Ex-Playboy model, son die in hotel fall
NEW YORK -- A former Playboy centerfold involved in a custody battle is believed to have jumped with her 7-year-old son to their deaths from the 25th floor of a Manhattan hotel, law enforcement officials said Friday.
Stephanie Adams and her son Vincent fell 23 floors and were found on a second-floor balcony at about 8:15 a.m. Friday in the rear courtyard of the Gotham Hotel.
They had checked into the hotel's penthouse suite at about 6 p.m. Thursday, officials said, just hours after she told the New York Post that her husband and his lawyer were blocking her from taking her son away on vacation.
The law enforcement officials said the 46-year-old Adams, who first posed for Playboy in 1992, was involved in a custody dispute over Vincent with her estranged husband, a Manhattan chiropractor named Charles Nicolai. They said police had been called to their home several times in the past few months.
Adams and Nicolai had been in "a very tough custody case," said Raoul Felder, a divorce lawyer who represented her for a time. The standoff was contentious enough that the former couple handed off their son to each other at a police precinct, an arrangement that's unusual but not unheard of, Felder said.
Texas police look for links in 2 bombs
BEAUMONT, Texas -- Police in Beaumont say two explosive devices recently discovered in the city appear to be linked, and investigators are working to ensure the incidents don't "mirror the recent events of Austin."
On Friday, officials said in a statement that they're trying to determine if those responsible for the Beaumont devices may have had a "vendetta against specific members of our community."
A device exploded May 10 outside an Episcopal church, shattering windows and causing other damage. No one was hurt.
Another device that didn't detonate was found April 26 outside a Starbucks.
The incidents follow a series of package bombs that exploded in the Austin area over a three-week period, killing two people and severely wounding four others. The suspect used one of his own devices to blow himself up as authorities approached March 21.
Shooting wounds 2 people in church lot
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two people, including a young man celebrating his high school graduation, were shot and wounded when a fight broke into gunfire in the parking lot of a suburban Kansas City megachurch.
Police Capt. Brad Robbins said the shooting happened Thursday night as hundreds of people were leaving the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. The church had just hosted a graduation ceremony for students of the Center High School in Kansas City, Mo.
Robbins described the injured graduate as an innocent bystander in the shooting. Church of the Resurrection Pastor Adam Hamilton said on Facebook that the young man was shot in the shoulder.
The other victim was wounded inside a vehicle. Robbins said he didn't know if that victim was also a graduate.
Both shooting victims were treated at a hospital and released, Robbins said.
No arrests have been reported.
Robbins said the melee started with a physical fight. He said more than a dozen shell casings were found at the scene but that no information was available on the weapon or weapons used.
California Assembly disciplines official
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Cristina Garcia, a Democratic California assemblyman once known for her leading role in the #MeToo movement, will be removed from all of her committee duties amid accusations that she sexually harassed former staff members.
An Assembly investigation, which concluded Thursday, was unable to corroborate allegations that Garcia groped a former legislative staff member during an Assembly softball game in 2014. However, the probe found that Garcia used vulgar language, in violation of the Assembly's sexual harassment policy, in addition to disparaging other members of the legislature and using staff for personal services, Garcia said in a news release.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Democrat, confirmed the investigation's findings and said he is removing Garcia from all committee memberships and requiring her to undergo sensitivity training, counseling sessions and individual training on the Assembly's sexual harassment and violence prevention policy.
A Section on 05/19/2018