European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 s tars and stripes april 10 2007 Page 21 City settles lawsuit in free speech Case los Angeles the City of Santa Barbara has settled a Feder Al lawsuit filed by a Man who was arrested while re citing the names of sol Diers killed in Iraq his attorneys said the City agreed to pay in damages to Michael Tocher and adopt a new police department policy reminding offic ers to recognize demonstrators free speech rights the american civil liberties Union of Southern California said in a statement the settlement was filed in us District court in los Angeles Tocher and the Acle sued the City after he was handcuffed and taken into custody in november 2004 he was released after being cited for disturbing the peace mall returned to sender 63 years after mailing Portland a letter that was sent from an insurance company but never delivered has been returned to the sender 63 years after it was mailed a mail Carrier returned the let Ter two weeks ago to a Congress Street office building that was the Home to the Maine Branch of new York life in 1943 when the letter was sent by new York life there was no name or address on the envelope which helps explain Why it was never delivered but ifs unclear where the let Ter has been hiding All these years the letter appears to have been part of a mass mailing with a Bro Chure encouraging Young men to buy insurance and provide for the financial Security of their families Cullen Fletcher who manages the Congress Street building where the letter was returned spot Ted the mail carriers puzzled expression when he attempted to re turn the errant piece of mail he then noticed the postmark of sept 11943 and the 3cent postage English Only Bill tags racist Label on lawmaker Carson City advocates praised a Bill making English the official language of me state of Nevada during a state sen ate hearing but critics labelled the plan As racist state sen Bob Beers Las vegas defended his sb325 during the government affairs commit tee hearing interrupting witnesses who criticized the measure and in sisting he had no racist intent he said 29 other states already have approved similar measures your proposal is racist in intent and is being proposed to Divide nevadans at the Cost of the rights of hispanic nevadans Rene Cantu of the latin chamber of com Merce in Las vegas told Beers de Hamilton Active in nevadas asian american Community also backed Beers proposal saying ifs a Good idea to have one com Mon language in the state govern ment cop killers dad arrested on assault gun counts Alexandria the father of a teenager who shot and killed two Fairfax county police officers during a rampage last american Roundup year has been charged with illegally helping his troubled son obtain the guns Brian Kennedy 50 of Centre Ville is accused of lying on govern ment forms to obtain an ak47 and illegally possessing other guns that his son took to the Sully District police station in Chantilly Michael Kennedy 18 fired More than 70 rounds the afternoon of May 8 before he was shot and killed by police the indictment unsealed in us District court states Brian Kennedy possessed 20 guns including assault rifles a semiautomatic Shotgun two semiautomatic rifles and semiautomatic pistols he also is said to have possessed More than 2500 rounds of ammunition the indictment says Brian Kennedy Possession of the weapons and ammunition is illegal be cause Federal agents determined that he is a drug user Excog pleads guilty to vehicular manslaughter Cortland a police officer accused of driving drunk and killing a woman pleaded guilty Jeffrey Chip Stockton 38 pleaded guilty to second degree vehicular manslaughter vehicular As Sault and Dpi for the nov 17 Inci Dent prosecutors said he was driving drunk and sending a text message when he hit two 55yearold open season Bob Kish is bundled against the morning chill As he casts for Trout while standing in the ram Apo River in Oakland no shortly after new jerseys Trout fishing season opened women one of the women Lyn Briggs 55 died after being in a coma for two weeks with Skull fractures and brain swelling Stockton was of duty at the time from the Cortland police department he was employed at the police department for seven i years he resigned from the Job dec 6 four Days after Briggs died Stockton will be sentenced next month candidate wins election by gaining Zero ballots Missouri City a Small town Missouri Candi Date did not exactly lose an elec Tion but it was no Victory Joe Selle who was running unopposed for City Council did not get any votes at All not even his own Selle 42 said he simply forgot it was election Day and apparently so did his districts other 34 registered voters the result was Zero votes cast in Selles race but the City charter lets him keep the seat unless some one else is successfully elected and qualified the City attorney said Selle a professional musician was recently appointed to fill a Council vacancy and had been seek ing a full term murder suspect is held on unrelated charges Mays Man who was interrogated and had his Home searched by authorities investigating the deaths of four Atlantic City prostitutes was arrested on an unrelated charge authorities said Terry Oleson 34 was charged with invasion of privacy in these Cret videotaping of a nude teenage girl prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz said his bail was set at Oleson secretly filmed the girl in 2005 in a residence by using a Cam Era hidden in a floor heating Grill Blitz said Oleson is a former Par time Handyman at a Motel just outside of Atlantic City a Short distance from where the bodies of the prostitutes were discovered in a ditch last november two were killed autopsies could not determine the cause of death for the other two study Lake Superior warming at fast rate Duluth Lake Superior has been warming even faster than the climate around it since the late 1970s due to reduced ice cover according to a study by professors at the University of Minnesota Duluth summer surface temperatures on the famously cold Lake have in creased about 45 degrees since 1979 compared with about a 27degree increase in the regions annual average air temperature the researchers found the lakes summer season is now begin Ning about two weeks earlier than it did 27 years ago the study is based on data collected by National oceanic and atmospheric administration buoys on the Lake and on 102 years Worth of daily temperature readings at a hydroelectric Plant near Sault Ste Marie Mich of tenpin f an Crol Stasna Watson 12 of fort Hall Idaho performs a fancy Shaw dance at the Natye american United Spring powwow in Reed gym on the Idaho state University Campus in Pocatello Idaho s to new Al of pin Snow fells on Wilc Flowers in a t011tld huu11u Bunnell Fla Michael Bracewell 12f exits a fan House at the Ragler county fair in stretched out Tuftin in vhf a a Imp contestants cruise Down the Slushy 1 Uil ill Hie 511uyv slopes during the 27th annual cardboard classic in Steamboat Springs Colo Amber Nowalski 10 of Temple Texas makes a Snow Angel in the grass a firefighter gathers some equipment to go Wei 11ui b Back to fight a fire at Sajn Church in new Castle ind the fire gutted the Church cyclists ride through fort Conde Ala during a 92mile trip from Monro pasta Linof in in inn cyclists ride through fort Conde Ala during a 92mile trip to i 111 Uli Bull Evie for the relay for Feis fourth Annua pedal in for a cure grounds worker killed in Fawn mowing Accident Killeen a City of Killeen maintenance worker died when the Riding Lawn Mower he was using overturned and pinned him police said Lee Dell Carrington or 41 was working at a a Lane Park when the Accident occurred police spokeswoman Carroll Smith said Smith said the Accident was under investigation by police Carrington had worked for the cites grounds maintenance Crew since 2002 circumcision Campaign studied in aids struggle new York City health officials have begun discus Sions to urge circumcision for men at a High risk of contracting aids noting recent International studies that have found the procedure can dramatically reduce the risk the City department of health and mental Hygiene has asked some Gay rights groups and Community organizations to discuss circumcision with their members and has approached the Agency that runs City hospitals and health clinics about the possibility of offering the procedure for free to men with out health insurance the new York times reported rash affected at least 100 students at school Jonesboro officials in Clayton county say As Many As 100 students were affected by a rash that broke out last month at Forest Park Middle school school and health officials Are waiting for test results from swabs taken from desks Walls lockers and other surfaces after initial tests on air samples failed to turn up clues the rash resembles a series of Small insect bites officials say vandals deflate tires on school buses Bay City Public school students got an extra Day of Spring break in Bay City after Van dals deflated the tires on All 88 of the districts school buses were treating this situation very seriously said schools superintendent Carolyn Wierda who cancelled classes because of the Lack of transportation the vandals hit sometime Over the weekend District transportation director Michael Gwizdala said he said there was no Evi Dence of damage to the Fence around the bus Yard and the Van dals left behind nothing obvious but the Fiat tires similar bus attacks have forced class cancellations elsewhere in re cent months the perpetrators in some of those cases have faced felony charges spread of tick prompts clipping of Antelope Herd Brownsville South Texas ranchers brought nil Gai Antelope from a California zoo decades ago when it became fashionable to Stock their sprawling acreage with exotic Quarry these Days the species native to India and Pakistan Are not so much a rarity in South Texas As a nuisance for cattle ranchers they Are a Nemesis threatening to spread a deadly tick to their herds Federal wildlife officials say they Are competing with native Rio Grande Valley species for food and trampling the Brush they Are try ing so hard to preserve the fast running 600pound an Elope have wandered All around the Region where at least one picked up a kind of fever tick from Mexico mat once nearly wiped out american cattle the ticks spread among the population and threaten the cattle Federal officials said they had no Choice but to hire a helicopter and gunner to Slaughter them mobsters sentenced in extortion fraud Case new York a mafia Captain was sentenced to six years in us prison after he was convicted of tax fraud and extortion of a new York City strip club Salvatore Scala 64 a longtime member of the Gambino organized crime family also was ordered to forfeit Federal authorities said Scala better known As Uncle Sal and fat Sal and Gambino Soldier Thomas Sassano were convicted of extortion and conspiracy to extort Scala oversaw a Crew of fellow mobsters that included Sas Sano authorities said the pair siphoned Money from the vip club after offering it Protection Sas Sano 61 faces up to 40 years in prison lawyer seeks support of state immigration Law san activist attorney wants a judge to compel san Jose police to follow state Law and turn suspects who might be in the us illegally Over to immigration authorities the claim filed on behalf of san Jose residents Barbara Allen and Carol Joyal demands that san Jose police Contact Federal authorities when suspects believed to be undocumented immigrants Are arrested in connection with drug re lated offences the Legal request comes amid raids nationwide by us immigration and customs enforcement officials who Are arresting and detain ing thousands of illegal Immi Grants police in san Jose and else where say if they had to turn in Ille Gal immigrants it could erode Trust in ethnic communities state court scrutinizes breath test instrument Trenton a breath test instrument used in thou Sands of Drunken driving cases is under scrutiny As the state supreme court considers an Appeal challenging whether the machine provides reliable blood alcohol level readings the courts decision will affect at least 10000 cases that have been Hung up some for More than a questions about the reliability of the machine the a Cotest 7110 the a Cotest is the successor to the breathalyzer machine and is used in 17 of the states 21 counties the other four still use the breathalyzer Alabama new York and Massachusetts use the a Cotest manufactured by Draeger safety diagnostics stories and photos from wire services