H1N1 'swine' flu confirmed in Colorado

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has confirmed that Colorado has its first cases of "swine" flu and expect many more.

According to the CDPHE, two people in Colorado have been diagnosed with swine flu.

"As we expected, the virus is in Colorado," Dr. Ned Calonge, Colorado's chief medical officer, said.

Calogne said at a news conference today, the first case was a woman in her 30s from Arapahoe County who had just returned from a cruise in Mexico. She had also spent a few days in San Diego, which also has confirmed cases, therefore authorities haven't been able to pinpoint where or when she may have contracted the virus. She hasn't been hospitalized.

The second case was a man in his 40s from Douglas County who works as a baggage handler at Denver International Airport. According to CDPHE officials, the case at DIA is a reminder to be vigilant about your health in public areas.

The baggage handler was hospitalized for three days and released today.

Authorities say both people are recovering and are doing well.

"This does not change our approach to the H1N1 flue outbreak," Calogne said. "All of our planning activities are in place. We will continue to look for new cases, we have response that's in place and up and running commiserate to the severity of the illness that we're seeing."

"Additional specimens" were tested today. It isn't clear when these results will be available, according to CDPHE.

"All the stuff we've been telling you, about be prepared, take precautions, and right now it looks like it's the seasonal flu. That's the same message," Calogne said.

12 states have confirmed cases of swine flu: California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, South Carolina, New York, Massachusetts. Full story from 9News

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Swine flu prompts World Health Organization to raise alert level

Swine flu prompts World Health Organization to raise alert level - Los Angeles Times

Warning pandemic imminent

CDC: Swine flu claims 1st victim

Toddler dies from swine flu

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today confirmed the nation's first death in the swine flu outbreak, a 23-month-old child in Texas.

CDC: Swine flu claims 1st victim in US - Boston.com
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Swine Flu Outbreak Continues To Grow

According to the CDC's website, the human swine flu outbreak continues to grow in the U.S. and worldwide.

Today, CDC is reporting additional cases of confirmed swine influenza and a number of hospitalizations of swine flu patients.

Internationally, the situation is more serious, with additional countries reporting confirmed cases of swine flu. In response to the intensifying outbreak, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 4.

A Phase 4 alert is characterized by confirmed person-to-person spread of a new influenza virus able to cause community-level outbreaks. The increase in the pandemic alert phase indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased. There are a total of 6 alert levels.

CDC has activated its emergency operation center to coordinate the agency's emergency response. CDC's goals are to reduce transmission and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this swine influenza virus.

On Monday, CDC issued a travel warning recommending that people avoid non-essential travel to Mexico. CDC continues to issue interim guidance daily on their website and through health alert network notices.

CDC's Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is releasing one-quarter of its antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment, and respiratory protection devices to help states respond to the outbreak.

The swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is susceptible to the prescription antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir.

On the Net:
Centers for Disease Control - See number of confirmed U.S. cases.

FedEx and other private delivery carriers have been notified to have their critical fleet ready to help transport the antiviral drugs and protection equipment and devices if needed.
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swine flu colorado swine flu denver colo influenza

CDC Director: "Swine Flu Outbreak is Evolving and Changing Rapidly"

FOXNews.com - Swine Flu Fears Close Numerous Schools in Several States - Infectious Disease

Richard Besser, M.D., Acting Director of the Center for Disease Control, says the swine flu outbreak in the U.S. is evolving and changing rapidly.

World Health Organization raises the swine flu pandemic to phase 4 - MSNBC
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World governments race to contain swine flu outbreak - Los Angeles Times

World governments race to contain the swine flu outbreak - Los Angeles Times

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U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency

Swine Flu Outbreak in the United States

U.S. Declares Public Health Emergency in Wake of Swine Flu - FOXNews.com

U.S. government declares crises: "Swine Flu will likely spread across the country," says Centers for Disease Control.

"Swine Flu was brought into the country by people coming and going from Mexico. There's no telling how many cases we are going to see in the U.S. - could be in the hundreds," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Department of Homeland Security.
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WHO: Mexico swine flu has 'pandemic potential' - Boston.com

WHO: Mexico swine flu has 'pandemic potential' - Boston.com

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FOXNews.com - CDC: 8 Confirmed Cases of Swine Flu in U.S. - Cold & Flu

FOXNews.com - CDC: 8 Confirmed Cases of Swine Flu in U.S. - Cold & Flu

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Mexico drug cartel teaching members values, moral principles

MEXICO CITY - A drug cartel in Mexico is telling their members to avoid heavy drinking and using narcotics and live a clean family life as it tries to build a well-run criminal organization, according to police.

Rafael Cedeno, a leader of "The Family" cartel based in the western state of Michoacan, told police after he was arrested he had trained several thousand cartel members with courses in ethics and personal improvement.

"The indoctrination of this group consisted of courses they considered to be for personal improvement, values, ethical and moral principles. The objective was for the subordinates to avoid drugs, hard drinking and maintain family unity," say federal police.

Cedeno, 47, was arrested at a family baptism on Saturday with 43 others after a raid by police in helicopters. Cedeno is accused of ordering the murder of rivals and running prostitution rings of young girls.

About 6, 300 people were killed in the bitter war between Mexico drug cartels last year. The conflict has spilled over the border into the United States.

The training courses show the level of organization of Mexico's cartels, well-armed groups which often control territory and take on federal police and the army.

The point of training was "to have better motivational and emotional control over the members," Cedeno said. "The Family" has previously portrayed itself as a local organization protecting Michoacan residents from outside drug smugglers, many of whom frequently indulge in drugs or drink.

The group, a splitter group from the Gulf Cartel, now fights its former allies for control of territory in Michoacan, often leaving gruesome messages next to decapitated heads. REUTERS

Mexico's drug wars
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DHS: Veterans, Anti-Communism Threat to U.S.

The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it has filed a federal lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The lawsuit claims that her Department's "Rightwing Extremism Policy," as reflected in the recently publicized Intelligence Assessment, "Rightwing Extemism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," violates the civil liberteries of combat veterans as well as American citizens by targeting them for disfavored treatment on account of their political beliefs.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S.District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage, Iraqi War Marine veteran Kevin Murray, and Gregg Cunningham (President of the pro-life organization Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc. (CBR).

The Law Center claims that Napolitano and the Department of Homeland Security have violated the plaintiffs' First and Fifth Amendment Constitutional rights by attempting to stifle their free speech, expressive association, and equal protection rights.

The lawsuit further claims that the Department of Homeland Security encourages law enforcement officers throughout the United States to target and report citizens to federal officials as suspicious rightwing extremists and potential terrorists because of their political beliefs.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center stated, "The Obama Administration has declared war on American patriots and our Constitution. The Report even admits that DHS has no specific information on any plans of violence by so-called 'rightwing extremists.' Rather, what they do have is the expression of political opinions by certain individuals and organizations that oppose the Obama Administration's policies, and this expression is protected speech under the First Amendment."

Thompson added, "Janet Napolitano is lying to the American people when she says the Report is not based on ideology or political beliefs. In fact, her report would have the admiration of any current or past dictator in the way it targets political opponents."

The Report says that law enforcement should use the following in determining whether someone is a threat to society.

• Gun owner
• Returning war veteran
• Opposes restrictions on firearms
• Opposes the policies of President Barack Obama
• Opposes illegal immigration
• Opposes continuation of free-trade agreements
• Opposes same-sex marriages
• Has paranoia of foreign regimes
• Fear Communist regimes
• Opposes one world government
• Bemoans the decline of U.S. stature in the world
• Upset with loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China and India
  

If you are a registered gun owner, returning war veteran, or are actively involved in any of the above listed political beliefs, you are on the DHS list as a rightwing extremist and potential domestic terrorist.

The Thomas More Law Center is asking the court to declare that the DHS policy violates the First and Fifth Amendments, to permanently enjoin the Policy and its application to the plaintiffs' speech and other activities, and to award the plaintiffs their reasonable attorney's fees and costs for having to bring this lawsuit in order to clear their names.

The Thomas More Law Center's complaint

Brian Blackwell

DHS: Conservatives, Veterans Threat to U.S.

Department of  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a report to law enforcement across the country last week targeting conservative republicans, returning war veterans, and gun owners - labeling them right-wing extremists.

Janet Napolitano (right)

"Returning war veterans are potential Timothy McVeigh's," says Napolitano.

The government considers you a terrorist threat if you oppose President Obama's policies, own a gun, oppose abortion or are a returning war veteran.

Brian Blackwell

Mainstream Media Sneers at Tea Party Protests

FOXNews.com - Mainstream Media Sneers at Tea Party Protests - Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld

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High School Student Killed In Love Triangle Involving Teacher

An 18-year-old Chandler, Arizona high school student caught with his 48-year-old math teacher in her bedroom was stabbed to death by her boyfriend, who was himself a former student of hers.

Chandler police say 20-year-old Sixto Balbuena told them he never meant to kill Samuel Valdivia. "The blade went in like going into butter," said Balbuena. "I just wanted to show Valdivia how much he hurt me by sleeping with Tamara Hofmann.

Balbuena, a Navy sailor on leave from California, was arrested after police found him covered in blood and told them about the killing. He is charged with second-degree murder and remains in jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.

Balbuena found his girlfriend naked and Valdivia in his boxer shorts in Hofmann's bedroom around 2:40 a.m. Friday, according to police reports and court documents.

Balbuena told police that Valdivia apologized to him before Balbuena began kicking, punching and throwing things at him, according to a police probable cause statement. "I wanted to teach him a lesson," said Balbuena.

Balbuena stabbed Valdivia in the lower side with a kitchen knife. Valdivia later died at a hospital.

Balbuena also threw Hofmann to the floor, jumped on top of her, and demanded to know how long she had been cheating on him, according to documents.

Hofmann was Valdivia's math teacher at El Dorado High School in Chandler and was also Balbuena's teacher when he attended Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe.

Balbuena is the one who called 911. He told officers he felt remorse for stabbing Valdivia after seeing him lying on the floor struggling to breathe.

Hofmann is being investigated for potential misconduct relative to her involvement with Valdivia.

A 2006 Chandler police report states that police suspected Hofmann of having a sexual relationship with a then 17-year-old Balbuena. Both Hofmann and Balbuena denied being in a sexual relationship, and police closed the case.

D. Brian Blackwell

April 15 Tax Day Tea Party rallies

Hundreds of taxpayers across the U.S. are geared up for a Tax Day Tea Party rally tomorrow to protest the out of control income tax system and run away government spending. Get information and follow events as they unfold in your town at: TaxDayTeaParty.com
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Couple's tax documents certifiably lost, blunder by the post office may cost them big

As they do each year, Dave and Ann Milhous gathered up all of their tax information, including W-2's, 1099's and charitable donation receipts.

In late February, Ann took the package to the post office to ship it to their tax preparer. She paid $10 to send it by certified mail. They waited and waited for their tax preparer to send them back the finished product so they could mail in their returns to the IRS.

"We kept after our tax preparer - "Why are you not sending our stuff back'? Says Ann. "They said, 'Because we never got it.' "

In late March, the Milhouses gained a greater understanding of what certified means. They received notice that their package had been delivered to the wrong address.

Their packet went to the Internal Revenue Service instead of their tax preparer. Their packet of information is sitting in a heap at the IRS waiting to be processed. And that won't happen because their accountant never received their information and thus never completed tax returns for them. More at: The Modesto Bee
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Search continues for University of St. Thomas freshman Dan Zamlen

The search continues along the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul for 19-year-old Dan Zamlen, a Universityof St. Thomas freshman who disappeared April 5. VIDEO

Related: Search continues for St. Thomas student Dan Zamlen missing since Sunday

Captain freed from captivity after being held by Somali pirates - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

Captain freed from captivity after being held by Somali pirates - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

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Man jailed for dodging child support for 14 kids, owes over half-a-million in back payments

A 42-year-old former Flint, Michigan man who authorities say fathered 14 children with 13 different women in Cenesee County and owes over $530,000 in child support has been jailed for dodging payments.

Thomas Frazier was booked into the Genesee County jail Thursday. He could spent 90 days behind bars if he doesn't pay $27,900. Court records say he hasn't made payments in the child support cases in six years.

Frazier had been avoiding the law by moving state to state, making it difficult to locate him for payments. Frazier was caught with the help of private investigator Brian Blackwell.

Frazier says he's been saddled with debt for children he says are not all his. Frazier says it's unrealistic for authorities to expect him to pay child suport that at one point was $3,000 a month. He says he thinks he only fathered three of the children. MORE

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Sunday school teacher arrested for murdering 8-year-old girl

TRACY, Calif. - A California Sunday school teacher was arrested for kidnapping and killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body was found Monday stuffed inside a suitcase found in an irrigation pond.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, was taken into custody at 11:55 p.m., about five hours after she drove herself to the Tracy police station at the request of police.

A massive search for Cantu included hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officers. The search ended April 8 when farm workers who were draining the irrigation pond to water fields found a suitcase.

Huckaby had told a local newspaper that Cantu visited her home March 27, the day she disappeared. Huckaby said she left her suitcase in the driveway that day, and that it was missing.

Melissa Huckaby is the granddaughter of Pastor Clifford Lawless, whose Clover Road Baptist Church was the subject of a police search. Huckaby taught Sunday school at the church.

Huckaby's family had been questioned at length during the investigation, and their homes and vehicles were searched.

Tracy is a city of 78,000 about 60 miles east of San Francisco.

Related: Body of 8-year-old found in suitcase

D. Brian Blackwell

Intellipedia: Wikipedia for spies

A new generation of analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency and its sister agencies has created Intellipedia, a classified version of Wikipedia they say is transforming the way American spy agencies handle top secret information by fostering collaboration across Washington, D.C. and around the world.

Since its inception in 2006, Intellipedia has grown to a 900,000 page magnum opus of espionage, handling some 100,000 user accounts and 5,000 page edits a day, according to the CIA and the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Intellipedia's godfather is CIA analyst D. Galvin Andrus, who wrote a paper in 2004 titled "The Wiki and the Blog: Towards a Complex Adaptive Intelligence Community."

For decades, the U.S. intelligence system had been structured to answer static Cold War questions, like how many missiles there are in Siberia. What America needed after Sept.11, 2001, Andrus argued, was something that could handle rapidly changing, complicated threats. Intelligence organizations needed to become complex and adaptive, driven to judgments by bottom-up collaboration, like financial markets or ant colonies - or Wikipedia.

Sean Dennehy, 39, and Don Burke, 43, used the Andrus paper to push the idea of an intelliegence community Wiki on their superiors at the CIA. They didn't get very far until the newly organized Office of the Director of National Intelligence decided the idea had potential, and even then it faced resistance from the old timers at the agency.

"There's been pushback throughout the whole process," says Burke. Many analysts say they prefer the old, proprietary databases managed by individual agencies and aren't really interested in trying anything new.

One of the biggest hurdles has been convincing spies that Intellipedia would be safe from outsider access. To aasuage them, Intellipedia is built into the existing networks known as Intelink, which connects the 16 different spy agencies in the U.S., as well as the U.S. military, the State Department and other agencies with access to intelligence information.

After three years, Intellipedia is up and running. It operates in three different spheres: unclassified, secret and top secret, with top secret the most active, having 439,387 pages and 57,248 user accounts.

Intellipedia is largely managed by volunteers and patrolled by 'shepherds' who keep track of individual pages in their areas of expertise. Like Wikipedia, articles are created instantly - a page on the Mumbai terror attack last November was up within minutes of the news breaking about the incident - but authorship must be clear; nobody can hide behind a user name.

Intellipedia's boosters concede that Intellipedia is just an adjunct to the work of America's intelligence analysts. No finished intelligence product for decision makers is generated out of Intellipedia - National Intelligence Estimates are still written the old-fashioned way, authored and circulated for peer review and consensus.

CIA

D. Brian Blackwell

Homes, Cars Seized in Colo Ponzi Investigation

A former bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operated an investment Ponzi scheme from his Aurora, Colorado home for nearly 15 years, stealing millions of dollars from investors.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states that Shawn Merriman, an unlicensed broker, collected up to $20 million from investors in several states to support his lavish lifestyle.

Federal Marshals Wednesday froze bank accounts and seized cars, guns, valuable artwork, a boat, Merriman's home in Aurora, two homes in Island Park, Idaho, and artwork from a home in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Several classis cars were seized, including a silver Aston Martin, 1932 and 1936 Auburns and a 1932 Ford Highboy. Authorities also seized artworks that included Rembrandts and other Old Masters.

Merriman, a former stock broker, began an investment fund in 1995 that employed an aggressive strategy, but he quickly lost $400,000. So he started fake investment funds to hide losses and cover withdrawal requests.

Merriman attracted investors through friends and business associates at his church. Thirty-eight people in Colorado, Minnesota and Utah invested money with Merriman.

Merriman never invested any of the money. He spent the money on a lavish lifestyle for himself instead.

The U.S. attorney's office seized Merriman's assets earlier this month to preserve as much money as possible.

The piece of crap [Merriman] showed investors a single-page document and promised annual returns of 7 to 20 percent, according to court documents. He also fabricated monthly statements.

According to a court document filed by the SEC, Merriman confessed to authorities on March 18, 2009 that he had been engaging in a Ponzi scheme. He told authorities he had about $7 million in assets left, mostly in investment-grade art.

Among the 37 works of art sought by federal authorities are Rembrandt's 1633 masterpiece "Descent From the Cross: The Second Plate" and 1654 masterpiece "The Entombment", two works by Picasso; four bronze busts, and an acrylic sculpture.

Merriman says he he had collected 56 of Rembrandt's 70 religious prints, some which had been on display throughout Mormon buildings in Denver.

Investors in Ponzi schemes seldom recover more than 5 percent of their money according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Neither Merriman nor his companies were licensed brokers.

Brian Blackwell

ShamWow pitchman in brawl with hooker

TV pitchman Vince Shlomi had a bloody battle with a Miami prostitute Tuesday. The 44-year-old ShamWow pitchman paid Sasha Harris $1,000 for sex which was to occur in Shlomi's $750-a-night room at the lavish Setai Hotel.

According to the police report, Shlomi kissed the 26-year-old Harris, who responded by biting his tonque and not letting go. Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tonque.

Shlomi then went to the hotel's lobby, where security called police. A Miami Beach Police Department CSI unit arrived along with patrol officers at the Setai to photograph the aftermath of the Feb. 7 brawl, which left blood on the hotel room's walls, floor, door, phone, bed and towels.

Officers were also dispatched to the Mount Sinai Medical Center to photograph Shlomi and Harris, who were being treated for their injuries. Both were handcuffed to hospital beds since they had been arrested for felony battery. Prosecutors decided not to pursue charges against either combatant.

Police evidence photos
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Search Continues For Dan Zamlen

Over 500 students, a state patrol helicopter, a boat, and a Sheriff's bloodhound continue to search for missing University of St. Thomas freshman Daniel Zamlen, but have found no new clues.

Zamlen, who turned 19 today, was reported missing around 2:30 a.m. Sunday by friends who say they were on the phone with him when his cell phone abruptly cut out. His friends say he called out for help before the conversation ended.

Dan Zamlen

Zamlen, from Eveleth, Minn., had left a party because of an argument, and told a friend over the phone that he was walking along the Mississippi River on St. Claire Avenue toward Mississippi River Boulevard South.

Zamlen, who has type I diabetes, had been drinking, say friends.

The friends have refused to reveal to the public what upset Zamlen, but say it was not an extraordinary disagreement.

The bloodhound from neighboring Hennepin County found a scent trail that led to the street corner where Zamlen was last known to be, according to St. Paul police. The trail ended there.

Investigators say they cannot find footprints that match Zamlen's size facing away from the river, towards the road.

A helicopter from the Minnesota State Patrol searched farther up river to the University of Minnesota campus, where one friend said he might have been headed to meet friends from the Iron Range.

The State Patrol helicopter has made low passes along the Mississippi River searching for any sign of Zamlen. Firefighters climbed down the bank of the Mississipi Monday, but saw no sign of Zamlen.

A Hennipin County deputy sheriff searched the river bank with a bloodhound Monday, moving upstream along the ragged shoreline from the spot where supposedly Zamlen made his last phone call. The deputy and his dog made it to the Marshall Avenue Bridge, which is about one mile upstream, but did not pick up a trace of Zamlen.

Zamlen was last seen at an off-campus party, near Cretin Avenue and St. Claire, at about 2:30 Sunday according to friends. He left on foot and called friends, who were at the party, on his cell phone, and was trying to direct one of those friends to where he was when the call ended abruptly.

Zamlen's last words were, "Oh my god, oh my god."

Police have found no activity in his bank accounts or phone records after he was reported missing.

Students and people from the community have dispersed in groups of 50 to scour back yards and alleys within a two-mile radius of campus. They were told that Zamlen is likely physically and mentally exhausted, if not in a coma, from low blood sugar and a lack of insulin.

Searchers were told to listen for a beeping noise from Zamlen's OmniPod, a device that injects insulin into his body that can beep up to a week to warn of a low or absent insulin supply.

Students also searched the College of St. Catherine campus because of its resemblance and proximity to St. Thomas.

Zamlen's father, Dale, is concerned that searchers cannot search garages, where he thinks his son might have sought refuge. His mother, Sally, has been awed by the volunteer response.

Zamlen lives in Brady Hall. He is 6 feet 1 and 175 pounds with blond/light brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a dark blue, zip-up fleece, light blue T-shirt, blue jeans and brown Dr. Martens shoes. He was carrying a black iPhone and a blue hand-held insulin meter.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the University of St. Thomas Public Safety Department (campus police)

at 651-962-5555.

Related: KARE 11 News

Brian Blackwell

Body of 8-year-old found in suitcase

The body of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu who had been missing for 10 days from her Northern California home was found Monday, stuffed inside a suitcase found in an irrigation pond.

She was found a few miles from her Tracy, California mobile home park. Over 100 mourners, many holding candles, gathered outside the park Monday night after the body was found.

The outgoing second-grader went to visit a friend on Friday and never made it home.

The family and police launched a massive search in and around the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park.

Police reviewed surveillance footage and reexamined a disturbing encounter that Sandra had with an older man nearly two years ago.

Video from a surveillance camera outside of the family's home showed Sandra walking away from her home, also away from the only exit to the mobile home park.

Sandra's aunt Angie Chavez says the children in the park would often play at one another's home and also in the park's open spaces, including a basketball court and a swimming pool.

It was in that pool in the summer of 2007 that the Chavezes placed a call to police that is now being looked at more carefully. A little late don't you think?

A man made an inappropriate move with Sandra in plain sight. "My mother-in-law saw him march over, sweep her hair off her face and give her a kiss on the lips," Chavez says, adding that the man was an Orchard Estates resident who still lives in the park.

In addition to local police and the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had a team of retired law enforcement professionals, part of a program called "Team Adam," helping both law enforcement and Sandra's family.

An autopsy is to be performed today.

Surveillance Video courtesy of KXTV News 10
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College Student Gone Missing After Leaving Party

Another college student missing after leaving a party

Dan Zamlen, 18, a freshman student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, has been missing since early Sunday. Zamlen of Eveleth, Minnesota was last heard from around 3 a.m. on Sunday as he walked home from a house party.

Zamlen was last known to be walking along Mississippi River Boulevard near St. Clair Avenue in St. Paul. He had been drinking alcohol and is a type-one diabetic.

According to family members, he was talking with a friend on the phone while walking home, and the last words he spoke were, "Oh my god, oh my god."

At that point, the phone cut out and the friend called police.

A helicopter was used Sunday to search along the river, but nothing was found.

Dan Zamlen is 6 feet tall and weighs approximately 175 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue jacket and blue jeans.

St. Thomas' Emergency Notification was used to send a text message to all students, staff and faculty of the University of St. Thomas at noon on Sunday.

The text message said the university is attempting to locate Dan Zamlen and anyone with information is asked to contact the university's Public Safety Department at (651) 962-5555.

Brian Blackwell

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About St. Thomas University

Satanic Cults

Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo was the High Priest and Sara Maria Aldrete his High Priestess. What they were doing was uncovered after a 21-year-old college student, Mark Kilroy, became missing.

A student at the University of  Texas, Kilroy went with three classmates to Matamoros, Mexico, just over the border.

It was March 1987, and they went from bar to bar, as students on spring break usually do. But Mark disappeared.

His family instigated a search, which didn't turn up anything until they got a tip about a drug raid on a remote homestead called Rancho Santa Elena.

Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo and Sara Maria Aldrete

A blond man had been seen bound and gagged in a van at the ranch. A search turned up an altar of some kind in a shed, along with bloodstains, human hair and something else organic that was later identified as part of a human brain.

A severed goat's head indicated that the people who lived there were involved in a religious cult, which turned out to be a Satanic form of Santeria. Human sacrifice was performed to protect them from police attacks. Mark Kilroy had been among the victims.

Kilroy's headless torso was discovered in a mass grave containing the decapitated and mutilated bodies of 14 other men and boys.

All the victims had been killed on the orders of the cult-leaders, Constanzo and Aldrete, who had fled before the raid. They had insisted that prior to any major drug deal, they needed the heart and brain of a human victim to boil and consume. Many hapless victims had served that purpose.

The two elders were traced to Mexico City in 1989, but police were too late to capture Constanzo. He had ordered his cult members to shoot him while he was locked in an embrace with his homosexual lover, and they had obeyed.

Aldrete fled the apartment they were living in but was caught. She was indicted, along with other surviving members of the cult.

Aldrete was sentenced to six years for her involvement in the crimes, and in another trial was convicted of multiple murders, for which, she received a sentence of 62 years.

Aldrete's four accomplices from the ranch each received 67 years.

Brian Blackwell

G20 protesters riot, clash with police

Nearly two dozen people were arrested today when G-20 protesters clashed with riot police in central London, breaking into the heavily guarded Royal Bank of Scotland and smashing its windows.

Over 4,000 anarchists, anti-capitalists, environmentalists and others clogged the streets of London's financial district for what demonstrators are calling "Financial Fool's Day."

The protests are in retaliation of tomorrow's Group of 20 (G20) summit of world government and corporate leaders and international bankers, who claim they are trying to stop the growing global economic and financial collapse.

Protesters also tried to storm the Bank of England and pelted police with eggs and fruit. A battered effigy of a banker in a bowler's hat hung on a traffic light near the Bank of England.

A violent mob wearing balaclavas' broke into the RBS building and stole keyboards and used them to break windows.

Other protesters spray-painted graffiti on the RBS building, writing "class war" and thieves."

Riot police battled protesters carrying banners that read "Abolish Money."

Protesters focused on the Royal Bank of Scotland because it was bailed out by the British government after a series of crooked deals that brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. Its former chief executive Fred Goodwin, 50, will be receiving an annual pension of 703,000 pounds ($1.2 million). Unemployment in Britain is at 2 million and rising.

The protests in London's financial district - known as "The City" - came as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama held a news conference at Britain's Foreign Office elsewhere in the city so they would not have to face protesters.

At least one bobby (police officer) was injured when a printer and other office equipment was thrown out of an RBS window.

Hundreds cheered as a blue office chair was used to smash one of the windows.

Two men - one wearing a suit - exchanged punches in the financial district before police intervened.

Of the nearly two dozen people arrested, offenses included disorderly behavior, illegally wearing a police uniform, carrying knives and assault. One person was arrested for drug possession.

Protesters also waved banners reading "Banks are evil," Eat the bankers," and "0% interest."

Financial workers leaning out of office windows taunted demonstrators and waived 10 pound notes at them.

More protests are planned in London for the G20 meeting, which begins tomorrow.

D. Brian Blackwell

Tens of thousands protest G20 summit

Tens of thousands of people have marched across London protesting the G20 summit involving government and corporate world leaders and international bankers. Marchers are demanding jobs, economic justice and environmental accountability.

More than 150 groups threw their backing behind the "Put People First" march.

Security has been tight around a group of people waving anarchist flags. Anarchists and others promised violence before the G20 meeting.

The G20 summit protests is taking place against a backdrop of a deepening global economic and financial meltdown. Growing public anger over bankers' pay and bonuses, and the painful fallout from the crises experienced by workers and small business owners (real small business owners not the mid-size corporations claiming to be small businesses.)

The marchers are seeking a more transparent and democratic economic recovery plan. MORE

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