Cousin Sam: In the news, Sunday, May 5, 2013

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from npr.org

Long Hidden, Vatican Painting Linked To Native Americans
by Sylvia Poggioli

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from Live Strong

How to Detox the Lungs
By Frank Dioso

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from The Spokesman-Review

Blue skies for Bloomsday 2013
Staff reports

Deba wins women’s elite race at Bloomsday
Chris Derrick The Spokesman-Review

Ethiopians sweep Bloomsday titles
Assefa, Deba are top Elite runners

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Months after rescuing family from fire, man loses his fight
‘I held his hand and hugged his head until he went on his own way’
Jennifer Pignolet The Spokesman-Review

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Solutions sought to cellphone thievery
Industry gets push to add ‘kill switch’; database in works
Terry Collins Associated Press

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Air crew members’ bodies located in Kyrgyzstan
Identities of dead may be released today, report says
Leila Saralayeva Associated Press

Fairchild airmen who died in crash Friday identified

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Bangladesh, U.N. agree to safety plan
Mcclatchy-Tribune

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Saudis let some girls schools offer sports
Associated Press

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Syria reports new attacks
Israelis blamed for explosions at military facility near capital
Patrick J. Mcdonnell, David S. Cloud, Edmund Sanders

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7 Americans killed in Afghanistan
Karzai acknowledges nation gets CIA cash
Patrick Quinn Associated Press

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Cooler weather aids fire crews
Associated Press

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Most men don’t need PSA tests, group says
Karen Kaplan Los Angeles Times

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Plant that exploded had little insurance
Mandatory coverage is ‘rare for Texas’
Christopher Sherman Associated Press

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Obama stresses economy, trade in visit to Costa Rica
Anita Kumar McClatchy-Tribune

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In brief: From Wire Reports:

Author sues for ‘Mockingbird’ rights

Harper Lee, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” filed a lawsuit Friday to resecure the copyright to it. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan seeks unspecified damages from the son-in-law of Lee’s former literary agent and companies he allegedly created.

The lawsuit alleges the son-in-law, Samuel Pinkus, failed to properly protect the copyright of the book after his father-in-law, Eugene Winick – who had represented Lee as a literary agent since the book was published in 1960 through the firm McIntosh and Otis – became ill a decade ago. The 87-year-old author alleges Pinkus took advantage of her declining hearing and eyesight seven years ago to get her to assign the book’s copyright to him and a company he controlled.

Gun control battles aren’t over, NRA says

Houston – National Rifle Association leaders told members Saturday that the fight against gun control legislation is far from over, with battles yet to come in Congress and next year’s midterm elections.

The debate over gun control legislation has reached a fever pitch in the wake of December’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 first-graders and six educators were killed. An expanded background checks bill supported by President Barack Obama and other lawmakers in response to the Connecticut shooting failed to pass in the Senate.

During a fiery and defiant speech Saturday, Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, the public face of the NRA, said the “political and media elites” have tried to use Sandy Hook and other recent shootings “to blame us, to shame us, to compromise our freedom for their agenda.” He said the proposed bill “got the defeat that it deserved” and that the measure would do nothing to prevent the next mass shooting.

“We will never surrender our guns, never,” LaPierre told several thousand people during the organization’s annual member meeting, which is part of the yearly NRA convention being held this weekend in Houston. More than 70,000 NRA members are expected to attend the three-day convention, which began Friday.

James Porter, the incoming NRA president, said Obama’s gun control efforts have created a “political spontaneous combustion” that has prompted millions of Americans to become first-time gun owners and created a national outrage that will manifest itself in next year’s midterm elections.

“The Senate and House are up for grabs,” Porter said during Saturday’s meeting. “We can direct this massive energy of spontaneous combustion to regain the political high ground. We do that and Obama can be stopped.”

E! Online says Twitter account hacked

Los Angeles – E! Online said hackers compromised its Twitter and text messaging accounts, sending out erroneous news alerts about Justin Bieber and Angelina Jolie. The Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility for Saturday’s hack.

E! Online said it was working with Twitter to correct the issue and that an investigation into the attack was underway.

The SEA has taken credit for a string of Web attacks on media targets it sees as sympathetic to Syria’s rebels, including the BBC, Al-Jazeera English and the Guardian.

The group claims to have hacked the Twitter feed of the Associated Press last month.

Navy plans growth in Puget Sound

The U.S. Navy’s presence in the Puget Sound region is growing.

The Navy plans to more than double the number of P-8A Poseidon aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and accelerate the basing of destroyers at Naval Station Everett, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen said Friday in a news release.

Currently, four fleet squadrons with 24 total aircraft are stationed at NAS Whidbey, employing an estimated 2,600 people.

Pending the completion of an environmental impact review, the naval air base will be home to seven fleet squadrons with 49 P-8A aircraft before 2019. The additional planes come from a change in plans to base three fleet squadrons in Hawaii.

The P-8A Poseidon is a long-range anti-submarine, anti-surface warfare and reconnaissance aircraft, according to official Navy website navair.navy.mil.

The Navy also announced that three destroyers will replace three outgoing frigates at Naval Station Everett over the next few years.

Panel to set rules for big-truck routes

LEWISTON – The Idaho Transportation Department is creating a committee to review a new law aiming to allow more large trucks on Idaho’s highways, a disputed proposal that got a lot of attention during the 2013 Legislature.

The panel, which will include members of the Idaho Transportation Board, will begin meeting this month or in June, the Lewiston Tribune reported.

The law requires ITD to set rules before new routes can be designated for trucks that weigh between 105,500 and 129,000 pounds.

Timber companies fought for allowing bigger shipments, saying it will help their businesses.

Foes, meanwhile, fear allowing larger trucks on highways including U.S. Highway 95 will make roads more dangerous.

Piling work ruled out, but dock in play

SANDPOINT – Idaho Supreme Court justices issued a split ruling last week on a disputed piling and dock proposal on Lake Pend Oreille.

The court affirmed the Idaho Department of Lands’ denial of a bid by a couple to replace pilings on Glengary Bay, the Bonner Daily Bee reported.

But the state lands agency will have to give further scrutiny to Peter and Shelagh Kaseburg’s bid to build a dock.

The Kaseburgs’ plans encountered concerns from neighbors on Glengary Bay.

They worried that existing pilings posed a navigational hazard to boats and that the dock would extend too far out into the bay, as well as increase silting and weed growth.

The IDL denied both bids, but now it must review the dock plan again.

Rally cites worries over coal trains

SEATTLE – The Sierra Club organized a small rally on Seattle’s waterfront Saturday to highlight concerns local business leaders have about plans for new coal trains along Puget Sound.

Trains already carry coal from the Rocky Mountains through Washington for export through British Columbia, but proposals for five more ports would ship as much as 140 million tons of coal a year from Montana and Wyoming.

The tracks through Seattle run between the waterfront and Pike Place Market, and business owners say the increased train traffic would increase traffic congestion and make it harder to get to the waterfront.

Among those attending the rally were Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, State Rep. Reuven Carlyle, Pier 57 and Great Wheel owner Kyle Griffith, and Cary Moon, co-founder of People’s Waterfront Coalition.

McGinn previously joined other city and tribal leaders in forming a coalition to oppose the coal trains.

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Solar plane completes first leg
Susan Montoya Bryan, Bob Seavey Associated Press

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Clark: Ride was a classic, and didn’t feel like a rehearsal
Doug Clark The Spokesman-Review

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Labrador carries independence to D.C.
Key immigration player shaped by mother’s esteem for Reagan
Kip Hill Correspondent

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North Central alumni take long route to prom
Jody Lawrence-Turner The Spokesman-Review

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‘Good Samaritan’ law covers alcohol too

State workers to get parking, bus breaks
Brad Shannon Olympian

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