Blog Heap of Links for the day 2 January 2012

A man who was being sought in the shooting of four people at a New Year's party in South King County early Sunday is suspected in the fatal shooting of a park ranger in Mount Rainier National Park later in the morning.... Park Ranger Margaret Anderson, a mother of two who was married to another ranger at the park, was shot about 10:30 a.m. after setting up a roadblock to stop a car that was fleeing another officer.... at a party in Skyway, where an early-morning session of "show and tell" with guns among several armed partygoers devolved into a shootout, according to detectives. Four people were shot, and three people fled the scene. One of them was identified as Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24. Kevin Bacher, a spokesman for Mount Rainier National Park, said the vehicle recovered at the scene of Anderson's shooting was registered to Barnes.

A beloved squirrel monkey known as Banana Sam was returned scared but safe to the San Francisco Zoo on Saturday night, two days after he was taken. ... The monkey was found by a bystander who saw him come out of the bushes. "He managed to coax the monkey into his backpack" ...

Colorado man... killed when a 3-foot tree branch flew through his windshield and impaled him in the chest was able to steer the car to safety before losing consciousness... saving [his wife] from any injury....

Sarah Palin isn't running for president, but that isn't stopping her supporters, who are encouraging Iowans to "vote rogue" and caucus for the former Alaska governor on Jan. 3.

A group called Sarah Palin's Iowa Earthquake has produced a number of TV and radio commercials available online.

Washington County Election Board officials are inviting all voters in Washington County to participate in a public mock election slated for second week of January. [The cynic might cry, "Oh, the irony! Aren't they all mock elections?]