Sinkhole that swallowed Tampa man in bedroom grows deeper

AP

Jeff Bush's family and friends hug outside of the house where a sinkhole swallowed Bush in his bedroom.

SEFFNER, Fla. — Engineers worked gingerly Saturday morning to find out more about a slowly growing sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man in his bedroom, believing the entire house could eventually succumb to the unstable ground.

Jeff Bush, 37, was in his bedroom Thursday night when the earth opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five other people were in the house but managed to escape unharmed. Bush's brother jumped into the hole to try to help, but he had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy.

AP

Jeff Bush

Engineers began doing more tests at 7 a.m. Saturday. Crews with equipment were at the home next door, one of two that has been evacuated. By 10 a.m., officials moved media crews farther away from the Bush house so experts could perform tests on the home across the street. It's unclear how large the sinkhole is, or whether it leads to other caverns and chasms throughout the neighborhood. Experts say the underground of West Central Florida looks similar to Swiss cheese, with the geography lending itself to sinkholes.

PHOTOS: INCREDIBLE FLORIDA SINKHOLES

Experts spent the previous day on the property, taking soil samples and running various tests — while acknowledging that the entire lot where Bush lay entombed was dangerous. No one was allowed in the home.

"I cannot tell you why it has not collapsed yet," Bill Bracken, the owner of an engineering company called to assess the sinkhole, said of the home. He described the earth below as a "very large, very fluid mass."

"This is not your typical sinkhole," said Hillsborough County administrator Mike Merrill. "This is a chasm. For that reason, we're being very deliberate."

Officials delicately addressed another sad reality: Bush was likely dead and the family wanted his body. Merrill, though, said they didn't want to jeopardize any more lives.

"They would like us to go in quickly and locate Mr. Bush," Merrill said. Officials added Saturday morning that a fund had been set up to help the families affected by the sinkhole.

On Saturday, Jeremy Bush — who tried to rescue his brother when the earth opened — lay flowers and a stuffed lamb near the house and wept.

Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Roger called the situation "very complex."

"It's continuing to evolve, and the ground is continuing to collapse," he said.

Sinkholes are so common in Florida that state law requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger. While some cars, homes and other buildings have been devoured, it's extremely rare for them to swallow a person.

Florida is highly prone to sinkholes because there are caverns below ground of limestone, a porous rock that easily dissolves in water.

"You can almost envision a piece of Swiss cheese," Taylor Yarkosky, a sinkhole expert from Brooksville, Fla., said while gesturing to the ground and the sky blue home where the earth opened in Seffner. "Any house in Florida could be in that same situation."

A sinkhole near Orlando grew to 400 feet across in 1981 and devoured five sports cars, most of two businesses, a three-bedroom house and the deep end of an Olympic-size swimming pool.

More than 500 sinkholes have been reported in Hillsborough County alone since the government started keeping track in 1954, according to the state's environmental agency.

The sinkhole, estimated at 20 feet across and 20 feet deep, caused the home's concrete floor to cave in around 11 p.m. Thursday as everyone in the Tampa-area house was turning in for the night. It gave way with a loud crash that sounded like a car hitting the house and brought Bush's brother running.

Jeremy Bush said he jumped into the hole but couldn't see his brother and had to be rescued himself by a sheriff's deputy who reached out and pulled him to safety as the ground crumbled around him.

"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy Bush said through tears Friday in a neighbor's yard. "But I just couldn't do nothing."

He added: "I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him."

A dresser and the TV set had vanished down the hole, along with most of Bush's bed.

A sheriff's deputy who was the first to respond to a frantic 911 call said when he arrived, he saw Jeremy Bush.

Deputy Douglas Duvall said he reached down as if he was "sticking his hand into the floor" to help Jeremy Bush. Duvall said he didn't see anyone else in the hole.

As he pulled Bush out, "everything was sinking," Duvall said.

Engineers said they may have to demolish the small house, even though from the outside there appeared to be nothing wrong with the four-bedroom, concrete-wall structure, built in 1974.

Jeremy Bush said someone came out to the home a couple of months ago to check for sinkholes and other things, apparently for insurance purposes.

"He said there was nothing wrong with the house. Nothing. And a couple of months later, my brother dies. In a sinkhole," Bush said.

AP

Engineers talk in front of Jeff Bush's home, where a sinkhole opened up underneath his bedroom and swallowed him Thursday night.

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Odds against him, Obama still betting on big deal

AFP/Getty Images

The US Capitol in Washington, DC on Thursday night.

WASHINGTON — President Obama met with congressional leaders at the White House Friday, hours before a series of mandatory budget cuts start to kick in, for intense talks where Democrats and Republicans were most likely to stake out fiscal positions with the threat of a government shutdown looming.

With no expectations of a breakthrough, Obama was to once again argue for a big fiscal deal that would raise taxes and trim billions from expensive and ever-growing entitlement programs. But with automatic federal spending cuts ready to start taking their toll, the path toward that grand bargain Obama campaigned on last year has significantly narrowed.

Arriving separately in their black SUVs, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi entered the West Wing shortly after 10 a.m. EST. The White House said the meeting was underway by 10:18.

"I'm happy to discuss other ideas to keep our commitment to reducing Washington spending at today's meeting," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement ahead of the session. "But there will be no last-minute, back-room deal and absolutely no agreement to increase taxes."

For Obama, Friday's session would be his first opportunity to spell out his 10-year, $1.5 trillion deficit reduction plan in a face-to-face meeting with congressional allies and adversaries.

His chances are squeezed by anti-tax conservatives, by liberals unwilling to cut into Medicare and Social Security, and by a Republican leadership that has dug in against any new revenue after ceding to Obama's demands two months ago for a higher tax rate for top income earners.

On Thursday, two ill-fated proposals aimed at blunting the blame over the cuts — one Democratic and the other Republican — failed to overcome procedural hurdles in the Senate. Obama placed the responsibility on Republicans.

"They voted to let the entire burden of deficit reduction fall squarely on the middle class," he said.

The White House is still betting that once the public begins to experience the effects of the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts the pain will be unbearable enough to force lawmakers to reconsider and negotiate. But the consequences of the cuts —the so called sequester — will likely be a slow boil. Obama this week said the effect "is not a cliff, but it is a tumble downward."

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Still no strip clubs for 'Big Daddy' boss: judge

No lap dances for you!

A former strip club impresario who made his hooker dancers call him "Big Daddy" had a big disappointment today -- a Manhattan judge slapped down his bid to be sprung early from probation, effectively barring him from even setting foot inside a wiggle joint for another two years.

Lou Posner is a model probationer -- but officials still need to keep him on a short leash, a judge ruled.

Probation supervision is the only way the courts can be sure that Posner stays away from the adult entertainment business, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus ruled.

Steven Hirsch

Louis (Big Lou) Posner outside of court.

Under the terms of his probation, Posner can't run a strip joint or even go to one.

"The court's directive excluding defendant from the many facets of the 'adult entertainment' industry is only enforceable as long as defendant remains on probation," the judge wrote.

"I'm disappointed," Posner said as he left court, griping that keeping him on probation is a waste of taxpayers money. Posner has been working as a commercial real estate broker.

Posner had pleaded guilty in a 2010 no-jail deal, admitting to pimping women out of his "Big Daddy Lou's Hot Lap Dance Club on W. 38th St. His probation expires in April, 2015.

A now-disbarred lawyer, he'd repped himself in the failed probation application.

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Jury in alleged Zumba prostitution case can see some explicit images: judge

REUTERS

Accused madame Alexis Wright 29, of Wells, Maine is pictured during an arraignment hearing at Cumberland County Superior Court.

ALFRED, Maine — A Maine judge says she's not going to let prosecutors introduce almost 600 sexually explicit images at the trial of a man charged with helping a fitness instructor run a prostitution business from her Zumba studio.

But Judge Nancy Mills said Wednesday she will allow prosecutors to show jurors in the trial of Mark Strong Sr. some of the images, but not all 577 of them. He's on trial on charges of promoting prostitution.

The defense says Strong had an affair with Alexis Wright and helped her launch her dance studio in Kennebunk by co-signing for her lease but knew nothing about allegations of prostitution.

Prosecutors say the images show Strong knew about the prostitution.

Both Strong and Wright have pleaded not guilty. She'll be tried later.

Meanwhile, a detective is testifying Wednesday about text messages.

Yesterday, the judge refused to throw out charges against Strong.

Strong's lawyers asked the judge to punish prosecutors for repeatedly missing deadlines for turning over discovery materials, even as more than 100 pages of police reports, notes, videos and audio recordings were provided to the defense on Tuesday.

"They're beyond discovery violations. They're due process violations," defense lawyer Tina Nadeau told Justice Nancy Mills. "Enough is enough."

But Mills said there were other less-drastic remedies that include delaying testimony to give the defense more time to review the materials and giving special instructions to jurors.

Strong's trial has been marked by delays caused by motions and appeals. At one point, jury selection was delayed by more than three weeks while prosecutors sought to reinstate 46 invasion-of-privacy counts that the judge dismissed.

The remaining 13 counts against Strong focus on promotion of prostitution with dance instructor Alexis Wright. Both pleaded not guilty.

On Tuesday, a state police investigator specializing in cellphone records testified that Wright and Strong were in constant contact, with 25,111 phone calls, texts and data transfers between the two of them from January 2010 to February 2012.

A postal inspector also testified that Wright sent a number of packages to Strong.

The defense contends Kennebunk police targeted the 57-year-old Strong, who held a private investigator's license, because he was conducting an investigation into unprofessional conduct by Kennebunk officers.

On Tuesday, Mills ordered prosecutors to give Strong's lawyers a police file involving a Kennebunk officer involved in a shooting. Previously, prosecutors had to turn over a written reprimand against the lead investigator, who had an affair with her boss.

The defense is expected to mine the material to try to discredit investigators.

Still up in the air was how many pornographic images jurors would see. The judge had yet to rule on a request to prune back the 577 images prosecutors wanted to introduce.

The images were found on Strong's computer, and prosecutors contend they show Strong knew Wright was working as a prostitute. The defense argued that pornography possession isn't a crime and the photos could "horrify" jurors and make them biased against Strong.

The prostitution scandal attracted international attention last year after it was reported that Wright had ledgers indicating she made $150,000 over 18 months and had more than 150 clients.

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Pistorius plans his own service for slain girlfriend

JOHANNESBURG — Oscar Pistorius is planning a personal memorial service for Reeva Steenkamp, the 29-year-old model he shot at his home on Valentine's Day.

The service was planned for late Tuesday at the Pretoria home of his uncle Arnold, where the Olympic athlete has been staying since he was released on bail awaiting trial on a premeditated murder charge.

Pistorius' reputation management firm said Pistorius had specifically requested the service "as he remains in deep mourning for the loss of his partner Reeva," whom he says he shot by accident assuming an intruder had entered his home on Feb. 14.

AP

Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius

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Man fatally gunned down in Brownsville

A man was gunned down in Brooklyn this morning, authorities said.

The 21-year-old victim was shot in the chest at 9 a.m. on Chester Street in Brownsville, police said.

He was rushed to Brookdale Hospital where he died from his injuries, police said.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the violence.

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Elderly man fatally shot in Brooklyn home

An elderly man was shot and killed inside a home in Brooklyn this morning, police said.

The 72-year-old man suffered a single gunshot wound to the neck and was discovered inside the Gates Avenue building in Bushwick around 2:25 a.m., cops said.

The victim was rushed to Woodhull Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The man, whose name has not been released, has no criminal history and it's unclear whether he was struck by a stray bullet or targeted, sources said.

No arrests have been made.

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Cobble Hill woman dies after being found with head trauma

A Cobble Hill woman died early today after being found yesterday with head trauma, police said.

The 55-year-old was discovered unconscious in a Clinton Street residence near Sackett Street about 10:33 p.m., cops said.

She died at Long Island College Hospital about 4:30 a.m.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

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Bloomberg says NYC must press for 'real' teacher evaluations

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the $250 million New York City schools stand to lose amid a standoff on teacher evaluations is important, but the city "cannot compromise on having a real evaluation system."

The mayor spoke on his WOR-AM radio show Friday. On Thursday, a judge blocked the state from withholding the money, at least for now.

The judge froze any sanctions until the resolution of a lawsuit filed by parents. The state plans to appeal.

School districts had to have evaluation systems in place by Jan. 17 to get a state aid increase this school year.

Bloomberg's administration and the teachers' union couldn't agree on a system, so the city missed the deadline.

The city has said the lost money means eliminating 700 guidance counselor and teacher positions.

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Rhode Island police charge two Queens residents with credit card fraud

WEST GREENWICH, RI — Rhode Island State Police have charged two New York City residents with obtaining credit cards through fraudulent means after finding dozens of cards in their vehicle.

Col. Steven O'Donnell said 22-year-old Emendjer Mathurin and 37-year-old Abdul Springer, both of Queens, NY, were arrested this week after a trooper stopped them for speeding on Interstate 95 in West Greenwich and found dozens of credit cards. Some had the name of the driver and others had the names of unknown people.

Authorities say the credit cards were encoded with information from stolen cards. State Police says the two were arraigned on Wednesday and did not enter pleas. They were released on $5,000 surety bail each.

A message was left for Mathurin. A current listing for Springer couldn't be found.

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Pope Benedict XVI may enact law governing upcoming conclave to elect new pope

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI may enact a new law governing the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope amid continued uncertainty over when the voting can begin.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Wednesday that he didn't know for sure if the new law under consideration would address the timing of the conclave following Benedict's Feb. 28 resignation. He said it would contain some "clarifications" on certain points. But given the crush of interest surrounding the conclave date, it's likely to address the issue.

The current law says cardinals should wait 15 days after the papacy becomes vacant before launching a conclave to allow all eligible cardinals to arrive in Rome, making March 15 the presumed start. That delay, however, assumed a papal death and funeral. In this case, the cardinals already know that this pontificate will end Feb. 28 and can get to Rome in plenty of time to take part in the conclave.

AP

Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Sunday

Some canonists and scholars have said the current rules allow for some wiggle room on the 15-day wait given that most if not all the cardinals will already be in Rome for Benedict's final general audience Feb. 27 and his farewell meeting with cardinals on Feb. 28.

"The document says that the cardinals present in Rome must wait 15 days for the arrival of the others," noted Ambrogio Piazzoni, the vice prefect of the Vatican library. "That can mean that if the cardinals all arrive before the 15 days there is no need to wait. The phrase 'must wait' doesn't say that you can't start before 15 days."

However, leading US canonist Edward Peters, an adviser to the Vatican high court, welcomed word that the pope himself might intervene.

"Advancing the conclave start-date would make obvious good sense, but actually doing so on anything less than express papal authority raises serious canonical and even ecclesiological problems," he said on his blog.

The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24, with Palm Sunday Mass followed by Easter Sunday on March 31. In order to have a new pope in place in time for the most solemn liturgical period on the church calendar, he would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17, because of the strong tradition to hold installation Mass on a Sunday. Given the tight time-frame, speculation has mounted that some arrangement would be made to start the conclave on March 10 or thereabouts, earlier than a strict reading of the law would allow.

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'30 Rock' co-star says Baldwin should 'apologize' if he used racial slur against Post photographer

Splash News

Alec Baldwin returns home with pregnant wife Hilaria Baldwin amid reports that the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force has launched a probe into his alleged racist remarks earlier this week.

Alec Baldwin’s “30 Rock” co-star Tracy Morgan today demanded that the hot-headed actor apologize, if he lobbed a nasty — and outdated — racial slur against a Post photographer.

Morgan was careful to use the word “if” in chastising Baldwin, who allegedly called black photographer G.N. Miller a “coon,” and “drug dealer.”

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO

“If he called somebody a coon, he should apologize,” a worked-up Morgan told WNKS-FM in Charlotte, NC.

Morgan also took note of Baldwin’s alleged choice of a weird, old-school slur.

“If anyone calls anybody a derogatory statement like coon, this is 2013. First of all coon is played out — use a new term,” Morgan said.

“If so, I think he [Baldwin] should [be] made to apologize. There’s no excuse. You’re in your 50s.”

The 54-year-old actor has denied using a racial slur at Miller — a decorated, retired NYPD detective. Baldwin said yesterday he couldn’t have used a racial slur, because he gave $50,000 to the Arthur Ashe Learning Center.

The confrontation happened Sunday when Miller was taking pictures of Baldwin outside his East Village apartment.

Baldwin also allegedly called Miller “crackhead” and demeaned him with the pet name “Ralston” on his Twitter page on Sunday, but quickly deleted it.

The Post reported today that the NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the alleged racially fueled tirade.

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Reeva Steenkamp’s mother grieves, ‘Why my little girl?’

Gallo Images/startraksphoto.com

Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius at the Feather Awards on November 4 in Johannesburg.

JOHANNESBURG — A devastated June Steenkamp, mother of slain model Reeva Steenkamp, is demanding answers as mystery shrouds the Valentine's Day shooting horror.

Mrs. Steenkamp was quoted by the Times newspaper in South Africa in a front page interview Monday asking: "Why my little girl? ... Why did he do this?"

She wept as she spoke of her pain after Oscar Pistorius allegedly killed her daughter, who she described as “the most beautiful person who ever lived.”

She says of her late daughter, a model, law graduate and Pistorius' girlfriend, "she loved like no one else could love" and "she had so much of herself to give and now all of it is gone. Just like that, she is gone.”

"All we have is this horrendous death to deal with, to get to grips with.

“All we want are answers, answers as to why this had to happen, why our beautiful daughter had to die like this."

PHOTOS: REEVA STEENKAMP

Mrs. Steenkamp said her daughter was "so proud of being a South African", adding: “She loved this country and all its people. This was the only place she called home.”

Reeva will be buried near her home in Port Elizabeth tomorrow following an "intimate" family funeral.

Double-amputee athlete Pistorius, an icon in South Africa and a star of last year's Olympics, remains in custody in a Pretoria police station charged with Steenkamp's murder after she was shot multiple times inside his home. He is set to return to court Tuesday for the start of his bail hearing. That hearing will be the first opportunity for the prosecution to describe evidence police gathered against the 26-year-old double-amputee runner and the reasons why he was charged with murder.

AP

Oscar Pistorius at his court hearing in Pretoria Friday.

Steenkamp, a blonde model, law graduate and reality TV contestant, died last week of multiple gunshot wounds.

A bombshell report revealed cops found banned steroids inside Pistorius' home and believe the Olympic track star may have killed his girlfriend in a boozy, ’roid rage.

The search also turned up a blood-covered cricket bat.

Investigators said Pistorius might have smashed Steenkamp’s skull with the bat before shooting her to death in the horrifying, pre-dawn Valentine’s Day attack.

“Steroid drugs were found at Pistorius’ home together with evidence of heavy drinking,” a source close to the investigation told The Sun of London.

“Police have specifically ordered that he be tested for steroids,” the source said of the 26-year-old double-amputee track star.

Police said they arrived in the predawn hours of Thursday to find paramedics trying to revive Steenkamp. Police said she had been shot four times. A 9 mm pistol was recovered from the scene and Pistorius was arrested and charged with murder the same day.

Prosecutors said in Pistorius' first court appearance Friday that they would pursue a more serious pre-mediated murder charge against the Olympian and world's most high-profile disabled athlete.

In a statement initially given only to The Associated Press and two South African reporters over the weekend, Arnold Pistorius, Oscar's uncle, said the prosecution's own case would show there was no murder.

"We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation," Pistorius' uncle said, "and that the state's own case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refutes any possibility of a premeditated murder or indeed any murder at all."

The bail hearing, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, will be the first time both the prosecutors and defense will show their hands about the evidence involved in the killing, said Stephen Tuson, an adjunct law professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

"There will kind of be a little trial within a trial," Tuson said.

Due to the gravity of the charges, Pistorius' defense lawyers will present their case first, trying to argue that their client is not a danger to the public and won't try to flee to avoid trial, Tuson said. They'll also have to show that he won't try to intimidate witnesses, nor pose a risk of sparking public unrest, the professor said.

The defense does have the opportunity to put Pistorius — who broke down and wept in his first appearance in court — on the stand to offer testimony on his own behalf. That likely won't happen, as prosecutors would then be allowed to ask him potentially incriminating questions, Tuson said.

Typically, defense lawyers read a prepared statement in court instead.

From there, prosecutors will offer their own version of events, likely bolstered by testimony from the lead investigator in the killing, Tuson said.

Pistorius' agent told the AP that there is no way to predict if he will ever run track again.

"For me it's too early to comment," Peet Van Zyl said. "I think it's still a huge shock and tragedy that took the world by surprise so I can't comment on that one (Pistorius' future career) or give any timeline to that at this point in time."

With AP and The Sun.

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Pistorius may have beaten girlfriend with bat before shooting her: report

“Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius may have beat his girlfriend with a cricket bat before shooting her to death in his South Africa home, according to a new report.

Pistorius, who gained fame by using carbon fiber prosthetics to compete on the world stage against able-bodied runners, was arrested last week and charged with murder for shooting his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp early Thursday morning.

Pistorius told cops he mistook her for a burglar, but investigators said a bloodied cricket bat was found in the runner’s home, according to The City Press, a South African newspaper.

AP

Reeva Steenkamp poses on set during the shooting of the reality show "Tropika Island of Treasure."

Pistorius’ may have either used the bat to attack Steenkamp or break down the bathroom door where she was hiding, or she may have used the bat to defend herself, City Press reported. Police are investigating all three scenarios.

'I'VE KILLED MY BABA,' PISTORIUS SOBBED TO FRIEND

"There was lots of blood on the bat. Forensic tests will show whose blood it was," a source with inside knowledge of the case told City Press.

As well as bullet wounds to the head, arm, hand and hip, Steenkamp suffered a “crushed” skull, according to the South African paper.

Steenkamp, 29, was sitting on the toilet when she was hit four times, in the arm, head, hip and finger by bullets fired through the bathroom door, London’s Sun reported.

Meanwhile Pistorius’ best friend said he received a phone call moments after the shooting.

Before the Olympic athlete called the emergency services he phoned Justin Divaris, 27, at 3:55 a.m. to tell him what had happened.

"I said to him, “What are you talking about?” He then repeated himself – “There has been a terrible accident, I shot Reeva”,’ he told The Sun.

By the time Divaris got to the home it had already been sealed off by police. Divaris said the model’s body was "covered in blankets and towels."

Steenkamp had been dating Pistorius, a double-amputee known as the Blade Runner, since November.

But she has also been linked to a playboy rugby player, a relationship that could have led to a final, fatal dustup with Pistorius.

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Woman's badly decomposed body washes up in Breezy Point

A woman’s body was discovered in Queens this morning, police said.

She was found shortly before 8:40 a.m. by a passerby in Breezy Point, washed up near Bayside Avenue, cops said.

The body was badly decomposed, and only part of her skull was there, according to a police source. But she was clothed, and there were no obvious signs of trauma.

The woman has not been identified, and it was not clear how old she was when she died, cops said.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, and whether is any criminality.

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NYC teachers' pension fund divests from gun makers

The pension fund for New York City schoolteachers has sold its stock in companies that make guns and ammunition.

City Comptroller John Liu said Friday that the move came after a thorough review of the fund's exposure to such investments.

Teachers union head Michael Mulgrew said selling the stock was "the right thing to do" after the school shootings in Newtown, Conn. Similar reviews of gun-industry holdings are under way at pension funds across the country since the massacre.

Liu says the $46.6 billion New York City Teachers' Retirement System is the largest pension fund to sell its gun industry holdings so far.

William Farrington

Michael Mulgrew

The fund had a total of $13.5 million invested in five gun makers. Those included Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. and Sturm, Ruger & Co.

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Rector of Manhattan's Trinity Church to step down

The embattled head of Manhattan’s Trinity Church is stepping down, giving church leaders two years notice.

The Rev. James Cooper, 68, who heads one of the richest parishes in the Anglican world with Manhattan land holdings of at least $1 billion, sparked a revolt in 2011 over his dictatorial leadership style and his grandiose development plans.

Nearly half of the church’s governing board was forced out or quit.

As the revolt got heated, Cooper considered retiring but, as The Post first reported, only if the church met his demands: burial in the historic Trinity Church graveyard where Alexander Hamilton was laid to rest; an undisclosed “thank-you” payment; a donation in his name to a charity; and $200,000 per year, for seven years, to fund a staff and support services in order to continue his “ministry.”

Helayne Seidman

The Rev. James Cooper

Cooper, who has led the church since 2004 and made $1.3 million in compensation in 2010, then decided not to step down.

He lives in a $5.5 million SoHo townhouse that the church purchased for him.

Earlier this week, Jeremy Bates, the former head of the Trinity Congregational Council, sued Cooper and church vestry to change the election process for Trinity board members. Cooper stacked the board with his cronies, his critics alleged.

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LIRR running extra eastbound trains ahead of tonight's potential snowstorm

The Long Island Rail Road is offering eight extra eastbound trains for people trying to get home before the next snowstorm.

The extra LIRR service will run from roughly 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory starting at 5 p.m.

It says another 3 to 5 inches of snow could fall on eastern Long Island.

Some parts of Long Island are still digging out from the 30 inches of snow that accumulated during the last storm.

Reuters

Long Island Railroad workers are seen along the tracks in Manhasset on Saturday after a blizzard smacked the region.

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Feminists in topless pope protest at Paris' Notre Dame

AFP

Activists from the women's rights organization Femen protest in front of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris today.

PARIS — Topless women activists have pounded a huge church bell in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to "celebrate" the pope's resignation.

The nine women from Ukrainian feminist group Femen had their chests and backs emblazoned with the words "Pope No More." They didn't explain their action except to say they are "provocateurs" celebrating Pope Benedict XVI's decision to step down.

At one point the women rang an enormous bell on display in the hall of the landmark cathedral, part of a set of new bronze bells cast for Notre Dame's 850th anniversary this year. Cathedral staff turned off the church lights and pulled the women away.

The women say they're also protesting in support of gay marriage. France's lower house of parliament is voting Tuesday on whether to legalize it.

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Village 'bomb ma' pleads not guilty to explosives, drugs charges

The accused Greenwich Village "Bomb Mom" took a whirl-wind tour of Manhattan Criminal Court today, visiting judges in two courtrooms for her ongoing explosives, grand larceny and heroin possession cases.

Park Avenue-raised oncologist's daughter Morgan Gliedman, 27, pleaded not guilty this morning to a scary, headlines-making cache of explosives powder and two shotguns found in the West 9th Street apartment back in December.

The then nine-months-pregnant Dalton grad had shared the posh pad with her baby daddy, Aaron Greene, 31, who remains jailed on the same powder and weapons possession indictment.

Dan Brinzac

Morgan Gliedman

Both Greene and Gliedman are heroin addicts, their lawyers have said. Gliedman, who had stopped using drugs during her pregnancy, and went into labor shortly after getting arrested in December.

Gliedman was bailed out last month to an in-patient rehab program; her healthy baby girl, Melody Sunshine, was being cared for by Gliedman's father, Dr. Paul Gliedman, head of radiation oncology at Beth Israel Brooklyn, and her mother, realtor Susan Schops Gliedman.

Cops had stumbled upon the powder and weapons when they visited the couple's posh apartment to question Gliedman about her alleged theft of a wallet, a MacBook and other electronics from the home of a man she'd met at a bar and gone home with overnight a year ago.

She was already on probation at the time for her third and oldest case: for drug possession charge after getting arrested in a car in Harlem with Greene, who was caught injecting heroin.

The two judges handling all three cases set April 2 for Gliedman's next court date.

"She's compliant, she's doing well, and she's following the advice of her counsel," said her lawyer, Gerald Shargel.

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