elvis birthday

Happy Birthday, Elvis Presley

We try not to celebrate birthdays of the deceased here in the Newsroom, but today's occasion might as well be a national holiday in some circles. On this day in 1935, Elvis Presley was born. The man who changed rock and roll forever would have turned 75 years old today had he not passed away in 1977 (unless you're a conspiracy theorist who thinks the King is still alive, in which case we hope he's having cake somewhere).

As the distance grows between Presley's breakout and the present day, it becomes harder and harder to put Elvis' accomplishments into context. He successfully synthesized the blues, country, folk and whatever else was kicking around on the front porches of America to create a sexy, funky stew of shuffling rock and roll that worked as both head music and groin music.

Elvis had 18 chart-topping singles, and his worldwide album sales are estimated at over one billion units (yep, that's billion). He made peanut butter and banana sandwiches cool. He wore awesome jumpsuits (and capes!). He's in four different music halls of fame. His home is now an amusement park. Everything about the man is epic, which is why his legacy has lived on well after his death and his influence continues unabated to this day.

Back in 2002, Dutch producer Junkie XL remixed the somewhat obscure Presley track "A Little Less Conversation," which found its way to the top of the charts in 20 different countries. The tune turned Elvis into the unlikely author of a club hit — appropriate for a guy who first stirred up controversy because of his too-sexy dancing. Happy birthday, Elvis, wherever you are.

Plano Isd

Plano ISD: Sigler Elementary students evacuated to Vines High School

The students at Sigler Elementary School have been evacuated to Vines High School due to a "noxious smell," according to the Plano Independent School District spokeswoman Lesley Range-Stanton.

"The instructional day for Sigler Elementary School students has been rerouted to Vines High School due to a noxious odor reported at the Sigler campus," she said. "The students will remain at Vines for the rest of the instructional day and will be released as normal from the high school."



Plano ISD facilities and safety and security staff responded and implemented the appropriate relocation plan while this situation was being addressed. The district staff are also investigating the cause of the odor.

The Plano Fire Department's hazardous materials crew is also on-scene to help determine the cause of the smell. Peggy Harrell, Plano Fire Department spokesperson, said the hazard material crew did not detect anything hazardous or toxic in the odor.

The first call to the fire department came in shortly after students arrived in the morning, Harrell said. The engine that responded could not find the source of the odor, at which point the hazardous material team was brought in.

“The smell was noticeable, but there nothing hazardous showing up on our devices,” Harrell said.

Shortly after noon the fire department cleared the building and left. Plano ISD investigative crews, containing trained scent dogs, remained at the school.

The fire department did not take part in the evacuation. The were no reported injuries or illnesses of students or staff.

Students will remain at the high school for the rest of the day. Buses will run at their regularly scheduled time from Vines; and carpool for Sigler parents will be at the west bus lane at Vines, she said.

Page Six

Page Six: Stern sidekick Lange in suicide attempt

Howard Stern alluded to, but did not read this morning a report from the New York Post's Page Six detailing a suicide attempt by his on-air sidekick/stand-up the comedian Artie Lange.

From the Page Six item, posted early this morning:

"Troubled comic Artie Lange landed in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt, sources told The Post. Lange's frantic mom called 911 Saturday morning after she entered his Hoboken apartment and found the bloodied funnyman, a law-enforcement source said. Lange sustained six "hesitation wounds" and three deep plunges. A source close to Lange's management team confirmed that the Howard Stern sidekick stabbed himself, adding that his mother had come to visit him that day to drop off food. Surgeons managed to save Lange despite heavy bleeding."

At first Stern said he would read the item, then changed his mind several times before deciding not to read it.

"I'm sorry. I just feel sick about this, I don't know what to do."

Stern talked about Lange and his situation for about 15 minutes. He referred to Lange's troubles with substance abuse (the cause of his absence from the show since early December) and reminisced about his early appearances on the show - at times sounding like he was eulogizing his sidekick, before saying "I don't want this to sound like a eulogy."

nexus one google phone

Will Nexus One Google Phone Challenge the iPhone? I Doubt It

It seems like every three - four months there is a new smart phone that comes out that is debated as the iPhone killer. A few months ago I wrote a post about the Verizon Droid and its commercials claiming that everything the iPhone doesn't do, Droid does. Well, this time around it's the Nexus One Google Phone that is being put up against the iPhone as analysts talk about whether the Nexus One can wrestle away some market share away from Apple's iPhone.

In the CNN Money video below Michael Copeland runs down the features of the new Nexus One Google Phone. Although there seems to be a few cool features that the iPhone doesn't have, for example voice activated everything, I don't see the Nexus One putting a big dent into iPhone sales. First of all, service for the phone is currently only available through T-Mobile which prevents anyone tied into an AT&T or Verizon contract from upgrading to the Nexus One. Secondly, the Google Apps that are available through the new phone will have less than one fifth of the applications of Apple's App Store.

The upside for the Nexus One is that Verizon is set to have it available in the spring and that as Michael Copeland states it "is a gateway drug to Google". So Nexus One users will have the benefit of the power of Google and all it's applications. We'll have to wait and see whether that is enough to outweigh the over 100,000 apps that the iPhone offers.

The Nexus One Google Phone will initially only be offered online for a price of $529 without a contract or $179 with a contract through T-Mobile. What do you think? Will the Nexus One challenge the iPhone or will it be yet another smart phone left in the wake of Apple's iPhone?

jyoti basu dead

Jyoti Basu, Veteran politician and 95 years old Marxist leader is dead. The former chief minister of Bengal was hospitalized with pneumonia and then put on a ventilator following acute breathing problems.

He was admitted last Friday and though his condition improved for some time, his health parameters turned awry from Tuesday and he had to be put on life support.

Jyoti Basu served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the Left Front government from June 21, 1977 to November 6, 2000.In the year 1996, he was all set to be the consensus leader of the United Front for the post of the prime minister of India. However, it did not work out due to the CPI(M) decision of not participating in the government.

Jyoti Basu resigned from the Chief Minister’s post of West Bengal in 2000, citing health reasons and was succeeded by fellow CPI(M) politician Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. Jyoti Basu hold the record for being the longest serving chief minister in the Indian political history.

casey johnson dead

Casey Johnson, who recently made tabloid headlines with an alleged engagement to the reality star Tila Tequila, has died at age 30.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the news to Access Hollywood on Monday night.

Johnson, a member of the Johnson & Johnson dynasty, passed away in Los Angeles, TMZ reported.

No details were immediately available about the cause of death.

Earlier in the evening, Tequila herself confirmed the news on her Twitter account.

Tequila, posted a couple of comments on the microblogging site, shortly after reports of Casey’s death began circulating.

Everyone please pray 4 my Wifey Casey Johnson. She has passed away. Thank u for all ur love and support but I will be offline to be w family.

,wife Tila Tequila wrote on her Twitter home page this morning, but later tweeted a shocking update.

I know u can feel me Casey! Dot let go! I’m almost home baby please hang on! We have a beautiful life planned out for us! I LOVE u! Hang on!

Tila Tequila and Casey Johnson were just recently in the media for their same-sex engagement and reports say not even Tila Tequila knows why Johnson died, or if she died or that she wasn’t dead but in a coma.

Tequila and Johnson first announced their engagement via Tequila’s Ustream account on Dec. 9.

Shortly after the news broke, a rep for the Johnson family issued a statement. The Johnson family is mourning its tragic loss, and asks for privacy during this very difficult time.

Our condolences to Casey’s bereaved friends and family.

path train

PATH train service from Newark is restored after problems with bridge

PATH service has been restored from Newark's Penn Station to Journal Square in Jersey City with 10 min delays.

The Port Authority said a problem with an Amtrak dock bridge caused the service to be totally suspended earlier in the morning. Service was fully restored by 8 a.m.