National

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The leggy blonde model tweeted that Valentine's Day should be "a day of love for everyone."

Instead Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead in the home of her boyfriend, paralympian superstar Oscar Pistorius, who was charged with her murder.

Steenkamp, South African model with a law degree, campaigned against rape and violence against women. Thursday morning, Reeva Steenkamp was to give an inspirational talk at a Johannesburg school. The next day she was going to wear black to protest the brutal rape and mutilation of a 17-year-old.

But the glamorous South African celebrity was found dead in the early hours from four bullet wounds in the Pretoria home of Pistorius. The two had been dating for only a few months.

She was one of FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World for the past two years, appeared in international and South African advertisements and was to make her debut next week as a celebrity contestant on the reality TV show "Tropika Island of Treasure" filmed in Jamaica. She was also the South African face of Avon cosmetics. Police said the model was 30.

The freckled blonde who appeared in scanty bikinis on magazine covers and sashayed down fashion ramps was "continuously breaking the model stereotype," said her publicist Sarit Tomlinson.

I’ll admit it.
I’ve been back and forth on this a hundred times. I’ve checked the injury report. I’ve compared stats. I busted out the divining rod and poked some goat entrails with it.
In fact, as I sat down to write this, I very nearly talked myself out of this pick.
But, like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, I won’t back down.
Ladies and germs, the Baltimore Ravens will win today’s game.
In case you hadn’t heard, Super Bowl Some Roman Numeral is today. It’s kind of a big deal.
This one has been a tough one to call for me. I literally couldn’t even decide what I wanted to eat for the game, let alone decide who I thought was going to win. Of course, the food associated with the game is just as important as the game itself but that’s another issue.
My dilemma boils down to this: my head says the San Francisco 49ers should win. My gut says the Baltimore Ravens.
And, since my gut is bigger than my head, I have to go with Baltimore. Just kidding. That was just one factor in my decision.
Actually, my thought process was more along these lines: I generally like the team that seems to have its mojo working heading into the playoffs. By that standard, the 49ers should be a shoo-in.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Students with disabilities must be given a shot to play on a traditional sports team or have their own leagues, the Education Department said.
Disabled students who want to play for their school could join traditional teams if officials can make “reasonable modifications” to accommodate them. If those adjustments would fundamentally alter a sport, the department is directing the school to create parallel athletic programs that have comparable standing to traditional programs.
“Sports can provide invaluable lessons in discipline, selflessness, passion and courage, and this guidance will help schools ensure that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to benefit from the life lessons they can learn on the playing field or on the court,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement Friday.
The groundbreaking order is reminiscent of the Title IX expansion of athletic opportunities for girls and women four decades ago and could bring sweeping changes to school budgets and locker rooms for years to come.
“This is a landmark moment for students with disabilities. This will do for students with disabilities what Title IX did for women,” said Terri Lakowski, who for a decade led a coalition pushing for the changes. “This is a huge victory.”