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April 24, 2011

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Congresswoman Giffords standing on own, trying to improve gait

PHOENIX (AP) -- Doctors treating Rep. Gabrielle Giffords tell The Arizona Republic that the congresswoman can stand on her own and walk a little, and is even working to improve her gait.

Dr. Gerard Francisco says the Arizona congresswoman is able to make limited use of her right arm and leg.

Francisco -- the chief medical officer at Houston's TIRR Memorial Hermann where Giffords has been recovering -- says that's a common effect of a bullet wound on the left side of the brain.

The Republic report Sunday contains interviews with people close to her and gives the latest picture of her recovery 15 weeks after a gunman opened fire in a Tucson parking lot, killing six people and wounding 13 others, including Giffords.

The newspaper said doctor overseeing her rehabilitation places her in the top 5 percent of patients recovering from her type of brain injury.

http://www.wgme.com/template/inews_wire/wires.national/26782b02-www.wgme.com.shtml

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Terry Jones plans to return to Dearborn for protest

Saying he was shocked and outraged, the Rev. Terry Jones said he intends to return to Dearborn this week to protest outside City Hall against what he called the denial of his First Amendment rights.

The Quran-burning pastor from Florida was briefly handcuffed and jailed by Dearborn police Friday after a trial stemming from an unusual complaint filed by Wayne County prosecutors.

"It was a total violation of our constitutional rights," Jones told the Free Press on Saturday in an interview from Detroit Metro Airport, where he waited for a flight back to Florida. "It was a mockery of the judicial process."

Now, Jones said he is considering filing a lawsuit against Wayne County and Dearborn authorities and he plans to rally at 5 p.m. Friday.

County prosecutors filed a complaint to make Jones stay away from a mosque for a rally last week because they said it would breach the peace. A jury sided with prosecutors Friday, and Jones was led to jail after refusing to pay a $1 bond.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110424/NEWS02/104240568/Terry-Jones-plans-return-Dearborn-protest

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Arrest made in 1979 ‘cold case' killing

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April 23, 2011

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Remembering the Freedom Rides 50 years later

In 1961, riders black and white headed South to test the region's segregation laws. Things turned violent in Alabama. Fifty years later, cities along the route are marking the rides with exhibit, murals and a new museum.

Montgomery, Ala. -- As the bus leaves Atlanta, Dennis Climpson is eager for conversation. He wants to talk about college football this Sunday morning, but I have a question for him. "Have you ever heard of the Freedom Rides?" I ask.

Fifty years ago next month, a group of 15 passengers travels the same route. Like us, they were blacks and whites sitting together on buses, then a violation of segregation laws. Climpson, 48, says he hasn't heard of the protests, but he's intrigued. As Interstate 20 passes by, he turns to his smartphone to check Wikipedia.

In 1961, Charles Person was 18 and the youngest of the Freedom Riders, who were traveling on two buses to New Orleans from Washington, D.C. The Georgia native still remembers crossing into Alabama that Mother's Day. "There was tension. It was kind of eerie."

Person expected to be harassed and roughed up as the group tested compliance with federal integration laws, but he didn't imagine much worse. "This was broad daylight," he says.

Later that day, members of the Ku Klux Klan would set fire to one bus and beat riders on the other with pipes, chains and bats. Over the next week, the world would watch as the Kennedy administration struggled to protect the protesters.

The racial violence shocked — and changed — America.

Today you can retrace the Freedom Rides easily by car or bus. The Alabama cities on the route are marking the anniversary with murals, exhibits and a new museum. It's a leisurely tour of the Deep South, where you'll find gracious hosts, good food and stark reminders of a not-so-distant past.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-freedomriders-20110424,0,308309,print.story

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Congresswoman calls for investigation of enforcement program that screens for illegal immigrants in jails

A California congresswoman Friday called for an investigation into the actions of federal immigration officials, saying they lied about whether counties and states had the right to opt out of a controversial nationwide enforcement program that screens for illegal immigrants in local jails.

"It is inescapable that the [Department of Homeland Security] was not honest with the local governments or with me" about whether local jurisdictions must participate, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). "You can't have a government department essentially lying to local government and to members of Congress. This is not OK."

The so-called Secure Communities program, launched in 2008, was promoted to local and state leaders as a way to focus enforcement efforts on "serious convicted criminals." But the program, which uses fingerprint data, has come under fire because it has ensnared a high proportion of immigrants who were arrested but never charged with a crime or who have been charged with minor infractions.

Critics say it discourages illegal immigrants from reporting crimes and opens the door to racial profiling.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/congresswoman-calls-for-investigation-of-enforcement-program-that-screens-for-illegal-immigrants-in-.html#more

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Long Beach teen arrested in connection with threats against 4 classmates via Facebook

A Long Beach high school student was facing charges Friday in connection with threats against four classmates through a fictitious Facebook account, authorities said.

The 17-year-old boy allegedly set up a Facebook profile under a fake name and then used it to send threatening messages to four students at Millikan High School, said Sgt. Rico Fernandez of the Long Beach Police Department.

“Posting a threat online is no different than making a threat face-to-face,” Fernandez said.

The male student was arrested Thursday morning at his home in Long Beach. He also faces charges of obstruction of justice in connection with false information provided to police in an initial interview, Fernandez said.

He was later released to his parents' custody. A preliminary investigation began last week when one of the alleged victims contacted police. Fernandez said he could not discuss the nature of the messages nor the teen's possible motive.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/long-beach-teen-arrested-for-allegedy-threatening-four-classmates-via-facebook.html

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Pastor Is Jailed in Michigan Over Planned March at Mosque

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — A Florida pastor at the center of a Koran-burning controversy was jailed briefly for refusing to pay what the authorities called a “peace bond” for a planned demonstration outside a mosque.

The pastor, Terry Jones, whose remarks against Muslims have inflamed anti-Western sentiment in Afghanistan, said he refused to pay the $1 bond because doing so would violate his freedom of speech. He was released from jail hours later after paying the $1.

Mr. Jones had planned a demonstration Friday outside the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the nation. Prosecutors worried that the protest would lead to violence, and asked Judge Mark Somers of 19th District Court in Dearborn to intervene. Judge Somers conducted a one-day jury trial to determine whether Mr. Jones posed a threat to peace. The jury concluded that he did, and the judge then ordered Mr. Jones and an associate to post the bond to cover the cost of police protection.

The bond also prohibited Mr. Jones from going to the mosque or the adjacent property for three years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/us/23pastor.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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22 arrested in Chicago area during ICE operation targeting gang members

CHICAGO - Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in close partnership with local law enforcement, arrested 22 men during a five-day operation this week. This is the latest local effort in an ongoing national ICE initiative to target transnational gang members.

The arrests were made as part of Operation Community Shield, a national initiative whereby ICE partners with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to target the significant public safety threat posed by transnational street gangs. Partnerships with local law enforcement agencies are essential to the success of Operation Community Shield.

The multi-agency operation began April 17. Arrests were made in the following Illinois communities: Bolingbrook, Glendale Heights, Joliet and Melrose Park. All 22 men are documented members or associates of the following transnational street gangs: Vice Lords, Latin Kings, Latin P-Stones, Two-Sixers, and Sureño 13s.

All of those arrested have criminal histories that include arrests or convictions for a wide range of crimes committed in the United States. Some of their crimes include: aggravated battery to a peace officer, armed robbery, burglary, criminal damage to property, domestic battery, drunken driving, mob action, possessing marijuana with intent to deliver, residential burglary, unlawfully possessing a weapon by a felon, and unlawfully using a weapon.

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1104/110422chicago.htm

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April 22, 2011

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Gang tattoo leads to a murder conviction

Inked on the chest of a Pico Rivera gang member was the detailed scene of a liquor store slaying that had stumped an L.A. County sheriff's investigator for more than four years. It leads to a jailhouse confession from Anthony Garcia — and a first-degree murder conviction.

The process was routine. L.A. County Sheriff's homicide investigator Kevin Lloyd was flipping through snapshots of tattooed gang members. Then one caught his attention.

Inked on the pudgy chest of a young Pico Rivera gangster who had been picked up and released on a minor offense was the scene of a 2004 liquor store slaying that had stumped Lloyd for more than four years.

Each key detail was right there: the Christmas lights that lined the roof of the liquor store where 23-year-old John Juarez was gunned down, the direction his body fell, the bowed street lamp across the way and the street sign — all under the chilling banner of RIVERA KILLS, a reference to the gang Rivera-13.

As if to seal the deal, below the collarbone of the gang member known by the alias "Chopper" was a miniature helicopter raining down bullets on the scene.

Lloyd's discovery of the tattoo in 2008 launched a bizarre investigation that soon led to Anthony Garcia's arrest for the shooting. Then sheriff's detectives, posing as gang members, began talking to Garcia, 25, in his holding cell. They got a confession that this week led to a first-degree murder conviction in a killing investigators had once all but given up hope of solving.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tattoo-20110422,0,1399043.story

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Bright, Careful and Sadistic: Profiling Long Island's Mystery Serial Killer

He is most likely a white male in his mid-20s to mid-40s. He is married or has a girlfriend. He is well educated and well spoken. He is financially secure, has a job and owns an expensive car or truck. He may have sought treatment at a hospital for poison ivy infection. As part of his job or interests, he has access to, or a stockpile of, burlap sacks.

And he lives or used to live on or near Ocean Parkway on the South Shore of Long Island, where the police have found as many as 10 sets of human remains.

In interviews with serial-killer experts and criminologists, including a former F.B.I. profiler, a portrait emerges of the man who investigators on Long Island believe is responsible for several of the bodies they have discovered in the brush off Ocean Parkway since December. For the moment, he is known in law enforcement jargon only as Unsub, or unknown subject. No arrests have been made, and no suspects have been identified by the Suffolk County Police Department, which is leading the investigation.

Profiling serial murderers is far from a precise science. There are nearly three million people on Long Island, and the man who killed at least four prostitutes who advertised for clients on Craigslist is perhaps but one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/nyregion/long-island-serial-killer-gets-a-personality-profile.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

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Mexico: Mass Grave Unearthed in Durango

More than two dozen bodies have been pulled from a mass grave in northern Mexico, a local official said Thursday. T

he federal police, digging on the outskirts of Durango, capital of the Mexican state of the same name, uncovered severely decomposed bodies and other human remains, local media reported.

By early Thursday, 26 bodies had been found.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/world/americas/22briefs-ART-Mexico.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

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Festive Yet Alarming, Earthquake Banners Strike a Surreal Note

Living in Los Angeles, for all its many pleasures, can take a fair amount of gumption. Even in Beverly Hills. Consider the official banners that have been hung from street lamps in recent weeks, products of the city's Office of Emergency Management. “When it rocks....” the banners ask provocatively on top, before continuing, “Are you ready to roll?”

The occasion, if one is really needed in this part of the country, is that April is Earthquake Preparedness Month in Beverly Hills. This is, according to the city's Web page devoted to the subject, the third year that a month has been devoted to making sure that residents realize an earthquake can happen and that they are prepared for it.

Nothing new there, perhaps, but after the disasters in Haiti, New Zealand and Japan this year and last, earthquake chatter here does seem to have grown a little louder.

Angelenos tend to have conflicted feelings about earthquakes: a combination of sang-froid and deep terror. Still, there is something a little jarring about the almost jovial tone of the Beverly Hills banners — is the pun really necessary? — all the more so because they include a picture of a collapsed building of some sort.

The colorful banners are at once festive and alarming, lining some of the busy streets in Beverly Hills on a sunny spring day this week. But not all the streets of Beverly Hills: None could be found the other day on Rodeo Drive, where shoppers were shopping as jauntily as ever and tourists were snapping pictures.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/us/22outhere.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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From Google News

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Hate crime charge for man accused of placing bomb

A federal hate crime charge has been added to the counts against a man accused of placing a bomb along the planned route of the Jan. 17 Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane.

A federal hate crime charge has been added to the counts against a man accused of placing a bomb along the planned route of the Jan. 17 Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane.

The Seattle Times reports that Kevin Harpham is named in a new indictment issued late Thursday by a federal grand jury in Spokane. It adds two counts - one accusing him of violating the federal Hate Crimes Act and the other accusing him of attempting to use an explosive device in connection with the hate crime.

The 36-year-old Harpham earlier pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and unauthorized possession of an unregistered explosive device.

Public defender Roger Peven said he hadn't seen the new indictment but knew the grand jury was considering the case this week. The bomb was found and disabled before it could explode.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014841699_apwamlkparadeexplosive.html

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April 21, 2011

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Fire breaks out near school on Columbine killings anniversary

The Southwest Plaza Mall is evacuated after a small fire erupts in the food court on the 12th anniversary of the Columbine High shootings in Colorado. Authorities find two propane tanks and a pipe bomb.

On the 12th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, authorities evacuated a busy mall near the infamous high school Wednesday after extinguishing a small fire in the food court and finding two propane tanks and a pipe bomb. There was no public evidence tying the act to the 1999 shooting spree at Columbine High School, in which two student gunmen killed 13 people before committing suicide. But the linkage was on the minds of local officials.

"It's hard to ignore that it's an anniversary," said Jacki Kelley, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The fire at the Southwest Plaza Mall started just before noon. The sheriff's department evacuated the mall, which at its peak has about 10,000 shoppers, after finding the propane tanks and bomb near the fire.

Jefferson County put 25 of its schools on lockdown, allowing people to enter and leave only through one entrance. Columbine High was already closed for the anniversary of the rampage, in which Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher before turning their weapons on themselves.

Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the mall Wednesday evening. Investigators were reviewing surveillance tapes to try to determine who started the fire and left the devices.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mall-fire-20110421,0,3068877,print.story

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Plunge in border crossings leaves agents fighting boredom

Arrests of illegal crossers along the Southwest border dropped more than two-thirds from 2000 to 2010, from 1.6 million to 448,000.

Reporting from San Luis, Ariz. -- The border fence ran right in front of Jeff Byerly's post, a straight line of steel that stretched beyond town and deep into the desert. As a U.S. Border Patrol agent on America's front line, Byerly's job was to stop anyone from scaling the barrier. Hours into his midnight shift, his stare was still fixed, but all was quiet.

He pounded energy drinks. He walked around his government vehicle. On the other side of the fence, the bars in the Mexican town of San Luis Rio Colorado closed, and only the sound of a passing car broke the silence. Byerly, 31, switched on his DVD player. Minutes later, a supervisor knocked on the window: The slapstick comedy "Johnny English" was on; Byerly was fast asleep.

Wild foot chases and dust-swirling car pursuits may be the adrenaline-pumping stuff of recruitment efforts, but agents on the U.S.-Mexico border these days have to deal with a more mundane occupational reality: the boredom of guarding a frontier where illegal crossings have dipped to record low levels.

Porous corridors along the 2,000-mile border do remain, mostly in the Tucson area, requiring constant vigilance. But beefed-up enforcement and the job-killing effects of the great recession have combined to reduce the flood of immigrants in many former hot spots to a trickle.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-border-boredom-20110421,0,5794968,print.story

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Mother allegedly hid heroin in teenage son's pants

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies discovered six bags of heroin inside the pants of a 14-year-old in Canyon Country after pulling the boy's mother over in a traffic stop, authorities said Wednesday.

The 31-year-old mother from Lake Los Angeles admitted she hid the plastic bags in her son's pants, authorities said. Her 14-year-old and her other son, who is 11, were released to child protective services after the Monday incident.

Deputies said they also found methamphetamines on the woman.

She told deputies she was a single mother who was transporting the drugs “this one time” to pay the rent, but deputies found evidence indicating she had been selling drugs for some time, authorities said.

Deputies arrested her for possession of heroin for sale, transporting heroin, child endangerment and inducing a minor to transport heroin.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/bags-of-heroin.html

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Juvenile Killers in Jail for Life Seek a Reprieve

CHARLESTON, Mo. — More than a decade ago, a 14-year-old boy killed his stepbrother in a scuffle that escalated from goofing around with a blowgun to an angry threat with a bow and arrow to the fatal thrust of a hunting knife.

The boy, Quantel Lotts, had spent part of the morning playing with Pokémon cards. He was in seventh grade and not yet five feet tall.

Mr. Lotts is 25 now, and he is in the maximum-security prison here, serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for murder.

The victim's mother, Tammy Lotts, said she lost two children on that November day in 1999. One was a son, Michael Barton, who was 17 when he died. The other was a stepson, Mr. Lotts.

“I don't feel he's guilty,” she said of Mr. Lotts in the living room of her modest St. Louis apartment, growing emotional. “But if he was, he's already done his time. He should be released. Time served. If they think that's too easy, let somebody look over his case.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/us/21juvenile.html?_r=1&ref=us&pagewanted=print

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For Threats of Terrorism, Two Words Will Warn

The government's five-color scheme for terrorism alerts has been reduced to two warnings: elevated and imminent.

The color-coded threat level system endured for nearly 10 years despite widespread criticism, if not mockery, of its sometimes perplexing messages to the public. Now the Department of Homeland Security is phasing out the green-blue-yellow-orange-red palette in favor of a system that officials say will convey more information about the threats.

“Say goodbye to orange,” Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, said Wednesday in announcing the replacement system at Grand Central Terminal in New York.

Ms. Napolitano said the new program, called the national terrorism advisory system, would be put into operation Tuesday. “Elevated” alerts will warn of credible terrorism threats; “imminent” will warn of credible, specific and impending terrorism threats.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/us/21alert.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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New Charges Filed Against Suspect in U.S.S. Cole Bombing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Military prosecutors refiled terrorism and murder charges on Wednesday against the suspected mastermind of the 2000 bombing of the American destroyer Cole, making it the first case to move forward since President Obama ordered military trials to resume at Guantánamo Bay , Cuba. They also requested the death penalty in the case.

The defendant, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri , was charged with the planning and preparation for the Cole attack, which blew a hole in the warship, killing 17 sailors and wounding 40.

The charges were referred to the Convening Authority for Military Commissions, which presides over the war crimes tribunals at the American base in Cuba.

Mr. Nashiri previously faced charges in the bombing, but they were dropped in 2009 as the Obama administration revamped the military commission process.

Prosecutors also accused Mr. Nashiri of involvement in the planning and preparation for an attack on a French civilian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Oct. 6, 2002, that killed a member of the crew and caused the release of approximately 90,000 barrels of oil.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/us/21gitmo.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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Roommate Faces Hate-Crime Charges in Rutgers Case

A New Jersey grand jury on Wednesday indicted the roommate of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who killed himself in September, on hate-crime charges in using a webcam to stream Mr. Clementi's romantic encounter with another man on the Internet in the days before the suicide.

The roommate, Dharun Ravi , and another student were initially charged with invasion of privacy. In accusing Mr. Ravi of acting with antigay motives, the indictment exposes him to a potential sentence of at least 5 to 10 years in prison if convicted, as opposed to the probation that would probably have resulted if Mr. Ravi were convicted only on the earlier counts.

The grand jury also charged Mr. Ravi, 19, with a cover-up. The Middlesex County prosecutor's office said he had deleted a Twitter post that alerted others to watch a second encounter Mr. Clementi planned with the man — identified in the indictment only as “M.B.” — and replaced it with a post “intended to mislead the investigation.” Prosecutors said Mr. Ravi had also tried to persuade witnesses not to testify.

The investigation that led to the 15-count indictment proceeded quietly over several months, as Mr. Clementi's suicide focused national attention on the victimization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth. Public figures including Ellen DeGeneres and President Obama spoke out about the tragedy; New Jersey legislators enacted the nation's toughest law against bullying; and there were calls from many quarters for prosecutors to bring the bias charges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/nyregion/rutgers-roommate-faces-hate-crime-charges-in-spying-suicide.html

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Seath Jackson, 15, Lured to House, Killed, Burned by Ex-Girlfriend, Other Teens, Police Say

A group of older teens and an ex-girlfriend lured a 15-year-old boy to a Florida house, where they carried out a plan by beating him, shooting him dead and burning his body, police said.

The fatal attack on Seath Jackson occurred Sunday at a house in Summerfield, Fla., police believe. Now, four suspects 18 or younger and a 20-year-old are being charged with first-degree murder, and a 37-year-old man is being charged with accessory to murder.

"It's an unimaginable act -- the idea that six people would come together and carry out to kill a 15-year-old," Marion County Police Officer Judge Cochran said. "That's a plot that you just don't expect to see in your next day's newspaper. It's just not something expected in the community."

According to Marion County Police, Jackson's mother reported him missing and as a possible runaway on Monday.

But on Tuesday, Tracy Wright, the mother of Jackson's ex-girlfriend, Amber Wright, contacted police and told them her son, Kyle Hooper, 16, personally witnessed Jackson's murder.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/seath-jackson-15-lured-house-killed-burned-girlfriend/story?id=13422887

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April 20, 2011

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Passenger-protection rules for airlines to be issued

New regulations limit how long international passengers can be held on tarmacs, clarify trip prices and specify reimbursements for lost luggage and being bumped from flights.

Federal officials are expanding a tarmac-delay rule to prohibit airlines from holding passengers on stranded international flights for longer than four hours.

The change stems from a late-December debacle in which several planes loaded with international travelers were stuck for up to 10 hours on snowy New York runways.

That's one provision in a new passenger-protection rule to be issued Wednesday. The rule also will require airlines to refund bag fees if they lose customers' luggage, to include fees and taxes in advertised prices, and to pay passengers more if they get bumped from oversold flights.

Most of the new regulations will take effect in four months. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, whose department will issue the new orders, said they were designed to make sure airlines treat travelers fairly.

"It's just common sense that if an airline loses your bag or you get bumped from a flight because it was oversold, you should be reimbursed," he said.

The new rule expands upon last year's 3-hour limit on tarmac delays for flights within the U.S. Consumer advocates complained that the rule didn't cover foreign airlines or international flights operated by U.S. ones, but their protests seemed to be ignored until the December blizzard shut down airports on the East Coast.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-airline-rules-20110420,0,2467506,print.story

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Ohio County Losing Its Young to Painkillers' Grip

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — This industrial town was once known for its shoes and its steel. But after decades of decline it has made a name for itself for a different reason: it is home to some of the highest rates of prescription drug overdoses in the state, and growing numbers of younger victims.

Their pictures hang in the front window of an empty department store, a makeshift memorial to more than two dozen lives. The youngest was still in high school.

Nearly 1 in 10 babies born last year in this Appalachian county tested positive for drugs. In January, police caught several junior high school students, including a seventh grader, with painkillers. Stepping Stone House, a residential rehabilitation clinic for women, takes patients as young as 18.

In Ohio, fatal overdoses more than quadrupled in the last decade, and by 2007 had surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of accidental death, according to the Department of Health.

The problem is so severe that Gov. John R. Kasich announced $36 million in new spending on it this month, an unusual step in this era of budget austerity. And on Tuesday, the Obama administration announced plans to fight prescription drug addiction nationally, noting that it was now killing more people than crack cocaine in the 1980s and heroin in the 1970s combined.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/us/20drugs.html?_r=1&ref=us&pagewanted=print

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U.S. unveils new terrorism alerts, scraps colors

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Wednesday unveiled a new warning system to alert Americans about specific terrorism threats, formally pushing the much-ridiculed color-coded warnings into the trash bin.

The new alerts will warn of either an "imminent threat" or an "elevated threat" with a summary of the potential threat as well as an expiration date. They could be extended, but unlike the old system there will not be an over-arching warning.

"The terrorist threat facing our country has evolved significantly over the past ten years," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. In February she warned the terrorism threat was at its greatest since 2001.

Several attacks have been either disrupted or uncovered in the past few years, including an attempt by al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen last year to detonate toner cartridges packed with explosives aboard U.S.-bound cargo planes.

The color-coded system adopted after the September 11, 2001 attacks was ridiculed because it failed to provide specific information about potential threats and the levels have not changed since August 2006 despite numerous attempted attacks.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/20/us-usa-security-alerts-idUSTRE73J32P20110420

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Say cheese: 'America's toughest Sheriff' lets public rate mugshots online

Arizona-based Joe Arpaio, known for his uncompromising stance on crime, is letting the public browse through the mugshots of those arrested each day and then vote for their favourite. The Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff says he hopes the increased Web traffic will highlight the work of his employees.

He also says more crimes may be uncovered if the public can view the photos. The top picks so far aren't unexpected: They're the most dishevelled, unusual looking people among those booked into an Arizona jail.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1378608/Americas-toughest-Sheriff-Joe-Arpaio-lets-public-rate-mugshots-online.html

Secretary Napolitano Announces Implementation of National Terrorism Advisory System

NEW YORK—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today will announce the implementation of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS)—a robust terrorism advisory system that provides timely information to the public about credible terrorist threats and replaces the former color-coded alert system.

As part of today's announcement, Secretary Napolitano will release a public guide outlining the new system to the American public, along with an example of an NTAS Alert that would be issued to the public if the government were to receive information about a specific or credible terrorist threat.

“The terrorist threat facing our country has evolved significantly over the past ten years, and in today's environment – more than ever – we know that the best security strategy is one that counts on the American public as a key partner in securing our country,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The National Terrorism Advisory System, which was developed in close collaboration with our federal, state, local, tribal and private sector partners, will provide the American public with information about credible threats so that they can better protect themselves, their families, and their communities.”

Under NTAS, DHS will coordinate with other federal entities to issue detailed alerts to the public when the federal government receives information about a credible terrorist threat.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1303296515462.shtm

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The 16th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing

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April 19, 2011

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Officials remind U.S. public that the military doesn't charge for joining

After the arrest last week of a man who allegedly charged immigrants money to join a fake army, U.S. military officials spread the word that that's not how it works

You cannot buy your way into the U.S. military, Army officials reminded the public Monday, trying to clear up confusion in the Chinese American community after an El Monte man was arrested last week in connection with charging immigrants to join what authorities said was a phony military force.

"No legitimate U.S. Army recruiter will ever ask an applicant for money in order to serve in the military," said Capt. Patrick Caukin, commander of a U.S. Army recruiting office based in West Covina.

"No one will ever ask you for money for ranks or promotions," Caukin said. "That's something you earn through hard work."

David Deng, who called himself the Supreme Commander of the U.S. Army Military Special Forces Reserve Unit, charged recruits as much as $450 in initiation fees that included uniforms and fake military identification cards, prosecutors said.

Deng charged recruits an additional $120 a year to renew memberships. Among the services the group provided was marching in parades and attending various community functions, sometimes for a fee.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0419-fake-army-20110419,0,5869543,print.story

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Air traffic controller suspended for watching movie at work

The incident follows at least five cases of controllers who fell asleep on the job.

An air traffic controller has been suspended for watching a movie when he was supposed to be monitoring aircraft, deepening the Federal Aviation Administration's embarrassment following at least five cases of controllers sleeping on the job.

In the latest incident, the controller was watching a movie on a DVD player early Sunday morning while on duty at a regional radar center in Oberlin, Ohio, near Cleveland that handles high-altitude air traffic, the FAA said in a statement Monday.

The controller's microphone was inadvertently activated, transmitting the audio of the movie - the 2007 crime thriller "Cleaner," starring Samuel L. Jackson - for more than three minutes to all the planes in the airspace that the controller was supposed to be monitoring, the agency said.

The controller's microphone became stuck in the transmit position, preventing him from hearing incoming radio calls or issuing instructions to planes during the incident, the agency said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-air-traffic-controller-20110419,0,106867,print.story

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Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Mangum charged with murder

Woman who falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players of raping her charged with murder after stabbed boyfriend dies

The woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her in 2006 has been charged with murder over the death of her boyfriend.

Crystal Mangum, 32, was indicted on Monday on a charge of first-degree murder and two counts of theft. She has been in jail since 3 April, when police charged her with assault in the stabbing of 46-year-old Reginald Daye. He died in hospital nearly two weeks later.

Mangum had accused the lacrosse players of raping her at a party, for which she was hired to perform as a stripper. The case heightened long-standing tensions in Durham about race, class and the privileged status of college athletes. Prosecutors declined to press charges over her claims.

Last year she was convicted for starting a fire that nearly destroyed her home with her three children inside. She told officers she set was arguing with her boyfriend at the time – not Daye – and burned his clothes, smashed his car windshield and threatened to stab him.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/19/duke-lacrosse-crystal-mangum-charged-murder/print

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Giving Back to our Military Families

It seems sacrifice is on the minds of most everyone these days. In homes across the country working families are cutting back and learning how to do more with less. Military families are making the ultimate sacrifice – that of a loved one – to keep the rest of us safe. On top of trying to pay bills, put food on the table and raise children, many military spouses have to go at it alone, worried about the safety of their loved one abroad.

My older brother served in the army and was stationed in Korea. I remember what it was like not having him around, sending letters, photos, care packages and such. It was hard on my mom because he wasn't home. Not having him around much and having been raised by working parents, I learned early on what it was like to do more with less. In my family, sacrifice was something my parents practiced on a daily basis to give me and my siblings a better life.

Today, countless military families continue to do the same. In many ways, they have to work twice as hard. While I wasn't raised by military parents, I did have a loved one who served abroad, and I do know about sacrifice. And I also know how important it is to give back.

President Obama and this administration know that, too. Its why, just a few days ago, I joined Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden Ohio to launch a new campaign called Joining Forces. Together, we're joining forces with businesses all across the country, calling on them to recruit and hire veterans and military spouses. We're calling on them to make their workplaces more military-spouse friendly, and more Guard and Reserves-friendly, with things like flexible work schedules and portable jobs.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/18/giving-back-our-military-families

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Aftermath of Severe Southern Storms – Supporting our State and Local Partners

April 18, 2011

Mexican cartels setting up shop across U.S.

Frediberto Pineda, a member of the Sinaloa cartel, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for heading a cocaine operation in South Carolina's capital. Similar outposts have popped up in Seattle, Anchorage and Minneapolis.

The house on Knightner Road is small, blue and white, with a stone front porch and a string of Christmas lights still hanging. Here, crack cocaine was sold to drive-up customers a few miles from the state Capitol in Columbia.

The one on Pound Road in rural Gaston, just south of Columbia, is a brown-and-white trailer, with a gravel driveway and woods out back. Here, federal law enforcement officers surprised Frediberto Pineda, who had 10 kilos of cocaine worth $350,000 in his possession.

Six months went by between the first FBI inquiries into cocaine trafficking at the house on Knightner Road and Pineda's arrest. But for the bureau, he was a prize worth waiting for. A member of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, he had quietly settled in central South Carolina, put down roots and began managing one of the gang's new outposts in the United States.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-crack-house-20110417,0,6531960,print.story

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Drug war: Mexico's weak rule of law

Newly appointed Atty. Gen. Marisela Morales has a window of opportunity to help reform a system that helps perpetuate the nation's drug war.

Over the last two weeks, Mexican authorities in the northern state of Tamaulipas have unearthed more than 140 bodies. Many are believed to be the remains of passengers kidnapped from long-distance buses. The gruesome discoveries are just the latest reminder of the bloodshed that has overtaken some parts of Mexico.

President Felipe Calderon has responded by dispatching troops to the area to patrol the highways where migrants are often targeted by criminal gangs that operate with impunity. And last week, authorities arrested 16 local police officers believed to have shielded drug cartel members tied to the killings. But that's not enough in a country where 34,000 people have been killed since 2006 — 15,000 in the last year alone, according to Amnesty International.

There is no simple fix to Mexico's bloody drug war. Poverty, corruption and weak rule of law are all part of the problem. But judicial reforms are a good place to start.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-graves-20110418,0,1115459,print.story

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Scrutiny Lags as Jets Show Effects of Age

In April 1988, when the cabin roof ripped off an Aloha Airlines 737 and swept a flight attendant to her death, it sent a startling signal to the airline industry about the dangers of metal fatigue. Airlines immediately stepped up inspections of aging jets. Federal regulators cut up old planes to look for the spots under the most stress. And Boeing redesigned the joints that hold its 737s together.

They thought they had solved the problems.

But the five-foot hole in the roof of a Southwest Airlines 737 this month and other recent incidents indicated that they had not. In fact, a stream of safety directives from the Federal Aviation Administration in the years since the Aloha incident shows that structural cracks from metal fatigue remain a persistent problem on older planes.

Chillingly, the agency said in one directive that the discovery of some of the most serious damage had been “a purely random occurrence.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/business/18plane.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1303122187-KA9QdV3iMt7Dug0vxZ8fcA

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