VIA: CNN.com

Haim, 38, was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, where he was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m. PT (5:15 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, Los Angeles County Deputy Coroner Ed Winter said. The hospital is a mile from Haim’s apartment.

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Corey Haim seemed to be winning his battle against drug abuse in the weeks before his death, his manager and closest friend said Wednesday.

The 1980s teen movie actor and heartthrob died early Wednesday after collapsing in the Los Angeles apartment he shared with his mother, authorities said.

Haim was “weaned down to literally zero medications” in the last two weeks by an addiction specialist, manager Mark Heaslip said on HLN’s “Issues With Jane Velez-Mitchell.”

The doctor “put him on a new line of medications,” Haim’s longtime friend and frequent co-star Corey Feldman said on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

Feldman pleaded with people not to draw conclusions that Haim died from a drug overdose. He said that until the autopsy report is issued, “nobody knows and nobody’s going to know.”

“I know that there were symptoms that he was showing that expressed it could be a number of things,” Feldman said. “This could have been a kidney failure. This could have been a heart failure.”

Heaslip said Haim’s mother, Judy, told him “there were no signs of him overdosing.”

His death came as his career was picking up, with Haim booking “movie after movie,” Heaslip said. His latest film is set for release soon, he said.

Haim “really became a man” in recent months as he helped his mother in her battle with cancer, Feldman said. “He’s been there for her, taking care of her, being responsible,” he said.

Haim, 38, was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, early Wednesday, where he was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m., Los Angeles County Deputy Coroner Ed Winter said.

Haim was in the apartment he shared with his mother, Judy, when he “became a little dizzy, he kind of went to his knees in the bedroom,” Winter said. “His mom assisted him in the bed. He became unresponsive.”

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VIA: Cincinnati.com

After a quiet weekend, the Bengals got involved with free agency on Monday, re-signing defensive tackle Tank Johnson while getting set to welcome wide receivers Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens on Tuesday.

Johnson took to Twitter Monday evening and announced: “Cinci we got a deal! Very grateful to The Browns and all the Who Dey Nation!!! I’m Baaaaaaaack!!!! Now let’s win some more.”

The deal is for four years with the team expected to announce it Tuesday or Wednesday.

In the search for a wide receiver who can stretch the field, it will be an interesting day with Bryant and Owens visiting Paul Brown Stadium.

When it comes to receivers who are unrestricted free agents, Bryant and Owens are the top two. Bryant, an eight-year veteran, was hampered in Tampa Bay due to two knee injuries that happened during training camp. He played 13 games and had 39 receptions for 600 yards, an average of 15.4 yards per catch, with four touchdowns. In 2008, he enjoyed a career year with 83 receptions for 1,248 yards and seven touchdowns.

Bryant, who turns 29 today, arrived in Cincinnati Monday night. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2002 and has also played with Cleveland and San Francisco.

Owens, whose visit was reported by ESPN, is a 14-year veteran who had 55 receptions for 829 yards and five touchdowns last season in Buffalo.

As for their own free agents, Johnson was one of the Bengals’ top offseason priorities.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said he was happy with Johnson’s first season in Cincinnati. Brought in as a pass rusher, the six-year defensive tackle played 14 games (starting 13) and had 39 tackles with two sacks.

Although Zimmer was disappointed in Johnson’s sack numbers, he was pleased with other areas of his game.

“He’s got a lot of things that can help us defensively and he did,” Zimmer said. “He wasn’t the pass rusher that I thought he might be but everything else was probably better than I thought.”

Things did not appear good last Friday when Johnson’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, posted on Twitter for his client to pack his bags because they were going to visit other teams this week.

Johnson is the first Bengals unrestricted free agent to re-sign. Safety Roy Williams, guard Bobbie Williams and tight end Reggie Kelly remain priorities.

Read more…

VIA: Cincinnati.com

There are three wide receivers on the market that the Bengals have discussed and/or are looking at. Let’s face it all of them have issues of some sort and possess All-Pro talent. The question the Bengals have to answer is which one do they think provides the least problems and then go after him.

With word out there that the Bengals have had some very preliminary thoughts about possibly formulating a Brandon Marshall Plan , it does send word to Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens that they are weighing (some more heavily than others) a variety of options.

Bryant and Owens still remain the best options out there. You could sign Bryant to a multi-year deal and at 28 he is still young enough that he still has plenty of years left. Owens gives you a deep threat and there is that friendship with Chad Ochocinco.

Now, what about Marshall? If the Bengals were to all of a sudden decide they wanted to go all in on Marshall, there are some questions they have to answer:

Are they willing to pay possibly $60 million over five years? $10 million a year is going to be a starting point and by the time you throw in a signing bonus, it could easily go over $60 million.
Are they ready to make Marshall their featured receiver and is Chad Ochocinco willing to become a number two guy? You are not going to pay a guy in upwards of $10 million a year to be a second guy.
Have the Bengals done their due diligence that the problems Marshall had in Denver will not occur here? Considering the problems Marshall has had on and off the field, who knows if that can truly be answered.
Seattle remains the favorite to land Marshall, but the Seahawks right now are not willing to part with the sixth overall pick in the draft. Throw another possible suitor into the equation, and Seattle might reconsider.

Putting Marshall out there in connection with the Bengals helps two parties. It helps the Bengals by showing Bryant and Owens that if they are serious about looking at Cincinnati, that now is the time to negotiate and schedule a visit. It helps Denver because if they decide to match the offer sheet of whoever puts one in for Marshall, it provides a baseline for what the Broncos might want in a trade.

Who doesn’t it help? Seattle. Because they are seeing the price for Marshall steadily increase. But the Seahawks do have two things the Bengals don’t — two first-round picks and an owner with extremely deep pockets.

Meanwhile in other free agent stuff there’s not a lot to report. The Bengals continue to talk to talk to Bobbie Williams, Roy Williams and Tank Johnson about new contracts while they continue to evaluate who to bring in for visits.

In the first organized debate in the Republican race for Hamilton County Commission, Leslie Ghiz and Chris Monzel, squared off in the Colerain Township Senior Center Thursday night. The Colerain Township Republican Club hosted the event.

They took shots at each other and twice in the evening, Ghiz even brought a third person into the fray–someone who wasn’t there to defend himself: Cincinnati NAACP President Christopher Smitherman.

The tit-for-tat debate lasted for about an hour, during which the two candidates answered questions by picking apart each other’s voting records or comments made at previous public forums.

Armed with copies of city council ordinances and motions, they each tried to prove that they were more pro-life, anti-tax, pro-gun, pro-township, pro safety and pro-business than their opponent.

Both took turns accusing the other of mischaracterizing the other’s vote or position on issues ranging from the streetcar to Section 8 housing to the casino.

Ghiz: “I don’t like fibs.”

Monzel: “I think in her lawyerly way she’s misleading everyone.”

 Ghiz threw a side blow at Smitherman while trying to prove that she was more pro-safety than Monzel. She was pointing out that she had stood by Sheriff Simon Leis (who’s also her campaign manager) in support of Issue 27, which would have raised taxes to build a new jail. Monzel opposed the issue, as did Smitherman, president of the Cincinnati NAACP.

“When I stood up for you and your safety, I ended up facing Mr. Monzelon the opposite side standing hand in hand with Smitherman,” said Ghiz. “You wouldn’t catch me dead standing at a rally for anything with Mr. Smitherman and Monzel did that.”

Later in the night she brought up Smitherman’s name again on that same issue saying she “can’t even think of a kind thing to say about the man.”

“Monzel stood up with him and said you don’t need a jail. And now all these people are getting released.”

(Monzel, by the way, said he didn’t support Issue 27 because he thought the county should solve the problem by cutting spending and thinking out of the box, not by raising taxes).

A couple other highlights:

Monzelon where to make cuts:  reduce redundancy. Consolidate the county’s multiple human resource departments and e-mail systems. stop spending so much on outside lawyers (“That gravy train has got to cease”) and sell assets.

Monzel would also reach out to suburbs by sending staff to government meetings throughout the county and try to get the federal government to stem the flow of low-income housing to the county.

Ghiz on saving money (though she admits the county’s already running lean): use audio recorders instead of court reporters. Cut $2.5-$3 million in non-mandated human service spending.

Ghiz would push to make subsidy rates more fair so low-income housing is spread out more instead of concentrated on the West Side and said suburban communities would have a “direct line” to her office.

VIA: Cincinnati.com

MT. AIRY – A young mother of four was shot and killed overnight while holding her 3-week-old baby, and the little girl is in critical but stable condition after a bullet grazed her head, according to Cincinnati police.

The victim, identified as 26-year-old Kelli Walton, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The shooting happened at 3 a.m. in her apartment at Hawaiian Terrace near Colerain Avenue.

Walton may have been a victim of domestic violence, police said. Her ex-boyfriend is considered a person of interest in the case, police said. No one has been charged or arrested.

Several of Walton’s young children witnessed the shooting, Cincinnati Police Sgt. Bob Liston said.

“It’s pretty disgusting that someone would shoot a mother in front of her kids,” Liston said.

Homicide detectives were interviewing the children.

The wounded baby was being treated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Police said they found the ex-boyfriend’s car in the District 3 area of the city, which includes North and West Fairmount and Westwood. Witnesses saw a car race away from the area after the shooting.

Several of Walton’s relatives cried in anguish outside her apartment, calling her name and holding onto each other.

Neighbors are horrified.

“I am trying to move. It is disturbing something like this happened. It is spooky to know somebody would kill a mother with a baby in her hands,” Vanessa Warner, 48, said as she walked past the victim’s apartment building to catch a bus on the corner of Hawaiian Terrace and Colerain Avenue.

VIA: CNN.com

The earthquake in Chile unleashed a massive tsunami that devoured the small port town of Dichato. Amateur video shows houses and boats being swept away by the waves. CNN’s Karl Penhaul reports.

VIA: Pets.WebMD.com

Last year, there were more than 100,000 cases of pet poisoning in the U.S. Many of these were caused by substances you probably have in your home, substances that may seem perfectly harmless to you. But just because something is safe for people doesn’t mean it won’t hurt beloved pets. Some of the most dangerous cat poisons are foods and medications we take on a daily basis.

Depending on how a particular substance affects your cat’s body and how much was ingested or inhaled, pet poisoning symptoms can include gastrointestinal and neurological problems, cardiac and respiratory distress, coma, and even death.

Poison No. 1: Medications for people. Pets have a much greater sensitivity to many of the common over-the-counter and prescription medications that may be in your home.

Some of the medications that often poison cats include:

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen or naproxen. The most common cause of pet poisoning, these painkillers can cause ulcers in the stomach and intestines, and kidney damage.
Acetaminophen is particularly toxic to cats, resulting in red blood cell damage. Just two extra-strength tablets may prove fatal to felines.
Antidepressants, which may cause vomiting and, in more serious instances, serotonin syndrome – a dangerous condition that raises temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure, and may cause seizures.
Methylphenidate. This attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug is a stimulant for pets, raising heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature.

Cat poison No. 2: Flea and tick products. Poisoning can occur by ingestion of a topical product or overzealous application. In addition, certain flea control products manufactured for dogs can be lethal if used on cats.

Cat poison No. 3: People food. It is important to take care that your cat doesn’t ingest foods that might cause pet poisoning or stomach upset. Foods to keep away from your cat include:

Chocolate. Experts don’t recommend giving chocolate, caffeine, or coffee to your cat.
Onions, garlic, chives. These plant foods can irritate the stomach and damage red blood cells.
Cat poison No. 4: Rat and mouse poison. Rodenticides, if ingested, can cause severe symptoms and may be fatal.

Cat poison No. 5: Pet medications. Just as we can be sickened or killed by medications intended to help us, cases of pet poisoning by veterinary drugs are not uncommon. Some of the more commonly reported problem medications include painkillers and de-wormers.

Read more…

VIA: CNN.com

Concepcion, Chile (CNN) — Rescuers searched for survivors Monday as crews sought to deliver food and water and prevent looting after the fifth strongest earthquake in 100 years ravaged central and southern Chile.

More than 1.5 million people were without power in and around the capital of Santiago, according to Chile’s National Emergency Office, but the hardest-hit areas were farther south, in the Maule and Bio Bio regions along the coast.

Authorities said 541 of the 708 reported deaths happened in Maule, where a sewer system collapsed, water towers were close to toppling and communities lacked basic services, the emergency office said.

Many people were without safe drinking water and electricity or gas service in Bio Bio, where 64 deaths occurred, according to the latest figures from the Chilean government.

The rescue and recovery work unfolded as Chile’s defense minister blamed its navy for not issuing a tsunami warning after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the South American country Saturday.

Such a forewarning could have allowed villagers on the coast to flee to higher ground.
“The truth even if it hurts [is that] a division of the Navy made a mistake,” Defense Minister Francisco Vidal said.

After the quake initially struck, President Michelle Bachelet said a tsunami was unlikely.

Yet a large wave crashed later into the Chilean islands of Juan Fernandez, killing at least eight people and leaving another eight missing, the Chilean emergency office said. Waves caused damage along the coast of the Chilean mainland as well.

Dozens of countries posted tsunami warnings, and Chilean authorities later realized the earthquake generated large waves that slammed coastal areas.

“What we saw between the sixth and the ninth region is a tsunami,” Vidal said.

The Navy has an emergency system under which captains in each port may issue warnings when sea levels begin to rise.

Those port captains were the ones who eventually sounded the alarm, warning residents to flee, and helped prevent additional loss of lives.

“There was a mistake,” Vidal said. “Fortunately, the system was activated.”

All 300 American and Chilean employees of the U.S. Embassy have been accounted for and are safe, Paul Simons, U.S. ambassador to Chile, told CNN’s “American Morning.”

As of Monday morning, there were no reports of any American fatalities or serious injuries, Simons said, but efforts to locate and contact thousands of Americans continue, and reports were sketchy from areas most affected by the quake.

Read more…

VIA: Showbizspy.com

TIGER Woods has returned to rehab because he’s a DRUG ADDICT — according to a shocking new report.

The shamed golfer is currently holed up in The Meadows treatment center in Wickenburg, Arizona, to battle addictions to two prescription medications, reports American tabloid the National Enquirer.

Sources also say Tiger’s wife, Elin Nordegren, has flatly refused to participate in his sex addiction therapy — and their marriage is over.

“In therapy, Tiger blamed a lot of his cheating behavior on his drug addiction, saying that the drugs were responsible for impairing his judgment,” a source revealed.

Tiger, 34, entered The Meadows on the recommendation of therapists who treated him for sex addiction at the Gentle Path program in Hattiesburg, Miss., said the source.

“After he left Gentle Path, Tiger flew to Arizona for his initial intake interview at The Meadows, which is better equipped to handle rehab for drug addiction and depression,” said the mole.

VIA: WCPO.com

CINCINNATI — The latest phase of the Banks Project gets underway Friday.

Construction crews are pouring concrete at the Riverfront site until 11 p.m.

They are pouring the concrete on Main Street between Second Street and Mehring Way.

The concrete will be the platform on which the retail, entertainment and housing venues will be built.

Drivers should expect road closures and delays in the area as a result.

Once the entire Banks Project is complete, it will be Cincinnati’s largest single, mixed-use development composed of residential, office, hotel and retail components.

It will house 3,000 residents, while bringing in $600 million to the riverfront.

Cincinnati’s Banks Project Unveiled