Today, a gunman opened fire on an exercise class in a suburban Pittsburgh fitness center, killing three people and himself, he was said to have hated women and had been planning his attack for months and “chickened out” during an earlier attempt, he wrote in a blog.  FNC Reporter Rick Leventhal and FNC Producer Kathleen Foster are on the scene reporting LIVE!

We met up with Richard Walker who was playing basketball at LA Fitness in Bridgeville, PA when a gunman opened fire inside a room filled with women in an exercise class. He carried one woman, who was shot in the leg, to safety.

The 27 year old woman Walker carried lost a lot of blood in the parking lot of LA Fitness before he placed her in an ambulance.

Click here for more info on this tragic story!

Share This

Everyone seems to know the signature drink of the Kentucky Derby is the Mint Julep. But did you know the Belmont Stakes has its own cocktail too?  No? Perhaps that’s because the recipe was too complex.  Last year, while covering the the triple crown race with Correspondent Laura Ingle we had to keep triple checking the ingredients: a shot of this, a jigger of that…
This year it was  pared down to just three ingredients: bourbon, lemonade and pomegranate juice … making the “Breeze” … well, a breeze! Celebrity chef and mixologist John Ashton showed Senior Correspondent Rick Leventhal how to make them on Saturday. It’s pretty much a third of each.  So catch a “Breeze” while relaxing this summer at the racetrack!

Share This

How would you like to send your kid to college for just $1,000 dollars per year? That covers everything – tuition, books, even room and board.  Now, what if I told you the rest of your kid’s costs were paid for by gambling?

That’s PA Governor Ed Rendell’s latest plan for off-setting the high cost of higher education. He says there are up to 20,000 illegal video poker machines operating in bars and social clubs across the state. He wants the state to get a cut of all those $1s and $5s, by legalizing the machines, taking 50 percent of the profits, and putting the money toward education.

Students or parents making less than $100,000 a year would qualify to cash in.

PA State Representative Duane Milne is a political science professor who teaches at West Chester University, one of the state schools that would benefit from the governor’s plan. But Representative Milne plans to vote against the proposal, saying it teaches students that their education goals can be obtained through a “cheap fix”.

Rep Milne would like to see the people of Pennsylvania vote on the proposal in a referendum. But that’s not likely as the Governor hopes to pass the plan in time to help college freshmen starting school in the fall.

What do you think? Is the plan worth betting on?

PS – A special thank you to all my Philly friends and family who tried to help me find those illegal and apparently elusive video poker machines!

Share This

The people of Coatesville, PA are sleeping with one eye open, fearing that at any minute their house could be set on fire. At least one arsonist is on the loose, and it’s most likely one of the town’s own.

There have been 30 arsons in this small city since the beginning of last year. 15 were set in just the past month alone.  At first, the fires started small, mostly in trash cans.  Then sheds started burning.  Then abandoned houses. Now homes filled with sleeping people are going up in flames in the middle of the night. This past weekend a string of 15 row homes was destroyed, leaving dozens of people homeless.

The town is on edge.

People are filled with fear, anxiety and suspicion.  With no known suspects and no recent arrests, everyone is a suspect.  Townspeople are offering to do their own patrols. But because Pennsylvania is a “right-to-carry” state, Coatesville’s Chief of Police doesn’t want any bloody accidents.  He is urging people not to take matters into their own hands.

The most recent fire happened at 6:30 yesterday evening. Photographer Rob Ginnane and I were driving around town taking pictures of people removing flammable furniture from their porches when a firetruck zoomed past us, sirens blaring.

We followed it to Coates Street where we found a young man standing in front of his house. He was clutching a fire extinguisher to his chest, a look of fear in his eyes.  Minutes after coming home last night he heard a blast in his back yard and found his trash can on fire. “I had just seen a show on tv about escaping fires and all I remembered is they said to stay real calm,” he told me.

He put out the fire himself and called 9-1-1.

Everywhere you go people are talking about the fires. Rumors are spreading almost as fast as the flames, and you can almost smell the smoke coming out of the fuming people writing into the editorial page of the local papers. People want the firestarter(s) caught before they can strike again, and want to know why it’s taking police so long to do it.

Share This

Philly Fans Going WILD!

After the Philidelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 2008 World Series last night, many family and friends all began to cry. This is truly a historic night in the city of Brotherly Love!

As fans were cheering in the streets of Philly I was on the Septa on my way home from this exciting event. When the conductors came around they refused to collect tickets from us.  They called it “a free ride in honor of The Phillies!”

GOOO PHILLIESS!!!!

Check back for more exclusive photos and videos from my exciting night in Philly!

Share This

Phillies fans thought they had the World Series in the bag… until Mother Nature stepped in.  Or was it “The Curse of Billy Penn?”

That’s what a lot of Philadelphians like myself are wondering after the World Series was washed out by rain in the 6th inning Monday Night.

You see, when I was growing up in Philly the statue of Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn loomed large over the City of Brotherly Love.  The deal was: “No buildings taller than Billy’s hat.”

It was an unwritten rule that everyone respected…

Until 1987, when One Liberty Place was built. Billy found himself in a shadow and no Philadelphia sports teams have won a championship since: thus the Curse of Billy Penn.

There are now a few buildings dwarfing Billy. But the guys who built the latest, Philadelphia’s tallest, decided to see if they could “reverse the curse” by putting a miniature statue of William Penn at the very top.

Will it work? We’ll see.. Game 5 resumes tonight at Citizens Bank Park. Go Phillies!

Share This

People line up outside a supermarket in Houston, TX. Fearing chaos, the management says it doesn't have enough staff to let everyone in at once.

People running out of food and water wait for hours to be let in to a supermarket, five customers at a time only.

Cars line up at the few working gas stations in Houston.

Share This

The hotel threw lounge chairs in the pool so they wouldn

11:16pm
The winds are the strongest yet, but not yet the strongest expected. That lounge chair in the pool trick we mentioned earlier… Not working! They’re being blown out of the water. We’ve been doing hits every 5 to 10 minutes all night long. We’re running up to a hotel room whenever we can to drop our wet things in a dryer. Not sure why we’re bothering!

7:47pm

Lull over. We’re live on beach. The sand is whipping up and stinging my legs. I bought waterproof pants, but they have somehow disappeared. So I’m wearing shorts.

7:23pm
There’s a lull in the storm now. I can see the horizon again. There’s even a family walking the beach.

6:16
This is my first storm chasing experience. It’s interesting how the bands come and go with different wind speeds. I’m taking shelter inside a hotel for a few minutes. The wind was howling but the suddenly just stopped. A woman here yelped “ooh!”. It’s funny how sudden silence can shock people almost as much as loud noises.

5:56pm
The sky is now a grayish white, you can no longer see the horizon line. The rain is coming down hard. I’m already drenched. My fingers are pruned. And we haven’t seen the worst of Hanna yet.

5:36pm
The wind’s picking up and the surf’s pounding the sand in Myrtle Beach, SC as Tropical Storm Hanna is getting ready to come ashore. Rick’s doing his affiliate liveshots next to a message someone scratched in the sand: “Welcome to MB Hanna”. That pretty much sums up the mood here. Locals and even some tourists are riding out the storm.

Share This

Pretty much anyone at the Aroostook Valley Country Club in northern Maine will tell you: the golf course was built to get around the law.
During prohibition times, a bunch of American and Canadian businessmen figured out that if the clubhouse was *just* over the border, Americans could drink there legally. Of course back then people didn’t worry about border security like we do today, especially when it came to our neighbors to the north. 

But September 11th changed things, even in what would be considered the safest of places.
So, the Canadians who come to play a couple of holes at Aroostook Valley could soon be the latest victims of this unfortunate reality.

Most of these Canadians travel to the golf course via a road that runs from New Brunswick, Canada into Maine. There is no official port of entry there, just a sign telling visitors to report to the nearest port of entry some 6 miles away. Going there they pass right by the golf course. So would you go out of your way just to report to American customs?

Border Patrol sees this road as a huge gaping hole in our nation’s security. The local sector is considering putting up concrete barriers so that people would have to drive to Fort Fairfield, the nearest customs point. Others, including the country club and Maine Senator Susan Collins, have suggested putting a new port of entry on the road that operates only during golf season. That’s what Canada has at this very spot. But building one could cost American taxpayers millions.

So the situation is at a crossroads. Both sides agree they must arrive at a compromise that best protects national security. It’s just a question of getting there. What’s the best way to go?

Share This

I’ve been inside the Celebrity Divorce Court everybody’s talking about. But I had no time to blog. I was too busy typing up some 30 pages of courtroom notes and beaming them back to my colleagues via blackberry. I had my wrists and thumbs on ice all weekend.

But the testimony was so juicy I couldn’t stop typing. It was like watching a Lifetime movie.
A legendary Supermodel marries a handsome cad who turns out to be no Superdad… Christie told of how she thought their life in the idyllic Hamptons was perfect, until the day a stranger shattered her world forever.

Moments after Christie delivered a commencement speech at Southampton High School on Long Island, NY, a man tapped her on the shoulder and whispered “Your b—— of a husband is having an affair with my step daughter. He won’t knock it off. She’s just 19 years old.”

Peter originally tried to deny it all to Christie, but finally ‘fessed up in both public and private. He was the first to take the stand. He told of how he first met and bedded the young Diana Bianchi… How he gave her a job doing odds and ends around his office. He paid her 20 grand for a summer’s worth of work, but would also leave extra cash for her in hiding places. When Diana took the stand, there was much hubbub amongst the press when we realized one of the former lovers was lying.

A couple of Peter and Diana’s stories just didn’t match up. First off, Peter denied giving Diana money for a down payment on her new Nissan Maxima. But she claims he gave her 15,000 dollars cash (that’s on top of that original 20G…). Peter said he left her a few hundred bucks under a rock outside his office. When Diana was asked about this, she said yes she retrieved money from beneath a rock. But that rock was not at his office. It was near the mailbox at the 30 million dollar mansion Peter shared with Christie and the kids.
Christie owns that mansion and is the family breadwinner. The bulk of her money is safe thanks to a pre-nup. So this trial is mainly over custody of their two kids: Sailor, 10, and Jack who is 13. Jack is actually the biological son of Christie’s third husband Richard Taubman. But Peter adopted him shortly after marrying Christie 10 years ago.

Christie is using Peter’s apparent internet porn addiction as a reason not to share custody. As part of his great confession, he gave Christie all of his screen names and passwords for email and adults-only websites. She soon found out Peter was spending up to $3600 dollars a month online. He would pay women to strip for him via web cam. He would sometimes transmit live video images of himself doing things too…(just let your mind wander). And he paid membership fees for sites swingers use to find people to have sex with, “no strings attached”.
Christie says he described himself in his profile as “a fit, very good looking guy”. He also included a naked photo showing off his private parts and a note saying “if you like what you see so far, contact me.” Christie says it’s clear he was trying to meet up with people, but Peter denies that.

The trial starts up again today and could last over a month. At last count Christie was ready to call 44 witnesses and Peter has 20. Stay tuned!

Below is a clip from Friday’s “Live Desk”:

Share This

AAA says this Memorial Day weekend is going to be the most expensive in history, thanks to high gas prices. Regardless, some 37.9 million people will drive more than 50 miles over the next 3 days. Er, make that 37,899,999.

The car I inherited from my grandparents when they died a day apart 3 years ago just broke down on the Garden State Parkway in NJ.

Here’s a shot I took of “Grandma’s Car”, taking a ride on the tow truck.

My grandfather was a mechanic, so the 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix was well maintained. My grandmother worked as a waitress just a few minutes from their house, so the car had only 38 thousand miles on it when it came into my life. Now it seems to be at the end of its life… And I must make a decision. Do I sink more money into it? Or sell the only thing I have left of my grandparents for parts?

Share This

My husband got the call first: go to Boston to cover Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor diagnosis. He was on his way when my call came. Now here we are, in the field, covering the same story for the first time. Our only worry is who’s going to give our diabetic cat his insulin shot. Good thing we don’t have kids yet.

*Update*

10:34pm: In my haste to post this blog, I failed to mention that my husband, Chris Foster, works for Fox News Radio. Special thanks to my better half for pointing this out…

Keep checking back for updates!!

Share This

2:37 pm: The technical side of TV news is largely a man’s world. I know only a couple camerawomen. Kristin is the first female satellite truck operator I have ever met, and one of the finest.

She was set up and ready to go live when I arrived at Massachusetts General Hospital to cover Sen Ted Kennedy’s condition after seizuring yesterday. Kristin was bright eyed and bushy tailed. A good attitude goes a long way, especially at 6 in the morning.

Kristin lives outside Boston and takes special care of her satellite truck, nicknamed “Baked Beanz.” Though cramped quarters, Kristin has given “Beanz” a woman’s touch other trucks certainly lack. She has vanilla ice cream scented air freshener at the ready, a candy dish, and three different packets of gum fastened to the carpeted wall. “Gotta love velcro,” she told me.  She also keeps her cherry chapstick stuck to the wall, too.

Kristin clearly loves her job. At one point today, I caught her reading a text book. Thinking she was taking a class, I asked her what she was studying. She held up a book entitled Satellite Communications. “I want to understand the math behind my trade.  I want to know exactly what’s happening when I point my satellite up in the sky.”  You go, girl!

8:35 am: I was supposed to attend a bachelorette party for one of my best friends last night. Instead, I’m camped outside Massachusetts General Hospital awaiting word on Ted Kennedy’s condition. The Senator was hospitalized yesterday after suffering two seizures.

My plane from NY to Boston was filled with journalists as everyone feared the worst. But last we heard, Kennedy was watching the Red Sox game and eating some take-out from Legal Seafood, a popular Boston restaurant. David Lee Miller and I tried to get a table there last night, but couldn’t. Maybe we should have ordered delivery too.

FNC Correspondent Laura Ingle is on hospital watch — CLICK OVER to read her ‘On the Scene’ blog!

Share This

Uma Thurman didn’t look at her accused stalker when she entered the courtroom. She walked behind him and went straight to the stand.

Dressed all in black, with her hair disheveled, and hardly any makeup, Uma looked like she was having a hard time … but still was strikingly beautiful.

Today, Uma is recounting the past 2+ years since Jack Jordan started contacting her and her family.  She remained composed when she spoke of the bizarre cards and letters she’d received, along with hand drawn pictures of razor blades and graves. But, her voice cracked when she described how some of the letters mentioned her two children (by fellow actor Ethan Hawke).

Just as she did not look at him, Jack Jordan did not look at Uma as she told her story. He stared either straight ahead at a blank wall or down at his hands.

I just came face to face with him outside, while on the lunch break. I was outside one of the entrances, when suddenly he came out, alone. No lawyer in sight. He walked aimlessly among us, eating an apple and wearing what’s become his trademark blue hiker’s backpack that’s stuffed to capacity. I wonder what’s in there and noticed his eyeglasses are taped together at one side.

Jack Jordan answered none of our questions, but someone said he mumbled an obscenity. We followed him to the courthouse door … but within moments he was out again! This time to smoke a cigarette. I asked him why he didn’t look at Uma in court … and he turned his back on me to face the wall and smoke.

I’m now waiting to get back into the courtroom to hear the rest of Uma’s testimony.

Share This

2:18: I’ve always wanted to see the Popemobile. But as the pope passed by to applause and cheers of “Benedicto! Benedicto! Benedicto!” I couldn’t help but feel a little sad. It’s unfortunate that bulletproof glass is a necessary evil for a man who says he’s on a mission to spread peace.

12:35: I grew up going to church every Sunday. Mom and Dad would get the four of us kids dressed up for the 10 a.m. mass. If we were lucky they’d buy us doughnuts from the CYO afterward.

I am not a regular churchgoer now, but the mass is still very familiar to me. There is such uniformity that no matter where in the world you are, if you find yourself in a Catholic mass, you can’t help but feel like you’re home.

It was like that for me today while sitting outside St Patrick’s Cathedral, observing, as part of the media. Audio of the pope saying mass was pumped out through speakers, so I was able to follow along while working.

Throughout it, I heard certain cues and knew when it was time to kneel, stand or make the sign of the cross. But nothing struck me more than when it was time for the sign of peace. I instinctively looked to my left and right to shake someone’s hand and say, “Peace be with you.” I’ve always felt there is something very energizing about that part of the mass, as you hug and kiss your family and shake the hands of any stranger within reach.

I saw that energy in the faces of all the faithful lined up outside of the Cathedral, listening to the mass they know so well … just like me.

8:13 am: Some of us in the media have been here since 3 p.m. yesterday and all through the night, preparing for the pope’s arrival at St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Thousands of people are lined up for blocks to catch a glimpse of the pope — Bill Hemmer and the rest of us crew have a front row seat.

The bishops who will be attending the mass just arrived.

Share This

Driving out to a neighborhood outside Pittsburgh, we knew exactly where we were going. Thanks to Google’s “Street View” photo feature we knew what the fork in the road would look like as we drove up. Thanks to a lawsuit against Google, we knew not to take the road that was clearly less traveled.

Unpaved Oakridge Lane is privately owned. Christine and Aaron Boring say they bought a house on that road to ensure privacy. They were shocked when they found pictures of their home online, taken and posted by Google. So they’re suing the internet giant for more than $25,000, claiming the company trespassed, invaded their privacy, and devalued their home. It is the first such suit of its kind.

Google’s “Street View” Feature works like this: you punch in an address and Google will mark it on a map. In some areas, you can take the map a step further. By clicking on the “Street View” button, a box with a 360 degree view will pop up. I punched in my address. I saw my building in Brooklyn. The picture must have been taken in the summer because my air conditioner was still in the window. Then as if I was standing in the middle of my street turning clockwise, I clicked and dragged the image to see the buildings to the right of mine… Parked cars… The back of car driving down the street… The houses across the street… The 24 hour corner store… And people forever frozen in time, crossing the street.

Google says “Street View” is a great way to get familiar with landmarks before going somewhere. But what if you happen to be caught on camera, doing something you’re not supposed to do, or standing somewhere you’re not supposed to be? In the U.S., it’s perfectly legal to publish photos taken on a public street and “Street View” could certainly help the pizza delivery guy find the right house. But is it worth it?

Share This

Once upon a time, riding the bus was an event. The men wore ties. The ladies wore gloves. For just 10 percent more than the average ticket price, you could cruise in style while being waited on hand and foot. Trailways literally rolled out the red carpet for its luxury passengers. I’m told it was a great way to send Grandma cross country.

But the bus heyday of the 60s and 70s screeched to a halt when Amtrak started chugging and all the cut-rate airlines started flying.

But the bus is making a comeback. Big carriers like Greyhound and Coach USA are taking the big airlines’ leads and starting lower fare subsidiaries. These new companies like Boltbus and Megabus are offering things like more legroom, free WiFi Internet connections and special rates as low as one dollar, one way (if you book REALLY early).

So far no red carpet or galley stocked with drinks and peanuts, but should that be the next stop? Would it make you take the bus?

Share This

“Gather together all your family and friends — anyone who will come — and get them here by 6 a.m.”

Those were my first instructions at FOX News. It was 1996. I was a junior at NYU, and a waitress at the CyberCafe in Soho. “FOX News Sunday” was making its debut, and wanted to use the — then novel — Internet cafe as a gathering place for a live audience to ask the in-studio guests questions via remote. If you caught that first show, that’s my step-uncle nervously asking about the latest in the Clinton vs. Dole race for the White House. And that’s my thumb holding the microphone.

Eleven years later, I’ve done everything from powdering guests to dodging katyushas while working for FOX News Channel. In just the past 3 days alone I’ve listened to a professor describe in detail how he beat his wife to death, interviewed a Boy Scout Troop leader about the organization’s stance on homosexuality, and walked some of the most dangerous streets of Philadelphia with volunteers who are trying to stop the violence. Every day is an adventure.

Share This