The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NEWS BRIEFS
TAYLOR, Mich.
Man arraigned in
second-degree
murder case
A man has been arraigned on
a second-degree murder charge
in the hit-and-run death of a Tay-
lor auxiliary police officer who 9
was helping lost motorists on an
expressway shoulder when another t
vehicle struck him.
Forty-year-old Nino E. Delpiano
of Dearborn appeared by video yes-
terday for the brief hearing in 34th
District Court.
He's also charged with man-
slaughter with a motor vehicle,
leaving the scene of a fatal acci-
dent and driving with a suspended
license. A judge ordered Delpiano
held on a $5 million cash bond until
his preliminary examination Sept.
22.
Lt. Dan Kromer stopped along Wa
Interstate 94 Tuesday night to help hou
a lost couple. The 54-year-old was
a police volunteer for 20 years. His
funeral is Thursday.
LOS ANGEL ES
'green' school filled
With toxic soil
Students at a new green themed
school named for noted conser-
vationists Rachel Carson and Al c
Gore don't have to go far for a les-
son in environmental contamina- C]
tion: Their $75 million campus was
laden with toxic soil.
Los Angeles Unified district offi- Hu
cials have spent $4 million to clean duu
up the site of the new Carson-Gore tiv
Academy of Environmental Stud- tor
ies, which is set to open today. hot
The three-acre site, located in the
a low-income neighborhood west me
of downtown LA, was contami- pat
nated with carcinogenic solvents R
that leaked from 17 underground ret
storage tanks discovered during Bou
construction. The land had been inc
previously used by light industrial ing
businesses. squ.
The school district said the pro
school has been cleared by state
toxic control authorities and is off
ready to receive its 675 elementary tiga
students, whose curriculum will tha
be sprinkled with environmental int
themes. the
Grin
SEATTLE Th
Lesbian fights 'don't
.the
ask, don't tell' in veh
tan
* federal trial of
com
SEATTLE (AP) - Opponents gin
of the "don't ask, don't tell" pol- inv
icy against gays serving in the ley,
military are hoping for another res
major legal victory as a federal I
trial begins today over whether ant
to reinstate a lesbian flight nurse pert
discharged from the Air Force ent
Reserve. _
The trial comes just days after a
federal judge in California declared
"don't ask, don't tell" an unconsti-
tutional violation of the due pro-
cess and free speech rights of gays
and lesbians. While the ruling does
not affect the legal issues in the
case of former Maj. Margaret Witt,
gay rights activists believe a victory
- and her reinstatement - could help
build momentum for repealing the
policy.
"There's already political
momentum to do something to
repeal this unfair statute," said
Aaron Caplan, a professor at Loyola
Law School in Los Angeles who
is on Witt's legal team. "Judicial pr{
opinions from multiple jurisdic-
tions saying there's a constitutional
problem with this ought to encour-
age Congress to act more swiftly."
yea
MEXICO CITY of p
and
Most wanted drug Am
sto
trafficker arrested lin
frau
Mexican marines have arrested are
Sergio Villarreal Barragan, a pre- be
sumed leader of the Beltran Leyva hav
cartel who appears on the coun-
try's list of most-wanted drug traf- for,
fickers. hav
An official in Mexico's Navy tells we
The Associated Press that Barragan, of -
alias "El Grande," was captured and
in the state of Puebla. The official Im
spoke on condition of anonymity in a si
line with department polic' of
Barragan appears o; !'2009 Cal
Attorney General's Officr list of ann
Mexico's most-wanted drug traf- T
fickers and has a roughly $2 million Am
reward for his capture. He is listed wat
as one of the top leaders of the Bel- I
tran Leyva cartel. in
Barragan's capture comes two to
weeks after the arrest of Edgar non
Valdez Villarreal, or "The Barbie," rem
another alleged capo linked to the and
Beltran Leyvas. ma
bat
- Compiled from the
Daily wire reports Iraq
Monday, September 13, 2010 - 3A
EPA probes
the effects of
drilling for oil
lter Plywaski, 81, bends a piece of pipe yesterday found in the ashes of his home west of Boulder, Colo. Plywaski lost his
ise and a cabin in the wildfire that destroyed 169 homes.
uthorities search for
.o o. w ldfires source
EPA aims to prevent
water pollution as a
result of drilling
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The oil
and gas industry is urging the
Environmental Protection Agen-
cy to keep a narrow focus in its
study of how a drilling technique
that involves blasting chemical-
laced water into the ground may
affect drinking water - while
environmental groups want the
study to cover everything from
road-building to waste disposal.
The issues will be aired today
in two-minute speaking slots at
an EPA hearing twice postponed
last month because of security
concerns over rallies and crowds
anticipated in the thousands.
The hearing, the last of four
around the country, will be
held in two sessions today and
two more on Wednesday at The
Forum in Binghamton, 115 miles
southwest of Albany. The EPA is
taking comment on how broadly
to construct its study of hydraulic
fracturing, or fracking, a tech-
nique for releasing natural gas
from rock formations thousands
of feet underground by injecting
at high pressure millions of gal-
lons of water mixed with chemi-
cals and sand.
Congress directed the EPA to
take a new look at fracking as gas
drillers swarm to the lucrative
Marcellus Shale region beneath
Pennsylvania, New York, West
Virginia and Ohio and other shale
reserves around the country. Con-
cerns that the process can poison
private wells and water aquifers
have driven opposition, while the
industry insists there's no evi-
dence linking fracking to any con-
taminated water sources.
In Wyoming, which also has
large shale reserves, the EPA
has told residents in Pavillion, a
farming and ranching area, not to
drink water from about 40 nearby
wells. Residents speculate their
water supplies have been polluted
by fracking, but the EPA's tests
have been inconclusive.
Just last week, the EPA asked
nine major gas drilling companies
to voluntarily disclose the chemi-
cals used in fracking. Drilling
companies, calling their chemical
formulas proprietary, have large-
ly sought to avoid that disclosure.
Fracking is specifically exclud-
ed from regulation under the fed-
eral Safe Drinking Water Act, in
part because of a widely quoted
2004 EPA study that concluded
the process posed no threat to
drinking water sources. That
study was widely criticized for,
among other things, its narrow
focus on coalbed methane depos-
its and its lack of independent
field studies.
Environmental groups hope
the new EPA study will validate
their position that there are many
risks that need to be addressed by
regulators at the federal level.
Colorado fire
auses hundreds of
tizens to evacuate
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -
ndreds of people evacuated
ring one of the most destruc-
e wildfires in Colorado his-
y returned to their scorched
mes yesterday, surrounded by
dreary sight of burnt trees,
Ated mailboxes and uneven
ches of blackened ground.
Residents were allowed to
urn to their homes in the
ulder foothills as firefighters
hed closer to fully contain-
the blaze that has burned 10
are miles and investigators
bed its cause.
A senior law enforcement
icial familiar with the inves-
ation told the Denver Post
at authorities are looking
o whether a fire pit sparked
wildfire, which could mean
tminal charges are possible.
e newspaper did not name the
cial.
Authorities previously said
fire may have started after a
ticle crashed into a propane
k. The sheriff's office is aware
the Post article but won't
mment on the cause or ori-
of the fire because it's under
estigation, said Sarah Hunt-
, a spokeswoman for the fire
ponse.
Like other residents, Nancy
d Jim Edwards picked up a
mit yesterday morning to re-
er their neighborhood, but
they found out that the roads
leading up to where they live is
still closed. Jim Edwards said
they might drive as far as they're
allowed.
"We might take a ride, but it is
really heartbreaking to see the
stuff," he said.
Edwards said he spotted their
house through a telescope from
Flagstaff Mountain outside Boul-
der and saw that it was destroyed.
"It looked like a nuclear disas-
ter," Nancy Edwards said. She
said they plan to rebuild.
At one destroyed property, all
that was left was a stone chim-
ney surrounded by walls of brick
about waist high. Saplings in the
front yard were burnt and barely
their trunks remained. A barbe-
cue grill lay upside down, along
with seven metal mailboxes
nearby. The house's separate
garage had been reduced to a
heap of ashes.
As residents returned home,
some plead for privacy from the
media.
Utility workers were restoring
electricity to the homes where
residents had returned, repair-
ing and installing new poles and
lines. Qwest also was working
to fix about 3,000 telephone and
DSL lines.
Fire officials warned that
much of the area is dangerous
because of downed power lines
and poles, damaged roads and
exposed mine shafts.
Still, Boulder firefighting
operations were being scaled
back and some crews are being
relieved six days after the wild-
fire there erupted and quickly
destroyed at least 166 homes. The
fire was 73 percent yesterday and
officials said full containment
was expected by this evening.
Fire spokesman Terry Kras-
ko said yesterday firefighters
have been overwhelmed by the
community's gratitude and are
especially touched by a wall of
thank-you notes at their com-
mand camp.
"That's probably one of the
hardest walls for all the fire-
fighters to go up to," Krasko said.
"They really have a tough time
with that. The community sup-
port has been tremendous for
them."
So far, the fire has cost more
than $6.7 million to contain.
Winds drove the fire out of con-
trol and strong gusts later in
the week triggered fears that
it might spread into the city of
Boulder. Officials urged resi-
dents to prepare to evacuate, but
fire lines held and no evacuations
were needed.
The Boulder Sheriff's Office is
leading the investigation into the
cause and origin of the fire, with
assistance from the U.S. Forest
Service. The loss of homes sur-
passed that of the 2002 Hayman
fire in southern Colorado, which
destroyed 133 homes and 466
outbuildings over 138,000 acres,
or more than 215 square miles.
That fire was started at a
campground by a U.S. Forest Ser-
vice employee who burned a let-
ter from her estranged husband.
She served six years in prison for
it and was released in 2008.
Across county, Tea
Party holds rallies
Tea Party members
gather in cities from
D.C. to Sacramento
to spread message
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -
Tea party activists gathered in cit-
ies on each coast and in between
yesterday to spread their message
of smaller government and focus
their political movement on the
pivotal congressional elections in
November.
Several thousand people
marched along Pennsylvania Ave-
nue from the Washington Monu-
ment to the Capitol, many carrying
signs reading "Congress You're
Fired" and "Let Failures Fail and
"Impeach Obama."
"It wouldn't bother me to make
a clean sweep," said Michael Power
of Decatur, Ala., endorsing term
limits for members of Congress.
"There are some good ones, but we
can lose those."
In Sacramento, an estimated
4,000 people poured into the former
McClellan Air Force Base site for
the "United to the Finish" rally -
far fewer than the 25,000 to 50,000
crowd organizers had predicted.
Leslie and Gary Morrison of
Redding drove 150 south to Sacra-
mento with their dog Phoebe, just
two weeks after flyingtoWashing-
ton to attend a large rally hostedby
conservative commentator Glenn
Beck. They said they liked the feel-
ing of solidarity at the tea party
events.
"This is a way to get people
focused before the election," Les-
lie Morrison said. "And it's a way
to get the tea party's true numbers
seen."
Many attending rallies in
WashYwore red, white and blue
clothing and carried yellow flags
with the picture of a snake coiled
above the inscription "Don't Tread
On Me."
In St. Louis, they packed the
area between the Gateway 'Arch
and the Mississippi River, and ven-
dors sold lemonade, meat on sticks,
T-shirts and other souvenirs.
Vine years after Sept 11.,
americans' skepticism
-rustrates U.S. Muslims
Many Muslims Within the U.S., domestic ter-
ror has become a greater threat,
unable to escape while ignorance about what
Islam teaches is widespread.
ejudice nine years More than half of respondents in
a recent poll by the Pew Forum
after attack for Religion & Public Life said
they knew little or nothing about
NEW YORK (AP) - Nine the Muslim faith.
rs of denouncing terrorism, Some U.S. Muslims say their
raying side-by-side with Jews national organizations share the
I Christians, of insisting "Fm blame, for answering intricate
erican, too." None of it could questions about Islam with plati-
p aseason of hate against Mus- tudes, and failing to fully exam-
s that made for an especially ine the potential for extremism
aught Sept. 11. Now, Muslims within their communities. Mus-
asking why their efforts to lim leaders often respond when
accepted in the United States terrorists strike by saying Islam
ve been so easily thwarted. is a "religion of peace" that has
We have nothing to apologize no role in the violence instead of
we have nothing to fear, we confronting the legitimate con-
ve nothing to be ashamed of, cerns of other Americans, these
have nothingthat we're guilty Muslim critics say.
- but we need to be out there "There's a quaintness and
d we need to express this," said naivete or outright whitewash-
am Mohammed Ibn Faqih in ing of some very complex issues,"
ermon at the Islamic Institute said Saeed Khan, who teaches
Orange County in Anaheim, at Wayne State University in
if., the day before the 9/11 Detroit. "This has caused a lot
tiversary. of frustration for a lot of Muslim
There is no simple way for Americans, myself included."
erican Muslims to move for- The summer frenzy about
rd. Islam in America has revolved
mages of violence overseas around Park51, a community
the name of Islam have come center and mosque planned two
define the faith for many blocks from New York's ground
i-Muslims at home. The U.S. zero. Opponents and supporters
tains at war in Afghanistan, of the center converged on the
d although America has for- area for protests and counter-
illy declared an end to its com- protests Saturday after the morn-
operations in Iraq, U.S. troops ing memorial ceremony at the
re continue to fight alongside World Trade Center site.
qi forces. In recent months, mosques
in Tennessee, California, New
York and elsewhere have been
shot at and vandalized. Threat-
ening messages were left at one
mosque. A Florida pastor caused a
global uproar with his ultimately
unfulfilled threat to make a bon-
fire of Qurans on Sept. 11.
Many Jewish, Roman Catholic,
mainline Protestant, evangelical,
atheist and other groups have
responded with an outpouring of
support for Muslims, but suspi-
cion remains high among many
Americans.
Islamic centers have become
a focus of non-Muslim fears.
Federal authorities have placed
informants in mosques, saying
doing so is a critical counterter-
rorism tool. Muslim groups have
separately created national cam-
paigns encouraging congrega-
tions to monitor for any sign of
radicalization, but they have also
complained bitterly about the use
of informants, worried the inno-
cent will be caught up in the net
police have set for criminals.
Akbar Ahmed, professor of
Islamic studies at American
University, found a wide range
of mosques - from literalist to
modernist to mystical - while
researching his book, "Journey
Into America, The Challenge of
Islam." He said many mosques
are engaged in internal struggles
between Muslims with rigid and
modernist views, but he found
none that fit the imaginings of
anti-Muslim conspiracy. theo-
rists.
L
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