• 22-year-old East Village resident Thomas Wopat-Moreau was found in a swamp upstate after being lost for 4 days. Investigators found him through his cell phone’s signal.
• Israel declares that a new aid ship heading for Gaza will not be allowed to reach land.
• Joran van der Sloot, once a main suspect in the murder of Natalee Holloway, faces new charges in Alabama of trying to extort $250,000 in exchange for the location of Holloway’s remains and details about her death. Yesterday he was arrested in Chile in connection with the killing of a Peruvian woman. He is expected to be sent to Peru today.
• U.S. payrolls have grown, but less so than predicted, which economists say demonstrates lack of confidence in the market. Jobless rates have fallen to 9.7%.
• Al and Tipper Gore’s “perfect couple” image may have been “invented.” That doesn’t sound like politics or anything.
• Rent regulation actually helps a lot of people, not just the poor.
• New York City will pay $9.9 million (the largest personal settlement in its history), to a man who served nearly 20 years after being framed for murder by a corrupt detective. Alas, if only Law and Order were still around.
• Someone stole $640,000 from the petty cash account of New York City’s Education Department.
• People really want to make rompers happen.