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Hot dog maker steamed, sues competition

June 22, 2011

CHICAGO — This is a dog fight Chicago will relish.

Vienna Beef, one of the world’s most famous hot dog makers, is suing the owner of a rival hot dog company, accusing him of either stealing Vienna’s 118-year-old recipe or lying to customers by claiming that he’s using it.

The rival is none other than a grandson of one of the two men who founded the company after their hot dogs became a hit at the 1893 World’s Fair.

Article: Associated Press

Heiress Huguette Clark’s will leaves $1 million to advisers

Attorney and accountant, under criminal investigation, also named to run art foundation; nurse gets about $30 million; not a dime to relatives

NEW YORK — A last will and testament for the reclusive copper heiress Huguette M. Clark was filed Wednesday afternoon in Surrogate’s Court in New York City, leaving most of her $400 million fortune to charity — and $1 million to her financial advisers even as a criminal investigation of the handling of her money continues.

The nurse who took care of her for two decades will receive about $30 million after estate taxes. She had been randomly assigned by an agency to care for Clark in about 1991.

Not a dime was left to Clark’s relatives, who are likely to challenge the will in court. Nothing was left to anyone associated with Butte, the Montana mining town where her father made his first millions in copper mining. And nothing goes to the various Clark charities that her father had established for women and orphans.

Article: MSNBC.com

Officials: Brutal Mexican drug gang weakened

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A cult-like drug cartel that challenged a rival gang by rolling severed heads onto a disco dance floor in western Mexico was so divided and cash-strapped of late that it had sought to form an alliance with its former enemy, police officials said Wednesday.

La Familia gang leader Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas was looking for support from the Zetas drug gang to fight splinter cells within his own organization, said Federal Police anti-narcotics chief Ramon Pequeno.

Mendez Vargas, alias El Chango, or The Monkey, was arrested Tuesday in the central state of Aguascalientes, where he was hiding. He was paraded before reporters in Mexico City on Wednesday. He is also wanted in the U.S. for drug-related crimes, Federal Police commissioner Facundo Rosas said at a news conference but didn’t elaborate.

Article: Associated Press

Pentagon gets cyberwar guidelines

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama has signed executive orders that lay out how far military commanders around the globe can go in using cyberattacks and other computer-based operations against enemies and as part of routine espionage in other countries.

The orders detail when the military must seek presidential approval for a specific cyber assault on an enemy and weave cyber capabilities into U.S. war fighting strategy, defense officials and cyber security experts told The Associated Press.

Signed more than a month ago, the orders cap a two-year Pentagon effort to draft U.S. rules of the road for cyber warfare, and come as the U.S. begins to work with allies on global ground rules.

Article: Associated Press

Self-help guru convicted in sweat lodge deaths

CAMP VERDE, Ariz. — A jury has convicted a self-help author who led a sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona that left three people dead.

Jurors in Camp Verde, Ariz., reached their verdict Wednesday after a four-month trial.

James Arthur Ray was found guilty of three counts of negligent homicide.

More than 50 people participated in the October 2009 sweat lodge that was meant to be the highlight of Ray’s five-day “Spiritual Warrior” seminar near Sedona.

Article: Associated Press