Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/689931
ByJohnO'Connor TheAssociatedPress SPRINGFIELD, ILL. Illi- nois, on the cusp of a sec- ond year without a state budget, counts among its many unpaid bills one that threatens to provoke a dis- pute with the nation's top crime-fighting force. Documents obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act show that the deadbeat state owes $3 million to the FBI for pro- cessing fingerprints and conducting background checks for professional li- censes and permits. The debt is old enough that it could be turned over to the federalgovernment'scollec- tion agency — the Treasury Department. The delinquent payment isjustthelatestunexpected consequence of a stale- mate between the Repub- lican governor and Demo- crats controlling the Leg- islature. The gridlock has left Illinois without a bud- get since July 1 and exacer- batedalong-standing back- log of debt. As of Tuesday, the state had more than $7 billion in unpaid bills. "The breadth of the is- sues covered by the bud- get impasse never ceases to amaze me," said Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Democrat from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook and chair- woman of the House Judi- ciary Committee on civil matters.Gov.BruceRauner, a millionaire businessman in his first term, is holding outforchangesinlawtocut business costs and restrict the power of labor unions. Democrats say consider- ation of Rauner's business and political agenda should take a back seat to taming a multibillion-dollar deficit through spending cuts and tax increases. The fingerprinting money has already been set aside. There's nearly $19 million in an account used to pay for FBI finger- printexpertise.Butwithout a legislative appropriation, no one has any authority to spend the money. TheFBIsaysstatesrarely fall more than four months behind in payments, but it has never cut services, and it has not stopped examin- ing Illinois fingerprints. A spokesman for the agency's Criminal Jus- tice Information Service, Stephen Fischer, said the agency is exploring "alter- native collection and pro- cessingoptions"tocontinue serving Illinois without ad- ditionalexpense.Hedidnot elaborate. Ken Zercie, who retired as laboratory director for the Connecticut Depart- ment of Public Safety, said the importance of verifying identity and criminal back- grounds means it's a safe bet that the Justice Depart- mentwon'tshutthedooron Illinois. "That would be kind of illogical given the state of everything," said Zercie, a vice president of the In- ternational Association of Identification. "It's a pub- lic-safety issue." This isn't the first time thebudgetcrisishascaused headaches for law enforce- ment. The AP reported in April that the secretary of state's police force had to carry cash from driver's license facilities for four months after an armored- truck company stopped work until it got paid. Rep. Robert Pritchard, from the small town of Hinckley, about 50 miles west of Chicago, said he's more worried about un- paid human-services agen- cies shutting their doors. The ranking Republican on the House State Govern- ment Administration Com- mittee urged Democrats to accept a short-term budget pitched by Rauner. The FBI processes 260,000 sets of Illinois fin- gerprints annually in crim- inal background checks for those seeking jobs such as school bus driver or private detective or applying for permits to carry concealed firearmsorcultivatemedic- inal marijuana. Illinois' last fingerprint payment to the FBI was for $313,000onJuly23tocover costs for June — the final month of the previous fis- cal year, according to state records. One of the oldest forms of scientific identi- fication, fingerprinting re- mains the most reliable, and the FBI has 90 mil- lion sets of prints on file, said Charles Walsh, a New Hampshire private forensic consultant who began a 30- year FBI career as a finger- print technician in 1968. BUDGET IMPASSE Illinoisdebt could provoke dispute with FBI WEATHER CHRISO'MEARA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A resident of Shore Acres in St. Petersburg, Fla., has a sign urging motorists to slow down on flooded streets Tuesday. By Jack Jones The Associated Press Colin headed out to sea Tuesday after dumping as much as 9 inches of rain on parts of Florida, forcing at least one city to pump par- tially treated sewage into the Gulf of Mexico ocean be- cause the system was over- loaded with rainwater. Colin flooded roads and caused thousands of power outages in Florida and a team investigated a possi- ble tornado related to the storm that damaged homes and toppled trees in Jack- sonville. The city of St. Pe- tersburg said it was pump- ing sewage into Tampa Bay because its sewer system has been overloaded with rainwater infiltrating leaky sewer pipes. Although the storm was out to sea, forecasters said Colin is expected to produce additional rainfall of up to 2 inches across far east- ern North Carolina, and as much as 5 inches across cen- tral Florida through Tues- day evening. The U.S. Hurricane Cen- ter said Colin, which formed Sunday, was the earliest a third named storm had de- veloped during the Atlantic hurricane season, which of- ficially began June 1. In Dare County, North Carolina, which includes pencil-thin territories from Kitty Hawk down to Hat- teras Island, Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson said rain had been falling nearly continuously since Tropical Storm Bon- nie, which formed May 28. So far, there had been no major flooding. "We're really just seeing large amounts of water," Pearson said, noting that many roads in the Outer Banks are at sea level, mean- ing that they can be quickly impacted by heavy rains. Traffic may be slow but hadn't been stopped any- where, he said. Tropical storm warnings were discontinued on Tues- day as the remnants of Co- lin sped away from the mid- Atlanticcoastandout tosea. Although maximum sus- tained winds are at 68 mph with higher gusts, the sys- tem's strongest winds and heaviest rains were over water and southeast of the center. The hurricane center said some slight strength- ening was possible Tuesday night, but gradual weaken- ing was expected to begin on Wednesday. Pearson said he expected skies to clear along the Outer Banks, good news for tourists who have flocked there for early summer va- cations. "We anticipate conditions to improve over the day," he said. "Don't let it ruin your day." Schools in Wilmington, North Carolina, opened two hours later than usual be- cause of the weather. On Georgia's Tybee Is- land, lifeguards posted red flags on the beach to warn swimmers of rip currents and 2- to 3-foot breakers. The marshes did their job and acted as "a big sponge system" as Colin passed over, said Tim Cutting, who runs fishing charters from his base on St. Simons Is- land. "The marsh does what it's supposed to do naturally — it drains and floods like it hasdoneforamillionyears," Cutting said. The National Weather Service reported that about 2.7 of rain fell at McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport as the storm passed over the area. About 4 inches of rain fell at the Liberty County airport near Hinesville. Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency as Co- lin moved across the state, dumping 9 inches of rain in parts of Pinellas County along Florida's Gulf Coast. Flood warnings were is- sued in many parts of the Tampa Bay area and Tues- day's commute was a diffi- cultonewithsomeroadsun- derwater. Colin heads out sea a er drenching Florida with rain By Ed White The Associated Press DETROIT A judge on Tues- day threw out the mur- der convictions of a young Detroit man who pleaded guilty to killing four people when he was 14, a remark- able turnaround in a case that has been in doubt for years after a professional hit man stepped forward and took responsibility for the slayings at a drug den. Judge Brian Sullivan acted at the request of the Wayne County prosecutor's office and lawyers for Da- vontae Sanford. Prosecu- tor Kym Worthy had long resisted efforts to revisit the convictions until law schools at the University of Michigan and Northwest- ern University and other pro bono lawyers got involved in 2015. Sanford, now 23, will be released Wednesday from a prison in western Michigan. In a separate step, Worthy will ask the judge to drop all charges due to the findings of state police in an inves- tigation that was requested last year by the prosecutor's office. State police learned that Detroit police drew a di- agram of the scene of the 2007 killings — not San- ford as had been previously reported by investigators. The conflict "seriously un- dermines" his confession and subsequent guilty plea, prosecutors said. "No one can give Davon- tae Sanford and his fam- ily back the nine years he has spent in jail for a crime he did not commit, but the court's decision corrects a grave injustice," said Heidi Naasko, an attorney for San- ford. David Moran, director of the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan's law school, said Sanford's time in prison reflected a "com- plete breakdown" in the criminal justice system. Worthy spokeswoman Maria Miller said there would be no additional com- ment about the case by pros- ecutors until Thursday. Sanford has been locked up for the fatal shootings of four people at a Detroit house. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder at age 15, but he's been trying to undo that plea for years, especially after hit man Vin- cent Smothers confessed to the so-called Runyon Street homicides. Smothers insists San- ford had no role. Sanford's mother said the teen, who is blind in one eye, could barely read or write in 2007 and confessed to please po- lice. The agreement presented to the judge makes no men- tion of Smothers. Instead, it said state police found ma- jor problems with who cre- ated a diagram of the slay- ing scene after interview- ing a former high-ranking Detroit officer, James Tol- bert, who was involved in the original investigation. Tolbert could not be reached for comment Tues- day. No home phonenumber was listed for him. Smothers, meanwhile, is in prison for 52 years after pleading guilty in 2010 to eight other killings. He has said he was regularly hired by drug dealers to kill others in the trade but would never take on a kid like Sanford as a sidekick. In an affidavit filed in court last year, Smothers, 35, described in great de- tail how he and another man carried out the Runyon Street slayings. He said he scouted the house for weeks, even playing catch one day with a buddy so he could get a feel for the neighborhood. MICHIGAN Prosecutor backs off Detroit man's 4 murder convictions MercyHighSchoolisproudtohost the 15 th annual Trinity Classic Golf Tournament atWilcoxGolfCourseonSaturdayJune25,2016. Entryfeeof$90.00includescart,snacks&lunch Registration 7:30 am, tee time is 9:00 am. Wear your crazy shorts! PleasecontactMercyHighSchoolat527-8313 or Sabrina Rhodes at 529-4439 2016 GMC Canyon Pickup hole-in-one prize $100.00 cash prize longest drive. 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