Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/18568
8A – Daily News – Friday, October 29, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING Test results showed cement could fail before rig explosion WASHINGTON (AP) — Tests performed before the deadly blowout of BP’s oil well in the Gulf of Mex- ico should have raised doubts about the cement used to seal the well, but the company and its cementing contractor used it anyway, investigators with the presi- dent’s oil spill commission said Thursday. It’s the first finding from the commission looking into the causes of the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. And it appears to conflict with statements made by Halliburton Co., which has said its tests showed the cement mix was stable. The company instead has said BP’s well design and operations were responsible for the disaster. The cement mix’s failure to prevent oil and gas from entering the well has been identified by BP and others as one of the causes of the accident. BP and Halliburton decided to use a foam slurry created by injecting nitro- gen into cement to secure the bottom of the well, a decision outside experts have criticized. The panel said that of four tests done in February and April by Halliburton, only one — the last — showed the mix would hold. But the results of that single successful test were not shared with BP, and may not have reached Hallibur- ton, before the cement was pumped, according to a let- ter sent to commissioners Thursday by chief inves- tigative counsel Fred H. Bartlit Jr. Woe is polls WASHINGTON (AP) — When a widely publi- cized poll showed Republi- can John Kasich with a commanding, 10-point advantage in Ohio’s gover- nor’s race, aides to Democ- ratic Gov. Ted Strickland fought back hard. Against the poll. ‘‘With just two weeks until Election Day, it is our opinion that the Quinnipiac polls are irresponsible, inac- curate and completely removed from the reality of the Ohio governor’s race,’’ the campaign said in a state- ment that noted other pri- vate and public surveys were showing a much clos- er contest. The Quinnipiac Univer- sity Polling Institute, an organization with an unchallenged reputation for nonpartisanship, responded mildly. ‘‘We stand by our numbers and our overall record for reliability,’’ said Doug Schwartz, the organi- zation’s polling director. The flare-up under- scored a widely held view among both politicians and pollsters that polls, once used largely to help a candi- date shape strategy, increas- ingly can affect the outcome of political campaigns in the Internet Age. Candidates and their allies instantly dis- seminate bare-bones results, seizing on those that reflect well on their own prospects, ignoring the rest and gener- ally skipping over details that might caution people about reading too much into them. ‘‘They can affect contri- butions. They do affect news coverage in a substan- tial way. They can affect volunteers. They can affect (voter) interest, and through all those things can affect the outcome’’ of a race said Mark Mellman, a Democra- tic pollster not involved in the Ohio governor’s contest. Interest group cash floods races WASHINGTON (AP) — House and Senate can- didates aren’t the only ones targeted by interest groups in this year’s cam- paign. While they have spent at least $185 million just since Labor Day to influence voters in close congressional races, out- side money is pouring at similar rates into state Friday & Saturday October 29th Children’s Special 1499 (under 10) Mummy dog & Broomstick fries with Zombie punch & Special treat $495 5 CHESTNUT AVE., RED BLUFF 527-3161 Green Barn quantities limited Voted “Best of the North State 2010” Comfortable Casual Dining & 30th Roast Pork Dinner $ quantities limited elections for governors and down the ticket to city councils and even local sewage boards. In just the past seven weeks, nonparty groups have spent at least $100 million on ads and get- out-the-vote efforts sup- porting or opposing spe- cific candidates in state and local races, according to a state-by-state review by The Associated Press. The actual total is proba- bly millions higher because there is no way to find out exactly how much was spent. In California, mass mailings went out to vot- ers in local sanitation dis- trict races from an arm of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Los Angeles, District Council 36. In Iowa, the Everyday America PAC has been financing auto- mated phone calls urging voters to remove three state Supreme Court jus- tices and two Polk County judges for allowing gay marriage. Bomb suspect wanted to be a martyr WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pakistani-born sub- urban father was trying to enlist in a terrorist organi- zation in January and was eager to become a martyr when he unknowingly walked into an FBI sting and began helping plan a purported attack on the Washington subway sys- tem, according to court documents. What followed was an elaborate ruse in which Farooque Ahmed was given intelligence-gather- ing duties and coded information in a Quran by two individuals posing as al-Qaida operatives as part of the supposed plot to kill commuters on the nation’s second-busiest subway system. Ahmed, 34, of Ash- burn, Va., was caught on FBI surveillance video discussing his firearm, martial arts and knife skills and offering to teach those deadly tactics to others, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Thursday. The affidavit by FBI agent Charles A. Dayoub debate because it was on a Spanish-language net- work. This week, he added more fuel to the fire when he said President Barack Obama is a big- ger threat to the United States than al-Qaida or terrorism. describes meetings begin- ning in mid-April between Ahmed and the pair he believed were al- Qaida operatives and the actions Ahmed took to advance the fake plot. The operatives were really working on behalf of the U.S. government, accord- ing to a federal law enforcement official who requested anonymity to discuss details of the case. Ahmed was arrested Wednesday, just weeks before, the FBI says, he planned to make the annual religious pilgrim- age to the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The case repre- sents the latest in a recent string of would-be terror- ist attacks that officials say were aided, hatched or carried out by U.S. cit- izens. Gust swept across field before tower fell, killing ND student SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A strong gust of wind swept across Notre Dame’s practice football field before a tower top- pled, killing a student who had been videotaping the team from the tower, the university’s athletic director said Thursday. Declan Sullivan, a 20- year-old junior from Long Grove, Ill., died Wednes- day at a South Bend hos- pital after the hydraulic scissor lift he was on fell over at the LaBar practice complex. Athletic Direc- tor Jack Swarbrick promised there would be a full investigation, but did not say who was responsible for allowing the student to use the lift. RBUHS Employees Association Seek your help in supporting Barbara McIver Marianne Willard for RBUHS Board Paid Political VOTE “Jim” Byrne for City Council Good Government Starts Locally James E JOIN 4-H Call the 4-H office for information November 23, 2010 527-3101 Last day to join BEING THE BEST CAREGIVER YOU CAN BE Mountain Caregiver Resource Center of invites you to join Alzheimer’s experts David Troxer and Linda Mendoza to learn best practices in dementia and Alzheimer’s care. Thursday, November 4, 2010 Red Bluff Community Center Morning Session “Working with Lation Families” A workshop for providers 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Cost: $30 (lunch included) 2 CEU’s for RN/MFT/LCSW: $25 Afternoon Session “The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer’s Care” for family caregivers 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Cost: Free Join us for lunch at 12:00 pm - $10 **Pre-registration is required** Please call (530) 229-0878 to register. For more information visit www.MountainCRC.org. Funded through the Department of Mental Health and co-sponsored by the North Valley Alzheimer’s Association Speaking to reporters for the first time since the accident, Swarbrick described a normal prac- tice that quickly became chaotic on Wednesday. He said he was walking along the football field when suddenly, the wind picked up and equipment began flying. ‘‘I turned to face north and experienced a pretty extraordinary burst of wind. Things started fly- ing by me that had been stationary for all of prac- tice — Gatorade contain- ers, towels, etc. I noticed the netting by the goal post start to bend dramat- ically and I heard a crash,’’ he said. Swarbrick said training staff, medical trainers, coaches and players responded to Sullivan, but after emergency workers arrived, the team went back to the field so the rescuers could help the student. Sullivan was taken to a South Bend hospital, but Swarbrick said he received a call from the ambulance before it arrived that Sul- livan was no longer breathing. Tancredo makes surge in Colo. governor race DENVER (AP) — Tom Tancredo is quick to admit he brings plenty of baggage to the Colorado governor’s race. Like the time he called Miami a ‘‘Third World country.’’ Or when he got thrown out of the White House for suggesting then-President George W. Bush was soft on ille- gal immigration. Or when he refused to take part in a presidential Paid Political Advertisement But despite all the baggage, the immigration hard-liner is running a solid campaign for gov- ernor as a third-party candidate and is within the margin of error in several recent polls. Tancredo has success- fully courted tea party groups, capitalized on anti-incumbent anger and parlayed his trademark blunt talk on the issues to become the de facto Republican candidate. Tancredo has also taken advantage of the collapse of GOP nominee Dan Maes, who is polling in single digits amid a series of character issues and campaign gaffes. Danno from ‘Hawaii Five- 0’ actor dies at age 72 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stage and screen actor James MacArthur, who played ‘‘Danno’’ in the original version of television’s ‘‘Hawaii Five-0,’’ died Thursday at age 72. MacArthur’s agent, Richard Lewis, said the actor died in Florida of ‘‘natural causes,’’ but no direct cause was speci- fied. In a career that spanned more than four decades, MacArthur was most recognized for his role as Detective Danny ‘‘Danno’’ Williams on ‘‘Hawaii Five-0,’’ which aired from 1968 to 1980. Episodes often ended with detective Steve McGarrett, the lead character, uttering what became a pop culture catch phrase: ‘‘Book ’em, Danno.’’ Jack Lord, who starred as McGarrett, died in 1998. MacArthur quit the role of McGarrett’s sidekick a year before the program’s final sea- son.