SARAH PALIN LAUNCHES ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION CHANNEL: NEW YORK (AP) — Sarah Palin has started her own subscription-based online network.
The Sarah Palin Channel, which went live on Sunday, bills itself as a “direct connection” for the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate with her supporters, with “no need to please the powers-that-be,” Palin says in a video mission statement on her channel’s home page.
“Are you tired of the media filters?” she asks. “Well, I am. I always have been. So we’re gonna do something about it.”
“We’ll talk about the issues that the mainstream media won’t talk about,” she adds.
Palin says she oversees all content posted to the channel. This will include her own political commentary. Other features for subscribers include the ability to submit questions to Palin and participate with her in online video chats.
Membership is set at $9.95 per month or $99.95 for a year.
Palin remains active elsewhere as a Fox News Channel contributor and reality-TV personality.
The Sarah Palin Channel is part of the TAPP video platform, which launched earlier this year.
CONNECTICUT MAN ACCUSED OF SHOOTING PET TURTLE: STONINGTON, Conn. (AP) — Authorities say a Connecticut man shot to death his girlfriend’s pet turtle.
Sgt. Louis Diamanti, Stonington’s animal control officer, says 31-year-old Steven Richard used a BB gun rifle to shoot the turtle in the head Friday night outside a home.
Police had responded after a neighbor reported an argument between Richard and the woman who lives in the house. They discovered the dead turtle in the yard.
Police say Richard did not explain why he shot the pet. A phone listed for Richard had been disconnected Monday. He was released on a promise to appear Aug. 4 in court on a charge of cruelty to animals.
Diamanti says he does not know what type of turtle it was.
STRIP CLUB ENDORSES DEMOCRATIC PASTOR FOR CONGRESS: PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona strip club has endorsed a Democratic candidate for Congress. And the candidate, the Rev. Jarrett Maupin, says he’s happy to have the support of The Great Alaskan Bush Company of Phoenix.
The Arizona Republic reports (http://goo.gl/HPFDpw) the strip club recently announced its endorsement on a sign that reads: “Jarrett Maupin for Congress ‘The Rev.’”
Maupin, who calls himself a member of the Progressive Christian Coalition, says employees voted to back him because he supports affordable student loans and all-day kindergarten.
Maupin is running in a close race for the 7th District seat against three other Democrats to replace retiring longtime Rep. Ed Pastor.
But he can’t vote for himself because he was convicted in 2009 of lying to the FBI in a case involving then-Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.
THE SITUATION AGREES TO ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES: MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (AP) — The Situation will be getting lessons in anger management.
Former “Jersey Shore” star Michael Sorrentino, better known as The Situation, has agreed to take the classes as part of a deal to resolve simple assault charges he faced following a July 15 fight with his brother at their family’s tanning salon in Middletown Township.
A municipal court judge Monday accepted the deal and adjourned the matter for three months. If Sorrentino successfully completes the counseling program, the charge against him could be downgraded.
Sorrentino’s family — including his brother — attended the court hearing. The family owned Boca Tanning Club is the setting for a new reality show about them.
The cast members of the MTV reality show “Jersey Shore,” filmed in Seaside Heights, were known for their love of tanning and the motto GTL, or gym, tan, laundry. They also were known for a rowdy, partying lifestyle that resulted in some cast members getting in fights and some facing legal troubles related to alcohol use.
EXPERT TESTIFIES IN WISCONSIN BABY KIDNAPPING CASE: MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An FBI expert testifying in the trial of a Colorado woman accused of kidnapping her newborn nephew in Wisconsin and abandoning him in freezing temperatures says visits to fake pregnancy belly websites were found on computers seized from the woman’s home.
Testimony began Monday in the federal kidnapping trial of Kristen Smith, of Aurora, Colorado.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports FBI forensic computer examiner Kelly Kolecheck testified that other websites visited by Smith’s computer offered advice on how to get a birth certificate for a newborn and how to breastfeed an adopted baby.
Prosecutors argue that Smith kidnapped days-old Kayden Powell from the Town of Beloit home where his parents were staying in February. The baby was later found alive in a tote behind a gas station in Iowa.
ALABAMA MAN ACCUSED OF LIGHTING EX ON FIRE: MIDFIELD, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man has been accused of dousing his ex-girlfriend in gasoline and lighting her on fire.
Jefferson County sheriff’s spokesman Randy Christian says 48-year-old Michael Kennedy was arrested Monday afternoon on charges of domestic violence and attempted murder.
Investigators have said Kennedy had been dating the 49-year-old woman, who recently ended their relationship. Sgt. Jack Self said witnesses told investigators Kennedy returned to the woman’s house in Birmingham on Sunday morning and lit her on fire after an argument.
Authorities have said the woman suffered burns to her head, arms, upper body and legs, and is hospitalized in serious condition.
