Kimora Lee Gives Birth To Baby Boy

Kimora Lee and Djimon Hounsou welcomed a baby boy Saturday morning. Kimora even tweeted from her bedside, "It's time!! No turning back! At hospital in labor right now!!," followed shortly after by, "Having contractions now! Ooo- wee! It's like WHOA! Love & Light, KLS."

No name has been released.

Are Jon & Kate Breaking Child Labor Laws?

Jon and Kate Gosselin are going through a difficult time in their marriage – and now they may have even more trouble to deal with.

The Pennsylvania labor department is investigating whether the hit TLC show Jon and Kate Plus 8 is complying with the state's child labor laws, a spokesman tells PEOPLE.

"I can confirm that our bureau of labor law compliance is conducting an investigation as they do whenever they receive a charge," said Christopher Manlove, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Manlove would not say who filed the complaint, when it was filed or what the exact allegations are. "Because the case is ongoing I can't discuss the content of the investigation," he said.

In response to the investigation, TLC released a statement Friday saying, "TLC fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations. Jon and Kate + 8 is no exception. For an extended period of time, we have been engaged in cooperative discussions and supplied all requested information to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor. We will continue to engage the appropriate officials and meet any standards or regulations that are applicable to TLC productions."

The hit show follows the daily lives of Jon, Kate and their eight children.

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Valerie Jarrett, Desirée Rogers and Susan Rice Strike a Pose

As well as the article below, I also discovered this article in the current issue of Washington, D.C.'s Capitol File magazine. Valerie Jarrett is President Obama's senior advisor (I'm sure you saw photos of her all over the country during the campaign) and Desirée Rogers is of course the White House's Social Secretary. Click here for full interview and more pics.

Below is Susan Rice. The current, and third youngest ever, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Rice is featured in the June 2009 issue of Vogue. You can click here for the full interview and more pics, but below is just a snippet. I don't know about you but I love reading about all these successful women, including Michelle Obama!

At 44, Rice is, in fact, the second-youngest U.S. ambassador to the United Nations since its inception in 1945. (Donald McHenry, appointed in 1979 by Jimmy Carter, was a hair younger.) But Rice is used to being the youngest person at the table. As someone who went to high school with her puts it, "She was always highly respected by adults and seen as a future force to be reckoned with." A Rhodes scholar who earned a doctorate in international relations at Oxford University, Rice joined President Clinton's National Security Council staff in 1993, at the tender age of 28. Within a few years she catapulted over several more senior staffers to become, at 32, the youngest-ever assistant secretary of State. Her accelerated résumé notwithstanding, she seems to be at the beginning of the public phase of what may very well turn out to be one of the more substantial careers in politics.

Coleman Family Murders Update 29 May

Coleman, whose father pastors Grace Church Ministries in Chester, Ill., was working as a security guard for Joyce Meyer Ministries until he resigned after being questioned about a violation of the organization's moral conduct policy.

He stayed with his father and mother in their home in Chester – 48 miles southeast of the crime scene in Columbia – after the killings and before his arrest there last week.

Roby Walker, a spokesman for Joyce Meyer, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the organization is working "together with representatives of Sheri Coleman's family and are gathering the information requested."

He declined to tell the press, however, what violation the ministry had questioned Coleman about.

According to investigators, Coleman called police from a gym on May 5 and asked a Columbia police officer who had investigated prior threats related to the family to check on them after calls to the house allegedly went unanswered.

When police got to the house later that morning, they found the bodies of Coleman’s wife, Sheri, 31, and their children, 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin - all strangled with some type of wire, rope or cord. Spray-painted across the walls of the house, meanwhile, were obscenities that appeared to have been directed at Sheri Coleman, including the words “punished,” “wh*re paid,” “u have paid,” and “I saw you leave, [expletive] you, I am always watching.”

Though some of the Colemans’ neighbors said the family had received threatening letters and that their mailbox was tampered with, police arrested Coleman last Tuesday after more evidence came forward.

Coleman, who pleaded “not guilty” last Wednesday, has since remained in jail and denied bond by a judge.

A preliminary hearing has been set for June 10.

You have to give Joyce Meyer Ministries credit. They could have buried their head in the sand and pretended that the murders had nothing to do with them. But instead they are willing handing over the materials that Sheri Coleman's family are requesting. And they held Chris Coleman to the morality clause in his contract. Because it doesn't look good to have employees whoring around on the company's dime when you are a church.

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Caylee Anthony Update 29 May

Three months ago, nationally known death penalty attorney Andrea Lyon spoke in Orlando at a seminar on capital punishment put on by The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Lyon was back in town Thursday, this time garnering the spotlight as the newest addition to Casey Anthony's defense team.

Needing to find a death penalty attorney that meets the state's criteria, which includes having five years' trial experience and being lead attorney in at least nine state or federal jury trials of serious or complex cases, Anthony's defense team secured someone who easily fills the role. Lyon, a DePaul University law school professor, has handled more than 130 murder cases and more than 30 potential capital cases.

"She is a fighter," said Terence M. Lenamon, a death penalty attorney from Miami who briefly worked on the Anthony's case last fall. "She will do things the way she thinks they need to be done."

Anthony, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie. The toddler's remains were found Dec. 11 in woods less than a mile from her family home in east Orange County.

Last month, the state announced its plans to seek the death penalty against the single mother.

Lyon is a clinical professor of law and also directs the law school's Center for Justice in Capital Cases, according to her Web site.

In 1990, she founded the Illinois Capital Resource Center and served as its director until joining the University of Michigan Law School faculty in 1995.

Lyon also has a book coming out next year: Angel of Death Row: My Life as a Death Penalty Defense Lawyer. It tells the story of the first woman in the nation to serve as lead attorney on a death penalty case. (Maybe that is the reason she took the case, she has a book to promote. Because it can't be for the money, Casey has none. I still have to ask, where is all the money for Casey's defense coming from if they aren't selling photos and stories. Her legal bills have to be approaching a million dollars , if they haven't already exceeded that amount.)

Outside the Orange County Courthouse Thursday, Lyon was quick to say she may be the lead attorney on paper but considers herself an equal member of an "excellent team," which includes Jose Baez from Kissimmee, Linda Kenney Baden from New York and Todd Macaluso from San Diego.

She said prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for "strategic reasons."

"You will hear about those strategic reasons in motions that I will be filing, challenging their right to even ask for the death penalty in these circumstances," Lyon said. "I believe Florida law simply doesn't allow asking for the death penalty in these circumstances."

She does not expect a trial to start in October, as scheduled. More time will be needed to prepare the case, she said.

News of Lyon's addition overshadowed Thursday's hearing, which focused on phone records and whether a video of Anthony taken in jail the day she heard about child's remains discovered can be released to the public.

The defense team doesn't want it out. The county and state don't object to sealing the video.

Orange Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland said he wanted to provide the media an opportunity to argue why it should be public record. No hearing date has been set yet.

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Kate Gosselin To Publish Cookbook (Ha!) and Where Was Jon Memorial Day

Looking more and more like a divorced couple, Jon and Kate spent Memorial Day Apart. Jon spent the day in Newburgh, New York buying dinner for two other women. And Kate spent the day with children, nannies, and bodyguards in North Carolina. Jon just wants to act like that douche bag married guy with kids who just wants to be single.

And Kate will be releasing a cookbook on 13 October, Love Is in the Mix: Making Meals into Memories, $19.79. A cookbook from a woman who has a chef, and if you read the closing credits there is catering on days they film. And they film most days.

But it gets even funnier. The back cover states, "Fans ... won’t want to miss this inside look at one of America’s most famous close-knit families." Close knit my behind. Jon is making his great break for freedom, and I bet Mady will be next. Just wait until she finds out about emancipation.


In addition to offering nutritious recipes and tips on eating organically, Love Is in the Mix promises to teach readers "how to craft family traditions that create happy memories" and "how to feed a large family on a budget." The book will include family photos and anecdotes about her twins and sextuplets.

According to the site, Kate will also offer insight into handling picky eaters, making lunchtime fun, planning meals for vacations, and making ordinary days "extra special."

Dinnertime at the Gosselin mansion never looks particularly happy. It is usually just the kids snacking on grapes and raw veggies slapped quickly on paper plates. Yeah, she cares about the environment and organic crap so much that she uses dozens of paper plates every day. And the kiddies are going to have such happy memories of mommy yelling at daddy constantly.

Julia Rakoczy Reunited With Father

Bonnie Sweeten used a co-worker's driver's license and presented it as her own when she bought an airline ticket and flew to Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday, Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry said, adding Sweeten also used the license to check into the Grand Floridian Hotel at Disney World.

Jillian Jenkinson said Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show" that Bonnie Sweeten's request to use her identification to fix a discrepancy on her 401(k) "seemed innocent."

She said she had worked with Sweeten for nine years, but didn't specify where they had worked. She described Sweeten as a good mother who was always on top of things.

"I think whatever's going on in her life is a way bigger issue than my ID," Jenkinson said. "I hope that she's OK."

Sweeten and her daughter, Julia Rakoczy, were taken into custody Wednesday night at their hotel in Orlando, Henry said.

Sweeten is expected to be extradited from Florida Thursday and charged with making false reports and identity theft, authorities said.

Anthony Rakoczy, the girl's father and Sweeten's ex-husband, pick up Julia in Florida Thursday afternoon. It was not immediately clear where they were headed.

"We are taking steps to have her extradited back here to Bucks County to face criminal charges," Henry said Thursday.

Henry told FOX News their understanding is that Julia was out of school for a doctor's appointment.

"I think if you look at the evidence, it appears she was very calculated in this plan," Henry told FOX News. "This didn't happen in a second. It was very well thought out."

Rakoczy was tight-lipped about his ex-wife's actions, only saying that he was exhausted from the events, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.

"I'm just done, and I got to get out of here," the station reported him saying.

A security camera reportedly showed Sweeten and Julia Rakoczy at Philadelphia International Airport, just hours after Sweeten made at least two 911 calls by cell phone saying she was locked in the trunk of a dark-colored 1990s Cadillac.

They had minimal luggage and the hotel was paid through Friday, Henry said. Sweeten had withdrawn about $12,000 from several bank accounts over recent days, but authorities were investigating whether that money had been stolen.

The day she left, Sweeten withdrew $7,000, prosecutors said Thursday.

ABC reported investigators uncovered that Sweeten allegedly was involved in stealing about $300,000 from her former employer, an attorney in suburban Philadelphia.

Sweeten is listed as the director of The Carlitz Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based charity run by lawyer Debbie Carlitz, MyFOXPhilly.com reported.

The charity raises money for autism research and people in Burma, according to the station.

Detectives and reporters had been puzzled by holes in Sweeten's story, and FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver confirmed earlier Wednesday the existence of "inconsistencies" in her account of the accident and abduction. But he declined at the time to elaborate and said those aren't the focus of the investigation.

Sweeten had told emergency dispatchers that she and her daughter were snatched in the middle of the day Tuesday by two men who rear-ended her SUV in suburban Philadelphia, according to police.

When investigators arrived at the scene, they found no evidence of the crash and the FBI and local police found no witnesses who saw the accident that the missing mother described.

And although Sweeten said the accident took place in Upper Southampton Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Klaver said authorities discovered her 2005 GMC Denali SUV on Wednesday in Center City, 40 minutes away, along with a parking ticket that indicates it was there about 20 minutes after she dialed 911.

The 911 calls were traced to downtown Philadelphia, about 20 miles from the site of the reported fender-bender and abduction. One was picked up by a cell tower only two blocks from where Sweeten's car was found.

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NYKO Wing

Looking for a graduation gift for a video game loving grad (Or dad, it is almost Fathers Day.), check out the NYKO Wing. The wireless controller enables you to play classic video games on the Wii without being tethered to the game console. And the two AAA batteries give you up to 30 hours of playtime. $29.99

Gardenias

There is nothing more heavenly than gardenias on a hot Summer night. I know it is still Spring, but the nights are in the 70-80 degree range here.

photo Sietske in Beirut

Desirée Rogers Covers Wall Street Journal Magazine

Desirée Rogers, the White House Social Secretary, covers the latest issue of Wall Street Journal Magazine. For those who don't know, she organizes all the social events at the White House - what an amazing job! She's an old time friend of the Obamas and has had some pretty high profile jobs prior to this one including Chief Marketing Officer for Peoples Energy (now Integrys Energy Group); President of both Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas; and she serves on several Boards. Click here to read the full interview and see photos from her first 100 days at the White House.

Desirée Glapion Rogers is the descendant of a Creole voodoo priestess named Marie Laveau Glapion. The first time I meet her, she welcomes me into her East Wing lair—a rhythm and blues tune plays on a white iPod, a potted white orchid perches between two windows, fresh flowers sit on a heavy wooden desk. This is a woman who never sees a wilted bloom. The 49-year-old turns on just enough Southern charm to camouflage an aura of self-assuredness typically reserved for runway models or first ladies. Wearing a crisp white shirt, black patent flats and high-waisted navy slacks that would look terrible on almost anyone else, Rogers talks about her job as White House social secretary.

If there’s one thing Desirée Rogers and Desirée Rogers’ staff want you to know—and will keep reminding you until you get it—it’s that the president and Michelle Obama plan to open up the White House and once again make it the “people’s house.” They want to create an environment where average Americans might stop by and catch the first lady serving homemade huckleberry cobbler and caramel ice cream to students, tending to the vegetable garden on the South Lawn or watching the romantic comedy “He’s Just Not That Into You” with her girlfriends. The president is, of course, meeting with foreign dignitaries. In one of the most visible roles in the Obama administration, Rogers is out to solidify the first family as one of the most memorable in presidential history, and the Ivy League–educated first lady, in particular, as the most popular mom-in-chief. [Read more]

Above: Rogers works down the hall from Michelle Obama, her friend of nearly 20 years, in the East Wing.

Real Housewives New Jersey Mugshot

Here is the mugshot that Danielle from Real Housewives of New Jersey didn't want seen. Seems she was going by the name of Beverly Merrill. And she wasn't a Ford Model, she was a cokehead stripper. And not even in a classy New York tittie (oops, I meant bubbie) bar, but out in Jersey. She was arrested for extortion, kidnapping, and drug possession.

Daniel Hauser Update 28 May

After a week on the run, 13-year-old Daniel Hauser was facing his first court-ordered chemotherapy in relatively good spirits after meeting with cancer specialists Wednesday at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, said his family's lawyer, Calvin Johnson.

"Everybody is trying to be sensitive to Danny's needs, and to address fears that he may have," said Johnson. "I think that's very important ... because he wants to get on with the business of getting better."

With a nationwide manhunt behind him, the boy from Sleepy Eye, Minn., showed up for his appointment accompanied by his mother, lawyer, social worker and court-appointed guardian. Daniel, who has Hodgkin's lymphoma, had vowed not to return to the hospital after his first chemotherapy treatment in February. (Children should not be allowed to make major medical decisions. Daniel's opinion of chemo is probably his parents opinion of chemo. I bet if you asked him if he wanted to die he would tell you no. He doesn't know that his parent's are relying on medical advice from a conman. All he knows is that he has been told that he can be healed by herbs. Herbs are a lot less painful than chemo, at least until the cancer starts eating away at your insides.)

"Children's Hospital welcomed Danny and his mom with open loving arms," Johnson said Wednesday. "Danny seemed to be responding to that very well."

A judge in New Ulm had made it clear the Hausers could lose custody of Daniel if he didn't show up for Wednesday's appointment. (Maybe the court should put a GPS bracelet on Daniel, or even better his mother. They need to do something to deter another run for the border to prevent Daniel being treated.)

District Judge John Rodenberg had ordered Daniel to receive chemotherapy and radiation after a court hearing earlier this month, rejecting his parent's decision to use only alternative therapies. The boy's doctors had argued Daniel would likely die without medical treatment.

The case drew national attention when Daniel and his mother, Colleen Hauser, disappeared before a May 19 court-ordered appearance and fled to California before returning Monday.

On Tuesday, Rodenberg ruled that Daniel could remain with his parents, but said that was "conditioned upon strict compliance" with several actions. According to an order made public Wednesday, they include:

• Daniel and his parents following his doctor's course of treatment, including multiple chemotherapy sessions. "One additional cycle of chemotherapy will not suffice," Rodenberg wrote.

• Daniel appearing at his medical appointment Wednesday and his chemotherapy appointment today.

• Physicians keeping the court updated with Daniel's treatment.

"If everyone does as they have now committed to do," the judge wrote, "Daniel is likely to recover from his disease and to live a full life."

The hospital declined to comment on the boy's condition, saying the family had requested privacy.

Johnson, though, praised the hospital staff for taking steps to ease the boy's fears.

Dr. Susan Sencer, medical director of the cancer program at Children's, said the hospital has therapists and other specialists to help children and their families cope. "Our entire program is about trying to make the journey through cancer therapy as meaningful and as easy as possible," she said.

Although she declined to talk about the Hauser case, she said the hospital also offers natural therapies, such as acupuncture, aromatherapy and yoga, to help children with the side effects and stress of treatment.

Meanwhile, life was returning to normal at the Hauser farm Wednesday. Sheriffs cars, which had shielded the driveway for some days, had left, as had the TV trucks. Daniel's father, Anthony Hauser, tended to the daily chores, traveling from the farm across the street to its dairy operations via red pickup.

Also Wednesday, Brown County Attorney James Olson said he has no plans to charge California lawyer Susan Daya in connection with Daniel and Colleen Hauser's trip to southern California.

Federal authorities were looking for Daya, who also goes by the name Hamwi, during the Hausers' week as fugitives. Daya was in New Ulm with the Hausers when they disappeared and has said she used her credit card to purchase Daniel and Colleen's tickets before the boy's mother repaid her with a check.

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Casey Anthony Update 28 May

Casey Anthony's defense team filed a request late today asking the judge to order the video of her reaction the day her daughter’s remains were found sealed.

Attorney Jose Baez wrote in the motion that the video must not be released to the public for medical privacy and other reasons that have been developed.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie. The toddler's remains were found Dec. 11 less than a mile from her family home.

Baez questioned two Orange County corrections officers who escorted Anthony to the medical facility on Dec. 11. After interviewing them, he learned several other people he needs to question and documents he must request to prepare for a later motion to suppress. Baez wrote that the scene was set up by investigators to capture her reaction on tape.

The video lacks any evidential value, Baez wrote, and could cause problems getting a fair and unbiased jury pool. (The Caylee Anthony case ceased to be about evidence a long time ago. It's all about us being nosy. And Casey and Jose Baez contributed to the media circus.)

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More Comes Out About Crista Taylor

Update 24 June: Dirk Nowitzki has petitioned for a paternity test and wants sole custody if the child is proven to be his. Also, the FBI is looking into threatening calls that Taylor has made from the jail to Nowitzki's lawyers demanding money. Taylor is also the mother of three other children whom she does not care for.

Medical records show that the woman arrested at the home of Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki earlier this month is pregnant, according to a newspaper report.

The Dallas Morning News reported on its Web site Tuesday night that Crista Taylor -- according to records from the Dallas County jail and Parkland Hospital released by Taylor to the newspaper -- was administered a pregnancy test after she was booked on May 6 and that the test was positive.

Taylor has said in multiple interviews with the Morning News that she was Nowitzki's fiancee and that she was carrying his child, but the tests do not determine paternity.

In a statement last week, Nowitzki's Dallas-based attorney, Robert Hart, expressed strong doubt that Taylor was pregnant but pledged that Nowitzki would "do whatever can be done to ensure the health of the child" in the "remote instance there is any validity" to Taylor's claims.

In a statement Tuesday night, Hart said: "This is all new information to us. We have previously submitted written requests through her Beaumont attorney for an independent pregnancy test as well as authorization for release of medical records. We have yet to receive any response.

"We would like to reiterate that, if her statements as to her pregnancy are true, Dirk will do whatever can be done to ensure the well-being of the child." (Which means he no longer wants the mother. If I were Nowitzki I would seek custody of the child. Any court with have a brain would grant custody based on the fact that the mother has an extensive criminal history and a history of trying to trap pro-athletes. This baby is her version of the lottery.)

Taylor gave the newspaper access to her medical file by signing a release form during a jailhouse interview with the Morning News. The paper reported that jail and hospital officials, as per Taylor's written request, only released the portion of her record pertaining to the pregnancy.

In multiple interviews with the Morning News, Taylor, 37, has said she didn't know she was pregnant until being tested twice at the Dallas jail (One of her own friends has come forward disputing that story, claiming that Taylor was telling anybody who would listen that she was pregnant before her arrest.) and that she and Nowitzki had a wedding date scheduled for July.

Nowitzki made his customary postseason return to his native Germany last Thursday, some two weeks removed from Taylor's arrest in the midst of the Mavericks' second-round series with Denver. While the Mavericks were flying back to Dallas on the morning of May 6 after a Game 2 defeat, Taylor was taken into custody at Nowitzki's home after the discovery of arrest warrants in two states.

The Dallas Morning News reported in Wednesday's editions that Taylor has hired a new attorney in Beaumont (Probably paid for by Nowitzki. What man wants their child born in prison, if it is his. And his requesting independent testing implies that it may be.) after initially working with a court-appointed lawyer. The new attorney, Scott Renick, told the newspaper that he could not comment on Taylor's medical record disclosure without seeing it firsthand but is representing her in "alleged criminal matters" and "whatever potentially family matters may come to light."

Taylor has also told the newspaper that she expects to be extradited to St. Louis as early as this week and has two new attorneys there as well: Scott Rosenblum and Matthew Fry. When reached by the Morning News, Fry declined comment.

After being transferred to a jail in Beaumont, Texas, on May 13, Taylor told the newspaper that the sudden end to the couple's engagement stemmed from Nowitzki's longtime personal coach, Holger Geschwindner, urging a private investigation into Taylor's past as part of a prenuptial agreement. The investigation revealed that Taylor is accused of violating a probation sentence for two counts of forgery and one count of felony stealing in Missouri and a theft-of-service charge for failing to pay a Beaumont dentist for dental work in excess of $10,000. (You have to wonder if it was Geschwindner who tipped off police. It is a quick way of getting rid on an inconvenient woman.)

If convicted of the Beaumont charge, Taylor could be sentenced to prison for up to two years.

She was booked in Dallas as Crystal Taylor but told a judge in her first court appearance in Beaumont that her birth certificate carries the name Crista Ann Taylor. Authorities in Missouri and Texas have linked more than 10 aliases to Taylor, while court documents in Beaumont still list her as Crystal Ann Taylor.

Since her arrest, the Morning News has published stories about Taylor's ex-husband, James Westerhaus, seeking a 2001 divorce after Taylor allegedly accrued more than $300,000 in debt and former NFL quarterback Tony Banks saying Taylor was "planted" into his life in 1997.

Nowitzki has mostly rebuffed questions about Taylor beyond acknowledging to reporters that he's "going through a tough time in my personal life." Amid the turmoil, Nowitzki averaged 34.4 points and 11.6 rebounds during the Mavericks' series with Denver and was named to the All-NBA first team.

In his last public comments on the subject on May 14, Nowitzki said: "It's been a tough two weeks, or however long it's been. That's really all I can say about it."

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Coleman Family Murder Update 28 May

From a body already in rigor mortis to twine that could be the garrote that killed three people, physical evidence listed in court files unsealed Wednesday gives the clearest look yet at the murder case against Christopher Coleman.

Police reported that Sheri Coleman showed signs of rigor mortis — a temporary stiffening of the body that usually does not begin until several hours after death — upon discovering her about 7 a.m. May 5. Christopher Coleman told detectives that his wife and sons Garett, 11, and Gavin, 9, were sleeping when he left for a gym workout only a little more than an hour before.

His route to Gold's Gym, at 151 Concord Plaza in south St. Louis County, would have taken him along Interstate 255. Search warrants show that police found a length of orange twine with a knot that "resembled a noose" tied on one end along the westbound lanes, west of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge.

They also seized orange twine used to bind four bales of straw in the Colemans' backyard.


Investigators have said the killer used some kind of ligature to strangle the victims.

The more than 20 pages of search warrant affidavits and inventories, filed in Monroe County Circuit Court in Waterloo, also outline specifics of written threats that Coleman said he had received in regard to his role as security manager for televangelist Joyce Meyer.

Police sources say they believe Coleman created the notes and spray-painted sinister, obscenity-laced messages on the walls of the house at 2854 Robert Drive to make it appear his family was the victim of a vendetta against his boss, who has a worldwide following.

Among the evidence listed is a receipt for a can of spray paint purchased July 29, 2008, at a Home Depot store. The receipt was in a travel bag containing Coleman's wallet.

Jack Carey, a lawyer representing Sheri Coleman's family, visited the house Tuesday and said the painted words included "punished" and "I saw you leave, (obscenity) you, I am always watching."

Coleman had called police on Jan. 2 to complain of an anonymous threatening letter left in his mailbox. According to court documents, it said, "Deny your God publically or else! No more opportunities. Time is running out for you and your family!"

It also said, 'Have a good time in India (obscenity)." It did not refer to anyone by name, but Meyer did a "conference tour" in Bangalore, India, from Jan. 15-18, according to a schedule posted on her website.

Sheri Coleman had traveled overseas also, doing missionary work for Joyce Meyer Ministries, based in Jefferson County.

A second threatening note, reported by Christopher Coleman on April 27, seemed to refer to Meyer but does not name her.

It said, "You have not listened to me and you have not changed your ways. I have warned you to stop traveling and stop carrying on with this fake religious life of stealing people's money. You think you are so special to do what you do, protecting or think you are protecting her. She is a (obscenity) and not worth you doing it. Stop today or else. I know your schedule! You can't hide from me ever. I'm always watching. I know when you leave in the morning and I know when you stay home. I saw you leave this morning."

In addition, it said in capital letters: "THIS IS MY LAST WARNING! YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN!"

Meyer visited the Coleman home to offer condolences about an hour after the bodies were discovered. She has declined through a spokesman to be interviewed about the case.

Days later, before his arrest, Coleman resigned from the ministry. A spokesman for Meyer cited an unspecified violation of a morals clause.

Items seized with search warrants included airplane boarding passes in the names of Coleman and Meyer. The documents unsealed Wednesday made no mention of a glove that law enforcement sources had previously reported recovered along I-255.

From Coleman's 1998 Ford Explorer, police took a greeting card dated Jan. 24 and sent from St. Petersburg, Fla., to a post office box he had in Columbia. The court documents do not indicate who sent it.

Police sources have said that Coleman had been involved in a romance with a woman in Largo, Fla., who was a longtime friend of his wife. Largo is near St. Petersburg. The Largo woman has not responded to repeated messages left by reporters.

Arthur Margulis, one of Christopher Coleman's lawyers, declined to comment on Wednesday's public revelations.

In their filed statements, officers said they went to the house after Coleman called with concerns that nobody answered the phone there. They found a back basement window open and, with guns drawn, used it to enter the house.

Sheri Coleman, 31, was found nude, face-down on her bed in the master bedroom, the documents say. The boys were dead on their beds in their bedrooms.

Police said that Christopher Coleman arrived and yelled from outside, "What's going on? What's going on?" After being told, they said, he "sat down on the driveway and started crying."

The filings indicate that Coleman had security cameras in the house, and that police seized a DVD with images made that day. But there was no explanation of what, if anything, was on it.

There was no specific mention of Coleman's physical condition, but an inventory showed that technicians took swabs from a "reddish injury" and two "scratches" on his right forearm.

No elaboration was provided for seizure of unsigned home refinancing documents. Sheri Coleman's family, which filed a wrongful-death suit Tuesday against Christopher Coleman, has publicly raised doubt that removal of her name in November from their joint ownership of the house was voluntary.

Also taken by police, from the SUV, was a transaction history for a Bank of America line of home equity credit.

There was no explanation for why detectives took the Dish Network satellite antenna off the roof.

Inventories showed seizure of several computers and drives, cell phones, two handguns with loaded magazines, and various shoestrings and cords.

Also listed: "Walt Disney travel tickets for Coleman family — located on computer desk in basement."

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Murder and Mayhem Links 28 May

Billions In New Cuts Loom For California- Including Eliminating Welfare and Closing Most State Parks
Arnold Schwarzenegger is hoping to turn California into a third world country. If the millionaire governor gets his way scores of children will be homeless, hungry, and sick. Expect a rise in crime, and a rise in the cost of treating children who are ill because of lack of medical care and hunger. But they won't be getting medical care because he is planning on cutting Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs too. Maybe it is time California recall another governor.

Bardstown Man Kills Toddler Son, Self
Timothy Frazier of Kentucky shot his 21-month-old son, Cole, then himself. It was all the tragic end result of a custody dispute.

St. Louis County Woman Held In Murder Of Her Own Child
Sharnique Jones is charged with suffocating her 3-month-old baby in 2008. Healthcare providers and social workers "had repeatedly warned Jones about the inadequate care she had been giving the infant," St. Louis County police said today. But nobody thought to remove the baby from her care. And here is the kick in the pants, they only arrested her after she tried to suffocate a second child. Very bad parents seem always seem to be extremely fertile, Sharnique gave birth to another baby on 26 January.

Wilson Rebound Recycled Basketball

The eco-friendly basketball, made of 40% recycled scrap rubber. Even the packaging is mainly made of recycled materials. $12.99

Celestine Silk and Velvet Mouse Ears

I think these little mouse ears by Le Tour De Force are kind of cute, but they have to be kidding to charge €54.35 (about $76).

Carjacked Mom & Daughter Found Vacationing In Florida

The frantic search for Bonnie Sweeten and her 9-year-old daughter - which began after she called 911 Tuesday to report that they had been kidnapped in Bucks County - ended Wednesday night at Walt Disney World.

Sweeten, 38, and daughter Julia Rakoczy were taken into custody at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa around 8:40 p.m., the FBI said. Sweeten was being held by authorities in Orange County, Fla., and her daughter was safe.

Sweeten will be extradited to Bucks County, where she faces charges of making a false report and identity theft, both misdemeanors. The investigation is continuing into possible theft charges, said Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry.

Julia Rakoczy's biological father, Anthony Rakoczy, who lives in Feasterville, will travel to Florida Thursday to pick her up, Henry said.

Over the past week, Sweeten had withdrawn $12,000 from several bank accounts and used a co-worker's driver's license to travel, Henry said.

Authorities could not provide a motive for Sweeten to flee her home - leaving behind a husband two other children, including an infant daughter. (Why take just one child? Wouldn't you miss the others? I just don't get it.)

Before leaving, Sweeten called her husband, Richard, and told him pass along her love to her other children, in case she never saw them again, Henry said. (She didn't steal enough money to start a new life, so you have to wonder if she was planning a murder suicide.)
"Right now I don't think anyone is in position to discuss possible motives until we have talked to her," said FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver.

The efforts to track down Sweeten - which included an Amber Alert and massive local and national media coverage - began when she told a Philadelphia 911 dispatcher about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday that she had been abducted by two black males and stuffed into the trunk of a Cadillac. (The issued an Amber Alert even though they didn't believe her, but you hear all these stories of children who are really missing and the parents can't get an Amber Alert. There is something flawed about the system.)

Authorities said she made several calls in which she claimed the men had kidnapped her after a minor accident at a busy intersection on Street Road in Upper Southampton.

Several calls were cut off, but Sweeten spoke at least twice with a Philadelphia dispatcher.

In the calls, Sweeten indicated that her daughter was with her, but the girl's voice could not be heard, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesman.

Police who responded to the Street Road scene found nothing to indicate an accident or a struggle. Authorities nevertheless issued an Amber Alert for the child and began a search over two counties.

Though police initially treated the case as they do most reported kidnappings - approaching it with an open mind and considering a range of possibilities, including a hoax or a custody dispute - officers found Sweeten's 911 call especially convincing.

"It was chilling," said a person involved in the case.

By yesterday, the investigation began to yield evidence that indicated that the abduction might not have happened.

Vanore disclosed yesterday that Sweeten's calls to 911 were picked up by a cell-phone tower near 12th and Walnut Streets in Center City.

Furthermore, Sweeten's GMC Yukon Denali was found at 15th and Chestnut Streets about 1:30 a.m. yesterday with a parking ticket on the windshield. The Denali had no damage that would indicate it had been involved in an accident.

Authorities also reported yesterday that about an hour after the alleged kidnapping, Sweeten and her daughter had been captured on video surveillance at Philadelphia International Airport. She used cash and a her co-worker's borrowed ID to buy two one-way tickets to Orlando for her and her daughter, authorities said.

Henry said Sweeten told the co-worker that she needed the driver's license to straighten out a pension issue.

Investigators also said they had heard multiple allegations that Sweeten was in financial distress, another reason to consider her claim of kidnapping a hoax.

Sweeten, a Bensalem High School graduate, listed her profession in court records as a trained paralegal.

Sweeten married Anthony Rakoczy in 1992, and they had two daughters, Paige, 15, and Julia. The couple divorced amicably in 2003, and she married Richard Sweeten in 2005. He owns a landscaping business, and the couple live on a cul-de-sac in Feasterville and have an 8-month-old daughter, Faith.

Paige Rakoczy was in school at the time her mother made the 911 calls. The baby was in day care, Henry said.

Neighbor Fred Goodson said he became good friends with the Sweetens when both families moved into the neighborhood around the same time 21/2 years ago.

He called Bonnie Sweeten "a great, great lady" who kept a list of birthdays for all the children in the neighborhood and never failed to buy them presents.

He called Julia Rakoczy "a little spark plug" who organized events for children in the neighborhood, including an Earth Day celebration.

"It's hard for me to see her on that TV screen," Goodson said yesterday before news broke that Sweeten and Julia had been found in Florida. "She's a sweet little girl. It's a shock to us."

Another neighbor, Sean Tchourumoff, whose daughter is friends with Julia, said the little girl split her time between her parents. He said he had noticed that she seemed to be under some stress, but he attributed that to the normal strains of having divorced parents.

Julia had been attending Belmont Elementary School in Bensalem, but she was withdrawn on May 1, a Bensalem School District spokeswoman said.

Julia and her sister Paige then enrolled in the Neshaminy School District, said Louis T. Muenker, district superintendent. Muenker declined to identify which schools the sisters attended.

Crisis-intervention teams were sent to district schools yesterday, Muenker said, when Julia was still believed to have been kidnapped.

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Off The Runway: Iman & Ubah

Just a quick post today. I wanted to share this video of Iman talking with emerging model Ubah Hassan about their home country and the role race plays in fashion. Share your thoughts after watching.

Back to the daily grind...

After a very extended holiday weekend, I am finally back. I was lucky enough to visit Bethany Beach Delaware, a quaint beach where I vacationed with my family every summer growing up. Sooo relaxing. Here are some vintage photos of Bethany that really capture its charm.

What's Cookin?

This baked salmon recipe from Martha Stewart made me feel like a professional chef. It was pretty easy to make and looked so gourmet! If I make it again, I will use a little less dill and add garlic.

Mamas Don't Let Your Little Ballers Grow Up To Date Hood Rats

A woman who said she was carrying Dallas Mavericks' star Dirk Nowitzki's child was pregnant after she was booked into the Dallas County jail on May 6, according to a newspaper report.

The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday that medical records it obtained from the Dallas County jail and Parkland Hospital showed 37-year-old Crista Ann Taylor was administered the pregnancy test and the result was positive. The tests do not determine paternity.

Taylor signed a release form Friday during a jailhouse interview in Beaumont giving the newspaper access to the records.

Taylor (a former stripper of course) has said that Nowitzki was her fiance and that she learned she was pregnant after she was arrested at his house on a probation violation and theft of services warrants.

A call seeking comment by The Associated Press to Nowitzki's attorney was not immediately returned Tuesday evening. Dallas Mavericks' spokeswoman Sarah Melton said she had no comment.

Robert Hart, Nowitzki's lawyer, had said in a statement released to ESPN.com on Thursday, "If in the remote instance there is any validity to this woman's claim of pregnancy, Dirk will do whatever can be done to ensure the well being of the child."

After Taylor's arrest May 6, a woman identifying herself as Taylor's best friend was telling media outlets that Taylor was pregnant with Nowitzki's baby. That, Hart's statement said, raised questions about the claim Taylor learned she was pregnant at the jail.

"In fact, we found it strange that a friend of hers was at Dirk's house right after the arrest telling anyone who would listen that she was pregnant," Hart's statement said. "As with all things coming from this woman's mouth, we are highly skeptical."


Taylor told the newspaper that she'd lived with Nowitzki for the last two years.

The News reported Taylor did not know it planned to bring medical release forms to the jailhouse interview. But shortly after entering the glass-divided visitation booth, Taylor saw that the reporter brought a folder.

"Are those release forms?" she asked. "May I please sign them right now?"

The forms were passed to a jailer and Taylor filled them out and signed the forms. The jailer signed one of the forms as a witness.

"I can't wait until you get those results," she said. "I know they won't lie. Can you hurry up and get them?"

She was indicted in September 2006 on a theft of services charge for failing to pay a Beaumont dentist for dental work ranging from $1,500 to $20,000 she received in 2004. She has $50,000 bond set on the theft of services charge, but was also arrested for a probation violation out of St. Charles County, Mo., and is being held without bond on that charge.

If convicted of the theft of services charge, a state jail felony, Taylor could be sentenced to prison for up to two years.

Her arraignment is now scheduled for June 8.

I also found this article about how this isn't the first football player that Taylor has gone after.

Meanwhile, former NFL quarterback Tony Banks said he had a brief relationship with Taylor in 1997, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday on its Web site.

After the relationship ended, Banks said, Taylor began making harassing phone calls to him, his agent, and, disturbingly, to his St. Louis Rams head coach, Dick Vermeil, The Morning News reported.

Banks notified team security, which learned of Taylor's criminal history and that she had used multiple identities, The Morning News reported.

Banks, 36, retired in 2005 after nine season with five NFL teams, including a short time with the Dallaw Cowboys in 2001.

The two met in 1997 when Banks was 24 and in his second season with the St. Louis Rams. At that time, Banks said he thinks Taylor went by the name Theresa, The Morning News reported on its Web site.

In 1994, under the name Crystal Ann Taylor, she had pleaded guilty to felony forgery in St. Louis County, The Dallas newspaper reported.

After the relationship was over, Banks said he found out that Taylor got his contact information through a college friend who did marketing for him after he was drafted. When Banks decided not to hire the friend as an agent, he "sicced" Taylor on him, Banks said in the Morning News report.

Although he first told her he didn't want to see her, Banks said after seeing a picture of her, he was interested and starting dating her, The Morning News reported.

"She showed her crazy (side) pretty early," Banks told the newspaper.

The harassing phone calls to Vermeil led the coach to be concerned about Banks' off-the-field conduct and maturity level, the former quarterback told The Morning News.

Taylor's criminal history doesn't stop with the forgery and theft of service charges.

In the spring of 1999, Taylor pleaded guilty to multiple felony forgery and stealing charges in St. Charles and St. Louis counties in Missouri and was put on five years' probation, the newspaper reported.

In court records, she listed an address in Friendswood, outside Houston, where she was living with her new husband, James C. Westerhaus, The Morning News reported.

In 2000, she quit reporting to a Texas probation officer, and has been sought by Missouri authorities since an arrest warrant was issued in April 2001.

A month later, her divorce to Westerhaus was finalized, a divorce he sought because of credit card debt and bad checks, The Morning News reported.

She next surfaced in Beaumont in 2003.
Taylor seems like a girl who has been chasing ballers for a long time in hopes that she could get pregnant and be taken care of for a good 18 years.

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Mother Calls 911 From Trunk After Being Carjacked With Daughter

Police say they've found the silver SUV of a Pennsylvania woman and her young daughter who were allegedly kidnapped in broad daylight and called 911 from the trunk of a car.

There was still no sign of Bonnie Sweeten, 38, of Feasterville, Pa., or 9-year-old Julia Rakoczy Wednesday morning after the discovery of their vehicle in the Center City section of Philadelphia. A massive manhunt was under way.

"We are treating this as an abduction," FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver told FOX News. "We're aggressively pursuing leads." (The spokesman also has been quoted as saying that there were “inconsistencies” in the woman's story.)

Mother and daughter were allegedly abducted in broad daylight Tuesday by men who rear-ended their car near Philadelphia.

Police and the FBI say Sweeten made a cell phone call Tuesday from a car trunk. She told a 911 dispatcher that she and Julia were kidnapped after the car struck her SUV.

It is not clear whether Sweeten knew the two men she said abducted her and her daughter around 2 p.m.

Authorities found Sweeten's SUV early Wednesday in downtown Philadelphia, according to Klaver.

Sweeten's ex-husband, Tony Rakoczy, said on NBC's "Today" show that he doesn't understand why the abductors would keep them.

"We don't have any money," he said.

(This sounds a lot like someone trying to get attention or someone trying to cover up a crime. Remember that Susan Smith said someone carjacked the car with her two boys in it before she confessed to drowning them while they were strapped into their baby seats.)

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Sandra Cantu Update 27 May

It is being reported that Sandra Cantu's killer, Melissa Huckaby performed multiple internet searches on Rose Pisam. Pisam disappeared last year in Israel and was missing for several months. Her grandfather, Ronnie Ron was later arrested and admitted to murdering the 4 year old, stuffing her body into a suitcase, and then tossing it into a nearby river. Sound familiar?

At the time Rose and her 23 year-old mother, Marie were living with the grandfather. Ron was having an affair with his daughter-in-law at the time that little Rose disappeared.

Coleman Murder 27 May

The family of murder victim Sheri Coleman was allowed today to enter her former home in Columbia, which also was the crime scene.

“It was very hard,” said Enrico Mirabelli, Sheri Coleman's cousin.

Mirabelli declined to discuss specifics of the house because he said it could interfere with the police investigation.

Belleville lawyer Jack Carey, also representing the family, said numerous messages were written on the walls with red spray paint. Some of them included curse words, others were difficult to read. The messages were located in several rooms.

One of the words written said “punished,” according to Carey.

Carey said it looked as if someone was getting ready to move out of the house. No pictures were on the walls, he said.
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With a judge's help, family members of a southwestern Illinois woman found strangled in her home with her two sons have gotten their first look inside the Columbia house. And they say they found it emotionally wrenching.


Relatives of Sheri Coleman haven't been allowed inside the Monroe County house since she and her boys, ages 11 and 9, were killed there May 5. Her husband is charged in the deaths and is jailed without bond.

Today, a cousin of Sheri Coleman's, Enrico Mirabelli, was allowed inside the house with Mario Weiss, the slain woman's brother.

Afterward, Weiss declined to talk to reporters. Mirabelli fought back tears, telling reporters it was difficult and emotional to walk through and see where family lived and died.

Obscene slogans the killer scrawled on the walls in red spray paint remain.

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Kate Winslet

You don't need a million bucks to dress like Kate Winslet. The dress she is wearing is from Target. It is sold out online, but all over Target stores.

The Gosselins Meet American Chopper

Despite the fact that her marriage is falling apart all around her, Kate Gosselin loves a freebie and is willing to pretend that nothing is wrong to get one. The fellows from American Chopper gave Kate a lovely pink scooter. The kids can really use that. You know how she is all about her children. She and the long suffering slacker, Jon also took a ride on the motorcycles, then they paraded the children out so that they could use the footage on the show and earn the freebies.

Plus 9.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the Gosselin's marriage woes on the Season 5 premiere of Jon & Kate plus 8.

Murder and Mayhem Links 27 May

Recent Gran, 18-year-old Hammond Man Falls Overboard From Cruise Ship
Bruce O'Krepki is missing after falling off of a cruise ship. His family took the cruise to celebrate his recent graduation. Is it me or is someone always falling off of a cruise ship.

State Says Peterson Offered To Hire Killer
Is anybody really surprised about anything that Drew Peterson would do.

Bounty Hunter From Haleigh Case Charged
What makes these camera chasing bounty hunters think they are above the law. William "Cobra" Staubs was charged with false imprisonment because he handcuffed and wouldn't release a "suspect" in the hunt for Haleigh Cummings. Is he working either parent or the police? Because if he isn't maybe he needs to go away.

Steelers Star Harrison's Dog Attacks Son, Will Be Put Down
James Harrison's pit bull attacked his 1-year-old son. His wife let the dog out of its pen. If you have to worry constantly about your dog being in a pen, you probably shouldn't have the dog or the kid.

Denise Richards Dines With Ex Charlie Sheen
If this doesn't qualify as mayhem nothing does. The new wife was there too. It's a miracle everyone walked away alive. The pair have said a million horrible things about each other and used to live in family court.

Real Housewives of New Jersey 26 May

The Housewives of New Jersey are more "housewifey" than the other housewives. No matter how crazy they are their main focus is on their families.

Of course Danielle has a plastic surgeon. She wants to be 21 so badly. And when is she going to realize that Dina doesn't want to be her friend. Why she can't realize that it isn't all about her and her problems is beyond me. Her friends have lives that don't revolve around her. And pussy won't get you a man and it sure won't keep him.

Jacqueline needs to end her friendship with this fruitcake. Danielle only sees her as a stepping stone to her next sugar daddy. I wouldn't put husband stealing past her. And I want to to read Cop Without A Badge to see what it says about her. Too bad it is out of print.

Caroline actually seems like she is a good mother. Her children may not all be going to college, but she wants them to do something with her life. Most of the kids on these shows seem downwardly mobile, but not Caroline's. Caroline is all about no matter how much we have, you need to get up off of your butt and work.

Danielle was arrested for not paying her divorce lawyers' six figure fees.

Octo-Mel

Mel Gibson confirmed on the Tonight Show that girlfriend,Oksana Grigorieva is expecting his eighth child.

He also confirmed to Jay Leno that it was all his fault that his marriage fell apart. He told Leno, "Look. When it's all said and done, I did a pretty good hatchet job on my marriage myself. I'm to blame. If you're inclined to judge, put it here."

I wonder what happens if his wife drags out the divorce. Orthodox Catholicism frowns on illegitimate children, even normal Catholicism gives you hard time about having them baptized. Will the baby be doomed to eternity in hell if it can't get baptized.

Sandra Cantu Update 26 May

The San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office investigated vandalism at Clover Road Baptist Church over the long weekend after the church’s sign was reported to be knocked to the ground.

Melissa Huckaby, accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, taught Sunday school at the church before she was arrested. Her grandfather, Lane Lawless, is its pastor, and the church property has been searched several times during the investigation.

Leaders at the Clover Road Baptist Church told news sources that since Huckaby's arrest, they have received threatening calls. The posts that held up the sign were reported to be broken on Saturday, but officials didn’t speculate as to a motive.

The church is down the road from the mobile home park where both Cantu and Huckaby lived.
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