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Uncle of dead Vermont girl facing kidnapping charges

(CNN) — The uncle of a 12-year-old Vermont girl whose body was found Wednesday will face federal kidnapping charges, a federal prosecutor said Thursday.

An autopsy was taking place Thursday on the body of Brooke Bennett, and the suspect, Michael Jacques, could face further charges if the death is ruled a homicide, U.S. Attorney Thomas Anderson said.

A kidnapping that results in a death is potentially a capital crime, Anderson said, and the suspect could face execution or life in prison even without being charged in the killing of his niece.

Jacques was arrested Sunday on a charge of sexually assaulting another young girl, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont.

Ray Gagnon, Brooke’s former stepfather, has been charged with sexually assaulting the same child. Gagnon also faces a federal obstruction of justice charge and is due in court Monday. Watch authorities announce the charges

Brooke’s body was found in a fresh grave off a road in Randolph, a town about 60 miles southeast of Burlington, a week after she disappeared.

It appears to be foul play, Col. James Baker, director of the Vermont State Police, said Wednesday.

Information gathered in a search of Jacques’ home led police to the grave site, Baker said, but he provided no details.

The girl Jacques is accused of assaulting told detectives that he had been having sex with her since she was 9, according to the affidavit. She also told investigators she had a sexual encounter with Gagnon in June 2007, the affidavit said.

The girl recounted how when she was 9 she found a note under her pillow that said she had been chosen to be in a program for sex called Breckenridge, the affidavit said. She was told that her trainer was Jacques. She told authorities that to graduate she had to attain a 75 percent on how you perform.

According to the affidavit, the girl said Jacques picked Brooke up on June 25 and told her they would be going to a party. The girl told police she understood Brooke would be taken into the ‘Breckenridge’ program that day, and that she would have sex with adult males.

The girl said that she, Brooke and Jacques then went to Jacques’ home, where the two girls watched television until the man asked Brooke to come upstairs with him. The girl said she never saw Brooke again and that Jacques ordered her to lie about what happened that day, according to the affidavit.

Asked Thursday if a ring of child abusers is at large, Anderson said he did not believe there was a continuing danger to the public.

Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell added, There’s nothing from this investigation that’s been turned up, nor otherwise are federal and state authorities aware of any ongoing efforts to recruit young girls or boys here in Vermont to have sex with adults.

In court papers, federal agents said Gagnon, 40, of San Antonio, Texas, admitted he had sex with the second girl and keeps child pornography on his computer.

Jacques told state police that Brooke’s computer postings indicated that she planned to run off with someone she met online, and he showed detectives a message he said supported that belief, according to the affidavit.

found here.

Your personal ad photo — don’t do this

(The Frisky) — As any savvy online dater knows, you can spend hours crafting the perfect combination of wit, sophistication, and charm, but all your pretty words won’t mean squat if your photo reeks.

That’s not to say that you need to be a ringer for Angelina or J. Lo to get any play (though obviously that wouldn’t be a hindrance), but you do need to have a photo that shows you in the best possible light without it being a completely misleading deception. Here’s what not to do:

No matter how tempting, resist the urge to include small fuzzy animals or babies. While kittens and cooing infants are almost universally accepted as adorable, you do not want your plea for love to look like an outtake from CuteOverload.com. Not to mention, you will be alienating the large segment of the population who are allergic to cats and/or children.

See also: Mysterious + sexy = date bait. Warm + fuzzy = smelly old pair of slippers nobody wants to wear.

Along with children and animals, including other humans in your profile pic is a no-win. If they’re other women, your prey may find them hotter than you. If you’re arm-in-arm with a dude, you’re going to be stuck answering a lot of boring questions about who he might be (and if you’re dumb enough to post one with your ex, you deserve every single one of them).

Absolutely do not smear Vaseline all over your camera lens. While fuzzy focus may blur out that decade-old acne scar, he’ll be left wondering what else he can’t see.

found here.

High tech to low, world’s green methods are many

SIEBEN LINDEN, Germany (CNN) — Straw and clay are the building materials of choice for a few dozen ecologically minded people in the eastern German village of Sieben Linden.

A continent away, the Chinese government plans to transform a rural area of 100,000 people into a city of 400,000 that would run largely on renewable energy.

From the simplest methods to the most technologically advanced, the strategies employed around the world to be more environmentally friendly and reduce reliance on fossil fuels are as varied as the people that inhabit the planet.

One city garnering international attention is Freiburg, in southern Germany. Its use of solar panels and other forms of renewable energy draws tourists interested in taking green ideas to their hometowns.

A Freiburg neighborhood, the Schlierberg Solar Village, consists of solar-powered abodes insulated in such a way that they use only 10 percent of the energy consumed in average homes. Solar-Fabrik, a producer of solar panels, has a sun-powered factory in Freiburg. Watch how Freiburg uses solar energy

Jerome Barrier recently visited to get tips for his home in France.

You have sustainable development housing estates, you have … design centers [and] research centers, Barrier said. In two days, you can see all the technologies and, I would say, all the tricks that we can implement where we come from.

Solar power accounts for only 2 percent of Freiburg’s energy supply. Still, many see the city as a pioneer in solar technology. The local soccer club, SC Freiburg, runs its stadium largely with solar energy and power converted from wood chips.

People who use solar panels to power their homes sometimes produce more energy than they use. In Germany, such unused power is transferred to the local utility, which buys it from the homeowners at a government-subsidized rate. iReport.com: How are you going green?

Strong demand for solar technology in Germany has contributed to a global shortage of a key panel component — silicon — making solar technology more expensive. Freiburg’s mayor, Dieter Salomon, said solar power isn’t necessarily the best energy choice.

It’s a symbol, it’s not the big shot, he said. I think the future of photovoltaic [solar energy] will be in the less developed countries.

Sieben Linden, the village in eastern Germany, mixes high- and low-tech approaches. Some of its roughly 100 residents live in homes built with little more than clay, wood and straw.

Straw bales coated with clay are put inside the homes’ walls. The insulation reduces the need for powered heating and cooling, making the houses much more energy efficient than homes made with standard building materials, according to village resident Martin Schlegel. Watch home construction in the village

The energy you save by [using straw] is sufficient to heat this house 12 years, compared to a house built with normal modern materials, he said.

Those who worry about the straw easily catching fire should think again, Schlegel said. He said that because the bales are tightly packed, they don’t ignite quickly.

[Burning] a sheet of paper — it is very easy. But try to light a telephone book, he said, comparing the bales to the book.

Straw-bale construction was used in Nebraska in the 19th century. The villagers of Sieben Linden take a more technological approach, fitting their homes with solar panels.

Environmentally sound living always involves high tech, villager Werner Dyck said. The solar panels are high tech, and we have computers to make them even more efficient to manage our energy needs.

In China, government and Western developers plan to convert the rural area of Wanzhuang, near Beijing, into an ecocity — one of the nation’s first.

The plan, according to United Kingdom-based developer Arup, is to have the city running largely on renewable energy by 2020. Watch an explanation of developers’ plans

A tram system will be introduced to reduce residents’ reliance on cars. About 300,000 more people will move to the area, which is now known for its pear orchards and is now home to 100,000 people.

The orchards will be preserved, and schools, offices and shops will be placed in a manner to reduce travel needs, developers say.

Critics may note that the effort wouldn’t be significant for China, citing estimates it opens a new coal power plant every week, emitting more environmentally damaging carbon.

Peter Head, an Arup architect, said the ecocity project is valuable.

If China doesn’t pursue this modernization process using ecocities, its economic growth will become uneconomic, he said.

In the Middle East, the emirate of Abu Dhabi — a major oil producer — is spending $15 billion to make itself an epicenter of green technology.

Part of its plans include building a 2-square-mile eco-community — called Masdar — over the next 10 years. Air cooling alone is quite an energy-consuming task in the sunny Persian Gulf emirate, but developers say the city can be run on energy from the sun, wind and biofuels refined from plants and waste. Watch an explanation of the Masdar plan

Water will be purified by solar power and recycled from the sea for both consumption and farming. About 40,000 people will live there, and another 50,000 will work there, organizers say.

Abu Dhabi’s green ambitions don’t end with the city. It has persuaded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a graduate school and research institute focused exclusively on renewable energy.

found here.

Rescued hostages arrive in United States

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) — Three rescued Americans held hostage for more than five years by a Colombian rebel group arrived home in the United States late Wednesday.

The Air Force C-17, carrying the men, arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, at 11:16 p.m. CT (12:16 a.m. Thursday ET).

Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were U.S. government contractors who had been captured and held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) since their plane crashed in a remote region of the country in February 2003.

The men were quickly ferried across town in helicopters to Brooke Army Medical Center, where they were to undergo medical examinations and debriefing.

They were among 15 hostages rescued Wednesday in a Colombian military operation, according to the country’s defense minister.

I didn’t even know what to do, said Kyle Stansell, Keith’s son, who said he was on the beach when his stepfather called with the news. I just started freaking out — screaming, yelling. I ran as fast as I could off the beach.

The contractors were conducting a joint U.S.-Colombian aerial counternarcotics mission when their aircraft made an emergency landing because of mechanical failure. FARC members patrolling the area reached the aircraft and killed two crew members.

found here.

Rescued hostages arrive in United States

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) — Three rescued Americans held hostage for more than five years by a Colombian rebel group arrived home in the United States late Wednesday.

The Air Force C-17, carrying the men, arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, at 11:16 p.m. CT (12:16 a.m. Thursday ET).

Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were U.S. government contractors who had been captured and held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) since their plane crashed in a remote region of the country in February 2003.

The men were quickly ferried across town in helicopters to Brooke Army Medical Center, where they were to undergo medical examinations and debriefing.

They were among 15 hostages rescued Wednesday in a Colombian military operation, according to the country’s defense minister.

I didn’t even know what to do, said Kyle Stansell, Keith’s son, who said he was on the beach when his stepfather called with the news. I just started freaking out — screaming, yelling. I ran as fast as I could off the beach.

The contractors were conducting a joint U.S.-Colombian aerial counternarcotics mission when their aircraft made an emergency landing because of mechanical failure. FARC members patrolling the area reached the aircraft and killed two crew members.

found here.