Pier

Think texting and walking is no problem? Well, maybe you should talk to Bonnie Miller, a Michigan woman who recently fell off a pier while texting and walking at the same time. "I can't let pride get in my way of warning other people to not drive and text or walk and text. It's quite dangerous," Bonnie Miller told ABC 57, a local television station in South Bend, Ind. Miller plunged into the water this month when she was out for a stroll with her husband and 15-year-old son. As the family ambled down the pier, enjoying the weather, Miller remembered she needed to change an appointment.

A disaster-prone Texas tourist destination that for more than a century has been an on-again, off-again home to oceanfront amusements will once again lure thrill-seekers with roller coasters, midway games and carnival confections. PHOTOS: New rides at Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier The $60-million Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier plans to open in May with 16 rides, including a vertical-lift steel coaster, a 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel with programmable LED lights and a 200-foot-tall swing tower offering panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico.

Hugging the sand south of Hermosa Beach Pier, this three-story contemporary evokes a glass-clad lifeguard tower angled toward the water. The main living areas, the master bedroom and the office with balcony take in the ocean views. The dining room opens to a patio along the bike path and the beach. The details Location: 718 The Strand, Hermosa Beach 90254 Asking price: $6.5 million Architect: Dean Nota Year built: 1999 House size: Three bedrooms, four bathrooms, 3,100 square feet Lot size: 2,397 square feet Features: Granite kitchen counter, stainless appliances, master bathroom with double showers, a steam room and a tub About the area: Last year, 98 single-family homes sold in the 90254 ZIP Code at a median price of $1,100,000, according to DataQuick.

Contradicting testimony by Piers Morgan, a former reporter said in a British inquiry that phone hacking was considered a "standard journalistic tool" at the tabloid once run by the CNN host. Former Daily Mirror business columnist James Hipwell's testimony on Wednesday clashed with Morgan's insistence a day earlier that he did not know the practice was used at the tabloid during his time as editor from 1995 to 2004. Hipwell, who was fired from the paper in 2000 and later convicted of buying low-priced shares before recommending them in his popular City Slickers column, is now a freelance writer.

Piers Morgan, the former tabloid editor turned CNN personality, said at an inquiry by the British government into journalism ethics that hacking into the phones of prominent personalities was not something he engaged in when he was running the Daily Mirror or working at News of the World. Testifying via video from the United States, where he hosts a low-rated nightly talk show for CNN, Morgan acknowledged that hacking into phones by the tabloids was a "widespread practice. " However, he said he had never sanctioned or practiced such behavior himself.

Looks like "America's Got Talent" is getting raunchy — Howard Stern will join the judges' table. The famed shock jock will replace CNN host Piers Morgan, alongside Howie Mandel and Sharon Osbourne. Shooting will start in February, and the talent contest will return in the summer to NBC's schedule, where it has typically sat atop the ratings. The producers — including Simon Cowell, who created the series — opened their bank vault to snag Stern, whose profile has dipped since he moved his radio program to satellite.

With little fanfare, the guided-missile cruiser Cape St. George left San Diego on Wednesday for six months, bound for the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf. For Kathy Duszka and Jasmin Rios, the deployment will mark the second Christmas in a row that their husbands have been gone. The Cape St. George, named for a World War II battle, is one of the busiest ships in the Navy, providing protection for the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. It was gone last Christmas and returned in March.

A movie producer who made low-level passes over the Santa Monica Pier in a Cold War-era military jet went to jail Wednesday for flying an aircraft in a manner that endangered lives and property. Having lost his appeal, David G. Riggs, 48, surrendered to authorities at Los Angeles County Superior Court and began serving a 60-day sentence imposed by Judge Harold I. Cherness in June 2010. Cherness further ordered Riggs to clean beaches for 60 days and pay more than $6,000 in penalties and court fees.

A $12-million pier-spanning wooden roller coaster that will dive beneath the boardwalk and race across a cantilevered bridge before navigating a series of high-speed twists and turns is expected to open in 2013 at Morey's Piers seaside amusement park on the Jersey Shore. > Photos: New wooden coaster at Morey's Piers on Jersey Shore The Wildwood, N.J. waterfront park describes the new coaster as an "air in your face, down and dirty Jersey Shore experience. " The Morey brothers have yet to decide on a name for the new coaster: Jack likes Wildwoody while Will prefers Boardwalk Flyer.

After her son Nathaniel died of AIDS in 1989, Mollie Pier threw herself into a number of volunteer efforts on behalf of gay men and lesbians. She also helped found Project Chicken Soup, a nonprofit volunteer organization that provides kosher meals for people throughout Los Angeles County living with HIV or AIDS. For Pier, the group's activities and other outreach efforts became a link not only to her son but to hundreds of others. "I can't even begin to tell you how many people I've helped be who they are," says Pier, 91, who plans to participate in Sunday's 27th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles.