[Best Syndication News] American author, Jerome David aka “J.D.” Salinger passed away at the age of 91 from natural causes on January 27th, 2010, at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire. Salinger is best known for his novel “The Catcher in the Rye” which was first published in 1951, which was about adolescent alienation and the loss of childhood innocence after the main character is kicked out via expulsion from an elite prep school. The novel is still popular selling approximately 250,000 copies per year.

Salinger was a reclusive and hasn't been interviewed by the media since 1980. His last published work was in 1965 which was a novella title “Hapworth 16, 1924” which was published in The New Yorker. He later fought against the republishing of this novella into a book later on.

[Best Syndication News] The founder of the fast food chain Taco Bell, Glen W. Bell, Jr., died this past Sunday at the age of 86. He died in his home located in Rancho Santa Fe.

Bell originally started fast food business selling hot dogs. His first business was a hot dog stand called Bell's Drive-In which opened in San Bernardino in 1948. He found success in other franchises, most notably Taco Bell. The first Taco Bell restaurant was opened in Downey, California in 1962 with Bell selling his franchises in 1964. In 1978, Bell sold 868 franchises to PepsiCo. The Taco Bell franchise is now owned by Yum! Brands Inc. There are 5,600 Taco Bell restaurants in the United States.

Bell also started Der Wienerschnitzel in 1961 with one of his employees back in 1961. Bell had another one of his employees open a competing chain restaurant which came to be known at Del Taco.

Brittany performing at USO show aboard USS Nimitz in 2003

(Best Syndication News) News outlets are fighting for the opportunity to buy the autopsy photos of Brittany Murphy. To most, the sight of an autopsy is ghoulish, but to the celebrity magazine industry it spells money. So far, no one has come forward with photos, but that may change (Read below to find how much the magazines are willing to pay).

Remember the Tom Cruise / Katie Holmes baby photo competition. The top paying photo so far is the Brad Pitt / Angelina Jolie twin baby Knox and Vivienne pictures which reportedly fetched $14 million. Those images were sold to People Magazine and London based Hello! Magazine in a joint agreement. It is uncertain whether the investment paid off for the magazines, but the money the Pitts got was donated to charity.

Defibrillator pad locations – photo courtesy PhilippN

(Best Syndication News) Although no foul play is suspected in the death of movie star Brittany Murphy, there may have been prescribed a large number of prescription pills. Murphy’s husband and mother tried frantically to revive her after her mother discovered the decedent on the bathroom floor (read more about this below).

Director of the Los Angeles Coroners office, Anthony Hernandez, could not be reached for comment concerning the report from TMZ. The television tabloid news show reported that notes taken by a coroner’s investigator showed the “Clueless” star had a “shocking number of strong prescription drugs” (TMZ quote). So what happened before that?

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CPR demonstration simulation of cardiac arrest - pd

(Best Syndication News) LOS ANGELES CA - The 32 year-old romantic comedy and drama actress, Brittany Murphy, likely died of natural causes according to the Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter. Winter, who was also investigated the death of Michael Jackson earlier this year, said her death "appears to be natural."

Apparently she collapsed while in the bathroom Sunday morning before 8 am. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the call and neighbors saw paramedics performing CPR on the actress as they were transporting. Clair Staples said Murphy "looked as though she was dead at the scene."