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'I'm Dead, Jim' - Star Trek's Leonard McCoy was just a simple country doctor who, thanks to the marvels of 23rd century medicine, could dispense with barbarities like the surgeon's scalpel and instantly heal the horrific injuries inflicted upon crewmembers of the Starship Enterprise by Klingons and other malevolent life forms. Alas, the actor who portrayed him, DeForest Kelley, was merely a 20th century man whose allotted span in this mortal coil ran out on Friday. Kelley, whose character represented our basic humanity, is being mourned today by Trekkies the world over. Even Mr. Spock must be inwardly grieving. [Wired News]
'Jenny Jones' Must Pay - A Michigan jury has decided that the producers of the Jenny Jones talk show must pay US$25 million to the family of a gay man murdered following a guest appearance on an episode dealing with secret admirers. The jury found the producers liable for the 1995 death of Scott Amedure, who revealed on TV that he had a crush on a friend, Jonathan Schmitz. Schmitz, who appeared on the show with Amedure under the impression that his secret admirer was a woman, shot Amedure to death three days later. The defendants argued that, while they may have given Schmitz the impression that his admirer was female, they could not have anticipated his violent reaction to the surprise. [Wired News]
'Out' for a Walk - Prince Charles' popularity is soaring again in Old Blighty, so the future king of England decided to test it by taking "The Rottweiler" out for a very public walk. That would be longtime mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles, who was given that unflattering sobriquet by the late Princess Diana. That Charles and Camilla are an item is hardly news to the British public, but they've been very discreet since Diana's death 16 months ago. The wraps came off Thursday night, when the couple staged a very public exit from London's Ritz Hotel, where they attended a birthday party for Camilla's sister. The press jackals were out in full force, and Charles and Camilla stopped, smiled, and waved to the flashbulbs before stepping into their carriage, a black limousine, and disappearing into the London night. [Wired News]
'Poppa' Popped - "Big Poppa" will pay his debt to society. The pro wrestler was sentenced to five weekends in the county clink for trying to mow down a Georgia highway worker last year. Seems that "Big Poppa" (or Scott Rechsteiner to the state of Georgia) took umbrage after the worker, Paul Kaspereen, told him that a freeway exit was closed. Rechsteiner hit Kaspereen twice with his truck before speeding away. He only winged him, and Kaspereen managed to get the license number as "Big Poppa" took off. The law arrested him at home. [Wired News]
'Smile, You're Busted' - It's bad enough when the cops come crashing into your apartment at 3 a.m., armed with a search warrant and looking for drugs. But do they have the right to bring the bright lights of the media along? The Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of this when it rules on two cases, one from Maryland and the other from Montana. In the Maryland case, sheriff's deputies entered a home with a Washington Post photographer in tow, who got some nice shots (never published) of the suspect's father in his underwear. In Montana, CNN was invited to accompany police searching for evidence of eagle poisoning. With the cameras rolling, they burst in on 71-year-old Paul Berger, who was suffering from high blood pressure and recovering from pneumonia. Berger's attorney was not amused when he subsequently discovered that a Fish and Wildlife agent was equipped with a hidden microphone to help CNN get an audio feed. The court must decide whether the Fourth Amendment has been trashed in these cases. [Wired News]
'World' Ending - Another World, perhaps the most venerable of television soap operas, goes off the air Friday after a 35-year run, the victim of changing demographics that bode ill for the entire industry. The soaps, which have seen their ratings fall steadily for a decade now, are finding it difficult to sustain viewers as more women go to work and the likes of Jerry Springer vomit publicly and gobble up audience share. Another World's producers are promising a boffo finale. Might as well go down with your guns blazing. [Wired News]
23 Bids Adieu - Michael Jordan, maybe the greatest basketball player of all time but a first-rate pitchman in any case, made his retirement from the NBA official at a press conference Wednesday in Chicago. Jordan, who leaves the NBA after playing 13 seasons and leading the Bulls to six titles, thanked Chicagoans, adding (oddly) that he was glad he could help erase the "gangster image" associated with the Toddlin' Town. He also thanked NBA commissioner David Stern and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf who, until last week, were on the other side of the acrimonious NBA labor quagmire. What's next for Mike? Well, not baseball. He promised he wouldn't try that again. [Wired News]
9 Die in Jet Crash - As many as nine people are dead and another 80 injured after an American Airlines jet skidded off a rain-slickened runway at the airport in Little Rock, Arkansas late Tuesday and broke apart. Flight 1420 from Dallas-Fort Worth was attempting to land in bad weather when the accident occurred, FAA officials said. Winds of up to 87 mph were pounding the Little Rock area, and hail and lightning also hampered the pilot of the MD-80 aircraft. The flight carried 139 passengers and six crew. While FAA investigators won't say the crash landing was caused by the weather, there was no distress call from the pilot before the landing. The deaths were the first involving a US carrier in two years. [Wired News]
A Bee Siege - A truck carrying millions of bees overturned, releasing a black cloud of angry bees that closed a highway in Maine for eight hours. Firefighters were helpless to deal with the situation until professional beekeepers gave them some good advice: Spraying the hives with water calmed the bees so crews could load them onto another truck. One officer explained the bees were fooled into thinking the weather had changed and stayed in their hives to wait out the rain. [Wired News]
A Goofy Idea? - In the astronomical equivalent of getting impeached, scientists are considering stripping Pluto of its planetary status, arguing that it's too small and has a weird elliptical orbit. Poobahs from the International Astronomical Union are weighing that possibility, along with a suggestion to reclassify Pluto, which is smaller than Earth's moon, as a "minor" planet. Pluto was spotted in 1930, and many astronomers argue that if the discovery occurred today, there's no way it would be classified with the other so-called Big Eight. In space, it seems, size matters. [Wired News]
A New Homeland - With the thermometer locked up at 45 below zero, it might not seem like much of a prize. But to the Inuit, or Eskimos, this land in the Northwest region of Canada is a place they have always called home. And now they can finally point to themselves on a map. At midnight, as Thursday became Friday, a new territory was born in Canada: Nunavut. Roughly the size of Western Europe, the land used to be part of Canada's Northwest Territories. The creation of the new territory represents a gesture by the Canadian government to balance the books with its native population. Nunavut has an Inuit majority and will be nominally ruled by a native government, although Ottawa still calls the shots on the big things. While some Canadians have opposed Nunavit, arguing that the only thing it creates is a spirit of racial tribalism, the territory's new governors insist that they intend to represent all residents equally. [Wired News]
A Piece of Elvis - Hey, Elvis impersonators.... Why wear a cheap knockoff of one of The King's sequined jumpsuits when you can own the real McCoy? That's right, you can own an actual jumpsuit that once encased the corpulent frame of the Tupelo Torpedo himself, or any of nearly 2,000 other personal Pelvis possessions. Icollector.com has cut a deal with Elvis Presley Enterprises to auction off all kinds of items once owned by Mr. Blue Hawaii, from his address book to his Social Security card to a 1971 Cadillac from his car collection. The online auction will take place over three days in October, although a catalog will be available beforehand and bids can be submitted by email. You all shook up? [Wired News]
A Royal Licking - The Mirror of London says new British stamps featuring Prince Edward and his bride-to-be are sucky. Or, to be precise, the tabloid says two cheek-to-cheek portraits of the couple, looking self-satisfied in matching polo shirts were "the cheesiest of royal pictures yet taken." That's saying something. The Mirror had one word for the new stamps in its front-page headline: "Yuk." Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones are to be married in June. [Wired News]
A Two-Star Sport - Baseball season opens today (OK, it actually began Sunday night with the Padres losing to the Rockies in Monterrey, Mexico), but it's worth noting that the Anaheim Angels concluded their exhibition slate with a game against Cal State Fullerton. At shortstop for the Titans, Kevin Costner, a Fullerton alum, who has made two baseball movies (Field of Dreams and Bull Durham) and is just completing a third (For the Love of the Game). Although Costner went hitless in three at-bats and dropped a pop fly that cost the Titans the ballgame, he impressed the big leaguers, making a fine backhand play at short. He also pitched two-thirds of an inning, striking out rookie Jeb Daugherty and retiring Angels manager Terry Collins on a grounder. The guy you really have to feel bad for is Daugherty. Struck out by a 44-year-old actor? See ya, kid. [Wired News]
A Votre Santé - There's new evidence that a glass of wine with dinner may be good for your health. A study of 36,000 middle-aged Frenchmen found that moderate wine drinkers had roughly half as many fatal heart attacks as teetotalers. Previous studies have shown that up to three glasses of wine daily can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The latest research also showed that wine drinkers were less likely to suffer fatal diseases such as cancer or, for that matter, violent death. While any alcohol consumption increases the chance of cancer, wine contains cancer-fighting compounds such as resvaratrol, that appear to offset the risk among moderate drinkers. The study showed that excessive drinking doubled the risk of cancer. [Wired News]
Acquitted - In the end, it wasn't even close. The US Senate voted Friday to acquit President Clinton on both impeachment articles, meaning he will serve out the balance of his term. On the article of perjury, senators voted 54-45-1 for acquittal, with eight Republicans joining a solid Democratic bloc for the president. By voting "not proven" on perjury, Republican Arlen Specter forfeited his vote, but made his point. For obstruction, the Senate split 50-50, with five Republicans -- including Specter -- crossing over to vote not guilty. In both cases, a two-thirds majority (67 votes) was needed for conviction. [Wired News]
Aiming at Guns - Can gunmakers be held liable for gun violence? A federal jury in New York begins deliberating the question Thursday, and the decision could have lasting repercussions for one of America's hot-button issues, gun control. Gunmakers argue that their product is legal, that they can't stop illegal firearms from entering the country, and that they can't control criminals. Plaintiffs -- including several families who have lost relatives to gun-related deaths -- counter that manufacturers knowingly sell their guns in markets with lax laws, guns which later turn up on the black market. Several American cities -- Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, and Bridgeport, Connecticut -- are suing the industry. Others, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, are considering it. [Wired News]
Air-Brained Scheme - Like a lot of people, Peter and Marguerite Harrison decided to celebrate the millennium by taking a trip to someplace special. The Harrisons, who live in London, settled on Australia. But they were smart about it, reserving their tickets well in advance. As a result, they managed to snag a couple of first-class return tickets to Sydney for a mere 999 pounds (US$1,607) apiece. If they'd bought those tickets last week, they would have paid 5,773 pounds ($9,240). Let that be a lesson to you. It pays to shop early, like the Harrisons did when they bought their tickets ... in 1983. [Wired News]
Alabama Killings - Police have released the names of three men shot to death Thursday by a disgruntled former coworker in Pelham, Alabama. Lee Holbrooks, 32, and Christopher Yancey, 28, were employed by Ferguson Enterprises and Terry Jarvis, 39, worked for Port Airgas. The suspect, whose age was given as 34 and remained unidentified, was a former employee of both companies. He was arrested by police following a car chase. The shootings occurred one week after a daytrader killed 9 people at two Atlanta brokerage houses. [Wired News]
Alaskan Avalanche - An avalanche in the mountains 50 miles south of Anchorage killed three snowmobilers Sunday. Three more were injured and two people remained missing. Alaska state troopers were probing the snow at sundown, trying to find survivors. It's been nine days since another avalanche partially buried skiers at an Alaskan resort. Those victims esaped injury. [Wired News]
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