6-year old Falcon Heene set off a media frenzy and a massive search and rescue operation, when it was believed that he was inside a homemade balloon that broke loose and sailed high over Colorado.  Turns out, he was hiding in the garage attic.  When word broke that a young boy was thought to be inside the “flying saucer” like apparatus drifting through the sky; the media went full press.  U.S. cable stations went live with the balloon floating through the sky, trailed by National Guard helicopters.

He hid in a women’s bathroom and attacked a total stranger with a pipe and now has been sentenced to 23 more months in jail and three years probation.

James Tyre, 37, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for beating the woman. Tyre has already spent 11 months in jail. The Crown was seeking a sentence of four additional years. The defence was seeking a sentence of three years, less time served.

The victim who suffered from a crushed thumb, fractured eye socket and a broken hand was said to be satisfied with the sentence.

 

Actor Patrick Swayze, who played the role of the sexy dance instructor in “Dirty Dancing” which made him an iconic film star in the 80’s, died Monday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. 

 Swayze, an actor and dancer who also played opposite Demi Moore in the 1990 romance “Ghost”, passed away peacefully at his home with family at his side. 

Swayze became one of Hollywood’s top stars with 1987’s “Dirty Dancing,” which defied Hollywood expectations to become one of the most-watched movies of all time.

Swayze was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms of the disease, in January 2008. He said at the time that the cancer had already spread to his liver but that he would fight the disease. Sadly he lost that battle. Swayze was 57 at the time of his death.

For the first time ever, a drunk driver in Canada has been handed a life sentence.

It was Roger Walsh’s 19th drunk driving conviction and it was the 47th birthday of the wheelchair bound mother he mowed down and killed.  Calling Walsh an “incorrigible” drunk driver, the judge would not grant the Crown attorney’s request to have him designated a dangerous offender.  Justice Michel Mercier said the designation was not intended for those found guilty of this sort of crime.

Anee Khudaverian was with her dog when Walsh hit her which propelled her into a ditch.  Walsh was arrested less than 10km away after ending up in a ditch himself.  He had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

It is unimaginable to most of us.  Your child is kidnapped at 11 years of age.  She was last seen walking to school in 1991.  This is the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard.  What might be even more unimaginable is that 18 years later, she is back.

On Wednesday, Jaycee told police who she is after the couple accused of abducting her had brought her and her two children to a parole office on Tuesday.  The couple, Phillip and Nancy Garrido, both in their 50’s, is accused of kidnapping Jaycee and hiding her on their Antioch, California property in a backyard structure.  Kidnapping is not the only charge the Garrido’s face.  Phillip Garrido is charged with rape and is believed to be the father of Jaycee’s two children, aged 15 and 11.  Garrido was convicted in 1971 of  rape and kidnap in Nevada and was on lifetime parole.

Police say Jaycee appears to be in relatively good health.  The now 29 year old was reunited with her mother yesterday.

Edward M. Kennedy, the U.S. Senator and member of the Camelot political dynasty, has lost his battle with brain cancer.  “Teddy”, the brother of John and Robert Kennedy who were both assassinated, served almost a half-century and became one of Washington’s most effective senators. A member of one of America’s most storied political families, “Teddy” was the third longest serving senator in U.S. history.

One person is dead after a series of tornadoes touched down in Southern Ontario.  A Durham resident was reportedly killed by the severe weather that tore apart homes and mangled trees Thursday evening.

A single engine plane collided with a sightseeing helicopter over the Hudson River Saturday; investigators say all nine people aboard the two aircraft are believed to have been killed.  The collision was witnessed by thousands of people along the river bank, just after noon on Saturday, not far from where the US Airways jet landed safely earlier this year.  The crash victims included five Italian tourists and a pilot on the helicopter and the three people on the plane, including a child, according to authorities.

Karlheinz Schreiber is now in jail in Germany.

The 75-year-old former arms-industry lobbyist will appear in court on Tuesday to have the arrest warrant against him read.  Schreiber had been fighting extradition from Canada in the Brian Mulroney scandal for almost a decade.