12 seconds ago 2009-11-21T03:39:24-08:00
The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news stories that occurred overnight. Look for updates throughout the day on Yahoo! News and in the news box on Yahoo.com.
Top story overnight: Forecasters downgraded Hurricane Ida to Category 1 status, but the storm could still pack hurricane-force winds when it hits the Gulf Coast on Monday evening or early Tuesday. According to The Associated Press, hurricane warnings have been issued from Pascagoula, Miss., to Indian Pass, Fla., with tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches in effect for neighboring areas. At the time of this writing, Hurricane Ida is located about 235 miles south-southeast from the mouth of the Mississippi River.
In other news: Today is the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall fell. Germany remembered the historic event with speeches, fireworks and concerts. Memorials were also held for the 136 people who were killed for trying to cross the border. Click here to watch the ABC News broadcast from 1989.
A tornado tore through a coastal area in northwestern Oregon on Friday night, damaging 11 homes and three cars, The AP reported. The twister packed winds that reached 85 mph and left a destruction path that was 150 yards long and 80 yards wide. No deaths or injuries were reported.
Lastly, the mother of former major league baseball player Victor Zambrano was kidnapped yesterday morning, The AP reported. Zambrano's agent said Elizabeth Mendez Zambrano was abducted from her son's farm in central Venezuela. It is not known if a ransom has been requested; however, families of wealthy athletes are periodically targeted by kidnappers. Zambrano played seven big league seasons for Tampa Bay, the New York Mets, Toronto and Baltimore.
Most read stories: Police have arrested a man in connection with the shooting deaths of three women at an Ill. gas station over the weekend, The AP reported. The suspect's identity has not been released, but authorities believe he opened fire on the women while they were sitting inside a car with several children. Canikia Harvey, 26, Raykel Gathing, 26, and Jamaica McDaniel, 24, died in the East St. Louis attack, but none of the children suffered any physical injuries. Click here to watch KMOV video from the scene.
Readers were also interested in this AP investigation into how PC viruses can brand innocent people as pedophiles. One victim mentioned in the story had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to clear his name, even after authorities inspected his laptop and found it was severely infected and programmed to visit as many as 40 child porn sites per minute. The charges were eventually dropped but the victim said his life, his health and his reputation were ruined.
Looking ahead: President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order to establish a Council on Veterans Employment and a Veterans Employment Program office within most federal agencies. And prosecutors expect to file charges against a man suspected in the Halloween-night slaying of a Seattle police officer and the Oct. 22 firebombings of four police vehicles.
Today's poll: The Supreme Court is considering whether juveniles should be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. What do you think? Click here to share your thoughts.
Yesterday's poll: A woman in South Korea passed her driver's license exam on the 950th attempt. How many times did it take you to pass the test? Eighty percent of respondents said once, 14 percent took it twice and 5 percent had to take the test three or more times.
Today in history: In 1938, Nazis looted and burned synagogues and Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria. The action became known as Kristallnacht, or the "night of broken glass."
Birthdays: Actress Nikki Blonsky, 21. Singer Sisqo (Dru Hill), 31. Singer/reality TV show star Nick Lachey, 36. Actor Eric Dane, 37. Singer Susan Tedeschi, 39. Rapper Pepa (Salt-N-Pepa), 40. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), 57. Actor/body builder Lou Ferrigno, 58. Actor Robert David Hall, 61. Actor Charlie Robinson, 64. Former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), 73. Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, 74. Baseball manager Whitey Herzog, 78. Author Imre Kertesz, 80. Former Democratic vice-presidential candidate R. Sargent Shriver, 94.
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--Jade Walker is the overnight editor of Yahoo! News. News doesn't stop when the lights go out, and neither does Jade.
**Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don't have to.Th


