News came in from all sides on Friday, but amidst startling verdicts and shocking evacuations, some of the biggest Buzz honed in on a few million checks coming in the mail. Honest.

Tax and Spend
You win the lottery, and all of a sudden long-lost relatives and spamming Nigerian princes clamor for your attention. Now tax rebates have made all qualifying American taxpayers winners, and retailers their closest pals. USA Today rounded up store offers for spending those checks on gift cards with a cash or discount enticement. Travel marketers have also timed vacation specials to coincide with that check in the mail, offering cheeky promotions like "Economic Stimulus Package" and "Vacation on the Government Package." But not everyone wants you to buy, buy, buy: Some advise looking at the rebate not as a mini-windfall, but as an excuse to evaluate one's financial patterns. Oh, and that advice also comes with a pitch from financial planners.

Acquit and Protest
On November 25, 2006, Sean Bell visited a Queens club with friends the night before his wedding, and died there in a fusillade of bullets. Now 17 months later, Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman released his verdict, acquitting the 3 undercover police officers in the unarmed groom's shooting death. Outcry, although not upheaval, followed the announcement. Readers have tuned into the flood of stories that covered the reactions (including those of the detectives themselves, one of whom apologized to the Bell family), the players involved, possible prosecutorial blunders, and the nationwide pattern of police shootings. According to the New York Times, a rally is planned Saturday. The end of this trial may simply mean the beginning of another, as the U.S. attorney and NYPD investigators weigh their options.

Evacuate En Masse
In Konan, a commuter town in southern Japan, a 14-year-old girl mixed common household ingredients into a suicide cocktail that killed her and prompted about 120 neighbors to flee the toxic gas cloud. She was one of four to do so Friday, once again highlighting Japan's suicide rate (ranked the eighth highest in the world) and the deadly Internet cults that have made committing suicide far too easy.

Other stories spiking in Buzz

• Searchers have long probed Blackwater's cloak of secrecy, especially when Congress investigated the North Carolina company's mercenary activities following civilian shootings in Iraq. Although Blackwater has laid low for a while, its plan to move to the Wild West and open a training camp has revived media—and Buzz—attention.
• Arguably Italy's most famous saint, Padre Pio (formerly known as Francesco Forgione) has been exhumed, undergone on a makeover, and now lies as an exhibit and tourist attraction. For those unable to trek to San Giovanni Rotondo, Time.com has put together a slideshow showing how a saint is revived.
• As the Beijing Olympics draws nearer, Chinese government officials changed their stance and agreed to meet with Dalai Lama representatives. The last time the two sides held talks was last summer.