By Gilbert Falso :: 2:29 PM
Asiana Air Lines, the South Korean carrier whose plane (flight 214) crash landed at San Francisco International Airport last week, is suing a San Francisco television station after incorrect pilot names were released on the air on Friday afternoon.
KTVU-2, a Fox affiliate station, incorrectly broadcast racially offensive names as names of the pilots of the crashed 777. The names the station aired in its Friday Noon newscast were, Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, and Bang Ding Ow.
The station claimed that the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) had provided the names, and that television producers had verified the information with an intern at the agency. However, the names were generated within the station itself, and the NTSB’s staffer confirmed the incorrect names in error.
A spokesperson for the airline, Na Chul-hee said the carrier has retained a U.S. law firm to file a defamation claim against KTVU. The airline does not have any plans to file a suit against the NTSB.
“After a legal review, the company decided to file a lawsuit against the network because it was their report that resulted in damaging the company’s image,” he said.
The station has apologized, both on the air, and on their website, for the broadcast error.
“Nothing is more important to us than having the highest level of accuracy and integrity, and we are reviewing our procedures to ensure this type of error does not happen again,” the station said in a statement released on its website.
Three passengers died in the crash, which occurred when the airliner approached San Francisco International Airport too low, and stuck a sea wall surrounding the runway.
By Leslie Spellman :: 1:04 PM
Over the weekend, the Sunday Times of London revealed that a new novel, “The Cuckoo’s Calling
As news of a new Rowling novel hit, sales of the book spiked. By Sunday afternoon, the title was out of stock at Barnes and Noble’s online portal, and Amazon shifted availability for the title to “within 10 to 14 days.” A spokesperson for Barnes & Noble told the Wall Street Journal that the book may be available in some of their store locations.
Although Rowling is best known the very successful series of seven Harry Potter novels, her first adult novel, “The Casual Vacancy,” debuted with mixed reviews last fall. It eventually proved popular with many readers, and sold more than a million copies in North America, according to its publisher, Hachette Book Group.
Rowling plans to publish a second book in the “Cuckoo’s Calling” series next summer, and the current title will be reprinted with an edition that notes that Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for Rowling.
According to data provided by Scholastic, publisher of the Harry Potter series in the U.S., the titles sold more than 450 million copies world-wide. Paperbacks in the Potter series are currently receiving a set of new cover illustrations for the fall, says the childrens book publisher.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 1:53 AM
Vancouver police officials have confirmed that 31-year-old actor Cory Monteith was found dead yesterday at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel (pictured above). Monteith was best known for his portrayal of Finn Hudson on the Fox television show Glee.
Although police have not released an official cause of death for the star, recent news reports have stated that Monteith had just exited a drug rehabilitation program. Rumors are abounding on Twitter and on some celebrity news sites and blogs that the death may have been drug related.
Monteith checked into the hotel on July 6th and was due to check out earlier today. When he did not check out as planned, hotel staffers visited the room and discovered his body.
While there were other people present with Monteith in the room earlier last night, hotel video shows that he eventually returned to his room alone in the early morning hours, and police believe he was alone when he passed away
The hotel has provided investigators with video footage and records for room access. Investigators have spoken with hotel staffers, who are cooperating with the investigation.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday. The Vancouver coroner’s office will establish the cause of death after that time.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 9:59 PM
The George Zimmerman trial’s jury reached a verdict late on Saturday night.
They found Zimmerman of not guilty of shooting and killing Trayvon Martin in February of 2012.
Judge Debra Nelson told Zimmerman that his GPS monitoring bracelet would be cut off after he left the court room.
Martin’s parents were not in the courtroom when the verdict was delivered.
Demonstrations have already begun outside of the courthouse, as many react in anger and disbelief as they learn about Zimmerman’s acquittal.
By Gilbert Falso :: 9:47 PM
Update: 7/14/13 – 1:11 PM:Â The hospital has posted this update, asking that no more pizzas be delivered. The family has received 20 orders, and has removed the sign from the window.
A few hours ago, the photo above was posted to news sharing and aggregation website Reddit. In the comments section, the poster explained that the picture was taken outside of Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles earlier today.
Not wanting to deny a sick child some pizza goodness, a few Redditors had pizza delivered to the room.
But this story doesn’t just end at pizza delivery. The Reddit thread quickly rose in prominence to the site’s front page, and details about the pizza request message, and the sick child behind it began to emerge.
The child in the room is Hazel, a young girl who was diagnosed in April with Stage 3 Neuroblastoma, a particularly aggressive form of cancer. Hazel is one of four children in a very young family, and her treatments could take as long as eighteen months.
Hazel’s parents made the sign in the window as a joke, to help lift the girl’s spirits, and never expected to receive as many pizzas (four at last count) as they have.
Although the family probably already has more pizza than they know what to do with, they are also seeking donations to help offset the cost of Hazel’s care and treatments. Redditors flooded the posts comments with information about how to donate to Hazel’s cause, and links to the girl’s condition update blog and Facebook page.
After discovering that their photo had been posted to Reddit, family members signed into the site to offer their thanks, pictures from the inside of the room (see below), and explain Hazel’s condition.
“Hello Reddit Users,” wrote Hazel’s mother. “I am Hazel’s mom and want to just say a HUGE thank you from all of us, we are so surprised by the outpouring of support and are so grateful!”
More information about Hazel, including her treatments and donation specifics, is available here: http://talbertfamilyfoundation.org/pages/Hazel.html
[The sign, as it appears from inside Hazel’s room]
