Fire Department Annual Open House - You're Invited!

"Serving our Communities: Prepare, Respond, Recover"

Dear Friend of the LAFD,

On Saturday, May 12, 2012 ** from 10:00AM to 4:00PM all Neighborhood Fire Stations in the City of Los Angeles will be expecting your visit.

To increase awareness of Fire Department services and extend our appreciation to the community, the Los Angeles Fire Department formally designates the second Saturday of May as Fire Service Recognition Day . This year, we highlight: "Serving our Communities: Prepare, Respond, Recover". During this year's open house, Neighborhood Firefighters are seeking to strengthen community-wide emergency preparedness and disaster resiliency.

Sept. 11 case returns to Guantanamo tribunal

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE , Md. — Five men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks, including the self-proclaimed mastermind, are headed back to a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay on Saturday, more than three years after President Barack Obama put the case on hold in a failed effort to move the proceedings to a civilian court and close the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba .

This time the defendants may put up a fight.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who told military authorities that he was responsible for the planning of the terror assault “from A to Z,” previously mocked the tribunal and said he would welcome the death penalty. His co-defendant, Ramzi Binalshibh , told the court that he was proud of the attacks.

But Jim Harrington , the civilian lawyer for Binalshibh , said the defendants are expected to fight the charges against them, which include murder and terrorism and carry a potential death penalty.

“He has no intention of pleading guilty,” Harrington said. “I don't think anyone is going to plead guilty.” Harrington declined to say what would be the basis of his defense and lawyers for Mohammed did not respond to messages seeking comment.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/4/sept-11-case-returns-guantanamo-tribunal/

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DEA apologizes to college student left in cell

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Drug Enforcement Administration issued an apology Wednesday to a California student who was picked up during a drug raid and left in a holding cell for several days without food, water or access to a toilet.

DEA San Diego Acting Special Agent-in-Charge William R. Sherman said in a statement that he was troubled by the treatment of Daniel Chong and extended his “deepest apologies” to him.

The agency is investigating how its agents forgot about Mr. Chong .

Mr. Chong , 23, was never arrested, was not going to be charged with a crime and should have been released, said a law enforcement official who was briefed on the DEA case and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Mr. Chong told the U-T San Diego newspaper that he drank his own urine to survive and that he bit into his glasses to break them and tried to use a shard to scratch “Sorry Mom” into his arm.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/2/dea-apologizes-college-student-left-cell/

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May 4, 2012

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From the L.A. Daily News

Needy aren't aware they can apply, qualify for public food assistance

Every morning, about 100 people line up at the Pacoima food bank of Meet Each Need with Dignity before the doors even open.

Once inside, they collect fruits, vegetables, rice, bread, cereal, juice and other donated goods, stuffing it into bags and even strollers, to stave off hunger for at least another week.

"My husband lost his job two years ago, and we have three kids," Thelma de Leon, 39, said while putting food into a cardboard box.

The circumstances may not have to be so dire. Many needy people who line up for assistance at food banks and elsewhere aren't aware that they can also qualify for public food assistance, or are too embarrassed to apply, according to program officials.

Only about half of the eligible families in Los Angeles County apply for food benefits under the CalFresh program.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20544879/needy-arent-aware-they-can-apply-qualify-public

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From Google News

Connecticut

New Haven police budget allows for 467 officers, no community communications manager

NEW HAVEN — The Board of Aldermen's Finance Committee unanimously approved an ordinance amendment that would limit sworn police ranks to 467, but they balked at the chief's request to hire a new community communications manager.

Earlier this week, Police Chief Dean Esserman sat in front of the Finance Committee and asked them to cap sworn ranks at 467 to help fill 86 vacancies the department has, and create a new community communications manager who would help the department with Freedom of Information requests, press inquiries and pro-active communication with block watches, management teams and other community groups.

Adding a position would bring the number of civilians in the department to 58, but the committee approved the ordinance amendment excluding that position.

Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts explained that Public Communication Officer David Hartman would continue with communications duties but they would be more internal, while the new person would reach out to the public more.

“We are giving the chief everything he wants except for the community position,” said Aldermanic President Jorge Perez, ward 5.

http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/05/03/news/new_haven/doc4fa339667b95e656568361.txt?viewmode=fullstory

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California

San Jose officials worry about combination of spike in gang violence, Cinco de Mayo

San Jose officials and community activists are worried a spike in gang violence and the large crowds that usually gather downtown to celebrate Cinco de Mayo could be a dangerous combination this weekend.

The popular Mexican holiday falls on Saturday, just days after police revealed that a 14-year-old boy was beaten to death in a central San Jose park in what police are investigating as a gang-related homicide. The killing at Roosevelt Park was the latest in a string of recent gang-related stabbings and beatings.

"It's been brewing out there on the streets," said Mario Maciel, an official with the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force. "There have been lots of incidents that were not homicides. The signs have been there. We've seen it on school campuses and around our community centers."

Although the annual Cinco de Mayo parade and festival in downtown were canceled after 2010, the area's popular nightspots continue to draw thousands. Police plan to blanket the area with a heavy presence and prevent rowdy celebrants from moving their party to East San Jose after the downtown nightspots close.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_20542758/san-jose-officials-worry-about-combination-spike-gang

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May 3, 2012

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From the L.A. Daily News

Student left in cell 4 days recalls hallucinations

SAN DIEGO - A college student picked up in a drug sweep in California was never arrested, never charged and should have been released. Instead he was forgotten in a holding cell for four days and says he had to drink his own urine to stay alive.

Without food, water or access to a toilet, Daniel Chong began hallucinating on the third day.

He told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that he saw little Japanese-style cartoon characters that told him to dig into the walls to find water. Chong tore apart the plastic lining on the walls.

"I ripped the walls and waited for the room to flood for some reason," said the 23-year-old University of California, San Diego, student, three days after he left the hospital where he was treated for dehydration and kidney failure. "I can't explain my hallucinations too well because none of them make sense."

Later he added, "I felt like I was completely losing my mind."

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20535471/student-left-cell-4-days-recalls-hallucinations

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From the Washington Times

Colleges pledge to squelch dangerous rites of hazing

Universities are no longer turning a blind eye to what happens inside the fraternity house.

After horrific, firsthand accounts from students and multiple recent deaths, the long-accepted practice of hazing - both in Greek organizations and other university clubs - has been thrust into the spotlight, and a fierce, unprecedented crackdown from college leaders is gaining traction nationwide.

“In the past, it's always been a ‘boys will be boys, no big deal' kind of attitude. But we're learning how you prevent this from happening,” said Tracy Maxwell , executive director of hazingprevention.org, the leading organization in the fight to eradicate decades-old rituals of forced drinking, brutal beatings and creatively unsavory customs.

Most common in the fraternity and sorority culture, hazing also has found its way into other parts of college life.

On Wednesday, state prosecutors in Florida charged 13 people in the November death of Robert Champion , 26, a drum major in Florida A&M University's legendary marching band. Champion was severely beaten and later died.

Eleven of the people, whom authorities did not name pending their arrests, face charges of hazing resulting in death, a third-degree felony in Florida that could result in more than five years' imprisonment. The two others face misdemeanor charges. Nobody is being charged with murder or manslaughter, charges that could involve doubts about who dealt what specific blow.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/2/colleges-pledge-to-squelch-dangerous-rites-of-hazi/

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Bin Laden documents to be posted Thursday morning

The Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., will post on its website at 9 a.m. Thursday documents seized last year by Navy SEALs from Osama bin Laden 's hideout in Pakistan after they had killed the al Qaeda leader.

The publication of the terror network's documents comes amid criticism that President Obama is politicizing the one-year anniversary of bin Laden 's death for political gain.

A spokesman for the Office of Director for National Intelligence said Wednesday that the timing of the release of documents is not linked to the anniversary of bin Laden 's death.

“Identifying the documents, declassifying the document analyzing and reviewing the documents required considerable time since they were obtained a year ago,” spokesman Michael Birmingham said.

He said that time was needed to transcribe the 17 documents, which will be posted in English and Arabic.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/2/bin-laden-documents-to-be-posted-thursday-morning/

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From Google News

New Jersey

Teaneck Police Plan Night of Family Fun Against Crime

National Night Out event includes planned military helicopter landing, rock climbing wall.

Chief Robert A. Wilson and the Community Policing Squad of the Teaneck Police Department are proud to announce the police department's hosting of this year's Teaneck's National Night Out 2012 on Tuesday, August 7 th . We encourage everyone to come out and join their neighbors in partaking in this exciting crime and drug prevention event. National Night Out involves over 15,325 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases around the world. In all over 37.1 million people are expected to participate in this year's 29 th Annual National Night Out.

National Night Out is designed to: (1) Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; (2) Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime efforts; (3) Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and (4) Send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on August 7 th , residents throughout Teaneck and across the nation are asked to lock their doors, turn on outside lights and spend the evening outside with neighbors and police. This ‘town wide block party' will take place in Teaneck's Milton Votee Park and will include displays and presentations from the Teaneck Police Department, various other county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, fire trucks, ambulances, representatives from all branches of the military as well as various other organizations and community groups and so much more. Some of the highlights of the evening include a planned landing of a military drug eradication unit helicopter, an Army rock climbing wall, give-a-ways, music, food, games and fun for the whole family. Everyone is welcome!

Anyone with questions can call the Teaneck Police Community Policing Squad at 201-837-8759.

Digger Phelps calls on community to stop teen violence

SOUTH BEND – With his trademark energy, former Notre Dame men's basketball coach Digger Phelps introduced his game plan to stop teen violence and take back South Bend streets.

After a month marked with teen violence, including a shooting during a teen dance at the Century Center, Phelps said “Enough.”

His plan, introduced during a luncheon Wednesday, is simple:

http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-digger-phelps-calls-on-community-to-stop-teen-violence-20120502,0,7769696.story

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May 2, 2012

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From the L.A. Daily News

Survey: 1 in 10 teens smokes dope almost daily

WASHINGTON - More teens are smoking dope, with nearly 1 in 10 lighting up at least 20 or more times a month, according to a new survey of young people.

The report by The Partnership at Drugfree.org, being released Wednesday, also said abuse of prescription medicine may be easing a bit among young people in grades 9 through 12, but still remains high.

Partnership President Steve Pasierb says the mindset among parents is that it's just a little weed or a few pills - no biggie.

"Parents are talking about cocaine and heroin, things that scare them," said Pasierb.

"Parents are not talking about prescription drugs and marijuana. They can't wink and nod. They need to be stressing the message that this behavior is unhealthy."

Use of harder drugs - cocaine and methamphetamine - has stabilized in recent years, the group's survey showed. But past-month usage of marijuana grew from 19 percent in 2008 to 27 percent last year. Also alarming, says Pasierb, is the percentage of teens smoking pot 20 or more times a month. That rate went from 5 percent in 2008 to 9 percent last year, or about 1.5 million teens toking up that frequently.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20526342/survey-1-10-teens-smokes-dope-almost-daily

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Ohio wild animal stampede ignites vast law review

LOS ANGELES - Of all the beasts set free by the suicidal owner of an exotic animal farm in Ohio last year, few were as scary or as lethal as the big cats.

Tigers, leopards and lions - more than two dozen - were loose before being hunted by sheriff's deputies.

While the slaughter was chilling, it was truly panic-inducing that an unstable owner had accumulated such a collection of dangerous animals.

Yet, by some estimates, there are thousands of tigers in captivity in American backyards - more than there are in the wild on the planet.

No one knows the number for certain because there's only scattered regulation for such pets. In fact, it's easier in some states to buy a tiger or lion from a breeder than it is to adopt a kitten from a shelter.

That's likely to change after the Zanesville stampede drew the attention of lawmakers around the country.

Legislation has been proposed in Congress that would ban private ownership of exotic cats. Ohio and other states are also looking to outlaw the animals or to keep them more tightly controlled.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20525465/ohio-wild-animal-stampede-ignites-vast-law-review

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Chemicals from China that could make $40M of meth seized at LAX

Two Chinese shipments of chemicals that could have been used to produce $40 million worth of methamphetamine were seized last month at Los Angeles International Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Tuesday.

About 5,700 pounds of methylamine chloride arrived at LAX from China on April 19 and 23, with a final destination of central Mexico, said CBP spokesman Jaime Ruiz.

While the white, powdery chemical could be legitimately used for pesticides and solvents, it is also essential for the production of meth and ecstasy, Ruiz said.

Suppliers are subject to manufacturing, importation and distribution of the corrosive chemical under the Controlled Substances Act.

"Once again, we take enormous pride in the exceptional caliber of our officers in intercepting these drug precursors from Asia and preventing their reaching the cartels in Mexico," said Todd Owen, CBP's director of field operations in Los Angeles. "The alertness and attention to duty is vital to the mission of CBP in protecting the homeland from all harm, including that of dangerous drugs."

FBI agents have arrested five people on suspicion of conspiring to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, three of whom were identified by federal authorities as self-proclaimed anarchists who formed a small group and considered a series of evolving plots over several months.

Douglas L. Wright , 26, Brandon L. Baxter , 20, and Anthony Hayne , 35, were arrested Monday night by members of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force on charges of conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce.

Also arrested were Connor C. Stevens , 20, and Joshua S. Stafford , 23.

The FBI said the five men planted what they thought were explosives underneath the bridge's column and tried to set it off remotely. Instead, they were arrested by undercover agents who were monitoring the group by video.

“The complaint in this case alleges that the defendants took specific and defined actions to further a terrorist plot,” said U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach in Ohio. “The defendants stand charged based not upon any words or beliefs they might espouse, but based upon their own plans and actions.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/1/fbi-arrests-5-alleged-conspiracy-blow-cleveland-br/

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From Google News

New Hampshire

Pelham police seek cooperation from community groups

PELHAM — Police are asking town organizations to take a survey about community policing. The survey is tied to a $196,000 federal grant voters approved accepting at Town Meeting. The grant is funding a police officer for three years.

The town is required to pick up the cost for one additional year — in 2016. Officials estimate the expense for pay and benefits at $80,000 for that year.

The grant was awarded under the federal Community Oriented Policing Services program.

"Through your participation in this assessment, our agency will be able to gather valuable data allowing us to enhance our community policing practices and identify community policing strengths and areas for improvement," Lt. Gary Fisher said in a message to participants.

http://www.eagletribune.com/newhampshire/x474409520/Pelham-police-seek-cooperation-from-community-groups

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From the Department of Justice

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Earlier today, following a four-week trial, Adis Medunjanin, 28, a Queens, N.Y., resident who joined al-Qaeda and plotted to commit a suicide terrorist attack, was found guilty of multiple federal terrorism offenses. The defendant and his accomplices came within days of executing a plot to conduct coordinated suicide bombings in the New York City subway system in September 2009, as directed by senior al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. When the plot was foiled, the defendant attempted to commit a terrorist attack by crashing his car on the Whitestone Expressway in New York in an effort to kill himself and others.

The guilty verdict was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

The government's evidence in this and related cases established that in 2008, Medunjanin and his co-plotters, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, agreed to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and kill U.S. military personnel abroad. They arrived in Peshawar, Pakistan, in late August 2008, but Medunjanin and Ahmedzay were turned back at the Afghanistan border. Within days, Medunjanin, Zazi and Ahmedzay met with an al-Qaeda facilitator in Peshawar and agreed to travel to Waziristan for terrorist training. There, they met with al-Qaeda leaders Saleh al-Somali, then the head of al-Qaeda external operations, and Rashid Rauf, a high-ranking al-Qaeda operative, who explained that the three would be more useful to al-Qaeda and the jihad by returning to New York and conducting terrorist attacks.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/May/12-nsd-565.html

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May 1, 2012

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From the L.A. Daily News

Security stepped up at local airports for one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death

Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX and airports in Ontario and Van Nuys, issued a statement saying that while no specific threats have been received, "we will continue to maintain vigilance and uphold our constant security posture to ensure the airport and the traveling public are safe ...

"LAWA will continue to monitor global events and stay in direct contact with our federal, state and local partners," according to the statement.

Various media reports out of Washington, D.C., stated that security has been stepped up at airports in Europe and the Middle East, and federal air marshals had been deployed overseas in advance of the anniversary of bin Laden's death.

U.S. and European authorities have been warning for the past year that al-Qaida operatives have been working to design non-metal explosives that can be surgically implanted so the carrier can slip unnoticed through airport security.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20516864/security-stepped-up-at-local-airports-one-year

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From the Washington Times

No safety in weaker al Qaeda

Romney: Even Carter would've made the call to kill bin Laden

One year after Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, a weakened, fragmented al Qaeda is collaborating with other terrorist and militant groups to target and attack U.S. and Western interests abroad, intelligence officials say.

Aggressive counterterrorism efforts - such as drone strikes and economic sanctions - have crippled the global terrorist network's ability to replace competent leaders, attract recruits and plan devastating attacks, said John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism.

“Al Qaeda is losing - badly,” Mr. Brennan said during a speech Monday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars . “[But] as the al Qaeda core falters, it continues to look to its affiliates and adherents to carry on its murderous cause.”

U.S. intelligence officials who recently briefed reporters on al Qaeda said bin Laden's death removed the terrorist group's most effective and inspirational leader and hobbled its capacity for staging a complicated assault. But they said the threat from al Qaeda affiliates has increased.

“The organization that brought us 9/11 is essentially gone,” a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said on the condition of anonymity, but “it's really too soon to declare victory.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/30/no-safety-in-weaker-al-qaeda/?page=all#pagebreak

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Lottery scams target vulnerable Americans

U.S. crackdown making little progress

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — The 88-year-old retired Coast Guard officer hadn't been outside the U.S. in decades. Yet phone calls started pouring in from Jamaica, dangling the prospects of huge winnings from an international lottery that he had won.

There was a catch, of course. He had to send a check to pay the tax on his winnings. He wired the money to Jamaica. Soon he was ensnared in a scam that may cost him his home in an assisted living facility outside Seattle.

“It's been heartbreaking,” said Ruth Wilson, a Seattle woman trying to clean up the financial fiasco that she said has cost her frail parents about $250,000, nearly all of their retirement savings.

U.S. officials say that is just a tiny fraction that cross-border lottery frauds haul in each year, disproportionately from the elderly.

The schemes are so entrenched in Jamaica that some American police departments have begun warning elderly residents to be wary of calls from Jamaica's 876 telephone code, which resembles the three-digit area codes used in the United States.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/30/lottery-scams-target-vulnerable-americans/?page=all#pagebreak

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U.S. infants in drug withdrawal triples

Treated with methadone because of mothers' opiate abuse

CHICAGO — Less than a month old, Savannah Dannelley scrunches her tiny face into a scowl as a nurse gently squirts a dose of methadone into her mouth.

The infant is going through drug withdrawal and is being treated with the same narcotic prescribed for her mother to fight addiction to powerful prescription painkillers.

Disturbing new research says the number of U.S. babies born with signs of opiate drug withdrawal has tripled in a decade because of a surge in pregnant women's use of legal and illegal narcotics, including Vicodin, OxyContin and heroin, researchers say. It is the first national study of the problem.

The number of newborns with withdrawal symptoms increased from a little more than 1 per 1,000 babies sent home from the hospital in 2000 to more than 3 per 1,000 in 2009, the study found. More than 13,000 U.S. infants were affected in 2009, the researchers estimated.

The newborns include babies like Savannah, whose mother stopped abusing painkillers and switched to prescription methadone early in pregnancy, and those whose mothers are still abusing legal or illegal drugs.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/30/us-infants-in-drug-withdrawal-triples/

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From Google News

Florida task force seeks major overhaul to Stand Your Ground law

The statewide task force to review Florida's Stand Your Ground law will begin its work Tuesday, but a state senator who formed his own task force is recommending the law be rewritten to make it more difficult for defendants to claim self-defense.

Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, said Monday the controversial law should be revised to allow law enforcement officers more leeway to investigate shootings of unarmed victims and make the self-defense protection less available to criminals looking for an out.

“We wanted to make sure that we put together an accurate report, to give the governor direction, to give the Legislature direction and to give the governor's task force direction,” he said. “Every day this law is being used and misused in courtrooms throughout the state of Florida.”

His task force recommended that those claiming self-defense should have the opportunity to make their claim before a grand jury, which can decide whether to bring charges or dismiss. The group also pushed for more clear wording in the statute and a new system to track all the cases where stand your ground is used as a defense. The 18-member group did not recommend that the law be repealed.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/01/2777117/florida-task-force-seeks-major.html

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Profiled at airport? There's an app for that.

A Sikh advocacy group launched a free mobile application Monday that allows travelers to complain immediately to the government if they feel they've been treated unfairly by airport screeners.

Launched at midnight Monday by the Sikh Coalition, the FlyRights app had fielded two complaints by 10 a.m.

The first complaint came from a woman who said she felt mistreated after she disclosed to a screener that she was carrying breast milk. A man who is Sikh filed the second complaint, saying he was subjected to extra security even though he had not set off any alarms. The woman's complaint was based on gender and the man's, religion, said coalition program director Amardeep Singh.

Singh said the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration were notified of the app before its launch. The agencies agreed to allow the app to use the agencies' system for submitting the complaints.

TSA said in a statement that it does not profile passengers on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion and is continually working with communities, including the Sikh Coalition, “to help us understand unique passenger concerns.” The agency said it supports “efforts to gather passenger feedback about the screening process.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/profiled-at-airport-theres-an-app-for-that/2012/04/30/gIQAZDcptT_print.html

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April 30, 2012

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From the Washington Times

Central Americans determined to trek north to U.S.

TULTITLAN, Mexico — About 200 impoverished and undocumented migrants recently packed into a small building in this ramshackle town 20 miles north of Mexico City.

Nearly all were from Honduras and headed for the U.S. border. Almost none spoke a word in the shelter's dark main room, where the only thing thicker than the smell of unwashed clothes was a sense of fear.

“Yeah, I'm scared,” said Victor Caseres, 26, who had traveled 750 miles by hopping freight trains to arrive at the shelter, one of more than a dozen run by the Catholic Church in Mexico to provide refuge for migrants.

“Everything's been all right so far, but going forward, I'm afraid. Sometimes criminal guys hop on the train, and they'll rob you or kill you.”

Migrants in search of jobs in the U.S. face a gantlet of life-or-death risks in their treks across Mexico from its southern border: Many fall prey to extortion, kidnapping, rape and killing by crooked police and criminal gangs.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/29/no-road-too-dangerous/

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Chechen women in mortal fear as president backs honor killings

ACHXOY-MARTAN, Chechnya — Chechnya's government is openly approving of families that kill female relatives who violate their sense of honor, as this Russian republic embraces a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam after decades of religious suppression under Soviet rule.

In the past five years, the bodies of dozens of young Chechen women have been found dumped in woods, abandoned in alleys and left along roads in the capital, Grozny, and neighboring villages.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov publicly announced that the dead women had “loose morals” and were rightfully shot by male relatives. He went on to describe women as the property of their husbands, and said their main role is to bear children.

“If a woman runs around and if a man runs around with her, both of them should be killed,” said Mr. Kadyrov, who often has stated his goal of making Chechnya “more Islamic than the Islamists.”

In today's Chechnya, alcohol is all but banned, Islamic dress codes are enforced and polygamous marriages are supported by the government.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/29/chechen-women-in-mortal-fear-as-president-backs-ho/

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More families building tornado shelters

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — When deadly twisters chewed through the South and Midwest in 2011, thousands of people in the killers' paths had nowhere to hide. Now, many of those families are taking an unusual extra step to be ready next time: adding tornado shelters to their homes.

A year after the storms, sales of small residential shelters known as safe rooms are surging across much of the nation, especially in hard-hit communities such as Montgomery and Tuscaloosa in Alabama and in Joplin, Mo., where twisters laid waste to entire neighborhoods.

Manufacturers barely can keep up with demand, and some states are offering grants and other financial incentives to help pay for the added protection and peace of mind.

Tom Cook didn't need persuading. When a 2008 tornado barreled toward his home in rural southwest Missouri, Mr. Cook, his wife and their teenage daughter sought refuge in a bathroom. It wasn't enough. His wife was killed.

Mr. Cook moved to nearby Joplin to rebuild, never imaging he would confront another monster twister, but he had a safe room installed in the garage just in case.

On May 22, Mr. Cook and his daughter huddled inside the small steel enclosure while an EF-5 tornado roared outside. They emerged unharmed, although the new house was gone.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/29/more-families-building-their-own-tornado-shelters/

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U.S. looks to South America for security partners

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (AP) — In these days of shrinking defense budgets, the U.S. is looking to its southern neighbors to help monitor and protect the Asia Pacific region in the years ahead.

Traveling to Colombia, Brazil and Chile this week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta underscored the importance of those nations as military partners in a region where the U.S. influence in a number of countries is being challenged by China. And as the military relationships grow, defense officials say it can only help U.S. economic and political ties across the continent.

Panetta's talks with senior defense leaders from the three nations also focused on how the United States can support their military efforts, including those directed at the expanding threat of cyberattacks, according to several senior defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meetings were private.

U.S. officials left the region thinking that at some point there may be opportunities to talk with South American nations about helping to train Afghan forces after NATO combat troops leave at the end of 2014. Officials would provide no details on which nations might eventually be willing to take on some of the training mission, which will be in need of advisers as other NATO nations pull their troops out.

With the U.S. shifting its focus away from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon's new military strategy puts more importance on the Asia Pacific region, where North Korea is a growing threat and China is rapidly building its military and its political and economic influence.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/28/us-looks-south-america-security-partners/

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From Google News

LA RIOTS: Unrest resonated in Inland region
Effects of the riots that engulfed parts of Los Angeles 20 years ago remain visible throughout the Inland region today.

Burned-out businesses relocated to the area, and LA residents numbed by the destruction and weary of racial tension found refuge in the Inland Empire.

One of those residents was just a girl when rioters looted her mother's store. As soon as she became an adult she headed to the Inland region.

“The Inland Empire is very blessed,” said Carol Park of Riverside. “We don't have segregated areas. We mingle and it doesn't matter. I feel less tension here.”

Even Rodney King now lives in Rialto. The April 29, 1992, acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of King sparked the riots.

The verdict also prompted changes in how the police in the Inland area and elsewhere relate to the communities they serve, and to reforms seen by anyone who has recently served on a jury.

As in Los Angeles, Inland police departments have forged closer links with their communities.

At least 53 people died, more than 2,000 were hurt and more than $1 billion in property was destroyed or damaged in the riots.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20120428-la-riots-unrest-resonated-in-inland-region.ece

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L.A. Riots: LAPD Commander, 'That Day, It Felt Like Everybody Hated Us'

Reaching into the backseat of his police car amid files, a baby's car seat and uniforms, Andrew Smith pulls out a stack of photographs he took during the L.A. riots. Smith tells the stories behind some of the 50 images, of looters he caught and let go, burned buildings and fellow officers posing with their weapons.

Smith was a police officer at the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Division on April 29, 1992. The Rodney King beating verdict was the breaking point for a city already torn by tensions between the police and communities of color.

“Remembering what was going on in the city, most people in the city hated the LAPD,” he said. “Certainly that day, it felt like everybody hated us.”

For more than a week during the riots, Smith worked 12-hour shifts in South L.A.. The first morning, he packed his trunk with groceries, not sure when the next chance to eat would arise.

Police stations quickly filled to capacity. Smith photographed looters he caught for documentation but then had to let them go.

“We had no mechanism to put people in jail. We had literally hundreds of people that we detained and had no way to transport them back to the station because we're four [officers] deep in our cars. We were stuck.”

http://www.neontommy.com/news/2012/04/la-riots-lapd-commander-day-it-felt-everybody-hated-us

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Connecticut

New project promotes police, teen bonds

NEW MILFORD -- The first time many teenagers meet a police officer up close and personal is when they see the red and blue flashing lights in their rear-view mirrors. Or if they get into some other kind of trouble.

Yet police officers say they are more than law enforcers. They are community role models whose primary mission is to protect and serve the public.

With that focus in mind, the New Milford Youth Agency teamed up with the town police department for a youth-enrichment project funded by a nearly $10,000 state grant. The program that starts Monday aims to improve relationships between high school teens and police officers, rooted in mutual interest, understanding and community service.

The program will cover the overtime costs of up to as many as a dozen officers who will spend time each week with the teens between April 30 and the end of June.

"This is not enforcement interaction, but a chance to find common ground ... and create some lasting bonds with us and our youth,'' said Administrative Sgt. James Dzamko , who started recruiting officers for the program last week.

http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/New-project-promotes-police-teen-bonds-3519358.php

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