Hall of Famer George Kell died today at age 86. Kell was a Hall of Fame third baseman who edged Ted Williams for the 1949 American League batting title and became a Detroit Tigers broadcaster for nearly 40 years.

Jackson’s Funeral Home in Newport confirmed the death but did not give a cause. The Hall of Fame said he died in his sleep at his home in Swifton. Kell was severely injured in a car crash in 2004 but was able to walk with a cane about six months later.

Kell outlasted Williams for the 1949 batting crown, hitting .34291 while the Boston Red Sox great finished at .34276. Kell played 15 seasons in the AL, hitting more than .300 nine times and compiling a career average of .306. He was a 10-time All-Star.

“There’s no one who loved and respected the game more than George,” Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson said. “Not only was he one of baseball’s true legends, but he was a fan, too. He loved coming to Cooperstown and sharing in the camaraderie with his Hall of Fame family.”

Kell played from 1943-1957 with the Philadelphia Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles. He batted over .300 each year from 1946-53.

George Kell, you will be missed.

Alaska’s Mount Redoubt volcano erupted with four large explosions last night that shot a huge plume of gas and smoke 15 kilometers into the air and sent ash drifting toward the state’s largest city Anchorage.

“It is in full eruption,” said Matthew Haney, a research geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Mount Redoubt, which is some 170 kilometers from Anchorage, rises 3,108 meters above the Kenai Peninsula. About 50,000 people live on the peninsula within 80 kilometers of the mountain and it is one of the most densely populated areas of the state.

The National Weather Service issued an ash-fall advisory and some flights into Anchorage airport have been canceled.

Authorities are preparing for mudslides and floods from hot lava melting snow and ice on the glacier, said John Power, an observatory geophysicist.

Authorities raised the alert level for Mount Redoubt on March 15th to orange from yellow after low-level tremors that began in January gained intensity. The alert rose to red, the highest level of four, yesterday.

The volcano had a series of eruptions in 1989 and 1990 that disrupted air traffic, the local oil industry and schools.

Two U.S. Navy vessels have collided in the Strait of Hormuz, near the Arabian Peninsula. The USS Hartford, a submarine, crashed in the USS New Orleans amphibious ship Friday morning. No serious injuries occurred, but gallons of fuel spilled into the water.

The USS Hartford and the USS New Orleans ran into each other during the early morning hours, at about 1 a.m. local time. Fifteen sailors from the Hartford are reported as “slightly injured.” They have all already returned to duty.

The Navy says the USS Hartford’s nuclear propulsion plant was not damaged. The USS New Orleans, however, suffered a “ruptured fuel tank.” Because of that, 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel marine were spilled.

Military officials say both ships were headed into port when the collision happened. The submarine was underwater at the time. An investigation is now underway.

The U.S. is very lucky there wasn’t a nuclear incident.

In Joliet, Illinois a massive fire broke out at the Empress Casino. Apparently the fire started in an area with lots of dry wall piled up. It occured in a section where they were adding new seats for casino goers.

Rarely does the Joliet Fire Department call for assistance but trucks from Troy, Rockdale and other departments started to roll in shortly after noon. Most appear to be water trucks.

Massive flames were still shooting out of the building as of 1pm today.

Frank Quigley, general manager, spoke to employees who had been gathering under the carport of the hotel.

“All kinds of kudos to you guys for pulling off an extremely professional evacuation,” Quigley said. “There were no injuries.”

Michelle Bell, marketing director, said there was a $50 million renovation project in the pavilion area with new food outlets under construction.

Quigley asked employees to stick around for a while. “I really do not know what is going on yet,” he said. “When I know something I will tell you.”

No official reports have been issued by the fire department.

Glenn Beck of the popular Fox News show “Glenn Beck” and website www.glenbeck.com has his own newsletter you can sign up for. I like Glenn Beck and think he says stuff that other anchors on his network would never say and stands up for what is right. He is more of a true conservative than the other anchors on Fox News. Glenn speaks the truth and will not be silenced. I think Fox News allows him on TV because they know he has a his own radio show and will be heard somewhere if not on their network. Plus he eats M&Ms on his show while interviewing people which cracks me up.

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Henry Hill the true life figure who was depicted (by Ray Liotta) as the central character in “Goodfellas” is wanted in real life. The ex-mobster is not wanted for coke or racketeering, he has some drunk-driving tickets and refused to appear in court for them. He didn’t show after supposedly reporting he was having hernia surgery.

Hill was arrested in May 2008 while he was in alcohol rehab in a Loma Linda V.A. medical center.

Here are the ten best action movies that got our adrenaline pumping and the dynamite exploding.

10. Robocop: A cop is transformed after he is brutally murdered execution style by a notorious gang leader. He becomes a super crime fighter, a Robo Cop who is mostly machine with some remnants of his human memory/life. This film had lots of innovative fight scenes with robots, when that was the huge craze and robots were just becoming known in the late 80′s. Interestingly, Darren Aronofsky has been hired to film the remake, and Aronofsky is a brilliant director (The Fountain, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream).

9. Commando: One of Arnold’s earlier films in the 80′s, the title speaks for itself. Schwarzenegger is on a mission to get back his kidnapped daughter, and not even an army will stand in his way. “You know when I said I’d kill you last… I lied.” This is Arnold doing what he does best, shooting machine guns and blowing stuff up. A movie where you don’t have to think.

8. Mission Impossible: Another great film with suspense and excitement. The Mission Impossible team is stealthy and sneaky. Suspended above lasers detection and holding on for dear life as an elevator rockets towards the ceiling. This message will self destruct in five seconds.

7. Rocky: You gotta love this one, “Yo Adrian!”. Rocky Balboa is the prototypical Philly Boxer, he don’t know much, but he can fight. This series was full of excitement except for Rocky V, that one sucked. But with Rocky heads up against fighters like Apollo, Clubber, and Drago, there is tons of boxing action!

6. The Transporter: Fast cars, fast fighting, and hot women. What could be better? Not much, “The Transporter” has it all and like to show off. The car chase scenes and fight choreography are to be admired. The plot is intriguing too, the women, are the package to be delivered.

5. Rambo: An ex special forces guy who can take out an entire police department with a rock and some sharp sticks. The Rambo series show us that with enough will power and makeshift technology, one man can be “an army of one”. One thing you don’t want to do is get on Rambo’s bad side. And yes they’ve made too many in the series, Stallone obviously never says die.

4. Aliens: The first and second and resurrection films in this series were well done. The Aliens depicted in these films are not to be messed with. They are scary looking and will haunt your dreams. Only flamethrowers and a helluva lot of ammunition will take them down. And even then after you shoo them, there could be acid splash back at you. Only Ripley seems to know how to take them down, and maybe that’s because she is carrying one of them inside her, and they don’t want to kill their own. These Aliens are like worker ants only much bigger and much deadlier. The hierarchy is the same though.

3. Predator: How do you kill what you can’t see? Arnold thinks “if it bleeds we can kill it”. Easier said than done as the Predator lives for the hunt and wants humans for trophies. His technology is vastly superior to the measly humans, but lucky for them he will fight on their level for “honor”. This is the only weakness that allow Arnold to have a sporting chance.

2. Terminator: First Schwarzenegger plays a cyborg from the future that comes to kill Sarah Connor, then in T2 he plays one that comes to save Jon Connor to fight for the resistance against Sky Net. I don’t know why but I always think that this apocalyptic scenario is always possible with our technology available. We all await to see whether Terminator: Salvation will be a blockbuster or a failure.

1. Die Hard: “yippy ka yay” This film has action ingrained in its cellophane. Most definitely the best action film of all time. An NYPD cop is trapped in Nakatomi plaza with a bunch of terrorist who hold his wife’s co workers hostage at during an office party. John McClane slips away when they seize control, and manages to undermine and kill off the terrorist one by one. John McTiernan directed this film along with the Predator film, and does an impeccable job.

I have been enthralled by the new 24 season, which was most unexpected. I had never really gotten into 24 before this year’s episodes. I had watched some season one DVDs with some friends but never was taken in because it seemed to hook you and you weren’t satisfied with each episodes ending.

Now thanks to the 24: Redemption 2 hour episode which alluded to this years seventh season and set a back drop for the show I have been entranced by the writing and plots of each episode so far.

It gets so intense with Jack Bauer being brought in for war crimes, then having to help the FBI track down an unknown terrorist. With the great twist of Tony Almeida being behind the terror plots, I was hooked in from the start. Plus there is a genocidal war going on in Sengala at the same time as the new president being sworn in. You don’t know who to trust and anyone could be playing for the wrong side.

I like the new character Renee Walker, she has some depth and is interesting. Plus the actress playing her does a great job as well. Walker is an FBI agent who goes along with Bauer when things get tough. She even interrogates someone in the same style that Jack would choose. She has a strong personality but still has her feminine side. Her boss has feelings for her and let’s that get in the way of his judgment as he sees Bauer as a threat.

This season deals with torture and the ethical argument of whether it is appropriate to save lives. There is the argument that to get information from “terrorists” you have to use torture or they’ll just ask for lawyers and you’ll never get anything out of them. There is the other side that they are humans and have rights and should never be treated inhumanely. They must be first prosecuted and evidence must prove they’re guilty. After all, what if you torture someone who wasn’t involved in a terror plot, or was framed, or completely innocent. Plus you are giving the government too much power to torture whoever “they deem suspect,” and that is a dangerous tool to give them.

I just take the show for what it is worth, whether I disagree or agree with their political beliefs. It is a fast paced show with tons of actions and twists around every corner. Jack Bauer is one of the best TV characters of all time, and will be such for some time to come.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania authorities say a former NFL quarterback who failed to show for sentencing on drunken driving charges nearly four years ago has been killed in a car crash in Greece.

A Chester County detective says authorities had initially been skeptical about reports of William “Jeff” Komlo’s death in a weekend crash.

But acting chief county detective Jim Vito says the State Department used fingerprints to confirm the crash victim was indeed the 52-year-old fugitive.

In July 2005, Komlo failed to show for sentencing on two drunken driving convictions. He had also failed to show for an unrelated hearing two months earlier.

Komlo was also under investigation for fires at home in Pennsylvania and Florida.

Komlo played for the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers between 1979 and 1983.

There have been all sorts of rumors and internet hoaxes about a gang that is going to kill three women in a Walmart in a number of counties including ones near Memphis, Desoto, Broward and Palm Beach county. Some say it’s a Mexican gang targeting black women shopping at Target or Walmart. Others say they are targeting women and children. Basically none of the facts are consistent and the threat is not credible. The police have been bombarded with non sense calls and don’t need anymore of them.

“These hoaxes and urban legends have been around forever. Now with the Internet they seem to travel with lightning speed.” said Jim Leljadal, spokesman for the Broward Sheriff’s office.