Friday, July 17, 2015

In the news, Friday, July 3, 2015


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JUL 02      INDEX      JUL 04
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Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

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from Breitbart

MARCO RUBIO JUMPS IN WITH MSM: DONALD TRUMP ‘OFFENSIVE,’ ‘DIVISIVE,’ UNSERIOUS
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a statement Friday night attacking rival Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for a statement made during his campaign announcement speech 16 days ago.

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from Conservative Post
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

In His Farewell Message, Ronald Reagan Warned America About Suppressing American History
John Fund of the National Review reminded us all today about Reagan’s prescient words: We’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important — why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant. If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. . . . I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let’s start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.

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from Examiner.com
[Information from this site may not be vetted.]

Young conservative CJ Pearson, family, target of death threat on Twitter
On Friday, CJ Pearson, a 12-year-old Georgia conservative who made news with a viral video questioning President Obama's love of the United States, announced on Facebook that he and his family had been the target of threats on Twitter. Pearson told Examiner that he's physically okay, but is "distraught" from the threat.

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from Herman Cain

I don't know if you've followed the case of Sweet Cakes by Melissa. This is the now-closed bakery in Oregon that has become a target of state officials because its Christian owners declined to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding. Not only has the business been forced to close, the state has fined the Kleins $135,000. But it gets worse. Much worse. Now that state has responded to a radio interview the Kleins gave by ordering them to no longer talk publicly about why their faith compels them to decline such business.

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from Military.com

Analysis: Root of Tattered US-Russia Ties Date Back Decades
The stumbles, blunders, and policy chaos that have sent increasingly frosty U.S.-Russia relations into what many now call a new Cold War might have been inevitable. The fundamental hopes and fears lurk, sometimes subconsciously, in the collective minds of the Russian and American nations despite the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly a quarter century ago. That puts their world views at odds and on a collision course, with the crisis over Ukraine the latest and biggest confrontation.

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from Money Talks News

10 Things We Spend Way Too Much On, and Cheaper Alternatives
Tradition and emotion often cause people to overspend. Who says you should pay three months’ salary for an engagement ring?

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from National Review
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Reagan Warned about Airbrushing Our History Away
This Fourth of July we will celebrate our independence and freedoms. But are we now more politically correct than free? Last week, Apple Computer removed several Civil War games that uses Confederate flag imagery from its app store. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Twitter that he wished to honor the Charleston shooting victims “by eradicating racism & removing the symbols & words that feed it.” Recall that Soviet leaders hoped they could drop executed party members down an Orwellian memory hole by airbrushing them out of photographs. Apple relented a few days later and agreed to reinstate some games if they merely, for example, displayed little troops carrying the infamous Rebel banner. But the partial retreat came only after the Game Labs Team, which develops computer simulations, blasted Apple:

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from PoliticusUSA
from SPIEGEL International (Der Spiegel)

The Baltic Front: Where Putin's Empire Meets the EU
The Baltic states view themselves as being at the front lines in a new East-West conflict. But even with large Russian minority populations, it's difficult to envision a Ukraine-style conflict taking shape in Lithania, Latvia or Estonia.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Sheriff finds deputy violated policy in case tied to fatal Valley bicycle crash
Spokane Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has determined that a deputy violated department policies last year by speeding through Spokane Valley without his lights or sirens activated and narrowly missing a teen bicyclist who subsequently crashed and died from his fall. The internal investigation into Deputy Joseph Bodman and the May 2014 fatal bicycle crash of Ryan Holyk comes after three other investigations found that Bodman did not strike Holyk at the intersection of East Sprague Avenue and North Vista Road.

Grant county fugitive on run
An armed and dangerous fugitive is on the loose near Royal City, Washington. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office is asking residents of the Royal City area to stay inside and stay vigilant. The sheriff’s office is looking for David Santos. He is described as a Hispanic man, who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and 215 pounds.

Small fire burning south of Spokane
A two to five acre fire is burning south of Spokane, near Valley Chapel Road. The fire is between two and five acres, said Department of Natural Resources spokesman Eric Keller. Currently one rig is responding. Keller said the fire doesn’t seem to be growing.

100-plus acre fire near Ford threatening buildings
The fire near Ford, Washington is between 300 and 400 acres in size, according to a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) official. It’s burned two residential buildings and six outbuildings, said DNR spokesman Eric Keller. “Everything that we’ve got is going that way right now,” Keller said. “We have dozers on it, air tankers dropping on it and everything. But it’s getting bigger.” There is a level three evacuation in place. The American Red Cross Greater Inland Northwest Chapter will open an emergency shelter at Mary Walker High School in Springdale.

West Side woman died of measles, officials say
Measles killed a Washington woman in the spring – the first such death in the U.S. in 12 years and the first in the state in 25, health officials said Thursday.

Washington woman who died of measles had been vaccinated
A local health official says a woman killed by measles in Washington state had been vaccinated against the disease as a child but succumbed because she had a compromised immune system. The woman’s death in the spring was the first from measles in the U.S. in 12 years.

In Women’s World Cup viewership, new generation is older one
A generation of American women who grew up playing sports because of Title IX now makes up the television audience that advertisers covet. Today’s adults were young, impressionable fans when Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey to celebrate the winning penalty kick at the 1999 Women’s World Cup, and even earlier when the buzz of soccer landed in the United States for the 1994 men’s tournament. Now those grown-ups are tuning in to this Women’s World Cup — with their kids alongside.

BP signs $18.7B deal with Gulf states, feds over 2010 oil spill
Trying to close the books on the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, BP agreed Thursday to provide billions of dollars in new money to five Gulf Coast states in a deal the company said would bring its full obligations to an estimated $53.8 billion. Federal and state government officials touted the record-breaking $18.7 billion agreement as a historic milestone in the Gulf Coast’s recovery. The Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 rig workers and spewed millions of gallons of crude that stained beaches, coated wildlife and polluted marshes.

Flags often stir intense – but subjective – emotions
The notion of flags as potent symbols is hardly new or exclusively American. Roman legions carried banners into battle. In Nazi Germany, the flag emblazoned with a swastika came to embody an ideology now so loathed that modern-day Germany bars its display. In Iraq and Syria, masked members of the Islamic State group have seized control of cities under their own black-and-white banner. But in the U.S., particularly since the Civil War, when soldiers leading troops into battle were shot out from under the banners they carried, flags have come to embody ideology and stir passions in ways that have few modern international equivalents, experts say.

Gorge loop trail on south side of river has new life
Plans for a Spokane River gorge loop trail in downtown Spokane were nearly complete two years ago. Then they weren’t. Now, they’re almost done again. Almost. The current loop trail segment under discussion will run through Peaceful Valley, a quiet neighborhood on the river’s edge just west of downtown. Beginning at the Sandifur Bridge in People’s Park, the trail will briefly run along the river’s edge before following Clarke and Water avenues to Glover Field. The 10-foot-wide, 1.3-mile paved trail segment will link to the Centennial Trail in Kendall Yards. In the future, city officials say, a 3-mile trail will loop around the bluffs above the Spokane River, downriver from Riverfront Park.

Water-saving campaigns see success in California
Billboards and TV commercials, living room visits, guess-your-water-use booths, and awards for water stinginess – a wealthy swath of Orange County that once had one of the worst records for water conservation in drought-stricken California is turning things around, proving it’s possible to get people to change their ways.

Robber pistol-whips cameramen, steals TV news crews’ equipment in San Francisco
News crews from two San Francisco Bay Area television stations were robbed at gunpoint and a cameraman was pistol-whipped during live broadcasts on Thursday. The robbery and assault occurred at about 6 a.m. Thursday along the city’s waterfront. Several camera crews were broadcasting live reports for local morning shows about a killing that occurred nearby Wednesday night. The robber drove away in a black BMW with two cameras and two tripods from stations KTVU and KNTV. Two other camera crews on the scene weren’t robbed.

Iran indicates it may let U.N. team question nuclear experts
Iran signaled Thursday that it may allow United Nations inspectors to question its experts about the country’s nuclear activities, potentially resolving a dispute that has blocked a nuclear deal now in the final stages of negotiation.

In brief: After mishaps, unmanned cargo ship headed to International Space Station
A Russian rocket successfully launched an unmanned cargo ship today to the International Space Station, whose crew is anxiously awaiting it after the successive failures of two previous supply missions.
Airstrike in Syria kills Islamic State leader
A coalition airstrike in Syria has killed a senior Islamic State leader, who has been responsible for moving fighters and weapons from Libya to Syria, the Pentagon said Thursday. A senior U.S. official said Tariq bin Tahar al-’Awni al-Harzi, a Tunisian, and another fighter with him were killed by a U.S. drone strike and that there were no reports of any civilian casualties in the operation.
Stepped-up attacks target Sinai militants
Egyptian warplanes launched new airstrikes and troops went house-to-house Thursday in the troubled Sinai Peninsula, a day after Islamic State-linked militants set off the area’s bloodiest fighting in decades in an unprecedented, coordinated attack.

Hazardous rail spill injures 52 in Tennessee
A CSX train car carrying hazardous material derailed and caught fire in the middle of the night in eastern Tennessee, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and sending dozens to the hospital with respiratory issues and nausea. The fire was still burning around noon Thursday, and officials said firefighters had been unable to get close to the burning car because of the heat. There were also concerns that the fumes contained cyanide, a byproduct of burning the chemical acrylonitrile, which was leaking from the train car. The smoke had stopped by 6 p.m. About 5,000 people in the area were being evacuated, along with several businesses.

Proposal in ’80s: Move Hong Kong people to N. Ireland
Britain’s National Archives on Friday released a 1983 government file called “Replantation of Northern Ireland from Hong Kong,” which showed British officials discussing a far-fetched proposal to settle 5.5 million Hong Kong people in a newly built “city state” between Coleraine and Londonderry.

War vet Webb, who left GOP, makes run for president
Jim Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran and accomplished novelist who became a fierce critic of the Iraq war in the Senate, announced Thursday that he’s challenging Hillary Rodham Clinton and other rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Cubans flock to public Wi-Fi hotspots
Cuban authorities have launched public Wi-Fi hotspots along a main avenue that is the heart of Havana’s cultural and social life, the first step in government promises to gradually roll out such connectivity options on an island that the Internet revolution has largely passed by.

Church fire blamed on lightning
As social media buzzed about church fires in the South, investigators announced Thursday that weather caused a destructive blaze at a predominantly black church in South Carolina. The State Law Enforcement Division said in a statement that investigators found no evidence of criminal intent in the fire at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville. The pastor at the rural black church targeted by the Ku Klux Klan 20 years ago had said he suspected lightning was to blame. SLED says its conclusion was based on an examination of the scene, analysis of debris, witness statements and a lightning strike report.

Navy boosts maternity leave benefits to attract women
Looking for a way to persuade more women to enlist in the Navy and the Marines, the two service branches have expanded a benefit, tripling the amount of time off new mothers will be given after the birth of a child. Under a policy change announced Thursday, female sailors and Marines will get 18 weeks maternity leave. With pay. That’s far more generous than the standard set by the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires that women be allowed 12 weeks off. The law does not require that women be paid during their maternity leave; the United States is the only industrialized country that does not provide compensation for new mothers.

McConnell: GOP likely to resist renewal of ties with Cuba
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Republican majority is unlikely to confirm an ambassador to Cuba as the United States prepares to reopen its embassy in the communist country after more than 50 years of hostile relations.

Fire burns top floor of apartments near GU
Fire burned the top floor of a three-story apartment building at the corner of East Augusta Avenue and North Astor Street near Gonzaga University, sending thick clouds of smoke into the neighborhood Thursday afternoon as temperatures reached 100 degrees.

Hearing set on adding two more to Spokane County Commission
Spokane County is closer than it’s been in years to expanding its governing body. The public will have a chance Tuesday to tell the three sitting commissioners why voters should be allowed to consider increasing their ranks by two, following a public shift from Commissioner Shelly O’Quinn earlier this year calling for more representation. She had previously said she wanted to see the petition signatures necessary to put the issue on the ballot before weighing in.

Spokane County lawsuit targets private garbage collections by Sunshine Disposal
Garbage that should be delivered to the transfer stations owned by Spokane County is instead going to a privately owned facility in Spokane Valley, resulting in a loss of expected revenue and potential rate hikes, county and city officials say. But Sunshine Disposal President Marc Torre said his company is honoring local agreements, and that the county laws are designed to pinch his business, which has operated unencumbered for more than three decades. Spokane County is fighting back, seeking a court order that would bar Sunshine Disposal trucks from collecting garbage in unincorporated parts of the county and some cities, such as Newman Lake and Airway Heights, and delivering it to their transfer station on University Road.

Golf courses’ quiet invader is poa annua
It’s nearly impossible to get rid of. Golf course greens keepers have spent thousands of dollars trying to kill it. Indian Canyon pro Gary Lindeblad compared it to cancer. Golfers at this year’s U.S. Open at Chamber’s Bay golf course blamed missed shots on it. Poa annua is an invasive grass species that thrives in cool, moist climates and germinates quickly, which allows it to spread.

Man arrested after car chase, river swim
Idaho State Police say they have arrested David R. Pegram, 31, of the Boise area for investigation of felony eluding after he led them on a wild high-speed chase on U.S. Highway 95 during which he dodged spike strips and police bullets, plunged down an embankment, swam the Clearwater River and ran off into the woods.

Alleged jail phone conversation to girlfriend could put murder suspect away for life
Jeremiah Smith, accused of killing a 17-year-old during a robbery at Northwest Accessories on North Monroe Street in May, has been using a phone at the Spokane County Jail to profess his love for two women, and telling one of them to lie to detectives regarding his whereabouts on the night of the homicide, according to new court documents in the case. Smith, also known as Glenn A. Akers, was identified as a suspect in the shooting by his parole officer, who recognized his tattoos in surveillance video of the crime. Smith had been released from prison not long before the midnight shooting on May 26. When he was arrested on June 4 at 7910 E. Euclid Ave., he was wearing the same sweatshirt and Air Jordan sneakers as the suspect in the video.

In brief: Services affected by July 4 holiday
The July Fourth holiday is observed by government offices on July 3 this year.
Study ties wildfires to hot, dry summers
A research team from the University of Idaho and the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a century of climate records and wildfire data from Idaho and Western Montana, which is one of the nation’s most fire-prone areas. Since the mid-1980s, the numbers of acres burned annually increased in correlation with warmer temperatures and less moisture. The same was true for the early 1900s when large fires broke out, including “the Big Burn” of 1910 that swept across 3 million acres. During a cooler, wetter period in the mid-1900s, wildfire activity decreased, according to the study, which was published last week in the journal PLOS ONE.
Women & Children’s program gets boost
The Washington state Department of Commerce has donated $300,000 to the Women & Children’s Free Restaurant. The money brings the Spokane nonprofit closer to its $1.9 million fundraising goal. The grant comes from the state agency’s building community fund, which focuses on programs in distressed areas or those that serve low-income people. The free restaurant, which relocated recently to 1408 N. Washington St., serves about 40,000 meals each year to women and children in the Spokane region, plus offers nutrition classes.
Prison term given in child porn case
A 55-year-old Utah man will be sent back to federal prison after pleading guilty to failing to register as a sex offender and possessing child pornography after fleeing to Pend Oreille County late last year. James R. Bradbury was arrested in Newport, Washington, in February, four months after leaving supervised release in Utah.
Drones endangering aerial wildfire fights
The U.S. Forest Service and other agencies are telling people not to fly drones near wildfires after small crafts disrupted firefighting efforts in Southern California. Air tanker operations were suspended on two fires burning on the San Bernardino National Forest this week after drones flown by private citizens were detected in the fire areas.
Apartment building burns in Seattle
Fire broke out Thursday afternoon at an apartment building in Seattle’s densely populated Queen Anne neighborhood, sending up smoke visible across the city. Multiple firetrucks rushed to the scene, pouring water on the burning building and protecting nearby structures. The building quickly became too unstable for firefighters to enter and they focused on preventing the spread of flames. Within an hour, the roof had collapsed.

Common Core standards hard to meet for Washington students
Preliminary results in Washington state from the new tests based on the Common Core learning standards show students are finding the new exams more challenging than the old state tests. Fewer Washington students scored proficient on the new exams than they did on the tests based on old education standards.

Microsoft notably quiet about Washington lawmakers’ tax hike
Washington state is quietly giving Microsoft a tax increase, and the company isn’t complaining about the $57 million tax hike over the next two years. The state budget deal agreed to in Olympia this week included the closing of a number of tax breaks. This one was the repeal of a software machinery and equipment sales tax exemption, the Seattle Times reported.

Greeks weigh austerity, tie to Europe as vote nears
Costas Christoforidis hasn’t decided how to vote in Sunday’s referendum on a bailout deal for Greece’s troubled economy. The problem is, the 37-year-old farmer isn’t sure what he’s voting for. “If it’s saying ‘No’ to austerity, then it’s a ‘No’ from me too. But if we are rejecting Europe, I disagree with that,” he said – a position that many of Greece’s perplexed public find themselves in ahead of one of the most important votes in their country’s modern history.

Facebook sprouting rainbows
More than 26 million Facebook profile photos have taken on a rainbow hue in the days since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 26 that marriage is a right guaranteed under the Constitution regardless of a person’s sexual orientation. People have been covering their profile photos with the Facebook-supplied overlay that uses the best-known symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement: the rainbow.

In brief: Foster Farms faces cruelty complaint
Just as the chickens were about to go to slaughter, employees at a Foster Farms poultry company in Fresno County, California, began hitting them and pulling out their feathers. That video footage, obtained in an undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals, an animal rights group based in Los Angeles, led it to file a complaint Thursday with the Federal Trade Commission against the American Humane Association and Foster Farms for falsely advertising that the slaughterhouse treats its animals humanely.

Tesla sets delivery record
Electric car maker Tesla’s second-quarter deliveries surged 52 percent to set a company record exceeding 11,000 vehicles. The company had surpassed 10,000 vehicles for the first time in the first three months of the year and Thursday said it had broken that record, delivering 11,507 vehicles.
Google sorry over ‘gorillas’
Google is apologizing after reports surfaced that an automatic image-recognition feature in its Photos application was identifying images of some black people as “gorillas.”
U.S. factory orders dip in May
Orders to U.S. factories fell in May by the largest amount in three months, while a key category that signals business investment plans dropped for a second month.

U.S. unemployment rate hits seven-year low
U.S. unemployment fell to a seven-year low of 5.3 percent and employers hired at a solid pace in June, but other gauges of the job market drew a bleaker picture: A wave of people stopped looking for work, and paychecks failed to budge. The figures released Thursday capture the persistently uneven nature of the recovery from the Great Recession.

Whole Foods acknowledges overcharging
Whole Foods Market is apologizing to its shoppers for incorrect pricing, a week after a New York investigation found that the natural food grocer routinely overcharged for prepackaged fruits, vegetables and deli meats.

Editorial: Holding presidential primary good for voters

Dana Milbank: Obama riding renewed momentum

70-year-old grandmother Gunhild Swanson finishes 100.2-mile Western States Endurance Run
Hollywood couldn’t make this up. Last weekend in California, only one competitor was left in a 100-mile endurance run. With 90 seconds left before the 30-hour cutoff time and 300 meters to go, 70-year-old grandmother Gunhild Swanson of Spokane Valley gave it her all. And she was rewarded the biggest cheers, especially when she crossed the finish line with six seconds to spare in the 100.2-mile Western States Endurance Run.

Obituary: Koch, Allan
31 Aug 1936 - 23 Jun 2015     Ritzville
full obituary

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from Tea Party
[Information from these sites may not be reliable.]

Bombshell: Newly Documents Reveal Obama and Hillary Concocted Benghazi Video Lie with Jihadist Help

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from Washington Weekly News (DC)
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]
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from The Western Center for Journalism
(Western Journalism)

Watch: Angry Parents Stand Up To School Board Over Lessons On ‘Gay Marriage'; Room Erupts

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from WND (World Net Daily)
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

FEDERAL OFFICIAL RIPS OBAMA AS 'WORST,' 'AMATEUR,' 'MARXIST'
'No country in the world would allow' influx of illegal aliens

SCOTUS FALLOUT: LET THE LAWSUITS BEGIN
ACLU sues Kentucky clerk for refusing wedding licenses

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