KIYC: Target credit card breach - what customers need to know

EDISON - If you’re one of the 40 million people who shopped at Target between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, you may have had your credit or debit card information stolen in what could be the largest security breach in four years.

Target confirms someone hacked into its point-of-service computer system and stole customer names, card number, expiration dates and three-digit security codes. Target says online customers were not affected.

Paul Oster, a certified FICO professional who specializes in credit card fraud, says the hackers installed malicious software that redirected the “track data” collected during any in-store purchase using a card, and redirected it to the identity thieves. Credit card fraud is the fastest growing crime in the U.S., and Oster says even if you were not affected this time, sooner or later, almost everyone will fall victim to identity fraud of some kind.

So what should you do if you believe your credit card information was compromised? Kane In Your Corner offers this advice:

First, review your bank and credit card statements and check every transaction. If you see one that looks suspicious, notifiy your bank or credit card provider immediately. If you have online access to your statements, don’t wait for your monthly statement to arrive; instead, check at least once a week.

Also, check your credit report periodically to see if there are any new accounts set up in your name. You are allowed one free credit report a year from each of the three major credit reporting companies, and can obtain it by going to www.annualcreditreport.com.

You can also consider enrolling in a credit monitoring service, which will give you unlimited access to your credit report and will send you email or text alerts anytime something changes. Those services usually cost between $10 and $25 a month.

For an extra layer of protection, you can ask one of the credit reporting companies to issue either a credit alert or credit freeze. A credit alert warns businesses that you suspect someone may have gotten access to your credit information and asks them to use caution before issuing credit in your name. A credit freeze makes it impossible for anyone to issue new credit in your name unless you specifically authorize it using your individual password or PIN. Contacting one of the three credit reporting companies is sufficient as they are required by law to contact the other two.

Credit alerts and freezes have their drawbacks, however. A credit freeze will also make it impossible for you to get credit yourself, unless you remember to lift the freeze in advance. Credit alerts are not 100 percent reliable in stopping fraudulent behavior, and some consumers who have asked to have them issued have found they can lead to their own transactions being declined.

Former 'Sopranos' actor gets parole

NEW YORK - (AP) -- A former "Sopranos" actor convicted of attempted burglary for his role in the killing of an off-duty New York City police officer has been released on parole.

State corrections officials say Lillo Brancato Jr. was freed from prison at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

A jury found Brancato guilty on the attempted burglary charge in 2008 but acquitted him of murder in the death of Officer Daniel Enchautegui (en-chow-TAY'-gee). He was sentenced to 10 years. His co-defendant was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Brancato made his debut in 1993 in "A Bronx Tale" opposite Robert De Niro. He played a doomed aspiring mobster in HBO's "The Sopranos."

There was no immediate response to a message left Tuesday with his attorney seeking comment.

South Sudan rebels take most of strategic Bor

JUBA, South Sudan - (AP) -- Anti-government rebels in South Sudan took control of nearly all of a strategic city on Tuesday even as officials announced that representatives from the government and the rebels agreed to hold talks for the first time.

The announcement that talks would soon take place in neighboring Ethiopia was the first political breakthrough since ethnically-based violence began coursing through South Sudan late on Dec. 15. The violence has killed more than 1,000 people -- a number that is believed to be a low estimate -- and has seen the country's two most powerful ethnic groups fight each other.

The United States envoy to the region, Donald Booth, met with President Salva Kiir on Tuesday -- their fourth meeting in eight days -- and spoke on the phone with the former vice president, Riek Machar, who is accused by the government of having tried to carry out a coup, a charge he denies.

Booth told reporters in Juba that the commitment to meet by the two sides was a "first step but very important step" toward achieving a cessation of hostilities and substantive talks to resolve the underlying political issues that could bring a halt to the violence.

Earlier in the day, heavy fighting erupted in Bor, the contested provincial capital of Jonglei state, which is a short drive from the capital, Juba. Government troops battled renegade forces loyal to Machar including the Nuer tribal militia known as the "White Army," said military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer.

South Sudan's government had been warning of a looming battle for Bor, at one point saying 25,000 armed youths were moving toward the city. That number was later lowered but enough forces converged Tuesday to take control of most or all of the city, said a senior U.S. official who insisted on anonymity.

Bor is the town where gunfire hit three United States military aircraft trying to evacuate American citizens on Dec. 21, wounding four U.S. service members. A pro-Machar commander who defected from South Sudan's military, Peter Gadet, mobilized "elements of the White Army" in a bid to retake the town, according to Aguer. The White Army is so named because of the ash fighters put on their body to protect themselves from insects.

The recapturing of Bor, which is only about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from South Sudan's capital, Juba, could give Machar an upper hand at the negotiating table. But international officials urged Machar not to move his troops past Bor toward the capital, Juba, said an international official who insisted on anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the press.

On Monday Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni warned Machar to report to the negotiating table, or "we shall have to go for him, all of us." Ugandan troops and several of their attack helicopters are already in South Sudan assisting the military, and international officials do not want to see more countries become involved in the warfare. Because of its long years fighting in Somalia, Uganda has perhaps the most seasoned military in East Africa.

Machar appears to be sending representatives to the negotiating table even though one of his earlier demands -- that about a dozen high-level political prisoners being held by the government be released -- has not yet been met. Machar has not repeated his demand in recent days that Kiir step down as president, the senior U.S. official said.

South Sudan has been hit by unrest since Dec. 15, when fighting among presidential guards later spiraled into ethnically-based violence across the country. Although an uneasy calm has been restored in the capital, Juba, violence persists in other parts of the oil-producing East African country. Rebel forces still control the oil-producing center of Bentiu, said army spokesman Aguer.

Regional leaders under a bloc known as IGAD last week set Tuesday as the deadline for Kiir and Machar to start peace talks.

Although Kiir insists the latest unrest was sparked by a coup mounted by soldiers loyal to Machar on Dec. 15, this account has been disputed by some officials of the ruling party who say violence broke out when presidential guards from Kiir's majority Dinka tribe tried to disarm guards from the Nuer ethnic group of Machar.

South Sudan has been plagued by ethnic tension and a power struggle within the ruling party that escalated after Kiir sacked Machar as his deputy earlier this year. Machar has criticized Kiir as a dictator and says he will contest the 2015 presidential election.

The United Nations, South Sudan's government and other analysts say the dispute is political at its heart, but has since taken on ethnic dimensions. The fighting has displaced up to 180,000, according to the U.N.

Vatican to host workshop about peace in Syria

VATICAN CITY - (AP) -- The Vatican will host a brainstorming workshop on Jan. 13 about how to achieve a cease-fire in Syria so humanitarian aid can be delivered and how to end persecution of Christians there.

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences has lined up experts from the United States, Russia and elsewhere. Speakers include Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, and Mohamed ElBaradei, an Egyptian who is a former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Negotiations between the Damascus government and opposition representatives are scheduled to begin on Jan. 24 at the U.N.'s international headquarters in Geneva.

Pope Francis has said a military solution to the Syrian conflict would be "futile."

Syria's Christians fear they are being targeted by extremists seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Israel, Palestinians draw lines before Kerry plan

RAMALLAH, West Bank - (AP) -- Israeli and Palestinian politicians on Tuesday staked out "red lines" they claimed their leaders would never cross once presented with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's widely anticipated proposal for the outlines of a peace deal.

Kerry is to arrive in the region on Thursday to present a framework for peace to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Although the State Department said he isn't demanding final answers during this trip, it appears both leaders face tough decisions in coming weeks.

On Tuesday, the focus was on the West Bank's Jordan Valley, a strategic area along the border with Jordan that Israeli hard-liners, including members of Netanyahu's Likud Party, say must be annexed by Israel.

The Palestinian Cabinet moved its weekly Cabinet meeting to the valley to stake its claim to the area, while the pro-settler caucus in Israel's parliament said it would dedicate a new neighborhood in an Israeli settlement in the valley.

In a sign of simmering tensions, suspected Jewish vandals set three cars on fire in a West Bank village and sprayed graffiti on a wall reading "Regards to Kerry."

There has been a flurry of political declarations as Kerry prepares to present his ideas for the parameters of a peace deal. Kerry has kept his proposals under wraps, but the traditional U.S. positions on solving the conflict are known and Kerry has dropped hints, including in a policy speech earlier this month.

There has been growing expectation that Netanyahu will be asked to recognize Israel's pre-1967 war frontier as a baseline for drawing the borders of a Palestinian state, while allowing for some modifications and land swaps.

Netanyahu long has opposed this principle, apparently because it would imply Israeli readiness to give up most of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Palestinian officials, meanwhile, fear that Kerry will ask Abbas to recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. Abbas has rejected this in the past, with his aides saying such recognition would mean abrogating the rights of Palestinian refugees who dream of returning to lost properties in what is now Israel. The refugees, along with their descendants, now number several million people.

Officials on both sides warned that their leaders will face widespread opposition if they concede to Kerry.

Most of the Likud will reject the recognition of the pre-1967 war frontier as the starting point for border talks, said Danny Danon, Israel's deputy defense minister.

"We will not adopt the ideology of the left, even if it comes from Kerry," Danon told The Associated Press.

Wasel Abu Yousef of the PLO Executive Committee said Abbas can't recognize Israel as a Jewish state at the start of the negotiating process because of the implications for the refugees. "Whatever happens, this issue is a red line we can't accept," he said.

Abbas has hinted in the past that he is not insisting that millions of refugees be resettled in Israel, but that concessions can only be made toward the end of negotiations.

Dayan and Abu Yousef said they don't know what the U.S. proposal will look like.

The Palestinian Cabinet earmarked 15 million shekels ($4.3 million) for development in the Jordan Valley during its meeting there Tuesday. The meeting was meant to send "a strong message to Israel that this is our land and we will never relinquish it," government spokesman Ehab Bsaiso said.

The valley runs on the eastern edge of the West Bank and would form the future border between Palestine and Jordan. The Palestinians say they couldn't establish a viable state without the valley, which makes up one-fifth of the West Bank. Israel has insisted that it maintain some sort of presence in the area because of its strategic value.

Earlier this week, Israel's ministerial committee on legislation backed a bill seeking to annex the valley, with support from ministers in the Likud and other hard-line parties. However, the legislation is likely to be stalled indefinitely because Netanyahu does not support it.

Meanwhile, a pro-settler caucus in Israel's parliament said it would hold a dedication ceremony Thursday for a new neighborhood in the West Bank settlement Gitit in the Jordan Valley.

The Yesha Council, an umbrella group for settlers, said approval for the construction was given years ago, and that construction of the neighborhood began a month ago. On Thursday, construction would be broken for one of the new homes, the council said.

The ceremony was to be attended by Interior Minister Gideon Saar and other hawkish lawmakers. Giving up the valley to a Palestinian state is a "red line," a statement said.

U.S.-led negotiations on the terms of a Palestinian state began in late July and are to last for a total of nine months. Kerry has been pushing for a framework agreement that would define the endpoint of the negotiations.

Palestinian officials have said they were told by the U.S. that Kerry would like to conclude a framework deal by the end of January, yet it remains unclear if he can bridge the vast gaps between Netanyahu and Abbas.

Rapper Doe B killed in Alabama

Bullets riddled a crowd at an Alabama nightclub over the weekend, according to police.

Rapper Doe B, 22, was killed, police said. So was Kimberle Johnson, 21. The barrage wounded six more people at the Centennial Hill Bar and Grill in Montgomery early Saturday.

Security guards at the club couldn't stop the shooting. Police are searching for suspects and asking for tips on Facebook to help them make arrests.

The mayor vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Doe B and gunshot wounds

Doe B was born Glenn Thomas, and is from Montgomery, his manager Frank White said.

Thomas had recently been on tour.

Colorful placards announcing his performances marked the path of his December concert rounds through his state and to Atlanta. He then returned to the club in his home town, where his life was taken.

It was not the first time he had been shot, Billboard Magazine reported. His eye was wounded in a previous shooting, and he wore an eye patch that had become his trademark.

On the cover of his new album Baby Jesus, a baby is pictured dressed like Doe B with the eye patch and with additional bullet wounds on the left arm.

Tough turf

The venue got a reputation with city officials after a shooting there last year, which local media reported. Back then it was called the Rose Supper Club, but it changed its name after the violence.

Some people vented their rage at the club over Doe B's killing Saturday in all caps on the venue's old, pre-name-change Facebook page.

"Y'all SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH MURDER," wrote Brandon King.

Montgomery's mayor shut the club down. The city had given Centennial Hill repeated warnings, Todd Strange said in a statement.

"I believe it is not a matter of 'if,' but 'when' the next tragic incident occurs at this business," he said. "That is unacceptable, and that is why we have ordered the business to be closed effective immediately."

Music of sorrow

Doe B's musician friends and compatriots poured out their hearts on Twitter.

"He was just getting started.... The future was so bright... I would have told you thank you. Rest in peace," manager White posted.

"Clubs keep lettin guns in the club as if that's not where we as artists work. We got families to go home to, f--- is wrong with y'all," said artist Machine Gun Kelly.

10 inspiring stories of everyday heroes

They clean up rivers, build homes for disabled veterans and bring health care to some of the darkest parts of the world.

They help children who are fighting cancer, poverty and a lack of opportunity.

These are the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2013.

For their extraordinary efforts to change the world, each of these everyday people will receive $50,000. They were also recognized at"CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," an annual show broadcast globally on CNN.

"I've long admired the CNN Heroes tribute, but even more, the heroes themselves," said Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN Worldwide. "We are proud to share the stories of these 10 exceptional individuals and to continue one of CNN's most important traditions."

The tribute show, hosted by Anderson Cooper at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, included celebrity presenters and performers. This year's presenters included Grammy Award-winning musician Ne-Yo; comedians Jim Gaffigan and Sarah Silverman; television hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan; and actors Jason Biggs, Alan Cumming, Josh Lucas, Mariska Hargitay, Shay Mitchell, Allison Williams and Jeffrey Wright.

Three-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles performed her hit single "Brave."

This was the seventh year CNN has conducted its annual search for CNN Heroes. In those years, the campaign has profiled more than 200 people on CNN and CNN.com.

This year's top 10 were nominated by CNN's global audience and profiled earlier this year on CNN.

At the end of the show, one of the top 10, Chad Pregracke, was named CNN Hero of the Year. He will receive an additional $250,000 for his cause, which is cleaning up the Mississippi River and other American waterways. Pregracke was chosen as Hero of the Year through a five-week public vote on CNN.com.

After Dale Beatty lost his legs in the Iraq war, his community thanked him for his service by helping him build a home. To pay it forward, Beatty co-founded Purple Heart Homes, which has helped build or modify homes for dozens of disabled U.S. veterans. "We wouldn't leave someone behind on the battlefield," Beatty said. "Why would we do it at home?For decades, Georges Bwelle watched his father suffer, unable to get the medical attention he needed. Now a doctor, Bwelle travels into the jungles of his native Cameroon nearly every weekend, providing free medical care for those who don't have access to good health care. "To make people laugh, to reduce the pain, that's why I'm doing this," he said. 

More than 72,000 people in Charlotte, North Carolina, lack access to fresh produce. When Robin Emmons discovered this problem, she took action. "I decided to rip up my whole backyard and make it all a garden for people in need," she said. Since 2008, Emmons has grown more than 26,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables for area residents. 

Foster children don't often get the things other children do, but Danielle Gletow is trying to help change that. She posts their wishes online so the public can help grant them. "I'm here to be the mom to all these kids who might not feel like they have one," she said. Since 2008, her group has helped grant more than 6,500 wishes in 42 states. 

Tawanda Jones is using dance to empower the youth of Camden, New Jersey, one of the poorest cities in the country. Through Jones' drill team program, at least 4,000 children have learned discipline, respect and community service -- and all of them have graduated high school. "We need to take back our city and, most importantly, take back our youth," Jones said. 

For many children fighting cancer, it can be extremely tough to make it to their chemotherapy appointments. But Richard Nares started a group that gives them transportation and support. "No child should miss their cancer treatment due to lack of transportation," said Nares, who lost his son to leukemia in 2000. 

Kakenya Ntaiya is inspiring change in her native Kenyan village. After becoming the first woman in the village to attend college in the United States, she returned to open the village's first primary school for girls. "Our work is about empowering the girls," Ntaiya said. "They are dreaming of becoming lawyers, teachers, doctors." 

Chad Pregracke has made it his life's work to clean up the Mississippi River and other American waterways. Since 1998, about 70,000 volunteers have helped Pregracke remove more than 7 million pounds of garbage from 23 rivers across the country. "Picking up garbage, it's tough, miserable and hot," Pregracke said. "We try to make it fun." 

Estella Pyfrom used her life savings to create "Estella's Brilliant Bus," a mobile computer lab that provides tutoring for thousands of low-income students in Palm Beach County, Florida. "It's not just a bus, it's a movement," Pyfrom said. "And we're going to keep making a difference." 

Laura Stachel created a special "solar suitcase" to help health-care workers deliver babies in more than 20 developing countries. "I really want a world where women can deliver babies safely and with dignity," Stachel said. 

As part of their award package, each top 10 Hero will also receive free organizational training from the Annenberg Foundation, a leading supporter of nonprofits worldwide. The Heroes will participate in a customized version of the Annenberg Alchemyprogram, which offers practical guidance to help strengthen organizations for long-term success.

Calif. Girl to Remain on Ventilator Until Jan. 7

A California girl declared brain dead after tonsil surgery will remain on life support for at least another week after a state judge on Monday extended a deadline.

Jahi McMath's mother, Nailah Winkfield, hailed the decision as an answer to her prayers and a sign that she has been right to keep fighting for the teen, who doctors have said will never recover.

With television cameras clustered outside the hospital, the family maintained a vigil as the deadline approached.

When Winkfield heard of the judge's decision to push back the deadline, she wept and hugged relatives outside the hospital.

"Who wants to know the date and the time their child would die?" Winkfield said. "I don't care what anyone has to say about what I'm doing. ... I have to do what is right for me and for Jahi."

She said she does not believe her daughter is dead because her heart is still beating.

Doctors at Children's Hospital Oakland want to take her off the machines that are keeping her body functioning. Her family wants to continue life support, saying they have hope she will still pull through.

Shortly before a previous ruling would have allowed doctors to end life support at 5 p.m. Monday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo ordered the hospital to keep Jahi on a ventilator until Jan. 7 to give the family time to file a petition in state appellate court.

Grillo's ruling Monday is the latest twist in a harrowing legal and medical fight that has reignited a heated debate about when life support should end for a severely brain-damaged person.

Also on Monday, the family's lawyer filed suit in federal court, requesting that the hospital be compelled to perform a tracheotomy for breathing and to insert a feeding tube — procedures that would allow Jahi to be transferred to a facility willing to care for her. The hospital has said it's unethical to perform surgery on a person who is legally dead.

Sam Singer, a hospital spokesman, said it would comply with the judge's new order but would oppose any efforts by Jahi's family to convince a court that she is still alive and entitled to the same rights as a living person.

"We are hopeful we will be successful so this tragedy can end," Singer said.

He also dismissed claims by Jahi's relatives that she has shown signs of life, saying any muscle activity was an involuntary muscle reflex.

The family's lawyer, Christopher Dolan, said when he called Jahi's mother at the hospital about the extension of the deadline, she said hospital staff had cleared family members out of a waiting room as doctors prepared to remove Jahi from the ventilator.

"He's giving us a meaningful opportunity to seek relief and what I consider a stay of execution," Dolan said of the judge's ruling. "I feel like I'm a death row lawyer, and it does not feel good."

The attorney said he knows he has been widely criticized by some for giving the girl's family a false sense of hope. But he said, "I am fighting for the right of parents to direct the health care of their child and for them to make the choice."

Doctors at Children's Hospital and an independent pediatric neurologist from Stanford University have concluded Jahi is brain dead.

She underwent a tonsillectomy at the hospital Dec. 9 to treat sleep apnea and other issues. After she awoke from the operation, her family said, she started bleeding heavily and went into cardiac arrest. Then she was declared brain dead three days later.

In a declaration filed with the federal action by Jahi's family, Dr. Paul Byrne, a pediatrician who has questioned the definition of brain death, said he visited Jahi's bedside and observed her responding to her grandmother's voice and touch with a squirming movement.

"In my professional opinion, she is not a cadaver," Byrne said. "Her heart beats thousands of times a day."

The family's court filings said the New Beginnings Community Center in Medford, N.Y., is willing to take Jahi and provide 24-hour medical care. The facility's management could not be reached for comment Monday night.

Arrangements also have been made, according to the documents, with an air ambulance company for a doctor to accompany Jahi on a private jet from Oakland to Long Island for $27,950.

By Monday night, the family's fundraising website had raised more than $29,000 for a possible transfer.

Dolan said in a phone interview that he has also been in talks with a facility in Arizona because the family would like to keep Jahi as close as possible.

Earlier, Singer, the hospital spokesman, reiterated the position of its doctors.

"This is one of the most tragic situations imaginable," Singer said. "A family has lost their young daughter. But unfortunately, Jahi is deceased. No amount of hope, prayer or medical procedures will bring her back."

Hospital spokeswoman Cynthia Chiarappa has said officials would have to understand the capabilities of the New York facility before allowing a transfer. The hospital also said it would need to confirm there is lawful transportation included in any transfer plan and there is written permission from the coroner.

New Trial Set for Man Charged in '89 NH Fatal Fire

A new trial has been scheduled for a man accused of setting a 1989 fire that killed a family of four in New Hampshire.

David McLeod was charged in 2010 with four counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Carl and Lori Hina (HYE'-nuh) of Keene, their infant daughter and Carl's 12-year-old daughter. His first trial ended in a mistrial earlier this month after jurors failed to reach a verdict.

Assistant Attorney General Janice Rundles said Tuesday that the new trial is set to start April 14.

McLeod was an early suspect but wasn't arrested for more than two decades. New Hampshire's cold case unit picked up McLeod in 2010 in West Sacramento, Calif., where he had moved and raised a family.

His lawyer did not immediately return a call Tuesday seeking comment.

Alzheimer's Patient, 71, Gets Six Months for Murder

A 71-year-old Alzheimer's patient has been sentenced to six months in prison in Houston, Texas, after confessing to murdering her husband 30 years ago.

The short sentence angered the victim's family, who believed it was too lenient, but given her confession, deteriorating health and a lack of other evidence, lawyers agreed to a plea deal.

Police had long suspected Carolyn Krizan-Wilson was responsible for the shooting death of her husband Roy McCaleb in their home in 1985, but never had the evidence to prosecute.

Krizan-Wilson, who had been married seven times, was convicted of bigamy following the McCaleb's death when it was revealed she was still married to another man at the time.

In 1985, she told police that a barefoot homeless man who had previously raped her, tracked her down, broke into the couple's home and shot her sleeping husband, according to prosecutors.

Krizan-Wilson stuck to that story until Wednesday when she entered a guilty plea and signed a judicial confession, admitting she shot McCaleb.

She was charged with murder in 2008, but a judge dismissed the indictment. In 2012, an appeals court reinstated the murder charge and a court date was set for next month before a plea deal was struck.

Prosecutor Bill Exley told ABCNews.com that Krizan-Wilson was only recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and dementia and "there were never any questions about her competency. Her own defense lawyer and the judge agreed."

Krizan-Wilson, for instance, drove herself routinely to and from court and aided in her own defense, Exley said.

"Her age and her medical condition, I think all sides realized this was probably the right and just decision to make for all parties," said defense attorney Stafford James, according to ABC affiliateKTRK-TV.

McCaleb's family, however, was angered by what they believed was too short a sentence and that Krizan-Wilson will not begin serving time until the day after Christmas.

"One day, she's going to have to talk to God and she's going to have to face what she did," Pamela McCaleb Nalley, the victim's daughter, told reporters. "There are higher powers."

Man Asleep in Bed Killed in Suspected DUI Accident

A southern California man was killed today when a car crashed into his bedroom while he was sleeping.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the car jumped the curb and ran into the home located in Mission Viejo, Calif., around 3 a.m. today. Another person in the residence was unharmed.

“It woke me up, I heard the tires squeal, and then I heard the boom,” a neighbor identified as Jacque, told ABC station KABC-TV in Los Angeles.

Lt. Jeff Hallock from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said that the road makes a sharp turn where the crash occurred.

Police took the driver, identified as Kourosh Keshmiri, 27, into custody for suspected drunk driving. According to police, Keshmiri has a misdemeanor drunk driving conviction from 2010, and his license was suspended after a pending drunk driving case in June.

Neither Keshmiri nor his passenger were seriously harmed in the crash.

The victim’s name has not been released pending notification of his family.

Washington Town in Uproar Over Coffee Shop's Facebook Rants

Tempers have reached a boiling point in Anacortes, Wash., where a coffee shop has been boycotted over burning remarks made on its Facebook page.

Sips Ahoy, a self-titled "sexy sailor coffee shop" where baristas serve cups of Joe while wearing bikinis, recently became the subject of ire after owner Meghan Calavan reportedly engaged in a heated online exchange with local woman Jesseka Cladek, taking aim at her body, according to reports by TV station King5.com.

Using the Sips Ahoy Facebook page, Calavan reportedly criticized Cladek's appearance, calling her "fat," advising her to "save world hunger by shooting yourself" and telling another commenter that "the world would be a better place if [Cladek] died."

The Sips Ahoy Facebook page has since been taken down. But another Facebook page, Boycott Sips Ahoy, has launched in its place and includes what appear to be screen grabs of the original exchange in a bid to put the coffee kiosk out of business.

"I've never had to be scared for my life or ever thought someone wish I were dead," wrote Cladek on the Boycott Sips Ahoy page, which has since amassed more than 4,500 followers. Many posts call for the coffee shop's imminent closure, accusing it of cyberbullying.

"I made this page to close Sips Ahoy down. We don't want this place of business in our small town," the administrator states in the About section of the new Facebook page. Located in Skagit County on Fidalgo Island, Anacortes has a population of about 16,000.

The Boy Sips Ahoy administrator, whose name is not listed on the page, did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment. Calavan was also unavailable to speak when ABC News contacted Sips Ahoy.

But in a recent interview with King5.com, Calavan and her father stated that they have now become the target of threats and pranks themselves, and that their home was recently egged. Calavan also expressed remorse for her words online.

"I stuck up for myself in an immature manner, I know," she told King5.

Ariel Castro Neighbor Admits to Raping Children, Killing Women

A sex offender accused of killing two women more than 15 years ago and raping children pleaded guilty on Monday to hundreds of charges, crying when some of his surviving victims addressed him.

"I'm not a monster. I feel a lot of remorse," Elias Acevedo said in the hushed courtroom as some of his child-rape victims, now adults, and relatives of the women watched, some wiping away tears. "I love you all, and God bless you."

Acevedo sobbed into a tissue as three rape victims clutched each other and addressed him in front of the judge: "You robbed me of my childhood," one victim said. "You hurt so many people."

Acevedo, 49, agreed to plead guilty to 297 counts, including murdering the women and kidnapping and raping children. He accepted a life prison term under the plea deal.

The two 20-years-to-life sentences for aggravated murder and sentences for other crimes total 445 years, the judge said.

The murder charges involve a Cleveland neighbor, Pamela Pemberton, who was killed in 1994, and 18-year-old Christina Adkins, who was pregnant when she disappeared in 1995.

Acevedo also was charged with rape and sexual assault involving attacks on minors, some dating back more than 25 years. He folded his cuffed handed together as Judge Michael Donnelly read the terms of the plea deal and explained it.

Acevedo's case is the latest among a group of high-profile cases involving violence against women in and around Cleveland.

Authorities re-examined the disappearances of women in the city following the escape of three women held captive for a decade in the run-down home of Ariel Castro.

The prosecutor's office said Acevedo most recently lived about a block away from Castro, who kidnapped the three women when they were in their teens or early 20s, imprisoned them in his home and raped them repeatedly, fathering a child with one of them.

The women escaped on May 6 while Castro was away from the home. Castro killed himself in prison on Sept. 3, just weeks into a life prison sentence.

At Monday's sentencing, FBI agent Andrew Burke said investigators reopening missing-person cases in the area began to focus on Acevedo during the summer based on discrepancies in earlier law enforcement interviews, his sex crime conviction and tips.

Acevedo, faced with the mounting evidence, admitted killing the women after authorities agreed to skip the death penalty if he detailed the crimes, Burke said. Acevedo described the killings and pinpointed the locations, all information consistent with details developed by investigators, Burke said.

4 Bodies Found in California Home

Four people, two of them children, were found killed in a Southern California home, police said.

A 16-year-old boy called police Monday night to say his family members were injured or killed in the house, Fontana police Sgt. Doug Imhof said.

Police arrived to find a bloody scene with the bodies of a boy about 10 years old, a girl about 12 years old and a man and woman each about 35 or 40 years old, Imhof told KNBC-TV and KABC-TV.

Fontana police Chief Rodney Jones told KNBC that the deaths were homicides.

It appeared all four lived in the home, Imhof said, but police did not immediately say what their relationships were.

Detectives found the bodies and blood spread throughout the house, but had stopped the investigation while they sought a search warrant, police Imhof said.

"There is some amounts of blood in different areas of the house," Imhof told KABC. "There's a couple of weapons that have been seen by our detectives just looking, but they haven't been able to search the house because they can't until they obtain a search warrant."

Beyond his mention of the weapons, Imhof gave no indication of how the people may have been killed or who the killer may have been, and it was not clear why a warrant was needed.

Neighbor Jessica Arauz told KABC there was arguing coming from the house earlier in the evening.

Phone messages left with police by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

The home is in Fontana, a city of about 200,000 people in San Bernardino County about 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Man shoots gf, kills himself during standoff

WALLINGFORD, Conn. (WTNH)-- A Wallingford woman was shot in her home before the shooter later took his own life during a standoff with police.
 
Police say the man who pulled the trigger was the woman's boyfriend. He later shot himself in his Hamden home.

Residents say the standoff lasted for hours, after a man allegedly shot his girlfriend in Wallingford and then came back to his home in Hamden.

The Wallingford Police Department received a 911 call after 1:30 AM that a person had been shot at 43 Heritage Woods.

When officers arrived, they found Leanne Burger-Mestel with a gunshot wound to the upper torso.

According to police, her boyfriend knocked on the door, fired multiple rounds and one bullet struck Mestel.

She was rushed to the hospital, where she currently is in stable condition.

Police tracked the alleged shooter to First Street in Hamden. A parameter was set up and the SWAT team moved in to the two story family home.

The family who lives on the first floor had to evacuate.

"Come on everybody. Go outside because on the second floor boom boom boom boom boom. A couple of minutes, when we were here we heard only one shot. And the police said that's it, he killed himself," said Raul Oceguera, a Hamden resident.

The standoff lasted until about 11 AM Sunday. The police found the suspect dead with an apparent gunshot wound.

His name has not been released.

72-year-old woman scares off gunman with fire extinguisher

MT. AIRY, OH (FOX19) -

A 72-year-old woman scared off an armed robber with a fire extinguisher in a Mt. Airy apartment complex on Friday.

Police say that the attempted robbery happened around 9:30 a.m. Friday in the 2700 block of Hillvista Lane.

Cheryl Arnold has been the apartment manager at the complex for nearly two years. She was sitting in her office when the gunman entered demanding money.

"This young person came in and he had a mask on his face that covered his nose and his mouth," explains Arnold. "He came over to the side of the desk, said I'm not kidding, and held a gun to my head."   

Arnold says she explained to the suspect that she did not have any cash on hand. She says they do not keep much cash in the building and what they have is kept in a safe of which she does not have a key for.

"Three times he hit me in the head with the gun and said he wanted the money," says Arnold.  

Arnold says that the suspect came around the desk and checked her drawers. That's when she made her move.

"He pulled the drawer open and there wasn't anything in it," explains Arnold. "He walked around to the front of the desk and I grabbed the fire extinguisher and blasted him with it. I just kept shooting at him. The whole room was covered with the fire extinguisher dust and he ran out the door."

Why did Arnold choose to use a fire extinguisher?

"I couldn't reach the drawer to get the mace, but I could reach the fire extinguisher on the floor next to me when he moved to go to the front of the desk, and that's when I got him," explains Arnold. "You just pull the trigger and that's it. I got him good."

Arnold says her fire extinguisher is always handy. She keeps it at the side of her desk as a precaution.

"The extinguisher company was out here one day replacing fire extinguishers. I told him that I don't carry a gun," explains Arnold. "He says I've got something you can use that will be just as good. He told me to keep it at the side of my desk and if I ever need it, just blast them with it."

Officers say that nothing was taken during the incident.

Police have described the suspect as a heavyset man wearing a red bandanna and dark clothing. Police are currently searching the area for the suspect.

Mob of teens overruns mall in Brooklyn

(CNN) -- Imagine the chaos of Black Friday -- but worse.

Every shopper's nightmare was lived out on Thursday when a horde of rowdy teens stampeded through a New York mall -- screaming, wreaking havoc and banging on shop doors.

"Things are back to normal with more police around," Joli Chen, a worker at a beauty supply store, said Saturday. "But the other day was crazy. Black Friday was normal compared to that. They were making trouble."

Flash mobs have been known to descend on malls across the country, singing, dancing and even accompanying couples getting engaged. But the Brooklyn flash mob isn't the first to turn ugly.

In the summer of 2012, a Walmart in Jacksonville, Florida, was mobbed by 300 people who entered the store and destroyed the security system, according to CNN affiliate WJXT.

Police said the group destroyed an electronic anti-shoplifting security scanner that cost about $1,500, WJXT reported. The massive crowd descended on the store after a party that was broken up nearby. No arrests were made.

In New York, Chen and others described a flash mob of more than 300 teens who, at first, started gathering at Brooklyn's Kings Plaza Shopping Center before erupting in a frenzy of yelling, running, shoving and pounding on doors. Many stores were forced to shut down on the busy shopping day after Christmas.

"They tried to scare us," Chen said. "They were cursing at us. The police tried to keep them moving but there were so many. And there are so many entrances, they kept coming back in."

On Friday, the mall turned away unaccompanied minors. On Saturday, Chen said, teens were allowed to shop again.

A New York police spokesman confirmed that more than 300 rowdy teens overran the Kings Plaza mall the day after Christmas.

At about 6 p.m., groups roamed the mall banging on glass storefronts while cursing and screaming at people, mall employee Rickie Liu told CNN.

Reports of damage were unclear, but some teens picked up a glass container filled with candy and shattered it on the floor, the owner of a candy kiosk told CNN affiliate WCBS.

The rambunctious crowd turned what is usually a quiet mall into a terrifying place, said mall employee Charmaine Chen.

Many stores were forced to shutter their gates on a busy day. Liu said she received a call from mall security advising store employees to lock store doors for their own safety.

Shop owner Kenny Pak received a call from security telling him there were teens fighting and causing a commotion.

Police arrived after mall security called for backup at around 9 p.m., said a New York police spokesman. Officers eventually escorted nearly the disorderly teens out of the mall.

The coordinated chaos lasted about two hours, according to Liu, and ruined expected good sales.

Her shop didn't even reach $100 in business by 6 p.m., Liu said.

Police said there were no arrests made or complaints filed with the authorities about damage or assaults.

Police were reviewing mall security video as part of their investigation.

China local government debt hits $3 trillion

China's National Audit Office said that local government obligations hit 17.9 trillion yuan ($3 trillion) by the end of June -- a dramatic increase from the 10.7 trillion yuan figure reported in 2010.

The audit office said that debt levels are still controllable, echoing the statements of top Communist Party officials in recent months.

For now, China's local government debt remains lower than that of many other advanced economies, such as the U.S., U.K., France, Japan, Germany and Spain.

But what is scary is the pace at which debt has accumulated. China's increase in local government debt is part of a larger issue -- a credit explosion as regional governments borrowed to finance major infrastructure projects to combat a slowing economy.

Mushrooming credit is cause for concern as it has often been followed by financial crises in other emerging markets. In China, it has stoked fears that capital has been misallocated, and has further contributed to a run-up in corporate and government debt.

While the Chinese government has repeatedly said debt levels are manageable, resolving the problem has become a major policy goal.

Overall growth is slowing in China. The country is estimated to post 7.6% GDP for 2013, just above the government's official target of 7.5%, state media reported last week. That compares with 7.8% last year, 9.3% in 2011 and 10.4% in 2010.

Reducing reliance on credit will remain one of China's greatest challenges as it seeks to find a sustainable growth path. The government was recently tested on this issue, with the central bank forced to pump nearly $50 billion into the financial system to prevent a second damaging cash crunch this year.

Some analysts criticized the central bank for waiting too long, arguing that an earlier move could have been more effective in countering the seasonal shortage of cash. Others said the central bank's apparent reluctance to inject emergency cash is the start of a more prudent policy approach as it's one way of reining in excessive lending.