Obama backs Jon Stewart’s ‘Rally to Restore Sanity’ (AFP)
AFP – US President Barack Obama praised a comedian Wednesday for organizing a “Rally to Restore Sanity,” saying it may help instill more “courtesy” in American political life.
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Obama backs Jon Stewart’s ‘Rally to Restore Sanity’
(AFP)
Man to spend Christmas in jail for next 5 years (AP)
AP – A judge running for the state Supreme Court has given a man accused of assaulting a woman a sentence with an unusual twist. District Court Judge Nels Swandal gave Daniel Martz a 10-year suspended sentence on Monday for a May 2009 attack in which Martz allegedly choked and hit a woman, and then tried to have her change her story.
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Man to spend Christmas in jail for next 5 years
(AP)
Troubled W. Pa. city lays off 9, plus police dog (AP)
AP – The financial situation is so bad in one western Pennsylvania city that even its police dog has been laid off. Jeannette City Council on Tuesday voted to lay off nine workers of the city’s 47 workers effective Oct. 5. They include three of the city’s 12 police, including Officer Justin Scalzo who handles the city’s drug-sniffing dog, Wando.
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Troubled W. Pa. city lays off 9, plus police dog
(AP)
Denver firefighters battle flames, fleeing bedbugs (AP)
AP – Denver firefighters ran into more than the normal hazards at a house fire. Crews responding to the blaze Wednesday also had to battle bedbugs, the bloodsucking insects quickly becoming the scourge of households and businesses across the country.
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Denver firefighters battle flames, fleeing bedbugs
(AP)
Police: Judge hands out condoms hidden in acorns (AP)
AP – Police said a district judge from Intercourse, Pa., hid condoms inside acorns and handed them out to women in the state Capitol complex last week. A summary charge of disorderly conduct was filed Tuesday against Isaac H. Stoltzfus, who presides over low-level cases as a district judge in Lancaster County.
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Police: Judge hands out condoms hidden in acorns
(AP)
Oh look: there’s a mouse in my bread (AP)
AP – It was hard to explain, that dead mouse baked into a loaf of bread. British officials have released the photo which proved that Stephen Forse wasn’t kidding when he claimed to find the wee creature while making sandwiches for his children.
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Oh look: there’s a mouse in my bread
(AP)
Man beats odds to win lottery twice (Reuters)
Reuters – For a Missouri man, luck comes in pairs.
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Man beats odds to win lottery twice
(Reuters)
Police investigate family on polygamy TV show (Reuters)
Reuters – The new reality TV show “Sister Wives,” featuring a real-life advertising salesman and four women he calls his spouses, has sparked a criminal bigamy investigation by police in Utah, officials said.
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Police investigate family on polygamy TV show
(Reuters)
TV host announces wrong winner for Top Model (Reuters)
Reuters – Producers of Australia’s Next Top Model have been left red faced after supermodel host Sarah Murdoch announced the wrong winner in what newspapers said was the country’s most awkward TV moment.
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TV host announces wrong winner for Top Model
(Reuters)
Death toll rises in Indonesia
A failed Tsunami warning system is being blamed for the hundreds of lives that were lost in Monday’s tragedy. A wall of water reported to be at least three meters high slammed into parts of Indonesia killing several hundred people. The tsunami was triggered by a 7.8-magnitute earthquake.
A tsunami warning system was put in place after the catastrophic 2004 tsunami at a cost of several million dollars. Unfortunately, the system broke down about a month ago due to poor maintenance. It is doubtful, however, if the early warning system could have done anything to help even if it was working. The worst damage occurred close to the epicenter, which meant that people would have had very little chance to respond or get to safety in those areas.
The Mentawai islands were hardest hit and it is here that the most number of deaths are being reported. Rescuers fear that the death toll could mount further as they keep discovering bloated corpses on beaches. They also fear that many bodies could have been swept out sea.
Currently the death toll has gone past 300, but rescue efforts are going on at a feverish pitch to help the survivors. Many countries have come forth with aid and this is a welcome relief for the disaster prone nation. Making the situation worse for Indonesia is the untimely eruption of Mount Merapi, one of the country’s most volatile volcanoes. Already, 28 people have died due to the eruption and almost one hundred people have been injured by ash and hot rocks. Over 10,000 people have evacuated from their homes and taken to emergency shelters.