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Chicago police officer accused of beating up female bartender while off duty
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Edwards schedules press conference after visiting the doctor with his wife
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards accompanied his wife, Elizabeth, who has been treated for breast cancer, on a doctor's visit Wednesday. His campaign said they would hold a news conference in their hometown Thursday to discuss her health.
Campaign officials refused to answer any questions about what the Edwardses learned at the doctor's appointment or how it might affect his candidacy. Edwards had cut short a trip to Iowa Tuesday night to be with his wife Wednesday but still attended a ba
Many VA health clinics beset with mold, leaky roofs
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Mystery creator of anti-Clinton ad identified, linked to Obama camp
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Authorities: Toddler found high on cocaine at church preschool
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- A toddler was being treated for having cocaine in her system after workers at her church preschool noticed the girl acting unusual, authorities said Wednesday.
The unidentified girl, who is between 18 and 24 months old, was taken to the hospital by her parents after workers at Promise Land Preschool at First Baptist Church of Mandarin noticed she would not eat and was unsteady on her feet Monday, according to a report from the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office. The girl was expected to be fine.
Bush, Congress skid toward showdown on questioning of aides in prosecutor firings
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress careened closer to a full-blown legal showdown over the firing of federal prosecutors Wednesday as a House subcommittee voted subpoenas for top administration officials in defiance of the White House.
"After two months of stonewalling, shifting stories and misleading testimony, it is clear that we are still not getting the truth about the decision to fire these prosecutors and its cover-up," said Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif.
COLUMBUS, Ohio All year, every night that Jon Diebler put on a uniform, hundreds of people were watching him closely. Thats the way it is when youre on the verge of making history.
Diebler, a 6-foot-7 senior at Upper Sandusky High School, never flinched when the flashbulbs went off and his game and his focus never wavered. No wonder hes The Associated Press Mr. Basketball for 2007.
I wouldnt call it a burden because Im grateful to be in the position Im in right now, said Diebler, who late in the regular season overcame Jay Bursons 22-year-old record for most points scored by an Ohio high school player. Im sure a lot of people would trade to be in my position.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Jason Williams had 21 points and eight assists, and the Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 91-83 Wednesday night for their 10th victory in 11 games.
Josh Smith scored 27 points for Atlanta, which had its five-game home winning streak snapped.
Williams had eight of Miami's last 12 points, including a 19-footer he banked in against Josh Childress that pushed the lead to 85-80 with 1:03 remaining.
A federal lawsuit accuses county law enforcement of injuring a former NBA player while he was in custody last year.
Deputy Michael Hartshorn and two officers from the Public Safety Building jail are accused of battering Arian “Keon” Clark, 31, of the 300 block of Poland Road, after he was arrested in August for driving after his license was suspended.
Clark’s counsel, Champaign attorney Brian King, said the lawsuit was filed at the federal level because the allegations deal with a violation of his client’s constitutional rights.
2nd UPDATE: Metro Hikes Dividend, Rules Out Property Sales
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
March 21, 2007 7:21 a.m.
Americans and Russians should buckle up. A collision between the two nations looms larger and larger. The good news is that a collision is not inevitable. The bad news is that the mistrust between both sides is approaching the level of enmity and hostility of 25 years ago.
The current grievances and complaints of both sides are no secret. America sees the Putin regime turning autocratic and anti-democratic. Russia sees America as engaging in misguided wars and provocatively expanding its influence through NATO eastward, impinging on Russian security. Hence, left unchecked, Russian-American relations will only be exacerbated by these harsh attitudes and misperceptions. Both sides will suffer.
Rather than dissect why many of the prevailing attitudes and views of Russians toward America and vice versa are inaccurate, we have a better idea. Beyond current, ongoing bilateral talks, why not determine specific issues where the United States and Russia can act together collaboratively to solve common problems and resolve divisive issues? One of the most explosive issues in Russian-American relations is ballistic missile defense. The need for sensible bassile missiles is self-evident. The means for achieving that are not.
Filip SzyllerAbout Filip: Born Oct. 10, 1990. Son of Marcin and Sabina Szyller, residing in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago.Brother to Natalia. Grandson of Zofia Anatusko, of Calumet City. Plays soccer, hockey and football.Accomplishments: Filip Szyller is a sophomore at Bishop Noll Institute. An athlete, he is on the wrestling team and played football freshman year. He plays soccer with his father who is a member of a competitive men's league in Chicago and used to play hockey when he liv...
Monday, March 19, marked the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As usual on such occasions, administration officials appeared on TV to provide their assessment of the war's progress. The one I saw featured Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice bashing softballs lobbed to her by NBC Today Show host, Matt Lauer.
The question that most intrigued me was one of Lauer's last: How has the U.S. invasion of Iraq affected America's image and support around the world? Without missing a beat, Rice blandly asserted that, in fact, she was finding support for our efforts in Iraq was actually growing because most countries realize that U.S. failure in Iraq would adversely affect them as well the United States.
Somehow, Lauer failed to remark that Secretary Rice's assertion came hard upon the heels of an announcement by America's closest ally, Great Britain, that it plans to draw down a significant number of its troops in Iraq in the next few months. Administration spin-doctors have been quick to describe this announcement as proof that our British allies are succeeding in their mission in the relatively peaceful southern region of Iraq. It is important to point out that Tony Blair, whose nearly decade...
Since the off-year elections of last November there is divided opinion on what the vote was all about. Some think the people were saying with their votes that they had had enough of the Iraq war. Others saw it as wanting a change of leadership in Congress.
The people spoke, yet the war goes on and has even enlarged to involve more American soldiers. Members of Congress continue to look after their own egos and desires rather than take a dramatic stand on corruption, or find a way to get out of civil war in Iraq.
So what is new? The American voter deserves more than what they are getting in Washington. One bit of hope is in the investigations the Democratic Congress has begun into all the stuff the Republicans let pass with their White House rubber stamp.
Women have made it in the business world and no longer need to imitate men, says designer Ivanka Ska, who has opened a new store downtown.
"I always want to look beautiful, but not in pants," said the proprietor of the House of Ska, a boutique, gallery and studio in the corner retail space of the Princess Martha Hotel at 401 First Ave. N. "We don't have to look like men anymore."
Ska, 35, a native of Poland, visited the United States for the first time 17 years ago, stayed and worked in New York sweatshops and as a house cleaner while pursuing citizenship. She found her calling in art and design after moving to St. Petersburg.
For that exemplary poet of the modern metropolis Charles Baudelaire, change is bittersweet. In an 1857 ode to his beloved Paris, titled "The Swan," he writes: "the form of a city, alas/Changes more quickly than the heart of a mortal." Nostalgia, curated by former Royal Oak gallery owner Barbara Bunting, is about the beating of hearts. Bunting, who reappears on the local scene with this show after eight years as a private consultant, knows some...
Where the Shrinking Cities exhibit at Cranbrook Art Museum and MOCAD attempts to survey the forces driving urban change, Nostalgia registers the psychological and emotional effects of change that otherwise get lost in the glut of architectural models, redevelopment proposals, photo documentation and videos at the museums.
The old can never be left completely behind. The way things were hovers in the back of the mind, if only for measuring the new and supposedly improved. Nostalgia is a way of coming to grips with the physical, social and mental dislocation that's occurred as the pace of life has quickened with the spread of modern culture around the world. This is especially true in recent years,as globalization has unleashed a torrent of change.
Semifinal pairings for the Ohio High School Athletic Association boys state basketball tournament at Ohio State's Value City Arena:
DIVISION I
Canton GlenOak (24-3) vs. Cin. St. Xavier (21-5), Friday, 5:15 p.m.; Cin. Moeller (23-2) vs. Lakewood St. Edward (25-0), Friday, 8:30 p.m. Championship: Saturday, 8:30 p.m.
Jewish survivors, Mr. & Mrs. William Schiff spoke of their terrifying personal experiences with students of Carrollton Christian Academy during a field trip taken by Mrs. Sue Weir’s eighth grade English classes to the Dallas Holocaust Museum, on Wednesday, March 14th. As a part of their study and research of The Diary of Anne Frank and the Holocaust, the group toured the exhibit to listen to those who personally experienced one of the darkest periods in the history of man.Mr. & Mrs. Schif...
(2001, USA) Directed by Charles Burnett. A man and a woman each
sustain their lives with an imaginary relationship. Shown with Burnett's
"When It Rains." 121m total. 35mm. $9. Siskel Film Center
Three teams from Sunshine Elementary School's Odyssey of the Mind program will compete at the state level April 14 at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
The Sunshine Elementary teams, made up of fourth- and fifth-graders, competed against students from 160 Southwest Florida schools gathered at Fort Myers High School March 3 for the regional Odyssey of the Mind competitions.
Sunshine Elementary is the only school in east Lee County going to the state competition. Teams from 17 other Lee County elementary and middle schools will also go.
"`The Shawshank Redemption' is not nominated tonight, but these five
incredibly depressing movies are," Jerry Seinfeld quipped at last
month's Oscars telecast, as he presented the award for Best Documentary.
For someone who took office puzzled at America's "inordinate fear of Communism," President Jimmy Carter soon became a convert, and when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December of 1979, that was the last straw for Carter, who promptly canceled a large grain shipment to the U.S.S.R., suspended the export of high-tech equipment, downgraded diplomatic relations, and finally — this week (March 21) in 1980 — announced that the U.S. would boycott the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.
To his credit, Carter courageously announced the boycott before a gathering of U.S. athletes, most of whom were bitterly disappointed at the decision. Besides the years of intense training that would now go for naught, most athletes believed that the Olympic Games should be immune from politics, or at least should not be used as a political weapon, which a boycott unarguably was.
Carter defended his decision, claiming, "What we are doing is preserving the principles and the quality of the Olympics, not destroying it (sic)." That said, while the U.S. boycott certainly diminished the appeal of the 1980 games, it had no discernable effect on the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which lasted another nine years and ended chiefly because of military defeats and anti-war sentiment back in the U.S.S.R.
Lake Placid, N.Y., is the area associated with this famous question asked by Al Michauds, an enthusiastic announcer who could not believe the underdog Americans were about to defeat the Russians in Olympic ice hockey.
My wife still gets chills thinking about the moment. Then again, she was getting over a cold.
Anyway, the Johnstons went to the rink where the victory occurred. This Olympic complex is a training facility as well as a museum of Olympic moments. The true fan will enjoy the visit immensely. I, on the other hand, found much to yawn about.
Population in the United States officially reached the 300 million mark last October but little fanfare accompanied that milestone as few seemed to think it was an occasion for celebration.
In fact, environmentalists and other special interest groups saw hazards in the population growth as something that means having more people around to consume the planet's resources and contribute to its spoiling in other ways.
Mostly, the news was briefly mentioned and just as promptly forgotten. There is a view, however, that a legitimate opportunity to celebrate was missed.
European market and deli opens to offer traditional, ethnic food
Daily Herald Business Columnist
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2007
When "American Idol" hopeful Gina Glocksen takes the stage tonight, some of her biggest fans will be attending the show live.
Jayson Polad, a 33-year-old Frankfort native and singer for Then Again, a Chicago cover band that Glocksen also used to sing with, will be sitting in one of the four seats that Glocksen gets for every show.
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MOSCOW - The U.S. administration has launched a new diplomatic initiative. It wants to intensify consultations with Russia in order to dispel its discontent with American foreign policy. But Moscow suspects that this initiative is primarily oriented toward an external, European audience, and may become a unilateral instrument of notifying Russia on what the United States has decided or already done.
An unnamed high-ranking official from President George W. Bush's team has informed several influential Western media about the new diplomatic initiative. It follows from what he said that the U.S. administration has taken seriously the Western criticism that it does not put enough effort into its relations with its major ally, Russia.
Some politicians and scholars maintain that as a result of such actions as deployment of anti-ballistic missile elements in Eastern Europe, or support of NATO's expansion meet with a lack of understanding and instinctive rejection from Russian leaders. In order to curb this negative trend, Washington intends to engage Moscow in dialog more often, primarily on such vital issues as U.S. international policy or plans to ensure national security.
The M-16 was carried by a soldier friend, who, like all soldiers in Israel, is never without his weapon.
I had a lot to learn about Israel, and so do many Americans. The tension in Israel - the weapons, the constant watching for danger - made clear to me a reality that I think escapes many Americans.
We who are safe and warm thousands of miles from the Middle East don't understand why Israel takes the aggressively defensive posture it does. We also do not understand who is responsible for the continuing friction with Israel's Arab neighbors.
Strong winds were a factor in a weekend fire that caused severe damage to a Cloverdale area business.Firefighters say Lewis Bait and Tackle owner Valerie Lewis was burning trash near her business, located on Ind. 42 south of Cloverdale, Sunday afternoon when burning debris fell out of the trash barrel and caught the grass on fire.Windy conditions at the time caused the fire to quickly spread across the ground and ignite the corner of the business.
Part of the building was engulfed when Cloverdale Township firefighters arrived at the scene at around 4:30 p.m., Fire Chief Kerry Shepherd said.They required additional assistance from Greencastle Fire, Jefferson Township, Cataract Fire, Poland Fire and Reelsville Fire.Adding danger to an already threatening situation, several boxes of ammunition and propane tanks were being stored in the building and exploded during the blaze. Randy Holmes was operating the tackle shop and was actually in the process of moving items out of the building before the fire, Shepherd said.
There were no injuries as a result of the explosions or the fire, but it made for some tense moments.“We all jumped a couple of times,” Shepherd said. “It was a little hairy a few times.”Firefighters worked for some time to extinguish the blaze and did not clear the scene until almost 7:30 p.m.
Former Bremerton resident Zygmunt Leniszewski, 81, of Delray Beach, Fla., died Wednesday in Delray Beach from complications following hip surgery.
He was born and raised in Koprzywnica, Poland.
On July 22, 1944, he married Krystyna Cwiertniewski in Koprzywnica.
The 2006-2007 Associated Press Division I and II boys All-Ohio high school basketball team, based on the recommendations of a state media panel:
DIVISION I
FIRST TEAM: Kosta Koufos, Cant. GlenOak, 7-foot-2, senior, 26.0 points per game; Delvon Roe, Lakewood St. Edward, 6-8, jr., 22.0; William Buford, Tol. Libbey, 6-5, jr., 28.4; Chris Wright, Trotwood-Madison, 6-8, sr., 19.6; Brett McKnight, Lancaster, 6-6, sr., 26.6.
WASHINGTON (AP) Germany's foreign minister said a U.S. plan to build a missile defense system in Europe was not damaging relations with the United States, as both countries sought to play down their differences.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the system should have a stabilizing effect in Europe as the U.S. continued consultations with European allies and Russia, which has strenuously objected to the plans. She said the U.S. has expressed its willingness to cooperate with Russia on the missile defense system, but she did not elaborate.
Standing next to Rice, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has previously backed Russia's claims that it was not properly consulted on the plan, said he believed that the U.S. understands the German call for open discussions.
If your office is decimated by spring break vacations this week, just grin and bear it. Most will be back in the grind within days.
Most workplaces, cut to the cost-efficient bone, have to scramble to cover for vacationing workers — but not all that often.
Actually, U.S. workers don’t take many vacation days, especially compared with vacation durations in other industrialized nations.
SALEM — It's a tradition that historians say dates to ancient times in Poland — lighting candles on graves to honor the dead.
Michael Brandy, Deseret Morning NewsLuminarias flicker at the grave site of LeRoy Duke at the Spanish Fork Cemetery in December 2005.
In Poland the event was known as Zaduszki, and it took place on Nov. 1, All Souls Day. The tradition can be traced to the times of Slavic mythology, according to www.wikipedia.com. In other countries and in America the tradition takes place on Christmas Eve.
1. Ruben Estrella-Soto (also stationed at Fort Bliss)
2. Johnny Villareal Mata (also stationed at Fort Bliss)
3. George A. Fernandez
Holocaust survivor tells his story to local students
Crescent City native gets book published
Stockland grads meet after 45 years
* First-time writer: Respect the president, even if you disagree
* Alford: tourney snub ?doesn?t make sense?
Subscribe to the TimesExclusive Online OfferAre you kidding me? SAT/SUN home delivery for 40% off the newsstand price?!
BERLIN - The leader of Germany's governing Social Democrats criticized U.S. plans to locate a missile defense system in eastern Europe, insisting in an interview published Monday that "we need no new missiles in Europe."
The U.S. plan to place a radar base in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of its proposed missile defense shield has infuriated Russia and prompted some unease elsewhere in Europe.
"We need no new missiles in Europe," Kurt Beck, the chairman of the center-left Social Democrats, was quoted as saying in an interview with the mass-circulation Bild daily. The Social Democrats make up half of conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition.
NEW YORK, March 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AIG Global Investment Group ("AIGGIG") today announced that AIG Capital Partners, Inc., a member company, held the final close of AIG New Europe Fund II, L.P. ("NEF II") with capital commitments totaling euro 522.5 million, exceeding the Fund's initial target close.
NEF II is a second-generation private equity fund directly investing in companies organized or operating in the Central and Eastern Europe ("CEE") countries, such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Baltic Countries. The NEF II portfolio team is focused on capitalizing on the favorable economic, legal and political conditions in CEE, with its strong long-term GDP growth outlook, increased domestic consumer demand and a shift in the manufacturing base from Western Europe.
"The Central and Eastern European region is primed for private equity investing with enhanced deal flow and consolidation opportunities stemming from European Union accession. Our team constantly reviews new promising opportunities with attractive valuations and the right expansion strategies to be successful. In addition, there is tremendous value investing in a region with relatively few experienced private equity competitors," stated Pierre Mellinger, Managing Director, AIG Capital Partners and CEO of NEF II.
Moscow — YOU walk through the snow with a cane, old and tiny amid the birch and pine. You still call St. Petersburg by that other name. Leningrad. Your husband died a long time ago, and your life has been whittled into a room scattered with hand creams, lipsticks, reading glasses, a hot plate and pictures of an actress frozen in her youth.
"I was famous once," you say.
"I played young roles for a long time, you know. I looked young but I was experienced, that's why the directors loved me. I could improvise. Years ago, I did a belly dance onstage. It was in Poland. They thought I was a ballerina."
Some 72 hours after his team was eliminated from the boys basketball postseason with a 52-51 loss to Benedictine, Fairless coach Matt Kramer was still searching for words to describe how he felt.
Agony isnt really the correct word ... its more like kind of shell-shocked because we had the Elite Eight in our pockets and we got it picked, said Kramer, whose team saw a three-point lead evaporate in the final 16 seconds. It was nice to know that we belonged in that regional, though, because you just dont know until you get there. To get there and get blown out, then youre not sure how much progress youve made. But we know we were within a very short reach of being in the Final Four.
Instead Poland Seminary will go from the Division II Canton Regional after coming from behind to defeat Benedictine 69-58 in Saturdays championship at the Civic Center.
Pairings for the 2007 boys Ohio High School Athletic Association basketball tournament.
All state tournament games at Value City Arena, Columbus
DIVISION I
A pair of fires along State Road 42 kept firefighters from three counties busy late Sunday afternoon.
The first fire broke out about 4:30 PM at the Lewis Bait and Tackle in Putnam County.
Firefighters say the owner was burning trash in a barrell when wind blew debris from the barrell, catching grass on fire.
"I ask God and my mother to help me," said Pasternak, 85, better known as Ike the tailor, whose World War II stories are lessons in history, geography and tragedy.
Pasternak's skills in altering clothes brought customers to downtown Hayward men's stores from 1962 to 1986 and to his home for the past 20 years of his semi-retirement.
As a teenager and young man, however, Pasternak survived the Holocaust, which took the lives of his family in their native Poland.
My family was relaxing recently at the end of our day when my husband and I started telling stories of some events we had witnessed in our youth that were significant to the country and the world.
Not only our own children, but their friends, were sitting in rapt attention. We talked about how it had felt to grow up during the Cold War, with the world divided into two hostile camps; about the Korean War; about Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. I described the Berlin Wall, how it had epitomized the stark division between freedom and communist oppression.
I described growing up at a time when racist segregation was legal, when polio was crippling children, when tobacco was advertised freely on television and when alcohol was served much more freely than today.
The Army's high-tech, war-game version of laser tag has generated some big
dollars for Tec-Masters Inc. and Icon Systems Inc.
Tec-Masters recently won a four-year Army contract worth $35 million to
TOLEDO -- It can be very easy at times with all the attention bestowed upon Upper Sandusky's Jon Diebler to realize that at the end of the day, he is just a kid playing high school basketball.
After the Rams beat Olmsted Falls, 91-81, in the Division II regional championship at Toledo Saturday night, the senior was assured one more walk through the state championship weekend spotlight before his career exits.
But the final trip, however, came at a heavy price.
A twenty one year old business destroyed in a fire tonight.
Fire crews have been very busy handling multiple fires around the area.
The first fire broke out about 4:30 p.m. tonight at Lewis Bait and Tackle on State Road 42 in Putnam County.
State and federal agencies are investigating allegations that some Chicago area construction companies are deliberately misclassifying workers as independent contractors instead of as employees, illegally boosting company profits and depriving the government of tens of millions in tax revenue.
The Illinois attorney general's office and the Internal Revenue Service have met with union and industry leaders, who say the practice leaves law-abiding contractors and union members at a competitive disadvantage, and workers without key protections and higher pay.
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March 19, 2007In 2005, Malgorzata Bujoczek moved to Vero Beach from Zaerze, Poland, to work as an au pair and practice her English ? a language she had just begun studying in college before leaving for the United States for the first time.
After a year, Bujoczek, 28, acquired a student visa and now attends Indian River Community College full-time.
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Staff WriterAnia Rust's story of immigrating to America in the late 1960s has the same resonance as most immigrants; a journey to the United States for a better life.But an outgoing 18-year-old, who spoke no English, arrived during one of the most pivotal points in the later half of the 20th century and acclimated herself to American culture and advantages. The story of her adult life is best heard through the people she surrounds herself with and impacts on a regular basis; whether she bought g...
Rust's talent came in taking care of people, particularly the elderly. She said her grandfather was pivotal in her life. Making sure he understood someone cared for him on all levels."It was very easy to do. I just wanted to give myself to others. This is something I had within me," Rust said.She was learning not just how to be a nurse, during that time, but also Engl
(AP) - Pairings for the 2007 boys Ohio High School Athletic Association basketball tournament.
All state tournament games at Value City Arena, Columbus
You can't know the soul of a region unless you know its food. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that the Schoolcraft College International Institute, whose goal is to help the college community better appreciate world cultures, would publish an international cookbook.
The book, called simply "Cookbook," but with the word cookbook in many different languages, was created from the favorite ethnic dishes of the college's students, faculty and staff. It will be available for sale at the Multicultural Fair March 28 for $10. This could be the perfect gift for Mother's Day or the new bride.
Get ready for a trip around the world at the sixth annual Schoolcraft College Multicultural Fair on Wednesday, March 28. The fair continues from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the DiPonio Room in the VisTaTech Center, and will feature exhibits from various countries, samples of indigenous foods and entertainment.
The fair is free, and community members are invited to join the 2,000 expected visitors.
As a boy in Gary, I heard sentiments expressed in half a dozen or more languages and had no idea what the speaker was saying.
That was to be expected, of course, because Gary's population was then made up of immigrants from any number of countries, and these people had brought their languages with them.
Prominent among them was Polish, and I can still hear the epithet "psia krew!" spat out in frustration or anger. It sounded to me like "shacreff." Only much later did I learn the proper spelling, and what it meant: "dog's blood." That seems mild by today's standards, except I understand it can be intended as a reference to what flows in one's mother's veins.