Woman, 34, fatally shot at boyfriend's funeral gathering

City detectives believe incident connected to earlier slaying, but motive unclear

A woman was fatally shot Thursday night outside this West Baltimore funeral home, where she was attending a private family gathering for her boyfriend, who was killed last week, police said. (Baltimore Sun photo by Justin Fenton / November 20, 2009)

Justin Fenton 

Baltimore Sun

12:20 p.m. EST, November 20, 2009

But they aren't, Brown said as he sipped coffee outside of his business Friday morning, a bullet hole marring the glass vestibule. A few steps away, a man wearing gloves and plastic boots used bleach in an attempt to clean up blood from the sidewalk. It's not gone, but it's better, he told Brown.

"That's gone out the window," Brown said of respect for funerals. "This has become a fact of life as much here in Baltimore as it is in Afghanistan, Iraq and anywhere else. There's many wars going on in the world, and this just happens to be one of the wars in our community."

The irony, Brown said, is that Baltimore's high death toll helps fuel the funeral home industry here. He said members of his staff become "master embalmers," adept at taking victims who suffered gunshot wounds to the head and making them presentable for an open casket. His ability to restore a lifelike appearance that doesn't show any indication of the deceased's tragic demise is a point of pride.

"But when it happens right outside your door, it brings it really, really close to home," Brown said.

The shooting was at least the second time someone has opened fire on a West Baltimore funeral service in the past two years. In April 2008, two people were shot outside the Unity Methodist Church, where about 300 mourners had gathered to view the body of a 26-year-old who had been killed in a triple shooting. In 2001, a man was shot at while leaving a viewing for his brother at Wylie Funeral Home.

With tensions running high, police often send a uniformed or plainclothes presence to keep watch outside funerals. Brown said he has a retired city police officer who works security and was at the facility last night when the shots rang out, leaving him to wonder what else he could do to better safeguard mourners and his staff from brazen gunmen.

"We've worked very hard in building this business, and to have something happen like this, it does shake my confidence," he said. "It shakes my confidence in how well we are protected, or insulated [from the city violence]. Is my staff going to be OK? Will they catch a stray bullet? I feel very vulnerable right now."

About a dozen people had gathered for services for Michael Anthony McFadden, who was shot to death Nov. 12 near his home, in the 2000 block of W. Lanvale St., police said. It was one of two services taking place at the 16,000-square-foot facility Thursday night.

Police said his girlfriend, Virginia McGhee, received a phone call about 7:30 p.m. and stepped outside, where she was shot in the chest by an unknown assailant. Police are investigating whether she was lured outside, or whether her attacker was waiting and seized the opportunity.

Detectives believe the two shootings are connected, but a motive was unclear. A man who had been standing in the vestibule of the funeral home was also treated for a gunshot wound to his arm, according to police.

Like much of the city's violence, officials believe drugs could be at the root of the shootings. McFadden pleaded guilty to a drug distribution charge in October 2007, receiving a four-year suspended prison sentence, and he has several prior drug-related arrests. McGhee, who court records show shared an address with McFadden, pleaded guilty to a second-degree assault charge in October 2008, receiving a five-year suspended prison sentence, and last month was charged with violating her probation.

Relatives planned to follow through with McFadden's funeral. As Brown's staff worked to clean up the area outside, McFadden's sister was inside paying the bill. She declined to speak with a reporter. Brown said he expected hundreds of people to attend the service, each passing by the bullet hole in the front vestibule. He's unlikely to be able to replace the glass today.

"That will be a reminder to everybody that comes into this funeral home today of what happened," he said. "This is something none of us will ever, ever forget."

                              LINK TO VIDEO

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-funeral1120,0,4150914.story

November 19, 2009

Kerry's Daughter Arrested on Suspicion of DUI in Los Angeles 

FOXNews.com

Alexandra Forbes Kerry was arrested and then released on $5,000 bail, Los Angeles Police Department officer Norma Eisenman told Fox News. 

Sen. John Kerry's daughter was arrested Thursday morning in Los Angeles on suspicion of driving under the influence, police said. 

Alexandra Forbes Kerry was arrested and then released on $5,000 bail, Los Angeles Police Department officer Norma Eisenman told Fox News. 

Police are not releasing any other details on the incident at this point. 

She is the eldest daughter of the Massachusetts senator and former Democratic presidential nominee.

                        WARNING VERY REVEALING

LINK TO PHOTO WITH SEE THROUGH DRESS:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article86097.ece

Last Edited: Today, 7:14 am

'What The Bleep?' Mayoral Ad Generates Buzz

Last Edited: Today, 5:23 am

Woman tracked down nightclub attacker on Facebook

A woman nearly blinded in a nightclub attack tracked down her assailant on Facebook after police said they had no leads.

Published: 10:25AM GMT 18 Nov 2009

Jennifer Wilson Photo: MASONS

Jennifer Wilson, 20, was horrifically injured when Ashleigh Holliman, 22, rammed a pint glass into her face in an unprovoked nightclub attack.

The tanning salon receptionist was left lying on the dance floor with a deep gash just a centimetre below her left eye.

Holliman fled the scene without being identified after bouncers failed to detain her.

Police investigating the attack told her CCTV from the club was not clear and evidence had been cleared away from the dance floor by staff.

But Miss Wilson, from Oxhey, Herts., recognised one of Holliman's friends who she knew vaguely from Facebook.

She trawled the social networking site and searched through 200 of the man's 'friends' until she found a photograph of her attacker.

She even tracked down her address through a mutual friend on the site and gave it to Hertfordshire Police.

However, Holliman was out when officers arrived to arrest her - and they then asked Miss Wilson if she could find out where she worked.

So Miss Wilson went back on Facebook and discovered she was a hairdresser in Croxley Green, Herts.

Holliman was then arrested at work the following day and taken to a police station, where Jennifer picked her out from an identity parade.

The girl thug admitted actual bodily harm at St Albans Crown Court and was sentenced to 120 hours community service on November 10.

Speaking yesterday Miss Wilson, who has been left with an inch-long scar, said she was delighted to have caught her attacker but said police should have done more.

She said: ''In the end I had to do the police's job for them and track this girl down on Facebook.

''This girl had just been glaring at me all night long and then all of a sudden I was dancing with friends and she slammed the glass into my face.

''She managed to escape but I recognised one of her friends and decided to try and track her down because I didn't deserve what she did to me.''

The attack happened on March 21 as Miss Wilson danced on a raised stage in the Walkabout bar in Watford, Herts.

Recorder Peters QC awarded Jennifer £2,400 compensation and ordered Holliman to do 120 hours unpaid work.

He said: "In nine times out of ten people that glass people in a club go to prison.

"You now have a record and if you lose your control again, which you did that evening, you will end up going to prison."

A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokeswoman said: “Police were called 2.10am on Saturday March 21 to reports that a 20-year-old girl had been assaulted at Walkabout bar in Watford Town Centre.

“The incident had happened at 12.45am that morning and the victim said she thought she knew who it was. She requested police go to see her after 9am later that day, once she was out of hospital.

“Officers did this. Prior to police attendance the victim had made enquiries of her own and tracked down the offender on Facebook. She passed this information on to officers.

“Meanwhile officers also conducted other investigations of the offence, including viewing CCTV at the bar and identifying witnesses who we interviewed. Officers followed up the lead of the named person and other leads before arresting a woman on April 1.”

Sarah Palin: whiner-in-chief

Alex Spillius

Last updated: November 19th, 2009

Sarah Palin’s autobiography is, like the woman herself, bright and breezy and entertaining, notwithstanding some over-involved passages about Alaskan politics.

The 400-page ghost-written tome is commendably loyal to the former governor’s chirpy, informal voice.

With Palin, what you see is what you get, and what you see in Going Rogue is a woman who is charming, passionate, loyal and patriotic. She is also self-absorbed beyond political norms, prickly, thin-skinned and just plain whiny.

This is what stands out for me. Nothing is her fault – beyond an admission that she let herself get rattled by Katie Couric’s line of questioning. The book at heart is an indulgent complaint about her treatment by the press and by John McCain’s aides.

Other people have fact-checked her claims thoroughly, such as Shushanah Walshe, co-author of Sarah from Alaska, an entertaining – and balanced – account of Palin’s meteoric rise.

Undoubtedly, she is justified in complaining about the blogosphere’s treatment of her children, the Trig Truther nonsense, the divorce rumours and the myriad of FOIAs and ethics complaints that mired her Juneau staff in unnecessary paperwork.

But whatever the various rights and wrongs of various issues and incidents, the petty score-settling that Palin is unable to resist would be unbecoming of a high school brat, let alone someone who still, it seems, aspires to the White House.

No one really knows what path Palin’s ambition will take her on; perhaps even she doesn’t know. The book reveals that her own son urged her not to quit as governor because she needed to stand up and fight. But quit she did.

Going Rogue has affirmed one fact: she is not tough enough for presidential politics.

Last Edited: Yesterday, 11:44 pm

Oprah Winfrey to retire Chicago-based syndicated show in 2011

Bono and Oprah do a little shopping together along Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Many stars came out for the U.S. launch of Product RED -- a project created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, that aimed to raise money for the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by donating a portion of profits from branded products. (Tribune photo by Nancy Stone / October 13, 2006)

Phil Rosenthal

Tribune staff reporter

6:26 p.m. CST

November 19, 2009

LINK TO VIDEOS

http://www.chicagotribune.com/

http://www.wbaltv.com/video/21666702/

Clayton County News 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Student, volunteer caught having sex in classroom

Megan Matteucci
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A student and a former student were caught having sex in a Clayton County classroom after a teacher left them unattended

Forest Park High School teacher Kevin Jones was suspended for 20 days without pay, district spokesman Charles White said Wednesday.

Jones returned to school last week.

The incident occurred last month when Jones was leading a drama club rehearsal after school with a 20-year-old Forest Park High graduate.

“The teacher left the classroom after he had informed the students they had to go home,” White said.

The teacher then left the classroom.

A short time later, a school administrator entered the classroom and found a 17-year-old female student having sex with the 20-year-old graduate, White said. The other students had left.

An internal investigation found Jones violated the district’s employment policy.

“He was suspended for failure to provide adequate supervision for an after-school sponsored activity,” White said.

The female student, who was a senior, has since transferred to another district, White said.

The former student was involved in the drama club when he was a student and had volunteered to help with the production. He no longer volunteers at the school.

School officials said the sex was consensual and no charges were filed.

Jones teaches world history and drama.

Parents plan to discuss the incident, along with other Forest Park High concerns, at a parents forum Friday at 7 p.m. at Forest Park City Hall.

“Our biggest complaint is there is no communication plan,” said Shanda R. Ross, mother of a Forest Park student. “None of the parents knew there was a substitute teacher for this period of time. You have 20 days a month where your child will be with a substitute and likely just doing worksheets. That's affecting academics.”

Ross and other parents also are working to establish a local PTA. The first PTA meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m Thursday at Forest Park High.

Last Edited: Yesterday, 5:41 am

Tue, Nov. 17, 2009

This image provided by Newsweek shows the news magazine's Nov. 23, 2009 cover, featuring a photo of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The image was taken by photographer Brian Adams, originally for use in Runner’s World magazine. (AP Photo/Newsweek/Brian Adams)

NEW YORK (AP) — Of all the adjectives one might use to describe Newsweek’s current Sarah Palin cover, “unflattering” probably isn’t one of them.

But Palin says the cover’s posed shot of her in running gear, including short black shorts — a photo originally taken for Runner’s World magazine — was out of context and sexist. And even some who aren’t fans say she has a point.

The photo in question shows a smiling Palin, who on Wednesday launched her national book tour, standing near a folded American flag draped over a chair, hand on her hip. She’s wearing a long-sleeved red athletic top, running shoes, and the aforementioned shorts.

It’s a far cry from the photo Newsweek used on its cover a year ago, a close-up in sharp detail, which many of her supporters criticized as unflattering because it showed her skin pores and a few wrinkles.

This time, it’s just the former Alaska governor looking trim and fit. But Palin expressed her dismay on her Facebook page. “The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now,” she wrote her fans on the site, who now number over a million. She also accused the magazine of “focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant” in its coverage of her.

Over 3,000 fans responded

Few would dispute that last part. “The main consideration for covers is, what will draw attention?” said Kenny Irby of the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank in St. Petersburg, Fla. “There’s no question that people will pay a lot of attention to this cover.”

The issue, Irby said, is one of context. The photo is accompanied by the headline: “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah? She’s Bad News for the GOP — And For Everybody Else, Too.” And that leads to a whole different interpretation, Irby noted, than if you were looking at it in Runner’s World, where it originally ran in August.

“The image is not sexist,” said Irby, who specializes in visual journalism. “The words are more damaging and questionable. The powerful pairing is the issue. Why did they use this photo — where half the frame is her legs — when they had thousands to choose from?” In his own opinion, Irby said, “It’s a pretty underhanded shot at her credibility.”

Newsweek issued an official statement Tuesday defending the photo choice.

“We chose the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try to do,” said the statement, from editor Jon Meacham. “We apply the same test to photographs of any public figure, male or female: does the image convey what we are saying? That is a gender-neutral standard.”

But was Palin right to charge that the photo was unfairly used out of context — a perfect image for a running magazine, but inappropriate for a news weekly? “I think she’s got a point,” said media ethicist Kelly McBride, also at Poynter.

On the other hand, McBride added, “If I were posing in running gear and I were as controversial as Sarah Palin, I would stipulate the boundaries on that.”

To Newsweek managing editor Daniel Klaidman, Palin, as a public figure, must have known that the photo could be used elsewhere.

“If you’re going to be in the arena, you’ve got to know that when you pose for a magazine that picture might appear elsewhere,” Klaidman said in a telephone interview. “She’s a public figure. We cover her.”

Also, he pointed out, the photo is consistent with the image that Palin likes to portray. “She’s cultivated this persona: Outdoorsy, folksy,” he said of the former vice presidential candidate, who’s spoken to the media dressed in fishing waders. “It’s authentic, but she also knows it plays to her base.”

In any case, Christi Lowell, a Palin friend on Facebook from Chicago, wondered why Palin would have posed for a photo like that anyway.

“It wasn’t totally right of her to pose for that photo in the first place,” Lowell, 39, noted in a telephone interview.

“And the photo IS attractive,” noted Lowell, a housewares company sales manager. “It’s also motivating. She’s in shape! Just like President Obama.” (Who, it must be said, appeared on the cover of The Washingtonian not long ago shirtless, in a bathing suit — a paparazzi shot from a Hawaii vacation.)

But, Lowell said, it would have been better for Newsweek to use a different shot. “What’s wrong is that the article was about politics,” Lowell said.

“Couldn’t they have just put her in a suit?”

Last Edited: November 18, 2009, 10:30 pm

Smokers More Likely To Suffer Seizures

Alcohol, Caffeine Don't Appear To Raise Risk

POSTED: 9:21 am EST November 18, 2009
UPDATED: 9:24 am EST November 18, 2009

People who smoke are more likely to have seizures than those who don't, while caffeine and alcohol do not increase the chances, according to a new study.

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School used data from a study of more than 116,000 female nurses who answered questions about their health.

"Our analysis showed risk of seizure was significantly higher for current smokers, but not related to the amount of cigarettes smoked daily," said Dr. Barbara A. Dworetzky. "It does appear, however, that the number of years of smoking does increase seizure risk."

The team also found that long-term caffeine consumption did not raise the risk of seizures or epilepsy compared to people who had less caffeine.

Full study appears in the February 2010 issue of Epilepsia.

Link to full study

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122563552/PDFSTART

$600 million spent to influence health care debate

Health care reform has turned into the costliest single legislative issue yet. More than $600 million has been spent on lobbying, campaign contributions and TV ads.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- The price tag to influence the health care debate in the halls of Congress has surpassed $600 million and is fast becoming a legislative record breaker.

Reaching beyond the half-billion mark, the total spent on lobbyists, television ads and political donations is enough to pay the insurance tab for about 45,000 families a year.

A third of that spending, $200 million, was raised and spent just in the past few months, as Congress has been more thoroughly ensconced in policy debates about public insurance options and taxpayer-funded abortions.

Senate Democrats are expected to unveil their official health care bill as soon as Wednesday, and debate it in December and vote by the year's end.

The big spenders range from drug companies, hospitals and doctor groups to organizations that advocate for unions, immigrants and retirees.

Lobbying: Lobbying continues to account for the largest chunk, with health care industry spending just shy of $400 million through Oct. 26, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

"The health sector is on pace to spend more money than it ever has before," Dave Levinthal of the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzes and collects lobbying and campaign spending figures. "Its spending obliterates its totals from previous years."

Health industry executives say that their spending is necessary, given what's at stake. It's also guaranteed by the Constitution.

"We're reforming one-sixth of the economy with an issue that effects every individual and employer across the country," said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, a group fighting against a public insurance option. "Sometimes that point gets missed in this debate."

Lobbying by drug companies accounted for nearly half of all health sector lobbying. Among other issues, the pharmaceutical industry is keen on making sure that the government doesn't start allowing imports of cheaper prescriptions from Canada or Mexico.

"We are doing everything possible to make comprehensive health care reform a reality this year," said Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the trade group PhRMA. "It will benefit patients, the economy and the future of our nation. There's a lot at stake right now."

The lobbying figure doesn't include lobbying by the Chamber of Commerce ($65 million) or AARP ($15 million), groups that have lobbied on health care, as well as other bills, including financial regulatory reform.

Other heavy hitters among health sector lobbying include hospitals and nursing homes ($77 million) and doctors and other health professionals ($59 million).

Television advertising: Spending on TV ads by health care interests is the next major record-breaking category - topping $165.7 million through Monday, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group.

"This is far and away the most we've seen spent," said said Evan Tracey, president of the the media research group, which also consults for CNN. "There's certainly no comparison that comes right to mind."

Over the past month, opponents have spent $23 million in ads opposing health care reform while supporters have spent $11 million.

TV ads had been more focused on policy issues, such as calls for insurance coverage for tests that detect autism. But now ads are starting to transition into focusing on politics, with attacks on lawmakers who vote for or against health care reform. That means even more will be spent in coming months, as ads begin running in media markets with competitive congressional races, Tracey said.

Campaign contributions: Political donations are also on the rise.

Health care professionals and companies have plunked down $38 million to fund 2010 candidates for federal office, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Some $95 million was raised during the 2008 cycle.

Top spending sectors include health professionals ($13 million), drug makers ($5 million) and hospitals and nursing homes ($4 million). Top recipients were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.

-CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this report

LINK TO VIDEO

http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2009/10/15/n_healthcare_lobby.cnnmoney

Lou Dobbs: My downfall at CNN started when Barack Obama became President

 Willens/APLou Dobbs talks to Bill O'Reilly on

Former CNN veteran Lou Dobbs suggests his form of advocacy journalism fell out of favor when President Obama was elected and his ratings began to decline.

Dobbs, who had come under fire from watchdog groups because of his on-air, anti-immigration stance, told Bill O'Reilly Monday on the Fox News Channel that he never heard directly from CNN management that he made the network look bad - but there was a tonal change when Obama became President.

"You know, I discern more of a difference between then, which was under the Bush administration whom I was criticizing, and now, when it is the Obama administration and an entirely different tone was taken," Dobbs said.

Dobbs abruptly resigned from CNN last week after agreeing that he could no longer operate under CNN's push to avoid airing anchor opinions in prime time.

As for the future, Dobbs reiterated he's going to take his time. " I'm going to remain - I can guarantee you 100 percent - I'm going to remain in the in the public arena," Dobbs said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/11/17/2009-11-17_lou_dobbs_my_downfall_at_cnn_started_when_barack_obama_became_president.html#ixzz0XDE7OTT3

Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009 

Man with $600 on him arrested for allegedly stealing pencil

Gun-Toting Homeowner Catches Burglar In His Boxers

Intruder Made Himself At Home: Showering, Doing Laundry, Filling The Fridge

GOLDEN, Colo. -- A Golden homeowner did a double-take when he caught a burglar at gunpoint in his house.

The intruder, who had more than made himself at home, was only wearing a pair of boxers -- boxers belonging to the homeowner. The man had also showered, done his laundry, and placed his own items in the refrigerator, Golden police said.

David Strickland told 7 News that he returned home at 5 p.m. last Monday to find a stranger's white Lexus ES300 in his garage. Inside, there were signs that someone had been rummaging through his house.

"What was going through my mind is 'I cannot believe what's going on here,'" said Strickland.

As he searched the house, the homeowner called out, demanding to know who was there.

"To his surprise, a male voice answered," a Golden police report said.

He looked upstairs and saw a man calmly standing there wearing only a pair of boxers, belonging to the homeowner.

When Strickland demanded that the boxer burglar get off his property, he said, the man claimed he was the real homeowner and that the gun was a toy.

Strickland said that he fired a warning shot at the door when the suspect moved towards him aggressively.

Police soon arrived at the home in the 1200 block of Mesa Court and arrested 24-year old Timothy P. Gonzales of Golden.

Not only had the suspect spent most of the day in the home, he had pretended to be the homeowner when two real estate agents and their clients arrived for a showing of the house, which is for sale, police said.

Officers also discovered materials commonly used to make methamphetamine on the work bench in the garage.

Gonzales was booked into the Jefferson County jail for burglary, possession of burglary tools and drug violations. The Jefferson County District Attorney's office will consider further charges.

"Bottom line, I'm just glad nobody got hurt," said Strickland.

He said if he had it to do again, he would have walked out the back door, but he was glad he knew how to use his gun appropriately.

"If you're going to keep a gun for home protection, you need to know what you're going to do and what you're not going to do, just for safety's sake," Strickland said.

Gonzales has a long criminal record, including charges of trespassing, possession of burglar tools and drug offenses.

Golden police said they are investigating how and why Gonzales broke into the home.

There are no signs of forced entry.

If he used the realtor's lock box to get in, police said they will be investigating how he got the access code and whether there are similar crimes in other cities. 

LINK TO VIDEO

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/21632230/detail.html

Last Edited: November 17, 2009, 8:19 pm