We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Girl, 15, and Boyfriend, 23, to Be Charged in Parent Killing Plot

gavel-morePLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A judge has ordered a 15-year-old Detroit-area girl and her boyfriend to stand trial on accusations they plotted to kill her family.

A judge ruled Thursday that there’s enough evidence to try the girl and 23-year-old Michael Rivera in Wayne County Circuit on attempted murder and conspiracy charges. Their next court date is Feb. 12.

The girl is charged as an adult. Her parents said she and Rivera were in a sexual relationship.

The Associated Press isn’t naming her or family members because prosecutors have said they may file sex charges against Rivera.

Prosecutors say she stabbed her brother Oct. 17 in their Plymouth Township home. Police say Rivera guided the girl from outside the house, advising her on whether the knife she had was enough to do the job.

911 Operator Told Teen to Stop Whining After Fatal Crash

911-ServicesWASHINGTON (AP) — Officials in Maryland say a 911 dispatcher told a 13-year-old girl to stop whining after a hit-and-run crash that killed her father.

Capt. Russ Davies, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, said Thursday that the dispatcher has been reassigned to a position away from the public pending an investigation. He says the dispatcher could return to answering 911 calls after the investigation but could also face termination.

The 911 call came in Sunday after a car hit 38-year-old Rick Warrick of Washington, D.C. and his fiancee as they changed a tire on a highway between halfway Washington and Baltimore. The dispatcher twice tells Warrick’s daughter to stop whining during the call.

Warrick was killed. His fiancee, 28-year-old Julia Pearce, was in fair condition Thursday.

College Freshmen Partied Less Than Their Parents in High School, Report Low Emotional Health

college-partySAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new survey of the nation’s college freshmen shows that teenagers across the United States are spending much less time partying and socializing with friends during their last year of high school than their parents’ generation did.

The annual survey released Wednesday, conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, also found that first-year college students’ sense of emotional well-being is at its lowest level since the institute first asked incoming freshmen to rate their mental health in 1985.

Kevin Eagan, the institute’s managing director and an assistant professor at UCLA, says the results indicate the millennial generation faces greater pressure to succeed academically and has less time to have fun.

Other survey trends show that students are increasingly drinking less alcohol as high school seniors, submitting more college applications and reporting they feel overwhelmed.

Teen Rapist Given 112-Year Sentence Appeals to Top Court

supreme-courtCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A lawyer for a convicted rapist who claims a 112-year prison sentence imposed for crimes committed when he was 15 is unconstitutional has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the sentence.

Brandon Moore was tried as an adult and convicted by a jury in the 2001 armed kidnapping, robbery and gang rape of a 22-year-old Youngstown State University student.

The 29-year-old Moore contends a sentence that exceeds his life expectancy for crimes he committed as a juvenile is cruel and unusual punishment.

Attorney Rachel Bloomekatz (BLOOM’-katz) told the court Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court banned life sentences for juveniles for crimes not involving homicides in 2010.

Mahoning County assistant prosecutor Ralph Rivera argued the sentence is constitutional because it involved multiple and consecutive sentences.

Disneyland Measles Outbreak Isn’t Largest in Recent Memory

measles-virusLOS ANGELES (AP) — The largest U.S. measles outbreak in recent history isn’t the one that started in December at Disneyland.

It happened months earlier in Ohio’s Amish country, where 383 people fell ill after unvaccinated Amish missionaries traveled to the Philippines and returned with the virus.

The Ohio episode drew far less attention, even though the number of cases was almost four times that of the Southern California outbreak, because it seemed to pose little threat outside insolated religious communities.

The Disneyland outbreak has already spread well beyond the theme parks that attract tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe.

Dr. James Cherry is a pediatric infectious disease expert at the University of California, Los Angeles. He says the outbreak “could continue to smolder” if not enough people get vaccinated.

Staples Buys Office Depot for $6 Billion

staplesNEW YORK (AP) — Staples is buying Office Depot in a cash-and-stock deal valued at nearly $6 billion.

Office Depot Inc. shareholders will receive $7.25 in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples Inc. at closing. The deal values Office Depot at $11 per share. The companies put the transaction’s value at $6.3 billion.

The deal is expected to close by year’s end

Lawyers: Evidence Shows Saudi Arabia Aided 9/11 Attackers

9-11NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks say in a lawsuit that they have amassed new evidence that agents of Saudi Arabia “knowingly and directly” helped the hijackers. They say they have obtained sworn testimony from the so-called 20th hijacker to support their claims.

But the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington said in a statement Wednesday that Zacarias Moussaoui’s claims come from a “deranged criminal” and there is no evidence to support them.

Lawyers wrote in papers filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan that their claims are supported by an “expansive volume” of previously unavailable U.S. and foreign intelligence reports, congressional testimony, government reports and other information.

Saudi Arabia says results of the most investigated crime in history show no involvement by the Saudi government or officials.

House Speaker Boehner: ‘All Children Ought to Be Vaccinated’

John Boehner

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner says all children ought to be vaccinated.

Boehner made the comment in response to a question Tuesday about whether there’s a role for Congress on vaccines.

His response: “I don’t know that we need another law but I do believe that all children ought to be vaccinated.”

Other politicians have been less clear on the question amid a measles outbreak in the U.S.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said parents should have some choice in the matter, a comment his office later clarified by saying that with a disease like measles there’s no question kids should be vaccinated.

Doctors say all children should be vaccinated but there is an anti-vaccine movement among some parents.

Girls Held in Brother’s Shooting Could Get Lesser Charges

gavel-and-scaleLAKE CITY, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors in the case of two young North Florida sisters accused in fatal shooting of their 16-year-old brother say they’re considering dropping charges against the youngest girl and greatly reducing charges against the other.

Third Circuit State Attorney Jeff Siegmeister said Tuesday he’ll make a final decision after a Thursday court hearing.

The Jan. 5 shooting resulted in the arrests of a 15-year-old girl and her 11-year-old sister on second-degree murder charges.

Documents show the elder girl suffered years of abuse, including being locked in her bedroom for days with only a blanket and a bucket to use the bathroom. Siegmeister says those details and the girls’ ages are being considered in any charges.

The Associated Press is not naming members of the family because of the girls’ ages and because of abuse allegations.

Man Arrested After Trying to Sell Pot to Off-Duty Officer

odd-newsBUTTE, Mont. (AP) — Know your customer.

That guidance might have helped a Butte man who was arrested over the weekend after reportedly offering to sell marijuana to an off-duty police officer.

Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester says 32-year-old Leroy Hopke approached the officer and his wife as they left a store on Friday night. The officer declined the sale and called on-duty police officers from his vehicle.

Police arrived and arrested Hopke on suspicion of possession of dangerous drugs after finding 11.7 grams of marijuana in his possession.

Lester said Hopke was undone by an “unfortunate marketing situation.”

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File