Alabama church's 'Strip For Me' billboard draws attention

The Rock Church in Birmingham, Ala., says its unusual billboard is serving its purpose, grabbing people's attention and making patrons of a local strip club think twice about how they spend their money, MyFoxAl.com reported.
The church's sign quotes Jesus from Hebrews, saying simply, "Strip for me." The message: Instead of spending money in a strip club, spend it in a way that will better your family and yourself.
Even more powerful, perhaps, is the location of the sign, which can be seen just behind The Palace Gentlemen's Club sign on 3rd Avenue West in the city's downtown.
Pastor Mike McClure, Jr., expected some negativity in response to the billboard but he said he doesn't mind. He says his church is out to change lives of Magic City men.
"We strategically picked the strip club because we want the brothers who are walking in...to know God has a greater cause for your life," he said.
McClure says the religious message is clear in the scripture on the billboard.
"The scripture says...slows down, maybe your life is slow because of stuff you need to strip off. When you begin to strip watch how fast your life goes," he said.
McClure wants to hold men accountable and encourage them to stay out of strip clubs and spend more time being good fathers and family members. He says the big picture is making Birmingham better.
"It all starts with a good man in the house," he said

New Jersey man 'very happy' after winning $338M Powerball jackpot

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. –  The winner of a $338 million Powerball jackpot told several media outlets Monday that his first priority will be helping his family.
Pedro Quezada, 44, entered Eagle Liquors store, where the ticket was sold, late Monday afternoon. The Passaic store owner ran Quezada's ticket through the lottery machine to validate that it was a winner as a newspaper and television outlets recorded the moment.
The New Jersey Lottery confirmed that the winning ticket was validated at the store at 4:30 p.m. Monday, but officials said they didn't yet know the winner's name.
Quezada told reporters in Spanish that he was "very happy" and that he intends to help his family.
His wife, Ines Sanchez, told the Bergen Record that Quezada called her with the news Monday afternoon.
"I still can't believe it," she said. "We never expected it but thank God."
The numbers drawn Saturday were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum payout would be $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes. It's the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.
The family's apartment sits at the end of a short dead end block that abuts a highway in Passaic, 15 miles northwest of New York City. Neighbors stood out in the rain Monday night and spoke with pride that one of their own had struck it rich.
Eladia Vazquez has lived across the street from Quezada's building for the past 25 years. The block has a half-dozen three-story brick apartment buildings on each side, and Vazquez says it's a neighborhood where everyone knows everyone, including what car they drive and what parking space they use.
Vazquez described Quezada and his wife as "quiet and not overly talkative" but sensed that they seemed to be working all the time.
"This is super for all of us on this block," she said. "They deserve it because they are hardworking people."
Richard Delgado, who lives down the block from Quezada's building, said the man was "a hard worker, like all of us here. We all get up in the morning and go to work."
Delgado said he got up Sunday morning and was going to take his dog for a walk when he heard the radio announce the Powerball results.
"When I heard there was one winner and it was in New Jersey, I immediately went and checked my tickets," Delgado said. "I wanted to be that guy."
When asked what it would be like to suddenly win such a large amount, Delgado said a person would have to set priorities.
"No. 1 is your health, because if you don't have that, the rest doesn't matter," he said. "No. 2 is your family. You take care of your own and live the rest of your life in peace. That's all anyone can do."
No one had won the Powerball jackpot since early February, when Dave Honeywell in Virginia bought the winning ticket and elected a cash lump sum for his $217 million jackpot.
The largest Powerball jackpot ever came in at $587.5 million in November. The winning numbers were picked on two different tickets -- one by a couple in Missouri and the other by an Arizona man -- and the jackpot was split.
Nebraska still holds the record for the largest Powerball jackpot won on a single ticket -- $365 million -- by eight workers at a Lincoln meatpacking plant in February 2006.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The chance of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is about 1 in 175 million.

Hiker and dog save man trapped for days in hole on California mountain

A California man and his dog are being credited with saving a man who was trapped for days in a hole on a mountain.
Ramon Llamas says he and his dog, a mixed breed named Mole, were hiking as they often do on a trail in Riverside, Calif. when Mole suddenly stopped.
 "He kept on tugging at my pant and whining, pulling me," Llamas told MyFoxLA.com.
Mole led Llamas to a hole about the size of a plate, and Llamas says when he looked in he saw eyes staring back. Llamas says he originally thought there was an animal trapped inside the hole, but then heard a voice calling softly for water.
Llamas called over other hikers, who called 911, and gave water bottles to the man until paramedics arrived. Llamas told MyFoxLA.com the man, who is believed to be homeless, told him his name was Paul and he had become trapped while looking for shade.
Officials say the man was hospitalized, but is expected to make a full recovery.
"He'd be dead if it wasn't for that dog," one paramedic told MyFoxLA.com.
Llamas says Mole's heroic actions haven't really sunk in yet.
"...It hasn't really hit me yet," Llamas said. "Although he is a tough, good dog."

Attorney tasked with fixing Detroit's finances facing vocal opposition on first day

A bankruptcy lawyer and turnaround expert tasked with reviving Detroit's beleaguered finances could be greeted by a crowd of protesters as he arrives at work Monday, then plans to spend his first day meeting with some city officials who for months fought against creating his job at all.
Kevyn Orr is under no illusions that he'll be treated as a hero when he begins his duties as the Motor City's emergency manager, an appointment that makes Detroit the largest city in the U.S. ever put under state control. But while there are plenty of sacrifices -- including Orr's resignation from a powerful law firm where he was a partner -- Orr says he is motivated by the opportunity to engineer one of the greatest fiscal turnarounds in U.S. history.
"I'm a worker bee. I'm not a honey bee," Orr, 54, told The Associated Press in an interview. "My set-in-stone plan is to get to the office ... and start meeting folks."
A review team spent two months scrutinizing Detroit's books and reported to Gov. Rick Snyder that the city was in a financial emergency, citing its long-term debt of more than $14 billion and $327 million budget deficit.
Snyder agreed and earlier this month announced Orr, a Washington attorney who represented automaker Chrysler LLC during its successful restructuring, as the man for an even larger fix-it task. State law allows emergency managers to negotiate labor contracts and deals with vendors. He can sell off city assets to raise money and cut the salaries of elected officials to save money.
Opponents, led by a vocal group of Detroit clergy and residents say the law snatches power from elected officials. Detroit is a heavily Democratic city with a predominantly black population Snyder is a Republican. A prominent national civil rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, has called for mass demonstrations and protests outside City Hall.
Orr insists he has no immediate plan of action other than getting a sense of the city's priorities.
"You really want to look into the swimming pool to see if there is water in there before you dive in," said James Spiotto, a municipal bankruptcy expert at the Chicago-based Chapman and Cutler law firm.
But turnaround specialist James McTevia said he finds it hard to believe that Orr enters the job without any idea about what he intends to do. McTevia, who has closely followed the Detroit situation, suggests that one of his first steps should be an immediate freeze on debt spending.
"The first step in resolving a serious financial problem is to stop fueling the fire by spending money you don't have," McTevia said.
Early success could be crucial for Orr to win over citizens who are skeptical about whether an emergency manager really is needed, bankruptcy expert Doug Bernstein said. Such victories can be as simple as getting "street lights on and get police on the street," he said.
"Public safety is paramount," said Bernstein, managing partner of the Banking, Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Practice Group for the Michigan-based Plunkett Cooney law firm. "This is such a hot area where people are passionate about whether there should or not be an emergency manager. It would likely go a long way to convince those who are against, or otherwise opposed to the concept, that this can lead to something good or rehabilitation for the city."
Beyond public safety, a host of other problems await Orr -- including health care costs, pension concessions, privatizing services if necessary and, finally, weighing whether the only real solution is municipal bankruptcy.
"Maybe he means he doesn't have the details of it yet, but I hope he has some idea what the major issues are," Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning said of Orr. "Mr. Orr has to deal with the threat of bankruptcy. This is a more immediate issue and he has to make a decision fairly quickly whether to put the city into bankruptcy or not."
Then he has to match revenue and spending.
"This is the idea of downsizing the city so that the costs more closely match the amount Detroit brings in," Henning said. "On the revenue side, something has to be done to stabilize the tax base. That's all easier said than done and will take years, probably well beyond Mr. Orr's term."
Pamela Amato, a former emergency financial manager for tiny Three Oaks in southwestern Michigan, said when she took the job in 2009, she did not jump straight into the finances. Three Oaks had a $600,000 deficit and was nearly devoid of cash. It took less than a year to turn the village around. Amato says listening to officials and residents was the key.
"I wanted to get a sense from the people who lived there and who were in governance as to what was going on and used that information to chart my own course," she said. "I let them know that we either succeeded together or we failed together."
Orr has met with people in Detroit's business and foundation communities, attending some dinners and receptions. He plans to commute between Detroit and his home in the Washington, D.C., area during the time it takes to fix Detroit.
"I was very comfortably placed in my private law practice at my firm that I adored," Orr said, pointing out that he had been picked to go to open a Miami office before the offer to become Detroit's emergency manager came from "out of the blue."
Jevonsha Johnson, 28, said she wants Orr to keep in place efforts under Mayor Dave Bing to level as many of the city's 30,000 or more vacant houses as funds allow. There are two adjacent to Johnson's newer wood-framed bungalow in the city's north end and another across the street.
"It don't make you feel safe," Johnson said. "The other new houses over here have been broken into several times. My neighbor next door told me a couple times that they broke in while his wife and daughter were there."
Although Orr said he likes what he has seen in parts of the city -- downtown, resurgent Midtown, the strong cultural and central business districts -- he acknowledges other neighborhoods are "in need of some TLC (tender loving care)."
Amid all these problems, he acknowledges there's a risk of being unable to solve them, though he insists he will within the 18 months dictated under Michigan's emergency manager law.
"Failure is not an option," Orr said. "It's just a question of designing the architecture around what can be creating a future -- and a sustainable future -- for the city."

Miss. lawmaker found dead in apparent suicide, reportedly at home of ex-lawmaker

A Mississippi state lawmaker was found dead in an apparent suicide Sunday, authorities say.
Simpson County Sheriff Kenneth Lewis tells MSNewsNow.com Rep. Jessica Upshaw appears to have shot herself in the head at a home in Mendenhall on Sunday. The lawmaker was 53.
MSNewsNow.com reports Upshaw's body was found at the home of former state Rep. Clint Rotenberry. He has not been arrested in the case and did not return requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Lewis says authorities are waiting for an autopsy to confirm Upshaw's official cause of death.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was also investigating, said spokesman Warren Strain. He would say only that the death did not appear to be natural. Simpson County Coroner Terry Tutor also would not comment on the cause of death.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant released a statement on Upshaw's death late Sunday, saying he and his wife Deborah were saddened by the news.
"I have known Jessica for many years as an unselfish and dedicated public servant. This is a tragic loss for her family and all Mississippians, and our thoughts and prayers go out to her family during this difficult time," Bryant said.
Upshaw was an attorney who had been a lawmaker since 2004. She was a Republican from Diamondhead along the state's coast. Mendenhall is about 110 miles away from her hometown.
Upshaw was the fifth legislator to die in as many months. The other four -- two representatives and two senators -- died of natural causes.
"Once again this session, the House has been touched by tragedy," House Speaker Philip Gunn said in a statement. "Rep. Jessica Upshaw was an outstanding legislator and friend. She was one of the brightest and most competent members of the House."
Upshaw graduated from the University of Mississippi and its law school. She had represented Hancock and Harrison counties since 2004, according to her biography on the Legislature's website.
She chaired the House Conservation and Water Resources Committee and was a member of the Mississippi Legislative Conservative Coalition and American Legislative Exchange Council.
Outside the Legislature, she was affiliated with the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames and the Orange Grove/Lyman Chamber of Commerce.
Rep. Bobby Moak, the House minority leader, described her as a passionate champion of causes for her district and the state.
"This is an instance where replacement is not possible. Jessica will be sorely missed," he said.

Israel Fires Missile Into Syria In Response To Golan Heights Border Fire

JERUSALEM -- Israel's army said it fired a guided missile into Syria on Sunday, destroying a military post after gunfire flew across the border and struck an Israeli vehicle.

The shooting along the frontier in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was one of the most serious incidents between the countries since Syria's civil war erupted two years ago. Israel has carefully watched the violence from the sidelines, but has returned fire on several occasions.

It was not immediately clear whether the Syrian troops had fired into the Golan intentionally or whether the vehicle had been hit by stray gunfire. In either case, Israel said it held Syrian President Bashar Assad's government responsible.

"The Syrian regime is responsible for every breach of sovereignty. We will not allow the Syrian army or any other groups to violate Israel's sovereignty in any way," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said.       

 

Israel's military said soldiers were on routine patrol in the Golan when they were fired upon early Sunday, hours after a military vehicle driving along the frontier between the two countries was hit and lightly damaged Saturday evening. It said Israel responded early Sunday with a Tamuz guided missile.

"We were forced to act in a targeted way and to attack and destroy the post from which this (gunfire) took place," Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said Sunday. "We will continue to operate in the Golan Heights with reason and caution, but where determination and assertive and offensive action is needed, that will also take place."

Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Mideast war and subsequently annexed the territory in a move that has not been internationally recognized.

Since Syria's civil war broke out in March 2011, errant mortar shells or machine gun fire have landed in the Golan a number of times. Israel believes most of the cases have been accidental, but it has responded on several occasions.

Israel is worried that the embattled Assad regime may try to draw the Jewish state into the fighting in an attempt to divert attention from the civil war. Gantz has also warned that Syrian rebels, who have captured a number of villages on the Syrian side of the Golan, could turn their attention to Israel if they defeat Assad.

Sunday's violence comes days after Israel restored ties with Turkey. Relations between the countries, once close allies, had steadily deteriorated following a 2010 Israeli naval raid on a Turkish ship trying to break Israel's blockade on Gaza. Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists in the operation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that concerns over the crisis in Syria, which borders both Israel and Turkey, led to the reconciliation.
He said Israel and Turkey would need to communicate over the worsening situation, noting fears that Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons could reach militant groups bordering the two countries.
Israel has expressed concern that Syria's chemical arsenal could fall into the hands of militants like Lebanon's Hezbollah, an Assad ally, or Islamic extremists fighting among the rebels battling Assad.
Earlier this year, the U.S. said Israel carried out an airstrike in Syria on a convoy believed to be transporting sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah. Israel has all but admitted to carrying out the airstrike, but never formally confirmed it.

Meteor Sighting Reported Across Northeast US

 

 

On Friday night around 8 p.m. EDT, Twitter lit up with multiple accounts of a bright object, possibly a meteor, shooting across the skies of the northeast United States. Many of the spectators appear to be in the Washington D.C. area, but The Huffington Post has received reports of sightings from South Carolina to Connecticut.

Bill Cooke of NASA'S Meteoroid Environmental Office said it appeared to be a "a single meteor event." Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, told AP the flash was likely one meteor or a "space rock." Pitts also added it is difficult to be "100 percent certain of what it was," but that the given descriptions seemed consistent with a meteor.

Above, footage captured by security cameras at Hopkins Automotive in Salisbury, Md. The footage has not been confirmed, but could plausibly depict the meteor due to factors such as timing, location and relative positioning of the company on its block.

 

The object was described as bright green in color and visible for about 40 seconds. It was also described in multiple accounts as "sparking" or "flashing."

So far, there are no conclusively confirmed photos of the event. Several photos have circulated Twitter and Facebook, purporting to depict tonight's event, but at least two of the most widely shared of these depict earlier events (see here and here).

In addition, reports of an impact in Delaware have circulated. However, these may also be false.