LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It was reported by local authorities that an empty gasoline tank that had been undergoing repairs exploded, killing three workers.
The tank had previously been cleaned, and the workers had entered it to undergo repairs and install new equipment when the blast occurred just before 2:30 p.m., said Rick Rainey, spokesman for the facility's owner TEPPCO Partners LP.
Officials have declared that the workers were employed by C&C Welding of Elizabethtown, KY. The company declined further comment on the workers.
The explosion had occurred as a series of thunderstorms were rolling through Arkansas, and the National Weather Service had recorded no instances of lightning in the are at the time of the blast.
Jessie Honomichl, who lives down the road from the plant, said she heard the explosion's boom across the surrounding farmland. The 89-year-old said she went to the window to look outside at the overcast skies.
"I thought it was thunder," she said.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Fiancée of man who allegedly kill woman through Craiglist supports him
BOSTON, Mass. - While more evedince is piling up on Philip Markoff, the 22-year-old medical student who is accused of killing a woman who he may have found through a Craigslist.com advertisement, this does not stop people from supporting him.
Prosecutors said they found a semiautomatic weapon at his home, as well as ammunition and materials exactly like those used in a prior attack.
He has been fully backed up by his friends and especially his family. They all say that he is an all-American kid.
Now, his Fiancée has been supporting him, saying "He Could Not Hurt a Fly," but her remarks won't help him from getting innocent.
Search Phillip Markoff for other stories
Barack Obama on the cover of the Washingtonian Magazine shirtless on a Hawaii beach
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, appeared on the Washingtonian shirtless. The picture was from last December while he was on a beach during a vacation to Hawaii.
The picture that the Washingtonian put on the cover is not the original raw picture - they changed the color of his bathing suit to red, and gave him a sort of an airbursh touch up to his skin.
It is also believed that they gave him a bigger six pack, but this was later proven as false.
Barack Obama is the first president to ever appear on the cover of a magazine shirtless. But, he is not the first president to get his picture taken without a shirt on a beach.
Bill Clinton's picture was taken on the beach just leaving the water with a smile on his face.
Ronald Reagan's picture was taken on the beach throwing a football with some "snazzy" white trunks.
Finally, some real news.
Craigslist killing suspect seemed 'all-American'
BOSTON, Mass. - Friends and family of Philip Markoff, the medical student who is being accused of killing a woman he may have met through a Craigslist advertisement, has described the 23-year-old as a model medical student.
"My girlfriend actually rode the elevator with him a lot alone; it's kind of freaking her out now," said Patrick Sullivan, who lived in the same apartment building as Markoff in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.
"She thought he was kind of the all-American, good-looking guy," Sullivan said. "When she saw him on TV yesterday, she even remarked, 'I can't believe it's him. I always thought he had such a great smile, and he was so nice to me.'"
James Kehoe, who is a friend of the Markoff family from the State University of New York at Albany where both had attended college, said that Markoff was probably "one of the best students I've probably ever encountered."
"He would never put anything in front of his work," he said. "He had great aspirations to be a doctor."
Markoff is charged with killing 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York on April 14, 2009 at Boston's Copley Marriott Hotel with a gun.
Markoff was arraigned Tuesday and is being held without a bail.
A Boston University spokeswoman said the school suspended Markoff, who has no criminal record, when it learned of the charges on Monday.
Daniel Conley, who is the Suffolk County District Attorney, told reporters that a procedural not-guilty please was entered on Markoff's behalf.
It is said that Brismann "put up a fight," from the crime scene. Brismann, who was a model, advertised as a masseuse on Criagslist.
She had suffered blunt head trauma, and was shot three times at close range. The fatal shot was the one bullet that passed through her heart.
Markoff is also charged in connection with the April 10 robbery of a woman at a Westin Hotel in Boston. In that case, the woman made arrangements to meet a man through Craigslist for a massage at the hotel, but was held at gunpoint and bound, Hickman said. She was robbed of $800 and personal items and left tied to a door handle with duct tape over her mouth, the prosecutor said in court Tuesday. Although, the victim was not identified.
Megan McAllister, who identified herself as Markoff's fiancee, maintained his innocence in an e-mail sent to ABC News. McAllister said Markoff "is the wrong man" and "was set up."
"Unfortunately, you were given wrong information as was the public," she wrote. "All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly!"
She accused Boston police of "trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations. What else is new??"
Authorities believe the motive in Brisman's death was robbery, Conley told reporters. In executing a search warrant at Markoff's home, police found a firearm, along with restraints and duct tape, he said.
Surveillance videos from the hotel where Brisman was killed showed a tall, clean-cut young blond man in a black windbreaker leaving the property, according to Boston police, who had sought public assistance in identifying the man.
Police traced the Internet communications with Brisman to an e-mail account that had been opened the day before her death, Conley said. Using Internet provider information, they found the computer was at Markoff's residence in Quincy. Authorities put the home under surveillance, Conley said, and "the case just begins to build from there."
Markoff, meanwhile, is "bearing up," Salsberg said. "It's obviously a difficult time for anybody in these circumstances with the charges that have been brought against him. ... He's pleaded not guilty. He is not guilty."
Authorities in Boston are working with police in Warwick, Rhode Island, on what could be a related case. On April 16 at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, a man tied up and demanded money from a 26-year-old dancer who had posted a Craigslist advertisement, Warwick Police Chief Col. Stephen McCartney said.
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The robbery was interrupted when the woman's husband entered the room. After pointing his gun at the husband, the suspect fled, McCartney said. He said the incident "may be related to similar crimes occurring in the Boston area," but that had not been determined.
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told CNN the company is "horrified and deeply saddened that our community services have been associated in any way whatsoever with a crime of violence." He promised that Craigslist will evaluate the incident to see whether additional measures could be introduced to protect users.
"My girlfriend actually rode the elevator with him a lot alone; it's kind of freaking her out now," said Patrick Sullivan, who lived in the same apartment building as Markoff in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.
"She thought he was kind of the all-American, good-looking guy," Sullivan said. "When she saw him on TV yesterday, she even remarked, 'I can't believe it's him. I always thought he had such a great smile, and he was so nice to me.'"
James Kehoe, who is a friend of the Markoff family from the State University of New York at Albany where both had attended college, said that Markoff was probably "one of the best students I've probably ever encountered."
"He would never put anything in front of his work," he said. "He had great aspirations to be a doctor."
Markoff is charged with killing 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York on April 14, 2009 at Boston's Copley Marriott Hotel with a gun.
Markoff was arraigned Tuesday and is being held without a bail.
A Boston University spokeswoman said the school suspended Markoff, who has no criminal record, when it learned of the charges on Monday.
Daniel Conley, who is the Suffolk County District Attorney, told reporters that a procedural not-guilty please was entered on Markoff's behalf.
It is said that Brismann "put up a fight," from the crime scene. Brismann, who was a model, advertised as a masseuse on Criagslist.
She had suffered blunt head trauma, and was shot three times at close range. The fatal shot was the one bullet that passed through her heart.
Markoff is also charged in connection with the April 10 robbery of a woman at a Westin Hotel in Boston. In that case, the woman made arrangements to meet a man through Craigslist for a massage at the hotel, but was held at gunpoint and bound, Hickman said. She was robbed of $800 and personal items and left tied to a door handle with duct tape over her mouth, the prosecutor said in court Tuesday. Although, the victim was not identified.
Megan McAllister, who identified herself as Markoff's fiancee, maintained his innocence in an e-mail sent to ABC News. McAllister said Markoff "is the wrong man" and "was set up."
"Unfortunately, you were given wrong information as was the public," she wrote. "All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly!"
She accused Boston police of "trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations. What else is new??"
Authorities believe the motive in Brisman's death was robbery, Conley told reporters. In executing a search warrant at Markoff's home, police found a firearm, along with restraints and duct tape, he said.
Surveillance videos from the hotel where Brisman was killed showed a tall, clean-cut young blond man in a black windbreaker leaving the property, according to Boston police, who had sought public assistance in identifying the man.
Police traced the Internet communications with Brisman to an e-mail account that had been opened the day before her death, Conley said. Using Internet provider information, they found the computer was at Markoff's residence in Quincy. Authorities put the home under surveillance, Conley said, and "the case just begins to build from there."
Markoff, meanwhile, is "bearing up," Salsberg said. "It's obviously a difficult time for anybody in these circumstances with the charges that have been brought against him. ... He's pleaded not guilty. He is not guilty."
Authorities in Boston are working with police in Warwick, Rhode Island, on what could be a related case. On April 16 at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, a man tied up and demanded money from a 26-year-old dancer who had posted a Craigslist advertisement, Warwick Police Chief Col. Stephen McCartney said.
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The robbery was interrupted when the woman's husband entered the room. After pointing his gun at the husband, the suspect fled, McCartney said. He said the incident "may be related to similar crimes occurring in the Boston area," but that had not been determined.
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told CNN the company is "horrified and deeply saddened that our community services have been associated in any way whatsoever with a crime of violence." He promised that Craigslist will evaluate the incident to see whether additional measures could be introduced to protect users.
Freddie Mac CFO found dead
FARIFAX, Va. - Police in Fairfax, VA have said that the acting head of Freddie Mac, David Kellerman, has commited suicide. He was 41-years-old.
The wife allegedly called police, and the police went to the Kellerman home in response to the call.
Sabrina Ruck, a Fairfax County police spokesman, was the women that confirmed that Kellerman was dead, but she originally did not confirm that he had committed suicide.
Freddie Mac is a government controlled company that owns or guarantees about 13 million home loans. CEO David Moffett resigned last month.
Kellerman was named acting chief financial officer in September 2008.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Supreme Court hears arguments in school strip-search case
WASHINGTON - The case for the girl who was strip-searched in school when she was only 13 for suspicion that she had extra-strength ibuprofen in her underwear went all the way to the Supreme Court, where they gave a skeptical hearing.
Most of the justices only voiced their concerns about drugs, specifically heroin and crack cocaine, and they said that they were wary of limiting officials' authority to search students for any drugs they may have.
"How is a school administrator supposed to know?" Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked. "He sees a white pill and doesn't know if it is something terribly harmful, even deadly, or if it's prescription-strength ibuprofen."
In earlier years before this case, a vice principal at an Arizona middle school in 2003 told a school nurse to take one of the students Savana Redding to an office and to not only search her, but search her underwear as well if she was hiding any pills. She had nothing to hide.
She and her mother later sued Safford school officials on grounds, for the reason that they had subjected her to a completely "unreasonable search."
Just before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last year, she had won the case which ruled that the strip-search of an eighth-grader was unreasonable and that the school officials who were ordered to do the search were liable for damages.
If affirmed, that ruling will put a new limit on school searches nationwide.
A ruling in the case of Safford School District vs. Redding is scheduled to be issued by late June.
Most of the justices only voiced their concerns about drugs, specifically heroin and crack cocaine, and they said that they were wary of limiting officials' authority to search students for any drugs they may have.
"How is a school administrator supposed to know?" Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked. "He sees a white pill and doesn't know if it is something terribly harmful, even deadly, or if it's prescription-strength ibuprofen."
In earlier years before this case, a vice principal at an Arizona middle school in 2003 told a school nurse to take one of the students Savana Redding to an office and to not only search her, but search her underwear as well if she was hiding any pills. She had nothing to hide.
She and her mother later sued Safford school officials on grounds, for the reason that they had subjected her to a completely "unreasonable search."
Just before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last year, she had won the case which ruled that the strip-search of an eighth-grader was unreasonable and that the school officials who were ordered to do the search were liable for damages.
If affirmed, that ruling will put a new limit on school searches nationwide.
A ruling in the case of Safford School District vs. Redding is scheduled to be issued by late June.
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