Prosecutor: Drew Peterson Ordered My Hit

Prosecutor: Drew Peterson Ordered My Hit

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PM EDITION 9 Feb     1   BAD CALL Prosecutor: Drew Peterson Ordered My Hit Drew Peterson, who is serving a 38-year sentence for killing his third wife and is suspected in his fourth wife's disappearance, is now charged with trying to kill an Illinois prosecutor. Peterson faces two felony counts after allegedly attempting to hire a hit man to take out Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow. The murder-for-hire charge he's facing carries a mandatory sentence of 20 years. READ IT AT Chicago Sun-Times           2   ON THE DEFENSIVE Brian Williams Blames Fear for Mistake In the first full interview after it was revealed that Brian Williams misreported his involvement in an Iraq fire fight, the NBC anchor explained that his faulty memories stemmed from being afraid during his "first engagement of the war." "It was like landing on the surface of the moon," he told Stars and Stripes on February 4. "And I'm going to have a far different recollection than the professionals." He added: "All I knew is we had been fired upon." Williams also expressed frustration that the controversy could overshadow the Army unit he was with.  READ IT AT Stars and Stripes           READ MORE What Chopper Whopper Says About the News      BY Jeff Greenfield After BriWi: No One Left to Trust       BY Joe Randazzo     3   STOP Justice Halts Alabama Gay Marriages Just hours before same-sex weddings were set to begin in the heart of Dixie, Alabama Chief Justice Roy S. Moore ordered the state's probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. In the order, Moore instructed officials not to "issue or recognize a marriage license that is inconsistent" with the state constitution or state law. Bibb County Probate Judge Jerry Pow said he would not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because "I don't know whether I want to defy the chief justice of the state supreme court or a federal judge." However, certain judges have refused to follow Moore's orders and have begun issuing marriage licenses. As of 8:30 a.m. local time, marriages began in Jefferson County. (The U.S. Supreme Court also said it would not block gay marriages in Alabama.) This isn't Moore's first national act of defiance. Moore made headlines in the early 2000s with his refusal to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a judicial building, a fight he lost.  READ IT AT AL.com           READ MORE Is Alabama's Anti-Gay Judge Right?      BY Jay Michaelson Why Lance Bass's Big Gay Wedding Matters      BY Kevin Fallon     4   LETHAL FORCE Obama: U.S. Might Arm Ukraine The United State may provide Ukraine with lethal arms if the conflict there can't be resolved with diplomacy. President Obama said Monday that he may arm the Ukrainian military to "bolster its defenses," even though such a move could create a rift between the U.S. and European countries like Germany, which strongly opposes sending arms. "It is true that, if in fact diplomacy fails, what I've asked my team to do is to look at all options," Obama said. "And the possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that is being examined, but I have not made a decision on that yet." Europe has approved more sanctions against Russia that will go into effect next week. READ IT AT BBC News           READ MORE The Next Big Battle of the Ukraine War      BY Anna Nemtsova Inside Ukraine's Shock-Trauma Wards      BY David Patrikarakos     5   HOOKED 'Better Call Saul' Breaks Cable Record The premiere of Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul was the highest-rated series debut in cable TV history. Some 6.9 million people watched Sunday night, right after the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead. What's more, Saul scored big with the 4.4 million viewers in the 18-49 age range. The two back-to-back shows may have drawn viewers away from the Grammys, which had its lowest ratings in six years. READ IT AT EW           READ MORE Better Call Saul's Dark Comic Brilliance      BY Marlow Stern The Real Life Sauls You'd Better Call      BY William Boot     6   OY VEY Netanyahu Says He Won't Ditch Congress Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is determined to continue with plans for an upcoming speech to Congress, despite criticism he has received both at home and abroad. Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint meeting of Congress on March 3, after receiving an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner. Speaking on Monday, he said it is his duty to prevent Iran's nuclear program from moving forward and called it "an existential issue." Israeli officials previously said Netanyahu may speak in a closed-door session or at the annual AIPAC conference as an alternative. The White House has criticized the visit, and Vice President Joe Biden said he would not attend the speech. READ IT AT Haaretz           READ MORE How Will Obama Punish Netanyahu?      BY Michael Tomasky Bibi, Boehner Team Up Against Obama      BY Aaron David Miller     7   SHADY SWISS HSBC Helped Wealthy Clients Dodge Taxes The private Swiss banking arm of HSBC helped some of its wealthiest clients hide billions of dollars in assets and evade taxes, according to newly leaked files. HSBC provided bank accounts to international criminals and corrupt businessmen and helped their clients conceal undeclared "black" accounts from their national tax authorities, the files show. HSBC also regularly let its wealthiest clients withdraw bricks of cash in foreign currencies. The files, which were pored over by international news outlets, including the Guardian, BBC, and Le Monde, covered 2005-2007. During that time, HSBC made these questionable services available to some 30,000 clients, affecting $120 billion in assets. READ IT AT The Guardian           8   UNVACCINATED CDC Tallies 121 Measles Cases The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tracked the current measles outbreak and found that 121 people were afflicted by the disease between January 1 to February 6 of this year. The CDC says it is traced to the outbreak that began at Disneyland and found that the majority of those who got it were unvaccinated. Last year, there were 23 measles outbreaks, with a total of 644 cases, most occurring within the Amish communities in Ohio. READ IT AT CDC           READ MORE What Psychology Says About Anti-Vaxxers      BY Jean Twenge D.C.'s Bipartisan Vaccines Infection      BY Ben Jacobs     9   NOW YOU TELL US Founder: Groupon Was a 'Stupid' Idea The founder of Groupon now says it was a "stupid, boring idea that just happened to resonate." Andrew Mason was kicked out of Groupon in 2013 after transforming an online company devoted to social services into the discount service site in 2008. Under his watch, Groupon was valued as high as $13 billion in 2011, but the company plummeted in value and its stock fell more than 80 percent below its IPO. Mason says he isn't bitter about how things worked out with Groupon; he just doesn't seem to care. "I Google it from time to time, but I have moved on," he said. READ IT AT Seattle Times           10   CHEAP IS CHEAP Airbnb Forces Down NYC Hotel Prices Airbnb seems to be driving down the cost of some hotels in New York City, according to Credit Suisse analysts. The prices of hotel rooms have dropped thanks to bad weather (keeping tourists away), a weaker euro (keeping continental tourists away), and competition between Airbnb and small boutique hotels. "With as many as 10,000 units or more available at a time, we can see that on the margin this excess capacity can place pressure on a number of hotel locations that rely on leisure demand for those with an appetite for value/adventure," Credit Suisse wrote in a report. In January, revenue-per-room in New York hotels declined 18.6 percent over the previous January. READ IT AT Chicago Sun-Times           READ MORE Why Do 'Progressives' Want to Ban Uber?      BY Adam Thierer and Christopher Koopman Uber and Airbnb Leave Disabled Behind      BY Elizabeth Heideman   KEEP CHEATING   MORE FROM THE BEAST Germany: Firebombing Jews Is 'Protest' BY James Kirchick   The Next Big Battle of the Ukraine War BY Anna Nemtsova   Kanye West Blasts Beck's Grammys Win BY Marlow Stern   Christie Has Scandals. This Isn't One. 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