Plane Crash New Jersey

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A small plane heading for Georgia spiraled out of control and crashed Tuesday morning on a major New York-area highway, hitting a wooded median and scattering wreckage across the road. All five people aboard, including two investment bankers, were killed, but no one on the ground was injured.
The pilot had discussed icy conditions with controllers just before the plane went down, but investigators were unsure what role, if any, icing played in the crash.

The New York investment banking firm Greenhill & Co. said two of its managing directors, Jeffrey Buckalew, 45, and Rakesh Chawla, 36, as well as Buckalew’s wife and two children, were on the plane, which crashed on Interstate 287. Buckalew was the registered owner of the single-engine plane and had a pilot’s license.
Wreckage was scattered over at least a half-mile, with a section found lodged in a tree of a home about a quarter-mile away, near a highway entrance ramp. The crash closed both sides of the busy highway for hours, though several lanes were open again in time for the evening rush hour.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said the search for wreckage was suspended after dark Tuesday and would be resumed after the Wednesday morning commute to minimize traffic problems.
NTSB officials said they don’t believe the plane had a black box, which would have recorded flight data, but they said investigators were searching for other memory devices, including GPS, collision avoidance systems or any device with a recordable chip that might yield more information.
Rockaway Township resident Chris Covello said he saw the plane spin out of control from the car dealership where he works in Morristown, near the site of the crash.
“It was like the plane was doing tricks or something, twirling and flipping,” he said. “It started going straight down. I thought any second they were going to pull up. But then the wing came off and they went straight down.”
The high-performance Socata TBM-700 turboprop had departed from nearby Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and crashed about 14 minutes into its flight. It was headed for DeKalb Peachtree Airport near Atlanta.
The pilot had a seven-second call with a controller about icing shortly before the crash, NTSB investigator Robert Gretz said.
Gretz said he did not know whether the pilot was reporting icing had occurred or was questioning the location of possible icing conditions. He said he was unaware of any icing on the ground that would have required deicing.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot had requested clearance to a higher altitude shortly before the plane dropped off radar. The NTSB said the plane had climbed to 17,500 feet.
Ice can form on airplanes when temperatures are near freezing and there is visible moisture, such as clouds or rain. The ice adds weight to an aircraft, and rough accumulations known as rime interrupt the flow of air over wings.
In extreme cases, a plane can lose so much lift that it falls out of the sky.

Kim Jong-il North Korean leader died

 Kim Jong-il, the enigmatic North Korean leader, died on a train at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in his country. Forty-eight hours later, officials in South Korea still did not know anything about it — to say nothing of Washington, where the State Department acknowledged “press reporting” of Mr. Kim’s death well after North Korean state media had already announced it.

For South Korean and American intelligence services to have failed to pick up any clues to this momentous development — panicked phone calls between government officials, say, or soldiers massing around Mr. Kim’s train — attests to the secretive nature of North Korea, a country not only at odds with most of the world but also sealed off from it in a way that defies spies or satellites.

Asian and American intelligence services have failed before to pick up significant developments in North Korea. Pyongyang built a sprawling plant to enrich uranium that went undetected for about a year and a half until North Korean officials showed it off in late 2010 to an American nuclear scientist. The North also helped build a complete nuclear reactor in Syria without tipping off Western intelligence.

As the United States and its allies confront a perilous leadership transition in North Korea — a failed state with nuclear weapons — the closed nature of the country will greatly complicate their calculations. With little information about Mr. Kim’s son and successor, Kim Jong-un, and even less insight into the palace intrigue in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, much of their response will necessarily be guesswork.

“We have clear plans about what to do if North Korea attacks, but not if the North Korean regime unravels,” said Michael J. Green, a former Asia adviser in the Bush administration. “Every time you do these scenarios, one of the first objectives is trying to find out what’s going on inside North Korea.”

In many countries, that would involve intercepting phone calls between government officials or peering down from spy satellites. And indeed, American spy planes and satellites scan the country. Highly sensitive antennas along the border between South and North Korea pick up electronic signals. South Korean intelligence officials interview thousands of North Koreans who defect to the South each year.

And yet remarkably little is known about the inner workings of the North Korean government. Pyongyang, officials said, keeps sensitive information limited to a small circle of officials, who do not talk.

“This is a society that thrives on its opaqueness,” said Christopher R. Hill, a former special envoy who negotiated with the North over its nuclear program. “It is very complex. To understand the leadership structure requires going way back into Korean culture to understand Confucian principles.”

On Monday, the Obama administration held urgent consultations with allies but said little publicly about Mr. Kim’s death. Senior officials acknowledged they were largely bystanders, watching the drama unfold in the North and hoping that it does not lead to acts of aggression against South Korea.

None of the situations envisioned by American officials for North Korea are comforting. Some current and former officials assume that Kim Jong-un is too young and untested to step confidently into his father’s shoes. Some speculate that the younger Mr. Kim might serve in a kind of regency, in which the real power would be wielded by military officials like Jang Song-taek, Kim Jong-il’s brother-in-law and confidant, who is 65.

Such an arrangement would do little to relieve the suffering of the North Korean people or defuse the tension over its nuclear ambitions. But it would be preferable to an open struggle for power in the country.

“A bad scenario is that they go through a smooth transition, and the people keep starving and they continue to develop nuclear weapons,” said Jeffrey A. Bader, a former Asia adviser to President Obama. “The unstable transition, in which no one is in charge, and in which control of their nuclear program becomes even more opaque, is even worse.”

As failures go, the Central Intelligence Agency’s inability to pick up hints of Mr. Kim’s death was comparatively minor. But as one former agency official, speaking on condition of anonymity about classified matters, pointed out: “What’s worst about our intel is our failure to penetrate deep into the existing leadership. We get defectors, but their information is often old. We get midlevel people, but they often don’t know what’s happening in the inner circle.”

Johnny Knox Back Surgery: Bears WR Taken From Field With Back Injury

CHICAGO -- Bears receiver Johnny Knox will have surgery to stabilize a vetebra in his lower to mid back after being taken from the field on a cart in the opening minutes of Sunday's 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

The Bears said the injury is not career-threatening. The surgery is scheduled for Monday.

"He has total movement throughout his body, has total use of all his extremities, which is good," coach Lovie Smith said. "We're doing tests right now. He has total movement. He's not paralyzed or anything."

Knox had just caught a pass from Caleb Hanie about four minutes into Sunday's game when Kam Chancellor poked the ball out of his hands. As Knox made a diving attempt to retrieve the ball, he was hit by Anthony Hargrove and got bent backward. He stayed down for close to 10 minutes while being tended to by medical personnel.

The Seahawks' Earl Thomas recovered the fumble at the Chicago 22.

Knox was eventually placed on a stretcher and taken from the field on a cart, putting his hands over his face and wiggling his fingers as he left the field.

The injury to Knox was another blow for a team that lost Jay Cutler (broken thumb) and Matt Forte (sprained knee) in recent weeks and was trying to get over the shock of receiver Sam Hurd's arrest on federal drug charges in the days leading up to this game.

Late in the half, Bears safety Chris Conte suffered a foot injury trying to tackle Seattle's Justin Forsett and left the game. The Seahawks didn't come away from this game unscathed, either, with receiver Mike Williams suffering a broken ankle when he was tackled after a catch in the third quarter.

Brooke Burke Charvet: Blended Families Are Challenging

Despite her best efforts, there is no method to Brooke Burke Charvet‘s madness.

“I wish I were always calm in the chaos. I have children with very strong personalities, and as elating as that is, it can also be deflating,” the Dancing With the Stars co-host, 40, says in Fitness‘s January issue.

“There’s a lot of action in my household and sometimes I’m a referee all day long.”

Mom to Neriah Shae, 11, and Sierra Sky, 9½, with ex-husband Garth Fisher, and Heaven Rain, 4½, and Shaya Braven, 3½, with husband David Charvet, Burke Charvet has made it no secret that bringing her family together has been anything but easy.

“Having a blended family is a challenge. Two of my children are with their father part of the week, so when they come home they want me all to themselves,” she shares.

“Then my other two children, who have had me all to themselves, suddenly have to share me and that can make them very needy.”

Often found walking around the Dancing set greeting the crew, Burke Charvet’s friendliness stems from the demands of raising her four children.

“As a mother, I hardly ever get a thank you. Nobody ever says, ‘Thanks for getting up early and making me that lunch, Mom. I enjoyed what was in my lunchbox today,’” she explains. “So when I do hear that from my kids, it feels really good. Maybe that’s why I treat the people I work with well.”

Over the years, the former model has learned to “roll” with her hectic lifestyle — which also includes work on her blog, Modern Mom — and schedule slots for sleep whenever possible!

“My two younger kids always end up in our bed in the middle of the night,” Burke Charvet admits, adding that she aims for six to eight hours of sleep a night.

“I think that sleep deprivation is a really bad thing for a woman, not only for her skin and eyes, but also for her mood, memory, metabolism, energy, and sex drive. David and I have done ‘sleepcations,’ where we check into a hotel room simply to be alone and sleep.”

But despite her ability to juggle it all, and still dazzle in front of the cameras in the ballroom, Burke Charvet reveals she isn’t a stranger to insecurities of her own.

“My biggest frustration is that I developed bad melasma when I was pregnant with my son. It’s like having a mask on your face. I did peels; I did lasers; I tried every product and saw every doctor,” she recalls.

“Nothing worked. I never used to wear makeup when I wasn’t working. Now I can’t leave the house without thick cover-up, which stinks. I do my best not to focus on it.”

Michael Buble Spreads Christmas Cheer With Holiday AlbumRead

The Christmas season is upon us and the star that sits atop the Billboard 200 tree is none other than Michael Bublé, whose holiday album "Christmas" hits number one for a third week.

Also making chart news is the late Amy Winehouse's "Lioness: Hidden Treasures." The compilation of unreleased tracks and alternate versions of previous hits makes and appearance at number 5 on the Billboard 200.

As Winehouse's album gives fans an opportunity to reflect on her life, Sublime with Rome fans are breathing a sigh of relief after the band's website nixed break-up rumors. While they may not be calling it quits any time soon they are taking a small break after the announcement that drummer Bud Gaugh is having a baby. In a statement, the band says that they will be back on the road just as soon as Bud is ready to take a break from "diapers and baby bottles." They also added that they "have some major touring plans for 2012."

Another artist who will be taking a much deserved break is Barry Manilow. The 68-year-old singer underwent hip repair surgery on Monday, just after wrapping up a seven-year run of Las Vegas shows.

Fear not, Manilow fans, after the six-week recovery, the "Copacabana" singer will return to the stage for thee concerts at the Chicago Theater in February.

Another legend making news is the Piano Man himself, Billy Joel. A portrait of the 62-year-old singer was unveiled in New York City at Steinway Hall, home of the famed piano maker Steinway and Sons. Joel is one of only two living artists included in the collection and the only non-classical performer to receive the honor.

While Billy Joel ends his year on a high note, many are taking this time to wrap-up the year in music. Billboard.com picks "Adele" as their artist of the year citing everything from her family's influence to on her chart-topping music to what keeps her grounded.

Popdust gives the honor to Katy Perry for several reasons, from her 42 weeks in the top ten to her 2 rumored feuds with California Dreams opening acts.

For more music news including and exclusive sit-down with X Factor cast off Rachel Crow click play on this week's 411 Playlist.

Celtics' Jeff Green to have surgery for aortic aneurysm

Boston Celtics forward Jeff Green will have surgery for an aortic aneurysm and will sit out this season, the team said Saturday.

Green is scheduled for an operation Monday at the Cleveland Clinic. Doctors have told him the operation "should completely repair Green's condition and that he can expect to resume his NBA career next season," the Celtics said.

If so, the timing of his training camp physical — and the end of the NBA lockout — might have saved Green's life and helped the Celtics avert a tragedy similar to the 1993 death of Reggie Lewis, who collapsed and died on a practice court of a heart condition.

"While we are saddened that Jeff will not be able to play this season, the most important thing is his health," Celtics President Danny Ainge said. "We were fortunate to have access to an amazing team of specialists to evaluate Jeff's case."

The team said it would have no more comment, at Green's request. But Green said on Twitter on Saturday afternoon: "Thank u everyone for ur thoughts and prayers…much appreciated love u all..and I'll be back soon stronger and better than ever I promise."

Green, 25, averaged 9.8 points and 3.3 rebounds last season after joining the Celtics in a trade that sent Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

An aortic aneurysm, which is more common in older people, is a ballooning of the wall of the aorta, the major artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. A person may show no symptoms from the aneurysm; but if it ruptures, it is likely to be fatal if not repaired immediately.

The team's statement said Green's aneurysm was detected during his physical after he reported for a training camp Dec. 9.

5 Things to Know About Jerry Lewis - Method to the Madnes

Love him or hate him — or love him and hate him — it is hard to deny the colossus that is Jerry Lewis, International Clown. Even if you only know him from his echoes — Professor Frink on "The Simpsons," Adam Sandler movies, the Beastie Boys — you are living in a world that he has partly made. Among American film comedians, he's one of a small number who rate the term "auteur"; at the same time, he's kids' stuff, a thing we know from childhood and treasure like other childhood things.

Lewis made films that were excessive and strange and personal sometimes to the point of being unintelligible. But that is also what makes them compelling, even when they aren't funny: Brilliant or bathetic from scene to scene, they demand perpetual reassessment, and their triple-taking creator is deservedly the subject of a new documentary, "Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness," premiering Saturday on Encore. It isn't particularly incisive or intimate, but it has lots of good things to show you, at least a few of which, unless you are very dour, should also make you laugh.

Directed by Gregg Barson, who also made the 2004 Phyllis Diller documentary "Goodnight, We Love You," it is fundamentally a testimonial. An estimable celebrity chorus includes Billy Crystal, who directed Lewis in "Mr. Saturday Night"; Eddie Murphy, who starred in the remake of "The Nutty Professor"; Chevy Chase, another professional pratfaller; Richard Belzer, who sports a Jerry Lewis tattoo; Carl Reiner, who directed Steve Martin's Lewis-like "The Jerk"; and Carol Burnett, seen performing with him on the old "Garry Moore Show." Quentin Tarantino draws a link to "Looney Tunes"; Alec Baldwin calls him the Marlon Brando of comedy; and Jerry Seinfeld is categorical: "If you don't get Jerry Lewis you don't really understand comedy." To Richard Lewis, he is as basic as the Earth: "It's like you were born and all of a sudden you're watching Martin and Lewis."

Though the word "genius" is used by more than one of the above, the analysis mostly comes down to variations on: "This silliness is harder and smarter than it looks." Art deserves a little context, though. Lewis clearly learned something from former animator Frank Tashlin, for example, who directed him both with and without Dean Martin and brought a cartoon aesthetic to live-action film, and from Jacques Tati, whose "Mr. Hulot's Holiday," in its episodic plotlessness, gentle tone and hotel setting, seems a model for his own first picture, "The Bellboy." It would be interesting to hear Lewis (or any informed person) discuss this, or any comedy other than his own.

Still, there is a lot of him to cover. He got his first professional laugh in 1931 at the age of 5; performed in burlesque and vaudeville, across the Borscht Belt and in fancy nightclubs; made Hollywood studio films and post-studio independent films; worked on television and on Broadway; wrote, directed, acted, sang and stuffed things in his ears. Barson had access to Lewis' own stock of archival footage, which yields treasures: Lewis and Martin at breakneck speed onstage at the Copacabana, Lewis at work on the set, snatches of home movies that hint at the excitement of it all. And he filmed the comedian, now 85, in concert, in rehearsal, and on a 2009 trip to the Cannes Film Festival, where the paparazzi flashbulbs pop and the citizens take him seriously.

The impression here is of a life that went from triumph to triumph, though other accounts, including Lewis' own, reveal deep valleys between the peaks, personal and professional. Even his difficult, epochal parting with Martin comes off as a sort of act of friendship. (Of their intense connection, he says, "I think people are frightened of a homosexual probability — they didn't want to recognize that these were two people who loved each other," though their widespread popularity would seem to say that this frightened no one at all.) The long, later years when work was harder to come by — and when come by was not always good — evaporate in this telling. There is no mention of Lewis' famous unreleased Holocaust film "The Day the Clown Cried," the flat comeback "Hardly Working" or its pretty respectable follow-up, 1983's "Cracking Up," the last film he directed. (It begins with a suicide attempt.)

Whatever "Method" leaves out, most of what it includes is worth a look. Even Lewis' recent stage show — filled with the sort of weak risque jokes older audiences seem to love and featuring as lively a version of his antic younger self as he can muster — is revealing in its way, a demonstration of desire in the face of age.

Spitting fake broken teeth from his mouth, the man once known as the Monkey mutters, "What a stupid way to make a fortune." He doesn't mean it, I am at least half sure.

J.R. Martinez Is Going to Be a Dad

He nabbed a mirror ball trophy on Dancing With the Stars last month, but the biggest and best prize is yet to come. J.R. Martinez tells PEOPLE exclusively that he and girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones are expecting their first child next spring.

"We found out just last week it's a girl and we are over the moon," Martinez, 28, says. "Diana has a little baby bump now and it's the cutest thing ever. With the holidays coming up, this is the biggest and best gift we could get."

The Iraq war vet and Gonzalez-Jones met when he landed a role on All My Children in 2008. At the time, she was working as an assistant to the soap's executive producer. The two became close friends, but it wasn't until last year that the pair decided to take their friendship to the next level.

"We were so good as friends that romantically, we just clicked right away.  There was no adjustment period," Gonzalez-Jones told PEOPLE earlier this year.

Impending fatherhood "is sinking in" Martinez says, admitting that he can't believe all of the good things that have happened in the past year. 

"2011 has been full of a lot of surprises and opportunities and ultimately, a lot of blessings," says Martinez. "Diana and I were just asking ourselves, 'How is 2012 going to top 2011?'  Well, we have our answer!"

Vanessa Bryant files for divorce from Kobe Bryant

Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is being linked in unconfirmed reports to one of Kim Kardashian's best friends, Carla DiBello.

Several websites are claiming that DiBello, 27, has been on close terms with the millionaire athlete for the last couple of years, according to Radar Online.

Some note that she has been spotted courtside at Lakers games.

Carla is one of 31-year-old Kardashian's closest friends, and is also a producer on Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Kourtney & Kim Take New York.

She travels around the world with the reality behemoth, and most recently was by her side during Kim's trip to Dubai.

Carla was director of strategic relations for SBE Group which owns a number of exclusive. hotels and clubs in Hollywood

She was also Steve Wynn’s assistant at his luxury hotel casino of the same name in Las Vegas.

Happily married: Kobe and his wife Vanessa pose contently at the ESPY awards in LA back in 2009

Meanwhile, TMZ are reporting that Kobe is worth much less than the $400 million that was being suggested in some quarters, with his net worth instead being around $150 million.

Still a small fortune, but with a divorce settlement looming, every dollar will count as Kobe prepares to negotiate spousal and child support.

Vanessa Bryant's wife filed for divorce from her NBA superstar husband citing 'irreconcilable differences.'

Vanessa, 29 , who stuck by Kobe, 33, after he was charged with sexually assaulting a Colorado woman in 2003, has been married to the LA Lakers player for ten years.

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The couple have no pre-nuptial agreement, according to TMZ, so Vanessa will be entitled to substantial monies and has requested spousal support.

It is said that Kobe has already moved out of the mansion in Orange County that the couple once shared.

According to TMZ, Kobe purchased the abode ten years ago, but Vanessa will get the home as part of the couple's divorce settlement.

The pair met when she was just 18, when she was working as a backing dancer in a studio where he was recording, though that material was never released to the public.

According to the legal documents obtained by TMZ, Vanessa is asking for joint custody of their two daughters - eight-year-old Natalia and five-year-old Gianna.

But Vanessa is asking that Kobe get visitation rights, which means she wants the kids in her care most of the time.

Vanessa is being represented by Laura Wasser and attorney Samantha Klein, whose clients include Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Maria Shriver and Kim Kardashian.