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Saturday is the 39th anniversary of the death of Mary Jo Kopechne on Chappaquidick Island. A day that Mass. Senator Ted Kennedy would rather forget.

Fresno police say Jen was either jogging or walking quickly when she was hit by a pickup driven by officer Craig Howard, 39, of Fresno, who had just finished a 10-hour shift at 7 a.m. The accident was reported 10 minutes later.

John F Kennedy's closest living aide has anointed Barack Obama as the heir to the assassinated president's legacy and predicted that Hillary Clinton would lose an election to a Republican. Ted Sorensen, 79, Mr Kennedy's chief speechwriter, drew parallels between today and 1960 when another youthful senator espousing hope and change was written off by the Establishment. Barack Obama greets supporters in Largo, Maryland. Mr Sorensen says his mannerisms echo those of John F Kennedy in 1960 He told The Daily Telegraph: "Both Kennedy and Obama have fantastically winning smiles and I might say both are very relaxed in front...

On This Day In History July 18, 1969: Incident on Chappaquiddick Island Shortly after leaving a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts drives an Oldsmobile off a wooden bridge into a tide-swept pond. Kennedy escaped the submerged car, but his passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, did not. The senator did not report the fatal car accident for 10 hours. On the evening of July 18, 1969, while most Americans were home watching television reports on the progress of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, Kennedy and his cousin Joe Gargan were hosting a cookout and party...

SELMER, Tenn. — A woman who killed her preacher husband with a shotgun blast to the back as he lay in bed was sentenced Friday to three years in prison, but she may end up serving only 60 days in a mental hospital. Mary Winkler must serve 210 days, or about seven months, of her sentence before she can be released on probation, but she gets credit for the five months she has already spent in jail, Judge Weber McCraw said. That leaves only two months, and McCraw said up to 60 days of the sentence could be served in...

In a recent speech to a Mississippi civic group, Sen. Trent Lott brought up Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's role on important domestic legislation, including Kennedy's latest push to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. When Lott was finished, a man in the audience came up to him and said: "You did real good. But that part about Kennedy -- don't say that no more." "He is the number one boogeyman for conservative Republicans," Lott said later of the longtime Democratic senator from Massachusetts. But, Lott added, "he is a good legislator, and you can't take that away from him." That Lott...

Don't listen to Teddy Kennedy. If you belong to the small band of conservative brothers inclined to support immigration reform, the Massachusetts senator is on your side. But what he says is likely to make you anxious, vexed, or even crazed. At times, Kennedy makes the compromise immigration bill sound like the latest loopy liberal legislation to provide welfare to the world.It's not. Indeed, much of the organized left opposes it. The AFL-CIO is especially upset about the provision to bring foreign workers here temporarily. But when you hear Kennedy on the subject, you have to wonder what they're so...

WASHINGTON – Alcohol-related deaths on U.S. roads rose to their highest level in 14 years in 2006, while the overall number of people killed in traffic crashes declined slightly but still topped 43,000, according to preliminary government estimates Friday. The Transportation Department said that drunken driving deaths rose 2.4 percent to 17,941 after a slight decline in 2005. It was the highest level since 1992 when 18,290 deaths were reported. Alcohol-related fatalities accounted for 41 percent of all traffic deaths, which dropped less than 1 percent last year to 43,300. Annual auto deaths have hovered around 43,000 for the past...

A car-train crash in Pasco County killed an 8-year-old boy shortly before midnight Thursday. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, an SUV driven by Heather Eres was stopped at the railroad tracks waiting for a freight train to pass. A pickup truck driven by illegal alien, drunken, Eli Alvarez slammed into the SUV, pushing the vehicle into the passing freight cars, killing Eres' son, Kevin Bryant and severely injuring her. Full Story at BayNews9

Two Michigan men spied for the Iraqi government before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country, federal authorities said Tuesday. A grand jury indictment accuses Najib Shemami, 58, of Sterling Heights, of four espionage-related charges between March 2002 and early 2003, according to a statement by the U.S. attorney's office and the FBI. A criminal complaint filed against Ghazi Al-Awadi, 78, of Dearborn, claims he told the Iraqi intelligence in 1997 that he killed his son-in-law because the man belonged to an anti-Saddam Hussein political party. Both men were arrested Tuesday. Shemami and Al-Awadi are charged with conspiring to act...

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- Jason Reynolds never planned his victims' deaths, never saw their faces, never even knew their names before they died. But Reynolds was sentenced yesterday to two life terms without parole in a precedent-setting case that saw him convicted of first-degree murder resulting from a lethal case of road rage. Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour yesterday lambasted Reynolds, a 34-year-old gravel-pit worker, for his "universal malice" and said he doubted he could ever be rehabilitated.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is going back to court this week in a bid for a new murder trial, adding yet another twist to a case that has spawned decades of intrigue. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, is serving 20 years to life in prison after he was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in their wealthy Greenwich neighborhood when they were 15. Skakel, 47, is seeking a new trial based on a claim by one-time schoolmate Gitano ``Tony'' Bryant implicating two of his friends in Moxley's...

Big 75 Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, celebrates three-quarters of a century of living today. (If it's any consolation, women overheard in Mr. Kennedy's company of late say the senator has never looked better. What is it about him and Bill Clinton?). "Sen. Kennedy began his career setting a high standard when it comes to birthdays," fellow Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry observes in a birthday tribute to his colleague. "It was when he reached the minimum constitutional age -- 30 -- that he first came to the Senate: 1 of just 16 senators elected at such a tender age...

A Los Angeles Superior Court official has confirmed to The Showbuzz that a wrongful death suit has been filed against singer Brandy Norwood by the parents of a woman who died in a car crash involving the singer last month. The parents of Awatef Aboudihaj are claiming both compensatory and punitive damages in the amount of $50 million. The California Highway Patrol recommended Monday that the actress-singer, who goes by her first name professionally, be charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the freeway crash that killed Aboudihaj last month, a city attorney's spokesman said.

Black civil rights leaders in Los Angeles claim the California Highway Patrol has made singer/actress Brandy Norwood "a political trophy." The Los Angeles City Attorney is deciding whether to file misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charges against Brandy, whose Land Rover slammed into a Toyota on the 405 Freeway killing the driver. Today, Najee Ali, leader of Project Islamic HOPE, said the CHP's recommendation to file charges against the singer "is unfairly targeting her for prosecution because of her celebrity." Ali told TMZ he is organizing an e-mail campaign in the African American community to put pressure on City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo...

LOS ANGELES — The California Highway Patrol recommended Monday that actress-singer Brandy be charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in a freeway crash that killed a woman motorist last month, a city attorney's spokesman said. The CHP referred the matter to the city attorney's office for review, said spokesman Nick Velasquez. "The office is currently reviewing the case and determining whether the evidence warrants the filing of a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter," Velasquez said. A message seeking comment from Brandy's publicist, Courtney Barnes, was not immediately returned. Brandy, whose real name is Brandy Norwood, has publicly expressed condolences to the...

The elderly driver who ran down and killed 10 people in an open air market in Santa Monica was convicted today of all criminal charges, decisively denying defense pleas for mercy. The verdict leaves to a judge the task of deciding whether George Russell Weller, 89, goes to prison for as long as 18 years. Weller will appeal the decision, defense attorney Mark Overland said. By their unanimous verdict, jurors rejected arguments that the aged driver made a mistake and found him guilty on 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for killing 10 people. He injured 68 others...

The South Dakota Supreme Court will begin hearing cases at the Washington Pavilion. The high court will be in Sioux Falls for three days, hearing three cases each day. The public is invited to attend, starting at 9:00 this morning. We'll have coverage on all of the cases throughout the day on KELOLAND News and KELOLAND.com. Former governor and former congressman Bill Janklow goes before the South Dakota Supreme Court today to argue a case. A year ago he appeared before the same court to ask that his law license be reinstated. He lost it after his conviction of manslaughter...

Talk to Sen. Ted Kennedy Thu Sep 28, 1:51 PM ET This was a last-minute addition to the Talk to Power schedule, so the time for questions and comments is shorter than usual. Sen. Kennedy will be fielding your comments over the next 24 hours and responding, via an interview with host Judy Woodruff, on Friday morning. Thanks in advance to Yahoo! users for your thoughts, and to Sen. Kennedy for agreeing to participate. The question of immigration and immigration reform is likely to loom large in this forum, as it has with previous Talk to Power guests. Sen. Kennedy,...

A woman is dead after she was struck by several vehicles while trying to run across Southwest Freeway Wednesday night. Police said around 10:25 p.m. Wednesday, a woman attempted to run across four lanes of traffic on the 6800 block of Southwest Freeway near Hillcroft Avenue when she was struck by an unknown vehicle traveling north The driver of the vehicle did not stop. Her body was then struck by at least 4 more vehicles and an 18-wheeler. None of the vehicles stopped after striking the woman's body except the driver of the second vehicle. Police said motorist may not...

Americans still remember vividly the scenes from a year ago when Hurricane Katrina swept away entire communities, sent thousands of families for shelter in the Super Dome, and left hundreds of thousands more homeless and jobless. Americans throughout the land were moved to help in any way they could - sending donations and aid and volunteering to meet the needs of our fellow citizens. We responded because that's what Americans do. We care for our country, help our neighbors, and lend a hand to those in need. However, as we all painfully know, the Administration did not live up to...

I remember him coming rushing in from the garden that afternoon, in tears and covered in blood. After running his finger under the tap and seeing how deep the gash was, I decided to take him to our local A&E department at the King George hospital in Goodmayes, Essex. Tony cried all the way there but soon perked up at the sight of the hospital and the doctors. Because his wound was bleeding so heavily, we were rushed straight through to see a doctor and Tony was given a painkilling injection. When the doctors said they wanted to transfer Tony...

Late on the night of July 18, 1969, a car went off a bridge on Martha’s Vineyard. With a young senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy, at the wheel, the Oldsmobile sank into the water beneath the Dike Bridge. In a sequence of events that instantly became famous, Senator Kennedy escaped from the submerged vehicle and swam to shore. By 2:30 a.m. he had made his way back to his hotel in Edgartown, where he was sighted in the lobby. He made 17 phone calls to family members and associates. But not until 10 hours after the accident did he call...

TEMPE, Ariz. — Rob Targosz, a Gilbert police officer, was struck by a speeding vehicle on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. He died seven hours later at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Hospital. The driver of a 2005 Ford Mustang failed to stop for a red light and crashed into Targosz, who was on his way to work. Targosz was thrown from his departmental motorcycle and landed on the south side of the intersection of Price Road and Apache Blvd in Tempe, Ariz. The force of the impact caused his motorcycle to become embedded in the front of the Mustang, and both vehicles...

A driver who was allegedly drunk when he struck and killed a California Highway Patrol officer last weekend pleaded innocent to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, authorities said. Domingo Esqueda, 20, could face up to 16 years in prison if convicted of killing motorcycle officer John Bailey, 36, who was married and had four children. Esqueda was arraigned Tuesday in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Victorville. Authorities say Bailey was driving home to Adelanto Saturday night when he pulled over another motorist for investigation of drunk driving on Interstate 15 near Hesperia. Bailey was talking with the motorist on the...

A LANDMARK case against a Sydney doctor charged with the manslaughter of a foetus and performing an illegal late-term abortion will begin in July. Suman Sood, the former owner of the Fairfield Women's Health Clinic, is the first doctor in New South Wales to be charged with the manslaughter of a foetus in more than 34 years. Appearing in the NSW Supreme Court today, Sood was arraigned on both the manslaughter charge and one count of administering a drug with intent to procure a miscarriage. Sood, who is on bail, entered a not guilty plea to both charges. NSW Supreme...

Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., wasted no time getting down to business Tuesday, plunging right into whether Alito believes privacy is protected by the Constitution and his views on abortion. "Senator, I do believe the Constitution protects the right to privacy," Alito responded when Specter asked if the nominee accepts the principles of Griswold v. Connecticut, a case that established that medical contraception fell under the right to privacy and legalized birth control. Alito also said he believes that same protection is provided for single women.

FONTANA - Years of abuse suffered at the hands of her father failed to sway a judge Wednesday from sentencing Alma Frakes to 22 years in prison for the fatal shootings of her parents in their Bloomington home. When Frakes discovered her father had molested her teen-aged daughter, the 35-year-old woman snatched her boyfriend's .45-caliber Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol and drove to the home of her parents Sept. 12, 2004, where she shot and killed them. The family was wrought with incest, deception, lying and manipulation, Frakes has said, and she and her five sisters all suffered molestation at the...

Honolulu, Dec. 02, 2005 (CNA) - Yesterday, the Hawaii state Supreme Court handed over a precedent-setting opinion, ruling that 32-year old Tayshea Aiwohi could not be convicted of killing her unborn child, because at the time, it was not a “person.”In July of 2001, Aiwohi gave birth to her son, Treyson, who died two days later due to his mother’s use of methamphetamine while she was pregnant.She was initially convicted of manslaughter but was able to appeal the decision all the way to the high court. To date, no appeals court in the U.S. has ever upheld an manslaughter charge...

MARYVILLE — Kimberly Cunningham, the 33-year-old South Knoxville woman who shot to death a man she believes raped her daughter twice when the child was 10, was convicted today of voluntary manslaughter in the man's death. The verdict was returned about 10 a.m. by the seven-woman, five-man jury after five hours of deliberation Thursday and one hour today. Cunningham had been on trial on a charge of second-degree murder, but the jury acquitted her of that and found her guilty of the lesser charge. She had already been tried once in the death of Coy Hundley. In that trial last...

"The Swedish Supreme Court (HD) has upheld a lower court’s sentence of one and a half-years’ imprisonment for a drunk driver who killed a grandmother and her grandchild in Flurmark, near Umeå in 2003. The 62-year old grandmother had been out for a stroll with her 11-month-old granddaughter tucked in her pram. A 60-year old man with a blood alcohol level of 2.7ppm drove into them, killing both. The Swedish Attorney General had appealed for a longer incarceration of at least three years claiming 18 months was too lenient. The Supreme Court only reviewed the harshness of the sentence itself...

The Inquirer and Daily News have announced plans to cut some 100 writers and reporters along with other newsroom employees.That is 16 percent of staff. Falling advertising revenues and circulation are blamed. Actually, sheer stupidity and arrogance could account for a good part of the declining circulation. I have tried over the past months to save the Inquirer, but alas, the left-wing, liberal commissars there have refused to follow my advice and accept my aid.They continue to preach to the choir.Anything and everything bad is "Bush's fault."Tony Auth is even calling Katrina "George's Hurricane."Inquirer editor Amanda Bennett said, "as long...

Mayo farmer found guilty of manslaughter 20 July 2005 22:37 A Co Mayo farmer has been found guilty of the manslaughter of a Traveller during a violent incident at his farm in October of last year. Padraic Nally, of Funshinaugh, Cross, Co Mayo, was found not guilty of the murder of John Ward, a father of 11, from Carrowbrowne Halting Site, on the outskirts of Galway city. At the Central Criminal Court in Castlebar, a jury of seven women and five men brought in a verdict of guilty of manslaughter but not guilty of murder after two hours of deliberation...

A fight about a $5 parking fee at a youth baseball tournament erupted in an all-out brawl that left an active Springfield Township man dead. Robert Abrams, who would have turned 41 today, died at 1:40 a.m. Saturday at Akron City Hospital, where he was taken after he hit the ground during the fight Friday night by the fields at Springfield High School on Sanitarium Road in Lakemore. Abrams, one of the owners of the Ellet IGA on Darrow Road, suffered severe head injuries and was unresponsive at the hospital, according to a statement released by the Summit County medical...

Last month it was my duty to serve on the jury in the trial of Edgar Ray Killen. It was my unpleasant charge to decide the fate of a fellow human. In the course of my 55 years I have survived a war, earned a bachelor's degree, suffered and exalted, traveled the world and worked my way from high school dropout to senior engineer. Still, nothing prepared me for this, nor did any of the other 11 jurors seem any less humbled by this task. No one took this lightly. My fellow jurors seemed to be a good representation of...

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) A Marietta man who drove for miles, then went to sleep with the body of his decapitated friend in his truck, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison. John Kemper Hutcherson, 21, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide charges in the Aug. 29 death of 23-year-old Frankie Brohm. Hutcherson and Brohm were on their way home from a bar after a night of drinking when Brohm leaned his head out of the car window because he was felling ill. Hutcherson veered off the road, grazing a telephone pole support wire that severed Brohm's head. Hutcherson, who police...

Afghan Pop Star Killed After Toronto Concert Tuesday, May 10, 2005 VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Afghan singer Nasrat Parsa (search) died after an attack outside his hotel following a weekend performance at a downtown Vancouver theater, police said Monday. He was 36. Parsa, who had performed in Toronto (search) earlier in the week, was outside his hotel with his brother, Najib, when he was assaulted by three men early Sunday, police constable Tim Fanning said. Parsa, who had been living in Germany (search), died later after sustaining a brain injury, according to his official Web site. A 19-year-old man was...

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. Apr 20, 2005 — A woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the death of an 82-year-old woman attacked by a pack of roaming pit bulls. Deanna Large faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and three misdemeanor counts of allowing a dangerous dog to run loose. If convicted of all charges, she faces up to 13 years in prison. Large, 36, was free on $10,000 bond. She refused to comment after her arraignment in Circuit Court. Relatives of the victim, Dorothy Sullivan, wept and embraced outside the courthouse. Judge William Ledbetter Jr. appointed attorney Eugene Frost to represent Large and...

PIERRE, S.D. -— The second-degree manslaughter and reckless driving convictions of Bill Janklow, a former congressman and four-term governor, have been unanimously upheld by the South Dakota Supreme Court. A decision released today said Janklow received a fair trial and there was enough evidence to convict him. Janklow was found guilty of killing Randy Scott, 55, of Hardwick, Minn., when his motorcycle collided with a car Janklow was driving on Aug. 16, 2003, near Trent. Authorities said Janklow sped through a stop sign at an intersection of two rural highways. Janklow has said he was in a diabetic stupor and...

A Framingham woman who stabbed her elderly husband to death and tried to collect on his $100,000 life insurance policy was sentenced to 10-to-12 years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Bernard Harfield was hospitalized for more than six months after he was stabbed. His daughter wed in the hospital chapel so he could attend.

A man who has been fighting for the return of guns seized by Baltimore County police after his 1999 conviction and sentencing for auto manslaughter may be entitled to compensation for them, the state's highest court ruled yesterday. As a convicted felon, Robert L. Serio is not allowed to own firearms, but the county cannot keep his gun collection because he has not been convicted of illegally possessing the weapons, the Court of Appeals ruled. As a result, Serio may be eligible for "just compensation," the unanimous court said. The court's opinion effectively sends the case, which has traveled through...

Charges in fatal accident reduced No-contest plea in crash that killed firefighter By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ Herald Salinas Bureau The Monterey County District Attorney's office dropped vehicular manslaughter charges against a woman who struck a volunteer firefighter from Soledad with her car while he battled a car fire on Highway 101 in March. She pleaded no contest to lesser charges Monday afternoon. Oreina Zarco-Alvarez, 28, pleaded no contest to failing to stop and identify herself at the scene of the accident resulting in death, a felony, and driving without a license, a misdemeanor. The most serious charge, vehicular manslaughter, was...

NEW YORK (Nov. 24) - "Preppie Killer" Robert Chambers was arrested on a drug charge a year and a half after he was released from prison, where he served a 15-year sentence for manslaughter Chambers, 38, was freed on $1,000 bail Wednesday after being arraigned on two misdemeanors, drug possession and driving with a suspended license. The court complaint said the license was suspended in May when Chambers failed to answer a summons for running a red light. He was arrested Tuesday in a traffic stop when police allegedly found two straws and a tinfoil packet that had crack cocaine...

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Four Miami-area residents were killed in a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 on Sunday, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The wreck occurred at 7:10 a.m. when a Ford SUV driven by Rolandson Ceinor of Lauderdale Lakes, traveling west at Mile Marker 60, approached a Chevrolet SUV driven by Ramona Sabal-Varro, 49, of Miami. Both vehicles were in the passing lane. Ceinor, no age listed in police reports, failed to slow down as he approached Sabal-Varro's car and collided with the rear of the vehicle, sending Sabal-Varro's vehicle crashing into an emergency call box, troopers reported. Sabal-Varro's vehicle then overturned, ejecting...

Man Who Killed Armed Intruder Jailed Eight Years By Will Batchelor, PA News A man who stabbed to death an armed intruder at his home was jailed for eight years today. Carl Lindsay, 25, answered a knock at his door in Salford, Greater Manchester, to find four men armed with a gun. When the gang tried to rob him he grabbed a samurai sword and stabbed one of them, 37-year-old Stephen Swindells, four times. Mr Swindells, of Salford, was later found collapsed in an alley and died in hospital. Lindsay, of Walkden, was found guilty of manslaughter following a three-week...

NORTHAMPTON - Jennifer Paluseo, 21, of Plymouth, a former University of Massachusetts student, pled guilty to manslaughter at Hampshire Superior Court yesterday. Paluseo also pled guilty to removing or conveying a body. She previously had pleaded innocent. Paluseo's dead infant was found at James Hall Dormitory at UMass, on May 2, 2002. Paluseo faces up to 12 years in state prison or two and a half years in the house of corrections, according to Judge Judd J. Carhart, superior court justice. Paluseo is being held on $25,000 bail. Her defense lawyers were seeking to suppress statements allegedly given under duress...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Polls are consistently showing that Americans are becoming more pro-life. A December poll conducted by Zogby International, a respected nonpartisan polling firm, confirms that, by a 53% to 36% margin, the public supports the statement, "Abortion destroys a human life and is manslaughter." In December, pollster John Zogby teamed up with Brad O'Leary of the O'Leary Report to examine the cultural differences in states that elected George W. Bush as president in 2000 and those that voted for Al Gore. The poll also contained questions relating to abortion.As previous polls have shown, a strong majority of...

LOS ANGELES -- An 87-year-old man will surrender to authorities Tuesday after being charged with manslaughter in the deaths 10 people killed when his car roared through a Santa Monica, Calif., Farmers' Market, his attorney said. George Russell Weller of Santa Monica faces 10 felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence stemming from the July 16 crash, the district attorney's office said. The accident also injured 63 people. Weller is charged in the deaths of Theresa Bregalia, 50, of Bronx, N.Y.; Brendon Esfahani, 7 months, of Los Angeles; Molok Ghoulian, 62, of Los Angeles; Gloria Gonzalez, 35, of Venice;...