EXTRA...

Another Chapter for Christa Case; WHOI amazes again

Cape Cod Murder Case Adds Another Chapter
Manso due to face new charges October 1st.

TRURO, Mass. - Peter Manso has always courted controversy to promote his books, including biographies on Norman Mailer and Marlon Brando and a provocative look at Provincetown, on the tip of Cape Cod.

And there is no lack of controversy surrounding the one he is writing for Simon & Schuster about the high-profile murder of Christa Worthington, a fashion writer who in 2002 was raped and murdered here, just south of Provincetown.

The book, Mr. Manso keeps promising, will be a "bombshell" exposing a corrupt and inept justice system riddled with cronyism and corruption. He has been feeding tabloidy morsels to the press and trashing local law enforcement officials by name, saying they run this exclusive seaside town like "a suburb of redneck Mississippi."

But Mr. Manso has now run afoul of those same law enforcement officials. Last week a Barnstable County grand jury indicted him on 12 charges, including felony counts, the most serious of which - possession of an assault weapon - carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Mr. Manso "overestimates his significance." -Michael O'Keefe

The charges stem from a search last December of Mr. Manso's Truro house by the police. He was initially charged in local district court, but the case was ratcheted up and transferred to Superior Court.

"When's the last time you heard about someone facing 10 years in prison for not renewing a gun permit?" asked Mr. Manso, who contends he was "overcharged and selectively prosecuted by the very D.A. who is the focus of my book."

That district attorney is Michael O'Keefe, whose jurisdiction is Cape Cod and who has been repeatedly accused by Mr. Manso of mishandling the Worthington case... New York Times.
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Drunk driving decried before holiday
Unborn child died on Cape

BOSTON - Two parents who lost their unborn child when their car was hit by a drunk driver on Cape Cod joined state officials Wednesday to warn people of the consequences of drinking and driving this Labor Day weekend.
   The backdrop for the event couldn't have been more bucolic - the shimmering water off Carson Beach in South Boston on a breezy summer day - but the message for a bank of television cameras was meant to be sobering.
   Brian Blongastainer, of Franklin, Mass., said he remembers everything about the afternoon of July 17, 2005. His wife, Heidi, 8½ months pregnant, was behind the wheel as they left an outing at the family's cottage in Dennisport. A day before, they had finished decorating the nursery in anticipation of their first child.
   About a mile after they crossed the Bourne Bridge, a Ford Thunderbird swerved into their lane on Route 25 and hit their Toyota Camry head-on.
   He watched helplessly as firefighters worked to free Heidi from the wreckage for 45 minutes.
   Twice, fires flared up from the engine and had to be put out. His wife, drifting in and out of consciousness, kept asking if their baby was alive.
   After an ultrasound, he was told his unborn daughter, Holly, who was full term, did not have a heartbeat... Standard-Times.

New Sphere in Exploring the Abyss by WHOI
Most capable deep-sea research vehicle in the world

CUDAHY, Wis. - The deep is legendary for inky darkness. William Beebe, the first person to eye the abyss, called it perpetual night.  The darkness is matched by the intense pressure. Four miles down, it amounts to nearly five tons per square inch. That is too much even for Alvin, the most famous of the world's tiny submersibles, which can take a pilot and two scientists down to a maximum depth of 2.8 miles.

But a new submersible is being built here, and even the process of construction seems a rebuke to the darkness. The work lighted up a cavernous factory with fireworks on a recent visit. Hot reds and oranges burst into showers of spark and flame as blistering metal began to yield to the demands of the submersible's design.

"Amazing," Tom Furman, a senior engineer at Ladish Forging, said after a big press bore down on an 11-foot disk of hot metal, making the delicate manipulation look as easy as rearranging a gargantuan pat of butter.

The new vehicle is to replace Alvin, which was the first submersible to illuminate the rusting hulk of the Titanic and the first to carry scientists down to discover the bizarre ecosystems of tube worms and other strange creatures that thrive in icy darkness... Its architects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod describe it as "the most capable deep-sea research vehicle in the world"... New York Times.

Also read the report by WHOI here.