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TSA found a record 65 guns in carry-on bags last week; 54 loaded, 19 with rounds chambered, and one strapped to a prosthetic leg.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents steer passengers through the security stations. (File/UPI/Gary C. Caskey) 
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Published: May 25, 2013 at 3:34 PM
Updated May 25, 2013 at 4:20 PM
By KRISTEN BUTLER, UPI.com

The Transportation Security Administration found a record 65 guns in carry-on luggage last week, just a few weeks after setting a record of 50 firearms found.

A passenger at Salt Lake City received a pat-down after an anomaly was detected during advanced imaging technology screening. Officers discovered a fully loaded .22 caliber firearm strapped to his prosthetic leg. The passenger was arrested on a state charge of carrying a concealed weapon in a secure area.

Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth airports tied for 5 guns each. In Atlanta, three were loaded, and one had rounds chambered. At DFW, three firearms were loaded and two had rounds chambered.

In addition, TSA agents found 12 stun guns, inert grenades, realistic replicas, razor blades, ammunition, and "a lot of sharp pointy things." An unloaded musket was recovered at Orlando International Airport.

A different Orlando passenger, when presenting his identification, said, "I also have a bomb." During additional screening in Houston, a passenger told the officer that the bottle of water in his bag was a bomb. The TSA report notes that these kinds of statements, even if sarcastic, cause delays and are an "inconvenience."

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A drunken couple got into an argument over the "American Idol" finale that ended with mutual kitchen knife stabbings.
Published: May 24, 2013 at 5:09 PM
By CAROLINE LEE, UPI.com

A Pennsylvania couple agrees on watching American Idol each week.

But when Karen Elaine Harrelson, 48, and Gregory Stambaugh, 57, were preparing for the finale -- drinks in hand -- they stopped agreeing, Fox 40 reported.

The pair got into an argument over which contestant should win this series. One picked winner Candice Glover, and the other picked runner-up Kree Harrison.

During the argument, one of them picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed the other, according to the York Dispatch.

West Manchester Township Police said that then, whichever one was stabbed first took the knife and stabbed the other with it.

The two bickered over who started it and did not give police a consistent story.

Harrelson and Stambaugh were treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, then transported to the police station. They each were charged with two counts of simple assault and one count of aggravated assault.

They are being held in the same prison in York County, Penn. Harrelson is there on $30,000 bail and Stambaugh on $70,000.

Police retrieved two knives and two bottles of alcohol from the home.

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The case of an 18-year-old girl accused of lewd behavior with a 14-year-old girl has gained national attention over implications of bias because the relationship was between two girls.
Kaitlin Hunt. (Facebook/Free Kate)
Published: May 24, 2013 at 5:06 PM
By GABRIELLE LEVY, UPI.com

The 18-year-old Florida high senior who was charged with statutory rape after the parents of her 14-year-old girlfriend went to the police has refused a plea deal from the state attorney that would saddle her with felony charges.

Kaitlyn Hunt began a relationship with a teammate on her school's basketball team when she was 18 and the girl was 14.

The girls' coach found out about the relationship, and kicked Hunt off the team since players are not allowed to date each other. The coach then informed the younger girl's parents who, with the help of police, secretly recorded a conversation between the two young women discussing kissing.

Police arrested Hunt on Feb. 16, and after she confirmed the relationship, charged her with lewd and lascivious battery on a minor age 12 to 16 early this year.

By refusing the deal, which would involve pleading guilty to a charge of child abuse and accepting two years of house arrest and a year of probation, Hunt is taking her chances at trial, local media reported.

A spokesman for the sheriff's department, Sgt. Thom Raulen, confirmed that there was no indication the younger girl had been pressured or forced into the relationship, but Florida considers teens under 16 incapable of given consent.

If convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison and could have to register as a sex offender, although a "Romeo and Juliet" law exempting offenders where the age gap is less than four years, could help her avoid that status.

An attorney for Hunt say she would be willing to accept a deal if the charges were dropped to a misdemeanor, citing an example when an 18-year-old male in a similar situation took that offer after he had a relationship with a 15-year-old female.

"This is a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same sex involved in a relationship," said Julia Graves, attorney for Kaitlyn Hunt. "If this case involved a boy and girl, there would be no media attention to this case."

And the media attention has been growing, especially over insinuations that the younger girl's parents never addressed their concerns with their daughter or Hunt's parents, instead going directly to authorities.

Activists have suggested Hunt is being unfairly targeted because she is gay, where heterosexual relationships between high school students where one was 18 and the other under the age of consent in Florida, were generally given a pass.

The hacker collective Anonymous has gotten involved, releasing a letter to the Florida State attorney accusing him of losing perspective.

And nearly 300,000 people have signed onto an online petition asking the attorney to drop his prosecution.

But state attorney Bruce Colton denies any accusations of bias in the case.

"The law doesn't make any differentiation. It doesn't matter if it's two girls or two boys, or an older boy and a younger girl or an older girl and a younger boy," he said. "Whatever the combination, it doesn't matter."

The parents of the younger girl, identified as Jim and Laurie Smith, say they objected because their daughter was just too young, and they had warned Hunt to stay away from their daughter.

The last straw, they say, is when they went into their daughter's room on a weekend morning and she wasn't there. Hunt picked her up, but she hadn't told her parents.

"We had no other alternative but to turn to the law, use it basically as a last resort," Jim Smith said.

Full statement on behalf of Kaitlyn Hunt by her counsel Julia Graves:

Our client is a courageous teenager who is choosing not to accept the current plea offer by the State of Florida.

This is a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same sex involved in a relationship. If this case involved a boy and girl, there would be no media attention to this case.

Our client is a model citizen. She has been placed in an environment of school with her classmates where they go to school together, have lunch together, and play on the same team and are allowed to have communication and contact without barriers. Then when something develops between the two as a result of this environment created by the State, it leads to criminal prosecution.

If this incident occurred 108 days earlier when she was 17, we wouldn’t even be here.

Right now this is the biggest thing in her life. We are going to stand behind her. Her family and friends are going to stand behind her.

This is not logical. The State is willing to take this teenager’s life away over 108 days.

Along with Kaitlyn and her family, we are going to fight to have the law changed so no other teenager finds themselves in this same position created by the State of Florida and prosecuted unfairly.

Now we as counsel need to get down to the serious business of fighting for this teenager’s life.

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Hanson's MmmHops beer, "from the guys that invented MMMBop," served at "Hangover 3" premiere.
Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, Zac Hanson arrive for the premiere of "The Hangover: Part III." (File/UPI/Jim Ruymen) 
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Published: May 24, 2013 at 4:54 PM
By KRISTEN BUTLER, UPI.com

Hanson brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac became teen superstars in the 1990s, and now they have created MmmHops beer, named after "MMMBop," their band's best-remembered hit.


The Hansons served their beer at a premiere party for "The Hangover Part III," and the band tweeted a picture of Taylor drinking a bottle of MmmHops Pale Ale with actor Ed Helms.


The Hanson brothers' beer night in Hollywood comes ahead of the June 18 release of their album "Anthem." The first single, titled "Get the Girl Back," was released April 9.

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Julianne Moore told Jimmy Fallon she was so embarrassed by the way her toes popped out of her shoes at Cannes that she cut them off.
Julianne Moore arrives on the red carpet before the screening of the film "The Great Gatsby" during opening night of the 66th annual Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 15, 2013. UPI/David Silpa 
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Published: May 24, 2013 at 4:39 PM

Julianne Moore finally addressed her infamous shoe-malefaction situation while visiting Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday.

Moore came under fire last week after pictures of the star's toes popping out of her shoes during Cannes Film Festival went viral on the internet.

When Fallon asked her about the incident, Moore said she didn't realize her toes were out until she got home and saw the pictures online.

"I didn't feel a thing -- not a thing," she said of the incident. "I felt fine! I was just walking along, like, 'Hiiiii, I'm at Cannes' and my toes are hanging off [my shoes]!"

Later on the actress joked about what she did to prevent this "Toemageddon" incident in the future.

"I did what every reasonable person would do," she told Fallon. "I needed to prevent this from happening again, so I cut my toes off."

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A man caught shoplifting in the United Kingdom has an unusual reason for stealing.
Ground beef File/UPI/Gary C. Caskey 
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Published: May 24, 2013 at 4:21 PM
By CAROLINE LEE, UPI.com

An unemployed man in the United Kingdom was caught shoplifting in a market.

But John Casey, a 51-year-old father of eight, did not cite hunger as his reason for stealing. Instead, he said the blood caused "flashbacks" of his late grandmother, the Epoch Times reported.

Casey's grandmother died of a blood clot when he was a child, and the blood in the meat pack reminded him of that, he said. He was caught with putting the beef in his bag on surveillance cameras.

"It was like I was with her again," Casey said of his grandmother. "The blood in the bag was bringing it on, it was like I was there, like I was living it."

The trial cost Casey $30,000, the Daily Mail reported. He was not held in jail.

“You have caused a huge amount of unnecessary expense to be incurred by electing trial, and you have no means from which you can cover the costs,” the judge in Casey's case said.

In court, Casey accepted placing the beef in his bag but said it was the only way he could put it out of sight and end the flashback. The defendant said the flashbacks were "disturbing" and that Casey is on medication for depression and anxiety.

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Guerrero brought in talent from the Dominican Republic for the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays over a 50-year career.
File/UPI/John Angelillo 
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Published: May 24, 2013 at 3:58 PM
By GABRIELLE LEVY, UPI.com

The man largely credited for opening up the path from the Dominican Republic to Major League Baseball died Thursday at the age of 71.

Epy Guerrero, a baseball scout for the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, opened the first baseball academy in the Dominican Republic and helped a number of future greats navigate the path between the Caribbean and their sport's biggest stage.

In Toronto, where Guerrero is particularly revered for signing Carlos Delgado, Tony Fernandez, Alfredo Griffin and George Bell, the Blue Jays held a moment of silence before Thursday night's game in his honor.

In 2012, Guerrero recounted a story of the time he spotted a talented young pitcher and wanted to sign him, but the Blue Jays' pitching expert Mel Queen wasn't impressed.

"Because of Queen, Toronto doesn’t get a hall of famer: Pedro Martinez,” Guerrero said.

Guerrero was first hired in 1965 by Pat Gillick, then in charge of the Astros' farm system, and followed him to the Yankees and then the Jays, where Gillick was the general manager from 1978 to 1994.

“He had a keen eye for talent,” Gillick said. “A very loyal employee, a hard worker. He had a love and a passion for the game.”

The Dominican Republic is a major provider of talent to the sport -- more professional players come from there than any other country, save the U.S.


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The Alabama Department of Public Health solved the mystery of an illness that infected seven people and killed two, claiming it was a mix of the common cold and a strain of the flu.
Published: May 24, 2013 at 3:54 PM

A mystery illness that had sickened seven and killed two people in Alabama was deciphered by health officials on Thursday.

The illness turned out to be a "coincidental cluster of varying viruses" including a mix of the common cold and a strain of the flu, according to a press release filed by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

ABC News reports health officials first became aware of the "mystery illness" on May 16 when several patients exhibited symptoms of "cough, a fever and shortness of breath" and there was no known cause for them.

"You never want to assume that there isn't a connection, because as soon as you do that, you will be proved wrong," said Dr. Richard Besser, chief health and medical editor for ABC News. "The first cases of the next SARS or the next flu pandemic could look very much like this. You treat every one of these clusters the same: You attack it with rapid public health science."

Dr. Mary McIntyre, who is leading the investigation about the illness said the five patients who are infected but still alive seem to be getting better. One of them was released from the hospital on Tuesday.

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Actress Amanda Bynes showed up in court wearing a blond wig and a mug shot reveals what she really looks like.
Published: May 24, 2013 at 3:39 PM
By CAROLINE LEE, UPI.com

Amanda Bynes arrived for her criminal case this morning looking more ready for a Judge Trudy sketch than a court date.

The New York Post tweeted a photo of the "What I Like About You" actress with a blond wig with bangs covering up her new hairstyle, which is now buzzed, as seen in her mug shot.


Bynes paired her Halloween wig with a Versace jacket, sweatpants and a single hot-pink acrylic on her left middle finger, LA Late reported.

And just like that, she's back on Twitter: She retweeted a few fans and lashed back at Perez Hilton for coverage of her arrest.


She was wearing a wig when she got arrested and took her initial mug shot wearing it. For her second mug shot, she was forced to take off the wig and is shown with a very short haircut, according to the Daily Mail.

Bynes, 27, was accused of throwing a bong out of her 36th-floor New York City apartment. She told the court that she was "improperly arrested" and claimed the glass she threw out of the window was a vase. Bynes was released without the need of bail on her own recognizance.

She faces a felony count of tampering with evidence and charges for marijuana possession and reckless endangerment. An arrest warrant will be issued if Bynes misses her July court date, Business Insider reports.

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New York's smoking ban has led to slip-and-fall lawsuits from smokers who step outside in their bowling shoes.
Bowling. (CC/Daniil Ryzhkov)
Published: May 24, 2013 at 3:08 PM
By KRISTEN BUTLER, UPI.com

Since New York's indoor smoking ban took effect in 2003, slip-and-fall lawsuits have been on the rise, especially at bowling alleys.

When smokers step outside when it's raining or snowing, leather-soled bowling shoes can become slippery, increasing the risk of injury. Some bowling alleys try to curb the problem by letting bowlers keep their street shoes with them so they can leave rental shoes inside.

A bill sponsored by Republican state Senator Pat Gallivan would require bowling centers to post signs warning patrons that it's dangerous to go outdoors in bowling shoes, according to the Times Union.

But the move to shield bowling alleys and their insurers from litigious New Yorkers drew objections from the state Trial Lawyers Association. "We cannot support any legislation that undercuts the constitutional right to a trial by a jury," the association's President Michael Jaffe said in a statement.

Illinois passed a similar measure in 2009. Bowling centers there also faced opposition by trial lawyers, but ultimately narrowed the language of the bill to cover rental shoes only, and added specific wording about the perils of wet shoes.

Bill Duff, executive director of the Illinois Bowling Proprietors Association said the trial lawyers easily dwarf the size and power of bowling center operators.

Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, attributes the "plague of frivolous lawsuits" to the fact that New York has twice the number of lawyers per capita, about 84 per 10,000 people, than the national average of 40 per 10,000.

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