Long, Blistering Days3
-
Upload
luke-kerr-dineen -
Category
Documents
-
view
222 -
download
0
Transcript of Long, Blistering Days3
-
8/4/2019 Long, Blistering Days3
1/2
Long, blistering daysBetter outreach, warnings this year help save lives, 3A
ByCharlesRexArbogast,AP
A cool escape:In Chicago (above),the CrownFoun-tainat MillenniumParkoffersvisitorsa bitof respite.On Wednesday,33 stateswereunderheatadvisories andwarnings.Chicagosheatindexhit108degrees.
ByPatrickFlood,The(Fonddu Lac,Wis.)Reporter
Poolingthe fun:NickGodfrey,12,of Campbellsport,Wis.,makesasplashat theFonddu Lacfairgrounds(right). Temper-aturesare forecasttoeasein theupperMidwest todaythrough Saturday,buttheylikely willbuildback up bynextweek.
F
SCORES INSIDE $1.00T H E N A T I O NS N E W S P A P E RLATE
TSA:New software toprovidemore private full-bodyscans
Generic image willreplace passengers image;critics sayits stillan unlawful stripsearch.3A.
A chaotic scenebeforethreehikersswept over waterfallSearch continuesthough threepresumeddead.Flowsat Yosemite fallsstronger thisyear afternear-record snowpack,rainy spring. 3A.
Policeofficer deathson risedespite drop in violent crimeCutsto lawenforcement trainingand equipmentbudgets maybe a factor, policegroup says.2A.
Apples latest operating
systemcomes outroaringOSX Lion,a $29.99digital download,letsuserstap,pinch, swipethroughprograms. 4B.
Crossword, Sudoku 7CEditorial/Forum 8-9AMarket scoreboard 6BMarketplaceToday 7CState-by-state 9ATV listings 7A
COPYRIGHT2011 USATODAY,a division ofGannettCo., Inc.
Subscriptions,customer service1-800-USA-0001
www.usatodayservice.com
QIJFAF-04005w(c)o
Newsline
Wall Street firms may be on the edge of afinancial calamity and most dont know it, sayanalysts tracking the debt-ceiling faceoff inWashington.
Many marketplayers expectthe White Houseand Congressto cometo a dealto boost the debtlimitbeyond itscurrent $14.3trillioncap.
Others in Washington say chances are high
that an agreement wont be reached before theAug. 2 deadline, when the Treasury Departmentpredicts it wont have enough cash to pay all ofits bills.
Ifthe deadline passeswithno deal, stocksandotherassets couldtakeapounding, much as theydid after Congress ini-tial rejection of a mas-sive bailout in Septem-ber 2008.
TheDow Jonesindus-trial average plunged778 points on the vote,its largest one-day pointdropever.
Many on Wall Streetdont see that happen-ing. Robert Tipp, chiefinvestmentstrategistat PrudentialFixed Income,thinks the odds that an agreement isnt reachedbythe deadlinearelessthan1%.Wereguarded-
ly optimistic, he says.However, Stan Collender,an expert on federal
fiscalpolicy,putsthe odds at50%.Wall Streethas completelypriced in thelike-
lihood of a deal, saysCollender, a budgetanalystat Qorvis Communications in Washington.Thats verydangerousbecausethey dontseemtohavepreparedahead oftime.
While money managers view the debatethrough the lens of the markets, elected officialskeep their eyes on the views of those who putthemin office.
Tea Party Republicans in the House of Repre-sentatives saytheywereelectedto getcontrolofthe soaringfederal deficit.
Youre asking a big chunk of elected officialsto vote against the will of their constituents,says former Delaware senator Ted Kaufman, aDemocrat. Now we are less than two weeksaway from requiringtheHouse andtheSenatetopass a bill that many Americans may not sup-port.
He puts the odds that the government fails toact byAug. 2 at60%.
Elected officials may need to be shocked intoaction. While some members of Congress, in-cluding Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., saythey dont expect the market to unravel if thedebt ceiling isnt raised, a market selloff couldsparka deal.
Indeed, thats the same scenario that playedouton Sept.29, 2008, whenthe Housedefeateda$700 billion bailout of the financialsystem. Afterthe stock market tanked, the House passed thebailout.
Wall Street complacency could explain why adeal hasnt been hammered out already, saysMark Thoma, a professor of economics at theUniversityof Oregon.
Ima littlebit surprisedthat financialmarketsarent sending a stronger message, he says. Ifthey were, perhaps an agreement would havebeenreachedquicker.
Marketsbankingon dealover debtPolicy experts warn ofbeing caught off guard
By ScottPattersonUSA TODAY
uMoney managersmaking plans, 1BuPlanto cut thedeficit may haveto wait, 7A
ATLANTA As team owners who form theNFLs labor committee were huddled in a confer-enceWednesday,a firealarmblared at theairporthotelthat is suddenly profootballsnervecenter.
It was a false alarm, but it somehow seemedfitting.
The signal of urgency in the labor skirmishbetween the NFL and its players underscoredby a four-month lockout resonates with thefirsttraining campsslatedto openwithin days.
Itsa two-minutewarningof sorts.Ifa labor deal that is apparently onthe brink of
resolution is completed this week, a full NFLschedule can commence as planned. If talks lin-ger, a ripple effect looms that would delay thestart of camps and threaten to at least alter thepreseason schedule.
Owners are set to vote today onwhether to ratify a new collectivebargainingagreement (CBA)that in-cludes a new split in revenue that is projected togrow from the$9.3billion in2010.
Butwith ratification votesalsoneeded fromtheplayers, the waiting gamecontinues.
Ithinkbothsidesare wherewecan completeadeal, NFL lead counsel Jeff Pash said. We canclose. We should close.
Although players did not vote on whether toacceptthe dealWednesday as league officialshadhoped, Pash said he still expected owners would
PleaseseeCOVERSTORYnextpageu
COVERSTORY
By Jarrett BellUSA TODAY
ByThomasCampbell,USPresswire
NFL nears end zonein rush to labor deal
Teams, players get readyto kick off flurry of activity
LadyGagaperforms.PhotobyItsuoInouye,AP
Time fora change, Woods says.Came as a shock, Williams says,1C
ByMichaelMadrid,USATODAY
Split: SteveWilliams, TigerWoods in April.
Tiger fires caddie
Shuttle Week
USATODA SSnapshots
yAnneR. Carey andSamWard, USATODAYSource: NASA
c
s
r
o
S utt es ave een moved from
the launch pad back to the hangar
19 t mes. Reasons for rollbacks:
Mec anical
hr f
Birddamag
Haildamage
Payload
10
1 1
Tens of thousands arefeared dead;U.S.sends additional money, 4A
ByOli Scarff,GettyImages
Somalia suffers worst faminein decades, U.N. official says
THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2011
Downloadthe MicrosoftTagReaderappat http://gettag.mobiandcapture a photoof todaystag.
See news photosof thedayonyour smartphone
plays like nothing else.Introducing the HP MovieStore powered by RoxioNow
NFL lockout, Q&AAslabor dealnears, a lookat whatthis meansfor fans andthe sport,1A
Ticket sales forconcerts are upeventhoughprices arehigher,1D
Tours arehot again
-
8/4/2019 Long, Blistering Days3
2/2
USA TODAY THURSDAY, J ULY 21, 2011 NATION 3A
A military judge at Fort Hood on Wednesdayset a March trial for the Army psychiatristcharged with 13 counts of premeditated murderin connection with a November 2009 shootingspreeat thepostinTexas.
Maj. Nidal Hasan, who also faces 32 counts ofattempted premeditated murder, was arraigned
but did not enter a plea. He told the judge, Col.Gregory Gross, that he has dropped his civilianattorneyin favor of three militarylawyers.
Hasan,40, wasparalyzedfrom the waistdownafter being shot by police the day of the carnage.Lt. Gen Donald Campbell announced two weeksagothatHasan would be tried in a military courtandcould facethe deathpenalty.
Brooklynchildwasdrugged, thenkilled
An 8-year-old boy who was abducted off aBrooklyn street lastweek and dismembered wasgiven painkillers and muscle relaxants before hewassmothered, themedicalexaminersaid.
Leiby Kletzky apparently was alive for a dayafter he disappeared July 11, police spokesmanPaulBrownesaid.Investigatorsbelievethat whilesuspect Levi Aron was at work, the boy possiblywasin hisapartmentall day, Brownesaid.
Leibygotloston hiswalkhome from daycampandasked Aron forhelp.The boys feet, wrapped
in plastic, were found inArons freezer. Aron wasindicted Wednesday on eight counts of murderand kidnapping.
Space shuttle landing for last timeSpace shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to land
early today at Kennedy Space Center, markingtheend of NASAs 30-year-old shuttleprogram.
The landing of a shuttle mission, usually causefor celebration, will usher in massive layoffs forKennedy Space Center employees and contrac-tors on Floridas Space Coast. United Space Alli-ance, one of the areas primary employers, willprocess employee layoffs Friday.
Atlantislaunched July 8 ona mission todeliverfoodsuppliesand spareparts to theInternationalSpaceStation. DonnaLeinwandLeger
N.J. toprobe schools forcheatingNew Jersey education officials will investigate
34 public schools for possible cheating after astudy of scores from 2008 to 2010 found high
ratesof erased answers on standardized tests.Christopher Cerf, the acting education com-
missioner, said 120 schools had high levels ofwrong-to-right erasures, but the results werein line with national trends. He said highwrong-to-right erasure rates are one way toidentify possible irregularities. The state is prob-ing12 schools, districtsare reviewing22 others.
Recent state investigationsin Atlanta and Phil-adelphia of school test results have put a spot-light on high erasure rates, while a USA TODAYinvestigation this year prompted Washington,D.C.,officials toreopen a cheatinginvestigationofmorethan100 schoolsthere. GregToppo
Good fencesmake goodneighbors
Arizona launched a website to accept dona-tions to payfor fencing alongthe Mexico border.
A new law allows the state to build the fence,as longas backerscan raiseprivatedonationsandpersuadelandownersto allow iton theirproper-
ty. Republican state Sen. Steve Smith, who spon-sored the bill, said buildtheborderfence.com hasaninitialgoalof $50million.
Donate to the countrys security, Smith said.This is an American problem, not an Arizonaproblem. AliaBeard Rau,TheArizonaRepublic
CDCissueswarning ondwarf frogsTheCentersfor Disease Controland Prevention
is advising parents of children under 5 to resistbuying them African dwarf frogs because of anongoing national outbreakof salmonella thathassickened more than240 people, mostly children,since 2009. The CDC said the outbreak has beentraced to Blue Lobster Farms, a breeding site inMaderaCounty,Calif. Elizabeth Weise
Nationline
Trial set for suspect inFort Hood shootings
Pleaserecycle
ByJohnBacon with staffandwire reports
PoolphotobySethWenig
Nearly10 years laterApart ofhistory:TheFDNYsLadder Company3firetruckis lowered by crane WednesdayintotheNational September11Memorial& MuseuminNew York.The firetruckwasusedto evacuatepeoplefrom thetwin towers on 9/11.
ByJimMone,AP
Shutdownends inMinn.InSt. Paul:Democratic Gov.Mark Dayton re-ceives theMinnesota budget billto signWednes-day.The bill,which endsa government shut-down,was a deal made with GOPlawmakers.Daytonsaid hewas notentirelyhappywith it.
The Transportation Security Ad-ministration said Wednesday that ithasbegun installing softwareto givepassengers more privacy whentheyre screened bysomeof thefull-body scanning machines at airportcheckpoints.
The TSAsaysthe softwarefor mil-limeter-wave body-scanning ma-chines, which use electromagneticwaves toscreenpassengers, replacesa passengers image with a genericonethat willstillexposeany danger-
ousitems thatcouldbe hidden.It also says that the softwares
automatic detectioncapability elim-inates the need for a TSA agent tolook at a passengers image in aviewing room.
Many fliers have objected to hav-ing their naked images viewed byTSApersonnel.
Thissoftware upgrade enablesusto continueprovidinga high level ofsecurity through advanced imagingtechnologyscreening, while improv-ing the passenger experience atcheckpoints, TSA Administrator
JohnPistolesaid Wednesday.The TSA says it expects all 241
machines at 40 U.S. airports to beupgradedby theendof theyear.
The agency plans to test similarsoftware in the fall for its 247 body-scanning backscatter devices,
which use high-speed X-rays andemit a low dose of radiation. The
backscatter machines are at 38 air-ports.
The move doesnt appease someconsumer and privacy advocateswhosaythe machinesare a wasteofmoney and represent an unlawful,virtual strip search of passengers.They also are concerned that radia-tion from theX-ray devices could beharmful.
Themachines arenot effective, sothe new software is throwing mon-eyat a solutionthatsnota solution,says Kate Hanni, executive directorof FlyersRights.org. The machineswont find low-density powderedexplosives, liquid explosives ormuch more than the old metal de-tectors.
TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball
says the machines are the besttechnology currentlyavailableto de-
tect well-concealednon-metallic ex-plosives, which are among the mostsignificant threats to our nationalsecuritytoday.
Ginger McCall of the ElectronicInformation Privacy InformationCenter a group that focuses atten-tion on civil liberties issues saysits unclear whether the new soft-ware will eliminate privacy con-cerns. She says the TSA must bemore transparent about the capa-bilities of thesoftware.
If thesoftwareis simply an over-lay whichstill permits the machinesto capture, store or transfer thegraphic naked image, thenit doesntsolve the privacy problems createdby these machines, says McCall, alawyer for thegroup.
TSA: Airport body scansmore privateCritics say new
software may notease fliers concerns
By GaryStollerUSATODAY
Make no mistake: Thisblistering heat wave nowgripping much of the coun-tryremainsremarkable bothforits intensityand duration.
With the number of daysof extreme heat and humid-ity of the current heat wave,it may be more significantand impact a larger area
than the deadly 1995 heatwave, AccuWeathermeteo-rologist Jim Andrews said.Chicago was ground zero inthe 1995 heat wave, he said,wherethedeath tollwas 750overthe four-dayepisode.
This weeksheatwavehaskilled at least 22 peopleacross the USA, a death tollthat remains a far cry fromthe carnage of 1995. It begsthequestionwhy.
The main reasons appearto be more community out-reach, better communica-tion of heat warnings anddanger and greater aware-ness, community leaderssaid.
In Chicago, we want tomakesure thepatientcomes
in and immediately getsback to a bed and right to adoctor, said Kaleem Malik,the chairman of the Depart-ment of Emergency Medi-cineat SaintAnthony Hospi-tal. Everything else can wait,he said, such astaking downinformation or checking rec-ords. The city has seen noheat-related deaths yet inthis heat wave, the ChicagoTribune reported.
In Louisville, where hightemperatures have beenabove 90 degrees for fourdays, with stifling humidity,no deaths have been report-ed thisweek.
Chris Poynter, spokesmanfor the Louisvillemayorsof-fice,credited a system called
OperationWhite Flag, whichputs a white flag outsidehomeless shelters to signalpeople they can take refugethere. When that flag is up,that means no one can beturned away, he said.
Even ifit meanssleepingona cot onthefloor,we willfind a place for them. Its aplace to get water, food, gethydrated, take a shower iftheywant to.
Nationally, the American
College of Emergency Physi-cians puts out press re-leasesand alertsto reallytry
to emphasize for people towatch out for the heat, tostay cool, and to check onelderly neighbors, said Da-vid Seaberg, president-electof theorganization.
In Minnesota, which sawhigh tempertures in themid-to upper-90sthisweek,the press has done a goodjob of alerting people, saidEric Christianson, an emer-gency medical physicianwith the Minnesota Medical
Center in Fairview.If peoplehave any of the normal re-sources, then theyre able to
deal with it, hesaid.In New York, which is
bracing for the worst of theheat wave today throughSaturday, We have hun-dreds of cooling stations allaround the state, whichcould be a municipal library,a school, anythingwherewecan provide air conditioningand water, said Dennis Mi-chalski,spokespersonfor theNew York State Office ofEmergency Management.
According to the NationalWeather Service, 33 stateswere under heat advisoriesand warnings on Wednes-day in a direct line fromwestern Nebraska to south-ern Maine, a distance of al-
most1,600miles.A total of100 million peo-
plewereaffectedby the heatadvisorieson Wednesday.
Chicago had a heat indexof 108 degrees on Wednes-day afternoon, The WeatherChannel reported. The heatindex measures how hot itfeels when humidity is add-ed to the actual air temper-ature.
On Tuesday, at least 17states hit the 100-degreemark, while more than 40surpassed 90 degrees, Accu-Weather reported.
Roads and sidewalksacross many cities andtowns from Oklahoma toPennsylvania have buckledin the extreme temper-
atures.Nationwide, the heat is
putting significant stress onthe nations power grid. To-day and Friday are expectedto be hotter than any timesince 1950 for many areas,said Travis Hartman,the En-ergy Weather Manager atMDA Earthstat, which pro-videsforecasts forutilities.
Its going to mean elevat-ed power demandfor an ex-tended period of time for a
lotof people,he said.The dangerous heat will
peak Thursday through Sat-urday in the East, as windsturn west to southwest overthe Northeast and tap intothe hot, humid air from the
Midwest and South, saidWeather Channel meteorol-ogist Jon Erdman. The heatwill ease in the northernPlains and upper Midwestduring that same time, headded.
The break in the heattherewilllikelyonlybe tem-porary, asthe heatis forecastto build back into the Mid-west by next week, saidWeather Channel meteorol-ogist Brian Fortier.
The hoary clich, its notthe heat, its the humidity,appears to be accurate.
The heavy rain through-out the spring in the upperMidwest and northernPlains is helping to raise thehumidity levels across the
region during this heatwave, Fortier said.
The temperatures arentas hot because of all themoisture, he said.
But the humidity is mak-ing the heat just as bad ifnot worse than the historicheatwaves,Fortier said.
Contributing: Carly Mallen-baum; theAssociated Press
uCompleteweather,10A
Outreach efforts help save lives
ByMikeDeSisti,MilwaukeeJournal-Sentinel,viaAP
Mistopportunity:Trayvon Harris, left,12andEdward Brown,9 , runthrough a sprinklerat FranklinSquareParkonWednesdayin Milwaukee. Theywere partof a group fromthe MilwaukeePublicSchoolsDepartmentof Recreation.
ByDoyleRiceandKarl Gelles, USA TODAY
Source: HydrometeorologicalPrediction Center
Heat bakes USAThe heat index has soared well above 100 degrees across muchof the USA this week. The index measures how hot it feels whenhumidity is added to the actual air temperature.
Selected heat index values from Tuesday:
Newton, Iowa
Champaign, Ill.
Hutchinson, Minn.
Gwinner, N.D.122
123129
117
115
TerreHaute,Ind.
112Memphis
111Fort Hood, Texas
106Lawrence, Kan.
107Ardmore, Okla.
110Tekamah, Neb.
110Sidney, Mont.
110St. Louis
Heat death tollfar lower than1995 event
ByDoyleRiceandLuke Kerr-DineenUSATODAY
Three hikers who fell into the swollen MercedRiverabove oneof YosemiteNationalParksmostpopular waterfalls were swept over theedge andpresumed dead Wednesday, focusing renewedattention on the residual effects of a near-recordSierrasnowpackand a cool,rainy spring.
The Yosemite Search and Rescue continued to
search for the hikers, who were identified asHormiz David, 22, Ramina Badal, 21, both ofModesto, Calif., and Ninos Yacoub, 27, of Turlock,Calif.Theyhadbeenvisiting the park ona daytripwith a groupof familyandfriends.
After making the steep, slippery and oftenspray-drenchedclimbalongthe aptlynamedMistTrailto 317-foot-tallVernalFall, thetrio crossed ametal guardrailplaced to keepvisitorsaway fromthe swift-moving water and were seen enteringthe water approximately 25 feet from the preci-pice,National ParkServicespokesmanScottGedi-mansaid.
Weheardthatit wasa chaotic scene,with alotof other people telling them, Its not safe, headded.
Yosemite is famous for its spectacular, snow-
fedspring waterfalls, but this year the flowshavebeenstronger andhave lasted longer because of ahuge snowpack and unusually cool, wet condi-tions. The parks Tioga Pass Road stayed closeduntil mid-June, one of its latest openings onrecord, and several campgrounds remained off-limits until July.
Tuesdays Vernal Fall deaths are the sixth wa-
ter-related casualties in Yosemite this year. Twohikers were swept off as they tried to cross abridge spanning a waterfall near Hetch HetchyReservoir on June 29, and another hiker slippedandfellintotheMerced Riveron theMistTrail onMay 13. The park averages 12 to 15 accidentaldeaths per year, with five or six tied to water,Gediman said.
The MistTrail, whichattracts upwards of 1,500visitorsa day,isoneof the more popular hikesup
outof theYosemite Valley dueto itscloseproxim-ityto the MercedRiver,and thereare a numberofspotswhere its very temptingto goclosetopoolsin the river and its cataracts, said Kurt Repan-shek, editor of the website National Parks Trav-eler.He added, Whilethereare railings andsignsinsome of the more dangerousspots,thoseoftenare ignored by more than a few visitors, to theirdetriment.
Warm summer temperatures coupled withturbulent, snow-fedrivers and streams are not agoodcombination,but I wouldntsay weredoinganything differently this year, Gediman said.We do our best to educate our visitors, butYosemite Valley is basicallyframed by 3,000-footcliffs, and its impossible to put up barricadeseverywhere.
3 hikers swept over falls presumed deadByLauraBlyUSATODAY
ByCraigKohlruss,TheFresnoBee,viaAP
View attop:Visitorspause behind a safety railingat a Vernal Fallobservationpoint lastsummer.