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Brooklyn-born actor Nick Santino committed suicide Wednesday, The New York Post reports.
The soap opera star was wracked with grief after his beloved pit bull Rocco was euthanized Tuesday – the same day Santino turned 47.
“Today I betrayed my best friend and put down my best friend” – Santino wrote in a suicide note, according to close friend Stuart Sarnoff. “Rocco trusted me and I failed him. He didn’t deserve this.”
The actor (who appeared on seven episodes of “All My Children” and six episodes of “Guiding Light”) had been feeling “harassed” by his building management company, according to his neighbor Lia Pettigrew.
He was allegedly threatened with a $250 fine for having a barking dog, but according to neighbor Kevan Cleary: “the dog was not a barker, but somebody complained that the dog would bark.”
Santino phoned a former girlfriend at 2 a.m. Wednesday. Police found Santino’s body in his bedroom later that afternoon. The actor had overdosed on pills.
The actor’s pet Rocco has been cremated. Friends tell The New York Post Santino’s remains will also be cremated.

Nick Santino.

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“Send an ambulance right now. This is an emergency.” So begins the dramatic 911 call, in which Demi Moore’s friends are desperately trying to get an ambulance to the actress’ Beverly Hills home as quickly as possible, which was released this morning by the Los Angeles Fire Department. On the heavily redacted recording, which lasts about 10 minutes, one of Moore’s friends begins arguing with the dispatcher amid confusion over which agency covers the neighborhood and should be sending paramedics.
“Why is there not an ambulance coming now?” the woman says testily before explaining what caused the star to “act crazy.”
“She smoked something. It’s not marijuana but it’s similar to incense. She seems to be having convulsions of some sort.
“She’s semi-conscious … barely. She’s convulsing.”
The phone is passed to another woman, who tells the dispatcher: “She’s not breathing normally … she’s burning up.”
Asked if she knows exactly what Moore smoked or any other drugs she might have consumed, the second woman replies – “She’s been having some issues with some other stuff lately. I don’t know what she’s been taking or not.”
The dispatcher calms the woman down and explains how to treat Moore, stressing to keep her airway open.
By the end of the call, the paramedics have arrived to take Moore to Sherman Oaks Hospital, where she has since been discharged.
As E! News has previously reported, the 49-year-old Moore had been hosting a birthday party for a friend at the time and had exhibited “pretty hyper” behavior in the moments before the 911 call.

Demi Moore.

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Robert Hegyes, the Jersey-born actor who played Jewish Puerto Rican wheeler-dealer Juan Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos Epstein on the 1970′s classic “Welcome Back Kotter,” died from an apparent heart attack after suffering chest pains at his Metuchen home this morning. He was 60.
Hegyes, who also co-starred on “Cagney and Lacey” and taught occasional master classes at his alma mater, Rowan University, was best known for his work on “Kotter” – in which he performed alongside a young John Travolta as one of the tough remedial students known at the Sweathogs. Hegyes and nearly all of the original cast members reunited last year at the TV Land Awards to recognize the show’s 35th anniversary.
On his website, Hegyes wrote that he modeled the swaggering, skirt-chasing Epstein after Chico Marx, whom he played in a national touring production of “A Night With Groucho.” He was a big fan of the Marx Brothers – “They were immigrant Jews, and I was an immigrant Italian. Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo, and Zeppo were intellectuals … They all played the piano and took music lessons, and they were all juvenile delinquents; I could definitely relate.”
Hegyes had suffered a heart attack a couple of years ago and was not in good health, his brother Mark Hegyes of Montana said. Metuchen police responded to a call for medical assistance from Hegyes’ home at 9:02 a.m., and Hegyes, who was experiencing chest pains, was taken to JFK Medical Center in Edison, police said. By the time he arrived at the emergency room at 9:40 a.m., he was in full cardiac arrest and died, according to hospital spokesman Steven Weiss.

Robert Hegyes.

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Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer got a very public earful by President Barack Obama when she came to meet him on the tarmac outside of Phoenix on Wednesday.
The two leaders could be seen engaged in an intense conversation at the base of Air Force One’s steps. Both could be seen smiling, but speaking at the same time.
Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer, a Republican, said: “He was a little disturbed about my book.”
Brewer recently published a book, “Scorpions for Breakfast,” something of a memoir of her years growing up, and defends her signing of Arizona’s controversial law cracking down on undocumented immigrants, which Obama opposes.
Obama was objecting to Brewer’s description of a meeting he and Brewer had at the White House, where she described Obama as lecturing her. In an interview in November Brewer described two tense meetings. The first took place before his commencement address at Arizona State University. “He did blow me off at ASU” – she said in the television interview in November.
She also described meeting the president at the White House in 2010 to talk about immigration. “I felt a little bit like I was being lectured to, and I was a little kid in a classroom, if you will, and he was this wise professor and I was this little kid, and this little kid knows what the problem is and I felt minimized to say the least.”
On the tarmac Wednesday, Brewer handed Obama an envelope with a handwritten invitation to return to Arizona to meet her for lunch and to join her for a visit to the border.
“I said to him, you know, I have always respected the office of the president and that the book is what the book is” – she told reporters Wednesday. She said Obama complained that she described him as not treating her cordially.

Jan Brewer.

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A State of the Union address is often difficult to fact check, no matter who is president. The speech is a product of many hands and is carefully vetted, so major errors of fact are so relatively rare that they sometimes can become big news – think of George W. Bush’s “sixteen little words” about Iraq seeking uranium in Niger. At the same time, State of the Union addresses are very political speeches, an argument for the president’s policies, so context – or the perspective of opponents – is often missing.
Here is a guide through some of President Obama’s more fact-challenged claims, in the order in which he made them. As is our practice with live events, we do not award Pinocchio rankings, which are reserved for complete columns.
“For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country. Most of al Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated. The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.”
The killing of bin Laden, which Obama used to open and close his speech, is an achievement that few partisans would quibble with. But the story about Iraq and Afghanistan is much more muddled.
Yes, U.S. troops have left Iraq, in part because the Obama administration was unwilling or unable (take your pick) to extend a security agreement with Iraq. Since the U.S. departure, Iraq has descended into violence as the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has targeted Sunni opposition figures. The country at times appears to teeter on the edge of a new outbreak of sectarian violence.

Barack Obama.

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Sen. Rand Paul told his communications director this morning he was being detained by TSA at the Nashville airport.
The Twitter account associated with Paul staffer Moira Bagley, @moirabagley, tweeted around 10 a.m., ET: “Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”
A TSA spokesman disputed that Paul was ever “detained.” But he was not granted access to the secure area of the airport when he tried to board a flight Monday morning.
The standoff was short-lived. By late morning, according to TSA, Paul had been booked on another flight and made it through the screening process.
The TSA version of events is that Paul triggered an alarm during routine airport screening and refused to complete the screening process (pat-down) in order to resolve the issue. Paul was escorted out of the screening area by local law enforcement.
“When an irregularity is found during the TSA screening process, it must be resolved prior to allowing a passenger to proceed to the secure area of the airport” – according to an official statement released by TSA. “Passengers who refuse to complete the screening process cannot be granted access to the secure area in order to ensure the safety of others traveling.”
Paul’s office confirmed he set off an airport security full-body scanner “on a glitch” – according to a spokesman.
The Paul staffer said TSA agents would not let Paul walk back through the body scanner and were demanding a full body pat-down.

Rand Paul.

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Last year provided some ups and downs for Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler, who broke off their engagement in July. But after reconciling in November, they’re starting off 2012 with big news.
“We are thrilled to announce we are expecting our first child together” – they tell PEOPLE exclusively. “It’s an amazing time in our life and we can’t wait to meet the new addition to our growing family.”
Shortly after Cavallari (25) and her Chicago Bears quarterback beau (28) renewed their engagement, the former Hills star and Dancing with the Stars contestant said: “Sometimes, in order for things to get better, they have to end – even if it’s momentarily.”

Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler.

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The health of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who was fired last November in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal involving an assistant coach, has deteriorated and his status is serious, a family spokesman said on Saturday.
“Over the last few days Joe Paterno has experienced further health complications. His doctors have now characterized his status as serious” – a statement said.
The Paterno family said it would have no further comment on the situation and asked that their privacy be respected “during this difficult time.”
Paterno (85) disclosed on November 18 that he had treatable lung cancer. He has been in and out of the hospital since then for treatment with radiation and chemotherapy, and after he fell at home in December and broke his pelvis.
The winningest coach in major college football history, Paterno was head coach at Penn State for 46 years. University trustees ousted him for failing to tell police what had been passed on to him about the alleged sex abuse.
Longtime Paterno assistant Jerry Sandusky faces 52 counts of sexual abuse of boys over a period of 15 years – including some incidents at the football complex on campus. Disclosure of the charges against Sandusky shocked the university and led to one of the biggest scandals in college sports history.

Joe Paterno.

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A woman kidnapped at knifepoint at age 14 and held captive for nine months is getting married.
A spokesman for 24-year-old Elizabeth Smart says she got engaged last weekend and will likely marry in the summer.
No details about the groom-to-be were disclosed. The spokesman says Smart plans to keep her personal life private.
Smart’s father (Ed Smart) tells The Associated Press his future son-in-law is a ‘fine young man.’ Ed Smart says he’s pleased for his daughter and hopes she has a happy life.
Onetime itinerant street preacher Brian David Mitchell was convicted in 2010 of Smart’s 2002 kidnapping and sexual assault. He’s serving a life prison sentence.

Elizabeth Smart.

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Gary Carter’s condition has worsened with the discovery of new tumors on his brain – his daughter said Thursday on the family’s blog.
Six months ago, Carter (57), the former Mets catcher, was found to have an aggressive brain cancer, glioblastoma, that has been treated with radiation and chemotherapy.
“I write these words with tears because I am so sad for my dad” – Kimmy Carter Bloemers said.
She said that one of her father’s doctors “will be coming to my parents’ house this evening to talk to the family about the next step.”
Carter has had an especially difficult week.
“Every day is exhausting and every move takes great effort” – Bloemers wrote.
Last Wednesday, Carter had an open gum wound treated by an oral surgeon. The next day, he fell in his doctor’s office — he also fell on Christmas Eve — and he is being treated for a torn rotator cuff.
Carter attended his annual golf tournament’s banquet on Sunday. Bloemers wrote – “Dad spoke a few words thanking everyone for being there and for all the support and prayers. He said he wants to feel better so he can continue to help others.”
He was at the tournament the next day in West Palm Beach, Fla., which benefits the Autism Project of Palm Beach County.

Gary Carter.

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