South Florida Cigarette Smuggling Funds Terrorism

Their bags were packed. Their farewells had been said.

Like the rest of the British 38th Regiment Royal Engineers, Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar had shed their jeans and T-shirts for the sand and olive camouflage they'd wear during the next six months in Afghanistan.

All around the barracks in Antrim, Northern Ireland, soldiers threw green canvas bags into huge piles and made last-minute phone calls to family. In just a few hours, they would depart for Helmand Province, a remote desert enclave besieged by the Taliban.

It would be the first combat tour for... full story >>

SMU Landed the Bush Library, But a Group of Former Condo Owners Still Want the World to Know At What Price

Even though Leslie Davenport is not a party to the litigation, nothing can keep her away from the Dallas County district court next October. That's when Southern Methodist University is scheduled to defend its reputation for what Davenport claims was the unconscionable treatment her mother and others suffered at the hands of a school willing to intimidate and deceive in its plan to grab land for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. 

The lawsuit features two plaintiffs, attorney Gary Vodicka and dentist Robert Tafel, who, though unyielding, do not appear to be... full story >>

The way the Adams County Coroner is running his office could be dead wrong

On a quiet Sunday morning last February, Jaime Brown arrived at that dark and unthinkable place every young mother dreads. She walked into the room of her three-year-old daughter, Abigail Holland Brown, and found her face-down on her bed. Her skin was cold and blue.

There was no breath, no heartbeat. Abby was gone.

Aurora paramedics and police responded within minutes, but there was nothing that could be done. Abby had a rare genetic disorder that made her prone to grand mal seizures. She'd been hospitalized several times in her short life and put on various... full story >>

Getting Schooled

Even though Leslie Davenport is not a party to the litigation, nothing can keep her away from the Dallas County district court next October. That's when Southern Methodist University is scheduled to defend its reputation for what Davenport claims was the unconscionable treatment her mother and others suffered at the hands of a school willing to intimidate and deceive in its plan to grab land for the George W. Bush presidential library.

The lawsuit features two plaintiffs, attorney Gary Vodicka and dentist Robert Tafel, who, though unyielding, do not appear to be acting out of... full story >>

Meet the Powder Creek Cowboys: the fastest guns in Lenexa

The revolvers hanging from his belt are loaded, but at the moment, Croaker's hands are busy with the tin coffee cup suspended less than an inch from his lips. He's a big man of 52, and he carries his weight in front, mostly in a great stomach now clothed in a red shirt underneath suspenders, and pants the same black that his mustache must have been in his younger days. On his head is a white Stetson. He peers into the near distance and finally lets the cup fall, clattering to the wooden railing next to his shotgun, and yells, "Your days robbin' banks is over, Dalton!"

Croaker... full story >>

Bowfishing: Catching carp with a bow and arrow

As a gray curtain of clouds closes around Coon Lake, Brian Petschl skippers a flat-bottomed jonboat across the water. About the size of a Vikings tackle, Petschal rests his giant paws on thesteering wheel and delicately maneuvers through the shallows. It's just hours before sundown and Petschl wants to get to a spot teeming with carp.

He signals to hold on as he jams his blue camouflage baseball cap between his legs, wiggles his Fu Manchu mustache, and glides the throttles down. The nose of the boat rises out of the water as an outboard motor exhales a wide, white... full story >>

Michael Jackson’s Sedona “Murderess” Revealed

Hell hath no fury like a New Age physician scorned.

That's what Sedona healer Reinalda de Souza wants the world to glean from the untimely demise of Michael Jackson. She especially wants the famous and wealthy individuals who beat a path to her door seeking a cure for their mental, spiritual, and physical ailments to get the message.

"I am not a woman to be trifled with," says the short, charismatic woman, slapping the wooden table in the kitchen of her rambling, cliff-side dwelling for emphasis. "I haven't traveled thousands of miles and studied on four continents just... full story >>

The Man Who Cried Dust

When Nation of Islam minister Christopher Muhammad walked into a community meeting at the Bayview Opera House this spring, everyone knew he'd come to yell at people who don't agree with him. For the past three years, Muhammad and his followers had noisily criticized a housing development at the old Hunters Point Shipyard, which they contended was exposing children at the Nation's nearby private school, the Muhammad University of Islam, to toxic dust. What no one anticipated was that the night would end with someone getting a restraining order against him.

The meeting was hosted... full story >>