Society

On Monday, May 12th, price for a first class stamp will increase to 42 cents. Forever stamps can be purchased at 41 cents at post offices to avoid the slight increase. Increases will be happening more frequently now as Congress enacted a bill that will increase postage based on the cost living.

Here is the official information from the United States Postal Service regarding the price increase.

On May 12 the Postal Service will adjust prices for its services. While the most visible change is the 1-cent increase for First-Class Mail® letters, the changes are broader and include prices that could save you real dollars when shipping packages:

Reduced Express Mail prices for items shipped to addresses closer to home.

Lower online postage prices for Express Mail and Priority Mail (domestic and international).

Volume Express Mail price rebates for frequent shippers.

Additional flat-rate box prices for Priority Mail.

The information below will help you determine just how much you can save.

One of the first 42 cent stamps released will commemorate music superstar Frank Sinatra. "Old Blue Eyes" stamp will be released on Tuesday.

According to research by an American scholar, Larry Schaaf, a 200-year-old image of a leaf may be the world's oldest photograph. The image laid for years in an album, and was believed to have been dated 1839. However, Schaaf, believes it may have been made more than 30 years earlier by Thomas Wedgewood.

The photogenic drawing, which is a negative obtained by laying the leaf on light-sensitive paper and exposing it to the sun, was attributed to Henry Fox Talbot, one of the pioneers of early photography. Schaaf, an expert on Fox Talbot, says that a "W" on the image may refer to Thomas Wedgewood, who was a member of the Wedgewood china family.

200-year-old image of a leaf, which lay for years in an album, may be the world's oldest photograph, according to research by a scholar.

The photogenic drawing, a negative obtained by laying the leaf on light-sensitive paper and exposing it to the sun, has been attributed to Henry Fox Talbot, one of the pioneers of photography.

Horse racing is coming under fire from animal rights group PETA (which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). The organization states that they will hold a protest of the second leg of horse racing's triple crown, the Preakness Stakes, because of the deaths of Barbaro, who won the run roses but died in following race held at Pimilico Racetrack in 2006, and Eight Belles who broke down after finishing second at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

PETA is pushing for a wide array of changes to thoroughbred industry. The group staged a protest yesterday in Lexington, Kentucky, with 20 protesters with signs that had sayings such as "Stop Racing Horses to the Grave". A PETA spokesperson said this of the horse racing industry:

"Unfortunately, money and speed is all that matters to these people, and Eight Belles is the most famous recent example in a string of broken and dead animals," Lindsay Rajt stated.

The trainer of Eight Belles shot back at PETA saying they were capitalizing on a tragic situation and using the horrific event as a fundraiser for their organization. Larry Jones, who trained the filly, stated:

Kent Desormeaux rode Derby favorite Big Brown to win the 134th Kentucky Derby. Finishing in second was filly Eight Belles, who was injured in the race and immediately euthanized after compound fractures in the front legs. Coming in third place was Denis of Cork (27-1), ridden by Calvin Borel, who won the Derby last year with Street Sense.

Big Brown was the 52nd favorite to win in the 134-year history of the Kentucky Derby, and finished in 2:01.82. He was also the first horse to win from post position 20 since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.

Larry Bramlage, D.V.M, who was on-call from the American Association of Equine Practioners, said that the filly broke both front ankles as she galloped out nearing the backstretch. She then fell and threw jockey Gabriel Saez, attempted to regain her composure, and then partially collapsed again as she was attended to by emergency personnel and outriders.

"Unfortunately she had to be immediately euthanized, there was no possible way to save her. That's an injury that is just too painful. It's a bad injury to both front legs," said Bramlage.

Eight Belles was the first filly to start in the Derby since 1999.

Former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer's call girl, Ashley Alexandra Dupre, is suing Joe Francis and his "Girls Gone Wild" franchise for over $10 million in damages for releasing photos from a tape she made in 2003 at the age of 17. In the tape, Dupre is seen wearing a backwards baseball cap and a bikini. She flashes her breasts for the camera, grabs herself, and dances provocatively as men around her cheer.

Dupre said she was on spring break in Florida, and claims she was given alcohol and "cajoled" into an appearance. She is suing for the use of her name and likeness on Girls Gone Wild websites and promotional material. According to People magazine, the tape in question was never released because Dupre was just 17 at the time.

Joe Francis has said that he is "amazed" that she is suing him because there were many people present as she was filmed, and that he didn't even release the tape because she was underage. However, he said that it doesn't matter if she was underage because she showed a fake ID and claimed to be older:

“It is incomprehensible that Ms. Dupré could claim she did not give her consent to be filmed by Girls Gone Wild, when in fact we have videotape of her giving consent, while showing her identification.

With declining circulation numbers and revenues, the print newspaper industry has for all accounts and purposes seen its best days fall behind them. Meanwhile, online revenues are on the rise, which leaves many of us left wondering when the newspapers will simply call it quits and shift their focus entirely online. For one daily newspaper in Wisconsin, the time is now.

On Saturday, The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin shut down its print operations, fired a third of its staff, and completely restructured its business to focus exclusively online. The 90-year-old daily newspaper is one of the first such daily newspapers to make this drastic decision, but felt the affects of the dying industry twice as much being the afternoon paper in a two-newspaper town.

Recently, the newspaper's circulation dropped to just around 18,000, down from a high of 40,000 in the 1960's.

Clayton Frink, publisher of The Capital Times, said in an interview just two days before the final daily press run:

"We felt our audience was shrinking so that we were not relevant. We are going a little farther, a little faster, but the general trend is happening everywhere."

Triathelete David Martin, 66, died on Solana Beach Friday after a shark lifted him out of the water with his legs in its jaws, which left deep lacerations and shredded Martin's wetsuit. Helicopters continue to scan the coastline in search of the shark, which is believed to be a great white shark, that killed Martin.

According to city and county officials, beaches in San Diego will remain closed, and will be patrolled throughout the weekend.

While the weekend weather forecasts promises dry winds and summery temperatures, tempting weather to head to the beach, those thousands who would normally make a beeline for the beach will now have to weigh the risks of ignoring authorities and risking their lives to take a dip in the ocean.

David Martin was the first shark fatality in San Diego County since 1994. Before that, the last known fatal shark attack in the area was in 1959.

Experts indicate that the likelihood of finding the shark that attacked Martin, a retired veterinarian, was slim.

Sharks are a rare occurrence in SoCal, however, female great white sharks occasionally swim south to pup. Experts believe that the bite pattern on Martin's legs indicate that the shark was a great white that was 12 to 17 feet long.

Rocky, a five-year-old bear that has starred in big-name Hollywood films, bit trainer Stephan Miller on the neck during filming at an animal training center in California. The bear, who weighs nearly 800lbs, is said to have bit Miller during "playful" wrestling.

Stephan Miller's cousin, Randy, set up the "Predators in Action" training center, and said that Rocky was a "loving, affectionate, friendly, safe bear." Randy said that the bear "hit him in a very vulnerable spot."

"It happened so fast. We did what we had to do to stop the bear. It took a matter of seconds to get him off, but it was too late," Randy told press.

Paramedics arrives shortly after, and pepper spray was used to subdue the bear, however it was too late and Miller could not be revived.

At the time of the accident, Rocky was being filmed for a promotional video for the center, which is located in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The fate of Rocky the bear has not yet been decided. Because the incident occurred on private property outside the jurisdiction of state authorities, it is up to the center to decide what will happen. Had it occurred elsewhere, the state would have had the power to destroy the bear.

Rocky most recently appeared in Will Ferrell's latest comedy, "Semi Pro".

Federal charges were filed on Wednesday against Roger Von Bergendorff, who was found to have had the deadly toxin ricin in his Las Vegas hotel room in February. According to a Department of Justice release, Von Bergendorff, 57, has been charged with the possession of biological toxin and two firearms-related charges.

Under U.S. federal law, it is illegal to knowingly possess a biological agent and toxin of a type and quantity that is not reasonably justified by a prophylactic, protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purchase.

While staying at the Extended Stay America Hotel in Las Vegas, Von Bergendorff contacted emergency medical services, and indicated that he had breathing problems. He was subsequently hospitalized.

A police investigation into the incident turned up instructions to prepare ricin, as well as a cache of weapons. Police in Salt Lake City searched storage lockers that had been rented by Von Bergendorff, where they turned up castor beans, chemicals used in the production of ricin, a respirator, filters, laboratory glassware, syringes, a painter's mask, and a notebook on ricin production.

According to health insurance giant Wellpoint Inc., a security breach may have inadvertently allowed internet access to the personal medical information of nearly 130,000 customers. The Indiana-based company said that Social Security numbers, pharmacy records and other personal health data of customers in several states were not properly secured.

The problem apparently stems from two computer servers which are maintained by a third-party vendor. Wellpoint declined to name the vendor.

Wellpoint has begun notifying customers of the issue by letter, and are offering one free year of credit monitoring services. According to Wellpoint spokeswoman Cheryl Leamon, they've not received any reports of identity theft or credit fraut.

To reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future, Leamon says that outside consults have already been hired.