At Least 9 Dead and Others Missing After a Massive Fire Rips Through Buiding During Party in Oakland, CA

9 DEAD AS FIRE RIPS THRU PARTY IN OAKLAND, CA …

At least nine people died as a fire raged through a warehouse in Oakland, California’s Fruitvale neighborhood where a party was underway late Friday night. It is also being reported that there are another 25 people who are missing and unaccounted for. The fire started about 11:30 p.m. Friday at 1305 31st Ave. It tore through the building during an event featuring musician Golden Donna’s 100% Silk West Coast tour.

In what may be the deadliest structure fire in Oakland’s history, at least nine people died in a blaze that broke out late Friday at an electronic music party at a Fruitvale district live-work space, officials said.

The fire tore through the two-story building in the 1300 block of 31st Avenue at about 11:30 p.m. Friday during an event featuring musician Golden Donna’s 100% Silk West Coast tour.

Most of the nine dead were found on the second floor, and another 25 people are unaccounted for, Fire Chief Teresa Deloach-Reed said.

Firefighters said it appeared that no smoke detectors were activated during the fire and there was no sprinkler system in the  structure, the chief said.

“We still have to do a more thorough search of the building and we don’t know the potential number of other victims,” Deloach-Reed said. No firefighters were reported injured while battling the blaze.

The blaze is already being called one of the deadliest single-structure fires in Oakland’s history, if not the deadliest.

UPDATE I: Sheriff says officials prepared to deal with up to 40 deaths in Oakland, California nightclub fire.

Preakness Stakes: Black Eye for Horse Racing … Death of Two Race Horses (Homeboykris & Pramedya) … Oh Yeah, Exaggerator Won

ON MARYLAND HORSE RACING’S BIGGEST DAY … TWO HORSES DEAD.

The 141st running of the Preakness States was overshadowed as two horses died and a jockey was injured at Pimlico Race Course during the first few races of a rainy Preakness Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland. In the first 4 races of the day, two horses were dead and one jockey injured. 9 year old Homeboykris collapsed while walking back to his barn after winning the first race on a dirt course at the Pimlico. 9 YEARS OLD AND STILL RACING? Later, 4 year old Pramedya fractured her left cannon bone while racing on a turf course. The horse was immediately euthanized on the track. In a bizarre irony, Pramedya’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, also owned the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Barbaro who shattered bones in his leg at the start of the Preakness in 2006. We all sadly remember Barbaro, and Barbaro’s struggle to survive only to be euthanized in 2007.

Racehorse Homeboykris collapsed while walking back to his barn after winning the first race on a dirt course at the Pimlico, according to Sal Sinatra, the president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club. The horse collapsed after his picture had been taken in the winner’s circle.

Later, racehorse Pramedya fractured her left cannon bone while racing on a turf course, according to Sinatra, and Pramedya’s Jockey, Daniel Centeno, fell and suffered a right clavicle fracture. Pramedya, 4, was euthanized on the track, according to The Associated Press.

Homeboykris’ owner, Jan Klein, said in a statement to ABC News, “We are all just heartbroken.”

“Kris had a small team who loved him and cared about him. His trainer, Fran Campitelli; his caretakers; and of course, me,” Klein said. “He loved what he did and we will all miss him. Such a wonderful competitor with a marvelous record.

“We all feel privileged to have been a part of his life,” she said.

There will be an autopsy for 9-year-old Homeboykris at the New Bolton veterinary care center in Pennsylvania, Sinatra said.

Pramedya’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, also owned the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Barbaro who shattered bones in his leg at the start of the Preakness in 2006. Barbaro developed laminitis and was euthanized in 2007, according to the AP.

Oh yeah, and in other news Exaggerator won the Preakness Stakes defeating Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. There will be no Triple Crown winner this year and nor should there be. Triple Crown’s do not grow on trees and should never be a common occurrence, otherwise the one thing that draws non-horse racing fans to the support the sport would go away as well.

Exaggerator rained on Nyquist’s parade at the Preakness. And that’s no exaggeration at all.

The Kentucky Derby runner-up won the second leg of horse-racing’s Triple Crown Saturday in the rain and slop at Pimlico Race Course. Nyquist, the Derby winner, started fast but faded in the stretch, finishing third behind longshot Cherry Wine.

Kent Desormeaux, the winning jockey, said the secret to victory was staying close to the rail, shortening the distance Exaggerator had to run, while the other jockeys stayed wide.

Prince Found Unresponsive at his Paisley Park Residence … Dead at 57, RIP

PURPLE RAIN HAS PASSED AWAY … WHEN DOVES CRY.

Prince Rogers Nelson, better known as the iconic music superstar Prince has passed away at the age of 57. According to reports, Prince was briefly hospitalized last Friday with what his representatives said was the flu, which caused him to cancel two shows earlier in April. The medical examiners office has received Prince’s body and will perform an autopsy Friday. However, TMZ is reporting that it may have been a drug overdose before his death. Sadly, we have lost another music giant far too soon.

This one stings a bit, especially when the music artists of your youth start dying, and far too soon. We did not know  it at the time in the 1980′s, but we were not just listening to Prince and the Revolution, but a revolutionary performer. Prince was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and performed a legendary version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” to close the ceremony. REST IN PEACE.

1999

Prince passed away Thursday morning at his Paisley Park recording studio. He was 57.

Prince’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, confirmed the pop music superstar’s death early Thursday afternoon.

“It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57,” Noel-Schure said. “There are no further details as to the cause of death at this time.”

Carver County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jason Kamerud says deputies responded to Paisley Park at 9:43 a.m. on the report of a medical situation.

When deputies and medical personnel arrived, they found Prince unresponsive in the elevator. Responders attempted to provide lifesaving CPR, but were unable to revive him.

He was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m.

Purple Rain

UPDATE I: Prince’s 40 Biggest Billboard Hits.

The man born Prince Rogers Nelson was an icon on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs chart (and fittingly won Billboard’s Icon Award at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards), where he racked up an impressive array of hits, including five No. 1s. They range from his unforgettable chart-toppers (“Let’s Go Crazy,” “Kiss”) to funk workouts (“Hot Thing,” “Controversy”) to gorgeous love songs (“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” “Take Me With U”).

Billboard is looking back on Prince’s long career with his 40 top Hot 100 hits. The list is led by his No. 1 smash from the Purple Rain soundtrack, “When Doves Cry.”

Here are Prince’s 40 biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits:

Rank, Title, Hot 100 Peak Year, Position (Weeks Spent at No. 1)
1, “When Doves Cry,” 1984, No. 1 (5)*
2, “Kiss,” 1986, No. 1 (2)*
3, “Let’s Go Crazy,” 1984, No. 1 (2)*
4, “Cream,” 1991, No. 1 (2)**
5, “Batdance,” 1989, No. 1 (1)
6, “Raspberry Beret,” 1985, No. 2*
7, “U Got the Look,” 1987, No. 2
8, “Purple Rain,” 1984, No. 2*
9, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” 1994, No. 3
10, “Sign ‘O’ the Times,” 1987, No. 3

One of my favorites – Little Red Corvette

WAPO Obit:

An eccentric, eclectic and electrifying singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and arranger, Prince Rogers Nelson became one of popular music’s leading stars in the 1980s — a towering figure who found enormous critical and commercial success by blending R&B and rock to make a relentlessly funky, soulful and sensual stew.

Recording Academy President Neil Portnow referred to Prince — a seven-time Grammy winner — as “one of the most uniquely gifted artists of all time.”

“Never one to conform, he redefined and forever changed our musical landscape,” Portnow said in a statement. “Prince was an original who influenced so many, and his legacy will live on forever. We have lost a true innovator and our sincerest condolences go out to his family, friends, collaborators, and all who have been impacted by his incredible work.”

Prince, the son of a jazz musician, was born Prince Rogers Nelson in June 1958. His debut album, “For You,” was released in 1978; one year later came “Prince,” an album that contained “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” his first hit.

That pair of albums “unveiled a budding genius and one-man band,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said.

In the early 1980s, Prince released “1999.”

Then, in 1984, came “Purple Rain,” which “elevated Prince from cult hero to superstar,” the Rock Hall said.

Authorities Discover Buried Body on Private Property in Fruitland Township, MI … Might Be That of Missing Mother Bobbie Maples

Roosevelt Park Police believe that the body they discovered buried on private property might be that of Bobbie Maples. Upon a tip, the body was found on private property in Fruitland Township, Michigan Friday evening. Bobbie Maples went missing in December 2014, shortly after giving birth to daughter Airyonne. She was reported last seen near Whitehall by a friend.

According to Roosevelt Park Police Chief David Boone, the police have a prime suspect in Maples’ disappearance, who currently is incarcerated for an unrelated matter. As per Boone, the suspect is among several police have had over the past year, and has been on law enforcement’s radar since the beginning of the investigation into Maples’ disappearance.

Investigators have been lead by a tip to a buried body that could be that of Bobbie Maples, a mother first reported missing about a year ago.

Local officials discovered a buried body on private property in Fruitland Township Friday evening. Maples’ mother, Muriel, confirmed to WZZM 13 that authorities expressed confidence that the remains are linked to Bobbie.

Facebook: HelpFindBobbieMaples

Buried body found Friday could be woman missing for a year.

Local law enforcement authorities discovered, and left mostly undisturbed, the buried body on private property in rural Muskegon County early Friday evening, said Roosevelt Park Police Chief David Boone.

Police remained at the scene throughout the night awaiting the arrival of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab Saturday morning, which would complete the task of unearthing the remains, Boone said. He could not predict when a positive identity could be made because he did not know the condition of the body or what items may be with it.

UPDATE I: 1st to report Bobbie Maples missing was man now charged with sex-for-drugs life felony.

A man now charged with coercing a woman to have sex in exchange for drugs was the first person to report Bobbie Maples missing after she vanished, according to his lawyer.

Maples’ buried body was found Jan. 22 in Fruitland Township. She disappeared in December 2014 after leaving her Roosevelt Park home to visit her 11-day-old daughter who remained hospitalized followering her birth.

Robert Charles Smith III, 50, of Laketon Township, who was recently charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct during the commission of a felony, knew Maples and has been cooperating with police investigating her disappearance and now death, Smith’s attorney Marc E. Curtis said Tuesday.

29 Year Old Melanie Coley of Loudon, TN Missing Since 1/21/16 (Update: Found Deceased Near the Scene of a Single-Car Crash in Loudon County)

29 year old Melanie Coley has been missing since January 21, 2016 in Loudon, Tennessee. The 29 year old Primrose School preschool teacher was last seen late Thursday evening at Bad Daddy’s Burger in Turkey Creek. She was driving her grey 2014 Dodge Avenger with a broken right side mirror.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public’s help in finding a missing woman.

Melanie Coley, 29, of Loudon, was last seen late Thursday evening at Bad Daddy’s Burger in Turkey Creek. KCSO said she was driving her grey 2014 Dodge Avenger with a broken right side mirror.

The Primrose School of Farragut identified Coley on Facebook as one of their preschool teachers.

If anyone with information is asked to contact the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 865-215-2243.

UPDATE: 29-year-old woman reported missing Friday was found dead Saturday near the scene of a single-car crash in Loudon County.

A 29-year-old woman reported missing Friday was found dead Saturday near the scene of a single-car crash in Loudon County, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol discovered the body of Melanie Coley of Loudon ejected from her wrecked 2014 Dodge Avenger off Sugar Limb Road, about two miles southeast of Interstate 75.

The THP had coordinated with KCSO detectives to investigate Coley’s travel routes and patterns, officials said.

An autopsy will determine the cause of death.