died
Man dies after high speed chase on I80
The California Highway Patrol received reports of a BMW driving erratically along Interstate 80 near Donner Summit on Monday. The man driving the BMW sped off after a Highway Patrolman attempted to pull him over, leading officers on a high-speed chase ending with the BMW going airborne.
The driver of the BMW, identified as Penn Valley resident 55-year-old William Orr, died as a result of the crash and injured two California Conservation Corps workers who were working in a clearly marked construction zone.
Officers attempted to pull Orr over near Yuba Gap as they observed the BMW using a construction zone to pass other vehicles. The chase resulted in speeds over 100 MPH. The resulting crash occurred just west of Soda Springs on westbound Interstate 80. The vehicle went airborne and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
The two workers were trying to flee the area as the BMW went airborne. Both workers are from Fresno and were identified as 23-year-old Linda Heuangpaseud and 19-year-old Jose Gabriel Garcia. Heuangpaseud was transported by air to a Reno hospital with head injuries and Garcia was transported by ambulance to Tahoe Forest Hospital complaining of pain.
According to officers, large quantities of marijuana stuffed into jars and buckets were found near the scene of the accident.
All westbound traffic was shut down for hours at Castle Peak.
Slayer guitarist’s cause of death released
Jeff Hanneman
Photo: ESP Guitars
Last week, guitarist and co-founding member of the group Slayer, died from liver failure at the age of 49. At the time it was believed to have been from necrotizing fasciitis, with many people speculating that he died from a spider bite, specifically the renowned brown recluse.
On Thursday the band announced on their website that Hanneman died from alcohol related cirrhosis and his death was not related to necrotizing fasciitis as first believed.
“We’ve just learned that the official cause of Jeff’s death was alcohol related cirrhosis,” the band posted on their site, “While he had his health struggles over the years, including the recent Necrotizing fasciitis infection that devastated his well-being, Jeff and those close to him were not aware of the true extent of his liver condition until the last days of his life,” continuing they explained, “Contrary to some reports, Jeff was not on a transplant list at the time of his passing, or at any time prior to that. In fact, by all accounts, it appeared that he had been improving – he was excited and looking forward to working on a new record.”
Slayer
Photo: Slayer/Amazon
Read: Slayer guitarist dead at 49
Hanneman and fellow guitarist Kerry King founded the band in the ‘80s at a time when ‘thrash metal’ bands were just getting started. During that time, they became known as the ‘Big Four’ in the genre, joining Anthrax, Megadeth and Metallica.
In 2011 Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which is a debilitating skin disorder and had to drop from touring with the band.
In 2012 it was announced that he had recovered from the disease, but King came out in February of this year and said Hanneman was still having health issues.
Slayer guitarist dead at 49
Jeff Hanneman
Photo: ESP Guitars
The thrash metal band Slayer posted on their website today that founding member, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Hanneman has died.
According to the band, Hanneman “passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure.” He was 49.
Hanneman and fellow guitarist Kerry King founded the band in the ‘80s at a time when ‘thrash metal’ bands were just getting started. During that time, they became known as the ‘Big Four’ in the genre, joining Anthrax, Megadeth and Metallica.
It all began back in 1981 when Hanneman and King were trying out for a band. Afterwards they started playing Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs together.
In an interview with KNAC radio Hanneman said he asked King, “Why don’t we start our own band?” King responded “…F##k yeah!”
Hanneman also had his own signature guitars with ESP Guitars.
In 2011 Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which is a debilitating skin disorder and had to drop from touring with the band.
Slayer
Photo: Slayer/Amazon
In 2012 it was announced that he had recovered from the disease, but King came out in February of this year and said Hanneman was still having health issues.
It is unknown if the necrotizing fasciitis had anything to do with his liver failure.
According to Billboard his wife Kathy, his two brothers and sister were at his bedside when he died.
Some of the tributes being posted on Twitter:
Guitarist Slash tweeted, “Tragic & shocking news about Jeff Hanneman. He is going to missed by so many. What a sad day for Metal. RIP man.”
Megadeth guitarist Dave Mustaine wrote, “Tonight one less star will be shining and sadly, the stage got just a little bit darker. Jeff Hanneman 1964-2013.”
Slayer’s complete statement:
“Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed.
“Our Brother Jeff Hanneman, May He Rest In Peace (1964 – 2013)”
Jonathan Winters dead at 87
Fox News is reporting that legendary comedian and actor Jonathan Winters has died. He was 87.
Longtime family friend Joe Petro III said Winters died at his Montecito, Calif. home Thursday night.
Winters was known for his skillful improvisation and his misfit characters that he created in an instant. In 1964 Winters appeared on Jack Paar’s television show and was handed a stick, instantly changing into different characters including a fisherman, lion tamer, and eventually Bing Crosby’s golf club.
Winters eccentric characters coupled with his facial expressions made some of his characters world famous such as Maude Frickert and Elwood P. Suggins, who were actually based on people the comedian knew growing up.
In an interview Winters said, “As a kid, I always wanted to be lots of things, I was a Walter Mitty type. I wanted to be in the French Foreign Legion, a detective, a doctor, a test pilot with a scarf, a fisherman who hauled in a tremendous marlin after a 12-hour fight.”
In 1981 Winters appeared on the hit ABC show “Mork and Mindy,” introducing him to a new generation of fan. He played the son of Mork who was an offbeat alien and his wife in what was to be the final season.
Robin William’s said about Winters, “The best stuff was before the cameras were on, when he was open and free to create. … Jonathan would just blow the doors off.”
The award winning comedian won an Emmy for best-supporting actor for his work in the sitcom “Davis Rules.” He also won a Grammy for his album “The Little Prince” and another album “Crank Calls.”
His television show “The Jonathan Winters Show,” made history in 1956 when it became the first broadcast using videotape in color.
Man found dead in apartment identified
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office today released the identity of the man found shot to death in his apartment on Pocket Road in Sacramento.
The body was identified as 30-year-old Lawrence Dominic Smith.
Sacramento Police responded to an apartment complex on the 8000 block of Pocket Road on Tuesday, this after receiving a call from friends of Smith who went to check on him after not hearing from him for a while. Police arrived and discovered Smith with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body.
The Sacramento Fire Department pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
No arrests have been made and the investigation continues.
Mouseketeer Annette Funicello dead at 70
Annette Funicello
Photo: Disney
Disney has announced on their official Disney Fan Club Twitter that Legendary Disney Mouseketeer Annette Funicello died today at 70.
Extra has confirmed through the family that Funicello died due to complications of multiple sclerosis, a disease she had been fighting for the past 25 years.
Funicello became a star at the age of 12 after Walt Disney discovered the young girl and cast her in the original “Mickey Mouse Club.” A show that is responsible for churning out child stars such as Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears.
Funicello was also an accomplished singer with several hits in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s including “First Name Initial,” “O Dio Mio” and “Train of Love.” They were released under the Buena Vista label.
As she grew up Funicello became a sex symbol attracting a large number of fans. She went on to star in the iconic “Beach Party” films co-starring Frankie Avalon.
The Iron Lady dead at 87
Reuters is reporting that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died today at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke.
Thatcher’s spokesman, Lord Bell wrote in a statement, “It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning,”
Thatcher was a strong and outspoken leader. During a speech in 1976 she went on the attack against Communism and quickly became known as the ‘Iron Lady.’
Thatcher was the only female to have been prime minister, leading Britain’s Conservatives to three election victories between the years 1979 and 1990. She was also the longest serving prime minister since the 19th century.
Fellow conservative and close friend former U.S. President Ronald Reagan shared many ideals with the prime minister, the two worked closely together fighting communism. Making history, and providing the most symbolic of gestures in their fight against communism, the pair worked diligently to see the Berlin Wall torn down in 1989.
Thatcher was in attendance Reagan’s funeral in 2004.
Reagan’s surviving wife Nancy said in a statement that “Ronnie and Margaret were political soul mates,” and they shared a common hatred for communism.
Current British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote in a statement, “We have lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton.”
Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Thatcher in the movie ‘The Iron Lady‘ said in a statement, “To me she was a figure of awe for her personal strength and grit,” the 63-year-old actress went on to write, “To have given women and girls around the world reason to supplant fantasies of being princesses with a different dream: the real-life option of leading their nation; this was groundbreaking and admirable.”
During her 11 years of leadership, Thatcher fought many battles as prime minister, fighting for the rights of individuals and socialism, she took much of the economy out of the hands of the state and transferred ownership back to the people.
Thatcher has been quoted as saying, “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
In 1984 the IRA attempted to assassinate Thatcher at a hotel in Brighton during the Conservative Party Conference.
President George Bush honored Thatcher with the U.S. Medal of Freedom in 1991.
In 2008 Thatcher’s daughter Carol confirmed that the ex-prime minister was suffering from dementia and in 2010 spent some time in the hospital battling the flu. She landed in the hospital again in 2012 to have a growth in her bladder removed.
Roger Ebert dead at 70
Roger Ebert
Photo: Amazon – Roger Ebert
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that American journalist, film critic and screenwriter, Roger Ebert died today from his long battle with cancer.
Ebert reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years. In 1975, Ebert and Gene Siskel co-hosted a weekly film review television show called ‘Sneak Previews,’ which was picked up later by PBS and went on to become known as Siskel & Ebert & The Movies.
Suffering from cancer for the last ten years, Ebert had to have his lower jaw removed, but remained in the public’s eye. Earlier this week it was announced that he was still battling cancer.
Forbes Magazine describe Ebert as “the most powerful pundit in America”
Body goes unnoticed in wrecked car
CLAYTON, N.C. – Trooper M.D. Williams, currently on administrative leave, overlooked the body of 62-year-old Carolyn Ann Watkins after she was involved in a single vehicle accident.
According to WDTV the vehicle was towed to a wrecking yard on Friday, but the body wasn’t discovered until Monday, only after the family reported her missing and the vehicle searched.
North Carolina’s Department of Public Safety’s commissioner Frank Perry said the 9-year Highway Patrol veteran filed his report after Watkins’ 2000 Pontiac plummeted down an embankment on Swift Creek Road, just five miles outside Smithfield, North Carolina.
In his report, obtained by WDTV, it clearly states there was no driver at the scene of the accident.
Watkin’s son Wooten told WDTV, “Maybe she could still have been alive, but she sat in that impound lot from Friday to Monday. It’s sickening and it hurts.”
According to the family Watkins was in good health and they don’t understand how her car ended up going over the embankment. They believe it’s possible that her body was hidden underneath the airbags avoiding detection, but that the trooper said he search the vehicle.
DPS is investigating and Commissioner Perry stated the trooper involved in the accident scene was placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
“This is a multi-jurisdictional investigation and has the full attention of the Department of Public Safety administration. We will release accurate information to the public as soon as available and appropriate. At this early stage, our main concern is to conduct a thorough and professional investigation so we can determine exactly what happened. In addition, DPS is expeditiously conducting its internal review with the [State Bureau of Investigation],” said Perry.
The coroner is performing an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
‘Buckwild’ star found dead
Shain Gandee
Photo: MTV
MTV is reporting that Shain Gandee from the MTV reality show ‘Buckwild’ was found dead in a vehicle along with his uncle and another unidentified person, in a remote area of Sissonville, West Virginia.
Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department Corporal Brian Humphreys confirmed that the bodies of 21-year-old Shain Gandee, his 48-year-old uncle David Gandee, and a third unidentified person were found Monday morning.
As the investigation continues Humphreys said it does not appear there was any foul play. There were reports that the Ford Bronco was submerged in water, but Humphreys could not confirm the report. There was no indication that another vehicle was involved.
The area known as Thaxton Hollow is “very muddy, very rough,” according to Humphreys. Investigators are using all terrain vehicles to access the remote area near Sissonville.
Gandee Candy, as his fans called him, had been reported missing over the weekend and was last seen with his uncle David Gandee around 3 a.m. Sunday morning in a local bar. As the trio left the bar they told fellow patrons they were going off-roading in Shain’s Bronco.
“It’s a very sad day for this county,” Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper said on Monday, “This is a small place and just about everyone in this community knows everybody.”
MTV said in a statement, “We are shocked and saddened by the terrible news about Shain Gandee, and those involved in this tragic incident. We are waiting for more information but at this time, our main concern is for the Gandee family and their friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. Shain had a magnetic personality, with a passion for life that touched everyone he met and we will miss him dearly.”
Shain Gandee was known for his wild stunts and happy-go-lucky disposition and was considered a breakout star of the show.
The second season of ‘Buckwild’ just started shooting, but was suspended on Monday.
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