Article #20: Jean Strahan Holds Yard Sale in Order to Make Ends Meet

Countless Montclair residents rummaged through Micheal Strahan's home during a yard sale held by none other than his struggling ex-wife, Jean. Walking off with $300 dresses for $20 a pop. From Strahan's game-worn gloves for $50, two of Michael's televisions for $100 total, picture frames that used to hold loving memories for $2 a shot and countless other things from jersey's to complimentary Pro Bowl handbags. This may rank in the top 10 all-time worst and most public divorces. Jean has gone out of her way to destroy the character of her ex-husband and has done so at any cost -- even opening their home, the most private of all things, to the public.

Article #19: Sports Concussions Called a 'Ticking Time Bomb'

An estimated 350,000 athletes endure some kind of head injury while playing sports every year in the United States, and that's only counting the ones who lose consciousness after impact. Counting the rest of the dings, pings and "rung bells" that result in concussions, the total could be as high as 3.8 million. That's why concussions are, in the words of agent Leigh Steinberg, "a health epidemic, the consequences of which are a ticking time bomb that may not be seen in their totality for 10, 15 or 20 years." Steinberg and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, who suffered the first of his half-dozen concussions at age 11, headlined a summit Friday designed to draw attention to the growing problem of concussions in sports. It's a problem most widely recognized in the NFL, where the suicide of former defensive back Andre Waters and the story of former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson's hurried return to the field made recent headlines. But the issue has repercussions in almost every sport, at almost every level.

Article #18: Va. Tech Student Killed in Crash at Home

A Virginia Tech freshman who returned home with his family after last week's campus massacre was killed in a car crash, his father said Sunday. Jeff Soriano died from his injuries Friday in Senatara Norfolk General Hospital after he was pulled from the wreckage of his burning vehicle, police said. Enrique Soriano, speaking by telephone from his home in Chesapeake, Va., said he picked up his son in the days after the April 16 slaughter on the Blacksburg campus, which left 33 dead, including gunman Seung-Hui Cho . Soriano said his son was in the engineering school. Soriano's vehicle flipped several times and struck a tree before coming to a rest, investigators said. The cause of the crash was not known. Rob Waring said he heard the crash from his office and found Soriano unconscious inside the burning car. After helping pull Soriano to safety, Waring said he talked to a relative of Soriano at the crash scene.

Article #17: Jury Awards $9 Million in Beating Case

A jury awarded $9 million to a black man who suffered permanent brain damage after being beaten and dumped in a field by four men in 2003. Billy Ray Johnson, 46, lives in a nursing home because of the injuries he suffered in the beating. In the criminal case, the men accused of assaulting him were fined and sentenced to probation and jail time, but none served more than 60 days behind bars. In a four-day civil trial in District Court that ended Friday, jurors found James Cory Hicks and Christopher Colt Amox responsible for Johnson's injuries. Defendants Dallas Chadwick Stone and John Wesley Owens previously reached confidential settlements, attorneys said. A jury of 11 whites and one black deliberated less than four hours before returning a unanimous verdict, said attorneys for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of Johnson. Authorities in this poor, pine-locked east Texas hamlet had said that Johnson, well-known around town as a friendly but "slow" character, was lured to an all-white pasture party where underage drinkers fed him alcohol and picked on him. Authorities said Johnson, who lived with his mother and brother and had no criminal background or history of violence, was taunted for the defendants' amusement. He was found unconscious on a fire ant mound and had suffered a serious concussion and bleeding in the brain.

Article #16: Bomb Threat Forces Plane to Land in Munich

An Olympic Airlines flight carrying Greek European parliamentarians from Greece to France made an emergency landing in Munich, Germany, on Monday after a bomb threat was reported, German air traffic control officials said. The Boeing 737 - en route from Athens, Greece, to Strasbourg, France - landed at 10:45 a.m. at a special area of the airport set aside for emergencies, spokeswoman Anja Tomic said. Munich airport spokesman Peter Pruemm said the plane belonged to Greece's Olympic Airlines and that "the pilot apparently said there was a bomb threat." He said the plane had 137 people on board, all of whom safely evacuated shortly after the landing. Athens airport spokeswoman Marina Papagorgiou said 136 people were on board the plane, including 11 Greek members of the European Parliament. The parliament was to open a session in Strasbourg later Monday. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy in the total number of people on board.

Article #15: Investigators Seek Clues to Blue Angel Death

The Navy Blue Angels were back home Monday to regroup and mourn the loss of one of their pilots, killed in a crash while performing in one of his first air shows with the team. Witnesses said the plane clipped a stand of pine trees before it went down in a South Carolina neighborhood Saturday. Investigators were still examining the wreckage, and the Navy said it could be three weeks or more before it announces what caused of the crash. At the Pensacola Naval Air Station, Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J. Davis's parking space was turned into a makeshift memorial with flowers and posters remembering the 32-year-old pilot. Davis was from Pittsfield, Mass., and was in his second year with the Blue Angels, the team known for its high-speed, aerobatic demonstrations, said Lt. Cmdr. Garrett Kasper. The rest of his squadron decided not to participate in a weekend airshow in Vidalia, Ga., and returned home to tearful reunion with family members late Sunday, Kasper said.

Article #14: Missing Boy's Remains Found in Crocodile

A crocodile shot to death in south China during a search for a missing 9-year-old student was found to contain the child's remains, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The crocodile was shot Saturday in a park in Beihai, a city in the Guangxi region, by investigators looking for the missing child. Investigators confirmed that human remains found in the reptile were that of the student, the report said. The child, surnamed Liu, disappeared Friday after Liu and three other children climbed over the fence around a pool in the park that had been used to stage crocodile shows, Xinhua said.

Article #13: Grieving Students Return to Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is allowing students to drop classes without penalty or to accept their current grades if they want to spend the rest of the year at their parents' homes grieving last week's campus massacre. But whatever decisions they make academically, many students say they will do their mourning on campus -- and that they can't imagine staying away now. Classes were to resume Monday, one week after gunman Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people before turning a gun on himself. Students and faculty were expected to gather at 7:15 a.m. Monday near the dormitory where the first victims, Ryan Clark and Emily Hilscher, were killed. At 9:45 -- the time of the second shooting -- the university planned a moment of silence, with a single bell tolling from the tower of the main administration building. A minute later, the bell will toll 32 times -- once for each victim -- as 32 white balloons are released from the field below. University officials were not sure how many students planned to be back Monday. Students began returning as more details about the rampage emerged. Dr. William Massello, the assistant state medical examiner in Roanoke, said Cho died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head after firing enough shots to wound his 32 victims more than 100 times.

Article #12: Smoke Break Saves Woman From Falling Tree

Smoking just might have saved Brenda Comers' life. She said she had just finished washing dishes Monday and stepped outside to smoke a cigarette when an 80-foot oak tree crashed through her roof, landing across the sink where she had been standing just seconds before. The tree, felled by strong wind, also missed the couple's adult daughter, who was at the other end of the house. The family's insurance agent said they could not live there after the tree cut the kitchen and living room in half, scattering the contents of the kitchen cabinets.

Article #11: Donkey Becomes Witness in Dallas Dispute

The first witness in a lawsuit Wednesday between two neighbors was a real ass. Buddy the donkey walked to the bench and stared at the jury, the picture of a gentle, well-mannered creature and not the loud, aggressive animal he had been accused of being. The donkey was at the center of a dispute between oilman John Cantrell and attorney Gregory Shamoun that began after Cantrell complained about a storage shed Shamoun was building in his backyard in Dallas. He said Shamoun retaliated by bringing Buddy from his ranch in Midlothian and putting him in the backyard. Cantrell complained of donkey noise and manure piles. Shamoun said Buddy was there to serve as a surrogate mother for a calf named Lucy that needed to be bottle-fed. Neither jurors nor Buddy had the last say. The neighbors settled their dispute while jurors deliberated. Shamoun agreed to buy some of Cantrell's land and Cantrell agreed to withdraw his complaint with the city.

Article #10: Democratic Congresswoman Dies of Cancer

Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, who fought for electoral reform and reached new heights for a black congresswoman in seven terms serving Southern California, has died. She was 68. Millender-McDonald died of cancer late Saturday at her home in Carson, said her chief of staff, Bandele McQueen. The congresswoman had asked for a leave of absence from the House last week to deal with her illness. McQueen couldn't immediately provide details on what form of cancer Millender-McDonald had, but said she had been receiving hospice care. Carson Mayor Jim Dear told the Los Angeles Times that Millender-McDonald had colon cancer that had metastasized to her liver.

Article #9: Suicide Bombings Around Iraq Kill 27

Three suicide bombers launched attacks in different parts of Iraq on Monday, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 60 on Monday, police and politicians said. A parked car bomb also exploded outside the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad , killing one civilian, and a drive-by shooting wounded two guards at Tunisia's Embassy in the capital. Monday's first suicide car bomb attack occurred near the northern city of Mosul at 10:10 a.m. when a suicide attacker detonated his car in front of an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani, leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, an official with the group said. At least 10 people were killed and 20 wounded in the attack in Tal Uskuf, a town 9 miles north of Mosul, said Abdul-Ghani Ali, a KDP official.

Article #8:Cop in court for stealing from suspect

The father of Melbourne underworld identity Carl Williams has given evidence at the trial of a police officer accused of stealing $7,500 from his bank account. The policeman, Barry Joseph Gipp, 45, is accused of stealing George Williams' Commonwealth Bank passbook from his home during a 1999 police search and then withdrawing the money from it the following day.
The detective sergeant, who was working with the Broadmeadows Crime Investigation Unit at the time, has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges including theft, dishonestly obtaining property and making a false document. Prosecutor John Champion SC told the court Gipp was one of several police officers involved in a search of George Williams' home on November 25, 1999.
Just prior to that Mr Williams and his son, Carl, were arrested at another property on suspicion of being involved in the manufacturing of drugs, the jury was told. During the search of Mr Williams' home, Gipp was seen by other police officers searching near a dressing table where Mr Williams' bank book was kept, Mr Champion said. Five other police officers had also searched the bedroom, the court heard. The following day $7,500 was withdrawn from Mr Williams' account at three separate banks in the city during a period of about 30 minutes. Mr Williams told the court he saw a police officer looking through his bank book in his bedroom during the search. However, he could not identify the officer, the court heard. Mr Williams, who was in police custody when the money was withdrawn from his account, said his wife was the only person who had permission to withdraw money from his account, and she had not taken the money. Mr Champion said there was evidence Gipp had been in the city about the time the money was withdrawn. Gipp's lawyer Brett Young told the court his client did not dispute that he was one of about nine police officers who searched the house that day. But he denied stealing the passbook or withdrawing the cash from Mr Williams' account. The trial before County Court Judge Leo Hart continues on Thursday.

Article #7: Ads target cannabis smoking teens

A NSW anti-cannabis campaign will target teenagers as they travel to school and surf the internet. NSW Health launched the $600,000 campaign, which it says is designed to warn the 14 to 19-year-old age group on the dangers of starting the marijuana habit. Print advertisements, carrying tag lines such as "Pot. It mightn't kill you, but it could turn you into a dickhead", will appear in youth magazines and on bus stop posters. The ads feature a person staring accusingly from a black and white photo and quotes such as: "You've got great eyes, when they're not bloodshot" and "I'd lend you money, but you still owe me from last time".
Cinemas will screen a montage of the print shots, as will online advertisements which are set to run on youth-orientated websites, including myspace, msn messenger and gaming sites.
A NSW Health spokeswoman said online displays were an excellent way of spreading the anti-drug message as the websites' registration requirements meant the correct age group could be targeted. NSW Health drug and alcohol programs director David McGrath said the campaign was aimed at reducing the number of teenagers experimenting with the drug. Mr McGrath said teenagers needed to be made aware of the consequences of smoking pot, including mental illness such as depression, as well as damage to physical health and social interactions.

Article #6:Kids 'bumped' from Qantas flight

A New Zealand mother has vowed never to fly with Qantas again, after the airline bumped her young children travelling alone on a flight to Australia. Victoria Read from Martinborough in New Zealand said her two children, William, 11, and Beatrice, 8 were travelling as unaccompanied minors on Sunday when they were stopped from boarding the plane. The children were travelling to visit their father in Sydney and the airline knew they were unaccompanied by an adult, Read said today. Despite the children travelling alone, Qantas put them on another plane because the original flight was over the weight limit, she said.
Read said the children were at Wellington Airport for one-and-a-half hours before their flight, which was due in Sydney at 5:25pm. But instead they arrived about 8pm after they were put on a flight that went to Sydney via Auckland. She said the children had to wait about an hour in Auckland before finally leaving for Sydney. Their father, James Pearce, who picked up the children from Sydney had been told by Qantas that their itinerary had been changed, she said. Read said since her children's ordeal she had been contacted by a man who claimed to have been given compensation after a similar thing happened to his 17-year-old daughter. A Qantas spokesman said he could not make an immediate comment, as the airline was still trying to ascertain what happened.

Article #5: College surrenders cannabis stash

Boroondara Police this afternoon attended Xavier College, where they have taken possession of a small quantity of cannabis after this morning's reports of a student dealing drugs on the premises. News Limited reported that a former student was expelled after allegedly selling marijuana in the school grounds in February. Three students who bought the drug were reportedly suspended from the school. The school reportedly told students of the incident but did not inform police. This morning, Victoria Police Drug and Alcohol Unit's Senior Sergeant Tom Ebinger said the Booroondarra police station was making inquiries into the matter and will be contacting Xavier.

Article #4: New father and name for Anna Nicole Smith baby

Her full name is now Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead, and she can at least be 99.9 per cent certain of who her father is. DNA test results released in the Bahamas yesterday established that Dannielynn's father is 34-year-old Larry Birkhead, a Los Angeles freelance photographer, very occasional television actor and consort of Anna Nicole Smith over several years.In asserting his paternity, Mr Birkhead had previously claimed that Dannielynn was conceived in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve 2005. Mr Birkhead was jubilant after yesterday's announcement. He waved and gave a thumbs up to the crowd outside the Bahamian court. Now seven months old, Dannielynn lost her mother on February 8 when Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. In her will, Smith had named her son Daniel as heir. But Daniel, 20, died of a drug overdose in September last year. This left Dannielynn, as the sole heir to an estate in which not only the source of the wealth has died, but also the two bitterly opposed litigants — Smith and Howard Marshall's son Pierce, who died last June. Court action on the division of the estate is still pending. With yesterday's announcement, Mr Birkhead has at least entered the vault. Whether he can open it may be decided later this week, with further court hearings to resolve Dannielynn's custody. That is being contested by Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, in a Florida court. The loser in the case is Howard Stern, Smith's lawyer and companion, who was one of several to claim paternity. Mr. Stern had said he and Smith planned to wed on February 23. Mr Stern has had custody of Dannielynn at a house in the Bahamas since Smith's death.

Article #3: Drug Overdose Killed Anna Nicole Smith

DANIA BEACH, Fla. (March 26) - Former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith died of an accidental overdose of a sleeping medication and other drugs after she was found unresponsive at a hotel, authorities said Monday. Broward County Medical Examiner Joshua Perper said Smith died of "combined drug intoxication" with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate as the major factor. Smith was taking a lengthy list of other medications, including methadone for pain, he said. Chloral hydrate is a sedative used to treat insomnia and alcohol withdrawal, relieve anxiety and ease post-surgery pain. Perper said Smith had been on several antidepressant and antianxiety drugs prior to her death. Nothing was found to indicate any foul play. The autopsy also shwoed no evidence of disease.

Article #2: Why Lie?

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (Feb. 24) - Los Angeles Lakers forward Vladimir Radmanovic admitted Friday that he lied to the team about how he injured his shoulder during last week's All-Star break. The truth is that he hurt himself in a fall while snowboarding. He apologized for covering up what happened last Saturday in Park City, Utah . Initially, he told the Lakers he fell on a patch of ice while walking and separated his right shoulder. He is expected to be out two months. Lakers spokesman John Black said no decision had been made about possible disciplinary action against Radmanovic. Some player contracts ban athletes from participating in risky activities such as skiing and snowboarding. It's not known whether Radmanovic's contract contained such language. Radmanovic has been a disappointment in the first season of a five-year, $30.2 million contract. He was slowed by a hand injury early in the season and is averaging 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds.

Article #1: 'McMissile' Mom Faces Prison Time

A mother of three was sentenced to two years in prison by a jury for throwing a cup of ice into a car that cut her off in traffic. A judge can still reduce the sentence Wednedsay. Jessica Hall, a North Carolina mother, drove down I-95 on a hot, sticky and gridlocked day with three kids whimpering in the back of the car, a pregnant sister in the front of the car and her husband serving his third tour of duty in Iraq. Suddenly, the same car cut in front of Hall twice, and it was more than she could take. She snapped. She tossed a large McDonald's cup filled with ice into the other car. "It was a dumb decision to do what I did," Hall said later. Hall's outburst didn't do any real damage, but it did land her in prison with a two-year sentence. "I had to drop everything, all my life, my kids, everything," Hall said. Her three kids are living with relatives until her husband gets back from Iraq. Even the occupants of the other car — sticky and angry at the time — are shocked at the final sentence. But the prosecutor argued that the cup was a missile and could have caused major damage.