Motive behind the ambush-slay of Arayat town Councilor Francisco Balagtas Jr.

CAMP OLIVAS – Police investigators are encountering difficulties in determining the motive behind the Jan. 5 ambush-slay of Arayat town Councilor Francisco Balagtas Jr., as no witnesses have come forward to help solve the crime.

Investigators are still looking for possible witnesses who could identify the suspects in the ambush-slay of the town councilor.

Senior Supt. Petronio Retirado, director of the Pampanga Provincial Police Office, said his men are still gathering information on the killing of Balagtas but with the absence of witnesses, “it will take us hard time to identify the killers.”

“As of press time, nobody wants to stand witness“, said Retirado adding there were information that several bystanders saw the suspects during the ambush slay.

Balagtas was about to board his Ford Everest (NDO-261) parked in front of Honda Motor Sport in Barangay Plazang-Luma, Arayat town when riders-in-tandem gunmen sporting crash helmets, appeared from behind and shot him at point blank range.

Police said the victim had just emerged from the session of the municipal council held at the Patio de Sta. Lucia Resto Bar and was walking to his SUV when the suspects drove past near him and opened fire.

Meanwhile, the flag at the municipal hall of Arayat and in other government offices in the town were placed at half mast as sympathy to the fallen local official.

Mayor Luisito Espino also directed the local police to conduct an in-depth investigation on the cold-blood murder of the councilor.

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Homeless man with golden radio voice

This clip speaks for itself -- literally. The Columbus Dispatch discovered a homeless man along Ohio's I-71 claiming to have "the God-given gift of voice." His name is Ted Williams, and he's an ex-radio announcer according to the note he scrawled on a piece of cardboard that he uses to solicit change from drivers. And wow, does Williams ever deliver for a dollar. Williams tells the Dispatch about his struggles, but thankfully "alcohol and drugs and a few other things" haven't diminished Williams' velvety vocal cords, and he says he's two years clean now.

"I have a god given gift of voice. I'm an ex-radio announcer who has fallen on hard times. Please! Any help will be greatfully appreciated. Thank you and God bless. Happy holidays," says Williams' roadside sign for help.

Like Williams, the radio industry has fallen on hard times in the past decade, but given the viral power of this video, we expect more than a few morning show and late-night appearances, and perhaps even a job, will be in Williams' near future. In fact, Reddit reports that Ted has already been tracked down by Columbus area radio show The Morning Zoo and will appear on tomorrow morning's show, so tune in!

CityVille is Facebook record-breaker: biggest ever

Hang up your straw hat: city planning is the new farming. Or it is on Facebook, anyway.

Launched just a couple of months ago, Facebook smash CityVille is not just the biggest game on the social networking platform, it's the biggest Facebook game ever.

CityVille averaged over 84 million monthly users this past weekend, which means it's bigger than previous record-holder and Zynga stablemate FarmVille ever was: the latter's high-water mark was 83.76 million users, a number it recorded last March.

Though the games are superficially similar, sharing a common crop-tending mechanic, CityVille's fields and barns are a literal and figurative background to its central theme: building a bustling city full of residents, businesses, and civic structures. It's a faster-paced game than FarmVille, and, if anything, it's even more aggressive in encouraging players to build in-game connections with real-life friends -- a factor that's bound to be helping its meteoric rise.

And boom town CityVille is looking set to grow even bigger. It continues to post gains of about two million players per day, according to blog InsideSocialGames, and fueled by the burgeoning popularity of Facebook in the U.S. and overseas the game could eventually top 125 million monthly players.

CityVille's success is good news for the game's developer, Zynga, which had been seeing a downturn in its total userbase over the latter part of last year. Almost all Zynga's Facebook titles have posted gains over the last month, including FarmVille, though at less than 60 million monthly players, it's a mere shadow of its former self.

Perhaps most impressively of all, the seven most-played games on Facebook are currently all Zynga games.

Via VentureBeat.

Baywalk Bodies member Rejoice Rivera found dead

Member of the all-female singing and dance group “Baywalk Bodies” Rejoice Rivera was found dead at 3:45AM on December 29, near the Tabang toll gate of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

Rejoice Rivera, who is Dianne Marie Santos in real life, sustained 2 bullet wounds in her head. She wore a gray shirt and maong short pants and authorities said that her wallet and cellphone are missing. She was 26. Her remains now lie in state in Malolos, Bulacan.

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