What's in The News Today

Over the weekend Thomas Kinkade died. He died at the age of 54, from natural causes. He is best known for his art. His former business partner Ken Raasch stated "Kinkade lived his life to the fullest and a eclectic character and many were blessed who knew him." Kinkade was arrested in 2010 for DUI and fraud charges by two Virginia gallery owners in 2006, and Kinkade's company was forced to pay $860,000 in damages. An autopsy will be done by Santa Clara coroner in California. Kinkade died at home in the Bay Area.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2012/04/autopsy-scheduled-for-artist-thomas-kinkade-/1#.T4L9ejAh2jQ

Mike Wallace also died this weekend. He died at the age of 93, and he is known for "60 minutes"  news show. He was a tough reporter and conducted brazen interviews. He died Saturday night peacefully with his family around him in New Canaan, Conn. A special program will be aired on April 15 in remembrance of him.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57411010/60-minutes-icon-mike-wallace-dies-at-93/

A pregnant women's weight may contribute to autism. A new study has suggested that a mother's weight and diabetic condition puts the risk of her unborn child in developing a neurodevelopmental disorder like autism. This study came out of the Journal of Pediatrics. Researchers with UC Davis MIND Institute in California found that pregnant women that were obese were 67% more likely to have a child with autism as to an average weight mothers- to-be without diabetes or hypertension. The study included 1,004 mothers-and-child the ages were 24 and 60 months old; 517 children had autism; 172 with other developmental disorders; and 315 were developing normally. Diabetic mother's children who had autism had a greater deficit in communication, and socialization problems than a child with autism that was born to a healthy mother.  Poor diet during pregnancy effects the unborn child and unregulated sugar in the body of the mother effects the child's brain development.
To learn more about this study:
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/09/moms-weight-or-diabetic-condition-may-be-a-factor-in-autism/?hpt=hp_t2 

What's in The News Today

A ghost ship from Japan's tsunami is spotted in Canada. The U.S. Coast has deployed a ship to sink the fishing vessel from Japan's coast last year. The crew will attempt to sink the ship with a 25-millimeter cannon. The vessel is a rusted trawler (fishing vessel). Japan identified the ship and it was used for catching squid. The trawler was spotted near British Columbia by Canadian military air patrol.

CNN U.S. (April 5, 2012). U.S. Coast Guard to sink Japanese boat washed away by tsunami. Retrieved April 5, 2012, from  http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/05/us/japan-tsunami-ship/index.html?hpt=hp_t2


A father snaps after being accused of child abuse killing his wife and himself. William O'Shell went on a killing rampage when he was accused of abusing his 3-month-old daughter "Alyssa." The child was put into foster care because x-rays revealed she had 11 broken bones and doctors just assumed that she was beaten. On the same day of the murder-suicide a doctor at Colorado Children's Hospital suspected another cause for the broken bones. Alyssa had a rare genetic disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) that caused her broken bones. Alyssa died on October 28, 2008 from muscular atrophy. Alyssa's maternal grandparents stated  "the tragedy could have been prevented and 4 years later their lawsuits have been unsuccessful and that they didn't care about the money, but just wanted someone to say this was wrong and things need to be changed." The parents of Alyssa pleaded with the doctors to check for something else that caused Alyssa's pain and fractures, but they didn't,  and called in social services. The doctors didn't bother looking for other causes of her injuries and they didn't perform a thorough evaluation of the child's health. The foster parents took Aylssa to the Children's Hospital because she was failing to thrive and that is when the doctors found classic signs of SMA: turned in thumb, bell shaped stomach, frog legs and labored breathing and struggled to hold her head. . They ordered genetic testing and it revealed  SMA, but no one informed the parents of their findings. Two weeks later a social worker called Alyssa's parents lawyer to tell them the test results, but the parents were already dead for two weeks. The grandparent Paul Cuin also stated "William and Tiffany O'Shell lost all hope of ever getting back Alyssa and that William feared going to prison and never seeing his wife and daughter again."

James. S. (April 4, 2012). Rare Disease Mimics Child Abuse and Tears Family Apart. abc. Good Mornng America. Retrieved April 5, 2012, fromhttp://gma.yahoo.com/rare-disease-mimics-child-abuse-tears-family-apart-210441467--abc-news-health.html

What's in The News Today

Tornadoes hits Texas. A dozen tornadoes struck Dallas, Texas on Tuesday. The destruction was devastating ripping homes apart, throwing tractor trailers into the air, injuring 17 people fortunately, no deaths were reported. Wednesday more than 8,000 customers are without electricity.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0404/Texas-tornadoes-Why-no-fatalities-after-a-dozen-tornadoes-video


Delta Airlines is offering an economy ticket. The ticket is called Basic Economy, which entitles the passenger the lowest price not without paying a sacrificed price. This includes no advance seating and the passenger will probably be placed in the middle seat. There are no reservation changes and no fees back, where plain economy does allow for changes and fees back. The only difference between Basic Economy and Economy is $15. 

Brown, G. (April 3, 2012). Delta Air New Fare Class: Cheaper, No Seat Assignment. abc. Good Morning America. Yahoo! News. Retrieved April 4, 2012, from http://gma.yahoo.com/delta-airlines-fare-class-cheaper-no-seat-assignment-183855690--abc-news-travel.html


Allegiant Airlines based in Las Vegas will be charging for carry-on baggage. Allegiant Airlines will be the second most expensive domestic airline to charge for carry-on-bags. Spirit Airlines charges $45 for carry-ons. Allegiant will charge as much as $35 for a bag. Passengers are allowed one personal item a laptop or a purse anything larger will be charged a fee.

Brown, G. (April 3, 2012).  Allegiant Airlines to Charge for Carry-Ons. abc Good Morning America. Yahoo! News. Retrieved April 4, 2012, from  http://gma.yahoo.com/allegiant-airlines-charge-carry-ons-211800183--abc-news-travel.html

What's in The News Today

Katie Couric replaces Robin Roberts while she is on vacation. Katie Couric is covering Robin Roberts on Good Morning America (GMA). She will appear with George Stephanopoulos for the week of April 2. Katie talks about early puberty in girls under the age of 10. Black girls seem to go into earlier puberty 23% more, 15% Hispanic, white 10% and Asia 2%. Stress and obesity may be a contributing factor while environmental has not been ruled out. Plastics contain bisphenol A (BPA), may increase hormone levels  found in plastic containers, water bottles and baby bottles.



http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=early%20puberty%20in%20girls%20katie%20couric&tnr=21&vid=1758850777111&l=242&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D1758850777111%26id%3Dcf8fcca5a2c5023fd938dd6f31b98dec%26bid%3D8FcsHSCuyVCHuQ%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fabcnews.go.com%252fVideo%252fplayerIndex%253fid%253d16054089&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FVideo%2FplayerIndex%3Fid%3D16054089&sigr=11j1tv432&newfp=1&tit=Early+Puberty+in+Girls%3A+Long-Term+Effects%3F

Amanda Knox may appear in Italian courts again. This time for her parents Curt Knox and Edda Mellas who were accused of defaming 5 police officers. She will not actually physically return to Italy, but will testify via video conference. Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were accused of killing Amanda's roommate Meredith Kercher. Amanda and Raffaele served 4 years in prison and were released last year. Amanda told her parents that she wasn't given food or water during the police interrogation and  was also verbally abused. The parent's shared Amanda's experience with a British newspaper in 2008. The police officials feel that their reputation and integrity were defamed. This is quite common charges in Italy as they try to protect their reputation. The hearing was scheduled for today, but witnesses were not present and it has been rescheduled for January 24, 2013. Amanda is writing a book about her experiences in Italy and it will be released early next year.

Battiste, N. (March 30, 2012). Amanda Know May 'Appear' in Italian Court. abc Good Mornng America. Yahoo! News. retrieved April 2, 2012, from http://gma.yahoo.com/amanda-knox-may-appear-italian-court-132743832--abc-news-topstories.html


A 21- month-old Oregon boy drowns in a washing machine. Ollie Hebb use to help his mother Tiffany Hebb with the laundry by throwing the clothes in the top-loader washer. Tiffany said "Ollie went missing for a few minutes and when she found him he was wedged inside the water-filled machine." A neighbor performed CPR, but the boy died a day later on life support, his organs were donated. 

abc News. (April 2, 2012). 1-Year-Old Ore. By Drowns in Washing Machine. Retrieved Apri 2, 2012, from  http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/year-ore-boy-drowns-washing-machine-16054906#.T3nTqTAh11E

What's in The News Today

The History of April Fool's Day

In the 1700's the English pranksters popularized the day in April as Fools' Day. This day has been celebrated for centuries and even goes back as far as 1582 when France switched from the Julian calender to the Gregorian calendar. When people were slow to get the news or failed to recognize the new year had moved to January 1, and those who continued to celebrate it in the last week of March to  April 1 became the jokes. Which, included having paper fish put on their backs and being referred to as "poisson d'avril" (April fish) to symbolize someone who is gullible. 

April Fools' Day was also celebrated in Rome with the ancient festival known as "Hilaria" it was observed at the end of March and people would dress up in disguises. This represent the unpredictable weather.

In the 1800's Scotland would celebrate it for two-days and send people out to hunt for "hunting the qowk" fake errand. Gowk is a word for cuckoo bird a "symbol for fool." The following day was "Tallie Day" pranks that were played on people's derrieres with signs that said "kick me."

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history 

What's in The News Today

3 winners in the Mega Million Lottery. The three winners are in  Baltimore, Maryland, Kansas and Illinois. The Baltimore ticket was bought last night at 7 p.m. and it was a single ticket and a quick pick. The numbers were 02-04-23-38-46 and 23. The winners will receive $213 million each.

http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/03/31/mega-millions-3-lottery-winners-to-share-jackpot/ 

A woman finds mold on a new tampon. The tampon was in a box of Kotex. The  mold is compared to what you would find on fruit. If the tampon was used it could have caused serious issues for her, stated Dr. Jay Staub and obstetrician and gynecologist. 

http://www.click2houston.com/news/Woman-finds-moldy-tampon-in-new-box/-/1735978/9810750/-/dbwsmr/-/

A severed snake's head bites a man. Bo Mc Mahon's friend saw the cotton mouth swimming along the creek and he chopped his head off with a machete. Mc Mahon put his hand in the snake's mouth and it bit him. When asked why he did that he stated "the snake was dead and didn't think it could bite."  He refused to get medical treatment and within  30 minutes the venom started to take-over him. He got disoriented and was taken to the hospital. He is fine and there was not enough venom to kill him, he stated "he will never do that again."

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2012/03/30/dnt-dead-snake-bites-man.wala

Inspirational Friday

 A man was told he would never walk again. Janne Kouri was playing volleyball at Hermosa Beach, California, when he jumped into the water to cool off and smacked his head into a hidden sand-bar. He became paralyzed instantly. He thought he was going to die he couldn't move his body and then is when an EMT came to his rescue. He was alive, but his future was grim according to his doctor who stated "he would never walk again." Kouri was 6'4' and 245 pounds and played football star defense tackle at Georgetown University.  He spent two months in the intensive care unit due to his spinal cord being fractured in two places and he nearly died twice.  His girlfriend Susan stayed by his side and helped him have a positive outlook on his life. The couple found Dr. Susan Harkema at the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute in Louisville, Ky, Harkema she developed the therapy called "loco-motor training." Christopher Reeve was her first patient to experiment with the therapy. This type of training has helped hundreds of spinal cord injuries. Herkema did tell Kouri there is hope for his injury. The first time he went on the treadmill he passed out within 7 seconds, but within days he was able to stand for 10, 15 minutes and then an hour. He started to get stronger and his circulation improved and muscle strength increased. After two months Kouri was able to wiggle his toes and then he stood up on his own, he danced with his bride, a dream for him because he couldn't do it on his wedding day. Kouri and the Reeve's foundation and Dr. Herkema raised enough funds to open NextStep Fitness, a non-profit rehab center in Los Angeles where Kouri and everyone in the community can get loco-motor training at an affordable cost.

McHugh, R. (march 29, 2012). Man's Miracle Recovery: From Paralyzed to Helping Others. abc. Good Morning America. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://gma.yahoo.com/mans-miracle-recovery-paralyzed-helping-others-212851434--abc-news-health.html

A man donates a framed poster and it turns out to be a print by Pablo Picasso. Ed Zettler had the poster in his basement for years wrapped in newspaper and decided three weeks ago to donate it to his local thrift shop. To Zettler's surprise one morning when he was reading the dispatch newspaper's front page there was his poster and its worth of $6,000 and it was bought by a man for only $14.14. Zettler did find some comfort for that man's find that he would be able receive a tax credit for the total amount of $6,000.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/03/30/for-picasso-donor-cest-la-vie.html

Tonight's Mega Million is $540 Million. Here are some tips if you become a winner.

1. Sign the ticket immediately
2. Hide ticket until you can cash it
3. Don't tell anyone or very few
4. Get a financial adviser, lawyer and a tax consultant
5. No impulse buying for least 6 months.