Liu Promotes Queens' Politically Flunky to Pension Board
Liu promoted a politically connected Democratic Party official from Queens John Dorsa, the founder of his local political club as one of his top pension bosses — a move that government watchdogs say could be a violation of city rules. . . Government-watchdog groups said the promotion looks fishy and at the very least violates the spirit of the City Charter. . . City agencies are required to submit an annual list of top policy-makers to the Conflicts of Interest Board. Liu’s office did not list Dorsa last year, though his promotions were made after the submission. Party promoter (NYP) Liu taps Dem big for pension post. Dorsa founded the Liu club for Brian Mclaughlin. At that time Mclaughlin represented that area. Mclaughlin who is now serving 4 years was Liu's mentor.
Cuomo Open House
At Open House, Visitors Bear Praise for Governor(NYT) * Gov gal an open-house hit Nobody doesn’t like Sandra Lee (NYP)* Cuomo Receives Praise From Visitors at Governor’s Mansi(NYT)
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Cuomo's 2016 Bucket List
Andy’s 2012 checklist (NYP) Cuomo enters his second year in office this week promising to strengthen the threatened private-sector economy, but his surprise December flip-flop that imposed a new “millionaires tax” has left many wondering if the commitment is real. 1. Give the green light to hydrofracking in the Southern Tier. 2. Close the state budget’s looming $3 billion budget gap with at least $2 billion in real spending cuts
3. Convince the special interest-owned Legislature to back real “mandate relief’’ for New York City and hundreds of other municipalities in the form of a new, lower-benefit pension tier for public employees and fewer costly Medicaid and education requirements. 4. Make sure that more than $150 million in annual pork- barrel “member item’’ spending by scandal-scarred state lawmakers is not included in the new budget. 5. Win a first passage in the Legislature of a constitutional amendment to, at long last, legalize casino gambling and create thousands of jobs in the process * Bloomberg told "confidant" gov's gonna need friends at some pt & "the way he's going, he's not going to have them.* Cuomo emailed supporters 1-year "progress report" on New Year's Day.* Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in Albany, likely putting the finishing flourishes on the State of the State – his second – which is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center.* Cuomo quietly hired ex-HUD aide-turned-lobbyist Alexander Cochran to run the state’s D.C. office. Cochran has national experience, which could help the governor expand his profile in advance of 2016.* Cuomo emailed supporters a little light reading – a 39-page first year “progress report” – on New Year’s Day. * Crain’s thinks the biggest obstacle to progress in Albany is the “self-serving motivations of many lawmakers.” * Minority lawmakers often get their ideas poached in Albany, but they quickly learn how to work the system to their advantage. * Cuomo is moving in on Bloomberg's turf, with education reform. [@nycGreenfield]
Students in New York Must Compete With Students From Other Nations for Jobs
Our Elected Leaders Must Learn This Before Their Is Real Education Reform
Gov. Cuomo to announce state education commission to reform schools: sources(NYDN) EXCLUSIVE: His call will come just days after he was critical of the city and other districts that failed to reach agreement with their unions on a new teacher evaluation system by an end-of-year deadline
You Got To Be A Red Neck to Love Fracking
The joke’s on The Times(NYP Ed) Never one to pass up a good redneck joke, The New York Times last week happily heaped scorn on the scraped-knuckle roughnecks who make a (good) living extracting energy from Pennsylvania shale rock — and their less-well-off upstate New York neighbors.
Charles Barron is confident about his Congressional campaign chances (NYO)
Are TV Political Ads Pay to Play Payola?
Are $$$ gotten from political commercials the reason local news shows fail to cover politics beyond press releases?
This News Story Is Brought to You By… Shouldn’t TV news outlets be clearer about offering pay-for-play (Columbia Journalism Review)
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5First Murder of the New Year
Shooting of Brooklyn man marks city's first homicide of 2012(NYDN) Andrew Brown fatally shot in chest in Bed-Stuy hallway
Cleaning Up the Patterson Mess . . Nobody Goes to Jail
Former Paterson Aide David Johnson Asks Forgiveness; Will Volunteer With Children(NYDN) * Former Gov. David Paterson’s aide David Johnson, whose domestic violence arrest got his boss in trouble, asked for forgiveness.
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Haggerty Wife Steps Down From SLA
Queens Mosque Firebombed
New video shows suspect attack(NYP) *Four Attacks in Queens With Homemade Firebombs(NYT) * Four firebombings, one at Queens mosque, eyed as hate(NYDN) * Qns. firebombs (NYP) Mosque, Hindu temple, bodega hit * Molotov cocktails hurled at mosque, Hindu temple and bodega(NYP) * Authorities Investigate Possible Fire Attack At Queens Islamic (WCBS) * Arson Attempt At Queens Mosque(Fox 5) * Molotov cocktail' thrown at Queens mosque, home(WABC) *Queens Molotov Cocktail Attacks Are Possible Hate Crimes (NY1) * Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says that the NYPD has “excellent relationship with the Muslim community.* Suspect in Firebombings Is Seen in Security Video(NYT)
Nowhere to Go, Patients Linger in Hospitals, at a High Cost (NYT) Hundreds of patients, including illegal immigrants, who are well enough to be discharged have languished in city hospitals for months or years because there is nowhere to send them.
More Subway Cuts
Less Service in the Subway? It May Be a ‘Minor Holiday’(NYT)
Iowa's High Noon: Iowa Race Tightens In Final 48 Hours
Poll: Three-Way Tie in Iowa(The Daily Beast) * Romney and His Campaign Ooze Confidence of Winning White House(The Daily Beast) * Team Obama has quietly built a juggernaut reelection machine in Chicago. Andrew Romano goes inside.(The Daily Beast) *The GOP's Top Campaign Donors for the 2012 Candidates, from Romney to Gingrich (The Daily Beast) * Obama Faces Re-Election as a Mortal - E.J. Dionne, Washington Post * Economy Will Decide Obama's 2012 Fate - Robert Samuelson, Newsweek *
Will Santorum Become the Anti-Romney?
DEAD HEAT(Huff Post) * Steady in Iowa, Mitt Counts on N.H., Florida - Michael Barone, Examiner * DM Register: Romney 24, Paul 22, Santorum 15, Gingrich 12, Perry 11 * The overhyped, unrepresentative Iowa caucuses (CBS) * It’s the most volatile GOP primary since pollsters started tracking the frontrunners decades ago, according to Gallup. * In Tight Race, G.O.P. in Iowa Hears Closing Arguments(NYT) * Gingrich Says He Is Unlikely to Win Iowa Caucus(NYT) * NBC’s Andrea Mitchell: The Rap On Iowa? ‘Too White, Too Evangelical, Too Rural’ *Which New Yorkers Are Funding The Santorum Surge?(Politico) * Santorum’s conservative record strong but with a couple of flaws (MSNBC) * 29 Things I Learned From Spending Two Days With Rick Santorum(The Buzz Feed) * The conservative blog RedState seems to be waging an anti-Santorum crusade. * After Tomorrow the GOP Nomination Will Be Over - Roger Simon, Politico * Your Field Guide for Tomorrow's Caucuses - Chris Stirewalt, FOX News * Can Romney Beat His '08 Finish in Iowa? - Jim Geraghty, National Review * Ron Paul: Santorum Is "Very Liberal" - Dana Bash, CNN * Santorum Seeks to Broaden Appeal Beyond Iowa - Jeremy Peters, NY Times * Gingrich Slams "Massachusetts Moderate" Romney - Katrina Trinko, NRO * Will GOP's Cynical Election Plan Work? - Greg Sargent, Washington Post
Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson and Sen. Martin Dilan believe the “time is ripe for court intervention” in the redistricting process because an “impasse” has arisen; they’ve asked for a special master.
From True News
We Will Continue to Go After the Little Bastards
Lady Gaga kisses Mayor Bloomberg as New York rings in 2012(NYP) * Bloomberg kisses Lady Gaga to bring in 2012 New Year (NYDN)* New Year’s 2012: Lady Gaga Perfoms Her Greatest Hits For Times Square
DN Welcomes In the New Year With A Parade of fools
Asemblyman Boyland topped the list
Boyland won not because he is an atrocious legislator, and pretty certainly a crooked one, but because he has no more sense than to flaunt his mis-, mal- and nonfeasances. Twice indicted on federal corruption charges last year, Boyland allegedly accepted a $7,000 bribe just 24 hours after his arrest on the first. He beat that rap, infuriatingly, because Albany is such a cesspool that his antics could be made to sound to the jury like what everyone there does. Investigators caught Boyland in a wealth of self-satisfied and very shady talk about himself on tape. “I got a middle guy, by the way. . . . I gotta stay clean. . . . I got a bagman.” Is he more dishonest than he is stupid? Is he more stupid than he is brazen? Is he more brazen than he is greedy? Is he more greedy than he is dishonest? Hard to say, but put them all together and the answer is Knucklehead of the Year.
More DN Knuckleheads: Weiner, Markowitz, UFT's Mulgrew
Mayor Bloomberg won for making a joke of the stereotype of Hibernian drunkenness before the Irish American Historical Society, and singer Tony Bennett won for saying the United States had provoked the 9/11 attacks by “bombing them.”6
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6Quinn Dances for Money and Votes, Lappin $$$
Secret tape: how to spin council Candid carriage foe, real estate executive Steve Nislick unplugged. The money doesn’t get it done anymore. We need the votes. We would not get it done with just money. It wouldn’t happen. If we didn’t have the threat of this constituency, [Quinn] wouldn’t be talking to us,” he said. Nislick: "Politicians on the receiving campaign contributions don’t deserve them. “Even if it’s a morally corrupt investment, you know what, you’ve got to do it."
Morally Corrupt Contributions
Records show Nislick has rounded up $26,471 for Quinn’s mayoral campaign, including $2,500 in a direct donation. He also gave $1,000 to Mark-Viverito, helped raise $3,850 for Councilwoman Jessica Lappin (D-Manhattan), sponsor of a bill revamping the city’s Animal Care and Control agency, and funneled $4,500 to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. Nislick also slams Quinn, saying it’s a “s--tty thing” that the speaker didn’t push harder for Mark-Viverito to carry the popular Animal Care and Control bill instead of Lappin. Lappin wants to get into NYCLASS’s good graces so she can hit up its members for campaign contributions “because she wants to be [Manhattan] borough president.”
PR Snakes Says They Return the Money After They Became Aware of the Tape
After The Post informed Quinn and Lappin of the Carriage-gate tapes, both politicians said they’d be returning Nislick’s contributions. Josh Isay, a Quinn spokesman, said, “If this is how Mr. Nislick feels about campaign contributions, we don’t want his money.” Is it also OK for bank robbers to return the money if they get caught in the act?
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Quinn's Money Whip
From the NYP: “Melissa cannot appear to be upset. She can’t upset the speaker. For being replaced by Lappin by Quinn as the main sponsor of a bill to ban carriage horses. But if you took her aside, she’s furious. Trust me,” Nislick says on the tape. This shows that Quinn used the slush fund of member items to keep her members in line. If Mark-Viverioto public attacked Quinn she would have lost her member items $$$ just like Peter Vallone. The New York Post recently reported that Astoria Democrat Peter Vallone Jr. took a hit in member items for criticizing Quinn’s proposal to rename a bridge after the former mayor Ed Koch. Koch-$lap for Vallone - New York Post
The NYP Did Not Answer Its Own Question: Just how much has this guy gotten away with? And Why Did He Get Away With It?
Just last week, the state Legislative Ethics Commission found “reasonable cause” to believe Espada broke the law by hiring his uncle to a Senate staff job in 2009 — and that he tried to cover up the relationship.
OWS New Years Arrests
At least 68 Occupy Wall Street protesters rang in the new year in jail, arrested for tearing down barricades at Zuccotti Park before just before midnight on Saturday. Protesters clashed with police as they apparently were attempting to re-occupy their former New York headquarters. Protesters Surge Back Into Zuccotti Park(NYT) * OWS New Years Eve Festivities(Video) * OWS mob in clash with cops(NYP) * Surging Back Into Zuccotti Park, Protesters Are Cleared by Police * Columbia offers ‘Occupy 101’ (NYP) * Ellen Barkin Threatened, Shoved To Ground By NYPD, Tweets Outrage (Huff Post)
NYC Crime Ticks Up
2011 crime stats tick up NYPD loses last-second numbers game (NYP) Crime is poised to climb in New York City for the first time in two decades.
What to Expect in New York in 2012(NYT) Kate Taylor forsees a 2012 in city politics that is all about 2013
Coney Island Polar Bears January 1, 1012
Balmy temps no real challenge to Coney Island swimmers(NYDN)
Liu On My $800 Pledge to the Public NevermindAmid Inquiry, Comptroller Ends $800 Cap on Donations(NYT) * NY1 Comptroller Liu's 2009 Campaign Account Raises Legality Questions * Comptroller Liu's Campaign To Return Over-The-Limit Donations (NY1)
NYT Covers Up Liu 2nd Broken Pledge
NYT report David Chin failed to mention that Liu when back on his pledge to release his list of bundlers months ago.
Also looking the other way is the CFB. For years they ignored Liu's lack of bundlers.
Pensions nix top slot in MF suit (NYP) NYC’s largest pension fund voted against taking a lead role to recover millions of dollars from Jon Corzine’s bankrupt MFLiu
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NYPD What Crime? . . . Cook the Numbers?
Police Tactic: Keep Crime Reports Off the Books(NYT) Some New Yorkers have expressed frustration in trying to persuade officers to take crime reports.
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DN Blames UFT For Loss of $60 Million in School Grants
UFT President Mulgrew flunks the big schoolteachers test(NYDN ED) * Dispute Over Evaluations Imperils Grants for Schools(NYT) Informed of an impasse in negotiations, John B. King Jr., the state’s education commissioner, said he would suspend $60 million in grants set for the city’s struggling schools. * Teacher Evaluation Effort Derails(WSJ) Plans for a new teacher rating system for New York City schools that would include measures of student performance were dealt a setback Friday after negotiations broke down between the city and the teachers union. * City schools stands to lose $60M from feds(NYDN)
NY1's New Yorker of the Year
NY1 names Cuomo "NYer of the Year," but also notes gov refused to go on "Inside City Hall" for 1,822 days & counting. * A new attitude in Albany: In his first year, Cuomo wasn't taking 'no' for an answer (Press Connects) * The men who would be king of New York (Crains NY)
Reinventing the East Side Waterfront(NYT)
No Bull Only For 1 Hour
Cops remove gates around famed Wall Street bull - for one hour(NYP) NYPD to remove barricades around Wall Street sculpture(NYP)
At Mayor's Interfaith Breakfast, Some Respectful Dissents(NYT) * Interfaith Breakfast Boycott Protests NYPD's Alleged Surveillance Of Local Muslims(NY1) * Boycott is scrambled(NYP)
Law Change Sets Off Jump in Marriages(WSJ) * Surge In Marriages Could Be Due To Same-Sex Couples (NY1)
Double Happyness Buses Violated Order to Shut Down
Chinatown bus defies shutdown order until inspector arrives (NYP) Double Happyness travel buses A violation-racked Chinatown bus company continued to defy a federal shutdown order yesterday until an inspector showed up at their downtown depot. * Bus company in Chinatown forced to shutdown(WABC) * Travel Bus Line Still Running After Shutdown(NBC)
Subway Riders Brace for Shutdowns(Fox 5)
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Election 2012
Obama to Turn Up Attacks on Congress in Campaign(NYT) * On Top in Iowa: Romney and Paul(WSJ) * Romney Hones Economy Pitch(WSJ) * Obama Warms Up for Fall Iowa Run(WSJ) * WSJ) * For Some Contenders, The End Is Near(Huff Post) * GOP Rivals Fan Out Across Iowa - Nia-Malika Henderson, Washington Post * Romney's General Election Strategy at Work - Michael Scherer, Time * rassley: Four Might Claim Iowa Victory - James Lynch, Sioux City Journal * A Tale of Two Ricks - Jonathan Last, Weekly Standard *
Perfect romney ad placement for nye coverage
Santorum Takes Aim at Romney, Paul - Steve Holland, Reuters * Obama Will Eat Romney Alive Over His Taxes - Josh Marshall, TPM * Obama's 2011: Defiance Sets Tone - Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPolitics* On the Ground in Iowa, and Scrambling to Gain an Edge(NYT) * Gingrich, rivals join suit against Virginia ballot rules * PAC Ads Rip at Gingrich as Romney Stands Clear(NYT)* Romney leads Paul in Des Moines Register Iowa Poll; Santorum surges
Sunday Update
Romney campaign greets Iowa poll results calmly, but candidate is in buoyant mood (Wash Post) * Last-Minute Scramble by G.O.P. as Caucuses Near(NYT) * Rick Santorum To Glenn Beck: 'There Is No Such Thing As Global Warming,' 'Drill Everywhere' (VIDEO)(Huff Post) * Iowa Now Tilting Toward Mitt Romney - Christopher Rowland, Boston Globe * Santorum's Hot, Paul Has Gone Cold - Kathie Obradovich, DM Register * Noting 'Nastier' Attacks, Gingrich to Adjust - Erin McPike, RealClearPolitics * Is Rick Perry the Iowa Dark Horse? - Molly Ball, The Atlantic * The Roots of the GOP's Crack-Up - Robert Reich, San Francisco Chronicle * Obama Camp: "We're Ready" for 2012 - Dan Balz, Washington Post * President's Support Falters in Iowa - Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review * Iowa's Winner Will Be Romney -- No Matter What - Ron Brownstein, NJ * The Case for Gingrich's Electability - Jeffrey Anderson, Weekly Standard * Iowa: Theater of the Conservative Absurd - Frank Bruni, New York Times * Ringing In a Conservative Year - George Will, Washington Post * Dems' Rocky Road to Retaining Senate - Las Vegas Review-Journal * Republican Austerity Hinders Economic Recovery - New York Times * Make Presidential Primaries More Representative - Washington Examiner *Mitt Romney leads in new Des Moines Register poll(Washington Post) * Romney campaign built on a long-running machine (Boston Globe) * Obama’s New Year's Resolution: Forget Congress (Slate) * GOP Candidates Will Join Forces to Sue Onto the Virginia Ballot * Top Five Electoral Outcomes Journalists Are Secretly Rooting For (New Yorker) * Media Abet Obama's Aloofness on Tough Issues (Real Clear) * Media Primary, Meet Iowa (Buzz Feed) * In Final Days in Iowa, a Focus on Who Can Defeat Obama(NYT) * Santorum gets a grilling on ‘Meet the Press’(Wash Post) * Rick Santorum's 2012 campaign: Slog paying off (Politico) * Gingrich: I’ve Been ‘Romney-Boated’ (The Daily Beast) * Newt Gingrich complains that out of all campaign TV ads in Iowa, “45 percent are negative ads attacking me.”* Will IA winner do worse than Dole in '96?--his 26% was lowest winning % for either party. (Carter in '76 got 26% but "uncommitted" won.)
Monday
Romney Fights for First-Place Showing in Iowa Caucuses(NYT) * A Relentless On-Screen Bid to Sell Candidates(NYT)
Joseph Mercurio (Twitter) Varying scenarios, varying results caucuses.desmoinesregister.com
SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads(Huff Post)
GOP Candidates, Iowa Voters Voice Resolutions
Ads Rip at Gingrich as Romney Stands Clear(NYP) The deluge against Newt Gingrich by a group supporting Mitt Romney shows how a court ruling has created powerful ways for outside money to influence elections.
Christie Warns Iowa To Vote For Romney, Or Else
Mother Jones Explains What Wrong With Us
Most Unequal Year Ever? It's 2012. Here are eleven charts that explain what's still wrong with America(Mother Jones) * The Distorted View from Capitol Hill(NYT)
How MF Global Was Undone(WSJ) MF Global unraveled thanks to a huge bet on European sovereign bonds that was part of CEO Jon Corzine's ambition to transform a sleepy commodities broker into an investment-banking powerhouse.
Abandoned in Iraqi
American Abandoned Me Thousands of Iraqi translators who worked for American troops live in fear (The Daily Beast)
Assembly speaker to examine legislation after GZ pistol bust(NYP) * Common sense on guns(NYDN Ed) * 2nd dubious gun-carry bust (NYP)
Police: Man Attacks, Robs Woman In Brooklyn (WCBS)
Law and Order
Memorial Service Held for Woman Set Afire in Elevator(NYT) * Fire Victims' Services Set(WSJ) * Mourning a 'true friend'(NYDN)* Gal beaten in X-mas mug(NYP)
Cops: 3 shot, 1 fatally, in Bronx; no arrests made(WSJ) * Boyfriend killed baby: (NYP)* Police Issue Arrest Warrant In Fatal Shooting Of 2-Year-Old (WCBS) * Pot Smoke Triggers Fire Alarm & Subsequent Arrests In New (NYP)* One man dead, two injured after shooting in Bronx(NYP) * Thief steals car with kids inside(NYP)
That perv's my brother(NYDN) * Brooklyn Teen's Alleged Assaulter Linked To Another Two Attacks(NY1) * The ‘sicko’ cops let go(NYP) * Police Admit Brooklyn Sex Assault Suspect Could Have Been Caught (WCBS) * New Charges for Accused Fake Cop Sex Offender(NBC)* Woman Attacked In Brooklyn Building(Fox 5) * Thief Steals SUV With Kids Inside(Fox 5) * Woman arrested with stun gun at JFK(WABC)* 2 kids survive carjacking; NYPD search for suspect(WABC) * Man Arraigned In Brooklyn Teen's Alleged Sexual Assault (NY1) * NYPD Investigates First Homicide Of New Year(NY1) * First 2012 murder: Man shot to death in B'klyn(NYP)* Man kills self after turning himself in to cops(NYP)* Subway Conductoer Under Arrest For Allegedly Punching Passenger (WCBS) * Perry zeroes in on Santorum(Politico)
That perv's my brother(NYDN) * Brooklyn Teen's Alleged Assaulter Linked To Another Two Attacks(NY1) * The ‘sicko’ cops let go(NYP) * Police Admit Brooklyn Sex Assault Suspect Could Have Been Caught (WCBS) * New Charges for Accused Fake Cop Sex Offender(NBC)* Woman Attacked In Brooklyn Building(Fox 5) * Thief Steals SUV With Kids Inside(Fox 5) * Woman arrested with stun gun at JFK(WABC)* 2 kids survive carjacking; NYPD search for suspect(WABC) * Man Arraigned In Brooklyn Teen's Alleged Sexual Assault (NY1) * NYPD Investigates First Homicide Of New Year(NY1) * First 2012 murder: Man shot to death in B'klyn(NYP)* Man kills self after turning himself in to cops(NYP)* Subway Conductoer Under Arrest For Allegedly Punching Passenger (WCBS) * Perry zeroes in on Santorum(Politico)
Monday
NYPD Investigates First Homicide Of New Year(NY1) * Police say fare-beater caught carrying machine gun with 34 bullets(NYDN) S.C. charged after he's found with Luger Tec-9 and loaded Smith and Wesson * Subway gun nut(NYP) * DWI busts spike in SI, drop overall(NYP)* More transit cops equals less crime (NYDN) * Conductor ‘hits teen’(NYP)* Subway conductor accused of punching passenger(WABC) * New Year’s Eve was marked by a spate of gun violence citywide
NYPD Investigates First Homicide Of New Year(NY1) * Police say fare-beater caught carrying machine gun with 34 bullets(NYDN) S.C. charged after he's found with Luger Tec-9 and loaded Smith and Wesson * Subway gun nut(NYP) * DWI busts spike in SI, drop overall(NYP)* More transit cops equals less crime (NYDN) * Conductor ‘hits teen’(NYP)* Subway conductor accused of punching passenger(WABC) * New Year’s Eve was marked by a spate of gun violence citywide
Police Seek Driver In Deadly Brooklyn Hit-And-Run(NY1)
Police Seek Driver In Deadly Brooklyn Hit-And-Run(NY1)
Police search for teen stabbing suspect(WABC)
St. Petersburg Times' Last Day(Huff Post)
Rupert Murdoch has a new Twitter account, which he has used to extol the virtues of Mayor Bloomberg (among other things).
