LOCAL
Police are looking for a boy who stole money from a Girl
Scout troop that was selling cookies in front of a supermarket in San
Bernardino County. Members of Girl Scout Troop 1303 had spent most of Sunday
selling the organization's famous cookies in front of a Stater Bros. in Phelan,
when they started packing up their supplies, a boy then passed their table on a
skateboard and snatched a bag containing money from the sales.
(source: latimes.com)
A construction worker may have been lured to his death by
an early morning phone call from a Ladera Ranch man who was in the midst of a
killing and carjacking spree last month, according to court documents reviewed
by the Register.Jeremy Lewis was the third and final victim of suspected
shooter Ali Syed, 20. Lewis had been sitting in his parked Nissan 300ZX next to
co-workers in a Tustin parking lot before work when he received a phone call at
5:40 a.m., the court documents reveal. "I'll be there in a minute,"
Lewis told the caller.
(source: ocregister.com)
California's biannual report of schools in financial
trouble shows an improvement in the number of districts at risk of running out
of money over the next few years. The number of districts with a "negative
certification" – meaning they're unable to meet financial obligations for this
year and the next two -- declined from 12 to seven. The four of them are
in southern California
(source: scpr.org)
NATIONAL
Congressional Republicans announced a plan on Monday to
avoid a government shutdown later this month, seeking to calm the waters after
months of budget fights that ended in a failure last week to halt damaging
spending cuts. Just three days into the $85 billion of automatic
"sequester" cuts, Republicans in the House of Representatives turned
their attention to the next fiscal deadline: the March 27 expiration of funding
for government agencies and programs.
(source: reuters.com)
A Dominican woman who once alleged in a video that she
had sex with a New Jersey senator for money is now acknowledging that the
allegations are false, according to a sworn statement. The attorney, Vinicio
Castillo Seman, says that the 23-year-old woman, identified as Nexis de los
Santos, now claims in a sworn statement that she not only "never went to
bed with" U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez but she never actually met him.
(source: usatoday.com)
Monster Beverage is hitting back at a lawsuit alleging
its energy drinks were responsible for the death of a 14-year-old Maryland
girl, saying that no blood test was performed to confirm that the girl died of
"caffeine toxicity." The disclosure comes amid intensifying scrutiny
of energy drinks and their caffeine levels.
(source: huffingtonpost.com)
A Texas high school student has filed a federal lawsuit
against her school and her teachers after she was punished for refusing to
salute and recite the Mexican pledge of allegiance. The suit on behalf of
Brenda Brinsdon alleges that the McAllen Independent School District
violated the 15-year-old girl's constitutional rights when she was forced to
recite the Mexican pledge and sing the Mexican national anthem.
(source: radio.foxnews.com)
A planned merger of two large U.S. mattress companies
will force antitrust regulators to decide how much concentration they are
prepared to allow in this once diffuse market. Tempur-Pedic International Inc,
rules the market for pricey space-age foam mattresses, has offered to pay $242
million for century-old Sealy Corp, taking on about $750 million in Sealy's
debt in the process.The Federal Trade Commission, which is assessing the deal
to ensure it complies with antitrust law, could make a decision on the case as
soon this week.
(source: reuters.com)
A new study offers more compelling evidence that life
expectancy for some U.S. women is actually falling, a disturbing trend that
experts can't explain. The latest research found that women age 75 and younger
are dying at higher rates than previous years in nearly half of the nation's
counties, many of them rural and in the South and West. Curiously, for men,
life expectancy has held steady or improved in nearly all counties.
(source: AP)
A surrogate is offered $10,000 to have an abortion after ultrasounds
showed the baby she was carrying for another couple had severe medical
problems.
(source: cnn.com)
A 7-year-old boy Baltimore boy was suspended from school
after his teacher complained that the boy chewed a breakfast pastry into the
shape of a gun. In a note that was sent to parents, school officials said
"a student used food to make an inappropriate gesture." The boy said
he was trying to shape a mountain.
(source: nbcnews.com)
INTERNATIONAL
Syrian opposition fighters captured the northeastern city
of Raqqa on Monday. The crowds toppled a statue of President Bashar al-Assad's
father.The fall of Raqqa on the Euphrates River would be a significant
development in the two-year-old revolt against Assad. The rebels do not claim
to hold any other provincial capitals.
(source: reuters.com)
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil is set to be the first to
offer special seats for obese fans. FIFA told The Associated Press that the
seats will be offered to conform to Brazilian legislation, although
international supporters will also be entitled to them. The World Cup Bill in
Brazil requires that at least 1 percent of seats in each stadium be made
available for disabled people, a category that includes the obese, wheelchair
users and those with impaired mobility.
(source: foxsports.com)
