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The death of Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick, 55, was a suicide, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department confirmed Saturday. An autopsy is expected to be performed Monday or Tuesday, said Lt. Bruce Rochester, who declined to say how the former musician took his life.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Vince Welnick, who took over as the Grateful Dead's keyboard player in 1990 after a succession of predecessors met untimely deaths, has died at the age of 55, according to an announcement on his Web site. "Vince passed from this earth on June 2, 2006 ... after a decade of battling tragedy while creating beauty and light around him," the announcement said. It did not give a cause of death. The San Jose Mercury News said he died in a hospital on Friday after being taken from his home in Forestville, California, and it quoted a...

SONOMA - The long, strange trip continues for Jerry Garcia's toilet. Police say the Grateful Dead leader's commode was stolen recently from a driveway along with three other toilets and a bidet. Garcia's salmon-colored toilet was the subject of a legal battle before it was finally moved to Sonoma, to await shipment to a Canadian casino. It's unclear if the toilet was swiped by a wayward Deadhead or a thief remodeling a bathroom. Police have no suspects or leads. Henry Koltys bought Garcia's Marin County home for $1.39 million in 1997 and removed the toilet and other items he planned...

hello everyone. i have posted a few times regarding the site i created, www.moveOut.biz well, the business side of it has failed. no matter, it was a small investment and i've had fun. i would, however, appreciate it if any of you who lurk at DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND could get the word out over there that this site exists. the most fun i've had is with the few emails i've received from the tin-hatters. i tried to get on DU but was summarily banned even though i picked the che guevara avatar. i appreciate any help you can give in funneling...

Concert-goers at last weekend's reunion of surviving Grateful Dead members surprised people with their good behavior at Alpine Valley, but the two-day festival did generate drug seizures, as well as citations and arrests in connection with drug-related offenses. Among the totals released late last week by the Walworth County Sheriff's Department's drug enforcement unit were: 269 county citations for marijuana possession, which usually means a $407 fine for less than an ounce; 80 arrests for 132 state violations, which carry heavier penalties than county citations; and 10 people charged with possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms and referred to the district attorney. Police...

California group attends dinnerHAVANA -- The latest weapon in the arsenal of American politicians who want warmer relations with Cuba: the humble baked bean. U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer came to Cuba with a delegation packed with Californians who brought California-grown beans -- and then ate them at a dinner with Fidel Castro that lasted until 3 a.m. Monday. The California Democrat pronounced her plate of beans "wonderful" and said it was a symbol of the benefits that can be gained when Americans and Cubans cooperate. "There are certain things that pull people together," including food, said Boxer, who criticized the...