Ir The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Thursday, January 7, 2010 -- 3A
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The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, January 1, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
MACOMBTOWNSHIP, Mich.
* Obama lauds two
science teachers in
state of Michigan
Two Michigan public school
teachers have been honored by
President Barack Obama.
Suzanne O'Brien of Fox Elemen-
tary School in Macomb Township
and John Phillips of Jayno Adams
Elementary SchoolinWaterford are
among about 100 people presented
yesterday with the Presidential
Award for Excellence in Mathemat-
ics and Science Teaching.
O'Brien has taught fifth grade in
the Macomb County school for 13
years and serves on her suburban
Detroit district's science curricu-
lum council.
Phillips is a seventh-year teacher
and has spent the past five years in
a first-second grade classroom at
Jayno Adams.
LOUISVILLE, Ky.
Kentucky couple
win $128 million
in lottery fluke
A central Kentucky autoworker
is lucky he held on to the $128 mil-
lion Powerball ticket he bought on
Christmas Eve during some last-
minute shopping - after. all, it was
printed by mistake.
Lottery officials said Rob Ander-
son and his wife, Tuesday, were
winners of the largest jackpot in
the state's history.
Yesterday, the couple was intro-
duced at the state lottery headquar-
ters in Louisville. The Andersons
said they didn't initially believe
they had won the $128.6 million
jackpot after buying lottery tickets
together for 12 years.
"We didn't hit it, that's not us,"
Rob Anderson said he told his wife
after showing her the winning
ticket the morning after the Dec. 26
drawing. "Something's not right!"
Rob Anderson, 39, said the win-
ning ticket was a misprint that he
decided to keep while buying stock-
ing stuffers at a Georgetown, Ky.,
gas station. He wanted to buy $1
lottery tickets for three people, but
the clerk goofed.
NEW YORK
Woman sues NYC
gym over injury
from pole-dancing
A woman says a Manhattan gym
left her hanging when she tried a
new workout: pole-dancing.
Sue Ann Wee filed a lawsuit
last week against the companies
that run the Crunch fitness cen-
ter chain. Lawyer Nicholas Wary-
woda says Wee seriously hurt both
her shoulders when she slid down
a pole and fell onto the floor while
taking a Crunch pole-dancing
class in June.
Warywoda says Wee told an
instructor she couldn'thold herself
up during an upside-down maneu-
ver, but the instructor didn't help
her.
Wee is seeking unspecified
damages. She says the gym chain
didn't supervise the pole-dancing
class properly.
New York-based Crunch
declined to comment.
The steamy dance form has
become increasingly popu-
lar as exercise in recent years.
GUANGZHOU, China
The prce for public
spitting in China?
0 Home eviction
Residents could find themselves
homeless if they get caught publicly
spittingseven times at alow-income
housing complex in a southern Chi-
nese city.
Tossing fruit peels, spitting
chewing gum on the ground and
urinating in public are other no-
nos listed today on a government
Web site in Guangzhou. The rules
are part of a proposal designed to
enforce better behavior at the new
public housing project.
Residents who rack up 20 pen-
alty points within two years can
lose their homes. People caught
spitting or urinating in public earn
three points, so seven such infrac-
tions could result in expulsion. The
government is still collecting public
feedback on the proposal.
Public spitting is popular across
China, despite repeated campaigns
to discourage it. Chinese authori-
ties made a particular effort to
W deter the practice before the 2008
Beijing Olympics.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Veteran Senate Dems forego re-election bids
Abrupt retirements
expose difficult
political landscape
for majority party
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two
longtime Senate Democrats sud-
denly abandoned re-election bids,
and so did a Democratic swing-
state governor, underscoring the
perilous political environment for
President Barack Obama's party as
anti-incumbent sentiment ripples
across the nation. But stunning as
they were, the retirements weren't
as bad as they might have seemed
for the Democrats.
Embattled Connecticut Sen.
Chris Dodd was all but forced
to quit, and North Dakota Sen.
Byron Dorgan also ditched his re-
election effort in the face of a dif-
ficult race. Dodd's announcement
yesterday may actually save the
Democrats' hold on his seat - the
party quickly recruited a stronger
candidate - but Dorgan's retire-
ment may cost the party a seat in
his Republican-leaning state. And
that would mean the loss of a criti-
cal 60th vote in the Senate.
Among governors, Democrats
were heartened by two develop-
ments that cleared the way for
stronger candidates not tainted
by incumbency: Colorado Gov. Bill
Ritter, among the most vulnerable
for re-election, chose not to seek
a second term, and Michigan Lt.
Gov. John Cherry, the Democratic
front-runner to replace term-limit-
ed Gov. Jennifer Granholm, opted
against running. Still, despite the
moves, Republicans remain excit-
ed about the prospect of competi-
tive races in those states.
Combined, the no-campaign
decisions highlighted the chal-
lenges facing Obama's party. The
Democrats are seeking to hang
onto comfortable majorities in
Congress and a slim edge among
governors in a year when vot-
ers are angry at lawmakers of all
political stripes and likely to pun-
ish the party in power.
The bottom line for Obama:
Losing even one seat in the Sen-
ate would make it more difficult
to block Republican filibusters.
And if the GOP makes big gains
in the House - a pickup of 30 or
more seats is seeming ever more
likely - that will make it much
harder to pass administration
proposals.
All told, the latest develop-
ments mean 2010 is sure to see
a slew of competitive races,
though it's unlikely - at this
point - that Republicans will
win enough seats to retake con-
trol of either the House or Sen-
ate. Democrats currently control
the Senate 58-40, and the two
independents also typically vote
with the party. The House is now
256-178 for the Democrats with
one vacancy.
Congress is expected to pass
Obama's healthcareoverhaul soon,
but it will take years for that policy
to be implemented and Democratic
lawmakers' support will be cru-
cial. Climate change legislation
also hangs in the balance. With
no re-election hanging over their
heads, retiring Democratic law-
makers have little incentive to fall
in behind the White House on its
priorities.
This week's are only the latest
Democratic retirement announce-
ALEX VON KLEYDORFF/AP/THE HOUR
Democratic officials tell The Associated Press that Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd won't seek re-election this fall. Both
Dodd and North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, two longtime Senate Democrats, are abandoning their re-election bids.
ments, accompanied by several in
the House and the recent defection
of Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith to
the GOP, in a dispiriting trend for
a party that had been soaring after
winning control of Congress and
the White House in back-to-back
elections. The losses could ham-
per candidate recruitment, activist
enthusiasm, and grass-roots fund-
raising.
That said, the GOP has troubles
of its own, with even more Repub-
licans than Democrats leaving
Congress and governors mansions
instead of running again.
In the House, 14 Republicans
and 10 Democrats are retiring, and
Robert Wexler, a Florida Demo-
crat, has resigned, leaving one
vacancy.
In the Senate, six Republicans,
including several in swing states
requiring expensive campaigns,
and four Democrats, including
Dodd and Dorgan, aren't running.
Amonggovernors, four Republi-
cans who can seek re-election are
opting not to while the same can be
said for three Democrats, includ-
ing Ritter.
The party in the White House
typically loses a number of House
and Senate seats in the first mid-
term of a presidency.
Coming within hours of one
another, the retirement announce-
ments of Dodd and Dorgan were
essentially a wash for Democrats.
Nigerian man face's
indictment in plot
to blow up airplane
General Motors' Chairman and interim CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. speaks at a news conference in Detroit. Hundreds of the t,350
General Motors Co. dealers who lost their franchises last year could see them restored.
Hundreds of GM dealerships
could be restored y Congress
Suspect in Detroit-
bound flight attack
could receive life
sentence if convicted
DETROIT (AP) - A Nigerian
man accused oftrying to blow up a
Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines
flighton Christmas Day was indict-
ed yesterday on charges including'
attempted murder and trying to
use a weapon of mass destruction
to kill nearly 300 people.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,
23, was traveling from Amster-
dam when he tried to destroy the
plane by injecting chemicals into a
package of pentrite explosive con-
cealed in his underwear, authori-
ties say.
Thefailedattackcausedpopping
sounds and flames that passengers
and crew rushed to extinguish.
The bomb was designed to deto-
nate "at a time of his choosing," the
grand jury's indictment said.
There is no specific mention of
terrorism in the seven-page indict-
ment. But trying to use a weapon
of mass destruction is a terrorism
charge, U.S. Attorney Barbara
McQuade said.
President Barack Obama con-
siders the incident an attempted
strike against the United States by
an affiliate of al-Qaida.
Abdulmutallab has told U.S.
investigators he received training
and instructions from al-Qaida
operatives in Yemen. His father
warned the U.S. Embassy in Nige-
ria that his son had drifted into
extremism in Yemen, but that
threat was never fully digested by
the U.S. security apparatus.
Since the failed attack, airlines
and the Transportation Secu-
rity Administration have boosted
security in airports in the U.S. and
around the world. Obama has said
the government had information
that could have stopped Abdul-
mutallab, but intelligence agencies
failed to connect the dots.
Abdulmutallab faces up to life
in prison if convicted of attempt-
ing to use a bomb on the plane. He
is being held at a federal prison in
Milan, Mich., and a message seek-
ing comment was left yesterday
with his lawyers, Miriam Siefer
and Leroy Soles.
"This investigation is fast-
paced, global and ongoing, and it
has already yielded valuable intel-
ligence that we will follow wher-
ever it leads," Attorney General
Eric Holder said in a statement.
"Anyone we find responsible for
this alleged attack will be brought
to justice using every tool - mili-
tary or judicial - available to our
government."
Abdulmutallab will make his
first appearance in federal court
tomorrow for an arraignment and
a hearing to determine if he stays
in custody.
"Short of actual murder, these
are some of the most serious
charges in the criminal code,"
said Lloyd Meyer, a former terror-
ism prosecutor at U.S. war crimes
tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay
prison. "These charges are tailored
to the facts of what happened over
the sky in Detroit."
General Motors Co.
is allowing dealers
to appeal closures
DETROIT (AP) - Hundreds
of the 1,350 General Motors Co.
dealers who lost their franchises
last year could see them restored
in a congressionally mandated
arbitration process that begins
later this month, the company's
interim CEO said yesterday.
CEO and Chairman Ed Whi-
tacre Jr. also said that new Chief
Financial Officer Chris Liddell is
a candidate for the CEO post. And
Whitacre said he's not confident
about selling the Swedish Saab
brand.
In a wide-ranging talk with
reporters at GM's Detroit head-
quarters, Whitacre also predicted
that GM would be profitable this
year, although he said that was
dependent on the economy and
other factors.
The 1,350 dealerships, which
were allowed to stay open until
October 2010, were targeted as
part of an effort to dump poor per-
formers and better align its dealer
base with much lower consumer
demand for autos. In many cases,
GM had dealerships too close to
one another and competing on
price, the company said.
Congress passed legislation
late last year that forces GM and
Chrysler Group LLC, which shed
789 dealers last year, to give deal-
ers a chance to appeal closure
decisions. Both companies went
through bankruptcy protection
earlier this year and are receiving
government aid.
Whitacre said GM had a "pretty
arbitrary cutoff point" for shed-
ding dealers, and that it probably
made mistakes in getting rid of
some of them.
When pressed, he said "hun-
dreds of dealers" may be closer
to 100 than a thousand, but it's a
"substantial number."
Restoring some dealerships
could be good for the company
because they would sell more
cars for GM. But it also could be
bad ifa "lousy dealer" with a poor
storefront got a franchise back, he
said.
When the franchises were
revoked last summer, GM offi-
cials said dealers were judged on
whether they met sales goals, cus-
tomer service scores, the condi-
tion of their buildings and other
criteria. They were allowed to
stay open through October of
this year to sell their invento-
ries.
Under pressure from dealer
groups and lawmakers, GM and
Chrysler put out proposals that
would have allowed dealers to
challenge closures in arbitration.
But a bill passed by Congress
allows them to bring a much
wider range of proof that they
are profitable.
Dealers have until Jan. 25 to
tell the automakers if they will
appeal.
Whitacre also told reporters
that he would consider Chris
Liddell, the CFO hired from the
same post at Microsoft Corp., in
the search for a new CEO.
Liddell, 51, announced before
GM hired him that he would
leave Microsoft to pursue a high-
er-ranking position.
Liddell was hired late last
month as CFO, the first per-
manent top manager hired from
outside the traditionally insu-
lar GM since the company left
bankruptcy protection in July.
He replaced Ray Young, who
transferred to GM's China oper-
ations.
At Microsoft, Liddell developed
a reputation for holding down
costs while building up cash. He
instituted a plan to cut $3 billion
from the technology company last
year that included its first mass
layoff, wage freezes and cuts in
travel and other expenses.
GM has hired a search commit-
tee to find candidates, but it has
not presented any yet, Whitacre
said.
NW-,,OK