Journ. 134: Prof. Craig: Headlines

1. Sheriff's deputies are investigating the killings of five hunters Sunday in northwest Wisconsin -- bloodshed apparently sparked by a dispute over trespassing on private property. 

   Three others were wounded, said Julie Veness, an emergency medical technician in Exeland, Wisconsin.

   Chai Vang, 36, of St. Paul, Minn., was arrested in the case.  

   Saturday marked the opening of the nine-day deer season, and authorities said the suspect had ventured onto private property.  When asked to leave, the suspect reportedly opened fire.   

   The dead included a a teenage boy and a woman, and a father and son. Some of the victims were shot more than once.

 

2. CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Thirty one players were suspended on Sunday for their role in a sideline-clearing brawl during a game between Miami and Florida International on Saturday.

   The Atlantic Coast Conference suspended 13 players, hours after Miami announced that eight players had been sanctioned. Later, the Sun Belt Conference, in conjunction with FIU, said 18 players had been suspended. Further penalties were not ruled out.

   Five of the Miami players were ejected, meaning they drew automatic sanctions from the ACC and the university. Miami coach Larry Coker punished three others after reviewing tape of the incident, which marred the Hurricanes' 35-0 win Saturday night over their neighboring rival.
   
   

3. MONROE, Washington -- Not satisfied with the amount of money they found in a Starbucks safe, two robbers allegedly went to work filling coffee orders and pocketing the proceeds.

   The pair served at least 18 unsuspecting customers over a half-hour period early Friday morning and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, Cmdr. Rick Dunn said.

   The holdup early Tuesday began before opening time, when a woman was allowed to use the shop's restroom, Dunn said. After her accomplice also entered, the two approached the manager with guns, demanded that the safe be opened and took the money.

   The man then donned a Starbucks apron and he and the woman ordered an employee to assist them at the drive-up window, where they filled orders from 18 to 25 customers before fleeing.

   The other two employees were confined to a back room.

4. BOSTON -- A letter written by President Lincoln's assassin two months before the 1865 slaying sold at auction Sunday for a record $68,000.

   In the letter, dated February 9, 1865, John Wilkes Booth asks a friend to send him a picture of himself "with cane & black cravat" -- the one later used in his wanted poster.

   The previous high for a Booth letter was $38,000, according to Stuart Whitehurst, vice president of Skinner Inc. auctioneers.

   The buyer was Joe Maddalena, a Beverly Hills-based historical document dealer. Maddalena, who bid by phone, said Booth "is the rarest American autograph."

   "When he killed Lincoln, anybody who had any relationship with him burned their letters, because they were so afraid they would be linked to him," Maddalena said. "There are only 300 known letters and he must have written thousands and thousands."

   Whitehurst estimated that only 17 Booth letters remain in private hands. This letter was addressed to family friend Orlando Tompkins of Boston, an apothecary and part owner of Boston Theatre. Booth tells Tompkins he "will get any letter sent to Fords Theatre."

5. A new video game allows players to simulate the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

   Today's release of "JFK Reloaded" is timed to coincide with the 41st anniversary of Kennedy's murder in Dallas and was designed to demonstrate a lone gunman was able to kill the president.

   "It is despicable," said David Smith, a spokesman for Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the late president's brother. He was informed of the game on Friday but declined further comment.

   Kirk Ewing, managing director of the Scottish firm Traffic Games, which developed the game, said he understood some people would be horrified at the concept, but he insisted he and his team had nothing but respect for Kennedy and for history.

   "We believe that the only thing we're exploiting is new technology," said Ewing, a former documentary filmmaker and senior executive with Scottish developer VIS, responsible for games like "State of Emergency." He said he sent Edward Kennedy a letter before the game's release.
   
   Traffic Games said the objective was for a player to fire three shots at Kennedy's motorcade from assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's digitally recreated sixth-floor perch in the Texas School Book Depository.

   Points are awarded or subtracted based on how accurately the shots match the official version of events as documented in by the Warren Commission, which investigated Kennedy's assassination.
   
   

6. ATLANTA -- Spacing your kids 2 1/2 years apart may be ideal for producing healthy, full-term babies, according to a study that found a sound medical basis for what many women are doing already, for altogether different reasons.
   
   A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that while having babies too close together can be bad for an infant's health, having them too far apart may be even worse.
   
   Both situations raise the risk that the new baby will be premature or small, which can cause long-term health problems, even death.
   
7. NEW YORK -- A new product claims to be able to more realistically cover bald spots than wigs, weaves, implants and hair-in-a-can.
   
   Made from wool fibers, Topik is sprinkled onto the scalp with a shaker. The fibers adhere to thinning hair with static electricity and create a fuller look. It costs far less than other remedies, and the manufacturers claim that it will adhere until shampooed out.
   
8. JOHANNESBURG -- Fleeing from police, Isaac Mofokeng ran blindly into the local zoo and jumped over a low wall into one of the enclosures. Big mistake.
   
   For the pen belonged to Max the gorilla, who did not appreciate the sudden invasion of his privacy.
   
   "The first thing the gorilla did was rip my jeans and bite me on the buttocks," Mofokeng told a Johannesburg court on Wednesday. "I thought my last hour had come."