Obama Caps White House Staff Salaries, Promises Openness

President Obama plans to put a freeze on White House salaries over $100K.
Obama also sent a messenger to Capitol Hill to brief them on the three executive orders he plans to sign tomorrow, sources tell ABC News.
Obama woke up in the White House for the first time and began a whirlwind day, having already set in motion Tuesday major policy changes for the new administration.
On his agenda for Day One, Obama summoned his economic advisers to hammer out details of an economic bailout and called in his top generals to give them new marching orders.
His staff was already putting into effect executive orders to usher in the Obama presidency, as well as his request that military hearings for terror suspects at the Guantanamo prison be suspended for 120 days.
ABC News has also learned that Obama will sign three executive orders tomorrow, including one to close Gitmo within a year.
But at a staff meeting to swear in top aides, Obama dropped a bombshell. He was freezing their salaries.
" During this period of economic emergency, families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington," Obama told the assembled staff.
He thanked the staff for accepting the restriction and said, "It's a mark of your commitment to public service."
The president said the salaries of everyone on the White House staff that exceeded $100,000 would be frozen. If the Obama White House pay structure is similar to that of the Bush White House, more than 100 staffers will have six-figure salaries.
Obama went on to spell out restrictions on lobbying after employees leave the White House and vowed that the federal government would be more willing to make information public. more

81 year old mugging victim died as she laid in street calling for help

An 81-year-old widow who died after being mugged was ignored as she lay on the pavement pleading for help.
Passers-by refused to stop and help Molly Morgan, thinking that she was drunk.
The retired architect was on her way to a lecture at her local library in Harrow, North-West London, on Thursday night when her shoulder bag was snatched.
This caused her to fall to the ground, causing serious head injuries and a broken arm.
Ignored: Pensioner Molly Morgan died following a street mugging. Many passers-by refused to help her because they thought she had been drinking
Mrs Morgan managed to tell police that a man walked right past her, even though she asked him for help.
She lay on the ground for ten minutes until two women - who had initially crossed to the other side of the road to avoid her - heard her cries and came to her aid.
Detective Chief Inspector Jessica Wadsworth, from the Met's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: 'I need to trace this man and any other people who saw Mrs Morgan lying on the pavement, since they are vital witnesses and will be able to help me find who killed Mrs Morgan.
'It is our belief that this man and other people in the area who didn't assist the victim may tragically not have realised that Mrs Morgan had been attacked and was in considerable pain.
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Coast Guard Suspend search for elderly couple

LONG BEACH, Calif. — The Coast Guard suspended its search Saturday for an elderly couple believed to have fallen off a cruise ship between Long Beach and northern Mexico.
The aerial search for the 90-year-old man and his 79-year-old wife was halted after officials determined that their chances of surviving in the water were slim, said Chief Warrant Officer Scott Epperson.
"Factoring in their age and weights, their survivability in 59 degrees water was about 4 to 6 hours," he said. "The last time they were seen was 84 hours ago."
The couple were last seen Tuesday aboard the Carnival Paradise.
Officials also consulted with the couple's relatives, who agreed to suspending the search, Epperson said.
Miami-based Carnival said their cabin door was double-locked from the inside with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle. Their belongings remained inside and the door leading from the cabin to the private balcony was unlocked.
Crews searched throughout the night, tracing the route the ship had taken since it left Long Beach on Monday, with stops at Santa Catalina and in Ensenada, Mexico, before returning Friday.

Edlery woman has accident but keeps going to not miss hair appointment

BOYNTON BEACH, FL (AP) -- Police say an elderly woman in Palm Beach County crashed into a man on a scooter and then kept driving to make her hair appointment.
Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater says 77-year-old Louise Davidson of Boynton Beach was arrested Thursday for leaving the scene of an injury crash. The man suffered abrasions all over his body. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
Police say Slater was turning right when she pulled into the path of an oncoming scooter that had the right of way. The scooter collided with her silver Toyota, vaulting the man off the scooter, onto the windshield and then onto the roadway.
Police spotted her car after she had her hair appointment.

Driver eating while driving was given a ticket for 60 dollars

She took her hand off the wheel only for a moment. So when Ediri Tsekiri grabbed a bite of her sandwich while driving, she didn't think it was any more dangerous than changing gear or indicating.
Unfortunately, the police officer didn't see it that way.
And after watching the 36-year-old university researcher pop the 2in crust into her mouth, he pulled her over and accused her of breaking the law by not being in proper control of her vehicle.

Ediri Tsekiri was branded dangerous by the policeman who handed her a hefty penalty
Miss Tsekiri had been driving her Vauxhall Zafira between appointments down a 30mph road near her home in Liverpool, in November, when she was stopped. She had already eaten most of the chicken sandwich she had made.
'I had picked up a crust from a plastic bag on the seat next to me and I never took my eyes off the road,' said the mother of two. 'I was certainly no more distracted than if I had changed gear or switched radio stations.
'The officer asked me what I would have done if a child had stepped out in front of me. My reply was that I would have put my foot on the brake, the same as in any other situation.
'Everyone takes one hand off the wheel at some point quite legitimately when they change gear, roll down the window or change the heater settings. Police officers don't drive with both hands on the wheel at every moment.
'He tried to suggest that it was worse than using a mobile phone while driving but I don't accept that for a moment. The whole procedure lasted less than a second.
'I consider myself a good driver and certainly never take unnecessary risks. If I had been sneezing that could have been more dangerous than eating a morsel of bread.'
Miss Tsekiri, who works at Manchester University's school of nursing, paid a £60 fine and accepted three penalty points rather than go to court and risk a fine of up to £1,000.
Last year, Merseyside Police issued 46 penalty notices for not being in proper control of a vehicle. Offences included eating or putting on makeup at the wheel.
A spokesman said: 'There is no correlation between pushing a button on a radio, or changing gear and eating whilst driving.
'Each case is treated individually on its merits, but by eating at the wheel a driver is likely to be not in proper control of their vehicle.'

Aubrey booted from Dannity Kane is posing for Playboy

Aubrey O’Day wasn’t up to Diddy’s standards (hence she was booted from his girl group 'Danity Kane' last year) but it definitely sounds as though she’s good enough for Hugh Hefner who is putting the aspiring pop star on the cover of Playboy’s March issue.
"The shoot was so liberating, it is very classy, simple and glamorous," O’Day told Tarts at Kari Feinstein’s Sundance Style Lounge over the weekend. "It’s all about the girl and that’s what I wanted. It’s so glamorous, Hef was there and he loved it. My whole family came to watch, I have a very liberal and accepting family and there is very little judgment to have ever come out of my family."

ONLINE EXTORTION

E-Mail Scam Includes Hit-Man Threat 01/15/07
The scam e-mail, which first appeared in December, threatens to kill recipients if they do not pay the sender. It's a scam. FBI officials recommend you don't reply.
A new scam cropping up in e-mail boxes across the country is preying not on recipients’ greed or good intentions, but on their fears. The scam e-mail, which first appeared in December, threatens to kill recipients if they do not pay thousands of dollars to the sender, who purports to be a hired assassin.
About 115 complaints have been filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) since the scam emerged, according to special agent John Hambrick, who heads IC3. He said the extortion scam does not appear to target anyone specifically and that IC3 has not received any reports of money loss or threats carried out.
“This is a hoax, so do yourself a favor and don’t respond,” Hambrick said.
Replying to the e-mails just sends a signal to senders that they’ve reached a live account. It also escalates the intimidation, Hambrick said.
In one case, a recipient responded that he wanted to be left alone and threatened to call authorities. The scammer, who was demanding an advance payment of $20,000, e-mailed back and reiterated the threat, this time with some personal details about the recipient—his work address, marital status, and daughter’s full name. Then an ultimatum:
“TELL ME NOW ARE YOU READY TO DO WHAT I SAID OR DO YOU WANT ME TO PROCEED WITH MY JOB? ANSWER YES/NO AND DON’T ASK ANY QUESTIONS!!!”
Bill Shore, a special agent who supervises the computer crime squad in the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said recipients should not be overly spooked when scammers incorporate their intended victims’ personal details in their schemes.
“Personal information is widely available,” he said. “Even if a person does not use the Internet or own a computer, they could still be the victim of a computer crime such as identity theft.” more