| By Katherine Creag, NBCNewYork.com A 39-year-old mother and her five children, including three younger than age 10, jumped from the third floor of a burning building in Newark, N.J., as flames closed in around them early Wednesday, authorities said. The fire erupted in an apartment building with no fire escapes on South Orange Avenue shortly after midnight, officials say. A preliminary investigation suggests the blaze started by accident, authorities said. The mother and her children, ages 6, 8, 9, 14 and 17, had moved into their apartment earlier this week and did not yet have electricity. They were using candles while they waited for their appointment with the power company, which had been scheduled for Wednesday. A candle in the bathroom is suspected of starting the fire. View NBCNewYork.com's coverage of family's dramatic leap All six of the victims were recovering at University Hospital and are expected to recover. The teenage daughters suffered broken toes in the fall. They told NBC 4 New York they jumped out of the window and someone caught them, but their mother leaped out too quickly and landed on the ground. Felicia Avent, who lives in the building, described a frightening scene. "It happened so fast," Avent said. "I heard yelling, 'Help my kids, help my kids.' I grabbed my own kids. I was getting out of there." More content from NBCNews.com:  |
10/03/2012
Mom, 5 kids leap from 3rd floor of burning building
Oddly named man's walking stick prompts evacuation
| By NBC News staff It happens virtually every day somewhere in America: A suspicious object is found in a public building. The building is evacuated. The object turns out to be innocuous. Everybody goes back to work. It happened Wednesday in Akron, Ohio, where City Hall was evacuated after someone spotted something that looked like it could be a pipe bomb. The Summit County Bomb Squad, Akron police, Akron fire crews and even the University of Akron's K-9 unit all responded and determined it wasn't a bomb. Police gave the all clear at 10 a.m. ET. So why are we telling you about it? Read on. Fox station WJW-TV of Cleveland reported that the item was a 4-foot-long aluminum stick with duct tape at both ends and the word "Kaboom" written across it. It turns out "Kaboom" is a person, not a threat. According to WAKR radio of Akron: "It was a homemade cane owned by James 'Natural' Kaboom — that's his legal name — 66, of North Hill. He'd forgotten it at a meeting." There was no immediate information on why Kaboom was at City Hall, nor why he legally changed his name from Krosner (as Ohio court records indicate) in the last few years. More content from NBCNews.com: |
Social media analysis ahead of Obama, Romney debate
 Crimson Hexagon Inc. and NBCPolitics.com Social media campaign analysis for Tuesday, Oct. 2. Click the image for the full daily report. By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News Throughout a summer of political turmoil over the budget, taxes, national security and gaffes, one issue — health care — has consistently defined the presidential campaign as President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney head into their first debate Wednesday evening, according to NBCPolitics.com's computer-assisted analysis of more than 3 million comments on Twitter and Facebook. Every day since June 28 — when the Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which Obama signed into law in 2010 — "Health Care" has been the No. 1 driver of conversation about the president, making up more than a quarter of positive commentary, according to the analysis: Among negative commenters, "Obamacare" has consistently been the top driver, as well, only occasionally trumped by "Gas Prices": Taken together, the two categories make up slightly more than 44 percent of all commentary on Obama over the 3+-month period, an emphasis that's easy to see in this visual representation of all election conversation around the president: For this report, NBCPolitics.com analyzed 3.46 million social media posts using ForSight, a data platform developed by Crimson Hexagon Inc., which many research and business organizations have adopted to gauge public opinion in new media. More social media analysis from NBCPolitics.com It isn't the same as a traditional survey, which seeks to reflect national opinion; instead, it's a broad, non-predictive snapshot of what's being said by Americans who follow politics and are active on Facebook, Twitter or both at a particular moment in time, and why they're saying it. Explainer: Can you scientifically quantify social media opinion? More than three months after the court's decision, and even as the issue has receded in media coverage, health care is still what they're talking about:   For Romney, the debate may offer an opportunity to more clearly define himself. Over the same 3+-month period, primary drivers of positive conversation have emphasized Romney's his personal characteristics over specific issues: Critics of Romney have also zeroed in on their general perception of him. The leading negative topic — by just 1 percentage point — has been "Women's Issues," generally access to abortion and equal pay. Right after that come questions about his connection to "real Americans," his convictions and his religion. Likewise — and in contrast with Obama — the visual representation of all 1.14 million posts about Romney indicates a high interest in he Romney can win in November, as opposed to his stands on specific issues:   NBCNews.com will live-stream the debate from Denver at 9 p.m. ET. |
KONY 2012 creator opens up about meltdown
| By Courtney Hazlett, TODAY Jason Russell, the co-founder of the non-profit Invisible Children and the creator of the viral-video campaign KONY 2012, is speaking out for the first time since his very public meltdown. Russell gained worldwide attention early this year with his campaign calling for the arrest of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. In March, he drew attention of a different kind when a video out of San Diego showed him naked, slapping the street and acting strangely. He was eventually detained and taken to a medical facility, and at the time, exhaustion was blamed.  Now, Russell talks to Oprah Winfrey in a new episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter," saying that the person people saw in the moments before he was detained was not really him. In an excerpt of the interview obtained by USA Today, Russell says that he only has "a little memory" of what happened, though he remembers "flipping off cars" and running around a lemon tree, and cites "reports" of stopping cars and laying in the street. "It's really hard to explain if people have never had an out-of-body experience, but it really wasn't me. That wasn't me, that person on the street corner ranting and raving and naked is not me, that's not who I am." Russell goes on to acknowledge, according to USA Today, that he was "walking around snapping my fingers up and down" and "slapping my hands on the ground as hard as I can. Just slapping them on the ground. Talking to myself. Ranting. Raving. Talking about good versus evil, God and the devil. I mean it was just very out of control." The complete interview airs on OWN Sunday at 9 ET. Russell is due to appear on TODAY Monday, Oct. 8. Related content:
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No Halloween for sex offenders? Ban challenged
| Registered sex offenders in California are suing to block a Simi Valley law that would keep them from putting up Halloween decorations and require them to display a "No Candy or Treats" sign. WNBC's Ted Chen reports. By Melissa Pamer, NBCLosAngeles.com An attorney representing five Simi Valley sex offenders who sued the city over limits to their Halloween activities said the lawsuit will be the first of several she expects to file over such restrictions. Lawyer Janice Bellucci heads the 18-month-old advocacy group California Reform Sex Offender Laws. On Friday, she filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that Simi Valley's ordinance violates her clients' First Amendment rights. The suit seeks a judge's order prohibiting enforcement of the ordinance in Simi Valley, which has 119 registered sex offenders, according to a city report. Bellucci is representing five unnamed sex offenders, three of their spouses and two minor children, she said. The ordinance, adopted Sept. 10, prohibits registered sex offenders in the Ventura County city of about 125,000 from displaying Halloween decorations, answering the door to trick-or-treaters or having outside lighting after dark on Oct. 31. Simi Valley councilman and LAPD officer Mike Judge said the law is modeled after similar Halloween laws enforced in other California cities, and is meant to protect children. "This law was generated by citizens asking the City Council to do something," Judge said. "And it didn't seem unreasonable for the City Council to take it up. "As far as I'm concerned, our law doesn't go as far as other laws in the state of California and it still, in our opinion, protects our children a little bit better than not having it." Registered sex offenders are also required to post signs with on their front doors reading, in 1-inch letters, "No candy or treats at this residence." Those offenders visible to the public on the state's Megan's Law website and convicted of a crime against a child are required to post the sign. Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter Sixty-seven of the city's offenders are listed on the website, according to a city report; the rest are convicted of misdemeanors and don't have their names on the public list. Bellucci said the sign-posting requirement was "particularly egregious." "We consider that to be a violation of the U.S. Constitution," Bellucci said Tuesday. The ordinance both imposes "forced speech" – the sign – and restricts speech by prohibiting Halloween celebrations, she said. "It's similar to Jews in Nazi Germany who had to wear the yellow star on their clothing," Bellucci said. The Simi Valley measure is part of a trend of increasing strict restrictions on the activities of convicted sex offenders who have "paid their debt to society," Bellucci said. Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com Her organization intends to begin filing lawsuits to challenge other statutes, she said. The office of Simi Valley City Attorney Marjorie Baxter said the city had not been served with Bellucci's complaint, so it had no comment as of Tuesday afternoon. Baxter was quoted in the Ventura County Star, which first reported on the lawsuit, as saying: "We thoroughly researched the ordinance and I don't feel the lawsuit has any merit, and we will defend it vigorously." At an Aug. 20 initial City Council hearing on the ordinance, a deputy city attorney told council members that "traditional trick or treat activities associated with Halloween provide have the potential to provide significant opportunities for sex offenders to victimize minors." Also at NBCLosAngeles.com: Suit filed to fight gay conversion therapy law Council members at that time expressed some concern about legal repercussions, as well as worries that residents who decide not to decorate will be thought by neighbors to be sex offenders. The police chief told the council that he could find no records of a sex crime against a child on Halloween in Simi Valley. Those who are convicted of violating the ordinance would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to six months in county jail, according to a city staff report. California residents who have been convicted of or pleaded no contest or guilty to a sex-related offense must register with local public safety authorities. Offenders are listed on the registry for life. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Runaway teen who caused Twitter stir found safe
 nbcnewyork.com A person believed to be Kara Alongi is seen with a suitcase at a transit station in Rahway, N.J. By Brian Thompson, NBCNewYork.com The runaway 16-year-old New Jersey girl who set off a Twitter firestorm after she falsely indicated an intruder was in her home and then disappeared has been found safe, police say. Kara Alongi was located walking along the side of the New Jersey Turnpike about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said. "Kara Alongi was found safe and unharmed," said Alan Scherb, spokesman for the Clark Police Department, in a statement. "She was discovered by troopers with the New Jersey State Police walking along the side of the Turnpike near Exit 1." View NBCNewYork.com's complete coverage of Twitter hoax teen Alongi was transferred to a north Jersey hospital for evaluation and was released a short time later and returned home. Alongi gained thousands of followers after asking people on Twitter to call 911 Sunday because an intruder was in her home and then vanishing. People re-tweeted her message and #helpfindkara trended on the social network. Investigators later said it appeared Alongi had voluntarily called a taxi company and gotten a ride to the Rahway train station, which police say was confirmed by a surveillance photo captured of her at the depot. Police: No foul play in missing NJ teen Kara Alongi case Alongi's case continued to polarize the Twittersphere Tuesday, as some insisted she had met foul play and prayed for her safe return. Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com Others were skeptical from the get-go, pointing out a Tweet that allegedly popped up on Alongi's account shortly after her initial call for help that said: "Why is everyone saying I'm missing? I was jkin haha" and was deleted a short time later. When NBC 4 New York called the missing girl's home, someone quickly answered "no comment" and hung up. No one answered the door at the Alongi's residence. NBC News' Sevil Omer contributed to this report. More content from NBCNews.com:
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