IOWA CITY (AP) — The undercover bust of a violent pimp and his prostitutes in Omaha during the College World Series last year led investigators to a nationwide sex trafficking ring, according to a federal indictment recently unsealed in Iowa.The 50-page indictment alleges that Johnelle L. Bell of New Jersey and his associates forced women ages 17 through 21 to prostitute themselves across several states for years before the pimp was stopped in Omaha.The government said Bell used coercion and violence to force the women to act as his sex workers between November 2009 and June 2011.Bell, 27, and three women were arrested June 18 in Omaha after undercover officers set up a sting with one of the prostitutes in a hotel.Bell was picked up ... Continue reading →
The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which distinguished itself amid great adversity during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, is about to enact large staff cuts and may cut back its print publishing schedule to several days a week, according to two employees with knowledge of the plans.Newhouse Newspapers, which owns the Times-Picayune, will apparently be working off a blueprint the company used in Ann Arbor, Mich., where it reduced the frequency of the Ann Arbor News, emphasized the Web site as a primary distributor of news and in the process instituted wholesale layoffs to cut costs.A request for comment from the newspaper’s editor, Jim Amoss, late Wednesday night was not returned.The plans have been kept under wraps, but the newspaper will likely cease to exist as a ... Continue reading →