Mid-West Storms

Powerful storm systems ripped through the mid-west this morning leaving 9 people dead in their wake. According to news reports: "At least three people were critically injured in the small eastern Kansas town of Harveyville. The tornadoes were spawned by a powerful storm system that blew down from the Rockies on Tuesday and was headed across the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys toward the Mid-Atlantic region." Wind gusts were recorded as high as 80 mph out in Oklahoma. Kentucky has issued tornado warnings and watches throughout much of the state as the storm system threatens to reach them as the evening approaches. For this and other news please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com, www.msnbc.com.

Ohio Shooting leaves 2 Dead: 3 Wounded

Local authorities in Ohio described a young man who opened fire in Chardon High School yesterday as an "outcast". According to reports, "Witnesses say the gunman opened fire on the group (inside the cafeteria) before being chased from the building by a teacher and apprehended by authorities about a half a mile away." The first victim 16 year old Daniel Palmer was shot and died just hours after the shooting. The second victim Russell King Jr. was airlifted from the scene and has been pronounced brain dead. King was 17 years old. The suspect has been identified by family attorney Robert Farinacci as T.J. Lane. According to FoxNews.com, Farinacci stated that Lane's family wanted to offer "their most heartfelt and sincere condolences." Lane was known to be a loner who kept mostly to himself. Three other students were wounded in the incident. For this and more information please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com or www.msnbc.com.

Punishment Leaves Child Dead: Grandmother and Step-Mother Face Murder Charges

When our parent(s) used to ask us if we had finished our "green beans" at the dinner table often we would say "yes" all the while knowing that in reality the family dog finished them off for us so we could receive dessert. But 'fibbing' for one child in Attalla, Alabama caused her not to lose the privilege of dessert, but to lose her life.

According to authorities, "9-year-old Savannah Hardin (photograph right) died after being forced to run for three hours as punishment for having lied to her grandmother about eating candy bars. Severely dehydrated, the girl had a seizure and died days later." Both the child's grandmother and step-mother, who helped come up with the punishment, are in jail facing murder charges.

Savanna Hardin was witnessed running from her home by a neighbor, Roger Simpson who stated that he did not give the child running a second thought around 4 p.m. No one, according to Mr. Simpson, appeared to be chasing the child or forcing her to run the laps. The action was simply mistaken as a form of 'play'.

Coroner's reports show Savanna was severely dehydrated. The 9 year old passed away at the Children's Hospital in Birmingham on Monday. Her grandmother and step-mother are being held under $500,000 bond each. Would the punishment had been the same if Savanna admitted to having eaten the candy bar? Perhaps, but perhaps this is proof that you're doomed if you do and doomed if you don't. For this and more information please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com or www.msnbc.com.

Home State Advantage

As candidates prepare for the next round of primaries Mitt Romney leads the deligates in his home state of Michigan. Romney's father, George Romney was Governor of the state from 1963-1969 and President of American Motors Corporations. Romney's opponent Rick Santorum continues to have a strong showing in national polls and according to news reports, "Most troubling for Romney is how competitive Santorum has become in Michigan -- the state where Romney was born, where his father was governor and which he won four years ago." Will Romney have a the home state advantage or will the former Pennsylvania Senator Santorum steal his political thunder? For this and other news about the primaries please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com or www.msnbc.com.

Powell out Plotted

Susan Powell's husband, Josh, a suspect in her disappearance and the murderer of their two young sons, will not be buried next to his boys. Washington State police said that two officers purchased plots beside the boys to keep their father from being buried near them. Pierce County Sheriff's Sgt. Ed Troyer and Sheriff Paul Pastor stated, "It's Disgusting that a murder suspect would be buried next to his victims." Troyer also wrote the following statement on Twitter.
The two young children Charlie age 7 and Braden age 5 were attacked in their home by their father with a hatchet and perished in an explosion set off by their father. Police now believe that Josh Powell's own father, Steven Powell, has information about Susan's disappearance. Steven Powell is being held on child pornography charges and invoked his right to remain silent, not wishing to cooperate with investigators according to The Salt Lake Tribune. For this and more news about Susan Powell, her disappearance and the investigation please go to the link below, or visit www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com or www.msnbc.com.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/15/josh-powells-family-wants-him-buried-near-sons/#ixzz1mYllfrK5

"No Soup for You!"

I am certain we all remember the infamous Soup Nazi's phrase "no soup for you!" from Jerry Seinfeld's show in the '90s. Well imagine a state worker telling your child "no homemade lunch for you!" A Hoke County pre-schooler was offered chicken nuggets for their lunch as opposed to the homemade lunch prepared for them that consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich a banana, apple juice and potato chips. According to a report by the Carolina Journal the lunch, “did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines," and "When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones." The mother received a bill for $1.25, the cost of a lunch tray from which her daughter only ate 3 chicken nuggets that were used a substitute. The mother, as any parent would be, is deeply concerned that the worker told her child that they were not packing their lunch properly. For this and more information please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com or www.msnbc.com.

Whitney

Whitney Houston passed away on February 11, 2012 in her Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel room at the age of 48. Houston who is best known for her powerfully soulful voice that crossed genres like gospel and pop was preparing to attend Clive Davis' pre-Grammy celebration party. Houston's bodyguard and hairstylist found her in her hotel room tub, submerged in the water and called 9-1-1. Attempts to revive the songstress failed. Whitney's ex-husband Bobby Brown made it to L.A. yesterday to be with the couples daughter Bobby Christina who has been treated at Cedar Sinai twice according to TMZ "She was first brought in mere hours after her mother's death to be treated for stress and anxiety." Those close to Bobby Christina fear she may be suicidal and continue to try and support her during this difficult time. Houston's body flew from L.A. to her New Jersey home Tuesday, no word on what caused her death. Funeral arrangements have been made for Saturday. For this and more on Whitney Houston please go to www.etonline.com, www.tmz.com or www.foxnews.com.

Whooops!

The phrase "my bad" has a whole new meaning to some 300 applicants of the federal fellows program. After having applied for the prestigious program that helps educate and provide opportunities for future leaders of government, the 300 hopeful applicants each received an e-mail of acceptance by mistake.

One applicant, initially having been very upset over the mix up, told Fox News " I may have dodged a bullet, because this incident really highlights the incompetence, inefficiency, disorganization and lack of accountability of the PMF program.” The mix up, one very similar to the one Vaser College made last month by sending out dozens of acceptance letters to prospective students who had actually been declined entry, has left a bitter taste in the mouths of recipients of this e-mail. Angela Bailey, PMF's assistant director of employee services said in a statement to the public, "Within minutes, we realized some semi-finalists received erroneous notifications. The PMF Program Office immediately stopped the notifications and investigated the problem.” For this and more news please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com or www.msnbc.com. To read more of the article on PMF go to the link below.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/09/prestigious-fed-program-pulls-vassar/

Santorum Sweeps States

Presidential hopeful and former Senator of Pennsylvania Rick Santorum pulled an upset of all upsets last night as he walked away victorious in not one but three states. Santorum won Colorado, the Minnesota caucuses and the non-binding Missouri GOP primary. Mitt Romney, who had remained strong in the polls in such states as Florida had previously won Colorado during his bid in 2008. When asked to respond to Santorum's sweeping victory, Mitt Romney stated that "he had a good night". Ron Paul also created a buzz in the state of Minnesota coming in second with 27% behind Santorum's 44%. The candidates now move on to Arizona, Maine and Michigan, but Santorum has clearly proven that it is anyone's race. For this and more news on the GOP primaries please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com or www.msnbc.com.

You're Fired!

In light of reports of sexual abuse by Miramonte School in Los Angeles by two deviant teachers the elementary school has decided to remove the entire staff amid the scandal. According to news reports "a tense meeting Monday night between Los Angeles school officials and parents resulted in the temporary removal of all teachers and staff from the Miramonte School where two teachers have been removed and jailed in recent days for allegedly sexually abusing students." All students are home and not required to return to classes until Thursday. The Superintendent of Miramonte School's stated that their current action was to help the children and their parents to feel safter in the school and to also learn of other possible offenses. "Some might see this as an extreme measure but this is an extreme circumstance," Superintendent John Deasy wrote in a letter to school workers last night. "I need to take action within the scope of what I can control. This is it." For more information this story please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com or www.msnbc.com.

Up in Smoke

In 2009 Susan Powell went missing from her West Valley City home in Utah leaving behind her two young children, Charles and Branden. Powell's husband Josh has been under suspicion for her 2009 disappearance and authorities have recently learned that Charles and his younger brother Branden were beginning to talk about what happened the night their mother vanished. A month after Susan's disappearance authorities spent 12 days searching the vast Utah dessert for any trace of the young wife and mother. Josh Powell however, maintained his innocence stating that "for those who know me, they know I could never hurt Susan." In the late hours of February 5th Josh Powell lit his home on fire, killing both himself and his two children. Powell e-mailed his attorney just before ending his life that simply stated "I'm sorry, goodbye." Powell was denied custody and ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation by the courts. Custody of the boys were given to Susan's parents, Chuck and Judy Cox. Authorities involved with the investigation of Susan Powell's disappearence and now her husbands murder-suicide, continue to search for answers. For this and other news please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com, or www.msnbc.com.

Super Bowl Surprise

After weeks of waiting and anxiously anticipating the outcome of Super Bowl XLVI (46) guess what? Yeah that's right....the New York Giants are taking home the Vince Lombardi trophy. The New England Patriots, after losing a Super Bowl to Eli Manning's brother Payton and the Indianapolis Colts in 2007, lost again. The Giants came in strong and went out stronger leaving the Patriots and their fans just a margin of hope during the 3rd and part of the 4th quarters with the score as close as 15 to 17. The Giants took home the win scoring 21 over the Patritos 17. For this and more news about Super Bowl XLVI please go to www.nfl.com, www.espn.com or www.foxnews.com.

Anonymously Hacked

We've all seen movies like Anti-Trust, read books like Steve Berry's Digital Fortress and we frequently hear on the news about scams and schemes developed via the World Wide Wed (if I can use the phrase) that help individuals gather our personal data that would allow them to use it for their own benefit. A call between Scotland Yard and the F.B.I. being hacked....that's not the plot of a new cyber thriller. It's the real deal. According to reports a group of hackers who call themselves 'Anonymous' have released a sensitive recording between the Yard and the F.B.I. to the general public.

"The group released a roughly 15-minute-long recording of what appears to be a Jan. 17 conference call devoted to tracking and prosecuting members of the loose-knit hacking group and its spinoff group LulzSec." According to sources there was no confidential information on the released recording. This is certainly not the first time that 'Anonymous' has hacked into and provided the public with very sensitive information. The group has also targeted the Church of Scientology, the music industry, financial companies and even credit card companies. For this and more information on 'Anonymous' please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com, or www.msnbc.com. To read the full article and transcripts of the released recordings go to the link below.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/03/hackers-claim-to-have-intercepted-call-between-fbi-scotland-yard/?test=latestnews

It's a Bird...It's a Plane....It's---A Promotion?

If you happened to be in lower Manhattan last Friday, you might have been one of the lucky people to see 3 human figures circling the Statue of Liberty. No, it was not Superman but instead it was a promotional idea for the movie 'Chronicle' starring Michael B. Jordan, Dan DeHaan, Michael Kelly, and Alex Russell. A recent Yahoo.com article stated "those aren't people in the air, but some very intricately designed radio-controlled airplanes." The movie centers around three teenagers who discover they each have abilities that help them to fly, crush cars and even move things with their minds. For this and other movie news please to your local movie website or to view the article and video on the figures flying high click on: http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/flying-people-stun-yorkers-promote-movie-chronicle-194823215.html.

Winner Take All

The Florida primaries were full of drama, accusations and plenty of finger-pointing on the issues but make no mistake, Mitt Romney came ahead in the end. Former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich stated last night to Fox News that this was still "a two man race". Romney walked away with 85 delegates while Gingrich fumbled for a mere 26. The "two man race" is seeming more like a "one man show". Recent polls are are displaying that if the Presidential election were held today that Romney and Obama would be in a dead heat for the Oval Office. From this angle it only looks like things are heating up for the candidates and Arizona and Michigan are among the next two battle grounds for the race to continue. For this and more information please go to www.foxnews.com, www.cnn.com, or www.msnbc.com.