Noah's Ark Damaged by Sandy

Filming for Russell Crowe's film, Noah was stopped Saturday by a visit from superstorm Sandy.

Heavy rains in the area of filming, in New York, caused all filming to be halted.

Some of the set was actually damaged by the waters.

Yes, enjoy that irony for a minute, Noah's ark stopped and damaged by modern rains.

Production on the film is expected to resume within two weeks.

Noah is scheduled to come out in March of 2014.

Parents Kill 15 Year Old With Acid

A fifteen year old girl was killed in Pakistan, because her parents caught her looking at a boy.

Monday, the girl's parents saw her looking at a boy on a motorcycle, and accused her of having a relationship with him.

As punishment her father beat her, and then with the mother's help he poured acid on his own daughter.

Thirty-five percent of her body was burned by the acid.

The parents took her to the hospital, Tuesday morning, but she died from her injuries, that night.

Her older sister reported the incident to police, who have arrested the parents, who will face murder charges on Friday.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, nearly a thousand women are killed in such "honor killings" each year.

Wedding Celebration Turns Tragic as 23 Die

Twenty-three wedding guests were killed in Saudi Arabia, late Tuesday night.

Celebratory shooting into the air, hit electrical lines, dropping it onto metal that the guests were near.

All twenty-three, most of who were women, were electrocuted.

Just a month ago, the kingdom banned the use of firearms in celebration, due to risks that they pose.

The government is investigating the incident.

23 Killed in Riyadh Blast

Twenty-three people were killed when an explosion took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday.

Another one hundred and thirty-five were injured, in the blast.

A fuel truck crashed into a flyover, then exploded bringing down an industrial building, as well as starting other fires.

Emergency personnel are expected to be working through at least Friday, searching for missing people and hoping to find survivors.

Some had worried that it was a terrorist act, but officials are extremely sure that it was an accident.

Virginia Police Seek Pipe Bomber

Police in Virginia are looking for Laurence Alan Stewart, twenty-five, after three pipe bomb attacks, on Tuesday morning.

The bombs targeted a county deputy, a county detective, and Stewart's ex girlfriend's.

All three went off within minutes of each other.

He is being charged with two counts of attempted murder, two of arson, and one of using a weapon or device for a terror act.

The Stafford County Sheriff's Office considers him armed and dangerous, as they don't know if he has more bombs.

Anyone with information should call the Stafford County Sheriff's Office at 540-658-4400, Crime Solvers at 540-659-2020, or by texting STAFFORD and their tip to CRIMES (274637).

Eighty People in US Dead From Sandy

Two days after Sandy hit the US, the death toll has reached eighty. Combined with the total from the Caribbean, 149 people lost their live to the storm.

More than four and a half million people are still without power, in twelve different states, and fuel is becoming scarcer. The cost is still being estimated near fifty billion dollars.

Subway service began, in New York City, though some tunnels are still under water. For now, all public transportation fees have been waived. Amtrak is hoping to have their east coast service back up, on Friday. Mayor Bloomberg placed a block on any cars, with less than three people in them, from entering Manhattan.

Some areas are still seeing flooding. Mountainous parts nearby saw as much as five feet of snow, when Sandy collided with a winter storm coming down from the arctic.

National Guard units have continued search and rescue operations in New Jersey and parts of New York. They are also delivering food and water to communities that have been devastated by the storm.

Cases of Meningitis Rises to 386

Total cases of meningitis has risen to 386, with nine of those being joint infections.

In good news, officials have dropped the death toll, back to twenty-eight, saying that the twenty-ninth that had been reported was a duplicate report.

Meningitis can take forty-two days to surface, leading to the still growing epidemic. 
 
All of the illnesses and deaths were caused by a contamination in anti inflammatory steroid shots, most of which were given via the spine.

Seventy-six locations, in twenty-three states, were sent the shots, which were given to as many as fourteen thousand people.

New England Compounding Center made the shots, and has complied completely with government officials who are conducting the investigation.

Officials are investigating at least two other drugs, made by NECC, for possibilities that they too may have been contaminated.

Things are only getting worse for the company, and now the government, as evidence comes out that they had been under investigation, for issues in their processing, since 2002.

Their sister company, Ameridose LLC, which has the same owners, is voluntarily recalling all of their products.

Prepare for Taxmageddon

Taxmageddon is a dreadful combination of expiring pro-growth tax policies from 2001 and 2003, the end of the once temporary payroll tax cut, and some of Obamacare’s 18 new tax hikes. It will be the largest tax increase to ever hit the U.S. This drastic tax increase begins on January 1 and represents $500 billion over the course of just one year.

Here’s a per person breakdown of that $500 billion, from The Heritage Foundation:

• Families with an average income of $70,662: tax increase of $4,138

• Baby boomers with an average income of $95,099: tax increase of $4,223

• Low-income workers with an average income of $24,757: tax increase of $1,207

• Millennials with an average income of $23,917: tax increase of $1,099

• Retirees with an average income of $42,553: tax increase of $857

And, there’s more…

Another recession has been forecast by the  Congressional Budget Office (CBO). In addition to that, the tax hikes will have major impact on  small businesses, specifically small businesses that create jobs!

Curtis Dubay, writing for The Heritage Foundation explains:

“The businesses that would pay the higher tax rates proposed by President Obama earn almost all the income earned by small businesses that employ workers. According to President Obama’s own Treasury Department, these job creators earn 91 percent of the income earned by flow-through employer-businesses. These are the biggest, most successful small businesses. They employ more than half the private workforce, according to an Ernst and Young study. Raising their taxes would destroy more than 700,000 jobs.”

Taxmaggedon needs to be reversed but Congress has failed to sufficiently address it.  The house did pass a bill that would circumvent most of Taxmaggedon but the Harry Reid led Senate failed to complete the process.

The Senate passed a bill as well, but it only stops a small portion of Taxmageddon. And, the bill is far from being ideal–it continues the Bush tax policies only for those taxpayers earning less than $250,000 a year. In essence, it is a tax increase on job creators.

The responsibility now falls on the next Congress which will take office on January 3rd. But, there is no guarantee that it will be reversed.

Be sure to check out this infographic on how Taxmaggedon will impact you.

Cleaning up Sandy's Devastation

As cleanup continues in the aftermath of Sandy, the devastation becomes more apparent. Sixty-four people were killed, in the US, by the storm, bringing the international total to one hundred and thirty-three.

Evacuations remain in place for nearly four hundred thousand in New York City. Well over a million are still evacuated from other locations, as well.

Bellevue Hospital, in New York City, is so badly flooded that the hospital is shutting down for two to three weeks. The waters have blocked the ability to refill the backup generators, and power is gone. All of it's patients are being transferred to other locals. Twenty-one other medical facilities were being evacuated across the city.

Between Staten Island and Woodbridge, New Jersey about three hundred thousand gallons of diesel have leaked into the waters of Arthur Kill. Oil has begun to wash up into nearby creeks, and there are worries for fishing and clamming industries located nearby. Two hundred people are working with the Coast Guard to contain and clean up the spill.

An explosion on Long Island, ended renewed power in the area. It occurred at a Consolidated Edison substation near the East River. Hopes are for the repair to be completed by the weekend.

The New York Stock Exchange reopened Wednesday morning. Limited subway service returned to sections of New York City, on Wednesday evening. Both JFK and Newark began limited flights, Wednesday morning, with La Guardia expected to join them Thursday. Very little flooding remains in the city, according to a spokesman.

New Jersey National Guard troops have been delivering food and water to several areas of New Jersey. Several towns and communities are only reachable by helicopter and water. Much of that area is without any kind of power, and some may not see it for over a week. Waters there have barely begun to recede, normal water heights are not expected til at least next week, either.

Other parts of the north east are cleaning up as well, but it is definitely clear where the worst of the damage occurred.

Siggs Formally Charged Today

Seventeen year old Austin Siggs was formally charged, on Wednesday, in the murder of ten year old Jessica Ridgeway.

He is facing seventeen counts for that case, and for another one which police linked to it.

Eleven of the counts related to the Ridgeway murder, among them are first degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault.

The other six counts are for an attempted kidnapping of a twenty-two year old, in May.

His next hearing will be on November 27.