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COMMERCIAL

APPEALW E D N ES DAY, JUNE 6, 2012 ❘ CO M M E RC I A L A P P E A L .CO M

THE

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G O M E M P H I S.CO M

Israel Festivalc e l e b r a t es

Jewish culture

Council rejects property tax hike

S P O RTS

Tigers landtwo-sport

athleteArea football, basketball star

Sam Craft commits. ❘ D1

Reduces rate,but increases

health carecosts for city

wo r k e r s ,re t i re e s

INSIDE

Ba l l o t :Council eyessales taxhike ❘ B1Delay: OnUnifiedDev e l o p m e n tCode ❘ C1

By Amos Makimaki@commercialappeal .com

The Memphis City Council on Tuesday rejectedMayor A C Wharton’s call for a 47-cent property taxhike, using one-time funds and budget cuts to delivera property tax reduction to taxpayers.

The council set the city’s overall tax rate at $3.11per every $100 of assessed value, down from the cur-rent $3.19. The annual city property tax for a$150,000 house would drop from $1,196 to $1,166.

The budget Wharton had presented to the councilcalled for a tax rate of $3.66, with $3.01 for city op-erations and the rest to cover the last year of fundingfor Memphis City Schools.

The council voted to use $19.6 million of the city’s$81 million in reserves, $9 million from the sale ofthe Defense Depot and $20 million from a reservefund established for retiree health care costs to re-duce the tax rate.

“We have to be reasonable and plan for the future,”said Councilman Harold Collins, who sponsored the

$3.11 tax rate.Council members Collins, Bill Boyd, Joe Brown,

Janis Fullilove, Wanda Halbert, Lee Harris and ReidHedgepeth voted for the budget. Council membersKemp Conrad, Shea Flinn, Edmund Ford Jr., MyronLowery, Bill Morrison and Jim Strickland votedagainst the plan.

“We need to drive the tax rate down as low as pos-sible,” said Strickland, the council’s budget commit-tee chairman, who had proposed a budget that called

River rescue

IN TODAY’S NEWSPAPER

PGA hopeful has help froma special woman at FESJCThey love golf, each other: Patrick Reed’s caddie isn’t just hisgolf adviser. She’s his fianceé, Justine Karain. A golfer in highschool, Karain has a knack for reading putts, Reed says. She’ll beon his bag as he looks for a good finish in this week’s FedEx St.Jude Classic at Southwind. ❘ D1

Catch some raysSunshine in abundance.

High 84, low 63.DETAILS, D6

© Copyright 2012The Commercial Appeal

What’s got commercialappeal.combuzzing? Find out on our web site.

Blowing sugar: A Germantownshop teaches students how tocreate sweet decorations. ❘ M1

Exercise disparity: Young blackgirls gain weight despite exercise,while white girls don’t. ❘ A 10

commercialappeal.com

Photos by Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal

Chelsea Cross, 23, (left) hugs her brother, Landon Cross, 17, as he and friend Brandon Demge, 16, (right) emerge from the banks of theLoosahatchie River following an overnight search-and-rescue operation for the boys after their boat capsized on the swollen river.

Buddies spend night up a tree after boat capsizesFriends andfamily cheeras Demgeand Crossare returnedto the placewhere theylaunchedtheir fishingboat the daybefore andwere forcedto spend thenight up atree aftercapsizing.

By Christopher Whittenchristopher.whitten@commercialappeal .com

LANDON CROSS AND BRANDONDEMGE were fishing from a boat on theLoos ahatchie River when a swift current anda fallen tree abruptly changed their plans.

“We tried to paddle away from it, butwe turned sideways and the boat flippedwhen we hit the tree,” said Cross, 17, asenior at Bolton High School.

They grabbed the tree and watched as

Wisconsin governorsurvives recall voteBy Scott BauerAssociated Press

MADISON, Wis. — Wis -consin Gov. Scott Walkerbeat back a recall challengeTuesday, winning both theright to finish his term and avoter endorsement of hisstrategy to curb state spend-ing, which included the ex-plosive measure that eliminatedunion rights for most public work-e rs .

The rising Republican starbecomes the first governor inU.S. history to survive a recallattempt with his defeat of Mil-waukee Mayor Tom Barrettand the union leaders who ral-lied for months against hisa ge n d a .

In an interview, Walker saidit was time “to put our differ-ences aside and find ways to

work together to move Wisconsinfo r wa rd . ”

Al-Qaidas h a ke nby deathof No. 2

By Kimberly Dozierand Rebecca SantanaAssociated Press

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A U.S.drone strike in northwest Pakistanhas killed al-Qaida’s second-in-com-mand, officials from both countriesconfirmed Tuesday, the most signif-icant victory so far in the covertbombing campaignand the biggest set-back to the terrornetwork since thedeath of Osama binLaden.

Abu Yahya al-Libiwas considered a me-dia-savvy, charismat-ic leader with reli-gious credentialswho was helping preside over thetransformation of a secretive groupbased in Pakistan and Afghanistaninto a global movement aimed atwinning converts — and potentialattackers — from Somalia to thePhilippines.

This was not the first time theU.S. had al-Libi in its sights: He wasoriginally captured a decade ago andheld by American forces at theBagram Air Base in Afghanistan un-til he escaped in 2005 in an em-barrassing security breach. Soonthereafter, he began appearing invideos in which he talked about thelessons he learned while watchinghis captors, whom he described ascowardly, lost and alienated.

White House spokesman Jay Car-ney called al-Libi’s death a “majorb l ow ” to the group. Carney de-scribed al-Libi as an operationalleader and a “general manager” of al-Qaida. He said al-Libi had a range ofexperience that will be hard for al-Qaida to replicate and brings theterror network closer to its ultimatedemise than ever before.

U.S. drones track, killg ro u p ’s top leadership

Abu Yahyaal-Libi

Please see DRONE, A2

Sc o t tWa l k e r

Please see RESCUE, A2

Please see RECALL, A7

Please see BUDGET, A2

2012

IT’S TIME TO VOTE!GO TO MEMPHISMOST.COM TO VOTE FOR YOUR MEMPHIS FAVORITES

A2 ★★ We d n esd ay , June 6, 2012 The Commercial Appeal

LOT T E R I ES

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CO R R ECT I O N S

The Commercial Appeal tries to correct factual errors or clarifymisleading information. We regret any errors. To report an error orneed for clarification, call (901) 529-2490.

INDEX

Annie’s Mailbox M2B a s e ba l l D4Billy Graham M4B r i d ge M2B u s i n es s C1Classified ads F1Crossword M2Co m i cs M6Dr. K M5H o r o s co p e M2

Le t t e r s A9Money & Markets C3N a t i o n / Wo r l d A4Pe o p l e M2Sco r e b o a r d D5Sports D1Sudoku M2TV M5Vi ew p o i n t A8Wea t h e r D6

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“His death is part of the degra-dation that has been taking placeto core al-Qaida during the pastseveral years and that degrada-tion has depleted the ranks tosuch an extent that there’s noclear successor,” Carney said.

A U.S. official familiar withthe case, who confirmed that al-Libi was killed in a drone strike,said no one left in al-Qaidacomes close to replacing the ex-pertise the group has just lost.

The Libyan-born al-Libi, whowas thought to be in his late 40s,was killed Monday morning in avillage in northwestern Pak-istan, a tribal area borderingAfghanistan that is home tomany al-Qaida and Taliban mem-bers and their support net-wo rks .

A Pakistani intelligence offi-cial said late Tuesday that al-Libiwas dead but declined to sayhow authorities knew this orwhether they had seen his body.

Al-Libi, who was considered ahero in militant circles becauseof his escape from the Americanmilitary prison, was elevated toal-Qaida’s No. 2 spot when Ay-man al-Zawahri replaced binLaden. As al-Qaida’s de factogeneral manager, he was respon-sible for running the group’s day-to-day operations in Pakistan’stribal areas and managed out-reach to al-Qaida’s regional af-f i l i at e s .

Al-Libi was the latest in thedozen-plus senior commandersremoved in the clandestine U.S.war against al-Qaida since NavySEALs killed bin Laden in a raidon May 2, 2011, on his com-pound in Pakistan.

Al-Libi’s death will likely fuelarguments in favor of the U.S.drone campaign despite Pak-istani objections. Coming in anelection year, it may also boostthe tough-on-terrorists imagePresident Barack Obama hastried to cultivate.

“The killing of al-Libi demon-strates the increasing proficien-cy and skill — plus good intel-ligence — at work in thedecadelong American war tocrush al-Qaida. It makes BarackObama the counterterrorist inchief in leading that war,” s aidAaron David Miller, a former ad-viser to six U.S. secretaries ofstate and currently a seniorscholar at the Wilson Center.

The use of drones has risenunder the Obama administrationbut has dropped off recently inPakistan, which views the pro-gram as a violation of itss ove re i g n t y.

Among the Pakistani public,the drone campaign is vilified be-cause of its perceived civilian ca-sualties, an allegation disputedby the U.S.

Continued from page A1

D RO N E

Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal

Brandon Demge, 16, gets a hug from Landon Cross’ mom, Lynn Cross, after the two teens emerged Tuesdayfrom a rescue on the Loosahatchie River. The pair spent the night in a tree after their boat capsized.

U.S. cancels‘S esame’ inPa k i s t a nAssociated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — TheU.S. has terminated funding for a$20 million project to develop aPakistani version of “S esameS t re e t ” in response to alleged cor-ruption by the local puppet the-ater working on the initiative,U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The organization in questionis the Rafi Peer Theater Work-shop, a group based in the city ofLahore that jointly developedthe show with Sesame Work-shop, the creator of the Amer-ican series.

The show, which includes El-mo and a host of new Pakistanicharacters, first aired at the endof last year and was supposed torun for at least three seasons.The U.S. hoped it would im-prove education in a countrywhere one-third of primaryschool-age children are not inclass. It was also meant to in-crease tolerance at a time whenthe influence of radical views isg row i n g.

The U.S. cut off funding forthe project after receiving whatit deemed to be credible alle-gations of fraud and abuse, saidU.S. State Departmentspokesman Mark Toner.

“So rather than to continue tothrow good money after bad, wethought it was prudent to cut offthis program and wait for theresults of the investigation,”Toner said.

Kesha Whitaker is a communications specialist for Ampro In-dustries. She was incorrectly identified in a My Life story in someeditions Sunday.

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Communitymembersshow theirsupport forr ev i t a l i z i n gthe ChiscaHotel as theMemphisCity Councild i s c u s s esbudgetitems atTu es d ay ’smeeting.

Nikki BoertmanThe Commercial

A p p ea l

Continued from page A1

R ESCU Etheir boat raced downstream.

“I was like ‘Well, no more boat.We ’re on foot now,’ ” Cross said.

The accident Monday at about 7p.m. started them on a harrowing14-hour overnight journey beforethey were found Tuesday andreunited with family and friends.

The duo used the same tree towade through the rain-swollen riverto shore. Soon Cross and Demge,16, a junior at Cordova High, foundthemselves walking in neck-deeps wa m p s .

With their backs dotted withmosquito bites, they eventually tookrefuge for the night in a swamp tree.

“Once we found a place to sleep, Iknew we would be all right,” D e m ges aid.

Their families began to worrywhen the boys didn’t return homeMonday evening. Cross’ father foundhis son’s truck at about 11 p.m.where he had launched the boat nearBrunswick and Stewart. But therewas no sign of the boys or their boat.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Officedeputies, Emergency Servicesvolunteers, the Coast Guard,

Harbor Patrol and a helicopterparticipated in a search that startedlate Monday night.

The teenagers, who have beenfriends since preschool, leaned oneach other for support throughoutthe night.

“While we were in the tree wetalked about our families. We figuredthey were looking for us,” Cross said.

“If I had to go through this, I’mglad it was with him. We were ableto talk to each other, keep eachother calm and plan how to get outof there together.”

At about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, theirboat was found capsized about 100feet behind a DuPont plant nearU.S. 51 and Fite Road, about 13miles west of where it waslaunched.

Fog delayed use of the helicopterTuesday morning as the searchcontinued.

D e m ge ’s mother, Tammy Jacques,said she had experienced a rollercoaster of emotions.

“A mother imagines the worstthing possible; the worst you everimagined. Then we build ourselvesback up again,” she said. “I thoughtthey were at the bottom of the river. Inever gave up hope or faith, but Ithought my biggest fear was comingtrue.”

The two boys trekked along theriver Tuesday morning, hoping tomake their way out of the swamps,Cross said.

“We found a four-wheeler trailand followed that until we heardrunning water, which turned out tobe the river,” Cross said. “We werejust going to follow that back toAustin Peay. A lot of people get lostdown here in the bottoms.”

A wildlife officer in a kayakspotted the pair at about 9:30Tuesday morning on a bank about31/2 miles from where they hadlaunched their boat.

More than 100 people erupted incheers when the boys were returnedto their families at the place theybegan their voyage.

“Today is probably the best day ofmy life. And last night was theworst nightmare of my life,”Jacques said.

Cross told his story over and over.“They told me I was on the news in

Florida,” Cross said. “But I was justfishing. I had no idea this manypeople came out here. It really meansa lot.

“I’m just happy to be out of there.Now I’m going to go home, sit inthe bathtub for a couple hours andeat a good home-cooked meal.”

— Christopher Whitten: (901) 529-2355

for a $2.91 property tax.After a marathon day of

budget hearings, the coun-cil voted to increase healthcare costs for city employ-ees and retirees, keep opencity libraries targeted forclosure and restore Satur-day hours for communityc e n t e rs .

Wharton had warnedcouncil members that draw-ing on the city’s reservefunds could affect bond rat-ings and that the city mayneed the cash in the futureto offset an expected de-cline in property values andpay down debt.

“This is why I’ve alwaysfelt and still feel the 47cents would be the best, butyou have to be realistic andmove on,” said Wharton.“My job under the charteris to present what I think isbest. It doesn’t say I have tostick with that, or I’m a los-er if I don’t get that.”

One of the council’s morecontroversial budget deci-sions was to use $20 millionfrom a retiree health care re-serve fund called OtherPost Employment Benefits.

The city had $27 millionbudgeted for retiree healthcare costs. Using the OPEBreserve fund accounted for$20 million of that amount.

The city has an unfundedOPEB liability of $1.3 bil-lion, and finance officialssaid raiding the fund couldtrouble credit rating agen-cies.

“There would be some

concern about these one-time revenue strategies thatare being proposed,” s aidFinance Director RolandM c E l rat h .

The council raised healthcare costs for current em-ployees and retirees to 28.5percent in the fiscal yearthat begins July 1, up fromthe current 27 percent, amove expected to save tax-payers $1.2 million. As partof that increase, the councilsaid it would raise the em-ployee cost to 30 percent infiscal year 2014.

An employee contribu-tion of 30 percent is man-dated by ordinance, but cityworkers and retirees havebeen paying less for severalye a rs .

“I think it’s an atrocitythat once again we found away to put the extra burdenon the employees,” s aidMike Williams, president ofthe Memphis Police Associ-at i o n .

The council also elimi-nated all job vacancies incity government, except forpolice, fire and code en-

forcement, for a savings of$2 million. It approved $5million in across-the-boardcuts to materials and sup-plies.

Wharton had proposedclosing up to seven librariesto help balance the city’sbooks, but the council re-stored roughly $1 million infunding to keep the librariesopen, except the the High-land Branch that closed lastye a r.

The council’s budget alsorestored funding for S atur-day hours at all city commu-nity centers.

Council members votedto close the Whitehaven,

Pine Hill, Riverside andDavy Crockett golf coursesfor three months during thewinter for an expected sav-ings of roughly $42,000.

A proposal to lease mo-bile cameras to catch speed-ers, a plan that was expect-ed to bring the city$700,000 a year in revenue,was voted down.

A proposed fee for vehi-cle inspections that wouldhave applied to Memphi-ans and non-Memphianswas delayed, as was arental-property permit andfee to recover the city’scosts for anti-pollution andblight-reduction programs.

SHAKY GROUNDThe City Council approved 12-0 Tuesday an ordinance to fine

owners of dangerous structures for blocking a city sidewalk orstreet.

After being notified by the city the property owner would havea 14-day “grace period” to correct the problem before facing adaily fine of $200 for each separate offense.

The $200 daily fine would accumulate until the street orsidewalk is reopened.

“I want to create a financial penalty for blocking the streetsand sidewalks and, with any luck, convince owners it’s time todo something about these problem properties,” said councilmember Lee Harris, who sponsored the ordinance.

Continued from page A1

BU D G E T