NEWS
Page A6 • Saturday, April 5, 2014
Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com
Hunt is on for Flight 370 ‘black boxes’ By NICK PERRY
Kerry: It’s ‘reality check’ time for Mideast talks
The Associated Press PERTH, Australia – Planes, ships and two submersible sound locators were deployed Saturday to again scour a remote patch of the Indian Ocean in the increasingly urgent hunt for the Malaysia Airlines jet that vanished four weeks ago. A multinational team is desperately trying to find debris floating in the water or faint sound signals from the plane’s flight recorders that could lead them to the aircraft and help unravel the mystery of its fate. Beacons in the black boxes emit “pings” so they can be more easily found, but the batteries only last about a month. And officials say that the more time that passes before any floating wreckage is found, the harder it will be to find the plane itself. So far, there’s been no sign of the Boeing 777. The recorders could help investigators determine why Flight 370, which disappeared March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard, veered so far offcourse. Two ships with sophisticated equipment that can hear the recorders’ pings were deployed for the first time on Friday along a 150mile route investigators hope may be close to the spot where they believe the plane went down. Those ships, the Australian navy’s Ocean Shield and the British HMS Echo, were returning to the search area on Saturday, along with up to 13 military and civilian planes and nine other ships, the agency coordinating the search said. Weather conditions in the area, which have regularly hampered crews trying to spot debris, were fair with some rain expected, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre said. Because the U.S. Navy’s pinger locator can pick up signals to a depth of 20,000 feet, it should be able to hear the plane’s data recorders even if they are in the deepest part of the search zone –
By LARA JAKES and MATTHEW LEE The Associated Press
AP photos
ABOVE: Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Commander Hidetsugu Iwamasa walks around a P-3C Orion at Royal Australian Air Force Base Pearce on Friday after speaking to the media about its role of the ongoing search operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in Perth, Australia. BELOW: Relatives of Chinese passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane Flight MH370 cry Friday as they pray in a prayer room in Beijing, China.
about 19,000 feet. But that’s only if the locator gets within range of the black boxes – a tough task, given the size of the search area and the fact that the pinger locator must be dragged slowly through the water at just 1 to 6 mph. Officials said there was no specific information that led to the underwater devices being used for the first time on Friday, but that they were brought into the effort because there was nothing to lose.
Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, head of the joint agency coordinating the operation, acknowledged the search area was essentially a best guess, and noted the time when the plane’s locator beacons would shut down was “getting pretty close.” Finding floating wreckage is key to narrowing the search area, as officials can then use data on currents to try to backtrack to where the plane hit the water, and
where the flight recorders may be. The overall search area is a 84,000-square-mile zone in the southern Indian Ocean, about 1,100 miles northwest of the western Australian city of Perth. The search area has shifted each day as investigators continue to analyze what little radar and satellite data is available while factoring in where any debris may have drifted. Australia is coordinating the ocean search, and the investigation into the plane’s disappearance is Malaysia’s responsibility. Australia, the U.S., Britain and China have all agreed to be “accredited representatives” of the investigation. Meanwhile, the Air Line Pilots Association, a union that represents 30,000 pilots in North America, said in a statement that the Malaysia Airlines tragedy should lead to higher standards of plane tracking technology being adopted by the airline industry.
WASHINGTON – With Mideast peace talks on the verge of collapse, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declared Friday that “it’s reality check time” on whether an agreement can be reached anytime soon after decades John of bitterness Kerry between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The U.S. will re-evaluate its role as mediator, he said. It was Kerry’s most pessimistic take yet on the peace effort after nearly nine months of frustrating talks with little progress to show. Kerry made clear that his push for peace is not yet over, and he said both sides claim to want to continue negotiating. But he also said that continuing setbacks in the process – culminating this week with tit-for-tat moves by Israeli and Palestinian officials that have upended good-faith bargaining – could force the U.S. to shift focus to other crises where Washington might have more success. “We have an enormous amount on the plate,” Kerry told reporters during a diplomatic visit to Rabat, Morocco, the end of a marathon trip that saw him jumping back and forth between Israel, Ramallah and Europe. He noted that the U.S. is also dealing with challenges in Ukraine, Iran and Syria, and he said, “There are limits to the amount of time and effort the United States can spend if the parties themselves are unwilling to take constructive steps in order to be able to move forward.” The nine months of talks are scheduled to end April 29, and Kerry has been pressing to have them continue through much of the rest of the year. “But we’re not going to sit here indefinitely,” he said. “So it’s reality check time, and we intend to evaluate precisely what the next steps will be.”
“We have an enormous amount on the plate. There are limits to the amount of time and effort the United States can spend if the parties themselves are unwilling to take constructive steps in order to be able to move forward.” John Kerry U.S. Secretary of State White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he “would anticipate that a conversation with the president is in the near future.” Kerry has spent major portions of his 14 months as secretary of state pursuing an Israeli-Palestinian agreement despite the seemingly long odds. A collapse of the talks could be a diplomatic embarrassment for him and the administration – and a danger in the region as well. Failed efforts in the past have led to major bouts of violence. On Friday, Palestinians fired rockets at Israel, which responded with warplanes attacking military targets in the Gaza Strip. Uzi Rabi, director of Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University, said it’s doubtful the two sides will broker a final peace agreement, given years of bitterness and sharp differences over borders, claims to Jerusalem and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. But he said the talks should continue – if only to ward off a new Palestinian uprising against Israelis that would surely lead to a surge in violence. “I think the Americans know that” the talks ultimately will fail, Rabi said. “So why are they going on? Because it’s much better to talk than something which is much more problematic, like intifada.” Intifada is the Arabic term for past Palestinian uprisings against Israel.
About 175 citations issued since January in CL Ethics commission issued • CRACKDOWN Continued from page A1 as diligently as possible,” Decker said. Motorists who are charged with driving while talking with a hand-held cellphone can pay $120 without going to court to challenge it. However, if a driver does go to court, the judge can fine the driver up to $75 for the first offense and assess court costs, bringing the total bill for the phone call up to about $300, the circuit clerk’s office said. So far, through the end of March, 785 tickets for using an electronic device have been disposed of, including 702 of which were paid before a court date. The remaining 83 went to court, according to the circuit clerk’s office. In Crystal Lake, there have been about 175 citations since January for people who have violated the state’s electronic communication device law, said Commander of Support Services Dan Dziewior. Even when the law was less
“Our goal is to deter cellphone use and provide for safe roadways of which we have issued both warnings and tickets to accomplish this.” John Birk McHenry Police deputy chief
restrictive from 2011 through 2013, Crystal Lake issued 417 citations. Sgt. Jeff Sutrick is the traffic unit supervisor for the village of Algonquin. In April, Algonquin is recognizing distracted driving month to encourage people to avoid distractions such as using a cellphone while driving, texting while driving, or even eating while driving while behind the wheel. The department plans to publish information on the village website and use social media to communicate about the dangers of distracted driving. Algonquin has written, through mid-March, 91 citations and 29 warnings to people for using a cellphone while driving, Sutrick said. Sutrick said he believes ac-
cidents caused by someone on a cellphone are under-reported, and it’s usually a witness who says a driver was on a cellphone. In 2013, there were 61 car accidents where a distraction was listed as a contributing cause. Of those accidents 48 were by a distraction inside vehicle, one was by a distraction by another electronic device, two were for texting and 10 were from a cellphone. Sutrick said when he is off duty, he still sees people talking on their cellphones while driving. “Some people are making an attempt to abide by the law, and using bluetooth and taking those precautions,” Sutrick said. “When I’m not in my squad [car] and just driving down the road, I always see a lot of people still
on cellphones and still texting and driving.” He said drivers need to be educated about the danger and hazards of distracted driving. “I think they’re aware of it, but just choose to ignore it,” Sutrick said. “When stopped, most people admit ‘I know I’m not suppose to be on my phone.’ ” McHenry has not conducted any special enforcements, but the department would consider it, said Deputy Chief John Birk. “We do not have any plans to form a specialized effort as of yet, but that could change as we are now entering our busy road construction season with alternate traffic patterns and construction crews,” Birk said in an email. So far, McHenry has issued 149 tickets and 152 warnings for talking on a cellphone while driving through April 2. “Our goal is to deter cellphone use and provide for safe roadways of which we have issued both warnings and tickets to accomplish this,” Birk said.
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• MANAGER Continued from page A1 Department officials said Redfield initially denied the allegations during the investigation, but the inspector general ultimately found Redfield’s subordinates’ statements “more credible than his bald denials.” After finding him in vi-
olation of the state’s ethics act and the department’s standard procedures, state’s Executive Ethics Commission issued Redfield a fine of $2,500. Redfield, of Harvey, had been previously cited for doing personal work on state time and falsifying timekeeping records on the job, and was forced to attend counseling by the department in 2008.
Prim slated to face attorney Jim Harrison in general election • RECOUNT Continued from page A1 Only 16.9 percent of McHenry County’s registered voters showed up March 18 for the primary election. Prim will face a general election challenge from Woodstock-based attorney Jim Harrison, assuming Harrison collects enough signa-
tures to be on the ballot. Harrison has indicated he is not dropping out of the race. He needs more than 6,000 signatures to be on the ballot as an independent candidate. After certifying, the outcome of other close races – including two County Board seats – didn’t change. Nancy Gonsiorek lost in District 3 by 30 votes, and District 6’s Ersel Schuster lost by 61 votes.
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