by newsroom — published on August 31st, 2008
Former President Clinton remembered the late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones as someone who gave him “16 years of astonishing friendship.”Clinton says he first met Tubbs Jones in Cleveland in 1992 while campaigning for president. He joked that Tubbs Jones always had a long list of things the president “could improve on.”
Clinton joined his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in honoring Tubbs Jones at Public Hall in Cleveland.
Governor Strickland, Senator Sherrod Brown and former Congressman Louis Stokes also made comments at today’s memorial service.
The 58-year-old Tubbs Jones died August 20th from a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm. She was the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress.
by newsroom — published on August 31st, 2008
Crowds are lining up at the Cleveland National Air Show to experience a virtual urban warfare game that is sponsored by U.S. Army recruiters and has attracted protests.Officials say that as many as 180 people an hour are taking part in the Virtual Army Experience, which puts users inside a military Humvee during a simulated battle with Iraqi insurgents.
The game unfolds inside a 10,000-square-foot bubble tent at the airshow at Burke Lakefront Airport.
The group Veterans for Peace has said that the simulators desensitize children to killing. It tried earlier this month to raise enough opposition to keep the game away. Instead, officials raised the minimum age for participants to 17 from 13-years-old.
The Army defends the Virtual Army Experience as “a messaging tool.”
On the Net:
Cleveland Air Show: http://www.clevelandairshow.com/
by newsroom — published on August 31st, 2008
State police stepped in to defuse tensions at an anti-illegal immigration rally in the northeastern Pennsylvania town of Shenandoah, where an immigrant was beaten to death last month.The rally attended by hundreds had been going on for about an hour when five people arrived hoisting a Mexican flag and shouted at the crowd. They included Crystal Dillman, whose fiance, Luis Ramirez, was beaten to death July 12. Three teenagers have been charged in the case.
About a dozen state troopers stepped in between the groups. Sgt. Dave Holt says there were no injuries or arrests at the event.
The rally was sponsored by Voice of the People USA, which opposes rights for illegal immigrants. Founder Daniel Smeriglio condemned illegal immigration but decried violence and prefaced his remarks with a moment of silence for Ramirez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
Many people held signs accusing local and national politicians of failing to enforce illegal immigration laws, which they said had strained communities like Shenandoah.
Information from: Pottsville Republican and Herald, http://www.republicanherald.com
by newsroom — published on August 31st, 2008
Employees, patients and doctors at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Pittsburgh are getting preventive treatment for whooping cough after an outbreak was traced to several workers at an outpatient clinic.Officials say tests confirmed 11 cases of the respiratory bacterial infection among employees at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System facility in the city’s Oakland neighborhood.
Three more employees have symptoms, but tests are pending to confirm if they have whooping cough - a highly contagious illness also known as pertussis.
No patients were found to be ill with pertussis, but the agency says 52 patients were offered a protective dose of an antibiotic. Employees, doctors, interns and medical students are taking a 5-day course of antibiotics.
by newsroom — published on August 31st, 2008
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s administrator said his agency’s response to hard-charging Hurricane Gustav will be decidedly better than its much-criticized performance three years when Hurricane Katrina slammed New Orleans.
The Bush administration and FEMA had been widely criticized for a slow and disorganized reaction to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Asked whether FEMA could be believed because many residents have been let down by federal responses to such disasters in the past, R. David Paulison said people should make up their minds at observing FEMA’s actions.
