Friday Headlines & Hot Stories

US Attorney Expects Results Soon In Mortgage Probe
The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles indicated that charges will be filed in the coming months in a sweeping investigation of banks and subprime lenders for their role in the nation's mortgage crisis.

Omar Weakens To Tropical Storm
Forecasters with the U.S. National Hurricane Center said that Omar has weakened to a tropical storm with 70 mph winds and was moving into the open Atlantic - downgraded from a category 3. The powerful core of the storm, with the most intense winds, passed Wednesday night and Thursday morning between St. Martin and the U.S. Virgin Islands.


Spokesman For Caylee's Mom Suggests That Tot Is Dead
A spokesman for Casey Anthony's defense team suggested in an recent interview that her little girl Caylee is dead - but later her lead attorney said the comments were taken out of context. The spokesman stated that the case is not just about the loss of the girl's life but about her mother's fate.




Amber Alert Continues For Boy Kidnapped in Vegas Robbery
The Amber Alert has been expanded nationwide for 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger who was kidnapped from a Las Vegas home by two would-be robbers. The boy's mother and her boyfriend were allegedly tied up before abducting the child. Cole is described as 3'-11" and 48 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, black zip-up jacket, blue jeans and white shoes.



FBI Investigates ACORN Over Voter Registrations
The FBI is investigating whether the group coordinated the filing of phony applications. Details of the inquiry weren't readily available, but several newspapers have confirmed an AP report disclosing the investigation and learned that the FBI was attempting to determine if ACORN systematically encouraged the creation of fake voter registrations in several states.

'Devils' Trails' Are World's Oldest Human Footprints
It's official: the oldest human footprints ever found are 345,000 years old, give or take 6000. Known as the "devils' trails", they have been preserved in volcanic ash atop the Roccamonfina volcano in Italy. In 2003, a team discovered 40,000 year old footprints preserved in volcanic ash in southern Mexico. But when a separate group dated the Mexican prints using the argon technique, they found that they were 1.3 million years old - thereby totally ruling them out as being human since folks hadn't crawled out of the civilization cradle in Africa yet.

Cobb County, Georgia Police Add Tank To Arsenal
The county police department has refurbished a donated Armored Personnel Carrier for officers to use in SWAT situations. The vehicle, which retails for $500,000, is a Light Armor Vehicle that was used by the U.S. Army in Panama. The county paid $45,000 to upgrade the vehicle for police use. Equipped with thermal sensors, computerized tracking devices, night vision, tear gas launchers and other gadgets, the all-black six-wheel unit can hold up to nine SWAT officers. If that doesn't intimidate bad guys enough, I should tell you that it has a new engine and transmission, which will allow it to reach a speed of 60 miles per hour. MPG stats were unavailable at press time.

Bug In Your iPhone? Blame It On Mercury!
Once again, the planets have aligned to totally ruin your life. Don't be surprised that the Hubble repair mission scheduled for early this month had to be postponed due to yet another malfunction on the space telescope. Likewise, it's good to be totally unfazed to hear that due to an electrical malfunction, CERN shut down the Large Hadron Collider just nine days after it started. As for that hole in the Adobe software that allowed Amazon users to download and copy movies for free … well something like that was bound to happen. C'mon people! What do you expect? Mercury is in retrograde! Even the most casual horoscope reader knows that according to Western astrological tenets, when the planet closest to the sun appears to reverse orbit, things go kaflooie — especially technology and communication, which Mercury “rules.” Computers crash, e-mails get lost, TVs go on the fritz, so they say. Those in the know expect to lose cell phone signals, or their phone altogether.

Detailed Hot Stories with Links on Saturday! Have a great weekend!

Walter

Sources: FBI, Marietta Daily Journal, Associated Press Wire Service, Space.com, National Hurricane Center