The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - mictigandailycom Thursday, September 1~, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Woman disputes
removal from
Denver flight
An airline that reported suspi-
cious behavior by two men aboard
a flight from Denver on the 10th
anniversary of the 9/11 terror
attacks said authorities in Detroit
removed them - and a female
passenger who is half Middle
Eastern and claims she was later
strip-searched - without con-
sulting the pilots or crew.
However, airport police
and the Transportation Safety
Administration said authori-
ties responded after getting an
in-flight alert from Frontier that
three passengers were engaged in
suspicious activity.
The crew on Frontier Airlines
flight 623 followed security pro-
tocols on Sunday, spokesman
Peter Kowalchuk said in an email
yesterday to The Associated
Press.
WASHINGTON
Senate procedural
snarl could shut
down FAA again
A single Republican senator's.
objections plus a procedural snarl
could force another partial shut-
down of the Federal Aviation
Administration at the end of this
week, potentially putting thou-
sands of workers out of jobs and
depriving the government of $30
million a day in uncollected air-
line ticket taxes.
Senate rules don't allow law-
makers to shift from the bill
they're currently working on,
a disaster aid bill, to a stop-gap
funding measure for the FAA and
highway programs without the
consent of all lawmakers, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid said
Wednesday.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.,
is refusing to give his consent.
Coburn wants to change the
highway portion of the stopgap
transportation bill that the House
passed on Tuesday.
NEW ORLEANS
Man sentenced
after lying about
Katrina shootings
A man who pleaded guilty to
lyingto the FBI about what he saw
during deadly police shootings on
a New Orleansobridge after Hurri-
cane Katrina has been sentenced
to eight months in prison.
Marion David Ryder apolo-
gized after sentencing hugged
Lance Madison, the brother of the
mentally disabled man who was
gunned down by police on the
Danziger Bridge less than a week
after the 2005 storm.
Madison was arrested after
Ryder claimed he shot at him near
the bridge. Ryder was posing as a
St. Landry Parish sheriff's deputy
on the day of the shootings.
Federal prosecutors say Ryder
never saw any armed residents
and lied when he told police that
somebody had shot at him.
GENEVA
Red Cross: At least
13 mass graves
found in Libya
The International Committee
of the Red Cross says at least 13
mass graves have been found in
Libya over the past three weeks.
The Geneva-based Red Cross
says its staff assisted in the
recovery of 125 bodies found at
12 Adfferent sites in and around
Tri-
? says remains of 34 people
we e also recovered from a site
in the Nafusa mountain village
of Galaa in western Libya.
ICRC spokesman Steven
Anderson said yesterday that
more mass graves are being
found every week.
The aid group says it is helping
ensure the remains are properly
recovered so that the identities
of the dead can be established
and relatives informed.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
A demonstrator holds up a sign that reads in Creole "We say no to the occupation, long live free Haiti" during a protest
against the U.N. mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti yesterday. Protesters calling for the withdrawal of U.N. peacekeepers
from Haiti clashed with police outside the earthquake-damaged Haitian National Palace.
Haitian demonstrators
dem--and U.N. removal
Sexual assault,
cholera outbreak
sparked anger
toward troops
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
(AP) - Protesters calling for
the withdrawal of U.N. peace-
keepers from Haiti clashed with
police yesterday outside the
earthquake-damaged Haitian
National Palace.
The protesters hurled rocks
at Haitian police in riot gear,
and the officers responded by
firing volleys of tear gas canis-
ters toward the crowd of several
hundred demonstrators. As the
crowd dispersed, many protest-
ers fled into the Champs des
Mars, the park that became a
huge encampment of tents and
shanties following the January
2010 earthquake.
There did not appear to be
any serious injuries among pro-
testers, who said they wanted
to see a withdrawal of the U.N.
troops who have helped keep
order in Haiti since 2004, when
political violence engulfed the
country.
But a group of protesters
in a university near the plaza
carried out a young man to an
ambulance; minutes before, pro-
testers had lobbed rocks from
the building and riot police had
fired back with tear gas.
A passenger in the ambu-
lance said the man had been cut
by razor wire. Then the vehi-
tle sped off as demonstrators
pelted an oncoming riot police
truck with stones.
Haitian National Police
spokesman Frantz Lerebours
told The Associated Press that
he hadn't received any reports
of injuries.
Protesters said they were
angry over the alleged sexual
assault of an 18-year-old Hai-
tian man by U.N. peacekeepers
from Uruguay in the southwest-
ern town of Port-Salut in July.
They also expressed anger over
a cholera outbreak likely intro-
duced by a battalion from Nepal.
The outbreak has killed more
than 6,200 people since it sur-
faced last October, according to
the Health Ministry.
"We are doing a peaceful
march and asking for MINUS-
TAH to leave the country," said
protester Christo Junior Cadet,
referring to the U.N. force by its
French acronym.
The U.N. has 12,000 U.N.
military and police personnel
in Haiti but no peacekeepers
were in sight as the protesters
clashed with the Haitian police.
Haitian President Michel
Martelly is expected to ask for
a renewal of the U.N. mission's
mandate, which expires next
month.
The peacekeeping force has
been a fixture in Haiti following
a violent rebellion that ousted
former President Jean Bertrand
Aristide in 2004. The force in
Haiti has been a target of com-
plaints for years, but the criti-
cism has increased in recent
weeks after a cell phone video
surfaced showing several U.N.
soldiers holding down a young
Haitian man. It was not imme-
diately clear in the video what
else the soldiers may have been
doing.
The Wednesday protest came.
the same day the U.N. released
a statement saying that Secre-
tary-General Ban Ki-moon sent
a trio of senior-ranking officials
to Haiti to ensure that a "zero-
tolerance" policy on misconduct
is enforced.
The U.N., Haiti and Uruguay
are investigating the abuse alle-
gations.
Economists say
rise in sea level
would cost Calif.
Flooding could three different sea level studies
and flood models to reach their
cause $52 million conclusions.
"We used the best available
in damage for science," King said. "We wanted
Venice B each to come up with something that
could be used by local planners."
The San Francisco State
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - study is the latest to predict
Economists predict erosion major consequences for Cali-
from rising sea levels could cost fornia due to rising seas. In
California hundreds of millions 2009, in a report funded by
of dollars in lost tourism and three California agencies, the
tax revenues as beaches shrink Pacific Institute determined
and buildings would have to be that nearly half a million peo-
protected,.according to a new ple, wetlands, ecosystems and
report. infrastructure would be at risk.
A study by San Francisco They estimated that average
State University released Tues- projections find that seas would
day shows a surge in the Pacif- rise 4 to 5 feet by 2100, causing
is Ocean because of climate $100 billion in damage.
change, and accompanying One of the communities San
storms and erosion, would batter Francisco State profiled was
California's shoreline, diminish- Venice Beach, which could lose
ing the appeal of coastal areas up to $440 million in tourism
and threatening structures with and tax revenue if the Pacific
flood damage. Ocean rises 55 inches by 2100.
The eroding beaches will also The study found sea level rise
destroy scores of animal habi- could cause $52 million in flood
tats, the report finds. damage to homes in the Venice
"More than 80 percent of Cal- Beach area, and nearly $39 mil-
ifornians live in coastal commu- lion in habitat loses.
nities, and California's beaches The newsreport also found
support local economies and Zuma Beach and Broad Beach
critical natural species," said in Malibu could lose up to
Philip King, the study's author $500 million in tourism spend-
and an economics professor at ing, $28.5 million in damage to
San Francisco State. homes and more than $102 mil-
The study commissioned by lion in losses to habitat.
the California Department of And San Francisco's Ocean
Boating and Waterways exam- Beach could see $540 million in
ined sea level projections at five damage to land, buildings and
beach communities. infrastructure.
As the authors note, coastal Naturally, the damage pre-
storms and beach erosion are a dicted at each beach community
common event that have already differs by its geography, econo-
shaped the geography of coastal my and land use decisions made
environments. Yet, because sea by local officials.
levels are projected to rise and While building seawalls to
storms are expected to be more help protect buildings from an
intense due to a warming planet, encroaching sea has been one
the effects over the next century response, King said, in some
are expected to be more signifi- cases, allowing coastline to
cant than ever. ...t__rrt or bojegrig fbeaches
The study said because of the with plants or other nourish-
uncertainty ofhow much the sea ment could be more cost-effec-
will rise, the researchers used tive.
House Republicans
question funding of
solar panel company
Solyndra Inc. spent stimulus bill would create jobs.
But the company has since filed
$2 million lobbying for bankruptcy and shed 1,100
workers, saying it couldn't com-
federal government pete with foreign manufacturers
of solar panels.
WASHINGTON (AP)- House Documents reviewe by The
Republicans questioned yester- Associated Press show Solyndra
day whether the White House spent nearly $2 million lobby-
rushed approval of a half-bil- ing the federal government dur-
lion-dollar loan guarantee for a ing the last four years, including
now-bankrupt solar panel manu- on provisions of the Energy
facturer once cited as the kind of Department's loan program just
renewable energy company wor- months before White House
thy of federal stimulus money. officials urged that the funds be
Solyndra Inc. was ,a major approved.
presence in Washington and In the first quarter of 2009,
spent millions of dollars on lob- Solyndra paid eVIBee Strategic
bying there, particularly about Consulting $20,000 to lobby
the Energy Department's loan on issues related to the Energy
guarantee program. And its Department's loan guarantee
executives raised thousands of program, records show, and it
dollars for Obama and Demo- paid $30,000- in early 2008 to
crans in Congress. Dutko Worldwide to handle
The collapse of the Fremont, Solyndra's loan application.
Calif.-based company once tout- Republican lawmakers on the
ed by President Barack Obama House Energy and Commerce
ultimately left taxpayers on the Committee's investigations panel
hook for $528 million, raising are questioning why there was
questions if the loan was rushed a rush to approve the loan and
to accommodateacompanyevent whether the entire loan guaran-
in September 2009 that featured tee progranis warranted. "Our
Vice President Joe Biden. investigation raises several ques-
The congressional panel tions about whether the admin-
examining the loan disclosed istration did everything it could
emails that appeared to show to protect taxpayer dollars," said
senior staff at the Office of Man- the committee's chairman, Rep.
agement and Budget chafing Fred Upton, R-Mich.
about having to conduct "rushed White House spokesman Jay
approvals" of federal loan guar- Carney said the emails don't sug-
antees designed to help jump- gest that the White House was
start the nation's renewable pushing for the loan tobe made.
energy industry. "What the emails make clear
"We would prefer to have is there was urgency to make a
sufficient time to do our due decision on a scheduling matter.
diligence reviews and have the It is a big proposition to move the
approval set the date for the president or to put on an event
announcement rather than the and that sort of thing so people
other way around," said one of were simply looking for answers
the emails from an unnamed about whether or not people
OMB aide to Biden's office. could move forward," Car-
Obama cited Solyndra as an ney told reporters at the White
example of how the economic House.
USDA to offer meals
for low-income children
Schools, churches
to provide lunches
during summer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -
Food can be scarce around the
Mendoza household during the
summer. School food service
worker Alina Mendoza loses
most of her hours and pay at the
same time her daughter stops
getting free meals at school.
That's why Mendoza was
excited this summer when a fed-
eral grant provided money for
her daughter and other children
to pick up backpacks full of food
each Friday from a local elemen-
tary school.
The grant was part of $6.3
million the U.S. Department of
Agriculture spent this year to
try to find new ways of making
sure children from low-income
families get enough to eat during
the summer. Of the 20.6 million
children nationwide who receive
free or reduced-price lunches,
less than one in five get meals
when school lets out, according
to the USDA.
The agency pays schools,
churches and other nonprofits to
serve summer meals to children
in low-income neighborhoods,
but that doesn't always work
because many children don't
have a way to get there each day,
said Crystal FitzSimons, who
overseas and studies summer
nutrition programs for the anti-
hunger nonprofit Food Research
and Action Center. In other
cases, the USDA hasn't been
able to find groups willing to run
summer meal programs.
11
The loss of school meals also
hits some families hard because
it comes when they are paying
more for child care, FitzSimons
said.
"Families who are already
stretching their dollar to make
ends meet find it even harder
because now they are having to
pay for meals that they don't nor-
mally have to pay for," she said.
To address the problem, the
USDA has been testing a num-
ber of new approaches in Kan-
sas, Missouri and 11 other states.
While some grant recipients
sent food home in backpacks,
others delivered meals to chil-
dren's homes or served them to
participants in arts and sports
programs.
Mendoza, 40, a single mom
from Topeka, Kan., said she tries
tostockup duringtheschoolyear
and stretch her supplies during
the summer. But the backpack
filled weekly with items such as
fruit cups and canned chicken
helped.
On Cape Cod, the local YMCA
dispatched a van to deliver
breakfasts and lunches, includ-
ing low-fat milk, locally grown
fruits and vegetables, and easy-
to-prepare entrees. The meals,
delivered two or three at a time,
fed 110 children seven days a
week.
Many of the children's parents
are unemployed or hold low-
paying service jobs in the area's
booming tourism industry.
Alberta Glover of Hyannis,
Mass., was out of work and tak-
ing classes until she recently
started a job as an assistant in
a medical office. Her two chil-
dren - ages 9 and 13 - received
meals.
"The program was a big help,"
Glover said. "They were getting
whole grains, fruits, dairy and
vegetables."
The USDA began testing
alternative ways of delivering
summer meals last year. New
data show the number of meals
served to children in Arkansas
jumped 40 percent from 2009 to
2010 after the USDA began pro-
viding an extra 50 cents per meal
to entice groups to offer meals
for a bigger chunk of the sum-
mer.
USDA spokeswoman Jean
Daniel said a common problem
has been groups shutting down
meal programs up to a month
before school starts.
In Arkansas, the state also
helped in 2010 by providing
transportation for welfare fami-
lies and kicking in extra money
so adults could eat with their
children.
In Mississippi, the number of
meals served increased by 5 per-
cent from 2009 to 2010 after the
USDA gave some groups extra
money to lure children with edu-
cational and recreational activi-
ties. The Mennonite Service
Center in rural Macon drew -
and was able to feed - 50 to 60
children a day with a mix of art,
music and sports programs.
Other states - Connecticut,
Michigan, Missouri, Oregon and
Texas - have piggy-backed on
food stamp and other aid pro-
grams to try to help hungry chil-
dren. Arizona and Ohio tested
sending food home in backpacks,
and Delaware and New York also
got grants to deliver food to chil-
dren's homes.