St. Louis shooting suspect was on trial against employe

Police run into a building as they search for a gunman who walked into an ABB Power Plant, with an assault rifle and began shooting Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

January 7, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Early Thursday morning, Timothy Hendron took the fight against his employer from a federal courtroom to the company's headquarters, according to law enforcement sources in St. Louis. And instead of using an ongoing class action lawsuit to achieve his goals, Hendron is suspected of using an AK-47 assault rifle.

According to federal court records obtained by the ABC7 I-Team (Download a copy of the suit), the class action pension lawsuit in which Hendron was a named plaintiff was to resume trial at 8:50 Thursday morning. But at that very moment the Mr. Hendron, 51, had become the focus of a widespread manhunt in metro St. Louis. Authorities say Hendron had burst into the main offices of ABB power company and opened fire, killing one person and wounding four others.

Officers surrounded the building as they searched for the gunman who was initially believed to still be in the building.

The shooting occurred around 6:30 a.m. Fire Department spokesman Bob Keuss identified the suspected shooter as Timothy Hendron of Webster Groves. Those who know Hendron say he is a long time employee of the company, according to local press reports. Swiss-based ABB Group makes power transmission and industrial automation equipment and manufactures transformers at the St. Louis site. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Web site, citing dispatcher reports, said some employees ran to the rooftop to escape the gunfire, while others hid in interior rooms.

he class-action federal lawsuit against ABB was filed by Hendron and several other employees in July, 2007. The suit charged that ABB's pension review committee mishandled employee finances and incurred unreasonable losses. Trial began on Monday in Kansas City federal court with Judge Nanette K. Laughrey presiding. Opening statements had taken place and witness testimony began. The case was to resume Thursday morning, a little more than two hours after the shots were fired and blood spilled at ABB in St. Louis.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=7205858

Artie Lange Page 6: Artie Lange Stabs Himself Nine Times in Suicide Attempt

NEW YORK (CBS) Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lang is in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt, according to Page 6 of the New York Post.

Lange's publicist confirmed that the radio host was hospitalized. The Post says surgeons were able to save him despite heavy bleeding.

Lange's mother called police Saturday morning after entering his Hoboken, N.J. apartment and found the bloodied comedian, a law-enforcement source told the New York paper. "Lange sustained six 'hesitation wounds' and three deep plunges," the paper wrote.

The 42-year-old Lange has been absent from Stern's Sirius radio show for a month. On Monday's show, Stern said Lange isn't leaving the program and called him "a tremendous contributor."

Lange is a New Jersey native who lives in Hoboken and has battled drug addiction. In September, a New Jersey judge revoked his driving privileges for seven months after he admitted he was under the influence of prescribed sleeping pills in a minor traffic accident.

Orinigal Post By: Edecio Martinez

What Is A Hogchoker?

MYFOXNY.COM - Information on the Hogchoker fish from the Chesapeake Bay Program:

The unusual name "hogchoker" comes from farmers who used to feed these fish to their hogs. The hogs would often choke on the fishes' scaly, bony bodies.

Trinectes maculate

The hogchoker has a flat, rounded body that is dark brownish-gray on top and pale on the bottom. Adults have:

Small eyes that are both located on the right, or top, side of the head.
A rounded head with a small mouth.
Narrow, black vertical lines or rounded spots on the top side of the body.
Dorsal and anal fins that stretch around the body from the head to the tail.

MORE FROM CHESAPEAKE BAY PROGRAM

MORE ON HOGCHOKERS FROM WIKIPEDIA
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/national/100106-what-is-a-hogchoker

Anti-Whaling Vessel Damaged in a Collision at Sea

HONG KONG — An antiwhaling group said Wednesday that the new high-speed boat it had been using to harass Japanese whalers was badly damaged in a collision at sea.

Video taken from the deck of the Japanese whaling ship, Shonan Maru 2, showed its collision with the Ady Gil, a sleek black trimaran belonging to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a group that aggressively confronts the Japanese whaling fleet each year. The fleet focuses mostly on the Southern Ocean, the waters south of Australia and New Zealand that encircle Antarctica.

Sea Shepherd’s Australian director, Jeff Hansen, said in a telephone interview Wednesday said that the Ady Gil had not sunk, “but it’s in two pieces, and we’re trying to salvage what we can.”

A companion vessel, the Bob Barker, was used to rescue the crew, Mr. Hansen said. That boat, a former Norwegian whaling ship, was named after the former American game show host who donated $5 million to the group.

Mr. Hansen said one crew member on the Ady Gil was injured in the collision.

The Japanese video shows a frothy wake coming from the stern of the Ady Gil, although it is unclear whether the Ady Gil was moving. The Shonan Maru 2 was directing a water cannon at the Ady Gil before and during the collision, which is clearly seen on the video, and the nose of the Ady Gil was sheared off.

The Ady Gil, a former racing boat capable of speeds up to 57 miles an hour, was added to the Sea Shepherd fleet last October. At the time, the group’s founder, Paul Watson, said he would use the boat “to intercept and physically block the harpoon ships from illegally slaughtering whales.”

The Japanese Whaling Association calls Sea Shepherd “a terrorist group.”

Japan is one of the few nations that still permit whaling. Its vessels operate in the Antarctic under a loophole in an international whaling ban that allows the taking of whales for research purposes and the sale of the surplus meat.

The small Japanese fleet has a goal of about 1,000 whales this season, most of them minke whales. The Japanese vessels, which are escorted by a refueling and support ship, are expected to hunt whales until mid-March.

In recent years the Sea Shepherd group has been the only one to stalk the whaling fleet in an attempt to interfere with its operations and limit its catch.

“They’ve really upped the ante this year,” said Mr. Hansen of the Japanese whalers. “But we definitely won’t be leaving.”

Original Post By: MARK McDONALD
Published: January 6, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/world/asia/07whales.html

Nicole Henry Croons The “Star Spangled Banner” At Orange Bowl

Jan 6, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Jazz singer Nicole Henry performed at an unusual platform for the display of her talents. After all, not many jazz songs go down particularly well with a football game. On the other hand, she was there to sing the American national anthem. Equally surprisingly, however, this was not the first time that Nicole Henry was performing prior to a match. However, according to her own admission, this was the first in some ways, though. She had never before performed before a congregation this big.

The highly gifted singer, who was born in Pennsylvania but is currently based in Miami, was invited to perform the “Star Spangled Banner” prior to the beginning of the Orange Bowl in Miami. The game was scheduled to be held between the University of Iowa and the Georgia Tech University. The singer admitted that performing at such an occasion gives her a whole lot of hitherto unreceived exposure. She performed before a congregation of approximately 75,000 people, who had assembled to watch the game at the Land Sharks Stadium.

Moreover, a million more watched her on their television screens throughout the country. Despite having performed before at various other games, like the Miami Heat, Nicole Henry admits that it makes her nervous. In fact, so much so that she asks someone to stand beside her on the wings just to talk to her before she goes up on the stage, to keep the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling at bay. She admits that singing the national anthem is a good experience, as she feels that it has a note of intimacy to it, more like the jazz songs she is accustomed to sing.

Original Post By: Madhuri Dey
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/nicole-henry-croons-the-star-spangled-banner-at-orange-bowl_100300013.html

Connecticut’s Attorney General Will Seek Dodd’s Senate Seat

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s Democratic attorney general, said Wednesday he would run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Christopher J. Dodd, who plans to announce his retirement later in the day.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Blumenthal praised Mr. Dodd and said he would be “proud and honored” to succeed him in the Senate. Mr. Blumenthal said he plans to announce his candidacy Wednesday afternoon in Hartford.

Mr. Dodd had been facing an increasingly difficult re-election fight in the traditionally Democratic state of Connecticut, and party officials believe Mr. Blumenthal will be a stronger candidate against a Republican attempt to win a Senate seat that has been held by Democrats for 46 years.

Mr. Blumenthal, considered a golden boy of New England politics, had been biding his time for a moment like this.

He was expected to run for the seat vacated by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman when he ran for vice president in 2000, but Mr. Lieberman decided to remain on the Senate ballot as insurance. Mr. Blumenthal said in November that a run against Mr. Lieberman, now an independent, in 2012 “would be a challenge that I would welcome.”

While he has been waiting, Mr. Blumenthal has been re-elected five times as Connecticut’s top cop. During that tenure, he attacked Microsoft, tobacco companies and H.M.O.’s in the courtroom, and he has more recently gone after auctions of the possessions of Bernard L. Madoff and credit card rates.

While Republicans have seen an opening on Connecticut, they are far from united. Linda McMahon, a political novice who is the former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, is seeking the seat, as is former Representative Rob Simmons.

Democrats were giddy when Ms. McMahon first entered the race. In her former job, she actually performed in the wrestling ring as a matriarch in a dysfunctional, violent caricature of her family. But while the fights were fake, the cash she brings to the race is real. By November, Ms. McMahon had already spent $5 million on advertisements, and she has said she is prepared to spend $30 million of her own money in the race.

Ms. McMahon’s campaign hopes voters will appreciate her rags-to-riches story of losing her home and emerging out of bankruptcy as she and her husband tried to start their wrestling business. She is touting her business savvy to help repair the state’s Republican Party.

Meanwhile, Mr. Simmons has attacked Ms. McMahon for her late arrival to the Republican Party, noting that she has donated large sums to Democrats in the past. Mr. Simmons has long been a favorite of the party establishment, and he has accused Ms. McMahon of trying to buy support with donations to local committees and candidates. Mr. Simmons had spent $900,000 on his campaign by the end of November.

Mr. Simmons, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, was elected to Congress in 2000, but he lost his seat when the Democrats regained the House in 2006. And this campaign has also been a frustrating one so far for Mr. Simmons. Republicans originally encouraged him to take on Mr. Dodd, but many backed off when Ms. McMahon entered the race. Polls showed Mr. Simmons ahead of Mr. Dodd among Connecticut voters.

Though he had a relatively moderate voting record in Congress, Mr. Simmons has recently made efforts to court conservatives. He said he carries a “tea bag” in his pocket, in reference to the anti-big-government activist movement, and he has apologized for supporting cap-and-trade and union-friendly legislation in the House.

In addition to Ms. McMahon’s campaign, another outsider challenge could come from Peter Schiff, a financial broker and commentator who opened his first campaign office last month in Milford, Conn. Mr. Schiff has also attempted to court voters disaffected with the Republican mainstream.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has said it will not intervene in a primary fight. “At the end of the day, this race is a referendum on Chris Dodd,” a spokesman for the group, Brian Walsh, said last week. “We believe primary voters should decide the Republican nominee.”

Now that Mr. Dodd is no longer a factor, it remains to be seen whether Republican leaders will tolerate a potentially damaging brawl.

Original Post By: By SARAH WHEATON
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/nyregion/07conn.html

Burton Group, Research Firm, Acquired By Gartner In Major Research Industry Move

Burton Group, a research firm specializing in IT, has been acquired by competitor Gartner today in a major research consolidation move.

Burton Group CEO Jamie Lewis released the following statement on the firm's Web site:

Burton Group's focus on pragmatic, in-depth IT research, consulting and events will be a valuable and significant complement to the current Gartner portfolio. The addition of Gartner resources and global organization will enrich current Burton Group offerings and allow our clients access to the most comprehensive suite of information technology advisory available.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal was made on Dec. 30 for about $56 million, but it is only now being announced.

Gartner CEO Gene Hall said of the acquisition, "Burton Group is a great strategic fit for Gartner and should enable us to offer a more complete solution to every level and functional expert within an IT organization."

TechCrunch adds that Gartner "financed the acquisition through the use of cash on hand and borrowings under its existing line of credit."

A press release from Gartner on the acquisition can be found here.