Bounty hunter called Calif. parolee before suicide (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? The apparent suicide of a parolee suspected of killing as many as 19 people occurred after a bounty hunter called him earlier in the day with an ominous warning.

Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla told paroled killer Loren Herzog that his partner in crime ? who is languishing on death row ? was prepared to disclose the location of missing bodies and was trying to pin their murders on him.

Padilla said in a phone interview Wednesday that he agreed to pay Herzog's co-conspirator Wesley Shermantine to disclose the bodies' locations. Padilla says he called Herzog on Monday afternoon to warn him to get a lawyer after Shermantine implicated him in the alleged killings.

"There's a certain way to do things with felons," Padilla said. "I didn't want this to come as a surprise to him."

Authorities found Herzog dead inside his Lassen County trailer hours later. Herzog is believed to have hanged himself in his state-issued trailer just outside the gates of the High Desert State Prison in Susanville.

"I told him I was communicating with Shermantine," said Padilla, who agreed to pay Shermantine a little more than $30,000 if bodies were found. "He knew what was coming down the road."

Padilla said he hoped to recoup the payment through outstanding rewards that family members of victims and others offered for information about their loved ones. At least two families had at one time each offered $20,000 for information about their missing daughters.

Lassen County Sheriff Dean Growdon said "all evidence indicates" that Herzog's death was a suicide.

Growdon said Herzog left a note, but he declined to disclose details other than to say the note was meant for his family and "made no reference to his criminal history, crime victims, etc." Herzog was married with three children.

High Desert Prison officials were asked to check on Herzog in his trailer Monday after his parole agent received a warning that the batteries in Herzog's electronic tracking device on his ankle were running low.

Herzog became a pariah upon his parole to the trailer in California's remote northeast corner in 2010. He was released after an appeals court tossed out his confession as illegally coerced and prosecutors reduced three murder convictions and a 78-year prison sentence to a manslaughter charge and 14-year term. Herzog's parole caused an uproar in San Joaquin County, which persuaded prison officials to locate him elsewhere. Lassen County and Susanville officials then filed a lawsuit to bar his settling in the region after prison officials placed him in the trailer outside the prison, which allowed him to come and go.

Herzog was allowed to remain in the trailer pending an appeal in that suit. The trailer on state property was seen as the best solution for a parolee unwelcomed everywhere in the state.

Investigators believe Herzog and Shermantine killed as many as 19 people during a methamphetamine spree in the 1980s and 1990s. The two were dubbed the "Speed Freak Killers" when arrested in 1999. Each blamed the other for masterminding the murders.

Shermantine is on death row after he was convicted of killing four, including 16-year-old Chevelle "Chevy" Wheeler in 1985. In letters to the Stockton Record, Shermantine has promised to lead authorities to the bodies of Wheeler, Cyndi Vanderheiden and a covered well holding at least 10 more bodies.

Shermantine has provided false leads before, including during his 2001 trial when he demanded $20,000 in exchange for revealing the location of Wheeler and Vanderheiden. The families and district attorney refused the deal. Then Shermantine turned down a prosecution offer to sentence him to life without parole instead of death row in exchange for information about the missing bodies.

Shermantine also wrote the Stockton Record last year offering to return Herzog to prison by providing the information. In return, he wanted prosecutors to agree to let him out of San Quentin in 10 years.

A search in December of Calaveras County property once owned by Shermantine's parents yielded nothing. But Padilla claims investigators were searching in the wrong area and said California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigators and FBI agents were planning to transport Shermantine to the area for a search Wednesday.

But San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore put a halt to those plans late Tuesday after belatedly learning about them.

"Security is the main issue ? Shermantine is on death row and has nothing left to lose," sheriff spokesman Les Garcia said. "He's done this before. He has led law enforcement on a wild goose chase, and it's kind of hard to believe what he's saying now."

The San Joaquin sheriff has scheduled a Friday meeting with the Corrections Department, FBI, Calaveras County sheriff and others to discuss Shermantine's latest claims. One of Moore's proposals to live-stream a search into Shermantine's cell so the inmate can direct searchers without leaving death row, which is in San Quentin Prison in Marin County.

A Corrections spokesman declined to comment. An FBI spokesman didn't return a phone call.

Wheeler's father, reached by phone in his Crossfield, Tenn., home said he doesn't believe Shermantine either.

"This is the second time he's pulled this, and I don't believe a word he says," Raymond Wheeler said. "I think he's just playing a game."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_us/us_freed_killer_suicide

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Court throws out judge-drawn Texas electoral maps

(AP) ? The Supreme Court on Friday threw out electoral maps drawn by federal judges in Texas that favored minorities. The decision ultimately could affect control of the U.S. House of Representatives and leaves the fate of Texas' April primaries unclear.

The justices ordered the three-judge court in San Antonio to come up with new plans that pay more attention to maps created by Texas' Republican-dominated state Legislature. All four of the state's new congressional seats could swing based on the outcome.

But the Supreme Court did not compel the use of the state's maps in this year's elections, as Texas wanted. Only Justice Clarence Thomas said he would have gone that far.

The court's unsigned opinion thus did not blaze any new trails in election law or signal retreat from a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, as some supporters of the law feared would result from this case.

Still, the outcome appeared to favor Republicans by instructing the judges to stick more closely to what the Legislature did, said election law expert Richard Hasen, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, law school.

Controversy over the maps arose from redrawing political boundaries based on results of the 2010 census that found that Texas had added more than 4 million new residents, mostly Latinos and African-Americans, since 2000. The minority groups complained they were denied sufficient voting power by Republican lawmakers who sought to maximize GOP electoral gains in violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act.

Texas will have 36 seats in the next Congress, a gain of four districts. A divided court in San Antonio drew maps that differed from the Legislature's efforts, giving Democrats a chance to prevail in three or four more congressional districts. Republicans now represent 23 of the 32 current districts.

The high court said the judges appeared in some instances not to pay enough attention to the state's choices. The judges made mistakes in their plans, particularly in altering district lines for state legislative and congressional seats in parts of the state where there is no allegation of discrimination on the part of the Legislature, the high court said.

"In the absence of any legal flaw in this respect in the state's plan, the district court had no basis to modify that plan," the justices said, talking about state House districts in north and east Texas.

The court acted quickly, just 11 days after hearing arguments and a month and a half after intervening in the case, but set no deadline for new maps to emerge from the court in Texas. State officials have said they need to have something in place by February 1 to hold primary elections, already delayed once, on April 3. The Texas Republican party also has said that Texas may have no voice in the Republican presidential nominating process if the primary is held later than mid-April.

The complicated legal fight over redistricting in Texas is playing out in three federal courts. In addition to the Supreme Court and federal court in San Antonio, a three-judge court in Washington is evaluating the state plans under a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that forces states, mainly in the South, with a history of discrimination in voting to get advance approval before making any changes to the way they conduct elections.

Even without the Washington court's approval, Texas said it should be able to use its own maps just for this year because time is running short before the primaries.

The minority groups, as well as the Obama administration, say such an outcome is strictly forbidden by the Voting Rights Act and would, in essence, eviscerate the law's most potent weapon, the advance approval requirement, also known as preclearance.

The justices chose not to allow the state maps to be used without preclearance. But Thomas, who earlier had said he would strike down the advance approval requirement, said Texas' "duly enacted redistricting plans should govern the upcoming elections."

The cases, all dealt with in one opinion, are Perry v. Perez, 11-713, Perry v. Davis, 11-714, and Perry v. Perez, 11-715.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-20-Supreme%20Court-Texas%20Redistricting/id-e4a0626dea0341f19b85103f64feadf4

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Study tests new treatments for the winter blues

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 19-Jan-2012
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Contact: Tom Langford
tlangford@partners.org
617-534-1605
Brigham and Women's Hospital

Brigham and Women's Hospital researcher tests new treatments for seasonal affective disorder

Boston If winter's long nights and cold weather have you feeling depressed, a new research study could lift your spirits. The study, lead by Janis Anderson, PH.D., an associate psychologist in the Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Psychiatry, aims to help adult (ages 21-64) men and women with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) by comparing two new types of light technologies to determine which one works better.

For decades, researchers have known that exposing patients to bright light can alleviate the seasonal depression associated with SAD, but the technology to treat SAD has evolved considerably over the years. Today's high-tech light boxes are increasingly small, portable and powerful. This change may give a growing number of patients access to treatment.

Enrollment of 40 volunteers for the trial is now underway at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Participants who usually develop clinical depression in the fall and winter will receive, at no cost to them, a form a light therapy. The effectiveness of the new technology will be measured over a period of six weeks to determine the effectiveness at reducing the symptoms of SAD.

###

This study is funded by Philips Consumer Lifestyle, a division of Philips (Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.).

To learn more about enrolling in this research study, visit http://www.brighamandwomens.org/Research/depts/Psychiatry/SAD.aspx


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 19-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Tom Langford
tlangford@partners.org
617-534-1605
Brigham and Women's Hospital

Brigham and Women's Hospital researcher tests new treatments for seasonal affective disorder

Boston If winter's long nights and cold weather have you feeling depressed, a new research study could lift your spirits. The study, lead by Janis Anderson, PH.D., an associate psychologist in the Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Psychiatry, aims to help adult (ages 21-64) men and women with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) by comparing two new types of light technologies to determine which one works better.

For decades, researchers have known that exposing patients to bright light can alleviate the seasonal depression associated with SAD, but the technology to treat SAD has evolved considerably over the years. Today's high-tech light boxes are increasingly small, portable and powerful. This change may give a growing number of patients access to treatment.

Enrollment of 40 volunteers for the trial is now underway at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Participants who usually develop clinical depression in the fall and winter will receive, at no cost to them, a form a light therapy. The effectiveness of the new technology will be measured over a period of six weeks to determine the effectiveness at reducing the symptoms of SAD.

###

This study is funded by Philips Consumer Lifestyle, a division of Philips (Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.).

To learn more about enrolling in this research study, visit http://www.brighamandwomens.org/Research/depts/Psychiatry/SAD.aspx


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/bawh-stn011912.php

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Court won't review ruling on tipped employees (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Supreme Court will allow bartenders and servers who make part of their money through tips to file lawsuits for more money when they do work that doesn't involve tips.

The high court refused to hear an appeal from Applebee's International, which wants to overturn a lower court ruling.

Restaurants consider tips as part of some employees' salary to get the pay up to the minimum wage. But if a worker spends 20 percent of the time doing general maintenance and preparation work, they currently get full minimum wage.

Gerald Fast and others sued, saying that opening and closing restaurants, as well as cleaning and stocking, consumed significant work time and Applebee's should pay them additional wages. The lower courts refused to dismiss the complaint and the high court agreed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_go_su_co/us_supreme_court_tipped_employees

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CES 2012: Razer Portable PC Gaming With Fiona, And Shows Off ...

By Kevin Kelly

Razer has long been synonymous with hardcore gaming peripherals from mice to keyboards, but they are slowing moving into the field of gaming computers as well. At CES last year they unveiled their miniature Switchblade gaming computer concept, which has seen its tech migrate to their Blade gaming laptop, and at CES 2012 they also unveiled Fiona, their new handheld gaming device that takes PC gaming on the go.

The Fiona is a PC tablet aimed only at the gaming audience. It runs full PC games on a Core i7 Intel Ivy Bridge processor, allowing you to run current generation games, inside of an integrated housing that offers a controller experience with force feedback while gripping the device. The device also runs Dolby Home Theater v4 for PCs. While we're skeptical about such a small device that runs full PC games, if this things works, sign us up for two of them.

First announced last year at PAX, Razer also showed off their powerful Blade gaming laptop that takes some cues from the Switchblade and integrating the LCD keys and interactive touchpad into the system. The touchpad changes on the fly depending on what game you're playing, and can be used to record macros, act as a standard keypad, or even display videos. While it seems like bell and whistles, it's actually extremely cool in action. You can even pull up webpages on it, allowing you to access a strategy guide while you're raiding.

Under the hood, the Blade offers up a lot of horsepower running i7 Core processors, a 256 GB solid drive, an NVIDIA GT555 graphics card that will allow you to melt the pixels off of your screen, and weighing in at only 6.6 pounds at less than an inch thick. Then there's that Switchblade user interface, allowing you to configure the ten keys and the keypad to do your bidding.

For more cutting-edge tech, keep reading MTV Geek's CES 2012 coverage!

CES 2012: Gelaskins Going From Soft To Hard
CES 2012: M-Edge Provides Style And Protection For Your Beloved Gadgets
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Discuss this story in our Tech forums! Follow @MTVGeek on Twitter and be sure to "like" us on Facebook for the best geek news about comics, toys, gaming and more!

Tags Blade, CES, CES 2012, Fiona, gaming, Hardcore, PC, Razer

Source: http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/01/18/ces-2012-razer-portable-pc-gaming-with-fiona-and-shows-off-their-blade-laptop/

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10 Most Useless Car Technologies

In theory, the ability to manually shift an automatic with nice, prominent steering-wheel paddles makes some sense. Many of us don't want the inconvenience of a manual transmission during the daily grind, but who doesn't want to manually change gears once in a while? On some cars, like the AMG Mercedes with the seven-speed auto box, the paddles work fairly well. But we've often found that that the computer-controlled transmissions are far too reluctant to respond to driver inputs. As just one example, we've tried on multiple occasions to actuate the paddle shifters in the five-speed automatic in Acura's nimble new TSX about eight times before one corresponding upshift occurs. Unless the paddle shifters are calibrated properly, they're just another pointless feature.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/pictures/10-most-useless-car-technologies?src=rss

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Vital Signs: Patterns: Study Finds Problem Drinkers Get Bigger Endorphin Kick

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The way alcohol affects the orbitofrontal cortex may contribute to an increased perception of pleasure and to excessive alcohol consumption in heavier drinkers, researchers found.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1accc0dc2e18268d690832be18fc1482

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Backstage surprises from the Golden Globes

George Clooney was no Uggie. Meryl Streep was still not reading her speech. And Ricky Gervais was getting great reviews.

A look at the surprising doings and sayings backstage at the 69th Annual Golden Globes:

MORE: Complete List of 2012 Golden Globes Winners

Clooney Is Never Wrong, er, Right? Some insta-critics might have disagreed, but Gervais got good notices from several of the winners, including Kate Winslet and Clooney. "I thought he was fun," the latter said. "I think people were expecting a lot of trash talk. He did what he does. He makes me laugh. He's funny."

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Actually, No, He's Never Wrong: "The Descendants" star nailed one of the highlights of the night: "Jane Fonda in that dress. My God."

Story: It was a big night for big names at Golden Globes

Um, Eat Pad Thai? When asked about the whereabouts of his "Ides of March" charge Ryan Gosling, Clooney cracked, "He's in Thailand or something, and you know what you do in Thailand...."

MORE: Best &Worst of 2012 Golden Globes

Never Follow a Kid Act ? or a Pet Act: No offense to Mr. Clooney, but once you've seen Uggie the dog in person, the gray-haired one, who took the press-conference stage in the wake of "The Artist's" cast, didn't seem quite as cute anymore.

Well, He Does Have That Over Uggie: Unlike the cinematic canine, who was silent, vaguely skittish, not to mention, way shorter in person, Clooney carried on credible discourse on Darfur, the power of film, the significance of Sidney Poitier and, appropriately enough, rescue dogs.

Slideshow: Golden Globe winners (on this page)

Hey, That's Just What George Clooney Would Have Said! "The Artist's" dapper Jean Dujardin was asked about being the so-called "George Clooney of France." He smiled a dazzling smile, then smartly demurred. "It's a joke," he said with the help of a translator. "It's very nice, but it's very hard for (me) to hear such things."

Hey, That's Just What George Clooney Would Have Done! During "The Artist's" press conference, Dujardin scooped up the overwhelmed-looking Uggie, and gave the pooch a scratch on the head.

Lost in the Non-Translation: So, we asked Dujardin whether people tell the silent-film star that he's louder in person. Our first-class wit (and probably poorly worded English) eluded him. Stammered the actor, "What? Maybe. I don't know!"

A Likely Story: "I can't believe I said s--- on TV," Streep said. "I never do anything like that."

Another Likely Story: As viewers of the Globes telecast know, Streep cussed because she forgot her glasses, and couldn't read her speech. Or so she said. She claimed to have the speech on her backstage, but when reporters asked her to read it, "The Iron Lady" winner said, "It's too long."

And Yet Another Likely Story: Clooney explained he didn't want to bring Streep's glasses up to the stage (so she could read her phantom speech) because he didn't want to interrupt her. He said he handed the specs to David Fincher, figuring the director would know how to take charge, but he, Fincher, "chickened out." The glasses ended up back with Streep's husband. Or so Clooney said.

Most Stunned-Looking (and Most Slight, Too): Michelle Williams.

So, Yeah, She Was Totally Robbed: Williams won for "My Week With Marilyn;" Marilyn Monroe wasn't even nominated for the movie's source material, "The Prince and the Showgirl." Did the Globes snub Monroe, we ask Williams? "I have tremendous fondness for that performance," the actress said. "She's luminous."

PHOTOS: 2012 Golden Globes Twitpics!

Somebody's Been Doing Her IMDb Homework: Unprompted, Williams correctly pointed out that Monroe was honored on other occasions by the Hollywood Foreign Press, including once with the now-defunct World Film Favorite honor.

And the Golden Globe for Best Golden Globes Performance Goes to: "The Help's" Octavia Spencer. She was funny, she was serious, and she was always personable. "I'm sorry, y'all," she confesses, "but I have to keep these shoes off." And so she took 'em off.

A Memo to Shoe Designer Christian LouBoutin from Ms. Spencer: "When you have this much weight, you gotta give us more platform."

Most Awkward Moment: Matt LeBlanc humored a reporter who, in embarrassing fashion, asked him to do Joey's "How you doin'?" After all those Globe losses for "Friends," and after all the trouble with "Joey," the actor deserved better on his night of victory for "Episodes."

Most Comfortable With the Backstage Press, Not Counting Clooney Who Doesn't Count Because He'd Always Win: Steven Spielberg, Clare Danes and the cast of "Modern Family." Sofia Vergara even waved rabbit-ear fingers over Jesse Tyler Ferguson's head while he fielded a question.

And He Wasn't Talking About Camille, Either: "There's a lot on my plate." ? "Boss" winner Kelsey Grammer on his life, his series (about to start shooting Season 2) ? and his baby-to-be. Make that, babies-to-be. Grammer let it slip he and his wife are expecting twins.

"Albert Nobbs 2: The Sequel" Has a Star! "I would like to one day play a man," "Mildred Pierce" winner Winlset confessed when asked about her as-yet unrealized ambitions.

Er, Um...Sorry? "Game of Thrones" star Peter Dinklage followed Williams to the press-conference stage, and he noticed the room was different. As in, quieter. "You had so many questions for Michelle," he said.

Whatever Happened to the Biggest Party of the Year?! So, how did Madonna immediately plan to mark her victory? "I'm going to go back to my seat," she said.

"Capt. Von Trapp" Would've Worked, Too: Reporters, to a writer, respectfully addressed 82-year-old Christopher Plummer not as "Chris," or "Christopher," but as "Mr. Plummer."

So, Yes, He Is Overall Familiar With How the Internet Operates: We informed Mr. Plummer (natch) that the Twitterverse, its Joan Rivers wing included, had nothing but nice things to say about the "Beginners" winner. Did he appreciate how rare that is? "Usually," he told us, "they have no nice things to say about me at all."

A Couple of Teases: Idris Elba, a winner for "Luther," handled a question on whether he'll be the next James Bond by saying he'd be "honored to play the part," while Jessica Lange handled a question on whether she'll be back for season two of "American Horror Story" by saying "nothing is definite yet."

PHOTOS: 15 Best Things Ever Said at the Golden Globes

Me. Ow: "Homeland's" Morena Baccarin got a question on her dress, the one that was quite striking, and, um, well-ventilated, and she didn't seem happy. "Well, I'm glad I get to talk about the real stuff," she noted.

Geez, Let's Hope He Doesn't Think Everybody Always Dresses So Fancy: "This is my first time in California," said "The Artist" composer Ludovic Bource.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46011714/

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