Gotti seeks to silence New York radio host
Lawyers for John A. "Junior" Gotti want WABC-AM syndicated talker Curtis Sliwa to stop trashing him on his morning show. Defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told a federal judge that Sliwa's on-air rants against their client could poison a jury in his racketeering case.
Each day, Sliwa "denigrates Mr. Gotti," Lichtman said at a pretrial hearing in Manhattan. "He discusses the facts of the case in a highly inflammatory way."
U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said she would wait for a formal motion before ruling on a possible gag order against Sliwa, a witness in the case.
Told about the bid to silence him, Sliwa was defiant. "That's a new approach," he said. "Previously, they tried to kill me."
Sliwa estimated he talks about the Gotti case on air about 30 minutes per five-hour show. "Now I'm going to double it and have a full hour of Gotti mob talk."
Sliwa was once the target of a failed hit allegedly arranged by the son of late mob boss John Gotti. Prosecutors allege Gotti and two mobsters conspired to kill Sliwa as payback for his criticizing the elder Gotti on the radio.
Besides the Sliwa attack, Gotti has also plead not guilty to two other murder conspiracies, securities fraud, extortion and loan sharking. He faces a minimum 25-30 years in prison if convicted.
Vandals knock Cox/Orlando stations off-air
More transmitter sites vandalized after Texas (10/15 RBR Daily Epaper #202): WKMG-TV Orlando reports police in that city believe an hour-long interruption in Cox Radio's WPYO-FM and WMMO-FM 10/19 was the result of sabotage. Investigators said an engineer for Cox discovered someone broke into a transmission tower's breaker box, shut off the power and damaged a back-up generator. An engineer who reported the incident said the person who caused the damage knew "exactly what they were doing," according to a police report. Investigators have no leads on a suspect.
Alice Cooper reveals Halloween week guests
United Stations Radio Networks unveiled a week of Halloween-themed programming featuring an array of ghoulish Halloween guests on it Nights with Alice Cooper." Cooper plays host via satellite nightly for five hours each weeknight from 7pm-Midnight.
Scheduled guests for the week of Oct. 25-29 include:
* Paranormal Buff and Ghostbusters Creator DAN AYKROYD
* Halloween Film Director JOHN CARPENTER
* Nightmare On Elm Street's WES CRAVEN
* Garden Gnome and Metal Legend RONNIE JAMES DIO
* X-Files Superstar DAVID DUCHOVNY
* Sexy Fright Legend ELVIRA
* The "Bat Out Of Hell" Himself, MEATLOAF
* Metal Monster DAVE MUSTAINE
* Coast To Coast Ghosts and Ghosts Among Us Author LESLIE RULE
* Twisted Sister's DEE SNIDER
* Madghoul.com's Paranormal Scholar MICHAEL SZUL
* Clairvoyant and Leading Psychic/Paranormal Researcher LORRAINE WARREN
* Frankenstein (the song) Creator EDGAR WINTER
* Frightening American ROB ZOMBIE
In addition, German rockers THE SCORPIONS will play live, acoustically and exclusively for Cooper and his listeners.
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