89 year old woman shoots at house intruder

An 89-year-old woman from Iowa shot a single shot at a man who bashed in her front door on Tuesday, reports the Star Tribune.  The woman, Beatrice Turner, grabbed her handgun and threatened the man who was knocking on her front door.  She told him, 37-year-old Nelson McAlpine, that he had the wrong house and to leave, but he then started breaking through the door.

Turner shot at McAlpine after he entered her home.

Police found McAlpine in Turner's front yard.  He was unharmed and was arrested on the charges of second-degree burglary.

Mass. teenager charged after fatally stabbing fellow student

A teenager from Boston High School was charged Monday for fatally stabbing a fellow classmate, according to the Star Tribune.  The suspect's defense attorney argued that the teen was mentally ill.  John Odgren killed 15-year-old James Alenson in January 2007.

Odgren took a carving knife to school the day of the alleged murder after watching killing videos that morning.  He then waited in a boys' bathroom and when no one came in, he moved to a second bathroom where Alenson walked in as well.

Immediately following, a student said they heard Odgren say "I didn't mean to kill him.  It was a mistake."  And later asked police how much time would be served for manslaughter.

Bipolar disorder does run in Odgren's family.

A mine explosion killed at least 25 miners Monday in West Virginia, reports Yahoo News.  The search still continued on Tuesday for four missing miners.

Crews are creating an access road in order to drill access holes into the ground to access the trapped miners.  The crews were battling poisonous gas from the mine.  It may not be until Wednesday night until the first access hole is drilled.

Witnesses said that they knew something was wrong when the carbon monoxide alarms started to go off.  After checking the alarms, the workers discovered the explosion.

There were 31 miners in the area when the explosion occurred.  Some of the 25 who died may have died from the breathing in the toxic carbon monoxide gas.

Nine Mass. teens charged in a teens suicide

Fox 9 News reported that nine teenagers from Massachusetts have been charged with the bullying of a suicide victim.  Phoebe Prince committed suicide on Jan. 14 after months of bullying, raped, and stalked.  The abuse that Prince endured was "intolerable", Elizabeth Scheibel said, the Northwestern District Attorney

The charges the six teens will face include statutory rape, assault, violation of civil rights resulting in injury, criminal harassment, disturbance of school assembly, and stalking.  Three of the teens also face delinquency charges.

The school supposedly knew about the bullying but did not do anything to stop it.

Prince moved to Massachusetts from Ireland recently.

Textbooks to be geered towards Texas

Yahoo News reported Monday March 15 that new United States history textbooks will be changed because of the influence of Texas.  The Texas State Board of Education voted Friday 10-to-5 on changing some of the information in history, economic, and social studies books to a more conservative manner.  The reason for the change in the information within the books is a more fair and to bring America back to balance with its "left" views.

The reason that the books will satisfy the citizens of Texas is because Texas is among the leading of the states who buy textbooks.  This will effect other states and school districts in the country because not all of the schools share the same views as Texas.

A final vote is still set to take place this week on the finalized draft.

Preschooler expelled from Catholic school because of gay parents

According to Fox 9 News, a preschooler was expelled from next school year because his parents are lesbians in Boulder, Colo.  After investigation of the expulsion, it was concluded that the expulsion was legal.  Students as well as parents are expected to follow policies in the private institution within the beliefs of the Catholic Church.

According to other statements, the child will not be allowed to attend the school because the child's parents could confuse other students in the school.  The decision was thought out before coming to a conclusion.

This is not the first time that a parents beliefs have been overruled because the private school is not a business and therefore not have to follow the state law of discriminating.  Last year, two girls were expelled from their Lutheran school because of their "bond of intimacy" which was concluded to be "a lesbian relationship".

California proposes swearing ban

On Feb. 25 The California Assembly established that during the first week of March would the first "Cuss Free Week" in Calif. according to the PJ Star.  The proposal next would go to the Senate and pending approval from them.  This went into effect this week on Monday March 1.  According San Diego 10 News, if the proposal is made a law there would be no enforcements or consequences of swearing in Calif.  The law would simply be to create more harmony among people.

The new rule was proposed by a teenager who created a No Cussing Club at his high school in South Pasadena in 2007.  The teenager traveled to Sacramento to support the proposal and is hopeful on its passing through the Senate.

California is the first state to propose a no swearing law in the United States.

Cruise ship has up to 350 sick passengers

Around 350 people on a Celebrity Cruise line became sick starting on Sunday Feb. 21.  The ship had left Charleston, S.C. the previous week on Feb. 15 and now many of the passengers are starting to feel better due to medical outreach, according The Star Tribune.  There over 1,800 passengers on board total, but not all of those sick were passengers.  Some were  also the crew members on the ship.

The symptoms that the passengers and crew complained of were those similar to the stomach flu, along with diarrhea and vomiting.  South Carolina had recently had an outbreak of norovirus before the ship left he state, but the illnesses on the ship have not been linked to outbreak on land.

The ship is now heavily cleaning the ship in order to prevent any further spreading of the the illness.  The Centers for Disease Control will be testing samples from the those who were sick to find out exactly infected the passengers of the cruise ship.

Teenager sueing pricipal after suspension

The Star Tribune reported that a 19-year-old college student will continue with her suit against her former high school principal.  Katherine Evans is now a sophomore in college , but was suspended from school as a senior for posting upsetting comments about her English teacher on the social network Facebook.  Evans hopes to have her expulsion removed from her record for the sake of her future.

The former high school principal wanted to have the case dismissed, but the presiding judge dismissed his petition.  Evan's and her lawyer are hoping that this will be the first step in gaining more freedom on the Internet and to keep the First Amendment an important factor in American's life.

Evans' postings claimed that she strongly disliked her high school English teacher and that she was being unfair to her with assignments.  Fellow students posted comments on Evan's postings.  Evans removed the postings a few days after she original posted them, but was no suspended until a few months later.

Michael Jackson's death still not at justice

The doctor who was with pop star Michael Jackson at the time of his death pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter on Monday Feb. 8, according to the Star Tribune and Access Hollywood.  Dr. Conrad Murray was with Michael Jackson on June 25 when Jackson died of cardiac arrest.  Murray posted his bail Monday afternoon in Los Angeles after his plea and was released from jail shortly after being charged.  He hopes to continue his medical profession until his court day, but it has not yet be determined if his license will be suspended until after trial.

The Jackson family was present in court when Dr. Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson's death.  The family hopes to reach justice for Michael's death.  According to Access Hollywood Michael's death was a murder that still remains unsolved.

Dr. Murray could spend up to four years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Grammy's a big success for the ladies

Beyonce beat her own record by bringing home 6 Grammy's this past Sunday night at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.  Kare 11 reported that Beyonce previously won 5 Grammy's for her album "Dangerously in Love" in 2005.  Taylor Swift also went home with 3 Grammy's after a very successful year at the young age of 20-years-old.  Swift triumphed over other contenders Beyonce and Lady Gaga for Album of the Year.

Lady Gaga started out the night by winning 2 Grammy's of her own before performing with one of her idols, Elton John.  Gaga performed "Poker Face" before sitting down at the piano with John for her song "Speechless" and John's hit "Your Song"

Although Beyonce won 6 awards, The Kings of Leon took home the Grammy for Record of the Year with their song "Use Somebody".  There was also a tribute performance to the late Michael Jackson which aired in 3-D.  Performer's included Usher, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and more.

Toyota recalls top selling cars is America

Toyota has recalled multiple models and temporarily halted production those cars due to gas pedal sticking.  The company began the recall last week, but stopped production of their cars until they can find a solution for the problem.  It has been found that many the gas pedals in certain Toyota car models stick and cause the car to continue accelerating.  Toyota is upset that they have to go to such lengths, but in the long run will be safer for their customers and their company.

The recall is not only causing problems for customers in America, but also to car dealerships throughout the United States.  Many dealerships have a shortage of inventory because they are not able to sell certain Toyota models.  Most of the cars that are being recalled are recent models of the past 4 years.

Toyota hopes to  find a remedy quickly for the problem and will offer free repairs to both car owners and to those service shops that do any repairs.  Although some drivers are frustrated with the recall, they respect Toyota for being honest and fixing the problem as soon as possible.

For a list of the models that have been recalled please visit Kare 11 News.