Blog Heap of Links for the day 26 April 2009

Two Clare brothers [36yo & 43yo] charged with burning the anus of a 6-year-old boy with a propane torch could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of first-degree child abuse.... "They said they were disciplining the child for making a mess in his pants...."

A live shark dumped on the doorstep of a Warrnambool newspaper office has survived thanks to the quick thinking of two police officers who made a mercy dash in a divvy van.

A mysterious email is showing up in the members' inboxes. The subject line says, "Remember Mary Cronin? Say hi to the newest class of '83 alum to join." Thing is, Mary Cronin, class of '83, didn't make it to her ten year reunion. Someone murdered her in April of 1992. Her killer has never been caught. Debbie McGrew, President of Westside's Alumni Association says, "It's extremely upsetting. You would think such a web service such as classmates.com would have a sophisticated data base or some sort of internal checks to make sure that the people trying to register with them are valid accurate grads of the high school they are representing ."

KANSAS CITY, MO. - The parents of a 5-month-old are under arrest and charged with endangering the welfare of a child after the baby was burned and they didn't take him to the hospital for weeks.... said he was accidentally burned with hot water during a bath.... She said she didn't call an ambulance because she "didn't want to pay the $700 for it...."

A number of people were injured - one seriously - when a hand grenade was thrown at them outside a Christiania cafe... in the Christiania area of Copenhagen. ... so far police have found no trace of the attacker....

TRACY, Calif. — Detective Nate Cogburn's last few months have been filled with the stuff of nightmares. Neighbors charged with shackling and torturing a teenager in a Tracy home. A substitute teacher accused of molesting upward of 15 students. A surgeon arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of dozens of patients. And, most recently, a Sunday school teacher charged with kidnapping, raping and murdering the playmate of her own little girl.

A research professor at Clemson University was among the three victims shot to death outside a community theater in Athens, Ga., yesterday, and the University of Georgia professor who is suspected in the killings remained at large as of this evening

George Zinkhan is on the lam after a deadly, multiple shooting in Georgia during which he killed his wife. Cops call it a "crime of passion" that happened in broad daylight while the shooter's two young children waited in his car nearby. Authorities think he's either on the way to Texas where he has relatives or to Amsterdam where he owns a home.

"The captain was captured from the beginning," said chief engineer Mike Perry of Riverview.The story of Phillips offering to exchange himself for the crew "is misleading," he said. "It is not an accurate portrayal."

An American professor doing research in London stumbled across a series of previously unknown letters written by, to, and about Benjamin Franklin, a stunning find that sheds new light on early U.S. history.... "I swear, I just about shot through the ceiling I was so excited," he said. "It's like finding a treasure chest...." The letters cover Franklin's success in dealing with British Gen. Edward Braddock, who had been sent to Pennsylvania in 1755 to defeat the French at Fort Duquesne, in modern-day Pittsburgh.

Responding to what some health officials feared could be the leading edge of a global pandemic emerging from Mexico, American health officials declared a public health emergency on Sunday as 20 cases of swine flu were confirmed in this country, including eight in New York City.

Canadian health officials reported six "mild" cases of swine flu on Sunday — the first confirmed cases in Canada since an outbreak of the illness began in Mexico several days ago — and warned there could be more cases in the days ahead.

Churches stood empty Sunday in predominantly Roman Catholic Mexico City after services were canceled, and health workers screened airports and bus stations for people sickened by a new strain of swine flu that experts fear could become a global epidemic.

Iowa counties begin processing same-sex marriage applications Monday and the first gay weddings could happen within hours, but details of just what changes and benefits the ceremonies will bring are still being untangled. ... "It's all about me having the legal right to protect my family, and it's about my daughters being able to grow up knowing that their family is absolutely as valid as any other family...."

The United States and Iraq on Saturday dismissed fears a rash of bloody bombings could tip Iraq back into all-out sectarian war, while Iran said Washington was to blame for the attacks on Shi'ite Muslims. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, visiting Baghdad after bomb blasts that killed 150 people in two days, rejected the charge from Tehran.

A 70-year-old man who dove into the Atlantic Ocean to save two children from drowning is being hailed a hero. Charles Schulze... saw two boys struggling in a rip current.... dove in to save the boys and brought them to shore. Shortly afterwards, Schulze became caught in the undertow. Another man jumped into save Schulze but it was too late. Schulze died.... [Brought them to shore, but was himself caught in the undertow?? That's... rough.]

An Oregon City man just couldn't catch a break Friday. First he lost his job and then he went home to find his house on fire. Victor Gonzalez said there was a silver lining to getting fired Friday. "If I hadn't gotten fired from work, I wouldn't have come home, and I don't know how far the fire would've gotten. So I guess that's a good thing," he said.

A lost Soviet bomb from World War II has been found just outside the Berlin apartment of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, triggering a city-centre lockdown as bomb-disposal experts defused it. The 100-kilogram bomb was discovered just 10 centimetres below the sandy surface of a museum forecourt.