The Daily Blog

Jun 4

Ciara Ditches Clothing, Has ‘New Obsession’ With Nudity.

Even though she has been outfitted by some of the world’s top designers, Ciara would rather rock her birthday suit.

The Atlanta native revealed in a new interview that the moments when she feels most comfortable is when she’s in the nude. “I feel the sexiest when I’m by myself, walking around nude,” she told Us Magazine. “I have this new obsession with nudity, it’s really weird. It may sound weird, but I just really love embracing the body.”

The 25-year-old keeps her body in shape by working out fives times a week with celebrity trainer Gunner Peterson, and eating what she calls “clean” foods. Despite her slender physique, the singer explained that her goal is to maintain a healthy body type, versus being skinny. “I can lose weight easily and I don’t like to do that,” she revealed. “I’m not trying to lose and get small. I just want to keep shape and I just want to focus on abs and glutes. I would never advise somebody to be so strict to where you don’t enjoy yourself.”
These days Ciara’s music career is facing a new direction, since asking to be released from a contract with her label Jive Records in February, following the disappointing sales of her last album ‘Basic Instinct.’ Unlike her previous releases, the project failed to crack the top 5 of the Billboard album charts, only peaking at No. 44.

Jun 2

Delta Flight 2284 From Pittsburgh Evacuated After Landing At Atlanta Airport.

ATLANTA — The landing gear of a Delta Air Lines jet apparently caught fire during a rough landing Saturday afternoon at Atlanta’s main airport, but the flight’s approximately 50 passengers and crew were evacuated safely, authorities said.

Four people suffered minor injuries that did not require hospitalization, Atlanta city fire officials said. Passengers were evacuated through the rear stairs. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire with foam spray.

There were conflicting accounts as to what caused the trouble for Delta flight 2284 from Pittsburgh, which landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at around 4:18 p.m.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Kathleen Bergen said the MD-88 jet suffered either a blown tire, a locked-up brake or perhaps both, which caused a fire.

Fire officials initially said the fire was in the plane’s right engine, then said it was actually in landing gear toward the back of the plane. Crews had the blaze extinguished less than a minute after they arrived, Atlanta Fire Department Capt. Jolyon Bundrige said.

Delta spokeswoman Leslie Parker said late Saturday afternoon that she did not know if there was a fire on the plane and attributed the problem to an overheated brake. She was unaware of any injuries. The passengers on the plane were transported by bus to the airport terminal.

“There was obviously smoke,” Parker said. “The plane will be taken out of service and evaluated by maintenance and they’ll be able to determine exactly what happened.”

The damaged plane was taken off the runway and did not cause flight delays, airport spokesman John Kennedy said.

Apr 9

Allen Iverson goes off on police officer during traffic stop.

Allen Iverson verbally ripped into a police officer while sitting in the passenger seat during a traffic stop in Atlanta on March 30, according to a police report obtained by CNN.

Iverson was in a grey Lamborghini being driven by Antwuan Clisby when the car was pulled over for changing lanes without signaling. Clisby did not have papers for the car, but when the driver told a police officer that Iverson had needed to leave to eat dinner, the officer said that no one would be able to leave until the investigation had been completed.

“I’m the (expletive) passenger,” Iverson said, according to the report.

The car was found to have expired tags, meaning the car would be towed.

“Take the vehicle, I have 10 more,” Iverson said. “Police don’t have anything else (expletive) to do except (expletive) with me.

“Do you know who I am?” Iverson added.

Clisby was eventually cited for failure to signal while changing lanes as well as the expired tag. According to the report, Iverson “went on and on about who he was,” finally adding “I make more money than you will in 10 years.”

Iverson was unable to latch on to an NBA team for this season and spent a short run with Besiktas in Turkey.

Feb 28

Toddler Trapped in Georgia Bank Vault for Hours.

A 14-month-old girl who wandered away from her mom at a suburban Atlanta bank was accidentally locked inside a vault, where she remained trapped for several hours, police said.

Rescue workers pumped fresh air into the vault’s vents at the Wells Fargo branch in Conyers, and a professional safecracker managed to open it Friday evening with the aid of “a very large drill,” Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson told reporters.He described it as a “very tense scene.”

The little girl was with her mother and grandmother, who works at the bank, at closing time, Wilson said. She apparently wandered away and went into the vault. It was unclear whether the vault automatically shut behind her or if an employee closed it, not realizing someone was inside.

Because the vault was on a timer-release, it would have remained locked for the night, Wilson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Paramedics and firefighters were unable to open it and called in the specialist, who received a high-speed police escort to the bank. “Other than a child being in there, it was a routine job,” safe technician Ron Snively told WXIA-TV.The child was spotted on security cameras and could be heard crying during the rescue. “The toddler was safe the whole time,” Wells Fargo spokesman Jay Lawrence told WSBT TV.

She was reunited with her mom after about four hours. “That was one of the better moments I’ve ever witnessed,” Wilson said.

The toddler was unharmed, the chief added, but did need a fresh diaper.

Feb 14

Father Charged in Slaying of Two Sons Near Atlanta.

ATLANTA — A man who blamed his children’s fatal stabbings this week on their mother’s boyfriend was charged on Saturday with killing the two boys and wounding another. Police in suburban Atlanta also dropped murder charges that had been brought against the boyfriend.

Gwinnett County police had found the father, Elvis Noe-Garcia, with stab wounds Wednesday outside the house near Lawrenceville where the dead boys were. The 23-year-old Noe-Garcia was not married to their mother and was involved in a dispute with her over custody of the children.

Police arrested Noe-Garcia Saturday morning and charged him with two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. Police did not know whether he had a lawyer.

Three-year-old Bradley Garcia and 1-year-old Edward Garcia were found stabbed to death in the home. Bradley’s twin brother was hospitalized with stab wounds.

Police arrested 28-year-old Antonio Cardenas-Rico shortly after the attack and charged him with murder and assault, based on Noe-Garcia’s accusations. But they quickly noticed discrepancies between Noe-Garcia’s statement, the evidence and Cardenas-Rico’s alibi.

After spending hours recreating the scene, examining the evidence and re-interviewing witnesses, police arrested Noe-Garcia.

Authorities have dropped the murder and assault charges against Cardenas-Rico, but he remains in custody on a charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.Both Noe-Garcia and Cardenas-Rico are believed to be in the country illegally, police spokesman Cpl. Jake Smith said.

Cardenas-Rico’s court-appointed lawyer Matt Crosby said Saturday that he doesn’t believe police acted hastily in arresting his client.

“I think the Gwinnett County police acted appropriately with the information they had at the time,” he said, adding that he was grateful to police and to Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter for acting quickly on information his client provided.

Police have said the children’s mother and an older sister weren’t home at the time of the attack and were later found unhurt.

Jan 8

Authorities in Georgia have arrested the supervisor of the wife of a slain Atlanta businessman in connection with his killing outside a preschool, adding another twist to a case that has police still searching for a motive.

Hemy Zvi Neuman, 46, was arrested late Tuesday on charges of felony murder in the November slaying of Russell “Rusty” Sneiderman, 36, of Dunwoody.

Neuman made his initial court appearance Wednesday in the Magistrate Court of DeKalb County. He was not required to enter a plea and was ordered held without bond in the county jail. His next court appearance has been scheduled for Feb. 8.
An employee of General Electric Energy in Atlanta, Neuman was reportedly the supervisor of Sneiderman’s wife, Andrea Sneiderman, but their exact relationship remains unclear. Contacted by various news agencies, authorities have declined to comment. Calls to the Dunwoody Police Department by AOL News were not immediately returned.

While a connection between the accused and the victim has allegedly been established, a motive remains elusive. The accused’s background does not suggest he has ever been involved in any prior criminal activity, and he appears to have lived a very successful life as a businessman and father of three.According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Neuman, a native of Israel, immigrated to the United States in 1980, following graduation from Hadassim, one of the largest residential schools in Israel. Neuman settled in the Atlanta area and enrolled at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied engineering and graduated with honors in 1984.

Following graduation, Neuman worked for Lockheed Martin until 1999, when he went to work for General Electric. Neuman owns a home in the upscale community of East Cobb, the Journal-Constitution reported.

Sneiderman was also a successful businessman and the father of two with an MBA from Harvard. He had worked as a financial consultant for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Atlanta before becoming the CEO of a Georgia-based daycare network called Discovery Point.

On Nov. 18, according to police, Sneiderman was gunned down outside his son’s preschool in broad daylight. The homicide was a “cold and calculated” slaying, police said.

Sneiderman had just dropped off his 2-year-old son, Ian, at Dunwoody Prep Preschool in suburban Atlanta when a man came up from behind and shot him four times at point-blank range, then fled in a silver minivan with no license plates, authorities said. Sneiderman died at the scene.The manner of the homicide suggested it was not a random act of violence but rather a professional hit, police said. The revelation shocked members of the affluent community where the crime occurred.

Neither the gun used in Sneiderman’s homicide nor the getaway vehicle the perpetrator used have been located. What led to police to Neuman remains a mystery.

Authorities remain unusually tight-lipped about the case. An explanation could lie within a statement made to the Journal-Constitution, in which police reportedly said additional arrests might be forthcoming.

“There’s still a lot of questions that we need answered,” Sneiderman’s brother, Steven Sneiderman, told The Associated Press. “But we’re grateful for the hard work of the Dunwoody Police Department, and we look forward to seeing this case through to a conclusion.”

Nov 5

$Gucci Mane just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. The rapper was arrested in Atlanta today for a slew of infractions including driving on the wrong side of the road, driving without a license, damage to government property, obstruction, and running a red light or stop sign. According to Atlanta Police Department spokesperson, Curtis Davenport, Gucci, born Radric Davis, had to be pepper sprayed in order for police to arrest him. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, and will later be transported to Fulton County Jail. This latest arrest only adds to the list of legal issues Gucci can’t seem to stay away from. In May he was released from Fulton County Jail, after serving six months on a parole violation charge. Upon his release he vowed to make a positive change, and focus on his career goals. “I have made some mistakes in my life that have hurt a lot of people who care about me. I have worked very hard to get past them, but those mistakes have brought me to where I am today, and they will not be repeated,” he told reporters in a prepared statement. “These past six months have been a difficult time, but fortunately I have learned a great deal from my experience. I was able to do a great deal of soul searching; I am coming out with a new attitude towards life.”The 30-year-old was also said to be seeking treatment for cocaine addiction in the Southern Regional Psychiatric Center in Roswell, Ga.$

Gucci Mane just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. The rapper was arrested in Atlanta today for a slew of infractions including driving on the wrong side of the road, driving without a license, damage to government property, obstruction, and running a red light or stop sign. According to Atlanta Police Department spokesperson, Curtis Davenport, Gucci, born Radric Davis, had to be pepper sprayed in order for police to arrest him. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, and will later be transported to Fulton County Jail.

This latest arrest only adds to the list of legal issues Gucci can’t seem to stay away from. In May he was released from Fulton County Jail, after serving six months on a parole violation charge. Upon his release he vowed to make a positive change, and focus on his career goals. “I have made some mistakes in my life that have hurt a lot of people who care about me. I have worked very hard to get past them, but those mistakes have brought me to where I am today, and they will not be repeated,” he told reporters in a prepared statement. “These past six months have been a difficult time, but fortunately I have learned a great deal from my experience. I was able to do a great deal of soul searching; I am coming out with a new attitude towards life.”

The 30-year-old was also said to be seeking treatment for cocaine addiction in the Southern Regional Psychiatric Center in Roswell, Ga.

Oct 14

While he awaits the verdict of his own fate, T.I. helped change someone else’s life saving a man from committing suicide Wednesday (October 13).

According to reports, a young man was attempting to jump off of a building but Tip talked him back down to safety. The man, contemplated jumping to his death from the 22-story Colony Square building, located in midtown Atlanta, before Tip saved the day. After hearing of the situation on local radio station V-103, the Grand Hustle labelhead called into station to see if there was anything he could do. Tip, who was on his way to a video shoot, then headed over to the scene, where he met with authorities and recoded a heartfelt video message for the jumper. “Nothing is that bad,” Tip said, according to TMZ. “Nothing in life is worth taking your life. I’m here to help you. Please come down to talk to me.” Later in the day he explained what drove him to try and save the man’s life. “Something in me just said, ‘man you gotta try and help. You gotta do whatever you can,’ “he said.

Authorities praised T.I.’s assistance in helping the man, whom he reportedly spoke with just before he was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. “He didn’t have to stop. He could’ve kept on going about his business,” said Atlanta Police Department Officer James Polite. “We’re happy it ended the way it did, and we thank him.” Ironically, just as he completed one good deed, Tip will find himself on the opposite side of the law, when he appears in a federal courtroom later this week.

The Grammy nominated rapper will plead for his freedom after violating the terms of his probation in September, when he was found to be in possession of ecstasy, just a few months after completing a prison sentence on a federal weapons charge. T.I. is scheduled to appear in court Friday October 15.

Oct 4

The 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards took place last night in Atlanta, and MTV News reports that Nicki Minaj continued her hot streak by picking up three trophies: Rookie of the Year, People’s Champ and the Made You Look award, bestowed for her unforgettable fashions.

“I’m paving the way for girls,” she said. “I wanna thank all the girls of hip-hop.”

Although he was absent from the ceremony, Jay-Z also picked up three awards: Best Live Performer, Perfect Combo (for his Alicia Keys duet “Empire State of Mind”), CD of the Year (for ‘The Blueprint 3’).

The ladies of Salt-N-Pepa were recipients of the I Am Hip-Hop Award.

The show opened with Rick Ross (who won two trophies during the evening), along with Diddy and DJ Khaled, performing his hit “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast).” As the stars segued into “MC Hammer,” the rapping led up to an appearance from MC Hammer himself — who performed his classic “2 Legit 2 Quit.”
B.o.B., Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey, Big Boi, Yelawolf, Soulja Boy Tell’em, J. Cole, Cali Swag District, Digital Underground, Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame were among the other performers.

Oct 1

Pastor’s Ex-Wife Charged Abuse in Divorce Papers.

The ex-wife of the Atlanta megachurch leader accused of coercing young men into having sex with him claimed in divorce papers that the pastor was physically abusive.

Bishop Eddie Long’s ex-wife, Dabara Houston, said she was 7½ months pregnant when Long beat her with his fists. She accused her husband of having a “vicious and violent temper,” according to a 1985 divorce filing obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Long and Houston married in 1981 and have one child, a son. They divorced in 1985. Houston said she endured “cruel treatment” and “had to flee [the couple’s home] in order to ensure their safety,” according to the court papers from Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia.

Craig Gillen, an attorney for Long, did not immediately respond to a request for comment today. But he told the Journal-Constitution that it was “disappointing” that the media would focus on a divorce proceeding that happened so long ago. “The allegations of a divorce pleading that is nearly 30 years old are absolutely ‘not true,’ ” he told the paper. “It’s offensive and disappointing that the media would drag up these outrageous allegations and make them a part of their reporting.”Houston could not be reached for comment. Her brother, Lonnie Houston, told ABC that his sister “stays pretty much to herself” and said he didn’t know anything about her claims of abuse. “That’s been a long time ago,” he said. “[Long] was a fine fellow.”

Four men in Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church have filed civil lawsuits against the prominent pastor accusing him of using cash and cars to seduce them into sexual relationships with him as teenagers.

Long has denied the claims through surrogates and has publicly vowed to fight the charges against him