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Diane A. Wade
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Diane is a perfectionist. She enjoys searching the internet for the hottest events from around the world and writing an article about it. The details matter to her, so she makes sure the information is easy to read and understand. She likes traveling and history, especially ancient history. Being a very sociable person she has a blast having barbeque with family and friends.
Hiroyuki Joho, a teenager from Chicago, who was killed while crossing train tracks, can be sued over injuries caused to a woman on the platform, when one of his severed body parts hit her, a court has ruled.
Hiroyuki Joho, 18, died when he ran in front of a 70 mph Amtrak train at Edgebrook Metra station in Chicago in 2008. It was pouring with rain and the teen had an umbrella over his head.
The teenager body was severed on impact, and a large part became airborne, flying about 100 feet onto the southbound platform, where it hit a commuter.
Gayane Zokhrabov, 58, was knocked to the ground, her leg and wrist broken and her shoulder injured, the Chicago Tribune reported.
A Cook County court judge initially dismissed Gayane Zokhrabov’s lawsuit against the boy’s estate, ruling that Hiroyuki Joho could not possibly have anticipated her injuries.
But ruling in what it called a “tragically bizarre” case, a state appeals court disagreed.
It found that “it was reasonably foreseeable” that the high-speed train would kill the man hopeful and fling his body toward a platform where people were waiting.
Hiroyuki Joho, who was killed while crossing train tracks, can be sued over injuries caused to a woman on the platform, when one of his severed body parts hit her
Lawyer Leslie Rosen, who handled Gayane Zokhrabov’s appeal, argued that the case was a straightforward negligence case, albeit with “very peculiar and gory and creepy” circumstances.
“If you do something as stupid as this guy did, you have to be responsible for what comes from it,” Leslie Rosen said.
The teenager’s mother Jeung-Hee Park, had left the bright high-school student at the station that morning.
Seeing what he thought was his local train approaching and expecting it to slow down, Hiroyuki Joho went to cross a same-level pedestrian walkway across the tracks to get to the right side of the track.
But in fact his train was delayed by the bad weather, his mother’s lawyer Keith Davidson said.
The train which hit the teenager was an Amtrak high speed express speeding at 70 mph towards the city centre.
Jeung-Hee Park had previously filed her own suit claiming that Metra and the Canadian Pacific Railway were negligent.
The express Amtrak train had overtaken his Metra train which was running late that morning, but no announcement was made on the platform, the suit said.
A Cook County judge ruled that the railway companies had no compulsion to warn people about such an “open and obvious danger” as a travelling train. The decision was upheld on appeal
Lawyer Keith Davidson said that the crossing where of high speed trains cross a slow commuter train track is inherently hazardous.
The whistle that warns people to keep clear is no longer in use and the view of the track is partly blocked by foliage, he said.
“It really reflects a failure of the courts to get to grips with the limits of cognition and human reaction.
“It has been shown that objects, in this case as train, approaching from a distance from a wide angle appear to be going much more slowly than they are.
“Hiroyuki would have thought he had plenty of time to cross the track.”
The lawyers are seeking a further appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.
The popular teen known to friends and friends as Hiro – was a member of the soccer and tennis teams, a dancer and demonstrated Taiko Japanese drumming on International culture days.
Some of us wonder what happens to the luggage once it has been handed over at the check-in desk and disappears through the rubber flaps. The mystery has been cleared up after Delta Airlines added hidden cameras to a suitcase to see exactly what happens behind the scenes.
Delta Air Lines fitted six high-quality cameras inside the case and cut holes in the material so that the camera lenses could see out.
The cameras record the time before departure, every moment on the two hour flight from Atlanta to New York, and the bag going into the arrivals lounge.
The promotional footage for Delta Mobile Baggage Tracking App was uploaded to YouTube on December 22 and within days had already been viewed by more than 135,000 people.
However, users were quick to point out that the video does not show any of the bad things happening to the luggage such as damage, missing items and lost cases.
“When a checked bag goes behind those rubber flaps where does it go,” subtitles begin on the video. “Let’s find out.”
The video begins with the bag going from the check-in desk through the rubber flaps and along a conveyor belt.
The cameras record the time before departure, every moment on the two hour flight from Atlanta to New York, and the bag going into the arrivals lounge
A winding journey through more channels of conveyor belts takes the suitcase into a large warehouse where it is scanned.
“TSA scan area. No photography allowed,” appears on screen to explain why x-rays and manual checks for drugs, weapons and explosives are not seen.
The luggage then resumes its journey through the warehouse before it is collected by workers in fluorescent jackets. They then toss the luggage onto a wagon which taxis it to a plane where it is packed into the storage unit.
Two hours later the baggage emerges unscathed and after a short journey pops through the rubber flap and onto the conveyor belt where travelers wait anxiously to spot their cases.
“So finally I know how many hands touch my bags,” one user wrote online.
Another added: “I knew it was too good to be true… as if each bag gets its own special treatment off the plane with five people off loading.”
One user pointed how smooth the journey was. “I wonder what would have happened if the baggage handlers didn’t know they were being filmed,” he said.
Another user added: “Forgot the part where TSA rips open your bag, breaks a few things, and half zips it up.”
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Antonio, a jealous 99-year-old man from Italy, is divorcing from his wife of 77 years after he discovered she had an affair more than 60 years ago.
Antonio and his wife Rosa have both consulted lawyers and the first hearing in the case is due to take place in March.
Father-of-five Antonio saw red after he discovered dust covered romantic letters from Rosa to her secret lover during a clear out of their apartment in Rome.
Antonio and Rosa had tied the knot in Naples in 1934, where he had met her after he had been sent there to serve in the carabinieri paramilitary police.
Rosa had had an affair with her unidentified lover ten years later, keeping the secret to herself until now.
Lawyer Anna Orecchioni said: “The husband decided to file for divorce after finding the love letters.
“He felt betrayed and unable to carry on with the marriage which has lasted 77 years.
“It made no difference that the letters were written more than 60 years ago and the relationship has been over for decades.
“He has decided to divorce her and the case has already been submitted for a court hearing in March. The couple have five children and numerous grandchildren and great children.
“It’s a shame the marriage has ended in this way after such a long time together.”
American couple Marshall and Winnie Kuykendall hold the current record for the longest marriage having been together for 82 years after they tied the knot on Valentines Day in 1929.
An unclaimed $16.5 million winning lottery ticket from December 2010 has just hours to lose the payday.
If the $16.5 million Iowa Lottery ticket is forfeited it will be the second time this week that someone lost out on a million dollar payout.
On Monday, a $77 million lottery ticket went unclaimed in Georgia.
With each passing day, the Iowa Lottery receives more and more inquiries from those who wonder if they may have made the jackpot-winning purchase in Des Moines.
So far, no one has presented the winning ticket which is a requirement for claiming the prize.
The prize is so huge Iowa Lottery security investigators have even worked to identify the jackpot winner by tracking similar ticket purchase patterns.
Lottery CEO Terry Rich said: “It is sad to see this huge prize continue to sit there without being claimed. Someone legitimately won this money and we want them to take it home.
“But you must present the winning ticket to the lottery in order to claim the prize.”
“This has been an unusual story all the way around,” Terry Rich added.
“But we’re hoping that our reminders will cause someone to double-check their ticket and realize they’re the big winner before time runs out.”
Terry Rich said that the lottery does not release a ticket’s date or time of sale for security reasons.
“Some information is kept as our way to double-check that the winner is legitimate,” he said.
Iowa lottery has provided some key information that might jar a winner’s memory.
The Hot Lotto jackpot-winning ticket was purchased at Quik Trip, 4801 N.E. 14th St. in Des Moines. The lucky ticket matched all six numbers selected in the Hot Lotto drawing on December 29, 2010, to win the grand prize.
The winning numbers that night were 3-12-16-26-33 and Hot Ball 11.
Hot Lotto tickets in Iowa expire a year from the date of the drawing in which a prize is won, so the jackpot prize will expire at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday if it isn’t claimed by then.
In Iowa, the money from unclaimed prizes goes into the lottery’s prize pools for future games.
Iowa would get back about $1.3 million if this prize were to go unclaimed.
International wildlife trade group Traffic says that more elephant tusks were seized in 2011 than in any year since 1989, when the ivory trade was banned.
Traffic said elephants have had a “horrible year”, with 23 tones of ivory seized – representing at least 2,500 dead animals.
Trade in ivory was banned in 1989 to save elephants from extinction.
But it has continued illegally because of huge demand in Asia, where it is used to make decorative objects.
“The escalating large ivory quantities involved in 2011 reflect both a rising demand in Asia and the increasing sophistication of the criminal gangs behind the trafficking,” said a statement from Traffic, which monitors the trade in wildlife products.
“Most illegal shipments of African elephant ivory end up in either China or Thailand.”
Wildlife trade group Traffic said there had been at least 13 large seizures of ivory in 2011, amounting to more than 23 tones, compared to 6 in 2010 of less than 10 tones
Traffic said there had been at least 13 large seizures of ivory this year, amounting to more than 23 tones, compared to six last year of less than 10 tones.
“In 23 years of compiling ivory seizure data… this is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures. 2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants,” Traffic’s elephant expert Tom Milliken said.
The group said the smugglers appear to have shifted away from using air to sea – in early 2011, three of the large scale ivory seizures were at airports but later in the year most were found in sea freight.
“The only common denominator in the trafficking is that the ivory departs Africa and arrives in Asia, but the routes are constantly changing, presumably reflecting where the smugglers gamble on being their best chance of eluding detection,” it said.
In six of the large 2011 seizures, Malaysia was a transit country in the supply chain, Traffic said.
In the most recent case on 21 December, Malaysian authorities seized hundreds of African elephant tusks worth about $1.3 million that were being shipped to Cambodia.
The ivory was hidden in containers of handicrafts from Kenya’s Mombasa port, Traffic said.
Tom Milliken said despite the seizures, there were generally few arrests.
“I fear the criminals are winning,” Tom Milliken said.
Some environmental campaigners say the decision to allow some southern African countries, whose elephants populations are booming, to sell their stockpiles of ivory has fuelled the illegal trade.
Those countries – South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe – however, deny this and argue they should be rewarded for looking after their elephant populations.
NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne has sparked a real rampage on Twitter over breastfeeding in public, after he said he was disgusted to see a mom’s breast as she was feeding her son in a supermarket.
Kasey Kahne, 31, said he first thought he was imagining things, but once he realized the mother was indeed nursing, he began tweeting his horror.
“Just walking through supermarket. See a mom breast feeding little kid,” the bachelor tweeted.
“Took second look because obviously I was seeing things I wasn’t!”
Upon second look, Kasey Kahne described the woman’s breastfeeding in detail.
“One boob put away one boob hanging!” Kasey Kahne tweeted, with the hashtag “#nasty “ following the post.
NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne has sparked a real rampage on Twitter over breastfeeding in public, after he said he was disgusted to see a mom’s breast as she was feeding her son in a supermarket
The NASCAR driver was apparently so repulsed that he then wrote: “I don’t feel like shopping or eating anymore.”
Later, a woman named Deana P. tweeted to him that she disagreed breastfeeding was “nasty” and that he was “kind of a douchebag”.
“I hope someday you have a kid and someone tells your wife that feeding your child looks nasty,” Deana P. wrote.
“Stay classy a**hole.”
Kasey Kahne, who currently stars in an Allstate ad campaign that centres around his appeal among women, responded by calling her a “dumb b***h”.
However, late last night, the racer apologized via his Facebook page, writing: “It was in no way my intention to offend any mother who chooses to breastfeed her child, or, for that matter, anyone who supports breast feeding children.
“My comments were not directed at the mother’s right to breastfeed. They were just a reaction to the location of that choice, and the fashion in which it was executed on that occasion.”
Kasey Kahne also apologized to Deana P., saying his remarks were “out of line”.
Deana P., whose Twitter page indicates she’s a mother of three from Minnesota, wrote an apology of her own, saying her comments to the racer were also “knee-jerk and out of line”.
Kasey Kahne’s NASCAR sponsor Great Clips also released a statement, which read: “Our apologies for this. Please know that response was uncalled for & does not reflect our organization.”
Kasey Kahne’s very public qualms came amid another breast-feeding controversy, which resulted in hundreds of mothers in 35 states staging a nurse-in at their nearby Target stores after a Texas mother was told last month that she could not breastfeed in public.
Michelle Hickman, a mother of four, was trying to do some Christmas shopping last month when Target employees asked her to relocate to a more private location, such as a family fitting room.
Humiliated by the incident, Michelle Hickman used Facebook to organize the massive “nurse-in”.
Kasey Kahne, who has 12 NASCAR wins to his credit, does a great deal of charity work through his “Kasey Kahne Foundation”, which benefits chronically ill kids and their families.
In 2007, however, Kasey Kahne found himself on the wrong side of the law.
In November of that year, he was charged was charged with assault for pushing an elderly security guard at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.
The misdemeanor charges were later dropped after Kasey Kahne completed 50 hours of community service.
Kasey Kahne was also slapped with a civil suit by the security guard, who claimed he suffered a severe back injury as a result of the incident, but that suit was settled in 2009.
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Patrick Lott, an assistant middle school principal and Catholic high school volunteer, was accused of secretly filming teenage boys as they showered at school.
Patrick Lott, 54, of Somerville, New Jersey was arrested after videos of nude teenagers were allegedly found in his home.
Somerset County police raided Patrick Lott’s house earlier this month and seized computer files and digital recordings, reports New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger.
Detectives also discovered several videos, spanning over a period of nearly three years, of nude teenagers showering in the Immaculata High School boys’ communal shower area, according to authorities.
Patrick Lott, an assistant middle school principal and Catholic high school volunteer, was accused of secretly filming teenage boys as they showered at school
Nine of the teenagers identified in the videos, which date back to January 2008, are currently under the age of 16.
Detectives also found the area where a camera had been installed for video recording, reports the Ledger.
Patrick Lott has been the assistant principal at Bernardsville Middle School since 2009 and was working as a volunteer at Immaculata, a Catholic School.
Jack Bennett, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, declined to say what work Patrick Lott did with Immaculata, reports the Ledger.
Patrick Lott was also active in local politics and ran for a Somerset County freeholder seat around 20 years ago.
The Republican’s most recent run for public office was in 2009, when he failed in a bid for a Somerville council seat.
As a high school wrestling coach for over a decade, Patrick Lott won the Courier News’ Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in 1998.
Patrick Lott told the Courier News in 2002: “I enjoyed the interaction with the kids. You become attached to the kids you coach.”
The principal faces charges of child endangerment and invasion of privacy.
Patrick Lott is remanded at Somerset County Jail with bail set at $500,000, reports the Ledger.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is urged to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit at (908) 575-3300,Somerset County Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1-888-577-8477, or online at www.somersetcountycrimestoppers.org.
Michael Plumadore, the suspected killer of 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon from Fort Wayne, Indiana, posted her picture on Facebook one month before he allegedly bashed her in the head with a brick, hacked her to pieces with a handsaw and kept her head in his freezer.
Suspect Michael Plumadore posted a photo of Aliahna Lemmon standing alongside her sisters – once he was able to take because he had gained the trust of the family after befriending her grandfather James Lemmon.
James Lemmon and Michael Plumadore knew each because they were both sex offenders and were in jail together.
On his Facebook page, Michael Plumadore has several chilling pictures of the disabled girl who captured national attention when she went missing from a trailer park in Fort Wayne Thursday night.
The girl and her two sisters were staying with Michael Plumadore, 39, at his trailer while her mother recovered from the flu.
Richard Patee, 58, whose trailer is next to where Michael Plumadore was living, said he didn’t think it was odd that Aliahna Lemmon’s mother, Tarah Souders, had him watching the girls for an extended period.
“They had known each other for somewhere of three to four years, I know that, and he took care of their grandfather,” Richard Patee said.
“I didn’t see any reason to question it at all.”
Tarah Souders and Aliahna Lemmon were listed among nearly 600 friends on a Facebook page listed under Michael Plumadore’s name that said he was “Self Employed and Loving It!”, and enjoyed fantasy novels.
Michael Plumadore, the suspected killer of 9-year-old Aliahna Lemmon, posted her picture on Facebook one month before he murdered her
The day after Christmas, Michael Plumadore calmly admitted to detectives that he had committed an unimaginably horrific crime: brutally killing young Aliahna Lemmon and then dismembering her body so he could dispose of it.
Michael Plumadore led detectives to a dumpster at a nearby business where they found pieces of her torso, arms and legs that had been cut up with a hack saw and stuffed into garbage bags.
In his freezer, an even more grizzly find – little Aliahna Lemmon’s head, hands and feet.
Michael Plumadore’s Facebook photos reveal that he spent time with the girls at a riverside park in Fort Wayne and was at their home, as well.
One especially horrifying picture was of the three girls leaning against a railing labeled simply “Three Princesses”, which was uploaded in late November.
All of the pictures were in an online album called “The kids”.
Sheriff Ken Fries said detectives have a good idea why he killed Aliahna, but the lawman would not discuss Michael Plumadore’s motive.
Michael Plumadore cracked during his third interview with police. Detectives had spoken with him twice before and he had given no indication that he was responsible for Aliahna Lemmon’s disappearance, sheriff Ken Fries said.
The bogus story he first gave to detectives was that he had seen the girl sleeping in his chair at 6:00 a.m. Thursday when he got up to buy a cigar at a nearby convenience store.
He was awakened realized she was gone when Aliahna Lemmon’s mother called him at 10:00 a.m., he claimed. He told police he thought that she had left with her mother so she wasn’t reported missing until almost 9:00 p.m. Thursday.
Sheriff Ken Fries said he and his detectives didn’t believe his story but they had nothing but his word to go on.
Until Monday, the day after Christmas, detectives “finally hit the right chords” and Michael Plumadore came clean.
He said used a brick to beat Aliahna Lemmon in the back of the head multiple times as she stood on the steps outside his trailer. He then wrapped her body in several garbage bags and put it her in his freezer, according to court documents.
Despite the confession, the little girl’s grandmother, Amber Story, stood by Michael Plumadore.
“I don’t care what anybody says. Mike did nothing to her. He loves those girls,” Amber Story told the News-Sentinel.
On Monday, FBI agents descended on the rundown mobile home park in Fort Wayne where Aliahna Lemmon lived.
The park is a known haven for registered sex offenders, though Michael Plumadore isn’t on Indiana’s registered sex offenders list. He has a criminal record in Florida and North Carolina that includes convictions for trespassing and assault.
More than 100 emergency workers searched Saturday for Aliahna Lemmon around the mobile home park, where she was last seen.
Sheriff’s deputies, police officers and firefighters fanned out in the area around the trailer park where she disappeared, searching on ATVs and on foot. An airplane circled the area.
But Sheriff Ken Fries called off the hunt for Sunday, Christmas Day, and ordered only limited searches of area ponds on Monday.
He didn’t see any good in using the manpower to lead further widespread hunts for the girl, who was feared dead as federal authorities took over.
Aliahna Lemmon’s mother, Tarah Souders, 28, told The Journal Gazette earlier on Monday that her daughter had vision and hearing problems and suffered from attention deficit disorder and emotional problems. She also has a history of sleepwalking, family members said.
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Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has left Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire after four nights.
Buckingham Palace said Prince Phillip will now return to the Royal Family’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
The Duke of Edinburgh had been in Papworth Hospital since Friday when he had a coronary stent fitted after being admitted following chest pains.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has left Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire after four nights
Prince Philip, who left by road and waved to reporters, missed the royal Christmas celebrations and had to sit out the traditional Boxing Day shoot.
He sat upright and smiled broadly as he left the hospital.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “On departure, Prince Philip thanked the staff at Papworth for the excellent care he has received during his stay.
“He is very much looking forward to rejoining his family.”
The Duke of Edinburgh is said to have been advised by doctors to rest.
The Queen, 85, has been briefed regularly on her husband’s condition.
On his arrival at Papworth Hospital doctors discovered a blocked artery and went ahead with a “minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting”, which was declared a success.
Stenting involves inserting a tube called a stent into an artery, to improve blood flow.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s next formal engagement is not until 17 January when he is due to attend a dinner at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge.
Usually on Boxing Day Prince Philip would lead the Royal Family’s shooting party.
But this year he was under doctor’s orders not to leave his bed while he was kept under observation.
This is the most serious health scare suffered by the normally spry nonagenarian.
Prince Philip usually accompanies the Queen and in the autumn he travelled to Australia on a 11-day official visit to Perth, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.
Aliahna Lemmon, a 9-year-old missing girl from Indiana, has been found dead, and the family friend who was watching her before she disappeared was charged last night with murder, authorities said.
Allen County sheriff’s spokesman Cpl Jeremy Tinkel said investigators found the body of Aliahna Lemmon in the county, but he wouldn’t say where.
Jeremy Tinkel also said Mike Plumadore, 39, was “interviewed by police and taken into custody at 9:00 p.m. and charged with murder”.
Mike Plumadore, who had been watching Aliahna Lemmon and her sisters before she was reported missing late Friday, is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
Earlier Monday, FBI agents descended on the rundown mobile home park in Fort Wayne where Aliahna Lemmon lived.
The park is a known haven for registered sex offenders, though Mike Plumadore isn’t on Indiana’s registered sex offenders list. He has a criminal record in Florida and North Carolina that includes convictions for trespassing and assault.
More than 100 emergency workers searched Saturday for Aliahna Lemmon around the mobile home park, where she was last seen.
Aliahna Lemmon, 9, has been found dead, and the family friend who was watching her before she disappeared was charged last night with murder
Sheriff’s deputies, police officers and firefighters fanned out in the area around the trailer park where the girl disappeared, searching on ATVs and on foot. An airplane circled the area.
But Sheriff Ken Fries called off the hunt for Sunday, Christmas Day, and ordered only limited searches of area ponds on Monday.
Sheriff Fries said searchers exhausted every possible hiding place in a one-mile radius around the trailer where she disappeared.
He didn’t see any good in using the manpower to lead further widespread hunts for the girl, who was feared dead as federal authorities took over.
About half-dozen officers in black windbreakers, several of whom identified themselves as FBI agents subsequently arrived, some with search dogs were seen at a nearby storage facility.
Agents at the scene wouldn’t say why the FBI was involved.
According to a state website, 15 registered sex offenders live at the mobile home park that numbers about two dozen homes.
“Children don’t just walk away during Christmastime,” Aliahna Lemmon’s step-grandfather, David Story, said Monday afternoon.
Aliahna Lemmon’s mother, Tarah Souders, 28, told The Journal Gazette earlier on Monday that her daughter had vision and hearing problems and suffered from attention deficit disorder and emotional problems. She also has a history of sleepwalking, family members said.
The girl and her sisters were staying at a family friend’s nearby home because their mother had been sick with the flu and Aliahna Lemmon’s stepfather works at night and sleeps during the day.
Mike Plumadore told The Journal Gazette Sunday that he left the three girls in his mobile home about 6:00 a.m. Friday and went to a gas station about a mile away to buy a cigar.
Authorities have said the store’s surveillance video shows him there about that time.
“I had dead-bolted the door,” Mike Plumadore said.
“When I got back, all the girls were here.”
He said he smoked his cigar and went back to sleep, and then woke up about 10:00 a.m. when Aliahna Lemmon’s mother called. After that call, he realized the door to the home was unlocked and that the girl was gone. He said Aliahna Lemmon’ six-year-old sisters told him Aliahna had left with her mom.
Mike Plumadore said it wasn’t until he talked with Aliahna Lemmon’s mother at about 8:30 p.m. that they realized she was missing and police were notified.
Tarah Souders said miscommunication between the two of them caused the delay in determining that the girl had vanished.
“She’s never wandered off,” Tarah Souders said.
“She’s never done anything like this before.”
Property records show Madonna Badger bought the five-bedroom, waterfront Victorian home for $1.7 million last year
Madonna Badger, from Stamford, Connecticut, climbed onto the roof of her burning house and tried to smash the windows of her daughters’ bedrooms in a bid to save them from the flames ravaging her home.
Madonna Badger, a 47-yea-old former Calvin Klein art director, and friend Michael Borcina survived the horrific Christmas day fire at her home that claimed the lives of her three daughters and their grandparents.
The girls, Lily, 10, and twins Sarah and Grace, 7, perished in the 5 a.m. fire with Madonna Badger’s parents, Lomer and Pauline Johnson, who were to celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary today.
Firefighters desperately tried to reach the family members who were trapped on the second floor of the $1,725,000 house by the raging flames.
According to witnesses, Madonna Badger, who runs Badger and Winters fashion branding consulting firm and created the Mark Wahlberg underwear adverts for Calvin Klein, was dazed as rescue workers helped her. She was heard saying: “My whole life is in there.”
The woman was seen being led away from the flames with acquaintance Michael Borcina, who was barefoot and wearing boxers and a t-shirt.
Michael Borcina is the president of New York City construction firm Tiberias Construction Inc., believed to be the company renovating the five-bedroom home.
The grandparents moved to the New York area from Kentucky five years ago to be near their grandchildren, according to the New York Times.
The day before he died, Lomer Johnson, 71, worked at his “dream job” as Santa Claus at the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store in Manhattan, New York, the family member said. Pauline Johnson, 69, watched on as he handed out candy canes and posed for pictures.
“That’s all he ever wanted to be,” a family member told the New York Times. “He stopped shaving the day he retired.”
Madonna Badger was reported to be a “fair condition” at Stamford Hospital on Sunday afternoon. A supervisor at the hospital said she was treated and discharged by the evening.
Michael Borcina was also hospitalized but his condition was not released.
Police officers drove Madonna Badger’s husband, Matthew Badger, from New York City to Stamford on Sunday morning.
The couple had separated three years ago. She filed for divorce in October.
Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte said desperate attempts by firefighters to rescue the family were thwarted by the intense flames and heat.
A total of 46 firefighters attended the scene.
All five victims were removed from the second floor of the burnt-out building this evening.
Antonio Conte said fire officials do not yet know the cause of the blaze and will not likely get clues for a few days until fire marshals can enter the house, which has been completely destroyed.
The house was being renovated but fire officials do not believe that was the cause of the blaze.
Property records show Madonna Badger bought the five-bedroom, waterfront Victorian home for $1.7 million last year.
The house is situated in Shippan Point, a wealthy neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound.
Stamford is a city of 117,000 residents about 25 miles northeast of New York City.
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A family from Morgan Hill, California, has been left devastated after thieves stole their dog and every present from under their Christmas tree.
Chris Lancer and his wife returned home to find the front and back doors, which they had locked, were open.
They discovered that their daughter’s dog had vanished along with $600 worth of gifts.
The discovery was made on Wednesday evening and, by Christmas Eve, there was still no suspect.
“There’s no suspect at this time,” Sgt. Jose Cardoza from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department told Mercury News.
“They say they don’t know who would have done it.”
Photographs were taken and officers took fingerprints from the house, Sgt. Jose Cardoza said.
“They were able to locate some good prints and are giving them to the lab,” he said.
The Lancers were unable to replace the gifts, but were more upset that their dog has not been found.
On Christmas Eve, Chris Lancer pleaded with the burglars.
“Bring the dog back, please,” the man said on NBC 11.
“It’s my daughter’s dog. I won’t say nothing if you just bring the dog back.”
A home surveillance camera caught an UPS delivery man flipping the middle finger at the camera before throwing the package roughly on the door step.
The UPS delivery man in question was fired after the video went viral.
The worker was making the delivery to a home in Long Island on December 15.
UPS spokeswoman Natalie Godwin said: “We don’t tolerate such conduct. And yes, he was fired.”
Natalie Godwin said he was a seasonal employee.
A home surveillance camera caught an UPS delivery man flipping the middle finger at the camera before throwing the package roughly on the door step
The delivery man was delivering a white box from Zappos. As he cooly strides up the path, he flips the middle finger at the camera before flinging the heavy parcel at the door and walking off.
The video was published just days after a video of a Fedex employee heaving a computer monitor over a fence to a southern California home went live.
After the FedEx employee’s conduct became a hit on the internet, a company vice president issued his own YouTube video apologizing and promising the delivery employee would no longer work with customers.
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Seven people from were shot dead in a suburban Fort Worth apartment as they had opened their Christmas gifts, police said yesterday.
According to authorities, the shooter appeared to be among the dead, but got a warrant before doing a full search on the small chance that it was otherwise.
Four women and three men, aged 18 to 60, were found in an adjoining kitchen and living room area when police entered the apartment around midday, said Grapevine Police Sergeant Robert Eberling.
Two handguns were found near the bodies in the apartment that was decorated for the holiday with a tree, Robert Eberling added.
“It appears they had just celebrated Christmas. They had opened their gifts,” he said.
Seven people from were shot dead in a suburban Fort Worth apartment as they had opened their Christmas gifts, police said yesterday
The victims have not yet been identified, but Robert Eberling said it appears they all died of gunshot wounds. He said authorities still don’t know what sparked the incident.
Grapevine Police Lieutenant Todd Dearing said investigators believe that all the victims were related, but that some were only visiting and didn’t live in the apartment. He said police are looking for other relatives to inform.
“Seven people in one setting in Grapevine, that’s never happened before. Ever,” Todd Dearing said.
He said police were performing a “meticulous” search of the apartment and he expects them to be on the scene for many hours.
Police and firefighters first rushed to the Lincoln Vineyards complex after receiving an open-ended 911 call at about 11:30 a.m., Robert Eberling said.
“There was an open line. No one was saying anything,” he explained.
Police went into the apartment, located in a middle-class, suburban neighborhood of Grapevine, not far from the upscale Fort Worth neighborhood of Colleyville. The apartment is at the back of the complex, overlooking the athletic fields of Colleyville Heritage High School.
But many of the nearby apartments are vacant, and police said no neighbors reported hearing anything on a quiet Christmas morning when many people were not around.
Riverside County sheriff’s deputy Dayle Long has been charged with executing a man in a sports bar in Murrieta, California, after an argument over a game of darts, while he was off-duty.
Police officer Dayle Long, 42, has allegedly shot Samuel Vanettes, 36, three times, leaving the victim to die on the floor of the bar.
It is reported that Dayle Long, who had been drinking alone, struck up a conversation with Samuel Vanettes and his friends at Spelly’s Bar and Grille before the shooting.
An altercation allegedly broke out after the deputy told one of the friends: “I’m better at darts than you are”, Chris Hull, 39, told Patch.com.
“My buddy says, <<Aw, you suck at darts>>. (The man) says, <<That’s why I’m a cop, I can do whatever I want to do>>.”
Chris Hull said his friend asked: “Really, you can do anything?”
The deputy then pulled out his gun, Chris Hull claimed and after the group repeatedly asked him to put it away he “pops three rounds into my friend Sam”.
Dayle Long appeared at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley in a red prison uniform, on Friday, charged with murder.
Samuel Vanettes, a gas station cashier, was trying to keep the peace in the bar when he was gunned down, John Hall, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s office, according to Patch.com report.
Off-duty police officer Dayle Long, 42, has allegedly shot Samuel Vanettes, 36, three times, leaving the victim to die on the floor of the bar
Dayle Long and another man were in an argument when Samuel Vanettes had stepped in to break up the fight.
“He came in to act as a peacemaker and ended up getting shot,” Chris Hall said.
Chris Hall added that the victim was unarmed and showing no aggressive behavior.
According to a family member of the victim, who spoke to the LA Times, Samuel Vanettes was at the bar with his sister, her boyfriend and another friend when he started playing darts with Dayle Long.
“They were getting along good,” the relative said Samuel Vanettes’ sister had told.
“When the cop started having more whiskey, he started getting belligerent.
“He lifted his shirt up and showed his gun. Sam was standing by the dartboard.
“He said, <<You don’t want to do this; you’re a nice guy>. And he shot him. That’s what I’m told.”
If convicted, Dayle Long could face 50 years to life behind bars.
India Parker from Cleveland, Ohio, was being held on $10,000 bond Saturday after reportedly confessed police she threw her daughter’s body out with the trash.
India Parker, 35, is facing a charge of abuse of a corpse.
India Parker is at the centre of an investigation into the disappearance of her daughter, Kaliyah, 10.
The girl was reported missing Monday by the father of one of India Parker’s other children, Fox News reports.
India Parker confessed police she threw her daughter's body out with the trash
Relatives and friends have told police they haven’t seen Kaliyah Parker since she was five in 2006.
Sgt. Sammy Morris, with the Cleveland Police Department, told Fox 8: “The Cleveland Division of Police received information from the Cuyahoga County Department of Child and Family Services on Monday, about a missing 10-year-old.”
The police report shows that India Parker told the girl’s father that Kaliyah died when a bookcase fell on her.
However, no death certificate has been found and there were no records at local hospitals.
Police say India Parker was also reported for child endangering back in 2000.
According to Fox News, India Parker had previously had at least one child taken away from her by social workers and subsequently returned to her.
Sgt. Sammy Morris said India Parker will stay behind bars until police find out what happened to Kaliyah.
He told Fox 8: “This is an open investigation. We are asking anyone with any information to call the Cleveland Homicide Unit.”
A mystery woman has popped up to help families pay their bills brandishing an American Express card at a Californian Toys R Us.
The woman, believed to be a retired grandma, delighted shoppers at the store in Culver City when she offered to pay for gifts for around 50 people.
The mystery shopper was joined by a “sidekick” who helped her pass an Amex card between the lines, according to a report by the Daily News.
“She was very quiet and unassuming and nobody in line had a clue what was going on,” shopper Laura Yoo told the daily News.
“People were excited and crying.”
Laura Yoo said the mystery woman paid for shopping for at least 50 people, many of whom had carts heaped with toys.
The woman’s assistant offered to pay for Laura Yoo’s own $54 bill after she bought gifts for her children.
“My boss would like to pay for your purchases today,” Laura Yoo recounted the sidekick as saying.
“I said, <<Thank you very much>> and gave a hug and she said <<Merry Christmas>>,” Laura Yoo told the Daily News.
Witnesses described the woman as at least 50, wearing a skirt, leather boots and a beret.
The woman would not give her name and has not been identified.
There has been a plethora of “layaway angels” in stores this holiday season, paying bills and debts in Kmart, Wal-Mart and Toys R Us stores across the country.
“It’s the Santa effect, really,” author and psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo told msnbc.com.
“It’s exciting and motivating and when people hear about it, they want to be in on it, too.”
More than $400,000 in layaway bills has been paid off at Kmart stores alone, according msnbc.com.
In one of the most recent examples of generosity, David Wilson, a car dealer from Laguna Beach, contacted a K-Mart in Costa Mesa, California after seeing a television report about donors paying off strangers’ outstanding accounts.
He asked the manager to tally up the balances on all the accounts with balances of $100 or less, and then wrote a check for $15,919.61 to pay off the total.
As her family was struggling financially and was unable to afford a big Christmas celebration, all that 5-year-old Helen Berence Cardenas de Reyes wanted, when she wrote a Christmas message to Santa, was a doll, some clothes and a pair of shoes.
Helen Berence Cardenas de Reyes from Auburn, Washington, attached her frugal Christmas list to two balloons and set it off hoping it would somehow reach Santa in the North Pole.
Julie Sanders and her son discovered the scrap of paper while they were out on their quad bikes near their home in Laytonville, California.
Although Helen’s letter was written in Spanish they could tell it was a Christmas list and could make out a few words.
So Julie Sanders asked a ranch hand to translate the rest of note.
Julie Sanders told ABC news: “The fact that she asked for a doll, some pants, boots and nothing materialistic, I just knew it was a family in need.
“I thought if I we can get a hold of them we can make sure there is something for her under the tree for Christmas.”
Julie Sanders decided to get on the phone and called up the family.
She found out that Helen’s mother is injured and her father had struggled to find any work at all this year.
Little Helen sent her letter on December 2, which is a particularly emotional date for Julie Sanders as it is the birthday of her brother, who passed away a few years ago.
So kind-hearted Julie Sanders headed to the shops and bought little Helen a few outfits and toys.
Julie Sanders addressed the package from Santa and sent it special delivery so it could be under the girl’s tree in time for Christmas.
Dennis Dodds, a family friend of the Sanders was also there when they found the balloon message.
He told ABC: “Laytonville is a small timber industry town that has lost its mill. People here know what it is like to struggle around the holidays. It is always good to pay it forward.
“We’ve been in that situation ourselves, I know what it feels like,’ said Sanderson ‘but now we are in the position to help so it really felt good to help this little girl.”
Helen’s mother, Rosa Cardenas de Reyes, said she helped send the note.
The mother said: “I didn’t know what to do.
“So I always told her we would send a balloon to Santa because that was a tradition when I was little.”
Children and parents across the world can see just how far Santa and his reindeer are from their homes, thanks to a “Santa Tracker” that follows his route around the globe.
Santa tracker – a collaboration between Google and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) – shows live footage of the sleigh passing landmarks including Big Ben, the Empire State Building and, of course, his grotto in the North Pole.
The tracker uses radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets to follow his sleigh, and can be seen online on Google Earth.
Santa can also been seen on the Google Maps app on smart phones by typing in “Santa” or on the NORAD Santa Site.
NORAD Santa site explains: “The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat.
“Amazingly, Rudolph’s bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allows our satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa.”
Children and parents across the world can see just how far Santa and his reindeer are from their homes, thanks to a “Santa Tracker” that follows his route around the globe
NORAD has been tracking Santa’s journey for more than 50 years.
In 1955, a Colorado Springs newspaper advert invited children to talk to Santa on a hotline.
But the number had a typo, and dozens of children mistakenly dialed the Continental Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, the predecessor to NORAD.
The officers on duty sprang into action and began passing along reports on Santa’s progress – and the tradition was born.
It is going strong, with a Denver-based NORAD crew answering 80,000 phone calls and 7,000 emails on Christmas Eve last year.
The NORAD Tracks Santa website has had more than 2.2 million unique visitors this year, compared with 2 million last year, according to the Associated Press.
More than 1,200 volunteers will answer calls in shifts until 3:00 a.m. Mountain Time on December 25.
They check big-screen computer monitors to pass along information to the children who call in.
“It’s just so precious to hear the little sigh or (only) breathing on the other end, and you realize how nervous they are,” Joyce Creech, NORAD’s project leader, told the Associated Press.
“But we’ve had really heart-wrenching stories as well,” she said.
“<<Can you ask Santa to heal my brother of cancer?>> Or, <<Can I get a new pair of shoes? I don’t have any.>>”
This year, they have added a further 20 phones this year, bringing the total to 120, and four more laptops, totaling at 23.
Santa tracker now even has a Twitter account, a Facebook page, a Youtube channel and apps for mobile phones, along with a website, and the phone line, 877-HI NORAD.
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A new aviation rules will allow carriers operating in the South Pacific to take a “short cut” over the North Pole for the first time.
Under the new relaxation of aviation rules, British air passengers will be able to cut the times of long-haul flights by as much as half and fly faster to exotic destinations.
It could also mean cheaper and cleaner flights for holidaymakers.
While pilots from Australia taking passengers to South America will be able to steer more direct courses making big savings in time, fuel and emissions.
Until now, Boeing’s 777 and the new 787 Dreamliner jets had for safety reasons to stay within a three hour range (180 minutes) of the nearest diversion airport.
Under the new rules, that has been nearly doubled to five and a half hours, (330 minutes) taking account of improvements in aircraft and engine technology.
It means, for example, that planes from the UK will be able to take a non-stop flight – dubbed “Santa’s short cut” – over the North Pole to destinations such as Hawaii, Alaska or French Polynesia.
It also means shorter journeys, cheaper flights, less fuel, and lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the so-called greenhouse gas, which is blamed for global warming.
The “extended operations” rules define the time that an aircraft is permitted to be from an emergency landing site in case of an engine failure and is applied to two-engine jets.
The new regulation follows a decision by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to allow up to 330-minutes “extended operations” for Boeings’ 777 fleet.
It allows airlines operating Boeing 777-300ER (extended range), 777-200LR (longer range), 777 Freighter and 777-200ER models equipped with General Electric engines to fly up to 330 minutes from a potential “diversion” airport.
Approval for the Boeing 777-200ER equipped with British Rolls-Royce and American Pratt & Whitney engines is expected to follow over the next few months.
The first airline to take advantage of the new longer “extended operations” option is Air New Zealand which earlier this month flew from Los Angeles to Auckland.
Last October The European Aviation Safety Agency granted a 207-minute rating after receiving an application from Air France to fly a 777-300ER from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti. The European agency is also expected to adopt the 330-minute rule.
Planes once flew over the North Pole during the Cold War in the 1950s to avoid Communist Bloc airspace.
Chaos is the name of what happened across the U.S. stores when a re-issue of shoes first worn 15 years ago by basketball legend Michael Jordan went on sale.
Madness was breaking out yesterday in many stores across the U.S. as impatient shoppers queued up to get their hands on the first new Nike retro Air Jordan shoes that went on sale for $180 in the morning.
Police used pepper spray in Seattle, Washington; four people were arrested in Atlanta, Georgia; there were fights in Louisville, Kentucky, and unruly crowds forced two stores shut in Austin, Texas.
Fights broke out in Charlotte, North Carolina; a gunshot was fired in Richmond, California; 1,500 turned up for 300 pairs of shoes in Indianapolis, Indiana; and a boy was injured in Troy, Michigan.
In Pineville, North Carolina, dozens of police officers had to break up fights and restore order inside Carolina Place Mall as early as 5:00 a.m. on Friday.
Outside the Foot Locker on the second floor, two could be seen throwing punches as they waited to get their hands on the Air Jordan XI Concord tennis shoe.
Moving west to Seattle, police used pepper spray on around 20 people to break up fights among pushing and shoving customers waiting outside a mall to buy the shoes.
One man was arrested there for assault after police say he pushed an officer. Authorities said more than 1,000 people lined up to buy shoes at 4:00 a.m. at four stores, which all sold out quickly.
In Atlanta, four people were arrested in a mad dash by customers hoping to purchase a pair of the shoes and up to 20 squad cars responded.
Police said a large crowd broke down a door to get inside before a store opened. Authorities escorted most of the people back outside, but took four into custody.
Officers said they had to break a car window to get two toddlers out after a woman went in after the shoes. They said she was taken into custody when she returned to the car.
Meanwhile in Indianapolis, 1,500 people were waiting for 300 pairs of shoes hours at Castleton Square Mall before they went on sale when police were called by security because of shoving.
Shoppers were throwing things at each other and officers, police told ABC affiliate WRTV. Authorities also had concerns that a glass window on the storefront could break because of the crowd pushing.
The shoes named for Michael Jordan are still generate huge sales years after the retirement of the NBA legend
The front doors of Lafayette Square Mall were broken off their hinges at 7:00 a.m. as shoppers ran inside and several people were knocked over in the mad rush, reported the Indianapolis Star.
Over in Charlotte, North Carolina, three malls reported unruly customers and dozens of police officers were called to restore order at Carolina Place Mall in Pineville after fights erupted.
The unrest started at 5:00 a.m. as a crowd of about 200 that had been waiting pushed inside. Women were seen throwing punches. There were also disturbances at SouthPark and Northlake malls. Police at both asked patrons to leave.
The shoes named for Michael Jordan are still generate huge sales years after the retirement of the NBA legend, who now owns the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.
Two malls with Foot Locker stores in Austin, Texas, were shut down on Thursday night at around 10:00 p.m. when shoppers began pushing each other and police called in backup to control the crowd.
In Richmond, California, crowds waiting to buy the shoes at the Hilltop Mall were turned away after a gunshot rang out at 7:00 a.m. No injuries were reported but a suspect, 24, was taken into custody.
There were also reports of Florida police using pepper spray. In Louisville, Kentucky, witnesses said police had to break up around 100 shoppers who were fighting over the shoes at Jefferson Mall.
WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT AIR JORDAN SHOES
Air Jordan’s are hugely lucrative for Nike and bring in around $1 billion in revenue each year.
Oregon designer Tinker Hatfield first developed the iconic shoes and they were made famous by basketball legend Michael Jordan in 1996 while he was playing for the Chicago Bulls.
“Jordan 11s only come around once a year, so don’t miss this highly anticipated release,” a Nike press release said earlier this week.
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Johnna Woolfolk , a jealous wife from California, allegedly called in a bomb threat to prevent her husband getting on a plane from Los Angeles to Atlanta, where she believed he was to visit his mistress.
In a last ditch attempt to save her marriage of 30 years, Johnna Woolfolk called AirTran Airways on November 27 and said her husband was carrying a bomb, the FBI said.
But her romantic gesture didn’t quite work out like the movies.
Johnna Woolfolk’s husband, who was intercepted at the airport, explained he was having marital problems, the Torrance Daily Breeze reported. She has now been charged with providing false and misleading information.
The woman broke down in tears after authorities replayed her conversation with the AirTran operator, according to FBI Special Agent David Gates.
“She stated that she was not thinking, she did not want to hurt anyone and did not want to cause harm,” David Gates wrote in an affidavit.
Defence attorney Gordon E. Turner said on Thursday that Johnna Woolfolk, who is about 50, admitted in court and to the FBI that she made the call.
“She now realizes it was wrong,” Gordon E. Turner said.
Johnna Woolfolk is caring for her dying mother at the couple’s Lynwood home and it has been stressful, the attorney said.
She also believes he is having an affair and was boarding the flight to meet the woman, the lawyer said.
Johnna Woolfolk is expected to plead guilty during a January 9 hearing having struck a plea bargain, US attorney’s office spokesman Thom Mrozek told the Torrance Daily Breeze.
Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has been visited by The Queen at Papworth Hospital following his emergency heart surgery to treat a blocked coronary artery.
The Queen arrived at the hospital this morning from her Sandringham estate, where the Royal family is spending Christmas.
The Duke of Edinburgh was this morning recovering after being airlifted to hospital for emergency heart surgery.
Prince Phillip was flown to the specialist cardiothoracic unit, near Cambridge, in a RAF search and rescue helicopter after being taken ill at Sandringham with serious chest pains last night.
Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has been visited by The Queen at Papworth Hospital following his emergency heart surgery to treat a blocked coronary artery
After “precautionary” tests, Prince Philip underwent what was described as a “minimally invasive procedure” known as coronary stenting.
This involves placing a tube in the coronary arteries that supply the heart, to keep them open in the treatment of heart disease. Stents reduce chest pain and have been shown to improve survival rates in the event of an acute heart problem.
Today Buckingham Palace said Prince Phillip “had a good night” and was currently under surveillance in the world-famous Papworth Hospital after emergency surgery for a blocked coronary artery.
He is expected to be visited by members of his family this morning.
There was no indication when he would be discharged, but medical experts have said that many patients can leave hospital a day after undergoing the procedure, providing there are no complications.
Dr. Simon Davies, a cardiologist at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, said: “The pain was from the heart. It means that one or more of the coronary arteries was badly narrowed or perhaps blocked.
“That meant that the blood was not passing through that artery so the muscle was starving of oxygen and in danger of dying, in other words a heart attack, or was on the verge of one.”
In view of his age, Prince Phillip, who still conducts more than 350 engagements each year, will remain in hospital for a day or so for further monitoring.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement last night: “His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh was taken to Papworth Cardiothoracic Centre this evening from Sandringham House for precautionary tests after experiencing chest pain.
“Following tests at Papworth the Duke of Edinburgh was found to have a blocked coronary artery which had caused his chest pains. This was treated successfully by the minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting. Prince Philip will remain in hospital for observation for a short period.”
It is believed the Duke of Edinburgh was flown to the hospital, which is around 60 miles away from the Sandringham estate, by a Sea King helicopter from RAF Wattisham, near Stowmarket in Suffolk, where Prince Harry is based.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first appeared in a 1939 book written by Robert L. May, one of the Montgomery Ward’s advertising copywriters and was given free to children as a way to drive traffic to the stores.
The book author, Robert L. May donated his handwritten first draft and illustrated mock-up to Dartmouth College before his death at age 71 in 1976, and his family later added to what has become a large collection of Rudolph-related documents and merchandise, including a life-sized papier-mache reindeer that now stands among the stacks at the Rauner Special Collections Library.
Robert L. May’s scrapbook about the book’s launch and success went unnoticed until last year, when Dartmouth archivist Peter Carini came across it while looking for something else.
“No one on staff currently knew we had it. I pulled it out and all the pieces started falling out. It was just a mess,” Peter Carini said.
The scrapbook, which has since been restored and catalogued, includes Robert L. May’s list of possible names for his story’s title character – from Rodney and Rollo to Reginald and Romeo. There’s a map showing how many books went to each state and letters of praise from adults and children alike.
The scrapbook also chronicles the massive marketing campaign Montgomery Ward launched to drum up newspaper coverage of the book giveaway and its efforts to promote it within the company.
Near the front of the scrapbook is a large colored poster instructing Montgomery Ward stores about how to order and distribute the book. An illustration of Rudolph sweeps across the page, his name written in ornate script.
There are exclamation points galore: “The rollinckingest, rip-roaringest, riot-provokingest, Christmas give-away your town has ever seen!”, “A laugh and a thrill for every boy and girl in your town (and for their parents, too!)”
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first appeared in a 1939 book written by Robert L. May, one of the Montgomery Ward's advertising copywriters
Rudolph is described as “the perfect Christmas crowd-bringer,” if stores follow a few rules, including giving the book only to children accompanied by adults. “This will limit <<street urchin>> traffic to a minimum, and will bring in the PARENTS … the people you want to sell!”
The response was overwhelming – at a time when a print-run of 50,000 books was considered a best-seller, the company gave away more than 2 million copies that first year and by the following year was selling an assortment of Rudolph-themed toys and other items.
But lest this become a story about corporate greed, it should be noted that in 1947, Montgomery Ward took the unusual step of turning over the copyright to the book to Robert L. May, who was struggling financially after the death of his first wife.
“He then made several million dollars using that in various ways, through the movie, the song, merchandising and things like that,” Peter Carini said.
“I think it’s a great story because it shows how corporations used to think of themselves as part of civil society and how much that has changed.”
Robert L. May eventually left Montgomery Ward to essentially manage Rudolph’s career, which really took off after May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks wrote the song (made famous by Gene Autry in 1949), and the release of a stop-motion animated television special in 1964.
Both the song and movie depart significantly from Robert L. May’s original plot, however.
In Robert L. May’s story, Rudolph doesn’t live at the North Pole or grow up aspiring to pull Santa’s sleigh — he lives in a reindeer village and Santa discovers him while filling Rudolph’s stocking on a foggy Christmas Eve.
“And you,” Santa tells Rudolph, “May yet save the day! Your wonderful forehead may yet pave the way!”
Robert L. May’s story is written in verse, similar to “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore, and opens, “Twas the day before Christmas and all through the hills/ The reindeer were playing … enjoying the spills.”
“It’s lovely to hear it read out loud, it really comes alive,” Virginia Herz, one of Robert L. May’s daughters, said in a phone interview this week.
As a small child, Virginia Herz, who declined to reveal her age, didn’t think there was anything unusual about growing up in a house surrounded by Rudolph merchandise. It wasn’t until she was older that she realized her father’s job of “taking care of Rudolph” was a bit different.
Virginia Herz tells her grandchildren that their great-grandpa wrote a story about Rudolph, not that he created the character.
“As I child, that’s how I felt. I knew my dad had written a wonderful book about Rudolph and now there were Rudolph toys and other things all around us,” she said.
“But it was no different than the guy next door who sold cars, or the guy down the street who was a painting contractor.”
Virginia Herz acknowledges the myths that have become entwined in Rudolph’s history – including the notion that May wrote the story as a Christmas gift for his older daughter, Barbara, when his wife was dying of cancer and that a Montgomery Ward manager “caught wind of the little storybook”.
In reality, Montgomery Ward assigned Robert L. May to write a Christmas book around the same time his wife was ill, Virginia Herz said.
“What’s out there on the Internet is a softer telling,” she said.
“My dad was aware of it and considered it appropriate. There’s the softer, romantic version and the more fact-based version.”
Virginia Herz said her father would be thrilled to see how his creation and its many incarnations have become part of American culture.
“I think he would be startlingly amazed,” she said.
“It really is an eternal part of Christmas. He would have been amazed.”
Rumors abounded that The First Dog Bo had flown out to Hawaii on Saturday with the First Family then returned to Washington D.C. for the Wednesday photos.
However, White House clarified the big question and said Bo stayed in Washington and never went on holiday with First Family.
Barack Obama’s dog Bo did not fly back just days after his Hawaiian holiday began so he could take part in a presidential photo call.
Michelle Obama’s press office had earlier said Bo would be leaving with the First Lady and her girls for their Hawaii holiday last Saturday.
A Hawaii eyewitness said he saw the Portuguese Water Dog taken for a walk earlier this week, ahead of President Obama’s delayed arrival.
But now the White House has told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Bo has been in Washington all along and never left for Hawaii in the first place.
Eyewitness Scott Miscovich blamed the sighting on his wife, whom he said must have seen “another black dog walking our neighborhood”.
Scott Miscovich told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “We would like to apologize to Bo and the Obama family for any inconvenience this may have caused them.”
The same newspaper had reported earlier this week that “the family and first dog Bo arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam”.
The White House Dossier blog speculated Bo could have come back on the plane that first took Michelle Obama out to Hawaii on Saturday.
The bill for the $4 million trip rose by $100,000 when Michelle Obama decided to take Sasha and Malia early while her husband sorts out the economy.
President Barack Obama took Bo on a shopping trip to PetSmart on Wednesday
The National Enquirer even reported Bo is flown to holidays on a separate plane with Secret Service agents, but this was never verified.
President Barack Obama took Bo on a shopping trip to PetSmart on Wednesday where he bought two items including a dog bone with a $50 bill.
The First Family will return home on January 1. It is not yet known whether Bo will go with President Barack Obama when he flies out to Hawaii.
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