Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - Friday, September 18, 2009 - Index

Page 2–A • Friday, September 18, 2009
Gov. Rendell rejects Pa.
lawmakers’ budget offef
Marc Levy
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The latest
plan by Pennsylvania’s top
legislators to end the state’s 2
1/2-month budget impasse
was rejected by Gov. Ed Rendell
on Thursday, possibly setting
off a new round of talks and
strategy.
Rendell criticized the legislators’
newest plan to fill the
state’s multibillion-dollar shortfall
in tax collections, and
pledged anew to veto it unless
legislators add new sources of
revenue necessary to avoid
another deficit.
“I am still holding out for
them to get real, understand
that we can’t have a totally
painless process and put in the
type of recurring revenue and
the amount of recurring revenue
that will balance this
U.S. Army reservist Tashawnea Hill, left, talks with County County District attorney Tracy Graham
Lawson at the Clayton County Justice Center in Jonesboro, Ga., on Wednesday. — AP PHOTO/JOHN BAZEMORE
Feds probe attack on
reservist as hate crime
Dorie Turner
Sharon Theimer
WASHINGTON — The community
organizing group
ACORN said Wednesday it is
ordering an independent
investigation after its employees
were caught on camera
appearing to advise a couple
posing as a prostitute and
pimp to lie about the woman’s
profession to get housing help.
The group, which came
under fire from conservatives
for alleged voter fraud in 2008,
said it is refusing new admissions
into its service programs.
The House voted Thursday
to deny all federal funds for
ACORN in a GOP-led strike
against the scandal-tainted
community organizing group
that comes just three days
after the Senate took similar
action.
The group, which advocates
for poor people, conducted a
massive voter registration
effort last year and became a
target of conservatives when
ome employees were accused
year’s budget and next year’s
budget,” Rendell said at an
unrelated event in Bensalem.
Pennsylvania has been without
a comprehensive budget
since the fiscal year began July
1 and is the last state still fighting
over its annual spending
plan. Without money flowing
from the state treasury, the private
organizations and businesses
that make up
Pennsylvania’s social safety net
are taking out loans, laying off
workers and shuttering services
to stay afloat.
The Democratic governor’s
stance has remained the same
since last week, when leaders of
the House Democrats and of
both parties in the Senate
unveiled the original version of
their nearly $28 billion plan.
House Republicans do not support
the plan, saying it raises
ATLANTA — A Black female
Army reservist said Wednesday
she hasn’t been able to sleep
since she was beaten by a
white man in front of her 7-
year-old daughter last week,
and federal authorities said
they were investigating the
incident as a hate crime.
Tashawnea Hill was kicked
and punched Sept. 9 as the
man screamed racial slurs outside
a Cracker Barrel in
Morrow, about 15 miles southeast
of Atlanta, police said.
Troy D. West, 47, became
enraged when Hill told him to
be careful after he nearly hit
her daughter while opening the
restaurant’s door, police said.
Hill was taken to the hospital
afterward and said she is still
in shock.
“I was ... violently and racially
assaulted by a very disgusting
man, and I want justice
served,” Hill said.
FBI spokesman Stephen
Emmett said the Justice
Department’s civil rights division
in Washington has initiated
a probe into the incident.
of submitting false registration
forms with names such as
“Mickey Mouse.” ACORN has
said only a handful of employees
submitted false registration
forms and did so in a bid
to boost their pay.
ACORN will work with its
advisory council, which
includes prominent supporters
of President Barack Obama,
such as John Podesta, president
of the nonprofit Center for
American Progress, and
Andrew Stern, president of the
Service
Employees
International Union, to name
an independent auditor and
investigator, ACORN chief executive
Bertha Lewis said in a
written statement.
The investigation will examine
all the systems and
processes called into question
by the video, Lewis said.
In addition, ACORN won’t
accept new admissions into its
community service programs,
effective immediately, and
within the next few days will
conduct staff
said. — (AP)
Troy D. West
training, she
spending too high and relies on
tax increases that they oppose.
On Thursday afternoon, senior
House Democrats met with
the governor’s staff briefly and
then left.
“Still working on it,” said
House Majority Leader Todd
Eachus, D-Luzerne.
Senate Appropriations
Committee Chairman Jake
Corman said he had not heard
anything official from the governor’s
office, and that he and his
fellow Senate Republicans had
not discussed their next step.
Dealmakers are counting on
higher taxes on businesses and
cigarettes and more money
from gambling and gas exploration
in state forests to help
balance the recession-damaged
budget. They also proposed
tapping more than $1.5 billion
in reserves. — (AP)
West was charged with battery,
disorderly conduct and
cruelty to children, and is currently
out on $5,000 bond. A
hearing has been set for Sept.
24 in Clayton County.
Police said the cruelty to
children charge was included
because the daughter witnessed
the beating.
Clayton County District
Attorney Tracy Graham
Lawson said she planned to
present new charges to a grand
jury, but didn’t elaborate.
West, of Poulan, hasn’t
returned several calls seeking
comment, and it wasn’t clear if
he had an attorney.
West told Morrow police he
became upset because Hill spit
on him after accusing him of trying
to hit her daughter, according
to the police report. But several
witnesses said they never saw
Hill spit on West. — (AP)
ACORN plans internal probe
‘Pimp’ in ACORN
videos a N.J. guy
NEWARK, N.J. — The
“pimp” portrayed in the hidden
videos targeting ACORN
grew up in New Jersey and
once tried to get Lucky
Charms banned from
Rutgers University.
James O’Keefe III used a
hidden camera to tape a
Rutgers official in 2004 for
his satire that the cereal was
offensive to Irish Americans.
O’Keefe was editor of a conservative
magazine on campus.
O’Keefe grew up in
Westwood, where his parents
still live.
O’Keefe tells The Star-
Ledger of Newark he
becomes something that he’s
reporting on in the videos.
In the ACORN videos,
O’Keefe and a woman who portrays
a prostitute seek advice
about how to establish prostitution
businesses. — (AP)
REGION/STATE
Restaurant, hotel union
returning to AFL-CIO
PITTSBURGH — One of the unions that left
the AFL-CIO in a bitter dispute that split the
labor movement four years ago is coming back
to the labor federation.
The union of hotel, restaurant and clothing
workers known as UNITE HERE is bringing its
265,000 members back a day after Richard
Trumka became the newest AFL-CIO president.
UNITE HERE president John Wilhelm made
the announcement on the final day of the federation’s
convention.
UNITE HERE and several other unions
departed in 2005 after claiming there was too
much emphasis on politics and not enough on
organizing new members. Led by Service
Employees International Union president Andy
Stern, the breakaway unions formed the rival
Change to Win federation.
Scranton mayor may run
for governor in 2010
SCRANTON, Pa. — Scranton Mayor Chris
Doherty is seeking re-election this year, but he
also has his mind on what may be his next
campaign — the 2010 gubernatorial race.
The 51-year-old Doherty is said to be seriously
considering a bid for the Democratic
nomination for governor in what could be a
crowded field.
He is currently seeking his third four-year
term as Scranton’s mayor.
On Thursday, Doherty announced the members
of his gubernatorial campaign team.
Other prospective Democratic candidates for
governor include Philadelphia businessman
Tom Knox, Allegheny County Executive Dan
Onorato and state Auditor General Jack
Wagner.
$15,000 fine for attack ad
in ‘07 Philly mayor’s race
PHILADELPHIA — A former Philadelphia
mayoral candidate will pay $15,500 in fines for
an attack ad that ran in the closing days of the
2007 primary election.
The agreement announced Wednesday by the
city Ethics Board involves a radio ad for Tom
Knox against now-Mayor Michael Nutter. The
basis of the ad was a dispute over a 15-acre
tract where a Baptist church wanted to build.
The ads said Nutter’s siding with neighbors
who wanted a business built on the land “was
as if he wanted to disrespect the church, which
is a step away from disrespecting God.”
The ads claimed to be funded by the nonexistent
“The Alliance for Better Christians,” but
the ethics probe found they were paid for by
the Knox campaign. Knox didn’t comment on
the controversy.
Detained Americans’ relatives
write to Iran’s president
NEW YORK — The mothers of three
Americans being detained in Iran are trying to
press their case directly to Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Cindy Hickey, Nora Shourd and Laura Fattal
asked him in a letter Thursday to bring their
children with him and meet with the families
during his expected trip to New York for next
NATION/WORLD
FAMILY OUTRAGE
Relatives of student Edmond Dallus killed during
clashes with police last Aug. 25, have a nervous
breakdown during his funeral in Port-au-Prince,
Thursday. Students have thrown rocks at police
and burned U.N. vehicles in several incidents
since January, protesting curriculum changes and
demanding an increase in the country’s minimum
wage. — AP PHOTO/RAMON ESPINOSA
Obama scraps predecessor’s
European missile defense plan
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama
on Thursday shelved a Bush-era plan for an
Eastern European missile defense shield that
has been a major irritant in relations with
Russia. He said a redesigned defensive system
would be cheaper and more effective against
any threat from Iranian missiles.
Anticipating criticism from the right that he
was weakening America’s security, Obama said
repeatedly that this decision would provide
more protection, not less.
Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the secondranking
Republican in the House of
Representatives, said he would “work to overturn
this wrong-headed policy.”
House bill would boost Pell
Grants, exclude private lenders
WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday
in favor of the biggest overhaul of college aid
programs since their creation in the 1960s — a
READY OR NOT
In this photo taken on Wednesday, people walk by
some of the mom-and-pop restaurants and shops
on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. A few
blocks from where the Group of 20 global economic
summit, and fearing violent clashes, property
damage or simply a traffic nightmare, some businesses
in the Strip District will be forced to closed
during the two-day summit. — AP PHOTO/GENE J. PUSKAR
week’s U.N. General Assembly meeting.
Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd
were taken into custody July 31 after entering
Iran from Iraq.
Their families say they accidentally crossed a
poorly marked border while hiking, but Iran’s
state media has said they ignored border
guards’ warnings.
— Compiled from The Associated Press
CORRECTION
In the Tuesday, Sept. 15, “Out & About”
column, it was incorrectly stated that
Isabel Hamel gave Mary Lou Sullivan a
gift of $90 for Sullivan’s birthday.
THURSDAY NIGHT
Daily Number: 3-3-4; Big 4: 4-9-9-5;
Cash 5: 7-8-17-31
THURSDAY MIDDAY
Daily Number: 3-6-3; Big 4: 9-7-5-8;
Treasure Hunt: 7-12-18-20-27
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Daily Number: 2-1-0; Big 4: 9-0-7-9;
Cash 5: 2-16-23-30-41
Powerball: 17-37-40-51-566
Powerball: 25 Power Play: 2
WEDNESDAY MIDDAY
Daily Number: 3-9-9; Big 4: 3-4-2-1;
Treasure Hunt: 5-6-16-27-29
TUESDAY NIGHT
Daily Number: 6-7-1; Big 4: 2-5-5-6;
Cash 5: 3-4-16-24-30
TUESDAY MIDDAY
Daily Number: 0-3-2; Big 4: 3-3-4-6;
Treasure Hunt: 10-11-15-24-25
bill to oust private lenders from the student
loan business and put the government in
charge.
The vote was 253-171 in favor of a bill that
fulfills nearly all of President Barack
Obama’s campaign promises for higher education:
The measure ends subsidies for private
lenders, boosts Pell Grants for needy
students and creates a grant program to
improve community colleges, among other
things.
Ending loan subsidies and turning control
over to the government would save taxpayers
an estimated $87 billion, according to
the Congressional Budget Office. Lawmakers
would use that money to help make college
more affordable, increasing the maximum
Pell Grant by $1,400 to $6,900 over the next
decade.
Lab tech charged with Yale
grad student’s murder
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Yale lab technician
appeared in court and was charged with murder
Thursday hours after his arrest in the
killing of a graduate student in research building
where they both worked — perhaps sometimes
in conflict.
Raymond Clark III, 24, kept his head bowed
during the three-minute appearance in the suffocation
death of Annie Le, also 24. He didn’t
enter a plea and said, “Yes, your honor,” when
asked whether he understood his rights. The
judge then set bail at $3 million.
Mass. House gives initial
approval to succession bill
BOSTON — The Massachusetts House of
Representatives has given initial approval to a
bill allowing Gov. Deval Patrick to name an
interim appointment to the Senate seat left
vacant by the death of Edward Kennedy last
month.
The House voted 97-58 in favor of the bill
Thursday evening. It needs a second vote
before it moves to the Massachusetts Senate.
The bill’s outcome in the Senate remains
unclear.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat,
said the change is needed to ensure
Massachusetts continues to be represented by
two senators until voters can choose a replacement
during a Jan. 19 special election.
Kennedy died Aug. 25 of brain cancer.
— Compiled from The Associated Press