Salon.com > Ivan Moreno

Justin Bieber is distant cousin of Ryan Gosling and Avril Lavigne

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:26:00 +0000

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Call it the Canadian dynasty of teenybopper pop and movie stardom.

Genealogists at Ancestry.com say they've discovered teen idol Justin Bieber is a distant cousin of movie star Ryan Gosling and singer Avril Lavigne. Their family link dates back to some of Quebec's earliest settlers 400 years ago, the Utah-based company said Thursday.

As if Bieber didn't have enough superstar genes, Ancestry.com also said he's a distant relative of singer Celine Dion.

"The great thing about family history is that you never know what you're going to find," said Michelle Ercanback, a researcher with Ancentry.com. "It was a very pleasant surprise."

Ercanback said researchers begun tracing Bieber's family lineage about a year ago by paging through teen-idol magazines to find biographical tidbits from the pop star.

What they say they found was that Bieber and Gosling are 11th cousins once removed, and Bieber and Lavigne are 12th cousins. They share common relatives Mathurin Roy and Marguerite Bire, the researchers said. Both were born in France in the early 1600s, married in 1637, and moved to Quebec, where Roy worked as a master mason.

Former Eagles player accepts deal to avoid jail

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:39:43 +0000

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Former Philadelphia Eagles running back Reno Mahe has accepted a plea deal to avoid jail time after being accused of stealing thousands of dollars in gasoline from a construction company.

Mahe (MAY'-hee) and four others were charged last year after authorities say they stole more than $15,000 in gasoline in 2010 from a suburban Salt Lake City company.

Mahe agreed on Monday to plead no contest to a third-degree felony theft charge and pay about $2,900 in restitution. Authorities say if he stays out of trouble for 18 months, the charge will be dismissed. Mahe's attorneys have maintained all along that he thought the gas was a gift.

He played for the Eagles over five seasons and doubled as a punt returner.

Alleged top drug dealer caught near Mexico City

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:05:00 +0000

Troops battled a suspected drug gang in a wealthy neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City and captured an alleged major trafficker with a $2 million U.S. bounty on his head, officials announced on Thursday.

Jose Gerardo Alvarez Vazquez -- known as "El Indio" or "El Chayan" -- is suspected of being responsible for a spike in violence in states near the capital as part of a struggle for control of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel, the military and the federal Attorney General's Office said.

Authorities said Alvarez Vazquez, 45, was arrested along with 14 other suspected drug traffickers during a Wednesday night shootout in Huixquilucan, just west of the capital.

Three died in the shooting and two alleged traffickers were wounded. Investigators did not say whether the dead were soldiers or suspected drug dealers. The military said it seized more than a dozen guns and a grenade.

"Cases such as this show the Mexican government's firm decision to continue fighting narcotraffickers," the Attorney General's Office said in a written statement. Among those arrested was Ascencion Sepulveda Salto, also known as "El Gato," believed to be a powerful cartel lieutenant in Guerrero state.

U.S. company accused of exporting military tech

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:42:00 +0000

A U.S. company is accused of illegally exporting defense technology used by the U.S. military to South Korea, China, Russia and Turkey, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Rocky Mountain Instrument Co., based in Colorado, said it is working toward a plea agreement with prosecutors and that it has been cooperating with investigators for more than two years.

Prosecutors allege that RMI, which manufactures optics components, exported prisms and technical data for optics used in military applications to the four countries from April 1, 2005, to Oct. 11, 2007. They say RMI did so without permission from the U.S. Department of State.

Federal officials did not elaborate what the technology was used for. U.S. District Attorney spokesman Jeff Dorschner declined to comment on whether the alleged crime compromised national security.

No sign of boy said to have floated off on balloon

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:01:00 +0000

A Colorado sheriff's official says a 6-year-old boy climbed into a box that was attached to a homemade balloon, but the box wasn't found when the craft crashed.

Kathy Messick, Larimer County sheriff's spokeswoman, says one of the boy's brothers saw him get into the box or basket, which was attached with pegs.

She says search teams are scouring the area from the house in the direction that the balloon flew. The craft was airborne for more than two hours and glided through two counties.

Messick says investigators are looking into every possibility, including whether the boy was ever in the balloon.

She described the boy, Falcon, as 3 feet tall with dark hair, and said his parents are "very traumatized."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) -- A Colorado sheriff's official says a 6-year-old boy climbed into a box that was attached to a homemade balloon, but the box wasn't found when the craft crashed.