SOUTH CAROLINA (LALATE) – MMA fighter Michael Kirkham’s was pronounced dead today, his death leaving questions unanswered. Michael Kirkham’s death is the second to strike the sport of MMA this decade. The first was Sam Vasquez who in 2007 died of head injuries during a Houston fight.

On Monday, Michael Kirkham was declared dead of a brain hemorrhage. Hours before, Kirkham competed in his first MMA fight in Aiken, South Carolina. The fight was reportedly promoted by Dash Entertainment and King MMA and was called the “Confrontation at the Convocation Center”.

Reports say the event was sanctioned by the South Carolina Athletic Commission. Local news is not clear as to what happened during and immediately after Michael’s fight. A local coroner tells MMAFighting  that Michael was unconscious immediately after the fight. Kirkham was from Gaston, S.C.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

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TAMPA CITY (LALATE) – Stephanie Ragusa was sentenced to a decade in prison today. Stephanie Ragusa was denounced by Judge Chet Tharpe during sentencing. Ragusa was found guilty in having relations with two minors in 2008. Her victims were a 14 and 16 year old boys.

Stephanie Ragusa Pictures
Stephanie Ragusa Photo 1
Stephanie Ragusa Photo 2

Judge Tharpe told Ragusa: “You are a teacher and as parents we place our trust in teachers to provide a safe environment in which our children can learn. You violated that trust in the worst imaginable way..” Tharpe called her arrogant.

In April, the District Attorney revealed the abov Stephanie Ragusa tattoo pics for the prosecution’s case.

One boy claimed to had relations with the teacher when he was 14. Prosecutors claimed only 30 days later, Ragusa was at it again, now with a 16 year old. One of the students was her own at Davidsen Middle School.

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MONTGOMERY (LALATE) – News of the vehicular homicide arrest today of Amy Locane (Melrose Place). Amy Locane faces multiple counts for her driving Sunday after drinking wine, an admission she gave investigators. Above is Locane’s mugshot photo.

Amy Locane was best known as Sandy on the original Melrose Place. But on Sunday, Locane said she was drinking wine in Princeton, NJ. From there, the mother of two allegedly rear ended a car in Princeton. For that crash, Locane was charged with third degree assault by auto.

From there, local news is not clear if Amy Locane stopped or just continued on. Locane thereafter crashed again, an event for which she is facing second-degree vehicular homicide. Locane struck a Mercury Milan entering a driveway. In the car was Fred and Helen Seeman. Helen was dead instantly, Fred is now in critical condition.

The star also of “Cry-Baby” and “Airheads,” faces over a decade in prison if found guilty. Locane is married to a liquor store owner.

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SAN FRANCISCO (LALATE) – A controversy over the iPhone Death Grip is very much real. The iPhone Death Grip, a name sounding like a Weekend Update creation on Saturday Night Live, is actually prompting Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to issue official explanations Monday how gripping its new 4G phone can cause problems.

Yet analysts aren’t so sure. Some contend they aren’t so convinced that the problem is about a hand grip. Some users are reporting the same problem when installing iOS4 on iPhone 3G and 3G2.

But while the net is still trying to get a grip of the Death Grip problem, Nokia is responding as well. Apple says the week the following: “Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone.

“If you ever experience this on your Phone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.”

Nokia’s response is that their phone can be held any which way you so pleasure. To prove their point, and make a joke of the situation, Nokia offers 4 get-a-grib situations in statements today.

Nokia jokes: “The key function on any Nokia device is its ability to make phone calls. After all, that’s why we know them universally as mobile phones… One of the main things we’ve found about the 1 billion plus Nokia devices that are in use today is that when making a phone call, people generally tend to hold their phone like a… well, like a phone. Providing a wide range of methods and grips for people to hold their phones, without interfering with the antennae, has been an essential feature of every device Nokia has built.”

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TAMAULIPAS (LALATE) – National officials continue to denounce the assassination of Rodolfo Torre Cantu. The Rodolfo Torre Cantu assassination will not stop his party’s hope to bring peace to the region, said an official midday Monday.

Rodolfo Torre Cantu was murdered 10:30 AM today in a violent attack near Soto La Marina. Torre was heading to an event near the state capital Ciudad Victoria. PRI party leader Beatriz Paredes denounced the attack “We firmly demand a rapid investigation of these events … and punishment for those responsible. Nothing is going to intimidate us.”

Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont said cartel wars were behind the death today. “These events reinforce the need to combat organized crime on all fronts”.

Torre was murdered in a manner similar to that of Sergio Vega, El Shaka, on Saturday. Just last month, PAN’s Jose Guajardo Varela, seeks a bid for mayor of Valle Hermoso, was also murdered. As violence continues to spread in Mexico, Torre is the highest-ranked candidate for a Mexican office to be murdered since the 1994 killing of PRI’s Luis Donaldo Colosio.

For continuing coverage of the murder of Rodolfo Torre Cantu, mas noticias del asesinato de Torre Cantú, click here: http://news.lalate.com/category/mexico.

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