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sexta-feira, 14 de setembro de 2012

University professor breastfeeds during class

Eyewitness NewsWASHINGTON, D.C. (WABC) -- Is it appropriate for a female university professor to breast feed while lecturing?

That's the debate raging at American University in Washington, D.C.

Single mom Adrienne Pine felt like she had to take her daughter to work because the baby was sick.

It's unclear if any students who witnessed the breastfeeding had a problem with it.

It happened in a class called Sex, Gender and Culture.

Pine says she didn't want to cancel the first day of the class because her daughter was sick.

The university says it doesn't have a policy on breastfeeding, but it does give new mothers breaks and a private place to pump breast milk.

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lifestyle & fun

Bank heist suspects hurl cash during Los Angeles chase

Eyewitness NewsLOS ANGELES -- Suspected bank robbers fleeing county sheriff's deputies hurled cash from a speeding SUV on Wednesday, drawing people into the streets until a pickup blocked their path and they had to surrender.

In a bizarre scene followed by TV helicopters, a large crowd pressed in as deputies with guns drawn pulled two men from the SUV in South Los Angeles. City police came to their aid and formed skirmish lines to move the crowd back.

Along the pursuit's route through a low-income part of the city, people were seen scooping up the money.

"It's our neighborhood stimulus package!" resident Diane Dorsey told the Los Angeles Times while she watched the bedlam unfold from her front yard at the corner of Kansas and Vernon avenues.

Police Department spokesman Cmdr. Andrew Smith said it appeared the suspects threw the money in hopes of drawing people into the roadway to block the pursuing patrol cars.

"A lot of people came out their houses, they saw this on TV, they saw that money was being thrown," Smith told KNBC-TV.

Several hundred people gathered around the deputies during the dangerous moment of arrest.

"I think one of the folks told me that they thought there was more money in the vehicle and maybe they were hoping to get a little bit of that," Smith said.

One officer had a foot run over during the incident but was expected to be OK, he said.

The incident began about 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles in the suburban Santa Clarita area where four men committed an armed bank robbery, Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker told KCAL-TV.

The robbers fled south by freeway and en route two robbers bailed out of the SUV in the Sylmar area of the San Fernando Valley. One suspect was taken into custody there Wednesday afternoon but the other remained at large.

The SUV pursuit continued into downtown Los Angeles where the SUV exited the freeway and began a circuitous route through the older, narrow streets of the city's central and southern areas.

The 90-minute chase came to an end when a big, heavy duty pickup made a right turn from a side street and blocked the SUV's path. It was not clear whether that driver did so intentionally.

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quarta-feira, 12 de setembro de 2012

Woman pulls gun on man during sex in car

A Florida woman pulled a gun on a man during sex and demanded money, causing him to lose control of his moving car, police said.

Amanda Jean Linscott, 26, fled the scene on foot after the vehicle struck a palm tree, went airborne and plowed through two front yards, said police in Port Charlotte, Fla..

After a weeklong investigation, Linscott was arrested today on an armed robbery charge.

Her left eye, visibly bruised in her mug shot, was injured as a result of the victim punching her in the face during the skirmish, which occurred during the early hours of Sept. 3, police said.

Hours earlier, Linscott, who was accompanied by a friend, met the victim and two of his friends at the Paddy Wagon Irish Pub in Port Charlotte, police said.

After the bar closed, the men invited the women to come to a private residence, where the victim and another woman went into a bedroom to have sex, police said.

"The girl said she needed $250, which [the victim] said he didn't have. She asked how much he had and he gave her $120," Bob Carpenter, a spokesperson for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, said in a statement.

When the victim went to the bathroom, both women left the home, police said.

The victim then called Linscott's friend's cell phone and agreed to meet her at a local convenience store. Instead of encountering the woman who left with his $120, the victim met Linscott, who claimed her friend had ditched her, police said.

Linscott got into the victim's Nissan Sentra, at which point she began touching the man and having sex with him while he was driving, the man told police.

Linscott allegedly demanded money. When the man told her he had already given her friend $120, she put a .357 Taurus revolver to the man's head, police said.

During the melee, the victim lost control of his car, striking a palm tree and barreling through two front yards before his vehicle came to a stop, at which point Linscott fled the scene.

The victim managed to drive his wrecked car to his two friends' home, where he gave them the gun that had been left behind and called police.

When deputies responded to the area, they saw an elderly man in a driveway who told them his daughter, Amanda Linscott, was in a crash and had been punched in the face, police said.

After gathering statements from all parties and examining evidence, there was reason to arrest Linscott on an armed robbery charge, police said.

She is being held at Charlotte County Jail without bond.

It was not yet clear whether Linscott had an attorney.

GET CONTINUING COVERAGE OF THE NATO SUMMIT AND THE PROTESTS FROM WLS IN CHICAGO

domingo, 20 de maio de 2012

Trio accused of plotting attacks during summit

by MICHAEL TARMCHICAGO -- Three activists who traveled to Chicago for a NATO summit were accused Saturday of manufacturing Molotov cocktails in a plot to attack President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home and other targets.

But defense lawyers shot back that Chicago police had trumped up the charges to frighten peaceful protesters away, telling a judge it was undercover officers known by the activists as "Mo" and "Gloves" who brought the firebombs to a South Side apartment where the men were arrested.

"This is just propaganda to create a climate of fear," Michael Duetsch said. "My clients came to peacefully protest."

On the eve of the summit, the dramatic allegations were reminiscent of previous police actions ahead of major political events, when authorities moved quickly to prevent suspected plots but sometimes quietly dropped the charges later.

Prosecutors said the men were self-described anarchists who boasted weeks earlier about the damage they would do in Chicago, including one who declared, "After NATO, the city will never be the same."

At one point, one of the suspects asked the others if they had ever seen a "cop on fire."

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy dismissed the idea that the arrests were anything more than an effort to stop "an imminent threat."

"When someone was in the position (of having) Molotov cocktails - that's pretty imminent," he said. "It was not a completed investigation."

The men allegedly bought fuel at a gas station for the makeshift bombs, poured it into beer bottles and cut up bandanas to serve as fuses.

The suspects are Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Jared Chase, 24, of Keene, N.H.; and, Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla.

If convicted on all counts - conspiracy to commit terrorism, material support for terrorism and possession of explosives - the men could get up to 85 years in prison.

Outside the courtroom, Duetsch said the two undercover police officers or informants were also arrested during the Wednesday raid, and defense attorneys later lost track of the two.

"We believe this is all a setup and entrapment to the highest degree," Duetsch said.

The suspects were each being held on $1.5 million bond. Six others arrested Wednesday in the raid were released Friday without being charged.

The three who remained in custody apparently came to Chicago late last month to take part in May Day protests. Relatives and acquaintances said the men were wanderers who bounced around as part of the Occupy movement and had driven together from Florida to Chicago, staying with other activists.

Court records indicated no prior violent behavior.

Longtime observers of police tactics said the operation seemed similar to those conducted by authorities in other cities before similarly high-profile events.

For instance, prior to the Republican National Convention in 2008 in St. Paul, Minn., prosecutors charged eight activists who were organizing mass protests with terrorism-related crimes after investigators said they recovered equipment for Molotov cocktails, slingshots with marbles and other items.

The protesters, who became known as the RNC Eight, denied the allegations and accused authorities of stifling dissent. The terrorism charges were later dismissed. Five of the suspects eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, and three had their cases dismissed altogether.

Molotov cocktails are dangerous weapons, but it "kind of stretches the bounds to define that as terrorism," said Michael Scott, director of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He said police have a history of abusing such tactics, sometimes infiltrating purely peaceful protest groups to search for troublemakers.

But if the allegations are true, police were justified in moving quickly to take the men off the streets, even if the terrorism charges don't stick.

Just one week before their arrest, at least two of the suspects were involved in a minor confrontation with police captured on a video that was then posted on YouTube and aired widely by Chicago media, said another defense attorney, Sarah Gelsomino.

The men had been stopped by police after turning their car into a private driveway.

In the video, one officer asks another what Chicago police would have said in 1968 when they clashed with demonstrators at the Democratic National convention.

"Billy club to the ... skull," the officer responds. Another officer says to the men in the car, who the police take as protesters, "We'll come look for you."

Documents filed by prosecutors in support of the charges in Chicago painted an ominous portrait of the men, saying the trio also discussed using swords, hunting bows and knives with brass-knuckle handles in their attacks.

Relatives and acquaintances painted a starkly different picture.

Activist Bill Vassilakis, who said he let the men stay in his apartment, described Betterly as an industrial electrician who had volunteered to help with wiring at The Plant, a former meatpacking facility that has been turned into a food incubator with the city's backing.

"All I can say about that is, if you knew Brent, you would find that to be the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard. He was the most stand-up guy that was staying with me. He and the other guys had done nothing but volunteer their time and energy," he said.

Betterly appears to have a history of minor run-ins with law enforcement.

Earlier this year, he was cited for disorderly intoxication in February in Miami-Dade County, Fla., but the case has been dismissed, according to online court records.

Authorities in Oakland Park, Fla., said Betterly and two other young men walked into a public high school last fall after a night of tequila drinking and took a swim in the pool, according to a report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

They stole fire extinguishers from three school buses, discharged one and smashed a cafeteria window with another. The vandalism caused about $2,000 in damage. Betterly was charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief, the newspaper said.

Chase grew up in Keene, N.H., and moved to Boston a few years ago before becoming active in the Occupy movement, said his aunt, Barbara Chase of Westmoreland, N.H.

Jared Chase's father, Steve Chase, died about five weeks ago after a long struggle with a disease that left him disabled, Barbara Chase said. The family had been waiting for him to come home before having a funeral.

She said she was stunned to learn of the charges against her nephew.

"That surprised me because he's not that dumb," said Barbara Chase. "He always seemed harmless, but who knows? Outside influences sometimes can sway people to do things that they normally wouldn't do."

Elsewhere around Chicago, demonstrations remained relatively small. Scattered groups of protesters gathered in some neighborhoods, including several hundred who marched to the mayor's house.

Late in the day, another group gathered in the Loop business district and marched down the city's famous Michigan Avenue. Police on horseback and bicycle kept them away from diners at outdoor cafes who ventured downtown despite wide-ranging security precautions.

The largest protests were expected Sunday, when thousands of people were expected to march from a band shell on Lake Michigan to the McCormick Place convention center, where NATO delegates will meet.

Associated Press writers Ryan Foley, Jason Keyser, Jim Suhr and Jeffrey McMurray contributed to this report.

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domingo, 19 de junho de 2011

Pilot killed during accident at Poland air show

Eyewitness NewsWARSAW, Poland -- A small plane lost control and plunged into a river Saturday as it performed stunts at an air show in Poland. The pilot, the only person on board, was killed.

The accident occurred in Plock, in central Poland, as people gathered by the Vistula River for a picnic and the air show.

The news station TVN24 broadcast images of the small plane doing aerobatics when it began spewing out plumes of dark smoke and then plunged into the water.

Rescue workers pulled the pilot from the wreckage and tried to resuscitate him before sending him to a hospital. Several hours later, a hospital official said the pilot, Marek Szufa, died.

The pilot was alone in the plane, a Christen Eagle II, a popular single-engine aircraft used for aerobatic flying. TVN24 identified Szufa as a pilot for the Polish airline LOT and the runner-up in a Poland-wide aerobatics championship.

The director of the Air Club of Mazovia that organized the show, Slawomir Adamkowski, said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

sábado, 21 de maio de 2011

Syrian troops fire during protests

By ZEINA KARAMBEIRUT -- Syrian security forces opened fire on protests around the country Friday in the latest sign the conflict could be moving toward a long and bloody stalemate as President Bashar Assad shrugged off tighter sanctions and U.S. calls to step aside. Human rights activists said at least 27 people were killed, including a 10-year-old boy.

The clashes indicate neither side appears able to tip the scales in the two-month uprising. Assad's forces have waged a relentless crackdown on the opposition, but protesters continue to face down security forces with marches seeking to break the Syrian leader's authoritarian rule.

Human rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed in the clashes and clampdowns.

Witnesses reported protests Friday in the central cities of Homs and Hama; outside the capital of Damascus, and the Mediterranean ports of Banias and Latakia.

Like most witnesses contacted by The Associated Press, the residents asked that their names not be used in fear of reprisals from the government.

Last week, mass arrests and heavy security kept crowds below previous levels seen during the uprising, suggesting Assad's sweeping campaign of intimidation was working. But the marches Friday suggested that opposition forces could be trying to regroup.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, directory of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Friday's protests were more widespread and larger than the previous week.

"There were large numbers from the south to the north to the suburbs, and there were protests in besieged cities and towns," he said. "Despite the heavy security and military presence in almost all these places, people staged protests calling for freedom. This is very significant."

Syrian human rights activist Mustafa Osso said witnesses also were reporting that the army deployed tanks around the northern town of Maaret al-Numan, which has seen intense protests. The Local Coordination Committees in Syria, which help organize the protests, said dozens of people were wounded in the town and hospitals were calling for blood donations.

Friday's death toll was reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group said 10 were killed in Homs, 11 in Maaret al-Numan, one in Latakia, two in the northeastern town of Deir el-Zour, one each in the southern villages of Sanamein and Harra and one in the Damascus suburb of Daraya.

A 10-year-old boy was among the dead in Homs, Osso said.

Syria is coming under increasing pressure to end the crackdown, but the government has brushed off the criticism and new U.S. sanctions that have targeted Assad and senior aides.

In an address Thursday on the Arab world uprising, U.S.

President Barack Obama said that Assad should lead his country to democracy or "get out of the way."

Syria's official news agency said Obama's speech amounted to "incitement." Syria has blamed the unrest on armed thugs and foreign agitators.

Also Friday, leading Sunni Muslim cleric Sheik Karim Rajeh, the imam of Damascus's Al-Hassan mosque, said he will no longer lead Friday sermons because security forces have been preventing people from going to prayers. The weekly demonstrations mostly kick off after prayers.

Syria has banned foreign journalists and prevented local reporters from covering trouble spots, making it nearly impossible to independently verify witness accounts.