George Ryan Jr. found guilty of DUI

George Ryan Jr. found guilty of DUI

George "Homer" Ryan Jr., son of former Gov. George Ryan, was found guilty Wednesday of drunk driving following his November 2012 arrest in Bradley.

Police found Ryan, 49, sleeping in his vehicle late one night in the parking lot of a White Castle restaurant. The engine was running and the truck was parked across several spots. Ryan failed a field sobriety test and declined chemical testing.

At several points throughout his arrest, Ryan is described as being "angry or in despair."

He will be sentenced Nov. 7 and faces up to a year in jail, a $2,500 fine and a one-year suspension of his license. But Ryan, who has no criminal record, can also receive court supervision, which would give him a chance to avoid a DUI conviction.

In her bench trial ruling, Kankakee County Circuit Court Judge Susan Tungate acknowledged that other courts have asked that drunk drivers who voluntary pull over in attempt to sleep off their intoxication should be given special consideration.

View the original article here

Katie Beers' kidnapper found dead in jail cell

NEW YORK John Esposito, the man convicted in the notorious 1992 abduction and imprisonment of a Long Island girl, was found dead in his cell Wednesday at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, N.Y.

CBS Station WCBS reports the 64-year-old Esposito was found shortly after a parole hearing.

It appears he died of natural causes, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said.

Esposito was serving 15 years to life in prison for the kidnapping of Katie Beers, then age 10, who was a neighbor in the Long Island town of Bay Shore. Esposito held her captive, chained in a secret room in his house, for 17 days.

Esposito claimed that he loved Beers. "I would never harm her. I like her, I loved her, really," he said.

On Wednesday night Beers released a statement: "I'm saddened at the loss of a life, but at the same time I'm happy that John Esposito will never be granted parole or have the opportunity to hurt anyone ever again."

Last January -- after 20 years of silence on her ordeal -- Beers told WCBS correspondent Jennifer McLogan that getting kidnapped was a blessing in disguise because it allowed her to escape a life of abuse.

Beers, now a married mother of two living in rural Pennsylvania, recently co-wrote a memoir, "Buried Memories: Katie Beers' Story."

Esposito's death follows the shocking suicide of Ariel Castro, the man who held three Cleveland women captive for roughly a decade. Castro was found late Tuesday hanging in his cell in an Ohio state prison facility.

View the original article here

Katie Beers' kidnapper found dead in jail cell

NEW YORK John Esposito, the man convicted in the notorious 1992 abduction and imprisonment of a Long Island girl, was found dead in his cell Wednesday at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, N.Y.

CBS Station WCBS reports the 64-year-old Esposito was found shortly after a parole hearing.

It appears he died of natural causes, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said.

Esposito was serving 15 years to life in prison for the kidnapping of Katie Beers, then age 10, who was a neighbor in the Long Island town of Bay Shore. Esposito held her captive, chained in a secret room in his house, for 17 days.

Esposito claimed that he loved Beers. "I would never harm her. I like her, I loved her, really," he said.

On Wednesday night Beers released a statement: "I'm saddened at the loss of a life, but at the same time I'm happy that John Esposito will never be granted parole or have the opportunity to hurt anyone ever again."

Last January -- after 20 years of silence on her ordeal -- Beers told WCBS correspondent Jennifer McLogan that getting kidnapped was a blessing in disguise because it allowed her to escape a life of abuse.

Beers, now a married mother of two living in rural Pennsylvania, recently co-wrote a memoir, "Buried Memories: Katie Beers' Story."

Esposito's death follows the shocking suicide of Ariel Castro, the man who held three Cleveland women captive for roughly a decade. Castro was found late Tuesday hanging in his cell in an Ohio state prison facility.

View the original article here

Ariel Castro found dead in prison cell

Updated 3:15 a.m. ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio The man who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade before one escaped has been found dead and is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said.

Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, located south of Columbus, in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, said early Wednesday.

Play Video

Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

He was in protective custody because of the notoriety of his case, meaning he was checked every 30 minutes, but was not on suicide watch, Smith said, adding that suicide watch entails constant observation.

Castro was also watched closely in Cuyahoga County Jail in the several weeks after his arrest and before his case was resolved by a guilty plea, with logs noting his activity every 10 minutes. He was taken off county jail suicide watch in early June after authorities determined he was not a suicide risk.

CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO-TV says officials are staying mum about what was used in the hanging and how it got into Castro's cell. The station says the county jail had video cameras trained on Castro in his cell for a time.

One man who was driving by on the street where Castro's house stood before being demolished by authorities told WOIO, "I think he did those girls (Castro's victims) a favor by taking his own life, because he took theirs." (Editor's note: Officials say they have yet to definitively determine that the hanging was at Castro's own hand)

Castro's attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of Castro done at the Cuyahoga County Jail, where Castro was housed before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction, his attorney, Jaye Schlachet, told The Associated Press early Wednesday. Schlachet said he could not immediately comment further.

Play Video

In an interview last month after Castro's conviction, Schlachet and attorney Craig Weintraub said their client clearly fit the profile of sociopathic disorder and that they hoped researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop other predators.

The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. They escaped from Castro's Cleveland home May 6, when Amanda Berry, one of the women, broke part of a door and yelled to neighbors for help.

29 Photos

"Help me," she said in a 911 call. "I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now."

The two other women were so scared of Castro that they held back initially even as police officers began to swarm the house. But quickly they realized they were free.

"You saved us! You saved us!" another of the captives, Michelle Knight, told an officer as she leaped into his arms.

Play Video

Castro was arrested that evening.

He had also fathered a child with Berry while she was in captivity; that girl was 6 years old when freed. A judge rejected Castro's request to have visiting rights with his daughter.

Elation over the women's rescue soon turned to shock as details emerged about conditions of their captivity. Investigators say they were bound with chains, repeatedly raped and deprived of food and bathroom facilities. Knight told investigators she was beaten and starved several times to force her to miscarry.

Messages left for the women's lawyers were not immediately returned early Wednesday.

Castro was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape.

In a rambling statement, he told the judge he was not a monster but a man suffering from a pornography addiction. "I'm not a monster. I'm sick," Castro said at his sentencing.

Knight was the only one of the three who appeared in court at his sentencing.

"You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back," she said in the hushed courtroom. "I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."

This is the second high-profile suicide in an Ohio prison in a month.

On Aug. 4, death row inmate Billy Slagle was found hanged in his cell just days before his scheduled execution. He was condemned to death for fatally stabbing a neighbor.

Here is a portion of WOIO's ongoing coverage of Castro's death:

View the original article here

Ariel Castro found dead in prison cell

Updated 3:15 a.m. ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio The man who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade before one escaped has been found dead and is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said.

Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, located south of Columbus, in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, said early Wednesday.

Play Video

Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

He was in protective custody because of the notoriety of his case, meaning he was checked every 30 minutes, but was not on suicide watch, Smith said, adding that suicide watch entails constant observation.

Castro was also watched closely in Cuyahoga County Jail in the several weeks after his arrest and before his case was resolved by a guilty plea, with logs noting his activity every 10 minutes. He was taken off county jail suicide watch in early June after authorities determined he was not a suicide risk.

CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO-TV says officials are staying mum about what was used in the hanging and how it got into Castro's cell. The station says the county jail had video cameras trained on Castro in his cell for a time.

One man who was driving by on the street where Castro's house stood before being demolished by authorities told WOIO, "I think he did those girls (Castro's victims) a favor by taking his own life, because he took theirs." (Editor's note: Officials say they have yet to definitively determine that the hanging was at Castro's own hand)

Castro's attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of Castro done at the Cuyahoga County Jail, where Castro was housed before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction, his attorney, Jaye Schlachet, told The Associated Press early Wednesday. Schlachet said he could not immediately comment further.

Play Video

In an interview last month after Castro's conviction, Schlachet and attorney Craig Weintraub said their client clearly fit the profile of sociopathic disorder and that they hoped researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop other predators.

The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. They escaped from Castro's Cleveland home May 6, when Amanda Berry, one of the women, broke part of a door and yelled to neighbors for help.

29 Photos

"Help me," she said in a 911 call. "I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm, I'm here, I'm free now."

The two other women were so scared of Castro that they held back initially even as police officers began to swarm the house. But quickly they realized they were free.

"You saved us! You saved us!" another of the captives, Michelle Knight, told an officer as she leaped into his arms.

Play Video

Castro was arrested that evening.

He had also fathered a child with Berry while she was in captivity; that girl was 6 years old when freed. A judge rejected Castro's request to have visiting rights with his daughter.

Elation over the women's rescue soon turned to shock as details emerged about conditions of their captivity. Investigators say they were bound with chains, repeatedly raped and deprived of food and bathroom facilities. Knight told investigators she was beaten and starved several times to force her to miscarry.

Messages left for the women's lawyers were not immediately returned early Wednesday.

Castro was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape.

In a rambling statement, he told the judge he was not a monster but a man suffering from a pornography addiction. "I'm not a monster. I'm sick," Castro said at his sentencing.

Knight was the only one of the three who appeared in court at his sentencing.

"You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back," she said in the hushed courtroom. "I spent 11 years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning."

This is the second high-profile suicide in an Ohio prison in a month.

On Aug. 4, death row inmate Billy Slagle was found hanged in his cell just days before his scheduled execution. He was condemned to death for fatally stabbing a neighbor.

Here is a portion of WOIO's ongoing coverage of Castro's death:

View the original article here

2 kittens that stopped NYC subway service found

Updated 10:03 PM ET

NEW YORK It only took two kittens to stop the city's subway in its tracks.

Power was cut to the B and Q lines in Brooklyn for more than an hour after a woman reported Thursday morning that her kittens were loose in the nation's largest subway system, transit officials said.

The furry felines, one black and the other white with gray stripes, were finally found on the tracks and rescued about seven hours later.

How they got there was a mystery. But they were seen running dangerously close to the high-voltage third rail.

Their owner rushed to a subway station with cat food for transit workers dispatched onto the tracks to use to try to corral them.

Power was suspended between several stops — about half the Q line and the B line's entire service in Brooklyn — on the local and express tracks for 90 minutes, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Judie Glave said. The express line was stopped another half-hour while workers kept searching.

But the skittish kittens disappeared again before being discovered Thursday evening under the third rail of an above-ground express track. Police officers removed the kittens in crates, Glave said.

Officials said workers and passengers in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood had been on the lookout for the kittens and train operators were asked to proceed with caution. If they saw anything moving on the tracks, they were required to stop and notify the rail control center.

Some passengers wanted to help by scouring the tracks but were turned down by MTA workers citing safety concerns.

While the effort on behalf of the kittens created delays for passengers, the Q operated a shuttle service between two of its normal Brooklyn stops, said transit officials, who couldn't immediately provide the cost of the extra service.

View the original article here

Wanted man, 3 kids found safe at Mich. lakeshore

GLEN HAVEN, Mich. A man wanted on a domestic violence charge and his three young children were found safe Monday night at northern Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore after a search involving ground crews and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.

"The kids are all OK. The man is OK," said Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Borkovich. They were found about 7:50 p.m. on a hillside a rugged mile from where the man's car was found abandoned about 13 hours earlier.

The 50-year-old man from the Detroit suburb of Orchard Lake was placed under arrest on the domestic violence charge and was being questioned. He will be jailed overnight and arraigned Tuesday in Emmet County, where the charge originated, Borkovich said.

It appears that the man and his children arrived the previous day and spent Sunday night in the woods without food, water or shelter, Borkovich said. He said they were "physically exhausted," and very hungry and thirsty. The children are the man's 14- and 10-year-old daughters and his 9-year-old son.

The motive for the man's actions was unclear, and authorities said they hoped interviews with him and the children would make it clearer.

"It seemed to be a spur-of-the-moment thing," said Phil Akers, chief ranger at the national lakeshore.

Borkovich characterized it as "a rogue camping event." He said the man's name would be withheld until he appeared in court.

The man was the subject of a massive search after an empty car he'd been driving was discovered near a museum at the lakeshore.

He was visiting family members in Emmet County when he got into a conflict with his wife Sunday. She filed a complaint against him, and the Emmet County Sheriff's Department issued a misdemeanor domestic violence warrant for him, Borkovich said.

"It's not like it's a military guy and a survival expert. It's a dad with kids," Borkovich said before the four were found safe. "We don't see any signs of struggle, any signs of violence. We don't have any threats of him doing any harm to himself, to the kids or his spouse. We don't have any signs whatsoever to indicate violence. What we have is either lost people or people hiding."

About 7 a.m. Monday, a lakeshore park ranger spotted a car with a dented door parked on a road near the Coast Guard Maritime Heritage Museum. Borkovich said the ranger ran the license plate and learned there was an alert for the vehicle.

There was something about the car itself that caused authorities to be concerned, but Borkovich declined to be specific.

Borkovich said searchers walked the shoreline and were going through wetlands and inland ridges. State police and Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department K-9 units and Michigan Department of Natural Resources crews also were aiding the search. Borkovich said volunteer firefighters and other emergency personnel were joining the search later Monday and planned to carry out a systematic search by grids of a large section of the park. He described the terrain as swampy and thick with trees and undergrowth.

Parts of the lakeshore, including the popular Dune Climb, were closed to the public while the search continued.

View the original article here

Wanted man, 3 kids found safe at Mich. lakeshore

GLEN HAVEN, Mich. A man wanted on a domestic violence charge and his three young children were found safe Monday night at northern Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore after a search involving ground crews and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.

"The kids are all OK. The man is OK," said Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Borkovich. They were found about 7:50 p.m. on a hillside a rugged mile from where the man's car was found abandoned about 13 hours earlier.

The 50-year-old man from the Detroit suburb of Orchard Lake was placed under arrest on the domestic violence charge and was being questioned. He will be jailed overnight and arraigned Tuesday in Emmet County, where the charge originated, Borkovich said.

It appears that the man and his children arrived the previous day and spent Sunday night in the woods without food, water or shelter, Borkovich said. He said they were "physically exhausted," and very hungry and thirsty. The children are the man's 14- and 10-year-old daughters and his 9-year-old son.

The motive for the man's actions was unclear, and authorities said they hoped interviews with him and the children would make it clearer.

"It seemed to be a spur-of-the-moment thing," said Phil Akers, chief ranger at the national lakeshore.

Borkovich characterized it as "a rogue camping event." He said the man's name would be withheld until he appeared in court.

The man was the subject of a massive search after an empty car he'd been driving was discovered near a museum at the lakeshore.

He was visiting family members in Emmet County when he got into a conflict with his wife Sunday. She filed a complaint against him, and the Emmet County Sheriff's Department issued a misdemeanor domestic violence warrant for him, Borkovich said.

"It's not like it's a military guy and a survival expert. It's a dad with kids," Borkovich said before the four were found safe. "We don't see any signs of struggle, any signs of violence. We don't have any threats of him doing any harm to himself, to the kids or his spouse. We don't have any signs whatsoever to indicate violence. What we have is either lost people or people hiding."

About 7 a.m. Monday, a lakeshore park ranger spotted a car with a dented door parked on a road near the Coast Guard Maritime Heritage Museum. Borkovich said the ranger ran the license plate and learned there was an alert for the vehicle.

There was something about the car itself that caused authorities to be concerned, but Borkovich declined to be specific.

Borkovich said searchers walked the shoreline and were going through wetlands and inland ridges. State police and Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department K-9 units and Michigan Department of Natural Resources crews also were aiding the search. Borkovich said volunteer firefighters and other emergency personnel were joining the search later Monday and planned to carry out a systematic search by grids of a large section of the park. He described the terrain as swampy and thick with trees and undergrowth.

Parts of the lakeshore, including the popular Dune Climb, were closed to the public while the search continued.

View the original article here

Ex-Knicks player Dean Meminger found dead

NEW YORK Dean Meminger, the former Marquette guard who played a reserve role on the New York Knicks' 1973 NBA championship team, was found dead Friday in a Manhattan hotel room. He was 65.

New York City police said staff at the Hamilton Heights Hotel found Meminger unconscious and unresponsive inside a room and emergency medical personnel pronounced him dead. Police said there were no signs of trauma and that the cause of death hadn't been determined. They said an investigation is ongoing.

FILE - In this 1972 file photo, New York Knicks' Dean Meminger poses for a photo in New York.

/ AP Photo/File

"We want to thank everyone for their prayers and condolences during this difficult time for our family," Meminger's family said in a statement. "Dean `The Dream' Meminger touched the hearts of so many on and off the basketball court. Through basketball and education, he helped countless people around the country receive scholarships, high school and college admissions, and even employment."

Meminger averaged 6.1 points in six seasons with the Knicks and Atlanta Hawks. A former New York City prep star at Rice High School, Meminger led Marquette to a 78-9 mark in three varsity seasons, averaging 18.8 points. He averaged 21.2 points as a senior in 1970-71 and was drafted 16th overall by the Knicks.

"Everyone at the New York Knicks' organization is saddened to hear the news of Dean Meminger's passing," Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald said in a statement. "From the day he was drafted by this franchise in 1971, Dean was a friend and close family member of this team. On April 5, 2013, the 1973 world championship team was honored at Madison Square Garden on its 40th anniversary. There was no one prouder than Dean to be back on the court with his teammates. We send our heartfelt condolences to the entire Meminger family."

Meminger had short coaching stints with the New York Stars in the Women's Basketball League, the Albany Patroons in the CBA and the Long Island Knights in the USBL. He coached Manhattanville College in 2003-04.

View the original article here

Decapitated chickens, slaughtered pig found on Keansburg beach

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

View the original article here

VIDEO: Rare dinosaur fossil found in Mexico

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

View the original article here