The blaze started just before 2 a.m. on North Country Drive near Brown Otter Drive. Walter Williams, a retired air force veteran, lives alone in the home and was able to get out safely, thanks to a fire alarm.

“I was just sitting reading and I heard a loud pop. I heard the fire alarm go off, and I started to go in the garage and flames were coming from underneath the door,” said Williams.

The fire badly damaged the garage, but didn’t reach any neighboring homes.

Williams’ prized possession, a car belonging to his late wife, was in the garage.

Police have not said what caused the fire.

In The Hangover III, the traditional drunken black out bachelor party theme is ditched and the focus turns to man-child Allan (Galifianakis) in a full mental breakdown. This leads to an intervention with Stu, Phil and Doug. They decide to take Allan to get help but run into trouble with a gangster (John Goodman) who thinks they have information concerning Chow (Ken Jeong). Instead of a drunken mystery, The Hangover III turns into a heist film that can’t steal a laugh from the audience. The plot is thin and The Hangover III squanders the few interesting plot twist that are attempted. Also the risky comedy that was taken in the first two installments is scaled back tremendously. Except for an incident with a giraffe, the comedy is basically the group cursing at one another.

The actors themselves seem to just be going through the motions at this point as well. Ed Helms who was the focal point of the last film is basically regulated to the guy sitting in the back seat. Bradley Cooper seems bored and is slowly losing the snarky charm that we loved as Phil in the first two films. Galifianakis and Jeong provide some giggles, but for the most part it’s the same weird traits that the duo displayed in the first two Hangover movies. The script is poorly written and it seems that the actors where just as bored with it on-screen as I was sitting in my seat.

So, who should take the blame for the failure of The Hangover III? The answer may surprise you. The blame is on me and everyone one else who thought the old Hangover format wasn’t working and needed to be changed. I turned into a complete hypocrite after viewing The Hangover III because I wanted something different and when Todd Phillips gave it to me, I didn’t like it. The Hangover II‘s premise wasn’t bad, it just didn’t have the laughs of the original. Turning the story into a heist film just did not work for this cast of characters. Unfortunately what was missing was the big belly laughs that only came in the last five minutes of the The Hangover III. We get a glimpse of the The Hangover sequel that could have succeeded in the laughs department, but it was too little too late. Overall I give The Hangover III 2 out of 4 potatoes.

Follow me on Twitter @CW44CouchPotato and become a fan at facebook.com/CW44CouchPotato.

Read all my Movie Reviews here >>

The incident happened just before 2 a.m. near his house in the area of 44th Street and 10th Avenue. Police say the man and two women had just returned from the store when he was shot.

Officials say the driver was the only one hit, but was able to drive himself to the hospital. His van was later towed from the front of the hospital.

The victim was not able to provide a suspect description.

Police believe the shooting was random.

A union representing some 13,000 hospital pharmacists, nursing assistants, operating room scrubs and other health care workers began the walkout at 4 a.m. at medical facilities in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Sacramento.

Nurses were not on strike, emergency rooms were open, and about 450 union employees remained in critical jobs under court order.

The hospitals had prepared for the strike by postponing non-essential surgeries, hiring hundreds of temporary workers and having supervisors do some jobs.

No major problems were reported in the initial hours of the strike as green-shirted picketers gathered in front of hospitals.

“We are prepared to take care of everybody in a safe fashion,” said Dr. Tom Rosenthal, chief medical officer of UCLA Hospital Systems.

About 30 surgeries were being postponed through the strike period at Los Angeles-area facilities, Rosenthal said.

More than 200 surgeries were rescheduled at San Diego and Orange County medical facilities, officials told City News Service.

The union is battling the university system over staffing and pension issues.

“We care about our patients and we feel that we’re chronically understaffed and we need additional help,” Ruben Gomez, a radiation therapist in Los Angeles, told KCBS-TV.

There was no clear count of how many union workers had joined the walkout, which was set to last until early Thursday.

“We are well into the thousands” of employees, said Todd Stenhouse, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

However, Rosenthal said a preliminary estimate indicated that more than half of union employees had reported for work at UC facilities in the Los Angeles area.

Stenhouse said the labor dispute involved chronic and dangerously low staffing levels. The union is concerned that the UC system is using trainees and volunteers in some positions in a bid to save money, he said.

“If you’re going to a hospital, do you want to be subjected to a learning curve when your life is at stake?” he asked. “We really undermine our ability to provide quality care.”

Overworked employees are skipping lunches and breaks to do their jobs, he contended. One operating room technician has been working 22-hour shifts at his hospital or on call, he added.

UC officials say the real issue is a refusal by the union to accept a new pension plan — similar to those of other state workers — that requires more employee contributions and reduces long-term benefits for new hires.

The hospital system could face billions of dollars in new pension costs unless there is reform, Rosenthal said.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

By: Casey Shea

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Grammy Awards have come and gone this year, but you may not know that a rock band from right here in Pennsylvania took home some hardware.

Halestorm won this year’s Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Grammy for their song “Love Bites (So Do I),” off their second studio album “The Strange Case Of…”

The band is comprised of singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale, drummer Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger and bassist Josh Smith.

On Friday, Halestorm blew the roof off of Stage AE. Before the show, I had the incredible honor of sitting down with Arejay and Lzzy to talk about their success.

Watch the entire interview here:

Being nominated came as a shock to the band, who were actually on stage when the news came down.

“We were in Madison, Wisc. and it was in the middle of our set. I just sat down at the piano to do one of our ballads and I’m kind of talking with the audience before I start. The guys had walked off stage and they got the text from our management through our tour manager,” Lzzy said. “My guitar player comes running over to me and tells me this and I’m like, ‘What the hell?’ and I’m yelling to everybody on stage. We all come out and hug it out and the entire front row was like, ‘What? What happened? Who died?’”

“I was behind the drums when Joe told Lzzy and I just hear her going, ‘What? Are you kidding me?’ And I’m thinking, ‘What disaster happened,’ you know? Then, she said, ‘We just got nominated for a Grammy,’ on the mic and the whole crowd was silent for three seconds then [went crazy],” Arejay said.

So, how unexpected was the win on the night of the Grammys for Halestorm? The band did not prepare anything ahead of time for a possible acceptance speech.

“I remember them saying, ‘The Grammy goes to,’ and then I think I blacked out after that because we all didn’t respond right away. They say ‘Love Bites (So Do I) by Halestorm,’ and we were all like, ‘Who is that? Oh my God, that’s us!’” Lzzy said. “We didn’t have anything prepared because we had all said, ‘Well, we’re definitely not going to win, look at our competition. Let’s just be lucky that we get to be here, let’s be happy.’”

“I pull out my phone, and I’m like, ‘Oh God, I hope I don’t forget anybody,’” Arejay said.

Lzzy and her younger brother, Arejay, have been performing together since 1997.

If you listen to their music or see them live, one thing that will strike you is Lzzy’s incredible vocal range. From ballads to rock anthems, she can do it all, but she credits help along the way.

“I started singing with Arejay when we were kids and just because I could, I didn’t really think about it too much. I didn’t really realize I could do everything that now I know I can do with it until I was 16 or 17,” Lzzy said.

Early on, they had the opportunity to open up for Kix. After the show, Lzzy approached front man Steve Whiteman seeking pointers on how to get better.

Whiteman offered to give her vocal lessons at Marty’s Music Shop in Harrisburg, where she went every week for almost two years. To this day, Lzzy still uses the same warm-up techniques and guidelines she learned with Whiteman.

• View More Photos From Halestorm’s Perfomance At Stage AE

One of the other things you’ll quickly notice during a live show is that the band thoroughly enjoys every second they are on stage. They bring a non-stop, in your face presence to the stage that is infectious.

“That’s the only time in this crazy life that we live where everything makes sense. We’re up on stage, we’re free from everything and we’re just having a blast,” Arejay said.

“Nobody can take anything away from you when you’re on stage. You can do whatever you want. You might get in trouble afterward, but you can do what you want,” Lzzy said.

While other bands may use backing tracks during their live show, Halestorm prides themselves on giving an authentic performance.

“What you see is what you get with us. We don’t play with any tracks or trickery or anything. So, it’s literally plug in and play. If you hear mistakes, that’s because we actually made them. Sometimes I forget lyrics, sometimes Arejay doesn’t come in right. It’s very unpredictable and I think it’s very fun for us that way and it keeps it extremely fresh,” Lzzy said.

If you’re a rock music fan, you’ve probably heard of the band Disturbed. Lead singer David Draiman has a new side project called Device and their first album came out in April. One of the tracks is a cover of Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne’s “Close My Eyes Forever,” which features Lzzy.

Draiman approached Lzzy about joining him on the track a couple of years ago.

“The dude is insanely talented and insanely smart and always there for advice. He said, ‘I have this great idea. Remember the Ozzy and Lita ‘Close My Eyes Forever?’ No one’s done that yet and I’d love to have you sing on something of mine if I can get something going,’” Lzzy said.

Well, a couple of years passed, but then Lzzy got the phone call from Draiman saying the project was on.

“It was a really special thing that happened with the two of us singing together and this doesn’t happen often. We were listening to it back and the two of us got goose bumps at the same time. Right before the bridge I’m like, ‘Okay this is cool, this is an exciting thing.’ I’ve sung it a couple times with him live and it’s a great honor,” Lzzy said.

5 Questions For Halestorm

For every backstage interview we do, we’ll ask the same five questions. Some are music related, others are just for fun. Here’s what Halestorm had to say:

What was the first album you ever bought?

“It was two cassette tapes. One was Van Halen ‘1984’ and the other was Bad Company. I remember I wanted to learn the songs,” Lzzy said.

“I was obsessed with my dad’s back catalog of vinyl records. When I first started getting into music, Led Zeppelin was one of the first bands that kind of made me want to play drums and play music,” Arejay said. “I think the first record I ever bought might have been ‘Supernatural’ by DC Talk.”

What is your most embarrassing moment on tour?

“After the drum solo, I like to yell out the city name just to get everybody pumped up to go on to the next song. The first night was in Denver so I’m like, ‘What’s up Denver!’ The second night was in Salt Lake City and what do I do? I go on the mic and I say ‘What’s up Denver!’ them I [said] “Sorry, we were there last night,’ and then I said, ‘What’s up Tokyo? What’s up Honolulu?’” Arejay said.

“We have a lot of those moments, but we say there’s nothing you can really do to embarrass us anymore. There’s a lot on YouTube that probably shouldn’t be out there.” Lzzy jokingly said. “There’s a commercial we did in a creepy guy’s basement and I was 15-years-old and it was just painful.”

What is your favorite home-cooked meal?

“I love good old Italian. My girlfriend is Italian, her entire family is severely Italian. Huge family, her grandmother can’t even speak English, she’s off-the-boat Italian, but she makes the most incredible eggplant parmesan,” Arejay said.

“I have discovered a hidden talent of mine that I didn’t know. I just got my own place and I’m starting to cook. I actually make a pretty mean sea salt crusted steak with vegetables,” Lzzy said. “I make sweet potato burritos that are pretty banging too.”

What’s your highest bowling score?

“We don’t even keep track. Probably like 3,000,” Arejay said. “Whoever doesn’t have carpal tunnel the next day wins. But, I couldn’t tell you. We’ll have to have a bowl-off.”

“We suck,” Lzzy said. “Whoever doesn’t break their finger wins.”

What’s your favorite thing to do outside of music?

“I’m a little crafty. I make jewelry out of [stuff] I that I find or broken pieces of other jewelry because you can’t give me anything nice, I end up breaking it. So, I’ll make it into something else and then wear it out for a little while and then break that,” Lzzy said.

“I’m kind of a social media junkie, but if I wasn’t in music I’d probably be in some kind of art. Whether it be some kind of acting or making movies or even on the business side of the music business,” Arejay said.

Halestorm currently has tour dates booked through the middle of November around the world, so be sure to check when they are coming to a town near you.

Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Check out Halestorm’s website to see their tour schedule, blog and much, much more!

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sheavedice

RELATED LINKS

More Entertainment News
Halestorm’s Official Website
Atlantic Records
Stage AE

Officers were called out to Holy Rosary Community Center at 575 California Street at 5 a.m. after someone discovered gang graffiti spray-painted in several areas on church grounds. One of the messages reportedly threatened to kill law enforcement.

Police have not identified any suspects. Anyone with information regarding the graffiti is asked to call the Woodland Police Department at (530) 666-2411. Callers can remain anonymous.

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Crews were cleaning up debris on the road and repairing power lines Monday morning in south Sacramento after a suspected DUI driver crashed into a power pole overnight.

The crash happened on 65th Street at 8th Avenue at around 2:30 a.m. Police say a sedan hit the power pole, shearing it off and dragged the pole a block and a half before his car finally died.

Police closed off 65th Street between 14th Street and Broadway so SMUD could deal with the sagging power lines.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI.

“He was talking pretty loud. He took out his cell phone and said ‘I’ll take you a picture, it’s pretty much totaled.’ It’s pretty much par for the course, you know,” said a witness.

SMUD officials say nearby residents did not lose power.