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4a2213a89e4bdd810ec485f9a76a7f3e | https://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-venezuela-election-20131209-story.html | Venezuela’s ruling socialists survive electoral test | Venezuela’s ruling socialists survive electoral test
CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Nicolas Maduro’s socialists captured a majority of the mayorships in contention in weekend elections, according to preliminary results, a significant victory that analysts say will give him the political backing he needs to make policy changes in the coming weeks.
The ruling party, known by its initials PSUV, and its allies won in 196 of the 335 municipalities nationwide, according to a bulletin issued by the National Electoral Council. The opposition Democratic Unity alliance and other political groupings took 61. Results for 78 others remained to be declared Monday.
A total of 59% of eligible voters took part in Sunday’s balloting with the PSUV capturing 49% of the vote compared with nearly 43% for the opposition.
Opposition members took solace in that they appeared to have won in Caracas, the capital, as well as other big cities, including Valencia and Maracaibo.
Sunday’s vote was the biggest electoral test yet for Maduro, the handpicked successor of the late Hugo Chavez, who died in March after 14 years in office.
Maduro was elected in April, narrowly beating opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who is also the Miranda state governor. The PSUV and its allies controlled 265 city halls going into the vote.
“I recognize the victory of the opposition in Caracas,” Maduro said Sunday night. “But the numbers of the NEC speak clearly of the force of the [socialist] Bolivarean revolution.”
David Smilde, a sociology professor and Venezuela expert at the University of Georgia, said the results “give Maduro some breathing room.”
“Considering where he was two months ago, with declining polls and headed to an electoral defeat, he was able to turn things around and overcome a significant obstacle,” Smilde said. “He is still not a strong president, but this should give him some capital over the coming months.”
Smilde and others said Maduro faces tough decisions to tame a yawning budget deficit, the country’s 50% inflation rate and a faltering economy.
Many expect a devaluation of the bolivar by as much as 50%. The current official rate is 6.3 bolivars to the U.S dollar. But on the black market, a dollar fetches as many as 50 bolivars.
Few incidents were reported during Sunday’s vote. Turnout was said to be light to moderate in big cities such as Caracas and Maracaibo.
“This vote is proof of my loyalty to Chavez, but it bothers me that people aren’t coming out to vote,” said civil service employee Nidia Rodriguez after voting in the blue-collar La Pastora barrio of Caracas. “Nicolas needs our votes now more than ever.”
Although Maduro’s term runs through early 2019, and the PSUV has a firm majority of seats in the National Assembly, a weak showing in the local elections would have encouraged opposition backers to push for a national recall referendum like the one in 2004 that sought unsuccessfully to unseat Chavez.
Opposition candidates had hoped to capitalize on public disaffection, a poor economy and ongoing scarcities of basic foodstuffs. Capriles tried to galvanize the disaffection by campaigning across the country for mayoral candidates from his Democratic Unity coalition.
“I came to vote to express my disgust with all that is happening, the expensive cost of living, insecurity and the arbitrariness of a government that doesn’t respect the rights of its citizens,” said store owner Maria Gutierrez after voting in the El Valle section of the capital.
At a news conference Sunday afternoon, Maduro promised to respect the voting tallies.
“If we win a mayorship by one vote, we accept it, and if we lose one by one vote, we accept it,” Maduro said. “Everyone must respect the [voters’] decision.”
The vote was the first since the government took effective control of Globovision, the last opposition TV station, a takeover that meant anti-PSUV candidates were given little news coverage.
Last month, Maduro ordered the armed forces to take over an electronics and appliance chain and to sell the inventory at half price, part of his plan to “prohibit inflation.” The move came as scarcity of dollars caused their value to skyrocket on the unofficial dollar exchange market, a rate many retailers use as a reference to mark up prices.
In the days before the election, the government continued to raid retailers and confiscate the inventories of those it claimed had broken pricing guidelines. Last month, the government announced agreements with Samsung, LG and other manufacturers to assemble goods in Venezuela and sell them at government-sanctioned prices.
On Monday, parts of Caracas and other cities were hit with a power outage, which Maduro, as has been his custom, blamed on opposition “sabotage.” Critics have said the power grid is crumbling because of insufficient government investment.
“The country has a lot of problems, and I don’t see a way out,” Jorge Garcia, a motorcycle deliveryman, said Sunday. “But the government has helped the poor a lot, and so we have a responsibility to vote for Nicolas’ candidates. We can’t take a step back in this revolution.”
ALSO:
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Special correspondents Mogollon reported from Caracas and Kraul from Porto Alegre, Brazil.
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04eb79d13b9fd766bd4476d2b6bb6332 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/09/13/great-dane-michigan-worlds-tallest-dog/1567907/ | Great Dane from Michigan is world's tallest dog | Great Dane from Michigan is world's tallest dog
OTSEGO, Mich. (AP) -- A Great Dane from Michigan is doggone tall.
The Guinness World Records 2013 book published Thursday recognizes Zeus of Otsego, Mich., as the world's Tallest Dog.
The 3-year-old
measures 44 inches from foot to shoulder.
Standing on his hind legs, Zeus stretches to 7-foot-4 and towers over his owner, Denise Doorlag. Zeus is just an inch taller than the previous record-holder, Giant George.
Zeus weighs 155 pounds and eats a 30-pound bag of food every two weeks.
Doorlag says she had to get a van to be able to transport Zeus.
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fec863ddb5be16af8fa92af6ed4f01cd | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/10/16/meningitis-steroids-deaths-cdc/1636999/ | 19 more meningitis cases linked to steroid injections | 19 more meningitis cases linked to steroid injections
Nineteen more cases of fungal meningitis infections related to contaminated steroid injections were reported Tuesday, bringing the national total to 233 in 15 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Fifteen have died.
The newly-reported cases are in nine states: Florida, 2; Indiana, 2; Maryland, 1; Michigan, 1; New Hampshire, 2; New Jersey, 2; Ohio, 2; Tennessee, 6; Virginia, 1.
The cases are all linked to joint-pain steroid injections sold by the now-closed New England Compounding Center (NECC) in Framingham, Mass.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that the New England Compounding Center is also the focus of federal warnings about other drugs it makes that may be linked to new infections.
Health officials have identified one case of meningitis potentially associated with an injection of a different NECC steroid for joint pain. Another case involved a patient who got a fungal infection after receiving another NECC drug during surgery. Investigators don't yet know if the infection is linked to the NECC drug.
As of Tuesday, the FDA said it did not know how many patients might have been exposed to the possibly contaminated drugs. NECC made about 1,200 products, all of which are listed on FDA's website.
More than 90% of patients who had potentially been exposed to the contaminated steroid injections had been notified, said Melissa Dankel, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. Now they must wait to see whether they develop meningitis symptoms.
The diagnosis for meningitis requires a spinal tap, which involves inserting a needle into the spinal cord to remove fluid that is then tested.
The fungal infections develop slowly. In this outbreak, symptoms have typically appeared between one and four weeks following the contaminated injection, the CDC said. Health officials, however, warn that longer periods of time between injection and onset of symptoms have also been reported.
The anti-fungal medication given to treat the infection is itself potentially toxic and must be given carefully. Though it is an oral drug, the initial treatment must be done in the hospital so patients can be monitored for possibly dangerous side effects. After the initial treatment patients can take subsequent doses as outpatients, Dankel said. Side effects can include "visual disturbances and kidney failure," she said.
The anti-fungal treatment can be given even after meningitis symptoms, for example head ache or stiff neck, develop.
On Tuesday, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether the New England Compounding Center also violated laws related to the sale of controlled substances. On the list of recalled NECC products are nearly 1,000 formulations that contain controlled substances including cocaine, morphine and ketamine. Such formulations can only be sold by pharmacies registered with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Pharmacies can only sell controlled substances directly to patients who have a prescriptions, if the pharmacy is not registered with the DEA as a manufacturer or supplier. The NECC is not.
"This is a matter that I believe requires further investigation by the DEA to ensure that this facility, already believed to have broken Massachusetts state law, has not also skirted federal law related to controlled substances," Markey said in the letter to the Justice Department.Contributing: Liz Szabo and Dan Vergano
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0b0d95ee1711f4bde5e4614f4ec30c1d | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/11/12/syria-rebel-opposition-group/1699917/ | New Syrian opposition group recognized by Gulf council | New Syrian opposition group recognized by Gulf council
ANTAKYA, Turkey – The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council says it has recognized the new broad-based Syrian opposition group as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people.
Monday's statement is the first formal recognition for the newly united opposition group that seeks to topple President Bashar Assad.
It also could be another step toward opening up greater military aid to the rebels from the Gulf states such as Qatar, which hosted the Syrian opposition meeting.
Syrian rebel groups formed the new, unified opposition body in the face of escalating violence in the country and spillover in the region, but the jury is out on whether it will be more credible and effective than the council it replaces.
"All the FSA (Free Syrian Army) leaders demanded that (the opposition) politicians unite before," said Mosa Ahmed, an FSA fighter and member of the Free Syrian Lawyers, based in Antakya, Turkey. "I hope that all the FSA units will accept the new council, but I can't guarantee it."
Western powers have held back from assisting rebels directly for fear that weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. But on Sunday, delegates in Qatar ended days of talks with an agreement to band together under the umbrella of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NCSROF) -- an organization made up of 60 seats and including members from the main opposition Syrian National Council (SNC).
Previously regarded as the closest thing to a unified group, the SNC had been criticized as not being representative of opposition groups within Syria and for its inaction during the 19-month conflict. The U.S. pulled support from the group.
But while the group was initially resistant to a new leadership body, an agreement was finally reached on Sunday with members of the SNC taking 22 of the seats, while Damascene imam Maath al-Khatib was chosen as president for the new dissident organization.
Al-Khatib, seen as a politically inclusive independent candidate, has been repeatedly arrested for his opposition to the Assad regime. Analysts say his election represents a change from the SNC, which is seen as dominated by exiled academics.
"Appointing a preacher represents a qualitative change that will most likely resonate among many people because it provides religious legitimation," said Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics. "This also shifts the balance in power in the opposition. The reality is that, while there are many secular voices, the opposition on the ground has become more and more religious."
Meanwhile, observers say they hope the new coalition will allow for a more streamlined and efficient leadership than the 310-member SNC. The new structure follows the framework of the Syrian National Initiative, a plan put forward by Syrian businessman and political dissident Riad Seif who has been elected one of two vice presidents of the new coalition.
Analysts say the move has come about under pressure from the international community, and the U.S. in particular.
"The Syrian opposition elements are under pressure from the Western powers to give them the cover they need to ensure Assad falls," said Rosemary Hollis, professor of Middle East Policy studies at City University, London. "(The West and much of the Arab world) are not prepared to live with long-term containment of the Syrian conflict -- It's got to be regime change and in order to increase the chances (of that), they need to get arms to Assad's opponents and (therefore) they need the opposition to change."
The British will be hosting talks with representatives of the new coalition in London later this week to discuss "further support" for the Syrian opposition, according to a statement from British Foreign Secretary William Hague released on Sunday.
Supporters of the new initiative say that it represents 90% of the Syrian opposition groups, compared with only 50% or 60% that are represented by the SNC.
Most important, analysts say, it is trying to bring in armed opposition forces and provide coordinated leadership for what is currently a fragmented alliance of rebel battalions made up of foreign elements and Islamist groups united by the common aim of overthrowing Assad – but at times little else.
Still, it remains to be seen if these forces will follow the coalition's leadership.
"Yes, it's more inclusive, but will the new opposition really be able to unify all factions inside Syria?" Gerges said. "Will it be able to speak for the dozens of military battalions? Will the various factions be able to shed their own identity and coalesce? The jury is still out."
Meanwhile, fighting between regime forces and rebels has continued to spill out into neighboring territories with shells straying into Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday and Monday. Israel reacted by firing back into Syrian territory, taking out a Syrian armored vehicle.
There have already been clashes on Syria's borders with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Analysts say this only underlines the need to contain the Syrian conflict.
"What the Israelis are doing made it clear that they didn't perceive themselves to be under attack, but that it was a retaliatory move to send a message --beware of this border, if you transgress it, we won't put up with it," Hollis said. "Slowly but surely the ramifications of the conflict are affecting all the neighbors and creating more and more uncertainty and instability."
Russell reported from Berlin; Louise Osborne contributed from London.
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3b501a02845fae97177e2943aac697de | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/11/17/camden-homicide-record/1711157/ | Camden, N.J., sets homicide record | Camden, N.J., sets homicide record
CAMDEN, N.J. — The city of Camden set a grim record Friday, with its 59th homicide of the year.
The latest victim was shot dead in the city's Fairview section around 11:30 a.m, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
Additional details were not immediately available, but radio dispatches said police were seeking a masked man.
The previous high mark for homicides was 58, set in 1995.
The city tied the record on Nov. 9 when a Cherry Hill man died from injuries suffered in a beating seven days earlier. Gregory Holder, 45, had been attacked by two men during an apparent drug dispute, authorities said.
His case remains under investigation. No arrests have been made.
Violence aside, the homicide total could still increase, as the victim of an Oct. 21 shooting remains on life support at Cooper University Hospital.
Jimmy Cortes Jr., 20, of Barrington was shot multiple times during a pre-dawn confrontation between two groups of men.
The city's homicide toll, which has varied from year to year, hit 52 last year. That was up from 37 in 2010 and 34 in 2009.
Law enforcement officials have attributed the surge in violence in part to massive layoffs that nearly halved staffing levels at the city's police department in early 2011.
Camden currently has about 270 police officers. There were about 335 officers in 1995, according to Courier-Post records.
This year's homicides include the horrific deaths of two city children over the summer — a toddler decapitated by his mother and a 6-year-old boy whose throat was slit by an intruder.
In addition, a masked gunman last month killed two young people — 18-year-old Jewel Manire and 20-year-old Khalil Gibson — as they sat in a car in the Fairview section. Three people were also wounded in that attack, which remains unsolved.
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4093604117ef949206f8db9a24d97e18 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/12/16/obama-prayer-vigil-connecticut-school-shooting/1773031/ | Obama: 'We will have to change' | Obama: 'We will have to change'
President Obama told survivors of the Connecticut elementary school shooting on Sunday that the nation's "love and prayers" are with them and their children -- and told the nation that "we will have to change" to prevent such horror in the future.
"We can't tolerate this any more," Obama told families during an interfaith service at a high school in Newtown, Conn.. "These tragedies must end, and to end them we must change ... We can't accept events like this as routine."
The president, tearful at times, did not offer specific policies, but said in the coming weeks he will use whatever powers he can -- working with others -- "in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this."
Earlier, performing the saddest of presidential duties, Obama met privately with relatives of the 20 children and six adults who lost their lives in Friday's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The shooter and the shooter's mother also died.
In his personal and emotional address at the memorial service, Obama emphasized the deaths of innocent children. A father of two daughters, Obama told the families: "I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts .. I can only hope that it helps for you to know that you are not alone in your grief."
Obama praised teachers who tried to protect their students during moments of terror, as well as students who showed their own special brand of courage during the attack. He ended his remarks by reciting the first names of the children killed, and said, "God has called them all home.
"For those of us who remain," Obama said, "let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory."
The president, noting that this was the fourth time he has traveled to the site of a mass shooting, said this latest act of violence -- committed mostly against elementary school children -- raises "hard questions" for the nation as a whole.
"Can we honestly say that we're doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?" Obama said.
He later answered his own question: "If we're honest without ourselves, the answer is no. We are not doing enough. And we will have to change."
At another point, he asked: "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?"
FULL COVERAGE:Latest developments on aftermath of Conn. school shooting
In addition to the families, Obama spoke earlier with police officers and other first responders to the tragedy. The White House declined to release details of the president's meetings, which also took place at Newtown High School.
Audible sobs could be heard during the president's address in the school auditorium. Many members of the crowd wore lapel ribbons of green and white, the colors of Sandy Hook Elementary School.
A large number of elementary school-age children also attended, some of them clutching teddy bears and other cuddly toys. At the door, members of the Red Cross handed out stuffed dogs.
Members of the crowd stood and applauded as first responders, family members, and Obama entered the auditorium.
One of the earlier speakers, Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, told the crowd that Obama had told him that Friday was "the most difficult day of his presidency." (In his remarks that day, Obama had to pause and wipe away tears.)
On the stage, in front of the presidential podium: A table with 26 candles encased in glass, one for each shooting victim. A pianist played "Amazing Grace."
Outside the high school, people listened to Obama's speech on a loudspeaker while wrapped in blankets and holding candles.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., also attending the memorial service, told reporters he supports creation of a national commission on violence in the wake of this, the latest mass shooting.
"These events are happening more frequently, and I worry that if we don't take a thoughtful look at them, we're going to lose the hurt and the anger that we have now," Lieberman said. "And that includes looking at violence in the entertainment culture, mental health services and, of course, gun laws."
On the hill leading up to the school, several houses featured visible Christmas lights -- but most were dark.
In his remarks, Obama also reference other recent mass killings.
The president also met with family members and spoke after the 2009 serial killings at Fort Hood, Texas, which killed 13 servicemembers; the 2010 shooting in Tucson that killed six people and wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and the July shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 people dead.
In his Saturday radio address, Obama said: "As a nation, we have endured far too many of these tragedies in the last few years."
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9d9655b2c12399a97eb7afdc675a95b0 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/12/27/iowa-immigrant-drivers-licenses/1795427/ | Iowa stance on immigrant driver's licenses criticized | Iowa stance on immigrant driver's licenses criticized
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Immigrant advocates are criticizing Thursday's decision by the Iowa Department of Transportation to deny driver's licenses to young people whom the Obama administration has allowed to stay and work in this country.
However, state officials say the decision — which could affect almost 5,000 Iowa immigrants — is simply intended to comply with state law and federal guidelines. In addition, key leaders in the Iowa Legislature say they have no plans to enact measures requiring DOT officials to issue driver's licenses to such workers.
The decision is bad news for Omar Del Jesus Mex Valle, 24, of Denison, who is participating in a new federal program that lets him temporarily remain in the U.S. He's a native of Campeche on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula who came to Iowa when he was 15 years old to join his mother and father, who immigrated here illegally. He told The Des Moines Register on Thursday that the agency issued him an Iowa DOT driver's license in October after he passed a written exam and a behind-the-wheel test.
Now he faces the imminent loss of his driver's license.
"Oh, my gosh! I already have it," he said. "I hope they don't take it from me. I need it to go to my job, and to do stuff for my family."
The Iowa DOT's decision applies to young people — many of whom were brought here illegally as children by their parents — participating in a federal initiative known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. President Barack Obama unveiled the program in June, saying it would allow some of those young adults to seek a two-year permit allowing them to live, work and study here without fear of deportation.
About 1.7 million people under age 30 nationwide are expected to meet the policy's age, education and clean criminal history conditions, according to data from the American Immigration Council in Washington, D.C. There are an estimated 11 million immigrants illegally residing in the U.S.
Iowa DOT Director Paul Trombino III said Thursday that his agency's decision means the DOT will not provide Iowa driver's licenses or state identification cards to those granted deferred action status by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He said the determination was based on guidelines described by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano in a memorandum issued June 15.
Trombino said Iowa law says that a driver's license or non-operator ID card shall be issued to a foreign national only if he is authorized to be present in the United States. The Iowa DOT does not have the legal authority to issue those items to people granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, he said.
Trombino said he was aware of only one driver's license and one state ID card that were issued by the DOT to illegal immigrants participating in the federal program, although he acknowledged there might be others. In each case, DOT staff will contact the individual and inform him that his license or state ID card is not valid, he added.
The DOT's decision came in response to a letter sent in October by the Iowa chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union that asked whether the state would grant driver's licenses to immigrants granted deferred action status. Federal Homeland Security officials have said each state can determine whether to issue licenses or extend other benefits to young immigrants who qualify for the deferred status.
Randall Wilson, the Iowa ACLU's legal director, said Thursday that he was surprised by the Iowa's decision. The ACLU maintains that state officials should be granting driver's licenses and state ID cards to such immigrants.
"It seems to me they are arguing about angels dancing on the head of a pin here. These people have been granted status to stay in the United States for a period of time, and whether you want to call it illegal, legal or indeterminate, it doesn't matter. They are here, so this issue needs to be addressed, either legislatively or in the courts," Wilson said.
The ACLU and others have already filed lawsuits in Michigan and Arizona challenging decisions in those states to deny driver's licenses to those allowed to work and stay in the country under the federal program.
Sandra Sanchez, a U.S. citizen and native of Mexico who heads an immigrant advocacy program for the American Friends Services Committee in Des Moines, also was sharply critical of the decision, calling it misguided.
"In my opinion, this was either plain ignorance or plain politics, and it is not fair to play politics with these kinds of people," Sanchez said. "We have already invested in their education. Why not give them the opportunity to fully integrate into our community so they can contribute back? You need a car to go to school, to go to work in Iowa. What are they thinking?"
Loris Chesser, a Des Moines immigration lawyer, believes DOT officials were wrong in their legal interpretation.
"How am I not authorized to be present if I turn myself in to the federal government? They have given me a work permission; they will let me travel and then come back. I don't see how you can say that is not authorized to be present," Chesser said.
Tim Albrecht, Branstad's spokesman, said the governor believes state officials should always follow Iowa law. "Should the Legislature wish to make changes, the governor will review their proposals and would carefully consider any legislation that arrived at his desk," Albrecht said.
But Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said Thursday that he didn't expect his chamber to consider such legislation when the 2013 session convenes in January.
"I don't see any scenario where we give driver's licenses to people who are here illegally," Paulsen said.
Two Iowa Republicans, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and U.S. Rep. Steve King, have each blasted Obama's program as a serious overreach of executive authority.
According to Stateline, a news service of the Pew Center on the States, illegal immigrants who qualify for the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program can qualify for driver's licenses in 17 states. Officials have announced they are not eligible in six states.
Three states — Washington, New Mexico and Utah — allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses because their laws do not require proof of citizenship or legal residence.
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bc93ceddebac4802a0d6855c0c40483b | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/12/29/more-turn-to-tea/1798157/ | More turn to tea as benefits become known | More turn to tea as benefits become known
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Worldwide, tea is the second-most-popular drink, after water. But in this coffee-crazed nation, it's long been a subordinate brew.
Until now.
Tea's popularity is growing across America as scientists and the public learn more about its bountiful health benefits. An ever-growing body of research that includes more than 5,000 studies says tea can help block cholesterol, prevents cardiovascular disease and cancer and burns calories.
"People are more and more conscious that they should be drinking more tea," said Hazel Forsythe, associate professor in the Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition at the University of Kentucky. "The word is out, and it's spreading."
According to the Tea Association of the USA, a New York-based industry group, consumer tea purchases have increased for 20 consecutive years; retail supermarket sales have surpassed $2.2 billion; and away-from-home tea consumption has grown by at least 10 percent a year over the past decade.
On any given day, the group says, 160 million Americans drink tea. Tea shops such as Teavana are popping up all over.
On a recent day, longtime tea drinker Peggy Buchanan made her daily visit to the Louisville Tea Co. in Jefferson County. The 47-year-old Louisvillian has high blood pressure and multiple sclerosis and said she drinks tea partly for its healing properties.
"I'll have a stomachache or a headache, and they'll brew something up and it helps," said Buchanan. "I have a friend with breast cancer. She said tea helps her feel better. ... The health benefits are wonderful."
People in other parts of the world — such as India, China and Japan, where much of the world's tea is grown — have been aware of its benefits for centuries.
In India's Darjeeling region, tea plants dot the rolling foothills of the Himalayas, and tea shops and stalls are everywhere. Darjeerling tea is famous across the globe; Nick Spears, co-owner of Louisville Tea, called it "the champagne of tea."
Sundeep Mukherjee, principal adviser to the Darjeeling Tea Association, said three-quarters of the tea from the region is exported, with up to 10 percent going to the United States — a portion that's been rising as health benefits become more widely known.
"It's anti-carcinogenic. It modulates your (blood) pressure. It's good for your heart. It has antioxidants," he said. "The qualities of nature are retained through tea."
Steeped in research
Tea is classified into five types — black, white, green, oolong and puerh. All are created from leaves of the same warm-weather evergreen, and all contain polyphenol antioxidants, which work to neutralize damaging free radicals.
Many studies have examined tea's role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
"There's pretty good evidence that tea decreases absorption of cholesterol in the system," said Todd Porter, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Kentucky and a tea researcher. "This is more true with black tea than green tea. That is counter to common thinking."
Some recent cardiovascular research was presented at the Fifth International Scientific Symposium on Tea & Human Health, held in September at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C.
One Italian study, for example, found that black tea reduced blood pressure in all subjects and counteracted the detrimental effects of high-fat meals in people with high blood pressure. That study bolstered findings of a 2001 analysis of several studies showing an 11 percent lower risk of heart attack among those drinking three cups of tea a day.
Scientists also presented research on other health conditions. One study said caffeine and the amino acid L-theanine in tea may improve mental cognition and clarity, as well as work performance.
A review of studies, published in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology this year, suggested that consuming five cups of green tea each day helps prevent several cancers and protect against the recurrence of colorectal cancer.
Recent studies have also found benefits for the elderly and the weight-conscious.
A Japanese study published this year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that elderly subjects who drank more tea had a significantly lower risk of functional disability such as stroke, osteoporosis and cognitive impairment.
A 2004 Japanese study found that caffeine, theanine and perhaps other components in green tea powder suppressed weight gain and fat accumulation. Other research concluded that people drinking green tea and caffeine lost an average of almost three pounds in 12 weeks while eating their regular diet.
UK's Forsythe said the list goes on and on. "Tea drinkers are likely to age much slower than other beverage drinkers," she said. "Tea reduces inflammation. It increases bone strength."
Still, experts said it's not a cure-all, and isn't the only beneficial beverage.
A study this year in the New England Journal of Medicine, for example, found those who drank coffee, compared with those who did not, had lower death rates from heart and respiratory diseases, injuries and accidents, diabetes and infections, but not cancer.
Other studies suggest coffee helps protect against Parkinson's disease and Type 2 diabetes.
"There are some benefits to coffee, surprisingly, but tea and coffee are very different," Porter said. "Coffee doesn't have any of the lipid-lowering benefits tea does."
Art of tea
Experts said relatively low caffeine levels in tea make it possible to drink large amounts; black tea, which has more caffeine than green, oolong or white, still has about half the caffeine of coffee.
Forsythe suggested drinking at least two cups of tea a day, while Porter said five or more cups of black tea daily would be best to lower cholesterol.
Nicolette Boese, who co-owns Louisville Tea Co. with Spears, her fiance, said she drinks 10 or more cups every day, and has loved the beverage since she was a little girl holding tea parties with her stuffed animals.
Boese, who holds classes on tea, said there's an art to it. For one thing, she said, loose-leaf teas allow for a wide array of tastes, compared with the supermarket tea bags to which most people are accustomed.
Also, ideal water temperatures and steeping times vary for different types of tea. Black tea requires the hottest water, for instance, and certain types of Chinese green tea should be steeped about two minutes.
Boese and Spears said tea can be enjoyed like fine wine and is a similarly social beverage.
"I've seen people talk over tea for three hours," Boese said.
The social aspect of tea has long been part of other cultures. There are tea ceremonies in Japan and "high tea" in England, and Indians share tea several times a day at home, during get-togethers and even during business meetings. At an outdoor tea stall near a sprawling tea garden in Darjeerling, India, recently, customers lingered on benches, sipping small cups of tea and chatting.
Forsythe said a widening "culture of tea" would be good for America, too. Besides making us healthier, she said, it would connect us, since "we make friends over tea."
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Comparison of benefits
Two cups of tea have the same antioxidant activity as:
Making the perfect cup of tea
Sources: Hazel Forsythe and Jessica Coffie, Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, University of Kentucky
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fa85aa35bbc3440f724f2b42e16426ea | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/12/29/mourners-honor-iowa-slain-girl/1798269/ | Mourners honor slain Iowa girl's short life | Mourners honor slain Iowa girl's short life
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- In Lyric Cook-Morrissey's family, goodbyes always end with a hug, a kiss and an "I love you," relatives say.
On Saturday afternoon, loved ones, friends and neighbors said goodbye for the final time to a girl who loved singing with her cousins, swimming with her mom and having sleepovers with her friends from school.
Dozens of people streamed in and out of the Heartland Vineyard Church in Cedar Falls, past trees bearing pink ribbons that become commonplace following the July 13 disappearance of Lyric and her cousin Elizabeth Collins from the nearby Black Hawk County town of Evansdale. Family members requested that reporters not attend the service.
Sarah Raney of Evansdale came to Lyric's service and another for Elizabeth earlier this month. She, like a lot of local residents, has come to think of the girls as her own, she said.
"It's a community thing to me," Raney said. "We don't want Lyric to be forgotten."
Raney brought her daughter Braedyn, 4, and Payton Decker, a 10-year-old girl she babysits. Decker is Lyric's age and attends the same school Elizabeth used to attend, Poyner Elementary in Evansdale.
"She has struggled a lot with the, 'Why did this happen?'" Raney said.
Lyric was 10 and Elizabeth 8 when they disappeared.
Family members say they wanted to use both "celebration" services not just to mourn the loss of the girls but to remember the fun times.
The services may end one chapter in this tragic saga that has consumed the girls' families for almost six months, but some Evansdale residents say real closure hinges on finding the person, or people, responsible.
"I don't think it will actually be over until they find out who done it," said Rita Cummings, the owner of a local diner who raised 10 children in Evansdale before moving to Waterloo a few years ago.
The case has fundamentally changed the small town, where children used to ride their bikes through the streets or walk alone a few blocks to the library.
Parents are more cautious. Fewer children play outside unaccompanied. Neighbors look out for each other's kids.
"I don't let my grandkids out of my sight," said Pat Boland, whose two grandchildren attend school in Evansdale. "I take them to school and I watch them go in the door. I pick them up from school and I watch them come out the door."
Each student at Poyner Elementary has a number this school year. Parents were given a card with the corresponding number that they must show to a school employee at the door before they can pick up their student.
"It's time-consuming and it's gets to be a pain," Boland said, "but it's an excellent idea."
Police Chief Kent Smock said he's seen the town change for the better. Parents are spending more time with their children, accompanying them to the park and at the sledding hill.
Neighbors are talking to each other and leaving their blinds open to keep an eye on kids playing nearby.
"If we have to look for a bright spot, it is that we are seeing people who never would have talked to each other, never would have found a common bond," Smock said. "There's a sense of neighborliness again."
The cousins were last seen by their grandmother, Wylma Cook, riding bicycles at about noon on July 13 in Evansdale. Their bikes and Elizabeth's purse and cellphone were found on a recreational trail at nearby Meyers Lake a few hours later.
The girls' bodies were found nearly five months later, on Dec. 5, by hunters in a secluded part of a Bremer County wildlife area about 25 miles north of where they disappeared.
Authorities have said they're close to classifying the case as a homicide but will not do so until the State Medical Examiner's Office identifies the cause of death.
Investigators said they hoped the discovery of the girls' bodies would provide evidence that furthered the case.
Smock, in an interview Friday, said he had no updates on the progress of the investigation. But he agreed that finding the perpetrators is critical for the town's healing.
"I don't think we're going to see a full sense of closure until the person or persons responsible are brought before the courts and held responsible for their actions," he said.
The past five months have been a struggle for the Lyric and Elizabeth's immediate and extended family alike, said the girls' aunt Tammy Brousseau.
Lyric's parents, Dan Morrissey and Misty Cook-Morrissey, have mostly stayed out of the public eye since the disappearance. Both have been incarcerated numerous times, and early on in the investigation they said they stopped cooperating with authorities because they believed they were being treated like suspects.
Both have since been more compliant, officials have said.
Brousseau said Cook-Morrissey has been relying on her faith and her family for support since the girls' disappearance.
Lyric lived with her grandmother Wylma Cook for much of her short life. Reminders of the girl are everywhere in Cook's modest two-story home on Waterloo's east side, from her art projects on the fridge to stuffed animals in the bedroom the two shared.
For Cook, night time is the hardest. That's when she and Lyric would sit in bed, hold hands and talk. Lyric's stuffed dog, Max, still rests on her side of the bed.
Cook said Lyric's custom-made urn will bear a phrase the two used to share each night before falling asleep: "I love you, good night."
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dafe56fe6e70a9e45e2d6bccc6bd6c17 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/03/05/fla-hazing-death-robert-champion/1964835/ | New charges give hope to parents in FAMU hazing death | New charges give hope to parents in FAMU hazing death
ATLANTA — The parents of former Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion said Tuesday that they are encouraged by the upgraded charges in their son's hazing death.
"I definitely think it's a step in the right direction," said Pamela Champion. "I'm more encouraged now as to the leadership that is in place (in Florida)."
Twelve former band members were charged Monday with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of Champion, 26.
Ten of the band members had been charged last May with third-degree felony hazing, but the state attorney's office said they are adding the charge of manslaughter for each defendant. They also have charged two additional defendants with manslaughter, though they have yet to be arrested.
The second-degree manslaughter charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Robert Champion Sr., who joined his wife Tuesday for a news conference with their attorney, said, "We're just encouraged that justice will be done."
Asked what she would say to those accused of killing her son, Pamela Champion hesitated, seeming to search for words.
"We don't hold hatred toward them," her husband said. "But what must be done is justice must be served."
Champion died in Orlando in November 2011 after he collapsed following what prosecutors say was a savage beating during a hazing ritual. It happened on a bus parked in a hotel parking lot after Florida A&M played Bethune-Cookman in their annual rivalry football game.
Pamela Champion said she still misses her son.
"I loved my son very much," she said. "And what I miss most is — Robert had the kind of personality that he could sense when things were wrong. He was very sensitive. The thing I miss most is, he'd tell me, 'Ah, Mama, it ain't that serious. Don't worry about it.' "
She said the family moved into their home when their son was a year old. "So every piece of that house has him in it," she said.
The Champions' attorney, Christopher Chestnut, said the state attorney who brought the expanded charges, Jeff Ashton, did not speak with the family before doing so.
"He just got elected, stepped in and seized the reins," Chestnut said. "We are now in a position where we trust the judgement of the state attorney."
A spokesman for Ashton's office said the prosecutor would not comment on the case. Ashton, a 30-year veteran who was on the team that failed to convict Casey Anthony of murder in 2011, was sworn in as the area's top prosecutor in January after beating his former boss in a hotly contested election.
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7695d557940cb5e528ce5f410991b155 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/03/26/supreme-court-dog-sniffing-drug-case/2020743/ | High court rules against drug-sniffing dog search | High court rules against drug-sniffing dog search
Correction: A previous version of this post stated an incorrect outcome of the case.
A drug-sniffing dog at your doorstep is a step too far, the Supreme Court has decided.
While the high court had ruled last month that a Florida police officer's use of a drug-sniffing dog to search a truck during a routine a traffic stop was OK, it drew the line Tuesday at the entrance to a private home.
Writing for a 5-4 majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said a dog sniffing at a house where police suspect drugs are being grown constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and the circumstances did not justify the officers' entry to the home.
"This right would be of little practical value if the state's agents could stand in a home's porch or side garden and trawl for evidence with impunity," Scalia wrote in a majority opinion. "The right to retreat would be significantly diminished if the police could enter a man's property to observe his repose from just outside the front window."
Writing in dissent, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that dogs have long been used for law enforcement purposes, and that the homeowner in this case did not have a reasonable expectation of total privacy.
Wrote Alito: "A reasonable person understands that odors emanating from a house may be detected from locations that are open to the public, and a reasonable person will not count on the strength of those odors remaining within the range that,while detectable by a dog, cannot be smelled by a human."
The ruling scrambled the court's normal ideological divisions.
Fellow conservative Clarence Thomas signed onto Scalia's opinion against the search, as did three members of the more liberal bloc: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The dissenters included three of the more conservative court members -- Alito, Anthony Kennedy, and Chief Justice John Roberts -- as well as liberal member Stephen Breyer.
A pair of cases from Florida argued last year hinged on the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches -- a protection the high court held in high esteem during its last term, when it ruled unanimously that police should have obtained a warrant before placing a GPS device on a drug suspect's car.
In another dog-sniffing case decided last month, the court ruled in favor of police who used a canine during a traffic stop.
Tuesday's ruling stemmed from a 2006 incident in which Miami-Dade police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration set up surveillance on a house after being tipped to a possible marijuana growing operation. An officer went up to the house with a dog named Franky, who quickly detected the odor of pot. The sniff was used to obtain a search warrant from a judge.
Attorneys for occupant Joelis Jardines, who was arrested and charged with marijuana trafficking, challenged the search as unlawful. A trial judge agreed, and threw out the evidence; the Florida Supreme Court later sided with the trial judge.
During a Supreme Court hearing held on Halloween, justices raised questions about the drug sniffing at a private home, as opposed to a traffic stop.
The justices seemed amenable to the use of the dogs in general, without quarreling about their training and certification. But when the issue arrived on their doorstep, their reaction changed; dogs sniffing at the door, they reasoned, were far more intrusive than trick-or-treaters.
Justices Scalia and Kennedy had appeared to align with the court's four more liberal members against the actions of Franky, the police dog who detected marijuana in a Miami grow house only after spending several minutes sniffing around the front door.
Justice Kagan called that "a lengthy and obtrusive process." Justice Ginsburg said it could lead to random searches of "any home, anywhere."
Although modern technology didn't exist when the Founders wrote the Bill of Rights, dogs certainly did -- and they have been used reliably by police for a number of causes, including the search for victims of Superstorm Sandy, which occurred just days before oral arguments.
"Scotland Yard used dogs to track Jack the Ripper," said Gregory Garre, who represented Florida law enforcement.
"These dogs are quite reliable," agreed Joseph Palmore, representing the U.S. Justice Department, which sided with the state.
But Glen Gifford, an assistant public defender representing one of the defendants, begged to differ. "Dogs make mistakes," he said. "Dogs err."
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e974c14061ca6565b6b2887796914036 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/04/24/bombing-marathon-suspect-says-attacks-were-not-rehearsed/2110491/ | Boston suspect: No rehearsal before attacks carried out | Boston suspect: No rehearsal before attacks carried out
The deadly Boston Marathon attacks were launched without a rehearsal before the coordinated bombs were detonated seconds apart, the surviving suspect has told federal investigators.
A federal law enforcement official, who has been briefed on the matter, said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told a special interrogation team that he and his brother did not attempt a test fire of the powerful pressure-cooker devices before planting them near the crowded finish line of the race. The twin bombs killed three and wounded 264. Several remain hospitalized.
Tsarnaev, 19, remains hospitalized in Boston under heavy guard after his arrest Friday evening in Watertown. Tamerlan, 26, died following a police shootout early Friday morning.
Meanwhile, a review of Russia's contacts with the U.S. authorities, shows that six months after the Russians asked the FBI to review the activities of Tsarnaev's brother, Tamerlan, Russian authorities made an identical request to the CIA.
The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said the CIA was aware of the FBI's prior review— which turned up nothing improper — and referred the Russian request back to the FBI.
The CIA is prohibited from conducting intelligence operations on U.S. soil.
The FBI, which had closed its review on Tsarnaev in June 2011 after sharing its results with Russian officials, again contacted their Russian counterparts, asking if they had developed additional information on him.
But the federal official said Russian authorities never responded.
"It wasn't like the request they made to the FBI contained new information,'' the official said. "It was exactly the same document.''
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9a717735ec61bfcf5246b3d479d60b17 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/15/teen-suicide-thwarted-tumblr/2160673/ | Life saved as an online mystery is solved | Life saved as an online mystery is solved
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- As soon as Jackie Rosas saw the post, she knew the threat was real. Rosas had followed the blog of this teenage girl for about a year, and the posts were laced with depression.
Rosas, 18, had seen anonymous bullies send the girl hurtful messages on Tumblr, a social networking website where she kept her blog. Then, one afternoon, it happened. On May 6, the 16-year-old girl, who Rosas knew only through the Tumblr site, threatened to commit suicide in an online post.
"She blogged, saying she was going to end her life," said Rosas, a resident of Cathedral City, Calif. "She had been fighting this depression, and when she posted that, my instinct was that she was serious. She wrote something like: 'I'm going to kill myself. There is no other option.'"
Desperate to do something, Rosas called a local suicide hotline to report the post. But she didn't know the teen's last name — or even what part of the country she lived in — so the hotline told her to call police. It was about 5 p.m.
What would unfold over the next eight hours would transform into a race against the clock that would stretch across the entire country. Ultimately, a teenage girl in New Jersey would be rescued through the collective response of two police departments, several local school officials and one very compassionate Tumblr follower.
It started with Rosas' call to police that put her on the line with patrol Officer Kelly Nava, a 14-year veteran of the Cathedral City Police Department. Rosas gave the girl's name and a link to her blog to the officer. The blog added that the girl was in color guard at her school, wherever that was. There were no strong leads. In that moment, Nava felt "helpless."
"It was really nothing to start with," Nava said . "My first thought was to run (the girl's) age and name through our local system … and it came back with so many matches. She had such a common first name."
On a limb, Nava forwarded a photo to Officer Heather Olsen, a school resource officer from Cathedral City High School. If the teen girl lived in Cathedral City, Olsen might be able to recognize her. But she couldn't. The girl in the picture was a stranger. Just to double-check, Olsen called Cathedral City High Assistant Principal Karen Dimick, who also didn't recognize the girl. Dimick checked with some of the faculty at the school, but nobody knew a girl that fit the description on the blog.
At this point, it seemed likely the girl wasn't a student at Cathedral City High. Suddenly, the search for the troubled teen was much wider, and the clock was still ticking.
"We were kind of at a dead end," Olsen said. "But then, after a little bit, Karen (Dimick) texts me back. She said she found (the girl's) Twitter account, with the same picture on it, and that gave us a last name. And she sent me the link and I just went to town."
Both Olsen and Dimick dove into the Twitter account, searching for the next puzzle piece. Soon they found a simple tweet from November. The girl had written about how much she loved the UHS marching band.
Armed with an acronym, Olsen kept sleuthing online. Who knew how many schools around the country were called UHS? She needed to find a town, or a county, or at least a state. She read every post she could find. She watched YouTube videos posted by the same girl. Somehow, jumping from hyperlink to hyperlink, slipping deeper into the depths of the Internet, she came across a newspaper article that contained the next clue. It was a story about a marching band on the other side of the country.
"I was finally able to piece it together from the bottom of a newspaper article — Union Township, New Jersey," Olsen said. "I
Finally, the investigators had a name and a location. Olsen called back to Nava, who Nava forwarded the information to the Union Township Police Department. It was about 1:30 a.m. May 7 when they received the call.
Lt. John Daubner, of the Union Township Police Department, confirmed that officers were sent to a nearby address in response. They found a 16-year-old girl, who was taken to a medical facility as a result. According to Cathedral City Police records, the girl in New Jersey had taken enough pills for authorities to put her on a psychiatric hold. Daubner said he couldn't confirm any more details about the teen or the incident, but he commended Rosas for starting the chain of events that would stretch across the nation.
Nava said the New Jersey police got back to her about the rescue that same night. She immediately got "the chills," she said. News of the rescue reached Olsen, Dimick and Rosas the next day. The officer, the educator and the young woman from Cathedral City said they were each left speechless by the news.
"I kind of cried," Rosas said. "I was happy to know that I saved someone's life. It happened at random and it's an amazing feeling knowing you are able to help someone from thousands of miles away."
Kelman also reports for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif.
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14111ea344394faf9da27a3ef416c6b1 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/16/nashville-show-state-incentives/2165233/ | 'Nashville's future in Music City is up in the air | 'Nashville's future in Music City is up in the air
NASHVILLE — As ABC's Nashville looks toward a new season and a new producer, a key question remains: Will the series be filmed in Music City next season?
The filming this year was estimated to have a $40 million impact on the local economy, and state and city officials say they are open to a deal to keep the production in Nashville this fall.
"While it's premature to begin discussing season 2 before the finale of season 1 has even aired," said John Valentine, vice president of TV strategy and business operations for Lionsgate, which produces the series. "I can certainly say that we had a wonderful experience in Tennessee over the course of the first season and all things being equal, we'd hope to continue producing this show in Nashville for many years to come."
One thing is certain about the upcoming Nashville season — the series will be without the man who managed the production's day-to-day operation.
Line producer Loucas George said on Twitter Saturday that his contract had not been renewed. The revelation came a day after word came down that ABC had picked up the drama for a second season.
George, who coordinated a 200-member crew in Nashville, declined to elaborate Wednesday on the circumstances surrounding his departure.
"I enjoyed my time in Nashville and have come to love its people, crew, officials and energy," he said in an email. "It will always be a part of me."
Valentine said in a statement that the company doesn't "comment publicly on crew changes." A replacement has not, yet, been named.
George's departure will not impact the series' creative direction, people close to the production said Wednesday.
Although he is not nearly as well-known as series stars Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere or show creator Callie Khouri, George's accessibility turned him into something of a spokesman for the show locally. He frequently promoted Nashville in local publications and on television.
While it's not uncommon for a network to change a television production's producer, George's departure suggests that ABC and Lionsgate were unhappy with some aspect of the show's performance, said Marc Berman, a television industry analyst and editor in chief of TV Media Insights.
Nashville has been a hit among critics. The series has a score of 84 on metacritic.com, a website that compiles and scores reviews from newspapers, magazines and websites across the country.
"It's not that Nashville is struggling," Berman said. "Creatively, it's right on the mark."
The season finale of Nashville will air May 22. The show will keep its Wednesday 10 p.m. ET/PT time slot when it returns in the fall.
ABC's decision to renew the show for a second season demonstrates that the network has faith in it, Berman said. But the series' ratings may be behind the decision to replace George, he said.
"It's a show they don't want to lose, but they would be happy if it had a bigger audience," Berman said. "It has a female following, but it's more of a cult show."
For the past month, ABC has been the second-most watched television network, edged out just slightly in the ratings by CBS. The network airs three of the top seven television shows for adults ages 18 to 49, including television's top dramas, Thursday night's Scandal and Grey's Anatomy. Ratings for the former have surged this year.
The network could be looking to find similar success on Wednesdays by giving the Nashville day-to-day management a reboot in its second season, Berman said.
The country music nighttime soap opera premiered in October to 9 million viewers and a 2.8 rating among adults ages 18 to 49, meaning 2.8% of that coveted group for advertisers watched the show. It is now averaging about 6 million total viewers and a 1.9 rating in the targeted demographic.
"It's a niche hit," Berman said. "My guess is they want to switch it up a bit and make it more universal."
Discussions ongoing
Even before the first season aired, the studio was lobbying the state to grandfather the production into a more generous incentive package than the one that cleared the legislature last year.
The first season's production was able to recoup 32% of its production costs in the form of a 17% grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to reimburse production costs and a 15% refundable tax credit from the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
Under current law, however, reimbursement would be limited to a grant that covers 25% of costs. Representatives for the production have asked the state to have it exempted from that cap.
"It is my belief that the best place to shoot Nashville is in Nashville," series executive producer Steve Buchanan said. "And it is important that the city and state help with that."
"The interest we have in it is that it is such a unique branding opportunity," Brewer said. "You're not only getting the 20-plus episodes per season, they run (advertising) spots for it and every time they do, Nashville's and Tennessee's presence is really made known on a national basis and really a global basis. … We think it's good for the state."
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b93337985c87836339bed91775f7915b | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/21/celebrate-recovery-12-step-program/2346409/ | Program helps heal 'hurts, hang-ups and habits' | Program helps heal 'hurts, hang-ups and habits'
DES MOINES — A 12-step program offered in 20,000 churches around the world adds religion to the mix to help heal people suffering from addiction and abuse.
The program addresses not just alcoholism and drug addiction, but codependency, depression, eating disorders, gambling, sexual addiction and sexual abuse. The topical groups vary by site, and some churches' volunteer leaders offer support for same-sex attraction.
The emphasis is on healing "hurts, hang-ups and habits," said John Baker, a pastor at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., who founded the program in 1990. Only 1 of 3 participants is dealing with chemical dependency.
"Everyone basically struggles with a hurt, hang-up or habit, so it can't hurt anyone to go through Celebrate Recovery," Baker said.
More than 1 million people have gone through the faith-based 12-step program modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous, and the program is growing across the country. Awareness has increased with the April release of a feature film, Home Run, that centers on an alcoholic's experience in Celebrate Recovery.
While no major research has been done on Celebrate Recovery's efficacy, John Kelly, a clinical psychologist at Harvard University, said the growth of the program is evidence that it is working for many attendees.
"People are really grasping on to this. They're attending. They're going back," Kelly said. "There is something going on there that people are deriving some kind of benefit from."
Many participants describe feelings of abandonment or hopelessness as the root of other problems in their lives, and the words of Christ as filling that hole.
Linda Martin of Des Moines, now 50, was abused by her parents, who were Christians and leaders in their church.
"I thoroughly believed that there was a God, and that he didn't care for me, and I was worthless because the abuse wouldn't stop," Martin said.
She ran away from home and survived a tumultuous young adulthood before getting help from a support group, moving forward and raising a family. She felt recovered but avoided religion. Then she accompanied a friend to a Celebrate Recovery support group.
Until she walked in the door, she said, "I thought I was healed." She quickly realized that without her faith, she wasn't.
Soon after, she became a volunteer leader of the abuse group. She started going to church regularly, too.
"It's comforting," she said. "There's a peace that I didn't have before."
Power of religion in fighting addiction
Tom Johnson, a clinical psychologist and co-director of the Center for the Study of Health, Religion and Spirituality at Indiana State University, said Catholic, Jewish and Islamic groups also have adapted 12-step programs to their faiths.
"Sometimes people turn to religion when everything else seems to have let them go," Johnson said.
Additionally, he said, spirituality and addiction often intersect.
"Religion in some ways provides a total life commitment, a term some people have used for addiction as well," Johnson said. "It could be our spiritual needs are such that religious activities are one of the things that's powerful enough to push addiction out of the picture."
That was the case for Krysta Sizemore, 32, a methamphetamine addict and resident at House of Mercy. She has attended Celebrate Recovery for a year.
"When I went there, it all clicked," she said. "The Lord is the only person powerful enough to take your addiction away."
David Kaptain, director of the Powell Chemical Dependency Center in Des Moines, said the program can be most beneficial for people who crave religion in their lives.
"It especially works for people who don't feel the same affinity for Alcoholics Anonymous as some feel, who want to have a program that focuses more on a personal relationship with God rather than a global understanding of a higher power that AA promotes," Kaptain said.
New networks for participants
But like Alcoholics Anonymous, Celebrate Recovery provides the pivotal benefit of changing an addict's social networks. For non-addicts struggling with abuse or depression, it provides a non-judgmental support network.
Of the 17,000 participants at Saddleback Church 70% were not church members before the program, and 85% of participants stayed with the church.
"Now I am more religious than I ever was," said Dave Pastwa, 50, of Clive, Iowa, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict who has been going to Celebrate Recovery for six months. "I go to church two, three times a week because that's where my friends are."
Melissa Dale, who's an Iowa representative for the program nationally, struggled for years with addiction before finding God while serving time. After taking part in a jail treatment program, she became active in the church.
"When I walked through those doors, I found that I was at a place that was going to accept me for who I was," Dale said.
"As far as I was concerned, I was no more than a dope-selling felon from the other side of town, and I come walking in here, and these people accepted me."
Dale grew up with an alcoholic mother and an absent father. She was instrumental in setting up Celebrate Recovery at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines because it addressed childhood experiences and mental health, not just addiction.
Dale hopes her turbulent past can be comforting to others who are in the place she had been years ago.
"This girl would crumble a church she would walk into for the history she had. I felt like I was the biggest sinner on the face of the Earth," she said. "People come here and they are afraid of being judged. I tell them I've got a record, and I'm on staff."
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c5ed977cb1b8f6c6b99a4267618bc171 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/23/london-machete-attack/2353557/ | First Take: London in shock after brutal machete attack | First Take: London in shock after brutal machete attack
LONDON — "You people will never be safe."
The United Kingdom woke up Thursday with the words of the man suspected of carrying out the first fatal terrorist attack on home soil since the July 7, 2005 bombings ringing in its ears.
Britain has a well-trodden reputation for stoicism in the face of adversity.
But the circumstances of Wednesday's brutal and macabre killing of a British soldier have moved the needle of atrocity far beyond what the stiff upper lips thought possible on an ordinary south-east London street.
Counter-terrorism officials here have foiled a couple of jihadist-inspired plots against British soldiers in recent years, including one in which the aim was to behead a British Muslim soldier.
However, the nation has never been so directly and brashly confronted with bloodied hands, a meat cleaver and a camera-ready message.
"We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you," the alleged attacked said, speaking in a British accent. "This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Britain is in shock, and not withstanding the we-won't-be-cowed rhetoric from Prime Minister David Cameron and others, it is cowed.
"If there's many more people like him around than we are all in trouble," said Gary Weatherill, referring to the suspect, whose image and words are on every front page today.
"It shouldn't happen on our streets. I'm petrified."
Weatherill, a design engineer who was have coffee at a rest-stop just outside London on his way to work, is from Woolwich and lives not far from where the victim was viciously struck down in broad daylight.
Britain is licking a deep psychological wound as details of this horrific attack continue to emerge.
It's a gloriously sunny day, which is adding to the cognitive dissonance.
A couple of miles away from where the "chopping and cutting" took place, the world's largest flower show is underway in Chelsea.
Directly next to The Sunday Express newspaper's "Terror fanatics behead soldier" headline, another image of not-so-ordinary British life is conjured:
"Pregnant Kate is just so chirpy in canary yellow."
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447e4a390546957d6304154634c5863a | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/28/television-china-beach/2367887/ | 25 years later, 'China Beach' earns your respect | 25 years later, 'China Beach' earns your respect
Whatever happened to China Beach?
The show, created by William Broyles Jr. and John Sacret Young, ran on ABC from 1988 to 1991. It told the story of the 510th Evacuation Hospital and the people who staffed it during the Vietnam War.
Critics lauded the show for its intense realism and creative storytelling. It racked up Emmy nominations and won a few, including two for Dana Delany for best actress in a drama and one for Marg Helgenberger for best supporting actress. Although it was never a ratings hit, the network kept it afloat for four seasons.
And then?
Most shows of note have been available on DVD for a long time. If you have a hankering for Seinfeld or All in the Family, buy the boxed set or stream it. And if you missed China Beach, well …
Until April, you couldn't find it. Music rights, as is often the case with a DVD delay, were the issue, and in this case, the music is crucial to the show. Motown and late '60s, early '70s rock helped paint the portrait of the experience of the men and women at war; when you need Aretha Franklin's version of Respect to punctuate a scene, nothing else will do.
But finally the rights were cleared and the series became available, in a massive, pricey boxed set. (The list price starts at just under $200.)
Full disclosure: I didn't own a television for most of the show's run. I never saw an episode. Too much like a M*A*S*H knockoff, I figured. But I'm a sucker for military shows and movies, and was urged to give it a try.
And boy, was I wrong.
China Beach isn't just a good show, it's a unique one, one that deserves a loftier place in the dramatic television pantheon. The writing and acting are outstanding (Delany in particular shines), and the producers came up with storytelling devices that would be used in such later series as The West Wing but were genuinely innovative at the time.
Plus, it often told its stories from the perspective of the women involved. The show was always respectful to the real people who had served; in Souvenirs, from the third season, interviews with real-life veterans work into the story.
Delany anchored the show, but like ER later (John Wells served as an executive producer for both), every character had his or her turn in the spotlight eventually.
Here's a quick rundown:
-- Delaney played Colleen McMurphy, a nurse. Her character is loosely based on Lynda Van Devanter, whose book Home Before Morning served as the inspiration for the show.
-- Helgenberger played K.C. Koloski, a sometime prostitute who's in Vietnam to strike it rich. Michael Boatman is Samuel Beckett, who runs the Graves Registration Unit at the base. Robert Picardo (with hair!) is Dick Richard, a womanizing surgeon. Concetta Tomei is Lila Garreau, who oversees entertainment that's crucial to rest and recreation. Jeff Kobler is Dodger Winslow, a scary, silent Marine. And Brian Wimmer is Boonie Lanier, an amiable Marine who serves as a lifeguard on the beach.
Other characters came and went, but most stories involved this core. Some are better fleshed out than others, but each is believably portrayed.
I am not going to claim to be an expert on the show. I'm new to it, and, frankly, it's 25 years old. A lot of what was new then doesn't seem so new now. And I think the show missed its moment by having to wait so long for the music rights. Wars have come and gone (and come back again) since China Beach aired, but with its gritty-but-compassionate look at soldiers and support staff, it would have been a welcome presence.
It's here now, and, at least for my money, here's an example that offers a glimpse into what makes the show worth watching and worth waiting for.
The first is the pilot. We're meeting the characters, getting to know them, but they're sketched clearly from the start. McMurphy is strong on the outside and crumbling within, wounded by what she has seen in war. Her drinking suggests her scars. She's the first character we see in the series and, when it ends, the last.
She says, twice, that she's "just one of the guys." And while her good looks may suggest otherwise, it's really true; she's levelheaded and reasonable, someone the staff clearly depends on.
Laurette Barber shows up. She is a USO singer there for one reason: to meet men. Laurette is played by Chloe Webb (an enigmatic actress who, among other roles, played Nancy Spungen in Sid and Nancy). Laurette's ambition could be off-putting, but Webb makes her charming in an offbeat way.
McMurphy is wary of Laurette, but warms to her. A series of events leads to the straight-laced McMurphy singing at a USO event, when an attack on the base interrupts. Laurette winds up in the hospital, comforting a dying soldier. It's played up as a big scene for Webb, and she's good.
But the best part of the scene is Delaney. Bathed in red light, McMurphy is frozen by duty but engrossed. She is watching Laurette lose a part of herself, a part of her innocence, maybe a part of her soul. It's as if she is watching someone being indoctrinated into a club no one wants to be a member of, and she's helpless to stop it. She's been there, and she knows that Laurette will never be the same.
It's a quick shot, but it's the best thing in the pilot, and the pilot is very good. What makes it even more notable is the commentary on the DVD, when the show's creators tell us that it wasn't just acting on Delaney's part. She was watching Webb's character, as the scene required, but she was also watching Van Devanter, who was playing the part of a nurse in the scene, and was moved at the thought of what she had been through.
Up to that point I wasn't completely sold. Sure, China Beach was good, but what was it teaching me that M*A*S*H hadn't already?
By the fourth season, the producers had begun to play with the timeline of the show. An episode might begin and end in the 1980s, framing the period action in Vietnam as memories, but also showing how the consequences play out in the characters' present-day lives. It's an intriguing conceit, and it does what I hadn't seen a show do before, other than in an occasional stand-alone episode: deal with the trauma of war in the moment and in the future.
That is ultimately what makes China Beach such a worthwhile drama. In most shows we see the action in front of the characters as it plays out. In this show we go back and forth, discovering motivations, learning of later damage.
This isn't always an essential element in a good show. Learning what Tony Soprano's life is like 25 years down the road (if he is still alive) doesn't necessarily strengthen our understanding of the character and, indeed, depending on the circumstances, could spoil it.
But a show like China Beach is different. This is about war. The Vietnam War. In dramatic depictions we too often get one or the other. One movie or show might capture the trauma of the experience itself. Another might portray the cost of going to battle, to kill, to see your friends killed.
But China Beach, by the end of its run, follows that journey repeatedly. And it's successful in doing so.
How successful?
The series ends with a reunion of the characters in 1988. Eventually they travel to Washington, D.C., to the Vietnam Memorial. This could have played like a stunt, a superficial play for an emotional response.
It's not. It generates a real emotional response. Because by that time, the show and its characters had earned it.
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Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic is the chief film critic for Gannett. Read his blog at goodyblog.azcentral.com. For movie stories, trailers and more go to movies.azcentral.com. Twitter: goodyk.
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c31f0fe5bb97c1878c6ac97d7120f5f3 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/10/missing-girl-iowa/2410427/ | Officials to compare abduction to unsolved Iowa cases | Officials to compare abduction to unsolved Iowa cases
DES MOINES -- State investigators in coming months will conduct a painstaking examination of potential similarities between the kidnapping and murder of a Dayton teenager and missing person cases in Iowa, a state official said Monday.
Potential connections are already being analyzed between Kathlynn Shepard's murder and the slayings of two eastern Iowa cousins.
"Thankfully, we know for every county, every city, what unsolved missing persons cases they have," said Gerard Meyers, assistant director of field operations of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. "We'll want to look and see if there are any attributes from those cases that are at all consistent with this case."
Shepard, 15, and another girl were kidnapped from Dayton on May 20 while walking home after school. Authorities say Michael James Klunder, 42, took the girls to a hog confinement lot where he worked, and zip-tied their hands. The other girl managed to escape when Klunder took Shepard to another part of the property, police say.
Shepard's body was found Friday night by fishermen in the Des Moines River, about 15 to 20 miles downriver from where it runs along Dayton's east side.
The Dayton girls' abduction came about 10 months after two cousins, Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, were kidnapped from Evansdale, Iowa, on July 13 while riding their bikes. Their bodies were found in December in a Bremer County wildlife area about 20 miles north of where they disappeared.
Meyers said authorities will take a two-pronged approach to any comparisons: laboratory analysis of forensic evidence, and investigative work that could pinpoint, among other things, where Klunder may have been when other people went missing. Klunder served about two decades in prison, from 1992 to 2011, for previous kidnapping and assault charges.
Meyers pointed to the zip ties that Klunder used as one possible point of comparison. Offenders sometimes use the same methods repeatedly, he said.
The analysis could, if warranted, go back years, Meyers said, such as to Klunder's boyhood.
Meanwhile, in Dayton and elsewhere residents are creating makeshift memorials — many in purple, Shepard's favorite color — as they look for ways to show support for her family and cope with their own grief.
Dawn Burns and Gina Swanson planted Purple Wave petunias at the foot of two welcome signs on the roads leading into the northwest side of Dayton.
"Every little thing adds up, and it starts to mean a lot," said Burns, a Dayton resident and employee at Southeast Webster-Grand High School, where Shepard was a freshman. "We're never going to forget this. Now the rest of the community can drive by, see the purple flowers and remember Kathlynn."
Across the road, approximately 1,500 purple lights were strung on a large evergreen in preparation for a tree-lighting ceremony Monday night.
Calvin and Debra Bickford created their own small tribute to the girls in the form of two Bible verses surrounded in purple ribbons and pinned to a garden trellis in their front yard. "Pray for Kathlynn," it said at the top.
The couple lives just up the street from where authorities say Shepard was abducted. Their grandchildren, who range in age from 5 to 11, used to walk to their home after school.
"Now we say, 'We'll come get you,'" Calvin Bickford said. "It changes everything. ... It makes you think: Where are you safe?"
In Boone, Troy Hendrickson is spearheading an effort to turn a popular historic bridge into a permanent memorial to Shepard.
Boone County residents had already been pushing to get the "wagon wheel bridge" along the Des Moines River repaired and turned into a pedestrian bridge.
The structure, which was damaged in past floods, sits about 50 yards upstream from the Kate Shelley High Bridge, Hendrickson said. Shepard's body was found near that bridge.
"Maybe it's selfish, but I consider it my personal hiking ground, and quite frankly, I don't like the evil he brought into it," Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson said he has gotten positive feedback and is creating a committee to help make the Kathlynn Shepard Overlook a reality.
"The one thing I take from this is, there's hope for the human race if we remember how everybody pulled together here," Hendrickson said. "It always takes a tragedy to show us what we're capable of."
A public memorial service for Shepard has been set for 1 p.m. Thursday at the Southeast Webster-Grand Middle School gymnasium in Boxholm, Iowa.
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d5201b736d8eafaa23f633abcff834f2 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/25/zimmerman-trial-trayvon-neighborhood-watch/2455163/ | Trial turns to Zimmerman's neighborhood-watch role | Trial turns to Zimmerman's neighborhood-watch role
SANFORD, Fla. — The trial of George Zimmerman focused Tuesday on whether the former neighborhood watch volunteer targeted others for alleged suspicious activities.
Zimmerman, 29, faces life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. The former criminal justice student has pleaded not guilty saying he shot Trayvon Martin, 17, in self-defense after being attacked by the young man on a dark rainy night in Sanford, Fla.
The case gained national attention last year when Trayvon's parents and their attorneys said the black teen was racially profiled and murdered because of the dark hoodie he wore the night he was killed. The family launched a public campaign to get Zimmerman arrested and claimed the Sanford Police Department was letting a man get away with killing an unarmed teenager.
Zimmerman was eventually charged by state prosecutors, who said Zimmerman confronted, profiled, and murdered Trayvon. Zimmerman, whose mother is Peruvian and whose father is white, denies race had anything to do with the shooting.
Zimmerman was in charge of recruiting block captains for a neighborhood watch program and, after having been asked, was also part of a group to enforce parking rules in his community.
The president of the homeowners association for the community where the shooting took place testified that he didn't think a neighborhood watch program was needed and that Zimmerman was in charge of the community's program from the very beginning.
Donald O'Brien stressed that the homeowners association had nothing to do with the neighborhood watch program but that he did attend a meeting to start it. Residents were told to "stay away" from suspicious people and call police, O'Brien said.
He said he once text messaged Zimmerman with praises for a group of workers who followed a burglar. Their actions led to the arrest of a young black man, who was charged with burglaries in the neighborhood, O'Brien said.
O'Brien added that police indicated it was acceptable to follow suspicious persons at a safe distance. He also said he signed an agreement with police to increase patrol of the area and to tow illegally parked cars.
The Twin Lakes Homeowners Association settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Trayvon Martin's family. Court documents show the family rejected a $1 million offer from the association before settling for an undisclosed amount.
An FBI report shows Zimmerman had a pattern of calling authorities about criminal activities and safety issues in his neighborhood. In one of the calls to Sanford police, Zimmerman complained about children playing and running in the street. Four calls were about black men he said he witnessed in the neighborhood after break-ins, according to the report, release by the state attorney's office.
Assistant State Attorney Richard Mantei argued Tuesday he wants the jury to hear the calls to show that Zimmerman had a growing frustration and that in the past he had not approached people. Something changed on Feb. 26, 2012, Mantei said, and the jury should hear that Zimmerman took action in a way he never had before.
Zimmerman attorney Mark O'Mara said the state is trying to improperly introduce character evidence against Zimmerman. "They have nothing and they want to make a stealth argument," O'Mara said, explaining Zimmerman wasn't doing anything wrong in the calls.
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson said she would make a ruling after reviewing prior cases.
Prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman acted "imminently dangerous" and demonstrated a "depraved mind without regard for human life" — Florida's definition of second-degree murder. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense.
In testimony Tuesday, Wendy Dorival, who worked as the volunteer program coordinator for the Sanford Police Department, said she made a presentation to facilitate a neighborhood watch program in 2011 for residents of Retreat at Twin Lakes, where Zimmeran lived and Trayvon was visiting a friend of his father's on the night he was killed.
Assistant State Attorney John Guy showed the jury a slide show that Dorival used at neighborhood meetings. The presentation warned citizens against being vigiliantes and urged them to work with police — be the eyes and ears of the community and report suspicious activity. "They're not supposed to take matters into their own hands," Dorival said.
Dorival said she doesn't discuss whether residents should carry firearms while participating in neighborhood watch program.
She added that she believe Zimmerman was a professional person who wanted to make a change in his community, which had been targeted by burglars. Dorival said she tried to recruit Zimmerman to a citizens patrol program, but that he didn't want to participate.
Zimmerman lawyer Don West asked Dorival whether a person walking in rain between houses without a particular purpose — a description of Trayvon the night of the shooting — was suspicious. Dorival said yes and added that she encourages neighbors to know who doesn't belong and to call police.
Graphic photos of Trayvon Martin's dead body including a close up his face, eyes still opened, were shown to the jury several times Tuesday. Prosecutor John Guy was the first to display the images as he called Sgt. Anthony Raimondo, who said he arrived on the scene of the shooting within five minutes.
Raimondo described in great detail how he tried to save Trayvon's life. When he first walked over to the scene he told Guy he saw Trayvon faced down on the ground with his arms underneath him.
Raimondo tried but found no pulse for Trayvon. He then turned Trayvon over and without a protection mask tried to give him mouth to mouth CPR. He said didn't wait for a mask because the situation was dire and he knew the teen needed immediate help.
Through CPR, Raimondo said he heard bubbling coming from the teen's chest. The sounds made him try to seal the young man's chest, which had a the bullet wound, with plastic. Looking for an exit wound, Raimondo sat Trayvon up and searched his limp body.
Later, he laid the teen down and continued CPR until rescue workers arrived.
After, Diana Smith, a crime scene technician with the Sanford Police, testified that she took the photos of Trayvon's body, the crime scene and later Zimmerman's injuries at a police station.
Several of Smith's photos of Trayvon's dead body were shown: a photo of the teen laying on his chest, a photo of the teen laying on his back, a closeup of the teen's face, and a close up of a blood filled bullet hole in Trayvon's chest.
Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, walked out of the courtroom as photos of his son's body were shown. Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon's mother, remained during the pictures but looked down and away.
Later, Smith testified that she checked several items for DNA and prints including Zimmerman's gun, the bag of skittles Trayvon was holding, the teen's iced tea and Zimmerman's flashlight.
Smith also held up the actual gun Zimmerman used for juror after Guy asked. In response, several jurors stared intently at the weapon taking notes.
She also went over several pieces of evidence and showed jurors, on a state's mark up of the crime scene, where items were found and where she took photos.
During Tuesday's testimony, several of the jurors looked visibly upset as photos of Trayvon's body were shown. Some also leaned in and looked intently as photos of evidence and actual items were held up for them to see.
In his opening statement Monday, Guy moved quickly to try to jolt the jurors by using the "f-word" followed by "punks" in quoting from Zimmerman's conversation by cellphone with a police dispatcher as he followed the unarmed Trayvon.
Guy told the jury they would hear from a young woman who was on the phone with Trayvon the night of the shooting, as well as police officers who arrived shortly after and emergency personnel who tried to save Trayvon's life. He also said a medical examiner and residents who live near the shooting site will testify.
West countered that Zimmerman shot Trayvon in self-defense after he was viciously attacked by the Miami-area teen.
He told jurors that Trayvon had thrown a "sucker punch" at Zimmerman after possibly hiding before the struggle. "Trayvon Martin decided to confront George Zimmerman," West said. "The evidence will show this is a sad case. There are no monsters."
West showed enlarged pictures of Zimmerman's injuries to the jury as well as Trayvon from the 7-Eleven surveillance camera, where he is seen wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt.
On Monday, prosecutors called four witnesses including the police dispatcher who took Zimmerman's call the moment he spotted Trayvon.
Sean Noffke, a 911 operator who also answers non-emergency calls, testified that it is police policy not to give orders to callers. He said he told Zimmerman he did not need him to follow the teen.
"It's best to avoid any type of confrontation," said Noffke, who described the call as routine.
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439473237d552da3566dd3c5c76a2237 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/28/bloomberg-police-minorities-stops/2474261/ | Bloomberg: Police stop minorities 'too little' | Bloomberg: Police stop minorities 'too little'
NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that police "disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little" as compared to murder suspects' descriptions, sparking criticism from activists and some politicians in a city that has been immersed in a debate about law enforcement and discrimination.
Speaking on his weekly WOR-AM radio appearance, Bloomberg echoed an argument he has made before: that the stops' demographics should be assessed against suspect descriptions, not the population as a whole. But coming a day after city lawmakers voted to create a police inspector general and new legal avenues for racial profiling claims, the mayor's remarks drew immediate pushback.
The measures' advocates accused the mayor of using "irresponsible rhetoric," some mayoral hopefuls chastised him and some City Council members said his remarks only emphasized the need for change.
"Our mayor's comments prove he just doesn't get it," said Councilman Robert Jackson, who co-chairs the council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.
Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the critics were "fabricating outrage over an absolutely accurate comment."
"What they should be outraged by is the number of minorities who are being killed and that successful police efforts to save minority lives are being hampered," he added.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly noted separately Friday that more than 90% of people killed or shot in the city are black or Hispanic.
The police tactic known as stop and frisk has become a high-profile political issue in the city, where stops have soared during Bloomberg's three terms. He and Kelly say the stops are an invaluable policing aid and have helped cut crime rates dramatically, while critics say the street stops humiliate many innocent people and are unfairly focused on minorities.
Those complaints have prompted a federal lawsuit over the stop and frisk practice and were part of the impetus for the City Council's vote Thursday. Bloomberg reiterated Friday that he'll veto the legislation, which he says will impede policing. They passed with enough votes to override a veto, but the mayor has noted that he plans to keep pressing his case with lawmakers.
About 5 million stops have been made during the past decade. Eighty-seven% of those stopped in the last two years were black or Hispanic. Those groups comprise 54% of the city population.
Bloomberg says that comparison isn't appropriate.
The racial breakdown of those stopped is "not a disproportionate percentage of those who witnesses and victims describe as committing the murder. In that case, incidentally, I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little," he said Friday on "The John Gambling Show."
More than 90% of suspects in killings in the last two years were described as black or Hispanic, according to city officials.
"The cops' job is to stop (people in) the groups fitting the description. It's society's job to make sure that no one group is disproportionately represented as potential perpetrators," Bloomberg said earlier in the show.
The group Communities United for Police Reform called Bloomberg's view misinformation, noting that most stops aren't spurred by suspect descriptions. Police department records of the stops also list such reasons as "furtive movements" or suspicious bulges in clothing.
"Mayor Bloomberg should cease with the irresponsible rhetoric and seek to work with the council on a constructive path forward," said Communities United for Police Reform spokeswoman Joo-Hyun Kang.
Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio sent supporters an email rapping Bloomberg's remarks, while fellow contender and City Comptroller John Liu issued a statement calling them "insensitive, outrageous, and just plain weird." Rival and former City Comptroller Bill Thompson, who is black, termed Bloomberg's comments insulting and called on him to apologize.
"What he seems to indicate to the hundreds of thousands of people who have been unnecessarily stopped and frisked is, 'We're sorry we didn't stop more people,'" Thompson said.
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3152cb6f6d0b66e9c009f38b8e2b9330 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/06/29/gretchen-wilson/2473889/ | 'Redneck Woman' Gretchen Wilson shifts gears | 'Redneck Woman' Gretchen Wilson shifts gears
NASHVILLE -- In country music, as in most things, what goes up must come down.
Unless you're George Strait.
And Gretchen Wilson isn't George Strait.
So, after three No. 1 albums — including her 2004 five-times-platinum debut Here for the Party — Gretchen Wilson came down. Hard.
The tumble started just a year and a half after her five-week No. 1 Redneck Woman. The gold-selling All Jacked Up, the lead single from her second album, topped out at No. 8 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 2005. To date, it is Wilson's last Top 10 hit.
"I've seen her struggle with it and on some days, really struggle with it," says longtime booking agent Greg Oswald. "Most artists are in denial on some level about (their dwindling popularity), and that's OK. It's a hard thing to keep perspective on. Sometimes you say … 'I can't do it anymore. You're orbiting when you need to get to Earth, buddy.' But she got to Earth plenty fast."
And when she did, Wilson took control — of almost every aspect of her career.
"She just paid attention, and it turns out, she's pretty smart," Oswald says. "That's an understatement. She's very smart. She watched who was making what and who did what … and (she was) looking around and going, 'I'm changing this.' "
Today, the self-managed and self-dubbed Redneck Woman not only makes the music, but also engineers her albums, produces them, records them with her touring band in her home studio and releases them on her own Redneck Records label, where she also serves as her own A&R team and art department. And she decides when the music is coming out.
This year, Wilson plans to release three albums on Redneck Records. Right On Time, a diverse country-leaning album, came out this spring. "Under the Covers," a collection of '70s rock covers, came out at the end of May, and Wilson has a Christmas project due in stores later this year.
"I'll be putting out more music this year than I did in the first three years of my career," Wilson said, seated at her kitchen table in her new-to-her Wilson County home. The sprawling house sits amid rolling hills surrounded by a wooded area. There are hundreds of deer tracks in her front yard, and Wilson says with a laugh that the animals are so brave they chase her back into the house.
Wilson sold her expansive Wilson County farm, which served as home to many of her family members, at the end of 2011, following the death of her beloved Uncle Vern Heuer. Her family scattered, moving to different parts of the county.
When Wilson found her new home, it didn't have room for her recording studio. One had to be built. During that time, her equipment remained in storage.
"It took a long time to get everything set up and hooked back up and get all of the rattles out," she says. "But, boy, when we did get it up and going, we had a lot to do. I guess we had it all bottled up inside of us."
Hard lessons
That music would never have made it to the marketplace in the same time span — at least not three albums' worth — if Wilson was still signed to a major record label. On the heels of Wilson's initial success, her next two albums were released about 18 months apart, a move then-label chairman Joe Galante admitted was too much in that time frame.
Wilson and her team intensified the search for songs for her fourth album on the label, but when it wasn't released a full year after its initial release date, Wilson parted ways with Sony Music Nashville.
"I had to be a man in those meetings in order to win my freedom back, otherwise Gretchen Wilson would not be making music right now. Gretchen Wilson would be sitting on a shelf because that's the way those contracts work," she says.
Wilson goes as far as to say that she wishes she had never signed a recording contract with a major record label and that she turned down a few before she finally — driven by fear of her age — inked the deal with then-Sony Music Nashville president John Grady. She was approaching 30.
"You hit 30 and you hear the rumors, '30 is too old,' " she says. " 'You're not going to make it.' And that's a horrible thing to think, and it doesn't happen that way for men."
Instead, the singer wishes she had used her own money to build an underground following and attempted to grow her career from there. She knows that probably would not have led to a debut album that sold 5 million copies, which made it easier to start her own record label.
But she also refuses to look back with regret.
"I'm glad I went through all the things I went through, and I learned a lot from that experience," she says.
As for the fame that dissipated with the album sales, she says she doesn't miss that these days, either.
"People are still calling," she says. "I don't worry about that. I don't measure my success based on how many people want to talk to me. I really don't. I measure my success on whether or not I'm sleeping well at night."
She's having no problem in that area. She's working daily to get her songs back on country radio, and when she talks about turning Redneck Records into a success, making money isn't her only goal.
"I'm in it to be able to make more records," she says. "As long as I can sell enough records to make more records, I have won."
Proving ground
And as a woman, she's after respect in the male-dominated music industry. She started the label with her own money, something she proudly explains that most of the other artists who claim ownership of a record label didn't do. Instead, many of her peers opt to team up with a major label for added funding and support. In her opinion, that's the same thing as being under a contract and having someone else call the shots.
"I may as well have stayed at Sony," she says. "Everyone is like, 'Why would you want to go out and take out a loan and finance something that you can't guarantee?' And I'm like, 'This is what I am and this is what I do. If I'm going to fail at it, I'm going to be the one to blame.' This time around, it's all on my shoulders, and I'm OK with that, because the only one I have to argue with is myself."
Wilson wants to use the label to prove herself all over again and as more than a Grammy award-winning singer. She wants to gain respect in Nashville as a producer and label head, so if and when Redneck Records starts working with other artists, she'll be able to help launch their careers.
"I'm not just fighting for me and Redneck Records," she says. "I'm fighting for women in these roles. A woman can be a president of a record company. A woman can produce a record. A woman can engineer a record. A woman can put the damn thing together, and a woman can sell it. This year is about proving that, even if we don't break charts. As a female, the day that I find a very talented new artist that I want to walk into Warner Bros. or Sony or Curb … (I want to) be taken seriously."
Wilson has at least one dedicated, flag-waving supporter in her former label head Grady, who now runs the Nashville office of Crush Management.
"She is a world-class singer, with the heart of a lion, and her head is as hard as a cast-iron pan," he says. "She is like arguing with a parking brake. She is Cash or Haggard. She will always be an important part of country music."
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3fa0d3dcfc84444d724d912022a2ef76 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/10/14/obama-reid-mcconnell-boehner-pelosi/2980695/ | Senators say debt, shutdown deal is near | Senators say debt, shutdown deal is near
WASHINGTON — Senate leaders said Monday they are close to an agreement to reopen government and avoid an unprecedented U.S. debt default before the Thursday deadline.
"We hope with good fortune and the support of all you (senators) —recognizing how hard this is for everybody — that perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday evening on the Senate floor.
A flurry of negotiations occurred throughout the day as Reid and his Republican counterpart, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, engaged with each other, their own members, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and White House staff on the terms of a deal to end the budget impasse, which has kept the government partially shutdown since Oct. 1.
McConnell said Monday morning, "I share his optimism that we will get a result that is acceptable to both sides."
The draft proposal still under negotiation would approve a stopgap funding bill to reopen government through Jan. 15; suspend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7; and create the framework for formal budget negotiations to conclude by Dec. 15 with long-term recommendations for funding levels and deficit reduction.
The proposal does not include any significant reforms to the Affordable Care Act, which is what House Republicans were originally seeking in the budget stand-off. House Republicans initially refused to approve a stopgap spending bill unless it delayed or defunded President Obama's signature health care law.
Democrats have said they are willing to discuss ways to reform the law — including the repeal of a 2.3% tax on medical devices enacted to help pay for Obamacare — in the budget negotiations but not in the short-term spending/debt deal.
It is unclear whether Boehner can support the proposal, or if he will allow a vote on it if a majority of House Republicans oppose it. However, House Republicans ceded negotiations to Senate leaders after Obama rejected Boehner's most recent terms for a short-term debt ceiling increase.
Boehner met with McConnell on Monday and House Republican leaders met privately afterward, but they have not weighed in publicly on the talks. House Republican leaders are scheduled to meet Tuesday morning with their members.
There appears to be more support among Republicans in the Senate to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. Senators in both parties have raised concerns of possible economic upheaval if the U.S. breaches the deadline Thursday to raise the nation's $16.7 trillion debt limit so the nation can continue to borrow money to pay for spending Congress has already approved.
"I've talked to several billionaires who used to be Republican supporters that have said they believe the markets will act in a very negative fashion unless we act," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., "I'm urging all of our Republicans to recognize reality as to where we are in this situation."
Congressional leaders had planned a mid-afternoon meeting with Obama at the White House on Monday, but it was postponed so that the Senate could continue negotiations. Instead, White House deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors came to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers.
"I think we are (close). I really do. I'm very encouraged and we'll see. We're just waiting for this evening and we'll see what comes about and see if there's a process to get this thing done," said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has been part of a bipartisan group of senators trying to find compromise.
Obama on Monday visited Martha's Table, which serves low-income families in Washington, where he spoke with furloughed federal workers affected by the shutdown who have volunteered at the food bank.
Obama denounced what he called Republican "brinkmanship."
"There are going to be differences between the parties," Obama said. "There are going to be differences in terms of budget priorities, but we don't need to inflict pain on the American people, or risk the possibility of America's full faith and credit being damaged just because one side is not getting its way."
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b2c100fcbfc4ab550cfbd400a2e3077c | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/10/31/halloween-13-costumes-party/3323323/ | These 13 things will make your day magical on Halloween | These 13 things will make your day magical on Halloween
In honor of the holiday, here are 13 things you should check out for Halloween:
1) Kelly Ripa twerked. Ellen DeGeneres was half naked. And don't even get us started on Matt Lauer in a bathing suit for his version of Pamela Anderson on Baywatch. Awkward. See photos of some more talk show celebs dressed up for Halloween this year and watch a video of stars sporting inappropriate costumes.
2) Consumers are less inclined to buy big on Halloween this year, with the average adult forecast to spend about $75.03 on costumes, candy, cards and decorations, down from $79.82 per adult last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.
3) Twix? Kit Kat? Someone else can debate who the best team in the NFL or NBA is. Instead here's a list from our sports friends of the undisputed 10 best traditional Halloween candy choices.
4) What are the seven scariest romance novels? We'll give you a hint: One of the novel's main characters just wants to suck blood, blood, blood.
5) That moment when you go to a Halloween party, have a few drinks and break out into a random dance party as Thriller comes over the speakers. Enjoy eight other hits that SCREAM Happy Halloween.
6) On the 40th anniversary of the horror classic The Exorcist, the world's expert on the events that inspired the film visited Saint Louis University to talk about the gripping tale.
7) For another year, Zillow put together a Trick-or-Treat Index that lists the top 20 cities where kids can get the most bang — well, candy that is — for their walk on Halloween. See if your city made the cut.
8) "The best costume in Houston for Halloween probably involves a garbage bag to keep dry." Torrential rain, heavy thunderstorms and howling winds are forecast on Halloween all the way from Texas to the Midwest and interior sections of the Northeast, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Andy Mussoline.
9) Calling all aspiring history buffs! Find out where Halloween came from and why we celebrate by getting dressed up and handing out candy.
10) For those that decide to butter some popcorn and stay inside, here's USA TODAY's Robert Bianco's recommendations for television tonight.
11) Scare up some style with 13 chic Halloween-inspired finds.
12) Did you know that 4% of all candy consumed in this country occurs on one day? Almost every child in the USA will have candy on Halloween, and about half of the adults will eat some.
13) And what's Miley Cyrus doing? She's decided to stick a pasty on her bosom and call herself Lil Kim.
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cbba1cf7e7cfc0a2296eb62d03dae69a | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/12/20/london-apollo-theatre/4139959/ | Britain probes ceiling collapse at popular theater | Britain probes ceiling collapse at popular theater
LONDON — British officials were trying to establish Friday what led to the collapse of the ceiling at the packed Apollo Theatre in the heart of London's West End, injuring at least 76 people.
Investigators are still assessing the damage and trying to find out what happened.
An initial report is expected Friday. There are some reports, not confirmed, suggesting that water, possibly as a result of a passing thunderstorm, was seen dripping through cracks in the ceiling before it fell down.
More theaters are now being examined to make sure they are safe.
"Our theaters entertain over 32,000 people in central London every night and all theaters take the safety of their audience, performers and staff very seriously," the Society of London Theatre, an organization that represents London theater producers, owners and managers, said in a statement Friday.
The society said that every theater "undergoes rigorous safety checks and inspections by independent experts, and incidents like last night are extremely rare."
An initial structural assessment concluded that the building that houses the Apollo Theatre is secure.
Nimax Theatres, which owns the Apollo as well as a number of other theater venues across London, has described the incident as "shocking and upsetting."
There were no life-threatening injuries although seven people were said to have suffered serious injuries.
Eyewitnesses described chaos and panic as large hunks of plaster and dust rained down on the audience 45 minutes into a performance of "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time."
On Friday, the BBC tweeted a picture of what may be the first image from inside the theater after parts of the ceiling fell down on members of the audience.
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9f4721e417025becbe59382bb80e9245 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/12/31/viral-videos-2013/4263203/ | Watch: Our favorite viral videos of 2013 | Watch: Our favorite viral videos of 2013
It was a year of hilarity and creativity from all corners of the internet. From companies stretching their advertising muscle, to out-of-this-world oddities, viral videos made a big impact in 2013.
Watch our video as we honor the best, and keep your eyes online to see who makes a viral impact in the new year.
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61f765d79d90e58eb8a08367b542e1ce | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/01/17/freedom-industries-files-for-bankruptcy-following-last-weeks-chemical-spill/4587805/ | Freedom Industries files for bankruptcy after spill | Freedom Industries files for bankruptcy after spill
Freedom Industries, the chemical company behind the toxic leak that tainted West Virginia's Elk River and forced 300,000 state residents and businesses to go without water for several days, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will allow the company — facing at least two dozen class-action lawsuits and several state and federal probes — to reorganize and continue operating under federal law.
Freedom, which was ordered shut down last week by state officials, declined comment Friday. A 35,000-gallon storage tank operated by the company leaked thousands of gallons of the coal processing chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM), into the Elk River on Jan. 9, affecting residences, businesses and schools in nine counties. MCHM can cause skin irritation, vomiting and diarrhea.
Freedom owes $3.66 million to its top unsecured creditors, according to bankruptcy documents, The Charleston Gazette reported.
The company has been in hunker-down mode since last Friday, when company co-founder Gary Southern gave a brief press conference, dodging questions about the company's monitoring and preventive measures in the 7,500-gallon spill.
The company, initially launched in the mid-1980s, formed under a new entity in December when it merged with Etowah River Terminal, which operated the site, a former oil and gas terminal owned by Pennzoil-Quaker State. Other Freedom partners include chemical processor Poca Blending and Crete Technologies, a Delaware limited partnership, according to reports by TheCharleston Gazette and TheWall Street Journal. The companies share many of the same executives, while Southern has ties to five Florida-based mining and chemical companies, the Journal reported.
An inch-wide hole in the storage tank caused the leak.
The bankruptcy filing states that while "facts surrounding the incident are subject to pending investigation by Freedom and various regulatory and other government authorities," the company says that a local water line break next to the storage tanks may have caused the ground underneath to freeze, causing a pierce in the bottom of the tank that leaked.
Freedom said it owes $3.66 million to its top 20 unsecured creditors, according to bankruptcy documents.
Separately, the Internal Revenue Service says it's owed over $2.4 million in taxes dating back to 2001.
While the ban on using public water supplies has been lifted for most of the counties affected by the spill, some residents have been advised not to drink the water, and others have been told to boil water as a precaution. Bottled water is still being distributed in several areas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that pregnant women consume bottled water.
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e29ab71dd31c44366bf418a8a2672f90 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/02/10/squirrel-water-ski/5363481/ | This squirrel can water ski | This squirrel can water ski
We thought it was urban legend, but no, there really is a squirrel that can water ski. While Twiggy (that's his name) doesn't do any tricks in the water, we guess we should go easy on him since, well, he's a squirrel that can water ski.
Watch the video to check out his aquatic skills at the Lake Life Expo in Springfield, Mo.
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5106bde6628555c843dcf71387d2e7af | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/03/22/newser-snail-pain-killers/6736001/ | Newly created drug has 100 times morphine's power | Newly created drug has 100 times morphine's power
Move over, morphine. Someday, we may be turning to carnivorous snails for our pain-killing needs, a study suggests. Australian researchers have found that a drug made using venom from ocean-dwelling cone snails may be 100 times as powerful as top painkillers morphine and gabapentin, which are currently used to ease chronic nerve pain born from injury, cancer, diabetes, and other diseases, AFP reports. What's more, the drug, based on peptides called conotoxins that reside in the snails' venom, is thought not to have the addictive properties of other painkillers, the Sydney Morning Herald notes.
So far, though, the drug has been tested only on rats. "We don't know about side effects yet, as it hasn't been tested in humans. But we think it would be safe," says lead researcher David Craik. A test on people is at least two years off, he notes; still, the finding could lead to a "whole new class of drugs capable of relieving one of the most severe forms of chronic pain that is currently very difficult to treat"—and one taken orally. Another drug made from conotoxin is already approved for use on humans, but it requires spinal cord injection. (Meanwhile, a painkiller that one expert says "will kill as soon as it's released" is slated to hit shelves this month.)
Newser is a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
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6e24237af165515dbf0ccef72d294fcc | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/03/31/evening-news-roundup/7120319/ | All the news you missed Monday | All the news you missed Monday
HealthCare.gov meltdown: Glitches on crucial deadline day
Consumers who waited until today to enroll for insurance on the federal HealthCare.gov were out of luck, and the problem still may not be fixed: The tools to set up new accounts and enroll are functioning erratically and some people can't even get onto the site to try to set up an account.
We can't back up — feds require all cars to have rear cameras by 2018
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a regulation today requiring all vehicles, including new trucks and buses, to have rear-view visibility — in effect, requiring backup cameras. The rule follows an outcry from consumer groups and families that have been touched by tragedies involving back-over accidents, especially those involving children in parking lots.
Get happy! Pharrell signs on as 'Voice' coach
Pharrell Williams will be a coach during the upcoming seventh season of NBC's The Voice. The Happy singer has had a "huge year," notes NBC's Paul Telegdy in the announcement. Plus, the star knows the show. He was an adviser to Team Usher on Season 4.
Asiana Airlines finally acknowledges pilot was flying too slow before crash
Asiana Airlines has said for the first time that the "probable cause" of the fatal crash in San Francisco last July was its pilot flying too slow, according to documents federal investigators released today. However, the airline also said "inconsistencies" in the Boeing 777-200ER's autothrottle contributed to the crash.
Ship with black-box detector joins search for missing Malaysian jet
The U.S. Navy has provided a black-box detector and an underwater vehicle that could be used to verify the box's location, but searchers are racing the clock. Black-box batteries are only designed to last 30 days or so. It will take three to four days for the detector to be shipped into the search zone — and far longer to actually locate the boxes given the massive area involved.
North and South Korea exchange fire across sea border
North and South Korea fired artillery shells into each other's waters Monday, a flare-up of animosity between the rivals that forced residents of five front-line South Korean islands to evacuate to shelters, South Korean officials said.
Johnny Depp shows off his engagement ring
Johnny Depp showed off a diamond engagement ring that he called a "chick's ring" on Monday — indirectly confirming rumors of his engagement to actress Amber Heard. Asked whether he was engaged, the Pirates of the Caribbean star replied: "The fact that I'm wearing a chick's ring on my finger is probably a dead giveaway. Not very subtle." He laughed as he lifted up his left hand and displayed a single diamond on a band around his ring finger.
O! Study finds women fake orgasms because it turns them on
A study published in the Journal of Sexual Archives says women will fake orgasm not just for the relationship or their own insecurity, but to feel sexually excited, the Huffington Post reports. The U.S. study looked at 481 sexually active, straight women with an average age of 20 who weren't in a committed relationship, and asked why they faked it.
This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY.
Contributing: John Bacon, William M. Welch, Bart Jansen, Ann Oldenburg, Chris Woodyard, Jayne O'Donnell and Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY; the Associated Press
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b34a5316169368d17edc05719c43ca71 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/03/31/five-things-to-know-monday/7085405/ | 5 things you need to know on Monday | 5 things you need to know on Monday
Baseball season in full swing
Baseball season really swings into action today when 26 teams are at bat and there's plenty of peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Sunday's U.S. opener was just one game. Play ball at mlb.usatoday.com. Check out a database of interesting MLB stats and salaries, too: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/mlb/salaries/
Health enrollment deadline is midnight tonight
The Obama administration and its allies are making a last-minute push to persuade Americans to enroll in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Open enrollment ends at midnight tonight, and with it, the chance to avoid a penalty for not purchasing insurance in 2014, which people will pay with their federal income taxes next year.
North, South Korea trade fire across sea border
North and South Korea fired artillery shells into each other's waters Monday, a flare-up of animosity between the rivals that forced residents of five front-line South Korean islands to evacuate to shelters, South Korean officials said.
Supreme Court looks at what new apps should get protection
Supreme Court justices still don't use e-mail very much. But when they take their seats on the bench this morning, they'll be faced with a computer conundrum worth billions of dollars: What new apps should get patent protection? It's one of the biggest patent cases the court has heard in recent years, and it's gotten plenty of clicks from some of the nation's biggest computer giants — IBM, Microsoft and Google among them.
McDonald's is giving out free coffee after Taco Bell launches breakfast
As Taco Bell launches into the $50 billion fast-food breakfast market, McDonald's announced a competitive move: free cups of McCafe coffee during regular breakfast hours from March 31 through April 13. Right now, McDonald's is the industry leader at fast-food breakfast with about a 25% market share.
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a4e4fab67237550435eeed3942cbf5af | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/04/14/evening-news-roundup/7705735/ | Catch up: All the news you missed today | Catch up: All the news you missed today
'Washington Post,' 'The Guardian' share Pulitzer Prize for NSA coverage
The Washington Post and The Guardian will share the prestigious public service prize for unveiling government secrets about spying by the National Security Agency. Their stories were based on documents handed over by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, who has been charged with espionage. Other winners include: The Boston Globe in breaking news reporting for its coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing and Donna Tartt for her novel The Goldfinch.
Russian fighter jet makes 'provocative' passes at U.S. warship
For 90 minutes, a Russian attack aircraft made about a dozen low level flights near a U.S. Navy warship in the Black Sea -- actions the Pentagon called "provocative." The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over Russia's actions in Ukraine. The aircraft did not respond to multiple warnings from the American warship.
Slayings at Kansas City Jewish centers classified as a hate crime
A white supremacist accused in a shooting rampage that left three people dead outside two Jewish centers in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kan., will face hate crime charges, authorities said Monday. Frazier Glenn Cross, 73, from rural Missouri, was arrested and held on a charge of premeditated first-degree murder in connection with the shooting spree.
Michael Phelps comes out of retirement, may target 2016 Rio Olympics
He's back in the pool. Michael Phelps is expected to come out of retirement and compete in his first meet since the 2012 Olympics next week, his coach confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. The move paves the way for the 22-time Olympic medalist to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which would be Phelps' fifth Games.
Malaysia jet search: 'It is time to go underwater'
A high-tech robotic sub will probe the sea floor for missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 after signals from what is believed to be the plane's data recorder ceased. Surface ships searching for signals last picked up a "ping" from the so-called "black box" six days ago. "It is time to go underwater," and end the surface search, an Australian official leading the search said Monday. Bluefin 21, the slow-moving robotic submersible, will now map a section of the southern Indian Ocean's floor in the search for wreckage.
Utah mom admits to killing her 6 babies and hiding them in boxes
A Utah woman admitted to police that she strangled or suffocated at least six of her newborns, stuffed the bodies into cardboard boxes and hid them in the garage of her home, according to court documents released on Monday. Megan Huntsman, 39, told officers that she killed the babies immediately after they were born.
This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY.
Contributing: Bob Minzesheimer, Jim Michaels, Tom Vanden Brook, Wes Johnson, John Bacon, Nicole Auerbach, Calum MacLeod, Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY
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8914ce78e42f6d97178fc7335c10a54b | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/04/26/threepeat/8193977/ | USA TODAY Threepeat: Best viral videos of the week | USA TODAY Threepeat: Best viral videos of the week
Welcome USA TODAY Video Threepeat, a round up of the best viral videos of the week. Maybe you've seen them already, maybe not. But they are all definitely worth watching again. So without further holdup, here are our picks for top viral videos of the week.
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714642b3cd1b5e6da244dc1ba0310795 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/05/21/evening-news-roundup/9377829/ | Catch up: All the news you missed today | Catch up: All the news you missed today
80 U.S. troops join search for kidnapped Nigerian girlsThe U.S. is trying to help Nigeria #bringbackourgirls. Eighty tservicemembers are headed to neighboring Chad to join the international search for the almost 300 Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Islamist radical group Boko Haram last month. The group's leader has threatened to sell the girls into slavery. The U.S. will help with drone searches to bring the girls home.
Rabbi, Boy Scout leader, and cop among dozens nabbed in child porn bust
This is really dark. Seventy men and one woman were arrested in NYC on charges of trading in child pornography, including a police chief, a rabbi and a Boy Scout leader. It was like dominos. The defendants all kept chatting online and sharing photos, leading cops from one to another to another. James Hayes in ICE's New York office said, "If this operation does anything, it puts the lie to the belief that the people who do this are not productive members of society."
Young Iranians jailed for 'Happy' video freed on bail
It might seem crazy what I'm about to say. Six young Iranians were arrested for making a YouTube video of themselves dancing to Pharrells's Happy. They were then forced to apologize on state TV. The offense? They made an "obscene video clip that offended the public morals and was released in cyberspace," the Iranian Student News Agency reported. Negar Morgazavi, a journalist who reports on Iranian affairs for Voice of America, tweeted the six were freed on $100,000 bail.
Obama on misconduct at Department of Veterans Affairs: 'I will not tolerate it'
Obama is fuming over allegations government officials fudged data and cooked books to hide how long veterans were waiting to see doctors and have their disability claims processed. The GOP says Obama may say he's "madder than hell," but he hasn't done enough to solve the problem (long wait times for vets are not new). The White House and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki are now conducting a nationwide review of VA hospitals' policies, while Shinseki faces calls to resign.
China and Russia ink $400 billion gas deal
After talking about it for nearly a decade, China and Russia signed off on a $400 billion gas deal Wednesday. Russia is not in a good place with the West or Europe after both issued economic sanctions against the country over the crisis in Ukraine, so it's shifting its business focus East. The Chinese think Putin's macho charisma is pretty awesome (in contrast to China's straight-laced political system), so the gas deal received reliably positive media coverage in China.
Auction site eBay tells users to change their passwords after major cyber hack
Time to change -- and remember -- another password. eBay was the victim of a major cyberattack, but the company says none of users' credit card information was stolen. Still, names, passwords, email and physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth were involved in the breach, so eBay says you need to change your password -- STAT. And if you use your eBay password on other sites, change them there, too.
Extra Bites
Day in Pictures: An awesome photo from today's gallery.
This video is creepy but also amazing: Swarm of lake flies hatch in Wisconsin.
News you need to stop and tell your gym buddy: You thought "gym rat" was just a figure of speech. Turns out critters exercise, too.
This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY.
Contributing: Marisol Bello, Brett Molina, Elizabeth Weise, Doug Stanglin, Calum MacLeod, Anna Arutunyan, USA TODAY; Jolie Lee, USA TODAY Network
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e707b8b58fa236d1b49fe56c8d44ce53 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/06/06/threepeat-best-video/10111615/ | USA TODAY Threepeat: Best videos of the week | USA TODAY Threepeat: Best videos of the week
Welcome to USA TODAY Video Threepeat, a round up of the best viral videos of the week. Maybe you've seen them already, maybe not. But they are all definitely worth watching again. So without further holdup, here are our picks for top viral videos of the week.
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aa9a53a82782ed26f8d5deec3aae1a2a | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/06/07/obama-putin-ukraine-poroshenko-g-7/10120083/ | Obama, Putin face uncertain standoff over Ukraine | Obama, Putin face uncertain standoff over Ukraine
PARIS — The U.S-Russian standoff over Ukraine moves into a new phase this weekend, with fresh rules and an uncertain path forward.
During this week's trip to Europe, President Obama and Group of Seven colleagues made new demands on Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatened new sanctions if he did not cut off support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
"They need to stop financing and arming separatists who have been wreaking havoc in the eastern part of the country," Obama told NBC News in an interview broadcast Friday. "If Russia begins to act in accordance with basic international principles, then I'm confident that the United States-Russia relationship will improve."
Putin, who spoke Friday with new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, has pledged to seek peace.
Some analysts, however, said the G-7 demands can be interpreted in different ways, and the dispute over Ukraine may go on for some time.
"All of this raises the question of what level of compliance (by Putin) is sufficient," said Olga Oliker, a senior international policy analyst with the RAND Corp.
After this week's G-7 summit in Brussels, Obama said, "We will have a chance to see what Mr. Putin does over the next two, three, four weeks. And if he remains on the current course, then we've already indicated the kinds of actions that we're prepared to take."
Obama met briefly with Putin on Friday on the sidelines of D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France.
Watching the situation intently: Ukraine and other Eastern European nations worried about potential Russian expansion, in light of its annexation of the Crimea region. Obama's team designed his Europe trip in part to reassure allies of U.S. support, and the president offered allies new security guarantees.
Meanwhile, the potential terms of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia remain unclear.
In his inauguration speech Saturday, Poroshenko said he would not accept the event that escalated the Ukraine crisis into a global concern: Russia's annexation of the Crimea region.
"Crimea is, was and will be Ukrainian," Poroshenko said. "There will be no trade-off."
Poroshenko also wants Ukraine aligned more closely with the West, including securing membership in the European Union. This may not sit well with Putin, who has often cited longtime Russian ties to Ukraine, once a member of the Soviet Union.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who outlined the G-7 demands for Putin during a meeting Thursday in Paris, told reporters that "the next month will be vital in judging if President Putin has taken these steps."
Among the questions, analysts said: What exactly constitutes compliance with the G-7 requirements? And, if Putin fails to meet them, what kinds of specific sanctions can G-7 members agree to?
Oliker said Russia could simply "make some statements telling the separatists to fall back and negotiate," but "then throw up its hands in helplessness when they don't."
Heather Conley, director of the Europe Program with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Putin will "likely do the very minimum to prevent further sanctions while continuing to destabilize Ukraine."
That might put the onus on Obama and the G-7 to agree on a firm response.
The U.S. and its allies have already hit Russia with sanctions on individuals and businesses. It may be more difficult for them to agree on tougher sanctions that target major sectors of the Russian economy.
Despite the "very tough language" this week from G-7 leaders, Conley said there is no agreement on what new sanctions might look like. Many European countries have deep economic ties to the Russians and buy most of their energy supplies from them.
James Goldgeier, dean of the school of international service at American University in Washington, D.C., said Putin could start talking to Poroshenko and "create enough ambiguity regarding his support for pro-Russian groups in eastern Ukraine to avoid further sanctions."
He could also do this "without creating a situation that enables Ukraine to move forward successfully as an independent country pursuing closer ties to Europe," Goldgeier said.
Obama and allies are hopeful that Putin will de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. In his NBC interview, Obama said he wants "a return to a better relationship" with Putin and Russia.
"We think that the work our two nations can do together is extremely important around the world," Obama said. "But there is going to need to be a resolution of the situation in Ukraine."
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d3da80a6946b083a3a8b6cb7fc761e28 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/07/06/drones-commercial-usage-illegal-faa-real-estate-realtors-developers/12262513/ | Real estate agents pushing legal limits with drone use | Real estate agents pushing legal limits with drone use
Real estate agents are increasingly taking their work to the skies, using remote-controlled aircraft to film bird's-eye-view video tours of homes, land and commercial properties.
It's a great way to interest potential buyers, agents say.
The only problem: They're flying in the face of federal regulators, who say drones are illegal for commercial purposes.
Real estate joins agriculture, filmmaking and journalism as one of the industries finding new ways to use the small unmanned aircraft and pushing the legal limits of their use.
Realtors have always looked for new tools to advertise properties. Online listings have included photo galleries, then satellite images and eventually Google Street View. Drone photography is the logical next step, real estate agents say.
"There's a cool factor," said Bill Knapp III, co-owner of Ironwood Homes Inc., who recently began using a quadcopter (that's drone speak for a four-propeller helicopter) to film the luxury homes that his Des Moines-area company builds and sells. "There is something about being able to see things from the sky that people are really enamored with. This allows us to do that with HD-quality video."
But flying drones to market homes and properties comes with a risk.
The Federal Aviation Administration considers it illegal to fly drones for commercial purposes, including real estate photography. A judge earlier this year struck down the FAA's ban on commercial drone flights. However, real estate agents could still face a $10,000 fine from the FAA, which appealed the ruling.
Not waiting for blessing
The FAA is working on rules to govern the use of small drones, defined as weighing less than 55 pounds and staying within 400 feet of the ground. But those rules have been delayed, and some real estate companies aren't waiting any longer for the green light.
"We see other people in the real estate industry using them, and my feeling is it just seems like too good of a tool not to use," said Steve Bruere, president of Peoples Co., a central Iowa land brokerage firm that began using a drone in the spring to appraise and advertise farms and development land. "We just figure we'll ask for forgiveness later."
Real estate agents and developers are finding varied uses for footage shot from the sky. Some are showing potential homebuyers the neighborhood and flying the route their kids would take to school or a nearby park. Others are hovering over large new commercial developments, giving potential tenants and taxpayers a visual update on the construction progress.
Paul McLaughlin, attorney for the Iowa Association of Realtors, said that at the beginning of 2014 he knew one real estate agent in the state who owned a drone — and it was still in the box. Now, Realtors are walking out of hobby stores with their own remote-controlled helicopters and camera attachments.
"In the past four months or so, there has really been a mini explosion," he said.
What changed? No doubt it helps that drones are becoming more widely available and cheaper. Knapp said he spent about $1,700 on his drone and camera equipment. Bruere spent less than $2,000.
Ruling prompts more use
The ruling against the FAA also emboldened some real estate professionals to take to the skies. In March, an administrative law judge for the National Traffic Safety Bureau ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration's ban on commercial drone flights was not legally enforceable.
The case involved Raphael Pirker, who was fined $10,000 by the FAA for flying a drone over the University of Virginia to obtain promotional footage.
Since the ruling, it appears the FAA isn't cracking down on real estate agents using drones, McLaughlin said.
"The only risk right now is a cease and desist from the FAA, and I would think those would be few and far between" if agents are doing no harm and using them only around properties they are listing, he said.
Still, the National Association of Realtors advises agents not to use drones until the FAA clarifies its regulations.
Brendan Schulman, the attorney for Pirker, said he is representing companies that have been served with subpoenas by the FAA related to drone use.
Real estate agents and drone advocates said they welcome FAA regulations to address safety and privacy concerns. Many questions have to be answered: Do drone operators have to be trained or licensed? Can drones be flown over streets or near crowds? What stops people from using drones to film into someone's backyard or window?
"Sometimes we call it the wild, wild West," said Gretchen West, executive vice president of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a trade group that represents military and civil drone manufacturers and operators. West said the group wants the FAA to produce rules to legalize and regulate commercial drone flights.
The FAA has predicted 10,000 commercial drones will be licensed by 2018.
"More and more people are flying every single day," she said. "We're frustrated because we would like to see the FAA move a little faster so we know how we can fly."
Other nations go ahead
While the FAA debates it, the U.S. is falling behind other countries that are moving ahead with the commercial use of drones, said Schulman, who leads the Unmanned Aircraft Systems practice at the New York law firm of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel.
"Without a clear path forward from the regulators, the government is holding a lot of progress and innovation back," Schulman said.
Nations that provide commercial permits for drone use include Canada, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom, he said.
Kurt Mumm, president of NAI Optimum, a West Des Moines commercial brokerage, said his company is cautious about how it flies its drone. The company has used the aircraft to film commercial properties and large developments like Kettlestone, Waukee's proposed 1,500-acre mixed-use development.
Mumm said the company always asks the property owner for permission before flying, stays below 400 feet and is careful about privacy concerns.
"A decent dose of common sense goes a long way," he said, adding that he expects federal officials will add more guidelines, restrictions and rules around drone use.
Register staff writer Donnelle Eller contributed to this story.
Drone shopping? Here are some options
Ryan Varner of Hobby Haven in Urbandale gave this run-down of some options:
• DJI Innovations' "quadcopters" range in price from $500 to $20,000. Comes with high-quality video that can be livestreamed to a smartphone, or pictures that can be shared with the world while the copter is in the air.
• E-Flite's Blade series can run from less than $100 to $1,000.
• The Parrot AR Drone is available at stores like Brookstone for about $300, and can be controlled with an iPad or smartphone.
What are the rules?
The FAA issued a statement June 18 that drones used for commercial purposes do not qualify as model aircraft and are therefore subject to FAA regulations.
Hobbyists are allowed to fly drones, provided they stay within 400 feet of the ground and away from airports.
According to the statement, banned commercial drone uses include:
• Realtors taking photos of a property they are listing.
• Farmers monitoring crops and spraying fields.
• Delivery of packages.
• Taking photos from a drone and selling them.
The FAA faces a September 2015 deadline to bring regulations on unmanned aerial vehicles to Congress, but it looks unlikely the agency will meet that deadline, according to a federal report released in late June. The report states the FAA faces significant regulatory and technical obstacles to meet the deadline.
Among the obstacles: the FAA has yet to meet safety concerns about integrating drones into national airspace.
Brendan Schulman, a New York attorney and legal expert on drones, said a main safety concern he's heard is the potential risk they would pose to manned aircraft. Schulman represented Raphael Pirker, something of a hero among drone enthusiasts due to his case that led a judge to rule against the FAA's ban on commercial drone flights.
Another safety concern, he said, is the potential harm that drones, especially lower-flying machines, could pose to people on the ground.
— Matthew Patane
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c1cb949f2b7f06ca315094702547f540 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/08/04/inspiration-nation-camp-middle-east-teens/13577707/ | Camp plants seeds of peace with Middle East teens | Camp plants seeds of peace with Middle East teens
On the same day an airstrike near a school in Gaza killed ten people, there were teenagers from Israel and Palestine meeting in the United States, singing each other's national anthems, raising their country's flags, and planting the seeds of friendship.
For the last 22 years, the Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield, Maine has been bringing teenagers together from conflict zones.
This session, about half of the 180 campers are from either Israel or Palestine.
"I came seeing everything black and white, but I realized how complicated it was for my nation, and for the Palestinians across the border," said Nitsan, an Israeli teenager returning to Seeds of Peace for the second time.
The campers, called seeds, spend three weeks together, doing outdoor activities and having daily dialogue sessions.
Watch the video above to hear the campers address conflicts near their hometowns.
"It was tough for me," said Salma, a teenager from Gaza. "I didn't know how to deal with the other side, but I managed to."
Since the Seeds of Peace opened in 1993, there have been 5,200 graduates. Some have gone on to work for news organizations in their home countries, others are peace process consultants to the United Nations. Either way, members of the camp staff say each camper walks away with a new perspective.
"I think everyone is feeling the tension," said Nitsan, at the start of the session. "You can also feel the urgency of what we're doing. It's so important to be here now."
But it's not just Israeli and Palestinians coming together, other countries are represented and discussed too. During this session those countries include Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, India, Pakistan, and the United States.
Here at the USA TODAY network, not only do we want to provide you with the current events of the day, but also a little dose of inspiration while you're getting your news fix. Inspiration Nation is our way of providing you with that jolt of good news to bring a smile to your day. For more great stories like this visit http://usat.ly/1o0tsCQ.
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a84c55d94e3026f94f67b7233e35e789 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/08/11/obama-iraq-nouri-al-maliki-haider-al-ibadi-fouad-massoum/13912597/ | Obama lauds new Iraq leaders, despite al-Maliki protest | Obama lauds new Iraq leaders, despite al-Maliki protest
President Obama praised the designation of a new prime minister in Iraq on Monday, despite the protests of current office occupant Nouri al-Maliki.
"This is an important step towards forming a new government that can unite Iraq's different communities," Obama told reporters, calling for formation of a new Cabinet "as quickly as possible" and pledging U.S. support.
Obama, who did not mention al-Maliki's name during brief remarks, spoke while on vacation at Martha's Vineyard, Mass.
"These have been difficult days in Iraq -- a country that has faced so many challenges in its recent history," Obama said. "And I'm sure that there will be difficult days ahead."
Earlier on Monday, Iraq President Fouad Massoum picked another lawmaker, Haider al-Abadi, as prime minister-designate, and asked him to form a new government.
Al-Maliki called the naming of his successor illegal, and said the United States is standing "on the side of violating the constitution."
The political showdown comes less than a week after Obama authorized U.S. airstrikes to help battle fighters of the militant Islamic State in northern Iraq. In the days since, the president has repeatedly urged Iraqi lawmakers to form a new government as soon as possible.
Obama also said his "limited" military operations — designed to protect U.S. personnel and religious minorities under siege by militants — are making progress.
Echoing previous comments, Obama said "there is no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq," and the Iraqis must solve their own problems -- starting with formation of a government "that addresses the needs and grievances" of all the nation's people and religious factions.
Obama also said he spoke to the new prime minister-designate by phone.
For weeks, administration officials who have clashed with al-Maliki made little secret of their hopes for his departure, and they made their preference plain throughout the day on Monday,
Vice President Biden spoke by phone with the new prime minister-designate, al-Ibadi, as well as President Massoum, according to a pair of White House statements — neither of which mentioned al-Maliki.
"The prime minister-designate expressed his intent to move expeditiously to form a broad-based, inclusive government capable of countering the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and building a better future for Iraqis from all communities," said one of the statements.
Biden "relayed President Obama's congratulations and restated his commitment to fully support a new and inclusive Iraqi government, particularly in its fight against ISIL," it added.
Administration officials have made little secret of their hope that al-Maliki does not receive another term, though al-Maliki says he will fight for his job.
In other call, Biden commended Massoum "for meeting this key milestone and reiterated President Obama's repeated calls for the timely creation of a new, more inclusive government that will be able to address the legitimate concerns of all Iraqis," said the White House.
Biden also emphasized Obama's "desire to boost coordination with a new Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces to roll back gains by the Islamic State" in northern Iraq, the statement said.
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5f2fe5c921edcfd563eda31329d91fbf | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/09/18/science-uncovers-story-slaves-zoo-property/15845447/ | Science uncovers story of slaves on zoo property | Science uncovers story of slaves on zoo property
They were relatively young people of African descent, worn down by years of hard labor.
Six of them had arthritis. One man walked with a limp, and a woman endured fractured vertebrae in her lower spine. A young, probably heavyset man had a damaged hip — and maybe sickle cell anemia, too.
They were almost certainly slaves on the old Grassmere farm, a large tract of land in South Nashville that’s now used for a different purpose: the home of the Nashville Zoo.
Remains that were dug up at the zoo to make way for a bigger, $6.8 million “entry village” appear to have belonged to African-Americans buried in a slave cemetery at Grassmere, DNA and skeletal evidence has revealed.
Shannon Hodge, an archaeologist at Middle Tennessee State University, and her students looked at the remains of nine people in May. Evidence showed all nine were under the age of 50 when they died, and seven “had traits of the skull that suggest African ancestry,” Hodge wrote in a blog post for the Tennessee Council for Professional Archaeology’s website.
Archaeologist Larry McKee of TRC Companies Inc., which excavated the graves last winter and found full, well-preserved skeletons and numerous buttons, beads and other artifacts, had already determined that the people in them were buried between the 1820s and 1850 before Hodge went to work. That finding, combined with the skeletal and DNA evidence, shows that the once-forgotten cemetery near the zoo’s ticket booths “almost certainly represents a community of enslaved African-Americans in the last decades of American slavery,” Hodge wrote.
Before the digging started in late February, McKee said his instincts told him the people in the graves were tenant farmers buried sometime after the Civil War, though he wasn’t sure exactly why.
The science told a different story.
“It really changed my thinking on the history,” McKee said Thursday. “I’m thoroughly certain that what we’ve got now is part of the enslaved community using that as a burial ground.”
Tori Mason, the zoo’s historic site manager, said the discovery “gives us another piece of our puzzle” to help explain the history of Grassmere.
In June, McKee’s team reburied all of the recovered remains not far from the family cemetery near Croft House, the approximately 200-year-old home west of the zoo's carousel. Mason said the zoo hopes to host a dedication ceremony this fall.
Nineteen graves
The archaeologists dug up 19 graves, finding remains in most of them. The adults tended to be tall for the time — 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet 1 inch — and had very good teeth. They appeared to have been well-fed, and they were buried in clothes, whereas some slaves at other sites were simply wrapped in a shroud, Mason said.
But their circumstances, of course, were far from ideal. Hodge wrote that six of the nine adults whose remains she studied “had arthritis of the knee and/or spine, suggesting demanding workloads.”
One of them, possibly ground down by the life of a slave, never even got a chance to grow up properly.
“The youngest of the adults was an exceptionally tall and robust young man in his late teens or early twenties,” Hodge wrote. “He had a slipped capital femoral epiphysis — meaning that the ‘ball’ part of the ball-and-socket joint that makes up the hip was damaged before he finished growing. In modern times, this condition is most commonly found in African-American teenagers, particularly boys, and especially ones who are tall and heavy. In this case, it might have also resulted from heavy workloads and stress on the hip joint at too young an age.”
But the “respectful” way the slaves were buried suggests that the owners “thought enough of the people working for them that they allowed their loved ones to honor them that way,” Mason said.
Although zoo officials and the archaeologists still don’t know any of the slaves’ names, they’ve started working on exhibits “to tell exactly who these people were, to what extent that we know,” Mason said.
“It gives us another part that we’re going to be able to interpret now that we’ve never been able to do before,” she said. “We do know that the family had slaves.”
Reach Michael Cass at 615-259-8838 and on Twitter @tnmetro.
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bb2356e3d2e5dd4297c0ec41e88e0634 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/10/17/commander-biden-knew-drug-test-coming/17463959/ | Hunter Biden drug test: Sailors warned | Hunter Biden drug test: Sailors warned
There should have been no question in Hunter Biden's mind about the possibility of a random drug test.
So says the commander of the Norfolk, Va.-based unit where Vice President Joe Biden's youngest son was assigned until his February discharge due to a drug test failure a month after his 2013 commissioning.
"All sailors would be advised of the zero-tolerance policies when reporting aboard," said Capt. Jack Hanzlik, who commands the Navy Public Affairs Support Element in Norfolk. "And they would be advised of the testing practices of the organization, as well."
The importance of adherence to such policies continues after new arrivals, active or reservists, are assigned to their units.
"We have this kind of conversation with our sailors all the time – about expectations for performance," Hanzlik said. "Expectations for standards. Reliability on one another."
At least once a year but perhaps more frequently, members of the military – active and reserve – can expect to be given an unannounced urinalysis test for illegal drug use. Navy laboratories screen about 2.5 million urine specimens yearly, searching for drugs ranging from marijuana to heroin to cocaine – the drug that reportedly led to Hunter Biden's discharge.
"It's a random process," said Hanzlik. "The expectation, always, is that you need to be ready. Because you could have to give a sample today, you might have to give a sample again tomorrow. And two weeks from now, you might have to give a sample."
Hanzlik said he'd had no interaction with Biden. He commands the overall 275-member unit, but their reserve times didn't coincide during Biden's tenure with the unit. "He did drill with our unit on a couple of weekends" after his May indoctrination, Hanzlik said.
Testing would have occurred while Biden was present for duty at the Navy Operational Support Center Norfolk, the reserve center where he reported for work.
The Navy says 15 percent of all personnel at a given unit are tested each time a test is administered.
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official said the length of time traces of a drug remain in a person's system varies with an individual's size and frequency of use. On average, it takes 48 to 72 hours to leave the system, but it can take up to five days.
Biden, who had no prior military experience, was selected for commission as a reserve officer through the Direct Commission Officer program in 2012, according to the Navy. He was commissioned as an ensign in early May 2013 – one of six officers commissioned nationally into the public affairs division of the Navy Reserve.
In June 2013, Biden, then 43, was given a drug test that tested positive for cocaine, according to The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story late Thursday night. The paper cited "people familiar with the matter." The Navy would not comment, citing the Privacy Act.
He wasn't discharged until February. "Until an issue like that is adjudicated, the member continues to serve," Hanzlik said.
Hunter, who could not be reached, is the younger brother of Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, who is a major in the Delaware Army National Guard.
Drug testing
Some of the first drug tests in America were developed by the military during the Vietnam era as a significant number of service members were using marijuana and heroin, according to the Department of Defense.
In June 1971, then-President Richard Nixon directed a military drug urinalysis program to identify service members returning from Vietnam for rehabilitation. In the 1980s, screenings expanded as Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs pushed for testing programs for employers, including regulations requiring that any company with a contract over $25,000 with the federal government provide a Drug-Free Workplace.
It's now estimated that more than 50 million people across the country are tested yearly for drug use in the work place, said Ron Flegel, division of workplace programs for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The agency is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
About 75 percent of those tested are in the private sector, Flegel said. Most of this is done for safety reasons, especially for industries that are regulated by federal agencies such as the Department of Transportation and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The aim is to avoid injury or injuries to others.
"When you look at anyone carrying guns or badges or any safety sensitive issue where you are driving a truck or flying a plane, there is always a safety sensitive issue around the public," Flegel said.
While there are different forms of testing, the most common is a urine test. In the military, someone watches as the specimen is being provided.
"You physically go into the bathroom with a person observing you going to the bathroom in a cup," Flegel said.
Results are returned in about three working days. No further testing is needed for negative results, however, "presumptive positive specimens" will be tested using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. It takes seven working days to get these results.
"That in itself looks specifically at the ions in that drug," Flegel said. "So it's very, very accurate as to what drug it's picking up."
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.
Contact William H. McMichael at bmcmichael@delawareonline.com or Twitter @billmcmichael.
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f071c336d4d9f489110dba7eae5d5d6a | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/12/19/sony-the-interview-hackers-gop/20635449/ | Obama: Sony 'did the wrong thing' when it pulled movie | Obama: Sony 'did the wrong thing' when it pulled movie
WASHINGTON – Sony did the wrong thing when it backed down and pulled The Interview in the face of North Korean hacker threats, President Obama said at his new conference Friday.
"I wish they had spoken to me first," he said. "I would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks."
But on the heels of Obama's pointed comments, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton gave his first television interview to CNN. "We have not caved. We have not given in. We have persevered," he told Fareed Zakaria.
CNN began airing excerpts of the interview Friday. In it, Lynton disputed Obama's assertion that they didn't talk with him. "We definitely spoke to a senior adviser in the White House to talk about the situation," he said.
Friday evening, Sony Pictures issued a follow-up statement. The company said that although free expression "should never be suppressed by threats and extortion," it "had no choice" but to halt distribution.
"Let us be clear – the only decision that we have made with respect to release of the film was not to release it on Christmas Day in theaters, after the theater owners declined to show it. Without theaters, we could not release it in the theaters on Christmas Day."
"After that decision, we immediately began actively surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform. It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so," the statement concluded.
Earlier Friday, the FBI confirmed that North Korea was behind the cyberattacks on Sony Pictures. "As a result of our investigation, and in close collaboration with other U.S. Government departments and agencies, the FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions,'' an FBI statement said.
"While the need to protect sensitive sources and methods precludes us from sharing all of this information, our conclusion is based, in part, on similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks," the FBI said in a brief statement
Sony Pictures Entertainment's computer network was attacked by hackers on Nov. 24. Sony's computer network was crippled and almost 38 million files were stolen. Since then, highly damaging and embarrassing files stolen from Sony have been doled out on file-sharing websites.
The hack was apparently in response to the planned release of The Interview, a comedy about an assassination attempt against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that featured James Franco and Seth Rogen as tabloid TV journalists. Sony on Tuesday killed the film's release.
Obama said he was sympathetic to the damage and threats Sony has dealt with. " "Having said all that, yes I think they made a mistake," Obama said.
"We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States," he said. "Because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they don't like or news reports that they don't like."
Even worse, Obama said, "imagine if producers and distributors and others started engaging in self-censorship because they don't want to offend the sensibilities of somebody whose sensibilities probably need to be offended."
"That's not who we are. That's not what America's about," he said.
Lynton seems to indicate that while he didn't specifically ask the White House whether the studio should cut The Interview, "the White House was certainly aware of the situation."
SONY CEO CITES THREAT TO AUDIENCE
The crucial decision point came when the hackers began threatening audiences who planned on going to theaters to see the film, Lynton said. "The movie theaters came to us one by one over the course of a very short time. We were very surprised by it," the CEO added. "They announced that they would not carry the movie. At that point in time we had no alternative to not proceed with a theatrical release on the 25th of December."
Lynton said he didn't regret making the movie. "I would make the movie again. For the same reasons we made it in the first place--it was a funny comedy, it served as political satire...Knowing what I know now, we might have done something slightly differently, but I think a lot of events have overtaken us in a way that we had no control over," he told CNN. Still, "we would still like the public to see this movie, absolutely," he said.
The United States will act on the cyberattack, but Obama did not go into detail about how. "We will respond, we will respond proportionally, and in a place and time that we choose. It's not something that I will announce here today at this press conference," he said.
In the FBI statement, the agency said that, "further, North Korea's attack on SPE (Sony Pictures Entertainment) reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States.''
The FBI said that it had "determined that the intrusion into SPE's network consisted of the deployment of destructive malware and the theft of proprietary information as well as employees' personally identifiable information and confidential communications.'
While it has seen a rising number of cyber breaches, "the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart," the FBI said.
In addition to the coding similarities, the FBI said it had found other evidence of North Korea's involvement, including the discovery of several Internet addresses "associated with known North Korean infrastructure communicated with IP addresses that were hard-coded into the data deletion malware used in this attack."
Also, the FBI found that tools used in the Sony attack were similar to an attack launched last March against South Korean banks and media outlets carried out by North Korea.
Former senator Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, called the hack "a despicable, criminal act."
HACKERS RESPOND
Late Thursday, Sony received conflicting messages purportedly from the hackers. One, posted publicly, told the studio it has "suffered enough" and is free to release The Interview.
At the same time, a private message sent to some Sony executives Thursday night told them they had made a "very wise" decision when they canceled the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy, an official at Sony told USA TODAY on background. The official would not be identified because the person was not authorized to speak on the record.
The dueling messages are diametrically opposed.
The private message read, "Now we want you never let the movie released, distributed or leaked in any form of, for instance, DVD or piracy," adding "And we want everything related to the movie, including its trailers, as well as its full version down from any website hosting them immediately."
That's a very different one from the a public posting, also made late Thursday night, to Pastebin, an online file-sharing website. The hackers have been using Pastebin to release their messages for the past several weeks. That message read, "You have suffered through enough threats. We lift the ban. The Interview may release now."
It is impossible to know if the Pastebin message is actually from the Guardians of Peace, the shadowy hacker group that claims to have infiltrated Sony's computer network and stolen millions of files.
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6c01050b2136768bdd2ad5b6b8573891 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/12/30/year-in-review-united-states/20489635/ | Year in review: 50 stories from 50 states | Year in review: 50 stories from 50 states
When the year ends, we reflect. We look back at the stories that changed the national conversation, the people who inspired us, the painful events we bore witness to, and the shifts in public opinion that showed us how America is evolving on issues both big and small.
As 2014 comes to a close, USA TODAY revisits one story from each state — the big news, the best investigations and the moments we still can't stop talking about.
Alabama: 5-year-old fan sends $1 allowance to help save UAB football
When 5-year-old Ohio State fan Bennett Williams found out that the University of Alabama at Birmingham would be shutting down its football program, he asked his parents how much money the university needed to keep it running. Bennett decided to write a note and send it to UAB, and he included his dollar allowance to help keep the Blazers on the field. The UAB athletics department sent Bennett a few gifts for his amazing act of kindness.
Alaska: The Palin family brawl
It was a birthday party gone bad, starring former governor Sarah Palin and her family. According to reports, the clan got into a big fight at a party in Anchorage, and Palin was even said to have screamed, "Don't you know who I am!?" In October, Radar Online and Extra unearthed what they say is the police recording from the scene. Listen for yourself. Palin eventually addressed the brawl on Facebook, pointing us to her daughter Bristol's version of what went down. Bristol said someone messed with her little sister.
Arizona: Dreamers get to drive
The courts ruled and on Dec. 22 the Arizona Department of Transportation began accepting driver's license applications from young undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers" who qualify under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Gov. Jan Brewer had fought to keep driver's licenses out of the hands of dreamers since August 2012, when she issued an executive order denying licenses to anyone approved for President Obama's program.
More from Arizona:Veterans health care controversy began with whistle-blower allegations in Phoenix VA hospital
Arkansas: Voter ID law struck down
It was unanimous. The Arkansas Supreme Court in October declared the state's voter-identification law unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Arkansas Public Law Center had filed suit on behalf of four voters who argued that the photo ID requirement would disenfranchise them. The justices ruled that Act 595, which required voters to show government-issued photo identification, "imposes a requirement that falls outside" the four qualifications outlined in the state constitution.
California: Storms put dent in state's drought
NASA has said that about 11 trillion gallons of water is needed to end the historic drought in California. That's about 130,000 Rose Bowls full of water. Storms this December offered some relief, but they weren't nearly enough to end the multiyear drought. After the storms, the percentage of the state in the worst drought category — "exceptional" drought — dropped from 55% to 32%. That's the state's lowest percentage in six months.
More from California:Steve Ballmer buys Los Angeles Clippers from Donald Sterling; 'Six Californias' fails to make California ballot
Colorado: Lighting up the new year
Jan. 1 brought the first sales of legal recreational marijuana to Colorado and the state hasn't looked back. Three more states have now either begun or approved recreational sales, and tens of millions of dollars in new tax money is flowing into Colorado's coffers. The fast-growing industry in 2014 struggled to manage the vast piles of cash it's been generating, and state regulators clamped down on the popular pot-infused candies and treats known as edibles.
Connecticut: Sandy Hook killer carefully planned attack
It's been two years since the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., shook the nation to its core. A Connecticut agency investigating the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre issued a report in November that found the killer, Adam Lanza, did not "snap" but was obsessed with mass murder and had carefully planned the attack. Lanza, 20, killed his mother at their home on the morning of Dec. 14, then went to the school he had once attended and gunned down 20 children and six staff members before killing himself.
Delaware: Beauty queen dethroned for being too old
Here's your dose of Miss America drama. A new Miss Delaware was crowned in June after the one selected earlier that month got the boot — for being too old. Brittany Lewis, 24, originally the contest's first runner-up as Miss Wilmington, got the sparkly crown lost by Amanda Longacre, who was also 24 when she competed. The Miss America Organization website says contestants must be 17 to 24 years old. Longacre was stripped of her crown because she was turning 25 in October. In July, Longacre sued the state and national scholarship pageant organizations.
Florida: Jeb Bush may ask you to extend his family's presidential dynasty
The Republican establishment likely has its first candidate for 2016. Jeb Bush made a surprise announcement this December that he will "actively explore" a 2016 presidential bid, giving his strongest signal yet about wanting to follow his father and brother to the White House (see how "actively explore" became the new "conscious uncoupling"). Bush was Florida's governor from 1999 to 2007.
More from Florida:Officials propose making 'South Florida' 51st state; Red-light camera abuses exposed
Georgia: Father indicted for murder in son's hot-car death
Immediately after Georgia dad Justin Harris left his 22-month-old son in a hot car, where he died, people rallied around him. But then evidence started mounting that Harris may have actually left his son in the sealed car on purpose. Police found that Harris, 33, and his wife had researched hot car deaths and had two life insurance policies out on their son. In September, Harris was indicted for murder. His trial is scheduled to begin next month.
Hawaii: Lava flow is slow-motion horror story
Imagine you're kicking back at home and someone tells you that 2,000-degree Fahrenheit lava is flowing toward your house. That's been Hawaii's reality this year. Molten lava emerged from a vent in the Kilauea volcano in June, and a long stretch of the flow began slowly moving toward the town of Pahoa, in a rural region of the Big Island of Hawaii. Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes. In late October, the lava crossed a country road at the edge of town, covering a cemetery and claiming a home. Now, the lava is headed for a shopping center.
Idaho: The saga of Bowe Bergdahl
It was a roller coaster of emotions in Hailey, Idaho. On May 31, the town learned that local boy Bowe Bergdahl, 28, had been released from Taliban captivity in Afghanistan after five years. But joy soon turned to shock. Calls and e-mails blasted locals for planning a celebration June 28 for the Army sergeant who may have walked off his post and whose release involved the Obama administration trading five Taliban leaders. Bergdahl has been accused by some members of his former unit of intentionally leaving his post before he was captured by Taliban insurgents in 2009. This December, the Army decided to forward the Bergdahl investigation for possible court-martial. For now Bergdahl remains assigned to a desk job at an Army headquarters unit in San Antonio.
Illinois: Rahm to Hillary: 'Dead broke? Really?'
Hillary Clinton took a lot of heat this summer after she said in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer that she and Bill Clinton left the White House in 2001 "dead broke." Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, her old political pal, didn't let the comment slide at an event in Chicago celebrating her memoir, Hard Choices. "Hillary dead broke?" Emanuel asked. "Really?" Clinton acknowledged to Emanuel that it "may not have been the most artful way" of talking about her finances.
Indiana: Colts owner arrested
It was a tough year for Jim Irsay. The Colts owner was arrested in March for driving under the influence and illegal possession of prescription drugs. Commissioner Roger Goodell disciplined Irsay with a six-game suspension and a $500,000 fine — the maximum allowed under NFL rules. "I acknowledge the mistake I made last March and stand responsible for the consequences of that mistake, for which I sincerely apologize to our community and to Colts fans everywhere," Irsay said in a statement. Irsay, 55, has battled drug addictions and alcoholism for decades.
Iowa: Farm families adapt to food-conscious America
The farm family, with deep community roots and generations living close to the soil, has found itself at the center of profound demographic, technological, economic and environmental change. The Des Moines Registerintroduced readers to four Iowa farm families navigating this changing world. And, in a journalistic first, invited readers to step into the century-old Dammann farm through 360-degree video and virtual reality.
Kansas: Sen. Roberts survives close call for GOP
Veteran Republican Sen. Pat Roberts survived a surprisingly strong challenge from independent Greg Orman in November, ensuring that Republicans would continue their 82-year string of U.S. senators from the Sunflower State. Orman, a 45-year-old millionaire businessman who has never held elected office, scared Republicans with his upstart campaign against the three-term, 78-year-old Republican.
Kentucky: Cars crash in an unlikely mishap
A 40-foot-wide sinkhole at Kentucky's National Corvette Museum opened up in February and swallowed eight Corvettes. The museum owned six and General Motors owned two. GM's Bowling Green Corvette plant, the only factory that builds the cars, is across a highway less than a half mile from the museum. Security cameras caught the moment the cars slipped into the massive hole as the floor caved in.
Louisiana: Smithsonian will honor family's civil rights effortsSmall communities like Bogalusa, La., often are overlooked in histories of the civil rights movement, but a new museum on the National Mall aims to change that. Charles Hicks said it "feels good" to know his native town's civil rights contributions will be recognized by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Hicks' father, Robert Hicks, a legendary civil rights activist, died in 2010. The family's involvement in the civil rights movement will be part of an exhibit at the museum, scheduled to open in 2016.
Maine: Unlikely lobsters caught days apart
First, a rare sight landed in a lobsterman's trap in October. Jay LaPlante and his 14-year-old daughter, Meghan, caught a blue lobster about 10 miles southwest of Portland. The find is like winning the lottery: Oceanographers estimate that only 1 in 2 million lobsters is blue. Then, a week later farther up the coast, veteran lobsterman Joe Bates discovered what researchers consider a 1-in-100-million find: a white lobster.
Maryland: Boardwalk pole dancer makes waves in Ocean City
It was a mixture of outrage and awe on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, Md., this summer. A 27-year-old dancer raised First Amendment issues when she set up her own pole-dancing operation on one of the busiest tourist thoroughfares in America. The resort community's officials didn't like it, but thanks in part to two federal court decisions involving Ocean City, Chelsea Plymale's show is legal. That doesn't mean it hasn't riled people, including a nearby store owner.
More from Maryland:Ray Rice won his appeal, but it's likely he still lost his NFL career
Massachusetts: Going back in time
A time capsule buried in 1795 by Paul Revere and Samuel Adams was unearthed in Boston at the Massachusetts Statehouse this December, possibly the oldest such U.S. artifact ever uncovered. About the size of a cigar box, the copper container — green from oxidation and caked in plaster — was found in the cornerstone of the "new" statehouse on Beacon Hill, which was completed in 1798. The contents of the capsule will be unveiled on Jan. 6.
Michigan: Detroit bankruptcy ends
The nightmare is over. The city of Detroit's historic Chapter 9 bankruptcy ended this December, setting in motion a sweeping plan to slash $7 billion in debt and reinvest $1.4 billion over 10 years to improve city services. Judge Steven Rhodes approved the city's restructuring plan, giving the city the authority to implement the grand bargain to help reduce pension cuts, preserve the Detroit Institute of Arts and start improving basic services. The Detroit Free Presslooks at how the case proceeded and where the Motor City goes from here.
More from Michigan:11-year-old hunter bags rare albino deer
Minnesota:Toddler ignores military protocol
Cooper Waldvogel loves his mom way more than military protocol. The 3-year-old couldn't wait to be with his mother this September after she served nine months in Afghanistan with the National Guard's 114th Transportation Company based in Chisholm, Minn. He ran to her while she and her fellow soldiers stood in line waiting to be dismissed. "I was longing to hold him, that's all that I thought about," said his mother, Kathryn Waldvogel, 25.
Mississippi: Southaven one of worst U.S. cities for LGBT rights
Across the United States, cities are increasingly embracing equal treatment and access for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. Ten years ago, gay marriage was explicitly legal in just one state — Massachusetts. Same-sex couples now can marry in 35 states. But there are many parts of the U.S. where LGBT citizens not only lack the right to marry but also lack other fundamental protections. According to the Human Rights Campaign, Southaven, Miss., is one of just five cities scoring zero on their 2014 Municipal Equality Index. Others are in Texas: Irving, Lubbock, McAllen and Mesquite.
Missouri: Michael Brown sparks conversation on race in America
Michael Brown's death in Ferguson this summer set off protests throughout the nation. Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, was fatally shot by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Witness reports differ on whether Brown had his hands raised. Wilson said Brown became overpoweringly violent after the officer asked him to stop walking in the middle of a street. In November, a grand jury decided Wilson would not face charges in Brown's death, setting off riots. USA TODAY reporter Yamiche Alcindor was there from the beginning and was with Brown's family when they learned of the grand jury's decision. You can explore all our coverage of the shooting and its aftermath here.
Montana: State women mark 100 years of votingThe suffragette torch passed to a new generation of Montanans this November at a celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. On Nov. 3, 1914, after decades of debate, marches and politicking, Montana male voters passed the suffrage referendum, with 53% in favor. It took six more years for women across the USA to get the right to vote.
Nebraska: Rare twin tornadoes devastate town
Two powerful tornadoes leveled about half the town of Pilger in June. The twin twisters touched down within a mile of each other, demolishing homes and businesses in their path. Meteorologists said two such tornadoes from the same thunderstorm system are extremely rare.
Nevada: Tesla heads to Reno
After months of playing states against each other to boost tax incentives, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced on Sept. 4 that Nevada had beat out Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico for its planned $5 billion battery gigafactory to be built in the desert outside Reno. The project is expected to bring 6,500 jobs to an area still struggling to rebound from the recession.
New Hampshire: 'Father of video games' dies
Ralph Baer, the creator of the first home video game console system, died at 92 in December. While working as an engineer for New Hampshire-based company Sanders Associates, Baer created the Magnavox Odyssey, a battery-powered console that included a controller with two knobs players could twist to move horizontally or vertically.
New Jersey: The Bridgegate scandal
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie faced a scandal this year over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that gridlocked a town. The traffic jam became a major political liability for the possible Republican presidential prospect. Though a report in December suggests Christie's allies had the lanes closed because of political considerations, the New Jersey governor's role remains unknown.
More from New Jersey:Sayreville High School cancels football season after hazing scandal
New Mexico: DOJ and Albuquerque police reach deal on police use of force
Less than three weeks before Michael Brown's fatal shooting in Ferguson opened a national debate on the use of deadly force by police, city and federal authorities in Albuquerque set forth a plan to transform a local law enforcement agency with a stunningly violent reputation. The Justice Department and the city of Albuquerque announced an agreement this October that will require the police department to transform its practice of "routinely'' taking lethal action against its residents.
New York: NYC explodes with protests for Eric Garner
Demonstrations erupted in NYC this December after a grand jury decided NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo would not face charges in the July death of Eric Garner, 43, an asthmatic who was subjected to a chokehold. Garner was suspected of selling cigarettes illegally. On a cellphone video of the incident, Garner is heard saying repeatedly, "I can't breathe." A few weeks after the ruling, a gunman executed two New York Police Department officers in an apparent revenge killing for the deaths of Garner and Michael Brown.
More from New York:Buffalo Bills' famed quarterback Jim Kelly goes through cancer treatments; 14 troubled boys forsaken in life and deserted in death
North Carolina:Charlotte's ex-mayor heads to prison
Patrick Cannon went from mayor to inmate. Charlotte's former mayor was sentenced in October to three years and eight months in a federal corruption case that stunned North Carolina's largest city. In a deal with prosecutors, Cannon, a Democrat, pleaded guilty in June to one count of wire fraud. Prosecutors say Cannon accepted nearly $50,000 in bribes between January 2013, when he was a city councilman, and February 2014, three months after he was elected mayor.
North Dakota: Where the jobs are
In North Dakota, where the gas and oil industries are booming, petroleum workers are needed. But so are the electricians, pipefitters, carpenters and others who build the infrastructure. By 2017, an estimated 2.5 million new, middle-skill jobs like these are expected to be added to the workforce, accounting for nearly 40% of all job growth, according to a USA TODAY analysis of local data from Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. and CareerBuilder. Take a deeper look at USA TODAY's investigation "Where the Jobs Are."
Ohio: Lauren Hill inspires the nation
Basketball player Lauren Hill is dying of cancer, but she's not letting that stop her. The 19-year-old freshman at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer and given a short time to live, but she has made a tremendous impact both on and off the court this season. She fulfilled her dream to play college basketball, starting a game with the Lions women's basketball team and scoring a basket (or two) in front of a sold-out arena. Most importantly, she began a massive effort to raise funds for cancer research. Hill is now an honorary coach with the Lions and she's not giving up her fight to live — or the fight to raise awareness.
Oklahoma: Death row inmates appeal lethal injection rulingCapital punishment in America is in a curious state. Manufacturers are cutting off supplies of lethal injection drugs because of opposition to the death penalty, and prison officials are improvising to make up the deficit — sharing drugs, buying them from under-regulated pharmacies or using drug combinations never employed before in putting someone to death. A group of Oklahoma death row inmates scheduled to die early next year filed notice in December that they intend to appeal the ruling of a federal judge in Oklahoma City who says the state's new lethal injection protocol is constitutional. The four condemned men who have pending execution dates, beginning with Charles Frederick Warner on Jan. 15, maintain the state's use of the sedative midazolam in a three-drug combination poses a substantial risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering.
Oregon: Brittany Maynard leaves a legacy
Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old face of the controversial right-to-death movement, died in November in Portland. When you're 29 years old, you typically don't think about your legacy. You think about the family you want to start, the house you want to buy, the promotion you want to get, the trip you want to take. You think about turning 30 and the amazing life that stretches before you. Maynard moved from California to Portland so she could have access to Oregon's Death With Dignity Act and die as she had planned – in her bedroom, encircled by family and friends. Oregon became the first state in the U.S. with a death-with-dignity law in 1997. Since then, four other states have followed suit.
Pennsylvania: One of FBI's Most Wanted captured
It was a lengthy manhunt that had Pocono Mountain communities near the search area on edge. Eric Frein, suspected of killing one Pennsylvania trooper and wounding another in a September ambush, was captured in October after 48 days on the run. In addition to first-degree murder charges, Frein is accused of terrorism for allegedly trying to start a revolution by shooting the two state troopers.
Rhode Island: Obama's sleepover makes history
The president made a little bit of history this October in Rhode Island — he spent the night there. The Providence Journal reported that the last sitting president to sleep in the nation's smallest state was John F. Kennedy, more than 50 years ago. Kennedy stayed at Newport's Hammersmith Farm, home of Jacqueline Kennedy's family, according to the Journal. Obama stayed overnight for a morning speech on the economy.
South Carolina: Judge throws out black teen's conviction from 1944
When George Stinney Jr., 14, was sent to the electric chair in June 1944, he was the youngest person in the country ever executed. In December, a judge threw out Stinney's conviction for the deaths of two white girls. Stinney was convicted of the grisly murders of Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7, in Alcolu, S.C. The teen's prosecution had "fundamental, constitutional violations of due process," Judge Carmen Mullen of South Carolina's 14th Judicial Circuit said in her ruling. Her decision effectively exonerates the teen. Stinney's supporters have said he was forced to confess.
South Dakota: Case of missing girls solved after 40 years
Finally, some closure. Authorities announced in April that the skeletal remains found inside a car belonged to two teens who had been missing for 40 years. Attorney General Marty Jackley said Pamela Jackson and Cheryl Miller died when their vehicle ran off the road while they were on their way to a party in rural Union County in 1971. Jackley said there was no evidence of foul play. The final results put an end to speculation in the decades-long mystery.
More from South Dakota:S.D. teen finishes flight around the world
Tennessee: Ex-Titans kicker Rob Bironas dies in crash
On the football field, kicker Rob Bironas became known for his strong leg and his ability to come through in clutch situations. In the locker room, he was a prankster. He was the guy who would throw the rookies' clothes in the cold tub every training camp. He was quick with a joke. He liked to make people laugh. The popular kicker died in September in a single-vehicle crash in Nashville. He was 36. A toxicology report revealed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.218%, well over the legal limit (0.08).
Texas: Pipeline of children creates border crisis
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, tens of thousands of unaccompanied children crossed the border into the U.S. this year. The pipeline carrying migrants ends at the Rio Grande, where the surge of thousands of women and children from Central America overwhelmed the Border Patrol in southern Texas. More than 70 percent are from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, three Central American countries plagued by poverty and crime. The Arizona Republic'sweeklong investigative "Pipeline of Children" project looked at how gang violence, lack of opportunity and misinformation lead to a mass exodus north to the United States.
More from Texas:Rick Perry becomes first Texas governor in nearly 100 years to be indicted
Utah: Mom admits killing 6 newborns because of meth addiction
It was hard to comprehend. A Utah woman admitted to police thatshe strangled or suffocated at least six of her newborns between 1996 and 2006, stuffed the bodies into cardboard boxes and hid them in the garage of her home. Megan Huntsman was arrested in April after police discovered the remains of the infants at a house in Pleasant Grove, Utah, where she lived until 2011. Police said she killed her newborns because she was addicted to methamphetamine and couldn't cope with caring for the children.
Vermont: Former FBI director in serious accident
Former FBI director Louis Freeh was seriously injured in a car crash in Barnard in August. He later said he had no recollection of wrecking his SUV. State police theorize that Freeh, 64, may have fallen asleep during the early afternoon accident. Freeh was the FBI's director from 1993 to 2001. Freeh conducted a nearly eight-month investigation into Penn State's handling of assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's misconduct.
More from Vermont:Local inventor battles unsafe drinking water in Africa
Virginia: The murder of Hannah Graham
The nation was captivated by the search for the freckle-faced University of Virginia sophomore who vanished from the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Va., in the early morning hours of Sept. 13. Hannah Graham, 18, became everyone's sister, daughter, and friend. In October, her remains were found on an abandoned farm on Old Lynchburg Road, just 10 miles from the mall where she was last seen. Read more about her story here.
More:Ex-Va. governor Bob McDonnell guilty of public corruption; NASA rocket explodes during launch
Washington: Massive mudslide sweeps over neighborhood
The country watched in disbelief as a devastating mudslide in March wiped out an entire neighborhood in the community of Oso about 60 miles from Seattle. Dozens of people died in the disaster that destroyed homes, completely covered State Route 530 and dammed up the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River. While rescuers were searching for survivors, Snohomish County officials said they could hear cries for help from people trapped under debris. President Obama toured the devastation in Oso in April and met with families who lost loved ones.
More from Washington:'Homecoming prince' opens fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School
West Virginia: Shelley Moore Capito makes history
Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito won the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller in November. She called her victory "a turning point" for West Virginia. Capito became the first woman to represent West Virginia in the U.S. Senate and is also the first West Virginia Republican elected to the Senate since the late 1950s.
Wisconsin: Girls stab friend to please 'Slenderman'
It was a gruesome story that left many shaking their heads. Two Wisconsin girls who allegedly stabbed a classmate were trying to please the fictional horror character known as Slenderman. Anissa Weier, 13, and Morgan Geyser, 12, were charged as adults with attempted murder for a Memorial Day weekend attack that seriously wounded another girl in a park in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha. The two told authorities that Slenderman required them to perform the crime in order to curry favor with him.
Wyoming: Wild cloud wows weather watchers
A phenomenal shot of a massive cloud near Clareton made the rounds on social media this spring. The photo was taken in May by the Basehunters storm chasers group. It shows the rotating updraft of a supercell thunderstorm over eastern Wyoming, according to Weather Channel meteorologist Jon Erdman. Supercells are the largest, strongest and longest-lasting thunderstorms. They are most common on the Great Plains.
Contributing: Associated Press
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9d5ed5ef32de4d8e3ca848df03fbcc57 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2014/12/31/new-years-day-deadliest-for-pedestrians/21106307/ | New Year's Day is deadliest day to be a pedestrian | New Year's Day is deadliest day to be a pedestrian
(NEWSER) – New Year's Eve culminates in a circus of drunk drivers and pedestrians going home after a night of merry-making — and experts say drunk pedestrians are eight times more likely to be killed on the way than drunk drivers. New Year's Day is the most dangerous day to be on foot, studies have shown; you're 1.7 times more likely to be killed while walking on New Year's Day than any regular day, reports Mother Jones. (Not surprisingly: Almost half of the fatal accidents take place during the wee hours, and 58% of the pedestrians killed are intoxicated.) Drunk driving is a well-known danger, but "the risks associated with drinking and walking aren't as clear to the average person," says one highway safety researcher. Half of 2012's fatal New Year's Eve crashes involved alcohol—and in those, 34% of the walkers were drunk versus 14% of the drivers. The reason is simple — drunk people often cross against a sign, jaywalk, or even lie down in the road.
So what can America's cities do about it? Lower speed limits and brighter street lights help, and some big cities are moving in that direction. We also need more observant bartenders willing to cut off tipsy customers, experts say. Even automotive technology is trying to curb the stats with a camera that slams your brakes if a pedestrian is in the way. But until then, New Year's Eve partiers will have to help themselves — by wearing bright clothes, sticking close to sober buddies, and staying in groups. You could also take Uber, of course, but Silicon Beat warns that the ride-sharing company will be charging much higher rates than usual — if you need a ride during the prime period between 12:30 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., don't be surprised if you're charged a minimum of four to five times the typical rate. Last year in Pennsylvania, a Twitter user claimed a 4.85-mile ride cost $265. (These are the drunkest days of the year.)
This story originally appeared on Newser:
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Newser is a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
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bdf15b775cc58b43f4caeffb028c4163 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/09/inspiration-nation-bagpipe-boy-father/21466029/ | Self-taught 7-yr-old shocks family with bagpipe skills | Self-taught 7-yr-old shocks family with bagpipe skills
CLEBURNE, Tx. - Lots of little boys want to be like their dads, from mowing the lawn and playing basketball to shaving and driving cars.
So when 7-year-old Luke Stewart took an interest in his firefighter dad's new hobby, it wasn't all that surprising. But the new hobby? That was a bit out of the ordinary.
In 2013, Luke's dad Ryan decided to learn to play the bagpipes. And so did Luke.
"He always wants to do what daddy does, but when he said he wanted to play music - none of us are musical in our family, so it was kind of a shock," said mom Davina Stewart.
More than a year later, the little boy has memorized more than two dozen songs, nearly all self-taught by watching YouTube videos. He even wears traditional garb while playing, kilt included.
Watch the video above to see the kilt-clad first-grader play the bagpipes like a pro.
"Once I started taking him to events, they started noticing, 'Hey, this kid, he can really play!'" Luke's dad Ryan said.
Luke is happy to oblige when people make requests at events.
"I guess sometimes they might want me to play a song for them," he said of his admirers.
"I'm very proud, I'm very proud. Absolutely," Ryan said.
And rightfully so; he's a little guy making a big statement about both music and motivation.
Here at the USA TODAY network, not only do we want to provide you with the current events of the day, but also a little dose of inspiration while you're getting your news fix. Inspiration Nation is our way of providing you with that jolt of good news to bring a smile to your day.
If you liked Luke's story, then click here to learn about two-year-old Kaedon Olsen who was born without a fully formed right hand, and was recently gifted a robotic hand.
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675b7ec380356de5a3b5e1ba8d83dfbf | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/15/body-found-palm-desert/21834449/ | Family: 'Very loved' Omar Meza has passed away | Family: 'Very loved' Omar Meza has passed away
The coroner's office has confirmed the death of Omar Meza, a Los Angeles man missing since Jan. 8.
The 33-year-old financial executive's body was found in a pond at the JW Marriott Desert Springs resort in Palm Desert Thursday afternoon.
No other information, including possible cause of death, has been released by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Family and friends of Meza announced via Facebook Thursday night that he had died.
On the "Find Omar Meza" Facebook page, family thanked supporters for their help with search efforts and other contributions and asked for privacy as they mourn.
An autopsy is expected to be performed today to determine cause of death, Riverside County Sheriff's Department spokesman Deputy Armando Munoz said.
At about 2:15 p.m. Thursday, someone spotted a man's body in a pond in the 74-800 block of Country Club Drive, and alerted the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, according to a sheriff's department news release. The pond is on the property of the JW Marriott Desert Springs resort in Palm Desert. The body was spotted a day after sheriff's divers ended their searches of those water features.
The sheriff's department, Thursday night, would not confirm that the body is Meza's and a spokesman remained tight-lipped when asked to provide more details.
The identity of the deceased was unknown and would only be released after a positive identification had been made and next of kin had been notified, according to Munoz.
About 5:30 p.m. Thursday, authorities were still working to remove the body from the water feature. It was eventually transported to the county coroner's office, where a cause of death is to be determined.
Omar Meza, a divisional vice president for AIG Financial Distributors, was reported missing Jan. 9, a day after he had been dropped off at the large Palm Desert resort.
Meza's wife, Diane, said her husband's coat and wallet were found on the resort's golf course.
Sheriff's divers spent several days searching the resort's lakes and ponds earlier this week, assuring family members Meza wasn't there.
On Wednesday, the sheriff"s department announced it had completed its search at the JW Marriott for Meza .
That same day a large contingent of family and friends voluntarily began searching surrounding areas for Meza.
Thursday morning, family members and volunteers, some who came from as far away as Portland, Oregon, began their second day of searching by expanding their efforts to the north side of Interstate 10 into Thousand Palms and unincorporated Riverside County.
Omar Meza was in the Coachella Valley for a work-related meeting. He was staying at the Courtyard Marriott Palm Desert hotel at Cook Street and Frank Sinatra Drive, and his wife suspects an Uber driver mistakenly dropped him off 1.5 miles away at the wrong Desert Springs hotel.
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2b5cd489d18d3b64bc7eca43941584f9 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/18/disney-measles-spreads/21953767/ | Disneyland measles outbreak continues to spread | Disneyland measles outbreak continues to spread
A measles outbreak that started at Disneyland in California is spreading further across the country and into Mexico as people who were infected on their vacations take the virus home to unvaccinated family members.
More than four dozen people in four states have been diagnosed with measles related to Disneyland or the adjacent Disney California Adventure Park in Orange County.
As the first measles patients create new clusters of disease, "I think we'll see some satellite outbreaks," says William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert and professor at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine in Nashville. "It's going to take a while to control."
The first group of patients to develop measles had visited the parks from Dec. 15 to Dec. 20, according to California health officials. The officials have not yet identified "patient zero," the person who started the outbreak. People can develop measles three to 21 days after being exposed.
At least 42 cases of measles related to Disney have been diagnosed in California, plus three in Utah, two in Washington, one in Colorado and one in Mexico. The Mexican case is a 22-month-old girl.
Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital, says the Disney outbreak "has the potential to be develop into one of the worst outbreaks since 1989."
From 1989 to 1991, U.S. doctors diagnosed more than 55,000 measles cases with 166 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In response, Congress funded the Vaccines for Children Program, providing free shots to low-income kids for all recommended vaccinations.
Measles was declared eradicated in the USA in 2000, meaning that it no longer spreads routinely like the common cold. The country continued to experience a few dozen cases a year as travelers from abroad were diagnosed here.
Last year, though, measles infected 628 people, according to the CDC.
The recent surge in measles cases reflects the impact of huge measles epidemics around the world. In 2014, there were more than 57,000 cases in the Philippines and more than 17,000 in Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization.
The increased rate of measles also reflects the influence of the anti-vaccine movement, Schaffner says.
Some parents are hesitant to immunize their children because of a widespread belief that vaccines cause autism. That is a myth that has been thoroughly debunked, says Peter Hotez, president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute.
The measles shot is "one of our oldest and safest vaccines, developed more than 50 years ago," Hotez says.
Vaccination rates in the USA are generally high. But measles can spread quickly among children of "vaccine-resistant" parents, who sometimes cluster together, living near like-minded parents with doubts about vaccine safety, Schaffner says.
California health officials say Disney did nothing wrong.
Measles is one of the most contagious of all viruses, Hotez says. Measles can linger in the air for hours, infecting people even after a sick person has left the room.
Big theme parks are an ideal place to start the spread of measles because people who visit them may fly back to homes all over the world, spreading the virus as they go, Schaffner says.
Around the country, state health officials are urging susceptible people – those who haven't had measles or haven't been vaccinated – to get their shots.
Health officials in Orange County, Calif., where the Disney parks are, issued a letter to parents last week saying that unvaccinated children exposed to measles may be excluded from school or day care for up to 21 days. "That's a pretty significant incentive to make sure your child gets immunized," says Eric Handler, public health officer for Orange County, Calif.
Most of those who have contracted measles were unvaccinated, Handler says.
The CDC recommends children get a first measles shot at age 12 to 15 months, then a second shot at 4 to 6 before entering school. Two doses of measles vaccine are 99% effective at preventing the disease.
To prevent future outbreaks, states should consider strengthening laws that require children to receive recommended vaccines before beginning school, Schaffner says.
All states require vaccination before beginning public school, but 48 states grant religious exemptions and 19 states allow kids to skip vaccines for philosophical reasons, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
One in 20 children with measles develop pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles, according to the CDC. For every 1,000 children with measles, one or two will die.
California health officials are urging people with suspected measles cases to call their doctors first, rather than show up at a clinic or emergency room, to avoid exposing others.
According to the Los Angeles Times, an urgent-care clinic near San Diego was forced to shut down last week when five people arrived with a telltale rash.
Measles symptoms include fever, rash, cough, runny nose and red eyes. Someone with measles can spread the virus for several days before the rash appears as well as after the rash clears up.
There is no treatment other than to keep the patient comfortable and hydrated.
Schaffner says health officials face an uphill battle persuading vaccine-resistant parents to immunize their children.
"I don't think we're going to see a whole lot of parents suddenly running out to vaccinate their children," he says. "The first response of human beings, when they hold a belief and are challenged, is to double down. They become more fixed in their idea, more stubborn."
Wendy Sue Swanson, a Seattle pediatrician, notes that some children are at higher risk of measles than others, including those who are immune-suppressed or who are too young to be fully vaccinated.
"We can't forget that we have responsibility for our community," Swanson says. "Not only are unvaccinated children at risk for measles right now, we have to remember that they are also at risk for spreading it, too."
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51e7017fe0b27881499b3c0f9dbf4e79 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/21/bacteria-deadly-endoscope-contamination/22119329/ | Deadly bacteria on medical scopes trigger infections | Deadly bacteria on medical scopes trigger infections
Editor's note: This story originally was published January 21, 2015, at 6:21 p.m. EST. It has been updated to add video and links.
The deadly pattern of illnesses began to emerge in 2012 at hospitals in Seattle, Pittsburgh, Chicago. In each case, the culprit was a bacteria known as CRE, perhaps the most feared of superbugs, because it resists even "last defense" antibiotics — and kills up to 40% of the people it infects.
And in each case, investigators identified the same source of transmission: a specialized endoscope, threaded down the throat of a half-million patients a year to treat gallstones, cancers and other disorders of the digestive system. They found that the devices, often called duodenoscopes, accumulate bacteria that are not always removed by conventional cleaning, so infections can pass from patient to patient.
Yet neither the scopes' manufacturers nor the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates them, have publicized or offered guidance on the problem. So, many doctors who use the scopes — and most of the patients they treat — don't know the risks. Nor do they know that steps can be taken to cut those risks dramatically.
"Most hospitals that do these procedures are not even looking for this problem, or they may not be aware, and that's got to change," says Jeffrey Duchin, a physician who heads communicable disease control at the Seattle and King County (Wash.) Public Health Department.
Many of the resulting infections may go unnoticed, says Duchin, who directed the investigation of the CRE outbreak in Seattle. In that case, seven patients died with infections that were associated with contaminated duodenoscopes; five of them with CRE. (None of the deaths was attributed solely to the infections because all of the patients also had other health problems.)
When contaminated scopes transmit CRE, it's likely to get attention, because the infections involve especially perilous, "red-flag" bacteria, Duchin says. But more common bugs may elicit little more than a quick prescription for antibiotics — and no investigation.
"There's a likelihood that we're just seeing a very small subset of the universe of infections from these types of scopes," Duchin says.
The FDA says in a written statement to USA TODAY that it is "aware of and closely monitoring" the infection risks associated with the scopes. "Some parts of the scopes may be extremely difficult to access and clean thoroughly," the agency adds, "and effective cleaning of all areas of the duodenoscope may not be possible."
The agency is studying the problem and working with manufacturers to determine whether new cleaning protocols should be mandated or the scopes should be redesigned entirely. Meanwhile, the scopes' "lifesaving" ability to detect and treat potentially fatal digestive disorders outweighs their infection risks, the statement adds. "It (is) important for these devices to remain available."
Few dispute the scopes' importance. But public health officials and endoscopy experts who have studied the problem believe the FDA and scope manufacturers have been slow to bring attention to the infection risks and publicize steps hospitals can take to reduce them dramatically.
"It's fair to ask whether the FDA could have been doing more to regulate these devices and significantly reduce the risk of patient harm," says Lawrence Muscarella, a biomedical engineer and independent consultant who advises hospitals on endoscope safety. "Patients have died, and the agency seems to be moving slowly."
DIRTY SCOPES, DEAD PATIENTS
Muscarella has identified at least a half-dozen U.S. outbreaks of CRE and related superbugs since 2012 that were linked to contaminated duodenoscopes — findings he published in a peer-reviewed medical journal in October. The biggest cases involved dozens of patients and multiple deaths, but as in the Seattle outbreak, not all of the fatalities were attributed conclusively to CRE because some patients had multiple ailments.
Most of the patients had undergone a procedure known as ERCP, or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. In the procedure, the duodenoscope is used to inject a contrast dye into the bile and pancreatic ducts, of which X-rays are taken to reveal blockages, tumors, gallstones and other problems.
The scope also can be used to gather material for biopsies, remove stones or other obstructions, or install stents to open the ducts.
Last year, after linking the CRE outbreak in Chicago to ERCP scopes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning about the risks of spreading infections among patients who undergo the procedure. The problem, investigators found, is that biological material can collect in the "elevator" mechanisms that control tiny devices that extend from the tip of the duodenoscope.
Even when the devices are cleaned strictly in accordance with manufacturers' FDA-approved guidelines, "they have a lot of intricate mechanisms and pieces that are very difficult to disinfect," says Alex Kallen, an infectious-disease physician at the CDC who helped direct the investigation. "There definitely is a risk of (disease) transmission with these scopes."
NOT WAITING FOR FDA
Several hospitals that have linked CRE outbreaks to their duodenoscopes have not waited for guidance from the FDA and scope manufacturers; they've developed new safety procedures on their own that are showing great promise.
At Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, officials adopted new scope-cleaning protocols and now require that all scopes be quarantined after cleaning, then tested for any residual bacteria before they can be reused.
The hospital had to purchase additional scopes, and more staff were needed for cleaning and testing, according to Duchin, the county health official. He says the changes cost the hospital an estimated $1 million, but the investment paid off: No infections have been linked to the scopes since the new procedures were put in place.
At University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital outside Chicago, officials have begun using a process called EtO gas sterilization to ensure that any bacteria lingering on scopes after manual cleaning are destroyed. The process requires special facilities and equipment because the gas is toxic, but the hospitals have reported seeing no infections since they began using it.
Both the gas sterilization and the quarantine-and-test approaches would be difficult for many hospitals to adopt — particularly those that have smaller staffs and budgets, says Marcia Patrick, a member of the education faculty with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
But Patrick notes that there are things that most hospitals can do to at least assess their risks for transmitting CRE and other infections through scopes. For example, she says, hospitals should consider taking bacterial cultures from scopes on occasion to assess whether their disinfection processes are working.
"The cost of culturing is not that high," Patrick says. "You can culture them once, see what's there, and based on that, maybe do it once a month for surveillance."
REGULATORY ISSUES
The FDA says it is working with all three major manufacturers of duodenoscopes — Olympus, FUJIFILM and Pentax — to assess potential design changes and determine whether new disinfection processes can ensure the scopes' safety in their current configuration.
The agency says it also is looking at whether new disinfection processes might be adaptable to ensure safety of all types of reusable endoscopes, since many hospitals process different scopes in batches. Ensuring duodenoscope safety "is on the agency's priority list for guidance documents we intend to publish in 2015," the FDA statement says.
In separate statements to USA TODAY, all three manufacturers said they are aware of the concerns about infection transmission from their duodenoscopes and are working with FDA to address the issue. All three noted that proper cleaning of the devices according to existing, FDA-approved guidance would help minimize infection risks.
The extent of that risk remains an open question, because infections linked to duodenoscopes can be difficult to detect. Muscarella and other experts say large numbers of cases likely go unreported.
CRE infections get noticed because they're so deadly and hard to treat. The bacteria are formally titled Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae for their resistance to carbapenem antibiotics — the last line of defense in the medical toolbox. They generate particular concern because CRE's resistance gene can transfer to other bacteria, transforming more routine bacterial infections into drug-resistant scourges.
But Muscarella, Patrick and others note that duodenoscopes are almost certainly transmitting other, less serious infections as well. Those cases tend to go unnoticed, they say, because doctors simply prescribe antibiotics and don't give much thought to where or how the illness was contracted.
RAISING AWARENESS
The reported cases of CRE are "probably the tip of an iceberg" of infections transmitted by duodenoscopes, Patrick says. "But we don't know how big that iceberg is."
All patient illnesses or injuries linked to a medical device are supposed to be reported to the FDA by hospitals and manufacturers. But the agency concedes in its statement that those reports can be spotty, as many infections are not linked back to their cause.
The FDA says it is considering whether to require that hospitals do the sort of periodic bacterial testing of duodenoscopes that some infection experts see as necessary. In addition to helping hospitals gauge the efficacy of their disinfection practices, such a rule could provide more data on the scopes' infection risks.
In the meantime, efforts to raise awareness of the problem are limited mainly to a few medical journal articles, the CDC's alerts and information put out by physicians' groups and medical societies.
"This is a very important issue," says Bret Petersen, a physician who serves as a counselor and board member at the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. The society has sent alerts to members about the infection risks associated with duodenoscopes, Petersen says, but it has not endorsed specific disinfection recommendations because the steps taken by affected hospitals have not been validated by the FDA.
"We do expect the FDA and the manufacturers to provide additional public guidance," he adds.
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bcec374033a1f799b51cb1380a8fe96e | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/21/blue-cross-blue-shield-knee-hip-surgery-rates-vary-widely/21999929/ | Surgery costs vary wildly -- even in same area | Surgery costs vary wildly -- even in same area
The cost of having a knee or hip replaced varies wildly and can be up to four times more in one place than another -— even in the same area, a report out Wednesday found.
A total knee replacement averaged about $31,000 in 64 markets where Blue Cross Blue Shield analyzed its claims data. But in Dallas, it ranged from $16,772 to $61,584.86.
Across the USA, knee replacements costs as little as $11,317 in Montgomery, Ala., and as much as $69,654 in New York City,
Some of the price differences are expected -— rent and other overhead costs are much higher in New York City than in Alabama. But the reasons why hip replacement in Fort Collins, Colo., costs tens of thousands more than in Pittsburgh may have more to do with whatever the market will bear.
The price hospitals charge is often discussed, but the new report is the first time BCBS has disclosed the prices after its negotiates with hospitals and doctors. In May 2013, the federal government for the first time released Medicare data showing hospitals nationally charge wildly varying amounts for common major medical care.
Spiraling health care costs, higher insurance plan deductibles and increased cost sharing have made procedure prices more important than ever to consumers. Insurers are also tired of paying ever-higher prices for treatments they say shouldn't change so much year to year — and certainly not hospital to hospital in the same region.
Deductibles were up nearly 50% between 2009 to 2014, increasing from an average of $826 to $1,217, the Kaiser Family Foundation said in a report last fall. It's not unusual now, however, for people with employer-paid or individual insurance through the new Affordable Care Act exchanges to have deductibles of $5,000 or even $10,000. Many also often have to pay 20% to 30% of the price.
Aetna, Assurant Health, Humana and United Healthcare agreed in May to provide cost data to the Health Care Cost Institute, which plans to release the aggregate data publicly in late February.
Health care pricing is "all driven by the reimbursement system," namely insurance companies and government Medicare and Medicaid, says Rick Louie, managing director of Hospital Pricing Specialists, a Silicon Valley hospital price data firm.
Knee and hip replacements are among the fastest-growing medical treatments in the U.S.
Prices for lower-cost procedures, such as colonoscopies, would resonate more for consumers, says health care economist Mark Pauly. The prices BCBS is releasing would top all but the highest deductibles.
"As a consumer, why should I care?," asks Pauly, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business,
Some employer-provided plans reward workers for going to certain doctors and hospitals that have higher quality and lower prices, a practice BCBS supports. Maureen Sullivan, BCBS' senior vice president of strategic services, says the company has found there is "not a direct correlation" between high or low quality and cost.
Sullivan says the level of cost sharing, and issues such as complication and readmission rates should push consumers toward the highest-quality health care providers that have the lowest charges.
Factors including the cost to operate a facility, the mix of public and private insurance and charity care, and the need for a wide network of providers affect the prices insurers pay, experts say.
Costs can vary widely across the board. For example:
• Clearhealthcosts.com, which surveys providers in seven metro areas, found the lowest price for a mammogram in New York is $50 at All County Radiology in Queens, and the highest is $607 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
• Hospital Pricing Specialists reported this month that a 100-mg dose of a chemotherapy injection called Rituximab costs $5,639 at Atlanta Medical Center in Georgia and $351 at University of Miami Hospital in Florida.
• And that injection, used to treat illnesses such as lymphoma and leukemia, cost more than twice as much — $5,389 — at Baptist Health in Louisville as it did at Louisville's Jewish Hospital.
Crystal McGrew of Taylorsville, Ky., saw the issue firsthand when she received two vastly different bills after her son had ear tubes inserted two years in a row at different hospitals. Despite having the same insurance coverage and doctor, 2012 charges from Kosair Children's Hospital totaled $1,560, while 2013 charges from Jewish Hospital Medical Center East totaled $5,260. There were no complications during either procedure, and officials with both Louisville hospitals said they couldn't say why the bills were so different.
"We're all talking about health insurance and health costs going up (yet) there's no control over what hospitals are allowed to charge," she says.
Jeanne Pinder, founder of Clearhealthcosts.com, says she's optimistic "transparency will fix a lot of this.
"The idea we have consumer-directed health care is a big fat joke if you don't have a road map for costs," she says.
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53eb426d36c3d4ae215796751b70f3c2 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/21/police-redoubling-efforts-to-recruit-diverse-officers/21574081/ | Police redouble efforts to recruit diverse officers | Police redouble efforts to recruit diverse officers
Police departments, spurred by widespread protests against racial profiling and police brutality, are boosting efforts to recruit more non-white officers, but tight budgets and strained relationships with communities of color have made it difficult for authorities to meet their goals.
Nearly three-quarters of all police officers are white, while the U.S. population is about 63% white, U.S. Census data show. In some communities, such as Ferguson, Mo., where the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer sparked months of sometimes violent protests, the racial disparity between the police force and the community it serves is even sharper: Of 53 officers on the force, four are black while the Ferguson population is 66% black.
Experts and police officers say a force that racially and ethnically reflects the population of the community can improve relations between police and residents, dispel mistrust and communicate more effectively. White House officials have asked the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives to help devise methods to create an ethnically and racially diverse police force as part of President Obama's newly created Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
A multicultural law enforcement agency that can understand and connect with the diversity of issues in a community is more effective at policing, said Catherine Sanz, president of Women in Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, which encourages federal agencies to hire female officers of all colors.
"When you talk to somebody from your community, there's a lot of things you don't have to say to each other," Sanz said. "There's this connectivity between each other."
Joseph Giacalone, a retired sergeant who spent 20 years with the New York City Police Department and teaches police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, agrees.
"We try to have a jury of our peers, so we like to have a police department of our peers," he said. "I'm a strong proponent of diversified police departments. I mean you have to have them. It's crazy not to have them in 2015."
The NYPD's ethnic and racial makeup reflects the city's population. Of the 34,822 of officers in the city, about 16% are black, 32% are non-whites, and 26% are Hispanic, according to records from 2013. It took the department years of targeted efforts to get there, said Giacalone, who can recall when police rookies received "cheat sheets" with common Spanish phrases. The city of 8.4 million is about 33% white, 26% black, 29% Hispanic and 13% Asian.
Racial balance has not ended strife between police and residents.
In New York, the chokehold death of Eric Garner as police attempted to arrest him last year for selling loose cigarettes and the shooting of Sean Bell, an unarmed black man shot by police on his wedding day in 2006, provoked cries of injustice from city residents. In December, a man who said in social media posts that he intended to avenge the deaths of two unarmed black men shot and killed NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu, a Chinese American, and his patrol partner, Rafael Ramos, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent.
Police departments, such as the one in St. Louis County, have sought racial and ethnic diversity, but they struggle.
Recruiting in underrepresented communities can mean chiseling through layers of resentment and mistrust that have built over years and competing with other groups, such as the military, to persuade blacks, Hispanics and Asians to join a police force that many consider hostile, experts said. Tight budgets and hiring freezes have delayed such efforts.
In Ector County, Texas, which includes the oil boom town of Odessa, more than 50% of the population is Hispanic, but the police and sheriffs have slowly adjusted to reflect the Spanish-speaking population, said Sheriff Mark Donaldson, who slipped into the white minority over his 37-year career. Less than 5% of police in the county were Hispanic in 2010, according to the Census, but Donaldson said it's closer to one-third Hispanic because of recent hiring.
"I don't care what race or nationality you are, I want you to do the job," Donaldson said. "Three of my last four new officer hires were Hispanic."
Donaldson faces a dwindling pool of qualified candidates as they are drawn to higher salaries doing security in the oil fields or industries that support them.
The Hispanic disparity nationwide has gone largely unnoticed partially because "we don't have an Al Sharpton" or high-profile examples of tension, said Lt. Andrew Peralta of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, who is president of the National Latino Police Officers Association.
RECRUITING COUNTERS COMMUNITY DISTRUST
On paper, the percentage of black and white police officers very nearly reflects the population. But the numbers don't explain how it is that a nearly all-white police department, such as the Ferguson Police Department, serves a majority black community.
In the USA, 72% of police officers are white while 12% are black and 12% are Hispanic, according to Census records that cover 2006 to 2010. The U.S. population is 12% black and 17% Hispanic.
To recruit more diverse officers, police departments should go to places where people of color live, work and socialize, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives told the White House policing task force. Departments should strive to promote minority officers to leadership positions, the group said.
"It is important that diversity be reflected within the faces of the organizations," said Dwayne Crawford, executive director of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. "You need to make sure you are marketing your product in a way that it can attract those that are interested in buying your product."
In St. Louis County, where African Americans make up nearly a quarter of the residents, just 10% of the city's 850 police officers are black, Police Recruitment Officer Kevin Minor said.
In the aftermath of the protests in Ferguson and criticism of the department's response, the racial imbalance stood out. The number of black residents asking to join the force has doubled, said Minor, who is black. Since August, the department has hired four more black officers.
"Because of Ferguson, they want to help out," he said. "I get tons of e-mails and phone calls every day, and it's getting to be more and more each day."
Before the Ferguson protests, Minor made pitches for officers of color at historically black colleges and at career fairs. He said he also emphasizes diversity in television interviews, increasing the department's social media posts and targeting members of the Missouri National Guard.
Minor and police recruiters like him must make their case for the police department against a backdrop of long-standing, pervasive distrust and anger toward law enforcement in many minority communities. Young black men and women who want to be police officers may be reluctant to admit it in front of their friends, Minor said.
Sometimes, those attitudes get reinforcement from national leaders, said Giacalone, the former NYPD officer.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he had warned his biracial son, Dante, that he might be treated differently from someone white.
"That's just the reality in this country," de Blasio said. "With Dante, very early on, we said, 'Look, if a police officer stops you, do everything he tells you to do, don't move suddenly, don't reach for your cellphone.' Because we knew, sadly, there's a greater chance it might be misinterpreted if it was a young man of color."
Giacalone said such advice reinforces the stereotypes and hurts recruitment efforts.
"There is some distrust of the police from different minority communities," Giacalone said. "They are kind of taught to distrust the police when they're very young, so good luck trying to recruit them,"
It isn't just the stereotypes that hurt recruitment but the reality of how police treat people of color, said Maya Beasley, a sociology and African studies professor at the University of Connecticut. Beasley's research on aspirations and career choices found African-American youth are drawn strongly toward community service jobs that would include policing. Police shootings of unarmed people of color and fears of discrimination push them away from careers as police officers, she said.
"If people who are shooting black kids are then put back out on the street with a slap on the wrist at best, then that sends a message within the police community and communities of color about what it means to brutalize people of color," Beasley said.
As a kid in Detroit, Chrystal Wright, who is black, dreamed of becoming a police officer. For years, she listened as people in her neighborhood complained of mistreatment by police.
"That changed my attitude," Wright said.
Now, Wright, 40, a first-year student at Gadsden State Community College in Alabama, is studying to become a private investigator.
Classmate Carly Edwards, 20, who is biracial, said distrust would dissipate if more African Americans joined the force. She plans to move to Houston, study criminal justice and become a police officer like her older cousin.
"I just want people not to fear the police," she said.
Veteran police officers say African-American police often must withstand hostility from their own communities. Dexter Cunningham, a 25-year veteran of the Birmingham, Ala., police force, once responded to a domestic violence case during which the perpetrator accused him of showing off for a white officer, a rookie he was training.
"I've been called an Uncle Tom and a sellout," he said.
Darrel Stephens, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said the demographics of America are changing rapidly as the country becomes more and more racially diverse. Yet from 2008 to 2014, most police departments weren't hiring. Officers who recruit for police departments also compete with the military and the private sector, which have robust budgets for talent.
"Whatever (recruitment) efforts they were engaged in before, they weren't engaged in any to speak of because they didn't have budgets that were sufficient to hire people," Stephens said of the departments. "I'm sure that's had some impact on the overall presence of minorities in the workforce."
He said that since protests began in Ferguson, departments are "redoubling" efforts to recruit more officers of color.
SUCCESS ADDRESSING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
The Oakland Police Department has focused for years on diversity, having some success, said Sgt. Juan Sanchez, the department's recruiting supervisor.
The department's racial and ethnic makeup nearly mirrors the makeup of the city's population. Of its 694 officers, 42% are white, 21% are Hispanic, 19% are black and 13% are Asian. The city of 406,000 is about 26% white, 28% black, 25% Hispanic and 17% Asian.
Sanchez said police departments must push beyond their traditional methods, such as printing brochures showing photographs of racially diverse employees or courting students at historically black colleges. Sanchez said he casts a wider net by posting jobs on social media sites, convening meetings at community centers instead of at the department and partnering with community leaders and clergy to identify potential applicants.
His mission is personal. Sanchez grew up in Oakland as the son of Mexican immigrants. Soon after his parents came to California, robbers broke into their house and car. Police responded.
"My mom couldn't speak English to the officers. Here I am 8 or 9 years old trying to translate," Sanchez said. "Every time I think about that, it reminds of the importance of not just Spanish but all the other languages."
Since 2010, Asians have represented the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the USA. Pockets of the Midwest have significant Hmong populations from China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and police departments such as the one in Appleton, Wis., have sought Hmong officers to better serve the community.
Officer Kong Lee was sworn in this month as the department's third Hmong officer. He said he brings unique skills but wants to be viewed like any other cop.
"We still have first-generation Hmong who don't speak English, and I can also help with the cultural differences when responding to a call," said Lee, who previously worked for the Louisville Police Department. "I hope we don't get to the point where we're hiring based on race. You just want the best person for the job, regardless if they speak Hmong, Arabic or Spanish."
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8a4a41c1df32d272552d5546b608860b | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/22/ntsb-crash-recommendations-faa-video-deployable-recorders/22152303/ | NTSB recommends ways to find plane crashes faster | NTSB recommends ways to find plane crashes faster
WASHINGTON — In an effort to find plane crashes faster and learn more from them, the National Transportation Safety Board made eight recommendations Thursday to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The proposals include installing cockpit video recorders, preventing anyone from disabling them or the voice and data recorders, and ensuring that searchers can get information about an ocean crash without needing to retrieve underwater wreckage.
"The NTSB is vitally interested in these recommendations because they are designed to prevent accidents and save lives," according to the 13-page letter from current board members Christopher Hart, Robert Sumwalt and Earl Weener.
The FAA said in a statement that the agency continues to work with industry and international partners for advanced technologies that are useful in accident investigations.
"The FAA will carefully review all of the NTSB's recommendations and will send the board a formal response," the agency said.
But many of the recommendations are contentious. For example, the NTSB recommended video recorders in 2000, but pilots have opposed the proposal. FAA developed voluntary standards for image recorders and is working on policy for voluntary use of deployable recorders.
The recommendations are a response to the difficulties finding planes that crash or go missing over oceans, where radar can't reach and satellite links can be lost. The search continues for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared last March, presumably over the Indian Ocean.
Electronics on that Boeing 777 stopped routine communications after less than an hour, meaning either a catastrophic failure or that someone turned them off, even though satellite signals suggested that the plane kept flying for seven hours.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, a branch of the United Nations that recommends policies, is studying how to better track planes. The NTSB calls for tamper-proof signaling from planes flying over water to within six nautical miles.
The crash of Air France Flight 447 into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 illustrated the challenges of finding a plane's recorders. Even with debris floating from the Airbus A330, it took searchers nearly two years to find the recorders on the ocean floor.
The NTSB said search areas could have been narrowed significantly for Air France and Malaysia with its recommendation for tracking signals about once per minute. But international experts are debating what standards to adopt for tracking planes, and whether more equipment is needed on planes.
A task force organized after the Malaysia disappearance by the International Air Transport Association, a group of 240 airlines worldwide, has recommended tracking planes every 15 minutes because planes already carry that technology.
"As evidenced by our safety record, the U.S. airline industry remains the largest and safest aviation system in the world as a result of the ongoing and strong collaboration among airlines, airline employees, manufacturers and government," said Victoria Day, spokeswoman for Airlines for America, a trade group for the country's largest airlines.
Another challenge in an ocean crash is retrieving voice and data recorders from wreckage that could be miles deep. The NTSB recommends either installing additional, floating recorders that eject from a plane just before a crash, or installing communications equipment that sends a blast of details about the flight by satellite just before a crash.
Boeing and Airbus disagree about installing deployable recorders on airliners. At an NTSB forum in October, an Airbus representative said the manufacturer planned to install deployable recorders on its larger planes, the A380 and the new A350, and on planes that routinely fly over water from the smaller A320 family of planes.
But a Boeing representative noted that in development for military planes, recorders occasionally deployed unintentionally, which would be risky over cities. Out of 24 intentional military ejections since 2004, he said 18 recorders were found, meaning the system is only 75% reliable.
NTSB also recommends making the recorders tamper-proof and including video from the cockpit.
Besides concerns that Malaysia's equipment was intentionally turned off, the NTSB said voice and data recorders lacked information about crew actions in crashes of ValuJet Flight 592, SilkAir Flight 185, Swissair Flight 111 and EgyptAir Flight 990. In the SilkAir and EgyptAir, pilot suicide was suspected.
The ideas aren't new. In 2000, Jim Hall, who was then head of the NTSB, urged video recording in a speech that said it would tell which pilot was in control, who was flipping switches and what distractions existed. Noises are sometimes hard to distinguish on voice recorders because of the chaos.
"That would enable us to more easily determine causes of accidents and implement solutions to improve safety," Hall said.
But pilots have long argued they must have the power to turn off electronic equipment because of fire threats. And pilots contend that video is subjective and isn't as precise as the current data recorders, which monitor hundreds of details about a plane's controls.
The Air Line Pilots Association, a union representing 50,000 pilots, argues in a white paper that video would invade a pilot's privacy, lawyers would play videos in court as a gimmick and video could be released widely to hurt a pilot's survivors.
Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA's president, said the recommendations on video recorders "are a premature overreaction" that "will not improve safety and could, in fact, impede it by diverting limited resources that could be used for more valuable safety enhancements."
Instead, he urged investment in higher-quality data recording.
"ALPA will continue to work with industry and government to develop systems that make air travel – already the safest mode of transportation – even more safe," Canoll said.
The recommendations urge FAA to:
• Require aircraft that fly over oceans to have a tamper-resistant broadcast of their location to within six nautical miles of a crash, which would require a signal about once a minute.
• Mandate that aircraft flying over water provide a means to recover flight data that "should not require underwater retrieval."
• Coordinate the location and retrieval policies with international groups.
• Install underwater locator devices on planes that signal for 90 days at lower frequencies than current ultrasonic beacons, so they are heard better through wreckage.
• Thwart the ability for someone to disable recorders on existing planes.
• Prevent anyone from disabling recorders on new planes.
• Require cockpit video recorders in existing airliners with voice and data recorders.
• Require cockpit video recorders in new airliners.
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36c9e94f5e4afbcdaad5c685539d1f81 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/29/measles-outbreak-dangerousness/22521529/ | Measles has infected 84 people in 14 states this year | Measles has infected 84 people in 14 states this year
A resort such as Disneyland, where visitors mix with people from all over the world before flying home, is the perfect place to start a nationwide measles epidemic, public health experts say.
Yet a Disneyland measles outbreak that has spread to eight states and Mexico could also help turn around a trend in which more parents have opted out of vaccinating their children.
A growing number of parents in recent years have skipped their children's vaccines because of a discredited belief that vaccines are linked to autism. That has led to pockets of unvaccinated children, says Mark Schleiss, a pediatric infectious disease physician at the University of Minnesota.
"We could be on the threshold of a watershed event, where we see large outbreaks in many cities," Schleiss says. "But perhaps this will also be watershed event to refocus attention on the safety of vaccines."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 84 people in 14 states were diagnosed with measles from Jan. 1 through 28. Most were infected either at Disneyland or by someone who went there.
That means the USA had more cases of measles in January than it usually has in an entire year, says Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general. About 15% of measles patients have been hospitalized.
Most of the infected people had not been fully vaccinated, she says.
"This is a wake-up call to make sure that we keep measles from regaining a foothold in our country," Schuchat says.
Last year was a particularly bad year for measles, driven both by huge outbreaks in Asia as well as rising rates of unvaccinated children. Doctors diagnosed 644 people with the virus, according to the CDC. Although health officials don't know who started the Disneyland outbreak, they have said it was probably a foreign visitor.
Measles infects 20 million people around the world each year, killing 145,000, Schuchat says.
Yet the disease didn't get much attention until it arrived at Disneyland, says Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who says he has been doing non-stop news interviews about measles this week.
"You really feel much more anger with this outbreak," Offit says. "What is the difference? I really think it's Disneyland."
Offit says some people are frustrated that parents who chose not to vaccinate are ruining their vacations or just ruining the idea of a happy, carefree place that's normally untouched by reality. California health officials have warned unvaccinated people not to go to Disneyland and not to take babies too young to have had their first shots.
California schools have sent dozens of unvaccinated students home from school to protect them and stop the spread of measles. That may educate people about how dangerous and disruptive measles can be, Offit says.
"People for years have desperately tried to make sure that parents understand what is at stake when you don't vaccinate," Offit says. "Unfortunately, the only thing that really educates people is fear of the disease."
Some examples of the disruption: Arizona has diagnosed only seven cases of measles, but those infected people have exposed as many as 1,000 others, including babies too young to have had their first measles shot, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Doctors recommend that unvaccinated people exposed to measles be quarantined for three weeks, the measles incubation period.
The CDC recommends that children receive a first measles shot around age 1 and a second at ages 4 to 6 before beginning kindergarten.
The Arizona measles cases began with one unvaccinated family of four from Pinal County that went to Disneyland, according to state health officials. Back at home, one of the children went to two urgent-care centers for medical attention, exposing 18 children, 13 of whom were unvaccinated. That family also exposed a woman from Maricopa County, who then exposed as many as 195 children at a child care center. A man who caught measles from the family then exposed others.
Although the routine spread of measles was eliminated in the USA in 2000, a low rate of vaccination in some communities has allowed the virus — one of the most contagious — to make a comeback, says Walter Orenstein, a professor and associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta. Measles vaccination rates range from a low of 81% of kindergarten students in Colorado to a high of nearly 100% in Mississippi.
The current generation of parents has no experience with measles, Orenstein points out. A growing number have skipped or delayed children's vaccines because of debunked myths about vaccines causing autism, Orenstein says.
"People don't see these diseases, they don't fear these diseases, and they don't know how serious these diseases can be," he says.
Measles is a tenacious virus that lingers in the air and can infect people two hours after a sick person has left the room. People with measles are contagious even in the early days of the infection, when they have symptoms similar to those of a cold and the telltale red rash has not appeared, Orenstein says. On average, one measles patient can infect as many as 18 susceptible people — those who are unvaccinated and who have never had measles.
For every 1,000 cases of measles, two to three people die, Orenstein says. Children can develop pneumonia, deafness or encephalitis, an inflammation of the lining of the brain.
During a measles outbreak from 1989 to 1991, more than 55,000 Americans were infected, more than 11,000 were hospitalized and 166 died, according to the CDC.
Children with measles are miserable even if they don't develop serious complications, Offit says. The disease can last up to two weeks, causing fevers of 103 to 105 degrees, ear infections, diarrhea and loss of appetite that can lead to dehydration. Children can become so sensitive to light that they need to lie in bed in a darkened room.
One way doctors diagnose measles, Offit say, is by noting a child's degree of misery. "Children with measles are inconsolable," he says.
Controlling a measles outbreak is expensive and time-consuming. Each case in a measles outbreak in 2008 cost taxpayers more than $10,000 as public health staff traced each patient's contacts, quarantined patients and administered vaccines.
Offit says he's seen a big change in news coverage of the Disneyland measles outbreak. Ten or 15 years ago, he says, reporters often gave credence to parents claiming that vaccines caused their children to develop autism. Since then, studies have debunked any link between autism and childhood immunizations — a fact Offit sees reflected in coverage now.
The Disneyland outbreak "gives us a chance to have important conversations about what vaccines do and what they protect us from," says Claire McCarthy, a pediatrician at Boston Children's Hospital. "These other measles outbreaks haven't seemed quite real to people. Disneyland has made it real."
About 25% of measles patients have been sick enough to be hospitalized, according to California health officials. McCarthy says she fears many more will be hospitalized before the outbreak is under control.
"This has the potential to get really huge," McCarthy says. "We don't know how big this will get."
Pediatrician Bob Sears, author of TheVaccine Book, says he thinks more families will vaccinate against measles as a result of the outbreak. But he doubts skeptical parents will be more likely to follow the CDC schedule for other vaccinations.
"Because measles has been so rare in the past 20 years, parents had the luxury to forgo the vaccine without risking disease," Sears says. "When an outbreak occurs, that sense of security goes away."
Although Sears recommends that parents vaccinate children against measles at age 1, the same age recommended by the CDC, he has popularized an alternative vaccine schedule that stretches out the length of time between shots because some parents worry about too many shots at once. Critics say that leaves children vulnerable to dangerous diseases for an unnecessarily long time.
"Parent should have the freedom to consider the pros and cons of the (measles) vaccine and make an educated decision for their child," Sears says.
Schleiss points out that parents who choose not to vaccinate may find themselves taking three weeks off work or hiring a babysitter when their unvaccinated children are excluded from class.
"That comes with the territory when you choose not to vaccinate," he says.
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334d85b646d49d9c55eb0dccc028fe77 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/02/bakery-same-sex-oregon-fined-wedding-cake/22771685/ | Bakery risks large fine for anti-gay discrimination | Bakery risks large fine for anti-gay discrimination
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story's headline misrepresented the timeframe for damages. The bakery has not yet be fined.
GRESHAM, Ore. – An Oregon bakery discriminated against a same-sex couple who wanted to purchase a wedding cake, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries announced Monday.
The owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery will have to pay the couple up to $150,000, BOLI spokesman Charlie Burr said. The exact amount will be determined at a hearing on March 10.
In Jan. 2013, Laurel Bowman said Sweet Cakes refused to sell her and her fiancée a cake for their upcoming wedding. Bowman said Aaron Klein, the co-owner of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, said the couple's union was an "abomination unto the lord." Gresham, Ore. is a town east of Portland.
Bowman filed an anti-discrimination complaint with BOLI later that year, alleging that the bakery violated the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, which protects the rights of Oregonians who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
"Oregonians may not be denied service based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The law provides an exemption for religious organizations and schools, but does not allow private businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation," Burr said.
Although the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa are religious, the bakery is not a religious institution under law.
The BOLI Interim Order announced Feb. 2 found sufficient evidence that the Kleins discriminated against the same-sex couple.
The owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa will have to pay up to $75,000 per person who filed the complaint, which means the same-sex couple could be awarded up to $150,000, Burr said.
The Kleins will not be penalized for speaking about the issue on Christian television and radio programs.
Sweet Cakes closed its doors in Dec. 2013, in the midst of the public backlash from the investigation. The owner of the bakery said she would keep baking cakes at a home-based bakery.
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280a02a12bedd351ad5c1e072f44507e | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/03/black-history-harlem-renaissance/22825245/ | Harlem Renaissance ushered in new era of black pride | Harlem Renaissance ushered in new era of black pride
Neighborhoods change.
Harlem today has become a hot real estate market as well-heeled buyers flood into the northern end of Manhattan seeking bargain properties.
The Harlem of recent decades, by contrast, was often synonymous with poverty and crime.
But Harlem 100 years ago was ground zero of an explosion of arts, politics and culture in black America. The Harlem Renaissance — known then as the "New Negro Movement" — saw the rise of jazz, the launch of such literary careers as Langston Hughes' and Zora Neale Hurston's, and a new sense of black identity and pride.
It wasn't just in Harlem. Chicago, Cleveland and other Northern cities saw similar cultural and artistic movements, born out of the massive migrations of African Americans from the rural South, first to Southern cities and then into the North.
"This is a period when the majority of black people in the United States are born as free people — the first generation when they're not largely born as slaves," says Minkah Makalani, assistant professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
But they still faced racial oppression and violence in the South, Makalani says, so "they find their way out of that and create some of the most vibrant artifacts and cultural practices that literally inform everything in the American culture today, be it dance, music, writing, poetry. It's a very vibrant robust period.
"You also have these kinds of compelling commentaries on democracy, on politics, on what a just society will look like. They're having these profound discussions about what does it mean to be a democracy, what does it mean to be a world power, where do black people fit in. And it's not monolithic."
The people and places associated with the Harlem Renaissance are a roll call for American letters, art and thought: musicians Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong; writer Wallace Thurman and mural artist Aaron Douglas; world-famous venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theatre; and United Negro Improvement Association founder Marcus Garvey, known as the "black Moses."
The prospect of jobs added to the allure of Harlem and other areas of the industrialized North, but people also were motivated to migrate by Jim Crow laws and other racial oppression in the South, says Davarian Baldwin, the Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies at Connecticut's Trinity College.
"Part of the reason for their leaving was political," Baldwin says. "They already were prepared and engaged and remaking cities. They brought with them new expectations. They had to engage in debates not just with whites but older, more affluent African Americans in the North."
Those Southern migrations north coincided with huge migration trends across the globe, leading to convergences of numerous different groups in places like Harlem and political and cultural flourishings growing out of that, Baldwin says.
"Ford (Motor) really went out of its way to hire African-American workers for the first time," says Charles Lester, visiting assistant professor of history at Pennsylvania's Albright College. "All these job opportunities are drawing farmers to places like Detroit and Chicago and New York. The net effect is over 1 million Americans leave the South in a 20-year period. Half end up in five cities — Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, New York City and Pittsburgh. As you might imagine, it's going to create a lot of cultural side effects."
However, Makalani adds, "A lot of the stuff we see when we think of the Harlem Renaissance is already taking place in the South. Jazz is taking form in places like New Orleans and has roots in the blues and gospel and reflects this fantastic artistic imagination among black Southerners, and takes on a different life" in the North."
Of Northern communities experiencing this boom in African-American culture, Harlem disproportionately "gets a lot of the love, you might say," says Lester.
"In a lot of ways, Chicago dwarfs what's going on in Harlem, but it hasn't gotten the publicity," Lester says. "There are similar things going on in all kinds of cities. Memphis had Beale Street. Kansas City had a whole vibrant area around 12th Street. A lot of artists leave New Orleans and end up in Chicago."
While the Harlem Renaissance was centered in large part on literature and visual culture, "if you open it up to a wider understanding, Chicago was (author and filmmaker) Oscar Michaeux, Thomas Dorsey and gospel," says Baldwin.
Harlem got so much attention in part because New York was such a hub of publishing. "These were the ways we measure renaissance at that time — arts and letters," Baldwin says.
And Alain Locke's 1925 anthology The New Negro: An Interpretation, "really sort of exposed the broader American public to this cultural flourishing," Lester says. "They really went out their way to trumpet Harlem as the place. That work was very influential at the time."
Today, if there's a city having a Harlem-like flowering, it might be Atlanta, Lester says: "Atlanta has had this cultural explosion of the last 20, 30 years. African Americans feel safe to move to the South for the first time since the dismantling of Jim Crow. That's leading to a whole new cultural exchange."
Daneman also reports for the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.
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1239f52c5c0eba34ef32d2cae9d98134 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/04/schoolvaccinationrates/22840549/ | Low vaccination rates at schools put students at risk | Low vaccination rates at schools put students at risk
Nearly one in seven public and private schools have measles vaccination rates below 90% — a rate considered inadequate to provide immunity, according to a USA TODAY analysis of immunization data in 13 states.
Hundreds of thousands of students attend schools — ranging from small, private academies in New York City to large public elementary schools outside Boston to Native American reservation schools in Idaho — where vaccination rates have dropped precipitously low, sometimes under 50%. California, Vermont, Rhode Island, Arizona, Minnesota, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia also were included in the analysis.
The 13-state sample shows what many experts have long feared: People opposed to vaccinations tend to live near each other, leaving some schools dangerously vulnerable, while other schools are fully protected.
The clusters create hot spots that state immunization rates can mask. In the 32 public elementary schools in Boise, Idaho, for example, vaccination rates for measles in 2013-14 ranged from 84.5% at William Howard Taft Elementary to 100% at Adams Elementary, just 4 miles away.
Some clusters are among people who have philosophical objections to vaccines; other clusters are in poorer neighborhoods, where parents do not stay up to date with their children's vaccinations.
More troubling in an outbreak that has sickened more than 100 people in 14 states: how few states keep records of school immunization rates, despite repeated recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Really, what should concern parents is the microclimate of their child's school or day care center. And we just had no information about it," said Sundari Kraft, who helped push through a Colorado bill last year requiring schools to provide vaccination rates to anyone who asks. The state does not collect or analyze the data.
"We want to look at ways we can better protect our children before we experience a health crisis," she said.
Most states couldn't provide USA TODAY with school-level data. In some states, officials cited health record privacy laws. Others said they didn't keep the figures on schools.
Many of the more than 27,000 schools in USA TODAY's analysis have perfect or near-perfect vaccination rates for kindergartners. More than 1,100 schools in California – about a seventh of all private and public schools in the state – reported kindergarten vaccination rates above 99%. About a quarter of all Rhode Island schools met that mark, as did two-thirds of schools in North Carolina.
In some parts of Virginia, Southern California, North Carolina and Massachusetts, the low rates are because student records are missing, or students have fallen behind on their vaccine schedules. At 19 elementary schools in Los Angeles' Unified School District, so many students are behind in getting their shots that fewer than 20% were considered fully vaccinated at the start of the school year.
One of the biggest reasons for low vaccination rates is the increased use of non-medical exemptions, led by states such as Arizona and California, which both had increases of nearly 70% in exemptions from 2009 to 2013. Nationally, philosophical or religious exemptions have increased 37%, according to the CDC.
"Lack of immunization due to low socioeconomic status, lack of access to health care — those still all pose real challenges," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "But you can fix the problem" with better access.
The real challenge is when growing numbers of parents who are highly educated and fairly wealthy opt out of vaccines. Osterholm calls them the "educated uninformed."
"That to me is a real growing problem," he said.
Decades after once-feared diseases were largely eradicated in the USA, many parents have grown complacent, said Arthur Caplan, a director of the medical ethics division at NYU Langhorne Medical Center's Department of Population Health. In addition, parents tend to worry more about their kids' welfare than the nation's public health.
"People used to go stand in line to get polio vaccines because they wanted to be good citizens," Caplan said. "Today, some of the non-vaccinators, they want to be a good parent, but they're not worrying much about anybody else."
Experts say the decision not to vaccinate has implications across the broader population — not just in schools but in grocery stores, bus terminals and other public places.
Because no vaccine is 100% effective, communities rely on immunization across large proportions of the population to prevent the spread of communicable disease, said Saad Omer, an epidemiologist and professor at Emory University who studies immunizations.
Such "herd immunity" also protects those who can't get vaccinated, such as infants and those with immune deficiencies.
"If a vaccine is, let's say, 80% efficacious, there's a ... 1 in 5 chance that even if you do the right thing, your kid is unprotected," Omer said.
Although the CDC sets a federal goal for 95% of kindergartners to begin their schooling with MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccinations, many states and school districts fall well below the mark. In 2013-14, 28 states and thousands of schools fell below the federal target. The CDC's target is above the 90% baseline many experts consider as a minimum level for kindergarten immunizations.
The school-level data reveal vaccination choice is even more localized. For instance, in Scottsdale, Ariz., Desert Shadows Elementary School has a measles immunization rate of 85%. Two miles away in the same school district, Liberty Elementary boasts a rate of 96%.
"The bottom line is that vaccine refusers tend to cluster geographically," Omer said. "And what that does is it provides that critical mass of susceptible individuals that can trigger an outbreak."
Most outbreaks have occurred, he said, after someone who is not vaccinated goes to a place where disease is prevalent, then brings it back to the community. "And then the other unvaccinated people act like tinder and start that kind of a fire."
Measles is particularly problematic because it is extremely contagious, Osterholm said.
"Measles presents a challenge where if you have a group of people who are not vaccinated, if that virus gets in there, ... it will find you," he said.
In many states, public health officials don't even know where those hot spots are.
In Indiana, Maine, Arkansas, Alaska and Colorado, state health department officials said they do not keep any internal records showing school immunization rates.
"We do not have reports or vaccination rates by school or school district, so there are no records, reports or spreadsheets (showing vaccination levels)," Indiana Department of Health spokeswoman Amy Reel said.
In 2013-14, only 13 states met federal standards for collecting data on vaccination among school children as part of the CDC's annual nationwide analysis, which calls for a comprehensive survey or a statistically rigorous random sample in each state.
That's unacceptable, Osterholm said.
"We need to know this information. This is a huge vulnerability when we don't have it," he said. "Where they don't exist, I consider it a basic failure of public health."
Contributing: Caitlin McGlade, The Arizona Republic
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f6d699c2b940ce0b73d879a3e411eb12 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/06/moms-charge-in-newborn-drug-case-dropped-after-she-completes-program/23002693/ | Mom's charge in prenatal drug case dropped after she completes program | Mom's charge in prenatal drug case dropped after she completes program
Mallory Loyola, the first woman charged under a new state law against prenatal drug use, has completed a drug rehabilitation program. As a result, the assault charge against her has been dismissed.
Loyola went through a program at Helen Ross McNabb Center after her arrest last summer. She also has stayed out of trouble for a six-month period, as agreed upon by authorities, prompting the court to dismiss the case Feb. 3 in Monroe County.
Loyola, of Madisonville, was charged in July after her newborn tested positive for methamphetamine.
Lawmakers passed the law to punish expectant mothers who abuse drugs. Loyola gave birth July 6 to a baby girl. She was charged the next day, records show.
More: Mom charged under drug-addicted baby law going to rehab
Related: Questions arise over new state drug law
She admitted to authorities she had smoked meth three or four days before giving birth. Deputies arrested her and prosecutors charged her with simple assault.
Loyola's mother took custody of the child. Defense attorney Stephen Hatchett said at the time his client was "extremely remorseful. She didn't make bond, didn't try to make bond. She wanted to stay in jail. Remorse is usually a good indicator of whether a person will do better, she should do a lot better. You won't meet a more remorseful person than Mallory Loyola."
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a7b3dd47f7d99a9b906691ef9ea06df1 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/15/blues-medical-doctor-dan-health/23389379/ | In Chicago, a spoon full of blues help the medicine go down | In Chicago, a spoon full of blues help the medicine go down
CHICAGO –Few things give Daniel Ivankovich more satisfaction than responding to what might be called "Code Blues."
Ivankovich, known locally as "Dr. Dan" or "Chicago Slim," is a musician and spinal surgeon who dedicates much of his time and effort to helping the aging crop of local blues stars navigate the health system, often providing free care through his non-profit One Patient Global Health Initiative.
A one-time college basketball star at Northwestern University with dreams of going pro, the Yugoslavian-born Ivankovich turned to medicine – and music – after a career-ending knee injury.
"That was a very, very dark time for me, but the solution was blues music," he said. "It was a real life-preserver for me and I vowed I would do something positive for all the people who helped give me another chance at life."
As co-founder, guitarist and vocalist for the Chicago Blues All-Stars band, Ivankovich came into contact with many of the art's greatest names and realized that many of them, after lifetimes of touring and hard-living, could often end up broke, sick and out of luck.
Ivankovich's back-of-the envelope estimate is that there are around 200 blues musicians in Chicago below the age of 65 – when they can get start getting Medicare and "about two-thirds of them are uninsured or underinsured."
Brian Jones is the drummer for the Chicago Blues All-Stars. The 57-year-old, who suffers from kidney disease drummer, has played with some the greats including Koko Taylor, Otis Rush and Mighty Joe Young.
"Dr. Dan has helped me in every way possible," he said. "Medical, financial and spiritual. Any way he can find to help you, he will."
Jones added that "I hear a lot of people say 'we have to save the blues music' but Dr. Dan says 'Hell, we have to save the blues musicians."
The group tends to consist of mostly middle-aged African-Americans who wait until the last minute to deal with their health issues. Many end up spending whatever modest nest-eggs they have on serious health problems.
Or they just die.
"Most of them didn't have any coverage at all and no burning desire to get it," said Marty Salzman, a Chicago attorney who has managed legends including Buddy Guy and the late Junior Wells. "When they get sick, they end up in trouble and with very few exceptions, they eat only greasy, fatty foods. And they drink too much and smoke too much."
Further, he added, "they have very little motivation to want to change their habits unless a guy like Dr. Dan can straighten them out by putting the fear of God – or death -- into them."
The numbers are pretty grim. According to a 2013 study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 26% of African-American adults have no health coverage at all, as compared to 15% of the white population. (The rates of non-coverage are even higher for Hispanics and American Indians).
"People of color face persistent and significant disparities in health coverage that contribute to poorer health access and outcomes and unnecessary costs," the report noted.
According to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African-Americans have lower life expectancies and higher incidences of maladies including cancer, heart disease and diabetes than other races in the U.S. While the gap has gradually been narrowing and the Affordable Care Act has potential for cutting it further, it remains stark.
Ivankovich and some other medical colleagues are hoping to change that.
Dr. Janice Johnston is a family physician in Phoenix and a board member of the Memphis-based Blues Foundation.
"We try to help blues musicians and their families with medical expenses and funeral expenses," she said. Part of that involves urging preventative care and helping people work through a confusing maze of varying costs so they get the most for their money.
For instance, she noted that an MRI at a hospital might run $3,000 while one performed at a free-standing facility could be as little as $400.
Too often Johnston said, "if you have to pay cash and don't pay right away, you will end up paying twice as much."
She helps sponsor "outreach events" at various blues festivals, urging musicians to get screened for diabetes, cholesterol levels and other warning signs.
"We want to reach them prior to their having a crisis," she said. "Recognizing diabetes early could mean not spending tens of thousands of dollars on care."
For Ivankovich, who came to Chicago as a five-year-old, it's about trying to bring an up note to the Chicago blues community.
"Growing up here as an immigrant, I see a part of the city most people never see," he said. "The Blues has done a lot for Chicago, like bringing in tourism. That was built on the backs of these musicians and very little ever comes back to them."
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5bde76fa20867eeac31765b90743d6ee | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/15/medicaid-patients-struggle-to-get-dental-care/23315811/ | Medicaid patients struggle to get dental care | Medicaid patients struggle to get dental care
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — When Pavel Poliakov's clothing shop in this picturesque college town closed last year, he felt lucky to be able to sign up for Medicaid just as Colorado expanded the program under President Obama's health law.
But when Poliakov developed such a severe toothache that he couldn't eat on one side of his mouth, he was unable to find a dentist -— even though Colorado had just extended dental benefits to adults on Medicaid. Eventually, he turned to a county taxpayer-supported clinic that holds a monthly lottery for new patients.
Poliakov, 40, was a three-time lottery loser before his name was chosen in September. "It was horrible" living with the pain so long, he said as the second of his seven cavities was filled at the dental clinic run by the Health District of Northern Larimer County.
Colorado was one of five states last year to begin offering routine dental coverage to millions of low-income adults in Medicaid — an unprecedented expansion.But like Poliakov, many have had trouble finding dentists willing to treat them because of Medicaid's low pay, say providers, advocates and patients.
The upshot is that many Medicaid enrollees continue to live with the pain and discomfort of tooth decay and gum disease, which can exacerbate other health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Eventually, some go to costly emergency rooms, which can do little but provide short-term pain relief.
"Translating Medicaid coverage into care is a significant problem," said David Jordan, who directs the dental access project at Community Catalyst, a national consumer advocacy group based in Boston. "The number of adults on Medicaid who are able to see a dentist is woefully short of where it needs to be."
Many dentists are reluctant to participate in the government program because it typically pays as little as half of what they get from patients with private insurance. For example, Medicaid in Colorado pays $87 for a filling on a back tooth and $435 for a crown, compared to the $150 and $800 that private patients typically pay.
While federal law requires states to provide dental coverage to children in Medicaid, adult dental coverage is optional. Almost half the states either don't provide any dental coverage for adults or cover only emergencies.
In addition to Colorado, California, Illinois and Washington added or restored adult dental benefits last year as they expanded Medicaid eligibility under the health law. The fifth state, South Carolina, did not expand Medicaid eligibility, but added adult dental coverage.
Yet advocates in all five states say providers are struggling to keep up with demand.
"Getting oral health care is difficult, if not impossible, for many of Colorado's Medicaid clients," said a report released this month by the nonpartisan Colorado Health Institute. The study found that in the past year, the number of Coloradans eligible for Medicaid dental coverage, including children, tripled to nearly 1 million, while the number of dentists who say they treat Medicaid patients increased by only 17%.
Safety net providers in Colorado, such as federally funded community health centers, have tried to fill the gap, but appointments are often gone within hours of becoming available. Eight Colorado counties lack any dentists and seven more don't have a private dentist who accepts Medicaid or a safety net clinic offering dental services, the study found.
Colorado Medicaid officials say they have enough providers in most places. Still, they proposed last summer to pay dentists a $1,000 bonus for taking five new Medicaid clients and seeing them at least twice a year. But the Obama administration has yet to approve federal incentive money.
With little political support to increase reimbursements to dentists, advocates have looked at other ways to boost care. The Colorado Dental Association has urged members to take new Medicaid dental patients to alleviate waits, but it's unclear how many have done so.
"The economic realities make it difficult," said Greg Hill, the association's executive director.
Seeking other alternatives, Alaska and Minnesota have enacted regulations that allow dental therapists with two years of training to perform basic services, such as filling cavities, if they work under a dentist's supervision. The therapists in those states are much more willing to see Medicaid patients.
But efforts to expand their use in other states have been opposed by the American Dental Association, which raises questions about patient safety. Dental therapist legislation is pending in Washington and South Carolina, along with several other states.
Meanwhile, patients with Medicaid continue to struggle to get care.
Alfredo Rodriguez, 51, a Longmont, Colo., landscaper, visited a dentist at the Salud Family Health Center in February with several loose and broken front teeth that made it hard to eat. "I'm so thankful to be here," he said while waiting to get three teeth pulled and to be fitted for a partial denture.
When told that Salud plans to add a dentist to its clinic in Fort Collins later this winter, Tiffany Rickman, 23 was elated. She described how she feels pain every time she eats, but has been unable to find a dentist. "I would really like to have a place where I can be a regular patient," she said.
Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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140f21b18aa6f8364179eb55760defbb | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/20/west-coast-ports-dispute-union-labor-secretary-tom-perez/23744299/ | Deal reached in West Coast dockworkers dispute | Deal reached in West Coast dockworkers dispute
SAN FRANCISCO — Negotiators reached a tentative contract covering West Coast dockworkers on Friday evening, likely ending a protracted labor dispute that snarled international trade at seaports handling about $1 trillion worth of cargo annually.
The breakthrough came after nine months of negotiations that turned contentious in the fall, when dockworkers and their employers began blaming each other for problems getting imports to consumers and exports overseas.
Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who heralded the tentative deal in a conference call with reporters, says that normal operations were slated to resume on the docks starting Saturday night. But he's not sure how long it will take to clear a cargo backlog that has left produce rotting because it couldn't be loaded on ships and retailers frustrated at not receiving needed shipments.
The agreement "brings to an end what has become a significant headwind" to the economy, with "too many innocent people and businesses suffering," he says. The result of the slowdown in the ports, including several days of closure to ship movements this month, has been "empty shelves and angry customers."
Perez, who joined the talks in San Francisco this week, says the tentative agreement was reached as he was about to follow through on a threat to both sides to either come to an agreement or face the grim prospect of having to go to Washington next week to hammer out remaining issues.
"That was the direction from the president: Get this done now, but if necessary, in Washington," Perez said.
The five-year deal between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association — representing shipping companies and port terminal operators — involves 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle. They handle about one-quarter of all U.S. international trade, much of it with Asia. Details were not being disclosed pending the ratification vote.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement that is good for workers and for the industry," said PMA President James McKenna and ILWU President Bob McEllrath in a joint statement. "We are also pleased that our ports can now resume full operations."
Negotiators for the union and PMA began formal talks in May. Their previous six-year contract expired July 1.
In a statement released late Friday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama has called on the parties to now work together on backlogs and congestion as the agreement moves forward.
"This is great news for the parties involved in the negotiation and a huge relief for our economy -- particularly the countless American workers, farmers and businesses that have been affected by the dispute and those facing even greater disruption and costs within further delays," Earnest said.
Those who depend on reliable shipments through the ports expressed relief at word of the tentative accord. But they aren't predicting normal operations anytime soon.
"We know that even upon ratification, clearing up the congestion will take months," says Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.
He says agriculture "has taken a beating" as a result of the dispute, leading overseas customers to shop in other nations for meat, fruit, hay, cotton, rice, nuts, french fries and lumber.
Likewise, the National Retail Federation issued a statement hailing the breakthrough, but saying the bargaining system needs to be reformed.
"As we welcome today's news, we must dedicate ourselves to finding a new way to ensure that this nightmare scenario is not repeated again," the association said. "If we are to truly have modern international trade, supply chain and transportation systems, we must develop a better process for contract negotiations moving forward."
Perez says that when he joined negotiations, the remaining big sticking point involved the arbitration system to resolve disagreements. The agreement should create a more efficient system, he says.
Under current rules, neutral arbitrators preside over labor disputes between workers and PMA.
If negotiations had moved to Washington, it could have meant that the White House was potentially considering invoking Taft-Hartley. Officially the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, it allows presidents to get involved in labor disputes. In his statement, Earnest noted that President Obama had been kept apprised of the situation in recent weeks before dispatching Perez.
However, for the president to invoke it, there would have to be either a strike or a lockout in effect.
The last time Taft-Hartley was used was in 2002, when President George W. Bush forced West Coast ports to open. In that instance, port employers locked port workers out for 10 days because of what they called a union slowdown.
National Retail Federation Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said earlier in the day on Friday that after nearly a week of Perez being dispatched to help settle the problem, nothing had happened.
"If a deal is not reached today, we support the decision to move the negotiations to Washington and we call upon the president to personally engage in the discussions until an agreement is reached," he said.
Weise reported from San Francisco and Woodyard from Los Angeles.
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c051cfb63467c4205b98a50c7b0acedc | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/23/mummified-monk-inside-buddha-statue/23908879/ | Mummified monk revealed inside Buddha statue | Mummified monk revealed inside Buddha statue
The mummified remains of a monk have been revealed inside a nearly 1,000-year old Chinese statue of a Buddha.
The mummy inside the gold-painted papier-mâché statue is believed to be that of Liuquan, a Buddhist master of the Chinese Meditation School who died around the year 1100, researchers said. It's the only Chinese Buddhist mummy to undergo scientific research in the West.
The statue was on display last year at the Drents Museum as part of an exhibit on mummies. It was an cited as an example of self-mummification, an excruciating, years-long process of meditation, starvation, dehydration and poisoning that some Buddhist monks undertook to achieve enlightenment and veneration.
When the exhibit ended in August, a CT scan at the Meander Medical Center in the Netherlands revealed the seated skeleton. Samples taken from organ cavities provided one big surprise: paper scraps printed with ancient Chinese characters indicating the high-status monk may have been worshiped as a Buddha.
The finding was first reported in December but did not get wide notice. Irish Archaeology carried a report over the weekend, which apparently started the news ball rolling.
But the revelation is not, as some reports claim, "a shocking discovery," The History Blognotes: "It was known to be inside the statue all along ... that's why it was sent to the Drents Museum in the first place as part of the Mummies exhibition."
The mummy's existence was discovered in 1996 when the statue was being restored in the Netherlands, Live Sciencewrites, explaining what was found, how its age was determined and when the first detailed skeletal imaging was performed.
DNA tests were conducted on bone samples, and the Dutch team plans to publish its finding in a forthcoming monograph.
Researchers still have not determined whether the monk mummified himself, a practice that was also widespread in Japan and that was outlawed in the 19th century. If he did, the process was gruesome, as Ancient Originsexplains:
If you find yourself in Budapest before May, the Buddha mummy statue is on display at the Hungarian Natural History Museum.
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3e3e319a026296465e04d50b3d15016e | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/24/rahm-emanuel-chicago-mayor/23971209/ | Rahm Emanuel faces runoff in re-election bid | Rahm Emanuel faces runoff in re-election bid
CHICAGO — Rahm Emanuel was dealt a tough political blow on Tuesday, after he was forced into a runoff election to hold onto his seat as mayor of the Windy City.
Emanuel, who raised about $15 million for the campaign, finished first in the five candidate field, but fell far short of garnering the 50% plus one vote he needed to win outright and avoid a runoff election. He will now face the second place finisher, Cook County Commissioner, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, on April 7.
With 95.7% of precincts reporting, Emanuel had 45.3% of the vote and Garcia had 33.9%.
"We came a long way, and we have a little bit further to go," Emanuel said.
Chicago ceased holding partisan primaries in 1995, when it switched to the current election format. It marks the first time that the city will hold a runoff mayoral election.
Emanuel, who raised more than his four rivals combined, buried his challengers in $7 million in campaign advertising in his unsuccessful attempt to avoid the runoff.
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He even turned to President Obama, who Emanuel served as White House chief of staff from 2009 to 2010, as his chief surrogate.
Obama recorded a radio advertisement in which he endorsed Emanuel last month. Last week, the president flew to Chicago last week to announce the designation of the Pullman historic district, which manufactured sleeper cars at the turn of the 20th Century and was at the center of the black labor movement.
Emanuel's latest television advertisement featured a clip of Obama wrapping Emanuel in a hug at the Pullman event and a sound bite of the president touting the mayor as "making sure that every Chicagoan in every neighborhood gets the fair shot at success that they deserve."
But the president's influence wasn't able to help Emanuel close the deal.
"We need to upgrade our communities by building more and better schools," said Tracy McGrady, a college student and part-time construction worker. "Instead, Rahm is closing them."
In Chicago's Bronzville neighborhood, a predominantly African-American neighborhood, Emanuel supporters appeared to be a rare breed.
"I don't like Rahm," said Henry Ray, who said he voted for Wilson. "He is doing nothing for my people."
The mayor, a former U.S. congressman who served a district on Chicago's Northwest Side, has faced scathing criticism for his decision to close 50 city schools with low enrollment and the scorn of Chicago teachers, who staged their first strike in 25 years early in Emanuel's term. The mayor's reputation also took a hit when the city recorded more than 500 murders in 2012.
For his part, Emanuel has noted that he raised the minimum wage, expanded full-day kindergarten programs for children in the city, and made big improvements in Chicago's sprawling rapid transit system during his term.
"I like what [Emanuel] is doing for the city," said Barb Boronski, who cast her ballot for the mayor at St. Wenceslaus Church on the city's Northwest Side. "He does what the other candidates are afraid to do."
Cook County Commissioner John Daley sang Emanuel's praises not far from a polling station.
"Rahm has been an effective mayor and a strong leader in difficult times," said Daley, whose brother and father spent a combined 43 years as mayors of Chicago. "He loves his job and he shows it."
After it became clear on Tuesday evening that he'd forced a runoff, Garcia celebrated his second-place finish against the much-better funded Emanuel. He also continued his populist assault on Emanuel as "Mayor 1%."
"We've got six weeks of hard work ahead of us," Garcia told supporters at a campaign celebration. "Believe me. These big money interests are going to throw everything they've got at us. They run this town and they're not going to give up easily. "
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He didn't throw his hat into his race until after Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle opted not to launch bids to unseat Emanuel.
Garcia, 58, was born in Durango, Mexico. His father was a farm laborer who worked fields in California, Kansas, and Texas. When Garcia was 10, the family gained permanent residency status and moved to Chicago. He later became a U.S. citizen.
In addition to serving as a Cook County commissioner, Garcia previously was elected to Chicago city council and served in the Illinois General Assembly.
Thom Serafin, Chicago-based political consultant, said he expects "an awfully entertaining horse-race" in the six weeks ahead.
Garcia's campaign could become "a rallying cry for labor and a new focus against the 1%," Serafin said. "The cinders are there – all they need is a light. "
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15ae7859c32fdb19221f65f704deac78 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/25/american-sniper-murder-trial-ptsd/24008739/ | 'American Sniper' trial likely to increase stigma of PTSD | 'American Sniper' trial likely to increase stigma of PTSD
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The killer of American Sniper author and veteran Chris Kylewas handed swift justice Tuesday when a jury found him guilty of capital murder. But damage to the reputation of veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder used in the defense of convicted shooter Eddie Ray Routh may be longer lasting.
"The jury got it right — that helps to some degree to destigmatize PTSD," said Harry Croft, a San Antonio-based psychiatrist who evaluates veterans with post-traumatic stress. "The bad news is: The headlines before the trial was that PTSD will be used as a defense. Unfortunately, that's the message many people will remember."
The 12-member jury took just over two hours to convict Routh of capital murder for the Feb. 2, 2013, shooting deaths of Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, at an upscale shooting range near Fort Worth.
The proceedings received global attention as the Oscar-nominated American Sniper, the Clint Eastwood-directed film about Kyle's service in Iraq as a celebrated Navy SEAL sniper based on his best-selling book, has grossed more than $400 million in ticket sales worldwide.
It also brought to the global spotlight the issue of veterans dealing with PTSD — a major tenet of Routh's defense. Routh served with the Marines, including an assignment cleaning up bodies in earthquake-scarred Haiti and a tour as a prison guard in Iraq.
Throughout the nine-day trial, family members and friends testified they saw Routh morph from a charismatic, outgoing guy prior to his military service to a guy struggling with psychosis, who was in and out of mental hospitals, had violent outbursts toward his family, and abused drugs and alcohol.
"He wasn't his happy-go-lucky self like he'd always been," his mother, Jodi Routh, said during the trial.
Desperate, Jodi Routh reached out to Kyle to help her son. Kyle, who volunteered with veterans struggling with PTSD, agreed to meet with Routh and took him to the shooting range, along with Littlefield, as a bonding exercise.
But prosecutors showed Routh claimed to have PTSD during prior run-ins with the law and fled from police after the shootings, indicating he knew what he did was wrong — arguments that rang true with jurors.
"He knew the consequences of pulling the trigger," juror Barrett Hutchinson told ABC News after the trial.
Veterans in Texas followed the trial closely, nearly all of them siding with Kyle and Littlefield, said Dick Goetz, chairman of the Texas Wounded Warrior Foundation, which helps injured veterans readjust to society. Many of them suffer from PTSD and were dismayed that the affliction was used in Routh's defense, he said.
"I don't think there's any questions that the defendant had PTSD," Goetz said. "But the veterans I spoke to say that's not a good defense for killing those two guys. There's something much deeper there."
Andrew O'Brien, a former Army convoy gunner diagnosed with PTSD who speaks at military bases and other organizations about the pitfalls of the disorder, said he watched in alarm as the trial seemingly unraveled much of his efforts breaking down stereotypes associated with the affliction.
Like Croft, O'Brien said having the jury convict Routh despite his PTSD claims was a positive step. "My biggest fear was that he would have gotten away with it," he said. "If he's found not guilty because of insanity, that means people think we're insane because we have PTSD. That would have hurt more than anything."
But it was still painful to watch PTSD used to explain Routh's actions, O'Brien said. "It causes nightmare and some paranoia and anxiety," he said. "It does not make people want to murder other people."
About one in five veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan endure some form of PTSD, Croft said. PTSD also affects around 7% of the general population, from victims of rapes and muggings to car crashes and hurricane survivors, but they don't face nearly the same amount of workplace discrimination as veterans — a trend that will likely continue after this trial, he said.
"I applaud the jury and the judicial system for getting it right," Croft said. "But the fact is the barn door was already open and a lot of damage already done."
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7211a23456a3c59cb640ac3ad1cf98f1 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/03/ferguson-justice-report/24320987/ | DOJ: Ferguson PD engaged in racially biased policing | DOJ: Ferguson PD engaged in racially biased policing
WASHINGTON — A Justice Department review has found that Missouri's troubled Ferguson Police Department engaged in a broad pattern of racially biased enforcement that permeated the city's justice system, including the use of unreasonable force against African American suspects, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the findings.
In 88% of cases in which Ferguson police documented the use of force, for example, that force was used against African Americans, according to the official who is not authorized to comment publicly. In addition, in all 14 canine bite incidents in which the suspect's race is known, the person bitten was African American.
African Americans account for 67% of the population in Ferguson, but they accounted for 85% of the drivers stopped by police, 90% of the people issued tickets and 93% of the people arrested, a three-year examination of suspect stops found. When those cases reached the Municipal Court, authorities collected more fines for suspects' failure to appear than any other charge, mostly from the city's poorest and most vulnerable residents.
African Americans were more than twice as likely than white drivers to be searched during vehicle stops, but 26% less likely to have contraband, the review found.
The Ferguson Police Department often charged its black residents with petty crimes. African Americans accounted for 95% of the people charged with walking in the street and 92% of people charged with disturbing the peace.
Investigators also recovered racially charged e-mails sent among employees of the police department and the Ferguson Municipal Court, which authorities said contributed to the alleged bias.
Among the e-mails was a missive apparently sent soon after President Obama's 2008 election. It suggested that he would not remain long in the job because "what black man holds a steady job for four years.''
Another May 2011 e-mail referred to an African-American woman receiving a "Crime-stoppers'' reward for terminating a pregnancy.
The Justice findings, while not unexpected, come six months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager by then-Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white. The incident prompted waves of protest across the country and a re-examination of law enforcement's relationships with minority communities.
A separate inquiry into that incident is underway. That inquiry, Officials have said it is unlikely to result in charges against Wilson, who has left the department. A St. Louis County grand jury elected late last year not to indict Wilson in the shooting.
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III and Police Chief Thomas Jackson were among a contingent of city officials who met with Justice representatives Tuesday in St. Louis to receive the government's findings.
"At this time, the city is currently reviewing the report and its findings,'' said a statement issued by the city; it added that a fuller response would come Wednesday, when the complete report is expected to be disclosed..
"This confirms what we have previously stated, that the actions of the killer of Michael Brown had to do with a systemic problem within the Ferguson Police Department," Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Brown's family, said of the Justice findings. "The report shows that there were others treated inappropriately like we feel Mike Brown was treated inappropriately."
Similar cases in other cities indicate such problems are widespread, Crump said.
"We have to work on a remedy to address this multi-city, multi-state epidemic all across America that has such adverse effects on communities of color and that is taking the lives of citizens," he said.
Ferguson resident Iyanla Doyle, 24, said the findings confirm what she's already witnessed from living in the city.
"It's beyond sad because Michael Brown wasn't the first black male who was killed by a police officer and he's not going to be the last," Doyle said. "They should look at all these police departments because everyone might be doing the same thing."
She hopes the government will disband the Ferguson Police Department and bring in an outside agency.
"We need officers who really care about people instead of making money and locking people up," she said.
DeRay McKesson, 29, a Minneapolis schools human relations executive who joined the Ferguson protests, agrees.
"The Ferguson Police Department shouldn't exist," McKesson said. "They have proven themselves incompetent and racist."
The report shows Wilson "was not an exception, but he was the rule," McKesson said. "Systems and structures influence the way people act. And, the systems and structures in Ferguson empowered and protected Darren Wilson."
Contributing: Donna Leinwand Leger
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71e4626ddfacc78ba20adafe0c545b28 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/03/justice-department-discovery-policies-released/24239225/ | Rules to keep federal prosecutors in line revealed | Rules to keep federal prosecutors in line revealed
USA TODAY obtained copies of internal Justice Department policies that spell out when and how they should share information with defense lawyers.
WASHINGTON – Five years ago, after a major corruption case imploded because federal prosecutors had improperly concealed evidence, the U.S. Justice Department ordered its lawyers to start turning over more information to criminal defense lawyers. But the rules for what prosecutors must share and when remained almost entirely secret, until now.
USA TODAY obtained copies of the department's internal guidelines under the Freedom of Information Act and is publishing them here.
"I think these policies are actually the right policies," said Timothy O'Toole, one of the chairmen of a National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers panel that has been pushing Congress to enact similar measures. "The biggest problem is that nobody outside the prosecutor's office actually knows what those policies are."
Without knowing what the rules are, it's impossible to know whether prosecutors are following them, he said.
The policies mostly instruct prosecutors to turn over more information to defense lawyers more quickly — steps lawmakers and some judges had pressed for in the months after the disastrous prosecution of former Alaska senator Ted Stevens. That case collapsed because government lawyers had improperly concealed evidence from Stevens' lawyers that would have badly damaged the credibility of government witnesses.
As a result, top Justice Department officials ordered the offices that prosecute criminal cases to come up with new rules to make sure defendants wouldn't be left in the dark again. With few exceptions, the department did not share those guidelineswith defense lawyers or judges.
Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said the department made some of that guidance public in 2009; after that, "U.S. attorneys were given discretion on formulating their own offices' guidance as well as the discretion on whether to make that guidance public," she said.
Few prosecutors' offices have opted to do so. And when USA TODAY sought copies under FOIA, it took the department nearly three years to release the policies from 74 U.S. attorneys' offices and the department's Tax Division. The department still has not provided copies of the rules for 19 other U.S. attorneys' offices and some of its other branches.
Several of the policies it did provide are marked as attorney work product, or as privileged attorney-client communications. The guide prepared for the federal prosecutors in Washington cautions that it contains "confidential and law enforcement sensitive material."
One of Stevens' lawyers, Robert Cary, said he was troubled that changes enacted after the case are neither public nor legally binding. "Until they make these policies public, there's still a lack of transparency that is going to engender distrust of the system. I don't understand why they won't publish them," he said.
A jury found Stevens guilty of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms. But before he could be sentenced, Attorney General Eric Holder ordered prosecutors to dismiss the case. A court-appointed investigator later concluded that the case had been "permeated by the systematic concealment" of evidence.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is working to reintroduce legislation this year that would give legal force to some of those changes, her spokesman, Matthew Felling said. "Americans are still justified in worrying. If prosecutors play hide the ball under the national spotlight, what are they doing in smaller cases nationwide?" he said.
Meanwhile, problems like those in the Stevens prosecution have not gone away. The then chief judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Alex Kozinski, expressed alarm in 2013 at an "epidemic of Brady violations," a reference to the 1963Supreme Court case which said defendants have a right to know about evidence that could help establish their innocence. Kozinski pointed to a string of recent problems, including a 2013 case in which the appeals court ordered a new trial for a man charged with falsifying a tax return because the government had failed to disclose $14,500 in payments by investigators to an FBI informant.
In addition to the policies it released to USA TODAY, the Justice Department prepared a far more detailed guide for prosecutors known as the Blue Book, which it has refused to make public. After NACDL sued to obtain a copy, the attorney in charge of coordinating the department's discovery rules, Andrew Goldsmith, warned in a court filing last year that releasing the manual would give defense lawyers "unfair – and potentially dangerous – insight into the prosecution's approach to discovery." A federal judge in Washington agreed, and said the government could keep the manual secret.
Prosecutors have been required to disclose that manual only once, in a messy death-penalty case in Oregon. Defense lawyers received it on the condition that they not discuss it publicly and that they must destroy or return it once the case ends.
DISCOVERY POLICIES FOR U.S. ATTORNEYS' OFFICES
Alabama – Middle District
Alabama – Northern District
Alabama – Southern District
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas – Eastern District
Arkansas – Western District
California – Central District
California – Eastern District
California – Northern District
California – Southern District
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida – Middle District
Florida – Northern District
Florida – Southern District
Georgia – Middle District
Georgia – Northern District
Georgia – Southern District
Guam and Northern Mariana Islands
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois – Central District
Illinois – Northern District
Illinois – Southern District
Indiana – Northern District
Indiana – Southern District
Iowa – Northern District
Iowa – Southern District
Kansas
Kentucky – Eastern District
Kentucky – Western District
Louisiana – Eastern District
Louisiana – Middle District
Louisiana – Western District
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan – Eastern District
Michigan – Western District
Minnesota
Mississippi – Northern District
Mississippi – Southern District
Missouri – Eastern District
Missouri – Western District
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York – Eastern District
New York – Northern District
New York – Southern District
New York – Western District
North Carolina – Eastern District
North Carolina – Middle District
North Carolina – Western District
North Dakota
Ohio – Northern District
Ohio – Southern District
Oklahoma – Eastern District
Oklahoma – Northern District
Oklahoma – Western District
Oregon
Pennsylvania – Eastern District
Pennsylvania – Middle District
Pennsylvania – Western District
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee – Eastern District
Tennessee – Middle District
Tennessee – Western District
Texas – Eastern District
Texas – Northern District
Texas – Southern District
Texas – Western District
Utah
Vermont
Virgin Islands
Virginia – Eastern District
Virginia – Western District
Washington – Eastern District
Washington – Western District
West Virginia – Northern District
West Virginia – Southern District
Wisconsin – Eastern District
Wisconsin – Western District
Wyoming
DISCOVERY POLICIES FOR OTHER DIVISIONS
Antitrust Division
Civil Rights Division
Criminal Division
Environment and Natural Resources Division
Office of Consumer Litigation
National Security Division
Tax Division
Update (March. 16, 2015): The Justice Department disclosed an additional 15 discovery policies, including those for the U.S. attorneys in New York and Los Angeles, and for its Criminal and National Security divisions in Washington. Those policies are now listed here.
Update (March 30, 2015): The Justice Department disclosed an additional 11 discovery policies, including those for its Civil Rights and Antitrust divisions. The policies are now listed here.
Contact investigative reporter Brad Heath at bheath@usatoday.com or follow him on Twitter at @bradheath.
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1575e5cffcb57ab80acc2e68c6a886d8 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/15/boston-snowfall-record/24822823/ | Boston breaks seasonal snowfall record with 108.6 inches | Boston breaks seasonal snowfall record with 108.6 inches
More snow fell on Boston on Sunday, enough to make this the snowiest season ever on record there.
The National Weather Service said 2.9 inches fell by 7 p.m., pushing total snowfall for the winter of 2014-2015 to 108.6 inches.
That is a full inch over the previous record set during the winter of 1995-1996, the service's Boston office tweeted, and the most since record books started in 1872.
The achievement brought cheerful, tongue-in-cheek celebration from many of the snow-weary survivors of winter in Boston.
"Putting the win in winter!'' tweeted Christina Pazzanese.
"We got the GOLD!" tweeted WBZ weatherman Barry Burbank.
But Michael Wissell spoke for many when he tweeted: " Sweet. Can we have spring now?"
The final snowfall capped a record month in February with 64.9 inches of snow. That topped a previous monthly record of 43.3 inches in January 2005.
The season snowfall record is measured from July 1 through June 30.
But Boston residents beware: forecasters say there's still plenty of time for more snow in March. Nearly 39 inches fell in March 1993. And it's been known to snow in April in Boston too.
Contributing: Associated Press
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20ff101f32d0e7dd6b243c19345feb5c | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/16/boston-marathon-trial/24843547/ | Cop: Tsarnaev shootout 'non-stop' for 8 minutes | Cop: Tsarnaev shootout 'non-stop' for 8 minutes
BOSTON — The police officer who confronted the Boston Marathon bombing suspects while on patrol three nights after the attacks took the witness stand Monday to describe a harrowing, eight-minute shootout, punctuated by a massive explosion from a pressure-cooker bomb that rattled the suburban neighborhood.
"It was non-stop," recalled Watertown, Mass., police officer Joseph Reynolds, who said the shooting ended when he and other officers managed to tackle the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Just as quickly, they heard an engine revving and saw younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at the wheel of a stolen SUV and heading straight for them.
The cops managed to scramble out of the way, but Tamerlan died when the SUV struck him.
"It was very violent," Sgt. John MacLellan said. "The car was jumping back and forth with the body stuck up under the wheels."
The four-day manhunt ended hours later when police arrested a wounded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was hiding in a boat stored in a nearby backyard.
The officers' testimony came Monday morning in the trial of Tsarnaev, 21. He is charged in a 30-count indictment, including 17 counts that could carry the death penalty.
When Reynolds began his regular patrol on the night of April 18, 2013, his supervisor told him to be extra vigilant because an MIT campus security officer had been killed just miles away, Reynolds testified.
At 12:38 a.m., the patrolling Reynolds got word to be on the lookout for a carjacked Mercedes SUV. He saw a vehicle that matched the description and plate number.
"He was driving slow, very suspicious," Reynolds told jurors. "We locked eyes."
Moments later, Reynolds said, the SUV stopped and Tamerlan got out. He moved toward the cruiser, pulled a gun and fired on Reynolds, who took cover under the dashboard and threw his Ford Escape into reverse.
For the next eight minutes, Reynolds said, a ferocious battle ensued. Reynolds used his driver's door for cover and fired on Tamerlan, who took cover and kept firing from behind the Mercedes door.
Reynolds called for backup and sought cover in a yard behind a tree with another officer.
"We continued the gunfight with the two suspects," Reynolds said. "I could see two men. I could see muzzle flashes, a lighter being lit and what looked like a wick burning."
It was the first of four pipe bombs that the suspects would toss in their direction. Three exploded; one was a dud.
The officer taking cover with Reynolds, MacLellan said the first bomb wasn't too impressive, resembling an M-80 firecracker. But then came more power, as both officers recalled.
"I saw a larger type bomb being thrown at us — a cylinder, like a big cooking pot, a big pan," Reynolds said. Prosecutors called it a pressure cooker bomb, similar to the ones that exploded near the marathon finish line and killed three people.
"It was incredible," MacLellan said. "It was horrendous. A lot of debris — I thought shingles were coming off houses. … A lot of smoke, car alarms, people screaming."
The suspects fired dozens of rounds, MacLellan testified. Reynolds said he reloaded his 40-caliber Glock twice with fresh magazines and emptied everything he had.
More officers arrived to provide backup. Reynolds said he thought at one point that he had a good angle on Tamerlan and moved out from behind his cover to "end the threat" by firing on the older brother. Still armed, Tamerlan rushed him from about 30 yards away. When he was just 10 feet away, Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese tackled him.
All three officers then tried to wrestle the 6-foot-3 Tamerlan to the ground. Then Reynolds heard an engine revving.
"Get off! Get off! He's coming back toward us!" Reynolds recalled yelling. Dzhokhar was driving the SUV, he said, and heading straight for them.
The officers were able to get out of the way in the nick of time. The SUV ran over Tamerlan.
The Mercedes' front end smashed into the Ford Escape cruiser that Reynolds had been driving, and the two vehicles were briefly stuck together. When the Mercedes broke free, it disappeared into the night, with Dzhokhar at the wheel. Officers rushed to answer an "officer down" call and tended to Dick Donahue, who had been severely injured in the gunfire.
Neighborhood residents also testified Monday, telling jurors that they heard gunfire and peeked out of windows to witness the shootout.
Andrew Kitzenberg said he saw two men crouching by a Mercedes SUV and reaching periodically into a backpack at their feet. He said he could hear and feel the bomb blasts. "I could actually feel my room shake with those explosives," Kitzenberg said. He felt two bombs go off, followed by a third, much larger one. When he saw one of the figures light that one, he dove to the floor.
"I could see the cloud of smoke rising from that one," he said. Soon thereafter he heard the SUV racing.
"It seemed like the vehicle was being floored and accelerating as quickly as it could," Kitzenberg said.
Jurors saw a photo, taken before dawn, of the Ford Escape. It had a tire blown out. A large pool of blood had welled up next to the driver's door. MacLellan identified the blood as Tamerlan's.
Dzhokhar was later captured hiding inside a boat stored nearby.
Earlier Monday, jurors saw the bullet-riddled, blood-stained boat on a flatbed at an off-site, undisclosed location in South Boston. Defense attorneys had asked that jurors be allowed to see the entire boat, not just panels or photos of writings Tsarnaev made while hiding in it.
The boat had at least 108 bullet holes in it, according to a pool report, as well as faded blood stains. Jurors paid close attention while Tsarnaev, seated under a canopy tent, looked on.
Jurors last week saw photos of a note Tsarnaev scrawled on the boat's hull. His lawyers want the jury to see the note in context. Prosecutors call the message, which decries the suffering of innocent Muslims at the hands of the U.S. government, Tsarnaev's "manifesto."
Tsarnaev's defense team has acknowledged that he was involved in the April 15, 2013, twin bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 260 at the marathon finish line. But they argue that their client, who was 19 at the time, played a lesser role than his late brother, who they insist was the mastermind behind the plot.
Security was tight when jurors visited the trailered boat on the back of a flatbed tow truck Monday. Boston police, FBI agents and U.S. Marshals kept a close eye on Tsarnaev, who sat under a canopy tent while jurors viewed the evidence: a fiberglass vessel around 22-feet long.
Staging on one side the boat let jurors climb up to a high vantage and peer inside. To view the boat's other side, they took turns riding in what one pool reporter described as a cage at the front end of a forklift.
Jurors saw some details that hadn't been evident before, including writing not made in pencil. Some of what Tsarnaev had written was carved into a wooden fixture on the fiberglass Slipaway II: "Stop killing our innocent civilians."
Tsarnaev was twitchy at times in the courtroom Monday and while jurors viewed the boat. Several witnesses were asked to identify the defendant. When they pointed at him, he briefly looked in their direction before abruptly looking away.
Some of the day's most riveting testimony came from the officer who finally brought Tamerlan Tsarnaev to the ground. Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese had finished his shift when his radio transmitted an alert: Watertown officers had found the carjacked vehicle that police had been seeking, and now they were facing gunfire in a residential neighborhood. He headed to the scene.
"I wanted to save their lives," Pugliese, a marksman and veteran of 35 years on the force, said.
While other officers battled with the Tsarnaevs, Pugliese moved through backyards, hurdling two fences. He fired a series of rounds. He thought he'd hit the shooter, he said, but he wasn't going down. Instead Tamerlan charged Pugliese, who had to reload his magazine during the firefight. At one point, Tamerlan's gun seemed to jam. He threw it at Pugliese, hitting him in the left bicep and ran in the direction of Reynolds, who had left his cover with hopes of firing one final shot.
Pugliese chased Tamerlan and tackled him. All three officers wrestled him, struggling to handcuff the bleeding shooter who wouldn't give up. Then Reynolds yelled: "Look out!," Pugliese recalled. "The other guy's coming at us!"
Dzhokhar was now driving the Mercedes as horrified neighbors watched from their bedrooms. James Floyd, who also testified Monday, had run upstairs with his three-week-old and watched from the window.
"He just floored it – really floored it," Floyd recalled. "It seemed to be as fast as he could go."
Reynolds jumped back to one side of the street and McLellan to the other. Pugliese grabbed Tamerlan, now handcuffed, by the belt and leaned back to pull him out of the path of the SUV. But all he could do was save himself – and just barley.
"It was right in my face," he said of the speeding SUV, which passed within inches of his feet. "I could feel the breeze of the vehicle go by my face."
Tamerlan got hung up in the wheels, he said, and the vehicle dragged him until it crashed into a police cruiser. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev fled in the SUV, ditched it a few blocks away and found a hiding spot inside the boat.
Witnesses on Monday recounted fallout from the epic clash between the bombers and the police.
MBTA transit officer Dick Donohue, who had arrived on the scene to provide backup, was injured in the firefight. Emergency room physician Heather Studley found him "essentially dead" at the hospital: no breathing, no heartbeat and too much blood loss to sustain life. She said hospital staff saved him with a combination of CPR, a breathing tube, Epinephrine, two surgeries, 28 pints of blood and an infusion of platelets to make the new blood clot.
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b2420cee9b724a414f757754ece539de | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/20/911-deadly-flaw-investigations-from-local-gannett-newspapers-and-tv-stations/25077265/ | 911's deadly flaw: what our local investigations found | 911's deadly flaw: what our local investigations found
In an era when your mobile phone can tell Facebook, Uber or even video games where you're located – with amazing accuracy – 911 operators are often left in the dark.
Your chance of 911 getting a quick fix on location ranges from as low as 10% to as high as 95%, according to hundreds of pages of local, state and federal documents obtained and reviewed by USA TODAY and more than 40 Gannett newspapers and television stations across the country.
Here is a look at many of the local investigations delving deeper into the problem by local journalists across the country:
Atlanta, Georgia
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Denver, Colorado
Hampton, Virginia
Palm Springs, California
Washington, D.C.
Greensboro, North Carolina
Austin, Texas
Macon, Georgia
Houston, Texas
Cincinnati, Ohio
Asheville, North Carolina
Rochester, New York
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Lafayette, Indiana
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32beb6ea2c6e90e95b94f79a2073518b | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/20/five-things-to-know-friday/25028203/ | 5 things you need to know Friday | 5 things you need to know Friday
1. Study: Gay men tan more and get more skin cancer
Gay and bisexual men in the United States are twice as likely as heterosexual men to get skin cancer, a new study shows. One reason: Gay and bisexual men are three times more likely to engage in indoor tanning, according to the study to be presented Friday at a meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. Tanning, whether in the sun or in a tanning bed, can cause skin cancer, including melanoma, the most dangerous kind.
2. March Madness heats up with 16 games on tap
The NCAA tournament's round of 64 tipped off in exciting fashion Thursday, with a few bracket-busting upsets. So how about an encore? Sixteen second-round games are in the books. But another 16 are on tap for Friday. Top seeds Duke and Wisconsin will be in action, and underdogs Buffalo and Valparaiso will look to become Cinderellas in the Midwest Region.
3. All on this freaky Friday: Solar eclipse, Supermoon, spring equinoxWhat a week for skywatchers! The first day of spring brings a solar eclipse and a Supermoon. One caveat: The total eclipse won't be visible in the USA and will be seen only by folks on some rather remote islands in far northern Europe. But a partial solar eclipse will be visible across all of Europe, northern Africa and much of northern Asia, according to Space.com. This is the Earth's first — and only — total solar eclipse of 2015. Two other astronomical events will take place Friday: the spring (or vernal) equinox, which marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and a so-called Supermoon.
4. Spring is here, but we're not done with snowy weather
Speaking of the spring equinox, it means that spring is officially here. But don't pack away your scarf and gloves just yet, because wintry weather is hanging on for at least another day in the beleaguered Northeast. The swath of heaviest snow, 3-6 inches, will stretch from the West Virginia panhandle to western Maryland, central and eastern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and interior southeastern New York state,according to AccuWeather.
5. Police to release more details of Food Network finalist's death
Authorities are expected to reveal more details at a Friday news conference about the deaths of a celebrity chef, her husband and their unborn fetus in North Carolina. The suspect in the case appears to have ties to a teen's disappearance 15 years ago in a nearby town. Cristie Schoen Codd was a finalist on the "Next Food Network Star" TV show. A neighbor, Robert Jason Owens, is charged in her death and in the death of her husband, J.T. Codd, and their unborn fetus. Owens also was the main suspect in the disappearance of Zebb Quinn, an 18-year-old who vanished in 2000. Sheriff Van Duncan said he'll talk more about the cases in an afternoon news conference.
And, the essentials:
Weather: The first day of spring will feature more rain across the southern tier while a snowstorm pelts portions of the Northeast.
Stocks: Wall Street stock futures tilted higher.
TV Tonight: Wondering what to watch this weekend? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at Glee's series finale, The Good Wife and HBO's comedies end their seasons.
If you missed Thursday's news, we've got you covered here.
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You can also subscribe to get the day's top news each weekday in your inbox or find us on the Yo! app: justyo.co/usatoday.
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b7de371ea9219c28dde6acb099d5f235 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/20/uva-arrest-meeting/25118145/ | Students walk out of U-Va. meeting over bloody arrest | Students walk out of U-Va. meeting over bloody arrest
University of Virginia students stormed out of a meeting Friday aimed at resolving questions tied to Wednesday's violent arrest of a student leader, who is black.
In a recap on its website, the school based in Charlottesville, Va., described the public forum organized by the school's Student Council as "spirited." Audience members frequently responded to officials' statements with "Answer the questions we asked" and chanted "black lives matter," according to published reports. The latter evolved as the rallying cry among protesters angered at the August 2013 death of black teen Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer.
About 350 people packed into the meeting at U-Va.'s Newcomb Hall.
The tension is over the early Wednesday arrest of student Martese Johnson, 20, by officers with the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control outside of a bar after Johnson was denied entry into the establishment shortly after St. Patrick's Day festivities. Photos of Johnson just after the incident that spread via social media show him bloodied by injuries that required stitches. The incident has prompted a state administrative review and criminal investigation, and fueled tensions simmering over the way black males are treated by the police.
The investigation "will take time, even weeks," the school reported that Brian Moran, Virginia's secretary of public safety and homeland security, said at the heated meeting.
Moran's office oversees the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, or ABC.
"We ask for your patience, for this community's patience, until that investigation is concluded," Moran said, according to the school. "And let me assure you that if the findings indicate that corrective actions are indeed needed, we will not hesitate to take those actions."
Aryn Frazier, a second-year student who is political action chair of the school's Black Student Alliance, said black people have been part of the school since its inception, but still struggle to maintain equality with other students, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
"We are here because we love ourselves, we love our families and we love our friends, and we want to build a better university, and a better Charlottesville community," the school quoted Frazier as saying.
Frazier, reached by e-mail Friday evening, said she and other student representatives would speak with the media on Saturday.
Student Council President Jalen Ross did not respond to an e-mail sent Friday evening.
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e46a31db9065530a74f2fae46b4c4934 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/24/power-grid-physical-and-cyber-attacks-concern-security-experts/24892471/ | Bracing for a big power grid attack: 'One is too many' | Bracing for a big power grid attack: 'One is too many'
About once every four days, part of the nation's power grid — a system whose failure could leave millions in the dark — is struck by a cyber or physical attack, a USA TODAY analysis of federal energy records finds.
Although the repeated security breaches have never resulted in the type of cascading outage that swept across the Northeast in 2003, they have sharpened concerns about vulnerabilities in the electric system. A widespread outage lasting even a few days could disable devices ranging from ATMs to cellphones to traffic lights, and could threaten lives if heating, air conditioning and health care systems exhaust their backup power supplies.
Some experts and officials fear the rash of smaller-scale incidents may point to broader security problems, raising questions about what can be done to safeguard the electrical grid from an attack that could leave millions without power for days or weeks, with potentially devastating consequences.
"It's one of those things: One is too many, so that's why we have to pay attention," said Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Cheryl LaFleur. "The threats continue to evolve, and we have to continue to evolve as well."
An examination by USA TODAY in collaboration with more than 10 Gannett newspapers and TV stations across the country, and drawing on thousands of pages of government records, federal energy data and a survey of more than 50 electric utilities, finds:
• More often than once a week, the physical and computerized security mechanisms intended to protect Americans from widespread power outages are affected by attacks, with less severe cyberattacks happening even more often.
• Transformers and other critical equipment often sit in plain view, protected only by chain-link fencing and a few security cameras.
• Suspects have never been identified in connection with many of the 300-plus attacks on electrical infrastructure since 2011.
• An organization funded by the power industry writes and enforces the industry's own guidelines for security, and decreased the number of security penalties it issued by 30% from 2013 to 2014, leading to questions about oversight.
Jon Wellinghoff, former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said the power grid is currently "too susceptible to a cascading outage" because of its reliance on a small number of critical substations and other physical equipment.
Because the nation's electrical grid operates as an interdependent network, the failure of any one element requires energy to be drawn from other areas. If multiple parts fail at the same time, there is the potential for a cascading effect that could leave millions in the darks for days, weeks or longer.
"Those critical nodes can, in fact, be attacked in one way or another," Wellinghoff said. "You have a very vulnerable system that will continue to be vulnerable until we figure out a way to break it out into more distributed systems."
'A GAME CHANGER'
Some of the worst fears of those in charge of the power grid's security came true shortly before 1 a.m. on April 16, 2013, when unknown attackers unleashed a coordinated attack on Pacific Gas & Electric's Metcalf substation in northern California.
The attackers severed six underground fiber-optic lines before firing more than 100 rounds of ammunition at the substation's transformers, causing more than $15 million in damage.
The intentional act of sabotage, likely involving more than one gunman, was unlike any previous attack on the nation's grid in its scale and sophistication.
Yet officers did not begin investigating the scene until hours after the shooting took place. Security footage from the shooting is grainy. The attackers were never caught.
Power was not lost, but the nature of the Metcalf attack sent shock waves through the industry.
"Shooting at substations, unfortunately, is not uncommon," Sue Kelly, president and CEO of the American Public Power Association, an industry group, said of the incident at a Senate hearing last year. "But this incident demonstrated a level of sophistication not previously seen in our sector."
At a California Public Utilities Commission meeting last year to review the incident, PG&E senior director of substations Ken Wells said the Metcalf attack was "a game changer."
"No doubt about it, …this event caused us and the entire industry to take a new and closer look at our critical facilities and what we can do to protect them," Wells said.
Following the attack, FERC directed the industry to write new rules for physical security.
The rules, finalized in November, require utilities to identify critical infrastructure that could be vulnerable to attack and come up with security plans. But the new policy drew concern because it does not give FERC authority to independently choose which facilities are critical, leaving the decisions in the hand of industry.
Wellinghoff said while he is glad the new policy is in place, the lack of authority for FERC "could be a loophole that could miss some aspects of the utility infrastructure that are critical."
Also as a result of the Metcalf incident, PG&E said it would invest $100 million over three years on new security around many of its critical facilities, including better security cameras, fencing and lighting.
Yet records from hundreds of other attacks in recent years show similar weaknesses still exist at thousands of electric facilities across the country, allowing repeated breaches.
'SO BADLY BROKEN'
Between 2011 and 2014, electric utilities reported 362 physical and cyberattacks that caused outages or other power disturbances to the U.S. Department of Energy. Of those, 14 were cyberattacks and the rest were physical in nature.
Among the incidents:
• In 2011, an intruder gained access to a critical hydro-electric converter station in Vermont by smashing a lock on a door.
• In 2013, a gunman fired multiple shots at a gas turbine power plant along the Missouri-Kansas border.
• Also in 2013, four bullets fired from a highway struck a power substation outside Colorado Springs.
No suspects were apprehended in those three incidents. Federal data show such attacks are not rare within the sprawling, interdependent network of transformers, power lines and other equipment that make up the electrical grid.
Often, such incidents are shrugged off by the local police who initially investigate.
In March 2013, security officers at the Jacksonville Electric Authority in Florida noticed a man climbing a fence surrounding St. Johns River Power Park, which produces energy for 250,000 northern Florida households.
The man fled when approached, Jacksonville Electric Authority spokeswoman Gerri Boyce said, and was later observed trying to enter a second facility. He fled again and was never caught.
Nobody filed a police report, according to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office documents.
SMALL COMMUNITIES AT RISK TOO
Federal records show it is not just large communities that are at risk of attack. Even small, rural utility companies have been subject to foul play.
After a 2011 cyberattack struck the Pedernales Electric Cooperative — a non-profit utility that serves about 200,000 customers across a vast agrarian region of Texas — the utility's CEO, R.B. Sloan, shared his surprise with the utility's board of directors.
"You would think if they really wanted to have an impact, they would go for something (else)," he said in a public meeting. Sloan said at the time that the utility filed reports with the Department of Energy and FBI, but he was concerned about the way they handled it.
"It's obvious to us that some of the regulatory bodies are not well-equipped to accept these and follow up," he said during the 2011 meeting. "I think this event has made that very apparent."
Now an executive for a Georgia utility software company, Sloan declined to discuss the attack.
While the Department of Energy received only 14 reports of cyberattacks from utilities over the past four years, other reporting systems show rising cyberthreats.
The branch of the Department of Homeland Security that monitors cyberthreats received reports of 151 "cyber incidents" related to the energy industry in 2013 — up from 111 in 2012 and 31 in 2011. It is uncertain whether the increase is due to more incidents or an increase in reporting.
Scott Aaronson, senior director of national security for the Edison Electric Institute, a Washington, D.C., group representing electric utilities, said it's difficult to draw trends from figures reported by utilities because of loose definitions of what constitutes a cyber incident.
"Whether it's 13, dozens, thousands — it's been more art than science to identify what an attack is," he said. "There are probes that happen all the time. Adversaries are essentially looking for weaknesses in a network. I've heard people say millions (of attacks occur) a day."
Aaronson noted that there has never been a successful attempt to cause a power outage through a cyberattack in the United States.
Nevertheless, the interconnected nature of the grid and its reliance on communications protocols that predate modern cybersecurity problems are considered cause for concern by security experts. A simulated cyberattack conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory in 2007 exploited a vulnerability at the facility by altering the timing of a diesel generator's circuit breakers, causing thick smoke to rise from the plant.
To prevent such attacks, some critical elements of the electricity industry's infrastructure are completely disconnected from the Internet to keep them insulated from adversaries. The power industry also employs stronger cyberdefense mechanisms than, for instance, the retail industry, which has suffered a string of high-profile cyber intrusions in recent years.
For some industry watchers, physical threats to the grid loom larger. But to experts and officials, each reported attack is worrisome.
Former energy security regulator Josh Axelrod, speaking at a 2013 security conference in Louisville, described a "seven bullets theory" of how a mass outage could be triggered by a physical attack targeting key pieces of equipment.
The Eastern power grid is highly interconnected and relies on rolling power between different utilities, he said, according to a video of the presentation.
"If you know where to disable certain transformers, you can cause enough frequency and voltage fluctuation in order to disable the grid and cause cascading outages," said Axelrod, who now heads the power and utilities information security practice at Ernst & Young. "You can pick up a hunting rifle at your local sporting goods store … and go do what you need to do."
Thomas Popik, president of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, a Nashua, N.H.-based advocacy group, argued the power industry is given too much leeway to control its own security rules.
"The system is so badly broken," Popik said. "For physical protection, the standards are very weak."
PENALTIES DECREASING
Under guidelines set by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, an industry-funded non-profit – the North American Electrical Reliability Corporation, or NERC — writes standards for the industry, which are then approved or disapproved by FERC, the federal agency that has jurisdiction over the power grid.
In a 2012 report, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service called the regulatory arrangement unusual and said it "may potentially be a conflict of interest" for an industry to write its own rules.
Federal regulators also look to NERC for enforcement of those rules, which has decreased in recent years.
The number of enforcement actions taken by NERC against utilities for failing to follow critical infrastructure protection guidelines decreased 30% from 1,230 in 2013 to 860 in 2014.
After issuing more than $5 million in penalties for critical infrastructure violations in 2013, the organization's figures show NERC issued less than $4 million in such penalties last year.
NERC president and CEO Gerry Cauley said decreasing fines point to increased compliance, rather than decreasing enforcement.
"Longer term, you expect people to get the message and make the adjustments to keep improving," he said. "It's not because we're being nicer."
NERC, along with industry funded groups like the Edison Electric Institute, have also fought legislation including the Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense Act, or GRID Act, that would eliminate the industry's self-regulation. Congressional lobbying disclosure records show industry-funded groups spent millions lobbying about the GRID Act since 2010.
Cauley said the industry's technical expertise is essential to ensuring reliability of the system, and legislation lessening the industry's oversight role would be "detrimental."
"The people who run and manage and design the system have to be at the table there to figure out how it should work," he said. "We wouldn't want to lose that. I think we would actually take a step backward if we did that."
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159790d23c9a7dc66d46d8f6cc20aec5 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/30/missing-student-found-dead-near-usc/70692452/ | Missing California soccer player victim of traffic accident | Missing California soccer player victim of traffic accident
LOS ANGELES -- A University of California-Berkeley freshman missing since leaving a party early Saturday died after being struck on a freeway, Los Angeles police said Monday.
Police said Eloi (eh-loy) Vasquez, 19, a member of the UC soccer team, was last seen leaving a fraternity party near the University of Southern California campus early Saturday after telling friends he wanted to take a walk.
His mother, Wendy Margolin, said he later called a friend, telling her he was lost and in trouble, Associated Press reported
Los Angeles police said Monday afternoon that they learned that Vasquez was killed when he was struck while a pedestrian on the eastbound lanes of the I-10 freeway around 2:25 a.m. Saturday. Police said the accident was handled by the California Highway Patrol, and that identification was made Monday by the Los Angeles County Coroner's office.
He was not carrying identification when he was found.
As concern grew Monday about his fate, his family offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his return.
Vasquez was struck while crossing the freeway near Vermont Avenue by a car traveling at 60 mph, the Los Angeles Times reported. California HIghway Patrol Officer Ramberto Salcido said the driver "was unable to avoid the pedestrian.''
The driver was unhurt. Vasquez was pronounced dead at the scene.
"We are heartbroken. We are devastated upon finding out this news," Wesley Mallette, associate athletic director at the Berkeley campus, said at a news conference. "Eloi Vasquez was a wonderful young man, a fantastic student athlete, dedicated and devoted to everything he did."
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4606d90da0e60b05bd737d80297ee4ff | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/30/overuse-baseball-injuries-increasing-for-younger-player/70694528/ | Overuse baseball injuries increasing for younger players | Overuse baseball injuries increasing for younger players
A new study suggests more than half of parents with teen and preteen baseball players aren't aware of safe pitching practices. That's partly to blame for overuse injuries.
AUSTIN -- Little leaguers as well as middle and high school players are gearing up for their baseball seasons, but if your son or daughter is a pitcher there are some alarming new statistics about the increase in overuse injuries.
Parents need to know the answers to questions such as:
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons – those are questions more than half of the parents could not answer and partly to blame for the increase in overuse baseball injuries.
The crack of the bat on the baseball is 13-year-old Luke Banister's second favorite sound. His first favorite is the pop of the catcher's mitt after one of his pitches. Pitching is Luke's first love – but it's something he won't get to do at all this season when his team at Brentwood Christian School takes the field.
"Every time I threw it felt like something was really wrong," Luke said.
Luke pushed himself too hard during warm ups at a recent winter camp.
"He noticed a little sensation in his elbow when he would throw hard," said Janet Banister, Luke's mother. "At that point we're like 'uh-oh.'"
X-rays revealed inflammation on the growth plate in his elbow.
"The act of throwing is one of the most violent things you can do in sports," said Scott Smith, an Orthopedic Surgeon with Texas Orthopedics. "Your shoulder movement is essentially through 900 degrees within a second."
Smith says that huge amount of rotation and overload from the number of pitches puts too much stress on the shoulder and elbow.
"So essentially about an 80 mph fastball is approximately the strength of that ligament," said Smith.
Luke's mom, Janet, said she was among the more than 50 percent of parents unaware of safe pitching practices, but that's changed since Luke's injury.
"We're so much more knowledgeable now than we were even a month ago," she said.
Luke is more aware as well. He will no longer push himself on the mound. He's just glad to hear that in a few weeks doctors should allow him to play all other positions on the field.
"Oh I'm really excited to play," said Luke. "Just a few more games that I can't throw, but I'm ready."
Doctor Smith said one of the best ways to cut down baseball overuse injuries is to eliminate year-round participation in the sport. He said that can be accomplished simply by encouraging players to be multi-sport athletes.
Click here to learn more about the findings from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
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6e5d7ef867691a62aea57851bd447745 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/01/chicago-murders-shootings/70787110/ | Murders, shootings on the rise in Chicago | Murders, shootings on the rise in Chicago
Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated the murder record set in 2014.
CHICAGO — After recording the fewest murders in decades last year, violence is soaring: a 40% increase in shootings and 29% more homicides in the first three months of the year.
The city has recorded 355 shootings this year as of Monday compared with 253 shootings for the first quarter of 2014, according to crime statistics released by the Chicago Police Department on Wednesday.
Eighty murders were recorded in the first quarter of 2015. There were 62 in the same period last year.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the city has made significant progress in reducing overall crime in the past few years, but his department is challenged by gun laws that he said make it too easy for dangerous criminals to get access to illegal weapons.
McCarthy and other Chicago officials have long blamed neighboring states Indiana and Wisconsin for contributing to Chicago's homicide problems. From 2009 to 2013, 60% of guns recovered in crimes in Chicago were originally purchased in states with fewer restrictions on gun ownership, according to police.
"Even with the strongest partnerships and best policing in the world, without better state and federal laws to help keep illegal guns off the streets, we will continue to face an uphill battle," McCarthy said.
The increase in violence comes as Chicagoans get ready to vote Tuesday on whether to give incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel another four-year term.
Emanuel, who polls show is on track to easily win re-election, was forced into a runoff after he failed to win a majority of the vote in the city's election Feb. 25. The mayor's opponent, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, latched onto the new crime numbers to accuse Emanuel of falling short on making the city safer. Garcia pledged to add 1,000 cops to the streets.
"This spike in homicides is one more intolerable example of Mayor Emanuel's broken promises and wrong priorities — and comes in tandem with more than 10,500 shootings and 1,800 homicides under his watch," Garcia said. "Parents worry about their kids playing outside in every neighborhood in this city, while rank-and-file police officers are short-staffed and starved of resources."
Emanuel has touted the strides Chicago has made under his watch in reducing the number of homicides. The nation's third-largest city had 407 murders last year, the city's fewest in five decades. Two years earlier, Chicago grabbed national headlines when it recorded more than 500 homicides, significantly outpacing larger cities New York (419) and Los Angeles (299).
The rate of unregistered or stolen guns recovered by Chicago police increased 22% in the first quarter of 2015 from the same period last year. Police have recovered more than 1,500 illegal guns this year, and first-quarter arrests for illegal gun possession increased 39%.
Overall, crime is down 5% from the same period last year.
Emanuel told NBC Chicago on Wednesday that the city needs more help from state lawmakers in Springfield to stem gun violence.
"The No. 1 problem is shootings and homicides, and that's why I've been clear from the get-go ... yes, we want more police," Emanuel said. "We've got to have them in the right place. But we have to get the laws changed in Springfield."
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802d937dd8de5cbec4586d9ee12c798b | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/07/ferguson-voters-head-to-polls/25401037/ | Ferguson voters make history and increase turnout | Ferguson voters make history and increase turnout
Residents in Ferguson, Mo. Tuesday elected two black city council members, transforming the political body's racial composition after months of protests over racial profiling and police brutality.
One sitting black member of the council was not up for re-election. When the two new African-American council members take their seats it will be the first time that blacks have controlled half of the council, despite the fact that two-thirds of the city's 21,000 residents are black.
Demonstrations gave way to increased civic activism with 29% of eligible voters casting more than 3,700 ballots. That's more than double the 12% of eligible voters that came out for last April's mayoral election.
Since the shooting death last summer of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white police officer, activists in the St. Louis suburb have implored people to vote. That message came through Tuesday as voters elected Wesley Bell, who is black, in Ward 3, Ella Jones, who is also black, in Ward 1, and Brian Fletcher, who is white, in Ward 2.
"We need more representation because you have to understand the culture of the people and you need to understand how to interact with people," Jones said.
A Justice Department report last month confirmed a broad pattern of biased policing in the city that singled out African Americans for excessive arrests and harsh punishment. Mayor James Knowles, who is white, holds the seventh seat on the council. He is not up for re-election.
Eric Fey, St. Louis County director of elections, said he was pleased with the turnout but is cautious about whether future elections will have such results.
"I think it's a shame that it took all the events and attention for people to come out and vote for their city council," Fey said. "Only time will tell if people remain engaged."
Bell, 40, a criminal justice instructor and municipal judge, will represent the the neighborhood where Brown, 18, died. He said he will focus on community policing, changing the city's court system and spurring economic development.
"We need to double down and implement policing where departments are part of the community and not distant from the community," Bell said.
Jones, who was a sales director for Mary Kay for 20 years, said she wants to give residents more opportunities to voice their concerns through town hall meetings and wants to look into ways to create jobs in the city.
Fletcher, 55, a former Mayor of Ferguson and a 30-year-resident of the city, says Ferguson needs stability and "normalcy" after months of protests. "It's been a very unsettling period," he said. "The citizens don't want to be in the headlines everyday. They want to go back to their day to day lives. "
Meanwhile, heavy rain and wind that swept through Ferguson Tuesday made some worry that the weather might deter people from voting. The weather slowed turnout early in the day, but turnout picked up later, Fey said. "Luckily we had no power outages, so the weather was only an irritant rather than a major issue," he said.
Throughout Tuesday, candidates offered residents free rides to the polls and volunteers went door to door to get out the vote.
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f0e73d94307c961c0a0ec72fa0cec3cf | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/08/boston-bombing-chronology/25477717/ | Key events in the Boston Marathon bombing case | Key events in the Boston Marathon bombing case
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty Wednesday on all 30 federal counts in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing case and faces a possible death sentence. Here is a timeline of events that led to the verdict.
March 2011: Russian FSB intelligence security service gives FBI information that Tamerlan Tsarnaev of Cambridge, Mass., is a follower of radical Islam.
June 2011: FBI closes investigation after finding nothing to link Tamerlan Tsarnaev to terrorism.
Sept. 12, 2011: Bodies of three men are found in Waltham, Mass., with their throats slit and marijuana sprinkled over them.
Late 2011: U.S. officials add the Tsarnaevs' mother to a federal terrorism database after Russia contacts the CIA with concerns that they were religious militants about to travel to Russia. She later says she has no links to terrorism.
January 2012: Tamerlan arrives in Russia, where he spends time in two predominantly Muslim provinces, Dagestan and Chechnya.
July 2012: Officials in Dagestan say Tamerlan applies for a new passport but never picks it up. Russian officials say they have him under surveillance but lose track of him after the death of a Canadian man who had joined an Islamic insurgency in the region.
July 17, 2012: Tamerlan returns to the USA.
November 2012: Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Cambridge says Tamerlan has an outburst that interrupts a sermon about it being acceptable for Muslims to celebrate American holidays.
January 2013: Islamic Society says Tamerlan has a second outburst after a sermon that includes praise for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
April 15, 2013: Bombs go off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others.
April 16, 2013: Federal agents say the bombs were made from pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and other shrapnel, but they don't know who detonated them or why.
April 17, 2013: President Barack Obama signs an emergency declaration for Massachusetts and orders federal aid to supplement the local response.
April 18, 2013: Investigators release photos and video of two suspects and ask for the public's help identifying them. Later that night, Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier is shot to death in his cruiser. Prosecutors say they steal an SUV at gunpoint from a Cambridge gas station. The driver is held for about a half-hour, then released unharmed.
April 19, 2013: The Tsarnaevs have an early-morning gun battle with authorities who have tracked them to Watertown. Tamerlan is run over by his fleeing younger brother and dies. Dzhokhar escapes. Around 6 a.m., authorities tell residents of Boston and surrounding communities to stay indoors. All mass transit is shut down. That order is lifted around 6:30 p.m., just before authorities trace Dzhokhar to a Watertown backyard, where he is found hiding in a boat.
April 22, 2013: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, injured in the shootout, is charged in his hospital room with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.
April 30, 2013: Two friends of Dzhokhar are charged with attempting to destroy evidence by disposing of a backpack and laptop computer taken from his room after they learned the was a suspect in the bombing. Another is charged with lying to investigators.
May 9, 2013: Tamerlan Tsarnaev is secretly buried in Virginia after a weeklong search for a cemetery willing to take the body.
May 22, 2013: An FBI agent in Orlando, Fla., fatally shoots Ibragim Todashev, a friend of Tamerlan, after he lunges at law enforcement officials questioning him about the Waltham killings. Officials say that before he died, he had agreed to give a statement about his involvement.
July 10, 2013: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleads not guilty to 30 federal charges.
July 23, 2013: Marc Fucarile is the last survivor of the bombings to leave the hospital.
Jan. 30, 2014: Prosecutors announce they will seek the death penalty against Dzhokhar.
April 15, 2014: Ceremonies and events mark the anniversary of the attacks.
April 21, 2014: The 2014 Boston Marathon has a field of 36,000 runners, 9,000 more than 2013 and the second-biggest field in history.
May 30, 2014: Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, is arrested on charges of obstructing the investigation by deleting information from his computer and lying to investigators.
June 18, 2014: Tsarnaev's lawyers file first of several requests to move the trial to Washington, D.C.
July 21, 2014: Azamat Tazhayakov, a college friend of Dzhokhar, is convicted of obstruction of justice and conspiracy for agreeing with another friend to get rid of a backpack and disabled fireworks they took from his dorm room three days after the attack.
July 22, 2014: Stephen Silva, believed to have provided the gun used by the Tsarnaevs to kill Collier, is arrested on drug and weapons charges.
Aug. 22, 2014: Dias Kadyrbayev, 20, pleads guilty to impeding the investigation by removing incriminating evidence from Dzhokhar's dorm room.
Sept. 24, 2014: Judge grants a delay and pushes the start of the trial to Jan. 5, 2015.
Oct. 28, 2014: Robel Phillipos, 21, is convicted of lying to federal agents about being in Dzhokhar's room.
Nov. 25, 2014: A federal judge rejects a request from lawyers for Tsarnaev to order prosecutors to turn over evidence about his older brother's possible participation in the Waltham slayings.
Dec. 18, 2014: Tsarnaev appears in court for the first time since his July 2013 arraignment.
Jan. 5, 2015: Jury selection begins in Tsarnaev's trial.
March 4, 2015: Tsarnaev's lead defense attorney, Judy Clarke, declares in opening statements: "It was him."
April 6, 2015: Prosecutors and defense present closing statements.
April 7, 2015: Jury begins deliberating verdicts.
April 8, 2015: Jury convicts Tsarnaev. It will weigh a possible death sentence in the forthcoming penalty phase of the trial.
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57d93daa56eb65c3cfcb3e2c004dff7d | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/13/feeding-america-report/25723863/ | Hunger strikes even rich U.S. counties | Hunger strikes even rich U.S. counties
Loudoun County in Virginia is made up of one of the wealthiest communities in the USA.
But it's also where Barbara Diaz, a nanny, struggles to feed her family of eight.
While the median income in the county stands at $122,000 a year, Diaz, 55, makes about $21,600 a year as a nanny. With her salary, she has to feed her family and pay rent, car insurance and utilities. Often, she doesn't have enough at the end of the month for food, so she turns regularly to her local food pantry for help.
Diaz and her family are among the 46 million Americans who have a meal gap, in which they can't afford to pay for three meals a day, according to a new report titled "Map the Meal Gap" by Feeding America, a network of 200 food banks nationwide. The food banks provide food to pantries.
"There's been a striking lack of progress," says Elaine Waxman, Feeding America's vice president of research and nutrition. She says the rate of people who are at risk of going hungry has gone up since the recession when 36 million people were food insecure in 2007.
The annual report, based on 2013 federal data, found that food insecurity exists in every county, including those that are among the wealthiest, and it's especially prevalent among households with children. The county with the highest rate of food insecurity is Holmes County, Miss., where a third of its residents are at risk of hunger, the report found.
The report found that while counties with a majority population of black and American Indian residents continue to have the highest rates of people who are at risk of hunger, a handful of counties with a majority Latino population saw decreases in food insecurity rates. For example, Starr County, Texas, where 98% of its residents are Latino, saw food insecurity rates fall from 19% in 2012 to 15% in 2013.
The Feeding America report follows a survey by the Food Research and Action Center that found that 17.2% of respondents reported struggling to buy enough food for the family, the lowest since the recession, when the rate jumped to 19%.
The Feeding America report found five of the wealthiest counties in the USA ring the nation's capital and all have child food insecurity rates that top 10%. For example, almost 11% or 10,360 children in Loudoun County live in households at risk of hunger. In Howard County, Md., where the median income reaches $110,000, 15% of its children -- 11,200 -- live in households at risk of hunger. And in Fairfax County, Va., where the median household income is $111,079, 12% -- or 31,700 -- children live in households at risk of hunger.
Jennifer Montgomery, head of the Loudoun Interfaith Relief, said the number of families visiting the pantry twice a month continues to increase every year. The pantry provides families three meals a day for three days for every member of the household.
Last year, the pantry served 15,000 people. She says 68% of those clients work full-time or part-time jobs and they just can't make ends meet.
"We are helping the working poor," she says.
Diaz goes to the pantry twice a month. She says her husband, who is 56, has severe back problems and her 25-year-old daughter has a chronic stomach condition, issues that make it hard for both of them to work full-time. She says neither her husband nor her daughter receive any disability benefits, so the only income for the family is her salary. Her three grandchildren and a niece and a nephew, all under 15 years old, also live with her.
"I work hard; I pay my taxes," she says. "But I'm living through hard times."
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124c29deeef235fd7673a154e849ec68 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/14/aging-brain-advice-iom/25759829/ | Expert advice: Do 3 things to protect your aging brain | Expert advice: Do 3 things to protect your aging brain
If you want to stay mentally sharp as you age, experts have three pieces of advice: Get more exercise, control your risks for cardiovascular disease and work with your doctor to head off medical conditions and drug side effects that might impair your thinking.
While you might also benefit from some other strategies — including staying socially active, getting enough sleep and engaging in stimulating activities from reading to music-making to formal brain-training games — the evidence for those approaches is not as strong. And there's no good evidence that any drug or supplement will help.
That's the gist of the advice in a new, authoritative report on "cognitive aging," the changes in memory, thinking speed, decision-making, problem-solving and learning that most people notice as they age. The report, released Tuesday by an expert panel appointed by the non-profit Institute of Medicine, focuses on the sorts of changes that do not signal dementia but can nonetheless interfere with daily life.
"The brain ages in all of us, but there's wide variability in the way the brain ages," says committee chair Dan Blazer, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. Aging can have some positive effects along with the well-known negative effects, he adds: Wisdom and knowledge may increase, even while memory and attention decline.
The best-studied ways to slow the decline, according to the report:
• Exercise. Physical activity studies in middle-aged and older adults show that those who step up their exercise routines improve their scores on thinking tests. Still unclear: what kinds of exercise, in what doses, at what time of life, are best.
• Improve cardiovascular health. People with healthy hearts and blood vessels tend to maintain healthier brains and are at lower risk for strokes, a major cause of cognitive impairment. So control your blood pressure, cholesterol and weight, and don't smoke.
• Watch out for medical conditions and medications that can impair thinking. Conditions from diabetes to sleep apnea and medications such as some sedating antihistamines, sleeping pills and antidepressants, have been linked with cognitive decline. Many people also decline during hospitalization and after surgery. So work with your medical providers to limit the harm.
"There is s message of hope in this report," Blazer says. "There are things that can be done."
If you do try a brain-training computer program or game, the report says, you should know that the skills you hone on those programs might not transfer to real life activities. That is, even if you master a memory game, you still might forget your grocery list.
The report calls for government agencies, consumer groups and others to do more to regulate and offer reliable information on products that make memory-enhancement and other claims.
In a recent survey by AARP, 93% of respondents said brain health was very or extremely important, but few said they knew how to protect it.
The new report, co-sponsored by the advocacy group, "empowers consumers to take control of their health," AARP chief policy officer Debra Whitman said in a written statement. "By living a healthy lifestyle that includes being physically active and intellectually and socially engaged, you can positively help your brain's health as you age."
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d7ecaa22684de99e8c9323211f1197de | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/16/beech-nut-glass/25861257/ | Baby food recalled after glass found in jar | Baby food recalled after glass found in jar
The threat of potential glass contamination has prompted baby food maker Beech-Nut to recall more than 1,900 pounds of baby food, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday.
The agency's Food Safety and Inspection Service said the affected product is Stage 2 Beech-Nut Classics Sweet Potato and Chicken sold in 4-ounce glass jars.
The baby food, made in December, was shipped across the country and contains the product numbers 12395750815 through 12395750821, according to the USDA.
The manufacturer chose to issue the recall after a complaint of a consumer finding a small amount of glass in a jar and a report of an oral injury.
Beech-Nut, based in Amsterdam, N.Y., issued a statement on its website saying it decided to issue the voluntary recall after the glass report, and added there have been no other similar reports of glass in its food.
"The quality and safety of our products is our number one priority," Beech-Nut said. "We know we have not met the expectations of parents who rely on Beech-Nut for quality nutrition for their babies and toddlers in this case, and for that we apologize."
Consumers may receive a refund or replacement food by contacting Beech-Nut at (866) 674-4446 and returning the recalled jar or jars to the store where purchased, the company said.
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bd473904ac2ba603a39cf01828e8cb9a | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/16/world-trade-center-health/25856199/ | Health problems are common among 9/11 medical crews | Health problems are common among 9/11 medical crews
Emergency medical service workers who went to Ground Zero after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 have suffered from an usually high number of health problems, a new study shows.
Previous research has documented the health problems suffered by firefighters who worked at Ground Zero, but the new study is the first to examine the health consequences of the toxic dust and emotional stress on workers such as paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
Compared with emergency medical workers who didn't serve at the World Trade Center, those who responded on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, are seven times more likely to have had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder since the attacks.
They are nearly four times as likely to have had acid reflux, almost four times as likely to have had inflammation of the nasal and sinus cavities, more than twice as likely to have had breathing disorders such as asthma or chronic bronchitis and twice as likely to have suffered depression, according to the study, led by the Fire Department of the City of New York's Bureau of Health Services.
The most common problem was symptoms of depression, suffered by nearly 17% of the 2,281 medical service workers included in the study, which was published online Wednesday in Occupational Safety & Medicine. The rate of PTSD symptoms was 7%. The the rate of symptoms of harmful alcohol use was 3%.
It's easy to see why ambulance crews working at Ground Zero would suffer depression, given the carnage they witnessed, says Michael Crane, director of the World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
"This was an attack on the United States of America that is still impacting people 13 and 14 years later," says Crane, who was not involved in the new study. "The mental health impact was extraordinary and remains extraordinary."
About 12% of emergency medical workers suffer from acid reflux or breathing problems such as asthma or chronic bronchitis, according to the study. That's also not surprising, Crane says, because many workers breathed in or swallowed toxic dust and smoke from burning gasoline. Those substances can easily irritate the throat, lungs and digestive tract.
"Large numbers of toxins and carcinogens were found in that dust," Crane says. "We'll never know the total amount that people were exposed to because nobody stood there with a meter. But we know the dust that settled to the earth was highly toxic."
Previous studies have found even higher rates of medical problems among firefighters, who were exposed to more dust and toxins while digging through rubble, the study says. About 34% of firefighters developed nasal or sinus inflammation, 29% developed reflux, 25% developed breathing problems and 9.3% developed symptoms of harmful alcohol use.
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624663b0d1776c9d7173912944bc9c0a | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/19/clinton-fallin-mcveigh/26030261/ | Oklahoma City ceremony recalls those lost in terror attack | Oklahoma City ceremony recalls those lost in terror attack
Former President Bill Clinton, who was in the White House when a terrorist bomb destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building, told those who gathered Sunday to mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy that all Americans owe the city a debt of gratitude for how it responded after the attack.
"You reminded us we should all live by the Oklahoma Standard," Clinton said, alluding to what the city's people have done for others, including the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
"When you strip away all the little things that divide us, it's important to remember how tied we are, and how much we, all Americans, owe Oklahoma City," he said.
More than 1,000 people attended the morning service at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, which stands in the place of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The terror attack that destroyed it was, at the time, the deadliest on U.S. soil.
The service started with 168 seconds of silence — one for each victim — and included a reading by relatives of the names of those killed April 19, 1995.
"A tragedy like this could have torn a city apart, but instead it has united this city. ... And that's an example to us all," Clinton said. "You had to choose far-sighted love over blind hatred."
As he was seated on the dais, Clinton held the hand of former state representative Susan Winchester, who lost her sister, Peggy Clark, in the bombing
As many as 400,000 people in Oklahoma City are thought to have known someone who was killed or injured that day.
Frank Keating, who was governor at the time, called the attack "unforgivable. … This was a place of unspeakable horror and tragedy." Nineteen of those killed were children.
Timothy McVeigh, an Army veteran with strong anti-government views, was executed for carrying out the bombing as revenge for the deadly standoff between the FBI and the Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Texas, that killed more than 70 people two years earlier.
McVeigh's accomplice, Terry Nichols, is serving life in prison.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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2041c352716c102aed6e0c3e17164925 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/20/wisconsin-senator-baldwin-accused-of-cover-up-by-fired-aide-in-va-health-care-scandal/26090619/ | Fired aide accuses Wis. senator of cover-up in vets' care case | Fired aide accuses Wis. senator of cover-up in vets' care case
WASHINGTON – Former aide Marquette Baylor is accusing Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., of making false statements to "cover up" actions taken by her chief of staff and to "protect her political career."
Baylor had been Baldwin's top aide in Milwaukee until she was fired in January following a USA TODAY report that revealed the senator had a report raising concerns about opiate prescriptions at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah, Wis., for four months last year but didn't act on it despite repeated pleas from a whistleblower.
The day after her office received the report last August, 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran Jason Simcakoski died from "mixed drug toxicity" as an inpatient at Tomah.
In the complaint to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Baylor says she told Baldwin's chief of staff, Bill Murat, about the report, and when she didn't get approval to take action last fall, she prepared memos to Baldwin herself.
"These memorandums were either ignored by the Senator or were withheld from her by Murat," Baylor wrote.
"Senator Baldwin and her staff have disparaged the truth in order to cover up Murat's actions and to protect her political career," she wrote. "Had Murat, as the Chief of Staff, allowed me and other individuals to properly perform our roles, the issues surrounding the Tomah VA Medical Center would have been identified and addressed long ago. ... Her actions to cover up Murat's willful misconduct are unbecoming of a United States Senator. She has acted unethically."
After an internal review of her office's handing of the report last month, Baldwin fined Murat, demoted her state director and reassigned a veterans' outreach staffer. She said at the time that Murat did not realize the importance of the report's findings. And a lawyer for Baldwin has said Baylor was fired for performance issues aside from the handling of the Tomah report and whistleblower.
A spokesman for Baldwin, John Kraus, called the complaint a "political hit job" and suggested Baylor is being used as a "pawn" by a Republican law firm that reportedly helped her draft the complaint.
Kraus said Baldwin took responsibility for mistakes her office made, disciplined staff to ensure it doesn't happen again and he reiterated that Baylor was fired for other, long-term performance issues.
"This partisan political drama isn't going to distract from Senator Baldwin's commitment to work in a bipartisan way to get to the bottom of the problems at the Tomah VA and make sure they never happen again," Kraus said. "She remains focused on ensuring that our Wisconsin veterans receive the timely, safe, and highest-quality care that they have earned."
He declined to say if Baldwin had seen Baylor's memos.
Baldwin was the only member of Congress to receive a copy last year of the report by the VA inspector general, which found "unusually high" opiate prescription rates at the Tomah facility, raising "potentially serious concerns."
Baylor, who had worked for former Sen. Herb Kohl for more than 10 years before taking the job with Baldwin in 2013, said she is filing the complaint with "reluctance" and is wary of taking on a U.S. senator, but had to set aside her reticence to combat Baldwin's "misinformation campaign."
"It must yield to defend my name and reputation from unjustified attack," she wrote. "And it must yield to bring focus to where it should have been all along: the veterans who receive care by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs."
In her complaint, Baylor describes Baldwin's operation as a disorganized mess ruled with an iron fist by Murat. She said there were no protocols, shifting job responsibilities and a lack of training and communication.
Baylor said she and her staff identified serious misconduct in "multiple" VA facilities in Wisconsin in August and brought the issues to the attention of Baldwin's state director at the time, Doug Hill, and legislative director, Daniel McCarthy, who she said did nothing to address them.
"Months passed without critical guidance," she wrote.
Baylor said she learned in November that Baldwin's veteran outreach staffer at the time, Mike Helbick, had received the opiate report, and after the whistleblower - former Tomah employee Ryan Honl - started emailing about the report in November, she "immediately developed an action plan" and reached out to Hill and Murat.
"Despite repeated requests for approval of the proposed plan, our efforts were rejected by Murat," Baylor wrote.
She said she spoke with Honl for two hours on Nov. 24 and sent a memo to Murat and Hill the next day outlining what Honl had asked, including that the senator take action on the inspection report, and recommending that Baldwin contact VA Secretary Bob McDonald about the report "substantiating the over prescribing allegations at the Tomah VA," she wrote according to a copy of the memo attached to her ethics complaint.
Baylor wrote additional memos on Dec. 12 and 17 that cited alleged over-prescription of opiates at Tomah, according to copies attached to the complaint. They were addressed to Baldwin herself, but Baylor said she didn't know if the senator received them or if Murat declined to provide them to her. She said he agreed to put the last one in the senator's briefing binder.
She said that after the USA TODAY report about Baldwin's inaction, Baylor and other Baldwin aides participated in a conference call on Jan. 20 to develop a media response. During the call, she said Murat said he would contact Honl and take responsibility for the inaction. In actuality, he flew to Wisconsin two days later, fired Baylor and told Honl it was Baylor's fault that his calls for action were ignored.
In fact, Baylor said all emails from Honl starting Nov 25 were forwarded to Murat. That includes emails in November asking that Baldwin ask for an investigation into opiates at Tomah, and one in December with the subject line, ""Final plea for Help from Senator Baldwin."
"All we ask is that our senator publicly support our desire to have an open forum rather than remain silent publicly, which is what the VA does in hiding reports from the public," Honl wrote.
But Baldwin did not call for an investigation into Tomah prescription practices until news reports in January revealed Simcakoski's death.
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Contact dslack@usatoday.com. Follow @donovanslack.
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c96ba10338cca18924fc3b27ccf9c8e7 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/29/california-undersea-pipeline-drought/26559457/ | French firm proposes 'submarine river' to beat California drought | French firm proposes 'submarine river' to beat California drought
SACRAMENTO—A French engineering and construction firm is proposing a flexible undersea pipeline to carry water from two Northern California rivers to cities farther down the coast.
Via Marina, a subsidiary of the giant multinational company Vinci, has provided a "prefeasibility" study to the California Department of Water Resources suggesting water could be drawn from the mouth of the Klamath and Eel rivers and carried south in a series of 12-foot diameter tubes anchored by ballast to the sea floor.
Via Marina chairman Felix Bogliolo said the project would largely eliminate environmental concerns because fresh water would be collected just prior to it flowing into the ocean.
"You can use this water and because by definition you are at the mouth of the river, all of the users upstream are not jeopardized," Bogliolo said.
Via Marina is currently in negotiations in Chile to build a similar submarine river to carry water from a wet area in the south of the country along the Pacific coast to a desert area in the north.
A 1975 study by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation considered a similar approach of harvesting water at the mouth of the Klamath and Eel and carrying it south in floating, rigid pipes. The construction cost was estimated at $20 billion in 1973, and the bureau recommended no further study of the concept be undertaken "until needs are more pressing."
Bogliolo estimated that technological improvements could allow the Via Marina California project to be built today for as little as $3.8 billion, providing fresh water to the south at a cost of about $653 per acre foot-- about a third of the cost of desalinated water, while using about a quarter of the energy.
Bogliolo contacted News10 after seeing the proposal announced last week by actor William Shatner to crowdfund a pipeline along Interstate 5 to carry water from Washington to California -- a plan that was immediately dismissed by water officials in both states.
But Jay Lund, director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, believes the French proposal deserves at least some consideration.
"This is not the craziest idea I've heard, by any means," Lund said. "But every solution for California's water problems that sounds good usually has some sort of a hidden flaw to it."
Via Marina has provided the California Department of Water Resources with a copy of the study, but DWR spokesperson Nancy Vogel declined to address the proposal specifically.
"We've received hundreds of drought-busting ideas from the public and we're reviewing them," Vogel said.
THE WEST WITHOUT WATER
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ec5a3e4ca2829b5e7fdaeb96fd77006b | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/29/fsu-hires-first-full-time-title-ix-director/26571399/ | FSU hires first full-time Title IX director | FSU hires first full-time Title IX director
Facing a federal investigation and a civil lawsuit over its handling of campus sexual-violence complaints, Florida State University announced today the hiring of its first full-time Title IX director.
Jennifer Broomfield, who is the current manager of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Program, will assume the new campus post June 1.
“Florida State University does not tolerate sexual violence,” Interim FSU Provost Sally McRorie said in a statement. “As universities across the nation look at ways to better address these issues, Jennifer brings insights and expertise to our efforts to help ensure that every member of our community has a safe, healthy and positive experience at FSU.”
FSU is one of more than 50 colleges and universities being investigated for possible Title IX violations by the United States Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. The federal law is intended to ensure education programs and campus activities are free from discrimination on the basis of gender, including sexual harassment and sexual assault.
FSU is facing scrutiny for its handling of a rape allegation made by former student Erica Kinsman against Heisman-Trophy winning FSU quarterback Jameis Winston. In January, Kinsman also filed a federal lawsuit against FSU’s Board of Trustees.
While FSU has several Title IX-trained coordinators in various departments, Broomfield, a lawyer who also holds a master’s degree in social work, will focus entirely on coordinating and directing the university’s efforts to comply with the law. She will be paid a salary of $80,000.
“This new position will allow for more focused leadership and direction for all of the university’s Title IX activities and personnel,” McRorie said.
Broomfield comes to Florida State with a wealth of experience in counseling, teaching, training and legal work in the areas of sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence and substance abuse, FSU officials said.
“I am honored that Florida State has chosen me to lead its comprehensive Title IX program,” Broomfield said in the news release. “After spending time with students, stakeholders, faculty and administrators, it is clear to me that Florida State is committed to ensuring the safety of all its students, faculty, staff and visitors. I look forward to returning to Florida and working with the community to put this commitment into action.”
At the Department of Veterans Affairs, Broomfield developed and implemented its national program on domestic violence and worked with local VA medical centers to train coordinators for each facility. She also serves as a member of the White House Interagency Federal Workgroup Meeting on the Intersection of HIV, Violence Against Women and Gender Related Health Disparities. In addition, she serves on the Women and Trauma Federal Partners’ Committee.
She previously worked as a social worker at the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M. from December 2011 to January 2014. Before that, she worked as a social worker at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
After graduating cum laude with a law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 2002, she was an associate at Klein Zelman Rothermel in New York, served as assistant attorney general in the Florida Attorney General’s Office and worked at The Florida Bar.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Baruch College of the City University of New York in 1991 and a Master of Social Work from the Hunter College School of Social Work in 1997. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health from George Washington University.
FSU officials say the hire is part of the university’s continuing efforts to better educate the campus community about responsible conduct and the meaning of consent as well as prevention and intervention and resources for sexual assault victims.
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43c6bc9067d3891f2221a7845e7742d2 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/30/double-chin-fda-shot-kybella-injections/26627949/ | FDA OKs shot to zap your double chin | FDA OKs shot to zap your double chin
(NEWSER) – About 70% of participants in a 2014 survey by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery about cosmetic procedures pointed fingers at chin and neck fat as a "top concern," per the Washington Post. But a drug just approved by the FDA looks to banish double chins, ABC News reports. Kybella, which drug manufacturer Kythera Biopharmaceuticals says could be available by June, is a form of the naturally occurring deoxycholic acid; it's injected into the body, where it penetrates fat cells and attacks their outer membranes, causing them to burst, ABC News reports. The FDA says patients can receive up to 50 injections per session—though it emphasizes they should be administered by a "licensed health care professional"—with a cap of six sessions that are at least one month apart, the AP reports.
The injections take about five minutes in total and need just a few days to heal, ABC adds. But they're not for everyone: Side effects may include bruising, pain, swelling, numbness, and even a few short-lived swallowing episodes, NBC News reports. And the director for the Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery worries that "once it is approved, people will start to use it for other areas of the face or for larger volumes (of fat) in other areas" (i.e., your butt or gut, which is a no-no). But Kythera says patients who finish treatment won't need more to maintain results, the LA Times reports. There's no shelf price yet, but the doctor in charge of investigating Kybella during clinical trials says it will likely be "in line with other injectable procedures," meaning expect "several hundred dollars," the Times adds. (Where do chins come from, anyway?)
This story originally appeared on Newser:
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Newser is a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
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e4efae30e962ca67406275376e9c506a | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/01/couple-charged-with-killing-baby-by-diluting-breast-milk/26694695/ | Couple charged with killing baby by diluting breast milk | Couple charged with killing baby by diluting breast milk
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. (WXIA) -- A Georgia mother and father have been charged with killing their 10-week-old daughter by diluting the breast milk they fed her.
Nevaeh Marie Landell died in late March of water intoxication, according to arrest warrants filed Wednesday.
Prosecutors argue Herbert George Landell, 26, and Lauren Heather Fristed, 25, added water to the baby's breast milk, robbing it of nutrients. When Nevaeh got sick, Landell and Fristed refused to get her medical treatment, citing their religious beliefs. By the time they took the baby to a hospital, she was already dead.
Gwinnett County Police said the child received no medical care before or after she was born, and likely would have been born at home had Fristed not needed an emergency C-section.
Watering down the milk caused Nevaeh's electrolyte and sodium levels to drop and made her brain swell, according to the warrants.
Landell has been charged with felony murder and aggravated battery by depriving. Fristed was charged with aggravated battery by depriving, first degree cruelty to children, and second degree cruelty to children. Both are in jail without bond.
11Alive medical correspondent Dr. Sujatha Reddy said babies should not drink water until they are at least 6 months old. Between 6 and 12 months, babies can drink small amounts of water -- no more than one to three ounces at a time. However, because water has no nutritional value, babies should drink breast milk or formula first, Dr. Reddy said.
Pediatric nurses who work with Dr. Reddy said there is no reason to water down a baby's breast milk.
Signs of water toxicity include grogginess, confusion, drowsiness, twitching and seizures.
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6d4a522489f2bed6e4565f634fd0a0c4 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/08/wwii-flyover-vintage-fighters-bombers-national-mall-arsenal--democracy/70967724/ | WWII vets gather for rare flyover of vintage planes celebrating V-E day | WWII vets gather for rare flyover of vintage planes celebrating V-E day
Vintage World War II planes flew down the National Mall on Friday afternoon as part of the 70th anniversary Victory in Europe celebration in Washington.
More than 50 military planes in 15 formations made their way down the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial and down Independence Avenue to the House office buildings before returning to airports in Culpeper and Manassas, Va.
They flew in sequenced formations recounting the biggest battles of World War II, from Pearl Harbor to the final assault on Japan.
YOUR TAKE:Were you there? Share your view with Your Take
Thousands of people – including WWII veterans and people whose parents and grandparents fought the Germans and Japanese – lined the Mall and watched from downtown office building balconies and rooftops and from boats in the Potomac River, cheering as they looked skyward.
One of the more poignant moments came when the missing man formation – honoring those who died during the fighting – flew overhead to the sounds of Taps.
A TBM Avenger broke from its flight path and made an emergeny landing at Reagan National Airport, across the Potomac River from Washington. Andrew Shirley, who witnessed the emergency landing from a park at the end of the airport's runway, said the engine sputtered and popped. No injuries were reported.
Ceremonies began Friday morning at the World War II Memorial on the Mall. Dozens of veterans placed wreaths in memory of 400,000 Americans and 60 million people worldwide killed during the war.
Such flyovers happened occasionally after the war but flights are now generally prohibited over the Mall.
The vintage fighters and bombers flew just 1,000 feet off the ground – nearly twice the height of the Washington Monument. Planes scheduled to appear included:
• Curtiss P-40 Warhawks from the attack on Pearl Harbor.
• B-25 Mitchell bombers, which were adapted for the aircraft carrier Hornet for the Doolittle Raid over Japan. Dick Cole, who will turn 100 on Sept. 7 and who was co-pilot of the first bomber flying off the Hornet, is expected to attend.
• Bell P-39 Aircobras and P-63 Kingcobras from Guadalcanal.
• Consolidated PBY Catalinas, Grumman F4F Wildcats and Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the Battle of Midway.
• Lockheed P-38 Lightnings from the mission that shot down Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of Japanese naval strategy who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.
• Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the type of bomber featured in the movie Unbroken, and North American P-51 Mustang fighter escorts from the Ploesti Raid targeting Romanian oil refineries.
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from Operation Argument to destroy German aircraft manufacturers.
• Douglas C-53 Skytrooper and C-47 Skytrain cargo planes that dropped supplies into Europe for the D-Day invasion.
• Grumman TBM Avengers, F6F Hellcats, F8F Bearcats and a Curtis SB2C Helldiver from the Marianas Turkey Shoot.
• Republic P-47 Thunderbolts from the Battle of the Bulge.
• Vought F4U Corsairs from Iwo Jima.
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress nicknamed Fifi, the only known model still flying, which was the type of plane that dropped atomic bombs on Japan.
• A TBM Avenger leading the missing man formation to honor war casualties was scheduled to be flown by Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and have passenger Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind. The Avenger is the type of plane flown during the war by former president George H.W. Bush, who is one of the flyover's honorary chairmen, along with former senator Bob Dole and former representative John Dingell.
"It's got a wonderful history," Graves said of the aircraft, and Bush signed the propeller of the plane Graves was to fly Friday. "He's an individual who is representative of that generation that did so much for our country. We're proud to honor his service."
The Avenger was the largest single-engine plane in the war, weighing 18,000 pounds with 1,900 horsepower, said Graves, who has flown vintage aircraft with the Commemorative Air Force and Texas Flying Legends Museum. The difficulties flying in formation offer him a glimpse of the challenges that wartime pilots faced during missions five or six hours long.
"It wears you out," Graves said. "It's an opportunity to honor these men and women who sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms and our liberties."
After the flyover, some of the planes will be on display Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
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bd4c60a2891e77ac2619e8af31666f81 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/08/wwii-vets-iwo-jima-okinawa-switzer-kraus-requardt-bentle/70975204/ | Veterans hope WWII anniversary celebrations inspire learning about history | Veterans hope WWII anniversary celebrations inspire learning about history
ARLINGTON, Va. – Noah Switzer slowly navigated the paths at Arlington National Cemetery swarmed by well-wishers congratulating him on his service and shaking the hand that wasn't holding the cane.
Switzer, 89, of Taylor Mill, Ky., slogged through 36 days of the Battle of Iwo Jima as a hospital corpsman who tended the wounded and helped bury the 6,800 dead. He often found himself up to his elbows in blood. And he lost his hearing for a few days after a mortar shell hit nearby.
But the mood was celebratory as three other World War II veterans traveled Thursday from the Cincinnati area for ceremonies honoring the 70th anniversary of the end of war in Europe. Switzer wondered how much the students in loud T-shirts of blue and orange and purple knew about the war.
On this trip, Switzer's goal was modest. He found it etched in the white slab of Vermont marble beneath a shady tree: the grave of Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated soldiers in in the war who went on to star in his own biographical movie, "To Hell and Back."
"I got to see it," Switzer said with a smile. "How about them apples?"
The crowds quieted for the changing of the guard outside the Tomb of the Unknowns. Students and adults parted for the veterans to see the precise marching and crisp inspection of a rifle by members of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment known as The Old Guard.
Watching intently, Walter Kraus, 94, of Ft. Mitchell, Ky., wore a vest covered with patches from a 30-year career in the Navy ending as a submarine commander. But it wasn't obvious he had survived the sinking of the submarine S-36 near Indonesia during the war.
"It's nice to know that they respect our past," Kraus said after shaking another woman's hand. "I hope they learn about what transpired."
Gerald Bentle, 90, of Milan, Ind., was surrounded by students eager to shake his hand, as he sat for a rest on some low stone steps. He joked he would need a winch to get back up.
If possible during the trip, Bentle wanted to see the scaffolding around the Capitol dome because he'd built scaffolds up to 85 feet tall for Gulf Oil after the war.
"I just wanted to see how they did it," Bentle said.
Bentle had been a military policeman who guarded thousands of German prisoners of war at Camp Atterbury near Edinburgh, Ind. He was later sent to Naples, Italy, to help organize military police there, but after the fighting had moved north.
"We never had a bullet fired at us," Bentle said. "I'd have been the first one they hit."
Howard Requardt, 89, of Edgewood Ky., fought with the Marines on Okinawa, but says he's only starting to get used to people congratulating him.
"It's nice to know that they respect our past," Requardt said after thanking another woman for shaking his hand. "I hope that what they see here rubs off on their knowledge of history – I hope they gain something."
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ed31a80a9d8924ba14c4f65c8bff3e10 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/14/tsa-air-marshal-robert-maclean-whistle-blower/27305461/ | TSA air marshal reinstated after Supreme Court win | TSA air marshal reinstated after Supreme Court win
WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration has reinstated an air marshal who was fired after disclosing proposed agency cutbacks, but was later deemed a justified whistle-blower by the Supreme Court.
Robert MacLean, an air marshal who flew undercover and armed to thwart terrorists, told MSNBC in 2003 that TSA was planning to reduce marshals on overnight flights. Congressional criticism led TSA to reverse itself, but the agency fired MacLean three years later for disclosing "sensitive security information."
In a challenge to his dismissal, MacLean's legal case focused on whether a federal law protecting whistle-blowers from disclosing government information trumped regulations that agencies use to keep information secret.
The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, ruled in January that MacLean wasn't "specifically prohibited by law" from leaking information about the cutbacks.
Technically, the high court sent MacLean back to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. But the TSA rescinded his dismissal in a letter May 8, effective May 3, according to the Government Accountability Project, which represented MacLean.
"I'm humbled and grateful that so many wonderful people and organizations came together to resolve this issue," MacLean said. "The American justice system is not perfect, but in this case it did the right thing and upheld federal whistle-blower protections."
Tom Devine, the Government Accountability Project's legal director, said he was elated that MacLean was reinstated and that the case was a victory for all workers covered by the whistle-blower act.
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2a7ed3380facf07153ab7f9fdabf18a0 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/19/amtrak-crash-braking/27588285/ | Amtrak: Modern braking system coming to N.E. Corridor by year's end | Amtrak: Modern braking system coming to N.E. Corridor by year's end
Amtrak officials said Tuesday that automatic braking widely adopted after a Boston crash in 1990 wasn't flexible enough to install across the entire system, including the northbound Philadelphia track where eight people died in a crash last week.
But a modern braking system will be installed on all Amtrak lines in the Northeast Corridor by the end of the year, according to an Amtrak official who wasn't authorized to be quoted in the press.
The earlier technology available in Philadelphia, called automatic train control, which was in place on the southbound track at the crash curve, has only four speed settings: 125 mph, 45, 30 and 20. The system was installed mostly to prevent collisions rather than high-speed derailments.
At the site of the northbound crash, the speed limit on the track dropped from 80 mph to 50 for the curve. Engineers are supposed to know and obey the speed limits, but the automatic braking wasn't programmed to kick in for the train traveling 106 mph.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) ordered Amtrak to adopt the automatic braking at the crash site at 45 mph, which the Amtrak official said was adopted over the weekend.
"If he doesn't apply the brake, it will stop the train," the Amtrak official said. "We're analyzing other curves with the FRA to find other places where there are similar situations. There are not a large number that are not protected."
Amtrak adopted the existing and antiquated system of automatic braking before Congress mandated it in 1990. But a crash in Boston between an Amtrak train going too fast through a curve and a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter train made adoption of automatic braking more urgent. That crash injured more than 450 people.
After the Boston crash, a safety committee including the FRA, Amtrak, freight and commuter railroads decided where speed limits should be set so that trains automatically brake, but the northbound Philadelphia track wasn't included, according to the Amtrak official. The braking system wasn't sophisticated enough to enforce speed limits at every curve in the tracks.
"It's a modification of a system that is not intended to do this," the Amtrak official said.
A more flexible system called positive train control is in place with various speed limits elsewhere along the Northeast Corridor, but will be completed from Washington to Boston by Dec. 31, according to the Amtrak official.
Amtrak has spent $110 million since Congress set the deadline on its version of the Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System.
While covering nearly the entire route from New York to Boston, Amtrak segments remaining to be installed are 27.6 miles in Delaware and Maryland, and 22.9 miles in northern New Jersey.
The exception in the Northeast Corridor for installing positive train control by the deadline is a 56-mile section of track north of New York owned by Metro-North, which isn't expected to meet the deadline.
Commuter railroads have spent at least $950 million out of at least $3.48 billion the system will cost, according to the American Public Transportation Association, which doesn't include Amtrak.
But Congress has contributed only $50 million so far, and publicly funded commuter systems are asking for a federal match of 80% of their costs to upgrade 4,000 locomotives and 8,500 miles of track.
The Association of American Railroads, which represents freight railroads, has spent $5.2 billion on deploying the system since 2008 and expects to spend $9 billion total. By the end of 2014, the industry has equipped about 50% of its locomotives and installed 56% of the trackside equipment.
Railroads have been upgrading trains and installing electronics for an automated system along the tracks for years. But industry groups have warned since 2010 they will miss this year's deadline for having the system on an estimated 60,000 miles of track carrying passengers or toxic chemicals that can be inhaled.
Congress set the deadline for positive train control after a head-on collision between Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train that killed 25 and injured 100 in Chatsworth, Calif., in September 2008.
The FRA counted about 300 people injured and 10 killed in train accidents each year from 2003 through 2012 — without counting highway-grade crossings or trespassers walking along tracks.
The system requires installing electronics in trains that communicate wirelessly with signals and stations along the tracks for updates on speed limits or other warnings. The equipment has to be synchronized with existing signals, switches and sensors.
Besides the cost, railroads had trouble obtaining radio spectrum for the signals from the Federal Communications Commission. Amtrak obtained its spectrum in April.
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ce660724326456d19af32f5cfea4f778 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/29/north-korea-us-stuxnet-attack-nuclear-failed/28184323/ | Report: U.S. cyberattack on N. Korea nuke program failed | Report: U.S. cyberattack on N. Korea nuke program failed
The United States tried but failed to sabotage North Korea's nuclear weapons program with a computer virus in 2010, Reuters reported Friday.
The cyber attack came at the same time the Stuxnet virus was disrupting Iran's uranium-enrichment efforts, according to sources familiar with the stealth effort. Stuxnet was reportedly created by the United States and Israel.
The North Korea attack involved a Stuxnet variant that was designed to activate "when it encountered Korean-language settings on an infected machine," Reuters writes. But U.S. agents were never able to install the malware on the computers controlling Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Unlike Iran, which is widely connected to the Internet, North Korea remains extremely isolated from global communications. The country's only Net connection runs through China, which heavily monitors and filters traffic. Few North Koreans own a computer, which requires police approval.
The National Security Agency, which led the effort, would not comment, Reuters said.
In 2010, Wiredreported that the same equipment used to control Iran's centrifuges had also been provided to North Korea.
North Korea detonated a nuclear device underground in October 2006, but the size of its stockpile is unknown. Several sources have estimated the country has reprocessed enough plutonium for one or two bombs, according to Global Security.
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76b05db49bb0750584b0dd585264cd3a | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/30/5-things-know-weekend/28142429/ | 5 things you need to know this weekend | 5 things you need to know this weekend
1. Bracket almost set for Stanley Cup Finals
Either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Anaheim Ducks will face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Stanley Cup Finals. The Western Conference Final Game 7 is Saturday night in Anaheim. The Lightning beat the Rangers Friday night, also in a Game 7 matchup. This is only the second time in the post-1967 expansion era that both conference finals have gone to a Game 7. "If I were to describe these playoffs in three words, I would use: exciting, unpredictable and sensational," Commissioner Gary Bettman told USA TODAY Sports.
2. O'Malley to announce 2016 campaign plans, play a tune
Former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley is dropping hints about his big announcement Saturday. His campaign released a video of the Democrat tuning up his guitar and strumming the opening notes of Hail to the Chief. If O'Malley does announce he's running for president in 2016, he will join former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the front-runner, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont as declared candidates for the Democratic nomination.
3. In Nepal, school reopens after month of recovery
Schools in Kathmandu, Nepal, will reopen Sunday, just over a month after the poor Himalayan nation was hit by a devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake. Most classrooms will be outdoors, sheltered under tarpaulins. For those who show up, UNICEF is providing school supplies expected to last three months. For the first few weeks, the students will not learn from books, but will focus on play and discussions aimed at coming to grips with the earthquake's aftermath, according to the Nepal government.
4. Senate takes on Patriot Act in rare Sunday session
The U.S. Senate will convene Sunday evening for a rare weekend session to try and find a compromise on provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire at midnight. Lawmakers are at odds over the National Security Agency's bulk collective of phone records, which a federal appeals court recently ruled illegal. Top law enforcement officers have warned Congress that if the Patriot Act expires, they could also lose less controversial tools to combat terrorist threats and crime.
5. Live from New York, it's ... an SNL exhibit?
You don't need to visit a van down by the river to see some of Saturday Night Live's most beloved relics. Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition opens at Premier Exhibitions 5th Avenue on Saturday. The exhibit also aims to give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how the show comes together every week, using recreations of backstage areas and the Studio 8H set, as well as videos made by Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Seth Meyers specifically for the showcase. Not in NYC this weekend? Don't worry, the special exhibit runs through January 2016.
And, the weekend essentials:
Did you pay attention this week? Let our news quiz be the judge of that.
Top videos of the week:
Need a break? Try playing some of our games.
You can subscribe to get the day's top news each weekday in your inbox or find us on the Yo! app: justyo.co/usatoday.
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74d6264b042773bf5b0f45fff0960a9f | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/30/paris-removing-all-love-locks--pont-des-arts-bridge/28209183/ | Paris removing all 'love locks' from Pont des Arts bridge | Paris removing all 'love locks' from Pont des Arts bridge
Lovers visiting Paris will soon have to find a new way of expressing their affections now that the city has decided to remove locks from its famed Pont des Arts, aka "Love Lock," bridge.
For years, couples touring the city of love have written their names on locks, blanketed Paris' bridge with them and thrown away the keys. The popular trend symbolizes undying feelings. However, officials say thousands of locks have become safety hazards and that city hall workers will begin removing locks from Pont des Arts bridge on Monday.
"This phenomenon generates two problems: a lasting degradation of the heritage of Paris and also a risk to the safety of visitors, Parisians and tourists," city hall said in a statement.
Part of the Pont des Arts bridge collapsed under the weight of the locks last year, BBC News reports. Now, almost a million padlocks — weighing 45 tons — are expected to be cut off, the networks report.
The Pont des Arts metal railings are to be covered with padlock-proof glass panels that are easy to clean of graffiti, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The paper reports that Paris authorities have tried asking nicely for tourists and others to refrain from attaching locks to bridges and public monuments. But officials have admitted that the campaign to get couples to take selfies and post their "love lock" online had not been successful.
In 2014, Lisa Anselmo, a New Yorker who now calls Paris home, and Lisa Taylor Huff, a freelance writer from New Jersey who has dual U.S.-French citizenship and lives in Paris, started "No Love Locks," a campaign against the love locks.
"This is a strong first step, one that sends a clear message to tourists: Paris does not want 'love locks,' " Anselmo told The Local, a news network in Europe. "We are thrilled, and hope this is the beginning of the end for this destructive trend."
The love lock phenomenon has been tracked to an Italian teen novel titled I Want You published in 2006, featuring two Roman lovers who immortalized their bond on a bridge and threw the key in the Tiber, according to The Wall Street Journal. Padlocks have since sprouted in other cities around the world, but nowhere appears to have embraced the trend as much as Paris, a town rich in romantic symbolism, the paper reports.
Paris city hall spokeswoman Barbara Atlan told The Wall Street Journal that after the Pont des Arts bridge, workers will rip off the padlocks from other bridges where they represent a risk.
"We need to preserve the heritage," Atlan said.
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5159d5ff30e1fd5d6e5caef58f74cc44 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/30/passenger-jet-nearly-collides--drone--mid-air-lasers-target-planes/28207569/ | Passenger jet nearly collides with drone in midair; lasers target planes | Passenger jet nearly collides with drone in midair; lasers target planes
A passenger jet nearly collided midair with a drone at 2,700 feet as it approached New York's LaGuardia Airport on Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration says.
The crew of Shuttle America Flight 2708 reported climbing 200 feet to avoid a collision as the plane made its final approach to the airport around 11 a.m., according to Newsday. The jet, with 70 to 78 passenger seats, was arriving from Washington, D.C., and landed safely without any reported injuries.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the incident should be a wake-up call for stricter limits on drone use.
"Every drone that's sold in the United States, whether it's made here or abroad, can have built into the drone itself a mechanism that doesn't let it fly in certain places," Schumer said, according to NY1 News.
Meanwhile, hours before the drone incident, five commercial airline pilots reported being targeted by green lasers that were pointed at their planes over New York and New Jersey on Thursday night, the station reported. The green laser light is considered especially dangerous because it can travel for miles and temporarily blind a pilot. The incidents prompted a warning from air-traffic control, the station reported.
"To try to impede a pilot flying a commercial flight with lots of people on it with a laser is reckless, dangerous behavior," said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, according to NY1 News.
Schumer also called for the government to ban the lasers.
"Unless we do something, there's going to be something very serious and very bad that happens with these green lasers," he said.
Lasers and drones are perhaps the two biggest threats faced by the airline industry, Phil Derner Jr., an aviation research and consulting expert, told Fox News.
When laser beams hit a cockpit window, the glass acts like a prism and disperses the blinding light throughout the cockpit, he said.
Like bird strikes, the danger presented by drones is that they will get near a plane and be sucked into an engine, he told the network.
"Drones are stronger than birds, and people are flying them in restricted airspace more and more," Derner told Fox News. "It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when one of these hits an aircraft."
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099635f8336a444d877bacff299c6b54 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/30/sister-meets-man-who-now-wears-her-brothers-face/28205885/ | Sister meets man who now wears her brother's face | Sister meets man who now wears her brother's face
Steady advances in face transplants have led to a remarkable reunion of sorts: A woman has met the man now wearing her brother's face.
The encounter between Rebekah Aversano and Richard Norris took place in Norris' Virginia home before the cameras of 60 Minutes Australia, reports the Guardian.
"Wow," said Aversano, who stroked Norris' cheek after asking his permission to do so. "This is the face I grew up with."
The face transplant took place in 2012, one of the most extensive such operations ever done. The Averson family of Maryland donated the face of 21-year-old Joshua, who had been killed after being struck by car.
In the 36-hour operation, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center transplanted Averson's jaw, tongue, skin, and muscle and nerve tissue onto Norris, who is now 39 and had been disfigured in a shotgun accident in 1997, recounts CNN.
Norris, who had only a 50% chance of surviving the surgery, still must take anti-rejection drugs daily, and he can neither drink nor get sunburned.
Still, "I am now able to walk past people and no one even gives me a second look," he said after the procedure. (It sounds nuts, but one doctor says he plans to do a head transplant.)
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1d965c51c8b6e044c30c1327d40c26f2 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/02/mers-spreads-south-korea/28373087/ | South Korean MERS outbreak likely to spread, health officials say | South Korean MERS outbreak likely to spread, health officials say
A MERS outbreak in South Korea — the largest outside Saudi Arabia, where the disease first emerged in 2012 — is likely to grow, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, has infected at least 25 people in South Korea and killed two, according to the World Health Organization.
Doctors have diagnosed five new cases not yet confirmed by the WHO, bringing the total to 30 cases, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who is in contact with South Korean doctors who are treating the patients.
South Korean officials have isolated 680 people to limit the spread of the disease, which spreads when sick people cough.
There have been at least 1,154 lab-confirmed cases of MERS worldwide since 2012, along with 431 deaths — a mortality rate of 37%.
MERS belongs to the same family of viruses as SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which was identified in 2003. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The first MERS case in South Korea, confirmed May 20, was in a 68-year-old man who had traveled to four Middle Eastern countries. He developed symptoms May 11 and sought care at two outpatient clinics and two hospitals, the WHO said.
Doctors didn't isolate the man because he didn't report exposure to MERS, the WHO said. He was exposed to a number of medical staff and hospital patients, as well as their family members and visitors. Health officials are seeking more information about how he was exposed during his Middle Eastern travels, the WHO said.
The patient infected some patients in the same room, as well as others on the same ward of the hospitals. Some patients became infected after being exposed to the man for as little as five minutes, the WHO said.
Other patients may have spread the virus at other hospitals before they were diagnosed.
The first MERS patient in South Korea shared a hospital ward with a 35-year-old man whose son had tuberculosis and who was taking medication to prevent infection. That man developed a fever after being discharged. He visited two hospitals and was given antibiotics by staff who probably assumed his symptoms were caused by tuberculosis, said Daniel Lucey, an adjunct professor of microbiology and immunology at Georgetown University Medical Center. That man then visited the hospital again, where he was isolated.
Another man infected with MERS in South Korea traveled to China on May 26, against his doctor's orders, and was diagnosed a hospital in that country three days later. The man had symptoms of MERS during his travel, the WHO said.
South Korea's Ministry of Health confirmed that there have been three generations of MERS spread — from the initial patient to a second patient and then to a third patient with no contact with the original patient.
Given how many people were exposed, "further cases can be expected," the WHO said in a statement. People are more likely to spread the disease when they are very sick and coughing more, Osterholm said.
The first MERS case in the United States, a health professional who had traveled to Saudi Arabia, was diagnosed in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Doctors have long known that coronaviruses such as MERS spread easily in hospitals, Osterholm said. Hospitals helped to spread the SARS outbreak in Toronto in 2003, as sick patients waited in crowded emergency departments, Osterholm said.
The current South Korean outbreak underscores the need to develop a vaccine against MERS, said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
There's a lot that doctors don't know about coronaviruses, such as why some people appear so much more contagious than others. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, doctors called highly infectious people "super spreaders" because they infected dozens of people. Other patients, however, never infect anyone. "These people may have more of the virus, or their coughs may be more efficient at spreading it," Osterholm said.
Osterholm notes that it's difficult to tell if the South Korean outbreak is spreading any more quickly than usual. In past outbreaks in Saudi Arabia, world health officials often received information long after patients had been treated.
South Korean officials have been quick to notify international authorities of new developments, allowing people to follow the outbreak "in real time," Osterholm said.
"There is a lot more transparency here than on the Arabian peninsula," Osterholm said.
Because South Korea has an advanced medical system, it is better positioned to contain the MERS outbreak than developing nations, Osterholm said.
"The fact that MERS has spread around the world is not surprising," Osterholm said. "The question is, 'Where is it going to spread to next?' It could very easily come to America. Very easily. Any flight could contain someone who was infected in the Middle East."
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1d6d12c4939636af732e91540b172e74 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/07/waco-bikers-protest/28645363/ | 1,000 bikers protest Twin Peaks shootout arrests | 1,000 bikers protest Twin Peaks shootout arrests
WACO, Texas — Nearly a thousand bikers gathered in downtown Waco on Sunday to protest what they say was unfair treatment by law enforcement following the violent May 17 shootout between rival biker gangs that left nine dead and 18 injured.
Many met in the parking lot of a nearby Sam's Club to prepare for the "All for 1" rally, which began at 1:30 p.m. in front of the of the McLennan County Courthouse.
Organizers say the rally was intended to be a silent, peaceful protest, against the arrests of about 177 bikers that the group believes were arrested at the Twin Peaks restaurant simply because they happened to be at the crime scene.
On the group's Facebook page, bikers were told to bring signs that say "we are not criminals" and "I'm not a gang member."
The Twin Peaks restaurant has been stripped of its signage and remains closed; an adjoining restaurant also has not reopened. But many businesses in downtown Waco said they would remain open during the event.
George Gaylord, a mobile hot dog vendor, had planned to park his cart right next to the courthouse parking lot. He has a lot of friends who are bikers, and was shocked when he first heard about the May 17 shootout.
"I thought it was crazy, because I ride a bike," he said. "I mean, I don't ride a Harley, but still you get lumped into the same. I ride with full leathers ... so right away you're a bad guy to some people."
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9fdd0fe8b6d8bcc08619485bd1acf57c | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/11/underage-binge-drinking/71021464/ | Underage drinking, binge boozing by minors is on the decline | Underage drinking, binge boozing by minors is on the decline
Corrections and clarifications: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the percentage change in the U.S. binge-drinking and underage drinking populations. Underage drinking among all U.S. residents from age 12 through 20 dropped 21%. Underage binge drinking decreased 26.4%.
Underage drinking and binge drinking rates among young people are on the decline across the USA, a new government study finds.
A report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released Thursday found underage drinking among all U.S. residents from age 12 through 20 dropped 21%. Underage binge drinking decreased 26.4%.
The survey examined the years 2002 to 2013. In the final year of the study, 22.7% of the nation's young people reported that they had an alcoholic drink in the last 30 days.
"While we're always very happy about these declines, we can't lose sight of the fact that we have approximately 9 million underage drinkers in the country," said Rich Lucey, special assistant to the director at SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse.
About 14.2% of underage people reported they had engaged in binge drinking — defined as having five or more drinks on the same occasion — in the last 30 days. That percentage is down from just under 20% in 2002.
For those age 18 through 20, however, the rate of binge drinking has stayed between 39% and 44% for the past two decades, Lucey said.
"We as a country could all do a much better job … to really start to drive those numbers down because I don't think any of us are comfortable with an alarmingly high rate of binge drinking among that population, especially when we know the consequences related to it," Lucey said.
The report used data from the National Survey for Drug Use and Health, which measures drinking rates among those 12 and older. The survey found 59.4% of the college age population reported drinking in the last 30 days.
Alcohol also still remains the primary drug used by youth with 22.7% reporting they drink, compared to 16.9% who said they use tobacco and 13.6% who said they use illicit drugs.
Lucey attributed the drop to an increased focus on reducing underage drinking at the federal, state and local levels over the past 10 years.
The influx of new laws cracking down on underage possession and consumption of alcohol and drinking and driving has also contributed to the drop, said James Fell, a senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, whose research focuses on drunk driving.
He said in the last 10 years there have been at least 20 laws mandating stricter penalties for fake IDs, hosting drinking parties for people underage, known as social host laws, and zero tolerance policies for underage drinking and driving.
"It doesn't surprise me this is going on," Fell said. "The combination of all those laws and enforcement will deter underage people from drinking."
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7e1f4c2e6980cbe21647117bea6fed6d | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/14/rising-drug-prices/71077100/ | Skyrocketing drug prices leave cures out of reach for some patients | Skyrocketing drug prices leave cures out of reach for some patients
Sophisticated drugs are opening the door, scientists say, to an era of "precision medicine."
They're also ushering in an age of astronomical prices.
New cancer drugs are routinely priced at more than $100,000 a year — nearly twice the average household income.
Experimental cholesterol drugs — widely predicted to be approved this summer — could cost $10,000 a year
A drug for a subset of people with cystic fibrosis, a lung disease that kills most patients by their early 40s, commands more than $300,000 a year.
Even with insurance, patients might pay thousands of dollars a month out of pocket.
For many people, care for cancer and other serious diseases is "a doorway to bankruptcy or poverty," said Timothy Turnham, executive director of the Melanoma Research Foundation. "It's a tremendous economic burden."
But patients aren't the only ones paying.
Taxpayers underwrite the cost of prescription drugs provided by Medicare, Medicaid and other public insurance programs.
Spending on prescription drugs last year reached a record-breaking $374 billion, up 13% from 2013, with the largest percentage increase in more than a decade, said Clare Krusing,spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans. Almost half of that increase came from drugs launched in the past two years.
Some of the most expensive medications are "breakthrough" drugs, which are fast tracked by the Food and Drug Administration because of their potential to fill an unmet need, she said. Over the next decade, just 10 of these breakthrough drugs will cost the government nearly $50 billion.
People with private insurance could find themselves paying more out-of-pocket for health care if insurers raise premiums to cover their costs, Krusing said.
"We're spending money we cannot afford," said Leonard Saltz, chief of gastrointestinal oncology at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Yet Saltz said he can't deny that some new drugs are game changers.
"I want these drugs and drugs like them available for my patients," Saltz said.
The cystic fibrosis drug, Kalydeco, has changed 33-year-old Emily Schaller's life. Before Kalydeco, Schaller was hospitalized for lung infections two to three times a year. Since beginning the drug five years ago, through a clinical trial, she's been hospitalized twice. Schaller, who lives in Detroit, receives Kalydeco through Michigan's state-run health insurance program.
"It's a miracle drug," Schaller said. "I'm now planning a retirement fund, which is something I never thought would need."
Yet miracles remain out of reach for many.
Even patients with insurance can have trouble affording their medication, Saltz said. Many insurance plans require patients to pay 20% of their prescription drug costs.
Some cancer patients have begun rationing their pills to reduce costs, taking them every two days instead of daily, said Ronan Kelly, an assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore.
"If we don't get some sanity in these drug prices, more people will die from cancer because no one will be able to afford them," said Saltz, who addressed high drug prices at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Rationing care
Each new drug approval seems to set a new floor for prices, as doctors, patients and insurance providers get used to paying more, said David Howard, an associate professor in the department of health policy and management at Emory University in Atlanta.
So even drugs outside the domain of precision medicine are getting pricier.
Prices for insulin have skyrocketed in recent years, said Jeff Myers, president and chief executive officer of Medicaid Health Plans of America, which represents Medicaid managed care plans.
Drugs for multiple sclerosis, which cost $8,000 to $11,000 a year in the 1990s, now sell for about $60,000 a year, according to an April study in Neurology.
But perhaps no single drug has caused as much sticker shock as Sovaldi, approved in 2013 to treat chronic hepatitis C infections and cures 90% of patients in 12 weeks.
But some people with hepatitis C will never have a chance to try it. At $1,000 a pill, its price far exceeds that of many cancer therapies.
Unlike drugs for rare cancers, which might be used by a few thousand people a year, Gilead Sciences' Sovaldi treats a condition that affects 3 million people, Krusing said. The size of that patient population could make Sovaldi a budget breaker, especially for state budgets, because many people infected with hepatitis C are on Medicaid or in prison.
Medicaid programs across the USA are sharply restricting access to Sovaldi, offering it only to the sickest patients, Myers said.
Treating hepatitis C, which is caused by a virus that can spread when injection drug users share needles, actually helps prevent new cases, Myers said. That's because curing the illness leaves fewer infectious people to spread it.
"If the drug had been priced more rationally, my expectation is that states would try to treat everyone they could a hold of," Myers said. "Imagine if Jonas Salk, when he invented the polio vaccine, had priced it like Gilead. We'd still have polio."
A spokeswoman for Gilead said Sovaldi's price reflects its value to patients. Sovaldi cuts treatment time in half compared to older therapies, Gilead spokeswoman Cara Miller said. Sovaldi also could end up saving money, by reducing the need for liver transplants.
Like many drug companies, Gilead offers a program to help low-income patients afford medications. Eligible patients can receive Sovaldi for as little as $5 a month from Gilead's drug assistance program, Miller said.
A spokesman for the pharmaceutical industry said drug makers need to charge enough to recoup their investment costs.
Research from Tufts University estimates that bringing a new drug to market can take 10 years and $2.6 billion, said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Some health policy analysts have questioned Tufts' estimate.
But Zirklebach said that charging more for successful drugs helps to offset the losses from the many drugs that fail. And the pharmaceutical industry's investments benefit patients, he said.
Drugs in development have "never been more promising," Zirkelbach said. "That's particularly true in cancer. New medicines coming out have the ability to completely transform cancer and provide hope where there has never been hope before."
"What the market will bear"
Yet the high cost of new medications has nothing to do with their effectiveness, said Vinay Prasad, chief fellow in oncology at the National Cancer Institute.
In a study of all drugs approved from 2009 to 2013, Prasad found no difference in cost between medications that improve survival the most and those with no effect on survival. There was also no difference in the price of the most innovative drugs — ones that worked in a totally new way — compared with similar drugs that came later.
"Our ultimate consensus was that there is no rational basis for drug prices," said Prasad, whose study was published in JAMA Oncology in April. "It's not based on how novel they are or how well they work. It's based on what the market will bear."
Competition hasn't helped to control prices, Saltz said.
By the time that brand-name drugs are available as low-cost generics, "we're treating people with 17-year-old technology," Saltz said.
Some cancer drugs will never become available as generics, Turnham said. That's because they're "biologics," drugs grown in living cells. Lower cost versions of these drugs, called biosimilars, are projected to save patients only about 15%, Turnham said.
And some prices continue to rise, in spite of competition from comparable drugs.
The landmark drug Gleevec, which transformed chronic myeloid leukemia from a death sentence into a chronic disease, cost $31,488 when it was approved in 2001, according to its manufacturer, Novartis. Its cost has since tripled — to more than $110,000 — even though it now competes with two similar drugs.
Julie Masow, a spokeswoman for Novartis, said Gleevec is priced lower than its competitors. Gleevec "is a life-changing medicine," she said. "Before its availability many patients with chronic myeloid leukemia lived only months to a few years. Today, nine out of ten patients have a near normal lifespan."
Drug price increases show no sign of slowing.
The cost of new cancer drugs has been increasing by 10% a year, according to a working paper published in the Journal of Economic Perspective. Authors noted that drug companies tend to price new drugs just slightly more than comparable drugs, leading prices to creep up every year.
Saltz and his colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering have taken a stand on rising drug prices. The hospital's colorectal cancer specialists have refused to use two drugs that cost more than their competitors.
In 2012, the hospital decided to stop stocking one of these drugs because it cost more than twice the price of a drug that worked just as well. Saltz and two of his colleagues then wrote about their decision in a newspaper editorial.
Within three weeks, Saltz said, the company offered doctors and hospitals a 50% discount.
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4608ee1acf60a518e61a71d849638d2b | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/20/president-obama-palm-springs-trade-deals/29014735/ | Trade deal revolt precedes Obama's California trip | Trade deal revolt precedes Obama's California trip
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.—As President Barack Obama arrives Saturday in this Southern California city, he is in rougher shape politically than on past trips, having just encountered an impressive show of resistance from fellow Democrats.
It was always going to be a hard sell. For years, he's been pushing for a bundle of free trade deals with 11 other countries, known in part as the Trans-Pacific Partnership — the jewel of his second term — that would open borders economically. He's been asking, as past presidents have, for the authority to speed up the talks and present the final details to Congress for a simple up-down vote — no changes, no amendments and limited debate.
So on June 12, House speaker John Boehner split up the vote into two pieces: one granting "fast track" powers of negotiation to the president and another extending Trade Adjustment Assistance, or TAA, which provides job training and other resources to U.S. workers who've lost their jobs thanks to these types of agreements.
Both pieces were needed to move the entire trade deal along — surely Democrats wouldn't risk killing a program that's near and dear to their hearts?
They did. Overwhelmingly. And with another vote looming on Tuesday, the president was faced with flipping dozens of Democrats over a single weekend. Instead, Republicans postponed it.
In the meantime, press secretary Josh Earnest downplayed the difficulties of passing fast-track authority, telling the American people that a difference of viewpoints was really just a procedural problem. Boehner dropped the assistance bill from the package on Thursday and managed to approve the "fast track" authority by a narrow margin. It goes back to the Senate now.
Whatever the outcome, Obama has come a long way since 2008, when on the campaign trail he described another deal, the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, as "devastating" and "a big mistake." He even suggested he would renegotiate with Canada and Mexico to ensure stronger labor and environmental standards in those countries.
In 2004, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank in DC, found that Mexico's agricultural sector had lost 1.3 million jobs, causing more people to migrate across the border. The environmental impact of pollution exceeded $36 billion per year. Real wages were lower than they'd been at the time the deal went into law, one decade prior.
Still, the researchers managed to put a happy face on their own findings, echoing those in policy-making positions. They concluded that, while the most vulnerable inhabitants of Mexico were worse off, the deal had helped accelerate the country's transition into a liberalized economy.
MIXED PUBLIC SUPPORT
If nothing else, the latest news and reactions out of DC highlight the opaque and occasionally confusing politics of free trade. A Pew Research Center survey released on May 27 shows that 58% of Democrats believe free trade deals have been good for the country, but only 42% believe their family finances have improved as a result.
Though Republican legislators are the biggest supporters of free trade today, Republican voters convey the most suspicion: only 53% of those surveyed by Pew think trade deals are a good policy to pursue and only 39% think their family finances have improved.
More curious still, an overwhelming number of "younger adults and Hispanics" (69% and 71%, respectively) say free trade has been a positive thing for the country.
One's opinion on trade may depend less on political affiliation than on age, income and education. The president's strongest supporters in the populace appear to be those who've never paid union dues.
For years, laborers have been the biggest opponents of free trade — one notable exception being the United Auto Workers' support of a 2010 deal with South Korea (following a massive government bailout). This time, the union reps are warning again that the Pacific deal must include specific measures to slow the pace of companies moving overseas, including stronger protections for workers and the environment.
Labor secretary Thomas Perez has called the proposed Pacific deal the most progressive in history — a claim that the public has no way of verifying. Only a handful of elite people actually know what's on the negotiating table because the documents are classified. Members of Congress have clearance, but it's been reported that they must view the documents, alone, in the basement of the Capitol and forfeit any notes to the room's guardians.
For obvious reasons, this extreme secrecy makes people, from union leaders to right-wing radio hosts, suspicious and uncomfortable.
"I'd rather it be negotiated by Obama than Mitt Romney," said Chuck McDaniel, political director of IBEW Local 440, a group that is hurt indirectly when companies flee the states. "But still, if it's so darn good, why is it a secret?"
The Obama administration claims that the fast-track provision is key because it allows other countries to negotiate in private without fear that the deal will be altered later by Congress.
"Then all the players aren't at the table," McDaniel responded. "It's only the corporate lobbyists and their attorneys. The American citizens and the people impacted don't have any say at all. Even our elected representatives don't have any say on it."
WikiLeaks began releasing draft copies of the text in late 2013, saying that 600 "trade advisers" who work for large companies such as Halliburton, Chevron, Monsanto and Walmart have had access to proposals.
The site also released excerpts from an internal governmental memo that followed a five-day round of negotiations in November 2013. The documents suggest that American negotiators are pushing other nations to adopt positions they don't necessarily like.
ONE CASE: CALIFORNIA
To put it lightly, the legacy of NAFTA in America is complex. It depends on where one looks, or wants to look.
In 2011, another DC-based think tank, the Economic Policy Institute, blamed NAFTA for the displacement of 682,900 American jobs — about 86,500 of which came out of California, the hardest hit of all the states by cold numbers. Most of those losses occurred in the computer and electronic manufacturing industries, which may explain why the Coachella Valley fared better.
The desert survives primarily on tourism and agriculture, which has done "very, very well" in recent years, said John Husing, a longtime economist who specializes in the Inland Empire. He pointed to recent rises in crop values, noting that lower barriers outside the country have helped farmers here.
For a little perspective, The Desert Sun looked at five of the most valuable crops in the area today, analyzing data from the Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner's Office and UC Agricultural Issues Center in Davis. When adjusted for inflation, the export values of hay, dates and peppers nearly doubled between 1995 and 2013 across the state; the export value of table grapes rose 122 percent; but the export value of lemons fell three percent.
But how much of this can be attributed to price fluctuations and how much to increased foreign demand? A closer look at United States Department of Agriculture data for California crops suggest that foreign demand played a fairly significant part in the rise of peppers and dates, but not the others.
On a macro level, economists acknowledge that certain segments of the American workforce, particularly in manufacturing, have been hard hit by trade deals, but consider the free flow of capital to be a net gain in the long term.
"What's gone down is the number of workers," said Brock Blomberg, dean of the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance at Claremont McKenna College. "Part of that is trade and part of that is technology," which he sees as the greater force of disruption in the labor market.
Today, companies make more with less hands. But those same hands work much longer hours.
STROLL THROUGH WAL-MART
The undisputed champions of free trade? Investors and consumers. Take a stroll through Walmart: It is a museum of the things that were once made in America, only cheaper now.
"We used to manufacture things here," lamented Steve Smith, communications director for the California Labor Federation, which represents 2.1 million union members across industries.
Yet for most Americans, real wages have barely budged in decades, holding the same purchasing power they did in 1979. Unions have long complained that trade deals weaken their bargaining power by giving weight to a company's threat of relocating overseas.
Economists generally view the trade-explains-all-our-woes theory as a gross simplification. As far as agriculture is concerned, the average wages of hired farm and livestock hands has outpaced inflation over the past 20 years. It is, however, still quite low — only $11.52 per hour, according to the USDA.
"I understand the argument on agriculture," Smith said, referring to a rise in crop export values, "but I think also what we've seen with past trade agreements is the benefits have been fewer than were expected while the negative consequences have been much greater."
Before signing NAFTA, then-President Bill Clinton promised his critics on the left that the deal would create 200,000 new jobs per year. While economists argue that export services — often ignored in trade balance discussions — have risen dramatically in the past two decades, Clinton's numbers today are hard to believe. Even optimists have suggested that he missed the mark by 60,000 jobs annually within the first five years of the deal.
Obama has been careful not to make concrete predictions for the future. But he did use his weekly video address on June 13 to urge passing of the trade deal. He spoke of the globalized economy, but promised that any new trade deal would be unlike past ones, making labor standards and the environment a priority.
"This is about the kind of country we want to build for our kids and our grandkids," he said. "And if I did not think that smart new trade deals were the right thing to do for working families, I wouldn't be fighting for it."
Translation: "Trust me."
Jesse Marx is The Desert Sun political reporter. Reach him at (760) 778-4620 or @marxjesse on Twitter.
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ace53ab7672054b3cd8e931982974f5f | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/26/ferguson-activists-fall-27-signatures-short-mayor-recall/29354769/ | Ferguson activists fall 27 signatures short in mayor recall push | Ferguson activists fall 27 signatures short in mayor recall push
Activists in Ferguson, Mo. came 27 valid signatures shy in their bid to trigger a recall of the city's mayor, the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners ruled Friday.
Activists needed to get the signatures of at least 15% of the city's voters, or 1814 people, to spur a citywide vote on whether Mayor James Knowles should remain in office through his term, which expires in 2017.
The petitioners collected 1787 valid signatures or just 27 valid signatures short of what they needed to get the recall on the ballot, said Gary Fuhr, the Republican director of the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners.
Phil Gassoway, one of the leaders of the recall drive, said that his group was considering a legal challenge to the election board's ruling.
Backers of the recall say that Knowles is responsible for endemic problems that have plagued the community long before the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot after scuffling with a white police officer, inspired months of protests and put the national spotlight on Ferguson.
Knowles also faced ridicule from protesters when he claimed early in the protests that Ferguson had no racial divide.
"My goal has always been to focus on bringing this community together, building trust, and moving us forward as one community," Knowles said in a statement. "If one person signed the recall petition, it sends a strong message to me that there is still plenty of work to do. I am committed to working with all parties to make our community a better place to live, for everyone."
Organizers of the recall effort, led by the group Ground Level Support, turned in more than 2,100 signatures backing the recall election late last month, but more than half of those signatures were invalidated by the St. Louis County election commissioners. The bulk of those were invalidated because the signatories were not registered voters in Ferguson.
The group filed an amended petition one week ago that included an additional 1,100 signatures, which they hoped would get them over the hump.
From the latest round of signatures collected, 276 were thrown out because the signatories were either not registered to vote or were registered somewhere other than Ferguson, and another 93 were ruled invalid because the voter had previously signed the petition.
Dozens more were thrown out for other reasons, including people who did not list their addresses or did not provide signatures.
Gassoway also pointed to language in the Ferguson's statutes that says Ferguson had five days from the amended petition being submitted to notify the petitioner if he had sufficient signatures. Gassoway contends the city clerk had five calendar days—which would have passed on Wednesday—to reply.
"The charter says that the Ferguson city has to verify the signatures," Gassoway said. "Although the city uses the county to do that, it is not an excuse for not complying with their own charter."
The city said in a statement that county election board did not begin reviewing the signatures until Monday, and that Ferguson's clerk had until Friday to complete and mail to petitioners a certificate specifying the number of invalid signatures.
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1b140bc92582531777fac3aba735a1b4 | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/06/26/five-things-know-friday/29029791/ | 5 things you need to know on Friday | 5 things you need to know on Friday
1. South Carolina Sen. Clementa Pinckney laid to rest
President Obama will deliver the eulogy at the funeral of South Carolina state Sen. Clementa Pinckney on Friday, with Michelle Obama and Vice President Biden also attending. Pinckney was among the nine people killed last week at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where he was also a pastor. Dylann Roof, a self-proclaimed follower of white supremacist ideology, has been charged in the killings. Roof's family offered condolences Thursday and said "we would like to take this time to reflect on the victims and give their families time to grieve." The statement said answers to lingering questions would come in due time.
2. Supreme Court enters into the final four
The Supreme Court's 2014 term is down to four cases. The next decisions will come Friday morning, followed by another round on Monday. Thursday brought a ruling that upheld Obamacare subsidies, and now all eyes are on the future of same-sex marriage. But that's not the only big issue on the justices' plate: Cases involving fair elections, clean air and capital punishment also await rulings over the next few days as the court completes action for this term. Track all the major cases, both decided and undecided cases.
3. U.S. women take on China in World Cup quarterfinal
The United States' quarterfinal against China on Friday has become the hottest ticket of the Women's World Cup, and it's the first World Cup meeting between the teams since the 1999 final, which the United States won on penalty kicks at the Rose Bowl. But the U.S. won't have midfielders Lauren Holiday and Megan Rapinoe, who can't play because of accumulated yellow cards. (Star forward Abby Wambach got in some hot water this week for criticizing the calls; she later apologized.) The steady stream of controversy for the USWNT is starting to wear thin, although seats for the game Friday night at Landsdowne Stadium in Ottawa are going for more than five times face value.
4. Florida woman charged with sex-trafficking to appear in court
A Florida woman will appear in court Friday to face charges of sex trafficking, alien smuggling and labor trafficking. A federal indictment alleges Esthela Clark, 46, of Jacksonville lured a 26-year-old Mexican woman to the U.S. in 2012 with promises of legitimate work and medical care as a surrogate mother, but instead abused her and forced her into manual labor and sex with strangers. If convicted on all 12 counts, Clark could face life in prison.
5. Laverne Cox of 'OITNB' is first transgender person to receive a Tussauds figure
Laverne Cox just keeps making strides for the transgender community. Madame Tussauds will unveil a wax figure of the Orange is the New Black star Friday in San Francisco, making Cox the first transgender person to receive a wax figure at the legendary museum. The reveal comes before San Francisco's pride week for the LGBTQ community. Cox told Entertainment Weekly she hopes "this will be a source of inspiration" to people to achieve their goals.
Bonus: It's time for another World's Ugliest Dog Contest. Here are the little guys from last year:
And, the essentials:
Weather:Sizzling heat will scorch the West on Friday while much of the central and eastern U.S. deals with rainy, stormy conditions.
Stocks: Chinese shares fell sharply; U.S. stock futures were flat
TV Tonight: Wondering what to watch this weekend? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at Nurse Jackie and American Odyssey.
If you missed Thursday's news, we've got you covered here.
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