The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, March 5, 2012 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS TRAVERSE CITY Utility crews work to restore power after winter storm Utility crews are working to restore power to tens of thousands of Michigan homes and businesses after a winter storm packing high winds and up to 15 inches of snow blacked out more than a quarter- million electricity customers statewide and caused a fatal crash. The storm that hit Friday also triggered deadly tornadoes across the Midwest. CMS Energy Corp. says about 51,000 customers remained with- out service at 4 p.m. yesterday, down from 147,000. DTE Energy Co. says about 5,000 of 120,000 customers remained powerless at 4p.m. TRENTON, N.J. CVS mixes up cancer meds with fluoride pills The state attorney general's office has begun a preliminary investigation into a CVS pharma- cy's mistaken distribution of pills for the treatment of breast cancer to children instead of the fluoride pills that were prescribed. The attorney general's con- sumer affairs division on Fri- day ordered a CVS pharmacy in Chatham to explain the mistake and provide the names of all its employees along with all e-mails, telephone calls, complaints, and other information related to the mix-up. Meanwhile, CVS Caremark said in a statement that it was "deeply sorry for the mistake that occurred" at its pharmacy in northeastern New Jersey, although the company did not explain how the mistake hap- pened. There has been no report of injury. DUBLIN Dublin saint's preserved heart stolen from church Officials at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin said yes- terday they're distraught and perplexed over the theft of the church's most precious relic: the preserved heart of St. Laurence O'Toole, patron saint of Dublin. O'Toole's heart had been dis- played in the cathedral since the 13th century. It was stored in a heart-shaped wooden box and secured in a small, square iron cage on the wall of a chapel dedi- cated to his memory. On Saturday someone cut through two bars, pried the cage loose, and made off with the relic. Ireland's national police force, the Garda Siochana, said detectives were studying hours of closed- circuit TV footage to try to identify the approximately 40 people who walked out the cathedral's front doors Saturday morning. BEIJING China calls for peace in Syria China offered a proposal yes- terday to end the violence in Syria, calling for an immediate cease- fire and talks by all parties but standing firm against any inter- vention by outside forces. The proposal, released by China's Foreign Ministry, comes as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Syrian President Bashar Assad's govern- ment to allow immediate access to humanitarian workers as Syria presses a military crackdown against anti-government groups. Beijing's plan is part ofrenewed efforts by Beijing to seize the dip- lomatic initiative in an increasing- ly vital part of the world for China after being roundly criticized by the U.S. and others for joining Russia in vetoing a U.N. resolu- tion. That plan similarly called for an end to hostilities, but Bei- jing feared it would open the door to intervention against Assad's authoritarian government, as it had in Libya. -Compiled from Daily wire reports Lesbian exes face off in precedent- setting custody fight DMITRY ASTAKHOV/AP Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who claimed victory in Russia's presidential election, attenda rally of supporters at Manezh square outside Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, yesterday. Putin wins re-election in Russia amid controversyv Opponents to stage large-scale rally in Moscow today MOSCOW (AP) - Vladimir Putin scored a decisive victory in Russia's presidential elec- tion yesterday to return to the Kremlin and extend his hold on power for six more years. His eyes brimming with tears, he defiantly proclaimed to a sea of supporters that they had tri- umphed over opponents intent on "destroying Russia's state- hood and usurping power." Putin's win was never in doubt as many across the vast country still see him as a guarantor of stability and the defender of a strong Rus- sia against a hostile world, an image he has carefully culti- vated during 12 years in power. Accounts by independent observers of extensive vote- rigging, however, looked set to strengthen the resolve of opposition forces whose unprecedented protests in recent months have posed the first serious challenge to Putin's heavy-handed rule. Another huge demonstration was set for this evening in cen- tral Moscow. Putin claimed victory last night when fewer than a quarter of the votes had been counted. He spoke to a rally just outside the Kremlin walls of tens of thousands of sup- porters, many of them govern- ment workers or employees of state-owned companies who had been ordered to attend. "I promised that we would win and we have won!" Putin shouted to the flag-waving crowd. "We have won in an open and honest struggle." Putin, 59, said the election showed that "our people can easily distinguish a desire for renewal and revival from political provocations aimed at destroying Russia's statehood and usurping power." He ended his speech with the triumphant declaration: "Glory to Russia!" The West can expect Putin to continue the tough policies he has pursued even as prime minister, including opposing U.S. plans to build a missile shield in Europe and resisting international military inter- vention in Syria. Exit polls cited by state television predicted Putin would get about 59 percent of the vote. With more than 80 percent of precincts counted nationwide, Putin was lead- ing with 65 percent, the Cen- tral Election Commission said. Complete results were expect- ed today. Communist Party candi- date Gennady Zyuganov was a distant second, followed by Mikhail Prokhorov, the bil- lionaire owner of the New Jer- sey Nets whose candidacy was approved by the Kremlin in what was seen as an effort to channelsome ofthe protest sen- timent. The clownish national- ist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and socialist Sergei Mironov trailed behind. The leader of the lib- eral opposition Yabloko party was barred from the race. "These elections are not free. ... That's why we'll have protests tomorrow. We will not recognize the president as legitimate," said Mikhail Kasyanov, who was Putin's first prime minister before going into opposition. The wave of protests began after a December parliamenta- ry election in which observers produced evidence of wide- spread vote fraud. Protest ral- lies in Moscow drew tens of thousands in the largest out- burst of public anger in post- Soviet Russia, demonstrating growing exasperation with the pervasive corruption and tight controls over political life under Putin, who was presi- dent from 2000 to 2008 before moving into the prime minis- ter's office due to term limits. Golos, Russia's leading inde- pendent elections watchdog, said it received numerous reports of "carousel voting," in which busloads of voters are driven around to cast ballots multiple times. Verdict may impact nation-wide debate over definition of motherhood TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A custody battle in Florida between two lesbians could fuel the growing national debate over the definition of motherhood. It also might force state law- makers to reconsider a 19-year- old law regarding the rights of sperm and egg donors. The women, now in their 30s and known in court papers only by their initials, were both law enforcement officers in Florida. One partner donated an egg that was fertilized and implanted in the other. That woman gave birth in 2004, nine years into their relationship. But the Brevard County couple separated two years later, and the birth mother eventually left Flor- ida with the child without telling her former lover. The woman who donated the egg and calls her- self the biological mother finally tracked them down in Australia with the help of a private detec- tive. Their fight over the now 8-year-old girl is before the state Supreme Court, which has not announced whether it will con- sider the case. A trial judge ruled for the birth mother and said the biological mother has no paren- tal rights under state law, adding he hoped his decision would be overturned. The 5th District Court of Appeal in DaytonaBeachobliged, sidingwith the biological mother and saying both women have parental rights. At issue is the 1993 state law meant to regulate sperm and egg donation. Scholars debate wheth- er the constitutional right to pro- create includes outside-the-body technologies used to conceive. Also at issue are constitutional questions about gay people's right to raise children and claim equal protection under law. Another appellate court ruled Florida's ban on gays being able to adopt unconstitutional in 2010. The biological mother, how- ever, isn't concerned about being a legal or social pioneer, her law- yer said. She just wants her child back in her life. "She hasn't seen her daughter in years, and it's been terribly, terribly difficult for her," said Robert A. Segal, a family law attorney in Melbourne. The battle over what defines motherhood is being played out on prime-time television shows and in courtrooms across the country. More recently, former North Carolina state Sen. Julia Bose- man, the first openly gaymember of that Legislature, is suing for joint custody of a 2-year-old son born to a woman Boseman had called her spouse. In the Florida case, the women agreed to use "reproductive med- ical assistance," have a child and raise that child as a couple, court records show. It's unknown why they later decided to separate, but "their separation does not dissolve the parental rights of either woman, nor does it dissolve the love and affection either hassfor the child," the appellate decision said. The birth mother cites the state's law on sperm and egg donation, which says that donors "relinquish all maternal or pater- nal rights," to argue that the bio- logical mother wasn't the child's parent. "We can discern no legally valid reason to deprive either woman of parental rights to this child," said the majority opin- ion by Judge Thomas Sawaya. He ruled that the donor law was unconstitutional as applied in the case. That law was passed 15 years after Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube" baby, was born. But Judge David Monaco, in a concurring opinion, said the stat- ute "was not designed to resolve the problem of how to treat chil- dren bornbyin vitro fertilization to a same-sex couple." But in a blistering dissent, Judge C. Alan Lawson said the trial judge got it right. A child can have only one mother, he wrote. The court shouldn't recognize two mothers "unless we are also willingto invalidate laws prohib- iting same-sex marriage, bigamy, polygamy or adult incestuous relationships on the same basis," Lawson said. Monaco and Lawson agreed, however, that the Legislature needs to pass new law on the sci- ence of human reproduction to reflect the times. "We think we're solving prob- lems with technology, but it just leads to more problems," said Alan Williams, a health law pro- fessor at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. "Moral and ethical dilemmas arise that laws were never made to deal with." Florida voters adopted a con- stitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2008. Shannon McLin Carlyle, an appellate attorney who also is representing the biological mother, said the majority didn't come up with a gay rights deci- sion: "It's a pro-parent decision." "But it does solidify gay cou- ples' right to retain a relationship with their child," she said. "If it goes the other way, parenthood could be subject to risk on the whim of the other partner." Polish gov't claims trains still safe after deadly crash Masses of soccer fans will use system for Euro 2012 tournament SZCZEKOCINY, Poland (AP) - Poland's government insisted yesterday that rail trav- el is safe in the country despite a train collision that killed 16 people, assurances that come months before masses of sports fans will enter the country for a major soccer tournament - many of whom will crisscross the nation by train. Saturday night's crash, Poland's mostly deadly rail tragedy in more than two decades, raised new questions about the safety of a state-run rail network, which has under- gone modernization in recent years. Poland still has a rail sys- tem marked by the legacy of the communist decades, but has been working to upgrade trains and tracks. The trains collided head-on in a shower of sparks and man- gled metal, killing 16 people and injuring dozens more near the southern town of Szczeko- ciny, just north of Krakow. Both trains inexplicably ended up running on the same track. Pol- ish leaders said it was the worst rail tragedy since 16 people were killed in a 1990 collision near Warsaw. Some routes today are noto- rious for being slower than they were even before World War II - and the economical- ly dynamic young member of the European Union has been pushing to change this even as it builds skyscrapers, high- ways and stadiums. Several of the construction projects have been accelerated by the coming Euro 2012 soccer champion- ship, which starts in June. Transport Minister Sla- womir Nowak insisted that train travel is safe and that the government makes safety a priority as it improves the system. The collision occurred on a stretch of track that was recently modernized, but offi- cials said it was too early to speak about a cause. "I really believe that the train system - not only in Poland but all of Europe - is still very safe," Nowak said. He said those who plan to use the trains this summer during Euro 2012 should not worry. Poland is co-hosting the three-week tournament with Ukraine, and games will be held in several Polish and Ukrainian cities, which will force some fans to travel large distances - either by train, plane, bus or car. President Bronislaw Komorowski called for two days of national mourning today and tomorrow, mean- ing that flags will fly half-staff at public building's, and con- certs and sporting events will be canceled. Poland's Roman Catholic bishops also called for prayers for those killed and the injured. Interior Minister Jacek Cichocki said rescue officials believe they have retrieved all bodies from the wreck- age because sniffer dogs have not found any other traces of corpses.