The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 31, 2012- 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Police commander
demoted after
behavior report
A Detroit police commander
has been demoted following
claims of inappropriate conduct
with a female officer.
Mayor Dave Bing's office said
Tuesday that James Moore was
returned to the rank of lieutenant,
effective the previous day.
Moore joined the department
in 1978 and was appointed com-
mander in 2007. -
Police interim chief Chester
Logan says that "based on the
seriousness" of the allegations,
Moore's role as commander "was
compromised in the police depart-
ment and the community."
Ralph Godbee retired earlier
this morning as police chief after
a subordinate revealed she had
a sexual relationship with him,
Godbee was chief for two years.
LOS ANGELES
Disney takes over
'Star Wars,' will
make new movies
A decade since George Lucas
said "Star Wars" was finished
on the big screen, a new trilogy
under new ownership is destined
for theaters after The Walt Dis-
ney Co. announced Tuesday that
it would buy Lucasfilm Ltd. from
him for $4.05 billion.
The seventh movie, with a
working title of "Episode 7," is set
for release in 2015. Episodes 8 and
9 will follow. The trilogy will con-
tinue the story of Luke Skywalk-
er, Han Solo and Princess Leia
beyond "Return of the Jedi," the
third film released and the sixth
in the saga. After that, Disney
plans a new "Star Wars" movie
every two or three years. Lucas
will serve as creative consultant
in the new movies.
"I'm doing this so that the
films will have a longer life,"
Lucas, the 68-year-old creator
of the series and sole owner of
Lucasfilm, said in an interview
posted on YouTube.
MOSCOW
Moscow rally urges
release of political
R activists
Several hundred demonstrators
rallied in Moscow on Tuesday to
press for the release of opposition
activists on the same day that Rus-
sia commemorated the victims of
Soviet-era repression.
Protesters demanded that
authorities free more than a
dozen people who are in jail fac-
ing accusations over their role in
a May protest that turned vio-
lent, among other charges. The
opposition calls them "political
prisoners."
President Vladimir Putin has
launched a multi-pronged crack-
down on dissent since being
inaugurated for a third term in
May. He has signed off on sev-
eral repressive laws and allowed
numerous arrests and searches
of opposition activists.
CAIRO
Sexual harassment
cases spike over
Egyptian holiday
Egypt's president acknowl-
edged the widespread problem of
sexual harassment in his country
Tuesday, ordering his interior
minister to investigate a rash of
assaults during a just-completed.
Muslim holiday.
Mohammed Morsi acted after
his government reported 735
police complaints about sexual
harassment over the four-day Eid
al-Adha holiday, which ended
Monday.
Morsi stressed the need to fight
"all phenomena of moral chaos
and abuses, especially harassment
in Egyptian streets," spokesman
Yasser Ali said in a statement.
The holiday features celebra-
tions, crowded public squares -
and widespread harassment of
women by men.
Compiled from
Daily wire reports
This aerial photo shows burned-out homes in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough New York after a fire on
Oct. 30, 2012. The tiny beachfront neighborhood told to evacuate before the storm hit burned down as it was flooded.
New or slowly begins
to recover fro-m Sandy
MCCAIN
From Page 1A
Romney has taken heat in the
media for a statement he made
during the Republican prima-
ries in which he said he would
cut spending to the Federal
Emergency Management Agen-
cy and instead transfer relief
efforts to states and private
companies. Despite the criti-
cism, Knight emphasized Rom-
ney's contribution to the storm
relief in lieu of campaigning as
proof of the candidate's dedi-
cation to aiding victims of the
natural disaster. Romney spent
Tuesday in Ohio at several simi-
lar events aimed at storm relief.
"What we're seeing is our
Victory Centers being open to
help the people that have been
affected by this hurricane,"'
Knight said. "He's going to
make sure that people who are
affected by the hurricane are
taken care of first and foremost
and he'll continue to do that for
the next four years."
Though Romney claimed
he suspended his campaign in
order to do relief work, volun-
teers called potential support-
ers for the campaign during the
event, in addition to collecting
cans and clothes.
McCain spoke to the small
roomful of volunteers, thank-
ing them for their efforts and he
encouraged them to boost sup-
port of Romney in the next six
days. He then discussed what
he characterized as President
Barack Obama's poor foreign
policy showing, specifically
referring to the withdrawal of
troops from Iraq and the rise of
al-Qaida throughout the Mid-
dle East and North Africa.
McCain faulted President
Barack Obama for not using the
words "victory" or "success"
when he announced the grad-
ual withdrawal of American
troops from Iraq.
"This guy has the nerve to
say we got bin Laden," McCain
said. "We also know that four
more years of Barack Obama
and we would have one heck of
a steep hill decline. We need to
get rid of this jerk."
McCain completed his brief
talk by thanking everyone for
working on the campaign as
well as collecting goods for
storm victims, adding that the
future of the next generation
depends on this campaign.
"We're doing the Lord's
work," McCain said.
Romney volunteer Irene
Egner, a Beverly Hills, Mich.,
resident said she has been vol-
unteering for the Romney cam-
paign for more than a month,
and was making calls on behalf
of the campaign when McCain
came to speak. She said she sup-
ports Romney's values, which
she believes is reflected in his
campaign's spearheading of the
relief effort.
"I'm a real American, and my
children are flag-waving types
and I still sing the Star Span-
gled Banner with my hand on
my heart," Egner said. "Rom-
ney is full of those values, his
whole family is, and they are
an all-American family in every
way."
Knight said the Romney cam-
paign's commitment to winning
Michigan can be demonstrated
in the dispatching of surrogates
to various part of the state in
the last few days, claiming that
the presence of the Obama cam-
paign has been lackluster.
She added that the polls are
"tight" in Michigan and the
Romney campaign plans to
keep the momentum going up
until Election Day.
- The Associated Press
contributed to this report
Mayor: It may take
four or five days
to restore subway
service
NEW YORK (AP) - Stripped
of its bustle and mostly cut off
from the world, New York was
left wondering Tuesday when
its particular way of life - car-
ried by subway, lit by skyline
and powered by 24-hour deli -
would return.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
and the power company said
it could be the weekend before
the lights come on for hundreds
of thousands of people plunged
into darkness by what was once
Hurricane Sandy.
Bloomberg said it could also
be four or five days before the
subway, which suffered the
worst damage in its 108-year his-
tory, is running again. All 10 of
the tunnels that carry New York-
ers under the East River were
flooded.
Sandy killed 18 people in New
York City, the mayor said. The
dead included two who drowned
in a home and one who was in
bed when a tree fell on an apart-
ment. A 23-year-old woman died
after stepping into a puddle near
a live electrical wire.
"This was a devastating
storm, maybe the worst that we
have ever experienced," Bloom-
berg said.
For the 8 million people who
live here, the city was a different
place one day after the storm.
In normal times, rituals bring
a sense of order to the chaos of
life in the nation's largest city:
Stop at Starbucks on the morn-
ing walk with the dog, drop the
kids off at P.S. 39, grab a bagel.
On Tuesday, those rituals
were suspended, with little indi-
cation when they would come
back. Schools were shut for a
second day and were closed
Wednesday, too.
Coffee shops, normally open
as close as a block apart, were
closed in some neighborhoods.
New York found itself less caf-
feinated and curiously isolated
from the world, although by
afternoon it had begun to strug-
gle back to life.
Some bridges into the city
reopened at midday, but the
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, con-
necting Brooklyn to Manhat-
tan, and the Holland Tunnel,
between New York and New
Jersey, remained closed. And
service on the three commuter
railroads that run between the
city and its suburbs was still sus-
pended.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said bus
service would be restored at 5
p.m. EDT, on a limited sched-
ule but free. He said he hoped
there would be full service on
Wednesday, also free.
The New York Stock Exchange
was closed for a second day, the
first time that has happened
because of weather since the 19th
century, but said it would reopen
on Wednesday. Swaths of the city
were not so lucky. Consolidated
Edison, the power company, said
it would be four days before the
last of the 337,000 customers in
Manhattan and Brooklyn who
lost power have electricity again.
For the Bronx, Queens, Staten
Island and Westchester County,
with 442,000 outages, it could
take a week, Con Ed said. Flood-
water led to explosions that
disabled a power substation on
Monday night, contributing to
the outages.
New Yorkers were left with-
out power to charge their iPods
and Kindles and Nooks for the
subway. Not that there was a
subway. People clustered around
electrical outlets at a Duane
Reade drugstore to power up
their phones.
At a small market called Hud-
son Gourmet, in Manhattan's
Greenwich Village, cashiers
made change by candlelight
and shoppers used flashlights to
scour the shelves.
Lee Leshen used the light
from his phone to make his
selections - three boxes of lin-
guine and a can of tomatoes. His
power was out, but the gas in his
stove worked, so he could cook.
He said he almost never cooks
FOLLOW THE DAILY
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@michigandaily
Regional elections
foretell unrest in Italy
Election shows voter ahead of the general election
next spring," said an analysis
distrust after leader's by economists Chiara Corsa and
.Loredana Fe derico for UniCred-
fraud convIiton it, Italy's largest bank.
Monti's government of tech-
ROME (AP) - Italy risks nocrats imposed a painful aus-
heading into political turmoil terity program and has started
after a regional election showed in on reforms that together have
a huge level of voter distrust in succeeded in bringing down e e C 'S O e
mainstream political parties, Italy's borrowing costs, which
a result that could also rattle had skyrocketed when his pre-*
financial markets that have no decessor, media magnate Silvin t t n ~ e K
small role in deciding the fate Berlusconi, lost the confidence of
of the economically troubled markets that he could bring Ita- A d £ W .
nation. ly's finances under control and
A protest party candidate balance the budget.
from a movement launched by a Italy's benchmark 10-year A d t n.
TV comic made a strong show- bond yield rose Monday after
ing in Sicilian elections Sunday, the release of the Sicilian elec-
a vote seen as a test of popular tion results - from 4.85 percent
sentiment before nationwide to 4.94 percent, aisgnthat inves-
polls in the spring to replace the tors have become somewhat
government of Premier Mario more cautious about the coon-
Monti. The Sicily vote also was try's financial future. The bond
marked by sharply lower turn- yield edgedhback only marginally Wi C U 5 Sf U .
out, down to 47 percent of eligi- to 4.92 percent on Tuesday.
ble voters from 67 percent in the But Monti's term ends in the
2008 regional elections. spring and he has ruled out run-
The populist Five Star Move- ning for premier, although he
ment garnered 18 percent of has left the door open for a set-
the vote - not enough to win ond term if no party wins a clear
the governorship because other majority and he is tapped to head
parties ran in alliances, but still another government. There has
making it the cop vote-getting also been talk of Monti serving as
party and a force to be reckoned finance minister in agovernment
with. Movement leader Beppe nexc year, a move that would also
Gruo attracted large audiences please Italy's eurozone partners.
with his attacks on Monti's aus- Monti, speaking at a confer-
terity policies and the seeming- ence of the World Economic
syendemic corruption among Forum in Rome on Tuesday,
Italy's major political parties. directed himself to Italy's politi-
"Without doubt this result is cal class as he sketched a picture
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