The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, November 2,2011.- 3A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, November 2, 2011 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
WILLIAMSTON, Mich.
14-year-old boy,
killed when wall
collapses at school
Hundreds of people have gath-
ered for a memorial program
for Gabriel Corbett, a 14-year-
old who was killed when a wall
collapsed at Williamston High
School
An 8-foot cinderblock wall
collapsed in the locker room last
Wednesday, killing the freshman.
Police Chief Bob Young tells the
Lansing State Journal that Cor-
bett was doing chin-ups on the
wall when it crumbled and fell on
him.
Balloons were released at the
memorial ceremony, which was
held yesterday afternoon at the
school's football stadium.
AIKEN, S.C.
Trick-or-treater
pulls handgun after
candy theft joke
South Carolina officials say
a 10-year-old trick-or-treater
pulled a handgun on a woman
who joked that she'd steal his
Halloween candy.
The Augusta Chronicle report-
ed yesterday that a 28-year-old
woman told authorities she rec-
ognized some youngsters Monday
evening and she joked she'd take
their candy.
Aiken Public Safety Lt. David
Turno says a 10-year-old in the
group said "no" and pointed the
handgun at her.
Turno says the gun wasn't
loaded but the boy had a clip of
ammunition. He was taken to
the police station and was turned
over to his parents.
Turno said the boy's brother,
who is also 10, told officials he
also had a gun and both weapons
were recovered by police. Turno
says the boys got them from their
grandfather without his permis-
sion '
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.
New Libyan PM
was Alabama prof.
for 20 years
For 20 years, Abdurrahim el-
Keib taught electrical engineer-
ing at the University of Alabama,
:helped lead the area's Muslim
'community and talked little
about his home country of Libya.
With Moammar Gadhafi's regime
deposed, the professor now has a
new role as prime minister of his
homeland.
El-Keib was elected to the post
late Monday by Libya's National
Transitional Council and will
replace outgoing interim Prime
Minister Mahmoud Jibril, who
had promised to step down after
victory over Gadhafi's dictator-
ship. His selection suggests the
country's interim rulers may be
* seeking out a government leader
palatable both to the West and to

Libyans who distrust anyone con-
nected to the former regime.
TOKYO
Despite concerns,
Japanese officials
restart reactor
Officials have restarted a
reactor in southern Japan after
a monthlong shutdown despite
strong public opposition to nucle-
ar power since the country's
March11 disaster.
Kyushu Electric Power Co.
says it restarted the reactor at
the Genkai plant late yesterday.
It shut down Oct. 4 because of a
steam condenser problem that
did not cause any radiation leak
or injuries.
About 40 of Japan's 54 reactors
remain halted, mostly for regular
inspections but some because of
damage from the March earth-
quake and tsunami. That disaster
caused massive radiation leaks
at a plant in northeastern Japan,
and many people near halted
reactors now oppose their reac-
tivation because of safety con-
cerns.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

FRANt FRANKLIN/AP
Catherine Talese, left, and George Pingeon, right, pedal bicycles to charge batteries at Occupy Wall Street in Zuccoti
Park Monday, Oct. 31 in New York. With the temperature dropping, protesters are stockpiling donated supplies.
Occupy movement accepts
mo est help from the left

Lawsuit slain
stripper's family
dismissed
Judge points to judge said past wrongs don't nec-
essarily fit new cases.
lack of sufficient Rosen said there is a "dearth
of evidence" connecting Kilpat-
evidence as reason rick or any of his allies to any
interference with the homicide
for dl~iniSSal investigation.
Kilpatrick repeatedly has
DETROIT (AP) - A federal denied interfering with Greene
judge dismissed a civil lawsuit case and that there ever was a
yesterday that claimed the city party.
of Detroit and ex-Mayor Kwame "For what it is worth, it seems
Kilpatrick, a convicted felon, unlikely that it will ever be
impeded a police investigation established with any degree of
into the shooting death of a strip- certainty whether this rumored
per. party, or something like it, actu-
U.S. District Judge Gerald ally took place," Rosen wrote.
Rosen said in his opinion thatthe "The witness accounts pro-
attorney representing Tamara duced by plaintiffs lack speci-
Greene's three children failed ficity, rest to some extent on
to prove the city or Kilpatrick .inadmissible hearsay, and con-
interfered with the probe into tradict one another in various
her slaying. respects."
Greene, who performed "On the other hand, it seems
under the name Strawberry, fairly well documented at this
was rumored to have danced in point that .Defendant Kilpat-
2002 at a never-proven party rick kept an active social calen-
at the mayor's official Manoo- dar during his days as mayor of
gian Mansion residence. She Detroit. Nonetheless, whether
was shot multiple times in April this particular party occurred at
2003 while sitting with a male this particular locale at this par-
acquaintance in a car outside ticular time is likely to remain an
her Detroit home. The man was unsolved mystery."
wounded but survived. The court gave the Greene
Rosen agreed with lawyers family's attorney, Norman
for the city and Kilpatrick that Yatooma, every opportunity to
there was "no evidentiary basis" prove his case, said James Thom-
for a legal finding that Kilpat- as, Kilpatrick's attorney.
rick obstructed or interfered "There was not one bit of evi-
with the investigation into the dence, after 41 depositions and
murder. tens of thousands of pages of
Kilpatrick resigned as mayor discovery," Thomas said. "There
in 2008 after pleading guilty to clearly are no facts, and as a
obstruction of justice in state result, all these years of specula-
court. He served time in a coun- tion, all these years of wondering
ty jail but later spent 14 months now come to the culmination that
in state prison for violating his ... the decision is there is no case.
probation in the earlier case. He "We're happy that, at least at
was paroled Aug. 2, but faces a this stage that it's over."
federal corruption trial in 2012 John Schapka, supervising
on fraud, tax and racketeering assistant corporation counsel for
conspiracy charges. the city, also said Yatooma lacked
Rosen said lawyers for evidenceto support his claimthat
Greene's family seem to believe Kilpatrick, his aides and others
that Kilpatrick must have inter- interfered with the Greene probe.
fered with the murder inves- Yatooma, who was on vacation
tigation because he regularly when Rosen released his ruling,
meddled with top police brass said he already is working on an
when he was mayor. But the appeal.

Progressive group
promotes protest
on websites, e-mail
NEW YORK (AP) - With its
noisy drum circle, meandering
parades of bandanna-clad youth
and disdain for centralized lead-
ership, the Occupy Wall Street
encampment sometimes has
the ragtag look of a group that
is making things up as it goes
along and discovering its own
purpose along the way.
But from the start, the move-
ment has also gotten support
from a long list of experienced,
well-funded organizations,
unions and political committees
- sometimes to the discomfort
of more radical protesters who
worry about their message being
co-opted-or watered down.
After an initial hesitation to
get involved, unions from Bos-
ton to Los Angeles have sent
members to march in the dem-
onstrations and donate air mat-
tresses, food and other supplies.
In Oakland, unions representing
teachers and government work-
ers are encouraging members
to take a day off from work to

march with protesters Wednes-
day.
MoveOn.org, a group that has
given millions to liberal Demo-
crats, has promoted the demon-
strations relentlessly on its Web
site and in blast emails.
To most of the youthful radi-
cals at the movement's heart, all
this help is welcome, but with a
caveat..
"This is a movement of indi-
viduals, not managed political
coalitions," said Alexa O'Brien,
one of the many early organiz-
ers who helped get the New York
occupation started on Sept. 17.
Unions can be great, and their
supportis "critical," but they can
be corrupt, too, she said. And the
Democratic Party, she added, is
part of the problem.
"If you are going to ask cor-
porations to get out of elections,
you have to ask all special inter-
ests to get out of elections," she
said. "This movement is about
building civic infrastructure for
regular citizens."
Today, the group that has
now occupied a city park for six
weeks shows few signs that it is
allowing outside organizations a
substantial role in planning its
marches, making decisions, or

deciding what issues to embrace.
But it has also turned to a net-
work of left-leaning organiza-
tions for help, some of which
have been around since before
most of the protesters were
born.
The group of activists who
began meeting to plan the dem-
onstrations in mid-summer
included several people who had
been involved in an organization
called US Uncut, which is affili-
ated with the Institute for Policy
Studies, a Washington think
tank that cut its teeth opposing
the Vietnam War.
When Occupy Wall Street
needed an established nonprofit
group to help handle incom-
ing donations, which have now
topped $500,000, they turned to
the Alliance for Global Justice,
an entity originally founded
in 1979 to build support for the
communist Sandinista govern-
ment in Nicaragua.
The National Lawyers Guild,
whose members have been rep-
resenting dissenters, peace-
niks, and civil-rights activists
since1937, has set up Occupy
legal hotlines in 19 cities and
been representing protesters
arrested across the country.

Widow of victim in fatal Reno air
race crash files $25 million lawsuit

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intiff's attorney suit but offered "condolences to
the families and fans that were
ays crash was affected by this devastating
tragedy."
'inevitable' "We fully expect a number of
lawsuits to be filed," Houghton
VEGAS (AP) - The fam- told The Associated Press. "This
a Texas man killed when a is the first."
aircraft crashed into spec- Shanholtzer did not immedi-
in the National Champion- ately respond to messages. Attor-
ir Races in Reno filed a $25 ney Kenneth Shepperd in Seattle,
n lawsuit yesterday against representing Aeroacoustics, said
lot's family, a mechanic on he had hot yet seen the lawsuit
Vorld War II-era aircraft and couldn't immediately com-
e Nevada organization that ment.
 the event. Salerno, 50, of Friendswood,
lawsuit filed in Collin Texas, was a dispatcher for Con-
y, Texas, is believed to be tinental Airlines and a lieutenant
st stemming from the Sept. for a volunteer fire department
sh of pilot Jimmy Lee- who also volunteered at an annu-
P-51D Mustang during al Houston air show and was an
es at Reno-Stead Airport. avid racing pilot. He attended the
people died, including Reno event with a friend who was
trd, 74, of Ocala, Fla. At hospitalized with critical injuries
4 were hurt. after the crash.
me people say this was an Speaking for Salerno's family,
nt," said Houston-based Buzbee said in a telephone inter-
ey Tony Buzbee, who view that no amount of money
he civil liability lawsuit on could fix the "huge gaping hole
of Dr. Sezen Altug, a phy- ripped from their lives."
and widow of dead spec- The attorney said he wanted
Craig Salerno, and their to hold "two groups of wrong-
hildren, ages 6 and 8. "But doers" accountable: "Those who
ns to me the formula that pushed the limits of physics on
reated made an accident the plane, being risk takers and
able." reckless without regard for the
ward's son, Kent Leeward, people who might be watching
ed comment on the law- them, and those who promoted
which names Texas-based and profited from hosting the
nic Richard Shanholtzer show."
e Reno Air Racing Associa- Buzbee also raised questions
nother Leeward son, Dirk about the independence of the
ird, Leeward Racing Inc. National Transportation Safety
mily corporations in Flori- Board investigation, pointing to
d Aeroacoustics Inc., an air- evidence that the Reno-Tahoe
arts maker in Washington Airport Authority has lobbyists
in Washington with ties to the
o Air Racing Association NTSB. Neither the airport nor the
rxecutive Michael Hough- federal investigative board was
id he hadn't seen the law- named in the lawsuit.

"A NTSB investigation should
not be subject to the efforts of
lobbyists," Buzbee said in an Oct.
25 letter to Howard Plagens, the
chief NTSB investigator in the
Reno crash. "Who will be the lob-
byist for the victims?"
NTSB officials denied the
board could be lobbied. Spokes-
woman Kelly Nantel emphasized
the agency's role as an indepen-
dent and nonpartisan investiga-
tor "separate and distinct from
regulatory agencies, carriers,
service providers, and industry
groups."
Records show the Reno air-
port authority paid $62,000 in
2011 to three Washington lob-
bying firms - Gephardt Group,
Porter Group and Akerman,
Senterfitt & Eidson - to handle
transportation funding issues
before Congress. Gephardt
Group is headed by former Dem-
ocratic House majority leader
and presidential candidate Dick
Gephardt of Missouri. Former
Nevada Republican Congress-
man Jon Porter, is a former
member of the Akerman firm
and now heads his own Porter
Group.
Reno-Tahoe Airport director
Krys Bart said the airport no lon-
ger has a contract with Akerman,
Senterfitt & Eidson.
Airport spokesman Brian
Kulpin said the Nevada law firm
Jones Vargas hired Peter Goelz,
a senior executive at the O'Neill
and Associates in Washington
and former NTSB official, as
a consultant "to interpret the
NTSB process."
"There is no lobbying taking
place in regards to the air race
crash issue at all," Kulpin said.
"They're seeking guidance in the
NTSB investigation process."

Syrian soldiers stand with a Syrian villager on their country's border with
Lebanon in the village of Arida, north Lebanon, on Monday, Oct. 31.
Syria plants mines
on Lebanese border

Devices placed to
prevent weapons
smuggling,
according to gov't
SERHANIYEH, Lebanon (AP)
- Syria has planted land mines
along parts of its border with
Lebanon, further sealing itself
off from the world and showing
just how deeply shaken Bashar
Assad's regime has become since
an uprising began nearly eight
months ago.
Although Assad's hold on
power is firm, the 46-year-old
eye doctor is taking increasingly
desperate measures to safeguard
his grip on the country of 22 mil-
lion people at the heart of the
Arab world. A Syrian official con-
firmed to The Associated Press
that troops were laying the mines,
saying they were aimed at stop-
ping weapons smuggling into the
country during the uprising.
"Syria has undertaken many
measures to control the borders,

including planting mines," a Syr-
ian official familiar with govern-
ment strategy told The Associated
Press, speaking on condition of
anonymity because of the sensi-
tivity of the matter. Witnesses on
the Lebanese side also told the
AP they have seen Syrian soldiers
planting the mines in recent days.
But the verdant mountains
and hills along the frontier are
used by refugees fleeing Syria's
deadly military assault on pro-
testers and by Syrians who have
jobs and families on the Leba-
nese side. The decision to plant
mines - terrifying weapons
that often maim their victims if
they don't kill them - suggests
the regime is trying to contain
a crisis that is spinning out of its
control.
The mines also are the lat-
est sign that Syria is working to
prevent Lebanon from becoming
a safe haven for the Syrian oppo-
sition as the uprising continues
and the death toll mounts. The
U.N. says about 3,000 people
have been killed by security forc-
es since March.
,,*