Fla. sinkhole gets bigger amid concerns swallowed man dead, house could collapse

AP

Jeff Bush's family and friends hug outside of the house where a sinkhole swallowed Bush in his bedroom.

SEFFNER, Fla. — Engineers worked gingerly Saturday to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.

Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy.

AP

Jeff Bush

On Saturday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Ronnie Rivera said one of the homes next door to the Bush house also was compromised by the sinkhole, as determined through testing. The family, which had evacuated Friday, would be allowed to go inside for about a half-hour to gather belongings, Rivera said. The family was outside, crying and organizing boxes.

PHOTOS: INCREDIBLE FLORIDA SINKHOLES

Engineers had been testing since 7 a.m. Saturday. By 10 a.m., officials moved media crews farther away from the Bush house so experts could perform tests on the home across the street.

It's unclear how large the sinkhole is or whether it leads to other caverns and chasms throughout the neighborhood. Experts say the underground of West Central Florida looks similar to Swiss cheese, with the geography lending itself to sinkholes.

Experts spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running various tests — while acknowledging that the entire lot where Bush lay entombed was dangerous. No one was allowed in the home.

"I cannot tell you why it has not collapsed yet," Bill Bracken, the owner of an engineering company called to assess the sinkhole, said of the home. He described the earth below as a "very large, very fluid mass."

"This is not your typical sinkhole," said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill. "This is a chasm. For that reason, we're being very deliberate."

Officials delicately addressed another sad reality: Bush was likely dead and the family wanted his body. Merrill, though, said they didn't want to jeopardize any more lives.

"They would like us to go in quickly and locate Mr. Bush," Merrill said. Officials added Saturday morning that a fund had been set up to help the families affected by the sinkhole.

On Saturday, Jeremy Bush — who tried to rescue his brother when the earth opened — lay flowers and a stuffed lamb near the house and wept.

Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Roger called the situation "very complex."

"It's continuing to evolve, and the ground is continuing to collapse," he said.

Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it's extremely rare for them to swallow a person.

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.

"You can almost envision a piece of Swiss cheese," Taylor Yarkosky, a sinkhole expert from Brooksville, Fla., said while gesturing to the ground and the sky blue home where the earth opened in Seffner. "Any house in Florida could be in that same situation."

A sinkhole near Orlando grew to 400 feet across in 1981 and devoured five sports cars, most of two businesses, a three-bedroom house and the deep end of an Olympic-size swimming pool.

More than 500 sinkholes have been reported in Hillsborough County alone since the government started keeping track in 1954, according to the state's environmental agency.

The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Bush's brother running.

Jeremy Bush said he jumped into the hole but couldn't see his brother and had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy who reached out and pulled him to safety as the ground crumbled around him.

"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy Bush said through tears Friday in a neighbor's yard. "But I just couldn't do nothing."

He added: "I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him."

A dresser and the TV set had vanished down the hole, along with most of Bush's bed.

A sheriff's deputy who was the first to respond to a frantic 911 call said when he arrived, he saw Jeremy Bush.

Deputy Douglas Duvall said he reached down as if he was "sticking his hand into the floor" to help Jeremy Bush. Duvall said he didn't see anyone else in the hole.

As he pulled Bush out, "everything was sinking," Duvall said.

Engineers said they may have to demolish the small house, even though from the outside there appeared to be nothing wrong with the four-bedroom, concrete-wall structure, built in 1974.

Jeremy Bush said someone came out to the home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other things, apparently for insurance purposes.

"He said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing. And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said.

AP

Engineers talk in front of Jeff Bush's home, where a sinkhole opened up underneath his bedroom and swallowed him Thursday night.

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Families at Long Beach elementary schools getting $1,000 each in Sandy aid from Cantor Fitzgerald

The Long Island town of Long Beach was hit hard by Superstorm Sandy. Now families at the town's five elementary schools are getting $1,000 each in storm relief from the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick announced in January that the firm would give a total of $10 million to families in 19 schools affected by Sandy.

As part of the effort, Lutnick and other Cantor officials were in Long Beach on Friday to distribute $1,000 debit cards to 1,350 families there.

Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees when the World Trade Center was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.

The firm set up a relief fund to help the surviving families of its employees. The fund now supports others in need.

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Violent homeless crowd attacking patrons at Think Coffee shop

A violent homeless crowd is plaguing a popular Chelsea coffee shop — repeatedly attacking customers and each other with chairs and tables, the store’s management said.

Think Coffee manager Matt Fury told cops yesterday that he’s concerned with a lack of police response to his company’s 8th Avenue location, near 14h Street, where 911 calls are constant.

“One [homeless person] has thrown a chair once, one has hit someone, one has thrown a table,” Fury, 40, told NYPD brass yesterday at a Sixth Precinct community meeting.

“It always ends in violence.”

Christian Johnston

Think Coffee.

The manager said sometimes, when he called police, NYPD either didn’t respond or officers at the scene didn’t “take the matter seriously.”

“We opened a year ago and the problems started immediately, where different people who hang out on the corner started asking for ice, asking for cups,” Fury said.

“But as we became less tolerant they became more aggressive about not wanting to leave,” he added. “We are really surprised at how often the [911] calls were just not answered. I went to the precinct and the cop at the desk showed me the list of 19 unanswered calls.”

Several patrons and homeless people have been taken away in ambulances, according to Fury.

“One time the police officer said he would arrest me if I didn’t stop bothering him,” he charged.

The precinct’s commander, Deputy Inspector Brandon Delpozo, acknowledged the homeless community near Think Coffee has been problematic.

He added his officers are working to control the situation.

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Subway push gal fires family attorney, found fit for trial again

REUTERS

Erika Menendez in police custody.

Now taxpayers are footing the bill for the self-proclaimed Muslim hater who pushed an innocent man to his death in front of a subway train.

Erika Menendez, 31, was found fit for trial today for a second time.

And she also fired her family-retained attorneys because she distrusts them and chose court-appointed attorney Joseph DeFelice to represent her, booting private attorney Thomas A. Kenniff.

"She indicated she doesn't want our representation because of distrust with her family," said Kenniff who attempted to convince Queens Justice Gregory Lasak to allow his firm to stay on the case and "not use tax payer's money when the family can afford [an attorney]."

"Though she was found fit to stand trial she does suffer from severe psychiatric issues," charged Kenniff who later offered to work alongside DeFelice.

"Part of the paranoia, psychiatrist say she suffers from, has to do with family," he continued.

"I just want Joseph DeFelice," said Menendez in a relaxed tone.

Menendez was collared in December for purposely shoving Sunando Sen, 46, in front of a No. 7 train in Sunnyside because she "knows what Muslims look like," according to court records.

Sen was not Muslim.

Menendez's mother and sister uncomfortably sat in the courtroom with their arms folded and legs crossed and shook their heads in disagreement when their help was denied.

The judge thanked Kenniff for his services and continued with indicting Menendez with second-degree murder as a hate crime.

"I hate my family, I don't care, I don't want your medicine, I know what I am doing," said Assistant District Attorney Peter Lomp as he read from additional statements allegedly from Menendez while she was held at the 112th Precinct.

"I'm prejudice...I pushed him in front of the train because I thought it was cool," she allegedly said to detectives and sarcastically ordered "Halal lamb, white rice with white sauce — a dash of white sauce" for lunch.

DeFelice entered a "not guilty" for Menendez and will submit a bail application at the next court hearing on April 18.

Ellis Kaplan

Sister, left, and mother of alleged subway pusher Erika Menendez'.

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Apple to hand out iTunes credits in settlement

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Apple has agreed to give more than $100 million in iTunes store credits to settle a lawsuit alleging that the iPhone and iPad maker improperly charged kids for playing games on their mobile devices.

The federal case centers on allegations that Apple didn't create adequate parental controls to prevent children from buying extra features while playing free games on iPhones and iPads in 2010 and 2011.

Apple Inc. has agreed to award an iTunes credit of $5 to each of the estimated 23 million accountholders who may have been affected. Parents could receive more if they can show their bills exceeded $5. If the charges exceeded $30, cash refunds will be offered.

A hearing on the proposed settlement is scheduled Friday in San Jose, Calf.

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Jury hears openings in 'cannibal cop' case

AP

Gilberto Valle is seen in federal court today.

Gilberto Valle's mind is full of sick thoughts — and he wants a jury to know it.

His own lawyer has shown prospective jurors a kinky staged photo of a woman trussed up in a roasting pan to test their tolerance for the officer's "weird proclivities."

Prosecutors say an NYPD officer wanted to kidnap, torture and devour women in a twisted plot of cannibalism.

The accusations were made Monday during opening statements at the federal trial of Gilberto Valle.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan plan to use e-mails and other evidence to show that the 28-year-old was a would-be killer. They say he even drew up a list of targets using a law enforcement database.

Gilberto Valle

Defense witnesses are expected to describe how he lived in a secret, online fantasy world. The defense says participants role-play as cannibals, but never act on it.

Valle's wife is expected to testify against him later Monday.

The baby-faced tabloid sensation known as the "cannibal cop" is even expected to take the stand to make the case that it was all fantasy, that his online chats were so offensive, so over-the-top that they couldn't possibly be taken seriously.

If jurors were to believe that the countless people who visit fetish chat rooms were real cannibals, then where's the horrific feeding frenzy?

Valle, a 28-year-old college grad and father, was just another NYPD patrolman until late last year, when he was charged with conspiring to kidnap a woman and unauthorized use of a law enforcement database.

Beyond the tabloid headlines that blared "Finest Young Cannibal" and "Cook 'em Danno," the accusations were startling and serious: The FBI, following a tip from Valle's estranged wife, unearthed an alleged plot to cook and eat dozens of women, all graphically detailed in a trail of emails, computer files and instant messages. A conviction on the kidnapping count carries a possible life sentence.

"I'm planning on getting me some girl meat," he allegedly wrote in one chat room. "It's this November, for Thanksgiving. ... She's not a volunteer. She has to be abducted."

Another purported target was an 18-year-old high school student who Valle wrote was "the most desirable piece of meat I've ever met" and was small enough to fit in his oven.

A criminal complaint claimed that Valle had created a computer file cataloging at least 100 women with their names, addresses and photos. And it accused him of illegally culling some of the information from the restricted law enforcement database, and doing surveillance on some of his potential victims.

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Man nearly hacks wife to death with meat cleaver

Gregory P. Mango

Crime tape at the scene of today's fight

A meat cleaver-wielding maniac attacked his wife in front of two New York firefighters, who had been trying to break up their fight, officials said.

The man and woman were loudly arguing in front of Fong’s Trading at 74 Canal St. at 10:24 a.m. when two of New York’s Bravest—stationed across the street at Engine Company 9, Ladder Company 6—saw the dispute and tried to intervene, according to FDNY spokesman Jim Long.

That’s when the man allegedly pulled out a meat cleaver and began hacking at his wife.

“He got a couple of good hits in,” Long said. “He hit her several times.”

Both firefighters tackled the cleaver-wielding man and held him for cops, Long said. The man was booked into custody at the 5th Precinct station house in Chinatown.

As the man was tackled, the woman took off running, leaving her thick, wedge shoes and clumps of bloody hair behind, witnesses said.

A third Bravest and two neighborhood cops on patrol chased the injured woman and finally caught up with her at Division and Eldridge Streets, witnesses said.

They calmed her down and called paramedics, witnesses said. She’s listed in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital but is expected to survive her wounds, officials said.

"She was running down the street screaming, `Help!’ ” said witness Jose Mendez, 56, superintendent of Eldridge Street Synagogue and other neighborhood buildings.

Before cops and the firefighter could reach the woman, she ducked into a small noodle shop at 13B Eldridge St., came out and ran another half block.

“She was barefoot and went into the restaurant and then ran back out,” Mendez said. “There was blood on the window. They cleaned it up right away. It was pretty weird."

Additional reporting by Wilson Dizard and David K. Li

Gregory P. Mango

Another shot of the near-fatal scene

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Off-duty transit worker busted for drunk driving

An off-duty transit worker was busted for drunk driving in Brooklyn early today, authorities said

Cops spotted MTA employee Rosario Luis, 49, sleeping in a black 2010 Acura in Bedford Stuyvesant shortly before 1:30 a.m. today.

Half of his car was on the sidewalk at the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Vernon Avenue, police sources said.

The vehicle was still running, and sources said there was a strong alcohol odor on Luis.

He was taken into police custody, and a Breathalyzer test found his blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, sources said.

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'Latin American Idol' winner busted smuggling 2.9 lbs of heroin stuffed into high heels

REUTERS

A combination photo shows (clockwise top L) Martha Heredia , 22, the drugs which were found on her possession, the shoes in which the drugs were hidden in, Heredia's luggage and other personal items.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A winner of the TV talent show "Latin American Idol" who was once loved by thousands in her native Dominican Republic was charged with drug smuggling after police found heroin stuffed in the heels of her platform shoes, authorities said Thursday.

Martha Heredia was arrested late Wednesday as she was about to board a plane to New York, said Frank Duran, the National Drug Control Agency's director for the city of Santiago.

Getty Images

Martha Heredia attends the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards in Puerto Rico.

He said police found 2.9 pounds of heroin in the heels of three pairs of shoes packed in her suitcase. Police also ordered Heredia to undergo X-ray tests to determine whether she had any drugs hidden inside her body, but none were found.

Duran said police are interrogating Heredia to determine whether she was working as a mule for a drug-trafficking organization.

Prosecutor Luisa Liranzo said Heredia does not yet have an attorney. If found guilty, she could face more than 10 years in prison.

The 22-year-old had become a star in the Dominican Republic after she won the final "Latin American Idol" contest in 2009. The show, which ran for three years, was a Spanish-language version of the popular British "Idols" franchise.

On the night Heredia vied for the title, thousands of Dominicans gathered in public plazas to watch her sing on huge TV screens, and then-President Leonel Fernandez urged Dominicans to vote for her.

The country was paralyzed as Dominicans watched the show, prompting Fernandez to quip, "It was said the country came under curfew without the need of a presidential decree."

Miguel Vargas, president of the main opposition party at the time, had donated thousands of prepaid phone cards the night of the final contest so citizens could vote for their compatriot.

"Martha's tenacity and creative capacity are an example, and the least we can do is support her efforts," Vargas said at the time.

Dozens of fans greeted Heredia when she returned to the Dominican Republic after her win, and Fernandez invited her to the National Palace. In February 2010, he gave her the National Youth Award.

"The politicians are lucky you're not running for president because you would beat them all," he said at the time.

But Heredia, nicknamed "La Baby" because of her penchant for calling people "baby", disappeared shortly after all the fanfare, drawing speculations including that she was pregnant.

Then her name was back in the news for different reasons.

In December 2010, Heredia hit and killed a teenage Haitian boy with her car as he tried to cross a highway by foot. She was later ordered to pay his family some $275,000 as part of a lawsuit. The boy's relatives were angered that she did not meet with them to offer her condolences.

"That's not right," Elvys Vandredi, the victim's father, told a local TV station in a 2011 interview for a feature on Martha Heredia called "What happened to Martha Heredia?"

The TV station also featured an interview with Heredia, who said she granted the interview because she was tired of the rumors surrounding her disappearance from the local show business industry.

Heredia blamed her manager at the time for not scheduling concerts or public appearances.

"I need a person who barely sleeps, someone who is constantly connected to social media," she said.

In late 2011, she produced her first album titled "Lose or Win," which she recorded in Mexico under the Sony Music label. The first single did not do well.

Heredia's name disappeared once again and resurfaced last month when she filed a domestic violence complaint against her husband, Manuel Varet Marte, a hip-hop singer known as Vakero. He was ordered held in prison for three months as police investigate the case.

General Prosecutor Francisco Dominguez issued a statement saying Heredia's situation was unfortunate.

"It's very sad that young people who have so much promise, who were bestowed by life with all the grace in the world and an unquestionable talent, because of ambition, bad advice or simply to obtain money see themselves in situations like this," he said.

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Brooklyn Heights woman steals $33K from child

A Brooklyn Heights woman stole $33,000 meant for a child whose grandmother had died, authorities said.

Katrina Perry, 56, took benefits meant to support her own niece who had been adopted by Perry’s mother and the child’s grandmother, investigators said.

The grandmother received checks to support her granddaughter, who is also Perry’s niece, but she died in August 2006, officials said.

“This defendant exploited her family’s situation,” said DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.

The child was thrust into the foster care system but the city continued sending adoption support checks to the grandmother, authorities said.

Perry failed to notify the Administration for Children’s Services that her mother died and the child had been sent to another home, officials said.

Instead, she used her mom’s senior citizen’s MTA reduced fare card to open a checking account in her mother’s name and used it to pocket the payments for several years, authorities said.

“(Perry) illegally siphoned tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds, according to the criminal complaint,” Gill Hearn said. “But the City exposed this troubling conduct and stopped the ongoing charged theft.”

An internal review found that the city was writing checks to the child’s new foster parents as well as the deceased grandmother who had adopted her, authorities said.

Perry was charged yesterday with two counts of grand larceny, 30 counts of identity theft and 14 counts each of petit larceny and criminal impersonation.

kconley@nypost.com

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'I did these things' : Jesse Jackson Jr. in tearful guilty plea

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., holding back tears, entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. He faces 46 to 57 months in prison under a plea deal with prosecutors

Before entering the plea to the conspiracy charge, Jackson told U.S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins, "I've never been more clear in my life" in his decision to plead guilty.

Later, when Wilkins asked if Jackson committed the acts outlined in court papers, the former congressman replied, "I did these things." He added later, "Sir, for years I lived in my campaign," and used money from the campaign for personal use.

Getty Images

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. enters U.S. District Court today before his guilty plea.

Jackson dabbed his face with tissues, and at point a court employee brought some tissues to Jackson's lawyer, who gave them to the ex-congressman.

Jackson told the judge he was waiving his right to trial.

"In perfect candor, your honor, I have no interest in wasting the taxpayers' time or money," he said.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 28, and Wilkins is not bound by the plea agreement. Jackson is free until then.

Jackson entered the courtroom holding hands with his wife, Sandra, and looking a bit dazzled as he surveyed the packed room. He kissed his wife and headed to the defense table. She is expected to plead guilty to plead guilty on a charge of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006 through 2011 that knowingly understated the income the couple received.

Jackson's father, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, sat in the front row. Before the hearing started, he wrote notes on a small piece of paper. When the proceedings started, he sat expressionless and virtually motionless, hands folded.

Jesse Jackson Jr., wearing a blue shirt and blue-patterned tie and gray suit, answered a series of questions from the judge, mostly in a muffled tone. When the judge asked if he had consumed any drugs or alcohol in the previous 24 hours, Jackson said he had a beer Tuesday night.

Jackson, 47, used campaign money to buy items including a $43,350 gold-plated men's Rolex watch and $9,587.64 worth of children's furniture, according to court papers filed in the case. His wife spent $5,150 on fur capes and parkas, the court documents said. Prosecutors said that upon conviction Jackson must forfeit $750,000, plus tens of thousands of dollars' worth of memorabilia items and furs.

As the proceedings wound up, Jackson sat at the defense table and shook his head in what looked like an expression of disbelief. After the hearing was adjourned, he walked over to his wife, grabbed her hand, and then was greeted by his father. Jackson Jr. patted his father on the back a few times.

"Tell everybody back home I'm sorry I let them down, OK?" Jackson told Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet, according to her Tweet from the scene.

The charge against Sandra Jackson carries a maximum of three years in prison. However, one of her lawyers, Tom Kirsch, says the plea agreement "does not contemplate a sentence of that length." Sandra Jackson was a Chicago alderman before she resigned last month during the federal investigation.

As the hearing for Jackson got under way Wednesday, newly filed court papers disclosed that the judge had offered to disqualify himself from handling the cases against Jackson and his wife.

As a Law School student, Wilkins said he had supported the presidential campaign of Jackson's father, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, and that as an attorney in 1999, Wilkins had been a guest on a show hosted by Jackson's father.

Prosecutors and lawyers for the couple said they were willing to proceed with the cases with Wilkins presiding. Judicial ethics require that a judge disqualify himself if his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

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Hackers hit Apple in latest cyber attack from China

Apple Inc computers were attacked by the same hackers who targeted Facebook Inc, but no data appeared to have been stolen, the company said on Tuesday in an unprecedented admission of a widespread cyber-security breach.

Facebook revealed on Friday that unidentified hackers traced to China had staged a sophisticated attack by infiltrating its employees' laptops, but no user information was compromised.

Apple, which is working with law enforcement to track down the hackers, told Reuters that only a small number of its employees' Macintosh computers were breached, but "there was no evidence that any data left Apple."

The iPhone and iPad maker said it would release a software tool later on Tuesday to protect customers against the malicious software used in the attacks.

Cyber-security attacks have been on the rise. In last week's State of the Union address, U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order seeking better protection of the country's critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.

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Burger King's Twitter account hacked, becomes mouthpiece for McDonald's

@BurgerKing via Twitter

Burger King's official Twitter page shortly after being hacked.

At noon today, Burger King's official Twitter account announced that the Whopper-slinging burger chain had been sold to McDonald's.

Unfortunately for McDonald's fans, the announcement was the result of Burger King's account being hacked.

The unknown hackers changed the background image on Burger King's account to feature McDonald's new Fish Bites while they also changed the account's handle to "McDonalds" and the avatar picture to the famous Golden Arches.

"We just got sold to McDonalds! Look for McDonalds in a hood near you @DFNCTSC" the hackers wrote.

Although no one has come forward to claim responsibility for the takeover, Burger King's account did retweet the hacker group Anonymous.

"We're guessing the @BurgerKing social media team is having a bad day..." @YourAnonNews tweeted shortly after the hack happened.

"Somebody needs to tell Burgerking that 'whopper123' isn't a secure password." @BurgerKing retweeted from @flibblesan.

The account also gave a shout-out to Internet video archive WorldStarHipHop.

Burger King's Twitter account joins a long list of famous accounts to be hacked. Miley Cyrus, Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears have all had their accounts broken into.

After nearly an hour and half of fake tweet, Twitter suspended the account.

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Car bombs in Baghdad leave at least 37 dead, more than 100 wounded

BAGHDAD — Car bombs tore through shopping areas within minutes of each other in mainly Shiite neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital on Sunday, killing at least 37 people and wounding more than 100.

The attacks come amid rising sectarian discord in Iraq and appear aimed at shaking Iraqis' confidence in the Shiite-led government. The explosions struck at the start of the local work week and primarily targeted outdoor markets.

Violence in Iraq has fallen since the height of sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007, but insurgents still frequently launch lethal attacks against security forces and civilians. It was the third time this month that attacks have claimed more than 20 lives in a single day.

EPA

Iraqis inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada district.

The attacks began with the detonation of a parked car loaded with explosives in the sprawling Shiite district of Sadr City Sunday morning. Two more parked cars later exploded elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Nima Khadum, a government employee, said the blasts shattered the windows of his Sadr City house. He said the air was heavy with smoke, while burning cars littered the street and the bodies of the dead and wounded lay nearby.

"The scene was a bloody one that brought to my mind the painful memories of the violent past," he said. "I don't see the benefit of security checkpoints that only cause traffic jams and don't do anything to secure Baghdad. The government, with its failing security forces, bears full responsibility for the bloodshed today."

Simultaneous explosions also hit the southeastern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Amin, where the force of the blasts left behind little except the mangled chassis of two cars.

An open-air market in Husseiniya, just northeast of the capital, and the Kamaliya area in Baghdad's eastern suburbs were also hit.

Another car bomb exploded near street vendors and a police car in the central commercial district of Karradah.

Police and hospital officials provided the death toll, and said more than 130 people were wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief reporters.

Casualties could have been even higher. Authorities carried out controlled explosions of two other car bombs they discovered in Husseiniya and Habibiya, near Sadr City, according to police.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but similar ones have been orchestrated by Sunni extremists, such as al Qaeda's local affiliate. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, favors large-scale, coordinated attacks. It considers Shiite Muslims to be heretics and accuses them of being too closely aligned with neighboring Shiite powerhouse Iran.

As sectarian strife mounts, protesters drawn overwhelmingly from Iraq's Sunni community have been staging weekly demonstrations and sit-ins since late December to rally against the government, which is led by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The protesters have rejected calls for violence and distance themselves from extremist groups such as al Qaeda.

There are also concerns that Sunni insurgents could step up attacks ahead of provincial elections scheduled for April 20. The ballot would be the first country-wide vote since the US troop withdrawal more than a year ago.

Al-Maliki and the US Embassy condemned the attacks. So did the United Nations envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, who said "all Iraqi leaders have a responsibility to stand up against these atrocious crimes."

Later in the day, gunmen opened fire on a military post near the western city of Fallujah, killing one civilian and wounding five people, including two soldiers, according to Fallujah police. The city and nearby Ramadi have been the heart of the Sunni protests.

The blasts came a day after a suicide bomber pretending to ask for help assassinated Brig. Gen. Ali Aouni, the head of the Iraq Defense Ministry's intelligence academy, and three of his bodyguards in the northern city of Tal Afar.

Sunday's attacks brought to more than 100 the number of people killed in violent attacks in Iraq since the start of the month. A total of 178 were killed in January attacks, according to an Associated Press count.

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Playgrounds to honor Newtown massacre victims being built in communities recovering from Hurricane Sandy

TRENTON, NJ — The state's largest firefighter union is remembering the 26 victims of December's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre in Connecticut by building a playground to honor each one in a community recovering from Superstorm Sandy.

New Jersey and New York will get 10 playgrounds each, and Connecticut will get six. Each playground will link the two tragedies with the shared name Sandy to create memorials for recovery and hope.

One of the playgrounds will honor 6-year-old Catherine Hubbard, who would stretch out her legs to reach up to the clouds after pushing off on her backyard tire swing and was hopping mad about leaving her beloved swing set behind when her family moved across Newtown, Conn., in October, two months before the mass shooting there.

AP

Noah Pozner

Catherine's mom, Jenny Hubbard, said the idea for the playgrounds felt right as soon as she heard it — a playground was the "perfect" memorial for a 6-year-old.

"I immediately could think of Catherine playing and swinging," she said Friday in a telephone interview. "I know that Catherine will be there and she will love that there are kids to play with on that playground. In a way, this is like us giving her back her swing set."

Bill Lavin, president of the Firefighters' Mutual Benevolent Association, a 5,000-member union spearheading the project, said each playground will reflect the personality of the child or teacher for whom it is named. Jack Pinto's will have a football theme because he was a New York Giants fan. Chase Kowalski's will have fitness stations because he competed in children's triathlons. Others, still in the early planning stages, may incorporate a victim's fondness for a particular color, activity or symbol.

Grace McDonald's playground will be decorated with peace signs, which she habitually drew on mirrors and windows when they fogged up. Grace's mom found the outline of one on a window at home shortly after she died and had the glass etched in pink and preserved.

Catherine's playground, to be built on New York's Staten Island, will have a tire swing and be near a beach because of her fondness for sea animals. Her 8-year-old brother, Fred, is the honorary project foreman; he'll be on site with a tool belt supervising as the playground is built by volunteer first responders and members of the community.

Lavin said he's reached out to all 26 families and has heard back from 14, all supportive. He's driven to Connecticut to meet with several families personally. After visiting Noah Pozner's family, he decided Noah's playground should be in New York in the Rockaway section of Queens, where his grandfather lives.

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NJ Sen. Lautenberg says he's 'not announcing a retirement,' but won't seek sixth term

PATERSON, NJ — A day after announcing he would not seek a sixth term, Democratic US Sen. Frank Lautenberg said he will spend his last two years in office fighting for the same causes he always has, including tougher gun control laws.

"I am not announcing a retirement," Lautenberg said in a speech in his hometown of Paterson. "I am announcing today I will be continuing on my mission to do the right thing wherever I can."

Lautenberg, at 89 the oldest member of the Senate, made no mention of any Democrat who he might like to succeed him.

His revelation Thursday he would not seek re-election in 2014 cleared the way for Newark Mayor Cory Booker to accelerate his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat. Booker's announcement in December that he intended to run for the seat had angered Lautenberg, who had wanted the Democratic mayor to hold off until he decided his plans.

AP

Sen. Frank Lautenberg with his wife in Paterson, NJ today.

Lautenberg also did not say why he decided to retire when his term ends in 2015. He joked at least twice about possibly staying on. "Too late to change my mind?" he asked with a smile.

Asked after his speech who he would like to see take his seat in the Senate, he joked: "Well I'd like to have my wife do it, but she's busy."

Asked why he decided to call it quits in 2015, he said: "Nothing. I think the time with family. My children, my daughters, my grandchildren live all over the country and I want to spend more time with them."

On the issues he will focus on, the liberal Democrat cited gun control first. "We are tired of assaults on our children," he said.

Early public opinion polls had showed Booker as a strong favorite over the incumbent to keep the seat in Democratic hands, but Booker's nascent campaign had been largely on hold until Lautenberg made a decision. Other Democrats, including Rep. Frank Pallone, are also mulling runs.

No Republican has publicly expressed interest in the seat, but a spokesman for the national party viewed Gov. Chris Christie's success in New Jersey as "a hopeful sign" for the GOP's chances even though New Jersey voters haven't sent a Republican to the Senate in 40 years.

Booker created a federal fundraising account allowing him to raise money for the campaign. In doing so, the two-term mayor of New Jersey's largest city dashed hopes that he would challenge Christie in a race for governor that would have pitted two rising national stars against one another.

Though Booker's relationship with Lautenberg has been nettlesome, he issued a statement praising the senator.

"Sen. Frank Lautenberg has been a champion for the people of New Jersey for decades and his legacy of service will improve the lives of all Americans for years to come," Booker said.

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Baldwin 'stalker' rejects no-jail plea deal in harassment case

The perky French Canadian model accused of stalking Alec Baldwin is saying "Non!" -- for now -- to the Manhattan DA's no-jail offer, insisting she will not jump through all of the prosecutorial "hoops" being required of her.

"There are some hoops that they want my client to jump through, that we're trying to resolve," the defense lawyer for pretty, blonde Genevieve Sabourin explained after the deal got tabled during a Manhattan Criminal Court appearance today.

Asked if Baldwin is holding up, "I have no idea. He's not speaking to me," the lawyer said. He declined to characterize whether the hold-up plea conditions concerned Sabourin admitting wrongdoing or agreeing to treatment or community service.

Steven Hirsch

Genevieve Sabourin rejected a no-jail plea deal today after she allegedly stalked actor Alec Baldwin.

"I don't want to discuss them right now," said the lawyer, Rick Pasacreta, "but there are some hoops that I take issue with."

The lawyer said that discussions with prosecutors are continuing in good faith, and may well wind up with Sabourin having no criminal record.

"Ultimately we're hoping that if it's successful we will end up with the charges being dismissed at some point," the lawyer said.

"Nothing that is insurmountable" he said of the offending "hoops."

Asked if she was disappointed to be leaving Manhattan Criminal Court without a deal in place, Sabourin told reporters, "I'm disappointed to have even have been arrested on day one. I should have never been arrested I have never done anything wrong!"

Sabourin was arrested in April 2012, after sending Baldwin a series of emails and text messages in which she told him she loved him, wanted to have his baby, and needed cash. Sabourin allegedly freaked out Baldwin's then soon-to-be wife, Hilaria, by turning up at Baldwin's Manhattan apartment; Sabourin was arrested at Lincoln Center, having turned up in the audience of an event Baldwin was appearing in.

She was arrested a second time, last November, for allegedly violating an order of protection by continuing to Tweet about Hilaria, Baldwin, and "my INJUSTICE," and having notifications of the Tweets forwarded to Hilaria's Twitter name and account.

Earlier this week, Baldwin and his wife announced they were expecting a baby.

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Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson's love letters to be released on Valentine's Day

AUSTIN, Texas — The entire collection of nearly 100 love letters written between Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson during their 2½-month courtship in 1934 is being made available to the public for the first time beginning on Valentine's Day.

The letters at the LBJ Presidential Library at the University of Texas show an impatient Johnson, then a 26-year-old congressional aide, eager to marry 21-year-old Claudia Alta Taylor. She was known as "Bird," was a recent graduate of the university, and the future president had asked her to marry him a day after they met in September 1934. She wrote she loved him but "don't know how everlastingly."

AP

An archivist handles some of the love letters exchanged between Lyndon Johnson, then a 26-year-old congressional aide, and Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor, then 21, at the LBJ Presidential Library at the University of Texas.

They would tie the knot 10 weeks later in San Antonio and were married for 39 years. LBJ died 1973, Lady Bird in 2007.

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Mom tells Dr. Phil son saw shooting of standoff suspect in bunker

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. — The mother of an Alabama boy held hostage in an underground bunker for days says her son witnessed officers fatally shoot his kidnapper.

Jennifer Kirkland's comments about her son, Ethan, came in an interview with Dr. Phil McGraw for the "Dr. Phil Show." It's set to be aired Wednesday; a clip already is posted online.

Kirkland says her son saw officers shoot the gunman identified as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes of Midland City.

The FBI says agents wearing combat gear entered Dykes' bunker on the sixth day of the standoff in southeast Alabama. He was shot multiple times.

Reuters

Authorities secure the residence of Jimmy Lee Dykes where a five-year-old boy was rescued after being held hostage for almost one week in an underground bunker.

Authorities say Dykes shot and killed Ethan's school bus driver before grabbing him.

Ethan wasn't physically injured.

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'Spidey' claims self-defense after allegedly hitting woman in Times Square

A Times Square Spider-Man claimed he was acting in self-defense when he slugged a woman who refused to tip him him yesterday.

Philip Williams, 35-year-old Williamsburg resident, was released without having to post bail this morning after he was charged with assault and harassment.

Williams had posed for pictures with the 44-year-old woman's kids but didn't receive a tip, according to prosecutors.

"Sorry I don't have any [money]," the woman said, according to prosecutors. Williams responded "You're crap," the DA said.

The women then made a snowball and beaned Williams, his defense lawyer and prosecutor agreed.

Steven Hirsch

Philip Williams in court today.

Defense lawyer Rachel Black insisted this was clearly a case of self-defense.

"The complaining witness made contact with my client," she said.

Prosecutors said Williams has a rap sheet that includes a grand larceny and and retail fraud bust when he was 17 and living in Michigan.

Black didn't dispute the DA's claim, but told the Manhattan judge that Williams made all court appearances in that matter.

Cops showed up yesterday near 141 W. 43rd St. after the 3 p.m. and stopped the victim's husband from possibly hurting Williams, law enforcement sources and witnesses said.

“A woman came to me and said, ‘What did you do to me, you f--ker?’ ” said another Times Square Spidey, who wouldn’t give his name.

“Her husband came over and said it was a different Spider-Man. They went over to the other one and started fighting.”

Witnesses said the woman’s husband pounded the offending Spider-Man with a backpack before cops arrived to bust Spidey.

This unwanted attention has other Times Square cartoon characters worried about their livelihood.

“Getting arrested isn’t good for any of us,” said Times Square worker Christian, who dresses as Big Bird. “It makes us all look bad.”

The incident casts another mark on the city’s costumed busker community.

A man wearing an Elmo costume was arrested last September for disorderly conduct after spouting anti-Semitic rants in Central Park. Another man — dressed as video-game hero Mario — was arrested in December and charged with forcible touching after allegedly groping a woman.

Additional reporting by David K. Li

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