PENINSULA DAILY NEWS for Thursday, March 7, 2013 PAGE
A3 Briefly: Nation Wyoming police hold 2 suspects in triple slaying
‘Snowquester’ in D.C.
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — A winter storm marched into the Mid-Atlantic region Wednesday and dumped more than a foot of snow in some places, knocking out power to nearly 200,000 CLARK, Wyo. — The sagehomes and businesses. brush flats along the MontanaVirginia Gov. Bob McDonnell Wyoming border make it easy to spot strangers passing along the told state agencies to let bumpy dirt roads. So it was per- employees work from home. The streets in the nation’s haps no surprise when authoricapital were also quiet. ties announced a quick arrest The storm dubbed the “snowfollowing the triple slaying of a quester” — after the wonky woman and her parents. Yet even with a pair of teen- “sequester” term for $85 billion in federal budget cuts — did litage suspects in custody, resitle immediate harm to D.C., dents remain on edge. much like the budget reductions “Something like this just doesn’t happen here,” said Clark that have started to take effect. resident Robert Bushman. Abortion veto override “We’re all pretty shaken up.” Stephen Hammer, 19, and LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Tanner Vanpelt, 18, told investi- Arkansas House on Wednesday gators they stole a trove of voted to override Democratic handguns from a gun store in Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a bill Cody last week, planning to flee that would ban most abortions to Colorado to sell the weapons, from the 12th week of pregauthorities said Wednesday. nancy onward, setting the stage On Saturday, they took a for a certain court challenge. roommate’s car to Clark to steal A day after the Republicanan Audi SUV from a family led state Senate voted to overfriend of one of the defendants, ride Beebe’s veto, the GOP-conaccording to court documents trolled House voted 56-33 to do and Park County Sheriff Scott the same. Only a simple majorSteward. ity was needed in each chamber. The teens allegedly told The vote comes less than a authorities that after the friend week after the Legislature overargued with them, they shot rode the governor’s veto of a bill and killed Ildiko Freitas, 40, banning most abortions starting Janos Volgyesi, 69, and Hildein the 20th week of pregnancy. gard Volgyesi, 70. Abortion rights proponents Steward credited neighborly already have said they’ll sue. vigilance with the quick arrests Beebe warned lawmakers in the case, which came just a that both measures are likely to few miles from the shooting fail in court. The Associated Press scene.
U.S. House OKs bill preventing shutdown GOP measure gives Defense flexibility on spending cuts THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House approved legislation Wednesday to prevent a government shutdown March 27 and blunt the impact of newly imposed spending cuts on the Defense Department. The 267-151 vote sent the measure to the Senate, where Democrats hope to give additional Cabinet agencies similar flexibility in implementing their shares of the $85 billion in spending cuts required to take effect by the end of the budget year. Republicans said the measure was needed to keep the government operating smoothly after current funding expires. Democrats who opposed the measure protested embedded spending cuts and criticized Republicans for refusing to
replace some of them with tax loophole closings. Ironically, the measure underscored joint efforts by the Barack Obama administration and congressional Republicans to ease the impact of short-term spending cuts that kicked in with dire White House warnings.
Next clash: Medicare At the same time, both are eager to pocket the full savings for deficit reduction as they pivot to a new clash over Medicare next week, when House Republicans and Senate Democrats are expected to unveil rival budgets. The overall size of the cuts in the no-shutdown spending bill remains in place: $85 billion in reductions through the end of the budget year Sept. 30, half from defense and half from domestic
programs as diverse as education, parks and payments to doctors treating Medicare patients. But the legislation drafted by House Republicans also gives the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department flexibility to allocate cuts that no agency currently has. Senate Democrats seem likely to agree to the flexibility if it can be expanded to include other agencies, according to several officials who described closed-door talks that also involved the White House. Among the candidates are the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Justice and State. The move marks a reversal for President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., both of whom had spoken dismissively of Republican plans for flexibility. “The problem is when you’re cutting $85 billion in seven months, which represents over a 10 percent cut in the defense budget in seven months, there’s no smart way to do that,” the president said Feb. 26.
Briefly: World Peacekeepers being detained on Golan Heights UNITED NATIONS — A group of armed fighters linked to the Syrian opposition detained more than 20 U.N. peacekeepers Wednesday in the increasingly volatile zone separating Israeli and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights. The U.N. Security Council demanded their immediate and unconditional release. The capture of the peacekeepers marked a new escalation in the spillover of Syria’s civil war, now entering its third year. It followed the Feb. 25 announcement that a member of the peacekeeping force was unaccounted for. The U.N. said the peacekeeping member, who has not been identified, is still missing. Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current Security Council president, said talks are under way between U.N. officials from the peacekeeping force, known as UNDOF, and the captors.
Conclave blackout VATICAN CITY — In the end, American-style transparency was no match for the Vatican’s obsession with secrecy. Cardinals attending closeddoor discussions ahead of the conclave to elect the next pope imposed a media blackout Wednesday, forcing the cancellation of the popular daily press
briefings by U.S. cardinals that had provided crucial insights into the deliberations. The official reason for the blackout was that some details of the secret discussions about the problems in the church appeared in the Italian newspaper La Stampa. But speculation mounted that the underlying aim of the blackout was to silence the Americans, who have been vocal in their calls for disclosure about allegations of corruption and dysfunction in the Holy See’s governance before they enter the conclave to elect a successor to Benedict XVI.
Real IRA member killed DUBLIN — Police said a member of an Irish Republican Army splinter group involved in a bloody feud with Dublin drug dealers was killed in an ambush outside a rural Irish pub. Peter Butterly was shot in the head and body Wednesday outside the Huntsman Inn near the village of Gormanston. Witnesses said Butterly had arrived for a meeting and was shot as he walked toward the car containing the gunman. Irish authorities have been seeking to convict Butterly for Real IRA activities since his 2010 arrest in connection with the discovery of an arms dump containing explosives, detonators, guns and ammunition. Police said they arrested four men inside the suspected getaway car, found a gun inside and arrested a fifth man nearby. The Associated Press
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A woman holds a newspaper with the headline in Spanish “He’s left us” as she watches Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez’s coffin pass by in Caracas on Wednesday.
Chavez’s coffin paraded as Venezuelans ready for vote THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARACAS, Venezuela — Weeping and shouting, a sea of Hugo Chavez’s supporters paraded his coffin through the streets of Caracas on Wednesday in an emotional outpouring that could help his deputy win an election and keep his self-styled socialist revolution alive. Hundreds of thousands of “Chavistas” marched behind a hearse carrying the remains of the flamboyant and outspoken president, draped in Venezuela’s blue, red and yellow national flag. Avenues resounded with chants of “Chavez lives! The fight goes on!” as supporters showered flowers onto the coffin and jostled
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to touch it. Ending one of Latin America’s most remarkable populist rules, Chavez died on Tuesday at age 58 after a two-year battle with cancer that was first detected in his pelvis. His body will lie in state at a military academy until his state funeral on Friday. The future of Chavez’s socialist policies, which won him the adoration of poor Venezuelans but infuriated opponents who denounced him as a dictator, now rests on the shoulders of Vice President Nicolas Maduro, the man he tapped to succeed him. Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver and now interim president, will probably face Henrique
Capriles, the centrist opposition governor of Miranda state, in an election now due within weeks in the OPEC nation with the world’s largest oil reserves. One recent opinion poll gave Maduro a strong lead over Capriles, in part because he has received Chavez’s blessing as his heir apparent, and he is likely to benefit from the surge of emotion following the president’s death. Authorities said the vote would be called within 30 days, as stipulated by the constitution, but did not specify the date. The tall, mustachioed Maduro has long been a close ally of Chavez. He pledged to continue his legacy.
. . . more news to start your day
West: California nurse is on leave who denied CPR
Nation: Ga. airport worker turns in $7,000 in lost cash
Nation: New TSA rules on knives upset 9/11 kin
World: Ivory trade nations face threat of sanctions
RELATIVES OF LORRAINE Bayless, 87, who died after a nurse at her retirement home refused a 9-1-1 dispatcher’s pleas to perform CPR, said Bayless’ wishes were to die naturally. Bayless’ death last week at Glendale Gardens, a Bakersfield independent living facility, prompted outrage after a recording of the 7-minute 9-1-1 call was released. Brookdale Senior Living, which owns the facility, initially said its employee acted correctly by waiting for emergency personnel. But late Tuesday it said she misinterpreted the company’s guidelines and was now on voluntary leave while the case is investigated.
A PART-TIME PARKING deck worker at Atlanta’s airport said she never thought about keeping the envelope with $7,000 in cash she found on a curb outside the international terminal. Pamela North Holloway said she watched her supervisor count the money and call Atlanta police to pick it up. A police report showed the envelope contained 70 $100 bills. Police said an Alabama podiatrist who was on his way to Costa Rica called police to see if anyone had turned in the money. Police said he was able to identify specific writing on the envelope and how the money was wrapped.
SOME FAMILY MEMBERS of Sept. 11 terror victims are angry over new flight-safety rules that will permit small knives on planes. The head of the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday that air passengers will now be allowed to carry folding knives with blades that are 2.36 inches or less. The rules go into effect next month. They will also permit souvenir baseball bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment. Two widows of 9/11 victims said small pocketknives can be just as lethal as the box cutters used by the terrorists. Box cutters are still banned.
TOP CONSERVATION GROUPS warned Wednesday that the illegal ivory trade is hastening the decline of Africa’s endangered elephant population and said they are ready to punish nations lax in fighting the problem. “Globally, illegal ivory trade activity has more than doubled since 2007 and is now over three times larger than it was in 1998,” said a report issued in Bangkok at a meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. CITES has put three African and five Asian nations on notice to come up with a plan of action for curbing the trade across and within their borders.