New England Sun-Times

By Shimon Prokupecz. Faith Karimi, Nischelle Turner and Ray Sanchez, CNN Robert Vineberg, 57, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal use of drug paraphernalia Max Rosenblum, 22, is charged with criminal use of drug paraphernalia, criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana Juliana Luchkiw, 22, charged with criminal use of drug paraphernalia, criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana New York (CNN) -- Four people believed to be connected to the drugs found in Philip Seymour Hoffman's apartment were arrested late Tuesday night, law enforcement officials told CNN. During the raid that led to the arrest of the three men and one woman, police recovered 350 small plastic bags of what is believed to be heroin, the officials said. The bags of alleged heroin were branded "black list" and "red bull" -- not the same brand...

Pharmacy chain CVS said Wednesday it will stop selling tobacco products at its 7,600 locations across the United States, a move that public-health advocates hope will become a watershed and pressure other large drug store franchises to follow suit. CVS executives said the decision could cost billions of dollars in revenue because cigarettes draw so many customers to their stores. But by jettisoning tobacco products, CVS can further define its pharmacies as full-fledged health-care providers and strike more profitable deals with hospitals and health insurers.  CVS stores already are home to more than 750 MinuteClinics, the country's largest chain of pharmacy-based health clinics, offering flu shots and diagnosis of common ailments like ear infections and strep throat. "An important and growing part of our business is the work we do with clients and health insurance plans," CVS Pharmacy President Helena Foulkes said in an interview Tuesday. "As we thought about ...

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF Officer Rajat Sharda at a 2011 ceremony at City Hall, when he was among officers reinstated after 2009 layoffs.T&G Staff File Photo/CHRISTINE PETERSON WORCESTER — A city police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave after being charged with rape and witness intimidation. Police said the incident occurred at Bancroft Tower in August 2013 while Officer Rajat Sharda was "working as a police officer." According to court records, Officer Sharda allegedly asked a woman what she would be willing to do to avoid arrest and "made her do something against her will in exchange for not being arrested." The woman told department investigators the officer exposed himself to her and raped her digitally, according to court records. Reports also accuse the officer of taking the woman's bed comforter, which she had her in possession at the time, and threatening her to keep...

More than 2.6 million households in America are headed by a single father. Dustin Hoffman plays a father fighting for custody of his son in the 1979 film  Kramer vs. Kramer . When his son, Kyle, was four months old, Stefan Malliet woke up to his crying at three o’clock in the morning. Stefan tried to figure out what was wrong—Kyle wasn’t hungry, his diaper wasn’t dirty, but he still wouldn’t settle down and go to sleep. He just kept screaming. With no one else in the house to take Kyle off his hands, Stefan called a friend, crying: “I had no idea what was going on.” When I asked Stefan how he decided to take on the responsibilities of a single dad, he said, “This is my child. I have to be here.” Today, more men than ever are making the same choice. A Pew Research study published this statistic this summer:  8 percent of households  with minor children are now headed by a single father, up from just one percent in 1960. This represents a nine-fold increase,...

Cast member Philip Seymour Hoffman poses at the premiere of the film "A Most Wanted Man" during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, in Park City, Utah. Photo: The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP/WJLA) - Philip Seymour Hoffman, who won a best actor Oscar in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in "Capote" and created a gallery of other vivid characters, many of them slovenly and slightly dissipated comic figures, died Sunday. He was 46. He was found dead in his Manhattan home, police said. His cause of death wasn't officially determined, but according to NYPD sources, evidence of injectable drugs were found at the scene. Hoffman, who was no matinee idol figure with his tubby, lumpy build and limp blond hair, made his career mostly as a character actor. He was nominated for Oscars four times in all. In one of his earliest films, he played a spoiled prep school student in "Scent of a Woman" in 1992. O...

Videos are popping up on #YouTube and everywhere showing so-called #fakesnow, "chemical snow," and "snow that won't melt." People are literally holding cigarette lighters and blowtorches up to a handful of snow and talking about how the snow turns black and "burns like plastic" instead of melting. And they all talk about that "chemical odor." The black on the snow is residue left behind from the burnt off butane or whatever flammable fluid inside the lighter. And the snow absorbed the water turning it to slush instead of melting straight to water.  A lot of people are even going as far as saying it's a conspiracy, and the snow is man-made by the government ("geo-engineering").But if you understand regular old fashioned physics, you know taking a blowtorch to snow (which is more air than water in the first place), some of the frozen water (H2O) is definitely going to evaporate. That's whether or not you use a tor...

Ask Hub clergy to help stem violence SEEKING SOLUTIONS: Boston Police Superintendent in Chief William Gross, backed by police officers, speaks to the media after the meeting with Boston clergy.  The city’s gang members are using women to hold their guns for them in case they are frisked, Boston police told clergy members in a closed-door meeting during which cops asked for the community’s help in stopping a spike in gang-related homicides. “Young ladies are carrying guns for guys; this is a growing problem; this is a new problem,” a minister, who asked to remain anonymous, said cops told 
the clergy at police headquarters in Roxbury. “Women are carrying the guns, because if the guys are stopped, they are clean,” the minister said. That minister and another person who was in attendance and also spoke to the Herald under the condition he not be named said two former gang members who have since become religious told the clergy members they’re willin...