Winner of black rhino hunting auction: My $350,000 will help save the species

Winner of black rhino hunting auction: My $350,000 will help save the species

Corey Knowlton is on edge sitting inside a Las Vegas hotel room, surrounded by a private security detail, explaining why he spent $350,000 for the chance to hunt a black rhinoceros in the southern African nation of Namibia.

"If I sound emotional, it's because I have people threatening my kids," Knowlton told CNN. "It's because I have people threatening to kill me right now [that] I'm having to talk to the FBI and have private security to keep my children from being skinned alive and shot at."

Knowlton was outed over social media as the winner of the Dallas Safari Club's auction for a black rhino hunting permit from the Namibian government last weekend. It didn't take long for the threats and vitriol to start pouring in.

"You are a BARBARIAN. People like you need to be the innocent that are hunted," posted one woman on Knowlton's Facebook page.

Some sounded even more sinister. "I find you and I will KILL you," read another threat. "I have friends who live in the area and will have you in there sights also," wrote another commenter.

"A hunter afraid of being hunted?! How do you think the rhino feels idiot?" responded one woman to Knowlton's fears.

Despite the backlash, Knowlton has decided to engage the raging debate over how to protect an endangered species, such as the black rhino, by putting down his own money to help save the species and raise awareness about wildlife conservation.

"I respect the black rhino," said Knowlton. "A lot of people say, 'Do you feel like a bigger man?' or 'Is this a thrill for you?' The thrill is knowing that we are preserving wildlife resources, not for the next generation, but for eons."

Knowlton, 35, is a Dallas-based hunting consultant for The Hunting Consortium, an international guide service. He's also the co-host of a hunting show on The Outdoor Channel called "Jim Shockey's The Professionals." Knowlton's online biography says he's hunted more than 120 species on almost every continent.

Hunting has a long been a passion of his -- Knowlton said he started hunting as a young boy. He said he grew up poor, but made a good living in oil production.

"I'm a hunter. I want to experience a black rhino. I want to be there and be a part of it. I believe in the cycle of life. I don't believe that meat, you know, comes from the grocery store. I believe that animal died and I respect it," Knowlton said Thursday night on CNN's "Piers Morgan Live."

He describes himself as a passionate conservationist and desperately wants to explain to his critics why hunting one old black rhino can help save critically endangered species around the world. He knows it's a difficult conversation full of scathing-hot emotion.

Humane Society: We'll block his trophy

The Humane Society opposed the Dallas Safari Club Auction and says it plans to fight Knowlton's efforts to bring the black rhino trophy into the United States.

If Knowlton does hunt and kill the black rhino, he'll need a special permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to import the animal into the country under the Endangered Species Act.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society, wrote in an online blog post that killing one endangered animal to save the species is an "Orwellian idea" and worries that it will inspire hunters to pay millions of dollars for the chance to kill orangutans, elephants or tigers.

"Where will it end?" wrote Pacelle. "The first rule of protecting the rarest animals in the world is to protect each living member of that species."

Helicopters versus drones: The cost of the war on rhinos

But Knowlton argues that, in this instance, killing one black rhino will protect the species throughout Namibia and that this idea is supported by scientists and conservationists around the world.

Of the world's approximately 5,000 black rhinos, about 1,700 are in Namibia.

Knowlton says the Namibian government has identified a handful of black rhinos that can be hunted. These are animals that are old, no longer capable of breeding and are considered a dangerous threat to other younger animals.

He said the threat to the rhino is from its own kind. "One of the other ear-tagged killer rhinos is going to injure it. And then either lions or hyenas are going to drag it down. It's going to die [in] a horrible manner, slowly."

So Knowlton argues, why not let a hunter pay a massive amount of money to take out a threat to the rest of the species. The Dallas Safari Club says the $350,000 paid by Knowlton will be donated to the Namibian government's black rhino conservation efforts.

"As much as I would love them all to live forever, they are going to die," said Knowlton. "The older males are killing each other, and something has to be done about it."

Knowlton's supporters: Science backs him up

Knowlton's supporters say this conservation strategy is based in smart science. The International Union for Conservation of Nature supported the Dallas Safari Club's black rhino hunting permit auction.

The union says its mission is to work with governments and conservation groups around the world to find "practical solutions" to conservation efforts around the world.

It also says "trophy hunting is a fundamental pillar of Namibia's conservation approach and instrumental in its success." And that "well-managed recreational hunting and trophy hunting" have had a positive impact in "stimulating population increases for rhino."

But other animal rights organizations have criticized this conservation strategy and argue that the better focus would be eco-tourism, raising money from people willing to pay to see endangered animals up close in the wild.

Knowlton says the intense and controversial publicity leading up to the Dallas Safari Club auction scared several serious bidders away. Knowlton said going into the auction there were about 10 serious bidders, but by the time the bidding started, that number had dwindled to about three.

"It was the most unfortunate thing. There were people willing to spend $500,000 to a million dollars," said Knowlton. "After what I'm going through now, I understand why they decided not to do it."

Knowlton says he does not yet when he'll schedule his hunting expedition to Namibia. A great deal of planning and preparation must be done, he said.

Knowlton wants to preserve the black rhino's hide and then donate the rhino meat to needy communities in Namibia.

"I speak with my heart. I'm passionate about this," said Knowlton. "I think with the money that I contributed, with everything that is at stake and everything there is to be gained by the world to learn about sustainable use, I think this could be the greatest experience of my life."

Knowlton says if the hunt doesn't go perfectly it could also be one of the worst experiences of his life.

"I don't think it makes me a bigger man; I actually think, Piers, I think it could make me a dead man," he told CNN's Morgan.

"This is probably the most dangerous situation that I'll ever be in outside of walking around right now with all the people that want to kill me."

Source : http://edition.cnn.com/

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After discovery, mystery of McStay family's disappearance deepens

After discovery, mystery of McStay family's disappearance deepens

After the family vanished in 2010, investigators had no answers. Now they hope the family's remains will tell them what happened.

Nearly four years ago, the McStays left their snug home in suburban San Diego County on a chilly February evening. Piling into their Isuzu Trooper, parents Joseph and Summer and young sons Gianni and Joseph Jr. left behind two dogs, two bowls of popcorn and, soon, a mystery.

Their car turned up four days later in the parking lot of a mini-mall near the Mexican border, with a few birthday toys for one of the boys tossed in back. But there was no sign of the McStays.

Some 1,374 days later and about 100 miles to the north, San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies uncovered the skeletal remains of the parents and two small bodies believed to be their boys, authorities said Friday. An off-road motorcyclist had noticed a few scattered bones four days earlier, near what turned out to be a pair of shallow graves on the edge of the desert outside Victorville.

After years of false leads and purported sightings from around the nation and into Mexico, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon put part of the mystery to rest when he announced that the four McStays were homicide victims. But the sheriff said it would take more investigation before detectives would have any hope of saying how or why the family died.

"It's not really the outcome we were looking for," Joseph McStay's brother, Michael, said, pausing at the podium of a San Bernardino news conference as he began to cry. "But it gives us courage to know they're together and they're in a better place."

The brother described the "tough road" his family has endured and asked the media to give them space for grieving. A half dozen relatives sat nearby, holding back tears, several wearing dark glasses.

From the time the family disappeared in February 2010, detectives in San Diego County said they were baffled by the case. The 40-year-old husband and his wife, 43, appeared to have no enemies. Joseph McStay appeared to have plenty of work at his business, Earth Inspired Products, which installed water fountains.

The lead investigator in the case, Troy DuGal, said he found no signs of forced entry or a struggle at the McStays' home on a cul-de-sac in Fallbrook. A surveillance camera from a nearby home indicated the parents and their two boys, 3 and 4 years old, had left on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, at 7:47 p.m.

No one reported a trace of them until the following Monday, when security guards at the small shopping center in San Ysidro found the SUV. They had the car towed, seemingly just another one belonging to the visitors who illegally parked in the lot before taking the pedestrian overcrossing into Mexico.

The Isuzu yielded no significant clues. Investigators wondered if the McStays had simply walked over the border. That theory gained some traction when video from a surveillance camera at the border revealed pictures of a man and woman, each holding the hand of a small boy.

Family members looked at the video. The woman wore clothing that looked like it could be Summer's — a white, fur-lined jacket and Ugg boots. But the man seemed too tall and slender to be Joseph.

An FBI forensic lab had picked through the family computers and found other possible hints of an impending trip to Mexico. Someone had searched: "What documents do children need for traveling to Mexico?" Another search indicated a possible interest in Spanish lessons.

But others close to the family said the McStays had talked about how the drug wars in Mexico made travel there too dangerous. They were sure the parents never would have gone voluntarily, especially with their boys.

"My son didn't walk away," Joseph's father, Patrick McStay, said Thursday. "They didn't walk into Mexico. They would never do that."

The disappearance of an entire family is a rare event. Of the 1 million people reported missing each year, 95% turn up within 24 hours. But the chances of being found decline with each passing day.

The case attracted big media attention. Each time another TV program aired pictures of the McStays, tips would flow in. Someone thought they spotted Summer at an Ikea in Burbank. Another report put the family at a restaurant in Mexico.

The leads came to nothing, but DuGal soon had four binders filled with evidence, each 4 inches thick. Still, family and friends could not come up with an explanation, or a motive that made any sense.

Jesi Silveria, a friend of Summer McStay's, recalled their conversations in the days leading up to the disappearance. The family had moved into the Fallbrook home just a few months earlier. The friends talked about remodeling and a new garden.

"There was a lot of happiness for them," Silveria said Friday. "There was this larger space for their children and their animals to grow into.... We are all heartbroken over what has happened."

It was about 10 a.m. Monday when sheriff's deputies got the report from the off-road biker. He didn't know if the bones he found were animal or human, but he felt compelled to report them.

Investigating a tumbleweed-strewn patch of desert near Quarry Road, within sight of Interstate 15, the deputies found two graves, about 2 feet deep and 20 feet apart. It appeared the remains had been there for "an extended period of time" and that animals had scattered some of the bones while leaving most of the skeletons intact.

Dental records helped identify the bodies of Joseph and Summer. The Department of Justice will conduct DNA analysis to confirm that the other bodies are Gianni and Joseph Jr.

Investigators also found clothing with the remains, though they declined to describe it or to say much else. McMahon would say only that there was "evidence at the scene that will help complete the investigation."

Patrick McStay has long complained that San Diego investigators should have done more, saying he was "livid" at the "inept" investigation. But he also acknowledged that his fury had bolstered his spirit: "By being mad, by going after, by trying to find out what happened to my family -- trying to get people to listen -- that's what keeps me going."

Friends began sending him links to stories about the discovery on Thursday. He had a hunch early on. "I got a cold chill," McStay said, "and I knew it was them."

Times staff writer Scott Kraft contributed to this report.

Source : http://www.latimes.com/

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Officials say 4 Marines killed in accident at Camp Pendleton

Officials say 4 Marines killed in accident at Camp Pendleton

Four U.S. Marines were killed Wednesday during a range maintenance operation at Camp Pendleton in California, the base said in a press release.

The base did not provide any other details on what it called a “fatal incident,” but said it would release the names of those killed after their families were notified. 

The Marines were clearing the range of unexploded ordnance, and it was not a live firing range, a Marine official said. No further details were released.

"We offer our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families of the Marines lost today in this tragic accident. Our first priority is to provide the families with the support they need during this difficult time," said Brig. Gen. John W. Bullard, commanding general of Marine Corps Installations West at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

The base said the cause of the accident is under investigation, and more information will be released as it becomes available.

The deaths come about eight months after a mortar explosion killed seven Marines during a live-fire training exercise in Nevada.

A military investigation determined human error was to blame for that accident. According to the probe's findings, a Marine operating a 60 mm mortar tube and ammunition did not follow correct procedures, resulting in the detonation of a high explosive round at the mortar position.

The investigation also determined that the mortar team involved in the accident had not conducted "appropriate preparatory training."

Source :http://www.foxnews.com

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Body Found in Search for Missing Oakland Investigator

Body Found in Search for Missing Oakland Investigator

Oakland mother and public defender Sandra Coke has been missing since Aug. 4, 2013. (Oakland Police)

A female body was discovered Friday afternoon in the area where California authorities were searching for a missing federal criminal investigator.

The body, which has yet to be identified, was found at about 1 p.m. in the area where officials were looking for Sandra Coke, who was reported missing since Sunday. Coke went missing after following a tip on her stolen dog.

Based on additional information obtained by the Oakland, Calif., Police Department, detectives decided to move their search-and-rescue location from the Vallejo, Calif., area to Lagoons Valley Park, an unincorporated area just outside of the city of Vacaville, Calif., according to Solano County Sheriff's Office Deputy Daryl Snedeker.

For now, authorities have called off any additional searches.

Earlier, registered sex offender Randy Alana, 56, was identified as a person of interest in Coke's disappearance.

Investigators believe Alana and Coke were together the night she went missing, according to the Oakland Police Department.

READ MORE: Missing Oakland Investigator's Friend Fears 'Something Has Happened'

Alana is registered as a high-risk sex offender with a criminal history that includes kidnapping and rape, according to the state's database.

He and Coke dated more than 20 years ago, Coke's friend Dan Abrahamson told ABC San Francisco affiliate KGO-TV.

"He reappeared in the Bay Area rather recently and reached out to Sandra for help," Abrahamson told KGO-TV.

Alana was taken into custody on an unspecified parole violation Tuesday and is being held in the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, Calif., without bail, according to Alameda County online records. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court on Aug. 16.

Meanwhile, investigators overnight launched a massive search at the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo, Calif., for signs of the missing woman, KGO-TV reported.

Coke was last seen at her home Sunday by her 15-year-old daughter. A spokesperson for the family said she left the house to follow up on a lead related to her missing dog.

"There's no question something had happened. There's no way she would have ever left her daughter there alone," Wendy Springer, Sandra's best friend, told ABC News.

For weeks, Coke had been looking for her beloved dog, Ginny, who disappeared after someone broke into her home in May. Coke offered a $1,000 reward on "missing" posters. Tips were called in, but they all were dead ends.

This past weekend, Coke discovered a new lead in finding Ginny.

"She told her daughter that someone called about the dog," her sister Tanya Coke said.

READ: Oakland Woman Vanishes While Checking Tip on Her Stolen Dog

Coke's family said she left the house to meet the caller, hoping to be gone for a half hour, but never returned. Coke's daughter then tracked her mom's work and personal iPhones using a GPS application. Both had apparently been dumped: one on a Richmond, Calif., Highway, the other near Oakland, Calif.

"The phones were still working the next morning, sending a signal," Tanya Coke said.

Police found Coke's Mini Cooper two miles from her home.

"It's absolutely heartwrenching," Tanya Coke said. "Every parent, every sibling's nightmare. It's especially upsetting that she might be in danger and that there is foul play here."

On Wednesday, investigators took bags of evidence from Coke's home, including her laptop computers, hoping to find clues.

Police won't say if they believe Coke's work helping win release for inmates on death row, or the search for her missing dog, have anything to do with her disappearance.

"She was very attached to the dog and very concerned about trying to get her back," said Joe Schlesinger, a friend for over 20 years.

Schlesinger and Coke work with death-row inmates in the Office of the Federal Defender for the Eastern District of California.

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"We work on cases where there are all kinds of tragedies and it isn't the most popular work, but we have no reason to believe her disappearance has anything to do with the crimes she was investigating," said Schlesinger. "She was a committed, stable person that wouldn't just wander off."

Coke's family and friends are vowing to keep searching until they find her.

"She's a very special person," Springer said, "unusually kind and generous and big-hearted."

Coke was described as 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds, with a medium complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a black-and-white shirt and dark jeans when she disappeared.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Oakland, Calif., Police.

Source : http://abcnews.go.com/

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Mom dies after falling from roller coaster at Six Flags in Texas, witnesses say

Mom dies after falling from roller coaster at Six Flags in Texas, witnesses say

A woman died Friday evening in an accident while riding the Texas Giant roller coaster at a Six Flags amusement park in North Texas, authorities said.

The accident happened just after 6:30 p.m. Friday at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. Park spokeswoman Sharon Parker confirmed that a woman died while riding the coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington but did not specify how she was killed.

A family in line behind the woman who fell told MyFoxDFW.com that she was on the ride with her daughter and son-in-law. The family said her seat restraint seemed to go down normally before the car left. They said when the train came back, the seat restraint was down.

The family said the woman's daughter and son-in-law were calling for help. They were screaming, "We need to go get my mom!"

Witnesses told local media outlets that the woman fell from the ride, which is billed as the tallest steel-hybrid roller coaster in the world.

"She goes up like this. Then when it drops to come down, that's when it (the safety bar) released and she just tumbled," said Carmen Brown of Arlington. Brown said she was waiting in line to get on the ride when the accident happened.

"They didn't secure her right. One of the employees from the park -- one of the ladies -- she asked her to click her more than once, and they were like, `As long you heard it click, you're OK.' Everybody else is like, `Click, click, click.' Hers only clicked once. Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn't feel safe, but they let her still get on the ride," Brown told The Dallas Morning News. 

MyFoxDFW.com reported that fire crews had to use a ladder truck to get to the platform below the roller coaster where the woman's body had fallen.

Arlington Fire Department investigators have not confirmed if the restraint came loose, according to the report. Investigators will try to determine Saturday if the woman was not properly secured by staff, as some witnesses accounts contend.

Six Flags expressed sadness over the death and said it was temporarily closing the section of the park around the accident site. It didn't say how long the area would be closed. A message left for Parker by The Associated Press wasn't returned.

"We are deeply saddened to share that earlier this evening an adult woman died in the park while on the Texas Giant. Park medical staff and local paramedics responded immediately. Since the safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority, the ride has been closed pending further investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends during this difficult time," the statement said.

The Texas Giant reaches 14 stories high and has a drop of 79 degrees and a bank of 95 degrees. It can carry up to 24 riders. The ride first opened in 1990 as an all-wooden coaster but underwent a $10 million renovation in 2010 to install steel-hybrid rails before reopening in 2011.

Brown said she was next in line behind the woman and saw her being strapped into her seat next to her son.

"We heard her screaming. We were like, `Did she just fall?"' Brown said.

Arlington police Sgt. Christopher Cook, the department spokesman, referred all questions to Parker. No other details were available.

In 1999, a 28-year-old Arkansas woman drowned and 10 other passengers were injured when a raft-like boat on the Roaring Rapids ride at Six Flags overturned in 2 to 3 feet of water about 200 feet from the end of the ride.

Six Flags Over Texas opened in 1961 as the first amusement park in the Six Flags system. It is 17 miles west of downtown Dallas.

Source : http://www.foxnews.com/

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Liz Cheney run for Wyoming Senate seat: Is she a lock to win?

Liz Cheney run for Wyoming Senate seat: Is she a lock to win?

Liz Cheney, daughter of the former vice president, is launching a Senate candidacy. But Michael Enzi, a Republican, already occupies the seat she wants.

Surprise – Liz Cheney is going to run for a Senate seat in Wyoming next year. That’s where the Cheney family has roots, since dad Dick Cheney went to school there and was Wyoming’s lone representative before he became George W. Bush’s vice president.

But it’s not like Cheney the daughter has spent years building a network in the state and saluting the crowd at Cheyenne’s iconic Frontier Days. She just bought a house there last year after spending much of her recent life in the non-cowboy country of northern Virginia.

Plus, a Republican already occupies the seat Ms. Cheney wants, Sen. Michael Enzi. He’s in his third term and is Wyoming to the core: He grew up in Thermopolis and is a former mayor of Gillette.

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So does Cheney have a chance to knock off Senator Enzi in the GOP primary?

Yes. Yes, she does. At this point, she might even be the favorite.

“Cheney represents a major problem for Enzi,” judge Washington Post political analysts Chris Cillizza and Sean Sullivan.

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Money is one reason. She’ll be able to raise all she needs to run in a thinly populated state where advertising is cheap. Her cash may come from out of state, because of the Cheney family’s national connections, but Enzi just won’t even be in the same league in terms of war chests. He’s clearly unprepared for a primary challenge, as at this point he’s got under $500,000 in his political accounts.

Then there’s the Cheney name. Enzi is famous for Wyoming, so the advantage here isn’t as clear as it seems from outside the state. But Mr. Cheney is still remembered by a significant portion of Wyoming voters as an alumnus, someone who rose from Casper to the highest level of US politics.

That counts for something.

Plus, it appears that Ms. Cheney will try to define Enzi as a go-along, someone who’s been content to work with party leadership and (gasp!) Democrats over the years. It remains to be seen how that plays in Wyoming as a whole, but it’s sure to get lots of attention and support from the tea party wing of the GOP and others who think the party’s problem is that it does not fight hard enough.

“Mike Enzi is a fine Republican, but he is not putting points on the board for conservatives.... We need less rudderless Republicans who shuffle around at the direction of their leadership and lobbyist friends,” conservative pundit Erick Erickson wrote Tuesday at RedState.

Of course, Cheney will have to handle the carpetbagger issue if she’s going to win. Enzi probably will try to define her as someone who’s running only because of personal ambition. It’s not like Enzi is a Northeastern moderate, like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). He’s already one of the most conservative senators.

Enzi’s best course of action may be to charge that Cheney is “too extreme” for Wyoming. She’s embraced her father’s neoconservative foreign-policy views, which included advocacy for the Iraq war and other interventionist actions. She’s charged that President Obama is “working to preemptively disarm America.”

According to Enzi, she broke her word when she entered the Senate race.

“She said that if I ran she wasn’t going to run, but obviously that isn’t correct,” Enzi said Tuesday.

Source http://www.csmonitor.com/

Related searches : Liz Cheney

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Democrats Slam NRA's Response To School Shooting

Democrats Slam NRA's Response To School Shooting

Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president, speaks in response to the Connecticut school shootings, at a news conference in Washington on Friday.

The nation's largest gun owners group had said little in the immediate aftermath of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. But the National Rifle Association's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, broke that silence Friday with a call to place armed guards at all of the nation's schools.

The idea was met with immediate criticism from Democrats in Congress.

At a Washington event billed as a news conference — although reporters were denied the opportunity to ask questions — LaPierre expressed the group's horror, outrage and grief at the shootings. Then he said the only way to stop "a monster from killing our kids" was with what he called a plan of absolute protection.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," he said. "Would you rather have your 911 call bring a good guy with a gun from a mile away or from a minute away?"

The NRA chief's statement was interrupted twice by protesters — including one who said the NRA had blood on its hands.

In response to LaPierre, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein noted that about a third of the nation's schools already have armed guards.

"Is this the answer? That America should become an armed camp?" said Feinstein, who is sponsoring legislation to reinstate a ban on assault weapons. "I don't think so, and I don't think that's the American dream."

Democratic Sen.-elect Christopher Murphy of Connecticut, whose current congressional district encompasses Newtown, called LaPierre's comments tone-deaf.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said if the NRA wants to be part of the national conversation about gun violence, it's not doing itself any favors. "The NRA today in its approach will be irrelevant," he said, "because it can't be a credible and constructive participant in this debate if it says the only acceptable solution is armed guards in schools."

Money And Influence

The NRA has long been known as one of Washington's most powerful lobbies. It has been a prolific contributor to political candidates and has waged public campaigns against renewal of the assault weapons ban.

It has also been active in limiting the reach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which enforces federal gun laws. The NRA was behind efforts to limit access to a database used to trace weapons.

William Vizzard, a former ATF agent, says the NRA is worried the government wants a national gun registry. "A lot of those folks are very paranoid about what they consider registration," he said. "But to a large extent, it was an attempt to undercut the ability of the press and other entities to write stories about this and various local municipal jurisdictions filing suit and so on."

The ATF has been without a permanent administrator since the Bush administration, in part because of NRA opposition. It has also been able to keep funding for the agency flat.

But Vizzard, who teaches criminal justice at Sacramento State, says it's not so much the number of agents as it is the restraints they're under. "ATF could have 10,000 agents. It doesn't essentially mean they'd be able to produce a lot better results because they don't have the statutory authority," he said. "They even restricted the number of times they can inspect a dealer per year."

This week, some lawmakers whom the NRA had previously given "A" grades have expressed an interest in broaching gun issues for the first time. How far they will get is unclear, but their willingness suggests the NRA's aura of invincibility may be showing some cracks.

Related searches: wayne lapierre, nra press conference

Source : http://www.npr.org

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Sandy-ravaged shops hope for Small Business Saturday boost

Sandy-ravaged shops hope for Small Business Saturday boost

Big Fun Toys in Hoboken, N.J., and other small stores hard-hit by superstorm Sandy, are hoping to bounce back with Small Business Saturday. / WCBS

Black Friday was the big day for major retailers, but Saturday is all about the mom-and-pop stores.

As CBS Station WCBS reports, the day known as Small Business Saturday has special meaning for those trying to make it back from superstorm Sandy.

The storm put many people out of business in the New York-New Jersey area, but some are hoping that sales on Saturday will give them the boost they so desperately need.

The warmth and familiarity of a neighborhood mom and pop store is an undeniable part of most communities, but weeks after Sandy hit, small businesses have continued to suffer, reports WCBS' Amy Dardashtian.

"We want to stay in business," said Babylon, L.I., gift shop owner Pat Turner. "I've been here 32 years."

Marshal Cohen, an analyst with the NDP Group of Port Washington, said it will take a month or more for local retailers to catch up from business lost in the aftermath of the storm.

Small Business Saturday is an annual nationwide effort to support small businesses. Local shops will be highlighted all day Saturday.

Sheila Dallara of Hoboken can buy toys elsewhere, but she said she'll only do it in her town, where her bucks help buy a bounce back.

"It's so important to support local businesses and help bring them back," Dallara told WCBS' Dave Carlin.

When Sandy zapped the store's power, Big Fun Toys on Washington Street lost more than just a week of business. "We really are going to be relying on this holiday season to catch up with the effects of Sandy," said Big Fun Toys manager Kathleen Childs.

In Long Beach, Nassau County, small business owners such as Cuban Crocodile Restaurant operator Marini Wolfe are dealing with damage to their businesses and their homes.

"You don't know which to go for first - your home, your business - but they're both equally important," Wolfe said.

During Sandy, Marini's restaurant was filled with flood water, and the boiler and water heater were destroyed.

The State of New York is offering emergency low-interest loans to help get small businesses back on their feet, but business owners say they also need the local foot traffic.

"We're open, but you know, these people don't really, you know, have the money, the time, or whatever," said Kevin Donald, owner of Go Green Dry Cleaning in Long Beach. "They're just trying to survive, and we're trying to survive, too."

Small retailers emphasized that supporting local businesses means supporting the whole community.

"When you're supporting local businesses you support people who live, the people who work here, live here, and it's a good, efficient way of supporting the town you live in," Childs added.

Source : http://www.cbsnews.com

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Petraeus Quits; Evidence of Affair Was Found by F.B.I.

Petraeus Quits; Evidence of Affair Was Found by F.B.I.

Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin L. Hill

David H. Petraeus is said to have had an affair with Paula Broadwell, right, who wrote a biography of him.

 the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and one of America’s most decorated four-star generals, resigned on Friday after an F.B.I. investigation uncovered evidence that he had been involved in an extramarital affair.

Mr. Petraeus issued a statement acknowledging the affair after President Obama accepted his resignation and it was announced by the C.I.A. The disclosure ended a triumphant re-election week for the president with an unfolding scandal.

Government officials said that the F.B.I. began an investigation into a “potential criminal matter” several months ago that was not focused on Mr. Petraeus. In the course of their inquiry into whether a computer used by Mr. Petraeus had been compromised, agents discovered evidence of the relationship as well as other security concerns. About two weeks ago, F.B.I. agents met with Mr. Petraeus to discuss the investigation.

Administration and Congressional officials identified the woman as Paula Broadwell, the co-author of a biography of Mr. Petraeus. Her book, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus,” was published this year. Ms. Broadwell could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Broadwell, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, spent 15 years in the military, according to a biography that had appeared on her Web site. She spent extended periods of time with Mr. Petraeus in Afghanistan, interviewing him for her book, which grew out of a two-year research project for her doctoral dissertation and which she promoted on a high-profile tour that included an appearance on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.”

Married with two children, she has described Mr. Petraeus as her mentor.

Senior members of Congress were alerted to Mr. Petraeus’s impending resignation by intelligence officials about six hours before the C.I.A. announced it. One Congressional official who was briefed on the matter said that Mr. Petraeus had been encouraged “to get out in front of the issue” and resign, and that he agreed.

As for how the affair came to light, the Congressional official said that “it was portrayed to us that the F.B.I. was investigating something else and came upon him. My impression is that the F.B.I. stumbled across this.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not inform the Senate and House Intelligence Committees about the inquiry until this week, according to Congressional officials, who noted that by law the panels — and especially their chairmen and ranking members — are supposed to be told about significant developments in the intelligence arena. The Senate committee plans to pursue the question of why it was not told, one official said.

The revelation of a secret inquiry into the head of the nation’s premier spy agency raised urgent questions about Mr. Petraeus’s 14-month tenure at the C.I.A. and the decision by Mr. Obama to elevate him to head the agency after leading the country’s war effort in Afghanistan. White House officials said they did not know about the affair until this week, when Mr. Petraeus informed them.

“After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” Mr. Petraeus said in his statement, expressing regret for his abrupt departure. “Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation.”

Mr. Petraeus’s admission and resignation represent a remarkable fall from grace for one of the most prominent figures in America’s modern military and intelligence community, a commander who helped lead the nation’s wartime activities in the decade after the Sept. 11 attacks and was credited with turning around the failing war effort in Iraq.

Mr. Petraeus almost single-handedly forced a profound evolution in the country’s military thinking and doctrine with his philosophy of counterinsurgency, focused more on protecting the civilian population than on killing enemies. More than most of his flag officer peers, he understood how to navigate Washington politics and news media, helping him rise through the ranks and obtain resources he needed, although fellow Army leaders often resented what they saw as a grasping careerism.

“To an important degree, a generation of officers tried to pattern themselves after Petraeus,” said Stephen Biddle, a military scholar at George Washington University who advised Mr. Petraeus at times. “He was controversial; a lot of people didn’t like him. But everybody looked at him as the model of what a modern general was to be.”

At the C.I.A., Mr. Petraeus maintained a low profile, in contrast to the celebrity that surrounded him as a general. But since the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans two months ago, critics had increasingly pressured him to give the agency’s account of the chaotic night. Mr. Petraeus was scheduled to testify before a closed Congressional hearing next week.

White House officials say they were informed on Wednesday night that Mr. Petraeus was considering resigning because of an extramarital affair. Intelligence officials notified the president’s national security staff. Mr. Obama at the time was on his way back to Washington from Chicago, where he had gone to receive election returns.

On Thursday morning, just before a staff meeting at the White House, Mr. Obama was told. “He was surprised, and he was disappointed,” one senior administration official said. “You don’t expect to hear that the Thursday after you were re-elected.”

The president was in the White House all day on Thursday, getting back to his old routine after months on the campaign trail. That afternoon, Mr. Petraeus came in to see him, and informed him that he strongly believed he had to resign.

Mr. Obama did not accept his resignation right away. “He told him, ‘I’ll think about it overnight,’ ” the administration official said. After months on the road, the disclosure of a career-killing extramarital affair from his larger-than-life C.I.A. director was the last thing that Mr. Obama was expecting, the official said.

The president, officials said, did not want Mr. Petraeus to leave. But he ultimately decided that he would not lean heavily on him to stay. On Friday, he called Mr. Petraeus and accepted the resignation, “agreeing with Petraeus’s judgment that he couldn’t continue to lead the agency,” a White House official said.

The White House had hoped to keep the news under wraps until after the daily briefing for the news media, but as it was reported on MSNBC, reporters checking their e-mail confronted Jay Carney, the press secretary, who tried to duck the questions.

“I think I’ll let General Petraeus address this,” Mr. Carney said. Shortly after the news broke, Mr. Obama released a statement praising Mr. Petraeus for his “extraordinary service” to the country and expressing support for him and his wife, Holly.

“By any measure, through his lifetime of service, David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger,” the president said. Without directly addressing the affair, Mr. Obama added, “Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work.”

A favorite of President George W. Bush and once the subject of intense speculation about his future as a possible presidential candidate, Mr. Petraeus managed the awkward move from a Republican administration to a Democratic one. He was one of the most telegenic faces of the military during his tenure, testifying frequently in Congress about the country’s difficult battles overseas.

Mr. Petraeus clashed with Mr. Obama in 2008 during a campaign visit to Iraq, having what David Plouffe, his campaign manager, called in his book a “healthy debate” over troop levels in the country.

But the president’s decision to tap Mr. Petraeus to command the war in Afghanistan, and later picking him to lead the C.I.A., effectively ended lingering concerns among Obama political advisers that the popular general might challenge his commander in chief during the election.

Mr. Petraeus and his wife met when he was a cadet at West Point; she was the daughter of the academy’s superintendent and a student at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.

Holly Petraeus works for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, running a branch dedicated to educating military families about financial matters and monitoring their consumer complaints.

Mr. Petraeus’s resignation and the circumstances surrounding it stunned military officers who have served alongside him in war zones over the past two decades and the national security establishment he later served.

“It was a punch in the gut for those of us who know him,” said Col. Michael J. Meese, a professor at West Point who has known Mr. Petraeus for a decade and served as one of his top aides in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Dave’s decision to step down represents the loss of one of our nation’s most respected public servants.” James R. Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said in a statement.

By acknowledging an extramarital affair, Mr. Petraeus, 60, was confronting a sensitive issue for a spy chief. Intelligence agencies are often concerned about the possibility that agents who engage in such behavior could be blackmailed for information.

Mr. Petraeus praised his colleagues at the C.I.A.’s headquarters in Langley, Va., calling them “truly exceptional in every regard” and thanking them for their service to the country. He made it clear that his departure was not how he had envisioned ending a storied career in the military and in intelligence.

“Teddy Roosevelt once observed that life’s greatest gift is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing,” he said. “I will always treasure my opportunity to have done that with you, and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end.”

Under Mr. Bush, Mr. Petraeus was credited for helping to develop and put in place the “surge” in troops in Iraq that helped wind down the war there. Mr. Petraeus was moved to Afghanistan in 2010 after Mr. Obama fired Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal over comments he made to a reporter.

In his statement on Friday, Mr. Obama said that Michael J. Morell, the deputy director of the C.I.A., would take over once again as acting director, as he did briefly after Leon E. Panetta left the agency last year.

Among those who might succeed Mr. Petraeus permanently is John O. Brennan, the president’s adviser for domestic security and counterterrorism. Mr. Brennan was considered for C.I.A. director before Mr. Obama’s term began but withdrew amid criticism from some of the president’s liberal supporters. Another possibility is Michael G. Vickers, the top Pentagon intelligence policy official and a former C.I.A. paramilitary officer.

Source : http://www.nytimes.com

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Suicide Silence: Death of vocalist Mitch Lucker 'devastating' (Video)

Suicide Silence: Death of vocalist Mitch Lucker 'devastating' (Video)

Fans were in mourning over the death of Mitch Lucker, a vocalist for the heavy metal band Suicide Silence who was killed in a motorcycle accident in Huntington Beach.

The band posted a statement on its Facebook page Thursday morning reading, "There's no easy way to say this. Mitch passed away earlier this morning from injuries sustained during a motorcycle accident. This is completely devastating to all of us and we offer our deepest condolences to his family. He will be forever in our hearts."

Lucker, 28, who lived in Huntington Beach, was riding his black 2013 Harley-Davidson south on Main Street about 8:55 p.m. Wednesday when he hit a light pole near the intersection of 13th Street. According to a release from the department, Lucker apparently lost control of his vehicle and was thrown from it after hitting the pole.

The motorcycle continued moving forward after Lucker was ejected and collided with a pickup truck that was traveling north on Main. The driver of the truck was not injured.

Lucker, who was treated at the scene by paramedics, died shortly after 6 a.m. at UC Irvine Medical Center, according to the Orange County coroner's office.

The band has released three albums — 2007's "The Cleansing," 2009's "No Time to Bleed" and last year's "The Black Crown" — and is described on the website of its record label, Century Media, as "the defining modern death metal band for a new generation."

On the site, Lucker is quoted describing the band's hardcore musical approach.

"This record just attacks, attacks, attacks," he says of the "Black Crown" album. "You're jumping up and down, or you're smashing something, or you're stomping something. It's simply unrelenting."

Lucker is at least the second heavy metal star to die in Huntington Beach in recent years; Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, the drummer of Avenged Sevenfold, succumbed to a drug overdose at his home in 2009.

Source : Los Angeles Times - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com

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Hurricane Sandy rages through Bahamas, after killing 21 in Caribbean, en route to US coast

Related searches: noaa, hurricane, hurricane sandy path, national hurricane center, frankenstorm, national weather service, sandy, hurricane sandy 2012, hurricane sandy track

Hurricane Sandy rages through Bahamas, after killing 21 in Caribbean, en route to US coast

Hurricane Sandy raged through the Bahamas early Friday after leaving 21 people dead across the Caribbean, following a path that could see it blend with a winter storm and reach the U.S. East Coast as a super-storm next week.

Sandy knocked out power, flooded roads and cut off islands in the storm-hardened Bahamas as it swirled past Cat Island and Eleuthera, but authorities reported no deaths in the scattered archipelago.

"Generally people are realizing it is serious," said Caroline Turnquest, head of the Red Cross in the Bahamas, who said 20 shelters were opened on the main island of New Providence.

Sandy, which weakened to a category 1 hurricane Thursday night, caused havoc in Cuba early in the day, killing 11 people in eastern Santiago and Guantanamo provinces as its howling winds and rain toppled houses and ripped off roofs. Authorities said it was Cuba's deadliest storm since July 2005, when category 5 Hurricane Dennis killed 16 people and caused $2.4 billion in damage.

Sandy also killed one person while crossing Jamaica on Wednesday and 10 in Haiti, where heavy rains from the storm's outer bands caused flooding in the impoverished and deforested country.

Late Thursday, the hurricane's center was about 185 miles (300 kilometers) east-southeast of Freeport, Bahamas. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph) and was moving north-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

Forecasters warned that Sandy will likely mix with a winter storm to create a monster storm in the eastern U.S. next week whose effects will be felt along the entire Atlantic Coast from Florida to Maine and inland to Ohio.

Sandy, which crossed Cuba and reached the Bahamas as a category 2 hurricane, was expected to maintain its category 1 storm status for the next several days.

In the Bahamas, power was out on Acklins Island and most roads there were flooded, government administrator Berkeley Williams said.

On Ragged Island in the southern Bahamas, the lone school was flooded.

"We have holes in roofs, lost shingles and power lines are down," said Charlene Bain, local Red Cross president. "But nobody lost a life, that's the important thing."

Steven Russell, an emergency management official in Nassau, said that docks on the western side of Great Inagua island had been destroyed and that the roof of a government building was partially ripped off.

Sooner Halvorson, a 36-year-old hotel owner from Colorado who recently moved to the Bahamas, said she and her husband, Matt, expected to ride out the storm with their two young children, three cats, two dogs and a goat at their Cat Island resort.

"We brought all of our animals inside," she said, though she added that a horse stayed outside. "She's a 40-year-old horse from the island. She's been through tons of hurricanes."

On Great Exuma island, guest house operator Veronica Marshall supplied her only customer with a flashlight and some food before Sandy bore down. She said she was confident that she and her business would make it through intact.

"I'm 73 years old and I've weathered many storms," she said.

Tropical storm conditions were possible for Florida's southeastern coast, the Upper Keys and Florida Bay by Friday morning.

Hurricane Sandy was expected to churn through the central and northwest Bahamas by Friday afternoon and then head northward off the U.S. coast.

With storm conditions projected to hit New Jersey with tropical storm-force winds Tuesday, there was a 90 percent chance that most of the U.S. East Coast would get steady gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe snow starting Sunday and stretching past Wednesday, U.S. forecaster Jim Cisco said.

In an announcement at the end of Cuba's Thursday night newscast, Cuban authorities said the island's 11 dead included a 4-month-old boy who was crushed when his home collapsed and an 84-year-old man in Santiago province.

Santiago, Cuba's second largest city near the eastern tip of the island, was spared the worst of the storm, which also slammed the provinces of Granma, Holguin and Las Tunas.

There were no reports of injuries at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but there were downed trees and power lines, said Kelly Wirfel, a base spokeswoman. Officials canceled a military tribunal session scheduled for Thursday for the prisoner charged in the 2000 attack on the Navy destroyer USS Cole.

In Haiti, Joseph Edgard Celestin, a spokesman for the civil protection office, said the country's death toll stood at nine, including three people who died while trying to cross storm-swollen rivers in southwestern Haiti. He did not provide specifics of how other people died.

Officials reported flooding across Haiti, where many of the 370,000 people still displaced by the devastating 2010 earthquake scrambled for shelter. More than 1,000 people were evacuated from 11 quake settlements, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Sandy was blamed for the death of an elderly man in Jamaica.

Source : Fox News - http://www.foxnews.com

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Hurricane Sandy may slam into U.S. East Coast as Halloween week "Frankenstorm"

Related searches: noaa, hurricane, hurricane sandy path, national hurricane center, frankenstorm, national weather service, sandy, hurricane sandy 2012, hurricane sandy track





Hurricane Sandy may slam into U.S. East Coast as Halloween week "Frankenstorm"

An unusual nasty mix of a hurricane and a winter storm that forecasters are now calling "Frankenstorm" is likely to blast most of the East Coast next week, focusing the worst of its weather mayhem around New York City and New Jersey.

U.S. government forecasters on Thursday upped the odds of a major weather mess, now saying there's a 90 percent chance that the East will get steady gale-force winds, heavy rain, flooding and maybe snow starting Sunday and stretching past Halloween on Wednesday.

Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in Bahamas Hurricane Sandy roars into Cuba Hurricane Sandy prompts storm watch in Florida
Meteorologists say it is likely to cause $1 billion in damages.

The storm is a mix of Hurricane Sandy, now in the Caribbean as a Category 2 storm, as well as an early winter storm in the West and a blast of arctic air from the North. They're predicted to collide and park over the country's most populous coastal corridor and reach as far inland as Ohio.

Hurricane Sandy lashed the central Bahamas on Thursday night with violent winds and torrential rains, after raging through the Caribbean where it caused at least 21 deaths and forced postponement of a hearing at the Guantanamo naval base on Cuba.

The hurricane part of the storm is likely to come ashore somewhere in New Jersey on Tuesday morning, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecaster Jim Cisco. But this is a storm that will affect a far wider area, so people all along the East have to be wary, Cisco said.

Coastal areas from Florida to Maine will feel some effects, mostly from the hurricane part, he said, and the other parts of the storm will reach inland from North Carolina northward.

"It will get broader. It won't be as intense, but its effects will be spread over a very large area," the hurricane center's chief hurricane specialist, James Franklin, said Thursday.

One of the more messy aspects of the expected storm is that it just won't leave. The worst of it should peak early Tuesday, but it will stretch into midweek, forecasters say. Weather may start clearing in the mid-Atlantic Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 in the Northeast, Cisco said.

"It's almost a weeklong, five-day, six-day event," Cisco said Thursday from NOAA's northern storm forecast center in near Washington. "It's going to be a widespread serious storm."

President Barack Obama has been briefed on the hurricane and the White House is urging people in the storm's path to listen to local officials and monitor weather reports. Spokesman Jay Carney says federal emergency management officials have been working with local officials to prepare.

With every hour, meteorologists are getting more confident that this storm is going to be bad and they're able to focus their forecasts more.

The New York area could see around 5 inches of rain during the storm, while there could be snow southwest of where it comes inland, Cisco said.

Both private and federal meteorologists are calling this a storm that will likely go down in the history books.

"We don't have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting," Cisco said.

It is likely to hit during a full moon when tides are near their highest, increasing coastal flooding potential, NOAA forecasts warn. And with some trees still leafy and the potential for snow, power outages could last to the Nov. 6 Election Day, some meteorologists fear.


Source : CBS News - http://www.cbsnews.com

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