Wed, December 28, 2011

MOTHER OF MURDERED GIRL KNEW BABYSITTER WAS SEX OFFENDER

CRIMINALS USING MISSPELLED WEBSITES TO STEAL INFORMATION
What's the new scam you need to look out for? Typo-squatting. It's where crooks create webpages that are spelled NEARLY the same as stores like Walmart or Amazon.com, and if you land on them, you start entering info that's used to steal your id, and your money. Or, you land on the pages and get pop-ups that say you've won something, but you have to enter information, or call a phone number. If you call, you're put on hold, and billed for the minutes. To be safe from typo-squatters, just read carefully and make sure you're on the real site.

COOLSPRINGS DIG REVEALS PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE
An archaeological dig in Cool Springs is revealing evidence of prehistoric human activity in the area. Excavations are uncovering evidence of humans battling, and butchering, mastodons: elephant-like creatures with tusks, more than 12-thouand years ago.

HEALTH: TENNESSEE TO SEE HEALTH CARE CHANGES
Physicians and consumers are in for some changes in Tennessee's health care market next year, including a one-percent cut in Medicare payments for patients using doctors who don't file prescriptions electronically. 

ANOTHER INFANT SICKENED, BUT FORMULA STILL TESTED SAFE?
There's a deadly health mystery that officials are trying desperately to unravel. Another infant has gotten sick from the Cronobacter bacteria, which has been found in milk-based powdered baby formula. However, this baby didn't consume Enfamil formula as the first two had, and so far a federal investigation has failed to establish a link between formula and the infections. Doctors don't know where the bacteria is coming from. One baby's already died from the infection.

HEALTH: MOST REGAINED WEIGHT BY OLDER WOMEN IS FAT
More on the ups and downs to yo yo dieting... one study finds it's better to have a healthy weight, at least temporarily , for good, and you gain some weight back. But another new study finds that when women in their 50s gain weight back.... it's mostly fat. 60% fat when you lose it, 80% fat when you gain it back.

COLUMBIA FIREFIGHTER CHARGED WITH PULLING GUN WHILE DRUNK
A Columbia firefighter is in trouble after getting drunk and waving a gun around in a Christmas Eve bar fight. Jimmy Contreas is on administrative leave, charged with DUI, aggravated assault, and possessing a weapon while under the influence.

SOME WANT TO CHANGE AGE FOR STARTING KINDERGARTEN
For years, parents and teachers have debated over the best age to start children in kindergarten. There's a push now to chanve the state law... and require kids who are not 5 by July 31st, to wait till the next year to start school... to keep 4 year-olds from going, when teachers say many are just not ready.

SOBER RIDES MAKES CHANGES TO PROGRAM
The Davidson County Sheriff's Office will continue to offer Sober Rides on New Year's Eve; but with some changes: this year instead of calling 862-RIDE for a ride, you just make your way to one of two downtown bus stops: at 5th and Broadway or 2nd and Church. You'll be shuttled to LP Field where someone will take you home or to a hotel, in Davidson county only. Sober Rides run 10pm to 2am on New Years Eve. (862-RIDE)

WHICH ONLINE RETAILERS SCORED HIGHEST CUSTOMER SATISFACTION?Our unhappiness with Netflix carried over into the holidays. A survey found Netflix had the biggest losses in customer satisfaction among the 40 largest online retailers. www.Amazon.com was rated number one, www.Overstock.com came in at the bottom of the survey.

ALASKAN SEALS CHECKED FOR FUKUSHIMA RADIATION 
Radiation from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan may be affecting wildlife around the world. Alaskan seals have been washing up on shore, with lesions, hair loss and other problems, some of them dead, dozens since July. They're being tested.

NORTH KOREAN LEADER LAID TO REST
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has been laid to rest. Television in North Korea showed emotional mourners lined up along the funeral procession's route, as a limousine bearing a huge portrait of the late leader led the way, and Kim's son walked alongside the hearse.

SEXUAL ASSAULTS UP AT MILITARY ACADEMIES
A new report from the Defense Department indicates sexual assaults are up by nearly 60% at U.S. military academies, though efforts by the schools to get victims to speak up and report such incidents could be part of the reason the increase is so large.

$172,000 VIOLIN LEFT ON BUS IS RECOVERED
You ever left something behind on a bus or taxi? How about a rare violin, worth 172 thousand dollars! A sleepy music student from Taiwan left it in the overhead bin, and didn't realize it till much later. The cleaning crew found it, and the student has it back. The 19 year-old New England Conservatory student had been loaned the violin by the Chi Mei Culture Foundation in her native Taiwan while she studies in the U.S.

HOLIDAYS BRING SHELTERS HOMELESS PETS
You'd think that CERTAINLY no one's dumb enough to give a pet as a Christmas present.. .unless the pet has specifically been picked out by the recipient, tried-out and fits well into the new home. Yet... some people did. Local animal shelters say half the pets being brought to the shelter right now are from families who just don't want them...

SEARS AND KMART STORES SHUTTING DOWN
After poor sales this past holiday season, the company that owns Sears and K-Mart says it's closing between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores... which is about 3% of Sears Holding Corp's 4,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

CONVICTED FELON SHOOTS HIMSELF GOING TO BATHROOM
In Connecticut, police got a call about a person shot during a robbery attempt. But after questioning Darrel Johnson for what looked like a bizarre location of the gunshot wound, he admitted HE shot himself. He'd forgotten where he put his handgun, and when he went to the bathroom, it fell out of the waistband of his pants, hit the floor and shot him in the leg. Since he's a convicted felon, he'll also be in trouble for possession of a firearm.

U.S. DOT INCREASES TRUCK DRIVER REST TIME
Truck drivers will soon be getting a little more rest on the roads as U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced this week a rule that limits the amount of time truck drivers can spend on the road. The new rule cuts the maximum hours-of-service (HOS) a truck driver can work within a week by 12 hours... to 70... and rules that drivers can't drive more than 8 hours without taking a 30 minute break. And if they work the 70 hours a week, they have to take off at least 34 hours consecutively before starting their next week. It's supposed to cut crashes from driver fatigue. Commercial truck drivers and companies have until July to comply.

TOP MEDIA GOOFS OF 2011
Even the biggest companies and celebrities can stumble. The list of top Media Goofs of the year:
1. Oprah Winfrey Gives Up Top Talk Show to Struggle on Cable TV
2. Hank Williams Jr. Interview Costs Him a TV Football Gig
3. Shirtless Photo of U.S. Representative Christopher Lee brought an end to his political career...
4. And a lews Twitter Photo of U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner ruined his career.
5. Beyonce Knowles' Magazine Photos Sparked a Racial Controversy when she appeared in blackface in a French magazine. She had another incident last year in which the magazine was blasted for lightening her skin in a photo.