Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/120978
8A Daily News ��� Wednesday, April 10, 2013 WORLD BRIEFING Top Senate Dem sets Thursday showdown vote on guns WASHINGTON (AP) ��� Senate Democrats set Congress��� first showdown vote on new gun restrictions for Thursday as a small but growing number of Republicans appeared willing to join them in opposing conservatives��� efforts to block debate from even starting. Making it personal, relatives of victims of the Connecticut school shootings lobbied senators face-to-face at the Capitol on Tuesday in hopes of persuading enough Republicans to back a debate and votes on meaningful gun restrictions. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters Tuesday that he does not know if Democrats will get the 60 votes needed to break an effort by conservatives to prevent consideration of the legislation. But at least six Republicans have indicated an openness to begin debate. There are 53 Democrats and two independents who generally vote with them in the 100member Senate, but some moderate Democratic senators might defect on an issue that provokes strong emotions among their constituents. ������It would be a real slap in the face to the American people not to do something on background checks, on school safety, on federal trafficking which everybody thinks is a good idea,������ Reid said, mentioning the elements of the Democratic firearms measure. A Senate vote to begin debating the legislation would be a temporary victory for President Barack Obama���s gun-control drive. It remains unclear, though, whether there are enough votes for final approval of the legislation. Student arrested in Texas college stabbing CYPRESS, Texas (AP) ��� A student went on a building-to-building stabbing attack at a Texas community college Tuesday, wounding at least 14 people before being subdued and arrested, authorities said. The attack about 11:20 a.m. on the Lone Star Community College System���s campus in Cypress sent at least 12 people to area hospitals, including four taken by helicopter, according to Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Robert Rasa. He said several people refused treatment at the scene. Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said officers responded to the campus after receiving a call about a male ������on the loose������ stabbing people. He said it was not immediately clear what type of weapon was used. ������Some of the details in the call slip did indicate that students or faculty were actively responding to work to subdue this individual,������ Garcia said, describing the man as being about 21 years old and enrolled at the college. ������So we���re proud of those folks, but we���re glad no one else is injured any more severely than they are.������ Student Michael Chalfan said he was walking to class when he saw a group of police officers running after the suspect. He said one of the officers used a stun gun to help subdue the man, who Chalfan said he recognized from a drama class last year. caused by a distracted and tired pilot who skipped preflight safety checks, which would have revealed his helicopter was low on fuel, and then, after he discovered his situation, decided to proceed with the fatal last leg of the flight. The case ������juxtaposes old issues of pilot decision making with a 21st century twist: distractions from portable electronic devices,������ said board Chairman Deborah Hersman. The helicopter ran out of fuel, crashing into a farm field in clear weather early on the evening of Aug. 26, 2011, near Mosby, Mo., a little over a mile short of an airport. The pilot was killed, along with a patient being taken from one hospital to another, a flight nurse and a flight paramedic. Baghdad residents view 10-year anniversary with grief, relief North Korea says nuclear war imminent PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ��� Scores of North Koreans of all ages planted trees as part of a forestation campaign ��� armed with shovels, not guns. In the evening, women in traditional dress danced in the plazas to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the late leader Kim Jong Il���s appointment to a key defense post. Despite another round of warnings from their leaders of impending nuclear war, there was no sense of panic in the capital on Tuesday. Chu Kang Jin, a Pyongyang resident, said everything is calm in the city. ������Everyone, including me, is determined to turn out as one to fight for national reunification ... if the enemies spark a war,������ he added, using nationalist rhetoric common among many North Koreans when speaking to the media. The North���s latest warning, issued by its Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, urged foreign companies and tourists to 2013 leave South Korea. Al-Qaida in Iraq formally unites with Syrian group BEIRUT (AP) ��� AlQaida���s branch in Iraq and the most powerful rebel extremist group in Syria have officially joined ranks against President Bashar Assad to forge a potentially formidable militant force in the Middle East. The merger of the Islamic State in Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra forms a new entity that could be an even stronger opponent in the fight to topple Assad and become a dominant player in what eventually replaces his regime. The new group, called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, underscores the growing con- fidence and muscle of Islamist radicals fighting on the rebel side in Syria���s civil war. It also bolsters the Syrian government���s assertions that the regime is battling terrorists and that the uprising is a foreignbacked plot. While the U.S. and its European and Gulf allies are concerned about the rising prominence of Islamists among the rebels, the merger is unlikely to prompt a shift in the international support. Late last year, Washington declared that Jabhat al-Nusra had ties to al-Qaida and designated it a terrorist organization. To try to counter the rising influence of Jabhat al-Nusra and other Islamic extremists in the civil war, the U.S. and its allies have boosted their support for rebel factions deemed to be more moderate. Thurs., April 11th Rib Round-Up Bar-B-Que!!! COWBOY COFFEE 7:45 a.m. Thursday, April 11 Palomino Room, 723 Main St. Lassen House will be hosting a delicious Rib Bar-B-Que in honor of our traditional Red Bluff Round-Up. The traditional kickoff to the Red Bluff Round-Up Come meet the folks who make the Round-Up possible, some of the competitors and organizers representing events leading up to Rodeo. Special presentations and surprises! Wednesday, April 17 at 12:00 noon ...And coming up Sat, April 13th ��� Barbequed Ribs or Chicken SOROPTOMIST 13TH Annual SPRING RUN Sacramento River Discovery Center - 7:30am A&R CUSTOM BUTCHERING CUSTOM RETAIL MEATS MON. THRU SAT. 9AM-6PM BEEF ��� PORK LAMB ��� FISH WILD GAME 22777 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff (530) 527-6483 ��� Corn On The Cob ��� Green Salad (Choice of Dressing) ��� Baked Beans th Western Music by the Pine Dogz Duet 1:00 pm ��� Garlic Bread ��� Watermelon ��� Cow Pattie Cookies ��� Iced Tea, Lemonade & Coffee Pilot of fatal medical helicopter flight was texting WASHINGTON (AP) ��� Texting by the pilot of a medical helicopter contributed to a crash that killed four people, federal accident investigators declared Tuesday, and they approved a safety alert cautioning all pilots against using cellphones or other distracting devices during critical operations. It was the first fatal commercial aircraft accident investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board in which texting has been implicated. And it underscored the board���s worries that distractions from electronic devices are a growing factor in incidents across all modes of transportation ��� planes, trains, cars, trucks and even ships. The five-member board unanimously agreed that the helicopter crash was BAGHDAD (AP) ��� Ten years ago, a statue fell in Baghdad���s Firdous Square. Joyful Iraqis helped by an American tank retriever pulled down their longtime dictator, cast as 16 feet of bronze. The scene broadcast live worldwide became an icon of the war, a symbol of final victory over Saddam Hussein. But for the residents of the capital, it was only the beginning. The toppling of the statue remains a potent symbol that has divided Iraqis ever since: Liberation for Shiites and Kurds, a loss for some Sunnis and grief among almost everybody over the years of death, destruction and occupation that followed the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces on April 9, 2003. ������Ten years ago, I dreamed of better life,������ said Rassol Hassan, 80, who witnessed the fall of the statue from his nearby barber shop. ������Nothing has changed since then for me and many Iraqis, it has even gotten worse.������ Some Britons happy to celebrate Thatcher���s death LONDON (AP) ��� While some Britons mourned the passing of Margaret Thatcher, others raised glasses of champagne in impromptu street parties. And ������The Wizard of Oz������ song ������Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead������ is surging up the UK singles charts. A Guardian newspaper cartoon depicted Thatcher descending into hell, the Socialist Worker front page said ������Rejoice,������ and a movie marquee was rearranged to read: ������Margaret Thatchers Dead LOL.������ COME MEET THE CLYDESDALES! Bring your camera or smart phone Tues., April 16, 5pm This event is open to the public, so we hope you will all be there! Please come and enjoy the food, music and fun. Tehama District Fairgrounds Let���s all have a great day and bring in the Red Bluff Round-Up with a bang-up time!! See you there! Get a photo with the Clydesdales & BBQ Dinner for a $10 donation to the Red Bluff Police Dept. Canine Program. Residents, please invite your families, friends, neighbors & grandchildren. 92ND Lassen House Assisted Living & Memory Care Community 705 Luther Road, Red Bluff ��� (530) 529-2900 Lic.#525002331 Sponsored by Red Bluff Round-up & Foothill Dist.