Saturday, November 17, 2012

In the news, Saturday, November 17, 2012


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FRI 16      INDEX      SUN 18
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from The Spokesman-Review:


Soap Lake eschews moniker change in committee vote
Group suggests ‘Smoakiam’
By Jim Camden      The Spokesman-Review

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Obituary: Cox, Jim
Age 61

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Israel expands assault in Gaza
Ibrahim Barzak      Associated Press

White House: Israel has right to defend itself
Jim Kuhnhenn      Associated Press

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Legendary Hostess brand reaches end of the line
Candice Choi and Tom Murphy      Associated Press

Products
Hostess Brands Inc. said Friday it will move to liquidate the company after failing to emerge from its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in less than a decade. The company says buyers have already expressed interest in some of its brands, meaning they could find a second life.

Desserts
CupCakes, Ding Dongs, Donettes, Funny Bones, Ho Hos, Sno Balls, Twinkies, Yodels

Bread

Beefsteak, Butternut, Home Pride, Merita, Nature’s Pride, Wonder

What happens if Twinkies really do go away?
J.M. Hirsch      Associated Press

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Iraq rebuffs U.S., frees wanted man
Associated Press

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Do the protesters have to live with too many coyotes? - C. S.

New Mexico coyote hunt sparks worldwide protests
Gun shop owner offers prize for kills
Russell Contreras      Associated Press

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Russia trade bill advances
Legislation drops decades-old limits
Jim Abrams Associated Press

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In brief:  From Wire Reports:

Iran advances nuclear program
Iran has finished installing centrifuges at a fortified underground facility and can sharply increase production of enriched uranium to a purity that can be quickly improved to weapons grade, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency said Friday.

According to the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has prepared 700 more centrifuges at the Fordow facility for operation since August, doubling the plant’s enrichment capacity.

If all of them produced 20 percent enriched uranium, it would cut to about three months, down from six, the time needed to accumulate enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb.


Montreal chooses Anglophone mayor
Montreal – The French-speaking city of Montreal elected an Anglophone mayor Friday for the first time in 100 years, following his predecessor’s resignation over allegations of corruption.

Michael Applebaum won a city council vote to serve as interim mayor for only a year, with a promise not to run in the next municipal election of November 2013.

Applebaum speaks French, but it’s not his first language and Anglophones in French-speaking Quebec rarely hold prominent political roles.


Judge won’t halt work on rail project
Sacramento, Calif. – A judge denied a request Friday from Central Valley farmers who sought to halt work on California’s ambitious high-speed rail project, allowing work on the $68 billion project to continue at an aggressive pace.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley denied a request for a preliminary injunction, saying that the agency overseeing the project “acted reasonably and in good faith” in trying to comply with California environmental law.

Groups representing Central Valley farmers had hoped to stop the California High-Speed Rail Authority from all planning and engineering work because of their claims that the authority did not thoroughly weigh the potential environmental harms of the project.

Frawley did not rule on the merits of their case, which is expected to be heard this spring.


Judge likely to OK fine in Google privacy suit
SAN FRANCISCO – A proposed $22.5 million fine to penalize Google for an alleged privacy breach is on the verge of winning court approval, despite a consumer rights group’s cry for tougher punishment.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston told lawyers during a Friday court hearing in San Francisco that she is likely to approve the fine, which is the cornerstone of a settlement reached three months ago between the Federal Trade Commission and Google Inc.

The rebuke is meant to resolve allegations that Google duped millions of Web surfers who use the Safari browser into believing their online activities couldn’t be tracked by the company as long as they didn’t change the browser’s privacy settings. That assurance was posted on Google’s website earlier this year, even as the Internet search leader was inserting computer coding that bypassed Safari’s automatic settings and enabled the company to peer into the online lives of the browser’s users.

The FTC concluded that the contradiction between Google’s stealth tracking and its privacy assurances to Safari users violated a vow the company made in another settlement with the agency last year. Google had promised not to mislead people about its privacy practices.


Government sues eBay over pact with Intuit
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department alleged Friday that Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay Inc., was intimately involved in making an anticompetitive agreement that prohibited eBay and Intuit Inc. from hiring each other’s employees.

In a lawsuit, the government said Whitman and Scott Cook, Intuit’s founder and executive committee chairman, were involved in forming, monitoring and enforcing the anticompetitive agreement.

Cook was a member of eBay’s board of directors at the same time he was making complaints about eBay’s recruiting of Intuit employees.

“EBay’s agreement with Intuit hurt employees by lowering the salaries and benefits they might have received and deprived them of better job opportunities at the other company,” said acting Assistant Attorney General Joseph Wayland, who is in charge of the Justice Department’s antitrust division. The division “has consistently taken the position that these kinds of agreements are per se (on their face) unlawful under antitrust laws.”

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Pension insurer runs record deficit
Marcy Gordon      Associated Press

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Spokane Airways shutting down
Aviation business suffered from industry slump
By Tom Sowa      The Spokesman-Review

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‘Black Thursday’ the new norm?
Kavita Kumar      McClatchy-Tribune

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Jim Kershner’s this day in historyBy Jim Kershner      The Spokesman-Review

From our archives, 100 years ago
The headline on the cover of the Sunday magazine section shouted, “Spokane Secures Curtis Great Illustrated Library of Indian Life.”

The story explained that the Spokane Public Library had purchased photographer Edward Curtis’ landmark portfolio of American Indian portraits. The library was one of 500 subscribers to the Curtis work, said the story, and “none are sold for less than $3,000.”

“In another century, the work will be priceless,” said the paper.

It was still a work in progress. Curtis had delivered eight volumes and was working on Volume Nine. When finished, it would run 20 volumes, with each volume containing 75 large photogravure prints.

Curtis was a Seattle-based photographer, but he had “been making Spokane his headquarters for some time.” Arrangements were under way “for an exhibition of his pictures at the library in December.”

“It will be a revelation of art as well as life portrayal of Indian existence, and no idea of the magnitude of the work can be formed without seeing it,” said the story.

Today, the Curtis collection remains in the vault of the Spokane Public Library and is available to researchers and scholars.

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opinion:

Opinions espressed in the following articles do not necessarily reflect those of Cousin Sam.

Obama panels flout Constitution
GeorgeWill

Tea party properly relegated
Froma Harrop

California GOP in crisis
Harold Meyerson      Los Angeles Times

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Cusick advances to State 1B football semifinals
Steve Christilaw      Correspondent

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Tdap protects adults as well as children
Anthony L. Komaroff      Universal Uclick

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Many parts of garden remain active until dead of winter
Pat Munts

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West Texas town begins recovery after train crash
Juan Carlos Llorca      Associated Press

Officials: Vets’ float crossed track after signals
Juan Carlos Llorca      Associated Press

Veterans killed in train crash were war heroes
M.L. Johnson      Associated Press

War-time instinct takes over in Texas train crash
Juan Carlos Llorca      Associated Press

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Asia trip gives Obama opportunity to build legacy
Julie Pace      Associated Press

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J.C. Penney CEO tries to change the way we shop
Anne D'Innocenzio      Associated Press


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