Mike Current, American football player (Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers), died from apparent suicide by gunshot he was 66.

Michael "Mike" Current ^[1] was an American football collegiate and professional offensive lineman in the 1960s and '70s died from apparent suicide by gunshot he was 66..

(September 17, 1945 – January 16, 2012)

Career

College

A native of Lima, Ohio,^[2] Current played left tackle for the Ohio State Buckeyes under head coach Woody Hayes. After backing up All American Jim Davidson as a sophomore, Current became a starter as a junior in 1965. Prior to his senior year, he was named a team co-captain, along with defensive back John Fill and center Ray Pryor.

Professional

Current was selected in the third round of the 1967 AFL/NFL common draft by the American Football League's Denver Broncos. He was traded to the AFL's Miami Dolphins where he played for two games before being traded back to the Broncos. He played with the AFL Broncos from 1967 through 1969 and for the NFL Broncos from 1970 through 1975. He was picked up by the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1976 veteran allocation draft, and returned to the NFL Dolphins from 1977 through 1979.

Personal life

Current had three sons, Justin Current who currently lives in Aurora, CO and works for Arrow in the Denver Tech Center, JT Current who lives in New Berlin, WI and works for 1st Advantage Mortgage a Draper and Kramer Company, and Anthony Current who lives in Des Moines, IA. ^[1]. Current filed for bankruptcy Nov. 29, 2010, listing his home in the 500 block of Lone Oak Loop in Silverton as an asset. According to the filing, he owed between $500,000 and $1 million. A federal order filed this month authorized a bank to foreclose on his home in Silverton.Pallone, Cara; Stacey Barchenger (January 19, 2012). "Former NFL player Current faced charges of sexual abuse". Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon). Retrieved January 19, 2012.

He also owned a home in Silverton, in Marion County, Oregon, that was in foreclosure at the time of his death.^[2] Current previously resided in Silverton starting in 2002 where he was a bus driver from 2003 until 2010 and a Pop Warner Football coach.^[2] He wrote two books, Rememberin' Life in the Trenches and Bush Justice, which were both self-published.^[2]

Death

On Monday January 16, 2012, Current died after committing suicide by shooting himself in the head with a 20 gauge shotgun at the scenic outlook at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge near Dallas, Oregon.^[1] Current was accused of sexually assaulting three victims, two girls and one boy all 14 or younger, at least five times between 2004 and 2010 in Marion County, Oregon. He allegedly used pornography, such as videos and photos, to elicit sex from the children.^[1]
On Tuesday January 17, 2012, Current was set to enter a plea on the charges. He faced a minimum of six years and three months for each of the five sex-abuse charges, a total of more than 30 years without parole, and no chance at reduced time.^[1] The Silverton Police Department had been looking into Current since June 17 and were investigating the possibility of other victims.^[3] Tara Lawrence, the attorney for the vicitms, indicated that she would be pursuing justice through the civil courts since Current's suicide did not allow the victims to get their day in court. "Our hope is that with Current's death, any additional victims may feel empowered to break their silence and speak out about their own abuse," Lawrence said.



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Joe Bygraves, Jamaican boxer, died he was 80.

Joe Bygraves was a Jamaican heavyweight boxer died he was 80.. Bygraves turned professional in 1953, and after an impressive early career he successfully challenged Kitione Lave for the vacant Commonwealth Heavyweight belt in 1956. Bygraves defended the title on three occasions, knocking-out Henry Cooper and holding Dick Richardson to a draw before losing the championship to Joe Erskine. Bygraves immigrated to Britain as a youth but did not take British citizenship until the end of his fighting career in 1967.

(26 May 1931 – 16 January 2012)

Boxing career

Bygraves was born into a large family of 11 siblings, in Kingston, Jamaica in 1931.^[1] He immigrated to Britain at the age of 15 and settled in Liverpool. He began his amateur career at the age of 17 first as a light heavyweight and then moving up to the heavyweight division.^[1] He was successful at both weights, winning amateur county titles.^[1]
Bygraves turned professional in 1953 and his first paid encounter was against Don Maxwell on 12 February. The fight lasted just 65 seconds, Bygraves winning by knockout. Bygraves won the next five fights, six and eight round encounters, mainly on points decisions, but he was stopped for the first time in his professional career by Joe Crickmar in a novice heavyweight competition. Despite the loss Bygraves' career continued to impress and by the end of 1954 he had accumulated 24 wins to only 4 loses. His final fight of 1954 was a loss by points decision to Polly Smith, a fighter he had beaten just two months prior.
Bygraves began 1955 in the same way he ended 1954, with a loss. After several months away from the ring, Bygraves returned to face rising British fighter Henry Cooper. The eight round scheduled fight went the distance, with Cooper given the decision.^[2] Bygraves followed this with a string of four wins, including a victory over Tongan Kitione Lave, and his first fight outside the United Kingdom, a technical knockout of Hugo Salfeld in Germany. Bygraves then travelled to Italy, for a string of three fights. He lost the first to European Boxing Champion Franco Cavicchi when he was disqualified in the eighth round, but then took two victories when he beat Aldo Pellegrini in Milan and Uber Bacilieri in Bologna.
On 24 February 1956, Bygraves travelled to Sweden to face the then unbeaten Ingemar Johansson. The eight round contest ended in a points decision for Johansson.^[3] Two months later, Bygraves was back in a British ring, facing ex-British heavyweight champion Jack Gardner, whom he stopped in the second round. A second successive win, this time against Marcel Limage in Cardiff, gave Bygraves a shot at the vacant Commonwealth Heavyweight title. Despite living in Britain for near ten years, Bygraves was not allowed to fight for the British titles as he was not born there. His opponent for the title fight was Kitione Lave, who he had beaten the previous year. Held at the Empire Pool in London on 26 June 1956, the match was scheduled for 15 rounds, the first time Bygraves had contested a fight of this length. The bout went the distance, with the judges declaring Bygraves the victor, and new Commonwealth champion.
Bygraves lost his next fight to American Wayne Bethea, and this was followed by a win over another ex-British Heavyweight champion, Johnny Williams. His first title defence was on 19 February 1957, against Henry Cooper. The fight is regarded as one of Bygraves best of his career, stopping Cooper via technical knockout in the ninth round.^[1] Just three months later, Bygraves was defended the Commonwealth belt again, on this occasion the challenger was Welshman Dick Richardson. The fight ended in a draw, and as holder Bygraves retained his title.^[4] His third and final defence of his Commonwealth title again came from Wales, this time against Joe Erskine. As with the Richardson fight, the bout went the full fifteen rounds, but on this occasion the decision went to Erskine, stripping Bygraves of his title.
After the Erskine fight, Bygraves struggled for success, and in more and more fights he ended as the loser. He still faced some notable fighters included loses to Americans Willie Pastrano and Zora Folley, and another failed attempt at Ingemar Johansson. One of his last wins was over Olympic gold medalist Franco De Piccoli in 1963, and in 1965 he failed to beat Canadian heavyweight champion George Chuvalo at the Albert Hall in London. His last recorded professional bout was against Hector Eduardo Corletti on 20 March 1967.



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Homai Vyarawalla, Indian photojournalist, first Indian woman to work as a photojournalist, died she was 98.

Homai Vyarawalla, commonly known by her pseudonym "Dalda 13," was India's first woman photojournalist  died she was 98.. First active in the late 1930s, she retired in the early 1970s. In 2011, she was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of the Republic of India.^[2]

^{(9 December 1913 – 15 January 2012)}

Early life and education

Born on 9 December 1913^[3][4][5] at Navsari, Gujarat, Vyarawalla, studied at the Bombay University and the Sir J. J. School of Art.^[6]

Personal life

A Gandhian at heart, Vyarawalla imbibed the Mahatma's teachings in her everyday life. She followed a simple, spartan lifestyle, and lived in near-anonymity for years.^[7]

Career

She started her career in 1930s and thereafter received notice at the national level when she moved to Mumbai in 1942 with her family, before moving to Delhi, where in the next thirty years she photographed many political and national leaders, including Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, Indira Gandhi and the Nehru-Gandhi family while working as a press photographer. At the onset of the World War II, she started working on assignments of the Bombay based The Illustrated Weekly of India magazine which over the years till 1970, published many of her black and white images, which later became iconic.^[7] After the death of her husband she moved to Vadodara in 1973.
In 2010, the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai (NGMA) in collaboration with the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts presented a retrospective of her work.^[7]
Homai Vyarawalla took a number of memorable photographs during her career. Her favorite subject was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.
Most of her photographs were published under the pseudonym “Dalda 13″. The reasons behind her choice of this rather amusing name were that her birth year was 1913, she got married at the age of 13 and her first car’s number plate read “DLD 13″.
In 1970, shortly after her husband's death, Homai Vyarawalla decided to give up photography lamenting over the "bad behaviour" of the new generation of photographers.^[8] She did not take a single photograph in the last 40-plus years of her life. When asked why she quit photography while at the peak of her profession, she said

"It was not worth it any more. We had rules for photographers; we even followed a dress code. We treated each other with respect, like colleagues. But then, things changed for the worst. They [the new generation of photographers] were only interested in making a few quick bucks; I didn't want to be part of the crowd anymore."^[7]

Death

Homai Vyarawalla stayed alone, had slipped and fallen in her residence on Thursday and fractured a hip bone. Her neighbours had helped her reach a hospital where she developed breathing complications. She had been suffering from interstitial lung disease which resulted in her death at 10.30am on 15^th January, 2012.^[9]


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Peter Veness, Australian journalist, brain cancer, died he was 27.

Peter Veness  was an Australian journalist  died he was 27.. He worked in the Press Gallery at Parliament House for the Australian Associated Press.

(10 April 1984 – 15 January 2012)

Veness joined the AAP in 2006.^[1] He was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer in 2009 and died on 15 January 2012.^[2] His funeral was attended by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and several Senators.^[3]



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Hulett C. Smith, American politician, Governor of West Virginia (1965–1969), died he was 93.

Hulett Carlson Smith  served as the 27th Governor of West Virginia from 1965 to 1969  died he was 93..

(October 21, 1918 – January 15, 2012)

The son of West Virginia Congressman Joe L. Smith, Hulett C. Smith was born in Beckley, West Virginia. Smith attended public schools in Raleigh County, and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Administration, where he majored in economics. Following his graduation from the Wharton School, Smith worked in the insurance business and at his family's radio station. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant, and ultimately became a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve.^[1]
Active in community service and civic affairs, he served as president of The West Virginia Junior Chamber of Commerce (1949–1950). He was the chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party from 1956 to 1962. During this time Smith co-founded Bald Knob Ski Slopes, the predecessor to Winterplace Ski Resort.^[2] He was elected Governor in 1964 and served for one term. Due to term limits in place at that time, he was unable to run for a second term in 1968. After his term as Governor, Smith served as a Presidential elector in 1992; he was also on the slate of George McGovern's electors in 1972.^[3]
In 1968, Smith responded to the bombing of the gymnasium at Bluefield State College by offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to conviction of the culprits.
Smith died in at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona at the age of 93.^[4]


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Jack Roberts, American climber, died from a heart attack he was 58.

Jack Roberts  was an American rock and ice climber died from a heart attack he was 58..

(May 29, 1952 – January 15, 2012)

Roberts had climbed in Alaska, South America, and Europe in addition to the continental United States.^[1] He wrote on climbing and published a book, Colorado Ice, in 2005.^[2]
On January 15, 2012, Roberts was climbing Bridal Veil Falls near Telluride, Colorado, and fell 60 feet.^[3] He suffered a heart attack and broken hip, and died on the scene after unsuccessful resuscitation attempts by a rescue team.^[3]
He is survived by his wife, Pamela Ranger Roberts of Boulder Colorado, sister Christine Roberts Legerski of Careywood, Idaho and mother Eda Joyce Roberts of Coeur D'alene, Idaho



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Rafael Rincón González, Venezuelan musician, died he was 89.

Rafael Rincón González  was a Venezuelan musician died he was 89.. He is a composer of more than 600 songs, including “Pregones Zulianos," which was recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He was named to the orders of San Sebastián and Diego de Losada (1997). On August 23, 1993, his compositions were determined to be the musical patrimony of the Zulia state.

(Maracaibo, Zulia state, Venezuela, September 30, 1922 – January 15, 2012)


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