Breaking News Thread Version 2.0

[Krandall]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/10/schwarzenegger/

[Krandall]

Colorado ski town legalizes pot
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_marijuana_legalization

DENVER – The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge has voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana.

Early returns Tuesday night showed the proposal winning with 72 percent of the vote. The measure would allow adults over 21 to have up to 1 ounce of marijuana.

The measure is largely symbolic because pot possession remains a state crime for people without medical clearance. But supporters said they wanted to send a message to local law enforcement to stop busting small-time pot smokers.

The vote comes as communities nationwide are struggling with how to enforce pot laws at a time when medical marijuana has surged in popularity.

[Colorado700R]

^^^^  Fuggin' Hippies


Now Peels is gonna move here :'(

[Peelz]

^^^^  Fuggin' Hippies


Now Peels is gonna move here :'(

never. not even the legalization of Maryjane is worth the embarassment of hailing from your state

JK honeybritches.  I like Co. COming to Breckenridge this weekend to scout real estate

[Alkire193]

How much is a place in breckenridge ??

[Colorado700R]

How much is a place in breckenridge ??

Really don't matter...you'd be so high you could be living in a cardboard box and not give a shit

[Peelz]

How much is a place in breckenridge ??

Really don't matter...you'd be so high you could be living in a cardboard box and not give a shit

ERMAHGERD I am sooo there.

[Krandall]

Fed: banks need customer consent on overdraft fees
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091112/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fed_overdraft_fees

WASHINGTON – Banks will have to secure their customers' consent before charging large overdraft fees on ATM and debit card transactions, according to a new rule announced Thursday by the Federal Reserve.

The rule responds to complaints from consumer groups, members of Congress and other regulators that the overdraft fees are unfair because many people assume they can't spend more on a debit card than is available in their account. Instead, many banks allow the transactions to go through, then charge fees of up to $25 to $35.

For small purchases, such as a cup of coffee, the penalty can far exceed the actual cost of the transaction.

Under the Fed's new rule, which will take effect July 1, banks will be required to notify new and existing customers of their overdraft services and give customers the option of being covered. If customers don't "opt in," any debit or ATM transactions that overdraw their accounts will be denied, Fed officials said.

Many consumers do want checks and regular electronic bill payments to be covered in the event of an overdraft, Fed officials said. As a result, those transactions aren't covered by the rule.

Banks earn as much as $25 billion to $38 billion annually from overdraft fees, Fed officials said, but that total includes check overdrafts.

Many larger banks, including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo & Co. began instituting similar "opt-in" plans in late September after coming under fire for the fees.

But consumer groups and other regulators, including Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair, said new rules were still necessary to ensure smaller banks followed suit.

Many lawmakers have criticized the Fed for failing to provide sufficient consumer protection in the past, a defect they say contributed to last year's financial crisis. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., on Tuesday introduced a bill that would strip the Fed of its consumer oversight.

Dodd also proposed legislation last month that would have imposed limits similar to the Fed's on the banks' ability to charge overdraft fees.

[Krandall]

OMFG!!! BUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/12/balloon.boy.charges/index.html  click the "Watch the Video" The kid admits it!

The Colorado parents in last month's notorious "balloon boy" case will plead guilty to offenses for creating a hoax that their son had flown away in a large balloon.

Richard and Mayumi Heene are to plead Friday morning in Larimer County Court, according to a statement issued by Richard Heene's attorney.

Mayumi Heene is expected to plead guilty to an offense of false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor of the lowest level, according to the attorney.
Mayumi Heene is a citizen of Japan. As such, any felony conviction or certain misdemeanors would result in her deportation, even though her husband and children are Americans," the statement said.

"It is supremely ironic that law enforcement has expressed such grave concern over the welfare of the children, but it was ultimately the threat of taking the children's mother from the family and deporting her to Japan which fueled this deal."

Prosecutors in the case could not be immediately reached for comment.

On October 16, a large silver balloon came loose from moorings in the Heenes' yard and floated over Colorado. Mayumi Heene called 911 and said the couple's 6-year-old son Falcon was inside the craft.

Millions of people across the country watched the saga on television for nearly two hours as military aircraft tracked the balloon in the air and rescuers chased it on the ground.

Mayumi Heene later admitted the whole thing was a hoax and that Falcon was safe in their home the whole time, authorities said.

Watch the moment the hoax was revealed

Court documents released last month said the couple hatched the plan about two weeks before the incident and "instructed their three children to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax."

Their motive? To "make the Heene family more marketable for future media interests," the documents said.

Richard Heene is expected to plead guilty to a felony offense of attempting to influence a public servant.

Though the Heenes could receive jail time for the charges, the prosecutor has recommended probation, Richard Heene's attorney said.

The threat of deportation for Mayumi Heene was a factor in the plea deal negotiation, the attorney's statement said.

[Colorado700R]

I called it!!  I F'n called it!!!!  What do I win? 

nothin'.....figures

[Krandall]

Swift kick in the ass?

[Krandall]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091113/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_lagoon_bugatti


LA MARQUE, Texas – A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston.

The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived.

Gilchrist said he doesn't know if the car was salvageable, but in his words, "Salt water isn't good for anything." He says the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was not injured.

A 2006 Bugatti Veyron was recently offered for sale in Jonesboro, Ark., for $1.25 million.

[Peelz]

FDA for the day! Dillhole.

[Krandall]

Minneapolis daycare baby found sucking crack ball
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2009/11/minneapolis_day.php


The bad news: A 13-month-old baby at the AGAPE Child Development Center was found last Friday with a ball of crack cocaine in his mouth. The good news: It was wrapped up in plastic.

"When I found out it was crack or cocaine then I was really like, 'Oh my GERD, just one drop in a baby's mouth could cause lord knows what damage," the daycare center's CEO, Dr. Diane Thibodeaux, told WCCO.

The source of the drugs is a mystery, Thibodeaux said. But it may not be for long, because nobody can get in or out of the West Broadway Avenue daycare  center without signing  visitor's log.
More from WCCO:

    "We're talking about an amount, about possibly the size of maybe a couple of jelly beans," said Jesse Garcia of Minneapolis Police.

    The room was cleaned and scrubbed from top to bottom.

    "I emptied out the room thoroughly and I had everybody with vacuums and hoses and Shopvacs getting in the corners. Anything that looked like it should be sucked up, suck it up," Thibodeaux said.


The baby was taken to the hospital, but appeared none the worse for the experience.

[Peelz]

Damn...I was looking for mah crackball.