Date: 4/7/2009
ROBERT IMRIE
Associated Press Writer
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A man suspected of stealing a plane in Canada and flying erratically across three states was trying to commit suicide, hoping he would be shot down by military fighter planes, a state trooper said Tuesday.
Adam Dylan Leon, 31, was arrested at a convenience store in Ellsinore, Mo., shortly after landing the single-engine, four-seat Cessna on a rural Missouri road Monday night, ending a six-hour flight, police said.
The plane was tracked as a “flight safety issue” and was not believed to be a terrorist threat, Mike Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said in a telephone interview from Colorado Springs.
The Missouri state trooper who arrested Leon said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the pilot told him he had hoped to be shot down.
“He made a statement that he was trying to commit suicide and he didn’t have the courage to do it himself. And his idea was to fly the aircraft into the United States, where he would be shot down,” Trooper Justin Watson said on ABC.
Leon, a naturalized Canadian citizen originally from Turkey, was jailed in Butler County but was moved early Tuesday to the jail in Mississippi County, which holds federal suspects, according to a Butler County jail official. Representatives of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
Watson said Leon apparently hitched a ride to the convenience store after landing on a highway and taxiing the plane to a side road. He didn’t appear surprised when the officer entered the convenience store to arrest him.
Leon said “he didn’t have any ID, but he was the person we were looking for,” Watson said.
He said Leon “gave me no indication that it was anything other than he was having personal problems and was in an attempt to end his life.”
“He did state that he thought at one time he was getting shot down, but apparently the Air Force were just shooting flares,” the trooper said.
Leon was in the Butler County Jail on Tuesday in Poplar Bluff, Mo.
The plane was reported stolen Monday afternoon from Confederation College Flight School at Thunder Bay International Airport in Ontario. It was intercepted by F-16 fighters from the Wisconsin National Guard after crossing into the state near the Michigan state line.
The pilot was flying erratically and didn’t communicate with the fighter pilots, Kucharek said at the Aerospace Defense Command.
The pilot acknowledged seeing the F-16s but didn’t obey their nonverbal commands to follow them, Kucharek said.
The plane’s path over Wisconsin prompted a brief, precautionary evacuation of the Wisconsin capitol in Madison, although there were few workers in the building at the time and the governor was not in town.
The Cessna 172 continued south over Illinois and eastern Missouri before landing near Ellsinore, about 120 miles south-southwest of St. Louis.
The plane landed about six hours after the reported theft, and had enough fuel for about eight hours of flight, NAADC officials said.
“We tailed it all the way,” Maj. Brian Markin said. “Once it landed our aircraft returned to base.”
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told CNN that Leon was a native of Turkey who changed his name from Yavuz Berke and became a Canadian citizen last year.
___
AP writers Todd Richmond in Madison and James Carlson in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Study: Academic standards vary across states
Date: 2/19/2009
By LIBBY QUAID
AP Education Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some schools deemed to be failing in one state would get passing grades in another under the No Child Left Behind law, a national study found.
The study underscores wide variation in academic standards from state to state. It was to be issued Thursday by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which conducted the study with the Kingsbury Center at the Northwest Evaluation Association.
The study comes as the Obama administration indicates it will encourage states to adopt common standards, an often controversial issue on which previous presidents have trod lightly.
“I know that talking about standards can make people nervous,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said recently.
“But the notion that we have 50 different goal posts doesn’t make sense,” Duncan said. “A high school diploma needs to mean something, no matter where it’s from.”
Every state, he said, needs standards that make kids college- and career-ready and are benchmarked against international standards.
The Fordham study measured test scores of 36 elementary and middle schools against accountability rules in 28 states.
It found the schools failed to meet yearly progress goals in states with more rigorous standards, such as Massachusetts. But they met yearly progress goals in states with lower standards, such as Arizona and Wisconsin. Under No Child Left Behind, states have a patchwork of rules that vary from state to state, the study said.
No Child Left Behind is misleading, said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the nonprofit Fordham Foundation.
“It misleads people into thinking that we have a semblance of a national accountability system for public schools, and we actually don’t,” Finn said. “And it’s produced results I would call unfair from one state to the next.”
No Child Left Behind was championed by President George W. Bush and passed with broad bipartisan support, though it has since become hugely unpopular.
The law prods schools to improve test scores each year, so that every student can read and do math on grade level by the year 2014. It is up to states to set yearly progress goals — “annual yearly progress,” or AYP — and each state has its own standards and tests.
It is unlikely the Obama administration or Congress will try to force states to adopt the same standards.
Rather, they favor a carrot-and-stick approach that offers states funding to develop new standards and tests or offers more flexibility under No Child Left Behind.
The House Education Committee chairman, Democratic Rep. George Miller of California, called for incentives when Congress prepared to rewrite the law in 2007, an effort that subsequently stalled.
In the Senate, Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander pushed legislation that offered to waive the rigid annual yearly progress structure in exchange for raising standards to national or international benchmarks.
And in the newly enacted economic stimulus bill, there is a $5 billion incentive fund for Duncan to reward states for, among other things, boosting the quality of standards and state tests.
Several states are moving in that direction; for example, 16 of them working with Achieve, a nonprofit founded by governors and corporate leaders, have adopted common math and English standards.
Any effort toward common standards is likely to have support from teachers’ unions.
Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers, wrote an op-ed piece Monday in The Washington Post arguing for national standards.
Like Duncan, she used a football analogy, comparing the patchwork of standards to a Super Bowl where the Pittsburgh Steelers must move the ball a full 10 yards but the Arizona Cardinals must go only 7.
“Every other industrialized nation has national standards,” Weingarten said in an interview. “When you start thinking about how are we going to create a school system throughout the United States that helps enable kids to be prepared for college, prepared for life and prepared for work, you have to start with common standards,” she said.
___
On the Net:
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation: http://www.edexcellence.net
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By LIBBY QUAID
AP Education Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some schools deemed to be failing in one state would get passing grades in another under the No Child Left Behind law, a national study found.
The study underscores wide variation in academic standards from state to state. It was to be issued Thursday by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which conducted the study with the Kingsbury Center at the Northwest Evaluation Association.
The study comes as the Obama administration indicates it will encourage states to adopt common standards, an often controversial issue on which previous presidents have trod lightly.
“I know that talking about standards can make people nervous,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said recently.
“But the notion that we have 50 different goal posts doesn’t make sense,” Duncan said. “A high school diploma needs to mean something, no matter where it’s from.”
Every state, he said, needs standards that make kids college- and career-ready and are benchmarked against international standards.
The Fordham study measured test scores of 36 elementary and middle schools against accountability rules in 28 states.
It found the schools failed to meet yearly progress goals in states with more rigorous standards, such as Massachusetts. But they met yearly progress goals in states with lower standards, such as Arizona and Wisconsin. Under No Child Left Behind, states have a patchwork of rules that vary from state to state, the study said.
No Child Left Behind is misleading, said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the nonprofit Fordham Foundation.
“It misleads people into thinking that we have a semblance of a national accountability system for public schools, and we actually don’t,” Finn said. “And it’s produced results I would call unfair from one state to the next.”
No Child Left Behind was championed by President George W. Bush and passed with broad bipartisan support, though it has since become hugely unpopular.
The law prods schools to improve test scores each year, so that every student can read and do math on grade level by the year 2014. It is up to states to set yearly progress goals — “annual yearly progress,” or AYP — and each state has its own standards and tests.
It is unlikely the Obama administration or Congress will try to force states to adopt the same standards.
Rather, they favor a carrot-and-stick approach that offers states funding to develop new standards and tests or offers more flexibility under No Child Left Behind.
The House Education Committee chairman, Democratic Rep. George Miller of California, called for incentives when Congress prepared to rewrite the law in 2007, an effort that subsequently stalled.
In the Senate, Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander pushed legislation that offered to waive the rigid annual yearly progress structure in exchange for raising standards to national or international benchmarks.
And in the newly enacted economic stimulus bill, there is a $5 billion incentive fund for Duncan to reward states for, among other things, boosting the quality of standards and state tests.
Several states are moving in that direction; for example, 16 of them working with Achieve, a nonprofit founded by governors and corporate leaders, have adopted common math and English standards.
Any effort toward common standards is likely to have support from teachers’ unions.
Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers, wrote an op-ed piece Monday in The Washington Post arguing for national standards.
Like Duncan, she used a football analogy, comparing the patchwork of standards to a Super Bowl where the Pittsburgh Steelers must move the ball a full 10 yards but the Arizona Cardinals must go only 7.
“Every other industrialized nation has national standards,” Weingarten said in an interview. “When you start thinking about how are we going to create a school system throughout the United States that helps enable kids to be prepared for college, prepared for life and prepared for work, you have to start with common standards,” she said.
___
On the Net:
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation: http://www.edexcellence.net
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Wis. religious leader: No contest in corpse case
Date: 2/5/2009
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) — A religious leader pleaded no contest Thursday to charges that he stashed a rotting corpse for two months in a follower’s bathroom.
Alan Bushey was charged last year with hiding a corpse, causing mental harm to a child and theft. Investigators said the body of a 90-year-old member of his religious group was concealed at another group member’s home in a scheme to collect the dead woman’s Social Security checks.
Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth agreed to drop the mental harm and theft counts in exchange for Bushey’s plea, according to online court records.
Bushey, 58, of Necedah, faces up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. His sentencing is set for May 5.
His attorney, Thomas Steinman, didn’t immediately return a telephone message left at his office Thursday. Southworth’s office declined to comment.
Prosecutors accused Bushey and follower Tammy Lewis of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on a toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint said Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Lewis pleaded no contest in November to obstructing a police officer and was fined $350.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) — A religious leader pleaded no contest Thursday to charges that he stashed a rotting corpse for two months in a follower’s bathroom.
Alan Bushey was charged last year with hiding a corpse, causing mental harm to a child and theft. Investigators said the body of a 90-year-old member of his religious group was concealed at another group member’s home in a scheme to collect the dead woman’s Social Security checks.
Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth agreed to drop the mental harm and theft counts in exchange for Bushey’s plea, according to online court records.
Bushey, 58, of Necedah, faces up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. His sentencing is set for May 5.
His attorney, Thomas Steinman, didn’t immediately return a telephone message left at his office Thursday. Southworth’s office declined to comment.
Prosecutors accused Bushey and follower Tammy Lewis of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on a toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint said Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Lewis pleaded no contest in November to obstructing a police officer and was fined $350.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Hudson crash co-pilot hopes to fly again in weeks
Date: 1/29/2009
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The co-pilot who helped to safely crash-land a passenger plane into the Hudson River hopes to fly again in a few weeks and praised everyone involved in the rescue.
Jeff Skiles, of Oregon, Wis., was in the cockpit of the US Airways plane assisting pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger when it landed in the river Jan. 15 after bird strikes apparently knocked out its engines. All 155 passengers and crew were rescued.
Skiles, 49, said he and the rest of the plane’s crew were lucky that things turned out as well as they did.
“I’d just like to say we were all very fortunate that things went our way and there were a lot more people involved than just me,” Skiles said. “Flight attendants in back who evacuated the airplane, all the first responders who were there with the boats, the New York Fire Department, the New York Police Department, all had a role in the successful outcome. We were quite fortunate.”
Skiles visited the state Capitol on Wednesday to receive a commendation for heroism from the state Senate. He also appeared as Gov. Jim Doyle’s guest at his State of the State address Wednesday evening.
After receiving his award, Skiles told reporters he can fly commercially again immediately and hopes to get back in the air by the end of February.
Asked if he wished he’d done anything differently the day of the crash, he replied: “No. Not really.”
Skiles, his wife, Barb, their three children and Skiles’ parents stood along the side of the chamber as the Senate chief clerk read the commendation. Skiles seemed a bit uncomfortable with the attention, clasping and unclasping his hands and looking down at the ground and up, smiling at times.
He did not address lawmakers. When it was over, the entire Senate rose and gave him an ovation. Senators then went over to him and shook his hand. He and his family posed for photographs by senators’ aides as well as a photographer for the Wisconsin Blue Book, a biennial directory of state lawmakers and agencies.
Doyle ended his State of the State speech by introducing Skiles as a hero who exemplified a never-say-die attitude and thanked him on behalf of the state.
“Jeffrey, your heroism and heroic actions of your fellow crew members have made all the difference in the world for your passengers and all their families,” Doyle said.
The packed state Assembly chamber gave Skiles a bipartisan standing ovation marked by cheers and whoops. Skiles, flanked by his wife and Doyle’s wife, Jessica, in the balcony, stood up quietly in acknowledgment.
Last week, Skiles attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The co-pilot who helped to safely crash-land a passenger plane into the Hudson River hopes to fly again in a few weeks and praised everyone involved in the rescue.
Jeff Skiles, of Oregon, Wis., was in the cockpit of the US Airways plane assisting pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger when it landed in the river Jan. 15 after bird strikes apparently knocked out its engines. All 155 passengers and crew were rescued.
Skiles, 49, said he and the rest of the plane’s crew were lucky that things turned out as well as they did.
“I’d just like to say we were all very fortunate that things went our way and there were a lot more people involved than just me,” Skiles said. “Flight attendants in back who evacuated the airplane, all the first responders who were there with the boats, the New York Fire Department, the New York Police Department, all had a role in the successful outcome. We were quite fortunate.”
Skiles visited the state Capitol on Wednesday to receive a commendation for heroism from the state Senate. He also appeared as Gov. Jim Doyle’s guest at his State of the State address Wednesday evening.
After receiving his award, Skiles told reporters he can fly commercially again immediately and hopes to get back in the air by the end of February.
Asked if he wished he’d done anything differently the day of the crash, he replied: “No. Not really.”
Skiles, his wife, Barb, their three children and Skiles’ parents stood along the side of the chamber as the Senate chief clerk read the commendation. Skiles seemed a bit uncomfortable with the attention, clasping and unclasping his hands and looking down at the ground and up, smiling at times.
He did not address lawmakers. When it was over, the entire Senate rose and gave him an ovation. Senators then went over to him and shook his hand. He and his family posed for photographs by senators’ aides as well as a photographer for the Wisconsin Blue Book, a biennial directory of state lawmakers and agencies.
Doyle ended his State of the State speech by introducing Skiles as a hero who exemplified a never-say-die attitude and thanked him on behalf of the state.
“Jeffrey, your heroism and heroic actions of your fellow crew members have made all the difference in the world for your passengers and all their families,” Doyle said.
The packed state Assembly chamber gave Skiles a bipartisan standing ovation marked by cheers and whoops. Skiles, flanked by his wife and Doyle’s wife, Jessica, in the balcony, stood up quietly in acknowledgment.
Last week, Skiles attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Wis. school’s epic snowball fight flakes out
Date: 1/24/2009
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When a whistle blew Saturday afternoon, two teams of University of Wisconsin-Madison students pelted each other with snowballs, but the 45-minute battle won’t be going down in history.
Freshman organizer Mike Basak had hoped the epic snowball fight would break a 2006 record set by 3,700 students at Michigan Technological University, but acknowledged Saturday that the turnout at his school was disappointing.
Basak guessed that 2,000 or more students showed up, but other observers put the total at hundreds of students, not thousands.
“It was definitely huge and it was a great event,” he said.
In advance of the fight, more than 4,000 people had joined the event’s Facebook group, and word continued to spread as rival dormitories got ready to rumble in the center of campus.
School officials also prepared, recruiting a student group of volunteer emergency medical technicians to be on the scene.
Basak said no one was hurt in the melee, although “there were a few bumps and scrapes.”
Some skeptics had said chilly weather and a scheduled school basketball game would diminish an attempt at the record. Temperatures in Madison were only in single digits, and the powdery snow on campus was hard to pack.
Basak said organizers hoped to go for the record again later this winter or next winter.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — When a whistle blew Saturday afternoon, two teams of University of Wisconsin-Madison students pelted each other with snowballs, but the 45-minute battle won’t be going down in history.
Freshman organizer Mike Basak had hoped the epic snowball fight would break a 2006 record set by 3,700 students at Michigan Technological University, but acknowledged Saturday that the turnout at his school was disappointing.
Basak guessed that 2,000 or more students showed up, but other observers put the total at hundreds of students, not thousands.
“It was definitely huge and it was a great event,” he said.
In advance of the fight, more than 4,000 people had joined the event’s Facebook group, and word continued to spread as rival dormitories got ready to rumble in the center of campus.
School officials also prepared, recruiting a student group of volunteer emergency medical technicians to be on the scene.
Basak said no one was hurt in the melee, although “there were a few bumps and scrapes.”
Some skeptics had said chilly weather and a scheduled school basketball game would diminish an attempt at the record. Temperatures in Madison were only in single digits, and the powdery snow on campus was hard to pack.
Basak said organizers hoped to go for the record again later this winter or next winter.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Mayor accused in sex sting to skip inauguration
Date: 1/17/2009
RACINE, Wis. (AP) — Racine Mayor Gary Becker’s plans to attend Tuesday’s inauguration have been canceled after he was charged in an Internet sex sting.
Becker had planned to attend a U.S. Conference of Mayors event in Washington over the weekend and then stay for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
But that was before he was arrested Tuesday night at a suburban Milwaukee shopping mall. Authorities said he went there to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl but actually was a state agent.
A criminal complaint filed against him Thursday included sexually explicit chats he had with the other person. He faces six felony charges and has been freed on $165,000 cash bond.
Becker’s defense attorney did not return a message left Thursday seeking comment on the charges.
City Administrator Ben Hughes said canceling Becker’s airline ticket and a four-night stay in an expensive D.C. hotel will cost the city hundreds of dollars. He said city officials learned this week that Becker chose the most expensive of three options — at $550 a night — when booking hotel accommodations.
The money for three nights will be refunded, and Midwest Airlines agreed to allow the city to use Becker’s $400 ticket for another official’s travel in the next 12 months, Hughes said.
The city also has removed Becker’s picture that had greeted visitors to the Racine Web site.
“With everything going on I felt it was not appropriate for his picture and his welcome to remain on the Web site,” said City Council President David Maack on Friday. Maack is serving as acting mayor.
Top city officials are planning to discuss Tuesday removing Becker from office if he does not resign.
___
Information from: The Journal Times, http://www.journaltimes.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
RACINE, Wis. (AP) — Racine Mayor Gary Becker’s plans to attend Tuesday’s inauguration have been canceled after he was charged in an Internet sex sting.
Becker had planned to attend a U.S. Conference of Mayors event in Washington over the weekend and then stay for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
But that was before he was arrested Tuesday night at a suburban Milwaukee shopping mall. Authorities said he went there to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl but actually was a state agent.
A criminal complaint filed against him Thursday included sexually explicit chats he had with the other person. He faces six felony charges and has been freed on $165,000 cash bond.
Becker’s defense attorney did not return a message left Thursday seeking comment on the charges.
City Administrator Ben Hughes said canceling Becker’s airline ticket and a four-night stay in an expensive D.C. hotel will cost the city hundreds of dollars. He said city officials learned this week that Becker chose the most expensive of three options — at $550 a night — when booking hotel accommodations.
The money for three nights will be refunded, and Midwest Airlines agreed to allow the city to use Becker’s $400 ticket for another official’s travel in the next 12 months, Hughes said.
The city also has removed Becker’s picture that had greeted visitors to the Racine Web site.
“With everything going on I felt it was not appropriate for his picture and his welcome to remain on the Web site,” said City Council President David Maack on Friday. Maack is serving as acting mayor.
Top city officials are planning to discuss Tuesday removing Becker from office if he does not resign.
___
Information from: The Journal Times, http://www.journaltimes.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Groups condemn UW plan to perform abortions
Date: 1/7/2009
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Anti-abortion groups condemned a University of Wisconsin plan to provide second-trimester abortions at a Madison clinic and questioned whether it was legal.
UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said its gynecologists plan to begin performing abortions for patients between 13 and 22 weeks pregnant at the Madison Surgery Center. She said the plan needs final approval from the center’s board, which could take action this month.
The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based conservative Christian legal group, publicized the plan and sent a letter asking UW officials to stop it. The group said the plan might violate a state law that prohibits state or federal money from being used to pay doctors or clinics to perform abortions.
Brunette acknowledged state-paid doctors working for the university would provide the services but she said its lawyers were comfortable the plan is legal. She said the abortions themselves would be paid for by insurance and patient fees, not public money.
ADF lawyer Thomas Bowman said the group was researching the arrangement and would “take quick legal action in the event that any legal violations are uncovered.”
___
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Anti-abortion groups condemned a University of Wisconsin plan to provide second-trimester abortions at a Madison clinic and questioned whether it was legal.
UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said its gynecologists plan to begin performing abortions for patients between 13 and 22 weeks pregnant at the Madison Surgery Center. She said the plan needs final approval from the center’s board, which could take action this month.
The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based conservative Christian legal group, publicized the plan and sent a letter asking UW officials to stop it. The group said the plan might violate a state law that prohibits state or federal money from being used to pay doctors or clinics to perform abortions.
Brunette acknowledged state-paid doctors working for the university would provide the services but she said its lawyers were comfortable the plan is legal. She said the abortions themselves would be paid for by insurance and patient fees, not public money.
ADF lawyer Thomas Bowman said the group was researching the arrangement and would “take quick legal action in the event that any legal violations are uncovered.”
___
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Cops in case of Driver’s father taken off duty
Date: 11/21/2008
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) _ Three Houston police officers under investigation for allegedly beating the father of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver have been taken off patrol duty.
The decision was welcomed by Marvin Driver Jr.’s family members, who said they now want the officers fired and brought up on charges.
“We just want justice,” Michael Driver, Marvin Driver’s son, said after a news conference Friday outside his father’s home.
Officers Bacilio Guzman, Gilberto Cruz and M. Marin have been reassigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of an investigation, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said in a statement Friday.
Hurtt said he made his decision after receiving a preliminary briefing late Thursday.
“We take allegations such as these very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and be transparent in our findings, whatever the conclusion,” Hurtt said.
Houston police spokesman Victor Senties said he did not know how long the investigation would take to complete.
Family members of 56-year-old Marvin Driver claim he was arrested early Monday morning outside his mother’s home, where he also lives, for outstanding traffic warrants. But before arriving at a Houston jail, they say, he was taken to a gas station, where he was beaten by at least two officers and had something forced down his throat.
Marvin Driver’s family initially said he was only able to communicate with them through handwritten notes.
Michael Driver, 26, said his father, who earlier in the week had been in critical condition, was in good condition on Friday and his health was improving.
Doctors have told family members the injuries were the result of blunt force trauma and that he suffered head injuries and has bruises in his abdomen area from being kneed to the stomach, Michael Driver said.
Hurtt said investigators are awaiting medical reports on Marvin Driver to determine what injuries he sustained.
In his statement, Hurtt said that Marvin Driver, after being arrested during a traffic stop at about 1:30 a.m. Monday, was taken to a city jail. At the facility, a doctor found him unresponsive and he was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital.
The Internal Affairs Division of the Houston Police Department is investigating the family’s claims.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) _ Three Houston police officers under investigation for allegedly beating the father of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver have been taken off patrol duty.
The decision was welcomed by Marvin Driver Jr.’s family members, who said they now want the officers fired and brought up on charges.
“We just want justice,” Michael Driver, Marvin Driver’s son, said after a news conference Friday outside his father’s home.
Officers Bacilio Guzman, Gilberto Cruz and M. Marin have been reassigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of an investigation, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said in a statement Friday.
Hurtt said he made his decision after receiving a preliminary briefing late Thursday.
“We take allegations such as these very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and be transparent in our findings, whatever the conclusion,” Hurtt said.
Houston police spokesman Victor Senties said he did not know how long the investigation would take to complete.
Family members of 56-year-old Marvin Driver claim he was arrested early Monday morning outside his mother’s home, where he also lives, for outstanding traffic warrants. But before arriving at a Houston jail, they say, he was taken to a gas station, where he was beaten by at least two officers and had something forced down his throat.
Marvin Driver’s family initially said he was only able to communicate with them through handwritten notes.
Michael Driver, 26, said his father, who earlier in the week had been in critical condition, was in good condition on Friday and his health was improving.
Doctors have told family members the injuries were the result of blunt force trauma and that he suffered head injuries and has bruises in his abdomen area from being kneed to the stomach, Michael Driver said.
Hurtt said investigators are awaiting medical reports on Marvin Driver to determine what injuries he sustained.
In his statement, Hurtt said that Marvin Driver, after being arrested during a traffic stop at about 1:30 a.m. Monday, was taken to a city jail. At the facility, a doctor found him unresponsive and he was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital.
The Internal Affairs Division of the Houston Police Department is investigating the family’s claims.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Governors pledge to fight global warming together
Date: 11/20/2008
By SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press Writer
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) _ Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his counterparts in 12 states and regional leaders from four other countries signed a declaration Wednesday pledging to work together to combat global warming, a move Schwarzenegger said will help push heads of state to curb their nations’ greenhouse gas emissions.
The document was signed on the last day of an international climate summit organized by the California governor, who hopes the two-day event will inform U.N. negotiations in Poland next month on a new global climate treaty that is to be completed by the end of next year.
“We have to draw people into the debate,” Schwarzenegger said during an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. “We have no choice. In the end, we are going to destroy the world” if greenhouse gases are not reduced.
The governors and regional leaders in Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia agreed in the document to develop policy positions on the industries that produce the most greenhouse gases — forestry, agriculture, cement, iron, aluminum, energy and transportation.
Those reports will then be forwarded to the United Nations. The chairman of a state pollution control board in India also signed the declaration.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat and one of four other governors co-hosting the summit, said it is incumbent on states to cut emissions because of the lack of action so far at the federal level.
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida and Democratic Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin are the other co-hosts of Schwarzenegger’s conference, titled the Governors’ Global Climate Summit.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has advocated strict reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, said he organized the gathering to show local governments in other countries that emissions can be cut without harming the economy.
Since taking office in 2003, he has entered into partnerships with the governors of seven Western states and four Canadian provinces in an effort to help polluting industries buy credits from other companies that have been able to reduce their emissions.
In a speech to the conference Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said national economies will be harmed if governments fail to cut emissions.
“We can do it with fairness and equity so all our economies will flourish … and no one is being held back,” Schwarzenegger said.
Wisconsin’s governor acknowledged that many governments are financially strapped but said his state must find creative ways to reduce emissions.
“You can’t go the other direction,” Doyle said. “I would hate to see us come out of economic doldrums two years from now and find that we have moved 25 years backwards.”
Such moves will not come without costs, however, said Sabine Miltner, a director at Deutsche Bank.
She said sufficiently reducing emissions will require capital investments of roughly $500 billion a year between 2010 and 2030. Miltner suggested the U.S. and other governments weighing economic stimulus packages invest some of the money in energy efficiency projects, transmission lines for renewable power sources and public transportation systems.
The United Nations has a December 2009 deadline to complete a treaty to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. That treaty, which expires in 2012, does not include the U.S. or China — the world’s largest emitters.
Other governors who signed the declaration were Bill Ritter of Colorado, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Martin O’Malley of Maryland, David Paterson of New York, Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Jon Huntsman of Utah and Christine Gregoire of Washington.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press Writer
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) _ Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his counterparts in 12 states and regional leaders from four other countries signed a declaration Wednesday pledging to work together to combat global warming, a move Schwarzenegger said will help push heads of state to curb their nations’ greenhouse gas emissions.
The document was signed on the last day of an international climate summit organized by the California governor, who hopes the two-day event will inform U.N. negotiations in Poland next month on a new global climate treaty that is to be completed by the end of next year.
“We have to draw people into the debate,” Schwarzenegger said during an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. “We have no choice. In the end, we are going to destroy the world” if greenhouse gases are not reduced.
The governors and regional leaders in Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia agreed in the document to develop policy positions on the industries that produce the most greenhouse gases — forestry, agriculture, cement, iron, aluminum, energy and transportation.
Those reports will then be forwarded to the United Nations. The chairman of a state pollution control board in India also signed the declaration.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat and one of four other governors co-hosting the summit, said it is incumbent on states to cut emissions because of the lack of action so far at the federal level.
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida and Democratic Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin are the other co-hosts of Schwarzenegger’s conference, titled the Governors’ Global Climate Summit.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has advocated strict reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, said he organized the gathering to show local governments in other countries that emissions can be cut without harming the economy.
Since taking office in 2003, he has entered into partnerships with the governors of seven Western states and four Canadian provinces in an effort to help polluting industries buy credits from other companies that have been able to reduce their emissions.
In a speech to the conference Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said national economies will be harmed if governments fail to cut emissions.
“We can do it with fairness and equity so all our economies will flourish … and no one is being held back,” Schwarzenegger said.
Wisconsin’s governor acknowledged that many governments are financially strapped but said his state must find creative ways to reduce emissions.
“You can’t go the other direction,” Doyle said. “I would hate to see us come out of economic doldrums two years from now and find that we have moved 25 years backwards.”
Such moves will not come without costs, however, said Sabine Miltner, a director at Deutsche Bank.
She said sufficiently reducing emissions will require capital investments of roughly $500 billion a year between 2010 and 2030. Miltner suggested the U.S. and other governments weighing economic stimulus packages invest some of the money in energy efficiency projects, transmission lines for renewable power sources and public transportation systems.
The United Nations has a December 2009 deadline to complete a treaty to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. That treaty, which expires in 2012, does not include the U.S. or China — the world’s largest emitters.
Other governors who signed the declaration were Bill Ritter of Colorado, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Martin O’Malley of Maryland, David Paterson of New York, Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Jon Huntsman of Utah and Christine Gregoire of Washington.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Wis. woman pleads no contest in corpse case
Date: 11/18/2008
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a religious sect pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor Monday after being accused of leaving another member’s corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her Social Security checks.
Tammy Lewis, 36, was fined $350 for obstructing an officer, while prosecution was deferred on the more serious charges against her. She’ll receive mental health treatment and testify against sect leader Alan Bushey at his trial in April, District Attorney Scott Southworth said.
Prosecutors accuse Lewis and Bushey of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on the toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint says Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Prosecutors say they believe Bushey and Lewis wanted to go on collecting Middlesworth’s Social Security payments.
The other charges against Lewis, including felonies of hiding a corpse and causing mental harm to a child, will be dismissed in two years if she cooperates and follows other court orders involving her children, Southworth said.
“We view her as a victim as well of Alan Bushey,” Southworth said. “We also understand the power, the mental power, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion he was exerting over her.”
Lewis’ attorney, Dan Berkos, said his client turned to Bushey and the sect for support about three years ago, after she separated from her husband.
The attorney said Lewis is “very relieved” her case has been resolved. “She has made some really great progress emotionally and even physically. She is looking forward. She is no longer looking backward at how things should have been different.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a religious sect pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor Monday after being accused of leaving another member’s corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her Social Security checks.
Tammy Lewis, 36, was fined $350 for obstructing an officer, while prosecution was deferred on the more serious charges against her. She’ll receive mental health treatment and testify against sect leader Alan Bushey at his trial in April, District Attorney Scott Southworth said.
Prosecutors accuse Lewis and Bushey of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on the toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint says Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Prosecutors say they believe Bushey and Lewis wanted to go on collecting Middlesworth’s Social Security payments.
The other charges against Lewis, including felonies of hiding a corpse and causing mental harm to a child, will be dismissed in two years if she cooperates and follows other court orders involving her children, Southworth said.
“We view her as a victim as well of Alan Bushey,” Southworth said. “We also understand the power, the mental power, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion he was exerting over her.”
Lewis’ attorney, Dan Berkos, said his client turned to Bushey and the sect for support about three years ago, after she separated from her husband.
The attorney said Lewis is “very relieved” her case has been resolved. “She has made some really great progress emotionally and even physically. She is looking forward. She is no longer looking backward at how things should have been different.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.