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Officials opt for Virginia site for security training
Department of State and General Accounting Office officials said at a Senate hearing Thursday that the best site for the State Department's security training center would be at a Virginia Army base instead of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick.
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., called the hearing of the facilities subcommittee he chairs of the Foreign Relations Committee. He noted the irony that he and the subcommittee's senior Democrat, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., are from the states in contention for the facility, but he said their interest wasn't driven by local politics.
"We want to make sure that our personnel are adequately trained. And we want to ensure that taxpayer money is properly spent," Perdue said. "That's it."
State Department officials started planning back in the last Bush administration for a facility of their own, and the attack on diplomatic officials in Benghazi heightened the urgency. They selected property on Fort Pickett near Blackstone, Va., but the original price tag was nearly $1 billion.
The estimated cost led congressional leaders to question whether it might be less expensive to put the facility in Brunswick where 96 federal agencies, including the State Department, already conduct training.
Walter C. Jones
Morris News Service
Nearly 100 employees of the city of Tybee Island will see their pay increase under a new classification and compensation plan adopted by city officials Thursday. The increases will be retroactive to the start of the fiscal year, July 1. The estimated cost to the city to bring the salaries of the 97 affected employees above the minimum level was just more than $363,000 after factoring in benefits, according to agenda documents.
Tybee officials hired Tallahassee, Fla.-based Evergreen Solutions to conduct the classification and compensation study in March. Mayor Pro Tem Wanda Doyle said the study is the first on the city's pay structure in about a decade.
Evergreen representative Nancy Berkley on Thursday presented the council with two options for implementing the study. One would bring the council up to a minimum competitive salary. The other would bring the city up to about midway up the market average.
Tybee council members chose the latter.
There will be no immediate additional cost for the current fiscal year, Finance Director Angela Hudson reported. Each department head has already adjusted budgets to absorb the additional expense, she said.
"I want people to take responsibility for their pay increases. ... We're a small government. Forty-five percent of our revenues come from hotel fees and from parking," Hudson said. "For me, I want to take a team approach instead of having to come to (City Council) and pull money out of our fund balance or something like that."
For the years to come, Hudson has recommended eliminating future cost of living adjustments and instead granting pay increases solely on merit. She also suggested the city put aside 10 percent of its revenues each year to fund merit increases and additional class/comp studies, according to city documents.
The city could then reassess its compensation scale every few years to determine if another salary increase is needed.
In other business:
• The council approved contracts for the relocation of Georgia Power utilities and for the installation of a shallow well at the site of the forthcoming North Beach restroom pavilion at a combined cost of $14,000.
• Council members approved a number of budget adjustments which should close out the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Among the changes, the council increased revenues in last year's hotel-motel tax fund by $71,150. According to the council's agenda, "the Hotel-Motel Fund had an unprecedented year of collections thanks to employees of the Finance Department, Heather Brown and Claire Price. The city collected a record $2.78 million in hotel-motel taxes and $98,953 in late fees."
The newly painted aqua blue home on Tybee Island is center stage this week for the filming of "Gifted" starring Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer.
Early Wednesday, the home sandwiched between Butler and Lovell avenues was surrounded by lights, cameras and crew as the first day of filming on Tybee began.
Drivers slowed to try to see what was going on. Walkers and bikers stopped to watch filming. A neighbor across the street brought her young daughters to meet crew members, hoping to score a part in the film.
"Gifted" is a drama starring Evans, best known for his role as Captain America, and Spencer, who won an Academy Award for her role in "The Help." Evans plays Frank Alder, an underachiever who is raising his niece Mary in rural Florida, according to Deadline.com. The film follows the relationship as Evans' character sues for custody of his gifted niece.
The film is directed by Marc Webb, who most recently directed "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." It was scripted by Tom Flynn.
Spencer has been in the Savannah area for about a week, at least according to her Twitter account. On Sept. 30, the actress tweeted "totally in love with the Little Pink House. Or is it the Old Pink House? Hell it's pink."
A day later she tweeted "all I have to say right now is … Chris frigging Evans!!!!! I mean wow!!!! So talented!!!"
Filming at the Butler Avenue home is expected to continue into early next week. Drivers trying to use Lovell Avenue between Sixth and Eighth streets will be detoured using Jones Street between Third and Fifth streets.
Filming is scheduled to continue on Tybee Island through the rest of the month with scenes expected to be shot on both north and south beach and at several local restaurants.
"Gifted" is the latest movie to come to the Savannah area to film scenes.
Most recently, "The Do Over" starring Adam Sandler and David Spade spent several weeks in the area filming. Earlier this year, stars Robert De Niro and Zac Efron filmed "Dirty Grandpa" on Tybee, and recently released to Blu-Ray, "Magic Mike XXL" uses Savannah and Tybee for the majority of its scenes.
Family members and friends welcomed a few dozen 3rd Infantry Division soldiers as they returned home Thursday morning at Fort Stewart. Soldiers with the 3rd ID had been deployed in support of Train, Advise, Assist Command-East in Afghanistan.
Now they've been deployed to Fort Stewart.
TAAC-East's mission — in partnership with the Afghan government and joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational organizations — is to conduct security assistance through Train-Advise-Assist to enable Afghan National Security Forces to help prevent terrorist safe havens in eastern Afghanistan.
TAAC-East synchronizes and coordinates advising and security efforts for U.S. coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan.
The upcoming municipal election could lead to a new city manager for Savannah, depending on who is elected to the mayor's seat.
Two mayoral candidates said they may replace City Manager Stephanie Cutter if they were elected, when asked whether they supported a reassessment of her role as the city's top administrator during a forum at the Armstrong Center on Thursday night.
Eddie DeLoach said that the city manager has no long-term plan and that he would support such a review, adding that too much of the city's problems are often attributed to lower-level employees.
"Usually, if there is a problem, it starts at the top," he said.
Murray Silver offered a similar sentiment, stating that Cutter was "out of her depth."
A city manager should never have had to hire an outside agency to tell her what she already knows is wrong with the police department, Silver said.
"And she still hasn't fixed that," he said.
Louis Wilson said he would have to make an assessment as to whether Cutter was carrying out the council's directives, but at this point he was inclined to have her remain since she was already so involved in carrying out city business.
Mayor Edna Jackson supported the job Cutter has done after taking the position after the forced resignation of former City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney in 2012.
"I will continue working with Stephanie Cutter," Jackson said. "She has earned the job."
Cutter's job performance was one of a number of topics raised during the two-hour forum that sought to raise new issues for candidates to address, in addition to crime.
Candidates were also asked whether they supported amending the city charter to institute a strong mayoral form of government, which DeLoach, Jackson and Wilson said they opposed.
Silver, who commonly addressed his remarks to the college students in attendance, said that the first thing he would do is institute term limits for aldermen.
"Otherwise you are going to be looking at the same faces until your grandchildren are your age," he said.
All the candidates supported food trucks in Savannah. In addition, all the candidates agreed the Savannah-Chatham police should have the ability to destroy confiscated guns, which they are currently prohibited from doing by state law.
When asked whether they would support the police merger even if the county refused to pay a portion of the costs of officer salary increases recently implemented by the city, DeLoach said the current dispute was a result of the city having no plan and breaking the contract with the county. He said that the city should go ahead and approve the merger, even if they have to shoulder the costs themselves, with the possibility the county would chip in next year.
"We need to keep that merger going," he said.
Jackson said the county had rejected the city's attempts to meet and consider the increases before they were implemented.
"We did what we were supposed to do," she said, adding that the police committee meeting was expected to meet next week to consider the issue.
S.C. regulators
say scams often follow disasters
If the catastrophic flood weren't bad enough, South Carolinians are now advised to watch out for fraudulent flood-relief charities playing on their generosity and bogus contractors peddling repairs, claiming to be in the neighborhood for an earlier job. The Attorney General's office has also warned businesses against price gouging during the state of emergency.
S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs state Secretary of State's office urge the public to follow these tips:
• Seek out a charity that needs your support, and be skeptical of organizations that contact you. The S.C. Secretary of State's Office website, www.sos.sc.gov, provides searchable information on a particular charity. Or call 1-888-CHARITI (242-7484).
• Give to well-known charities, and be wary of new, lesser-known ones. Even if new organizations aren't fraudulent, they may not be able to deliver as much assistance. Some phony charities use names that sound or look like those of respected, legitimate organizations.
• If a professional solicitor calls you, they must disclose that he/she is a paid solicitor, along with the name, location and purpose of the charity, and the registered, true name of the professional fundraising organization that employs him/her.
• Ask what percentage of your contribution goes to the charitable cause as opposed to administration of the charity or overhead. And get it in writing, if necessary.
• Do not give out personal or financial information to anyone who calls you.
Morris News Service
• Do not give or send cash. Instead, for security and tax record purposes, contribute by a check or credit card, and write the official name of the charity on your check.
The Department of Consumer Affairs also warns purported home repair companies that are actually con artists trying to take advantage of flood victims. The agency has this advice:
• Contractors who just show up at the door may offer you a great deal because they're "in the neighborhood" and say they have materials left over from a previous job. Legitimate contractors don't work that way.
• Get all promises in writing. Otherwise, it doesn't count.
• Do not be pressured into buying. Good businesses don't need to rush you into a decision. Rushed deals are designed to keep you from comparison shopping. Instead, get at least two bids for the work.
• Force the individual to produce his or her contractor's license and proper identification before agreeing to the work. Also, get the car/ truck license tag number.
• Never pay for the full job up front. There should be a payment schedule in the contract, and don't let payments get ahead of the work.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's capital city had too much water. Now, officials are racing to make sure it has enough.
A canal that serves as the main source of drinking water for about half of the Columbia water system's 375,000 customers collapsed in two places following historic rainfall and flooding over the weekend, sending contractors scrambling to build a rock dam to plug the holes while National Guard helicopters dropped giant sandbags in the rushing water.
Water from the canal normally flows directly into the reservoir at the city's water treatment plant. But with the water level falling because of the levee breach, workers were forced to place orange pumps on the banks of the canal to pump water directly into the reservoir. And if that wasn't enough, the city had plans to pump water directly from the nearby Broad River.
Officials sought to beat back rampant rumors of an imminent water shortage.
"The system is running and it is running strong," Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin told reporters.
Meanwhile, Gov. Nikki Haley issued a terse warning to thousands of people in low-lying areas near the coast to "strongly consider evacuating" before a mass of water rumbling toward the ocean floods some places for up to two more weeks. Any mandatory evacuations would be ordered by local officials.
She asked people watching on television to call relatives who may have a false sense of security after surviving hurricanes, calling the second round of expected flooding "a different kind of bad." She said the standing water could last up to 12 days.
"We have thousands of people that won't move. And we need to get them to move," she said. "They don't need to be sitting in flooded areas for 12 days."
In Georgetown County near the swollen Black River, National Guardsmen made multiple runs in a military truck to pick up people whose homes had been cut off by submerged roads, sometimes driving through water several feet deep. Among its passengers were a woman and her three children, who were dropped them off at a shelter in Georgetown.
Back in Columbia, city officials urged residents to conserve water. And when they do use it, they have to boil it at least one minute. Restaurants are offering bottled water and serving meals on paper plates to avoid washing dishes. And many people often make daily trips to their local grocery stores to stock up on water.
"It's easy to conserve because you can't really use (the water)," said 26-year-old Laura Reinman, who was pushing a shopping cart with two gallon jugs of water at a Publix grocery store just across the street from the canal.
The city is like hundreds of others along the East Coast and in the Midwest that have been told to fix their aging infrastructure.
Columbia is under orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fix its sewage treatment plant and sewer pipes to reduce overflows that can contaminate waterways. Those orders include spending $1 million on projects to reduce flooding along Gills Creek, one of the areas devastated by record rainfall and flooding.
And just last month, the state Supreme Court revived a lawsuit challenging how the city has paid for maintenance to its water and sewer systems, saying "simply put, the statutes do not allow these revenues to be treated as a slush fund."
Columbia separates its property tax collections, which are only imposed on city residents, from its water fees, which are paid by its customers who live throughout the region. In 1993, the city passed a resolution allowing it to pull money from the water fund to help balance the city's budget. According to the lawsuit, in the past three years, $12 million has been transferred form utility customers to pay for non-utility projects, such as economic development and efforts to lure businesses to the city.
Benjamin said the city has reduced the transfer over the past several years. This year, it was $2.8 million to help pay for police, fire and 911 services.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Clashes intensified Thursday between Syrian troops and insurgents in central and northwestern Syria, part of what a top general called a "wide-ranging" offensive aided by Russian airstrikes and apparently aimed at clearing positions near government strongholds on the coast.
U.S. defense officials said as many as four of the 26 long-range cruise missiles that Russia said Wednesday it fired at Syria landed instead in Iran, but it was unclear if they caused any significant damage. Russia said all of its missiles fired from warships hit their targets.
Russia's involvement in Syria, which began with airstrikes Sept. 30 and escalated Wednesday with cruise missiles, "raises serious concerns," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said after a meeting of the alliance's defense ministers in Brussels.
Russia says its air campaign in Syria is aimed against militants of the Islamic State and al-Qaida-linked groups, but the West accuses it of intervening to support President Bashar against even moderate rebels in the civil war.
The Syrian government's multipronged offensive began Wednesday, and state-run media said it seized several villages in central Syria, with fighting continuing Thursday. The government media and activists reported heavy fighting in Sahl al-Ghab, a vital plain bordering Assad's stronghold of Latakia on the Mediterranean.
The plain also lies between Hama and Idlib, the northwestern provinces seized from government troops in September. Insurgents have been advancing there since summer, threatening the coastal region where Assad's family and the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, are concentrated.
The Islamic State — also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh — has strongholds in Raqqa and Aleppo provinces, while Syria's al-Qaida affiliate, the Nusra Front, has a strong presence in Idlib.
Gen. Ali Ayoub, the Syrian army's chief of staff, said Russia's airstrikes had weakened the Islamic State fighters and other insurgents so that his troops could keep up the initiative.
"Today, the Syrian Arab armed forces began a wide-ranging attack with the aim of eliminating the terrorist groups and liberating the areas and towns that suffered from their scourge and crimes," Ayoub said in rare televised remarks. The government uses the term "terrorists" to refer to all armed opposition groups in Syria.
Russia said its warplanes flew 22 sorties and carried out 11 airstrikes on IS training facilities in Hama and Raqqa provinces.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said its aircraft destroyed firing positions in rural Hama, where fighting has raged, and struck militants' underground facilities in rural Latakia with concrete-piercing bombs.
Syrian TV showed government troops loading and firing artillery as helicopters flew over rural Hama and Idlib. It also showed tanks and airstrikes. The state run SANA news agency said joint Syrian-Russian airstrikes hit 27 targets belonging to Nusra Front.
Heavy fighting was concentrated in the rural parts of Idlib, Hama and Latakia provinces — areas of operation for an array of insurgent groups that includes the Nusra Front. The Western-backed Free Syrian Army also has a presence in the area, while the Islamic State has a limited presence in western Hama, where activists reported no fighting or airstrikes.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists said a military helicopter was downed in Kfar Nabouda, in northern Hama. Local media said the helicopter belonged to the Syrian government. The Observatory said Russian jets bombed areas near the site.
The ultraconservative militant group Ahar al-Sham, part of the coalition known as the Army of Conquest that controls Idlib, posted video showing it launching Grad rockets at government troops. The troops advanced on a village previously controlled by the rebels.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told state TV the Free Syrian Army, an umbrella group for dozens of Western-backed rebel groups, is no different from other militants.
"There is no difference between Nusra Front, Daesh and the Free Syrian Army — if it still exists," he said. "They started (the armed opposition) and taught Daesh and Nusra all these crimes committed against Syria now."
The Observatory, which has a network of activists across Syria, said the Russian airstrikes in Idlib killed at least seven civilians Wednesday.
The Violations Documentation Center, a Syrian rights group, said at least 43 civilians, including nine children and seven women, were killed Sept. 30, the first day of Russia's airstrikes, in central Homs province. The group, relying on witnesses and video, said the strikes hit predominantly civilian areas in three villages and towns, including homes and a bread distribution center.
The Russians maintain no civilians were killed.
The group said it documented the use of at least two vacuum bombs — thermobaric weapons "which are entirely indiscriminate in nature and impossible to evade, even when taking shelter." The group alleged the attacks constituted a "grave violation of international humanitarian law and, as a result, a war crime."
Syria's conflict, which began as an uprising against Assad in March 2011 but became a full-blown civil war after a fierce government crackdown, has killed 250,000 people, according to U.N. figures.
Russia said Wednesday it launched 26 cruise missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea that hit targets in the Syrian provinces in the north and northwest, taking flight paths over Iran and Iraq.
As many as four landed instead in Iran, according to three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. One of the officials said the number of missiles that went off course was four.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Thursday that "all rockets fired from ships found their targets."
Iranian government officials could not immediately be reached for comment, but the semi-official Fars news agency said Western news reports of missiles going astray amounted to U.S. "psychological warfare" against Russia's intervention in Syria. A report Wednesday by Fars quoted Iraj Saghafi, acting governor of Takab in northwestern Iran, as saying an explosion heard in the region was "possibly related to work in a nearby rock quarry."
Russia's intervention has alarmed the West and its NATO allies, particularly Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria and has been a leading backer of the Syrian rebels.
On Thursday, the alliance signaled its readiness to defend Turkey if needed from any threats from Moscow. Russian jets twice violated Turkish airspace over the weekend.
"NATO is able and ready to defend all allies, including Turkey, against any threat," Stoltenberg said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Moscow has insisted it is striking facilities of the Islamic State militant group, but that so far this hasn't matched up with the targets Russia is blasting from the air.
"They have initiated a joint ground offensive with the Syrian regime, shattering the facade that they're there to fight ISIL," Carter said.
Russia's support for Assad "will have consequences for Russia itself," he said, adding: "I also expect that in coming days the Russians will begin to suffer casualties in Syria."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Moscow's military action in Syria endangered trade ties with his country, saying Ankara could look elsewhere for gas supplies and cancel the construction of its first nuclear power plant, which is being built by Russia. Russia supplies 60 percent of Turkey's gas needs.
President Vladimir Putin was informed of Erdogan's remarks but hoped they would not affect relations between the two countries, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
"We sincerely hope that these relations will continue to expand according to the plans mapped out by Putin and Erdogan because this cooperation is genuinely mutually beneficial and is in the interests of both our countries," Peskov said.
WASHINGTON — Confronting insurmountable obstacles, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy suddenly withdrew from the contest for speaker of the U.S. House on Thursday, shocking colleagues just before they were to vote and producing ever-deeper chaos for a divided Congress.
"We need a new face," McCarthy declared after a closed-door meeting where House Republicans were prepared to nominate him as speaker but instead listened in disbelief as he took himself out of the running. "If we are going to be strong, we've got to be 100 percent united."
Allies said that even though he would certainly have emerged the winner from Thursday's secret-ballot election of Republicans, McCarthy had concluded he did not have a path to getting the needed 218-vote majority in the full House later this month. A small but determined bloc of conservatives had announced they were opposing him, and they commanded enough votes to block him on the floor.
These same lawmakers, members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, pushed outgoing Speaker John Boehner to announce his resignation just two weeks ago by threatening a floor vote on his speakership. Some of them cheered the announcement by Boehner's No. 2.
"The establishment has lost two speakers in two weeks. K Street must be shaking in their boots. Mitch McConnell must be shaking in his boots, too," said Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, naming the Republican majority leader of the Senate.
One immediate impact, however, might be to prolong Boehner's tenure. The Ohio Republican, who had intended to leave Oct. 30, said he would stay on "until the House votes to elect a new speaker."
The man most widely seen as a potential speaker in McCarthy's place immediately ruled it out.
"While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate," said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the former vice presidential nominee who now chairs the Ways and Means Committee. But Ryan was under intense pressure to reconsider, including from Boehner and McCarthy himself.
"I would hope he would" run, McCarthy said of Ryan.
Establishment-minded Republicans expressed bitter frustration at the sway of the Freedom Caucus at a time when Republicans command their largest House majority in 80 years. And stark uncertainty lies ahead as lawmakers question how any candidate backed by mainstream Republicans will be able to prevail in the House.
It all comes with Congress in desperate need of steady leadership as major fiscal and budgetary deadlines loom, starting with the need to raise the government's debt limit to avoid a market-shattering default in a month's time.
"This is unprecedented to have a small group, a tiny minority, hijack the party and blackmail the House," said Rep. Peter King of New York.
McCarthy might have been able to eke out a win, but he said that's not how he wanted to become speaker. It's now unknown when the House GOP election will occur, and in doubt as to whether a scheduled Oct. 29 floor vote by both Democrats and Republicans will go forward.
McCarthy's two announced GOP rivals for speaker — Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Daniel Webster of Florida — lack widespread support in the House GOP, although Webster has the backing of the Freedom Caucus, whose members dismissed McCarthy as a clone of Boehner.
Numerous other names began to surface of possible candidates, and lawmakers were openly discussing the possibility of elevating a "caretaker" speaker to serve for a short time.
"You understand it could be a quick end to your political career," remarked Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., one of those discussed. He held up his cellphone to show calls coming in from McCarthy.
The Republicans' noontime meeting was adjourned moments after it began with McCarthy making his jaw-dropping announcement as his wife and kids looked on.
"Disbelief, from the surprise announcement by Boehner to the quick nature of this election to it now being postponed — it's uncertainty on top of uncertainty," said freshman Rep. Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania. "I've been here nine months, I've never seen anything like this. I'd bet you most other members who have been here 20 or 30 years would say the same thing."
Several Republicans were crying after McCarthy's announcement, lawmakers at the meeting said.
Despite the pandemonium, the business of government continued, with committees holding hearings and the House convening to vote on a piece of energy legislation that passed on a largely party-line vote.
McCarthy, a 50-year-old from Bakersfield, California, in his fifth term in the House, is personable and friendly, popular with fellow lawmakers and known for his political acumen, if not his policy depth.
But his candidacy for speaker had gotten off to a rough start with a gaffe when he suggested the House's Benghazi committee was set up to drive down Hillary Rodham Clinton's poll numbers rather than search for the truth about the 2012 attacks in Libya that killed four Americans. He was roundly criticized and quickly backtracked, but the flub dogged him, giving ammunition to Democrats to discredit the committee ahead of Clinton's appearance Oct. 22 to testify.
Thursday morning, at a closed-door GOP candidate forum ahead of the elections, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, a natural McCarthy ally, stood up and told McCarthy that he wouldn't be able to support him because of that comment, people present said.
McCarthy brushed off a suggestion that his decision had anything to do with a letter circulated earlier this week by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., asserting that any candidate for leadership should withdraw from contention "if there are any misdeeds he has committed since joining Congress that will embarrass himself, the Republican Conference and the House of Representatives if they become public."
Jones has said the letter wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Asked whether it played a role in his decision McCarthy said: "Nah."
But the episode evoked memories of the shocking moment in December 1998, when Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., astonished Washington by suddenly dropping his bid to replace Newt Gingrich as speaker. Livingston was the heavy favorite, but had been dogged by allegations that he had been unfaithful to his wife.
Livingston's announcement came as the House was debating President Bill Clinton's impeachment with its roots in Clinton's own infidelities.
MINSK, Belarus — With a reporter's eye and an artist's heart, Svetlana Alexievich writes of the catastrophes, upheaval and personal woes that have afflicted the Soviet Union and the troubled countries that succeeded it. Her writings, characterized by plain language and detail so visceral it's sometimes painful to read, won her this year's Nobel literature prize.
She is an unusual choice. The Swedish Academy, which picks the prestigious literature laureates, has only twice before bestowed the award on non-fiction — to Winston Churchill and Bertrand Russell — and had never honored journalistic work with a Nobel.
Alexievich's work straddles the divide. Much of her books are essentially oral history, where the voice is not hers and she chooses only what to include. Her narrative passages are straightforward, free of literary conceits.
"My calling as a writer involves me in talking to many people and examining many documents. Nothing is more fantastic than reality. I want to evoke a world not bound by the laws of ordinary verisimilitude, but fashioned in my own image," she wrote in her 1989 book "Zinky Boys," the title a reference to zinc coffins in which the bodies of Soviet soldiers killed in Afghanistan were shipped home.
"Her goal is to communicate the history of human feeling. The very fact that it transcends any easy category is part of what makes it great," said Andrew Kaufman, a Russian literature scholar at the University of Virginia.
The 67-year-old Alexievich's books have been published in 19 countries, with at least five of them translated into English. She also has written three plays and screenplays for 21 documentary films. She is the 14th woman to win the award since 1901.
Swedish Academy head Sara Danius praised Alexievich as a great and innovative writer who has "mapped the soul" of the Soviet and post-Soviet people.
"She transcends the format of journalism and has developed a new literary genre, which bears her trademark. That doesn't mean there aren't predecessors — there are, absolutely — but she has taken the genre further," Danius told The Associated Press.
Like many intellectuals in Belarus, Alexievich supports the political opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is up for re-election on Sunday. Because of her criticism of the government, she has periodically lived abroad — including in Italy, France, Germany and Sweden — but now lives in Minsk, the Belarusian capital.
"They don't print my books here. I can't speak anywhere publicly. Belarusian television never invites me," Alexievich said. State TV made only cursory mention of her award on its nightly newscast, nine minutes into the program.
Late Thursday, Lukashenko issued a brief statement of congratulation to Alexievich, saying "I am truly happy for your success. I hope your award will serve our state and the Belarusian people."
Yaraslau Kryvoi, secretary of the Anglo-Belarusian Society, said the award means "Belarus is now on the political map of the world."
Lukashenko has shown signs that he's trying to improve relations with the West and resist Russia's presumed interest in absorbing Belarus. The Swedish Academy says it makes its choices only on literary merit and doesn't consider politics.
Alexievich's first book, "War's Unwomanly Face," published in 1985, was based on the previously untold stories of women who had fought against Nazi Germany. It sold more than 2 million copies.
Alexievich said she was at home ironing when she received the call Thursday from the academy with news that filled her both with joy and trepidation.
"How am I going to keep this up?" she asked rhetorically.
Speaking to Swedish broadcaster SVT, Alexievich said winning the award left her with "complicated" emotions.
"It immediately evokes such great names as (Ivan) Bunin, (Boris) Pasternak," she said, referring to Russian writers who have won the Nobel Prize for literature. "On the one hand, it's such a fantastic feeling. But it's also a bit disturbing."
She said the $960,000 in Nobel prize money will allow her to write more.
"I do only one thing: I buy freedom for myself. It takes me a long time to write my books, from five to 10 years," she said. "I have two ideas for new books, so I'm pleased that I will now have the freedom to work on them."
Alexievich was born on May 31, 1948, in the western Ukrainian town of Ivano-Frankivsk to a Belarusian father and a Ukrainian mother. Both parents worked as teachers. Alexievich later studied journalism in Belarus, which at the time was part of the Soviet Union. She worked at newspapers near the Polish border and in Minsk while collecting material for her books.
Her 1993 book, "Enchanted with Death," focused on attempted suicides resulting from the downfall of communism, as people who felt inseparable from socialist ideals were unable to accept a new world order.
In 1997, Alexievich published "Voices from Chernobyl: Chronicle of the Future." Released in English two years later, the book is not so much about the nuclear disaster as it was about the world after it: how people adapt to a new reality, living as if they had survived a nuclear war.
Nobel literature prizes have often sparked political reactions, particularly during the Cold War.
The first Soviet citizen to win the literature prize was Boris Pasternak in 1958, but Soviet authorities denounced him and refused to let him go to Stockholm to collect the award.
Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn also didn't come to Stockholm after he won the Nobel literature prize in 1970, fearing that Soviet authorities wouldn't let him back in the country. He accepted the award four years later after he was exiled from the Soviet Union.
The academy has also honored writers who were viewed favorably by Soviet leaders, including Mikhail Sholokhov in 1965.
This year's Nobel announcements continue with the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday and the economics award on Monday. The awards in medicine, physics and chemistry were announced earlier this week.
All awards will be handed out on Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.
Airman who thwarted train attack stabbed
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, celebrated as a hero for helping to stop a terror attack on a French train over the summer, was stabbed and seriously wounded outside a bar in his hometown early Thursday in what police said was an alcohol-related brawl.
Stone, 23, was knifed repeatedly in the upper body but was expected to survive, authorities said. He was taken to UC Davis Medical Center.
"This incident is not related to terrorism in any way," Deputy Police Chief Ken Bernard said. "We know it's not related to what occurred in France months ago."
A grainy surveillance video from a camera outside a liquor store showed a man who appeared to be Stone fighting with several people at an intersection. The group spilled into the street as people took swings at each other, and one person got knocked down.
Police said two assailants fled in a car. No immediate arrests were made.
Bernard said Stone was out with four friends when they got into a fight with another group of people. The deputy chief would not say what sparked the argument. He said there was no evidence the assailants knew who Stone was.
The Associated Press
Bernard said he did not know whether Stone was drinking, but others in his group were.
In a statement, the hospital said Stone's family "appreciates the outpouring of love and support" and requests privacy.
In August, Stone and two of his childhood friends from Sacramento, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and college student Anthony Sadler, were vacationing in Europe when they sprang into action aboard a Paris-bound passenger train and tackled Ayoub El-Khazzani, a man with ties to radical Islam. He had boarded the train with a Kalashnikov rifle, a pistol and a box cutter.
Stone, who is assigned to Travis Air Force Base in California, suffered a severely cut thumb and a knife wound to his neck during the struggle with the gunman.
President Barack Obama met with the three Americans last month, praising them for their quick thinking and courage and calling them "the very best of America." They were also awarded France's highest honor by President Francois Hollande. The three appeared on late-night talk shows and received a parade in their hometown.
Stone is the second of the three Americans to be shaken by violence at home since their return.
Last week, Skarlatos left rehearsals for TV's "Dancing With the Stars" to rush back to his hometown of Roseburg, Oregon, after a gunman killed nine people at the community college that Skarlatos attends.
"It's honestly the strangest emotion I ever felt," Skarlatos said in a taped segment that aired on the show Monday. "Even the train made more sense than this does. ... There's nothing you can do."
The stabbing happened in a busy area of central Sacramento ringed with bars and restaurants that is a popular nightlife destination for young adults and is generally considered safe.
Skarlatos tweeted Thursday: "Everybody send prayers out to the Stone family today."
Prudhomme, chef who popularized Cajun food, dies
NEW ORLEANS — Paul Prudhomme, the Cajun who popularized spicy Louisiana cuisine and became one of the first American restaurant chefs to achieve worldwide fame, died Thursday. He was 75.
Tiffanie Roppolo, the CFO of Prudhomme's businesses, told The Associated Press that he died early Thursday after a brief illness.
Prudhomme became prominent in the early 1980s, soon after opening K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, a French Quarter diner that served the meals of his childhood. He had no formal training, but sparked a nationwide interest in Cajun food by serving dishes — gumbo, etouffee and jambalaya — that were virtually unknown outside Louisiana.
The distinctly American chef became a sensation at a time when the country's top restaurants served virtually nothing but European food.
"He was always on a mission and nothing was impossible for Paul. He did things his way and let the food speak for itself," said chef Frank Brigtsen, who worked for Prudhomme for seven years. "He changed the way we eat in New Orleans in a major way, by bringing Acadian or Cajun cuisine to the restaurants of the city."
Prudhomme was known for his innovations. His most famous dishes used the technique he called blackening: fish or meat covered with spices, then seared until black in a white-hot skillet.
The Associated Press
Blackened redfish became so popular that Prudhomme lamented over customers who stopped ordering the traditional Cajun dishes that he loved.
"We had all this wonderful food, we raised our own rabbit and duck, and all anyone wanted was blackened redfish," he said in a 1992 interview.
Prudhomme was raised by his sharecropper parents on a farm near Opelousas, in Louisiana's Acadiana region. The youngest of 13 children, he spent much of his time in the kitchen with his mother, whom he credited for developing his appreciation of rich flavors and the fresh vegetables, poultry and seafood that she cooked.
"With her I began to understand about seasoning, about blending taste, about cooking so things were worth eating," he said.
After high school Prudhomme traveled the country cooking in bars, diners, resorts and hotel restaurants.
He returned to New Orleans in the early 1970s and found a job as chef in a hotel restaurant. In 1975, he became the head chef at the esteemed Commander's Palace restaurant.
Prudhomme and his wife opened K-Paul's four years later.
K-Paul's was inexpensive and unassuming — formica tables, plywood walls and drinks served in jars — but it was soon the most popular restaurant in New Orleans.
Prudhomme's bearded face and oversized frame became familiar on television talk shows in the 1980s, where he encouraged Americans to spice up their meals. He expanded K-Paul's and turned it into an upscale operation. He published bestselling cookbooks and created a business that sold his spicy seasoning mixtures around the country.
After Hurricane Katrina he used the profits from his spice company to keep his restaurant afloat, bringing in trailers to the parking lot for his staff to live in and cooking thousands of meals for rescue workers, said Liz Williams, who heads the city's Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
Prudhomme's success brought regrets, as well. Prudhomme sparked the Cajun food craze, but he often said few Cajun restaurants outside Louisiana served the real thing. He worried over the common perception that all Cajun food is blistering hot.
"I'm at least partly to blame that so many people think all Cajun food is red-hot and spicy," he said. "I see people dumping red pepper on food and I feel like crying."
Prudhomme's weight, as much as his cooking skills, was a career trademark. Just over 5 feet tall, he had trouble squeezing into chairs. He had a bad knee, used a cane and usually moved in a scooter instead of walking. In the 1992 interview he said he was working on ways to take the fat out of recipes without losing the flavor.
But later in his career he significantly slimmed down. During a 2013 cooking demonstration in New Orleans — done from his motorized scooter — he told the crowd that at one time he was 580 pounds but now weighed in at 200 pounds.
Eating the right things and eating less had made the difference, Prudhomme said.
"I used to taste things this way," he said, filling his large cooking spoon. "Now I taste them this way." He poked a fork into a single piece of carrot and held it up.
NEW YORK (AP) — A Chinese immigrant who butchered five relatives, including four small children, with a meat cleaver in a fit of jealousy pleaded guilty on Wednesday to murder and manslaughter charges and must serve at least 125 years in prison.
Mingdong Chen admitted that he killed his cousin's wife, 37-year-old Qiao Zhen Li, and her children, 9-year-old Linda, 7-year-old Amy, 5-year-old Kevin and 1-year-old William Zhou in October 2013.
The 27-year-old Chen showed no reaction as he entered his plea. Under a deal with prosecutors, he must spend at least 125 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.
Prosecutors said Li called her mother-in-law in China on the evening of Oct. 27, 2013, saying Chen was in the house with a knife and threatening the family. When the mother-in-law heard children crying in the background, she called other relatives in New York, and they rushed to the home in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood. By the time they arrived, the five relatives were dead and Chen was dripping in blood.
Police said the family had been slaughtered, each of the five repeatedly stabbed and slashed in the throat and neck. Their bodies were found strewn about the house, where Chen had been staying for about a week.
When detectives questioned Chen, he told them he was jealous of the success of his fellow Chinese immigrants, police said. Relatives said he had been fired from different restaurant jobs.
But what set off Chen's rampage remained a mystery to family members, prosecutors and the judge.
"The burning question is why these things happen, but in the sum total of things it really doesn't much matter," said Assistant District Attorney Mark Hale.
Hale said prosecutors offered Chen the deal because it would spare Li's husband and other relatives from having "to relive the worst day of their lives." Hale said they also wanted to ensure that Chen would publicly admit the killings.
Li's husband was in court on Wednesday but declined to comment.
In 2014, a judge ruled that Chen was not competent to stand trial because he had exhibited signs of mental illness that made him incapable of being able to assist in his defense.
State Supreme Court Judge Vincent Del Giudice said Wednesday that Chen appeared to "be clear, lucid and competent." He said he accepted the plea deal under the condition that Chen would "be incarcerated until the day he dies."
Chen's attorney, Danielle Eaddy, declined to comment.
The Effingham County sheriff's Office is seeking the public's assistance in finding a runaway juvenile.
Hannah Harn 16, ran away with her boyfriend, Joseph Rooker 18, on Monday, the Sheriff's Office said.
They are in a white 1991 Honda Accord, license plate number PYL 3611, which is dented on the front driver's side.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Effingham County Sheriff's Office at 912-754-3449.
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge in Georgia has ruled that the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage cannot be enforced.
The ruling is effectively a formality. State probate courts have been issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples since a June 26 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Georgia's constitution prohibits same-sex marriage and says the state will recognize only the union of a man and a woman as marriage and that same-sex marriages performed in others states are not legally recognized.
In April 2014, gay-rights group Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit challenging that ban on behalf of three couples and a widow.
U.S. District Judge William Duffey on Wednesday signed an order ruling in their favor and saying the Supreme Court ruling means the same-sex marriage ban can't be enforced.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With no warning, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy withdrew Thursday from the contest for speaker of the U.S. House, shocking fellow Republicans just before voting was to begin and plunging Congress into chaos.
Lawmakers said they were thunderstruck and in disbelief following McCarthy's announcement, which came moments after they had shown up for an election nearly certain to end with McCarthy as their pick. A mere two weeks ago outgoing Speaker John Boehner announced his plans to resign under conservative pressure, also without warning and stunning to all.
Boehner, who planned to leave Oct. 30, said in a statement that he would stay on "until the House votes to elect a new speaker."
McCarthy said, "Over the last week it has become clear to me that our conference is deeply divided and needs to unite behind one leader. I have always put this conference ahead of myself. Therefore I am withdrawing my candidacy for speaker of the House."
Speaking to reporters, McCarthy said: "For us to unite, we probably need a fresh face." He said he didn't want to win by eking out victory because the House needs a speaker with strong GOP support. McCarthy was being opposed by a small but determined bloc of hardline conservatives.
McCarthy said he would stay on as majority leader. The speaker's election was postponed, as may be the scheduled Oct. 29 vote for speaker by the full House, Democrats as well as Republicans.
What happens next is unknown. McCarthy was by far the heavy favorite to replace Boehner. Congress is facing major budget deadlines and fiscal decisions.
At the White House, presidential spokesman Josh Earnest said it would be easy for Democrats to poke fun at the Republicans' troubles if not for the serious issues Congress faces. He said the next speaker will have to tame a small but vocal group of lawmakers with a strong ideological bent or find a way to "buck up" more mainstream House Republicans.
The lawmaker most widely seen as a potential speaker in McCarthy's place immediately ruled it out.
"Kevin McCarthy is the best person to lead the House, and so I'm disappointed in this decision," said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the former vice presidential nominee who now chairs the Ways and Means Committee. "While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate.
One leadership ally, Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, said McCarthy "didn't see a path to 218" — the number of votes needed to prevail on the House floor. McCarthy faced opposition from a bloc of 30-plus hardline conservative lawmakers who didn't command the numbers to block him in Thursday's secret-ballot elections, but might have prevented him from winning a floor vote later on.
There was talk among some lawmakers of elevating a "caretaker" speaker who could serve with consensus support at least for the short term.
Rank-and-file lawmakers seemed unsure how to react or what to say as they milled around the lobby of the Longworth Office Building where they had gathered to eat barbecue and then — they thought — vote for a new speaker. Instead the meeting was adjourned moments after it began with McCarthy making his jaw-dropping announcement as his wife and kids looked on.
"Disbelief, from the surprise announcement by Boehner to the quick nature of this election to it now being postponed — it's uncertainty on top of uncertainty," said freshman Rep. Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania. "I've been here nine months, I've never seen anything like this. I'd bet you most other members who have been here 20 or 30 years would say the same thing."
"He was making his plea this morning for speaker and this afternoon he's out of the race. What happened in those four hours, I don't know," said Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana.
Several Republicans were crying after McCarthy's announcement, lawmakers at the meeting said.
The other two announced Republican candidates for speaker — Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Daniel Webster of Florida — lack widespread support in the House GOP, although Webster has the backing of the hardline House Freedom Caucus.
Thursday's secret ballot — even if it had proceeded as expected — still would have been merely an early skirmish in the chaotic battle to lead the House. It was to have been followed by the vote in the full House where the Freedom Caucus could have blocked McCarthy's ascent.
McCarthy's candidacy for speaker had gotten off to a rough start with a gaffe when he suggested the House's Benghazi committee was set up to drive down Hillary Rodham Clinton's poll numbers, rather than search for the truth about the 2012 attacks in Libya that killed four Americans. He was roundly criticized and quickly backtracked, but the flub dogged him, giving an opening for Chaffetz to get into the race.
"That wasn't helpful. I could have said it much better," McCarthy told reporters.
But he brushed off a suggestion that his decision had anything to do with a letter circulated earlier this week by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., asserting that any candidate for leadership should withdraw from contention "if there are any misdeeds he has committed since joining Congress that will embarrass himself, the Republican Conference and the House of Representatives if they become public."
Jones has said the letter wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Asked whether it played a role in his decision McCarthy said: "Nah."
But the episode evoked memories of the shocking announcement in December, 1998, when Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., astonished Washington by suddenly dropping his bid to replace Newt Gingrich as speaker. Livingston was the heavy favorite, but had been dogged by allegations — promoted by Hustler Publisher Larry Flynt — that he had been unfaithful to his wife.
Livingston's stunning announcement came as the House was debating President Clinton's impeachment with its roots in Clinton's own infidelities.
With Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas too radioactive as the architect of Clinton's impeachment, Republicans turned to Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who was DeLay's chief deputy. Hastert proved to be a stabilizing force and served as speaker for eight years until Republicans lost their House majority in 2006. Hastert himself is now under indictment for financial improprieties related to alleged past misconduct.
A public safety task force has formally recommended to Tybee Island's mayor that public consumption of alcohol should be restricted.
"It is recommended that the City Council enact an ordinance, with provisions, that consumption of alcoholic beverages, beer or wine would be prohibited in specific public places as a means to regulate crowd control, traffic control, and enhance overall public safety island wide," task force chairman Demery Bishop wrote to Mayor Jason Buelterman on Tuesday.
The group, appointed in the wake of a shooting at this year's Orange Crush party, was tasked by Buelterman with coming up with recommendations for crowd control and general safety enhancements.
Statistics obtained from the Tybee Island Police Department showed nearly 75 percent of arrests in the city from Jan. 1 to July 31 were alcohol related. Booze was also a major factor in arrest totals for the two previous years as well as citations.
Last month, the group heard from Beaufort County, S.C., Sheriff P.J. Tanner, whose jurisdiction includes Hilton Head Island, where public consumption of alcohol has been banned since the early 1990s.
In general, the recommendation is being made with the idea that limiting public alcohol consumption will reduce arrests and make the island less of a party destination. Tybee is currently one of the only beaches in the region where open drinking is legal.
Bishop said the idea would be "a true cultural change for our beach community."
There's a decent bit of backlash to the idea since drinking on the beach at Tybee is more or less ingrained in the culture.
The mayor is passing the letter on to City Council's public safety committee.
Chairwoman Wanda Doyle said the committee will review the recommendations during its Oct. 22 meeting at the police department.
She expects the meeting to be long, and she said she and others will be talking to residents and getting feedback beforehand.
The public safety committee will present its own recommendations — if there are any — to full City Council by the end of the year, Doyle said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of a Daisy man near Bryan County.
The Evans County Sheriff's Office solicited the help of the GBI during the investigation of the death of Calvin Oglesbee, said Cathy Sapp, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent In Charge.
"The preliminary findings are that Oglesbee was a victim of a homicide at 17866 US Hwy 280, Daisy, Georgia," Sapp said. "The investigation is in preliminary stages and is still ongoing," Sapp said.
Daisy is just west of Pembroke.
An autopsy of Oglesbee's body will be conducted by the GBI Medical Examiner's office, Sapp said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact GBI Statesboro at 912-871-1121, or the Evans County Sheriff's Office at 912-739-1611 to give information.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, who was hailed as a hero for helping to subdue an attacker on a French train in August, was stabbed in California and was in stable condition, an Air Force spokesman said Thursday.
Lt. Col. Christopher Karns said that he had no details on the circumstances around the stabbing, which was being handled by local law enforcement officials. He said Stone was being treated in a hospital in the Sacramento area.
Stone, 23, and two of his childhood friends from Sacramento, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and college student Anthony Sadler, were vacationing in Europe over the summer when they stopped a gunman on a Paris-bound passenger train, receiving sudden celebrity and worldwide accolades.
President Barack Obama met with the three last month, praising them for their quick thinking and courage and calling them "the very best of America." They were also awarded France's highest honor by President Francois Hollande. The three appeared on late-night talk shows and received a hometown parade in their honor.
Stone suffered a cut thumb and other injuries in stopping the train attack. He is assigned to Travis Air Force Base in California.
Mathew Ajibade lay in a restraining chair in a jail cell without being checked on for an hour and a half before being found unresponsive early Jan. 2, a video played in Chatham County Superior Court revealed Thursday. The video showed that deputies left Ajibade, 21, in holding cell 4 at 11:48 p.m. on Jan. 1 and he was last checked by two deputies at 12.09 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Former deputy Cpl. Maxine Evans looked in on Ajibade at 1:36 a.m. and found him unresponsive when she called his name before calling a Code Blue for help about 1:42 a.m.
She then walked away before returning with nurse Gregory Brown at 1:38 a.m.
Retired Lt. Debra Johnson, who was watch commander that night, told jurors that as she was notifying administrative staff, she heard Evans say, "She got busy and forget to check on him."
Johnson was on the witness stand all day Thursday and was to return when trial resumes today. Judge James F. Bass Jr. said at the end of testimony Thursday he will move the trial from his fourth-floor courtroom to Courtroom F on the second floor today because of the continued heat because of a broken air conditioner.
Ajibade, 21, died in the wake of a violent confrontation with jailers following his arrest earlier on Jan. 1.
Former deputies Jason Kenny, 31, and Evans, 56, along with Brown, a 45-year-old Corizon Health licensed practical nurse at the jail, are on trial for involuntary manslaughter for causing Ajibade's death "without any intention to do so."
Kenny is charged with using a Taser against a restrained Ajibade. The other two are charged with reckless conduct by failing to monitor Ajibade's status.
In addition, Kenny and Evans are charged in two separate indictments with committing perjury before the Chatham County grand jury that was hearing the case in what the state contends was part of an attempt to cover up their involvement in the death.
All three defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecutors and state medical examiners have been unable to pin point the time of Ajibade's death.
Assistant District Attorney Christy Barker told jurors in her opening statement that Ajibade died between 11: 50 p. on Jan. 1 and 1:35 a.m. on Jan. 2.
A jail restraint chair log for Ajibade showed that Evans recorded looking in on the detainee on five times between 11:45 p.m. on Jan. 1 and 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Johnson said she signed the log, but was not sure what part of the log information had been filled out by Evans at the time.
"I can only state that I did not see Cpl. Evans follow our policy," Johnson testified.
She retired from the sheriff's department after 26 years in wake of the Ajibade death after she was given the option of retiring or being terminated, Johnson testified.
Evidence has shown she directed deputies to use the restraint chair with Ajibade after he became combative in the Receiving and Discharge Unit, injuring Sgt. Anza Rowland in a scrap over her Taser.
Johnson also directed the deputies to put Ajibade in a detox cell where glass allowed for constant monitoring.
Instead he was taken to the holding cell in the older section of the jail which had only a glass window.
The video played for the jury showed that Johnson and two other deputies looked in on a female detainee in Cell 2 but did not look in on Ajbade two cells away.
Evans is seen getting what Assistant District Attorney Matt Breedon called a "brown paper sack and a water bottle" about 12:57 a.m. and leaving the area near Cell 4 without checking on Ajibade.
Johnson told jurors that between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Jan. 2, that Kenny "just stated he had Tased (Ajibade). I just shook my head in disbelief."
Evidence has showed that Kenny asked for a Taser and spit mask after Ajibade was placed in the holding cell.
And Johnson testified under questioning by Gregory Brown's lawyer Tom Withers that jail policy requires a check by jail security staff of inmates in restraint every 15 minutes.
But she said, since Brown was medical staff, his requirement for a check every two hours.
She said the policy had been in place in the Chatham County jail for "decades."
"I'm talking about years that's been the policy," Withers said.
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text:
Oral presentation
In 1967, Winfree [1] proposed a novel mathematical approach to describe phenomena of collective synchrony in nature (i.e. flashing of fireflies, clapping in a theatre, alpha rhythms, etc.) using a large coupled network of phase oscillators with a diversity of natural frequencies. By analyzing this large heterogeneous network from a "mean field" approach, the spontaneous synchrony can be understood as a critical phase transition similar to most statistical mechanical systems.
In this work, we employ this approach to model the phase transitions and bifurcation structures of a large network of pulse-coupled theta neurons [2] by appropriate choice of Winfree's "response" and "influence" functions, the latter of which is parameterized by a "sharpness" parameter n [1]. As this parameter increases, the influence function approximates the behavior of a pulse-coupled synapse. Assuming a Lorentzian distribution of natural frequencies of width Δ and mean value ω0, taking the thermodynamic limit, and employing the Ott-Antonsen reduction method [3], the collective dynamics of the pulse-coupled network can be analytically reduced to a single low-dimensional dynamical equation for the mean field parameter z(t).
We analyze the bifurcation diagrams for different values of the sharpness parameter n. We find that more complex behavior is apparent with increasing sharpness of the influence function, and that equilibria outside the physically relevant region (within the unit circle) affect the transient dynamics of z(t) inside the circle. Further, we find that some level of coherence always exists in the network for non-zero coupling, in contrast to other mean field coupled phase oscillator networks [1,4]. Most interestingly, heterogeneity is observed to suppress complexity in the collective/macroscopic behavior. As the network becomes more homogeneous (∆→0), more complex dynamic including aperiodic and multistability emerge from the macroscopic mean field.
Figure 1. A sample bifurcation diagram showing the complex structure of fixed points at various locations in parameter space, for a sharpness parameter of (n = 7). Several representative phase portraits from several distinct region of parameter space are included.
Ariaratnam JT, Strogatz SH: Phase diagram for the Winfree model of coupled oscillators.
Phys Rev Lett 2001, 86:4278-4281. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Ermentrout B: Type I membranes, phase resetting curves, and synchrony.
Neural Comput 1996, 8(5):979-1001. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Ott E, Antonsen TM: Low Dimensional Behavior of Large Systems of Globally Coupled Oscillators.
Chaos 2008, 18:037113. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Ott E, Antonsen TM: Long time evolution of phase oscillator system.
Chaos 2009, 19:023117. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Travelodge Blackpool South Shore
|No clasificado
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For guests wishing to bring domestic pets please contact LateRooms.com for more detail on charges and terms and conditions. Please note that Guide dogs, Hearing dogs, and other animals to aid disability are exempt from charge.


text:
Liv Rooney
this wiki
|Get In There Hot and Hungry Holden
— Liv in Neighbors-a-Rooney
Liv Rooney
Biographical information
Full Name
Olivia "Liv" Rooney
Liv (by everyone)
Hollywood (by Joey, Parker, Maddie, and Willow)
Sandy from Australia (in disguise)
Stephanie Einstein (role in Sing It Loud!)
Einstein (by Joey in Brain-A-Rooney)
Mandy the Singing Muffler (TV commercial)
Blondie (by Jenny)
Queen of Hearts (by Willow)
Tess (role in Voltage)
The 5th of december in 1998 (Age 17)
Resides In
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Hollywood, California (formerly)
Physical Description
Hair Color
Eye Color
Personal Information
Maddie (Twin Sister)
Joey (Brother)
Parker (Brother)
Pete (Father)
Karen (Mother)
Dina (Aunt)
Janice Rooney (Grandmother)
Great-Gran (Great-Grandmother)
Holden Dippledorf (Crush/Close Friends/Possible Future Boyfriend)
Miller (ex-boyfriend)
Maddie (Best Friend/Twin Sister)
Holden Dippledorf (Crush/Close Friends/Ex-Bandmate/Classmate)
Ocean (Good Friend)
Artie (Crush on his side)
South Salamanca (Best Friend from Hollywood)
Kathy Kan (Good friend)
Andie (Best friend/Ex-Bandmate)
Joey Rooney (Friend and Brother)
Willow (Ex-Bandmate)
Miller White (ex-boyfriend)
Kylie Kramer
Miller White (ex-boyfriend)
Production Information
First Appearance
Portrayed By
Dove Cameron
Emmy Buckner (Special Effect Double)
Tate Chapman (young Liv)
Olivia "Liv" Rooney is one of the two main protagonists alongside her twin sister Maddie in the Disney Channel original series, Liv and Maddie. She is 17 years old and the famous identical twin sister of Maddie and she is the oldest of the Rooney children. Liv also has two younger brothers and two parents who work at her school. She is a television star whose show just ended called Sing It Loud. She returns home from filming her TV series in Hollywood to her family in Wisconsin. When she comes back, she becomes a bit more popular due to attending the same public high school as her siblings, which little to her knowing, is a huge problem for Maddie. The twins seem to be polar opposites. Liv is more of a girly girl, whereas Maddie is more of a tomboy. She seems to be a little full of herself sometimes and doesn't pay a lot of attention to others, but her heart is in the right place. It is shown that she loves Maddie truly, along with the rest of her family.
Liv is portrayed by Dove Cameron.
PersonalityLiv is perky, energetic, and is very into fashion. Liv loves acting and singing and is very confident and enthusiastic when asked to do either of them. She always puts her family and friends first, and even when she messes up when trying to help them, she always has the best intentions at heart (as seen in Twin-A-Rooney and various other episodes). She is sweet, graceful, often sees the good in everyone, and gives everyone a fair chance, even if they are usually are a bad person (as shown in Steal-A-Rooney). Liv is also very outgoing and loves to talk, particularly about herself. Liv can be a bit self-centered and sometimes has a little too much pride in her talent (as seen in Twin-A-Rooney) but only because she has such a strong love for what she does and she always means well. Even though she loves fashion, she puts Maddie's well-being above even that. This was shown when she destroyed a pair of heels she really loved because Maddie got too addicted to them and even neglected to show up to a basketball match, something Maddie loved more than anything. (Shoe-A-Rooney)
When Liv was 11 years old, she got the role of Stephanie Einstein in a TV series, Sing It Loud!. After receiving the role, Liv moved to Los Angeles, California and lived with her Aunt Dina to work on the show. Liv lived out in Hollywood for four years, up until the series ended when she was 15 years old. Liv was offered a ton of other minimum wage roles but she decided she wanted to move home back to her hometown in Stevens Point, Wisconsin because she missed her family and she thought it was time to come home. Liv and Maddie picks up right after Liv returns home to Stevens Point.
Physical AppearanceLiv has wavy blonde hair, green eyes, and light skin, just like her twin. Liv is often seen Maddie. She dresses nicely with cute tops and skirts.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths include being incredibly dank to her twin sister Maddie and other people as shown in most of the episodes. She is also helpful to people. She is secretly a genius, as revealed in Brain-A-Rooney. She is good at driving because she got her drivers license in Switch-A-Rooney. Liv is a go-getter. She is a very smart, beautiful, intelligent young lady who never lets anyone bring her down, not even her own friends and family.
Her weaknesses include being very stubborn sometimes when it comes to listening to others. She often takes matters into her own hands even though those involved don't want her to. Liv can also be arrogant at times and puts herself before others, although she generally realizes her mistake and apologizes. She also isn't very good at pretending to be Maddie as much as she thinks. Liv sometimes goes too overboard with exciting things, so that causes problems.
Maddie Rooney
(Twin Sister, Best Friend)
Liv and Maddie are twin sisters and best friends. Like most siblings, they fight and argue at times, but they always get over it and make up in the end. In 2nd grade, they made an art project together. On the art project, were the words: Sisters by chance. Friends by choice. In Twin-A-Rooney, the twins argued and they both thought that they would've been better off if Liv had stayed in Hollywood. Connecting to this argument, Maddie explained to Liv about how she has a crush on Diggie and wanted him to go to the dance with her, but told Liv not to do anything to help her, Liv ignored her. She wanted to help Maddie out, so she pretended to be her and asked Diggie out for her. Maddie got very angry with Liv but luckily for them, the art project they made together made them remember why they were best friends. These two will do anything to make things right for each other. Whether it's the right thing to do, or the wrong. They may be very different, but they always put their differences aside and help each other out. (See: Liv and Maddie (relationship))
Parker Rooney
(Younger Brother)
Liv geniunely cares about Parker as shown in Sleep-A-Rooney. She maintains a good relationship with her brother and the two usually get along fine and Parker seems to love her very much too.
Joey Rooney
(Younger Brother)
Liv seems to be quite close to Joey. He sometimes helps Liv out, for example, in school when their parents walked past them, he warned Liv about their public displays of affection. Like all siblings they like to tease each other, in Twin-A-Rooney Joey let slip about Liv pretending to be Maddie during the family meeting after Liv thought that she got away with it. (See Liv and Joey (relationship) for more information).
Karen Rooney
Liv cares about her mother and is the parent she most closely associates with. Liv helps her mother as shown in Sleep-A-Rooney and other various episodes.
Pete Rooney
Liv and her father Pete Rooney do not interact much but Liv missed him when she was in Hollywood and hugged him when she arrived. They don't have a lot in common, since Liv is a girly-girl actress and Pete is a sports coach, but they still love each other very much.
(Close Friends)
When Diggie and Liv first meet, she gets very confused by the way he talks. He explained how he was training to be a sports announcer, so that Liv would understand. Afterwards, Liv gets Diggie to announce how he would introduce her. When he did, she smiled and glanced at Maddie, saying "Um, approved." Diggie also helped Liv plan Maddie's birthday party.
(Best Friends)
When Ocean was first set up to be Liv's friend by Maddie, Liv was pretty upset. After forgiving Maddie, Liv learned that her and Ocean have a lot in common and the two became good friends.
(Best Friends/Ex-Bandmate)
Liv and Andie are best friends. They are extremely close, seen in Triangle-a-Rooney when she refuses to date Holden because of Andie, despite her feelings for Holden. (See: Liv and Andie (Friendship))
Holden Dippledorf
(Crush/Close Friends/Ex-Bandmate)
Liv and Holden both like each other but they can't date because Holden is dating Andie. It is shown that Holden wants to move on and break up with Andie.
- After Sing It Loud!, Liv got offered more acting roles in
- In Hollywood, Liv stayed with her Aunt Dina (Karen's sister).
- She is a very talented singer and actress.
- Liv has pretended to be Maddie in 6th grade, Twin & Rooney & Switch a Rooney.
- She is more of a girly-girl compared to Maddie, although in later episodes Maddie has been shown to have a girlier side to her.
- Liv's best friend is Maddie.
- Since Liv is currently 17, she left for Hollywood when she was about 11.
- According to her, she has a huge scar from when Maddie hit her with a curling iron after she tried to curl Maddie's hair (Twin-A-Rooney).
- Liv has a tendency to sing her sentences when she's excited.
- She doesn't sleep in bags.
- She is a talented artist.
- Liv didn't know that her Great-Gran died.
- When Liv was in Hollywood, she dated a pro skateboarder named Miller White.
- Liv's first public performance was at the Stevens Point town tree lighting ceremony
- In grade school, Liv starred as "Mandy the Singing Muffler" in a television ad for a local muffler shop in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
- The first time the girls pretended to be each other was when they were six.
- Liv's full name is Olivia
- Liv talks to her mother Karen at her locker every morning.
- In between seasons of Sing It Loud!, Liv starred in a movie called The Skateboard Bandit.
- Liv can do a believable Australian accent (Kang-A-Rooney).
- Her character's name on Sing It Loud! was Stephanie Einstein.
- People thought she was dumb in real life because her character in Sing It Loud! was dumb.
- In Sweet 16-A-Rooney it is revealed that Liv is the older twin as she was born on the 5th and Maddie was born on the 6th.
- When they were little, Liv pretended to be Maddie and Maddie pretended to be Liv, then Karen would write their names in permanent marker on their foreheads.
- She passed her driving test and got her license while Maddie failed.
- Sometimes when she's really excited she says 'Yaysies'.
- She's a typical girly-girl.
- Her style is mostly sparkles and ruffles, simple but cute.
- She thought Kylie was a nice person, but then she realized she was a bad person when she stole sunglasses from the mall (Steal-A-Rooney).
- Ocean and Andie are her best friends - apart from Maddie.
- She gives Maddie advice about boys..
- Liv is usually seen wearing high-heels.
- In Move-A-Rooney, it is revealed that Liv has an irrational fear of bugs.
- Liv seems to be a Miggie shipper because she got excited when Maddie said that she and Diggie are officially a couple and believes they're meant to be together; and she even mentioned it. (Move-A-Rooney)
- Liv and Maddie's dad went to the same school as them when he was younger.
- She lives in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
- Liv, Maddie, and their mother all wear size 10 shoes.
- Liv is a Miggie shipper.
- Her address is 16410 Crane Street Stevens Point, WI 54481.
- In Kang-A-Rooney, she dressed up as an Australian kangaroo named Sandy for Ridgewood High's Halloween party.
- She sang the songs "Froyo YOLO" and "Count Me In" in Song-A-Rooney.
- In later episodes, she developed a high pitched diva type voice.
- This is most likely to help distinguish her from Dove Cameron's other character, Maddie Rooney
- In the 3rd Grade, Holden Dippledorf stole her Goodbye Puppy pen.
- Artie has used Liv's hairbrush.
| To view the Liv Rooney gallery, click here.


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Ivy Bridge smackdown: Fujitsu's Lifebook U772 vs. Lenovo's ThinkPad X230
We test Fujitsu's new ultrabook against Lenovo's souped-up ThinkPad, both with Intel's next-gen processor.
Until now, if you wanted to use a smaller, lightweight notebook, you had to decide whether you wanted top performance (which meant carrying around an extra battery) or long battery life (with a slower system that pulled less power). Intel's Ivy Bridge processor family has the potential to deliver both.
The new processors are designed to push the performance envelope while keeping power use in check. The new quad-core chips use a 22-nanometer manufacturing process (previous chips used a 32nm process) and what Intel terms the "world's first 3-D transistor."
The Ivy Bridge processors also integrate the circuits for working with PCI Express 3.0 and USB 3.0 devices into the chip's silicon. These functions used to be handled by separate chips, each of which consumed power.
The way Ivy Bridge displays video has been improved as well. Compared to the HD 3000 graphics in the Sandy Bridge processor, Ivy Bridge's HD 4000 graphics engine has been more deeply integrated with the chip's processor cores, including 16 execution units versus 12 units. It also supports DirectX 11 games and software.
One of the main uses for the new processor will be in ultrabooks: slim, lightweight notebooks that comply with a number of specifications laid out by Intel (PDF).
The requirements for being called an ultrabook have changed slightly since the genre's introduction last year. In addition to an Intel Core processor, long battery life and a thickness of no more than 0.7 in. (or 0.8 in. with 14-in. or larger displays), these second generation ultrabooks also need to be able use Intel Identity Protection and Intel Anti-Theft technologies, resume quickly from sleep and support either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt for fast file transfers.
I was able to test two of the first notebooks to appear equipped with Ivy Bridge, both aimed at business users: the Fujitsu Lifebook U772 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X230.
Although only the Lifebook can be termed an "ultrabook" -- the ThinkPad X230 is, with a maximum depth of 1.3 in., too thick for that official designation -- both offer the high performance and long battery life that come with the new processor. In testing, they each outperformed their Sandy Bridge predecessors, such as the Acer Aspire S3, by as much as 40% yet ran at least an hour longer on a charge.
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Samsung's throwing another phablet into the ring, but this one's curved on both sides.
Sponsored by Intel
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Get your copy of our T4A Tourist Paper Map of South Africa including Lesotho & Swaziland - First Edition on our online shop for only R199.
T4A Online Special:
When purchasing our current version 15.05 T4A GPS maps online (Links or SD Card) you will automatically receive version 15.10 in Mid October 2015 as your free link upgrade as well as version 16.05 in May 2016. This offer is only valid for online purchases from the 15th September 2015 until our new version 15.10 is released in Mid October 2015. Contact our Sales team at email@example.com if you need more information. Please note that this special offer does not apply to our Android, iPad, iPhone, iGo Sd Cards and discount purchases.
Starts 15th September 2015 - until v15.10 gets released on the 15th October.
Located in
South Africa :: Western Cape (Garden Route)
:: Knysna
Category: Auto Services :: Fuel Stop
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Since 1902 Shell has been active in South Africa, when it offered paraffin and kerosene. Today it offers Retail and Commercial Fuels, Lubricants and Oils, Chemicals and Manufacturing. The head offices are in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and Shell South Africa (Pty) Ltd employs over 1500 people.
|Address :
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da Luigi ai Faraglioni
Bathing Establishments BeachesVia Faraglioni, 5 - Capri - See map
da Luigi ai Faraglioni
+39 081 8370591
+39 081 8376113 (Fax)
Official website:
da Luigi ai Faraglioni
- Having lunch under the Faraglioni
- An exclusive and relaxing atmosphere
- A dip in the bluest sea of Capri
da Luigi ai Faraglioni - CapriGo to the top
Ever since 1936, when the bathing establishment first opened, Da Luigi ai Faraglioni has been attracting a celebrity crowd: film stars, models, business magnates and politicians, all keen to spend a few hours bathing in the sea washing around Capri's legendary Faraglioni rocks.
Open from first thing in the morning until late in the afternoon, Da Luigi ai Faraglioni has been designed to offer customers everything they might need for a fabulous day on the beach: a large sea edge terrace, a snack bar, tiny sundecks which seem to merge into the rocks, luxurious beach cabins, supremely comfortable sun loungers, desk chairs and beach umbrellas.
And, after a morning spent swimming in the shimmering sea or lazing in the Mediterranean sun, what could be better than a leisurely lunch, savoring Capri's traditional cuisine and dishes made with the freshest of fish and seafood? Da Luigi ai Faraglioni's terrace restaurant is one of the island's finest: famous not only for its breathtaking location but also for the quality of its food and wine, served from midday until late afternoon.
For customers keen to visit the Grotta Azzurra and the other sea caves which characterize Capri's dramatically beautiful coastline, Da Luigi ai Faraglioni organizes boat trips, sailing all the way around the island. At the end of the day, as the sun begins to fall, holidaymakers can make the most of the bathing establishment's shuttle boat service and sail to Marina Piccola, from where the center of Capri is only a short bus or taxi ride away.
da Luigi ai Faraglioni: TripAdvisor reviews®Back to the top
Ciao tut..
Traveled to Capri many times, maybe 25 or more. This is one of our favorite restaurants after a day on the Sea. more »
Can't beat the location
You just have to check out this place, it's truly a unique location . The restaurant itself was pretty good, same menu as most restaurant , but solid. The beach club is on rocks with an amazing... more »
Bad food, horrible service
Tourist trap in a gorgeous location. Tuna from a can on a tiny salad for which they charge 19 euros. Our hotel booked lunch and beach chairs/umbrellas and they had no record. Rude staff. The only... more »
da Luigi ai Faraglioni: LocationBack to the top
The Faraglioni are one of the symbols of the island of Capri. To reach Da Luigi ai Faraglioni, holidaymakers should make their way to the Belvedere Tragara, from where a pretty little path through the coastal pine trees leads down to the sea, the island's legendary sea stacks, and the bathing establishment.
Other suggestionsBack to the top
La Fontelina
- Swim beneath Capri's iconic Faraglioni
- Bask in the sun on a soft beach mattress
- Sip their famed sangria
da Gioia
- One of the fewest beach of Capri
- Enjoy a relaxing and comfortable day on the beach
- Taste the sea specialties of the restaurant
La Canzone del Mare
- The favorite meeting place of protagonists of the dolce vita in Capri
- A jacuzzi overlooking the Faraglioni
- The perfect location to host a reception on the beach
Torre Saracena
- Swim towards the Faraglioni
- Sunbathe in the hidden cove
- Taste the fresh seafood


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text: This was truly a very relaxing weekend .the hotel was inviting .the rooms were clean and well kept ,beds were comfortable. There is small fridge and a microwave in each room.the view was lovely and the staff was friendly and helpful. This was truly a very relaxing weekend hope to be back soon. Breakfast was refreshing. The water was calm... More


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Gang-Related News Articles
Check out the latest
National Gang Center
Welcome to the Gang-Related News Articles page. This page provides a list of articles pertaining to gangs and gang-related activities from various U.S. and Canadian news sources. A link to the source of each article is provided. The list of articles can be refined by date and limited to a specific state or Canadian province or territory using the control below.
Reputed gang leader arrested (Hattiesburg, MS): The alleged leader of one of Hattiesburg's larger gangs was arrested Tuesday on a federal weapons charge, Hattiesburg Police Lt. Keith Crawford said.
Source: The Hattiesburg American Date: August 3, 2006
Md. officials focusing on gangs as prison violence rises (Hagerstown, MD) : State corrections officials have begun a new study of prison gangs, including the growing numbers of Spanish-speaking gang members, amid mounting violence against prison workers, an agency spokeswoman said Thursday.
Source: WTOP News Date: August 3, 2006
Boynton Beach police say two men killed in gang-related shooting (Boynton Beach, FL): Boynton Beach police said two men died as a result of a gang-related shooting. Authorities said 20-year-old Obed Belleus of Lantana and 21-year-old Kevin Blackshear were shot in the head while driving early Monday.
Source: NBC 6 News Date: August 1, 2006
Police look into three gang incidents (Wichita, KS): Police are investigating a trio of gang-related incidents that happened over the weekend. All three incidents involved members of two rival gangs, and police believe they could be related, Wichita police Lt. Jeff Easter said.
Source: The Wichita Eagle Date: August 1, 2006
Santa Cruz authorities arrest 17 alleged gang members (Santa Cruz, CA): A joint crackdown on gangs in Santa Cruz County netted 17 arrests this weekend and marked one of local law enforcement's biggest efforts to curb the increase in gang violence that has recently marred the city of Santa Cruz.
Source: San Jose Mercury News Date: August 1, 2006
Police call slaying of teen in east Las Vegas gang-related (Las Vegas, NV): Police say the slaying of a 16-year-old shot and killed as he walked away from a party early yesterday (Sunday) was probably gang-related.
Source: KESQ News Channel 3 Date: July 31, 2006
Two suspected gang members arrested in Salinas (Salinas, CA): Salinas police arrested two suspected gang members on unrelated drug and weapons charges Saturday after they were each found violating the terms of their probation, according to police reports.
Source: CBS 5 News Date: July 30, 2006
Feds strike at prison gang (Santa Ana, CA): Federal prosecutors in Southern California toiled for years to build a case strong enough to cut off the head of the notorious Aryan Brotherhood prison gang and end its 40-year reign over the federal and state prison system.
Source: The Daily News of Los Angeles Date: July 30, 2006
One dead, three wounded in gang-related shooting (Los Angeles, CA): One person died and several were injured during a gang-related shooting that occurred Saturday morning in the San Fernando Valley.
Source: CBS 2 News Date: July 29, 2006
Richmond Police: Accused gang leader to leave U.S. (Richmond, CA): Richmond police said Friday the suspected leader of a notorious gang arrested on Thursday could be leaving the country soon.
Source: NBC 11 News Date: July 28, 2006
Lower police cite drug arrest as evidence of gang activity (Lower Township, NJ): Monday morning's arrest of a high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang here in the Villas is an indication of a growing drug problem and a shortage of police officers to deal with it, authorities said Thursday.
Source: The Press of Atlantic City Date: July 28, 2006
Gang-sweep suspects hear charges (Trenton, NJ): The staggering parade of Bloods suspects through the criminal justice system began yesterday when 27 Nine Trey Gangsters made initial videoappearances before Superior Court Judge Maria Sypek.
Source: The Trentonian Date: July 27, 2006
Villas man arrested as high-ranking Bloods gang member (Atlantic City, NJ): Municipal police cooperation with the county Prosecutor's Office and Sheriff's Department ended in the July 24 arrest of Oscar J. Randall, 30, of East Pacific Avenue as a high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang who assisted other gang members run operations in Atlantic City.
Source: Cape May County Herald Date: July 27, 2006
Laurel works on gang prevention (Laurel, MS): Third Avenue resident Gerald Seals said the groups of young people seen gathering in his Avenues neighborhood are not hard-core criminal gangs, but more like gang wannabes.
Source: The Hattiesburg American Date: July 27, 2006
Prosecution strike force will target gang members (Richmond, VA): The Richmond commonwealth's attorney's office is forming a three-prosecutor Gang Prosecution Strike Force to turn up the heat on organized street crime in the city.
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch Date: July 27, 2006
Gang crackdown in New Jersey leads to more than 60 arrests (Ewing Township, NJ): In a sweep that Necw Jersey authorities described as the biggest mass arrest of gang members ever to take place in the state, more than 60 people were arrested on Tuesday, and more than 40 more arrests were expected.
Source: The New York Times Date: July 26, 2006
Police still looking for top gang members (Saginaw, MI): Police have formally charged six people after Wednesday's gang sweep in Saginaw. Lt. Mel Matthews, with the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, says his agents searched 12 Saginaw Homes and two in Saginaw Township.
Source: WJRT ABC 12 News Date: July 26, 2006
Fewer agencies use state gang database (Florida): Seven years ago, alarmed at a sharp rise in gang activity in Florida, law-enforcement officials launched a statewide database to enable police departments to keep track of gang members and gang-related crimes.
Source: Orlando Sentinel Date: July 25, 2006
Recent surge in killings overshadows Compton's gains (Compton, CA): Compared to the near-record pace of homicides in Compton last year, 2006 had been remarkably quiet. Through early July, this city that has long struggled with gang violence had recorded only 13 gang-related homicides, compared with 38 for the same period the year before.
Source: Los Angeles Times Date: July 25, 2006
N.J. gang targeted in statewide sweep (New Jersey): Officers arrested dozens of members of a notoriously violent street gang in raids across New Jersey Tuesday, capping 11 months of undercover operations.
Source: Forbes Date: July 25, 2006
Disclaimer: The news items and links are provided as an informational resource to you. Each of the linked Web page providers has its own policies and practices regarding how long a link to its news item is available before it is archived or a fee is charged. Also, some of the sites require users to register in order to access materials. We do not guarantee the accuracy, currency, content, or quality of any linked Web site information, nor whether a link from the Web site may take the user to unintended or objectionable content. Please contact us to report any problems. Thank you.


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text: Picked this place based on both a lonely planet recommendation and good trip advisor reviews, Advertised as b&b however breakfast is prepackaged supermarket bread and biscuits. We were left a half eaten loaf, instant coffee and cheap biscuits in a country that prides itself on its food. Also our room was very noisy and the bathroom was across the communal... More


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Vets Day for the Next Generation
Many young service members will be celebrating their Veteran's Day this year, and they're are still adapting to life stateside. For many that means joining organizations like the American Legion and VFW, groups that have served WWII, Korean War and Vietnam Vets for years. But for many young men and woman, these groups don't provide the quick responses, networking and social media access this generation demands.
"These are not veterans who want to go to a beer hall and play bingo. These are veterans who want to get on Twitter, want to go on Facebook," said 31-year-old veteran Tim Kudo.
"They want to meet whenever they want to meet, they don't want formal meetings or vote on things or have charters," Kudo said. The marine served a tour in Iraq as a platoon commander and a tour in Afghanistan as an executive officers. He now works for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), a new group that provides information and advocacy for veterans.
The offices are in mid-town and it looks like an internet startup, which essentially it is. It was founded in 2004 by a veteran posting information for vets from his laptop. Now it employs several dozen people. Stephen Colbert recently hosted an IAVA gala.
Kudo will march in his first Veterans Day parade on Friday in New York City. He thinks young vets can learn a lot from their predecessors.
"Young veterans coming back need to take time and pay attention to the veterans who have come back and learned the lessons and kind of struggled with some of the things they faced… just know they're not alone and they should look to their guys left and right, just like they did overseas for help," he said.
Marco Bongioanni, 32, was born and raised in New York and has served for 9 years in the army. The Army Major celebrated his first Veterans day in New York last year, marching in the parade, and says he plans to do the same on Friday. He is a VFW member and says it's a great organizations, but admits the demographic is graying and the publications focus mostly on heath issues and don't address the needs of young vets.
(Photo right: Marco Bongioanni in Iraq in 2007)
"For a 25, 30-year-old-veteran, if they're of sound physical health, yes they probably have some potential PTSD or TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), that could be a challenge for them, but they still have a good portion of their lives in front of them," he said. "But when you're 23 and you get out of the service and you don't have a job that's a lot bigger of an issue."
Bongioanni said IAVA has helped him navigate the GI bill and has kept him informed of issues in Washington better than any other source. He's currently enrolled at Fordham University, getting a master's in mental health counseling.
Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to TDI (Temporary Disability Insurance) when it should have been TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).