LOS ANGELES ( Chef tells Police he accidentally KILLED wife and Cooked her body to dispose of it ).

The chef who told authorities that he accidentally killed his wife and cooked her body to dispose of it fired his attorney Tuesday and will represent himself when he is sentenced in February.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rand S. Rubin warned David Viens that "there is a danger to representing yourself" and he'd get "no special indulgence" from the court. Viens, who was convicted earlier this year of second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 15 years to life in prison, said he understood.
Viens dismissed his attorney, Fred McCurry, with a soft "thank you, Fred." He had tried to get rid of McCurry during his trial, a request Rubin denied because it was made too late in the proceedings.
"Thank you for letting me go pro-per. I appreciate that," said Viens, who appeared in court Tuesday in a wheelchair wearing gray jail garb and glasses that dangled from a string around his neck. The sister and father of his wife, Dawn, looked visibly pained that the proceedings would drag on.
Viens was polite, addressing the judge as "your honor," and had arrived in court with several handwritten motions, which were not immediately available to reporters. Rubin gave him a January deadline to file any other requests and allotted him $60 to make phone calls from jail before his Feb. 1 sentencing.
Dawn Viens was 39 when she vanished in October 2009. After her husband learned in February 2011 that investigators suspected he'd played a role in her disappearance, he leaped off an 80-foot cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes.
From his hospital bed, David Viens described to sheriff's investigators why authorities never found his wife's body. He said he packed it into a large drum of boiling water, held it down with weights and simmered it over four days. Then, he said, he poured much of what remained into the grease pit at his Lomita restaurant, Thyme Contemporary Café.

TUCSON Az ( BABY left at Northwest Hospital-Abandoned ) Baby in good shape

Whoever abandoned a newborn at Northwest Medical Center Tuesday did exactly the right thing, authorities say.
The baby, who appeared to be less than 24 hours old, was found by hospital staffers, said Deputy Renee Carlson, spokeswoman for the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
The medical center, 6200 N. La Cholla Blvd. at West Orange Grove Road, is a "Safe Haven" drop-off location where newborns can be left, no questions asked.

Though the Sheriff's Department is investigating, Carlson said whoever left the infant did the right thing. "The baby was well cared for ... no neglect, no malicious intent. This was an appropriate location for a baby to be dropped off," Carlson said.
Carlson would not reveal the newborn's gender. "People are scared when they are making those choices and anonymity is important," she said. Otherwise, "we're going to have babies in trash cans. The baby is healthy as a result of this. It's doing well and being cared for at this time, and that's all good."
Arizona passed a "Safe Baby" law in 2001. About 18 babies have been dropped off at sites statewide since the law took effect. See www.tucsonsafebaby.org for more information.
Kimberly Matas
"The baby was well cared for ... no neglect, no malicious intent."
Renee Carlson, deputy

SINALOA ( Miss Sinaloa died with a gun in her hand ) Human Shield

Died with gun in hand

CULIACAN, Mexico — A Mexican beauty queen killed over the weekend in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and soldiers likely was being used as a human shield, a federal official said Tuesday.

Maria Susana Flores Gamez, crowned 2012 Woman of Sinaloa in February, came out of the car first with a gun in her hands during the confrontation, with the other gunmen hiding behind her, according to the official from the attorney general's office.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The official said he read the military report of Saturday's shootout in Flores Gamez's hometown of Guamuchil in western Sinaloa state, home to Mexico's most powerful cartel of the same name. The attorney general's investigators are still trying to determine if the 20-year-old fired the gun she was holding.

OKLAHOMA ( LOST Kangaroo 1000 reward -Lucy )

An Oklahoma family has lost its pet kangaroo and they're hoping a $1,000 reward will ensure the safe return of their beloved Lucy Sparkles.

On Thanksgiving night, the Shayla and Larry Menhusen were hosting family at their Shawnee, Okla., home and for a while, Lucy was the life of the party, delighting the seven young children in attendance, including the Menhusen's three young daughters.

"But I think Lucy got startled. It was an unusual amount of noise for her," Shayla Menhusen told ABCNews.com.

It was getting dark outside, a time when Lucy usually hops off to bed in her custom built, heated and air conditioned house on the Menhusen's five acres of land.

"Lucy hopped around the back of our home where her house is and my husband went back there to close up her gate," Menhusen said.

At only 11 months old, Lucy still loves to sleep in a pouch that hangs in her house. However, Larry Menhusen couldn't find her there, or anywhere. He whistled for her and called out her name, but Lucy didn't return.

"She usually responds back with this particular kangaroo sound, but we don't think she could hear him," Shayla Menhusen said.

Initially, the Menhusens offered $500 for the safe return of their Lucy Sparkles, thinking she couldn't have gone far and that they'd quickly get her back. But after days passed with no sign of her, the family upped the reward to $1,000.

Now the family waits. A caller to a local radio show on Nov. 26 claimed to have seen the animal crossing the road near the family's home. However no one has yet stepped forward with Lucy.

Many have reached out to help the family, though. Menhusen said the local support has been overwhelming and many have told the family that, if they find Lucy, they would not accept the reward.

New Hampshire ( Transgender official in the state- ask to step down because of Felony Arrest )

Republicans in New Hampshire's state legislature have called for the first elected transgender official in the state - and the nation - to step down in light of a newspaper article that revealed her criminal past.

Stacie Marie Laughton, a Democrat, made history this month when she was elected to a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough County, which includes Nashua. But a story in the Laconia Daily Sun revealed that Laughton was a convicted felon who served more than four months in jail for "conspiracy to commit credit card fraud" in 2008.

Candidates can run for office in New Hampshire after they've been convicted of a felony as long as they are not incarcerated and have completed any court-ordered sentence, according to the New Hampshire Secretary of State's Office.

Granite State House Majority Leader Pete Silva, R-Nashua, said Laughton's failure to inform Nashua voters about her background before the election was grounds for her resignation, according to the Nashua Patch.

"While I believe in a person's ability to be rehabilitated and become a productive member of the community, I also believe it is a candidate's duty to fully disclose their personal history to allow the voters an opportunity to make an informed decision," Silva wrote in a statement published by Nashua Patch. "Ms. Laughton failed to give the voters of her district that very basic amount of trust and respect."

In a letter to the editor from August 2009, when Laughton was running for a city council set in Laconia, she introduced herself as Stacie and said that after going through "a rocky last couple of years," she was bringing a new outlook on life to the table.

"I have made mistakes in my personal life, but I have paid my debt to society, and I believe that through that it has made me stronger and it should not damage my ability to be a city counselor," Laughton wrote. "And I ask the people of Laconia to ask questions to me so that they may know both sides of the story due to the fact that the press likes to tell only one side of what goes on."

SINALOA ( MISS Sinaloa - The life of Maria Susana Gamez) Cartel Wars

Sinaloa • María Susana Gámez Flores, 2012 Sinaloa Woman beauty pageant winner, and her boyfriend were killed amid a military confrontation against the armed group.

State Ministerial Police authorities confirmed that the 22-year-old allegedly accompanied the group of attackers who confronted the soldiers at a safe house in the town of Caitime, in the municipality of Salvador Alvarado.

Flores Gámez was crowned Sinaloa Woman in February 2012. In 2009 she was named Model of the Year.

María Susana was selected from over 50 applicants as Miss Tourism East Mexico, so in May, she represented Mexico at the Miss International Oriental, in China.

Though authorities have not submitted an official statement about this death, the organizers of the beauty contest posted on her Facebook page: "The coordination of Nuestra Belleza Sinaloa expresses its deepest condolences on the death of the beautiful Maria Susana Flores, participant Nuestra Belleza Sinaloa 2012. "We are dismayed by the news, a beautiful young woman, happy and with a great future ahead, rest in peace and God Susy have in your holy glory, our deepest sympathy to her mother and brothers, "concludes the text. Who was the Miss Sinaloa?

The model was originally from Gramuchil and was working towards a degree in communication sciences.

The scuffle occurred last Saturday and lasted from Caitime to El Palmar de Los Leal in Mocorito. Two soldiers also died, two more subjects (one victim of the armed group), along with the young model.

According to information from the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA), a military convoy was traveling on the streets of Caitime when they were attacked by gunmen who later took refuge in a safe house Mocorito.

Soldiers repelled the aggression, killing one guy. After that first attack, the command made it out of the home and took flight.

However, they were chased by the military towards El Palmar Los Leal, where Maria Susana was killed.

The El Progreso, neighbor was identified as Rosario Mendez Rios, 54, who was killed when gunmen seized his vehicle to escape. There are reports his wife also died in the fray, but it is unconfirmed. Authorities said the gunmen shot him several times trying to steal his truck.

The armed group is allegedly linked to Orso Iván Gastélum Cruz, El Cholo Iván o El Cholo Vago, who serves as head of the Sinaloa cartel hitmen in the region of Évora.

Orso Iván Gastélum escaped from Aguaruto prison in August 2009 after a party held at the module five to say goodbye of his friends. He provide his friends with entertainment from norteño conjunto band and a singer Harley Pérez.

According to information from the Army, after the confrontation they arrested three alleged gunmen, who were identified as Gabino Ramírez López, 23; Álvaro Cázares Uribe, 22, y Óscar Yovani Rodríguez Beltrán, 22.

MEXICO ( Miss Sinaloa - Beauty Queen killed in Cartel gun Battle )

CULIACAN, Mexico —A 20-year-old state beauty queen has been killed in northern Mexico during a running gun battle between soldiers and the gang of drug traffickers she was traveling with, officials say.

The body of Maria Susana Flores Gamez has been turned over to relatives for burial, the prosecutor of the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa says.
Flores Gamez was traveling in one of the vehicles that engaged soldiers in an hours-long chase and shootout on Saturday, prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera said Monday.
Her body was found lying next to an assault rifle.
She was voted the 2012 Woman of Sinaloa in a beauty pageant in February.
In 2008, another Mexican beauty queen from Sinaloa was detained on suspicion of drug and weapons violations but was later released.