Overly Ambitious?

A little bit early? Perhaps, but one can look to the future.

Something Must Be Done

Federal agents nationwide eye ATF agent murder trial

By Mike M. Ahlers, CNNOctober 25, 2010 5:39 p.m. EDT

Washington (CNN) -- Is Will Clark a villain or a hero?

Was the off-duty federal agent brave and chivalrous, or did he overreact when he intervened in a heated domestic argument and shot a man five times, killing him?

A U.S. Virgin Islands jury this week will hear the case for and against Clark, a nine-year veteran of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, now charged with second degree murder.

The prosecution of Special Agent William G. Clark for the 2008 shooting death of Marcus Sukow has enraged many federal law enforcement officers, who say Clark was heroically coming to the defense of a battered woman.

Federal authorities were so incensed by the Virgin Island's prosecution of Clark -- and so concerned other federal agents could similarly be prosecuted -- that they removed all ATF agents from the Virgin Islands in 2008, a policy that continues today, the agency said.

The U.S. Virgin Islands is an unincorporated territory of the United States, and as such has a unique legal relationship with the federal government.

While the broad outline of the shooting is undisputed, two government investigations came to starkly different conclusions.

A federal government multi-agency investigation of the 2008 incident unanimously concluded the shooting was justified. The ATF even returned Clark's gun and badge and put him back to work.

But a Virgin Islands Police Department investigation prompted prosecutors to charge Clark with second degree murder.

The incident occurred the morning of Sunday, September 7, 2008, outside a St. Thomas condo, where all of the main participants were neighbors.

According to a police affidavit, Clark was leaving his condo when he encountered Sukow and his girlfriend, Marguerite Duncan. They had been drinking and were having a "disagreement." Duncan asked Clark for a ride to the guard gate and got in Clark's sports utility vehicle.

Sukow approached Clark, who was sitting in the car with the driver's door open. One witness said he saw Sukow striking the driver's door with his flashlight, and saw Clark draw his weapon and tell Sukow to step back.

"Mr. Sukow stood there with his hands at his side when William Clarke [sic] discharged his firearm at him several times," the affidavit reads.

Local prosecutors evidently were heavily influenced by two facts: First, the deceased, Marcus Sukow, was armed only with a flashlight; second, Clark shot him five times.

"These facts are undisputed and were the findings of the local police investigation," Gov. John de Jongh Jr. wrote in a letter justifying the prosecution.

But a defense lawyer says the local police department's affidavit is inaccurate and its investigation grossly incomplete.

Attorney Mark Schamel said Sukow weighed 260 pounds, had a history of violent assaults, and was acting violently at the time of the incident.

When Clark first encountered the fighting couple, Sukow was naked, intoxicated and shouting threats at his girlfriend and racial slurs at a neighbor who had come out during the commotion.

At one point, Sukow went into his condo and returned wearing gym shorts, and then pelted his girlfriend's car with landscaping stones.

After Duncan sought refuge in Clark's car, Sukow charged at Clark's open driver door, the flashlight -- a heavy-duty, 18-inch metal one -- raised "like a tomahawk," poised to strike Clark, Schamel said.

Clark fired rapidly, as he was trained, Schamel said.

Tests later showed that Sukow had a blood-alcohol content of 0.29 percent, and had barbiturates and morphine in his blood, the defense lawyer said.

Schamel said the former head trainer for the Virgin Islands Police Department academy will testify as an expert witness that the shooting was justified.

Schamel said he also has subpoenaed the Virgin Islands' governor and first lady to testify, because Duncan called them shortly after the shooting. He declined to say what he expected them to say.

On Monday, ATF Deputy Director Kenneth Melson reiterated the agency's support for Clark.

"Special Agent Clark intervened in a domestic dispute in order to protect a woman that was endangered by her boyfriend. His actions were necessary to save a woman's life and his own life," Melson said. "The ATF family supports Special Agent Clark and seeks an immediate, non-criminal resolution in this matter."

Clark's attorney fought to have the case transferred to federal court, saying Clark was acting as a federal agent and deserved federal protections. But a district court judge ruled against the motion, and a federal court has declined to halt the trial.

"William Clark is a federal ATF agent who does not have peace officer status under Virgin Islands law and therefore had no authority to enforce law including the domestic violence statutes," said Sara Lezama, a spokeswoman for the Virgin Islands Department of Justice.

As a private citizen, Clark was authorized to carry a gun and use reasonable force to defend himself and others, Lezama said. But Sukow "did not inflict bodily harm on anyone the morning he was shot," she said.

"That's the government's general position in this case. We believe that he used excessive force instead of reasonable force in this matter," Lezama said.

Clark's advocates say the case has far-reaching ramifications.

"It is well recognized that federal law enforcement officers are immune from state criminal liability for actions that are taken within the scope of their employment as federal officers," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, wrote in a letter to Gov. de Jongh. "That principle... applies with equal force in United States territories."

The Clark prosecution "has the potential to create a chilling effect on the operation of federal law enforcement throughout the United States' territories," Schumer wrote.

"The American law enforcement community is outraged that the USVI prosecutor seems more intent on punishing American cops than woman beaters," Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said in a written statement. Adler and others are calling for an investigation into the prosecution, saying it is in retaliation for federal corruption investigation in the Virgin Islands.

The spokeswoman for the Virgin Islands Department of Justice said a jury will determine the appropriateness of the shooting. That jury was being selected Monday, and the trial is expected to last seven days, she said.

Original Article from CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/25/virgin.islands.atf.agent.case/index.html?hpt=T2

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Updates

Welcome,

It has been a while but, I hope that I will be able to update my blog on a more regular basis. As always I am always open to comments and suggestions for this site, I would also like for you to check out facebook.com/mychouston, twitter.com/houstonmyc, and twitter.com/AndrewRomo .

Best regards,
Andrew S. Romo

Gen. McChrystal retires in military ceremony

by ANNE FLAHERTY

updated 1 hour 16 minutes ago

 

WASHINGTON — Gen. Stanley McChrystal ended his 34-year career as an Army officer Friday in an emotional retirement ceremony at his military headquarters here, marking the last chapter of his swift and stunning fall from grace.

Before a crowd of a few hundred friends, family and colleagues on the Fort McNair parade grounds under an oppressively hot July sun, McChrystal said his service didn't end as he hoped. But he regretted few decisions he had made on the battlefield, cherished his life as a soldier and was optimistic about his future, he said.

"I trusted and I still trust," McChrystal said. "I cared and I still care. I wouldn't have it any other way."

The former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan was fired last month after Rolling Stone magazine published an article titled "The Runaway General" that quoted scathing remarks he and his aides made about their civilian bosses.

McChrystal complained President Barack Obama had handed him "an unsellable position" on the war. The general's closest advisers mocked other government officials, including Vice President Joseph Biden, as fools who were ignorant of the complexities of war.

"Biden? Did you say, 'Bite me?'" one aide is quoted saying.

Shortly after the article was published, McChrystal was sent packing.

In his 18-minute farewell tribute before the VIP-studded crowd, McChrystal made light of the episode. He warned his comrades in arms: "I have stories on all of you, photos of many, and I know a Rolling Stone reporter."

But McChrystal also sounded a more serious note, when he talked about the pain of leaving behind unfulfilled commitments in Afghanistan and watching colleagues ensnared in the scandal.

"There are misconceptions about the loyalty and service of some dedicated professionals that will likely take some time, but I believe will be corrected," he said.

Still, he said he was approaching the future with optimism.

"I need to celebrate," said McChrystal, who inspired intense loyalty among many of those who served under him.

McChrystal spent much of his speech paying tribute to his wife of 33 years, Annie, who watched tearfully from the front row. He described her endless support, as he repeatedly headed off to war, and as inspiring him during dark times following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

"She's here, like she's always been there when it matters, always gorgeous," he said.

Soldiers attending the ceremony were allowed to forgo their formal dress uniforms in lieu of combat fatigues — an apparent tribute to a war commander fresh from battle and whose career was marked by more secret operations to snatch terror suspects than by pomp and circumstance.

Wearing his own Army combat uniform for the last time, the four-star general received full military honors, including a 17-gun salute and flag formations by the Army's Old Guard.

He smiled and nodded at members in the crowd and appeared to joke with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who appeared to fight back tears as he gave McChrystal a hero's tribute.

"Over the past decade, arguably no single American has inflicted more fear, more loss of freedom and more loss of life on our country's most vicious and violent enemies than Stan McChrystal," Gates said.

Afghanistan's top representative to the United States said his country would remember McChrystal for generations to come.

"We will never forget the sacrifices that you and those under your command have made to make Afghanistan safer for our children," Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad said.

A close aide to the general, Col. Charles Flynn, says McChrystal plans to live in the northern Virginia area after moving out of his home in Washington's Fort McNair.

"Presently, the general is concentrating on his transition, the move, his family and remains undecided about future employment options," Flynn wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Senior military and defense officials, including Gates, have said they agreed with Obama's decision to fire McChrystal but were crestfallen by the loss of a gifted colleague.

During his rise to one of the nation's top military jobs, McChrystal made many allies — including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen — who saw him as an honest broker with extraordinary self-discipline.

Mullen was among those who said he was crushed by the episode. He was unable to attend Friday's ceremony because he was traveling overseas.

"He is a friend," Mullen said of McChrystal shortly after McChrystal was fired. "He's an extraordinary officer. He made a severe mistake."

McChrystal was a seasoned special operations commander who made his reputation hunting down members of al-Qaida in Iraq, and helping turn around the course of that war. Last year, he was picked as top commander in Afghanistan to replace Gen. David McKiernan, who was removed from his post by an Obama administration anxious to chart a new course in the war.

The White House is allowing McChrystal to keep his four stars in retirement, even though Army rules would have required him to serve another two years at that rank.

___

Associated Press Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report from Washington.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

To view the original article visit the following link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38386539/ns/politics/

Mayor chooses Atlantan to lead airport system

By BRADLEY OLSON
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

April 14, 2010, 8:02PM

Mayor Annise Parker Wednesday named her pick for a new city aviation director, presenting a top official of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — the busiest in the United States — for City Council approval.

A native of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, Mario C. Diaz had been deputy general manager of the Atlanta airport since 1999 and previously worked in New Jersey's airport system, John F. Kennedy Airport and for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Parker said she has asked Diaz to build up international business in the city's airport system, the fourth-largest in the United States, particularly in Latin America. She also said Diaz will play a major role in the city's economic development efforts.

"I believe that we can be more entreprenurial and more innovative in moving into the future, and I think I have the right person at the right time to help us do that," Parker said.

Abrupt resignation

Diaz will inherit an airport system that drew unwanted attention last year when its leader, Richard Vacar, was abruptly forced out by Mayor Bill White. Public scrutiny at the time focused on the Houston Airport System Development Corporation, a complex nonprofit formed under Vacar that reimbursed the city for consulting work performed by aviation department employees on foreign airport development.

A subsequent probe by a law firm hired by the city, as well as an audit released Tuesday by City Controller Ronald Green, found minor irregularities in HASDC's billing activities, but largely certified the entity's ability to make money and benefit airport operations in Houston.

"The potential net operating revenues and future liquidated equity appears to have long term benefit to HAS, if the activities outlined in the agreement are allowed to continue," Green said.

Parker indicated a willingness to continue at least some aspects of the city's relationship with HASDC, which pays 1.8 times the cost of aviation employee time, plus any expenses, spent on airport development work abroad.

"There are some elements of that relationship that I think are very beneficial to the airport, others that are less so," Parker said. "I'm not interested in killing it off, but we want to make sure that it moves forward to the best benefit of the Houston Airport System."

'Glad it's over'

Vacar, who ardently defended HASDC after leaving his post, said the reason he initially set it up was to provide the airport system with another revenue stream to complement the fees paid by airlines, given the volatility in that business in recent years. The result of the city's scrutiny is a vindication, he said.

"I'm glad it's over," said Vacar, now a senior vice president for project development for HAS & ADC, a for-profit partnership with which HASDC partnered to become involved in airport development in Ecuador and Costa Rica. "They've run all the traps and had all the legal reviews, and this thing passed the smell test."

Vacar also praised Parker's selection of Diaz, saying it was clear she chose a "competent professional" from a major worldwide airport.

Parker said Diaz, who will become one of the city's highest paid employees with a $200,000 annual salary if he is approved in the coming weeks by City Council, was selected using data gathered by a previous search committee, input from Southwest and Continental Airlines and advice from Andy Icken, the city's chief development officer.

Diaz, a licensed pilot with an MBA from Rutgers University, said he was drawn to Houston because of the opportunity to manage an airport system, including George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Hobby Airport and Ellington Field.

"In Atlanta, I've been there, done that. It's interesting, a wonderful city and wonderful airport, but it's not an airport system," he said. "There is a complexity, there is a challenge, there is a strategy that you have to employ in an airport system that you simply don't get an opportunity to do in a single airport system."

bradley.olson@chron.com

 

Click to View Original Article http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6959291.html

A Great Day for America!

  

WASHINGTON -- A long-overlooked group of women who flew aircraft during World War II were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday.

Known as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, they were the first women to fly U.S. military planes.

About 200 of these women aviators, mostly in their late 80s and early 90s and some in wheelchairs, came to the Capitol to accept the medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress.

In thanking them for their service, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said these women pilots went unrecognized for too long.

"Women Air Force Service Pilots, we are all your daughters, you taught us how to fly," Pelosi said.

In accepting the award, WASP pilot Deanie Parrish said the women had volunteered to fly the planes without expectation that they would ever be thanked. Their mission was to fly noncombat missions to free up male pilots to fly overseas.

"Over 65 years ago we each served our country without any expectation of recognition or glory and we did it without compromising the values that we were taught growing up ... We did it because our country needed us," Parrish said.

Thirty-eight WASPS were killed in service. But they were long considered civilians, not members of the military, and thus were not entitled to the pay and benefits given to the men. When their unit was disbanded in 1944, many even had to pay their own bus fare home from their Avenger Field base in Sweetwater, Texas.

They were afforded veteran status in 1977 after a long fight.

It's estimated that about 300 WASP aviators are still alive.

Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., along with Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and Susan Davis, D-Calif., led the push in Congress to get the women recognized.

The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded in 2000 to the Navajo Code Talkers and in 2006 to the Tuskegee Airmen.

(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Finally

Haitian Court Frees U.S. Missionary as Group's Leader Remains in Jail

Monday, March 08, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —  One of two Baptist missionaries still held on kidnapping charges in Haiti was released and flew to Miami on Monday, but the U.S. group's leader remained in custody.

Charisa Coulter, 24, was taken from her jail cell to the airport by U.S. Embassy staff more than a month after she and nine other Americans were arrested for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after the earthquake.

Coulter, wearing a red tank top and sunglasses, declined comment as she quickly got into an SUV that took her to the Haitian airport, where she caught a flight back to the United States.

Coulter's father said his daughter arrived in Miami late Monday and went straight to a hotel.

Mel Coulter said her release brings a mix of joy and sorrow knowing that the leader of the Idaho-based missionary group, Laura Silsby, will be spending the night all alone in a Haitian jail.

"It is good news, but it's tempered," Coulter said. "We're really happy to have our daughter back on American soil. But Laura is still there. So this is really only completing part of the journey for the two of them. My daughter has left her best friend behind."

Silsby, 40, said she was glad about Coulter's release.

"I'm very happy that she left today, and for her freedom, and expect mine to come soon," Silsby told The Associated Press as she left the courthouse where a judge held a closed hearing Monday. She was returned to her cell in a police station near Port-au-Prince airport.

Defense lawyer Louis Ricardo Chachoute said Coulter was released because there was no evidence to support the charges of kidnapping and criminal association. He predicted Silsby would be released soon as well.

"There are no prosecution witnesses to substantiate anything," Chachoute said.

Coulter, of Boise, is a diabetic and had medical difficulties during her confinement. She was treated at least once, on Feb. 1, by American doctors after collapsing with what she said was either severe dehydration or the flu.

fter a court hearing Monday for Silsby, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said he heard evidence from a police officer who said he stopped Silsby from loading a bus with children near the Dominican Republic consulate in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 26. That was three days before her group was arrested while trying to cross into the Dominican Republic with 33 children.

"I found inconsistencies in some of Laura's statements," Saint-Vil told reporters, saying he planned to visit the Dominican consulate to resolve them.

The Dominican consul in Haiti, Carlos Castillo, has said previously that he warned Silsby she lacked the required papers to leave the country with the children and risked being arrested at the border for child trafficking.

The Americans' arrest came as Haitian authorities were trying to crack down on unauthorized adoptions to prevent child trafficking in the chaos following the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake.

Silsby initially said the children were orphaned in the quake that the government said has killed more than 230,000 people. But the AP found the children had been given away by still-living parents.

Chachoute said the Americans only came to Haiti to help the country. "Firstly, there was no criminal conspiracy; secondly, there was no child snatching," he said.

The Baptist group planned to take the children to the neighboring Dominican Republic to an orphanage that Silsby was creating in a former hotel.

The judge released eight of the Americans on Feb. 17 after concluding parents voluntarily gave up their children in the belief that the Baptist group would give them a better life. But he decided he still had additional questions for Silsby and Coulter.

What Do You Think??

Obama lays out 'roadmap' to restore Gulf Coast

By CAIN BURDEAU
ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 4, 2010, 7:09PM

NEW ORLEANS — The Obama administration on Thursday laid out a plan to deal with the catastrophic dangers of rising sea levels, hurricanes and erosion on the Gulf Coast, and backed efforts to invest in restoring barriers islands and wetlands in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Experts hailed the policy document as the strongest sign of support for coastal restoration on the Gulf Coast ever endorsed by a White House.

"It's a terrifically important document if it's followed through on," said Mark Davis, director of the Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy at Tulane University in New Orleans.

The document, called a "roadmap" for the coast, said the nation's energy supply, crucial ports and waterways, vital habitat for fish and wildlife and the Gulf Coast's "rich cultural legacy" were at stake.

"Unless we stem the rapid rate of ecosystem loss in the region, the ecosystems and the services they provide will collapse," the document said.

At risk, the paper said, was "not only the economies of Louisiana and Mississippi, but also the economy of the nation as a whole."

Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for fish and wildlife at the Department of the Interior, said the White House understands the problems on the Gulf Coast.

"Finally, this issue has received the highest priority with a White House and a president that has said we are going to take charge of this," Strickland said. He is one of several high-level Obama officials who crafted the document as part of a working group looking at the Gulf Coast's unique problems.

Already, there are several multimillion-dollar programs to stem land loss in Louisiana, but they have been unable to keep up with erosion.

Since the 1930s, the Mississippi River delta has been slowly falling apart and eroding due to levee construction, oil drilling hurricane damage and other factors. Louisiana has lost about 2,100 square miles of coast and loses about 25 square miles a year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

With sea levels on the rise due to global warming, experts warn that much of south Louisiana and Mississippi are at risk of being lost for good.

The administration said it would work with state officials to develop long-term solutions to pay for the massive multibillion-dollar ecosystem restoration project, which would be one of the largest ever undertaken.

Cutting the red tape

Over the next 18 months, the administration said, it would cut through red tape, finish critical reports looking at what can and cannot be saved, fill in data gaps to gain a complete scientific understanding of the problem and do a better job of using Mississippi River sediment, most of which washes out to the Gulf of Mexico.

The sediment in the river is important because scientists say it can be diverted into sections of the coast that have been cut off from the Mississippi. The Mississippi's mud built the Louisiana delta over the past 7,000 years but the delta began falling apart after levees were erected.

The report also said it was vital to protect Mississippi's barrier islands and coastal wetlands because they "served to absorb or reduce some of the impacts from coastal storms." Last year, Congress appropriated $439 million for barrier island restoration and other ecosystem repair work on the Mississippi coast.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the report "clearly demonstrates a positive shift in direction, but must be coupled with aggressive action on the ground — turning dirt. There is no time for delay."

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., praised the Obama plan as carrying out an "integrated, comprehensive approach that accelerates our work in coastal Louisiana and builds a true partnership with the state."

Still, there were questions about the administration's approach, which advocated that restoration of the delta was possible. There are scientists who believe policymakers need to emphasize relocating towns and communities and stop beachfront development because of sea level rise.

"The science is clear that ecosystem restoration — at the level that will be possible — will provide limited storm protection to infrastructure and communities," said Rob S. Young, a coastal geologist and director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University.

Davis, the Tulane professor, said the White House's document left many questions unanswered about how the restoration work would get done and with what money.

Mayor's Youth Council Town Hall 2/25/2010

Tonight's Mayor's Youth Council Town Hall focused on "Ecology and Environmental Issues", for information about the topics discussed visit: Green Team America, an organization that works to promote climate change and awareness with Houston's youth, and Alliance for Climate Change (ACE), a non-profit organization that is dedicated to education high school students about the science behind climate change. As usual if you have any questions or comments feel free to send a message.

Sincerely,
Andrew Romo
City of Houston Mayor's Youth Council, District F

Guess Who's Back

Friends,

A new article has finally been posted, I have been very busy the last two weeks. It is my sincere hope that all of you will continue reading my blog. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to leave a comment.

Sincerely,
Andrew Romo
City of Houston Mayor's Youth Council, District F

East End Residents Want Dynamo Stadium

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The fight over the location of the proposed Houston Dynamo soccer stadium is heating up. On Tuesday, some east Houston residents put pressure on county commissioners to bring the stadium to their neighborhood, mainly because they don't like the possible alternative. With property values hanging on the line and a vacant lot still undeveloped, residents from the East End once again took their concerns to elected leaders.

"I expected this to have been voted on a long time ago," said East End resident Rachel DeCordova. "This deal is really a no brainer."

This time, they're asking county commissioners to take action on a plan that would put the new Dynamo stadium in their part of town.

"Make it happen, make it happen for the East End and downtown area, especially for our minority community, the children, the youth," argued resident Marilu de la Fuente to Harris County commissioners Tuesday.

The plan, which was conceived during former Mayor Bill White's term, was designed like this. The city would buy the land for $15 million, and pay $10 million for infrastructure. The county, in turn, would contribute $10 million of its own money, with the Dynamo paying for the construction of the stadium.

The problem, however, is that the county and city have yet to work out the finer details, like ultimate ownership and upkeep. County commissioner Jerry Eversole questioned why residents came to commissioners court when the issue hasn't even made the agenda.

"This is at least the third time we've discussed Dynamo Stadium and it's no further today than it was three months ago or four months ago," he said.

But Judge Ed Emmett reminded the commissioner that's why residents were there, because a decision had not been made, understanding concerns that if the deal falls through, something less attractive could end up on the site. He points out that's it's not every day a team is willing to build its own stadium.

"So let's find out what the hang-ups are, what the sticking points are," said Judge Emmett. "Let's move forward. Let's make something happen."

For this issue to be put on the agenda, it'd have to be put there by Commissioner El Franco Lee. We tried to contact his office, but he refused comment. We know city and county leaders plan to meet on Wednesday about the stadium.

(Copyright ©2010 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

10 Americans held in Haiti; tried to move kids Members of U.S. group claim its case of missing documents, not trafficking

What do you think about Haiti’s action of arresting United States nationals for attempting to provide relief to a country in ruin?

Regards,

Andrew Romo

updated 2 hours, 37 minutes ago

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haitian police arrested 10 U.S. citizens after they tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the earthquake-stricken nation, authorities said Saturday.

The Baptist church members from Idaho called it a "Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission," meant to save abandoned children from the chaos following Haiti's earthquake. Their plan was to scoop up 100 kids and take them by bus to a rented hotel at a beach resort in the Dominican Republic, where they planned to establish an orphanage.

Whether they realized it or not, these Americans — the first known to be taken into custody since the Jan. 12 earthquake — put themselves in the middle of a firestorm in Haiti, where government leaders have suspended adoptions amid fears that parentless or lost children are more vulnerable than ever to child trafficking.

"In this chaos the government is in right now we were just trying to do the right thing," the group's leader, Laura Silsby, told reporters at the judicial police headquarters in the capital, where the Americans were being held pending a Monday hearing before a judge.

Silsby said they only had the best of intentions and paid no money for the children, whom she said they obtained from well-known Haitian pastor named Jean Sanbil of the Sharing Jesus Ministries.

Silsby, 40, of Boise, Idaho, was asked if she didn't consider it naive to cross the border without adoption papers at a time when Haitians are so concerned about child trafficking. "By no means are we any part of that. That's exactly what we are trying to combat," she said.

Illegal adoption scheme?
Social Affairs Minister Yves Cristallin told reporters the Americans were suspected of taking part in an illegal adoption scheme.

Cristallin said the 33 children were lodged late Saturday at an SOS Children's Village outside of Port-au-Prince. SOS Children's Villages is a global nonprofit based in Austria.

Many children in Haitian orphanages aren't actually orphans but have been abandoned by family who cannot afford to care for them. Advocates both here and abroad caution that with so many people unaccounted for, adoptions should not go forward until it can be determined that the children have no relatives who can raise them.

UNICEF and other NGOs have been registering children who may have been separated from their parents. Relief workers are locating children at camps housing the homeless around the capital and are placing them in temporary shelters while they try to locate their parents or a more permanent home.

The U.S. Embassy in Haiti sent consular officials, who met with the detained Americans and gave them bug spray and MREs to eat, according to Sean Lankford of Meridian, Idaho, whose wife and 18-year-old daughter were being held.

"They have to go in front of a judge on Monday," Lankford said.

"There are allegations of child trafficking and that really couldn't be farther from the truth," he added. The children "were going to get the medical attention they needed. They were going to get the clothes and the food and the love they need to be healthy and to start recovering from the tragedy that just happened."

Didn't seek Haitian paperwork
Haiti has imposed new controls on adoptions since the earthquake, which left thousands of children separated from their parents or orphaned. The government now requires Prime Minister Max Bellerive to personally authorize the departure of any child as a way to prevent child trafficking.

Silsby said they had documents from the Dominican government, but did not seek any paperwork from the Haitian authorities before taking 33 children from 2 months to 12 years old to the border, where Haitian police stopped them Friday evening. She said that the children were brought to her by distant relatives and that the only ones to be put up for adoption would be those without close family to care for them.

The 10 Americans include members of the Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho and the East Side Baptist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho, as well as people from Texas and Kansas. Idaho friends and relatives have been in touch with them through text messages and phone calls, Lankford said.

"The plan was never to go adopt all these kids. The plan was to create this orphanage where kids could live. And kids get adopted out of orphanages. People go down and they're going to fall in love with these kids, and many of these kids will end up getting adopted."

"Of course I'm concerned for my wife and my daughter," he added. "They were hoping to make a difference and be able to help those kids."

The group described their plans on a Web site where they also asked for tax-deductible contributions, saying they would "gather" 100 orphans and bus them to the Dominican resort of Cabarete, before building a more permanent orphanage in the Dominican town of Magante.

"Given the urgent needs from this earthquake, God has laid upon our hearts the need to go now versus waiting until the permanent facility is built," the group wrote.

More from msnbc.com Click Here To View the Original Article at MSNBC.COM

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Is the Increase in Officer Related Shootings Justified?

Activists seek federal probe of police shootings

By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

Jan. 26, 2010, 8:20PM

Civil rights lawyer Randall Kallinen talks about the increased number of shootings by law enforcement officers during a news conference outside City Council chambers Tuesday.

called for the U.S. Department of Justice to review the elevated number of officer-involved shootings in the Houston area last year, and asked the City Council for public access to internal police reviews of the use of deadly force.

In 2009, law enforcement officers took part in 60 shootings across Harris County and killed 27 people. Houston police were involved in 29 shootings, killing 15 people.

Members of the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice, including LULAC, NAACP, American GI Forum and the American Rights Association asked the council to strengthen the Citizen Review Committee by increasing independence and subpoena power.

"In the history of the Houston (police) Department, which is 130 years, never, ever have we ever suffered so much in the community in terms of police brutality and the number of people getting killed," said Sylvia Gonzales, vice president of LULAC.

Longtime activist Johnny Mata, with the American GI Forum, said the city needs to strengthen the power and independence of the citizen review committee, currently operating out of the HPD internal affairs department.

"You cannot fool the community, especially in the minority community," Mata told council members. "So, we need to come up with a transparency, and come up with something that trust will be there and we don't have to go to the federal government every time we turn around."

A spokesman at the Department of Justice in Washington said the agency was not aware of any requests for intervention in Houston.

'Cause for concern'

Two members of the council, Jolanda Jones and Jarvis Johnson, expressed support for a citizens committee with subpoena powers.

After the meeting, Mayor Annise Parker said she does not favor increasing the power of the review committee. Instead, Parker said she has asked Councilwoman Melissa Noriega, who chairs the public safety committee, to consider looking into the operation of HPD's Crisis Intervention Team and the crisis training received by Houston police.

"The fact that police shootings went up in 2009 is cause for concern, " Parker said. "We do need to analyze if this a worrisome trend or an aberration. Council members are concerned about this issue, as well."

NAACP representative Fred Cooper said the shooting upswing has caused questions in the community, including what HPD is doing to determine whether officers could have employed other options before using deadly force.

Councilman Edward Gonzalez, a former HPD officer, said automatic reviews of shooting involve not only investigators with HPD's homicide and internal affairs divisions, but also the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the medical examiners office .

Members of the coalition came to City Hall a day after a Harris County grand jury declined to indict an off-duty HPD officer who shot an killed an unarmed man who was arguing with his fiancee outside their apartment.

james.pinkerton@chron.com\

Will More Houstonians Use Metro?

Metro and Energy Corridor District launches new route for residents

by khou.com staff

Posted on January 25, 2010 at 9:43 AM

Updated today at 9:44 AM

******

HOUSTON—METRO has joined the Energy Corridor District to launch the 75 Energy Corridor Connector, starting Monday.

The new service will run along Eldridge between the Katy Freeway and Westheimer. This will provide employees and residents who live and work in the Energy Corridor District a quick, convenient ride to stores, restaurants and businesses along the route, according to Metro officials.

Energy Corridor District employees who live in the downtown and Midtown areas can connect to the 75 Energy Corridor Connector by riding the 228 Addicks and 229 Kingsland/Addicks from the Central Business District to the Addicks Park & Ride.

The Connector also links with popular routes like the 82 Westheimer and the 131 Memorial.

Service will run every 15 minutes, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. It will also run every 10 minutes from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

A Little Change of Pace

I do not have a news article for you today, but I hope that you will take the time to visit www.childrenagainstviolence.com. Children Against Violence is an organization founded by one of my fellow Mayor's Youth Council members, the goal of the organization is to stop and overcome the traumas of bullying, and domestic violence. I hope that you will spread the word about this very worthy organization to your friends, and family.

Sincerely,
Andrew Romo
City of Houston Mayor's Youth Council, District F

Metro rail-line contract may jump $100 million

CEO says says contractor will bear larger risk in exchange for increase
By MIKE SNYDER HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 21, 2010, 9:32PM
As Metro's leaders try to convince Mayor Annise Parker's administration that the agency is on sound financial footing, its president said Thursday he will recommend a $100 million increase in a contract to build four light rail lines.

In exchange for the increase from $1.46 billion to $1.56 billion the contractors agreed that 98 percent of the costs would be fixed, rather than 75 percent under the existing contract, said Frank Wilson, the Metropolitan Transit Authority's president and chief executive officer.

That means the contractors would absorb almost all increased costs caused by inflation, natural d isasters, new regulatory laws or other factors, Wilson said.

Wilson said he would ask Metro's board next month to approve the new contract terms with Parsons Transportation Group, the lead contractor of a team that will design and build four new light rail lines for the agency.

“It will change the price and fix the risk,” Wilson said, adding that inflation alone could add as much as $130 million in costs during the seven-year contract.

“We don't want to go through years of construction not knowing what this is finally going to cost us.”

Wilson's comments at a board committee meeting Thursday came one day after Metro Chairman David Wolff met with members of Mayor Annise Parker's transition team reviewing the transit agency's finances.

During her campaign, Parker expressed skepticism about Metro's ability to pay for the planned expansion of its rail system and said the agency had not been sufficiently accountable or transparent. Wolff previously had announced his intention to resign from the board, and Parker has suggested Wilson may need to be replaced.

Parker spokeswoman Janice Evans said Thursday that the mayor wanted to be briefed by members of her transition committee before commenting on the proposed changes in the rail contract.

‘We are accountable' Wolff offered a ringing defense of the agency during Thursday's board meeting.

“We are transparent. We are accountable. Those who say we are not are not well informed,” he said.

By May, Wolff said, Metro expects to finalize its $900 million grant agreement with the Federal Transit Administration for the north and southeast rail lines.
Construction is under way on those two lines, as well as the East End line, which

Metro is building with local funds. The agency expects to start work in a year or two on its locally funded Uptown line.

Also Thursday, Metro published the final environmental impact statement for the fifth and longest line in its plan, the University line. Metro officials called it an important step in the laborious process of seeking federal funds for the line.

The document states that building the line will require obtaining 23 acres of land and relocating 30 homes, 100 commercial buildings and 38 mixed-use buildings.
mike.snyder@chron.com

Click Here to View Chron.com Original Article

Interesting?

January 20, 2010
Democrats see opportunity to regain 60th Senate seat -- in Texas
National Democrats, crushed by the loss of a Senate seat in Massachusetts, are pointing to an unlikely place to regain their now-lost 60-seat majority.

Campaign photo
The eyes of national Democrats are upon John Sharp.
Texas.
Yes, Texas, our Texas.
Democrats, at least the optimists among them, see the Senate seat currently held by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison as potentially vulnerable in a turbulent, throw-the-rascals-out year.

Hutchison has promised to resign her Senate seat after the Republican gubernatorial primary (and possible runoff), whether or not she unseats Gov. Rick Perry or holds off conservative insurgent Debra Medina.

Democrats believe they have a strong special election candidate in former Comptroller John Sharp, a moderate with rural roots and a populist past.

"We have the potential to regain our filibuster-proof majority in the Senate when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns," said Alejandra C. Salinas, Vice-President of Texas College Democrats. "We will call on other College Democrats, activists, and volunteers from across the country to step up and help us in our still-to-be-announced special election, just as we all stepped up for the race in Massachusetts."

National pundits are less confident than is Salinas, rating the Hutchison seat as solidly Republican. But in a "change" election, Democrats are hoping that deep red Texas is as volatile as deep blue Massachusetts.

"We are confident that Texas can and will elect a Democratic senator in the next election," said Salinas.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, would prefer that Hutchison keep her seat at least through her current term, which ends in 2012. But he said after the Massachusetts results came in that Democrats should be on the defensive.

"Americans are ready to hold the party in power accountable for their irresponsible spending and out-of-touch agenda," Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, declared after the Massachusetts votes were counted. "And they're ready for real change in Washington."

Cornyn just hopes that the "real change" voters want doesn't include a partisan change in the Texas Senate seat.

"Republicans should be confident and emboldened," an analysis from Wilson Research Associates, a GOP polling firm, declared. "But we should also learn one from the Coakley campaign and not take anything for granted."

Click here to view the original posting at chron.com

Posted by Richard Dunham at January 20, 2010 10:47 AM

Eversole joins Democratic effort to block Wilson
By CHRIS MORAN
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 19, 2010, 7:14PM



Harris County Democrats trying to keep a conservative activist off their primary election ballot are getting help from a surprise ally: Republican Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Eversole.

Of course, Eversole stands to gain. If longtime Republican voter Dave Wilson does not persuade the courts to force the Democratic Party to put him on the March 2 ballot as a candidate for the Precinct 4 seat, Eversole will glide unopposed into his sixth four-year term.

Eversole's attorney submitted a letter to the 14th Court of Appeals on Friday in support of Harris County Democratic Party Chairman Gerry Birnberg, who refused to certify Wilson as a candidate after concluding that Wilson does not live at the address reported on his filing documents.

Wilson's argument
Wilson has petitioned the appeals court to send his case back to a trial court for reconsideration.

Wilson said that although his sign business is at the address he reported, he also lives there. Even if he did not, Wilson said, the law does not allow Birnberg to make a judgment call on where he resides.

Wilson's read of the law is that if the filing papers are complete, it is up to someone with a direct stake in the outcome, not the party chairman, to challenge the eligibility of a candidate. In this case, Wilson said, that could only be Eversole.

“Wilson called him (Eversole) out,” Eversole consultant Allen Blakemore said when asked why the commissioner entered the Democrats' internecine fight. “He's answering an invitation from Wilson.”

Wilson filed just minutes before the Jan. 4 filing deadline as Eversole had drawn neither a Republican nor Democratic opponent and said he wants voters to have a choice in November.

“I must be doing something right,” he said. “I got the Republican and the Democratic bosses mad at me.”

chris.moran@chron.com

This Week in Congress

Subject: Census: Eight Winners, 11 Losers

January 18, 2010


Who the Census Helps and Hurts

The U.S. Census does more than just count people, it also determines which states gain or lose a Congressional seat.

The more seats a state has, the more political power it gains, not only in the number of Members of Congress it has but also the Electoral College votes.

According to an analysis by Election Data Services Inc., the nonpartisan consulting firm specializing in political demographics, eight states are poised to gain seats and 11 states are likely to lose them.

Read more about the eight states the Census will help: Texas, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Georgia and South Carolina.

Read more about the 11 states the Census will hurt: Louisiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.

Five Ways to Create Jobs

With the unemployment rate at more than 15 percent, job creation will be a top issue in Congress in 2010.

Still, not everyone agrees on how best to create jobs.

Many liberals think government programs to build roads or weatherize homes will get workers such as laborers and contractors back on the job. On the other side, conservatives think tax cuts are the answer.

The only idea that seems to have been definitively ruled out is a massive new public employment program such as the Works Progress Administration, started during the Great Depression.

Even smaller government programs have conservative critics.

Read more about five ideas for job creation.

Delay Imperils Clean Energy Plans

President Obama's green energy initiatives could suffer a severe blow if the Senate doesn't pass a climate bill this year.

The president has long planned on using money from cap-and-trade legislation to modernize the electric grid; develop solar, wind, and geothermal energy projects; and find new energy sources to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

By selling pollution credits to companies , the federal government would earn $646 billion over the next decade from cap and trade. Most of the money would go back to taxpayers, but $15 billion would fund the renewable energy initiatives.

The bill has cleared the House, but it's looking increasingly unlikely that the Senate will get to it before mid-term elections.

Read more about clean-energy proposals.

Fighting Over the Cadillac Plans

Cadillacs
Democrats are butting heads on how to fund the near $900-billion health care overhaul.

A 40 percent tax on high-premium, or Cadillac, insurance plans that was included in the Senate version of the bill is ruffling feathers.

It's no surprise that this particular levy has emerged as a major sticking point, considering the amount of money on the line.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the tax can generate $149 billion in revenue over the next decade, money that can offset the cost of the overhaul. On the other side, insurance companies risk losing a $200-billion subsidy that stemmed from health plans being offered as a pre-tax benefit.

Take a closer look at who's fighting over the tax on Cadillac plans.

Get on Your Online Soapbox

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Registered users of our Web site are allowed to create up to four Soapbox messages a month for free to share their views on politics and the federal government.

Each message comes with a direct link to our letter-writing tool and ZIP code directory. That means anyone reading your message can easily go straight from your words to writing their own letter to Congress!

To get on your Soapbox, first register as a member of Congress.org at congress.org/register. Then follow our simple step-by-step guide to get your message out.

Or go to congress.org/soapbox/splash to read what other users are thinking.

Bills of the Week

H.R. 2646 would enhance the oversight authority of the Government Accountability Office.

Click here to tell your Members of Congress what you think of this bill.

H.R. 3237 would affect laws relating to national and commercial space programs.

Click here to tell your Members of Congress what you think of this bill.

A New Look

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Welcome, bienvenue, bienvenido,chào mừng

Welcome,

In this blog I will be posting information that I feel is relevant to most people's daily lives. I will specifically post information pertinent to the City of Houston, and the Mayor's Youth Council. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to e-mail me.

Sincerely,
Andrew Romo
City of Houston Mayor's Youth Council,District F