Friday, July 3, 2015
UPDATED: Walker will “make changes” / WI Legislature aims to destroy public access to drafting docs. IT TAKES EFFECT JULY 1st.
UPDATE: Gov. Scott Walker plans to work with lawmakers to change heavy restrictions on public records before the state budget is voted on, his spokeswoman said Friday. “Prior to the budget going to the full Legislature for action, Governor Walker plans to work with legislative leaders to make changes to the provisions included in the more »
Oregon Bakery Fined For Refusing To Make Wedding Cake For Lesbian Couple
The owners of an Oregon bakery must pay a $135,000 fine for refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, a state official ruled on Thursday.
Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian agreed with a preliminary ruling that Sweet Cakes by Melissa illegally discriminated against a Portland couple in 2013 by turning down their request based on their sexual orientation, The Oregonian reported.
A judge had ordered owners Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $75,000 in damages to Rachel Bowman-Crye and another $60,000 to her wife, Laurel Bowman-Cryer.
The Kleins had argued it was against their Christians beliefs to participate in a same-sex marriage. Supporters raised money for them earlier this year after an administrative law judge imposed the penalty.
The Bowman-Cryers, through their attorney Paul Thompson, said in a statement they were glad Avakian sent "a clear message that discrimination will simply not be tolerated in our state."
"This has been a terrible ordeal for our entire family. We never imagined finding ourselves caught up in a fight for social justice," they said.
"We endured daily, hateful attacks on social media, received death threats and feared for our family's safety, yet our goal remained steadfast. We were determined to ensure that this kind of blatant discrimination never happened to another couple, another family, another Oregonian," the statement continued. "Everyone deserves to be treated as an equal member of society."
An email to HuffPost, the bakery said the decision was wrong, adding, "Americans should tolerate diverse opinions, not use the government to punish fellow citizens with different views. This case has become a poster for an overpowered elected official using his position to root out thought and speech with which he personally disagrees."
The owners vowed in a Facebook post to appeal the decision:
The Sweet Cakes website features quotations from Biblical passages, such as, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" from the book of Proverbs. It also explicitly states the bakery is interested in baking for weddings between a man and a woman.
"We here at Sweet Cakes strongly believe that when a man and woman come together to be joined as one, it is truly one of the most special days of their lives," the homepage said. "We feel truely [sic] honored when we are chosen to do the cake for your special day."
Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian agreed with a preliminary ruling that Sweet Cakes by Melissa illegally discriminated against a Portland couple in 2013 by turning down their request based on their sexual orientation, The Oregonian reported.
A judge had ordered owners Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $75,000 in damages to Rachel Bowman-Crye and another $60,000 to her wife, Laurel Bowman-Cryer.
The Kleins had argued it was against their Christians beliefs to participate in a same-sex marriage. Supporters raised money for them earlier this year after an administrative law judge imposed the penalty.
The Bowman-Cryers, through their attorney Paul Thompson, said in a statement they were glad Avakian sent "a clear message that discrimination will simply not be tolerated in our state."
"This has been a terrible ordeal for our entire family. We never imagined finding ourselves caught up in a fight for social justice," they said.
"We endured daily, hateful attacks on social media, received death threats and feared for our family's safety, yet our goal remained steadfast. We were determined to ensure that this kind of blatant discrimination never happened to another couple, another family, another Oregonian," the statement continued. "Everyone deserves to be treated as an equal member of society."
An email to HuffPost, the bakery said the decision was wrong, adding, "Americans should tolerate diverse opinions, not use the government to punish fellow citizens with different views. This case has become a poster for an overpowered elected official using his position to root out thought and speech with which he personally disagrees."
The owners vowed in a Facebook post to appeal the decision:
"The final ruling has been made today. We have been charged with $135,000 in emotional damages, But also now Aaron has been charged with advertising. (Basically talking about not wanting to participate in a same-sex wedding) This effectively strips us of all our first amendment rights. According to the state of Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech. We will NOT give up this fight, and we will NOT be silenced. We stand for God's truth, God's word and freedom for ALL americans. We are here to obey God not man, and we will not conform to this world. If we were to lose everything it would be totally worth it for our Lord who gave his one and only son, Jesus, for us! God will win this fight.
The Sweet Cakes website features quotations from Biblical passages, such as, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" from the book of Proverbs. It also explicitly states the bakery is interested in baking for weddings between a man and a woman.
"We here at Sweet Cakes strongly believe that when a man and woman come together to be joined as one, it is truly one of the most special days of their lives," the homepage said. "We feel truely [sic] honored when we are chosen to do the cake for your special day."
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Drug Traffickers Get Creative When Mailing Meth To Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) — Federal agents last month intercepted a package mailed to Hawaii from Southern California containing a toaster oven. Hidden inside the four-slice toaster, there appeared to be 6 pounds of crystal meth.
Leland Akau Sr. and Allen Gorion, who allegedly received the package in Kapolei, pleaded not guilty Thursday to meth distribution and conspiracy charges. Lab analysis results to determine the purity of the methamphetamine are pending, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Roberts said. It's one of the latest cases involving drug packages mailed to Hawaii.
Crystal meth is known as the drug of choice in Hawaii, where it gained a stronghold across the islands long before becoming popular on the mainland. "It's the No. 1 dangerous drug here in Hawaii," Gary Yabuta, director of the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program in Hawaii.
In an island state where crowded living makes meth labs scarce, there are limited ways to get the drug. So, traffickers get creative: hiding them in stuffed animals or wrapping them up like Christmas presents before sending them in the mail.
In 2013, 6 pounds of meth were shipped to Hawaii from San Bernardino, California, stuffed into three mannequin heads, according to court documents. The mannequin heads were in boxes wrapped in pink and gold paper. The parcel also contained shirts, shorts, slippers and towels.
In a separate case last year, 4 pounds of the drug was shipped to Hawaii from Ontario, California, stuffed inside two mannequin heads.
"If it fits, it ships," said Robin Dinlocker, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Honolulu district.
Mailing or shipping drugs to Hawaii became more common with increased airport security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when it became more difficult to smuggle drugs through air travel, authorities said.
During the 2014 fiscal year, the Honolulu office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which also covers Guam and the Marianas, participated in more than 50 arrests of people who were using the mail to transport drugs. The majority of the cases involved methamphetamine, said Postal Inspector Brian Shaughnessy. For 2012 and 2013, there were about 40 each year, also mostly meth.
The figures don't include other package delivery services such as FedEx and UPS.
Crystal meth first arrived in Hawaii from Korea and the Philippines around 1979, said Dr. William Haning, professor of psychiatry at the University of Hawaii's medical school.
Geography wasn't the only reason the drug took root here, Haning said. It fit in well with Hawaii's largely service economy, where many residents work multiple, low-wage jobs to survive a high-cost of living. "After a while, with everybody working so many hours ... this becomes the perfect performance drug for getting by," he said.
These days, crystal meth isn't coming from Asia, but from Mexico, Dinlocker said.
The appetite for the drug, along with the difficulty in getting it here, is reflected in its street value: A pound of meth goes for $20,000 in Honolulu — double what it goes for on the mainland.
The meth hidden in the toaster was in vacuum-sealed plastic bags, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case. The Black & Decker oven box was then placed into a cardboard box and shipped to a residential address in Kapolei from North Hollywood, California.
The parcels of meth are sent here so frequently, "I know we're not catching them all," Dinlocker said.
___
Follow Jennifer Sinco Kelleher at http://www.twitter.com/JenHapa.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the plea was Thursday, not Friday.
Leland Akau Sr. and Allen Gorion, who allegedly received the package in Kapolei, pleaded not guilty Thursday to meth distribution and conspiracy charges. Lab analysis results to determine the purity of the methamphetamine are pending, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Roberts said. It's one of the latest cases involving drug packages mailed to Hawaii.
Crystal meth is known as the drug of choice in Hawaii, where it gained a stronghold across the islands long before becoming popular on the mainland. "It's the No. 1 dangerous drug here in Hawaii," Gary Yabuta, director of the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program in Hawaii.
In an island state where crowded living makes meth labs scarce, there are limited ways to get the drug. So, traffickers get creative: hiding them in stuffed animals or wrapping them up like Christmas presents before sending them in the mail.
In 2013, 6 pounds of meth were shipped to Hawaii from San Bernardino, California, stuffed into three mannequin heads, according to court documents. The mannequin heads were in boxes wrapped in pink and gold paper. The parcel also contained shirts, shorts, slippers and towels.
In a separate case last year, 4 pounds of the drug was shipped to Hawaii from Ontario, California, stuffed inside two mannequin heads.
"If it fits, it ships," said Robin Dinlocker, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Honolulu district.
Mailing or shipping drugs to Hawaii became more common with increased airport security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when it became more difficult to smuggle drugs through air travel, authorities said.
During the 2014 fiscal year, the Honolulu office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which also covers Guam and the Marianas, participated in more than 50 arrests of people who were using the mail to transport drugs. The majority of the cases involved methamphetamine, said Postal Inspector Brian Shaughnessy. For 2012 and 2013, there were about 40 each year, also mostly meth.
The figures don't include other package delivery services such as FedEx and UPS.
Crystal meth first arrived in Hawaii from Korea and the Philippines around 1979, said Dr. William Haning, professor of psychiatry at the University of Hawaii's medical school.
Geography wasn't the only reason the drug took root here, Haning said. It fit in well with Hawaii's largely service economy, where many residents work multiple, low-wage jobs to survive a high-cost of living. "After a while, with everybody working so many hours ... this becomes the perfect performance drug for getting by," he said.
These days, crystal meth isn't coming from Asia, but from Mexico, Dinlocker said.
The appetite for the drug, along with the difficulty in getting it here, is reflected in its street value: A pound of meth goes for $20,000 in Honolulu — double what it goes for on the mainland.
The meth hidden in the toaster was in vacuum-sealed plastic bags, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case. The Black & Decker oven box was then placed into a cardboard box and shipped to a residential address in Kapolei from North Hollywood, California.
The parcels of meth are sent here so frequently, "I know we're not catching them all," Dinlocker said.
___
Follow Jennifer Sinco Kelleher at http://www.twitter.com/JenHapa.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the plea was Thursday, not Friday.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Caught on video: Motor scooter versus fire truck
No details on this and I am not sure if it’s old or new. Not as dramatic as the motorcyclist who crashed head on into a rig from Los Angeles County, but still very damaging.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
WI Legislature aims to destroy public access to drafting docs. IT TAKES EFFECT JULY 1st.
I’m going to go ALL CAPS. WISCONSIN IS RULED BY ARROGANT SLIMEBALLS. I mean, it’s not enough for Wisconsin’s Republican legislators and the dairyland dictator to have one-party-rule. They demand secrecy! A motion proposed by the Joint Finance Committee today takes away our access to drafting documents. Yes, it IS part of the Wisconsin budget more »
World Police & Fire Games athlete dies in bike crash in Virginia
A competitor in the World Police and Fire Games died Thursday evening after he was hurt in a cycling crash Thursday afternoon, Prince William County Police said in an update. Two other riders were in critical condition after the devastating accident.
The rider was identified as Carlos Silva, 48, of Brazil. He died about 5 p.m. Thursday. The two injured competitors are a 43-year-old man and a 44-year-old man, police said.
fox5newsdc: Cyclist killed at World Police & Fire Games ID’ed as Carlos Silva, 48, officer from Brazil … pic.twitter.com/D4LV40t4sd
— Sendler Nies (@Cust_Service_) July 3, 2015
News reports indicate that Carlos Silva was an investigator with the Civil Police of the Federal District of Brazil
One bicyclist was killed and two others were seriously injured after a cycling crash at the World Police and Fire Games Thursday afternoon.
The crash happened on the Loop, a 7.5 mile paved, windy road with hills at the Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Va.
Prince William County police say the riders, all from Brazil, were transported to area hospitals for treatment. The two other riders remain in serious condition.
According to police, the crash was triggered when one of the riders sustained a front tire blowout, which caused a chain reaction with the other cyclists.
The deceased bicyclist was identified as 48-year-old Carlos Silva. The two other cyclists are a 44-year-old man and a 43-year-old man. Police have not released their names.
Riders familiar with the Loop say it’s a tough course and can be dangerous for those who are not familiar with the road. The injured cyclists were coming down a steep, curvy hill over Quantico Creek.
The incident happened around noon, and the competition at the park ended shortly after.
The World Police and Fire games are an athletic competition featuring law enforcement officers from all over the world.
Official statement:
Joint Statement from Chairman Sharon Bulova; Police Chief Ed Roessler; Fire Chief Richard Bowers; Sheriff Stacey Kincaid; Dave Rohrer, Deputy County Executive for Public Safety; Bill Knight, President & CEO, Fairfax 2015 Inc; Michael Graham, President, World Police & Fire Games Federation; and Robert Vogel, Regional Director, National Park Service, National Capital Region
For Immediate Release: July 2, 2015
We are deeply saddened that an athlete participating in the World Police & Fire Games passed away today at the cycling event in Prince William County. Two other athletes are severely injured. Please join us as we keep these athletes, their families and friends in our thoughts and prayers during this tragic and challenging time.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Newly Released Emails Show Obama Aides Knew Of Hillary Clinton's Private Email As Early As 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior Obama administration officials knew as early as 2009 that Hillary Rodham Clinton was using a private email address for her government correspondence.
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel requested Clinton's email address on Sept. 5, 2009, according to one of some 3,000 pages of correspondence released by the State Department on Tuesday evening. His request came three months after top Obama strategist David Axelrod corresponded with Clinton, now a Democratic presidential contender, at her private address.
But it's unclear whether the officials realized Clinton was running her email from a server located in her Chappaqua, New York, home — a potential security risk and violation of administration policy.
Clinton's emails have become a major issue in her early presidential campaign, as Republicans accuse her of using a private account rather than the standard government address to avoid public scrutiny of her correspondence. As the controversy has continued, Clinton has seen ratings of her character and trustworthiness drop in polling.
The newly released emails show Clinton sent or received at least 12 messages in 2009 on her private email server that were later classified "confidential" by the U.S. government. Those emails were censored because officials said they contained activities relating to the intelligence community, or had discussed the production and dissemination of U.S. intelligence information.
At least two dozen emails were also marked "sensitive but unclassified" at the time they were written, including a December 2009 message from top Clinton aide Huma Abedin about an explosion in Baghdad that killed 90.
In April 2009, Clinton's chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, sent a preview of a "sensitive but unclassified" memo to Hillary Clinton's private email address concerning the State Department's preparation for the upcoming Summit of the Americas at the Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago.
Though Clinton has said her home system included "numerous safeguards," it's not clear if it used encryption software to communicate securely with government email services. That would have protected her communications from the prying eyes of foreign spies or hackers. When nearly 900 pages of her emails were released in May, Clinton said the information in those messages — also classified by the FBI before being released — "was handled appropriately."
Still, the roughly 3,000 pages of Clinton's correspondence from 2009, her first year as the nation's top diplomat, newly released Tuesday by the agency leave little doubt that the Obama administration was aware that Clinton was using a personal address.
"The Secretary and Rahm are speaking, and she just asked him to email her — can you send me her address please?" Amanda Anderson, Emanuel's assistant, wrote.
Abedin passed along the request to Clinton. "Rahm's assistant is asking for your email address. U want me to give him?"
Less than a minute later, Clinton replied that Abedin should send along the address.
Axelrod wrote Clinton in June 2009 to express his condolences about an elbow fracture she suffered after slipping on her way to a White House meeting and call her "an all-star player."
Clinton replied: "Thank you for your too kind words which were a greatly welcome addition to my healing and rehab. My word of advice is to watch where you step and stay grounded!"
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said last spring that President Barack Obama emailed with Clinton at her private account, though he was "not aware of the details" of her system.
The White House counsel's office was not aware at the time Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary of state that she relied solely on personal email and only found out as part of the congressional investigation into the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attacks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Once the State Department turned over some of her messages in connection with the Benghazi investigation after she left office, making it apparent she had not followed government guidance, the White House counsel's office asked the department to ensure that her email records were properly archived, according to the person, who spoke on a condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the record.
The emails, covering March through December 2009, were posted online as part of a court mandate that the agency release batches of Clinton's private correspondence from her time as secretary of state every 30 days starting June 30.
Separately, the State Department on Tuesday provided more than 3,600 pages of documents to the Republican-led House committee investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, including emails of Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations at the time, and former Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Jake Sullivan.
The regular releases of Clinton's correspondence all but guarantee a slow drip of revelations from the emails throughout her primary campaign, complicating her efforts to put the issue to rest. The goal is for the department to publicly unveil 55,000 pages of her emails by Jan. 29, 2016 — just three days before Iowa caucus-goers will cast the first votes in the Democratic primary contest. Clinton has said she wants the department to release the emails as soon as possible.
Clinton turned her emails over to the State Department last year, nearly two years after leaving the Obama administration. She has said she got rid of about 30,000 emails she deemed exclusively personal. Only she and perhaps a small circle of advisers know the content of the discarded communications.
Much of the correspondence reflects the mundane logistics of high-level public service, scheduling secure lines for calls, commenting on memos and dealing with travel logistics.
In one email with the subject "Don't laugh!!" Clinton asked her longtime aide, Capricia Marshall, about carpets in China.
"Can you contact your protocol friend in China and ask him if I could get photos of the carpets of the rooms I met in w POTUS during the recent trip?" Clinton wrote. "I loved their designs and the way they appeared carved. Any chance we can get this?"
___
Associated Press writers Jack Gillum, Eileen Sullivan, Stephen Braun and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel requested Clinton's email address on Sept. 5, 2009, according to one of some 3,000 pages of correspondence released by the State Department on Tuesday evening. His request came three months after top Obama strategist David Axelrod corresponded with Clinton, now a Democratic presidential contender, at her private address.
But it's unclear whether the officials realized Clinton was running her email from a server located in her Chappaqua, New York, home — a potential security risk and violation of administration policy.
Clinton's emails have become a major issue in her early presidential campaign, as Republicans accuse her of using a private account rather than the standard government address to avoid public scrutiny of her correspondence. As the controversy has continued, Clinton has seen ratings of her character and trustworthiness drop in polling.
The newly released emails show Clinton sent or received at least 12 messages in 2009 on her private email server that were later classified "confidential" by the U.S. government. Those emails were censored because officials said they contained activities relating to the intelligence community, or had discussed the production and dissemination of U.S. intelligence information.
At least two dozen emails were also marked "sensitive but unclassified" at the time they were written, including a December 2009 message from top Clinton aide Huma Abedin about an explosion in Baghdad that killed 90.
In April 2009, Clinton's chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, sent a preview of a "sensitive but unclassified" memo to Hillary Clinton's private email address concerning the State Department's preparation for the upcoming Summit of the Americas at the Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago.
Though Clinton has said her home system included "numerous safeguards," it's not clear if it used encryption software to communicate securely with government email services. That would have protected her communications from the prying eyes of foreign spies or hackers. When nearly 900 pages of her emails were released in May, Clinton said the information in those messages — also classified by the FBI before being released — "was handled appropriately."
Still, the roughly 3,000 pages of Clinton's correspondence from 2009, her first year as the nation's top diplomat, newly released Tuesday by the agency leave little doubt that the Obama administration was aware that Clinton was using a personal address.
"The Secretary and Rahm are speaking, and she just asked him to email her — can you send me her address please?" Amanda Anderson, Emanuel's assistant, wrote.
Abedin passed along the request to Clinton. "Rahm's assistant is asking for your email address. U want me to give him?"
Less than a minute later, Clinton replied that Abedin should send along the address.
Axelrod wrote Clinton in June 2009 to express his condolences about an elbow fracture she suffered after slipping on her way to a White House meeting and call her "an all-star player."
Clinton replied: "Thank you for your too kind words which were a greatly welcome addition to my healing and rehab. My word of advice is to watch where you step and stay grounded!"
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said last spring that President Barack Obama emailed with Clinton at her private account, though he was "not aware of the details" of her system.
The White House counsel's office was not aware at the time Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary of state that she relied solely on personal email and only found out as part of the congressional investigation into the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attacks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Once the State Department turned over some of her messages in connection with the Benghazi investigation after she left office, making it apparent she had not followed government guidance, the White House counsel's office asked the department to ensure that her email records were properly archived, according to the person, who spoke on a condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the record.
The emails, covering March through December 2009, were posted online as part of a court mandate that the agency release batches of Clinton's private correspondence from her time as secretary of state every 30 days starting June 30.
Separately, the State Department on Tuesday provided more than 3,600 pages of documents to the Republican-led House committee investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, including emails of Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations at the time, and former Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Jake Sullivan.
The regular releases of Clinton's correspondence all but guarantee a slow drip of revelations from the emails throughout her primary campaign, complicating her efforts to put the issue to rest. The goal is for the department to publicly unveil 55,000 pages of her emails by Jan. 29, 2016 — just three days before Iowa caucus-goers will cast the first votes in the Democratic primary contest. Clinton has said she wants the department to release the emails as soon as possible.
Clinton turned her emails over to the State Department last year, nearly two years after leaving the Obama administration. She has said she got rid of about 30,000 emails she deemed exclusively personal. Only she and perhaps a small circle of advisers know the content of the discarded communications.
Much of the correspondence reflects the mundane logistics of high-level public service, scheduling secure lines for calls, commenting on memos and dealing with travel logistics.
In one email with the subject "Don't laugh!!" Clinton asked her longtime aide, Capricia Marshall, about carpets in China.
"Can you contact your protocol friend in China and ask him if I could get photos of the carpets of the rooms I met in w POTUS during the recent trip?" Clinton wrote. "I loved their designs and the way they appeared carved. Any chance we can get this?"
___
Associated Press writers Jack Gillum, Eileen Sullivan, Stephen Braun and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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