Alexis Wright Zumba Instructor In Prostitution Scandal Sentenced To 10 ...

ALFRED Maine A Zumba fitness instructor at the center of a prostitution scandal featuring sex videos adultery and more than 100 clients told a judge who sentenced her Friday to 10 months in jail that she's happy to have escaped her former life.

Sniffling and fighting back tears Alexis Wright said she felt relief when police raided her business on Feb. 12 2012 because she wanted out.

In my eyes I'm free. I'm free from this she told the judge. I have an incredible amount of strength that I knew was in me somewhere. Now that I have the strength I want to encourage others to come forward. I want them to know that there's at least one person out there who'll believe their story no matter how crazy it seems.

The former single mother was accused of conspiring with insurance business owner Mark Strong to run a prostitution business in which she videotaped clients without their knowledge and kept detailed records over an 18 month period indicating she made $150 000 tax free. She also collected more than $40 000 in public assistance.

In an odd twist to the already strange case the defense said in a court document that Wright became part of Strong's private investigation firm and was manipulated into believing she was an operative working for the state with the task of investigating all manner of sexual deviants.

Her attorney Sarah Churchill said Friday that Wright coached by Strong thought she was investigating sex even as she was getting paid large sums of money by clients.

Churchill said self deception is a coping mechanism for women involved in prostitution.

Because of her trauma history it makes her more easily manipulated she said. As this all unravels and charges are brought you look back on it like everybody does you say to yourself What was I thinking How did I fall into this ' You just don't see it while you're in the middle of it.

Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan however said investigators continue to believe Wright was a willing participant in the prostitution business.

The state believes she and Mark Strong were equal partners and that she played an active role in the operation she told reporters.

The scandal in the seaside town of Kennebunk known for its sea captain's mansions beaches and New England charm became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients some of them prominent. So far those who have been charged include a former mayor a high school hockey coach a minister a lawyer and a firefighter.

So far 68 accused clients have been charged and more than half have been convicted McGettigan said. Another 40 remain under investigation she said.

Churchill told the judge that the defendant had a difficult childhood she witnessed domestic violence and suffered sexual abuse before becoming an exotic dancer and meeting Strong. She said Strong used her troubled background to manipulate her.

The 30 year old Wright was sentenced under a plea agreement to 20 counts including prostitution conspiracy tax evasion and theft by deception. Afterward she was led from court to begin serving her sentence at a county jail.

Wright was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the plea agreement were misdemeanors including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud. Under the agreement prosecutors will seek restitution of $57 280.54.

Strong 57 of Thomaston was convicted of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and was sentenced to 20 days in jail. The married father of two acknowledged having an affair with Wright.

On Friday Wright looked back at her husband whom she married last year before addressing the judge telling her it was incredibly nauseating to hear Strong speak in the media of their relationship as one of love and friendship.

Wright said she was relieved that the relationship ended. These actions were not taken because I wanted to. I did not feel I was in a position to choose she said.

She said she intends to make good on her vow to help others.

When I'm out I'm going to pursue helping people fight through situations that are similar to mine she said. I'm optimistic that something good will come out of this.

Wright's husband Jayson Trowbridge left without speaking to reporters. But he gave a statement to the judge describing his wife as a good mother who was anguished over her actions and explaining that he was there for her.

My vow of marriage was a choice to stand up for her when she couldn't find the strength to stand up for herself he wrote.

After agreeing to the plea bargain Justice Nancy Mills had words of encouragement for Wright.

Based on what you have to say and what I know about you from your attorney I know that you will succeed when you're released and that you will prevail. I wish you success Mills said.

___

Follow David Sharp at http //twitter.com/David_Sharp_AP

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Loading Slideshow Alexis Wright

FILE In this March 13 2013 file photo Alexis Wright 30 leaves the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland Maine. Whether Wright's tale makes it to the small screen remains to be seen but there is nothing specifically in state law _ and nothing in the plea bargain she reached with prosecutors _ that prevents Wright from selling her story whether in the form of an interview a book or a script. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty File)

FILE In this Oct. 12 2012 file photo a sign is seen near a marina in Kennebunk Maine. Alexis Wright 29 is accused of operating a prostitution business out of her Zumba studio in Kennebunk secretly videotaping her encounters and keeping meticulous records of her clients. Police plan to release more than 100 names little by little over the next several weeks. The warning has set off a flurry of rumors among residents who say they ve heard the list might include lawyers doctors law enforcement officials and a television personality.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Alexis Wright

FILE In this March 13 2013 file photo Alexis Wright 30 leaves the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland Maine. Wright a Zumba fitness instructor who pleaded guilty to using her Maine studio as a front for prostitution is due to be sentenced Friday May 31 2013 bringing to an end a scandal featuring sex videos exhibitionism and pornography. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty File)

Alexis Wright

FILE In this Oct. 9 2012 file photo Zumba fitness instructor Alexis Wright turns towards her attorney Sarah Churchill left during her arraignment in Portland Maine on 109 counts including prostitution violation of privacy and tax evasion for allegedly providing sex for money at her Kennebunk fitness studio and office. In the trial of her business partner Mark Strong Sr. the jury watched a video Thursday Feb. 28 2013 showing a sexual encounter between Wright and a man who left cash on her massage table. Strong is charged with 13 counts that relate to promoting prostitution. He contends he had an affair with Wright and helped her launch her Pura Vida dance studio in Kennebunk Maine but his lawyer has said he was unaware of any paid sex. (AP Photo/Joel Page File)

A pizzeria worker is interviewed by a TV crew in front of the former fitness studio where prostitution has been alledged to have occured in Kennebunk Maine Friday Oct. 12 2012. The police department's plan to release some of the more than 150 names of suspected clients was delayed Friday by last minute legal wrangling. Alexis Wright a 29 year old fitness instructor from Wells Maine has pleaded not guilty to prostitution invasion of privacy and other charges for allegedly accepting money for sex and secretly videotaping her encounters. Her business partner Mark Strong Sr. a 57 year old insurance agent and private investigator from Thomaston Maine pleaded not guilty to 59 misdemeanor charges.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Mark Srong Sr. Julie Strong

Mark Strong Sr. listens as Justice Nancy Mills discusses Strong's sentencing at Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court in Portland Me. on Thursday March 21 2013. Strong was sentenced to 20 days in jail and ordered to pay $3 000 for his role promoting a prostitution business with Alexis Wright in Kennebunk Maine. (AP Photo/Portland Press Herald Gregory Rec Pool)

Alexis Wright appears with her attorney Sarah Churchill Friday March 29 2013 in Cumberland County Court in Portland Maine. Wright a dance instructor accused of using her Zumba fitness studio as a front for prostitution pleaded guilty Friday to 20 counts in a scandal that captivated a quiet seaside town. (AP Photo/Portland Press Herald John Ewing Pool)

Mark Strong Sr.

FILE In this Jan. 18 2013 file photo Mark Strong Sr. leaves the Cumberland County Court House in Portland Maine. Emails and text messages between Alexis Wright and Mark Strong Sr. were obtained Tuesday April 16 2013 through a records request by the Portland Press Herald. The communications included spreadsheets Wright used to keep track of her clients that included names dates times sex acts and payments. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty File)

Alexis Wright listens to Justice Nancy Mills during her sentencing hearing at York County Superior Court in Alfred Maine on Friday May 31 2013. Wright was sentenced under a plea agreement to 20 counts including prostitution conspiracy tax evasion and theft by deception. Wright 30 was accused of conspiring with an insurance business owner to run a prostitution business in which she videotaped clients without their knowledge and kept detailed records over an 18 month period indicating she made $150 000 tax free. She also collected more than $40 000 in public assistance. (AP Photo/Portland Press Herald Gregory Rec Pool)

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Storm hits Oklahoma City area

Updated June 1 2013 1 08 AM ET

OKLAHOMA CITY Tornadoes rolled in from the prairie and slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs Friday trapping people in their vehicles as a storm swept down an interstate highway while commuters tried to beat it home.

A mother and her baby were killed but meteorologists who had warned about particularly nasty weather said the storm's fury didn't match that of a deadly twister that struck suburban Moore last week. Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area ripping the roof off a suburban casino.

About 50 people were hurt five critically hospital officials said.

A tornado touches down near El Reno Okla. Friday May 31 2013 causing damage to structures and injuring travelers on Interstate 40.

/ The Omaha World Herald AP Photo Chris Machian

Friday's broad storm hit during the evening rush hour and stuck around causing havoc on Interstate 40 a major artery connecting suburbs east and west of the city and dropping so much rain on the area that streets were flooded to a depth of 4 feet.

To the south a severe storm with winds approaching 80 mph rolled into Moore where a top of the scale EF5 tornado killed 24 on May 20.

Rick Smith the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Norman said that while the storm packed a powerful punch it wasn't as strong as the Moore tornado.

This storm had everything you could handle at one time tornadoes hail lightning heavy rain people clogging the highways Smith said.

The region was fortunate because the storm touched down mostly in rural areas and missed central Oklahoma City.

It's not even close to anything like what we had last week Smith said. We were very concerned this would move into downtown. It would have been a major problem. It made all the difference that it was out in the country.

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What factors led to lives being saved in this week's tornadoes

CBS News weather consultant David Bernard reported Friday evening that unfortunately we have those tornado watches in some of the same places we've had them from the last couple of nights. Most of them right now are located in Oklahoma also into southeastern Kansas and a good chunk of southwestern and central Missouri numerous severe thunderstorms ongoing right now also a severe thunderstorm watch covering eastern Minnesota and a good portion of northern and central portions of Wisconsin.

Looking ahead to Saturday Bernard continued we have a wide area of potential severe weather extending from central and north Texas right through the Missouri River valley into the Midwest as far north as Michigan and extending as far east it looks like as portions of Ohio.

The U.S. averages more than 1 200 tornadoes a year and most are relatively small. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950 Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most seven times each.

Heavy rain and hail hampered rescue efforts in Oklahoma City. Frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the main threat had moved east. Highways and streets were clogged late into the night as motorists worked their way around flooded portions of the city.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said troopers found the bodies of a woman and an infant near their vehicle. Randolph said it's not known if the woman was driving into the storm when it hit around 7 p.m. Friday.

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Violent weather takes aim at heart of America

Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the area along I 40 and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. Troopers requested a number of ambulances at I 40 near Yukon west of Oklahoma City.

We're scrambling around said Lara O'Leary a spokeswoman for the local ambulance agency. There is very low visibility with the heavy rain ... so we're having trouble getting around.

Our big concern is to get people off the highways and get them safe Gov. Mary Fallin told CNN.

Standing water was several feet deep and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado.

In Missouri the combination of high water and fallen power lines closed dozen of roads snarling traffic on highways and side streets in the St. Louis area. At the Hollywood Casino in suburban of Maryland Heights gamblers rushed from the floor as a storm blew out windows and tore off part of the roof.

Rich Gordon of Jefferson City said he was on the casino floor when he heard a loud boom.

I didn't know if it was lightning or what but it was loud Gordon said.

In Oklahoma storm chasers with cameras in their cars transmitted video showing a number of funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and into Oklahoma City just south of downtown. Police urged motorists to leave I 40 and seek a safe place.

I'm in a car running from the tornado said Amy Sharp who last week pulled her fourth grade daughter from the Plaza Towers Elementary School as a storm approached with 210 mph winds. I'm in Norman and it just hit Yukon where I was staying since last week's storm.

Parts of Oklahoma City experience extreme flooding after multiple tornado's passed through Central Okla. on Friday May 31 2013 in Oklahoma City.

/ AP Photo/Nick Oxford

I'm with my children who wanted their mother out of that town Sharp said her voice quivering with emotion.

At Will Rogers World Airport southwest of Oklahoma City passengers were directed into underground tunnels and flights were canceled. However people near the area said they weren't aware of any damage.

Television cameras showed debris falling from the sky west of Oklahoma City and power transformers being knocked out by high winds across a wider area.

As the storm bore down on suburban Oklahoma City Adrian Lillard 28 of The Village went to the basement of her mother's office building with a friend her nieces nephews and two dogs.

My brother's house was in Moore so it makes you take more immediate action Lillard said while her young nieces played on a blanket on the floor of the parking garage. We brought toys and snacks to try our best to keep them comfortable.

Well before Oklahoma's first thunderstorms fired up at late afternoon the Storm Prediction Center in Norman was already forecasting a violent evening. From the Texas border to near Joplin Mo. residents were told to keep an eye to the sky and an ear out for sirens.

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Watch These Instead

May 31 2013

From The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier and exec producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek Transformers) comes Now You See Me a caper about dogged but outsmarted FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) who's pitted in a game of cat and mouse with a crew of illusionist thieves.

Calling themselves The Four Horsemen J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) Merritt (Woody Harrelson) Henley (Isla Fisher) and Jack (Dave Franco) are a hugely successful Vegas magic act who begin to pull off daring seemingly unbelievable heists much to the delight of audiences and the chagrin of the FBI and Rhodes' Interpol liaison (Melanie Laurent). There's also a tycoon (Michael Caine) who is victimized by the Four Horsemen as well as a former magician turned mythbuster (Morgan Freeman) who the FBI may or may not be able to trust.

Now You See Me is like a run of the mill Vegas magic act all razzle dazzle and superficiality with precious little that will resonate once you leave the theater. It's all sleight of hand but it's not nearly as good at it as it would like to believe. Worse the film's so caught up in being clever that its WTF plot contrivances continually pull you of it.

The revelations about a certain character calls into question whatever logic the movie had been trying to employ until that point. Again it thinks it's being clever by doing this but it's actually extraordinarily dumb and flimsy. Only the solid cast manages to keep you somewhat interested in what's an otherwise shell game of a story.

But even a high wattage cast like this can only do so much especially when their characters are all so damn smarmy. Seldom has there been a movie so cluttered with one dimensional smug jerks if the tools from Entourage were a Vegas magic act they'd be these guys. Even Morgan Freeman comes across like a giant d bag here.

Eisenberg has amped up his Social Network persona to the Nth degree here while Franco and Fisher are mostly relegated to utilitarian purposes. Caine does what he can with his brief role while Laurent is bland and wooden. Only Ruffalo and Harrelson end up being appealing the former his usual earnest everyman self and the latter the most likable and legitimately gifted of the Four Horsemen.

The film's first half is pretty much nonstop camera movement and wall to wall score so much so that when the film finally pauses for an actual conversation scene between Ruffalo and Laurent it feels jarring and stylistically incongruous. It's as if Leterrier thought if he just kept you distracted and disoriented long enough you wouldn't realize how little the movie actually has up its sleeve.

Overall Now You See Me offers a few nifty magic act sequences but it's a noteworthy disappointment given the pedigree of talent involved.

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After Earth Will Smiths Parenting Movie

It s not giving away too much to explain that the futuristic technology (which is imagined thinly but with verve) involves a Naviband a device strapped to Kitai s forearm that allows Cypher to see everything taking place around the young man and to communicate with him in effect a super cell phone and that the drama kicks into high gear when it s disabled and Kitai has to make his way through Earth s dangers on his own. The future features advanced versions of other contemporary child safety paraphernalia such as the EpiPen and the asthma inhaler.

Kitai s journey of initiation subject to a set of rules (each inhaler lasts twenty to twenty four hours he has six inhalers each leg of the journey takes a certain amount of time ) plays out like a live action video game and as the movie progresses new rules present new challenges their changing demands even posted on screen in the protagonists video arrays. Whether or not the similarity is intended it s worth noting as I discovered just now by clicking around on IMDb that the co scenarist Whitta was editor of PC Gamer for several years as well as a writer for the games Prey and The Walking Dead. It s an aesthetically neutral matter regarding the film (though these elements do seem foregrounded in a way that is occasionally unintentionally comical) but I wonder if there s an actual After Earth game on its way. I suspect it would be a lot more fun than the movie itself.

After Earth is also an allegory of the family business a public affirmation that Will Smith is yielding the spotlight to Jaden and letting him run free as an actor. Since Jaden spends much of his time on screen as the only person in the frame the responsibility of performance does fall squarely on his young shoulders.

Unfortunately Jaden though agile and skillful isn t a charismatic actor he doesn t put a lot of personality into the part and he doesn t have a deft way with the dialogue. Meanwhile Will Smith doesn t give himself very much to do and what he does do is close to a parody of set jawed war movie determination. As drama After Earth offers no surprises as action it s rarely stimulating (there s exactly one shot from Kitai s point of view as he s being dragged to safety by a hidden benefactor that reflects visual imagination) as a parenting manual it seems that Will has thrown Jaden into water that s a little too deep. For all the free range plotting Will does play a large role in the movie suggesting all too clearly that Jaden isn t quite ready to go as far out on his own as the story suggests Kitai must.

Of course it s too soon to tell what kind of acting chops what kind of allure beyond the childhood cuteness of The Karate Kid Jaden Smith has. He may prove to be formidable but I suspect that to become so he ll need to work in a wider range of movies perhaps a smaller scale movies that allow him to cultivate on screen relationships with a variety of actors including ones his own age and away from his father s spotlight and counsel.

As for Shyamalan his direction is impersonal efficient and clean even too clean resulting in an action film that doesn t move. It s worth comparing his blandly clear images with the kinetic frenzy that the director Gary Ross working with the cinematographer Tom Stern created for The Hunger Games. I wonder whether the placid stolidity of After Earth is intended to showcase the actors as if in a picture gallery a sort of favor returned or service rendered. (Andrew Stewart reports in Variety that It was Will Smith who hand picked Shyamalan to direct After Earth. )

I ve seen a couple of reports (here and here) speculating that After Earth is inspired by Scientology. I don t know about that but I do know that Will Smith performs with an unappealing and constrained earnestness. The movie offers no trace of Will Smith the mercurial and hearty comedian or Will Smith the introspective and fierce dramatic actor of Ali. I have no idea whether it s dogma paternal sentimentality or mere actorly choice that burdens him in After Earth but the result is the diminution of a superb performer his self reduced to a celebrity emblem that advertises the movie from within.

Credit After Earth Official Site.

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Mookie Blaylock in critical condition after car accident

Mookie Blaylock shown in 1996 is most known for his time with the Hawks in the mid 1990s.(Photo NBA)

JONESBORO Ga. Former NBA All Star guard Daron Mookie Blaylock was in critical condition at a hospital Friday after his SUV crossed the center line and crashed head on into a van in suburban Atlanta police said.

Blaylock was driving in Jonesboro on Friday when he crashed. He was airlifted to the Atlanta Medical Center in critical condition Clayton County police spokesman Clarence Cox says.

Blaylock was taken off life support shortly after 8 p.m. ET and remains in guarded but critical condition.

Cox says the man and woman riding in the van were also taken to the medical center.

Late Friday night WXIA in Atlanta reported that the woman in the van died. Monica Murphy 41 of Gwinnett County died around 10 p.m. ET.

Blaylock was an All Star in 1994 with the Atlanta Hawks for whom he played seven seasons.

He began his career as the No. 12 overall pick out of Oklahoma in the 1989 NBA draft for the New Jersey Nets where he played his first three seasons. Blaylock retired with the Golden State Warriors whom he also played three years for after 13 NBA seasons.

He averaged 13.5 points 6.7 assists and 2.3 steals over 889 games. He made the NBA's all defensive teams six times in the 1990s.

At Oklahoma Blaylock helped the Sooners to reach the 1988 NCAA title game where they lost to Kansas.

Blaylock has twin sons playing football for the University of Kentucky.

Contributing The Associated Press Holly Pennebaker of 11Alive a Gannett owned NBC affiliate in Atlanta.

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Storm brings tornadoes dumps heavy rain on Oklahoma Missouri

Are you there Stay safe and send iReport your photos and video.

(CNN) A storm system that wrought havoc on the Oklahoma City metropolitan area generating a handful of tornadoes that killed a mother and a child and sent tens of thousands scrambling for shelter moved late Friday over Missouri.

The National Weather Service warned a confirmed and extremely dangerous tornado was near the city of Harvester about 25 miles northwest of St. Louis.

There were no immediate reports of catastrophic damage or major injuries in the St. Louis area said Jeff Rainford the chief of staff for Mayor Francis Slay. Lambert St. Louis International Airport was closed because of the severe weather and minor damage was reported to a terminal he said.

As authorities in Missouri urged people to take shelter officials in Oklahoma were working to determine how many people had been killed and injured in the storm that battered the state's largest city.

Watch as tornado nears ground in OK

A mother and a child were killed as a result of severe weather and another 14 were injured said Brooke Cayot of Integris Canadian Valley Hospital in suburban Yukon. Of those being treated at the hospital three were in critical condition she said.

At the height of the storm the National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for a number of areas in and around Oklahoma's capital city with tornadoes reported outside Moore near the suburb of Bethany north of Union City and outside Tinker Air Force Base.

Parts of Interstates 35 and 40 which cut through Oklahoma City and Moore were a parking lot the weather service said warning that those caught in the heavy rush hour traffic are in danger.

We've got a nightmare situation going on right now Betsy Randolph a state Highway Patrol spokeswoman told CNN.

They are essentially sitting ducks on the interstate.

Overturned big rigs and cars littered portions of the roadway and thousands more were believed to be stuck in the traffic.

My biggest concern right now is the traffic that is out on the highway right now Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said.

She said she has called out the National Guard the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the state Office of Emergency Management to try to get the traffic moving and get people to shelter.

The weather service issued the tornado emergency for Oklahoma City as well as its suburbs of Moore Yukon and Bethany.

Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport was evacuated over the threat from the approaching tornado and travelers were sheltered in the airport's basement at the height of the storm authorities said.

They are now in the process of slowly allowing people out of their shelter. They are bringing employees up now and then the passengers will be able to come up once the terminal is properly staffed said Karen Carney a spokeswoman for the airport.

Right now the airport has no power. Without power they probably will not be able to allow passengers into the secure areas of the airport. But they obviously can't allow any takeoffs and landings without power either.

Even those in the National Weather Center a building on the University of Oklahoma campus with tenants that include the National Severe Storms Laboratory and NOAA's Storm Prediction Center have been urged to stay away from windows due to potential for 80 90 mph winds according to a tweet from weather service's Norman office which also is based in the building.

Police and firefighters were responding to reports of damage in El Reno just outside Union City but it was not immediately known how bad the damage was Mayor Matt White said.

Authorities were urging people in the path of the tornado to take immediate cover and Fallin was urging residents not to take any risks.

In Moore where a massive tornado leveled much of the city this month Mayor Glenn Lewis said it was unimaginable that the city was in the path of another tornado.

A reported tornado moved four miles northwest of Moore according to the National Weather Service forecasters and storm spotters.

The storm was so fierce that the Weather Channel's Mike Bettes known for his on the ground severe weather reports said his Tornado Hunt vehicle was thrown about 200 yards.

Airbags deployed. All are safe Bettes said in a post on Twitter.

More than 50 000 customers were without power by early Friday evening in the Oklahoma City area because of severe weather the Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. said.

More than half the city of Mustang 17 miles south of Oklahoma City was without power Mustang Fire Chief Roy Widmann said.

CNN's Joe Sutton Jennifer Feldman Chandler Friedman and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

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Mookie Blaylock Stable Following Car Crash

'Mookie' Blaylock Stable Following Car Crash

JONESBORO Ga. Former NBA All Star guard Daron Mookie Blaylock was in critical condition at a hospital Friday after his SUV crossed the center line and crashed head on into a van in suburban Atlanta police said.

Enlarge

Blaylock was driving in Jonesboro on Friday when he crashed and was airlifted to the Atlanta Medical Center in critical condition said Clayton County police spokesman Clarence Cox.

Blaylock originally was on life support but by Friday night he was taken off it yet remained in guarded but critical condition police told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

According to the newspaper a family member told police that Blaylock from Dallas has been under treatment for seizures.

Jonesboro Police Chief Franklin Allen said late Friday that 43 year old Monica Murphy a passenger in the van died just before 10 p.m. Allen said her husband 41 year old Frankie Murphy sustained a broken ankle and was released from the hospital after undergoing treatment.

The 46 year old Blaylock was a first round draft pick by the New Jersey Nets out of Oklahoma in 1989.

He played for the Atlanta Hawks from 1992 99 appeared in the 1994 NBA All Star Game and had his best season in 1996 97 averaging 17.4 points and 5.9 assists

Our thoughts are with Mookie Blaylock who is in the hospital tonight after a car crash the Hawks tweeted.

In 13 NBA seasons with New Jersey Atlanta and Golden State Blaylock averaged 13.5 points and 6.2 assists.

Prayers out to Mookie Blaylock and his family Big fan of his as a kid PG NBAFamily Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul tweeted.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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The latest on severe weather around Oklahoma City

(CNN) As they dug out from deadly twisters that ravaged the Oklahoma City metropolitan area with the suburb of Moore being hardest hit people there suffered through yet another powerful storm Friday.

The National Weather Service reported numerous tornadoes around the area. The agency also noted there was a confirmed and extremely dangerous tornado around St. Louis Missouri.

Latest developments

The two people reported dead at Integris Canadian Valley Hospital in Yukon are a mother and a child Integris Health's Brooke Cayot said. She said that hospital received 14 patients three of them critical.

Part of Interstate 40 was shut down because of among other problems high floodwaters Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokeswoman Betsy Randolph said Friday night. Downed power lines also crossed that and other major roads.

More than 170 000 customers are without power Friday night throughout the Midwest including in Oklahoma and Missouri after severe weather rocked the region.

Previously reported developments

The tornado emergency issued by the National Weather Service on Friday night included Oklahoma City and Moore the community devastated by a deadly tornado earlier this month. A tornado emergency means that a large destructive tornado is moving into a densely populated area and widespread damage and fatalities are likely.

The National Weather Service also declared a tornado emergency for parts of the western Oklahoma City metropolitan area that includes the suburbs of Yukon and Bethany.

All tornado warnings and tornado emergencies for the Oklahoma City area had expired as of 9 p.m. (10 p.m. ET) according to the National Weather Service. Flash flood warnings remained in effect for much of the area.

The National Weather Service reported a confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado ... located near St. Charles in Missouri at 8 06 p.m. (9 06 p.m. ET). St. Charles is about 25 miles northwest of St. Louis. This twister was moving east at 50 mph.

Those in Norman home to the University of Oklahoma should expect 80 90 mph winds and embedded tornadoes the National Weather Service warned. Take your tornado precautions RIGHT NOW

Those in the National Weather Center a building on the University of Oklahoma campus with tenants that include the National Severe Storms Laboratory and NOAA's Storm Prediction Center have been urged to stay away from windows due to potential for 80 90 mph winds according to a tweet from staff at the National Weather Service's Norman office which also is based in the building.

Some 50 000 customers in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area were without power at about 8 p.m. Friday (9 p.m. ET) Oklahoma Gas and Electric reported.

There were reports at 7 48 p.m. (8 48 p.m. ET) of a tornado near Tuttle which is about 25 miles southwest of Oklahoma City the National Weather Service said. The twister was moving east southeast at 25 mph.

A confirmed tornado has been spotted four miles northwest of Moore the National Weather Service said. This tornado is moving east southeast at 30 mph.

Sometime later Mayor Glenn Lewis said Moore was experiencing major flooding due to torrential rains.

A tornado reportedly touched down seven miles south of Calumet Oklahoma near El Reno on Friday the National Weather Service said.

There is a developing tornado south of Del City Oklahoma that is moving toward Tinker Air Force Base the National Weather Service said Friday night. The base is about nine miles east of Oklahoma City.

An 87 mph wind gust was recorded at the air force base the National Weather Service tweeted.

The National Weather Service tweeted Friday night that severe weather will threaten the Women's College World Series the NCAA's softball championship and an Oklahoma City Redhawks minor league baseball game in the next hour.

The National Weather Service said Friday night that there is a serious flash flooding threat in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Do not drive into areas where water covers the road the service tweeted.

The National Weather Service described parts of Interstate 35 as a parking lot and said that those in traffic are in danger. Please try to get to a building or safe shelter the service tweeted as severe weather moved through the Oklahoma City area.

Multiple tractor trailers have overturned on Interstate 40 in Canadian County which is west of Oklahoma City and includes the city of El Reno due to severe weather said Keri Mankey of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

We are desperately asking people to abandon Interstate 40 and head east or south because of severe weather there Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said. She said there are reports of injuries and authorities are trying to get people to local hospitals. We're in a desperate situation Randolph said. It's dire right now.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said authorities are trying to do everything we can to get the traffic moving on interstates crammed with vehicles in the severe weather. We've got to get people off the highways Fallin said. Warning signs were put out around 4 p.m. advising people about the threat of tornadoes.

Interstate 35 from Purcell north toward Oklahoma City was shut to traffic later Friday night due to severe weather said Randolph. We have got just a nightmare situation right now Randolph said of the scene on I 35 and Interstate 40.

A new tornado has been reported just east of Will Rogers World Airport the National Weather Service tweeted on Friday night.

A National Weather Service sensor at the Oklahoma City airport recorded a 71 mph wind gust. The airport has been evacuated because of the threat of tornadoes.

Sometime after 9 p.m. the airport still had no power airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said. Workers were then in the process of allowing people out from where they had taken shelter due to a tornado threat. Carney said she did not know whether anything including planes and terminals had been damaged.

National Weather Service forecasters and storm spotters in Oklahoma were tracking a large and extremely dangerous tornado six miles southwest of El Reno moving southeast at about 20 mph according to an advisory.

El Reno Mayor Matt White said police and firefighters are checking for damage from a reported tornado but it's not clear how bad things are because the city's cell phone towers are knocked out. Half the city of Mustang is without power but there were no immediate reports of damage there said Roy Widmann of that city's fire department. El Reno is about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City Mustang is 17 miles southwest of that city.

At about 8 15 p.m. (9 15 p.m. ET) the National Weather Service tweeted that the tornado threat is decreasing in and around Oklahoma City. May see brief weak tornadoes along leading edge of storms pushing southeast.

Discussing how his city fared as severe weather rolled through Friday Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett told CNN We feel relatively fortunate but the night's young.

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Floyd Mayweather to fight Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 14

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (gold) celebrates with his father Floyd Sr. after a May 4 win over Robert Guerrero (AP)

Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez agreed to terms late Wednesday to fight in a WBA/WBC super welterweight unification bout. The match will be held at a maximum weight of 152 pounds and will be at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

Showtime will distribute the pay per view.

The bout is arguably the most significant that can be made from a pay per view standpoint. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said he thinks the fight has a chance to surpass the 2.5 million sales that Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya generated in 2007 to set the record.Canelo Alvarez celebrates an April 20 win over Austin Trout (AP)

Mayweather 36 will be fighting just four months after a 12 round decision over Robert Guerrero on May 4. Mayweather hasn't fought twice in a four month period since 2001 when he met Diego Corrales on Jan. 20 and then fought Carlos Hernandez on May 26.

Floyd wanted to give the fans what they wanted to see and this is the fight the fans and the media were calling for said Leonard Ellerbe the CEO of Mayweather Promotions. Nobody believed him but Floyd stood up there at the podium at the post fight news conference after the win over Guerrero and told everyone he'd be back in September.

Canelo is a good young fighter but he's bitten off more than he can chew. Floyd said 'I'm going to whip that ass.' This is a whole other level we're talking about.

Asked if he saw any way that Mayweather could lose Ellerbe said Impossible.

Related Can Floyd Mayweather Jr. be considered an all time great

Alvarez who will be 23 in July is unbeaten like Mayweather though he has one draw blemishing his record. Mayweather is a perfect 44 0 while Alvarez is 42 0 1 with 30 knockouts. He respects Mayweather but said he won't be intimidated and thinks he'll win.

He's a great fighter but I have intelligence in that ring and I have the same speed he has Alvarez said through interpreter Eric Gomez. I can use my head but I have that special thing I have some power that will help me.

Ellerbe said Mayweather was always focused on making a deal with Alvarez and said no other opponents had been discussed.

Top Rank president Todd duBoef said he will move his fight card featuring a super lightweight title match between Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley Jr. originally planned for Sept. 14 at the Thomas Mack Center in Las Vegas to Oct. 14 so as not to conflict with the Mayweather Alvarez fight.

Also the LVH sports book in Las Vegas opened Mayweather as a slightly better than 2 1 favorite. It has Mayweather at minus 250 and Alvarez at plus 210.

Related Mayweather Alvarez video on Yahoo Sports

More popular boxing stories on Yahoo Sports Floyd Mayweather Jr. handles Robert Guerrero in easy decision win Manny Pacquiao to fight Brandon Rios in China on Nov. 24 Shane Mosley wants to chase another world title so don't ask him to retire Andre Ward tells WBC to get lost hopefully he's the first of many

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Did player mutiny lead to Rangers firing John Tortorella

John Tortorella instructs his bench against Boston. (USATSI)

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When asked what the reason why John Tortorella was fired as coach of the New York Rangers GM Glen Sather didn't say much other than to say there wasn't any one particular thing. That's because he couldn't say the players told him to.

If there is any truth to the abundance of rumors circulating the day after the gruff coach was given the boot on Broadway that seems to be what most precipitated the decision. One of those rumors/reports comes from Larry Brooks of the New York Post saying things changed dramatically when Sather had his exit interviews with the players.

The Rangers players had had enough of the coach and they said so during their exit meetings on Monday. Sources have confirmed Sather had no intention of dismissing Tortorella in the wake of the team's second round elimination by the Bruins until a critical mass of players informed the GM that the coach's overbearing personality had become a roadblock to success.

When Henrik Lundqvist told the press Monday he would need time to think about committing his future to the Rangers that was the tip of the iceberg. The franchise goaltender did not sing an executioner's song but we've learned that he was troubled enough by what had become a deteriorating dynamic between the coach and his teammates that he believed it was necessary to give voice to it.

We're told that though there were no ultimatums issued by the players the overwhelming sentiment was that Tortorella had become the problem rather than the solution for the Rangers who are now going on 20 years and 19 seasons since their last Stanley Cup in 1994.

Before you go thinking that this is just coming from some kind of ax that Brooks has to grind with Tortorella two guys who had some verbal sparring matches over the years it was pretty much echoed by Pat Leonard of New York's Daily News. Not to mention Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada tweeted very soon after the firing that Lundqvist's comments changed everything.

There is plenty of smoke to see the fire here.

Torts firedTortorella not the only problem in New York

Everybody sees the Tortorella in the media who is occasionally pleasant but most often surly and blunt. He apparently is pretty much the same guy behind the closed doors because the act definitely seems to have worn thin. Sather referred to coaches all having shelf lives in his comments on Wednesday and that's certainly true for a guy like Tortorella who is so demanding and rough around the edges. That eventually can get tiresome for the players.

Just to add a little more credence to the idea of Tortorella not being every player's favorite coach here is a sampling of a few of his former players' thoughts after he was fired. That would be Marian Gaborik who was treated like a scapegoat under Tortorella until he was traded to Columbus and Matthew Barnaby who played for him with Tampa Bay.

Everything happens for a reason...

Marian Gaborik ( MGaborik10) May 29 2013

Torts is awful to play for. A good guy away from the rink but NO fun at all to be around. Very smart hockey guy but I played for him and ugh

Matthew Barnaby ( MattBarnaby3636) May 29 2013

The players' pushing for Tortorella's exit would seem to obviously be more than just the tip of the iceberg here but it is also a move that probably isn't made if the Rangers had found a little more success. But when you have a near mutiny on your hands you have little choice if you're Sather than to make Tortorella walk the plank.

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Why wasnt the Boston Strong benefit concert televised

By Doug Most Globe Staff

Healing in the Heartland the relief benefit concert Wednesday night starring Vince Gill Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton raised more than $6 million to assist Oklahoma tornado victims.

Boston Strong the benefit concert held Thursday night for the Boston Marathon bombings victims and highlighted by appearances from Aerosmith the J. Geils Band New Kids on the Block James Taylor and Carole King is projected to raise around $1.5 million about one quarter of the Oklahoma effort.

Two tragedies two sold out benefit concerts. One difference Oklahoma s was viewable on a live webstream and on NBC TV encouraging people watching at home to call in and make pledges. Boston s was watchable only on a spotty webstream and could be heard only on SiriusXM Radio and on Friday people used social media to voice outrage at not being able to see a concert benefiting a local tragedy.

Really irritating that BostonStrong concert is not on television read a tweet from Suzanne Morse one of many complaining voices on the subject.

Don Law president of Live Nation New England and the man who pulled the Boston Strong concert together from lining up the artists and getting them hotel rooms to securing the TD Garden for no fee told the Globe Friday he could not get a TV station to underwrite the costs which he estimated at $500 000. And when he lined up a major corporate sponsor instead to pay for the broadcast the sponsor backed out at the last minute. Law declined to identify the sponsor.

We were going to do it he said of televising the event. He said it would have raised more money because more people would have watched it and been encouraged to phone in pledges.

At a press conference Thursday before the event Law explained that logistics were the main reason the event was not televised. He said configuring the arena to accommodate a TV production from seating to lighting is more complicated than a simple live stream on the web.

Whatever the reason Boston s concert was not televised it s clear that Oklahoma s concert in the aftermath of a tornado that killed two dozen and injured many more benefited from the presence of Shelton. The country music star hosted the event and because he is a coach on NBC s The Voice that network agreed to air the concert and put it on its cable channels including G4 Bravo E and CMT either live or delayed.

Sam Weisman a TV producer and director from Newton with no connection to the Boston Strong concert said he thought the lighting and production quality for the local event was impressive for such a fast turnaround and that it would have translated fine to television. He said other more complicated reasons could have contributed to why it wasn t televised.

This merger of old media and new media is still happening said Weisman who produces the NBC reality a cappella show The Sing Off. The language of commerce in this area is so all over the place. One of the new bits of commerce are these live events. And because they are one offs it causes a gray area.

That gray area often involves music rights he said. A pre taped show has to clear the rights to show an artist s music Weisman said. But a live show is less constricted yet still full of tricky questions about rights.

That issue could come into play for another reason. Law said Friday that Live Nation is exploring whether a DVD of the concert could be made and sold to collect more money for One Fund Boston. The fund has raised more than $37 million for victims of the April 15 bombings.

One local TV station WBZ TV said the question about why the concert was not broadcast should be directed at Live Nation. It s a question the organizers of the concert will have to answer WBZ spokeswoman Ro Dooley Webster said. When told it s the question a lot of people were asking on social media she said We d like an answer too.

If the live webstream had worked more smoothly it s possible the backlash about the lack of a TV viewing might have been muted. During the concert itself from the time it started around 7 15 p.m. until around 9 p.m. the live stream was sporadic working one minute crashing the next. It became more consistent around 9 p.m. when J. Geils was wrapping up its set and for the final three hours it was mostly smoother.

But as of Friday afternoon almost 24 hours after the concert even the replay video of it on various websites was still problematic often stopping barely five minutes into it during J. Geils performance of Love Stinks.

James H. Burnett III of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Doug Most can be reached at dmost globe.com. Follow him on Twitter Globedougmost

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Julius Richard Petri Google Doodle honours Petri dish inventor

Google has celebrated the birth of the inventor of the petri dish Julius Richard Petri who was born on May 31 1852 with a doodle on its home page.

He studied medicine at the Kaiser Wilhelm Academy for Military Physicians in Berlin and later worked at the Imperial Health Office with Robert Koch who is considered the father of modern bacteriology.

The doodle features six petri dishes which are swabbed by a hand. Images of bacteria grow and spread in the dishes.

Petri was not the first to use agar a substance made from algae to culture bacteria but he invented the standard dish in which it was done. The petri dish allowed for the better identification of bacteria and the diseases they caused. Petri dishes later moved from the laboratory to the class room where they are used by every pupil of biology.

Petri died on December 20 1921.

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Chris Andersen Suspended For Game 6

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Grumpy Cat Goes from Meme to Movie

Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME

Move over Garfield Grumpy Cat is making the move to movies.

Grumpy Cat the king of the internet cat meme is breaking off from the computer screen and heading to the silver screen. Grumpy Cat s agent has sold a one picture deal for a Garfield like feature film in which Grumpy Cat whose real name is Tardar Sauce will star and yes talk. Grumpy Cat is no stranger to the camera. The grouch s official YouTube Channel has over 120 000 subscribers and over 20 million views.

While some may be surprised about the meme to movie path Grumpy Cat is one of the most successful internet memes around. This started off as a picture of a cat but rare is an image that evokes that much comedy Todd Garner one of the producers of the Grumpy Cat film told Deadline. You read all of the memes and the comments and one is funnier than the next. We think we can build a big family comedy around this character.

(MORE Grumpy Cat Is Not Impressed by TIME s Photo Shoot)

The movie deal is just another laurel in Grumpy Cat s crown. The sour puss kitty has had a whirlwind year since a photo of her surly mug was posted on Reddit.com in September. Since then it s been a swift ride to the top for Grumpy Cat. She was voted Meme of the Year at the 2013 Webby Awards named the most influential cat of 2012 by MSNBC a Meme of 2012 by Mashable was the star of SXSW and has appeared on TV shows including Today Good Morning America CBS Evening News Anderson Cooper Live VH1 Morning Buzz and The Soup. The celebrated feline even stopped by TIME s offices for a photo shoot.

Not that any of these accolades will turn that famous frown upside down.

MORE Adorable Dog Photo Bombs Owner s Craiglist Ad

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Keegan Bradley cleared by PGA Tour of wrongdoing at Memorial

Keegan Bradley has come under fire for a pre shot routine that may be a tad less twitchy than that of a former member of his sainted Red Sox. The leader of the belly putter brigade has even weathered charges of cheating for using an anchoring stroke that remains legal.

Thursday at the Memorial the 2011 PGA Champ was the object of further scrutiny after a European TV analyst's suggestion that the 2011 PGA champ cheated during his first round caused a mini maelstrom on Twitter.

Sky Sports Mark Roe a former professional golfer from England who s claim to infamy was his DQ from the 2003 British Open for a scorecard blunder raised the possibility of wrongdoing as Bradley practiced chip shot after chip shot on the seventh hole while walking the fairways alongside Tiger Woods and Fred Couples.

This is buried. This is a horrible lie....He can t see his golf ball right now the broadcaster identified in a Steve Elling tweet as Roe said as Bradley went through the motion he would use to chip the ball out of a wretched spot in heavy rough off the green. During this pre shot routine there s a lot going on behind the ball.

Bradley brushed the grass a couple of times walked up to the hole to take a peek and returned to his spot to tap the grass three more times and weed whack again which is when Roe called foul.

Now I can see the ball a little bit more clearly now than before said Roe who claimed Bradley s actions improved his lie. There was too much going on behind the ball for my liking there. You know it s just a little bit too deliberate.

One would be hard pressed to find a golf watcher not perturbed by Bradley s Nomar Garciaparra/OCD like prep.

shosheak Sky Sports fairly certain it was deliberate. Used that term twice. There's too much going on behind the ball for my liking.

Steve Elling ( EllingYelling) May 30 2013

shosheak ellingyelling sorry but no over reaction. Blatantly repeatedly taps club behind ball and improves lie making shot easier.

Malcolm Macleman ( malcolm1980) May 31 2013

The incident made its way to the usual La Z Boy suspects prompting Golf Channel s Scott Walker to respond with his own tweet.

Just got a viewer call saying that keegan_bradley may have committed a rules violation. For future notice I'm not the one to call really

Scott Walker ( ScottWalkeronTV) May 30 2013

Whether remote rules refs blew the whistle on Bradley or the potential violation made its way to tourney authorities some other way it was as readers may have surmised a big brouhaha about absolutely nothing.

Rules staff saw it. No issue Chris Reimer the tour s director of communications told SBNation in an e mail on Friday. Not sure if someone called in or how the rules officials heard about it. but they definitely took a look at it.

We now return to Jack Nicklaus Memorial Tournament where through 10 holes of Friday s second round Tiger has a bogey and a double and sits with Bradley directly on the projected cut line at 2 over.

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Gross growing Google doodle celebrates Julius Richard Petri

If you haven t checked today s Google Doodle grab some disinfectant wipes and check out this birthday homage to German microbiologist Julius Richard Petri creator of that eponymous laboratory staple known as the petri dish.

This Google Doodle lets you watch gross looking cultures of bacteria grow out of six petri dishes that take the place of Google's logo. Each dish's microbial inhabitants come from a different source Smelly socks a doorknob a dish sponge.

The nastiest culture by far comes from a dog s mouth but be warned The computer keyboard seems to come in second place.

Ick factor of this Google Doodle aside the petri dish was an ingeniously simple device that allowed researchers to grow and test microbes without contaminating them. The dish works by filling one side of the round clear glass dish with agar and nutrients and covering it with its overlapping lid.

But when in action petri dishes look like they re upside down. That s because once the agar has solidified the dish is flipped so that the bacteria can incubate on the ceiling of the dish without getting dripped on by any condensation says Principles of Microbiology.

According to The Joy of Science the device works on the same principle as Louis Pasteur s famous swan necked flask experiment which kept its contents sterile by blocking any bacteria from entering the container.

The petri dish was so effective that it's still in wide use today.

Follow me on Twitter aminawrite.

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Amelia Earhart mystery again rises to the surface

(CNN) Could search crews be just a few hundred feet from solving a mystery that has riveted millions for 76 years

That's the question raised by tantalizing evidence published this week by teams trying to find out what happened to famed aviator Amelia Earhart who vanished along with navigator Fred Noonan during a doomed attempt to fly around the world in 1937.

Yet that evidence has been met with skepticism in some quarters.

Debate about the mystery gained new currency this week after researchers publicized images recorded by search teams scanning the ocean floor nearly a year ago near Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery raised the prospect of a big break in the case by publishing an image online. It showed something hard for the layman to size up on the ocean floor.

Amelia Earhart laughs before a flight to Northolt England in a DH 82 Tiger Moth plane on June 24 1928. Earhart poses in front of her plane in the 1930s. Earhart looks through the cockpit window of her plane. Earhart stands on the roof of the Hyde Park Hotel in London with Capt. Hilton H Railey on June 20 1928. A crowd surrounds Earhart center upon arrival at Hanworth airfield in London after she crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. Earhart poses for a photo in Newfoundland Canada. Earhart poses with Capt. A. N. White in Northolt England on June 20 1928. The Lockheed Electra 'Flying Laboratory' piloted by Earhart and Fred Noonan flies over the Golden Gate bridge in Oakland California at the start of a planned around the world flight on March 17 1924. The trip had to be abandoned after the plane crashed on takeoff in Hawaii. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Photos Amelia Earhart Pioneer of the sky

The group said It's the right size it's the right shape and it's in the right place.

Could it really be a piece of Earhart's Lockheed Electra plane

Louise Foudray caretaker and historian of the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison Kansas chose her words carefully on Friday afternoon.

We don't want to shrug off the hard work anyone is doing. We do like the idea that people are still interested she said. But we're skeptical.

She said there have been other theories that have emerged. One is that Earhart's plane was forced down by the Japanese around the Marshall Islands. Another is that Earhart secretly returned to the United States and the government gave her a new identity.

There are people out there who buy those theories. But in reality Foudray said no one has yet to come up with anything conclusive.

It wasn't until March that one analyst made a possible connection to Earhart in an online forum for the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery.

The group said experts have offered various interpretations. Some think the sonar image could be a man made object and others say it could be a geologic feature.

So did (last summer's) expedition actually succeed in locating the wreckage of the world's most famous missing airplane Or is this sonar target just a coral rock or ridge the organization says on its website. Of course we're not going to know until we can get back out there but until then the anomaly is worth close study.

Richard Fredricks executive director of the American Salvage Association a trade group said that almost anything is possible these days with advanced technology. And that includes locating a lost airplane.

He cited technology such as side scan sonar and magnetometers but said finding a lost plane such as the Earhart craft is more a function of funding than technology. Money is needed to invest in expeditions he said. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery on its website is asking for contributions to continue its work.

Foudray said she's heard all of the evidence and nothing solid has risen to the surface. And that includes the latest foray into the South Pacific deep.

We don't expect anything she said.

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Alexis Wright Maine Zumba instructor gets 10 months for prostitution

Alexis Wright leaves the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland Maine on March 13 2013.

/ AP/Robert F. Bukaty

(CBS/AP) ALFRED Maine A high profile prostitution scandal featuring sex videos adultery exhibitionism and more than 100 clients drew to a close Friday when Alexis Wright a Zumba fitness instructor who turned her Maine studio into a brothel was sentenced to 10 months in jail.

PICTURES Zumba instructor accused of prostitution

Wright was sentenced under a plea agreement on 20 counts including prostitution conspiracy tax evasion and theft by deception.

Justice Nancy Mills extended wishes for success after the sentence was imposed.

Based on what you have to say and what I know about you from your attorney I know that you will succeed when you're released and that you will prevail. I wish you success Mills said.

Wright's attorney said the defendant had a difficult childhood witnessing domestic violence and suffering sexual abuse before she met Mark Strong her eventual business partner. She said Strong used her background to manipulate her.

Addressing the judge through tears Wright said she felt relief when police raided her business on Feb. 12 2012 because she wanted out. She said she intends to work when she's released to help other women in similar situations.

In my eyes I'm free. I free from this. And I have an incredible amount of strength that I knew was in me somewhere. Now that I have the strength I want to encourage others to come forward. I want them to know that there's at least one person out there who'll believe their story no matter how crazy it seems she told the judge.

It's my intention to stand up for what is right. When I'm out I'm going to pursue helping people fight through situations that are similar to mine. I'm optimistic that something good will come out of this.

Afterward she was led from court to begin serving her sentence.

The 30 year old Wright was accused of conspiring with an insurance business owner to run a prostitution business in which she videotaped clients without their knowledge and kept detailed records over an 18 month period indicating she made $150 000 tax free. She also collected more than $40 000 in public assistance.

The scandal in the seaside town of Kennebunk known for its sea captain's mansions beaches and New England charm became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients some of them prominent. So far those who have been charged include a former mayor a high school hockey coach a minister a lawyer and a firefighter.

Wright was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the plea agreement were misdemeanors including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.

Under the agreement prosecutors will seek restitution of $57 280.54. Prosecutors say Wright cooperated with prosecutors and spared the state an expensive trial.

Her business partner Strong 57 of Thomaston was convicted of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and was sentenced to 20 days in jail. The married father of two who has acknowledged having an affair with Wright was originally charged with 59 counts.

It came as little surprise that Wright opted to avoid standing trial by pleading guilty because evidence against her was overwhelming in Strong's trial with jurors watching a video of her engaging in sex with a client who left $250 which she pocketed.

Prosecutors say paid sex happened in her studio apartment and an office where tenants complained about moaning and groaning.

Electronic evidence was plentiful because the two kept in touch via text email and Skype which Wright used to send a live video stream of sex acts to Strong. Videos also showed them speaking openly of ledgers payments and scheduling.

Evidence unsealed after the trial indicated electronic exchanges in which Wright talked about the business goals nine clients a week 45 clients a month. They also openly discussed scheduling insurance payments her sexy outfits and clients' preferences. She even appeared to seek advice from Strong after encountering an unhappy client.

Business was running smoothly before it came to an abrupt end.

I feel like this is going to be a good week Wright wrote to Strong two days before the arrival of detectives with search warrants on Feb. 14 2012.

Complete coverage of the Zumba Prostitution Scandal on Crimesider

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How to cook a knaidel

The German Yiddish word knaidel didn't stump Arvind Mahankali this time.

Mahankali 13 nabbed the title of Scripps National Spelling Bee champion on Thursday night after losing two previous championships on German derived words.

But like many you may have wondered what the heck does knaidel mean

In its basic form it means a small ball of unleavened dough. But it is essentially a type of dumpling popular in Jewish cooking. One type of knaidel most are familiar with is a matzo ball commonly made of matzo meal (unleavened wheat flour) chicken fat and eggs.

You can also make them out of potatoes for a gluten free version.

Mahankali told the AP that he'd never tried the Jewish comfort food. So in honor of spelling bee whiz kid make a bowl of matzo balls this weekend.

Recipe Matzo Ball Knaidel

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Now You See Me fails to pull off movie magic

Jesse Eisenberg stars in the clumsily executed 'Now You See Me ' which features a group of magicians trying their hands at bank robbery.(Photo Barry Wetcher Summit Entertainment)

While hawking his latest film Now You See Me earlier this month Morgan Freeman nodded off during a live television interview that became a viral sensation.

Consider it Freeman's stab at mentalism a telepathic warning about this clumsily executed story of magicians with a penchant for bank robbery ( out of four rated PG 13 opens Friday nationwide).

Boasting a terrific cast and a flimsy plot whose logic disappears faster than a rabbit in a hat Now struggles to pull off its cinematic sleights of hand.

Jesse Eisenberg plays J. Daniel Atlas a David Blaine styled stunt magician who leads a crew of devious prestidigitators through a series of bank heists that catch the attention of the FBI and Interpol.

Joining the crew are mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) escape artist Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and street magician Jack Wilder (Dave Franco). Soon the group known as the Four Horsemen is ripping off banks across the globe and spreading the wealth among audiences like levitating Robin Hoods.

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But the story as directed by Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans) can't quite get off the ground.

That's something of a surprise given a cast that should should be able to make any story defy gravity. In addition to the Horsemen we meet Thaddeus Bradley (Freeman) a former magician turned TV host who pulls back the curtain on illusionists. The Horsemen are assembled and led by the wealthy and mysterious Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) whose ultimate goal remains a mystery.

The crux of Now's woes is the illusions themselves. Magic is never easy on film just ask the folks behind The Incredible Burt Wonderstone the recent ill fated Steve Carell story of magicians that made audiences disappear from theaters.

Similar woes afflict Now whose secrets are apparent computer generated effects and plot conventions. The mentalist can hypnotize over the phone the mind reader flashes your thoughts on building facades. Good magic is plausible these tricks are too outlandish to make you ask 'How did they do that '

There are flashes of razzle dazzle. Harrelson in particular gets laugh out loud lines and Eisenberg seems to know real sleight of hand.

But it's mostly smoke and mirrors. After Freeman's snooze became a YouTube fixture the actor jokingly dismissed the nap saying he was using Google eyelids to check his Facebook account.

You may find yourself attempting the same feat because Now has little up its sleeve.

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After Earth leaves critics cold ahead of competitive weekend

By Piya Sinha Roy

LOS ANGELES Fri May 31 2013 6 33pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) Will Smith may be one of Hollywood's most bankable action stars but his new film After Earth in which he stars with his 14 year old son Jaden has opened to cold reviews from critics and faces stiff competition in a busy box office weekend.

After Earth is a futuristic post apocalyptic tale of a father and his teenage son in which the young boy must embark on a life saving mission.

Sony Pictures Entertainment a division of Sony Corp. spent about $130 million to produce the movie making it one of the studio's biggest summer releases.

The story is centered on the father son relationship and the dynamic of a father passing the mantle to his son is mirrored both on screen and off as the younger Smith leads the action.

Will Smith 44 who wrote the initial story and was the executive producer of the film said the project gave him valuable time to spend with his son with whom he first starred in the 2006 family drama The Pursuit of Happyness.

Filmmaking and entertainment is our family business Smith said at a recent news conference. So it really gave us an opportunity for the last year to spend ten or twelve hours a day together every day. And for me it's just the best way for me at least to parent.

Jaden Smith bears a strong resemblance to his famous father and won over most critics as the lead in 2010's reboot of The Karate Kid. However he has not been received as warmly for his performance as ranger Kitai Raige in After Earth.

NEGATIVE REVIEWS

Variety's Scott Foundas said both father and son failed to meet expectations. Senior Smith gives one of the least substantive performances of his career while the undeniably charismatic Jaden toggles between ... paralyzing fear and simmering rage.

Manohla Dargis wrote in the New York Times that the younger Smith was a pretty teenager with jumpy eyebrows whose character remains an insufferable brat.

Rolling Stone's Peter Travers slammed the script as an unholy mess of platitudes and posturing. He gave the film one out of five stars saying It's not a good sign when you sit there thinking one thing Make. It. Stop.

After Earth scored just 32 out of 100 on Metacritic.com which compiles ratings based on critics' reviews. Only 13 percent of critics recommended the movie in reviews collected on the Rotten Tomatoes website.

This is despite the fact that the film was directed by M. Night Shayamalan who scored a huge hit with the 1999 suspense drama The Sixth Sense which grossed more than $672 million at the worldwide box office. Shayamalan was less successful though with 2006's Lady in the Water and 2010's The Last Airbender.

Box office forecasters predict After Earth will make $35 $40 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales from Friday through Sunday.

The film opened on Thursday and took in $1 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters behind Lions Gate Entertainment's comedy heist caper Now You See Me which earned $1.5 million.

After Earth faces tough competition this weekend from recent releases still drawing big business such as car chase sequel Fast Furious 6 superhero tale Iron Man 3 and sci fi film Star Trek Into Darkness.

It's not an enviable task opening up this weekend said Phil Contrino chief analyst with Boxoffice.com. International sales will be critical he said since Will Smith remains a big draw for overseas audiences.

Sony Pictures spokesman Steve Elzer said a weekend take of about $30 million in the United States and Canada would be a solid number for a movie that is not a branded sequel.

Sony's other upcoming summer films include action thriller White House Down sci fi adventure Elysium and book adaptation The Moral Instruments City of Bones.

(Additional reporting by Lisa Richwine and Reuters TV Editing by David Brunnstrom)

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Former NBA star on life support after Clayton County wreck

Former NBA star and Hawks player Mookie Blaylock was one of two people seriously injured Friday afternoon in a head on collision in Clayton County according to police.

Blaylock 46 was driving a Cadillac Escalade northbound on Tara Boulevard when for unknown reasons he crossed over the median and into a southbound lane around 1 p.m. Jonesboro police Chief Franklin Allen told The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Blaylock s vehicle struck another vehicle head on injuring two people Frankie and Monica Murphy and himself Allen said.

All three were transported to Atlanta Medical Center where Blaylock was flown and was on life support and unresponsive Friday afternoon Allen said.

By Friday evening Blaylock s condition had improved and he was in stable condition Allen said. Blaylock has been under treatment for seizures a family member told police. It was not immediately known if that contributed to the wreck or if Blaylock would face charges.

Monica Murphy a passenger in the second vehicle was bleeding internally and underwent surgery Allen said. She was reportedly in critical condition late Friday. Frankie Murphy s injuries were not serious according to police.

Jonesboro officers were at the hospital Friday evening with the victims while other officers remained at the crash scene Allen said. Allen asked for a Georgia State Patrol reconstruction team to assist with the investigation.

According to Allen Blaylock had an outstanding warrant out of Spalding County on DUI and drug charges for failing to appear in court.

Blaylock a point guard played 13 seasons in the NBA including with the Atlanta Hawks from 1992 to 1999. A two time first team pick to the NBA s All Defensive Team Blaylock finished with career averages of 13.5 points 4.1 rebounds 6.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game and appeared in the 1994 All Star game.

The Hawks traded Blaylock in summer 1999 in a three player deal that allowed Atlanta to later draft Jason Terry with the 10th overall pick. It was a move that caught Blaylock by surprise he previously said.

It was very shocking he said in an interview at the time especially when you re with a team that long and you think you re one of the guys that s going to be around and you re going to end your career there. But that s part of the business. I know that s how it goes.

Address records show Blaylock whose real name is Daron lives in Zebulon in Pike County. The Texas native played college basketball at the University of Oklahoma.

Blaylock is the father of two former standout high school football players at Walton High School in Cobb County. Twins Daron and Zack Blaylock are both safeties at the University of Kentucky. Both were members of Walton s state runner up team in 2011.

Please return for updates.

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7 Reasons the Rangers Were Right to Fire John Tortorella

The best coaches in any sport have a basic system but they are able to make adjustments to that system to best fit the talent on their roster.

Whether it's trades injuries or rule changes when the situation changes great coaches make adjustments.

Look at Don Shula the NFL's all time leader in wins. Shula won two Super Bowls in the early 1970s by pounding the football on the ground with Larry Csonka Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris. The Dolphins threw a total of just seven passes in Super Bowl VIII which they won 24 7.

A decade later the NFL introduced rules changes that encouraged the passing game. Shula also had Dan Marino at quarterback one of the greatest passers of all time. As a result Shula changed the way he ran his offense and the Dolphins reached Super Bowl XIX with a team that threw the ball a lot more than it ran.

Tortorella has not shown a similar ability to adjust his team's style of play. The defense first system he employed worked better in the Dead Puck Era. That ended in 2004 when his Lightning club won the Stanley Cup.

Last season Tortorella had a roster that was better suited to his close to the vest style. The Rangers finished first in the conference and reached the third round of the playoffs.

During the offseason the Rangers lost Brandon Prust to free agency and traded Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky to Columbus for Rick Nash. His team had more firepower in Nash Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards but a little less grit.

Instead of adjusting his style of play to his new roster Torts stuck to the one way he likes to do things. The result was a slow start to the season for the Rangers who were in danger of missing the playoffs altogether.

At the trade deadline the Rangers dealt Gaborik to the Blue Jackets and acquired Ryane Clowe from San Jose in an attempt to get Tortorella a roster more to his liking. It worked in the short term but injuries to Clowe and defenseman Marc Staal didn't help and the Rangers were easily eliminated by Boston in the second round.

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Julius Richard Petri Google celebrates birth of inventor of the petri dish

Google has celebrated the birth of the inventor of the petri dish Julius Richard Petri who was born on May 31 1852 with a doodle on its home page.

He studied medicine at the Kaiser Wilhelm Academy for Military Physicians in Berlin and later worked at the Imperial Health Office with Robert Koch who is considered the father of modern bacteriology.

The doodle features six petri dishes which are swabbed by a hand. Images of bacteria grow and spread in the dishes.

Petri was not the first to use agar a substance made from algae to culture bacteria but he invented the standard dish in which it was done. The petri dish allowed for the better identification of bacteria and the diseases they caused. Petri dishes later moved from the laboratory to the class room where they are used by every pupil of biology.

Petri died on December 20 1921.

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Stars gather for Boston Strong concert at TD Garden

It was no small task pulling together Boston Strong An Evening of Support and Celebration Thursday s sold out star studded benefit for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. But somehow even with all those rock n roll egos wandering around backstage at TD Garden it all worked.

The concert hastily pulled together by veteran promoter Don Law with an assist from the not so New Kids on the Block was a response to the horrific events of April 15. Though accustomed to earning a small fortune to perform NKOTB Aerosmith Boston James Taylor and Carole King the J. Geils Band Jimmy Buffett Jason Aldean and comedians Dane Cook and Steven Wright all worked for free Thursday. (It s worth noting that TD Garden Ticketmaster and a host of local hotels also participated gratis.)

To say everyone is checking their ego at the door is a cliche but it s true said New Kid Donnie Wahlberg. To walk down the hallway and bump into Carole King and have her say Thank you. Your city is so great. . . . There s no place for rock star attitudes tonight.

It takes a lot of commitment from a lot of people. An undertaking like this is pretty epic he said. But it s the least we can so to honor our city.

Asked before the show about a possible New Kids/Dropkick Murphy mash up Wahlberg smiled.

We ve cooked up a little melting pot of wonderfulness he said declining to elaborate. The pot s still brewing.

There had been rumors that Mark Wahlberg might make the scene for a reunion with the Funky Bunch those one hit wonders whose song Good Vibrations was No. 1 way back in 1991. Alas it didn t happen.

Kiss 108 s Matt Siegel kicked off the show and treated it more as a pep rally than a rock show.

For a guy who tells jokes for a living there were no jokes he told us backstage afterward. I said I ve been on the air for 35 years and this is the proudest I ve been. And I meant it. I did my very small part and it felt really great.

We found J. Geils keyboardist Seth Justman enjoying the first part of the show with friends and bandmates in a private box. He said Boston s response to the bombings has been overwhelming.

What makes a civilized community civilized is how you treat other people he said. This to me is the best of that. Asked if a band legendary for its raucous live shows could even play a 20 minute set Justman smiled. This band is ferocious he said. We go out there and . . . we go.

Extreme singer Gary Cherone said his band was honored to be included in the concert.

Just sitting there with bombing victim Jeff Bauman watching James Taylor and Carole King soundcheck You ve Got a Friend brought me to tears. It s going to be a very emotional evening.

Comedian Cook said he was asked to participate because organizers needed some laughs amid the poignant performances.

If Aerosmith looked a little worse for wear give them a break The Bad Boys from Boston just got back from playing in Singapore. Likewise the Dropkick Murphys only made it at the last minute thanks to car dealer Ernie Boch Jr. who donated his private jet to fly the band back from a tour stop in Colorado. (The Dropkicks were due to play in Albuquerque Thursday but the show was rescheduled for July 1.)

Dropkicks singer Ken Casey said the band arrived at the Garden at 1 p.m. in time for a quick rehearsal of Shipping Up to Boston.

I will say that due to time constraints it was loose at best said Casey eating a plate of beef stew backstage. But whatever it s great to be here and to play for some of the victims.

The first several rows in front of the stage Thursday night were reserved for victims and first responders. Law said the tickets had been purchased by philanthropist and businessman David Mugar.

Law also revealed that Kid Rock had wanted to attend and perhaps perform but couldn t. He instead donated several thousand dollars to The One Fund the promoter said

Net proceeds from Thursday s show expected to exceed $1.5 million will benefit The One Fund which has raised more than $37 million for victims of the bombings.

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