Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/8563
8A – Daily News – Thursday, April 1, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING Obama opens areas to offshore oil drilling WASHINGTON (AP) — Shaking up years of energy policy and his own environmental backers, President Barack Obama threw open a huge swath of East Coast waters and other protected areas in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska to drilling Wednesday, widening the politically explosive hunt for more homegrown oil and gas. Obama’s move allows drilling from Delaware to central Florida, plus the northern waters of Alas- ka, and exploration could begin 50 miles off the coast of Virginia by 2012. He also wants Congress to lift a drilling ban in the oil-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico, 125 miles from Florida beaches. Still off limits: the entire Pacific seaboard. And in a nod to conserva- tion, Obama canceled oil exploration in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, deeming the area a national treasure. For this oil-dependent nation, the decision could start to reshape far-reach- ing economic and nation- al security policies, affecting where the U.S. gets the fuel for its cars, heating and energy-gulp- ing industry. For a president on a roll following a big health care win, Wednesday’s drilling declaration was both aggressive and prag- matic. Even with a push for cleaner energy sources and efficient cars — and with promises of protec- tion for ecosystems and coastal tourism — the nation still needs more oil, Obama said. Chechen takes responsibility for Moscow bombings MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) — A Chechen militant claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks on the Moscow subway in an Internet message posted Wednesday, hours after two more suicide bombers struck southern Russia in brazen defiance of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Doku Umarov, who leads Islamic militants in & Gardening 10-25% OFF MSRP HYDROPONICS Indoor Lighting ADVANCED 1417 SOLANO ST., CORNING 824-1100 NOW OPEN SUNDAYS Chechnya and other regions in Russia’s North Caucasus, said in a video posted on a pro-rebel Web site that Monday’s twin suicide attacks were revenge for the killing of civilians by Russian secu- rity forces. Umarov’s statement appeared after Putin vowed to ‘‘drag out of the sewer’’ the terrorists who plotted the subway bomb- ings, which killed 39 peo- ple and wounded scores of commuters during the morning rush hour. Wednesday’s suicide bombings in Dagestan, a volatile southern province east of Chechnya, could have been planned by the same group behind the Moscow bombings, Putin said. ‘‘I don’t rule out that this is one and the same gang,’’ he said at a tele- vised Cabinet meeting. President Dmitry Medvedev later called the attacks ‘‘links of the same chain.’’ Bishops urge sex abuse victims to go to police VATICAN CITY (AP) — Swiss bishops urge victims of clerical abuse to file criminal com- plaints and are consider- ing creating a national registry for pedophile priests. Danish bishops launch an investigation into decades-old claims. Austria’s senior bishop celebrates a Holy Week Mass of repentance. A week after Pope Benedict XVI excoriated Irish bishops for gross errors of judgment in han- dling cases of priests who sexually abuse children, European bishops are Welcomes Photographer & Western Artist Linda Rosser 40 years of “Red Bluff Round Up” Photos Plus 34 frames of Lane Frost on Red Rock Friday April • 2nd 5-7 April 10th • 10-4 April 17th • 12-3 623 Main St. 527-5180 admitting to mistakes, reaching out to victims and promising to act quickly when they learn about abuse cases. Their mea culpas and pledges to be more trans- parent and cooperative in the future come amid mounting public outrage over the scope of the abuse and what victims say has been a pattern of coverup by bishops and the Vatican itself to keep the cases quiet. ‘‘It’s about improving things,’’ Swiss Bishops Conference spokesman Walter Mueller said Wednesday, as Swiss bishops admitted in a statement that they had underestimated the prob- lem and are now telling victims to consider filing criminal complaints. In Austria, Cardinal Christophe Schoenborn was to celebrate a Holy Week Mass on Wednes- day evening for abuse vic- tims in what is being billed as a ‘‘sign of repen- tance’’ just days before Easter. Northeast sees threat of flooding CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — Flooding on a scale rarely seen in New England forced hundreds of people from their homes and businesses Wednesday, overwhelmed sewage systems and iso- lated communities as it washed out bridges and rippled across thorough- fares from Maine to Con- necticut. COMING THIS FRIDAY! OFFICIAL PROGRAM Your guide to all of the local events leading up to Round-Up weekend itself! What’s happening when, from the Cowboy Coffee on Thursday, April 8 through the final day of Round-Up on Sunday, April 18. You’ll want to keep it to refer to again and again! A SPECIAL INSERT TO.... D NEWSAILY Friday, April 2 RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY Boneless Ham Boneless Pork Chops Ground Buffalo Three days of record- breaking rains tapered to a drizzle, then stopped before the waters in hard- hit Rhode Island finally crested. But authorities across New England warned that the flooding — far worse than an indundation two weeks ago in the same areas — could linger for days. Rhode Island experi- enced what the governor called its worst flooding in more than 200 years. The swollen Pawtuxet River threatened to col- lapse a bridge in the town of Coventry. A stretch of the main East Coast high- way, Interstate 95, shut down, and Amtrak sus- pended some trains on its busy Northeast lines. Every resident of Rhode Island, a state of about 1 million, was asked to conserve water and electricity because of flooded sewage systems and electrical substations. The waters either strand- ed hundreds of people or sent them to shelters. Many of those who stayed behind appeared shell- shocked. Angelo Padula Jr.’s auto restoration shop in West Warwick, Angelo Padula & Son Used Auto, stood in 10 feet of water from the Pawtuxet River — after 100 years in busi- ness, its likely death knell, Padula said. Seniors wary of Obama’s health care WASHINGTON (AP) — Seniors aren’t break- ing out the champagne for President Barack Obama’s health care law, and for good reason. While Democrats hail the overhaul as their greatest health care achievement since Medicare, seniors fear it’s a raid on that same giant health care program — a bedrock of retirement security — in order to pay for covering younger, uninsured work- ers and their families. There’s no doubt that broad cuts in projected Medicare payments to insurance plans, hospitals, nursing homes and other service providers will sting. What hasn’t sunk in yet is that the new law also improves the lot of many Medicare beneficia- ries. Obama is hoping that most will eventually con- clude the plusses out- weigh the minuses. Keenly aware that this is a congressional election year, Democrats struc- tured the law so virtually all the cuts start next year and take effect only grad- ually. For this year, the law provides a sweetener. More than 3 million seniors who have been falling into a Medicare prescription coverage gap will get a $250 rebate, a down payment on closing the ‘‘doughnut hole.’’ Nonetheless, seniors are anxious. ‘‘I’m afraid from the little I’ve heard that it’s not good for seniors,’’ said Muriel Couzon, 86, a retired supervisory social worker from New York City. A Democrat, Couzon says the legisla- tion could affect her vote this fall: ‘‘I have to see what it will do to me and other seniors like me.’’ Bodies of 21 babies found dumped along river BEIJING (AP) — Rural traditions of aban- doning dead infants because they’re consid- ered bad luck may have played a role in the case of 21 babies’ bodies found along a river in eastern China, apparently dumped by hospital mor- tuary workers. The little bodies — at least one stuffed in a yel- low bag marked ‘‘medical waste’’ — were found floating and strewn along the bank of a river on the outskirts of Jining city in Shandong province last weekend. Police detained two mortuary workers at a hospital who were paid by the babies’ families to dispose of the bodies. One question that arose Wednesday was why would the parents of so many dead children simply abandon their remains? Hospital procedures normally call for families to take away dead infants, the Shandong province- based Qilu Evening News reported. However, the death of a young child is considered bad luck among some rural fami- lies, and the body is often abandoned or buried in unmarked graves. DC drive-by targets crowd from funeral WASHINGTON (AP) — The crowd of people targeted in a drive-by shooting that killed four and wounded five others had just returned from the funeral of a victim of another recent shooting nearby, a witness said Wednesday. Two adults and a juve- nile were being charged in Tuesday night’s shoot- ing, the worst in D.C. in at least 16 years. Police haven’t said whether it was related to another shooting about a mile and a half away March 22. The suspected shooter in that case has also been arrested. The shootings occurred in a neighbor- hood known for drugs and related violence about 7 miles from the White House. As police investi- gated, friends and rela- tives of the victims returned to the scene, where a blood-covered gauze package lay on a sidewalk that smelled of bleach. Four teddy bears were placed by steps lead- ing to an apartment build- ing. The owner of the building said about 15 people were standing around when he heard gunshots about 7:30 p.m. William Cheek said he had just walked across the street to buy a lottery tick- et when he turned around and saw many people had fallen to the ground. His 20-year-old grandson was among the victims. Toads hopped away before earthquake LONDON (AP) — When it comes to predicting earthquakes, toads — warts and all — may be an asset. British researchers said Wednesday that they observed a mass exodus of toads from a breeding site in Italy five days before a major tremor struck, sug- gesting the amphibians may be able to sense environ- mental changes, impercep- tible to humans, that foretell a coming quake. Since ancient times, anecdotes and folklore have linked unusual animal behavior to cataclysmic events like earthquakes, but hard evidence has been scarce. A new study by researchers from the Open University is one of the first to document animal behav- ior before, during and after an earthquake. The scientists were studying the common toad — bufo bufo — at a breed- ing colony in central Italy when they noticed a sharp decline in the number of animals at the site. Days later, a 6.3-magnitude earth- quake hit, killing hundreds of people and badly damag- ing the town of L’Aquila. Researcher Rachel Grant said the findings suggested ‘‘that toads are able to detect pre-seismic cues such as the release of gases and charged particles, and use these as a form of earthquake early warning system.’’ Fox News drops LL Cool J from Palin’s show NEW YORK (AP) — An upcoming Fox News Channel special hosted by Sarah Palin is titled ‘‘Real American Stories.’’ But rap- per-actor LL Cool J says his participation in the show was bogus. In response, the network has snipped him from the program. In a Twitter posting late Tuesday, the entertainer wrote that ‘‘Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else & are mis- representing to the public in order to promote Sarah Palins Show. WOW.’’ ‘‘Real American Sto- ries,’’ which debuts Thurs- day at 10 p.m. EDT, is host- ed by Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate, who joined Fox News Channel as a regular contributor in January. The one-hour pro- gram is described by Fox News as ‘‘the first install- ment of a new series’’ that features ‘‘real-life tales of overcoming adversity throughout the American landscape.’’ Fox News says the episode, which was not available for preview, will feature a Marine Medal of Honor recipient ‘‘who gave his life to save his com- rades’’ and a wealthy stock- broker who helps under- privileged students pay for college. Also listed as part of the show are country singer Toby Keith and former General Electric boss Jack Welch, as well as LL Cool J, who appeared among a number of video clips on the ‘‘Real American Sto- ries’’ Web site Wednesday morning before being removed. Man comes up empty fishing in night deposit ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina authorities said a fishing crook never had a chance to land the big one. Police told The Times and Demo- crat of Orangeburg a rob- ber tried to steal money bags from a bank’s night deposit drop box using fishing line and hooks. Authorities said employees at a First Citi- zen’s Bank in Orangeburg found a fishing hook in a bag last Friday morning and at least two other hooks in the box. One hook still had a small piece of fishing line attached. The bank said it has security footage of the would-be angler. Police said the crook’s task was impossible because the night deposit boxes are set up with trap doors so that once bags are dropped in, they can’t be taken out the same way. Hrs: 9am-6pm Monday-Saturday $ $ $ 329 299 599 Now Accepting E.B.T., Debit, Credit Cards lb. lb. lb. CHECK OUT OUR IMPROVED SPICE RACK HONEY • SPICES • RUBS • MARINADES 12600 Hwy 99E, Red Bluff Located 5 Miles from I-5 • 530-527-6483 Expires 3-16-10 Our Famous BBQ Pork Ribs Garlic & Herb Roasted Lamb Champagne Glazed Ham - Salad Bar Homemade Desserts - Fresh Bread Delicious Sides - Deviled Eggs If you can’t make it to our Easter Buffet make plans now for our Mother’s Day Champagne Buffet! 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