MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS EARLY BIRD NEWS

PLOT THICKENS: Son probed in shooting of well-connected owner of swanky Long Island party venue Oheka Castle

Gary Melius (pictured) was shot in an assassination-style attack outside the Long Island estate last winter. Police have investigated the notion that Melius' troubled son may be behind the attack.

SEE IT Browns rookie QB Johnny Manziel trades football for aerobics in new Snickers ad

Move over Johnny Football, enter Johnny JamBoogie. Cleveland Browns rookie Johnny Manziel took a break from competing for the starting QB job and flipping off opponents to shoot a commercial spot for Snickers.

'They had him in the corner and were beating him': LAPD releases names of cops who shot unarmed, special needs man witnesses say was already subdued

Police identified the 25-year-old's shooters Thursday as Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas, who were assigned to the Newton Division gang enforcement detail.

Chicago man waving ISIS flag out vehicle window warns cops car is rigged with bomb: police

A Chicago man trailing an ISIS flag outside his car window is behind bars after leading cops on a chase and then telling officers the vehicle was rigged with explosives and would detonate if searched.

MORE SCANDAL FOR USC FOOTBALL: RB Anthony Brown quits team, calls coach 'racist'

A day after star cornerback Josh Shaw was suspended for making up a heroic pool rescue story to explain an injury, running back Anthony Brown quit the team while accusing Steve Sarkisian of being a racist.

Fugitive homeless man Miley brought to VMAs turns himself in

Secretive Google 'Project Wing' running tests on delivery drones to eliminate earthbound traffic delays

The ambitious program announced Thursday escalates Google’s technological arms race with rival Amazon.com Inc., which also is experimenting with self-flying vehicles to deliver merchandise.

Audio allegedly capturing moment Michael Brown was recorded at time of teen’s death: company

Clip capturing apparent gunshots was recorded August 9 at 12:02 p.m. near where the unarmed teen was gunned down by a Missouri cops, according to Glide, the company that recorded the audio.

‘I have to get on stage’: Florida stripper hangs up on cop working to find her missing daughter

Bobbey Jo Boucher, 29, was too busy working to find the 10-year-old, leading to an obstruction charge, according to police documents out of Pasco County, Florida.

Gonzalez: Full-day prekindergarten is set to launch in NYC after months of preparation

After months of feverish preparation, New York City will launch next week one of the nation’s most ambitious experiments in public school education reform: full-day universal prekindergarten.

Unlucky-at-love Britney Spears is single again: report

Penn. woman sees UFO and calls cops — who see it too

Stephanie Wilkerson of Pennsylvania grabbed her cell phone, shot some video and called over her neighbor, who saw what she saw. Then she called 911 and an officer came over. He saw it, too.

WAR DRUMS IN UKRAINE: Russian troops cross border and reportedly seize strategic town as UN calls emergency session over conflict

The strategically positioned southeastern Ukraine town of Novoazovsk appears firmly under the control of Russia-backed separatists as concerns grow about the opening of a new front in the Ukraine conflict.

Paranoid meth-makers destroy Florida home after smoking drugs: police

Three meth-smoking Floridians wrecked a home where they were making the drug after the trio hallucinated an attack from unknown outside forces, police said.

Woman at Burning Man festival dies after getting hit by bus

Alicia Louise Cipicchio, 29, of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was hit early Thursday morning at the annual Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

90-year-old Florida man in critical condition after nursing home leaves him outside in hot sun

An elderly man confined to a wheelchair was critically injured after staff at a nursing home left him outside for three hours Wednesday when temperatures hit to 93 degrees and a heat advisory was issued.

Andy Cohen looking to make old 'Housewives' new again

New Jersey woman who worked FOUR jobs dies while napping in car: cops

Maria Fernandes, 32, succumbed to a deadly combination of carbon monoxide and fumes from an overturned gas container that she kept in her 2001 Kia Sportage, cops say.

Georgia siblings charged with incest had sex three times after watching ‘The Notebook’: cops

Christopher Buckner, 20, of Guyton, and her brother, Timothy Savoy, 25, admitted to police they had sex three times in a tractor trailer parked outside a church after watching “The Notebook,” cops said.

Minimum 17-year sentence sought for Detroit man who fatally shot teen Renisha McBride on his porch

Prosecutors are recommending at least 17 years in prison for a Detroit-area man who killed an unarmed woman on his porch, while his lawyer is urging a judge to go as low as six years.

Vietnamese drug gang abducted three men, dumped bodies in Philadelphia river: police

Investigators have been searching a southwest Philly home where three men, including the survivor of a Tuesday abduction, were reportedly tortured by Vietnamese gang members, according to a report.

NFL commish drops the hammer on domestic violence, rolling out policy resulting in LIFETIME ban for a second conviction

Roger Goodell admitted he 'didn't get it right' when it came to Ravens running back Ray Rice's light suspension as the league introduced the new policy.

New York

'I'm not elected': Police Commissioner Bratton shrugs off low approval ratings even as shootings drop

THE NYPD’s top cop shrugged off his plummeting approval rating, claiming that running the country’s largest police force isn’t a popularity contest.

De Blasio fired up over city controller’s report on pre-K contracts ahead of new program launch

Mayor de Blasio sent a clear message to City Controller Scott Stringer Thursday: don’t knock my universal pre-K program.

Hamilton Heights family mourns teen fire victim, community groups give more than $15,000 in aid

“It’s been hard,” Mendez’ weeping mother Bacilia said in Spanish. “Each day . . . I forget everything. My mind is not here. I can’t sleep. After this happened, I can’t do anything.”

LATEST FROM AROUND NEW YORK

NYCHA set to make upgrades, improve safety at three Bronx complexes with $3.7M state grant

Three NYCHA complexes in the Bronx will get $3.7 million in state grants to bolster safety measures and upgrades, officials said.

De Blasio defends plan to scrap test-only admissions for city's elite specialized high schools

Mayor de Blasio defended his plan to scrap an admissions test as the sole criteria for entry into the city’s elite public high schools after alumni from the schools protested the changes.

Jazz musician performs hours after no-jail deal in Hoffman-related case

Florida mom says her child was expelled from preschool because of her Facebook post

Outraged mom, Ashley Habat, says she was only venting on Facebook after missing notice of her son's picture day at Sonshine Christian Academy, but her online remarks ended up giving the boy the boot.

Teens sprayed red paint on Civil War memorial and were soon arrested after they were caught ‘red-handed’: police

That was the lesson two teens learned early Thursday when they were caught defacing a 114-year-old Civil War monument on the Upper West Side, cops said. Authorities said the duo were using red spray paint.

Goodwill store in Texas gets donation of a human SKULL

Police ask for public’s help in explaining how a skeleton’s head ended up in the Austin charity bin. It’s the fourth time someone has dropped off head to Goodwill.

Ex-university president says women should simply drink less to prevent sexual assault

Dr. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, the president emeritus of George Washington University, told a radio show host earlier this week that women should simply drink less alcohol if they don't want to be raped.

Oklahoma death row inmate died from execution drugs, not heart attack: autopsy

An Oklahoma death row inmate who writhed, moaned and clenched his teeth before he was pronounced dead about 43 minutes after his execution began succumbed to the lethal drugs he was administered.

How Brangelina managed to keep their wedding a secret

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: Missouri duo takes selfie with the corpse of a overdosed pal: cops

A man and woman in Missouri have been arrested and charged with manslaughter after they failed to seek medical attention for a friend who suffered an overdose and then took selfies with his corpse, cops say.

Hillary Clinton weighs in on tension in Ferguson, Mo. — 19 days after fatal shooting of Michael Brown

Nearly three weeks after an unarmed black teen was gunned down in a St. Louis suburb by a white cop, sparking violent riots and a national conversation about race, Hillary Clinton has broken her silence.

Strangers set up dream vacations to help Missouri boy with cancer take on bucket list

Liam Myrick, of Houston, Mo., is fighting an aggressive form of neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer. Doctors aren’t sure he’ll make it another year.

Florida youth pastor busted for sharing child pornography, cops say

Lucas Dillon Brandenburg, 30, was arrested on 10 counts of possession of child pornography after cops discovered a computer at his home sharing the disturbing images.

Amber Alert issued for Indianapolis infant taken from pistol-whipped dad: police

.A 1-month-old baby boy was snatched from his father's arms moments after the man was pistol-whipped by a couple in an Indiana alley Wednesday, police said.

Pilot killed when F-15 fighter jet crashed in Virginia forest: officials

Col. James Keefe told the Associated Press his “thoughts and prayers are with the family” of the dead pilot, who has yet to be publicly identified.

Sports

Myers: Goodell rights mistake with tougher domestic violence policy

Roger Goodell knew he blew it by going soft on Ravens running back Ray Rice, an impossible-to-defend disciplinary decision involving domestic violence, and although the commissioner won’t get a do-over, he won’t make the same mistake again.

Violence prevention groups react to NFL commish Goodell's new policy

Roger Goodell finally got the message.While the NFL commissioner’s mishandling of the Ray Rice case this summer outraged anti-violence groups, it also got them in the door at the NFL, where they found a receptive audience in a man stung by criticism over Rice’s two-game penalty.