Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/344045
Newsfeed WASHINGTON Atopofficialatthe Veterans Affairs Department says he is sorry that VA employees have suf- fered retaliation after making com- plaints about poor patient care, long wait times and other problems. James Tuchschmidt, the No. 2 offi- cial at the Veterans Health Administra- tion, the VA's health care arm, apolo- gized on behalf of the department at a congressional hearing Tuesday night. "I apologize to everyone whose voice has been stifled," Tuchschmidt said af- ter listening to four VA employees tes- tify for nearly three hours about VA ac- tions to limit criticism and strike back against whistleblowers. "I'm very disil- lusioned and sickened by all of this." A federal investigative agency said Tuesday it was examining 67 claims of retaliation by VA supervisors against employees who filed whistleblower complaints — including 25 complaints filed since June 1, after a growing health care scandal involving long pa- tient waits and falsified records at VA hospitals and clinics became public. The independent Office of Spe- cial Counsel said 30 of the complaints about retaliation have passed the ini- tial review stage and were being in- vestigated further for corrective ac- tion and possible discipline against VA supervisors and other executives. HEALTH VAapologizestowhistleblowers facing supervisor's retaliation KINGS BAY, GEORGIA Defense Secre- tary Chuck Hagel is telling naval sub- mariners that the U.S. has let its fo- cus on the military's nuclear responsibilities drift a bit, but two re- views are wrapping up and he will be looking at recommendations to strengthen the health of the force. Speaking at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Hagel says more attention must be paid to the nuclear forces as key to national security. Hagel has ordered two reviews of the nation's nuclear forces, to find causes for leadership lapses and other problems revealed by a series of Asso- ciated Press reports, including secu- rity breaches, cheating and other sys- temic gaps within the force. Hagel also says the Pentagon is still committed to replacing aging subma- rines. He said the steep budget cuts are making it difficult to meet spend- ing priorities. DEFENSE Hagel: Nation's nuclear forces need more attention GRANTS PASS, ORE. A total of 26 peo- ple have been arrested on weapons, drug and other charges after an in- vestigation that began with the acci- dental killing of a 5-year-old girl by a Grants Pass man using a military- style rifle as a crutch to get up from a couch, authorities said. The investigation uncovered a ring in southern Oregon that specialized in "straw" purchases of weapons, buys de- signed to conceal the ultimate recipient, the Grants Pass Daily Courier reported. The man convicted in the girl's kill- ing, Jon A. Meyer Jr., 30, was involved in such a purchase, touching off the investigation revealed Wednesday in a statement from the Jackson County sheriff's office. Five more people are being sought. The investigation involved federal state and local agencies. The child, Alysa Bobbitt of Shady Cove, was visiting at a Grants Pass apartment with her mother in June 2013. Meyer was below in the living room of his apartment when the gun went off, sending a burst of bullets through the ceiling, hitting the girl and seri- ously wounding a woman. In a plea bargain with prosecutors, Meyer pleaded guilty in 2013 to man- slaughter and other charges and was sentenced to six years in prison. After Meyer was sentenced, the Daily Courier reported that federal authorities were investigating the background of the rifle, which fired in an automatic mode either because of a malfunction or because it had been il- legally tampered with. The statement from investigators Wednesday said some of the guns pur- chased by the ring ended up at crime scenes in California. It said two mur- der plots were uncovered. During the investigation, authori- ties seized rifles, handguns and a vari- ety of drugs. OREGON Probe into girl's death leads to 26 arrests in Grants Pass NEW ORLEANS When Ray Nagin was elected mayor in 2002, there was real hope that he was a break from the city's sleazy past. Three years later, with his city awash in foul water and rotting corpses, he became something of a na- tional cult hero, raging against the slow, incompetent federal response to his crippled city's plight. "Excuse my French — everybody in America — but I am pissed," he shouted during a radio appearance three days after Hurricane Katrina swamped the Crescent City. In the end, though, Ray Nagin turned out to be a feckless mayor and, as a fed- eral judge saw it, a lightweight criminal. "He started out as a rock star and he ended up as just another crass, cor- rupt politician," said University of New Orleans Political Science Profes- sor Ed Chervenak. Nagin, a 58-year-old former cable television manager, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for brib- ery, money laundering, fraud and tax violations stemming from his two terms as New Orleans' mayor from 2002-2010. To longtime civil rights at- torney Mary Howell, who watched the Democrat with cautious optimism dur- ing his 2002 campaign, Nagin seemed to promise at least something new. CORRUPTION In New Orleans, a 10-year sentence for former mayor WASHINGTON Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blocked a parade of campaign-season votes on gun rights Wednesday that could have been a political thorn for Democrats seeking to retain control of the cham- ber in this fall's elections. Reid used Senate procedures to pre- vent votes on any amendments to a bi- partisan measure expanding hunters' access to public lands and renewing land conservation programs. The doz- ens of thwarted proposals included Re- publican efforts to expand gun own- ers' rights and Democratic attempts to toughen firearms restrictions. In April 2013, the Senate rejected an effort to expand background checks for gun buyers and to impose other firearms curbs, four months after the fatal shootings of 20 children and six staffers at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. President Barack Obama and top Democrats promised the drive would be renewed, but they have lacked the additional votes and faced reluctance by some lawmakers to revisit the issue. CONGRESS Reid blocks votes on contentious gun proposals DETROIT A man under a deportation order for serving in a Nazi-controlled police force during World War II has died in Michigan at age 93 after years of denials that he shot at Jews. John Kalymon of Troy died at his subur- ban Detroit home on June 29. He had pneu- monia, prostate cancer and dementia, son Alex Kalymon told The Asso- ciated Press. "The last two years he had no idea about anything about his life," the son said Wednesday. "He was just strug- gling to live and his mind wasn't there." A federal appeals court last year up- held a deportation order against Kaly- mon, but the U.S. couldn't find a coun- try that would take him. In Munich, Germany, prosecu- tors this year filed an arrest warrant against him for being an accessory in war crimes. They planned to send a doctor to the U.S. to determine if Kalymon was fit to face trial, but the exam never happened. There is no dispute that Kalymon served in the Nazi-sponsored Ukrai- nian Auxiliary Police in Lviv, which was part of Poland at the time. He said he did nothing more than light guard duty and never shot Jews. "I love this country because it's my country. I'm going to die here," Kaly- mon, a retired auto engineer, told the AP during a tearful interview on his porch in 2009. "They want to remove me, an old man. I never was arrested, pay my taxes. I don't know anyone as honest as me." In 2007, after a civil trial, a fed- eral judge in Detroit stripped Kaly- mon of his citizenship, saying his two years with the Ukrainian po- lice resulted in the persecution of ci- vilians. WORLD WAR II Man linked to Nazi police force dies in Michigan at age 93 Hagel Kalymon THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Brian Wilson launches a small drone equipped with a video camera to fly over the scene of an explosion that leveled two apartment buildings in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York. By Tom Hays The Associated Press NEW YORK One private drone crash-landed in mid- town Manhattan. Another caused alarm by hovering over Times Square amid tight security during Su- per Bowl week. Most re- cently, authorities say, an- other had a close brush with a police helicopter near the George Washing- ton Bridge. Even though it's illegal to fly the devices just about anywhere in New York City without permission, the incidents and breath- taking videos of Manhat- tan's steel-and-glass can- yons and sweeping skyline photos suggest that the re- strictions are being widely flouted. Police are concerned that the increasing popu- larity of drones in such a tightly packed metropo- lis could carry significant risks, even becoming a po- tential tool for terrorists to conduct surveillance or carry out attacks. "So far, we haven't seen anything sinister with this," said John Miller, the NYPD's deputy commis- sioner of counterterrorism. But, he added, "People with enough money and time on their hands are going to buy them and see what they can do with them." Drone buffs say the fu- turistic doomsday scenar- ios are far-fetched. "A motor vehicle or a bi- cycle could just as easily be used to do something nefarious," said Steve Co- hen, a New York-based professional photographer who owns a small fleet of drones and organizes local meetings for enthusiasts. The debate comes amid a boom in purchases of what are essentially flying cameras. Sales appeared brisk on Wednesday B&H Photo Video in midtown Manhat- tan, where models range from palm-size mini-he- licopters that sell for less than $100 to four-rotor models selling for about $1,300 and eight-bladed "octocopters" that go for more than $6,000. All can be equipped with high-def- inition video cameras, and some models allow the pi- lots to see the footage live from the ground. B&H wouldn't talk about its sales figures but sales- man Fred Hoffman "guess- timates" that about one in 10 people who come in to his consumer video depart- ment are looking for drone cameras. "We expand to keep add- ing displays and models," he said. Federal Aviation Admin- istration rules currently permit people to fly un- manned aircraft for recre- ation at altitudes of up to 400 feet as long as pilots keep their aircraft within sight. The agency is work- ing on regulations regard- ing commercial flights, which are generally banned under current rules. A New York City man learned last year that pi- lots also must get official clearance to fly within five miles of an airport or any- where in New York City airspace, unless taking off and landing designated "flying fields" in city parks. The FAA fined the man $2,200 for flying a quad- copter off a Manhattan building in a "careless and reckless manner." The drone glanced off two other buildings before crashing just south of Grand Central terminal near a pedestrian. In January, police were alerted to a low-flying drone over the Super Bowl street fair. It was traced to a fashion firm that was us- ing it to shoot a commer- cial. Police intervened in March after a videogra- pher flew his drone over the rubble of two East Harlem apartment build- ings that were destroyed by a gas explosion, even as searchers were still looking for victims. The most serious en- counter came Monday when a crew member of an NYPD helicopter on patrol at 2,000 feet spot- ted a flying object headed in its direction. According to police, the chopper had to change course to avoid a collision. NYCpoliceseerisks with more drone use AIR SPACE The Associated Press In the intensifying de- bate over religious liberty, President Barack Obama faces pressure from oppo- site flanks as he prepares to issue an executive order barring federal contrac- tors from discriminating against gay and transgen- der people in hiring. Many religious leaders and conservative groups want him to exempt reli- gious organizations from the order. Liberal clergy and groups advocating on behalf of gay, lesbian, bi- sexual and transgender people adamantly oppose such an exemption — and have pulled their support for a non-discrimination bill they long supported to drive the point home. The upshot is a difficult balancing act for the White House, which says the ex- ecutive order is still being drafted — nearly a month after Obama announced he would sign it. White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to say whether a religious exemption would be included or was even be- ing considered. Within the past two weeks, scores of religious leaders of contrasting views have signed letters to Obama, arguing for and against an exemption. One letter, signed by 14 faith leaders urging a "ro- bust" exemption, was or- ganized by Michael Wear, a Washington-based con- sultant who previously worked on Obama's re- election campaign and in the White House office of faith-based initiatives. "It's a tough issue for the White House, and for me and many of the signers of the letter," Wear said. "It's about a tension between two constitutionally valid principles — protecting LGBT people from discrim- ination,andalsoprotecting groups whose whole being is about religious belief." GAY RIGHTS Re li gi ou s ex em pt io n ca us es r i Since 1950 705 Mill St. (Next to Walmart) Red Bluff, CA • 527-2649 Voted Best Auto Body Shop in Tehama County Since 2006 Gibbs Auto Body Trivia: Inwhatyeardidthefounder sell his ownership rights to Gibbs Auto Body? 1980 In what year did Gibbs Auto Body move to it's new location at 705 Mill St? 2013 Deli-TastyBurgers-Wraps NewTo-GoSection Thursday,Friday&Saturday Lunch&DinnerBuffet Happy Hour with Cocktails, Food & Entertainment Saigon Bistro 723 Walnut St. Red Bluff 528-9670 Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate SERVICESATLOWERPRICES All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K MembersWelcome MongolianBBQ Mongolian BBQ K K ahunas ahunas AmericanStyle It's all about the choices! ANADULTDINNERBUFFETONLY EXCLUDES SENIOR and CHILDRENS DINNERS and One Per Table $ 2 00 OFF www.kahunasmongolianbbq.com 2151 Market St. Redding, CA 96001 (530) 244-4200 OPEN EVERYDAY 11 AM TO 9 PM RUNNINGS ROOFING SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane Ownerisonsiteoneveryjob ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney Down! "NoJobTooSteep" " No Job Too Flat" FREE ESTIMATES CA. LIC#829089 | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 8 A