http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20041222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_3
Suicide Bomber Said Cause of
By SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Wednesday that a suicide bomber likely carried out the explosion at a U.S. base near Mosul, spraying a crowded mess tent with small pellets and killing 22 people — nearly all of them Americans.
The announcement raised questions about how the attacker
infiltrated the base, which is surrounded by blast walls and barbed wire and
guarded by
The apparent sophistication of Tuesday's operation — the
deadliest single attack on
"We have had a suicide bomber apparently strap something to his body ... and go into a dining hall," Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon (news - web sites). "We know how difficult this is to prevent people bent on suicide and stopping them."
There was little apparent sympathy for the dead Americans on Mosul's deserted streets, where hundreds of U.S. troops, backed up by armored vehicles and helicopters, blocked bridges and cordoned off Sunni Muslim areas of Iraq (news - web sites)'s third-largest city.
"I wish that 2,000
Initial reports said a rocket had ripped into the tent. Later, however, a radical Sunni Muslim group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, claimed responsibility, saying it was a "martyrdom operation" — generally a reference to a suicide bomber.
Military officials in
The attack sparked renewed concerns about the ability of
"Insurgents, who have everything to lose, are desperate
to create the perception that elections are not possible," said Gen.
George W. Casey, the commander of multinational forces in
Mortar attacks on
Tuesday's blast wrecked the mess tent at Forward Operating
Base Marez, a military camp for
The 22 dead included 13
Myers said authorities don't know whether the unidentified person was the likely bomber.
Of the 69 wounded, 44 are members of the
About 50 people — most of them injured soldiers from
Halliburton Co. lost four American employees in the attack, the Houston-based contractor said. Sixteen other Halliburton workers, including 12 subcontractors, were injured seriously.
In the immediate aftermath of Saddam Hussein (news - web
sites)'s ouster in April 2003,
Many insurgents apparently moved to
On Wednesday, hundreds of
Although no curfew was proclaimed, an Associated Press reporter said city streets were virtually deserted as personnel carriers and armored Humvees rumbled through.
Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, spokesman for Task Force Olympia, said the operation had been planned before Tuesday's attack. He said five of the bridges were closed to civilian traffic.
"We are targeting certain objectives, geographical as well as intelligence information about the terrorists," he said. "We are going to take the fight to the enemy."
Some residents watching the
Sadiq Mohammed, a grocer, expressed concern that the
Izdihar Kamel, a civil servant, praised those who had carried out Tuesday's attack.
"It was a heroic operation," Kamel said. "This is jihad and he who carried out this attack is a hero."
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1223phxbustedcop23.html
Ex-officer sentenced in drug case
Michael Kiefer The
A former state Department of Public Safety patrol officer who traded drugs for sex pleaded guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court on Wednesday and was sentenced to probation.
Michael D. Thompson, 31, expressed his remorse for no longer being a law enforcement officer.
"I just want to take full responsibility for what I did and for the hurt I caused my family," he told Judge Ronald S. Reinstein.
"The public is a victim because you violated their trust as a police officer," Reinstein replied.
Thompson, a
According to Maricopa County Attorney's Office spokesman Bill FitzGerald, DPS investigators first learned that Thompson might be exchanging drugs for sexual favors in July and set up a sting operation with a young woman who had had a relationship with Thompson.
On Sept. 23, according to FitzGerald, Thompson met with the woman, threw a packet of cocaine on the floor and told her to "earn" it.
Deputy County Attorney Elizabeth A. Gilbert said Thompson used drugs and his authority as a police officer as a method of control.
"He was using her desire for drugs as a way to make himself feel better about himself," she said in court.
Thompson was charged with sale or transportation of drugs; he was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser felony count of solicitation of transfer of narcotic drugs.
Reinstein accepted his plea and sentenced him to 18 months of supervised probation and 125 hours of community service.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1223prop200hearing23.html
Prop. 200 now law in
Susan Carroll and Yvonne Wingett
The
Dec. 23, 2004 12:00 AM
U.S. District Judge David Bury's decision allowed Gov. Janet Napolitano to issue an executive order enacting the controversial voter-approved legislation Wednesday afternoon. The decision left some municipal officials across the Valley and state scrambling to prepare workers who will be required to ask all who apply for public welfare benefits for proof of citizenship.
Attorneys for the Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund, the legal advocacy group that sued to stop the government
from enforcing the initiative, plan to appeal the decision to the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in
"Proposition 200 is now the law of
The initiative requires state and local employees to verify the immigration status of people applying for public benefits and report undocumented immigrants or face possible criminal prosecution.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard issued an opinion that narrowly defined "public benefits" to mean welfare. For example, the Arizona Department of Economic Security administers five programs that are affected by Proposition 200, state officials said. They include General Assistance, Sight Conservation, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Utility Repair, Replacement and Deposit and the Supplemental Payment Program.
Proposition 200 proponents have a lawsuit pending that would expand Goddard's definition to include considerably more services.
Bury, appointed to the
'A huge win'
"This is a huge win for the taxpayers of the state of
Thomas Saenz, vice president for litigation for the legal-defense organization, criticized the judge's decision and vowed to continue to battle the initiative, which many immigrant rights advocates said could spark other states to push for similar legislation. Attorneys for the organization argued that the law was unconstitutional and would harm undocumented immigrants and state and municipal employees.
The organization sued in November on behalf of more than a
dozen plaintiffs, including undocumented immigrants, their children and state
employees from the Valley and
"We think he (Bury) was wrong on the law," Saenz said. "We think he was wrong on weighing the harms. We think he did not understand clearly how devastating the effects of this law could be, and how unconstitutional it is."
Immigrant: 'It's racist'
Jesus Garcia, an undocumented immigrant from
"I think it's racist," Garcia said. "They
don't understand if (undocumented immigrants) receive help, it's not for them,
it's for the kids who are
Napolitano ordered agencies to perform random checks to guarantee Proposition 200 is properly implemented. Starting today, state, county and municipal employees will have to alert federal immigration officials in writing of suspected undocumented immigrants seeking public benefits. Those who failed to do so could face a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to four months in jail and a $750 fine.
The measure also would give residents the right to sue the state, county or municipal government to remedy violation of federal immigration law.
Impact unclear
Many government officials said they remain unsure which services will be affected or to what degree. The DES has trained an estimated 2,350 employees to check documentation, officials said. If problems arise, the state will "defend any employee who makes a good-faith effort to follow the law," said Liz Barker, a DES spokeswoman.
In a packed hearing in
"Immigrants would face a chilling effect from the initiative's reporting requirements," he warned before the decision.
Steve LaMar, representing the state government, argued that
the "people of
"The people of
Bury said the government had addressed the court's "serious concerns" outlined in the temporary order issued in November and issued a written decision that rejected the fund's motion. He said the state interpretation does not go beyond the scope of federal law, which already requires proof of eligibility for public benefits.
Officials calm fears
After the hearing, immigrant advocates pushed for people to come forward if they believe they are wrongly denied benefits, while some government officials tried to calm fears about the proposition's impact.
"It's not a massive ruling that applies to all benefits," said Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, who opposed Proposition 200. She said Goddard's interpretation limits the law's impact. "You don't have to be worried about being deported. You don't have to worry about going to the banks or sending your children to school."
Elias Bermudez, executive director of downtown
"It's a slap in the face to the Latino community," he said of the ruling. "We're very sad and feel sorry this is happening to our state."
Reporter Elvia Daz contributed to this article.
http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special29/articles/1114Prop200QA14.html
What you should know about the latest on Proposition 200
The
Attorney General Terry Goddard has concluded that Proposition 200 affects certain public welfare benefits for undocumented workers, but not a wider array of services such as public housing assistance, health care and postsecondary education.
His opinion shed light on the potential effects of the immigration initiative approved by voters Nov. 2. But many questions remain, some of which were resolved by the latest ruling in federal court.
Goddard, for example, did not address the impact of
Proposition 200 on voting in
In the wake of Goddard's opinion and other developments over the past week or so, here are some key questions and answers:
Q: How does the initiative affect Arizonans?
A: It says that all Arizonans must show proof of citizenship when registering to vote and prove legal status when asking for certain types of non-federally mandated public benefits.
Q: How will it affect undocumented immigrants?
A: They will not be entitled to receive certain state and local welfare benefits. Goddard's opinion says those benefits must be defined narrowly as those identified under Title 46 of Arizona statutes, which deals with welfare. Undocumented immigrants would continue to receive welfare benefits they are required to receive under federal law.
Q: Will this be a big change for undocumented immigrants?
A: Some legal experts say the changes would be minimal, that Proposition 200 as interpreted by Goddard would mainly enforce the existing law. The big difference would be that state and local workers could be charged with a misdemeanor if they don't withhold / certain welfare benefits from undocumented workers.
Q: Are judges required to follow Goddard's opinion?
A: No, although the opinion and the research are expected to be influential when the case goes to court.
Q: What will happen after lawsuits are filed against the initiative?
A: Lawyers will ask a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction. If the injunction is granted, the initiative would be put on hold until all the legal matters are resolved.
Q: What if the court refuses to put it on hold?
A: Then it goes into effect. At that point, state and city employees will have to check the immigration status of everyone who applies for public welfare benefits. Goddard said his office will be working with state and local agencies to help them determine which welfare benefits are in question.
Q: Will children of undocumented workers be allowed to
attend public schools in
A: Federal law exempts kindergarten to 12th grade public education, emergency medical care and any federally mandated programs.
Q: Is it safe for undocumented immigrants to send their children to school?
A: Yes. Public schools will not turn over to immigration authorities students who are living here illegally.
Q: Will undocumented workers be able to receive emergency care at Valley hospitals?
A: Yes. Such care is federally mandated.
Q: Will undocumented workers be able to get care under the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System?
A: Yes, according to Goddard's opinion. He said the measure doesn't affect AHCCCS, the program that provides health coverage to the poor.
Q: Will doctors be asking for immigration papers?
A: Not when people go to the emergency room. Federal law says medical providers must treat anyone who has a medical emergency.
Q: How about private doctors?
A: Private medical providers may be required to verify the legal status if they provide any publicly funded services.
Q: What kind of identification will be needed when seeking services?
A: That's still unclear. But likely the following: a birth
certificate, naturalization papers,
Q: Will such services as police and fire protection be affected by Proposition 200?
A: Not according to Goddard's opinion.
Q: What welfare benefits could be affected under Title 46?
A: Goddard and local officials acknowledge they are still sorting it out, but authorities say the programs could include Meals on Wheels for seniors, domestic violence services and utility assistance programs. Title 46 also covers such programs as temporary assistance for needy families, child care services, short-term crisis services and supplemental payment programs.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1223prop200cities.html
For many communities, law's effect is a puzzle
Yvonne Wingett The
Some communities and counties across
Elected and top administrators from border communities and
in central
Opponents and supporters of Proposition 200 alike are expected to test officials' implementation of the law at small border, mining and heavily Hispanic towns.
"I'm not worried whether it will affect our community
right now," said Guillermina Fuentes, mayor of the mostly Hispanic border
town of
But it did at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday after a federal judge lifted an order prohibiting the immigration measure from becoming law.
Even before the judge's ruling, the state,
Eloy City Manager Jim McFellin said that "we don't see there's a need at this time" to talk with employees about Proposition 200.
"I'd rather not speak to this issue at all," he said.
Council members in
And
"Needless to say, it's going to be devastating," said Mayor Ray Borane, noting that 95 percent of the city's 17,000 population is Hispanic.
"Proposition 200 is such an impractical thing to put on
a community like
Borane and other municipal leaders and officials said they don't foresee changing procedures, though many haven't determined whether they administer programs that fall under Attorney General Terry Goddard's interpretation.
His opinion narrowly defines what a "public benefit" is, but some municipalities are having a difficult time interpreting his opinion.
San Luis officials, for example, believe librarians will have to ban undocumented immigrants from checking out books and hooking up services, despite assurances from the state that they will not.
Legal experts said municipal officials should study programs and regulate right away.
"I think this is a serious problem for them," said
Paul Bender of
But after a series of revisions and advice by the state Department of Economic Security, the city determined that only its Utility Repair, Replacement and Deposit and Neighbors Helping Neighbors programs would be affected.
"There are a lot of dynamics out of our control," city spokeswoman Nachie Marquez said.
Midsize cities such as Avondale say they will take their
lead from
Reporters Susan Carroll, Elvia Daz, Marty Sauerzopf, Jahna
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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=33577
Priests charged with theft, fraud
By Lawn Griffiths and Gary Grado
Tribune
A grand jury has indicted two priests on charges they stole
$160,000 from the Holy Cross Parish in
Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley said Wednesday that the Rev. Dennis Riccitelli, the church’s former pastor, and the Rev. Blase Meyer, associate pastor at St. Clement in Sun City, worked a number of schemes to steal from Holy Cross, 1244 S. Power Road.
Romley said Riccitelli, who had been the church’s pastor since 1996 until his resignation in December 2003, would reimburse credit card expenses to himself that the church had already paid, write checks to himself from the church bank account, and have staff cash checks from the petty cash fund for his personal use.
A report from the Mesa Police Department also indicates that Riccitelli and Meyer co-owned property they would lease to the church to house visiting priests, and bill the church even for vacant property.
The investigation went back only two years because the financial documents from previous years had been destroyed.
"If we had the paperwork, we would have looked into it," Romley said.
Riccitelli is charged with 14 counts of theft and fraudulent schemes and artifices and Meyer faces one count of each charge.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has placed both men on administrative leave and suspended their priestly duties.
Police arrested the two priests at a
"We intend to vigorously defend against these charges until Father Riccitelli is vindicated," Keilp said.
Meyer is free on $8,100 bail.
Riccitelli, who is free after posting a $81,000 bail,
resigned his pastor position at
Romley said the parishioners there went to Bishop Thomas J.
O’Brien, then leader of the
O’Brien transferred Riccitelli to Holy Cross rather than calling police, Romley said.
Romley said the new culture under Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, who has led the church the last year, is "very welcome."
The diocese conducted an internal audit of the church in the first week of December 2003 and "found significant financial concerns and procedures that did not conform to diocesan policy," said the Rev. Fred Adamson, the diocese’s moderator of the Curia.
"In March 2004, Bishop Olmsted determined that the diocese needed assistance in this matter and the Mesa Police Department was asked to conduct an official investigation," Adamson said.
Don Seyfferle, a member of the parish since its founding in 1978, had helped lead a petition drive more than five years ago to get O’Brien to remove the priest from Holy Cross. He said petitions, phone calls and letters to the bishop went unheeded.
Seyfferle said parishioners were upset that Riccitelli did not have a parish finance committee to oversee church funds, contrary to church law.
"He had so much control on what came in and all the deposits," he said. While many families quit the parish amid the turmoil, many parishioners had the attitude that "a priest can do no wrong" and were a "bunch of sheep," he said.
The church is home to 2,800 families and celebrates 13 masses a month.
Adamson said the diocese has taken "actions to minimize any financial loss to Holy Cross Parish."
The diocesan lawyer, Michael Haran, said the diocese and Riccitelli’s lawyers have been talking for a long time about recovering money for the church.
"If necessary, we’ll bring a civil action,"
Seyfferle said Holy Cross has rebounded in the year since Riccitelli’s suspension. "We have a good priest (the Rev. Richard Felt) now, and so many parishioners have started coming back and the parish is crowded again."
Contact Lawn Griffiths by email, or phone (480) 898-6522.
Contact Gary Grado by email, or phone (602) 258-1746.
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http://news.bostonherald.com/international/view.bg?articleid=61323
By Associated Press
Saturday, January 1, 2005
The Pakistani, Mohammed Amin Abdullah Jan, was convicted of
smuggling an undisclosed amount of heroin into the kingdom and was beheaded in
the Red Sea port city of
Mattar bin Hussein bin Bakhit al-Khazaali, an Iraqi, was convicted of smuggling hashish into the kingdom and was beheaded in the northern town of Arar, close to the Iraqi border, according to the ministry.
Al-Khazaali is the second Iraqi to be executed in this border town in the past 10 days. Qaied bin Kamal bin Mohammed al-Zayadi, an Iraqi, was convicted of smuggling an undisclosed quantity of hashish into the kingdom and was beheaded in Arar on Dec. 22.
At least 35 people were beheaded in the kingdom in 2004 compared with 52 people in 2003, most of whom were convicted of drug smuggling.
( © Copyright 105 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1231neaudit31.html
Audit: Police should store evidence better
Holly Johnson
The
Dec. 31, 2004 12:00 AM
The 99-page report found that the department failed to properly dispose of impounded property, money and firearms.
Several recommendations can't be addressed until city ordinances are changed, Chief Alan Rodbell said. But the department has already remedied some of the issues outlined by City Auditor Cheryl Barcala. advertisement
"We've put together a very aggressive schedule to meet every one of those 29 recommendations," Rodbell said.
Some of the recommendations include changing the way invoices for impounded property are prepared, identifying and disposing of items dating to the late 1980s and developing a database for managing impounded property.
The audit found that computerized and written documentation of impounded property does not accurately reflect whether that property has been released or destroyed. Some items in police possession may not be accounted for, and it's unknown how many pieces of unneeded evidence are in the department's possession.
Often, property held has exceeded by decades the holding period required by law.
State law dictates that officers submitting property to the
unit must fill out a receipt of issue, but
The audit recommends police create a streamlined method of preparing invoices and ensure efficient processing. Police expect that to be completed by April.
"This is basically housekeeping," Barcala said. "They need to undertake, first off, a systematic process to review the property they have and determine what can be disposed of."
The report marks the first time the city has audited the Police Department's property unit.
"I welcome audits," Rodbell said. "This is a way of coming in and looking at how we can operate more efficiently. The encouraging thing is they didn't find anything mishandled or lost for court purposes. Nothing was destroyed that shouldn't have been. We don't have employees taking items and using them for their own use."
Rodbell said the volume of property seized by police makes it difficult for the understaffed property unit to get to old evidence.
"We clearly work with a large number of cases where new stuff comes in, and we don't prioritize getting rid of the old stuff," he said. "You have a lot coming in that has to be processed, and little time is spent getting rid of the old stuff."
Reach the reporter at holly. johnson@arizonarepublic.com.
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more on phoenix htmlpolice beating video taped by news 12
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0101inmate01.
Scuffle brings on inquiry
Assault by police claimed
David J. Cieslak
The
Jan. 1, 2005 12:00 AM
A 22-year-old man involved in a scuffle in November with
Jaime Jimenez-Espinoza, a Mexican national charged with
attacking a pregnant woman near
"I guarantee you, if I hit one of them, they would punish me," Jimenez-Espinoza said through a translator during an interview at the county's Durango Jail. "The police should learn from this so they don't do this again." advertisement
"We're well aware that the officers' actions caused
concern not only within the community but within the Police Department,"
Force said Thursday night. "If the
The altercation occurred after Jimenez-Espinoza bolted from
a car following a pursuit through west
Police chased Jimenez-Espinoza after he reportedly robbed and assaulted a pregnant woman, then forced her into a vehicle at gunpoint. The woman was not seriously injured, authorities said.
Jimenez-Espinoza was charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and assault in connection with the incident. He declined to discuss the events leading up to the scuffle with authorities, saying only that he met the woman earlier in the day and he believes her testimony will exonerate him.
After a brief foot pursuit, Jimenez-Espinoza said he was surrendering and had his hands in the air when the altercation began. The 12 News footage shows Jimenez-Espinoza was handcuffed through most of the scuffle.
Among the actions shown on the unedited tape:
• Officer Steven Huddleston, 31, lunges at Jimenez-Espinoza, who was facing a wall and did not appear to be resisting.
• Once Jimenez-Espinoza is on the ground, an officer strikes him twice in the torso with his hand. Police then drag the suspect in the dirt before an officer places a foot on his midsection.
• Officer Thomas Beck, 32, talks to Jimenez-Espinoza with his fist on the man's head and neck, clearly placing a large amount of weight on him.
• The officers roll Jimenez-Espinoza onto his back and begin searching his pockets. A short time later, Beck punches him in the groin. They flip him back over and Huddleston stands on the back of Jimenez-Espinoza's left knee for a few seconds.
• As police walk the suspect to a patrol car, Huddleston strikes Jimenez-Espinoza's face with his elbow.
Jimenez-Espinoza, who said he has not met with an attorney since his initial court appearance three weeks ago, believes his feet were damaged in the scuffle and claims he has recurring pain in his head and back. He said he's considering legal action against the city.
"They were abusing me. I was defenseless there," said Jimenez-Espinoza, who claims officers were shouting racial slurs as they struck him. "I was just thinking everything should have been fine, but they were beating me up a lot. They just kept hitting me."
Photographer Carlos Chavez contributed to this article.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1231iraq-gas31.html
Curt Anderson
Associated Press
Dec. 31, 2004 12:00 AM
The 17-page document states flatly that torture violates
"Consideration of the bounds of any such authority
would be inconsistent with the president's unequivocal directive that
Critics in Congress and many legal experts say the original
documents set up a legal framework that led to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison
in
The Justice memo, dated Thursday, was being released less than a week before the Senate Judiciary Committee was to consider Bush's nomination of his chief White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, to replace John Ashcroft as attorney general.
Democrats have said they will question Gonzales on memos he wrote that were similar to the now-disavowed documents that critics said appeared to justify torture.
The release also coincided with continuing revelations of possible detainee abuse, most recently a series of memos from FBI agents uncovered in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit alleging instances of Defense Department wrongdoing during a variety of interrogations.
The new memo sets a far different tone: "Torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and to international norms."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1231iraq-gas31.html
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wife beating piggy resigns.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1231phxbriefs31.html
Dec. 31, 2004 12:00 AM
Officer shot by wife resigns from force
Detective Billy Soza, 53, submitted his resignation
Wednesday from a
Soza's wife told police she shot him Monday night in self-defense after Soza held her captive in their bedroom, put his service weapon in her mouth three times and stepped on one of her breasts, where a lump was surgically removed earlier that day. Pamela Soza, 44, reportedly said her husband had been beating her for the past 20 years and that he wanted to kill her. She was not arrested.
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http://www.prensahispanaaz.com/edicion/principal/notas/mi.htm
Edición: 691. Del 29 de diciembre
Minimizan impacto de la 200
Recomiendan a la gente seguir su vida normal y denunciar cualquier abuso.
Leo Hernández
Debido a que afectará solamente cinco programas de
asistencia social, la Ley 200 no causará un impacto significativo en la vida de
los inmigrantes de
Por tal motivo todos deben continuar con su rutina diaria llevando a sus hijos a la escuela y yendo al doctor en caso de que sea necesario.
Así lo manifestó Alfredo Gutiérrez, director de la Coalición Estatua de la Libertad, al recordar que los beneficios sociales afectados por dicha ley ni siquiera son solicitados por los indocumentados.
“Es cierto que nos ha dado un golpe bajo el racismo, pero no estamos derrotados, le queremos decir a toda la gente que no pasa nada, que pueden continuar con su vida normal”, recalcó el activista.
Comentó que algunas personas le han llamado muy asustadas, diciéndole que tienen miedo de ir al hospital o de llevar sus hijos a la escuela; otros le han expresado su temor de perder su casa.
Pero Gutiérrez aseguró que nada de eso va a pasar y que si hay algún abuso inmediatamente debe ser denunciado.
Como se recordará, la 200 fue convertida en ley el pasado 22 de diciembre, cuando el juez David Bury levantó la suspensión temporal que la había congelado.
Al respecto, el abogado Daniel Ortega, quien encabeza un
pleito judicial contra dicha ley, explicó que el siguiente paso será una
apelación en la Corte Federal de Apelaciones
“La lucha legal continúa, esperamos que la Corte de Apelaciones nos otorgue otra suspensión”, declaró Ortega.
Por su parte el abogado Ben Miranda, líder del movimiento “Unidos Contra la Proposición 200”, lamentó la decisión del juez Bury, pero también pidió a la gente que continúe su vida normal.
Y quienes sean víctimas de injusticias a causa de la Ley 200, pueden denunciarlas llamando al número 1-877-252-7555.
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http://www.prensahispanaaz.com/edicion/principal/notas/nu.htm
Edición: 691. Del 29 de diciembre
Nuevo escándalo sacude a la Diócesis de Phoenix
Ahora dos sacerdotes fueron arrestados por cargos de robo y fraude.
Leo Hernández
La Diócesis de Phoenix se ve sacudida por un nuevo escándalo, cuando aún no se recobra de los sufridos el año pasado a causa de abusos sexuales de curas contra niños.
Esta vez se trata de dos sacerdotes que fueron arrestados por acusaciones de robo y fraude.
Se trata de los padres Dennis Riccitelli y Blase Meyer, a quienes se les responsabiliza de la desaparición de 160 mil dólares de la parroquia de la Santa Cruz, de Mesa.
Así lo anunció el procurador Rick Romley en conferencia de prensa la semana pasada, al especificar que ambos curas enfrentan en total 14 cargos criminales, de los cuales 10 son por robo y cuatro por fraude.
De ser encontrados culpables, cada uno enfrenta cargos de entre cuatro y 10 años de cárcel.
Por su parte la Diócesis anunció que ambos sacerdotes están
suspendidos de sus ministerios, y no pueden administrar ningún
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Rumsfeld says "ordinary Iraqis to realize that they, not the Americans, will ultimately decide who prevails in this conflict"
good now that rumsfeld admits we will lose lets pack our
bags and get the krap out of
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1226rumsfeld26.html
Insurgents are
Robert Burns
Associated Press
Dec. 26, 2004 12:00 AM
His main message over a four-city tour was quite different: that the insurgency has staying power and a seemingly endless supply of weapons, and the time has come for ordinary Iraqis to realize that they, not the Americans, will ultimately decide who prevails in this conflict.
During a visit to
On his
"You face a determined and vicious enemy,"
Rumsfeld said in dinner remarks Friday to hundreds of 1st Cavalry Division
soldiers at a post near the
During his visit, Rumsfeld said it would be unrealistic to predict that the level of violence will recede once the Jan. 30 elections are held. In the end, he said, it will be a "uniquely Iraqi solution," not American.
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hmmm!!!! - none of the astronmers in the entire world or event the middle east recorded in their records that they saw the star the guided the 3 wise guys to the baby jesus! maybe it didnt happen.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1225skywatch25.html
Cosmic event, comet, nova, UFO?
Earthlings still captivated by the Star of Bethlehem
John Stanley
The
Dec. 25, 2004 12:00 AM
Star of wonder, star of night,
Star of royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding, advertisement
Guide us to thy perfect light.
What exactly was that mysterious beacon that guided the Magi across the desert? Theories range from the miraculous to the mundane, from angel to UFO. Most explanations, though, posit some sort of astronomical event.
The star itself is mentioned only briefly in the Nativity story, as told by Matthew (Chapter 2):
" . . . there came wise men from the east to
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."
King Herod, troubled by the news of a potential rival, sent the wise men to find this new king.
"When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."
That's it - the entire story of the Star of Bethlehem as recounted in the Bible.
Origen, an early Christian father who lived about A.D. 200, believed the star was either a comet or a nova (new star). Although Chinese records indicate a fairly bright comet appeared in the spring of 5 B.C., it was not noted in the Mediterranean world.
A problem with the comet theory is that comets were considered omens of doom rather than heralds of joy.
Origen also considered the possibility that the Star of Bethlehem was a nova, a short-lived star that appears suddenly in the sky, but records of a nova visible in the Mediterranean region around the time of the birth of Christ have not been found.
Many early commentators simply accepted the star as a
miracle, perhaps an angel, leading the Magi to
In more recent decades, UFO buffs have proposed the idea that the star was an alien spacecraft, which beamed down the baby Jesus to teach the people of the Earth the superior morality of a hypothetical galactic civilization.
Astronomers, however, tend to favor some variation of the planetary conjunction theory.
Planets are said to be in conjunction when they line up in the same part of the sky.
Knowing each planet's speed and distance, it's easy to calculate what the sky looked like at any time in the past.
The hard part is knowing which year to consider, as there is no consensus as to when, exactly, Christ was born. Historians can tell us only that it was between 8 B.C. and 1 B.C.
Several interesting conjunctions took place during those
years, but one particular set stands out. During a stretch of several months in
7 B.C., the planets Jupiter (considered a "star" of royalty) and
Saturn (linked to
The rabbinic writer Abarbanel went so far as to predict the Messiah would appear when a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter happened in Pisces.
Problems arise with this interpretation, however. The
universal taxation called for by Caesar Augustus, which, according to Luke, led
Mary and Joseph to
Another dramatic conjunction took place in 2 B.C., when Venus and Jupiter came so close together that, for a short time, they appeared to be a single dazzling "star."
Although we may never know what really happened so many years ago, we can accept the star as a symbol of the season as we rejoice with exceeding great joy.
Other parts of the sky
Look for Comet Machholz about 2 degrees west of the Pleiades star cluster on the evening of Jan. 7. If you're observing from a dark location, the comet will be just barely visible to the naked eye. With binoculars or a telescope, though, it's fairly easy to see, even from urban areas.
The planets Venus and Mercury are engaged in an intricate celestial ballet during the first two weeks of January. Look low in the east-southeast before sunrise, noting how they shift their relative position to one another each morning.
On Jan. 1, Mercury is 1 degree directly above Venus; by midmonth it is directly below. In between the two planets pass within one-third of a degree of one another, with their closest approach on Jan. 13.
Also on the 13th, Saturn reaches opposition, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise, but give it a couple of hours to get up in the sky before trying to observe it with a telescope.
The Huygens probe, designed and built by the European Space Agency, and carried to Saturn by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, is slated to land on Titan, the ringed planet's largest moon, on Jan. 14. That night, Titan is visible in a telescope as a pinpoint of light just north of Saturn.
Look for the crescent moon to the right of Mars before sunrise on Jan. 7 and to the right of Venus and Mercury the next morning.
John Stanley's Skywatch column runs the last Saturday of every month. He can be reached at (602) 444-4414.
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1225DNA25.html
Inmate gets new sentence hearing
Judge questions evidence at trial
Flynn McRoberts
Dec. 25, 2004 12:00 AM
A decade after sending a man to death row, an
On his last day before retiring from the bench, Yuma County Superior Court Judge Thomas Thode ruled that the new DNA tests and other evidence were "insufficient to exonerate" Bobby Lee Tankersley of the gruesome rape and murder of a 65-year-old woman.
But the judge's ruling questioned the bite-mark evidence he
had used to sentence Tankersley to death for the 1991 slaying of Thelma
Younkin, Tankersley's neighbor in a low-budget motel along what was then
"The DNA evidence standing alone does little if anything to exculpate the defendant from his guilt, but the inconclusive DNA as to critical bite marks may be argued to diminish the appearance of extreme brutality," Thode wrote. "The new DNA evidence also raises other questions as to what happened the night of the murder."
During a recent hearing held over several days, DNA analysts disagreed over whether they could exclude Tankersley as a contributor to genetic material swabbed from marks on Younkin's body.
A jury convicted Tankersley in 1993 of raping Younkin and strangling her with the oxygen tubing she had used to help her breathe. At the trial, a forensic dentist testified that he could match Tankersley's teeth to numerous purported bite marks found on her body.
As Thode noted in his ruling Thursday: "The bite marks were a prime factor in this court's previous decision to exact the ultimate penalty."
But it later became clear that the same dentist, Dr. Raymond
Rawson, helped send an innocent man, Ray Krone, to
A Chicago Tribune series earlier this year, Forensics Under the Microscope, showed that DNA tests such as those in the Krone case have revealed that even leading bite-mark experts make false matches.
Given the similarities in Rawson's testimony at the trials of both Krone and Tankersley, prosecutors asked the Arizona Supreme Court to order new DNA tests in the Tankersley case after Krone was released from prison in 2002.
During the recent hearing, Thode heard competing interpretations of those test results. The tests were ambiguous because they involved mixtures of multiple genetic profiles.
At the center of the disagreement was how confident forensic analysts should be in linking a suspect to a crime when small amounts of DNA from such mixtures are involved.
In Thursday's ruling, the judge also said he had re-examined evidence of Tankersley's alcoholism and "blackout(s)" presented at a hearing several years ago.
John Todd, the assistant Arizona attorney general who presented the state's case, said the judge had "correctly found that the new evidence did not warrant a new trial, (but) that he felt more comfortable having a jury of Mr. Tankersley's peers impose the appropriate sentence."
Todd said the defense could immediately petition to review the judge's finding.
Thode set a hearing for Jan. 19 to consider scheduling and other issues for the resentencing hearing - in front of a new judge, since Thode retired Thursday.
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Abuse suit pays $6.3 mil
Neela Banerjee
New York Times
Dec. 25, 2004 12:00 AM
The Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious order,
agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle lawsuits brought by three former students
who were sexually abused by faculty members at an elite boys school the order
runs in
The largest of the three settlements, at $4 million, would
be among the biggest so far to be negotiated in
In early December, the Diocese of Orange County reached a settlement with 87 victims of abuse by priests and lay employees and agreed to pay at least $100 million, or a bit more than $1 million for each plaintiff. advertisement
An additional 900 or so alleged victims of sexual abuse by
Catholic clergy and lay people in
The three men who sued the Christian Brothers in December
2003 said they were abused by members of the order when they were students at
the De La Salle Institute in
The three molesters plied victims with drugs or alcohol before and during the attacks, which occurred at school and on trips, said Laurence Drivon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. The settlement was first reported in the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday.
As part of the settlement, the Christian Brothers agreed to disclose what happened, although it has yet to release the names of the faculty members involved.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1225settlement25.html
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1225corruption25.html
Public corruption catching feds' eye
Lolita C. Baldor
Associated Press
Dec. 25, 2004 12:00 AM
Although totals have not yet been released, the number of such cases pursued by federal authorities has grown by as much as 15 percent over the past four years, according to a Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The increase, the official said, reflects the high priority placed on public corruption cases rather than a sudden spike in the number of dishonest politicians. advertisement
But the steady slide of high-profile public officials into ethical and criminal scandals risks fostering increasing distrust of government leaders.
"The government is wounded," Connecticut House Majority Leader James Amann said. "It's something most of us are concerned about. Most people have their hearts in the right place: to serve the public. But no matter how well you construct the laws and make the rules there will always be the ones who decide to break the law."
In recent months, two northeast governors have resigned in disgrace and a presidential cabinet nominee withdrew his name in a swirl of controversy over a nanny-housekeeper he employed.
Ethical missteps, ranging from improper campaign contributions and gifts to racketeering and tax fraud, also led to the downfall of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., former Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., and Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio.
And in a case that rocked the nation, former President Bill Clinton's dalliance with a White House intern led to his impeachment by the House. But he survived a Senate trial and finished his term in office.
In the most recent cases:
• Rowland pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal honest service in connection with a two-year investigation into corruption in his administration.
• New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey stepped down after acknowledging that he'd had an affair with another man.
• Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik withdrew his name from nomination as homeland security secretary after revealing he had not paid all required taxes for a family nanny-housekeeper and that the woman may have been in the country illegally.
In 2000, federal authorities indicted 1,000 public officials, according to Justice Department statistics. By 2002, the number had increased to 1,136, while the 2003 figure, not yet released, stayed relatively stable.
The 2004 total will be up again, reflecting up to a 15 percent increase over the 2000 figure, said the Justice Department official.
However, he added, "I don't think there is more public corruption than 10 years ago or 20 years ago. I think we're doing a better job of finding it and prosecuting it."
Lawmakers are taking notice.
"There is a greater awareness on the part of public officials that government needs to be run in an ethical way, by ethical people," said Peggy Kerns, director of the Center for Ethics in Government at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1224rowland24.html
Ex-governor pleads guilty
Matt Apuzzo and John Christoffersen
Associated Press
Dec. 24, 2004 12:00 AM
NEW HAVEN,
Rowland, 47, probably will get 15 to 21 months in federal prison, lawyers said.
The once-popular three-term Republican had maintained for months that the businessmen and cronies who lavished gifts on him had received nothing in exchange. With a single word Thursday, he changed all that: "Guilty," he told the court, his attorney's hand on his back as he spoke. advertisement
The plea ends a two-year federal investigation of the former politician, although he could still face state charges.
"Obviously, mistakes have been made throughout the last few years, and I accept responsibility for those," he said after court. "But I also ask the people of this state to appreciate and understand what we have tried to do over the past 25 years in public service."
Rowland had not been charged with a crime before Thursday.
The guilty plea completed the downfall of a man who was once one of the GOP's rising young stars, a political boy wonder who first got elected to Congress at age 27 and went on to serve 9 1/2 years as governor.
"While we knew that this day might come, we were never
really prepared for the reality of it," said Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who
replaced Rowland. "Today the state of
Under a deal with federal prosecutors, Rowland pleaded guilty to a single count, conspiracy to steal honest services, a combination of mail and tax fraud. He admitted being part of a conspiracy in the executive branch, sometimes directing corruption, other times looking the other way.
The crime carries up to five years in prison. Prosecutors have agreed to ask for no more than two years at sentencing March 11. As a felon, Rowland will be unable to vote or hold public office.
By pleading guilty, Rowland escaped indictment in a racketeering case that had already ensnared his former co-chief of staff, Peter Ellef, and state Contractor William Tomasso. That case would have exposed Rowland to "a devastating amount of time," said his attorney, William F. Dow III.
Rowland owes the IRS more than $35,000 and faces up to $40,000 in fines, according to his plea bargain. The agreement does not require Rowland to testify against Ellef and Tomasso.
After signing his bail papers Thursday, Rowland turned to his wife and reassuringly mouthed the words, "All right."
Rowland resigned July 1 amid a gathering drive in the Legislature to impeach him, a federal investigation that was closing in on him steadily, an almost-daily trickle of corruption charges, and a drumbeat of demands that he step down.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1224drugsentencing24.html
Court overturns portion of drug sentencing law
Paul Davenport
Associated Press
Dec. 24, 2004 12:00 AM
It's unconstitutional for
The Court of Appeals struck down part of a drug sentencing
law approved by
The law included provisions to allow only probation and treatment for first-time, non-violent drug offenders, but the part overturned in the ruling this week went in the other direction. advertisement
Under the overturned provision, a drug offender would become ineligible for probation if the offender had a criminal record of having been indicted for a violent crime.
A three-judge Court of Appeals panel said the provision was unconstitutional because it would stem from a grand jury indictment based on a relatively low standard of proof called "probable cause."
That runs afoul of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial requires jury findings based on a high standard of proof - beyond a reasonable doubt - to impose punishments more severe than the normal maximum, the ruling said.
The provision also is unconstitutional because it discards the presumption of innocence, violating constitutional protections for due process under the law, the ruling said.
The same part of the 1996 law also prohibited probation for a drug offender who had been convicted of a violent crime, but the Court of Appeals said that was permissible.
The Court of Appeals ruling came in a Maricopa County Superior Court case in which Melissa Jean Gomez was sentenced to prison terms on two drug possession charges. She would have been eligible for probation except for the fact that she'd been charged in 1994 with manslaughter.
Court papers said Gomez was not tried on the manslaughter charge because the state had it dismissed on grounds that there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
The Court of Appeals upheld Gomez's convictions but sent her case back to trial court for resentencing under its ruling.
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goverment idiots want to arrest the person that made them look like idiots. maybe they shoud take responsibility for being idiots!
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1227202-devicefound-ON.html
Suspicious pipe piece prompts 2-hour shutdown of
Katie Nelson
The
Dec. 27, 2004 02:25 PM
The discovery of what looked like a pipe bomb along a
stretch of the
An Arizona Department of Transportation worker found an
8-inch piece of metal pipe in the gravel on the Red Mountain Freeway, said
Frank Valenzuela, state Department of Public Safety spokesman. The
yellow-tinted pipe, found about 150 feet west of
Flash marks made it look like it had been set on fire. advertisement
At about 9:30 a.m. DPS officers shut down the westbound
portion of the freeway, with the help of
Ninety minutes later, the eastbound portion of the
"We're not sure who put it together or why it's on the side of the road," Valenzuela said. If someone is found to have purposely left the pipe piece, charges could be pressed, he said.
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I talked to several of these guys two years ago at the
Maricopa county libertarian party convention in
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1228azroundup28.html
Dec. 28, 2004 12:00 AM
Ex-candidate faces
sentencing for perjury
Yurikino Cenit "Yuri" Downing-Garcia, 34, pleaded guilty Wednesday during a hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court. He faces at least probation when he is sentenced Jan. 26.
Downing-Garcia admitted committing perjury by failing to include every transaction involving his campaign account, the Arizona Capitol Times reported.
He was charged with fraud, perjury and theft in his use of campaign funds in his failed state Senate bid and as treasurer for two other unsuccessful legislative candidates' 2002 campaigns.
Fellow Libertarians Trevor Clevenger and Paul DeDonati
reached settlements with the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, the agency
that oversees
The three ran unsuccessfully in a district in
<SNIP>
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1228montini28.html
Gov. J.D. Leghorn? Yep, and we ain't just whistlin' '
Dec. 28, 2004 12:00 AM
Rep. J.D. Hayworth took contributions from companies like Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Andersen. A political action committee he formed accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Indians with gambling interests, then hired Hayworth's wife to do bookkeeping.
He has taken tens of thousands of dollars from his own campaign war chest and doled it out to other candidates. He collected so much money for this past election (against a candidate with few resources) that he was able to hand over $100,000 to the national Republican campaign committee. He also enthusiastically plays the role of attack dog for his party on the national news programs.
Naturally, this type of behavior hasn't gone unnoticed in
More so than Sen. John McCain, who is much more of a national figure. More so than Sen. Jon Kyl or any other member of Congress.
A politician is measured by the respect he or she gets from the opposition. Not long ago, I spoke with Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, who would like nothing more than to run against Gov. Janet Napolitano in 2006. But only if he first doesn't have to face Hayworth in a primary.
"I think it would be best for the party if leadership got together and settled on a candidate, rather than have a bitterly fought primary," Romley said, perhaps taking to heart the chant of "governor, governor, governor" that greeted Hayworth when he took the stage at Republican Party headquarters on Election Night. Other Republicans also have deferred to Hayworth.
"An awful lot of people have asked him to look at it (the governor's job)," Hayworth spokesman Larry VanHoose said. "He hasn't put any time frame on deciding. He hasn't had much to say about it, really. I gather that he and Mrs. Hayworth and the family are talking about it, but it hasn't gone much beyond that."
People (like me) who once called Hayworth a political Foghorn Leghorn obviously didn't watch enough cartoons. The cagey old rooster takes his lumps, but he always manages to get to his feet, puff up his chest and strut back onto the screen singing do-dah, do-dah. He wins, and so does Hayworth, who appears to rule the roost over a deferential brood of clucking Republican farm birds.
Back in 1994, Hayworth stood on the steps of the U.S.
Capitol with Matt Salmon, John Shadegg and other Republicans, signing the
Contract with
He instinctively knows what voters hold against a politician and what they don't, what's important to them and what's not.
Romley is a war hero who has put bad guys in jail for 16 years. There was a time when a candidate with no combat experience and a background in sports entertainment wouldn't have had a chance against a wounded veteran with a chestful of medals and a history of public service.
But as one recent election clearly demonstrated, times change.
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8978.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1229copshot29.html
Officer shot, booked on violence counts
Emily Bittner
The
Dec. 29, 2004 12:00 AM
Phoenix police arrested one of their officers Tuesday on charges of domestic violence after his wife said she shot him several times to defend herself.
Detective Billy Soza, a 25-year officer, was booked on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of kidnapping, said Sgt. Randy Force, a spokesman for the department.
Soza, 53, was released from
He spent most of Tuesday recovering from gunshots to the face, chest, shoulder and left hand.
His wife, 44-year-old Pamela Soza, was not taken into custody.
Soza's most recent assignment is as a property crimes investigator for the city's south side, where he has investigated fraud schemes targeting the elderly. He also has been a member of the department's SWAT-like Special Assignments Unit.
Soza was shot Monday night during a domestic dispute
involving his wife, Force said. Their 19-year-old daughter was also at the
house, in the 10900 block of
Their daughter didn't witness the suspected assault, but saw the shooting, Force said.
Afterward, one of the people inside the house called 911, and the first officers on the scene found Soza in a bedroom.
Pamela Soza told officers that she shot her husband in self-defense, Force said. She claimed she was assaulted just before the shooting and used a handgun that was in the home. The gun was not Soza's service weapon, Force said.
Soza told police investigators that he thinks his behavior contributed to the situation, Force said.
"He made statements to the detectives that he shared some responsibility in what took place," Force said.
The department's Professional Standards Bureau will investigate the incident to determine whether department policies were violated, Force said.
There have been no reports to police of domestic violence to the couple's home, Force said. According to a Police Department file on Soza, during the past five years internal investigators have sustained no complaints against him and he has no outstanding complaints. The department keeps the records for five years.
Soza was a long-range reconnaissance patrol officer in
"Many fellow officers will be shocked to hear that he was in a domestic violence incident," Force said.
Reach the reporter at emily.bittner@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-4783.
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black collar crimes
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1229pastorarrest29.html
Susan Carroll
Republic
Dec. 29, 2004 12:00 AM
A Douglas pastor has been arrested in the reputed
molestation of a 6-year-old
Robert Armand Enerson, 54, was booked into Cochise County
Jail on Monday night on three charges of lewd assault on a child, said Lt.
Carlos Guido Jr., a Douglas Police Department spokesman. Enerson, a pastor at
the First Assembly of God in Douglas for two years, will be jailed pending
extradition to
"Obviously we're continuing the investigation to see if there are additional victims," Guido said.
An affidavit prepared by
In an interview with investigators in
In the affidavit, Enerson also was accused of having
"oral relations" and masturbating a boy over a span of seven years,
from age 10 to 17, in North Carolina. Enerson also reportedly told detectives
he rubbed a
The church did not return phone messages.
Investigators are asking anyone with information on Enerson
to call Douglas police at (520) 364-9422 or
Reach the reporter at susan. carroll@arizonarepublic.com.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1230dvcop30.html
Officer's wife says he beat her
Emily Bittner
The
Dec. 30, 2004 12:00 AM
Phoenix Detective Billy Soza's wife told investigators he has been beating her for the past 20 years and that he wanted to kill her.
Pamela Soza, 44, shot the 25-year police veteran four times Monday when the assaults were at their worst, according to Maricopa County Superior Court documents.
She told investigators that she thought she had no other choice after he held her captive in their bedroom, put his service weapon in her mouth three times and stepped on one of her breasts, where a lump was surgically removed earlier that day.
Pamela Soza told investigators that her husband warned her that if she called the police or told anyone about the abuse, he would kill her and track down the rest of her family and kill them, according to documents.
Billy Soza became enraged after his wife came out of the surgery that removed the lump, police said.
He was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated
assault and one count of kidnapping after being released from a
According to his personnel records, in 1998 he earned an
award from the
Supervisors gave him generally favorable reviews, but he received two written reprimands, one for being disrespectful to a supervisor and another for detaining a drunken-driving suspect while off-duty.
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there is lots of money in making up evidence to support the existance of god
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1230israel-antiquities30.html
4 Israelis facing charges in antiquities forgery case
Karin Laub
Associated Press
Dec. 30, 2004 12:00 AM
Police said the ring forged what were presented as perhaps
the two biggest biblical discoveries in the
Shuka Dorfman, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the scope of the fraud appears to go far beyond what has been uncovered so far.
"We discovered only the tip of the iceberg. This spans the globe. It generated millions of dollars," Dorfman said. "(The forgers) were trying to change history."
Investigators warned that collectors and museums around the world could be in the possession of fakes, and scholars urged museums to re-examine items of suspicious origin. The forgery ring has been operating for more than 20 years, Dorfman said.
Scholars said the forgers were exploiting the deep emotional need of Jews and Christians to find physical evidence to reinforce their beliefs.
The indictments were announced at a joint news conference of the Antiquities Authority and the police, capping a two-year probe.
The forgers would often use authentic but relatively mundane artifacts, such as a plain burial box, decanter or shard and boost their value enormously by adding inscriptions, Dorfman said. Then the forgers would try to re-create patina, or ancient grime, to cover the carvings, the indictment said.
The four men indicted were Tel Aviv collector Oded Golan,
owner of the James ossuary and the Yoash tablet; Robert Deutsch, an
inscriptions expert who teaches at
Golan said in a statement Wednesday that "there is not
one grain of truth in the fantastic allegations related to me." He said the
investigation is aimed at "destroying collecting and trade in antiquities
in
Deutsch dismissed the indictment as "ridiculous."
Hershel Shanks, editor of the Washington-based Biblical Archaeology Review, said in a telephone interview, "Either this is going to be proven a horrific scandal or the greatest embarrassment to the Israel Antiquities Authority."
Shanks disclosed the existence of the James ossuary at a November 2002 news conference.
Additional indictments will be issued in coming days, said
Shaul Naim, chief investigator of the
The probe began after the Yoash tablet was offered for sale
to the
Uzi Dahari, a top official in the Israel Antiquities
Authority, said in a recent lecture that some of the forgeries were done by an
Egyptian artisan who has worked in
Naim said many more fakes are apparently in the possession of collectors and museums worldwide.
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1230priest30.html
Influential clergyman is placed on leave
Sex allegation targets Fushek
Joseph A. Reaves
The
Dec. 30, 2004 12:00 AM
A Valley priest who founded a charismatic youth group that exploded into the nation's largest teen ministry was placed on administrative leave Wednesday while his superiors investigate an allegation of sexual impropriety that went unreported for two decades.
The allegation was the second of a sexual nature brought in
the past 10 years against Monsignor Dale Fushek, founder of the Life Teen
movement and longtime pastor at St. Timothy's Parish in
Neither incident involved physical sexual contact. One involved a sexual-harassment complaint raised by a male Life Teen employee that was settled out of court for $45,000 in 1995. The most recent allegation stems from an event that reportedly took place in 1985 when the accuser, then 14, said he was sodomized by another priest while Fushek watched and performed sexual acts on himself without intervening to protect the youth.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted was made aware of the latest allegation Tuesday, and after his deputies met with the accuser's attorney, the bishop announced he was placing Fushek on paid administrative leave. The decision means Fushek, one of the most popular priests in the diocese, is banned from all public ministry, including saying Mass, until the investigation is complete.
"This has been a very difficult but necessary decision," the bishop's top aide, Vicar General Fred Adamson, said at a hastily called news conference at the diocese's headquarters in downtown Phoenix.
"The action comes after an attorney notified the Diocese of Phoenix that his client claimed to have recovered a repressed memory involving sexual improprieties by Father Fushek in 1985," Adamson said.
Adamson stressed the decision to place Fushek on administrative leave "is not a presumption of guilt or innocence." It was made, he said, to comply with the Diocesan Policy on Sexual Misconduct, which was strengthened in the wake of the nationwide priest abuse scandal that shook the Catholic Church.
Under that policy, church officials are required to notify civil authorities about allegations of sexual misconduct involving children.
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley confirmed Wednesday night that his office had been notified of the allegations against Fushek.
"Obviously, we appreciate the cooperation of the church, and this matter shall be looked into by my office," Romley said.
Frank Verderame, the attorney who raised the allegations, said he and the diocese agreed to keep his client's identity confidential.
"We are doing so in the interest of helping my client heal from this horrible tragedy," he said.
Verderame, a Catholic whose children were Life Teen members, said he wept when he finally made the decision to contact the diocese on Dec. 22.
"As a Roman Catholic and a person who has known Father Fushek for nearly 20 years, I am personally upset about having to bring this case," he said. "But justice requires me to do so."
Verderame, who is also a close friend of Adamson, said he told the diocese Fushek was in a bedroom at St. Timothy's rectory in 1985 when another priest sodomized his client. That priest was never assigned to St. Timothy's Parish.
Romley said his office knew of the 1985 case but was unable to prosecute.
"We were aware of this incident and followed up, but the man who brought the allegation was undergoing counseling and did not want to pursue it at that particular time," Romley said.
Verderame said he told the diocese in three meetings since Dec. 22 that Fushek witnessed the priest sodomizing his client and did nothing to stop it.
"We also have information that Father Fushek was made aware of inappropriate conduct by others in addition to (that priest) and apparently did not report it to the authorities," he said.
A pre-sentencing report obtained by The Arizona Republic in yet another sexual-misconduct case seems to support the allegation that Fushek failed to report at least two other incidents involving inappropriate behavior.
That pre-sentencing report was prepared in the case of Marc
"M.J." Gehrna, a former Life Teen employee from
In the report, a young man and a young woman each told court officials they reported inappropriate sexual activities by Gehrna to Fushek.
Verderame said he was unable to find any evidence that Fushek reported those incidents to his superiors or to civil authorities.
"We have inquired with the
Fushek's attorney, Michael Manning, said he welcomed the decision to put Fushek on paid leave while the allegations are investigated. But he said he is certain Fushek is innocent.
"I know from speaking with him that there is absolutely no grounds for these allegations," Manning said.
"I think it is good that legitimate complaints are brought and resolved, but the atmosphere that exists today makes good priests, innocent priests, vulnerable to these sorts of trumped-up allegations."
Fushek, longtime pastor at St. Timothy's Parish, founded the Life Teen organization in 1985 to reach out to youngsters who felt the church was irrelevant. Under his charismatic leadership, Life Teen has grown to more than 100,000 members with Masses in 850 churches across the nation each week.
Parishioners and staff members at St. Timothy's were shocked by his suspension but said they, too, were confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing.
"The essence of Father Dale is inconsistent with the essence of what might be the complaint," said Donna Killoughey Bird, development director and general counsel of Life Teen.
The Rev. Carlos Gomez, associate pastor at St. Timothy's, said Monsignor Richard Moyer, former vicar general of the diocese, will fill in while Fushek is on administrative leave.
<#==#>
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1230thurlets303.html
Dec. 30, 2004 12:00 AM
Regarding "Faces of tragedy" (Editorial, Tuesday):
"The descriptions are nearly incomprehensible. The most powerful bombing of a civilian population in 60 years. Villages vanishing beneath the advancing liberation forces. A civilian death toll in the tens of thousands and rising every week. Millions are homeless."
The Republic editorial description of the terrible
destruction caused by the recent earthquake could easily be used to describe
the destruction in
The tragedy in
Bob Daniels, Fountain Hills
<#==#>
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0101floodfolo01.html
Water runs through it
Josh Kelley
The
Jan. 1, 2005 12:00 AM
At sunrise Friday, the occasional splash of a fishing lure
striking the water of
By 10 a.m., the lake's eastern dam was deflated, and gushing
water from the
"The lake has become a river," said Jacque
Medrano, who came from her home in south
The water traveling through the Salt River resulted from
water released from Horseshoe and
Water was originally released from
It then passed through the Granite Reef Diversion Dam at a
peak of 28,000 cubic feet per second into the
The water eventually reached
A few minutes later, water began cascading over the 16-foot
dam on the lake's western edge, reaching a maximum flow of 17,600 cubic feet
per second at 11:20 a.m., said Don Hawkes, a dam operator for
Air expelled from the western dam forced out brown, rusty dust from its seldom-used bladders and dropped the dam's height by 2½ to 3 feet, Hawkes said.
"Everything worked flawlessly, apparently," said Charlie Ester, manager of Water Resource Operation for the SRP.
"Perfectly," said Hawkes, describing how the dams performed. "Nothing unexpected. Everything has worked exactly as it was planned."
During the entire operation, the lake's water depth, which ranges from roughly 8 to 16 ½ feet, remained constant for the most part, officials said.
After the water rapidly plunged over the edge of the western dam, it filled the Salt River from bank to bank for the first time in years.
The water, at an average depth of 2 to 3 feet, will likely reach Painted Rock Reservoir near Gila Bend today.
"When the river flows, it's a big deal," said
"This doesn't happen very often," he said. "It's on the map as a river, but it's seldom got water in it."
While Valley residents soaked in the sights, some unfortunate animals ran for their lives. As water gushed toward the lake's eastern dam, unsuspecting rabbits attempted to hop out of the way but some drowned in the rapidly swelling water.
"All of our fish and our beaver are probably living in
Avondale," said a
Before the waters came, park rangers under the direction of
the Tempe Police Department evacuated homeless people on both sides of
No boating or canoeing is allowed on the lake. Ester said
water would continue to run at a reduced rate through reservoirs along the
Verde in anticipation of more rain early next week. That will mean a steady but
slower flow through
Portions of Gilbert and McKellips roads that cross the
During this week's storm, a large influx of tropical moisture led to the rain and runoff. The forecast for next week calls for more snow.
Ester is hoping for more rain in the eastern part of the
state this time around that could fill the Salt River's reservoirs, including
<#==#>
despite president george w bush telling them they are free iraqi dont have much to celebrate
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0101iraq-year01.html
Iraqis somber at year's end
Many blame
Jackie Spinner
Jan. 1, 2005 12:00 AM
Saleem Mata and his wife, Nada Romaya, spent the last hours of 2004 in a two-mile-long line waiting for gasoline because of a fuel shortage. A checkered blanket and a cooler filled with juice and sandwiches rested on the back seat of their car, a taxi that Mata drives every other day. On alternate days, he waits for gas.
"It was the worst year we have ever had," said Romaya, 24. "It was bad for everybody, the Iraqis and the Americans who lost their relatives in the war here." advertisement
For many Iraqis, the June 28 handover of political power by the U.S.-led occupation authority was nothing more than a date on the calendar, a moment to mark and then forget, lost in a brutal insurgency that has shown little mercy ever since.
Life became worse for most Iraqis in 2004. Suicide car bombings, gun battles, kidnappings, beheadings and assassinations killed thousands of people, sometimes more than a hundred on a single day.
"In 2004 we witnessed horrible events," said Ali Hasan Jawad, who sells building materials in Najaf, a holy city about 90 miles south of Baghdad, where hundreds of people were killed and whose center was destroyed in August during a three-week standoff between U.S. forces and fighters loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, a rebellious Shiite Muslim cleric.
"Explosions, car bombs, mortars . . . kidnappings, assassinations in 2004, and we don't know what 2005 holds for us," he said. Jawad, his wife and five children had no plans for New Year's Eve.
"How could I celebrate the new year?" he asked. "What do I have to remember if I want to celebrate?"
No one could go out and about for New Year's Eve anyway because of a curfew prohibiting driving after 11 p.m.
In Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of
"Nothing new will happen," he said. "We will stay at home and watch TV."
Haider blamed the Americans for the violence.
"I hope that by the coming year, the occupiers will leave in order to stop the disasters and the explosions, and that harmony and peace will be in this country," he said.
Ahmed Haidari, 11, who attends school in Baqouba, said he would pray for the fighting to end in the new year.
"We want to continue going to school without any fear
because nowadays we feel afraid when we go to school," he said. "We
always hear explosions. May God protect
Karim Wamidh, 54, an employee in the Ministry of Agriculture
in Tikrit, about 90 miles north of
"We thought with the coming of the new year, we could have a new life, freedom, justice and security," he said. "But what happened during the year was very disappointing. A high level of unemployment, terrorism increased and poverty spread."
In the Karrada neighborhood in central
"The only difference is that before, Saddam was in power, and now he is not," Sanno said. "We are very happy he is gone."
But life is still not easy, Sanno said, particularly at night.
"When it gets dark, it is difficult to move around, and we can say all our life is dark now," he said. "There is no light."
<#==#>
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0101guantanamo01.html
Details emerge of
Neil A. Lewis
New York Times
Jan. 1, 2005 12:00 AM
But his interrogation was not yielding much, so they decided
in the middle of 2003 to try a new tactic. Kahtani, a Saudi, was given a
tranquilizer, put in sensory deprivation garb with blackened goggles, and
hustled aboard a plane that was supposedly taking him to the
After hours in the air, the plane landed back at
The account of Kahtani's treatment given to the New York
Times recently by military intelligence officials and interrogators is the
latest of several developments that have severely damaged the credibility of
the military's longstanding public version of the way the detention and
interrogation center at
Interviews with former intelligence officers and interrogators by the Times provided new details and confirmed earlier accounts of inmates' being shackled for hours and left to soil themselves while exposed to blaring music or cats squealing. In addition, some may have been forcibly given enemas as punishment.
While all the detainees were threatened with harsh tactics if they did not cooperate, about one inmate in six was eventually subjected to those procedures, one former interrogator estimated. The interrogator said that when new interrogators arrived, they were told they had great flexibility in extracting information from detainees because the Geneva Conventions did not apply at the base.
Military officials have gone to great lengths to portray
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who was the commander of the
"We are detaining these enemy combatants in a humane manner," he told reporters in March 2004. "Should our men or women be held in similar circumstances I would hope they would be treated in this manner."
In addition to the account of Kahtani's treatment, the new interviews provide details and confirm some of the accounts in other recent disclosures about procedures at Guantanamo: the November report that the International Committee of the Red Cross complained privately last summer to the U.S. government that the procedures at Guantanamo were "tantamount to torture" and memorandums from FBI officials, most of them released in December as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Military officials who participated in the practices were quoted in the Times in October saying that prisoners were tormented by being chained to a low chair for hours with bright flashing lights in their eyes and audio tapes played loudly next to their ears, including songs by Lil' Kim and Rage Against the Machine and rap performances by Eminem.
The people who spoke about what they witnessed or whose duties made them aware of what was occurring said they had different reasons for granting interviews.
<#==#>
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0101guantanamo01.html
Details emerge of
Neil A. Lewis
New York Times
Jan. 1, 2005 12:00 AM
But his interrogation was not yielding much, so they decided
in the middle of 2003 to try a new tactic. Kahtani, a Saudi, was given a
tranquilizer, put in sensory deprivation garb with blackened goggles, and
hustled aboard a plane that was supposedly taking him to the
After hours in the air, the plane landed back at
The account of Kahtani's treatment given to the New York
Times recently by military intelligence officials and interrogators is the
latest of several developments that have severely damaged the credibility of
the military's longstanding public version of the way the detention and
interrogation center at
Interviews with former intelligence officers and interrogators by the Times provided new details and confirmed earlier accounts of inmates' being shackled for hours and left to soil themselves while exposed to blaring music or cats squealing. In addition, some may have been forcibly given enemas as punishment.
While all the detainees were threatened with harsh tactics if they did not cooperate, about one inmate in six was eventually subjected to those procedures, one former interrogator estimated. The interrogator said that when new interrogators arrived, they were told they had great flexibility in extracting information from detainees because the Geneva Conventions did not apply at the base.
Military officials have gone to great lengths to portray
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who was the commander of the
"We are detaining these enemy combatants in a humane manner," he told reporters in March 2004. "Should our men or women be held in similar circumstances I would hope they would be treated in this manner."
In addition to the account of Kahtani's treatment, the new interviews provide details and confirm some of the accounts in other recent disclosures about procedures at Guantanamo: the November report that the International Committee of the Red Cross complained privately last summer to the U.S. government that the procedures at Guantanamo were "tantamount to torture" and memorandums from FBI officials, most of them released in December as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Military officials who participated in the practices were quoted in the Times in October saying that prisoners were tormented by being chained to a low chair for hours with bright flashing lights in their eyes and audio tapes played loudly next to their ears, including songs by Lil' Kim and Rage Against the Machine and rap performances by Eminem.
The people who spoke about what they witnessed or whose duties made them aware of what was occurring said they had different reasons for granting interviews.
<#==#>
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0101Comic01.html
Chris Hawley
Republic
Jan. 1, 2005 12:00 AM
The 32-page book, The Guide for the Mexican Migrant, was
published in December by
Dramatic drawings show undocumented immigrants wading into a
river, running from the U.S. Border Patrol and crouching near a hole in a border
fence. On other pages, they hike through a desert with rock formations
reminiscent of
"This guide is intended to give you some practical advice that could be of use if you have made the difficult decision to seek new work opportunities outside your country," the book says.
But immigration-control groups questioned some of the guide's advice.
"This is more than just a wink and a nod," said Rick Oltman, Western field director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "This is so transparent, this is the Mexican government trying to protect its most valuable export, which is illegal migrants."
Book distribution
The book is being distributed as a free supplement to El Libro
Vaquero, a popular cowboy comic book, in five Mexican states that send many
migrants to the
The book comes with a yellow disclaimer saying it does not
promote undocumented immigration, and it repeatedly warns against crossing
illegally. But it gives no information about the steps for seeking a
Instead, it offers frank safety tips. In the section on crossing rivers, it notes, "Thick clothing increases your weight when wet, and this makes it difficult to swim or float."
On crossing the desert, it says, "Try to walk during times when the heat is not as intense" and says migrants should follow power lines or train tracks if they get lost.
The book warns migrants that they may have to walk for days to reach towns or roads in the desert and that they will not be able to carry enough water or food.
But it also shows a woman adding salt to a water bottle and advises, "Salt water helps you retain your body's liquids. Although you'll feel thirstier, if you drink water with salt the risk of dehydration is much lower."
Mexican authorities say they're just trying to keep migrants safe.
"We are not inviting them to cross, but we're doing everything
we can to save lives," said Elizabeth García Mejía, chief coordinator for
the
Carlos Flores Vizcarra, Mexican consul general of
He said the guide appeared to be only the latest attempt by the Mexican government to warn migrants about the dangers of crossing the border without proper documentation.
The reality, however, is that many migrants will try to do so anyway, he said.
"This is nothing new. It's a way to put it in very simple terms so people will understand the risks," Flores Vizcarra said. "The intention is out of concern for human rights. People are doing it anyway. We cannot ignore that there is a very big migration between our two countries, and people who are coming to work need to understand the risks."
Mixed messages
Some migrants from
"On the one hand they seem to be saying, 'Don't cross,' but on the other hand they are saying, 'Cross,' " Humberto Morales, 22, an undocumented immigrant from Oaxaca working as a day laborer in Phoenix, said after looking at a copy.
He doubts the guide will keep many people in
"We have lots of programs like this in
No official at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in
The book's pictures are drawn to match the style of El Libro Vaquero. They portray the migrants as strong and healthy men and women, wading into a river or walking through the desert.
One section of the book urges caution when dealing with
immigrant smugglers, known as coyotes or polleros. It shows migrants climbing
into the back of a tractor-trailer, a possible reference to the 19 migrants who
died in
On getting caught
Another section warns migrants not to lie to
"Don't throw stones or objects at the officer or patrol vehicles because this is considered a provocation," it says. "Raise your hands slowly so they see you are unarmed."
A picture shows a group of migrants running from a Border Patrol sport utility vehicle, though the text urges them not to flee.
"It's better to be detained a few hours and repatriated
to
Seven pages are devoted to migrants' legal rights after they
are detained and another four to living peacefully in the
"Avoid attracting attention, at least while you are
arranging your stay or documents to live in the
The
A Border Patrol spokesman said he does not think the book encourages illegal crossers.
"If they've already gone ahead and made that decision to cross illegally . . . then anything that helps protect lives is worth it," said Andy Adame, spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector.
Beyond protection
But the immigration-control groups said some of the advice goes beyond protecting migrants and, instead, encourages them.
"A lot of it is disclaimers, but then there's this part about if you're going to cross the desert, do it when the sun isn't so hot," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies. "It's a mixed message."
Said John Vincent, editor of a newsletter published by Virginia-based Americans for Immigration Control: "It really looks like the Mexican government is encouraging illegal immigration. It shows the contempt that the Mexican government has for our laws."
The Mexican government produces a similar book aimed at
Central American immigrants who try to enter
But that book doesn't give the same kind of safety tips on
crossing the border or advise immigrants on how to live peacefully in
Reporter Daniel Gonzalez contributed to this article.
Reach the reporter at chris.hawley@arizonarepublic.com
<#==#>
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1231neaudit31.html
Audit: Police should store evidence better
Holly Johnson
The
Dec. 31, 2004 12:00 AM
The 99-page report found that the department failed to properly dispose of impounded property, money and firearms.
Several recommendations can't be addressed until city ordinances are changed, Chief Alan Rodbell said. But the department has already remedied some of the issues outlined by City Auditor Cheryl Barcala. advertisement
"We've put together a very aggressive schedule to meet every one of those 29 recommendations," Rodbell said.
Some of the recommendations include changing the way invoices for impounded property are prepared, identifying and disposing of items dating to the late 1980s and developing a database for managing impounded property.
The audit found that computerized and written documentation of impounded property does not accurately reflect whether that property has been released or destroyed. Some items in police possession may not be accounted for, and it's unknown how many pieces of unneeded evidence are in the department's possession.
Often, property held has exceeded by decades the holding period required by law.
State law dictates that officers submitting property to the
unit must fill out a receipt of issue, but
The audit recommends police create a streamlined method of preparing invoices and ensure efficient processing. Police expect that to be completed by April.
"This is basically housekeeping," Barcala said. "They need to undertake, first off, a systematic process to review the property they have and determine what can be disposed of."
The report marks the first time the city has audited the Police Department's property unit.
"I welcome audits," Rodbell said. "This is a way of coming in and looking at how we can operate more efficiently. The encouraging thing is they didn't find anything mishandled or lost for court purposes. Nothing was destroyed that shouldn't have been. We don't have employees taking items and using them for their own use."
Rodbell said the volume of property seized by police makes it difficult for the understaffed property unit to get to old evidence.
"We clearly work with a large number of cases where new stuff comes in, and we don't prioritize getting rid of the old stuff," he said. "You have a lot coming in that has to be processed, and little time is spent getting rid of the old stuff."
Reach the reporter at holly. johnson@arizonarepublic.com.
<#==#>
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1231iraq-gas31.html
Curt Anderson
Associated Press
Dec. 31, 2004 12:00 AM
The 17-page document states flatly that torture violates
"Consideration of the bounds of any such authority
would be inconsistent with the president's unequivocal directive that
Critics in Congress and many legal experts say the original
documents set up a legal framework that led to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison
in
The Justice memo, dated Thursday, was being released less than a week before the Senate Judiciary Committee was to consider Bush's nomination of his chief White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, to replace John Ashcroft as attorney general.
Democrats have said they will question Gonzales on memos he wrote that were similar to the now-disavowed documents that critics said appeared to justify torture.
The release also coincided with continuing revelations of possible detainee abuse, most recently a series of memos from FBI agents uncovered in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit alleging instances of Defense Department wrongdoing during a variety of interrogations.
The new memo sets a far different tone: "Torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and to international norms."
<#==#>
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1231phxbriefs31.html
Dec. 31, 2004 12:00 AM
Officer shot by wife resigns from force
Detective Billy Soza, 53, submitted his resignation
Wednesday from a
Soza's wife told police she shot him Monday night in self-defense after Soza held her captive in their bedroom, put his service weapon in her mouth three times and stepped on one of her breasts, where a lump was surgically removed earlier that day. Pamela Soza, 44, reportedly said her husband had been beating her for the past 20 years and that he wanted to kill her. She was not arrested.
<#==#>
more on phoenix police beating captured by news 12 video
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0101inmate01.html
Scuffle brings on inquiry
Assault by police claimed
David J. Cieslak
The
Jan. 1, 2005 12:00 AM
A 22-year-old man involved in a scuffle in November with
Jaime Jimenez-Espinoza, a Mexican national charged with attacking
a pregnant woman near
"I guarantee you, if I hit one of them, they would punish me," Jimenez-Espinoza said through a translator during an interview at the county's Durango Jail. "The police should learn from this so they don't do this again."
"We're well aware that the officers' actions caused
concern not only within the community but within the Police Department,"
Force said Thursday night. "If the
The altercation occurred after Jimenez-Espinoza bolted from
a car following a pursuit through west
Police chased Jimenez-Espinoza after he reportedly robbed and assaulted a pregnant woman, then forced her into a vehicle at gunpoint. The woman was not seriously injured, authorities said.
Jimenez-Espinoza was charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and assault in connection with the incident. He declined to discuss the events leading up to the scuffle with authorities, saying only that he met the woman earlier in the day and he believes her testimony will exonerate him.
After a brief foot pursuit, Jimenez-Espinoza said he was surrendering and had his hands in the air when the altercation began. The 12 News footage shows Jimenez-Espinoza was handcuffed through most of the scuffle.
Among the actions shown on the unedited tape:
• Officer Steven Huddleston, 31, lunges at Jimenez-Espinoza, who was facing a wall and did not appear to be resisting.
• Once Jimenez-Espinoza is on the ground, an officer strikes him twice in the torso with his hand. Police then drag the suspect in the dirt before an officer places a foot on his midsection.
• Officer Thomas Beck, 32, talks to Jimenez-Espinoza with his fist on the man's head and neck, clearly placing a large amount of weight on him.
• The officers roll Jimenez-Espinoza onto his back and begin searching his pockets. A short time later, Beck punches him in the groin. They flip him back over and Huddleston stands on the back of Jimenez-Espinoza's left knee for a few seconds.
• As police walk the suspect to a patrol car, Huddleston strikes Jimenez-Espinoza's face with his elbow.
Jimenez-Espinoza, who said he has not met with an attorney since his initial court appearance three weeks ago, believes his feet were damaged in the scuffle and claims he has recurring pain in his head and back. He said he's considering legal action against the city.
"They were abusing me. I was defenseless there," said Jimenez-Espinoza, who claims officers were shouting racial slurs as they struck him. "I was just thinking everything should have been fine, but they were beating me up a lot. They just kept hitting me."
Photographer Carlos Chavez contributed to this article.
<#==#>
Will Rick Romly demand that this happen in
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/consumer_news/10544136.htm?1c
Posted on Sat, Jan. 01, 2005
Associated Press
The Pakistani, Mohammed Amin Abdullah Jan, was convicted of
smuggling an undisclosed amount of heroin into the kingdom and was beheaded in
the Red Sea port city of
Mattar bin Hussein bin Bakhit al-Khazaali, an Iraqi, was convicted of smuggling hashish into the kingdom and was beheaded in the northern town of Arar, close to the Iraqi border, according to the ministry.
Al-Khazaali is the second Iraqi to be executed in this border town in the past 10 days. Qaied bin Kamal bin Mohammed al-Zayadi, an Iraqi, was convicted of smuggling an undisclosed quantity of hashish into the kingdom and was beheaded in Arar on Dec. 22.
At least 35 people were beheaded in the kingdom in 2004 compared with 52 people in 2003, most of whom were convicted of drug smuggling.
<#==#>
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/international/asia/02afghan.html?oref=login
Armed and Elusive, Afghan Drug Dealers Roam Free
By CARLOTTA GALL
Published: January 2, 2005
ARANJ,
With its forbidding reputation as the "desert of
death," it deters most travelers but is the favored route of drug traffickers
taking opium, heroin and hashish produced in
"The smugglers know the desert very well," said
the police chief of
The desert crossing is part of a lucrative drug trade that
threatens to turn
Although farmers all over
Drugs leave
Of the three, this corner of
At the remote point where Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran
meet, American Special Forces swooped down on a camel train in search of Osama
bin Laden, or his son Saad bin Laden, in March 2003 after intercepting a
satellite telephone call from the younger man. But the train turned out to be
ordinary smugglers, a Pakistani official in
The profits from trafficking are easy to see here in this
dust-blown, arid town on the border with
"That house belongs to a drug smuggler," said
Ghulam Ghous Sistani, the chief of the counternarcotics team in Nimruz,
pointing to one new white villa as he drove through the town. He showed half a
dozen more, naming the owners each time. One also owned a hotel in the capital,
But however well known the big drug bosses are, the police have little hope of proving their suspicions. "Without proof we cannot arrest anyone," said Asadullah, the police chief. "If we do, we will be punished."
Catching even the couriers is extremely difficult, Mr. Sistani said. "They go straight through the desert to the border," he said. "They have rocket launchers and machine guns. We don't have the power to fight them."
Just 10 days earlier, Mr. Sistani was on patrol in the desert when he spotted a drug convoy. "I was in my own car," he said. "They were in six cars, with about 15 to 20 armed men. They saw us but they were not scared of us."
"We have no vehicles, no radios," he said. "No one helps us. Fighting smugglers is very serious. We should have 15 fast cars, weapons, satellite telephones, otherwise we cannot fight them.
"When I get invited to meetings in
The scale of the problem and the deadly seriousness of the
smugglers have been confirmed by the Iranian authorities and the United
Nations.
In
The Afghan police said tough paramilitary policing by
The Afghan police have seized some drugs, but Mr. Sistani said they were catching people only at the lower end of the smuggling operation. Inside a sealed metal shipping container at the police station, he showed off more than 1,200 pounds of confiscated heroin, opium and hashish, as well as a small stove used for processing morphine.
"We caught these on donkeys, camels and motorbikes," he said. "The rule is the same the world over, they dump the drugs and run away." Some of the camel and donkey trains are left to make their own way across the border so the police capture the contraband but no people, he said.
<#==#>
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/national/02listen.html
Court Tells
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 2, 2005
OS ANGELES, Jan. 1 - During public hearings, members of the City Council talk on cellphones, chat among themselves, read mail or wander around the room.
A state appeals court says they should be doing something else: listening to the people in front of them.
Ruling on a lawsuit brought by the owners of a strip club, the Second District Court of Appeal said that the 15-member Council acts as a quasi-judicial body when it holds hearings and has a legal duty to pay attention to testimony - or risk violating citizens' due process.
Constituents have a right to "courteous treatment," the three-judge panel wrote in a decision released on Thursday.
The city has not yet said whether it will appeal, but some legal experts predict the decision will stand.
"They're acting a little like judges, and because they
are acting like judges, they have to be judicial in the way they act,"
said Jonathan Zasloff, a law professor at the
The ruling came in a suit brought by the owners of the Blue
Zebra, a strip club in
The Blue Zebra's lawyer, Roger Jon Diamond, made a videotape of the June 13, 2003, public hearing because he believed he would get little attention from the Council.
At the strip club hearing - which also was Hawaiian Shirt Day for the Council - few of the brightly dressed members appeared to pay attention. One paced behind his chair, deep in a cellphone conversation; three huddled in conversation; another strolled about the room.
Afterward, the Council voted unanimously against extending the Blue Zebra's hours.
The appeals court judges dismissed the city's argument that the hearing was fair because the council members gave equal treatment to everyone involved in the strip club debate.
Both sides "had the right to be equally heard, not equally ignored," they wrote, ordering the Council to hold a new hearing.
<#==#>
Stuff
Tabs
Spaces
Spaces and tabs
End of stinking test of spaces and tabs
<#==#>
testing of & and > and < :) wonder what those
are??? learn html :)
a bunch of amps
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
a bunch of <
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
a bunch of >
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
some html which SHOULDNT get translated :)
<p>
<hr>
<br>
<i>iiiiii</i>
<b>bbbbbb</b>
<ul>
<li>list 1
<li>list 2
</ul>
<html>
</html>
end of stinking html test
<#==#>