21 Things I Wish I Knew at 21. Do You Have Terrible Table Manners? Signs You Need to Clean Up Your Act.
Judge orders no jail for teen in fatal car wreck. Ethan Couch was convicted last year of killing 4 people while driving drunk. His psychologist claims his family's wealth impaired the youth's ability to take responsibility for his actions. FORT WORTH, Texas — A judge on Wednesday ordered a Texas teenager who was sentenced to 10 years' probation in a drunken-driving crash that killed four people to go to a rehabilitation facility paid for by his parents. Judge Jean Boyd again decided to give no jail time for Ethan Couch, defense attorney Reagan Wynn and prosecutors told reporters after the hearing, which was closed to the public. Prosecutors had asked Boyd to sentence him to 20 years in state custody on charges related to two people who were severely injured.
The sentence stirred fierce debate, as has the testimony of a defense expert who says Couch's wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility. The expert termed the condition "affluenza. " AP Photo: LM Otero "His witnesses don't say things by accident," Alpert said. 'Mary Poppins' among 25 US films to be preserved. © Julie Andrews / AP 'Mary Poppins' among 25 US films to be preserved Dec. 18, 2013, 8:45 AM EST By BRETT ZONGKER , Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just in time for a new movie about the making of "Mary Poppins," the 1964 Disney classic starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke has been selected for preservation at the Library of Congress so future generations of Americans can see it.
On Wednesday, the library is inducting 25 films into the National Film Registry to be preserved for their cultural, historical or cinematic significance. Curators said it was a coincidence that they selected "Mary Poppins" just ahead of its 50th anniversary and during the release of the new Disney film "Saving Mr. "It's just a title that everyone has seen and recognizes, and the musical numbers and just the Julie Andrews and the shim-shim-a-ree -- it's just become a real, imbued part of our culture," he said.
Some are chosen for their influence on films that would follow, as with "Pulp Fiction" from 1994. Students raise 'No-Shave' funds for friend with cancer. On the show Eun Kyung Kim TODAY Nov. 21, 2013 at 10:58 AM ET Brian Levitas, right, and his friends, who rallied around him after his cancer diagnosis. Indiana University junior Brian Levitas received the devastating diagnosis just weeks ago: He had cancer, specifically, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The news hit his buddies equally hard. The friends recruited dozens of their buddies, all of whom have since ditched their razors and dedicated the month to Levitas. “When we got the diagnosis about Brian, we just wanted to control something and we knew we couldn’t be in the hospital with him treating him, so we tried to control the mental side of things,” Chad Silver said Thursday on TODAY. They created their fundraiser with a $500 goal. "Two hours later, we had raised $14,000," said Silver, who has known Levitas since grade school.
Levitas has had to withdraw from school to return home for treatment. “I’m feeling incredible,” he said Thursday from his home outside of Chicago. Remembering the victims of the Newtown shooting. "Jessica loved everything about horses," her parents, Rich and Krista Rekos said in a statement after the shooting. "She devoted her free time to watching horse movies, reading horse books, drawing horses, and writing stories about horses.
" When she turned 10, they promised, she could have a horse of her own. For Christmas, she asked Santa for new cowgirl boots and hat. The Rekoses described their daughter as "a creative, beautiful little girl who loved playing with her little brothers, Travis and Shane. "She spent time writing in her journals, making up stories, and doing 'research' on orca whales — one of her passions after seeing the movie 'Free Willy' last year. " Jessica, first born in the family, "was our rock," the parents said. "We cannot imagine our life without her. "We are devastated, and our hearts are with the other families who are grieving as we are. " Chicago named U.S. murder capital by FBI stats. Flesh-eating drug makes appearance in Chicago suburb. By Haley BeMiller, NBCChicago.com A flesh-eating drug that became popular in Russia has made its way across the ocean and to a Chicago suburb.
Dr. Abhin Singla of Presence St. Joseph Medical Center said the Joliet, Ill., facility this week treated three patients who said they used the drug known as "krokodil. " The substance is similar to morphine, Singla said, and possesses some of the same properties as methamphetamine. However, it's cheaper to obtain, and like meth, users can make it with codeine and everyday products such as gasoline and paint thinner. Krokodil, which is the Russian word for crocodile, causes gangrene and abscesses on the user's body, Singla said, noting it has maimed his patients' arms and legs.
“It is a horrific way to get sick," he said. Singla said some cases are so serious that muscles and bones become visible. Krokodil originated in Russia, but made its first U.S. appearance in Arizona at the end of September. GOP demands negotiation as shutdown drags on. Week in Photos: Amazon natives, teenage wedding & more. Could it be Lincoln? Gettysburg photo stirs up a debate. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln stirred the soul of an embattled nation with the famous speech he delivered in Gettysburg, Pa. And now, 150 years later, Lincoln has again aroused passions by being spotted — possibly — in a stereoscopic photograph taken on the day of the Gettysburg Address.
But is Abe Lincoln really in the photo? And, if so, which of two images of a bearded man in a black stovepipe hat is Lincoln? These questions have set off a dust-up in the normally staid world of archival photography, according to Smithsonian magazine. Six years ago, John Richter, an amateur historian and director of the Center for Civil War Photography, magnified a stereograph taken by photographer Alexander Gardner on the day of Lincoln's now-famous Gettysburg speech. Richter's finding was celebrated as a rare gem of a photo, since only one other image of Lincoln is known to exist from that fateful day.
"For starters, the guy on the horse looks like a Cossack. Laces Out – NFL on FOX Blog. Laces Out Warren Sapp has some choice words for Jadeveon Clowney 7:11p ET| Posted by Sid Saraf The Hall of Famer apparently isn't a fan of the prospect's work ethic and said as much on Monday. Laces Out \ Laces Out \ NFL \ Home Jaguars LB suffered career-ending stroke during game 11:29a ET| Posted by Sid Saraf Russell Allen is just 27 years old, but a frightening injury has cut his time in pro football short. 'I'm done': Rolando McClain pulls the plug on comeback attempt 5:32p ET| Posted by Sid Saraf The one-time first-round pick has apparently decided that the NFL isn't for him and has called it quits. 'Johnny Jet Ski' shows off his hands while riding the waves 6:21p ET| Posted by Sid Saraf The incoming NFL rookie is busy showing off his special skills while on vacation.
Laces Out \ Laces Out \ NFL Draft \ NFL Pretty cool, eh? 1:49p ET| Posted by Sid Saraf The former NFL wide receiver finally found a way back into pro football as he signs a deal with the Montreal Alouettes. Social Buzz Maxim Hotties. Long, strange trip ending for VW's hippie van: Associated Press Business News. Second teen charged in WWII vet's murder fell in with 'wrong people,' family says. Handout / Reuters A second teenager was arrested Monday in the beating death of an 88-year-old World War II veteran in Spokane, Wash., and his family said he had "fallen in with the wrong crowd. " "He hung around with the wrong people and made the wrong choices," Odell Kinard said of his nephew, Kenan Adams-Kinard. "It's the summer and ain't nothing to do here. " Adams-Kinard, 16, spent four days on the run before he was nabbed and charged with first-degree murder for the slaying of Delbert "Shorty" Belton, whose death has drawn national attention.
Police said he will likely be tried as an adult. Another 16-year-old, Demetruis Glenn, was arrested last week, charged with first-degree murder as an adult, and ordered held in lieu of $2 million bond. "They did a horrendous thing and they need to pay the consequences," the victim's daughter-in-law, Barbara Belton, told NBC News. "They just kept hitting and hitting him," she said. "Race was not a factor.
"The family was helpful. Miss America winners through the years. Latinos Shine at the 2013 ALMA Awards (Photos) Dairy Queen worker's good deed goes viral. Good News Eun Kyung Kim TODAY Sep. 19, 2013 at 5:41 PM ET A Minnesota Dairy Queen manager is getting widespread kudos for an act of kindness that required giving one customer the deep freeze treatment after some questionable behavior. Joey Prusak had just finished serving one of his regular customers when the visually impaired man unknowingly dropped a $20 bill from his pocket. "She picked it up so quickly that I thought she was going to give it back but she just stood there and waited," Prusak told TODAY.com. Prusak, 19, said the experience left him feeling "violated. " That's when Prusak asked the woman to leave.
"She made a big scene, but I told her I couldn't serve her, so she stormed out," he said. "Everyone that was in the store at the time was kind of in shock. Not everyone. The customer sent the note to the owner of the store where Prusak has worked for the past five years, since he was 14. Colo. family 'proud' of missing dad who searched for wife in flood. On the show Eun Kyung Kim TODAY Sep. 18, 2013 at 8:22 AM ET Residents displaced by historic flooding in Colorado have started to return to their communities to assess the damage and piece together their lives. But the horrors of the past week continue for one Boulder family still searching for their father. Gerry Boland left his family home with Cheron, his wife of 54 years, after an order to evacuate was issued in the middle of the night. The couple took two cars and got separated on their way to the shelter, the school where Gerry had taught for 30 years.
“I guess he wanted to see if I went home,” Cheron told NBC’s Kate Snow. That prompted Cheron to go look for her husband. “I had to be rescued at the other edge of town,” she said. Read: Colorado floods: How to help Rescue crews came to her aid in the only vehicle that could reach her, a front-loader. “Two or three people got out in wetsuits, put a life jacket on me and sat me on the seat in all the mud and away we went,” she said. Police ID mystery boy who donated savings of $10.03. Good News Brooke Lefferts TODAY contributor Sep. 17, 2013 at 11:41 AM ET An 11-year-old boy's anonymous donation to his local police department captured the heart of his community and is inspiring others.
Police wanted to thank him for it — but first they had to do a little detective work. Two days after the 12th anniversary of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, a boy walked into his local police station in Greenfield, Wis., and shook more than $10 in loose change out of his bag. He told the woman at the desk he wanted to make a donation to the police, but walked out before she could get his name. "You don't expect that every day: Little guy to walk in and throw up his change," Brittany Eickhorst, who was working at the desk, told NBC News. Touched by the offering, Greenfield police wanted to thank the mystery boy. "We've learned our mystery donor is 11-year-old Max," the police department's Facebook post said.
"If every person would do that, we would have such a great world," Max said. "