Another aircraft hit a bird

(CNN) -- A bird struck an Arkansas hospital's helicopter Saturday, tearing a hole into the aircraft's nose and prompting the pilot to land early, according to officials and pictures taken after the landing.

A medical helicopter landed near Forrest City, Arkansas, on Saturday after striking a bird.

The chopper's pilot made a "safe landing" in that state after hitting a bird while returning to Baptist Health Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, hospital spokesman Mark Lowman said.
"I think the pilot just made a judgment call to set it down," Lowman said of the landing, which happened at 6:15 p.m. Saturday near Forrest City, Arkansas.
Video footage taken by CNN affiliate WREG showed a bird hanging out of a hole torn into the paneling on the chopper's nose. Part of the helicopter's windshield also was broken.
The pilot was slightly injured during the landing, and the other two crew members on board were uninjured, Lowman said.
Federal aviation officials are investigating, and the helicopter is not expected to be grounded for long, he said.
The helicopter was returning from a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where the crew had taken a patient. more

Coed Slay Suspect Flirts With Ex-Boyfriend at Trial

Amanda Knox sought to patch up relations with her estranged former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, behind the scenes, at the opening of their trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher, Knox’s British roommate, it emerged Sunday.
During the seven-hour opening hearing on Friday, Knox, 21 smiled and laughed repeatedly, joking with her lawyers and interpreter. Although sitting only a few feet from the bespectacled Sollecito, 24, she barely acknowledged his glances along the row.
As far as is known the two, who have been held in separate prisons, have not spoken since they were arrested for Kercher's murder in November 2007. But during a recess on Friday, Knox approached Sollecito and broke the ice by asking: “Ciao, come stai?” [“Hi, how are you?”]. She smiled at him and said: “You look good with your hair cut short.” more

Various 'Little Debbie' Snacks Recalled After Peanut Butter Probe

WASHINGTON — The company that sells Little Debbie snacks announced a recall Sunday of peanut butter crackers because of a potential link to a deadly salmonella outbreak.
The voluntary recall came one day after the government advised consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods with peanut butter until health officials learn more about the contamination.
The announcement by McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn., about two kinds of Little Debbie products was another in a string of voluntary recalls following the most recent guidance by health officials.
The South Bend Chocolate Co. in Indiana said Sunday it too was recalling various candies containing peanut butter from Peanut Corp. of America. In suburban Chicago, Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products recalled several brands of peanut butter cookies it sells through Wal-Mart stores.
Peanut Corp. expanded its recall Sunday to all peanut butter and all peanut paste produced at its Blakely, Ga., plant since July 1.
McKee said it had not received any complaints about illnesses from people who ate any size peanut butter toasty sandwich crackers or peanut butter cheese sandwich crackers. The recall covers crackers produced on or after July 1.

Officials are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at Peanut Corp.'s Georgia facility. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies. But the peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cakes and other products that people buy in the supermarket.
So far, more than 470 people have gotten sick in 43 states, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being blamed on the outbreak. Salmonella is a bacteria and the most common source of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.
Also Sunday, the maker of Peter Pan peanut butter said none of its products are associated with the outbreak. Peter Pan and other peanut butter produced by ConAgra Foods Inc. were linked in 2007 to a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 625 people in 47 states. more

Caught On Tape; Prep Basketball Star Savagely Beaten

VALLEJO, Calif. -- Six suspects were in custody Sunday following a vicious beating caught on a campus surveillance camera at a Vallejo area high school that left a star basketball player -- who came to the aid of a female student -- hospitalized with a severe brain injury, authorities said.
Bryant Lee, 17, was waiting to begin practice with other members of the Bethel High School varsity basketball team at round 4:30 p.m. Thursday when he saw a group of men attacking a female student, school district spokesman Jason Hodge said. click to see video
He rushed over to aid the girl, helping her flee and then the attackers turned their fury on him. On the video, the six can be seen beating, kicking and pummeling Lee as he lay defenseless on the ground.
Hodge said Lee’s teammates came to his aid, but not before he had suffered serious injuries. He was taken to John Muir Hospital where he was in serious condition and initially placed on a ventilator.
"We had six adults who came on the campus and there's no other way to describe it,” Hodge said. “They savagely beat one of our students mercilessly. The young man is lucky to be alive."
Lee’s mother said he was improving and had been taken off the ventilator and given his first meal Saturday, but that he faced a long road to recovery. She said she wasn’t surprised that he came to the girl’s aid.
"He plays for the basketball team; he's a well-liked individual,” an emotional Donna Williams said. “He’s smart, he gets good grades in school. I just -- I couldn't ask for a better son."
Vallejo police said based on the tape and eyewitness accounts they had arrested four members of one family -- Abraham Tili, 26, Alexander Tili, 26, Ray Tili, 18 and Ron Tili, 18. Also in custody were Kevin Young, 18, and a 16-year-old suspect. more

Rogue FBI agent who inspired 'The Departed' jailed for 40 years for killing witness set to testify against the Mob

'The dark side': Former FBI agent John Connolly, shown here appearing in court, has been jailed for 40 years
A rogue FBI agent has been jailed for 40 years for killing a witness who was about to testify against the Mob.
A judge told FBI agent John Connolly he had 'crossed over to the dark side'.
The former agent's decision to switch sides was said to be the inspiration for the character played by Matt Damon in the hit film 'The Departed.'
Damon played a Massachusetts State Trooper detective who supplied his Mob connections with information.
During a two-month trial in Miami, Florida, a jury heard that Connolly, 68, was on the Mafia payroll - receiving money from notorious Mob leader James 'Whitey' Bulger who ran the Winter Hill gang in Boston in the 1980s.

Bulger is the FBI's second-most wanted fugitive after Osama bin Laden and is being sought for involvement in 19 murders.
The court heard that Connolly would supply his Mob connections with tip-offs about police raids and leak the names of informants.
He was convicted of the 1982 murder of businessman John Callahan, whose bullet-riddled body was found in the boot of a car at Miami Airport.
Connolly told his mob connections that 45-year-old Callaghan was preparing to give evidence against the notorious Winter Hill gang in Boston.
A 'hit' was taken out on the father-of-two before he could implicate Bulger.
Connolly has denied being a corrupt agent.
He said: 'I never sold my badge. I never took anybody's money. I never caused anybody to be hurt, at least not knowingly, and I never would.' more

The two "black box" data recorders have been recovered

NEW YORK — The airliner that was piloted to a safe landing in the Hudson River was resting on a barge Sunday after being hoisted out of the icy current, and its two "black box" data recorders were on their way to investigators in Washington.
Salvage crews hoisted the downed US Airways jetliner from the river late Saturday, three days after its pilot made what he told investigators was a split-second decision to attempt a water landing to avoid a possibly "catastrophic" crash over populated areas.
The aircraft's torn and shredded underbelly revealed the force with which it had hit the water. Its right wing appeared charred, some pieces of metal dropped from the plane as it was maneuvered in the darkness, and the destroyed right engine appeared as though the outside had been peeled off.

An emergency slide still hung from the plane; nearby, a compartment door was open, with some luggage still visible inside. A gash extended from the base of the plane toward the windows. And in places, the skin of the aircraft was simply gone. But much of the top half of the fuselage appeared relatively untouched.

After a day struggling with the icy waters and the immense weight of the craft, the mood on the shoreline turned festive with the successful operation. Following the long work to secure the plane, people shook hands and investigators took snapshots, while police helicopters hovered overhead.
Earlier Saturday, Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger told investigators in the few minutes he had to decide where to set down the powerless plane Thursday afternoon, he felt it was "too low, too slow" and near too many buildings to go anywhere else, according to the National Transportation Safety Board account of his testimony.
The pilot and his first officer provided their first account to NTSB investigators Saturday of what unfolded inside the cockpit of the US Airways Flight 1549 after it slammed into a flock of birds and lost power in both engines. more

White supremacists groups watched in lead up to Obama administration

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials are closely watching white supremacists across the country as Barack Obama prepares next week to be sworn in as the first black president of the United States.

U.S. Capitol Police check observation positions in advance of Tuesday's presidential inauguration.

So far, there is no known organized effort to express opposition to Obama's rise to the presidency other than a call by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for its members to wear black armbands as well as fly the U.S. flag upside down on Inauguration Day and Obama's first full day in office.
As Tuesday approaches, when Obama stands outside the Capitol to take the oath of office, experts expect anger about the new president to spike. But they don't expect it to go away.
"The level of vitriol, I expect, will go up a bit more around inauguration time," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.
There "is concern" about white supremacist groups during the inauguration, said Joe Persichini, the assistant FBI director who is helping to oversee security during the inauguration. What might the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. have said? »
The inauguration of the nation's first minority president increases any potential threat, "particularly stemming from individuals on the extremist fringe of the white supremacist movement," said a recent intelligence assessment by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
But law enforcement has the appropriate resources to respond if needed, Persichini said.
"We have seen a lot of chatter," Persichini said. "We have seen a lot of discussions. We have seen some information via the Internet. But those are discussions. We look at the vulnerabilities and whether or not the groups are taking action.
"You have freedom of speech," he added. "Anyone in this nation can have a discussion about their beliefs, but we are concerned about whether or not they take that freedom of speech and exercise some act that is against the law."
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Anger, violence and interest in racist ideology did increase in the hours and days after Obama was elected president in November, hate groups experts said.
Three New York men were indicted on charges of conspiracy to interfere with voting rights -- accused of targeting and attacking African-Americans in a brutal crime spree soon after Obama was declared the winner on November 4.
And interest in racist ideology was so high right after the election that computer servers for two White supremacist Web sites crashed, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
But the violence and interest soon subsided. Leaders within the white supremacist movement are now seeking to capitalize on Obama's presidency by using his election to help grow their organizations.
"President-elect Obama is going to be the spark that arouses the 'white movement,' " reads a posting on the National Socialist Movement Web site. "Obama's win is our win. We should all be happy of this event."
In an interview posted on his Web site on election night, former Louisiana state Rep. David Duke said Obama's election "is good in one sense -- that it is making white people clear of the fact that that government in Washington, D.C., is not our government."
"We are beginning to learn and realize our positioning," Duke, a prominent white supremacist, later said in the election night recording. "And our position is that we have got to stand up and fight now."
Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, said the leaders of these groups are frustrated by Obama's win.
"I think the hate groups are desperately looking for a silver lining in a very dark cloud for them," Potok said.
While experts said it is difficult to determine how many people belong to hate groups, they do agree with an SPLC estimate that claims there are about 900 operating now, a 40 percent increase from 2000. The vast majority of these groups promote white supremacist beliefs, and range from skinheads living in urban areas to the KKK ,which is based largely in rural settings. more