Monthly Archives: February 2013
First Amendment gets sucker-punched in Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia —WAFB Investigative reporter Jeff Chirico was reporting a story in Georgia when, without warning, he took a clout on the jaw for the First Amendment.
According to the WAFB story and video, Mr. Chirico was reporting on a man who is under investigation for a tax scheme. He was approached by a man who identified himself as Donald Wilder—the father of the man under investigation—who allegedly threatened to punch the reporter. When Mr. Chirico attempted to follow the man into his business, he turned without warning and punched the reporter.
The story does not say whether or not charges will be pressed, but the reporter was not seriously injured.
You can see the whole story including the full video at the WAFB web site.
Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner at St. John’s.
WILLIAMS—The annual Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner will be held Tuesday, February 12th at the hundred-year old St. John’s Episcopal Church in Williams. The Church is located on the corner of 2nd and Grant. They request a donation for the all-you-can-eat event.
U.S. Post Office Plans to Stop Saturday Mail Deliveries
Read story at Bloomberg
30% chance snow tomorrow
WILLIAMS—The forecast now shows snow or rain possible Wednesday. The chance for rain/snow is thirty-percent dropping to 20% in the evening with a high of 51-degrees dropping to 20-degrees at night. Thursday should be clear with a cooler high of 48. The chance of snow picks up again Friday and runs through Monday night. Snow accumulation will be light.
Lawsuit filed to force recount in Allen West’s congressional race
ST. PETERSBURG — Calling attention to one of the closest November congressional races nationwide, the Houston-based voter integrity group True the Vote announced on Monday that it will be filing a lawsuit to force an independent review of the election which cost Republican Allen West his seat.
The complaint, filed in the Southern District Court of Florida on Sunday, aims to completely review all records and recounts in the race for the 18th Congressional district between Democrat Patrick Murphy and West.
“This dramatic recount was an extraordinary example of how our elections can suffer systematic failure,” said True the Vote president Catherine Engelbrecht. “We run the risk seeing episodes like this becoming ordinary if citizens do not demand answers and hold election officials accountable. The American people own the voting system – we have the right to ask tough questions when we witness the failure of one of America’s core functions.”
Read more at Watchdog
Man caught on border has rare strain of TB
Express-News
By Jason Buch
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding a young immigrant from Asia who officials say is infected with a rare drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis.
The man was detained by the Border Patrol trying to sneak into South Texas on Nov. 27.
Several days later, while undergoing a medical screening at the Port Isabel Service Detention Center, he was diagnosed with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, the least treatable form of the disease.
Officials declined to identify the infected man other than to say he is young and from an Asian country.
It’s only the third time since 2008 the strain has been detected in Texas, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
“This is a very rare situation, and XDR is considered to be a very dangerous disease,” said Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the department. “But it’s not easily transmitted and we have no reason to believe community exposures have occurred.”
Read more at the Williams TEA Party
Senate plan would give Napolitano the final say on border security
Under a bipartisan Senate framework, Democrats say, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano would have final say over whether the border is secure enough to put 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.
If Napolitano does not provide the green light for putting illegal immigrants on a pathway to citizenship, the responsibility for judging whether the metrics for border security have been met will be given to her successor.
The early debate over immigration reform has yielded two thorny questions: What metrics will be used to determine whether the goals for border security and other safeguards against illegal immigration have been met? Who will decide whether the metrics have been achieved?
Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the lead Democratic sponsor of the bipartisan immigration reform framework unveiled this past week, said Napolitano should decide.
Read more at The Hill
Famed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle slain at gun range in N. Texas
by KHOU.com staff & Jason Whitely / WFAA
GLEN ROSE, Texas — A former U.S. Navy SEAL who gained recognition during the Iraq War was one of two people fatally shot southwest of Fort Worth on Saturday, KHOU 11 News has learned.
Sources close to the investigation identified the former SEAL as Chris Kyle, 39, author of the New York Times bestselling book, “American Sniper.”
Kyle was shot point-blank while helping another soldier who was recovering from post traumatic stress syndrome, officials said. The murders happened at a shooting range near the town of Glen Rose, about 53 miles southwest of Fort Worth.
The Erath County Sheriff’s Office issued an alert for the arrest of the suspect, who was later identified as Eddie Routh, 25. Officials warned that Routh was traveling in a Ford F-150 pickup with large tires and rims. They said he was believed to be highly trained with military experience.
Read more at KHOU
Navy to scrap $277 million ship to avoid scraping reef
BY: Adam Kredo
January 30, 2013 12:30 pm
A United States minesweeper ship that crashed into a coral reef due to inaccurate Navy maps will have to be cut into small pieces and removed in order to prevent harming the ocean’s ecosystem, according to the Navy and other reports.
The $277 million USS Guardian, a Naval warship that clears waterways of mines, crashed into a coral reef near the Philippines earlier this month.
The Navy will disassemble it piece by piece in order to avoid damaging the reef rather than tow the multi-million dollar ship off of the reef and perform necessary repairs.
“Our only supportable option is to dismantle the damaged ship and remove it in sections,” Capt. Darryn James, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was quoted as saying Tuesday by the Military Times.
Read more at The Washington Free Beacon.