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Saturday, September 18, 2010 – Daily News – 3B Jupiter closest to Earth in 50 years CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Better catch Jupiter next week in the night sky. It won’t be that big or bright again until 2022. Jupiter will pass 368 million miles from Earth late Monday, its closest approach since 1963. You can see it low in the east around dusk. Around midnight, it will be directly overhead. That’s because Earth will be passing between Jupiter and the sun, into the wee hours of Tues- day. The solar system’s largest planet already appears as an incredibly bright star — three times brighter than the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. The only thing brighter in the night sky right now is our moon. Binoculars and telescopes will dramati- cally improve the view as Jupiter, along with its many moons, rises in the east as the sun sets. ‘‘Jupiter is so bright right now, you don’t need a sky map to find it,’’ said Tony Phillips, a Califor- nia astronomer under contract with NASA. ‘‘You just walk outside and see it. It’s so eye- catching, there it is.’’ Phillips has never seen Jupiter so bright. ‘‘To an experienced observer, the difference is notable,’’ he said Friday. Coincidentally, Uranus also will make a close approach the same night. It will appear close to Jupiter but harder to see with the naked eye. Through a telescope, it will shine like an emer- ald-colored disk less than one degree from Jupiter. Few in Wash. city are angry at acid hoax VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The scars on her face were real, but her story about being splashed with acid was a horrific hoax. A day after Bethany Storro’s rev- elation turned the victim who drew worldwide sympathy into a curiosi- ty and the object of much derision, few who banded together here to collect money for her medical bills were angry with her on Friday. They were just puzzled: What could bring the 28-year-old grocery store worker to disfigure herself in such a public way, and invent a tale about a black woman assaulting her with a cup of acid? Storro’s mother is ‘‘just worried about her mental health,’’ said friend John Pax, whose gym hosted a fundraiser that netted nearly $1,000. ‘‘But no one’s asked for their money back yet. No one’s angry. ‘‘We just worry about her,’’ he said. Some in the black community in this leafy city on the banks of the Columbia River were saddened that someone claiming to be a crime vic- tim had again placed an African- American in the role of villain. ‘‘I’m not angry at all, and the rea- son is that this has happened many times before, unfortunately,’’ said Margo Bryant, president of the Van- couver branch of the National Asso- ‘‘I’m not angry at all, and the reason is that this has happened many times before, unfortunately’ Margo Bryant, Vancouver NAACP ciation for the Advancement of Col- ored People. Bryant praised the police, and said she didn’t hear of any blacks in the area being questioned. ‘‘At least (police) were willing to accept that this individual was not telling the truth, or not automatical- ly accept she was telling the truth because she is white,’’ Bryant said. Police on Friday were planning to turn the case over to prosecutors. Storro could face charges of filing a false police report. Storro told police a stranger in a ponytail accosted her near a small park on Aug. 30, uttering the now- infamous words — ‘‘Hey, pretty girl, want something to drink?’’ — before scorching her face. Instantly, her tale grabbed the headlines. And only grew when she appeared before reporters, her head bandaged and alongside her parents, to ask a nameless, faceless attacker: Why? Storro said it was only chance and, perhaps, divine providence that led her to purchase a pair of sun- glasses just minutes earlier. Umpqua Bank took up a collec- tion to help her pay medical bills, raising ‘‘a few thousand’’ dollars, said bank spokeswoman Lani Hay- ward. By Friday, no one asked for their donation back, she said. Police grew more suspicious, as inconsistencies in her story began to add up. They searched her home and her car. They wanted to know why no witnesses had seen an assailant. Why didn’t the splash pattern of the acid jibe with Storro’s account. And, finally, why would Storro be wearing sunglasses just after 7 p.m.? Under questioning, she folded. But the question of her motive remains unanswered. Pax, the gym owner, said the tall tale wouldn’t make city residents more resistant to help out the next time someone is in need. ‘‘This is a close-knit communi- ty,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s safe here. If some- thing like this happened again, we wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.’’ Man emerges after story about 1993 abduction BEDFORD, Texas (AP) — A 20-year-old man who authorities say was abducted by his father 17 years ago dur- ing a messy divorce apparently read a news- paper article about his disappearance and per- suaded his father to turn himself in. Stephen Michael Palacios will soon be reunited with his mother, Dee Ann Adams, after almost two decades apart. He and his father, Stephen Palacios Jr., went to a Houston attor- ney’s office Thursday where the father surren- dered to federal authori- ties. Palacios Jr. was being held Friday on charges of interference with child custody. Deputy U.S. Marshal Alfredo Perez told The Associated Press on Fri- day that the elder Pala- cios would remain in custody in Houston until McLennan County authorities retrieved him to face charges. Perez said he believed the son was staying Friday with family members, but he declined to release fur- ther details. Adams, who remar- ried and has several other children, told the AP Friday that she was overwhelmed but happy. She declined to say when she planned to reunite with her son. ‘‘I’m not ready to talk right now,’’ she said from her home in the Dallas suburb of Bed- ford. Authorities have not said where the father and son were living. Palacios Jr.’s attorney, Paul Nugent, told The Waco- Tribune Herald on Thursday that his client ‘‘was motivated today by what is best for his son.’’ Nugent did not immedi- ately return a message Friday from the AP. It was an Aug. 29 story in the newspaper that led to the break in the case, Adams told the paper. She said her son read an article about his abduction in which police were asking the public for help, and he insisted his father sur- render. ‘‘I was told that Stephen Michael some- how saw the article in your newspaper and told his dad that he wanted to meet his mom,’’ she said. ‘‘Stephen Michael told him, ’I want to meet my mom and I want you to do the right thing and get this taken care of now.’’’ McLennan County prosecutor Susan Shafer called the mother Thurs- day afternoon to notify her that her son had been found. ‘‘Mr. Palacios has always acted out of love for his son and by what he thought was in his son’s best interest,’’ said Nugent. ‘‘He is a good man, and if he has made some mistakes in judg- ment, he will have to deal with that now.’’ Stephen Michael was reported missing March 28, 1993, after a visit with his father, who was granted visitation rights when the couple then living in Waco divorced. A felony warrant for custodial interference was issued for the father, and detectives tracked down several leads over the years, but to no avail. McLennan County Sheriff’s Lt. Clay Perry told the newspaper that deputies put a Palacios family wedding in Waco under surveillance in 2006, but that Palacios Don’t let that Summer Tan Fall! 1 Month Unlimited Tanning only Jr. didn’t show up. Later that year, they had miss- ing person photos of Stephen Michael mailed to 80 million homes in the U.S. Colbert to rally against faux nemesis Stewart WASHINGTON (AP) — ‘‘The Daily Show’’ host Jon Stewart is hosting a ‘‘million moderate march’’ in Washington — for people who think shouting is annoying — but faux political nemesis Stephen Colbert will be nearby to keep fear alive against those ‘‘dark, opti- mistic forces.’’ Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s ‘‘The Colbert Report,’’ and his arch enemy on the network plan to hold opposing political rallies on the National Mall just before the November elections. Stewart interrupted his regular fake newscast Thursday night to announce a ‘‘Rally to Restore Sanity’’ on Oct. 30. He said it’s for people too busy with their normal lives to go to other political rallies. ‘‘We’re looking for peo- ple who think shouting is annoying ... who feel that the loudest voices shouldn’t be the only ones that get heard,’’ Stewart writes in promotion for his rally. ‘‘Think of our event as Woodstock, but with the nudity and drugs replaced by respectful disagree- ment.’’ No Adolf Hitler mus- taches allowed at the Stew- art rally — unless it’s drawn on a photo of the German dictator (or Charlie Chap- lin). Past political rallies have featured posters with sitting presidents wearing Hitler-style mustaches, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Nearby, Colbert also announced a ‘‘March to Keep Fear Alive’’ to restore ‘‘truthiness’’ to the nation on his show Thursday night. For those who don’t know, truthiness was a 2006 word of the year that means ‘‘truth that comes from the gut, not books.’’ Colbert is encouraging ‘‘all freedom-loving patri- ots’’ to bring an overnight bag and five extra sets of underwear to challenge Stewart’s ‘‘dark, optimistic forces.’’ He said the nation can’t afford a rally to restore sanity in the middle of a recession. He wrote the United States is built on three bedrock principles: free- dom, liberty and fear. ‘‘They want to replace our fear with reason,’’ he wrote. ‘‘But never forget ’reason’ is just one letter away from ’treason.’’’ The events come a few weeks after Glenn Beck’s recent rally on the anniver- sary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington. Stewart’s website notes Oct. 30 was chosen as a date ‘‘of no significance whatsoever.’’ The rallies take aim at extremists from the politi- cal fringes. Stewart said it will give voice to about 70 to 80 percent of Americans who aren’t heard in daily political discourse. Stewart and Colbert have filed a single applica- tion for a permit to host 25,000 people on the Wash- ington Monument grounds, National Park Service spokesman Bill Line said Friday. It hasn’t been approved yet. Stewart said Thursday night that his rally would be a ‘‘million moderate march.’’ He suggested a few signs for the rally, including ‘‘I disagree with you, but I’m pretty sure you’re not Hitler.’’ Hunting for that perfect phone. Come to NorCal Wireless 530-528-8120 10 Gilmore Rd. Red Bluff Corner of Antelope & Gilmore Limited time offer expires Sept. 30, 2010. Other conditions and restrictions may apply. See store for full details. Offer valid only at NorCal AT&T Authorized Retailer stores. Rebate debit card offer. Price before mail-in rebate is $149.99. Must purchase BlackBerry Unlimited Plan and sign new 2 year service agreement ot qualify for discounted pricing and rebate. 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