Monday, February 8, 2010

A man from the Naperville, Illinois, United States area has been accused of allegedly threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend via messages posted on her Facebook account. 

Nineteen-year-old Christopher J. Bensfield was arrested Jan. 28 at his home in unincorporated DuPage County near the far west-central part of Naperville. He is being held on a $12,500 bond at the DuPage County Jail in Wheaton. He is scheduled to appear at the DuPage County Circuit Court on a felony charge of harassment via electronic communication. Police Sergeant Gregg Bell said the ex-girlfriend, a Naperville-resident, asked Bensfield to stop sending the messages many times before she submitted printed copies of the threatening messages to Naperville police.

Court records indicate Bensfield is already on probation after pleading guilty last September to possession of a controlled substance. He was arrested in August 2008 after disobeying a stop sign in Naperville. Police searched his car and found marijuana and drug paraphernalia. This was the third time Benfield had been arrested for having marijuana since April 2007, when drugs were found in his possession at Naperville Central High School. Last October, a judge issued a fine and required him to join the DuPage County Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program. He has also received five tickets within three months in 2008 for driving violations, including speeding, driving without insurance, transportation of an open alcohol container, and driving too fast for conditions.

Bensfield’s mother also has an order of protection against him. Ms. Bensfield stated that he asked her for money in late December; he then broke into her home in Naperville’s far southeast-side, punching holes in the walls and breaking various items before leaving. Christopher was arrested Dec. 29 and faced a misdemeanor charge of criminal damage to property. He “suffers from bipolar disorder and has not been taking his medication,” according to information the Naperville Daily Herald has received from Ms. Bensfield.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

During Hurricane Camille in 1969, a 72-foot tugboat named the East Point washed ashore on Gulfport’s West Beach. Lucille Moody, a beachfront property owner renamed the boat the S.S. Hurricane Camille and built a gift shop behind it, after moving it on specially built railroad tracks. The boat and gift shop became a popular attraction for tourists visiting the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

But on August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina came ashore pushing a 20-plus foot storm surge leaving mostly everything on the beachfront destroyed. Only a few things were standing including the Biloxi Lighthouse, the Friendship Oak, and the S.S. Hurricane Camille. Lucille Moody decided not to rebuild the gift shop, so there the S.S. Camille stands, a rusted hulk on a beachfront that is quickly rebuilding.

People want it gone, suggesting it is an “eyesore”, but others suggest this historic object be preserved, especially after the loss of historic sites including Grass Lawn and Tullis-Toledo Manor. They suggest a coat of paint and some repairs could make the boat much more appealing.

Monday, July 5, 2021

On Friday, a ransomware attack which initially targeted software company Kaseya spread to over 200 companies in the US through Kaseya’s network management software. Huntress Labs, a cybersecurity company, alleged the attack was carried out by REvil, a Russia-based ransomware group. Kaseya told its customers to stop using its services when it learned of the attack.

According to NBC News, the ransomware first spread to about 40 of Kaseya’s customers, which are mainly companies that manage Internet services for their customers, some of which manage them for thousands of companies. John Hammond, a security researcher at Huntress Labs, said that “It’s reasonable to think this could potentially be impacting thousands of small businesses”. Kaseya notified its customers of the attack on Friday afternoon and warned them to stop using its services immediately.

Business Insider reported REvil is a Russian-based organization which provides ransomware-as-a-service. BleepingComputer reported receiving a sample of the ransomware used in REvil’s attacks and says that they demand USD five million for the ransomed files to be decrypted, though it is unknown if every victim received a demand for that same amount. Fabian Wosar, Chief Technical Offier (CTO) at the Emsisoft security firm, said affected customers had received demands for USD 44,999.

Swedish grocery chain Coop was also affected by the attack, and had to close all 800 of its stores because its checkout tills could not process payments due to the ransomware. Speaking to Swedish Television, Therese Knapp, a Coop spokesperson, said “We have been troubleshooting and restoring all night, but have communicated that we will need to keep the stores closed today”. Swedish company Visma Esscom, which manages servers for businesses, was using Kaseya software, according to Reuters. Railway services in Sweden were also disrupted.

On Saturday, US President Joe Biden directed intelligence agencies to investigate who was behind the attack. He said that “we’re not certain” who is behind the attack, adding “[t]he initial thinking was it was not the Russian government but we’re not sure yet”. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency stated that it is “taking action to understand and address the recent supply-chain ransomware attack”.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

The Associated Press reports that a 23 year-old Nigerian passenger known as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to ignite what seemed to be fireworks, which turned out to be a mixture of liquid and powdered explosives, during descent on Northwest/Delta Flight 253 departing from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Detroit, Michigan.

The device intended to set off the bomb failed; the Airbus A330 plane safely landed around noon yesterday. At least one passenger was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. The suspect claimed to investigators that he had connections to Al Qaeda. The Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration are investigating how explosives got onto the plane. The man does not appear on a “no fly” list, but his name was known to have a significant terrorist connection. Officials are treating the case as a terrorist attack.

United States President Barack Obama convened a meeting on being notified of the incident. In a statement, a White House spokesman said “[President Obama] instructed that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel.”

“Passengers may notice additional screening measures put into place to ensure the safety of the traveling public on domestic and international flights,” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Sara Kuban said in a statement. “As always we encourage the traveling public to be observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior or activity to law enforcement officials.”

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Eric Bogosian is one of America’s great multi-dimensional talents. “There’s sort of three different careers, and any one of them could exist by itself, on its own two feet. There was that solo stuff, and then I started writing plays in the late seventies.” Although his work has spanned genres, most readers will recognize Bogosian for his acting, which has included a memorable performance in Woody Allen‘s Deconstructing Harry to co-writing and starring in the Oliver Stone movie Talk Radio (based upon his Pulitzer Prize-nominated play) to playing the bad guy in Under Siege 2 to his current role in Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Captain Danny Ross. They may not know, however, that he had collaborated with Frank Zappa on a album, worked with Sonic Youth, and was a voice on Mike Judge‘s Beavis & Butthead Do America. He started one of New York City’s largest dance companies, The Kitchen, which is still in existence. He starred alongside Val Kilmer in Wonderland and his play Talk Radio was recently revived on Broadway with Liev Schreiber in the role Bogosian wrote and made famous.

Currently at work on his third novel, tentatively titled The Artist, Bogosian spoke with David Shankbone about the craft of writing and his life as a creative.

Friday, October 9, 2009

A bus driver thought to have caused a 2008 crash after falling asleep behind the wheel in California has been convicted of killing eleven on board. Quintin Watts was found guilty of eleven counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and 21 counts of causing great bodily injury.

Watts was driving a coach carrying 41 Hmong and Mien people from Sacramento to the Colusa Casino Resort. The vehicle left the country road it was traveling on and rolled over in Colusa County. Most of those on board were elderly.

Watts’ stepfather Daniel Cobb, who owned the bus company, was amongst those killed. A jury took three hours to return guilty verdicts against the 53-year-old driver, who now faces a maximum of 76 years in jail at his November 4 sentencing.