New England Sun-Times

Forty people, men and women, booked a trip for a night out to the Savanah Palace nightclub in Lowell, Massachusetts from Boston. What was supposed to be a simple and fun experience, turned into a nightmare for the partygoers, who shelled out a massive $850.00 for the party ride. Owned by Exquisite transportation, the Twin DBA Party Bus promised another bus for the riders should a breakdown occur. But, Twin DBA Party Bus and Exquisite Transportation didn’t follow through with their promise once the breakdown did happen. After the partygoers were picked up at 10:00 p.m., the party bus broke down on the highway at around 11:00 p.m. in Bedford, Massachusetts, and the State Police was summoned to assist. The police arrived at around midnight, and the temperature inside the bus started to become like an icebox. While waiting for a tow truck to jump the bus, the two drivers contacted the owners of the bus who informed them that they would send another bus from Norwood,...

Neiman Marcus says 1.1 million debit and credit cards used at its stores may have been compromised in a security breach last year. The high-end retailer said Visa, MasterCard and Discover have found 2,400 Neiman Marcus and Last Call customer cards that were used fraudulently. Last Call is Neiman Marcus' clearance chain. Neiman Marcus says it is notifying all customers who shopped in its stores in 2013 and offering them a free year of credit monitoring and identity-theft protection. Malicious software installed in Neiman Marcus' system attempted to take customer card information from July 16 to Oct. 30, the company said. The malicious software has been disabled. Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. reiterated in a post on its website Wednesday night that Social Security numbers and birth dates were not stolen and customers who shopped online were not affected. Customers that use its private Neiman Marcus credit cards were also not affected. The Dallas-based company sa...

By Joseph P. Kahn   /   Globe Staff Such was their stature during the golden age of local television news that mail sent to their WCVB-TV offices was often addressed simply to “Chet and Nat, Boston, MA.” For nearly three decades, beginning in the 1970s, Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobson, married partners and boldfaced-name celebrities, formed a ratings-winning anchor team for whom viewers developed a strikingly familial affection. Mr. Curtis, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, died Wednesday night, according to his family. He was 74 years old. The on-air chemistry and domestic union – they were among the first married co-anchors paired together in a major television news market – made Mr. Curtis and Ms. Jacobson media royalty in Boston. Even after the couple’s marriage came apart in 1999, followed by their on-air partnership, and Mr. Curtis moved to New England Cable News, where he anchored newscasts and hosted a nightly business show, he remai...

Judge Rules Kan. Sperm Donor Owes Child Support TOPEKA, KS (KCTV) - A Kansas judge says because a man didn't use a licensed doctor when he donated his sperm to a lesbian couple, he must pay child support. William Marotta is the child's father under state law in part because he participated in an in-home artificial insemination after responding to an online ad, according to the ruling. Shawnee County District Court Judge Mary Mattivi wrote Wednesday that because a licensed physician was not involved in the artificial insemination process, Marotta is more than a sperm donor and thus responsible for the child. Marotta has been fighting the state's attempts to make him pay thousands of dollars in child support. It wasn't immediately clear Wednesday whether he would file an appeal. All parties agree that Marotta responded to an online ad by Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer in 2009. The couple paid $50 to Marotta, who did not seek l...

Chicago-based Meggings Man Clothing is bringing spandex pants made for males to the masses. ‘You see skinny jeans on guys everywhere, and meggings are clearly the next step in that direction.’ By Victoria Taylor / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Meggings Man Clothing Men in tights: Meggings Man Clothing sells leggings designed with the male body in mind. Men have been wearing leggings for ages, and they are known to pop up on male runway models and rock stars. But will your average Joe forgo pants and put on tights instead? Adam Freck and Andrew Volk think so. In December, the Chicago-based duo launched Meggings Man Clothing, a company that specializes in leggings for men. Meggings Man Clothing ‘There's no reason why guys should resort to squeezing into ladies' leggings, or trying to make their athletic pants work outside of the gym,’ the folks at Meggings Man Clothing said. “We saw a real demand for an easy, wearable span...

January 19, 2014 Former basketball star Dennis Rodman has checked into an alcohol-rehabilitation center after facing backlash for his visit to North Korea. “Dennis Rodman came back from North Korea in pretty rough shape emotionally. The pressure that was put on him to be a combination ‘super human’ political figure and ‘fixer’ got the better of him,” his agent, Darren Prince, said Sunday in a written statement. “He is embarrassed, saddened and remorseful for the anger and hurt his words have caused.” Prince said Rodman is at a facility in New Jersey, one with a “28- or 30-day” program. He said Rodman drank heavily in North Korea during a recent tumultuous trip to the secretive state to play a basketball game with some former NBA stars against national team players from the regime. “His drinking escalated to a level that none of us had seen before,” Prince said Saturday. Rodman entered a center on Wednesday, a source close to him told BHZ. Rodm...

What is This? Russian Socialite and Garage Magazine Editor-In-Chief Dasha Zhukova Sits on a Black Woman Bondage Chair for Buro 24/7 Interview Happy Martin Luther King Day! As we pause to reflect on Dr. King’s enduring message of Civil Rights and equality, we must deal with the reality of modern day ignorance and racial insensitivity. Today, Miroslava Duma’s new online magazine Buro 247 published an article on Russian socialite Dasha Zhukova. The illustration? A serene looking Zhukova sitting on a ‘black woman’ chair. The Editor-in-Chief of Garage magazine perches on a black ‘dummy,’ (not a real human) who is nude save panties, a garter belt , elbow length gloves, and knee high boots, her folded knees suggestively pushing her naked breasts against her body. As Dasha stares out at the camera in the light filled room, she appears the total opposite of the compromised black woman on the floor. The message: white dominance and superiority, articulated in a seemingly seren...

According to former law enforcement officer, Barry Cooper (an anti-drug-war lecturer), marijuana was made illegal in 1937 because a man testified in front of Congress saying that pot made white women want to have romantic relationships with black men. Despite the falseness of this testimony, marijuana remained illegal. It was the symbol of the counterculture in the 60s and forever lauded as a “gateway drug” by D.A.R.E. programs across the country. Recently, history was made when Washington and Colorado legalized marijuana. Over a dozen other states have decriminalized the possession of small amounts. And Massachusetts recently legalized it for medical purposes. Federal law still bans the sale and possession of marijuana, but at least we know it isn’t illegal because of who it makes you date. Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings; that it was to protect the citizens fro...

by Soren Baker - posted January 17, 2014 Exclusive: Lord Jamar also says we are heading in a direction where it will "seem odd for a black man to do Hip Hop." In September, Lord Jamar said that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ "Same Love” pushed an agenda that he did not approve of. In a new, exclusive interview with HipHopDX , the Brand Nubian rapper says that he doesn’t think that a White rapper should push an agenda that goes against the principles upon which Hip Hop culture was founded. “As a White person, who is a guest to the house of Hip Hop, you don't have the right, okay, to come in and try to decide where this shit should go,”  Lord Jamar says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX . "Make a Rock song saying that. Make some EDM shit promoting that. Like don't try to use our vehicle, our vehicle that we created, to promote some shit that you know we don't fuck with. That's all I'm saying.  "I'm not say...

By Martin Finucane   /   Globe Staff   /  January 17, 2014 Essex County prosecutors say authorities recovered a body part today from the Charles River that may be linked to the strange case of a man who was apparently killed, dismembered, and set on fire this fall. Parts of Dennis Ray Jackson’s body were found burning in November in a barrel near the Bridgewater state prison complex, and behind an industrial building in Boston’s Hyde Park section. “I can confirm that a body part was recovered today from the Charles River that may be connected” to the case, said Carrie Kimball Monahan, spokeswoman for District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. She emphasized the word “may.” She said there was an “active and ongoing investigation.” She would not say what body part it was. And she said the identity of the victim would not be clear until analysis by the medical examiner. The body part was pulled from the river on the Cambridge side, near the ...

By Travis Andersen |  Globe staff ARLINGTON—Police shot a gun-wielding robbery suspect and arrested his accomplice after the pair allegedly robbed a bank here on Friday afternoon, touching off a violent confrontation that left a quiet neighborhood shaken. Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan said in a phone interview that the men, identified as James P. Riley, 36, of Quincy, and Shawn T. Bambushew, 25, of Everett, allegedly robbed Leader Bank at 141 Massachusetts Ave. at about 2:40 p.m. Witnesses provided police with a description of the suspects’ getaway car, and police stopped the gray-colored Jeep nearby on Brooks Avenue. Riley then brandished a gun, prompting an Arlington officer to shoot him in the car because he feared for his safety, according to Ryan. “These are two violent felons,” he said of the suspects. “These officers acted bravely. ... These are difficult situations for police officers, and they’re making split-second decisions.”...

By Milton J. Valencia |  Globe staff  The Massachusetts District Attorneys Association urged state lawmakers Friday to pass new laws requiring that juveniles who are tried as adults and sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder serve at least 35 years before becoming eligible for parole. The recommendation, in a letter to the Legislature, was the first proposed response to a Supreme Judicial Court decision in December that upended the way the Commonwealth handles juveniles convicted of serious crimes such as murder. That decision, based on a 2012 US Supreme Court ruling, declared it unconstitutional to sentence juveniles to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the punishment for first-degree murder. The association, representing district attorneys from across the state, argued that the decision was an insult to the families of murder victims. “While not ideal, 35 years of incarceration would provide victims’ fam...

by Soren Baker/HipHopDX Scarface adds that "country music is sounding more brilliant."   Scarface says that modern Rap music pales in comparison to the quality of material being generated in other forms of music. “The Rap shit [is] sounding stupider and stupider, and Country music is sounding more brilliant,”  Scarface  says in an interview with  xxlmag.com . “Rock music is sounding more brilliant and Alternative music is sounding way more brilliant. Shit sound good as fuck. Everybody [in Hip Hop] wants to turn up now, even in R&B. Who stole the soul? The soul is gone. Twenty-five years ago it was called soul. Thirty years ago it was called soul. Then they turned it into rhythm and blues, R&B. What is it now? Is R&B gone, too?” A member of politically-minded Gangster Rap group the Geto Boys , Scarface says that music helped determine the type of act he would become. “I think that the music that I listen...