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4B – Daily News – Thursday, September 16, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING Poll: Political environment improves for Republicans WASHINGTON (AP) — Tilted toward the GOP from the start of the year, the political environment has grown even more favorable for Republicans and rockier for President Barack Obama and his Democ- rats over the long primary sea- son that just ended with a bang. With November’s matchups set and the general election campaign beginning in earnest Wednesday, an Associated Press-GfK poll found that more Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction than did before the nomination contests got under way in Feb- ruary. Also, more now disap- prove of the job Obama is doing. And more now want to see Republicans in control of Congress rather than the Democrats who now run the House and Senate. The country’s pessimism benefits the out-of-power GOP, which clearly has enthusiasm on its side. Far more people voted this year in Republicans primaries than in Democratic contests, and the antiestablish- ment tea party coalition has energized the GOP even as it has sprung a series of primary surprises. ‘‘We’re definitely in a stronger position than we’ve been in really at any point this year,’’ Sen. John Cornyn, who leads the effort to elect Senate Republicans, said in an inter- view. Said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: ‘‘Turnout and enthusiasm are off the charts.’’ More House Democrats balking over Obama plan WASHINGTON (AP) — More Democrats joined Repub- licans on Wednesday in calling for the preservation of tax breaks for Americans of every income level, bolting this elec- tion season from President Barack Obama’s plan to pre- serve cuts for those who earn less than $200,000 and let taxes for the wealthy rise. ‘‘We should not be raising taxes in the middle of a reces- sion,’’ Rep. Jim Marshall, D- Ga., who’s facing tough odds in his bid for a fourth term, wrote in a terse letter to House Speak- er Nancy Pelosi. ‘‘It is essential that we keep things as they are in the short term,’’ said Rep. Travis W. Childers, D-Miss., another con- servative incumbent in a tight race, whose district, like Mar- shall’s, voted for Republican John McCain in the 2008 presi- dential race. For this pair, one press release announcing their oppo- sition to Obama’s plan was not enough. They and other jittery moderate Democrats have signed a letter being circulated by Utah Rep. Jim Matheson urging Pelosi, D-Calif., and other House leaders to abandon the Obama plan and extend to everyone the Bush-era tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year. House and Senate leaders aren’t saying which plan they’ll propose, or whether they’ll even bother with the debate in the charged political atmos- phere leading up to the Nov. 2 midterm elections. All 435 House seats, 37 in the Senate and the Democratic majorities in both houses are on the line. Arlington: 3 servicemembers in wrong graves WASHINGTON (AP) — Three people were buried in the wrong graves at Arlington National Cemetery, the Army said Wednesday as it followed up an investigation into book- keeping problems and burial mix-ups at one of the nation’s most hallowed sites. After a report issued in June found that the problems could potentially affect thousands of graves, defense officials received about 1,100 calls from worried families. One of those callers, the widow of an Army staff sergeant, led to the exhumation of three graves late last month. The three remains in those graves, all former members of the armed forces, were found to be in the wrong place, said Gary Tallman, an Army spokesman. ‘‘The families are satisfied that the problem was fixed,’’ Tallman said Wednesday. A fourth grave was opened Wednesday in a different sec- tion of Arlington. At the request of his father, the grave and cas- ket of Marine Pfc. Heath Warn- er of Canton, Ohio, were opened. The site was found to hold the remains of Warner, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, Tallman said. Mideast peace talks round ends with no deal JERUSALEM (AP) — A mor- tar attack by Palestinian militants and airstrikes by Israel formed the grim backdrop as Mideast leaders ended their latest round of peace talks Wednesday, still divided on major issues. There was no word on when they would meet again. The inconclusive U.S.-bro- kered talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mah- moud Abbas left in doubt the prospects for their new effort to end generations of hostilities in the region and create a sovereign Palestine alongside a secure Israel. George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy for Mideast peace efforts, emerged from an evening session to say the talks had been encour- aging but had fallen short of agreement. ‘‘A serious and substantive dis- cussion is well under way,’’ Mitchell told a news conference. Abbas and Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for about two hours at the Israeli leader’s official residence here and agreed to continue the search for a peace deal, he said. AG’s office sues leaders in city hit by pay scandal LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California attorney general’s office sued eight former and cur- rent Bell city officials on Wednes- day, accusing them of fraud, con- spiracy and wasting taxpayers money by approving huge salary increases for themselves. The suit demands city officials, including former City Manager Robert Rizzo and three current council members, return hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bloated salaries. The legal action also calls for a reduction of pension benefits that were based on the high salaries. Rizzo’s attorney James Spertus said his client believes he did nothing wrong. ‘‘His contracts were presented by the City Council and counter- signed by the city attorney and he acted openly and transparently when he interacted with the city,’’ Spertus said, adding the council raised Rizzo’s pay to retain him. White House adds billions to measure to avoid shutdown WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite coming under daily assault from Republicans over spending, the Obama administra- tion is pushing a $20 billion-plus pre-election shopping list on its Democratic allies in Congress as they prepare must-pass legislation to prevent a government shutdown next month. Republicans are protesting the spending requests, which include $1.9 billion for grants to better- performing schools, financial help for the Postal Service and more than $4 billion requested by the administration to finance settle- ments of long-standing lawsuits against the government. A tally by Republicans puts the price tag of the Obama requests at more than $20 billion, including $5.7 billion to prevent shortfalls in the popular Pell Grant program next year and permit the cash- strapped Postal Service to delay a scheduled $5.5 billion payment into a health care fund for retirees and use the money to stay afloat. The wish list appears to be an overreach given political anxiety among Democrats over spending with midterm elections to deter- mine whether they maintain con- trol of Congress just seven weeks away. Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, predicted that the White House would get relatively little of what it’s seeking. The White House is targeting a bill to continue funding the gov- ernment past the Sept. 30 end of the 2010 fiscal year to carry its spending requests. The measure is needed because Congress is fail- ing to pass the annual spending bills that pay for the day-to-day operations of the government. District attorney ’sexted’ domestic abuse victim CHILTON, Wis. (AP) — A prominent Wisconsin district attorney sent repeated text mes- sages trying to spark an affair with a domestic abuse victim while he was prosecuting her ex- boyfriend, a police report shows. The 26-year-old woman com- plained last year to police after receiving 30 texts from Calumet County District Attorney Ken- neth Kratz in three days, accord- ing to the report obtained by The Associated Press. ‘‘Are you the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA ... the riskier the better?’’ Kratz, 50, wrote in a message to Stephanie Van Groll in October 2009. In another, he wrote: ‘‘I would not expect you to be the other woman. I would want you to be so hot and treat me so well that you’d be THE woman! R U that good?’’ Kratz was prosecuting Van Groll’s ex-boyfriend on charges he nearly choked her to death last year. He also was veteran chair of the Wisconsin Crime Victims’ Rights Board, a quasi-judicial agency that can reprimand judges, prosecutors and police officers who mistreat crime vic- tims. In a combative interview in his office Wednesday, Kratz did not deny sending the messages and expressed concern their publica- tion would unfairly embarrass him personally and professionally. He said the Office of Lawyer Regula- tion had found he did not violate any rules governing attorney mis- conduct. That office cannot com- ment on investigations. Woman develops French accent LONDON (AP) — A woman from a village in southwestern England says that a severe migraine attack left her speaking with what sounds like a French accent - a striking example of a rare syndrome that neuroscientists say can leave lifelong locals sounding like they come from thousands of miles away. Kay Russell appeared on the BBC earlier this week, speaking in a hesitant, husky voice, drawing out her vowels with an accent which sounded roughly French, or occasionally Eastern European. The broadcaster also showed a video of Russell before the change, in which she speaks to the camera in chirpy southern English accent. Russell shook her head and smiled sadly as the video played. ‘‘When I see that, I see the per- son I used to be,’’ the 49-year-old said. ‘‘It’s not my voice I miss. I would love to have my own voice back, but it goes way, way, way beyond my voice.’’ It wasn’t exactly clear what happened to Russell in January when the migraine attack struck - a number for her could not be located and there was no immedi- ate response to an attempt to reach her through her previous employ- er. The BBC identified her condi- tion as Foreign Accent Syndrome, known only in a few dozen cases across the world. Firefighters dig camel out of sinkhole OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — It was an unusual call for Oregon firefighters: A 1,500- pound camel, named Moses, needed to be rescued. The call came in Tuesday night in Clackamas County after the Oregon City owners of the camel called firefighters to say that Moses had fallen into a sinkhole 6 to 8 feet deep and was possibly injured. The owners — who have several camels and run a children’s ministry — had tried to get the camel out themselves but failed. Firefighters had to careful- ly shovel mud for several hours to free the animal. The rescuers were concerned Moses would break his legs if he’d try to free himself while still partially buried. But Moses was patient, and eventually firefighters got him out. Moses lay on his side for an hour resting after the rescue. A veterinarian said the animal looked unhurt. Tehama County’s Personal/Professional Service Directory Bankruptcy Attorney Local Bankruptcy Attorney Jocelyn C. Olander 530-824-0288 Free Consultation Payment Plans Available Web: www.jcoattyatlaw.com email: mail@jcoatty atlaw.com A federally qualified Debt Relief Agency under 11 U.S.C. 101(12(A)) Clock Repair 530-736-7079 Grandpa’s Clocks Jim Paul 20910 Pebblestone Dr. Red Bluff Shelf & 31 Day Clocks Repaired Call for appt. Member NAWCC Cuckoo Clocks, Anniversary, Wall, Clock Repair AT YOUR SERVICE! $ 9900 3 month Advertisement If this was your Service Directory ad customers would be reading it right now!! 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