Indiana student ill, but wins Miss America crown

Katie Stam of Indiana was crowned Miss America on Saturday night, fighting off a throat infection, laryngitis and 51 other contestants to win the 88-year-old pageant.

The 22-year-old University of Indianapolis student became the first Miss America winner from the Hoosier State. She drew loud applause for her rendition of "Via Dolorosa" during the talent portion of the beauty pageant at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Stam said she had trouble sleeping one night this week while she took prescription medicine to fight the infection, but got her voice back by Thursday.


"I was feeling like myself again -- I will never take my health for granted," she said.

The Seymour native also strutted onstage in a black bikini and an off-the-shoulder, white lace evening gown. During the interview portion of the competition she decried the use of performance-enhancing drugs among professional athletes and discussed the definition of glamour.

"That beauty that you feel on the inside, it's that confidence, that radiance inside of you, that's what glamour is," Stam said.

Stam won a $50,000 scholarship and hopes to obtain a bachelor's degree in communications and become a television news anchor. She began competing in pageants at age 15.

Stam was crowned by reigning Miss America Kirsten Haglund of Michigan and will soon embark on a year of travel and public appearances.

She said she had one semester left in school -- but didn't know when she would finish -- and already was graduating debt-free without the $50,000 prize. Stam said she might use the money for graduate school.

The first runner-up was Miss Georgia Chasity Hardman, who took home a $25,000 scholarship.

The 52 young women took to the stage in blue jeans, bikinis and ballgowns following a mini-reality series on pageant prep work and a week of preliminary competition.

After an opening dance number and the traditional parade of states, judges and fans immediately trimmed the field to 15 finalists. Five more were trimmed based on swimsuit and evening gown competitions, while the remaining 10 went on to showcase their dancing, singing and other skills during the talent portion. more

20-year-old Brazilian model died after hands and feet were amputated

Officials say a Brazilian model whose feet and hands were amputated because of an infection has died.
Officials said in a statement early Saturday that 20-year-old Mariana Bridi's condition deteriorated overnight. She died at 2:30 a.m.
The Espirito Santo State Health Secretariat said in the statement she died from complications related to a generalized infection. It was caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is known to be resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics.
The beauty pageant contestant was suffering a generalized infection that forced the amputation of her hands and feet earlier this week because the flow of oxygen to her limbs was reduced.

Bridi twice was a finalist in the Brazilian stage of the Miss World beauty pageant, according to local media, and participated in the 2007 Miss Bikini International contest.
Bridi fell ill in December and doctors originally diagnosed her with kidney stones, local media said. But her condition worsened and doctors then diagnosed a urinary tract infection that spread. She was hospitalized on Jan 3.
Once she was hospitalized, doctors discovered septicemia had set into her limbs, cutting off circulation.
They were forced to amputate. more

Usher and Tameka expecting second child

Less than a year after becoming parents, R&B singer Usher and his wife, Tameka Foster, are expecting their second child together, according to People magazine. The couple, who married in August 2007, welcomed Usher Raymond V, whose nickname is Cinco, last November. The new parents are shown at left cuddling up front-row at fashion week in February. Usher, who released "Here I Stand" earlier this year, is preparing to go on a ladies-only tour, dubbed the "One Night Stand" tour.
Usher and Tameka are one of many high-profile couples who were got married under the radar. Click here to check out other secret weddings.(Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

Nas and Kelis are expecting

Rapper Nas and singer Kelis are preparing to welcome their first child together. "It's all they are talking about. She is carrying hip-hop royalty," an insider told People magazine. The couple married in Atlanta in 2005. This will be Kelis' first child. Nas has a 15-year-old daughter, Destiny, from a previous relationship.(Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Mexican drug suspect confessed to disposing 300 bodies

OJO DE AGUA, Mexico (Reuters) - A Mexican drug suspect has confessed to dissolving the bodies of 300 rivals with corrosive chemicals near the U.S. border, in a claim highlighting the brutality of Mexico's drug war.

Santiago Meza, known as "The Stew Maker," told journalists he did away with bodies in industrial drums on the outskirts of the violent city of Tijuana.

More than 700 people died in Tijuana last year as rival gangs battled for control of the city's lucrative drug trade. Many others are missing and believed dead after being abducted.

The suspect, who was paraded before journalists by the army on Friday, said he was paid $600 a week by a breakaway faction of the Arellano Felix cartel to dispose of slain rivals with caustic soda, a highly corrosive substance.

Related
Kidnappers Target Americans in BajaWATCH: Mexico: The Plan to Win the Drug WarTijuana: Where the 'Drug War' Is Real"They brought me the bodies and I just got rid of them," Meza said at a construction site where he said he dissolved 300 corpses. "I didn't feel anything."

Meza, 45, said he had been getting rid of bodies for 10 years.

The bodies took 24 hours to dissolve but left some remains that were dumped in a nearby pit, Meza said.


A high-ranking army officer told Reuters he believed Meza, who was arrested with three other people on Thursday, was telling the truth.

Police have previously recovered human remains burned with acid in and around the city. more

Obama expects stimulus bill to be ready by mid-Feb

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama launched a drive on Friday to get his $825 billion economic recovery plan through Congress, predicting lawmakers would resolve differences before a mid-February deadline.
"We are experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis that has to be dealt with and dealt with rapidly," Obama told reporters as he met Democratic and Republican congressional leaders at the White House.
Obama, who was sworn in on Tuesday on a mandate of change, has pledged swift action to rescue the U.S. economy from the worst turmoil in decades. With a daily stream of gloomy economic data, he has warned there is little time to lose.
Winning Republican support for the stimulus package will be an early test of Obama's promise to forge consensus and overcome the partisan politics that bitterly divided Washington under his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.
In another show of bipartisanship, Obama will meet Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to hear their ideas about the stimulus plan, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Bush rarely visited Congress, preferring to send aides and sometimes his vice president, Dick Cheney.
Obama's appeal to Democrats and Republicans to set aside their differences appeared to pay swift dividends, with the most powerful Republican in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday calling for a joint effort to fix the economy.
It remains to be seen though how long this honeymoon will last. more

Beauty loses hands and feet

A STUNNING Miss World finalist had her hands and feet amputated – after contracting a killer bug, according to reports.
Doctors carried out the drastic surgery on Mariana Bridi da Costa after she was struck down with a urinary disease – which can be fatal.
Her boyfriend Thiago Simoes said 20-year-old Mariana fell ill on December 30 – but was initially misdiagnosed with kidney stones.
The infection quickly spread – causing her to go back to hospital for tests that revealed her condition.
Septicaemia set in her limbs, cutting off circulation and forcing doctors to amputate her hands and feet.
Devastated Mr Simoes said: "We are all absolutely distraught and are just praying now that she can pull through.

Infection ... Mariana
"She fell ill on December 30 and we took her to hospital where she was misdiagnosed with a kidney stone.
"They gave her some medicine and sent her home. But two days later she started getting worse.
"We took her back to hospital and they said she had a very serious infection.
"She got more and more sick, and had no blood circulation to her limbs.
"First she lost her feet, then on Tuesday she lost both her hands.
"But she is a very strong person and we just want her to survive."
Miss Bridi is in a serious condition on a ventilation machine in hospital in Serra, in the southeastern state of Espirito Santo. more