in Cambridge, Candy Vigneri got a cigarette from a construction worker and sat at a picnic table, police Lt. Wayne Bromwell said.

As she sat, a male passer-by approached the toilet but Vigneri warned him, "Don't go in there, I just had a baby there," police said.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/02/maryland.toilet.birth/index.html

Federal Agencies Could Add 120,000 Area Jobs

Federal Agencies Could Add 120,000 Area Jobs
Hiring Boom Hasn't Offset Other Losses

By V. Dion Haynes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 2, 2009

Though the number of unemployed people is rising in the Washington area, Kimberly A. Holder of the Food and Drug Administration has an opposite problem: She's looking for people to fill hundreds of positions slated to open soon.

"We're expanding," said Holder, the FDA's assistant commissioner for management, who is among representatives from numerous federal agencies trying to figure out how the government can fill an estimated 600,000 positions over the next few years.

After falling for two consecutive months, the unemployment rate in the metropolitan region rose to 6.2 percent in May from 5.7 percent in April. The figure, which is not seasonally adjusted, is the highest rate for May since recordkeeping began in 1990. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics revised the April figure from 5.6 percent.)

More than 30,000 regional jobs were lost in the past 12 months. Most sectors -- construction, retail, hospitality, information and transportation -- either continued their job slide or slowed the pace of losses.

The federal government and the contracting industry are among the few sectors in the area creating jobs. For instance, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, the Defense Department is looking for 50,000 contracting and acquisition officers as part of President Obama's plan to reduce outsourcing. The Department of Veterans Affairs is hiring 17,000 doctors, nurses and others to work in VA hospitals as Obama seeks to improve services for veterans. The Social Security Administration, which already has hired 5,800 people this year, is planning to fill 5,500 more positions next year. And the FDA is seeking to fill up to 600 positions, including inspectors and contract officers to staff the new Center for Tobacco Products.
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Federal Agencies Could Add 120,000 Area Jobs

TMZ Earns Second Look With Scoop On Jackson

Last week I pulled into Dunkin Donuts for coffee on my way to class. (It's a long ride and I needed it.)I had on CNN and Blitzer was just finished saying Michael Jackson was in a coma. The kid at the drive-up window said he just got a text Jackson had died. I said, "that's not true because I was just listening to CNN" but it turns out that TMZ knew a lot more than CNN and so did the kid at the window.

TMZ Earns Second Look With Scoop On Jackson
TMZ Earns Second Look With Scoop On Jackson
By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 1, 2009

LOS ANGELES, June 30 -- TMZ.com, the scrappy entertainment-news Web site, has scooped up some pretty big fish in its four years of existence, but last week it hauled in the celebrity equivalent of Moby-Dick.

Almost as soon as an ambulance pulled up to the gate of Michael Jackson's rented estate in Holmby Hills, TMZ was posting the news to the world under one of its bright-red "exclusive" banners. When Jackson, 50, died in cardiac arrest not long thereafter, TMZ had that, too -- beating not just the rest of the news media but the Los Angeles coroner's announcement.

The scoops, and subsequent red-framed "exclusives" about Jackson's tangled personal and professional affairs, have brought not only massive attention to the site but also a journalistic reassessment as well.

The question is: Did TMZ just get lucky with its Jackson coverage -- a right-place, right-time lightning strike -- or has TMZ built a smarter new-media organization that could teach the rest of the pack how to get it done? click link for more

Pope: Basilica bones belong to apostle St. Paul

Pope: Basilica bones belong to apostle St. Paul
Story Highlights
Scientific tests prove bones are those of the apostle St. Paul, pope says

Vatican tomb also holds "traces of a precious linen cloth"

Tests were carried out by inserting probe into small opening in sarcophagus

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Scientific tests prove bones housed in the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome are those of the apostle St. Paul himself, according to Pope Benedict XVI.


Pope Benedict XVI looks at the tomb of St. Paul at the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome in 2007.

"Tiny fragments of bone" in the sarcophagus were subjected to carbon dating, showing they "belong to someone who lived in the first or second century," the pope said in a homily carried on Italian television.

"This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle St. Paul," Benedict said in Sunday's announcement.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/06/29/vatican.st.paul.bones/index.html

Orlando Boy, dancing hit on America's Got Talent

'America's Got Talent': Orlando boy wows the judges

'America's Got Talent': Orlando boy wows the judges

Need some good news? Take a look at Arcadian Broad, the 13-year-old Orlando boy who dazzled the judges on "America's Got Talent" last night on NBC. The studio audience gave him a standing ovation.