Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Both sides 'dug in' as Chicago teachers strike drags on

Both sides 'dug in' as Chicago teachers strike drags on


Both sides 'dug in' as Chicago teachers strike drags on

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:24 PM PDT

Chicago teachers take over the streets outside the headquarters of Chicago Public Schools in ChicagoCHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago teachers stayed away from public schools for a third day on Wednesday in a strike over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's demand for tough teacher evaluations that U.S. education reform advocates see as crucial to fixing urban schools. With more than 350,000 children out of school, the patience of parents and labor negotiators began to fray as hopes of a quick resolution to the biggest U.S. labor strike in a year were dashed. ...


Utah city's 'free-speech zones' challenged as unconstitutional

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:45 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union has sued a Utah city in federal court over a "free-speech zone" ordinance, saying the Orwellian-named measure unconstitutionally requires a permit for almost any form of public expression. The lawsuit was filed against Brigham City on Tuesday on behalf of the Main Street Church, a non-denominational faith barred under the municipal statute from distributing pamphlets on some sidewalks near a new Mormon temple in town. Brigham City, a predominantly Mormon town of about 18,000 people, is about 60 miles north of Salt Lake City, the state capital. ...

Cuba says jailed American OK, renews offer of talks on case

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba said on Wednesday that jailed U.S. contractor Alan Gross is in "normal" health, despite his wife's claims to the contrary, as it reiterated its willingness to talk with the U.S. government about resolving the case. Gross, arrested in Havana in December 2009 for illegally bringing in Internet equipment and setting up wi-fi networks under a controversial U.S. program, is serving a 15-year sentence handed down in an April 2011 trial. The case halted a brief warming in relations between Washington and Havana. ...

New England mob boss to plead guilty in strip club extortion scheme

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:36 PM PDT

LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - The suspected former head of the New England mafia will plead guilty to a charge of racketeering for participating in a scheme to extort protection payments from Rhode Island strip clubs and adult bookstores. Anthony DiNunzio, 53, of East Boston, Massachusetts agreed to enter the plea in federal court in Rhode Island on Thursday, the Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday. DiNunzio faced up to 20 years in prison, but as part of the agreement federal prosecutors will ask for a reduced sentence of between five and six and a half years. ...

$8 a gallon gas? NJ, PA stations jack up price in protest

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:48 PM PDT

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Talk about sticker shock. Motorists in parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania saw gasoline prices on some stations from $8 to nearly $10 a gallon range Wednesday, as many Lukoil dealers staged a one-day protest over the wholesale prices the company is charging them. "The reason why we are doing this is we are sick and tired of Lukoil's uncompetitive pricing," Kinnelon, New Jersey, station operator Ameer Kraff said. "Their unfair treatment gets down to our customers. ...

Ex-Goldman employee's memoir expected on October 22

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:30 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc employee who publicly resigned from the investment bank in a scathing op-ed in March, has written a memoir that will be published next month. The book, titled "Why I Left Goldman Sachs," is set to be released on October 22, according to a statement from the book's publisher. Smith quit as an executive director at Goldman after writing an op-ed in the New York Times on March 14 that accused the firm of routinely ripping off clients. ...

NFL player charged with domestic battery in Florida

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:54 PM PDT

Broward County Sheriff Department photo of NFL player Chad JohnsonMIAMI (Reuters) - Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson was charged on Wednesday with domestic battery for allegedly headbutting his wife Evelyn Lozada last month in south Florida. The domestic violence charge is a first-degree misdemeanor and punishable by up to a year in jail, the Broward County State Attorney's Office said. It said Johnson was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday morning and was expected to file a written plea of not guilty. The Dolphins terminated Johnson's contract about 24 hours after he was arrested in the battery case on August 11. ...


NYC subway riders may lose discounts in next fare hike

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 01:27 PM PDT

(Reuters) - In the next fare hike, New York City's bus and subway riders might lose some of the current discounts that cut the average cost of a ride to $1.63 from the $2.25 base fare, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said on Wednesday. "Do we need a discount that deep?" asked MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota after addressing a Crain's New York breakfast. Discounts are part of the city's culture, he noted, but added: "I think we need to have a very good public debate about fare prices and discounts. ...

Number of U.S. poor holds steady but earnings gap grows

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 02:21 PM PDT

Homeless man begs for money in the Financial District in San FranciscoWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The poverty rate in the United States stabilized in 2011 for the first time in three years even as incomes fell and inequality grew, according to government figures. The share of people living in poverty edged down to 15 percent from 15.1 percent in 2010, a "statistically insignificant" drop in the words of analysts at the U.S. Census Bureau, which released the report. Unemployment benefits helped soften the blow from a harsh economic environment, the report said. All told, 46.2 million Americans lived in poverty last year, little changed from 2010. ...


Breach of security at 'Fort Knox' of uranium sets off alarms

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 11:32 AM PDT

Handout photo of an aerial view of the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, TennesseeWASHINGTON (Reuters) - In July 2012, three aging anti-nuclear activists, including an 82-year-old nun, cut through fences surrounding the "Fort Knox" of uranium storage, and U.S. lawmakers want to know how that was possible. The facility is a major storage center for highly enriched uranium, a key component of nuclear bombs. The security breach at what was supposed to be one of the most secure facilities in the United States has raised new questions about a plan to overhaul oversight of nuclear laboratories and weapons plants. ...


Both sides "dug in" as Chicago teachers strike drags on

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 02:09 PM PDT

Chicago teachers take over the streets outside the headquarters of Chicago Public Schools in ChicagoCHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago teachers stayed away from public schools for a third day on Wednesday in a strike over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's demand for tough teacher evaluations that U.S. education reform advocates see as crucial to fixing urban schools. With more than 350,000 children from kindergarten to high school out of school, the patience of parents and labor negotiators began to fray as hopes of a quick resolution to the biggest U.S. labor strike in a year were dashed. One of Emanuel's negotiators, Barbara Byrd Bennett, said the two sides had not even met by early afternoon on Wednesday. ...


Texas woman to receive first U.S. double arm transplant

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:31 PM PDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Texas woman who lost all four limbs to a flesh-eating bacteria has been approved for a double arm transplant at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital in what will be the first such procedure performed in the United States. Katy Hayes, 44, of Kingwood, Texas, will receive two new arms above the elbow. The hospital is working with a regional organ donor bank to find a donor. The surgery has not yet been scheduled. "I have the determination to make these arms my own," Hayes said at a news conference in Boston. "I want my life back. I want to hold my children. ...

U.S. judge's rule protects reporters, activists in their Middle East work

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:25 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge made permanent on Wednesday her order blocking enforcement of a U.S. law's provision that authorizes military detention for people deemed to have "substantially supported" al Qaeda, the Taliban or "associated forces." U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan had ruled in May in favor of non-profit groups and reporters whose work relates to conflicts in the Middle East and who said they feared being detained under a section of the law, signed by President Barack Obama in December. ...

California governor signs pension bill, hails it as historic reform

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:17 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown signed on Wednesday a pension reform bill that he said puts into law the "biggest rollback to public pension benefits in the history of California pensions." The legislation raises minimum retirement ages and will reduce pension benefits for new public workers, moves that Brown said will save billions of dollars. "Under the new rules, employers and employees alike are going to contribute their fair share of the costs, resulting in a more sustainable system," Brown said in a statement. ...

Palmer receives Congressional Gold Medal

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:32 PM PDT

Watson of the U.S. reacts after his putt on the 17th green during second round play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational PGA golf tournament in OrlandoWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arnold Palmer became the sixth athlete to earn a Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony on Wednesday where the golfing great and humanitarian made light of the divided U.S. lawmakers who gave him the award. Congress bestowed Palmer, 83, with its highest civilian award in "recognition of his service to the country in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship". To be sure, this, one of the most unpopular and unproductive congresses in history, came together to salute this king of swing. ...


West Nile cases in U.S. up nearly a third in latest week: CDC

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:09 PM PDT

DALLAS (Reuters) - The number of U.S. cases of West Nile virus climbed by nearly a third in the latest week as the spread of the mosquito-borne disease accelerated and threatened to make the 2012 outbreak the deadliest on record, government figures showed on Wednesday. So far this year, 2,636 cases have been reported to federal health officials, up from 1,993 the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its weekly update of outbreak data. A total of 118 people have died from the disease, compared with 87 reported one week ago. ...

Peru police find U.S. teen who died on Amazon psychedelic retreat

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:27 PM PDT

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian police said on Wednesday that a shaman had buried the body of an 18-year-old American man to cover up his death during a spiritual retreat in the Amazon where he drank extracts of psychedelic plants. Shaman Jose Pineda Vargas, 58, confessed to burying Kyle Joseph Nolan in his jungle retreat, the Shimbre Shamanic Center, near the native community of Tres Islas in the Madre de Dios region of the Amazon basin that borders Brazil, according to police colonel Roberto Palomino. ...

Trayvon Martin lawyer seeks probe of L.A. police use of force

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:37 AM PDT

Attorney Crump waves to supporters with the parents of the late Trayvon Martin, after they addressed lawmakers at a meeting on Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' law in LongwoodLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The civil rights attorney who represented the family of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has asked for a federal investigation into the use of force by the Los Angeles Police Department following three violent altercations involving LAPD officers. In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder dated Wednesday, Benjamin Crump said the three incidents, all caught on videotape during the past month, show a pattern of police brutality by the LAPD that warrants a Justice Department inquiry. ...


Long-time Madoff employee to plead guilty: prosecutors

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 09:37 AM PDT

File photo of Bernard Madoff walking back to his apartment in New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) - One of Bernard Madoff's longest-serving employees is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges in the multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, U.S. prosecutors said, the latest among a dozen former employees to face charges. Irwin Lipkin, a former controller of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, will appear in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, prosecutors said in a letter to the judge. He will plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and falsifying documents, prosecutors told U.S. ...


Corn crop larger than expected, soy smaller: USDA

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:38 AM PDT

Add to cart Add to lightbox (my favourites) Download layout Edit A corn stalk is seen under the noon sun at Sunburst Dairy near Belleville, WisconsinWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Searing summer drought slashed U.S. corn production to the lowest level in six years and soybeans to the lowest in nine years, the government forecast on Wednesday, but the corn crop is larger than expected, which will relieve the third year in a row of tight supplies. With the fall harvest running faster than usual, the Agriculture Department lowered its corn forecast by less than 1 percent; traders had expected a cut of nearly 4 percent from August. ...


U.S. revoking 2 CVS stores' controlled substance licenses

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:26 AM PDT

(Reuters) - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is revoking the controlled substance licenses of two CVS Caremark Corp drugstores in Florida as part of a government crackdown on potentially addictive painkillers, especially oxycodone, according to a court filing. The DEA has alleged the two stores, about 30 miles south of Orlando, were inappropriately filling prescriptions for oxycodone, which can be highly addictive, and also had suspicious sales of other controlled substances. ...

Family Dollar plans to settle with store managers on overtime

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:39 AM PDT

(Reuters) - Family Dollar Stores Inc said on Wednesday that it could pay up to $14 million to settle with a class of more than 1,700 store managers regarding their claims for overtime wages, and It plans to record a charge to cover the related costs. The preliminary settlement with New York employees provides for a payment of up to $14 million. A finalized settlement would need court approval, and that process has not yet begun, the discount chain said. ...

Both sides 'dug in' as Chicago teachers strike drags on

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:24 PM PDT

Chicago teachers take over the streets outside the headquarters of Chicago Public Schools in ChicagoCHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago teachers stayed away from public schools for a third day on Wednesday in a strike over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's demand for tough teacher evaluations that U.S. education reform advocates see as crucial to fixing urban schools. With more than 350,000 children out of school, the patience of parents and labor negotiators began to fray as hopes of a quick resolution to the biggest U.S. labor strike in a year were dashed. ...


The firebrand leading Chicago's striking teachers

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:18 PM PDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Karen Lewis, the fiery, frumpy former teacher leading striking Chicago teachers, has carefully built support for her cause of challenging education orthodoxy through community organizing in poor neighborhoods of the inner city. Critics call her a throwback to the blustering, confrontational union bosses of the past. School district and union officials have said she was spoiling for a bare-knuckled fight in a town with a long history of union activism. ...

New England mob boss to plead guilty in strip club extortion scheme

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:36 PM PDT

LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - The suspected former head of the New England mafia will plead guilty to a charge of racketeering for participating in a scheme to extort protection payments from Rhode Island strip clubs and adult bookstores. Anthony DiNunzio, 53, of East Boston, Massachusetts agreed to enter the plea in federal court in Rhode Island on Thursday, the Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday. DiNunzio faced up to 20 years in prison, but as part of the agreement federal prosecutors will ask for a reduced sentence of between five and six and a half years. ...

Ex-Goldman employee's memoir expected on October 22

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:30 PM PDT

(Reuters) - Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc employee who publicly resigned from the investment bank in a scathing op-ed in March, has written a memoir that will be published next month. The book, titled "Why I Left Goldman Sachs," is set to be released on October 22, according to a statement from the book's publisher. Smith quit as an executive director at Goldman after writing an op-ed in the New York Times on March 14 that accused the firm of routinely ripping off clients. ...

Cuba says jailed American OK, renews offer of talks on case

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba said on Wednesday that jailed U.S. contractor Alan Gross is in "normal" health, despite his wife's claims to the contrary, as it reiterated its willingness to talk with the U.S. government about resolving the case. Gross, arrested in Havana in December 2009 for illegally bringing in Internet equipment and setting up wi-fi networks under a controversial U.S. program, is serving a 15-year sentence handed down in an April 2011 trial. The case halted a brief warming in relations between Washington and Havana. ...

NFL player charged with domestic battery in Florida

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:54 PM PDT

Broward County Sheriff Department photo of NFL player Chad JohnsonMIAMI (Reuters) - Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson was charged on Wednesday with domestic battery for allegedly headbutting his wife Evelyn Lozada last month in south Florida. The domestic violence charge is a first-degree misdemeanor and punishable by up to a year in jail, the Broward County State Attorney's Office said. It said Johnson was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday morning and was expected to file a written plea of not guilty. The Dolphins terminated Johnson's contract about 24 hours after he was arrested in the battery case on August 11. ...


$8 a gallon gas? NJ, PA stations jack up price in protest

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:48 PM PDT

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Talk about sticker shock. Motorists in parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania saw gasoline prices on some stations from $8 to nearly $10 a gallon range Wednesday, as many Lukoil dealers staged a one-day protest over the wholesale prices the company is charging them. "The reason why we are doing this is we are sick and tired of Lukoil's uncompetitive pricing," Kinnelon, New Jersey, station operator Ameer Kraff said. "Their unfair treatment gets down to our customers. ...

Utah city's 'free-speech zones' challenged as unconstitutional

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:45 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union has sued a Utah city in federal court over a "free-speech zone" ordinance, saying the Orwellian-named measure unconstitutionally requires a permit for almost any form of public expression. The lawsuit was filed against Brigham City on Tuesday on behalf of the Main Street Church, a non-denominational faith barred under the municipal statute from distributing pamphlets on some sidewalks near a new Mormon temple in town. Brigham City, a predominantly Mormon town of about 18,000 people, is about 60 miles north of Salt Lake City, the state capital. ...

Texas woman to receive first U.S. double arm transplant

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:31 PM PDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Texas woman who lost all four limbs to a flesh-eating bacteria has been approved for a double arm transplant at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital in what will be the first such procedure performed in the United States. Katy Hayes, 44, of Kingwood, Texas, will receive two new arms above the elbow. The hospital is working with a regional organ donor bank to find a donor. The surgery has not yet been scheduled. "I have the determination to make these arms my own," Hayes said at a news conference in Boston. "I want my life back. I want to hold my children. ...

U.S. judge's rule protects reporters, activists in their Middle East work

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:25 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge made permanent on Wednesday her order blocking enforcement of a U.S. law's provision that authorizes military detention for people deemed to have "substantially supported" al Qaeda, the Taliban or "associated forces." U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan had ruled in May in favor of non-profit groups and reporters whose work relates to conflicts in the Middle East and who said they feared being detained under a section of the law, signed by President Barack Obama in December. ...

West Nile cases in U.S. up nearly a third in latest week: CDC

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:09 PM PDT

DALLAS (Reuters) - The number of U.S. cases of West Nile virus climbed by nearly a third in the latest week as the spread of the mosquito-borne disease accelerated and threatened to make the 2012 outbreak the deadliest on record, government figures showed on Wednesday. So far this year, 2,636 cases have been reported to federal health officials, up from 1,993 the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its weekly update of outbreak data. A total of 118 people have died from the disease, compared with 87 reported one week ago. ...

Number of U.S. poor holds steady but earnings gap grows

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 02:21 PM PDT

Homeless man begs for money in the Financial District in San FranciscoWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The poverty rate in the United States stabilized in 2011 for the first time in three years even as incomes fell and inequality grew, according to government figures. The share of people living in poverty edged down to 15 percent from 15.1 percent in 2010, a "statistically insignificant" drop in the words of analysts at the U.S. Census Bureau, which released the report. Unemployment benefits helped soften the blow from a harsh economic environment, the report said. All told, 46.2 million Americans lived in poverty last year, little changed from 2010. ...


NYC subway riders may lose discounts in next fare hike

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 01:27 PM PDT

(Reuters) - In the next fare hike, New York City's bus and subway riders might lose some of the current discounts that cut the average cost of a ride to $1.63 from the $2.25 base fare, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said on Wednesday. "Do we need a discount that deep?" asked MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota after addressing a Crain's New York breakfast. Discounts are part of the city's culture, he noted, but added: "I think we need to have a very good public debate about fare prices and discounts. ...

Palmer receives Congressional Gold Medal

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:32 PM PDT

Watson of the U.S. reacts after his putt on the 17th green during second round play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational PGA golf tournament in OrlandoWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arnold Palmer became the sixth athlete to earn a Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony on Wednesday where the golfing great and humanitarian made light of the divided U.S. lawmakers who gave him the award. Congress bestowed Palmer, 83, with its highest civilian award in "recognition of his service to the country in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship". To be sure, this, one of the most unpopular and unproductive congresses in history, came together to salute this king of swing. ...


Peru police find U.S. teen who died on Amazon psychedelic retreat

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:27 PM PDT

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian police said on Wednesday that a shaman had buried the body of an 18-year-old American man to cover up his death during a spiritual retreat in the Amazon where he drank extracts of psychedelic plants. Shaman Jose Pineda Vargas, 58, confessed to burying Kyle Joseph Nolan in his jungle retreat, the Shimbre Shamanic Center, near the native community of Tres Islas in the Madre de Dios region of the Amazon basin that borders Brazil, according to police colonel Roberto Palomino. ...

California governor signs pension bill, hails it as historic reform

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:17 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown signed on Wednesday a pension reform bill that he said puts into law the "biggest rollback to public pension benefits in the history of California pensions." The legislation raises minimum retirement ages and will reduce pension benefits for new public workers, moves that Brown said will save billions of dollars. "Under the new rules, employers and employees alike are going to contribute their fair share of the costs, resulting in a more sustainable system," Brown said in a statement. ...

Breach of security at 'Fort Knox' of uranium sets off alarms

Posted: 12 Sep 2012 11:32 AM PDT

Handout photo of an aerial view of the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, TennesseeWASHINGTON (Reuters) - In July 2012, three aging anti-nuclear activists, including an 82-year-old nun, cut through fences surrounding the "Fort Knox" of uranium storage, and U.S. lawmakers want to know how that was possible. The facility is a major storage center for highly enriched uranium, a key component of nuclear bombs. The security breach at what was supposed to be one of the most secure facilities in the United States has raised new questions about a plan to overhaul oversight of nuclear laboratories and weapons plants. ...


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