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ByTomHaysand Colleen Long The Associated Press NEWYORK FromtheWhite House to the streets of some of America's biggest cities, the New York chokehold case converged with the Ferguson shooting and in- vestigations out of South Carolina and Cleveland to stir a national conversation Thursday about racial jus- tice and police use of force. A day after protests erupted in New York over the decision not to charge a white officer in the death of a black man, civil rights leaders pinned their hopes on a federal investigation. Demonstrators turned out in such cities as Denver, Detroit and Minneapolis. And politicians and others talked about better police training, body cameras and changes in the grand jury process to restore faith in the legal system. President Barack Obama weighed in, saying one of the chief issues at stake is "making sure that people have confidence that police and law enforcement and prosecutors are serving ev- erybody equally." Even before the decision in the Eric Garner case came down, racial tensions were running high because of last week's grand jury de- cision not to charge a white officer in the shooting death of black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mis- souri. Other cases were added to the mix on Thursday: • In the tiny South Car- olina town of Eutawville, a white former police chief was charged with murder in the 2011 shooting of an unarmed black man. Rich- ards Combs' lawyer accused prosecutors of taking ad- vantage of national outrage toward police to obtain the indictment more than three years after the killing. • In Cleveland, the U.S. Justice Department and the city reached an agreement to overhaul the police de- partment after federal in- vestigators found that of- ficers use excessive force far too often, causing deep mistrust, especially among blacks. The investigation was prompted chiefly by a 2012 car chase that ended in the deaths of two unarmed people in a hail of 137 bul- lets. Just last week, protest- ers took to the streets of Cleveland after a white po- lice officer shot and killed a black 12-year-old boy car- rying what turned out to be pellet gun. At a news conference in New York after a night of protests led to 83 arrests, the Rev. Al Sharpton called the state-level grand jury system "broken" when it comes to police brutality cases and urged federal au- thorities to fix it. "The federal government must do in the 21st century what it did it did in the mid-20th century," he said. "Federal intervention must come now and protect peo- ple from state grand juries." Still, federal civil rights cases against police officers are exceedingly rare. In the past two decades, only a few such cases have reached trial in New York — most notably the one involv- ing Abner Louima, who was sodomized with a broom handle in a police station in 1997. Several other high- profile cases didn't come to- gether. That's largely because federal prosecutors must meet a high standard of proof in showing that po- lice deliberately deprived victims of their civil rights through excessive force, said Alan Vinegrad, who as a federal prosecutor han- dled the Louima case. Federal intervention "doesn't happen often and it shouldn't happen often," said James Jacobs, a con- stitutional law professor at New York University Law School. "They should only step in when the local pros- ecution was a sham." Activists have claimed that the grand jury inves- tigation of Garner's death was indeed a sham. An amateur video showed Of- ficer Daniel Pantaleo put- ting Garner in an apparent chokehold, and the medi- cal examiner said the ma- neuver contributed to the death. But Pantaleo's attorney, Stuart London, expressed confidence on Thursday that his client wouldn't face federal prosecution. "There's very specific guidelines that are not met in this case," London said. "This is a regular street en- counter. It doesn't fall into the parameters." Acting at the Staten Is- land district attorney's re- quest, a judge released a few details Thursday from the grand jury proceedings — among other things, it watched four videos and heard from 50 witnesses, 22 of them civilians. Dis- trict Attorney Daniel Don- ovan didn't ask for testi- mony, transcripts or exhib- its to be made public. LAW ENFORCEMENT Recentpolicecasesconvergetostirnationaldebate KEITHSRAKOCIC—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Demonstrators assume the "hand's up don't shoot" position as others protesting the deaths of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo., lay in the street during a march through Pittsburgh on Thursday. By Erica Werner The Associated Press WASHINGTON Emboldened House Republicans issued a stern rebuke to President Barack Obama over immi- gration Thursday, passing a bill declaring his execu- tive actions to curb depor- tations "null and void and without legal effect." Outraged Democrats, im- migrant advocates and the White House said the GOP was voting to tear families apart and eject parents. "Rather than deport stu- dents and separate families and make it harder for law enforcement to do its job, I just want the Congress to work with us to pass a commonsense law to fix that broken immigration system," Obama said ahead of the vote. Even supporters acknowl- edged that the bill by Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., which says Obama was acting "without any constitutional or stat- utory basis," was mostly meant to send a message. It stands no chance in the Senate, which remains un- der Democratic control until January, and faces the veto threat from Obama. The real fight may lie ahead as conservatives push to use must-pass spending legislation to block Obama. For now, Republicans in- sisted they must go on re- cord denouncing what they described on the House floor as an outrageous power grab by Obama. "The president thinks he can just sit in the Oval Office and make up his own laws. That's not the way our sys- tem of government works," said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. "This legislation says you can't do that, Mr. President. There is a rule of law." The vote was 219 to 197, with three Democratic "yes" votes and seven Republican "no" votes. Three Republi- cans voted "present." Obama's executive ac- tions last month will extend deportation relief and work permits to some 4 million immigrants here illegally, mostly those who have been in the country more than five years and have children who are U.S. citizens or legal per- manent residents. He also re- ordered law enforcement pri- orities and expanded an ex- isting deportation deferral program for immigrants brought illegally as kids. Compounding the GOP's anger, Obama's executive action came barely two weeks after Republicans trounced Democrats in the midterm elections, winning control of the Senate and in- creasing their majorities in the House. Democratic lawmakers rallied behind the president Thursday, and immigrant advocates warned Repub- licans would be alienating Latinos heading into 2016 presidential elections in which the Hispanic vote is expected to be significant. CONGRESS House rebukes Obama on immigration executive order in largely symbolic vote By Donna Cassata The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Repub- lican-controlled House ap- proved a $585 billion de- fense policy bill that grants President Barack Obama the authority to expand the U.S. military campaign against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria despite mis- givings about a new Amer- ican combat role after more than a decade of war. The vote on Thursday was 300-119, a reflection of the popularity of the sweep- ing, bipartisan measure that authorizes funds for American troops as well as ships, planes and other war- fighting equipment built in congressional districts na- tionwide. The measure heads to the Senate where passage is ex- pected next week, although some GOP senators are an- gry over the bill's unrelated provisions to expand wil- derness areas. The legislation endorses Obama's latest request to Congress in the 4-month- old war against extremists who brutally rule large sec- tions of Iraq and Syria. The bill provides $5 billion for the stepped-up operation of air strikes and the dispatch of up to 1,500 more Ameri- can troops. It also reauthorizes the Pentagon plan to train and equip moderate Syrian reb- els battling the forces of President Bashar Assad, with that mandate expir- ing Dec. 11. The legislation would extend that author- ity for two years. Still, war-weary lawmak- ers expressed considerable unease about a slippery slope for the American mil- itary after years of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. "We're getting more deeply involved in the war in Iraq and Syria," com- plained Rep. Jim McGov- ern, D-Mass. The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, in- sisted that U.S. involvement was limited. "The train and equip mission is just that," Smith said. "I don't want U.S. combat troops fighting this ground war .... By train- ing and equipping the Syr- ians and Iraqis, we can em- power them to fight their own ground war with our support from the air." Unity on a new legal jus- tification for U.S. military operations against the ex- tremists remains elusive in Congress, underscored by the divisions displayed across the Capitol. Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Commit- tee sought to push through a measure defining how Obama can use military force in Iraq and Syria. But Republicans, who are gen- erally supportive of the war, rebelled. They objected to a lack of debate and legisla- tive maneuvering. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, reiterated his call for Obama to sub- mit a proposal to Congress for a new authorization. The bill would provide the core funding of $521.3 billion for the military and $63.7 billion for overseas operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. DEFENSE BILL Ho us e OK s an ti -e xt re mi st c am pa ig n By Mike Stobbe The Associated Press NEW YORK The flu vac- cine may not be very ef- fective this winter, accord- ing to U.S. health officials who worry this may lead to more serious illnesses and deaths. Flu season has begun to ramp up, and officials say the vaccine does not pro- tect well against the domi- nant strain seen most com- monly so far this year. That strain tends to cause more deaths and hospitaliza- tions, especially in the el- derly. "Though we cannot pre- dict what will happen the rest of this flu season, it's possible we may have a sea- son that's more severe than most," said Dr. Tom Frie- den, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention, at a news confer- ence Thursday. CDC officials think the vaccine should provide some protection and still are urging people to get vaccinated. But it probably won't be as good as if the vaccine strain was a match. Flu vaccine effectiveness tends to vary from year to year. Last winter, flu vac- cine was 50 to 55 percent effective overall, which ex- perts consider relatively good. The CDC issued an ad- visory to doctors about the situation Wednesday eve- ning. CDC officials said doc- tors should be on the look- out for patients who may be at higher risk for flu compli- cations, including children younger than 2, adults 65 and older, and people with asthma, heart disease, weakened immune systems or certain other chronic conditions. Such patients should be seen promptly, and perhaps treated immediately with antiviral medications, the CDC advised. If a patient is very sick or at high risk, a doctor shouldn't wait for a positive flu test result to prescribe the drugs — es- pecially this year, CDC of- ficials said. The medicines are most effective if taken within two days of the onset of symp- toms. They won't immedi- ately cure the illness, but can lessen its severity and shorten suffering by about a day, Frieden said. FLU Va cc in e ma y be le ss e ffe ct iv e th is w in te r N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY Girls games begin 4:00 PM Wednesday, December 17th Games continue through Championship game on Saturday, December 20 starting at 6:00 PM Boys games begin 4:00 PM Thursday, December 18th Games continue through Championship game on Saturday, December 20 starting at 7:30 PM Our Spartans are hosting varsity teams from the following high schools: Lake Oswego, Golden Valley, Liberty Christian, Enterprise, South Medford and many more! Tickets: 4-Day Tournament Passes may be purchased for $10 each from any RBHS Basketball Player or at the RBHS Student Store any weekday from 7:30 AM-3:30 PM. Individual Day Passes may be purchased at the entrance to the Spartan Gym during the tournament: $5 Adults $3 Students without ASB card $2 Students with ASB card, Seniors, Kids under 13 (must be with a parent.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Businesses and Individual Sponsors! It'snottoolatetobecomeaTournamentSponsor: $200 gets you 4 Tournament Passes (24 games!) Hospitality Room Access – Adults only (4 Adults, 4 Days) Student Hospitality Room Access, Tournament program and 2 Tournament T-Shirts Sponsor hotline: For questions, please call Nancy Mackey at 529-8787 or 200-0283 Published through an event sponsorship agreement courtesy of 25th Annual Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament December 17-20, 2014 Spartan Gym Red Bluff High School Varsity Boys and Girls Tournament: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 3 B