Monday, November 19, 2007

Sports

When: November 18, 2007
Where: Mesa, Arizona
Who: Mike Tyson, former heavyweight champion
What: Mike Tyson was sentenced Monday to 24 hours in jail and three years' probation for drug possession and driving under the influence. Tyson, who will begin serving his jail time Tuesday morning, left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
Why: Tyson had faced a possible maximum sentence of four years and three months in prison. Prosecutor Shane Krausner had recommended one year in prison, saying that Tyson was a multiple offender who previously had been convicted of a violent crime and that only now has he sought treatment for his drug addiction.
Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3118757

Iraq/Afghanistan

When: November 18, 2007
Where: Northern Iraq
Who: Al-Qiada, Iraqis
What: Despite a decline in violence in Iraq, Northern Iraq has become more violent than other regions as al-Qaida and other militants move there to avoid coalition operations elsewhere. Al-Qaida cells still operate in all the key cities in the north.
Why: Militants have been pushed east to his area from Anbar by the so-called Awakening movement, in which local tribes have allied with the coalition against al-Qaida. Others have been pushed north to his area from the Baghdad region, where this year's U.S. troops escalation has made more operations possible.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071119/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq

Health

When: November 18, 2007
Where: San Francisco, California
Who: Yurelia and Fiorella Rocha-Arias, two year old conjoined twins
What: Formerly conjoined twins have "excellent" chances of survival after a grueling separation surgery, and one of the toddlers is even breathing on her own. Fiorella, who has always been slightly larger and stronger than Yurelia, was taken off her ventilator Wednesday and has been breathing on her own for two days.
Why: Two-year-olds Yurelia and Fiorella Rocha-Arias of San Jose, Costa Rica, were conjoined at the chest and abdomen and shared an oversize liver until Monday, when doctors in Palo Alto separated them during a 9-hour surgery.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21882615/

Election '08

When: November 18, 2007
Where: Grundy Center, Louisiana
Who: Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton
What: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama insisted in Iowa on Sunday that his campaign's swift and public response to a published rumor of personal scandal was aimed at putting the issue to rest.
Why: The senator from Illinois rejected the idea that he was giving credence to a vague reference by conservative columnist Robert Novak, whose nationally syndicated column Saturday stated that "agents" of Clinton's campaign were "spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information about her principal opponent."
Source: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071119/NEWS09/711190327/-1/caucus

State

When: November 18, 2007
Where: Bloomington, Indiana
Who: 113 underage drinkers
What: State Excise Police say officers cited 113 people for underaged drinking outside the Indiana-Purdue's Oaken Bucket football game in Bloomington.
Why: Excise officer Travis Thickstun says Saturday's tailgating crowd was the largest he's seen in some time. He says that more tickets would have been issued if more officers had been available.
Source: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071119/LOCAL/711190426

Local

When: November 18, 2007
Where: Anderson, Indiana
Who: Citizens of Anderson
What: The city of Anderson is scheduled to annex some land north of Interstate 69 and west of County Road 400 West during the next city council meeting on Dec. 13. No land transactions have been made.
Why: The voluntary annexation of the 385 acres was an extension of the Flagship Technology Park area. Anderson is preparing it for future projects and future expansion.
Source: http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_323130917.html

Business

When: November 18, 2007
Where: New York, New York
Who: Wall Street
What: Stocks slumped Monday afternoon as a dour note on the financial sector from Goldman Sachs revived worries about the fallout from credit and mortgage market troubles. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.2 percent roughly 3 hours into the session. The S&P 500 index lost 1.4 percent. The Nasdaq composite declined 1.3 percent.
Why: Goldman Sachs to "sell" from "neutral" Monday and said the bank will likely have to take $15 billion in writedowns over the next two quarters due to bets on risky debt. Citigroup shares fell over 5 percent. Investors were reminded that the problems in housing and financials threaten the broader economy - and consumer spending - heading into the important holiday retail sales period.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/19/markets/markets_1200/index.htm?cnn=yes

Science

When: November 18, 2007
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada
Who: Escape Adventures, a tour company
What: A Las Vegas tour company is using leftover oil from restaurants to fuel a fleet of vans, showing that recycling can work even in a city known for excess. Escape Adventures is an 18-year-old company that offers bicycle trips into Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Why: What makes Escape trips different from other helicopter tours or limousine cruises is that owner Jared Fisher spends about four to six hours a week driving to restaurants to siphon used oil from containers near the trash bins. So far this year he has collected about 3,000 gallons. That amounts to more than $9,000 in savings.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/11/19/green.machines.ap/index.html

National

When: November 18, 2007
Where: Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey
Who: Kim Raffo, a hooker
What: Kim Raffo was one of four women whose bodies were discovered in a ditch behind a string of cut-rate motels known for drugs and prostitution, on a road called the Black Horse Pike. Authorities have been tight-lipped about how the investigation is going, including whether they believe one person killed all four women. The other victims were Barbara Breidor, Molly Jean Dilts and Tracy Ann Roberts.
Why: Terry Oleson, 35, was once prosecutors' prime suspect in the hooker deaths. He had been staying at the Golden Key Motel -- the same $27-a-night hot-sheet hovel behind which the bodies were found -- just before they were discovered. He was arrested in April in connection with the videotaping, and agreed when prosecutors requested in June that he submit DNA samples.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/19/bodies.found.ap/index.html

Friday, November 9, 2007

World

When: November 9, 2007
Where: Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Who: Pakistanis
What: Benazir Bhutto was involved in a standoff with security forces as Pakistan suffered its first deadly attack since the declaration of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf. A blast, possibly a suicide bomb, at the house of a federal minister in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan killed four people.
Why: Opposition leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto faced off against security forces, who placed barbed wire and barricades around her Islamabad home, preventing her attending a rally banned by the government. Benazir Bhutto would be freed from house arrest by Saturday.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/09/bhutto.housearrest/index.html

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Iraq/Afghanistan

When: November 4, 2007
Where: Baghdad, Iraq
Who: Qutaiba Badir al-Din Mohammed, a Sunni adviser to Iraq's finance minister
What: Two carloads of gunmen ambushed a top aide to Iraq's Finance Ministry on Sunday in Baghdad, killing him and his driver, police said. The two were among 15 people killed or found dead in Iraq.
Why: Qutaiba Badir al-Din Mohammed was an important man and big target in Iraq. It was only a matter of time before someone tried to kill him.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Politics

When: November 4, 2007
Where: University of Iowa
Who: Mika Huckabee and John Edwards
What: John Edwards is losing on the Democratic side while Mike Huckabee is charging at the G.O.P. front-runners. Clinton leads the poll with 28.9% while Obama garnered 26.6%. John Edwards trails with 20%, a 6-point drop from the last Hawkeye poll in August. Huckabee is up from less than 2% in the same poll in August to 12.8%.
Why: For Edwards, who has basically been living in Iowa, the results have to be disapointing. Unlike Obama and Clinton, he has few other strongholds, and a poor showing in Iowa could place his candidacy in serious jeopardy.
Source: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1677221,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topics&iref=werecommend

Technology/ Science

When: November 4, 2007
Where: San Geronimo, California
Who: Redwood trees, David Milarch an aborist
What: An arborist trying to preserve and restore Northern California's towering redwoods has begun taking cuttings that he hopes can be used to make genetic clones of the ancient trees.
Why: Milarch believes these trees can provide the toughest possible stock for a kind of genetic savings account. He hopes that material can be used to restore old-growth redwoods in their native range up and down the state.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/11/02/redwood.clones.ap/index.html

Business

When: November 4, 2007
Where: New York, New York
Who: Charles Prince, CEO of Citigroup
What: The meltdown in the housing market hit Citigroup, the nation's number one financial services company, as it announced the departure of chairman and chief executive Charles Prince and a possible $11 billion in additional subprime writedowns
Why: Citigroup also said it expects a reduction of between $8 billion and $11 billion in the fair value of its exposure to the subprime mortgage market. It said it expects to take a fourth-quarter writedown on the reduction, although the size of the writedown will depend on future market conditions. The company said the decline in its subprime portfolio, which totals about $55 billion, came as the result of rating agency downgrades and other market developments since the end of September.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/04/news/companies/citigroup_prince/index.htm?cnn=yes

Sports

When: November 4, 2007
Where: Indianapolis, Indiana
Who: Colts and Patriots
What: The Patriots stayed on course for an unbeaten season as Brady threw two of his three touchdown passes in a four-minute span of the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit and beat Super Bowl champion Indianapolis, 24-20.
Why: New England, which had been scoring more than 41 points a game, had piled points on late in several games in which they were far ahead, including last week's 52-7 win over Washington, when they kept playing hard well into the fourth quarter.
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/scoreboards/2007/11/04/2612_viewcast_recap.html?bcnn=yes

Health

When: November 4, 2007
Where: Orlando, Florida
Who: People with heart problems
What: A new blood thinner proved better than Plavix, one of the world's top-selling drugs, at preventing heart problems after procedures to open clogged arteries. But the new drug also raised the risk of serious bleeding.
Why: People given the experimental drug, prasugrel, were nearly 20 percent less likely to suffer one of the problems in a combined measure (heart attack, stroke or heart-related death) than those given Plavix, a drug that millions of Americans take to prevent blood clots that cause these events.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/11/04/heart.pill.ap/index.html

National

When: November 4, 2007
Where: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Who: Americans who eat beef
What: The agribusiness company Cargill Inc. said it is recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The ground beef was produced October 8-11 at Cargill Meat Solutions' plant in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania and distributed to retailers.
Why: Cargill learned the meat may be contaminated after the Agriculture Department found a problem with a sample of the beef produced on October 8, the company said. The bacterium is E. coli O157:H7.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/03/beef.recall.ap/index.html

World

When: Oct. 4, 2007
Where: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Who: 8 victims on an executive jet, citizens of Sao Paulo
What: An executive jet crashed into a heavily populated neighborhood of Sao Paulo on Sunday, killing at least eight people and leaving a pile of smoky rubble just months after the city suffered the nation's deadliest air disaster. The plane, a Learjet 35 belonging to a Brazilian air taxi company, slammed into two houses shortly after taking off.
Why: There were no immediate indications that it was related to the Brazilian air traffic chaos including the July 17 crash of a Tam Linhas Aereas SA jetliner. The plane plowed nose first into the blue-collar neighborhood as it apparently tried to return to the airport during cloudy and slightly rainy conditions.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/11/04/brazil.crash.ap/index.html