Midwest Continues to Bake as Heat Wave Moves East

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- A dangerous heat wave continues to hover over the central part of the U.S. and is expected to spread eastward over the next few days. Forecasters say the scorching temps will be sticking around well into next week.

Heat index values in the Midwest are expected to stay planted in the triple digits, making it feel like at least 100 degrees and higher throughout the afternoon Monday.

Minneapolis will feel like it's 118 degrees; the average temperature for this time in July is in the mid-80s.

The oppressive heat has caused many problems for people who live in places that don't normally record such high temperatures.

The rising mercury coupled with the stifling humidity has sent six people to the hospital in Iowa; the top recorded temperature in that state reached 99 degrees on Sunday in Council Bluffs. The average temperature for this time of year is 88 degrees.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the state, authorities say two homes got so hot their smoke detectors were tripped, triggering false alarms.

Asphalt at a major intersection in western Oklahoma buckled on Saturday night from the intense heat -- temperatures there have reached 100 degrees or higher 27 times already this year.

The heat is also affecting local wildlife in Texas. Researchers found that many does are unable to carry fawns to term in this weather, causing premature births.

Government officials and business owners are doing what they can to help people keep cool.

City officials have opened cooling centers in Chicago, where temperatures are expected to hit 105 degrees. Cooling centers have also been opened in Detroit to help residents who don't have air conditioning in their homes.

Seventeen states from Texas to Michigan have reported heat advisories and warnings.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Craigslist Tie in Disappearance of Colorado Woman?

38-year-old Amy Ahonen is pictured in this undated file photo. (Andrea Ahonen)(DENVER) -- Colorado police have called off their search for a woman who disappeared near what's known as the Mayhem Gulch Trail, but her friends and family believe the extremely athletic woman could still be alive. They also fear there could be a link to disappearance to a Craigslist ad she had posted several months ago.

Amy Ahonen was last seen on July 8, the day before her 38th birthday. Her car was found on the side of Highway 6 in Jefferson County, Colo., with her belongings in it, including the keys in the console, her purse under the seat and her hiking backpack in the vehicle. The car was left unlocked.

Andrea Ahonen finds it strange that the car was unlocked. She said that Amy's car had been broken into before so she was careful about locking the doors.

The area where the car was found is not residential, but is a heavily traveled scenic route where people sometimes leave their cars to go hiking or rafting.

"What kills me is this isn't a remote road, it's a well-travelled road. You can't count to 60 without a car going by," Andra Ahonen said. "Someone had to have seen her and we just hope someone will say something."

"Our concern is that somebody picked her up on the side of the road and she could be anywhere," Andrea Ahonen said. "Nobody knows where else to search right now."

Andrea Ahonen says her sister had a frightening experience with a man several months ago when she used Craigslist to advertise for a roommate, and she has told police about it.

Hoping to save some money, Amy Ahonen posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a roommate. In March, a man who responded came to look at the place and "tried to kiss her," according to her sister.

"She got very freaked out about it and took the ad down," Ahonen said. As far as she knows, this was the only contact her sister had with the man. When Andrea looked through her sister's emails, she did not see any further contact and could not figure out who the man was.

Andrea Ahonen said one of her sister's neighbors said Amy described the man only as a tall, black man. Amy Ahonen removed the ad after the incident, but her sister believes the incident is worth investigating.

Amy Ahonen is 5-foot-4 with light blonde hair and blue-green eyes. Extremely athletic, Ahonen is a member of a co-ed hockey team, a hiking club and a curling club. Her family is based in Taylor, Mich., and Ahonen is one of five children.

While the Denver police have called off ground searches, they are still holding Ahonen's car as evidence in the investigation. Family, friends and volunteers continue to search for Ahonen in the area around Mayhem Gulch Trail where the car was found.

The Denver police did not immediately return calls for comment.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Ex-Cop Who Called 911 About Girlfriend's Shooting Now Charged with Murder

Doug Menuez/Thinkstock(CHICAGO) -- A 911 call reporting the drive-by shooting of a Chicago woman was made by her ex-cop boyfriend who is now being charged with her murder.

Devin Bickham Sr., 39, his son, Devin Bickham Jr., 20, and a third man, Cardell Taylor, 35, have all been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly orchestrating and committing the murder of Chervon Alexander, Bickham Sr.'s girlfriend.

Bickham Sr. was a former North Chicago police officer, according to local reports. The State Attorney's office said that he and Alexander were in a romantic relationship. According to local police, Bickham was married.

"Bickham Sr. thought that the victim was interfering with his life and wanted her out of the way, allegedly," said Chief Deputy Craig Rutz from the River Forest police department. "[Alexander] had told others that she was going to be getting married in August."

According to Rutz, on the night of the drive-by, "two people stopped their car on Division Street right in front of victim's car. One walked through the bushes and shot [Alexander]." Andy Conklin from the State's Attorney's office said that Taylor shot Alexander with a handgun several times in the mouth, shoulder and chest.

In his frantic 911 call, Bickham Sr. claimed ignorance of the shooter's identity, crying, "My girlfriend got shot." When the 911 operator asked Bickham who shot his girlfriend, the former cop replied, "I don't know. Some guy but he kept going. Help me." When asked if his girlfriend was breathing, Bickham's emotional response was almost unintelligible. "No. She's gone. She's not breathing. Oh please."

Four minutes after Bickham's 911 call, combined task forces from Forest Park and Oak Park police led the arrest of Bickham Jr. and Taylor.

The State Attorney's Office said that Bickham Jr. and Taylor have now both made videotaped confessions admitting to the scheme, including that they had been recruited to kill the victim and that they were in communication with Bickham Sr. Conklin also said that the older Bickham made statements saying that "he had admitted the gun was his. He admitted to telling his son where he was and that he was bringing the victim to the area where the shooting occurred."

Bickham Sr.'s attorney, Mike Clancy, maintains his client's innocence.

"This is something that I believe, at the end of the day when it goes to trial, my client is going to be found innocent," said Clancy to ABC affiliate, WLS.

According to local authorities, father and son lived together in Blue Island. The elder Bickham had filed for bankruptcy twice in the past. Currently, both family members, as well as Taylor, are being held without bond in Cook County Jail. A preliminary hearing is set for July 21.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Rejected Blood Donor to Sue Over Faulty 'Gaydar'

22 year-old Aaron Pace is attempting to file charges against a blood center in Indiana after he was denied a request to give blood because, he says, the staff told him he appeared to be homosexual. (Aaron Pace)(GARY, Ind.) -- Aaron Pace claims he is the victim of faulty "gaydar" and intends to sue for discrimination after he was not allowed to give blood because he appeared to be homosexual.

Pace, who is 22 and insists he is straight, was rejected from giving blood by Bio-Blood Components Inc. in Gary, Ind., earlier this month.

Federal guidelines forbid blood donations by gays. The regulations dates back to 1983 and the outbreak of AIDS and the virus associated with AIDS, HIV.

"I was humiliated," Pace told ABC News. "This was my first time experiencing this."

Pace said he filled out a questionnaire at Bio-Blood Components Inc. and sat through an interview with a staff member. When the interview was over, Pace was told he was not eligible to give blood and was turned away.

"She said 'I'm sorry, but it's the way that you act and appear to be. [It's] your sexuality.' And I said 'because I'm what?' and she said 'because you're gay,'" said Pace. He demanded to speak with the doctor on site who reiterated that he had been denied.

Pace said Monday that he plans to sue for sexual orientation discrimination.

Pace said he has an effeminate voice, and thinks that perhaps that was what caused the blood center to assume he was homosexual.

Bio-Blood Components Inc. did not return ABC News' call requesting comment.

Blood donation sites across the country have been banned since 1983 from allowing gay men to donate blood due to a Food and Drug Administration regulation. The American Red Cross and other groups that supply donated blood have asked for a review of the regulation.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Couple Allegedly Kidnaps Man to Force Him to Grant Jewish Divorce

Comstock/Thinkstock(TRENTON, N.J.) -- A middle-aged Jewish couple has been charged with luring an Israeli man to their suburban New Jersey home and allegedly holding him hostage until he agreed to grant his wife a religious divorce.

David and Judy Wax, 49 and 47, were scheduled to appear in federal court in Trenton on Monday, face up to life in prison for kidnapping if convicted.

According to the criminal complaint, the Waxes convinced the victim, known only by his initials, Y.M.B, to come to their Lakewood home in the early morning hours of Oct. 17, 2010 to discuss the Talmud. After he arrived, two unidentified males jumped him in a second-floor bedroom, punching him in the face.

After the attackers allegedly handcuffed, bound and blindfolded the victim, the victim said that he heard them say he had to grant his wife a divorce without receiving custody of the children. The victim said that David Wax then picked the victim's head off the floor, allowing him to see under the blindfold. Wax was wearing a white cowboy hat. "Do you like my hat?" asked Wax, before allegedly kicking the victim in the ribs.

The victim was also allegedly shown a body bag and told "that if he did not comply, he would be buried alive in the Pocono Mountains," according to the complaint. The Poconos are a popular resort area in Eastern Pennsylvania. Wax allegedly laid the body bag on the victim and said, "For you to get used to the size."

The victim and his ex-wife had been engaged in a contested divorce in Rabbinical court in Israel. The victim had moved to the United States, where he continued to refuse to give his wife a "get," a divorce under Orthodox Jewish law. A "get "would permit her to remarry.

According to the alleged victim, he was held hostage for several hours and threatened with harm if he didn't verbally consent to the "get." The victim said that he consented to the divorce within the first half hour of his captivity, but was forced to consent to the divorce again and again in both English and Hebrew. He was also told that his father in Israel had to pay $100,000 to his ex-wife.

At 3:00 a.m., David Wax and the victim allegedly went by taxi to an ATM to attempt to withdraw money.

According to the complaint, the taxi driver told the men that a car was following the taxi. Wax said he was aware of the car. He allegedly told the victim that he had an "Italian team" in the following car who would take victim to the Poconos and bury him alive. Wax also allegedly called the victim's father in Israel and threatened him with a "special gift...called a bullet...in your head" if he didn't cooperate. He also said that others had wanted to give the victim "to mice in the mountains to eat him," but that the son had been spared because he agreed to the divorce.

According to the complaint, Judy Wax then drove the victim to his cousin's house in Brooklyn, New York and dropped him off.

Mitchell Ansell, attorney for David Wax, said that his client is not guilty and has always maintained his innocence. "He has no history of violence or criminal behavior, and he is the father of eight children. We're confident that when all the facts are made public that he will be cleared of these charges and his good and honorable name will be restored."

An attorney for Judy Wax did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Carmageddon Averted: I-405 Reopens Early

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Los Angeles’ feared "Carmageddon" ended before it ever really began Sunday, as officials re-opened Interstate 405 17 hours ahead of their Monday morning target.

Billboards warning of historic gridlock, celebrity tweets to stay in your neighborhood and stern mayoral pronouncements apparently scared most Angelenos off the road (or out of town) during the shutdown of a 10-mile stretch of I-405, a vital north-south artery connecting the city to the San Fernando Valley.

The closure turned the city's Westside into a relaxing, sun-dappled playland where restaurants seated patrons without waits and Angelenos made uncharacteristic use of their own footpower to get around.

At least two intrepid skateboarders dodged police and California Highway Patrol officers staged at the on ramps for an unimpeded adventure down the 405, only to be warned they risked arrest if they attempted a repeat performance.

Officials can only hope residents won't have become complacent 11 months from now -- when the remaining half of the Mulholland Bridge comes down in Carmageddon II.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Grandmother, Sex Offender Fight for Custody of Child in Florida

Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) -- A judge's ruling giving custody of a 3-year-old girl to a registered sex offender over her grandmother has created confusion and outrage in Jacksonville, Florida.

"I was absolutely appalled.  Very concerned for the well-being of this little girl," State Rep. Janet Adkins told ABC News affiliate WJXX-TV in Jacksonville.

Trista Crews, the mother of the girl, died a month after her daughter, Miranda Wilkerson, was born.  At the time, she was married to registered sex offender Donald Coleman, though Coleman, whose offense was impregnating Crews when she was 14 and he was 38, had filed for divorce.

In his divorce petition, Coleman claimed that Crews was pregnant with another man's baby.  Despite the claim in his divorce filing, Coleman is still Miranda's legal father because he was married to Miranda's mother at the time she was born, which apparently played into the judge's ruling.

Reporters were not allowed in the courtroom when the decision was reached last week, and lawyers and family members were barred from speaking about the ruling to the media.

Adkins told WJXX-TV that she and the Florida Department of Children and Families are trying to determine whether anything can be done to return Miranda to her grandparents, with whom she grew up.

"I find it absolutely incredible that the law would say you are going to take a child out of a family, the only family this child has ever known, and to put this person with a complete stranger who is not any relation, I find that just appalling," she said.  "My biggest concern is for that child's safety."

According to court documents acquired by WJXX-TV two days after the ruling, Coleman's motion for custody claimed that the girl's maternal grandmother, Rita Manning, was not allowing him to see Miranda.

The motion also detailed Manning's arrest record, which included a 1995 case that was eventually dropped in which she was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.  Manning was also charged with child neglect in 1997, when her daughter got pregnant by Coleman.  Manning was eventually sentenced to probation, according to the documents obtained by WJXX-TV.

Coleman was sentenced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, but Manning agreed to her daughter's marrying him that same year because the 14-year-old was expecting a baby, she said.  Since then, the Colemans had two more children together.

The custody transfer of Miranda occurred last Wednesday, after Manning petitioned to adopt the child.  Outrage over the case has grown since the judge's decision, which forced Miranda to leave her grandmother and move to Georgia, where Coleman lives.

Miranda's grandmother will have the opportunity to appeal the judge's decision.  She could also report the case to the Department of Child and Family Services.  But for now, when Miranda turns 4 in a couple days, Manning said she doesn't know if she will be able to wish her a happy birthday in person.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Heat Index Rises: Hot Weather Hits Midwest, South

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- This weekend's raging heat wave across parts of the U.S. will linger into the upcoming week, threatening to set existing high temperature records ablaze.

Seventeen states have heat warnings in effect for the upcoming week and 36 states were expected to see temperatures at or above 90 degrees on Sunday.

A high pressure system anchored over the Great Plains will produce sizzling temperature in the 90s and 100s from Texas through the Upper Midwest.  Accuweather predicts that the plains and Mississippi Valley will feel the brunt of the blazing temperatures.

Luckily for residents of the Northeast and Southeast, temperatures in those areas are expected to stay around the high 80s, perhaps sliding into the 90s.

Minnesota was under an excessive heat warning again on Sunday that will be in effect until late Wednesday.  The combined heat and humidity readings for the Minneapolis area were around 110 degrees for Sunday afternoon, shattering the previous record high on this date of 99 degrees, which was set in 1936.

In many areas across the country, the heat is not just uncomfortable; it's unprofitable.  In Texas, 95 percent of the state is suffering from extreme, severe or exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.  The parched land and arid skies have contributed to almost $3 billion in wheat crop losses, the Texas Farm Bureau estimates.

In Oklahoma, fields are barren, with no water to feed thirsty herds.

"We're selling 1,800 to 2,000 cows and it's just strictly due to drought," Bob Rodenberger, an auction owner in Oklahoma, told ABC News.

Oklahoma City felt like a blazing 114 degrees on Sunday.

From Arizona east across the southern part of the United States, there is also another concern.  Scorching temperatures and already scorched land are creating a recipe for possible wildfires.  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, nearly five million acres have already been burned from Arizona to Florida.

In Chicago, these temperatures could prove deadly.  As if the high heat and humidity, paired with the poor air quality alert, was not enough, many residents have been experiencing power outages, a dangerous combination for a city that saw hundreds die over two days in 1995 due to heat.

Meanwhile on the West Coast, a low pressure system is keeping temperatures unseasonably cool for another day.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Phoenix Police Arrest Woman for 'Squeezing and Twisting' TSA Officer's Breast

PRNewsFoto/Transportation Security (PHOENIX) -- Phoenix police arrested a 61-year-old Colorado woman for allegedly grabbing the left breast of a Transportation Security Administration officer with both hands and "squeezing and twisting" it at Sky Harbor Airport.

Police say Yukari Mihamae refused to go through the TSA screening Thursday and began arguing with officers, which led to the alleged grope.

According to the police report, Mihamae is accused of grabbing TSA agent Barbara O'Toole's "left breast through her clothing and squeezing and twisting it with both hands without the victim's permission," the New York Post reported.

The alleged grope occurred in Terminal 4 at Checkpoint D, according to police, who arrived and arrested Mihamae on felony sexual assault charges. Police say Mihamae admitted to grabbing O'Toole.

"Phoenix Police officers were summoned and investigated this incident," Martos said. "The suspect admitted to grabbing the TSA agent and continued being argumentative. Yukari was arrested and booked into jail."

"TSA officers work every day to protect the traveling public, and the agency will not tolerate assaults against its workforce," said a TSA spokesman, according to ABC News affiliate KNXV-TV in Phoenix.

Mihamae spent the night at Maricopa County jail, and was released from custody on Friday.

Facebook groups have already been created to help the alleged breast grabber.

In the group "Acquit Yukari Mihamae," one member commented, "She's a modern day Rosa Parks, standing up to 'Authority'!" Others are setting up a legal defense fund to help Mihamae.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Exodus Intl. Head Alan Chambers Compares Homosexuality to Obesity

Mario Tama/Getty Images(WINTER PARK, Fla.) -- Undercover videos taken by a gay rights group inside Michele Bachmann's family-owned Christian counseling clinic have sparked a fierce debate over a controversial therapy to turn gay men and women straight.

In an interview with ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross, a leading figure in an "ex-gay" movement claims many evangelical Christians have been able to change their sexual orientation through faith, prayer, and therapy.

"Does counseling help people who are struggling to live through the filter of the faith over their sexuality? It definitely, absolutely does," said Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International. Chambers says that the group's efforts to promote therapy to turn gays away from homosexuality have been unfairly criticized.

"We can look at other organizations who help people dealing with other life struggles. For instance, Weight Watchers, which has tremendously benefited my life. Should we go after Weight Watchers and tell them 'Don't say that there's anything beyond obesity' for people who are struggling with obesity and want an alternative to that?"

Mental health professionals came forward to strongly condemn gay conversion therapy after the undercover videos were first broadcast on ABC News on Monday night. Dr. Jack Drescher says the practice is not only ineffective but could seriously harm patients.

"This so far outside the mainstream it's practically on Mars," said Dr. Jack Drescher, a psychiatrist who has studied the practice of gay conversions. "We don't know what causes homosexuality, we don't know what causes heterosexuality, and since we don't what causes it, we don't know how to change it. There is no science that effectively states [that] this can work, this can change."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio