Week of March 22, 2009

Oakland California - A man wanted for violating his parole killed three veteran

police officers and gravely wounded another in two shootings, the first after a

routine traffic stop and the second after a massive manhunt ended in gunfire,

authorities said. The gunman was also killed. The slain officers were identified as

Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, who was killed at the first shooting. The officers killed at

the second location were Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35.

Officer John Hege, 41, was in grave condition.

The Obama administration, striving to ease lending in the struggling economy,

moved Monday with private investors to sop up bad bank assets. The

administration said the program could grow to $1 trillion in purchases eventually,

if it proves successful in attacking the bad-books problem that has been at the

heart of the banking crisis. In a lengthy fact sheet, the administration said it plans

to use $75 billion to $100 billion from the government's existing $700 billion

bailout program for this purpose, and it predicted participation from a broad array

of investors ranging from pension funds and insurance companies to hedge

funds.

A small passenger plane with several children aboard crashed just short of a

runway in Butte, Mont., killing 14 people, aviation officials said. The number of

those dead was confirmed by Karen Byrd, an FAA operations officer in Renton,

Wash. Byrd said the death toll included seven adults and seven children. Earlier

reports cited the death toll as high as 17 people.

More than $1 billion in assets from

found, a lawyer for the trustee trying to

recover money for jilted investors. $75

million in an account in Gibraltar raises the

amount of assets located past the $1

billion mark.

North Korea warned the United States,

Japan and their allies not to interfere with

its plan to launch a satellite into space

next month, saying Tuesday any

intervention could doom already stalled

talks on ending its nuclear weapons

program. North Korea has declared its

intention to send a communications

satellite into space between April 4 and 8, and a defense analyst said recent

Week of March 22, 2009

images of the launch pad indicated preparations were continuing. Regional

powers suspect the North will use the launch to test its long-range missile

technology, and has warned Pyongyang the launch would trigger international

sanctions.

President Obama conducts his second press conference. One moment came

about 35 minutes into the press conference when Ed Henry of CNN asked the

President why he didn't spew outrage as soon as he learned about the AIG

bonuses. Why, Mr. Henry asked, did the president wait several days before

speaking out? The president, with an icy stare, responded that he "likes to know

what he's talking about" before he speaks.

questions from the White House

press corps on Tuesday in a prime-

time, East Room session that

represented the most formal and

time-honored of president-and-

reporter interactions. On Thursday,

he is taking to that same room for

another public grilling — this time by

regular folks armed with questions

submitted via the Internet and in

person, as part of a political strategy

to engage Americans directly."It's a way for the president to do what he enjoys

doing out on the road, but saves on gas," said press secretary Robert Gibbs.

U.S. military spokesman in Iraq says attacks have dropped to their lowest levels

since August 2003. Maj. Gen. David Perkins told reporters Wednesday in

Baghdad that the decrease in attacks comes as the U.S. downsizes its operation

and Iraqi security forces increase their presence. President Barack Obama has

announced the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010,

leaving up to 50,000 U.S. soldiers to train Iraqi forces. Currently there are more

than 135,000 American troops in Iraq.

Flooding in Fargo N. Dakota - As the Red River rises into "uncharted territory,"

officials plead for thousands of volunteer sandbaggers, readied their evacuation

plans, and vowed to build the dikes a foot higher than planned in an effort to

hold back the water. To the west, officials in Bismarck said the Missouri River

had lowered 2 feet, easing the flood threat to that city.

Week of March 22, 2009

President Obama’s Internet Town Hall Meeting - President Barack Obama

fielded questions on jobs, the auto industry, universal health care, mortgages,

education, veterans' care and legalization of marijuana as he kicked off a first-of-

its-kind Internet era Town Hall at the White House. Obama said job creation in

America is difficult in a time of economic hardship and that the work of the future

should be in more high-paying, high-skill areas like clean energy technology. It

was the fist such meeting utilized by a President.

President Obama ordered 4,000 more military troops into Afghanistan, vowing to

"disrupt, dismantle and defeat" the Taliban and al-Qaida.

The new troop build up he announced is aimed principally at bolstering the

Afghan army and turning up the heat on terrorists that Obama said are plotting

new attacks against Americans. He called the situation in the region "increasingly

perilous" more than seven years after the Taliban was removed from power in

Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama will sign a declaration

next week committing them to talks on reducing

their countries' nuclear arsenals, a Kremlin aide

said..The two leaders will also sign a document on

U.S.-Russian relations in general at a meeting in

London, Sergei Prikhodko, an aide to President

Dmitry Medvedev, told reporters.

Drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has left the Smashing

Pumpkins.

Chamberlin's departure is posted on the Smashing

Pumpkins' Web site. The announcement didn't say

why the 44-year-old Chamberlin left the group.

David Letterman told his “Late Show” audience on Monday that he and longtime

girlfriend Regina Lasko got married on March 19. Letterman said, “Regina and I

began dating in February of 1986, and I said, ‘Well, things are going pretty good,

let’s just see what happens in about 10 years….’

Michael Jackson’s crystal-encrusted gloves will be on display in Times Square

this week in a preview of a planned auction of the pop legend's possessions.

Some 2,000 items taken from Jackson's Neverland Ranch are scheduled to be

sold during a televised auction in April. It is still unclear whether the auction will

take place. Jackson sued to stop the sale earlier this month. The auction house

Week of March 22, 2009

says Jackson's managers authorized the sale. A small sampling of items will be

on display at the Hard Rock Cafe.

The film's production company, Nu Image/Millennium Films, has confirmed that

the comedy will premiere on ABC Family in July 2009. It will be released on DVD

a month later.

ceremony today at a friend's home in Beverly

Hills.

Radio news - Former WABC Radio (NY)

newsman George Weber was found murdered

in his Brooklyn apartment after failing to report

to work for two days, sources told The Post.

Weber, who would have turned 48 today, was

discovered half-naked in his bed shortly before

10 a.m. inside his apartment with his throat

slashed and more than a dozen stab wounds to

his neck.

His hands and feet were bound with duct tape,

sources said.

There were no signs of forced entry at Weber's apartment on Henry Street in

Carroll Gardens, sources said. The bathtub spigot was running and the place had

been ransacked, said one source, who described the home as "a bloody mess.”

A few days later - A 16-year-old Queens youth confessed early this morning to

the grisly slaying of radio newsman George Weber.

Out in Los Angeles - Ryan Seacrest announces the

performance line-up for Wango Tango set for Saturday,

Gaga, All American Rejects, Soulja Boy Tellum, Kevin

Rudolf, Pitbull and Jamie Foxx. Ryan will host the show

which is in association with KIIS-FM Los Angeles.