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[JohnCenaFan28]

Government departments have spent more than £320,000 of taxpayers' money on electronic equipment such as stereos, DVD players and flat-screen televisions over the past three years, according to official figures.

Biggest spender was Lord Mandelson's Business Department, which spent £87,000, followed by the Treasury, which spent £76,600.

Eleven Government departments which responded to parliamentary questions from the Conservatives listed spending totalling £170,030 on flat-screen TVs, £31,860 on DVD players and £35,151 on stereo equipment.

But the total figure is certain to be higher, as some departments - including the Prime Minister's Office - did not reply.

Conservative Treasury spokesman Philip Hammond said: "The news that taxpayers' money is being used to buy tens of thousands of pounds worth of hi-tech TVs will come as a shock to families struggling to make ends meet this Christmas.

"It's yet more evidence of Gordon Brown's casual attitude to taxpayers' money - and it gives people a pretty good idea of where this Government's priorities really lie."

-Nova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Two teenagers have appeared in court charged with gunning down a man as he returned from a Christmas shopping trip.

The 15-year-old and 16-year-old boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of murdering Craig Brown in Hammersmith, West London.

Mr Brown, 20, of Shepherds Bush, was shot shortly after parking his car in Loftus Road, close to the Queens Park Rangers football ground, on Christmas Eve.

No applications for bail were made during the hearing at West London Youth Court and the pair will next appear in court on January 27.

-Nova

[John]

Interesting, Thanks.

[John]

A new NASA report says that the seat restraints, suits and helmets of the doomed crew of the space shuttle Columbia didn't work well, leading to "lethal trauma" as the out-of-control ship broke apart, killing all seven astronauts.

In a graphic 400-page report, NASA further studied the Feb. 1, 2003, shuttle tragedy to help them design their new shuttle replacement capsule more likely to survive an accident.

The report said it wasn't clear if the astronauts were already dead or just unconscious from the lethal lack of cabin pressure before the blunt force of the spinning out-of-control shuttle would have killed them. The report detailed five "events" that were potentially lethal to the crew.

Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth at the end of its space mission. The accident was caused by a hole in the shuttle's left wing that occurred at launched. Killed in the disaster were commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon of Israel.

-Yahoo.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for the read.

[John]

Embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected to name former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris to President-elect Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat.

State Senate President Emil Jones said Tuesday that Burris told him about the appointment. Burris did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Blagojevich was arrested earlier this month on federal charges that he tried to sell or trade the seat to the highest bidder. U.S. Senate leaders have said they won't seat anyone appointed by Blagojevich.

The Democratic governor has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday afternoon. His aides wouldn't say what it's about.

Burris became the first black politician to win statewide office when he was elected comptroller in 1978 — the first of three terms. He served one term as the state's attorney general, but he failed in three attempts at the Democratic nomination for governor, losing to Blagojevich in 2002.

The governor has denied wrongdoing and has vowed to remain in office.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CHICAGO (AP) — Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has scheduled an afternoon news conference amid reports that he plans to name someone to Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich was arrested earlier this month on charges that he tried to sell or trade the seat to the highest bidder.

Citing unnamed sources, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday that Blagojevich plans to appoint 71-year-old former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. Senate leaders have said they will not seat anyone Blagojevich names.

Blagojevich has scheduled a 3 p.m. EST news conference. His spokesman Lucio Guerrero declined to say what the Democratic governor plans to discuss.

The governor has denied wrongdoing and has vowed to remain in office.

-Yahoo.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for this.

[John]

The father of an 11-year-old girl who died, likely of hypothermia, after trying to walk 10 miles in the snow on Christmas Day has been charged with second-degree murder and felony injury to a child.

Robert Aragon, 55, of Jerome, made an initial appearance Monday in 5th District Court, where Judge Mark Ingram appointed a public defender for him. The judge denied Aragon's request to lower his $500,000 bond. He was being held in the Blaine County Jail.

Aragon was emotional during the short hearing. He banged his head on the defendant's table as Ingram read the charges against him, The Times-News reported. After Ingram noted that second-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, Aragon said "Oh my God" as he banged his head on the table one final time.

Sage Aragon and her 12-year-old brother, Bear, were with their father on Thursday when his truck got stuck in a snow drift near state Highway 75, north of Shoshone in southcentral Idaho, according to the Lincoln County sheriff's office.

The children live with Aragon in Jerome and he was taking them to visit their mother, JoLeta Jenks, in West Magic.

After the truck got caught in the snow, authorities allege Aragon let the children out to walk to their mother's house while he and another adult stayed behind to free the vehicle.

Jenks said she called Aragon because she was concerned after no one arrived at her home on Thursday. Aragon had driven back to Jerome after letting the kids out to walk to her house, Jenks said.

"They didn't even call me, telling me they were walking," she told the Times-News.

Jenks called the police and a Blaine County search and rescue team found the boy at a rest area near the highway shortly before 10 p.m. on Thursday night.

Adults in the search effort described the snow as knee-deep for them.

The boy was found wearing only long underwear, Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling said in a news release. Apparently delusional from hypothermia, the child had discarded his jacket, pants and shoes, the sheriff's office said. He was treated and released at a nearby hospital.

The rest area was about 4.5 miles from where the children started walking.

At some point the children separated and their mother said her son told her they disagreed about whether to keep going or turn back.

"(Bear) kept on telling her: 'Let's go, Sage, let's go, Sage,'" Jenks said, recalling what her son told her. "She said, 'No, I'm going back.'"

The little girl was found about 2.7 miles from where the two set out, barely visible under windblown, drifting snow when search dogs located her along a local road about 2 a.m. Friday. She was wearing a brown down coat, black shirt, pink pajama pants and tan snowboots, the sheriff's office statement said.

"I thought she was alive because they said they found her," Jenks said. "I was excited."

The girl was pronounced dead at a Ketchum hospital; preliminary autopsy results indicate she died of hypothermia.

Officials say temperatures in the area at the time the girl was missing ranged from 27 degrees above zero to minus 5.

Jenks and Aragon are not married. While she said she doesn't understand the decision Aragon is accused of making in letting the children walk to her house, Jenks added, "I don't need to sit and yell. I know he's going through hell right now."

-Yahoo.

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for this.

[John]

Spokane residents were trying to dig out Tuesday after a month of record-breaking snow collapsed roofs and clogged streets.

The center of a snow-laden supermarket roof in north Spokane collapsed Monday evening, prompting the evacuation of that store and adjacent businesses. A fire official said only one minor injury was reported.

The roof collapse came as Spokane set a monthly record for snowfall, at 59.7 inches, after 8.3 inches were recorded in the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Monday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ellie Kelch. That's more snow than the area receives in a typical winter.

The previous record of 56.9 inches was set in January 1950. Snowfall records in the area have been kept since 1893, Kelch said.

Roads were so clogged in Spokane that police asked tractor-trailer rig drivers to use chains, after several big trucks became stuck in giant snowbanks. Black ice was also causing numerous accidents on Interstate 90, officials said.

All 90 of Spokane's plows, sanders and deicers were working to clear arterial streets, leaving residential streets that were still clogged with snow, officials said. Private contractors have also been hired.

The Washington State Patrol responded to about 50 collisions Monday, Trooper Joe Leibrecht said, but no serious injuries were reported.

Natural gas leaks occurred where snow or ice fell and sheared off gas meters. Southwest Airlines canceled some flights at the Spokane airport, and other airlines reported delays.

In Michigan, meanwhile, flood warnings remained in effect Tuesday for areas along most of the Lower Peninsula's major rivers and streams as crews worked to restore electrical service to thousands left without power since the weekend.

About 20,000 of 183,000 CMS Energy Corp. customers who lost electrical service during Sunday's storms remained without service Tuesday morning. About 45,000 of 230,000 DTE Energy Co. customers were waiting for their power to be restored.

Both utilities brought in workers from Indiana, Ohio and other states to help restore electricity, Jackson-based CMS and Detroit-based DTE said. The power companies said they expected service to be fully restored by Wednesday.

In southeastern Wisconsin, the National Weather Service predicted the Fox River would crest about a foot over flood stage Tuesday in the town of Wheatland. In northwest Missouri, the Grand River reached nearly 9 feet above flood stage in places over the weekend.

-Yahoo.