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George W. Bush visits Fort Hood, wounded soldiers
Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.
The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood’s Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood’s military leaders and hospital staff for the “amazing care they are providing.”
An Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 30 in a shooting rampage Thursday at a Soldier Readiness Processing Center on the post.
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Obama praises those who ended Fort Hood violence
President Barack Obama, seeking to reassure a nation shaken by the mass shooting on an Army post in Texas, said Saturday that the training designed to keep U.S. forces safe abroad prevented further deaths and ended a rampage at Fort Hood.
Praising what he called the heroism that ended gunfire on the nation’s largest army post, the president described the exchange that left 13 dead and 30 others wounded on Thursday a tragedy.
In his weekly radio and Internet address on the weekend before Veterans Day, Obama praised those who serve or have served in uniform and reminded the public of their diversity — a move designed to calm tensions around the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.
“They are Americans of every race, faith and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers,” Obama said. “They are descendants of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other.”
Obama called for patience while officials piece together what happened.
“We cannot fully know what leads a man to do such a thing,” Obama said. “But what we do know is that our thoughts are with every one of the men and women who were injured at Fort Hood. Our thoughts are with all the families who’ve lost a loved one in this national tragedy.”
Clich here to watch Obama’s address.
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Latest Fort Hood developments
SUSPECT MOVED TO SAN ANTONIO HOSPITAL — An Army medical official says the man suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood has been transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
Hospital spokeswoman Maria Gallegos says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is in stable condition in the intensive care unit at the hospital on Fort Sam Houston outside San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood.
Gallegos said Friday that the “shooter is here.” She would not provide more details.
Hasan is accused of opening fire at the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood, Texas on Thursday in a shooting rampage that left 13 dead. He was shot by a civilian police officer on the scene.
DONATION OPPORTUNITIES — Officials at Fort Hood announced the following opportunities for the public to donate to various agencies on the installation honoring the soldiers and family members affected by the mass shooting:
Checks can be mailed to: Chaplain’s Fund Office, Bldg 44, 761st Tank Battalion Ave., Fort Hood, TX 76544-5000.
Checks should be made payable to “CTOF” (Chapel’s Tithes and Offerings Fund) with a note on the memo line stating “Nov. 5 Tragedy.”
Contributions on behalf of Fort Hood soldiers also can be made to: Fisher House, Bldg 36015, Fisher Lane, Fort Hood, TX Texas 76544
If you have questions about the Fisher House operation, phone 254-286-7927 or 254-286-7929.
Donations can be made to Red Cross: Killeen Red Cross, 208 W. Avenue A, Killeen, TX 76541
Phone (254) 200-4400 or visit its Web site at www.waco.redcross.org
Donations also can be made to the USO: USO Fort Hood, Building # 1871, 50th St., Fort Hood, TC 76544
Phone: (254) 768-2771 or visit its Web site at www.uso.org
SUSPECT TOOK PART IN HOMELAND SECURITY CONFERENCES — The suspected Fort Hood shooter has participated in homeland security conferences since 2008 at George Washington University while based in the Washington area.
Most recently, Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan was listed as an attendee in January for a conference on new security priorities for the Obama administration.
Frank Cilluffo, director of the university’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, says Hasan was never affiliated with the school. He attended sessions as a disaster and preventive psychiatry fellow at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine.
Cilluffo says he remembers Hasan wore Army fatigues to conferences, which seemed odd at the time. Cilluffo says he remembers cutting Hasan off once for rambling, though he doesn’t remember the subject.
PISTOL BOUGHT AT GUN STORE — Law enforcement officials say a 5.7-millimeter pistol used in the Fort Hood shooting rampage was purchased legally at a Texas gun store.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
Records indicate Hasan bought the FN 5.7 at store called Guns Galore in Killeen well before the attack that left 13 people dead. The pistol has been dubbed a “cop killer” by those who have tried to stop its use.
The most powerful type of ammunition for the gun is available only to law enforcement and military personnel. Gun control advocates call it a “cop killer” weapon because that ammo can pierce bulletproof vests, and its use by Mexican drug cartels worries police.
CLASSMATE: HASAN OPPOSED WAR ON TERROR — A classmate of the Fort Hood shooting suspect says Maj. Nidal Hasan was an outspoken opponent of the U.S. war on terror and called it a “war against Islam.”
Dr. Val Finnell was a classmate of Hasan’s at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. Both attended a master’s in public health program in 2007 and 2008.
Finnell says he got to know Hasan in an environmental health class. At the end of the class, students gave presentations. Finnell says other classmates wrote on subjects such as dry cleaning chemicals and mold in homes, but Hasan’s topic was whether the war against terror was “a war against Islam.” Finnell described Hasan as a “vociferous opponent” of the terror war.
Finnell says Hasan told classmates he was “a Muslim first and an American second.”
CIVILIAN POLICE OFFICER PRAISED — A civilian police officer is being praised for taking down a man suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood when she shot him in the torso.
Police officials say after arriving at the scene of Thursday’s gunfire, Sgt. Kimberly Munley saw the suspect and started firing at him.
Munley’s boss, Chuck Medley, told the Associated Press on Friday that Hasan then spun around and charged at her with a gun in each hand.
Medley says Munley shot the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, in the upper torso, allowing officers to take him into custody. Medley says in the exchange of gunfire, Munley was shot in the thighs and wrist.
The 35-year-old Munley is from Pennsylvania, used to be in the Army and is married to a Fort Bragg, N.C. soldier.
‘KICK IN THE GUT’ —Army Chief of Staff George Casey has asked Army leaders across the country to review force protection measures after the shooting rampage at Fort Hood left 13 people dead.
Casey described the shooting as a “kick in the gut” for not just Fort Hood but for the entire Army.
Casey spoke to reporters at a news conference Friday afternoon at Fort Hood. He says he’s encouraged by the stories of heroism and courage that have emerged the day after the attack.
He cited a young private who was sitting in his pickup in parking lot and heard gunfire. Casey says the private went to the scene, pulled out four wounded and drove the hospital.
CENTRAL TEXAN AMONG VICTIMS — A Cameron man was among the 13 fatalities from Thursday’s shooting at Fort Hood, the Cameron Herald reports. Mike Cahill, who still lived in Cameron, worked as a physician’s assistant for Dr. Sid Richardson from 1997 until 2000. Further details are not available.
BUMPER STICKER INCIDENT — A Killeen apartment complex manager says the man accused of opening fire at Fort Hood recently had a religious bumper sticker torn off his car, The Associated Press reports.
The manager, John Thompson, says a fellow soldier allegedly keyed Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s car and ripped up the bumper sticker. Thompson says the soldier had been to Iraq and was upset to learn Hasan was Muslim.
Thompson, who manages the Killeen complex where Hasan lives, says the bumper sticker read: “Allah is Love.” In Arabic, Allah means God.
A report filed on Aug. 16 with Killeen police says Hasan’s car had been scratched causing $1,000 worth of damage. The report says an Army employee had been arrested. It didn’t provide more details about what happened.
HUTCHISON AT FORT HOOD — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who said she’s been in regular contact with officials at Ford Hood, arrived at the base before noon and spoke to reporters about what she’s been told about the ongoing Army investigation:
“I just talked a few minutes ago to the commander and i think they’re being very thorough trying to determine more about this man’s background: Who he was talking to? Is this something that’s just isolated — one deranged person — or is it something more? That’s the question on everyone’s mind.”
Hutchison got more specific, saying the Army is inspecting Hasan’s computer, to try and determine whether he had help as he prepared for the shooting.
While Hasan was the lone shooter Thursday, she said investigators were still trying to determine whether he prepared for the shooting in isolation.
“That is not a question that has been resolved,” Hutchison said. “I don’t think anyone would have ever suspected a psychiatrist, trained to help others in mental health, would be the one who would go off himself unless there’s more to it, and that’s what they’re looking at.”
Hutchison also said Hasan, who was also shot on Thursday, was not in danger of dying.
LIMITED INFO ON BASE — Spc. Eric Flint, 22, said that information about the shooting victims has been limited on the base, with no identities released or updates given about the wounded. He said he is gaining most of his information from media reports.
Flint said the base is attempting to get back on its feet, with some units already proceeding with normal business, to recuperate from Thursday’s shooting.
“I would say that it’s been sort of calm today on the base,” Flint said. “We’re just trying to get back to normal.”
Flint said he did not know whether officials were re-examining security measures at the base. He added that he is not concerned about safety at the post.
“The fact being what happened, and it being a soldier that did this, there’s not much that could have been done different,” Flint said. “It’s just a bad situation that couldn’t be helped.”
HOUSE RESOLUTION — The office of U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards sent out this release about House Resolution 895:
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives brought to the floor House Resolution 895, a resolution honoring Fort Hood soldiers and their families in the wake of Thursday’s tragic shooting. Congressman Chet Edwards managed the House floor proceedings at the request of Congressman John Carter, who is the lead sponsor of the resolution and traveled to Ft. Hood today. Edwards, who is the lead cosponsor of the resolution, represented Fort Hood through three combat deployments from 1991 to 2004.
“In the days ahead, Ft. Hood will become known to the world as a place of unspeakable tragedy, but I know it as a place of great triumph—a place where service to country isn’t just an ideal, it is a way of life, a place where the American spirit is alive and well, even amidst this tragedy. I hope the world will see the Ft. Hood I saw as its representative in Congress for 14 years,” said Edwards.
Edwards is the Chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee and co-chairs the House Army Caucus. The following are his remarks as prepared for delivery on the floor of the House today:
“On behalf of citizens all across America, we rise today to express our deepest respect and heartfelt sorrow to the soldiers and families of Ft. Hood, Texas.
“These great Americans who have sacrificed so much in service to our country now face a tragedy that just one day ago would have seemed unimaginable. In the hours, days and months ahead, I hope the Ft. Hood family knows that the thoughts and prayers of the American family are with them.
“It is a tragedy beyond words that young Americans who were willing to risk their lives for our country in combat abroad ended up losing their lives here at home.
“While these soldiers did not die in combat, they gave their lives in service to country, and, for that, we will always consider them heroes.
“The spouses, children and families of the fallen may not have worn our nation’s uniform, but they have served our nation through their deep personal sacrifice. Let us be clear here today. We will never ever forget that sacrifice.
“We cannot bring back their loved ones, but I hope they will forever feel the collective love, gratitude and prayers of millions of their fellow Americans.
“To the wounded and their loved ones, our nation’s fervent hopes and prayers are with you in these difficult moments. Please know you are not alone.
“Mr. Speaker, in the days ahead, Ft. Hood will become known to the world as a place of unspeakable tragedy, but I know it as a place of great triumph—a place where service to country isn’t just an ideal, it is a way of life, a place where the American spirit is alive and well, even amidst this tragedy.
“I hope the world will see the Ft. Hood I saw as its representative in Congress for 14 years.
“When I think of Ft. Hood, I think of the 29-year-old Army widow who asked me, not to help her, but rather how she could help others who had lost their loved ones in combat.
“When I think of Ft. Hood, I think of the young soldier I met at a welcome home ceremony. It was three days before my wife gave birth to our first child, and when I saw him with his wife and newborn baby, I told him how excited I was at the thought of becoming a father for the first time. Without complaint, he looked at me and said, “Sir, I missed the birth of my first child because I was in Iraq, and I missed the birth of my second child when I was deployed to Bosnia.”
“When I think of Ft. Hood, I think of the parents I met there this summer who lost their two sons in combat in Iraq just 9 days apart. How can a nation measure the depth of that kind of sacrifice?
“When I think of Ft. Hood, I think of soldiers, families and their neighbors in nearby communities who care for each other and are proud to serve and, yes, sacrifice for our nation’s freedom.
“Ft. Hood is known as “The Great Place”, because that is what it is, past, present and future. The actions of one deranged gunman should not and will not change that fact.
“With the support and prayers of the American family, Ft. Hood will recover from this terrible tragedy.
“The servicemen and women of Ft. Hood, their families, and the neighboring communities are a very special and unique family.
“They make Ft. Hood what it is — a shining star in our nation’s defense, a star that will burn brightly for many years to come.
“From this tragedy, just days before Veterans Day, I pray that Americans will be reminded how blessed we are to live in a land where a special few, our servicemen and women and their families, are willing to give up so much in service to country. Let us all rededicate ourselves to honoring our troops, our veterans and their families. Let us remember them not just on Veterans Day and Memorial Day and on a tragic day, but every day.
“As we ask God’s blessings on those whose lives we honor, let us remember that we are the land of the free, because we are still the home of the brave.”
FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF — Gov. Rick Perry has ordered all Texas flags lowered to half-staff until Sunday over the Fort Hood massacre that claimed 13 lives.
President Barack Obama on Friday said the “whole nation is grieving right now” over the mass killings Thursday at the post, where 30 people were wounded.
The president ordered U.S. flags at the White House and other federal agencies to be flown at half-staff until Veterans Day, Nov. 11, as a tribute to those who lost their lives.
The suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was shot by a police officer and remains hospitalized. The motive for the shootings is unclear.
Perry’s order applies to all U.S. and Texas flags under the control of the state.
GUEST BOOK — Legacy.com, a partner of more than 750 newspapers nationwide, including the Tribune-Herald, has a public guest book for people to share their thoughts and prayers about the Fort Hood tragedy.
Click here to go the guest book.
MOMENT OF SILENCE — The Chief of Staff of the Army has directed an Armywide moment of silence at 1:35 p.m. today. In remembrance of yesterday’s tragedy. Traffic barriers will be put up at Fort Hood, stopping traffic during this time.
SALVATION ARMY HELP — The Salvation Army will provide pastoral care and counseling to first responders, family members and children affected by the tragedy at the request of the State of Texas.
Waco Salvation Army officer Capt. Russell Czajkowski, a former U.S. Marine, will oversee the Salvation Army’s pastoral response efforts on site with direction from Maj. James Taylor, rhe Salvation Army’s divisional secretary for Texas.
The Salvation Army will provide spiritual care today and through the weekend from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
HOUSE RESOLUTION — U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards’ office announces that the U.S. House of Representatives will adopt House Resolution 895, a resolution honoring Fort Hood soldiers and their families in the wake of Thursday’s shooting.
According to the release:
At the request of Congressman John Carter, who is the lead sponsor of the resolution and has traveled to Fort Hood today, Congressman Chet Edwards will lead the House proceedings. Edwards represented Fort Hood through three combat deployments from 1991 to 2004.
House Resolution 895 is tentatively scheduled to come to House floor sometime after 11am EST/10 am CDT as the 12th suspension bill of the day.
The text of the resolution is below:
H.Res. 895 - Honoring the lives of the brave soldiers and civilians of the United States Army who died or were wounded in the tragic attack of November 5, 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas. The American people share the pain and grief of this tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with the families of those who were so unfortunately taken from them.
Excerpt from Edwards’ House floor remarks:
“In the days ahead, Fort Hood will become known to the world as a place of unspeakable tragedy, but I know it as a place of great triumph — a place where service to country isn’t just an ideal, it is a way of life, a place where the American spirit is alive and well, even amidst this tragedy.
“I hope the world will see the Fort Hood I saw as its representative in Congress for 14 years.”
SILENCE BEFORE FOOTBALL GAMES — Several school districts planned a moment of silence during tonight’s football games.
“We’ll have something as we always do,” said Tom Rogers, Killeen ISD athletic director. “We always have a moment of silence to think about our soldiers who are injured or in harm’s way. We will have something to remember those that were lost yesterday.”
Copperas Cove also planned a moment of silence.
A Waco ISD spokesman said the district normally does not have a moment of silence before games, but that it would have a moment of silence tonight.
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Shooter reportedly shouted in Arabic before firing
Soldiers who witnessed the shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead reported that the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar!” — an Arabic phrase for “God is great!” — before opening fire, the base commander said Friday.
Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said officials had not yet confirmed that the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, made the comment before the rampage Thursday. Hasan was among 30 people wounded in the shooting spree and remained hospitalized on a ventilator.
All but two of the injured were still hospitalized, and all were in stable condition.
Military officials were trying to piece together what may have pushed Hasan, an Army psychiatrist trained to help soldiers in distress, to turn on his comrades. Cone said the 39-year-old Hasan was not known to be a threat or risk.
“I’m not aware of any problems here,” said Col. Steve Braverman, the Fort Hood hospital commander. “We had no problems with his job performance.”
For more of the Tribune-Herald’s coverage of Thursday’s shootings, click here.
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Twelve killed, 31 wounded in Fort Hood massacre
A military mental health doctor facing deployment overseas allegedly opened fire at Fort Hood this afternoon, killing 12 people in a rampage that also left 31 wounded.
The alleged shooter is hospitalized in stable condition and in custody, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base’s commanding officer. The suspect, Army Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, was initially reported as having been killed.
Cone said the death toll from the attack remains 12 after another victim died.
Authorities said immediately after Thursday’s attack that they had killed the suspected shooter. But Cone now says the suspected shooter is alive and stable condition.
Cone offered little explanation to reporters at a news conference as to why the suspect was believed dead, saying only there was confusion at the hospital.
It is unclear what the motive was. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the Army major was about to deploy overseas, though it was unclear if he was headed to Iraq or Afghanistan and when he was scheduled to leave. Hutchison said she was told about the upcoming deployment by generals based at Fort Hood.
The violence was believed to be the worst mass shooting in history at a U.S. military base. Two civilians are reported to be among the victims, but it’s not known if they were killed or wounded.
Cone said Hasan is believed to be the sole shooter.
The base was in a lockdown once the shooting started about 1:30 p.m. The general said the gunman opened fire at about 1:30 p.m. in the Soldiers Readiness Processing Center, which is a facility where soldiers are processed before deploying or upon their return.
The base was released from the lockdown around 7 p.m.
Ten of the injured have been taken to Scott & White Hospital in Temple, officials there said. All have gunshot wounds and some also have orthopedic injuries.
Scott & White only has the Level 1 trauma center in Central Texas, which is the highest designation offered by the state.
Accommodations have been made for family members of the wounded to stay at the hospital overnight, officials said. Transportation help is also being provided to them, they said.
All Scott & White doctors have been called in to help, officials said, and more patient rooms have been readied in case they are needed.
The hospital is on lockdown, which means no one can enter without an escort.
Glen Couchman, associate system chief medical officer, said Darnall Army Medical Center, Scott & White’s Temple hospital and Metroplex Hospital in Killeen have taken wounded patients. Scott & White’s Round Rock campus and Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco also are ready to take patients if needed, he said.
Hillcrest has a Level II trauma center. Killeen’s Metroplex Hospital received seven of the wounded.
As part of its response, Scott & White has asked the public to donate blood. John Hamilton, a medical equipment salesman from Austin, said he stopped at the Temple hospital to donate after hearing news of the incident on the radio while driving on Interstate 35.
“I figured that it was the least I could do,” Hamilton said.
The Fort Hood Media Relations Office said a Fort Hood family hotline has been set up at 254-288-7570 and 1-866-836-2751.
Cone said two other soldiers initially apprehended as suspects during the chaos have since been released.
The U.S. Army made a video report about the shootings that can be seen here.
Military officials say Hasan, 39, was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to the Texas base in July. The officials, who had access to Hasan’s military record, said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because military records are confidential.
The official says investigators are trying to determine if Hasan was his birth name, or if he changed his name and converted to Islam at some point in his life. (Click here for comments by Al Siddiq, president of the Islamic Center of Waco.)
The shooter used two handguns in the attack, the general said.
The Army also released this video of the aftermath of the attack.
Tribune-Heraldreporter Erin Quinn says the mood in the parking lot at the main gate outside of Fort Hood grew more and more anxious as the hours tick by. People who were initially calm lost patience, after repeated calls to loved ones inside have gone unanswered or have resulted in busy signals.
Staff Sgt. Fanuaee Vea, 32, said he was at the soldier readiness center about an hour before the shooting happened. He went home after his trip there, and when he saw news on the shootings on television, he jumped back in his car and tried to get back to the center.
“I got mad because they wouldn’t let me in,” Vea said.
Vea said the center is a hub of Fort Hood. There is a coffee kiosk there and a bank, among many other things.
“It’s where everything happens at Fort Hood,” Vea said. “… This is really hard for me to take in right now. I can’t believe this.”
Monica Cain, 44, waited in the parking lot with her 8-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son. Her husband returned from Iraq recently after being involved in a roadside bomb attack. Several people in his company were killed and he suffered a brain injury.
Cain dropped her husband off at Fort Hood this morning for some medical treatment and was supposed to pick him up at 1 p.m. When she got there, she was unable to get on post and unable to reach him on his cell phone.
All afternoon, his phone was busy. As she waited, she can’t stop crying, worried about her husband. His treatment was being performed at a medical building next to the post’s hospital, Darnall Army Medical Center, she said.
“I keep calling and calling him and he won’t answer,” Cain said between sobs. “If he would just pick up, I would know he’s OK. But he won’t pick up.”
Fort Hood has requested assistance in the investigation from the FBI, Cone said.
Cynthia Wood, 31, rushed toward Fort Hood after hearing about the shootings on the news. Her 33-month-old son, Conner, attends a preschool on post.
Wood said she had confirmed that Conner was safe but had not been able to get on to post to pick him up.
Wood’s husband is in Iraq on his third tour of duty. She has been sending messages to him about the situation via text message and said that his fellow soldiers are glued to the screen on the cell phone.
The texts have been slow to go through, she said, and she has had to re-send some. The thing she has been texting over and over, she said, is “Conner’s school is safe.”
Although Wood does not live on post, she said she goes there all the time. She has always felt safe there, she said, and cannot believe what has happened.
“I don’t believe for a second that a soldier could do this to another soldier,” Wood said. “I just wouldn’t believe it. It just must be something else.”
Spc. Eric Flint, 22, was supposed to pick up his wife from Darnall at 1 p.m. She is two months pregnant and had a routine doctor’s appointment.
When Flint arrived to pick her up, he wasn’t allowed on post. He has been waiting nearby ever since. Luckily, Flint has been able to talk to his wife by phone to know she is safe.
Flint said his wife and other patients not involved in the incident are being kept in a separate area of the hospital from those wounded. They have been told to stay away from windows and are sitting on the floor. Officials are asking them to remain calm and said food may be brought in to them shortly.
The Veterans Affairs hospital in Temple has activated its emergency operations center and is prepared to help Fort Hood officials in several areas, said public affairs specialist Deborah Meyer.
The VA hospital is in the process of sending some prescription medications to Darnall, Meyer said. It has also identified beds that could be used for people wounded in the incident, if necessary.
In addition, the VA has mental health workers ready to help, should they be needed at Fort Hood or other Central Texas VA facilities to talk with patients who might be upset by the situation, Meyer said.
President Barack Obama was notified of the shootings.
“I would ask all Americans to keep the men and women of Fort Hood in your thoughts and prayers,” Obama said. “We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident. And I want all of you to know that as Commander-in-Chief, there’s no greater honor but also no greater responsibility for me than to make sure that the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for and that their safety and security when they are at home is provided for.”
U.S. Rep Chet Edwards, D-Waco, who co-chairs the Army Caucus and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement:
“The soldiers and families of Fort Hood have served our nation with distinction and made tremendous sacrifices for all of us so I am heartbroken to learn that this terrible tragedy has occurred.
“My family’s thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and loved ones.”
Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison released the following statement:
“I am shocked and saddened by today’s outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others. My heart goes out to their loved ones.
“Our dedicated military personnel have sacrificed so much in service to our country, and it sickens me that the men and women of Fort Hood have been subjected to this senseless, random violence. I know all Americans share this concern for the soldiers and their families who are affected by this tragedy.”
A varsity high school football game between Copperas Cove and Harker Heights at Killeen’s Leo Buckley Stadium was canceled.
The Waco chapter of the American Red Cross is establishing a communications program so people around the country can check on the safety of individual personnel at Fort Hood.
“The Safe & Well program allows those involved in an emergency to register online at www.safeandwell.org so their loved ones can find them and check on their safety,” the agency said in a statement.
The Waco chapter has mental health workers on standby and is ready to deploy upon station request, it said.
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Fort Hood tragedy: Killeen hospital gets 7 wounded
Metroplex Adventist Hospital in Killeen initially received seven wounded, said spokeswoman Susan Kolobziejczyk. One died en route to the hospital, two were sent by helicopter to Seton Hospital in Austin and two were taken to Scott & White in Temple, she said.
The remaining two people underwent surgery at Metroplex and are in recovery, Kolobziejczyk said. They will soon be transferred to the intensive care unit. One is a soldier and one was a civilian emergency medical worker, she noted.
All of the other five patients were military personnel.
The hospital had a gala scheduled for tonight that was supposed to raise funds for its new women’s center. Instead of canceling the event, officials decided to go ahead with it and donate all the money raised to the victims and their families, she said.
Kolobziejczyk was a local television reporter when the Killeen Luby’s massacre happened in 1991.
“This brings up familiar emotions but I think (the) Luby’s (incident) did unfortunately prepare us for situations like these.”
Metroplex has been on lockdown since the incident, meaning access in and out of the hospital has been limited. A number of off-duty doctors have come in to the hospital to help, she said.
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Fort Hood tragedy: A Muslim’s perspective
Al Siddiq, president of the Islamic Center of Waco, followed the unfolding news of the Fort Hood tragedy anxiously, as a veteran of the U.S. Army himself, as a friend of some Muslim soldiers currently stationed at the Central Texas post and as a Muslim who has become wary of backlash.
Siddiq said the Muslim Islamic community is very concerned that the shooter on Fort Hood was a Muslim because Muslims tend to get all thrown into the same category. Since 9/11, Siddiq said, when an individual Muslim acts stupid, it affects the entire Islamic community. The concern is backlash against other Muslims, he said.
“We’ve been very fortunate in Waco,” Siddiq said. “But there’s always a backlash.” Siddiq said he had a great experience in the U.S. Army, both in Korea and stationed at Fort Campbell.
“That’s what hurts me the most,” he said. “The Army has accommodated Muslims. Not any other Army can offer what the U.S. Army offers.”
Siddiq said what he has heard is that the Fort Hood shooter may be a convert to Islam. He said he thinks the problem some converts have is not based on the Islam religion, but on the resentment toward the U.S. government that they bring to their faith.
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Fort Hood tragedy: A mother’s perspective
(Editor’s note: The following is written from phone interviews with people at Fort Hood. A cell phone image taken from a pre-kindergarten classroom in the locked-down Clear Creek Elementary School was sent to the Trib. The image is below; click to enlarge).
Laura Acuna, 28, who is eight months pregnant, was locked in her shuttered home with twin 3-year-olds in the Kouma Village housing area just outside Fort Hood. Her neighborhood is one where Killeen police reported shots were fired.
With sirens blaring and warnings issued to turn off their air conditioning, close their blinds and lock their doors, Acuna sat scared and uncertain about what was transpiring around her.
Her kids played nearby and were unaware of what was going on. But as the day heated up and her house became warmer and her fourth-grade son remained locked up at the elementary school, fear began to get the best of her.
“We’re staying away from the windows and I closed my blinds and locked my doors. My husband is in the field. I’m here alone,” said Acuna. “I’ve never seen anything like this. They’re sounding the sirens and told us to turn off the air conditioning and ventilation systems and lock all our doors and seek shelter immediately. Everyone is staying inside.”
Her neighbor across the street, however, was even more worried. Her neighbor’s husband had been at the Soldier Prep Area getting vaccinations early Thursday afternoon. The last phone call they had from him was at 12:30 p.m., about an hour before the shooting.
He is one of many soldiers scheduled to deploy in the next coming months.
Acuna’s husband was in the field for a weeklong mission, but had called to say maneuvers had been curtailed due to the shooting and they most likely would return today.
Meanwhile, Acuna’s sister, Kimberly Havens, 26, was held up in a pre-K classroom at Clear Creek Elementary School on base. The school was in a complete lockdown and Havens had been shuffled back inside moments after picking up her son, Dustin, 4, on Thursday afternoon.
“I came to pick up my son from pre-K and right after we came out, the faculty came out and said everyone needs to get inside now. We knew it wasn’t good. They shuffled everyone inside and they immediately got us in the classrooms and locked the doors,” Havens said. “They keep coming over the loudspeaker making announcements reminding us to stay away from doors and windows and make sure blinds are shut, doors are locked and no one in the hallways.”
Luckily, she was allowed to get her fourth-grade daughter, Alexandria Havens, 9, and Acuna’s fourth-grade son, Dylan Barger, from their classrooms and bring them to the pre-K class, which unlike the other rooms, had a bathroom.
For Acuna, it was some comfort to know that her son was safe with her sister.
By 4:45 p.m., the principal at Clear Creek made an announcement to take attendance so they could take a count to provide dinners for the evening.
When Acuna heard that she knew it would be several hours until she saw her son.
“It really is scary, honestly because we’re here and we don’t know what is going on and we’re relying on text messages and people calling us and it’s very nerve-racking,” said Havens, a student at Central Texas College. “I’ve been around a military town for a very long time and this is the very first experience of this nature I’ve had. When they shuffled us inside the classrooms I knew it wasn’t good.”
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Injured Tom DeLay withdraws from ‘Dancing With the Stars’
It wasn’t two left feet, but two fractured feet that forced Tom DeLay to hang up his dancing shoes on Tuesday.
The former House Republican Whip said he’s taking his doctor’s advice and leaving the ABC television show “Dancing With the Stars.”
DeLay has been diagnosed with stress fractures in both feet from the rigors of dancing and must wear foot braces when away from the ballroom.
Doctors and producers urged the 62-year-old to withdraw from the dance-off. But he was determined to continue Monday, performing a sufficient samba with professional partner Cheryl Burke.
“What’s a little pain when you can party?” he asked before performing.
But the pain proved too much Tuesday and DeLay said he couldn’t continue on the hit reality show.
“If you can’t practice, you make a fool of yourself out here,” he said. “And I don’t want to do that to Cheryl.”
The former Texas congressman said his next dance would have been the Texas two-step. Show host Tom Bergeron invited DeLay to perform the dance on the season finale if his feet were up to it.
“That’d be wonderful,” said DeLay, still wearing his red-and-white performance outfit adorned with a Republican elephant.
DeLay and Burke finished one point away from last place Monday, earning 15 points out of 30.
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Gatesville woman dies in vehicle crash
A 21-year-old Gatesville woman is dead after police say she drove through a stop sign and into another vehicle late Monday at the intersection of Old Osage Road and North State Highway 36.
Gatesville police say Kayla Dawn Barrow was headed west on Old Osage Road in a 2005 Ford Taurus when, just after 8 p.m., she failed to stop at the intersection and collided with a 2003 Jeep Cherokee driven by 49-year-old Harlon Don Ayers of Gatesville.
Ayers, who had three passengers, was headed south on Highway 36. Neither Ayers nor his passengers were injured, police said.
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Rio de Janeiro to host Olympics 2016
Rio de Janeiro became the choice for the 2016 Summer Olympics, making it the first South American city to host the Olympic Games.
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British broadcasters seek U.S.-styled TV debates
For all the talk about how U.S. television often cribs ideas for shows from England, comes the news that British broadcasters are wanting to host a series of U.S.-styled televised debates before the general election.
Wonder what kind of ratings that would get?
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CBS News employee indicted in Letterman extortion plot
A CBS News employee has been indicted in an extortion plot against David Letterman, who was forced to acknowledge sexual relationships with female staffers on his show after the man tried to blackmail him for $2 million, the Manhattan district attorney said Friday.
Robert J. “Joe” Halderman, a producer for the true-crime show “48 Hours,” was arrested Thursday and indicted on one count of attempted first-degree grand larceny, punishable from five to 15 years upon conviction, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said.
“Our concern here is extortion, and that’s what we’re focusing on,” Morgenthau said.
The district attorney’s office said Halderman left a letter and other material for Letterman early Sept. 9. He wrote that he needed “to make a large chunk of money” by selling Letterman a screenplay treatment.
The letter told Letterman that his world was “about to collapse around him” when information about his private life is disclosed. He said it would lead to “a ruined reputation” and severe damage to his professional and family life.
Letterman immediately contacted his lawyer, who arranged a meeting with Halderman. At the meeting, Halderman demanded $2 million for not releasing the material, the district attorney’s office said. After the meeting, Letterman and his lawyer contacted the DA’s office and the investigation began.
The New York Daily News has additional details about Halderman’s troubles.
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Flood rescuer forgets past, repeats father’s heroism
Great uplifting story on the CNN Web site about a Georgia man who saved a woman from last week’s floodwaters despite the memories of losing his father 30 years ago when his dad saved two canoeists.
You need to click here to read the tale.
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Fort Hood soldier pleads guilty to kidnap hoax
A soldier accused of spinning a kidnapping hoax to cover his absence without leave has pleaded guilty to charges in a Fort Hood military trial.
Pfc. James Andrew Gonzalez pleaded guilty Friday to charges that included desertion, making false official statements and obstruction of justice. The Fort Hood soldier faces a maximum of more than 22 years’ confinement and a dishonorable discharge.
The sentencing phase starts later today. A condition of a plea deal is that guilt be determined by a military judge, not a jury.
His brother, J.C. Gonzalez, had said the FBI had told the family the Army received a July 13 ransom call. The caller said the soldier had been abducted and demanded $100,000 and withdrawal of U.S. troops from the border. The soldier was arrested unharmed July 22 in a Laredo traffic stop.
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Man wins lottery prize during embezzlement case
A former Kansas radio executive who admitted that he embezzled to support an addiction to scratch-off lottery tickets won a $96,000 lottery prize.
Prosecutors say the prize money will go toward paying restitution to Paul W. Lyle’s former employer, American Media Investments.
Lyle pleaded guilty Thursday to felony theft for embezzling an estimated $88,000 from American Media.
It was during his preliminary hearing Sept. 21 that Lyle was notified he had won a prize in a second-chance lottery drawing. The prize includes a boat, cash and tickets to a NASCAR race at the Kansas Speedway.
Lyle will be sentenced Nov. 30.
His conviction carries a sentencing range of five to 17 months in jail or prison. But prosecutors say Lyle likely will get probation because he has no previous felony convictions.
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Update: Chicago eliminated in 1st round of Olympic voting
Despite personal appeals by President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, on behalf of Chicago being picked to host the 2016 Olympics, the city was eliminated in the first round of voting, the Associated Press reports.
Earlier today, CNN had a story about how Michelle Obama’s speech was particularly powerful.
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Hidden bomb kills Iraqi cop-preacher during prayer
A bomb smuggled into a village mosque Friday killed a prayer leader who also worked as a police officer in an area of northern Iraq considered the last stronghold of Sunni insurgents, an official said.
The explosives were hidden under a platform where Narjis Shiwash was overseeing prayers in Namrood, a mostly Sunni village about 18 miles south of Mosul. Three worshippers were injured, said the police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
The mosque was only lightly guarded and had none of the additional security cordons placed around many larger places of worship around Iraq during the height of sectarian bloodshed several years ago.
There were no immediate arrests, but suspicion fell on groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq.
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Concern heightens in search for abducted Tennessee baby
Just a week after Yair Anthony Carillo was born, police in Tennessee were looking for the snatched infant and his abductor with growing concern.
The chubby baby with a thick mane of black hair was taken from his home Tuesday, just four days after he was born to 30-year-old Maria Gurrolla. She says a heavyset white woman with blonde hair arrived at her home south of Nashville posing as an immigration agent, attacked her with a kitchen knife, then took the boy, who turned a week old Friday. Her 3-year-old daughter was left in the home unharmed.
Police say they are getting tips and leads every hour, but concern for his safety grows with each passing day.
“We don’t know that the person who took the child knows how to take care of an infant,” said police spokesman Don Aaron.
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TSTC Waco to dedicate building after 1st president
Texas State Technical College in Waco will officially dedicate the Dr. Roy Dugger Center this morning at 10:30 a.m.
Dugger, who will attend the celebration, was TSTC’s first president and oversaw the transition of the Air Force base to a college after the Texas Legislature passed a bill signed by then-Gov. John B. Connally Jr., creating the James Connally Technical Institute of Texas A&M University in April 1965.
TSTC is no longer part of Texas A&M, but has grown to four colleges, with others in Marshall, Harlingen and West Texas.
Waco Mayor Virginia DuPuy will be among the dignitaries at the dedication.
The ceremony will be at the corner of Airline Drive and Fifth Street.
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U.S. unemployment rate hits 9.8 percent, worse than expected
The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since June 1983, as employers cut far more jobs than expected. The report is evidence that the worst recession since the 1930s is still inflicting widespread pain.
Persistently high unemployment could weaken the recovery as consumers, concerned about their jobs and incomes, restrain spending. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the nation’s economy.
The Labor Department said Friday that the economy lost a net total of 263,000 jobs last month, from a downwardly revised 201,000 in August. That’s worse than Wall Street economists’ expectations of 180,000 job losses, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
The unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent in August, matching expectations.
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Letterman admits to sexual affairs with female employees
I don’t usually watch “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and when it began last night I changed the channel to find something else. But had I stuck with it, I would have been among those amazed to see the longtime funnyman on the show admit to having sexual relationships with several female employees of his show.
The admission came, Letterman says, because he was being blackmailed for $2 million by someone who claimed he would expose the affairs.
Click here to read more about Letterman’s confession and the alleged extortion attempt.
And of course, someone has been kind enough to post Letterman’s confession and the blackmail story on YouTube. So you can check that out below, if you’re interested, and have the time. It runs about 10 minutes.
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Woman indicted for part in faked drowning in Gulf of Mexico
A Nueces County grand jury has indicted a woman who allegedly helped her brother try to fake his drowning amid in incest investigation.
Katherine Tate was indicted Thursday on a charge of hindering apprehension, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison.
The 34-year-old woman was arrested in May in Rockport. She was later freed on bond.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports Katherine Tate in September 2008 reported Larry James Tate Jr. missing while swimming off Port Aransas.
The Coast Guard spent an estimated $180,000 trying to locate him.
An off-duty officer earlier this year recognized Larry Tate shopping in Fort Smith, Ark.
Tate in June pleaded guilty to two counts of incest, in an investigation involving a stepdaughter. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
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Midway falls to Corsicana in late football action Thursday
Blame it on the rain, and the lightning, because last night’s Midway football game against Corsicana ended after 11:30 p.m., way too late to get in the final score in this morning’s Tribune-Herald.
That score was a 40-31 win for Corsicana over the third-ranked Panthers, who suffered their first loss of the season.
The game was played Thursday night at Floyd Casey Stadium, which will be the case on weekends that Baylor has home games. Midway will play at Baylor’s stadium while work is done to expand Panther Stadium.
Trib sports writer Chad Conine reported that the game didn’t resume until 10:20 p.m. because the incoming bad weather forced game officials to clear the Floyd Casey Stadium stands at the end of the first half.
Click here to read Conine’s coverage.
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Clearing today, but more rain ahead in the forecast
Good morning, Waco. After last night’s quick-moving thunderstorms, we’re supposed to have a day of sunny skies with a high to reach only about 80 degrees. An east-northeast wind between 5 and 10 mph will keep us cooler.
My rain gauge in Woodway had 0.65 inches from last night’s rain. How did you fare?
If the forecast is correct, we’re in for a weekend that’s likely to be see more rain, with at least a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for most of Saturday and Sunday.
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Flu advice a 2-1-1 phone call away for Texans
The Texas Department of State Health Services is trying to get out the word that if Texans believe they or a family member has flu symptoms, there’s a 2-1-1 number to call for medical advice over the telephone.
Here’s the release.
Texans can now dial 2-1-1 to receive over-the-phone medical guidance about what they should do if they or a family member have flu symptoms.
The state’s 2-1-1 health information helpline is now staffed with medical professionals who can provide information about managing flu symptoms and advice on when to seek medical care from a physician or emergency room.
“We want to help people make informed decisions about how to care for themselves and their families,” said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services. “Most H1N1 and seasonal flu cases can be successfully treated at home, without having to go to the doctor or without an unnecessary trip to the emergency room.”
The guidance is not intended to replace specific instructions people receive from their physicians, Lakey said.
The 2-1-1 staff also can provide general flu information and vaccine availability information for individuals and health care providers. Calls are answered round-the-clock. Callers are instructed to choose a language and then press “6” for flu information and guidance.
Basic flu symptoms include fever, cough and sore throat that usually come on suddenly. Most cases are relatively mild to moderate and do not need emergency treatment. Most people who have H1N1 flu or seasonal flu just need appropriate fluid intake, fever-reducing medication, rest and careful monitoring, Lakey said. Recovering at home also lessens the burden on the health care system.
People with underlying health conditions who think they have the flu should contact their health care provider.
The flu information and guidance service is provided through a DSHS contract with the 2-1-1 Texas Information and Referral Network operated by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
For more information about flu in Texas, visit DSHS’ www.TexasFlu.org.
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Romanian government collapses as coalition partner quits
Romania’s coalition government collapsed Thursday after nine ministers from the Social Democrats quit to protest the firing of the interior minister for comments about possible election fraud.
Social Democratic Party leader Mircea Geoana said the ministers resigned “in solidarity” with Dan Nica, a party member fired by Prime Minister Emil Boc on Monday over a statement he made about potential fraud in the upcoming Nov. 22 election.
The comments were widely interpreted as an accusation that Boc’s Liberal Democrats might try to cheat to get President Traian Basescu re-elected.
The coalition collapse goes far beyond the ministers. Thousands of Social Democrats will now lose their jobs in national and local posts throughout Romania.
Geoana blamed Basescu for instigating the political crisis, saying it created further uncertainty in Romania ahead of the election.
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‘Miracle on Hudson’ pilots reunite for flight together
The “Miracle on the Hudson” pilots were back together for the first time since the amazing landing in the New York river.
U.S. Airways Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and 1st Officer Jeffrey Skiles flew together on Flight 1050 that took off from Charlotte, N.C., at 7:55 a.m. and landed at LaGuardia Airport at 9:44 a.m.
Read more about their flight and passengers’ response in this story from ABC News, which includes video.
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Study calls for ‘net-zero’ solar homes in Texas
Building all new homes with solar power so they can generate the same amount of energy they use would dramatically clean Texas skies and save billions in utility bills, an environmental group said in a report released Thursday.
The Environment Texas Research and Policy Center’s study concludes that “net-zero” homes would cut energy demand so much that seven otherwise necessary power plants would not have to be built and consumers would save more than $5 billion. The group estimated that the reduced annual emissions in the nation’s leading greenhouse-gas producing state would be the equivalent to cutting the pollution of more than 3 million cars by 2030.
“We think it’s realistic,” Environment Texas director Luke Metzger said, adding that tighter construction standards and government incentives would be needed to make it work. “The technology is already available. We already have houses on the ground.”
Energy supply is a huge concern in Texas, which is growing so fast that an estimated 2.2 million single-family homes are expected to be built between 2010 and 2030. The study found huge energy savings if 10 percent more net-zero houses are built each year for the next decade, then by 2020 all new homes were built that way.
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Fossilized dinosaur eggs found in India
Geologists in southern India say they have found hundreds of dinosaur egg clusters which could be about 65 million years old.
It was a chance find discovered when a team of scientists were locating a place to excavate an ancient riverbed in the state of Tamil Nadu.
As they dug deeper they saw layers of what looked like fossilized eggs.
The photos and samples were then sent to various universities who confirmed that they were dinosaur eggs.
Each egg is the size of a football - about 13 to 23 centimeters in diameter, lying buried in sandy nests.
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Second quake jolts Indonesia; more than 500 dead from 1st temblor
Another strong earthquake rocked Indonesia early Thursday as the Southeast Asian nation was reeling from an earlier jolt that killed more than 500 people and caused widespread destruction.
The 6.8 magnitude quake Thursday hit South Sumatra at 8:52 a.m. local time (9:52 p.m. Wednesday ET), about 89 miles from Bengkulu, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The earlier quake Wednesday was 7.6 magnitude.
At least 529 people were dead and more than 500 were injured, said Tugiyo Bisri, spokesman for the Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry’s Crisis Center said Thursday. The worst hit was the West Sumatra capital of Padang, where 376 people perished, he said.
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Mom plunks prowlers with billiard balls
I was told of this hilarious story on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Web site: A 27-year-old woman stopped a burglary attempt at her home in North Richland Hills by firing billiard balls at the two prowlers.
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Jobless claims go up; consumer spending leaps higher
First-time claims for jobless benefits increased more than expected last week, a sign employers are reluctant to hire and the job market remains weak.
And while consumer spending jumped by the most in nearly eight years in August due partly to the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, economists worry whether that rebound can be sustained with U.S. households facing rising unemployment, tight credit conditions and other obstacles.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to a seasonally adjusted 551,000 from 534,000 in the previous week. Wall Street economists expected an increase of 5,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
The increase comes after three weeks of declines. Weekly claims have been trending down since the spring, but the decline has been painfully slow. The four-week average, which smooths out fluctuations, dropped to 548,000, about 110,000 below its peak in early April.
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Death toll from South Pacific tsunamis reaches 150
Samoans searched flattened homes and debris-filled swamps, while dazed survivors told of being trapped underwater or flung inland by a tsunami that ravaged towns and killed at least 150 people in the South Pacific.
The day after the disaster struck, officials were expecting the death toll to rise as more areas were searched.
“To me it was like a monster — just black water coming to you. It wasn’t a wave that breaks, it was a full force of water coming straight,” said Luana Tavale, an American Samoa government employee.
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele’s own village of Lesa was washed away — like many others on Samoa and nearby American Samoa and Tonga. He inspected Wednesday the southeast coast of the main Samoan island of Upolu, the most heavily hit area. He described seeing “complete” devastation.
“In some villages absolutely no house was standing. All that was achieved within 10 minutes by the very powerful tsunami,” he said.
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Political scientists: U.S. standing in world declines
The United States’ standing in the world declined in the past decade to below Cold War levels, according to a leading group of political scientists.
Favorable attitudes have risen sharply under President Barack Obama with his commitment to “restore American standing,” but confidence in him appears to be in conflict with unfavorable attitudes about U.S. foreign policy, the American Political Science Association said in a report released Thursday.
“Many American leaders and citizens worry that this decline, despite a recent upturn, may be part of a long-term trend, one that will be hard to reverse,” the report said.
While Obama has raised American esteem, he has not produced more European troops for Afghanistan, secured concessions from North Korea nor made any headway with Iran, the academics said.
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Central California feels earthquake
The U.S. Geological Survey has reported a moderate earthquake in Central California.
A preliminary earthquake report that had not yet been reviewed by a seismologist said the magnitude-5.1 quake hit at 3:01 a.m. Thursday. It was centered in a rural area near Sequoia National Park and about 148 miles west of Las Vegas.
Faith Felton, a dispatcher for the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department, said no injuries or damages had been reported early Thursday morning.
Geophysicist Randy Baldwin of the USGS National Earthquake Center in Golden, Colo., said a couple of earthquakes with magnitudes of about 5.4 occurred in the area in recent years.
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San Antonio police officer resigns after his 3rd arrest
A San Antonio police officer has resigned after his third arrest.
Jason Rozacky, 36, has been under investigation since his ex-girlfriend’s apartment was broken into and she was assaulted. The 14-year officer resigned Tuesday and remained in the Bexar County Jail on Thursday.
Mike Helle, president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association, emphasized Rozacky is innocent until proven guilty.
Rozacky was charged with burglary and intent to commit assault Aug. 26 after the break-in and assault. He was arrested about a month later on a charge of tampering with a witness. His latest arrest was for allegedly making repeated phone calls to the ex-girlfriend.
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Good chance for rain today
After a few days of dry conditions, the arrival of a cold front today will give us a pretty decent chance for showers and thunderstorms — 40 percent this afternoon and 60 percent this evening.
Some of the storms could be severe, according to the National Weather Service.
Otherwise, it’ll be mostly cloudy, with a high near 89. A south-southwest wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph, will blow until the front arrives and shifts winds to the north-northwest.
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Mills gets parole OK, but likely won’t get out until April
Two commissioners from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles approved Margaret Mills’ request for parole, setting a tentative April release date for the former Downtown Waco Inc. executive director. If Mills, 68, is released in April, she will have served about 17 months of a nine-year prison term for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the downtown development agency she ran for 18 years. She is scheduled to remain on parole or supervised release until Nov. 8, 2017, said Jason Clark, a Texas prison system spokesman.
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Judge tosses last challenge against Sandy Creek power plant
A federal judge has thrown out the last remaining legal challenge against a large coal-powered electric plant near Waco.
Attorney Eric Groten of Sandy Creek Energy Associates L.P. says the ruling in Sandy Creek’s favor means the plant at Riesel will open by 2012 as planned.
Environmentalist groups had sued to stop the plant, challenging its air-pollution permits and questioning whether the proper pollution control equipment was being installed.
A lawyer representing the Sierra Club and Public Citizen didn’t immediately return a phone call Wednesday.
Environmentalists have for years fought against the plant and 10 others around the state that are either under construction or in the permitting process.
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Water line breaks in Gatesville; some residents left dry
A 30-inch water line in Gatesville broke overnight, leaving residents on the eastern side of the city without water today and forcing the hospital, prison units and school district to conserve.
Luis Lobo, Gatesville’s assistant city manager, said crews hope to have the line repaired by noon today, but because the the water plant is 22 miles south of the city, it will take about two hours before water in town is restored.
Lobo said he has made Wal-Mart and H-E-B in Gatesville aware of the problem, and told them to brace for an increase in sales of bottled water.
Lobo said residents of Gatesville with any questions regarding the water situation should call him at (254) 865-8951.
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Fighter jet missing 54 years found off California coast
Searchers in California say they have found and identified the wreck of a fighter jet that disappeared into the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles International Airport nearly 54 years ago.
The searchers were looking for another missing plane when they came upon the wreckage of a Lockheed T-33A jet trainer, said Pat Macha, an aircraft archeologist who has identified about 3,700 crash sites and visited more than 800.
“It’s a funky thing,” Macha said Tuesday. “You’re looking for one aircraft, and you find another.”
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Indonesia quake kills at least 13, injures hundreds
A major earthquake that struck Indonesia Wednesday killed at least 13 people and injured hundreds more, an official said.
The 13 were crushed when the quake collapsed buildings, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the Ministry of Health’s crisis center. Hundreds more were injured, he said.
The quake caused widespread power and phone outages, making it difficult to assess the scope of the damage.
It struck at around 5 p.m. local time, about 33 miles from Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra. Padang is home to more than 800,000 people.
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Transportation secretary: Distracted driving is ‘menace to society’
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called distracted driving a “menace to society” Wednesday, kicking off a two-day meeting on preventing drivers from using mobile devices behind the wheel.
The Obama administration reported that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, a striking indication of the dangers of talking on cell phones and texting while driving.
“To put it plainly, distracted driving is a menace to society,” LaHood told more than 300 participants at the government’s ‘distracted driving summit.’ “Distracted driving is an epidemic and it seems to be getting worse every year.”
The Transportation Department brought together experts to take a hard look at the highway hazards caused by drivers talking on cell phones or texting from behind the wheel. LaHood said he would offer recommendations Thursday that could lead to new restrictions on using the devices while driving.
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Police: Angry ex-wife fries up couple’s pet goldfish, eats three
Wild story from the Houston area about a woman so mad at her former common-law husband that she fried their pet goldfish and ate a few of them.
According to this Associated Press story, Pasadena police say it’s a civil matter and no charges will be filed. The seven goldfish were purchased together by the couple during happier times.
Police spokesman Vance Mitchell says the man on Saturday reported the woman took the goldfish from his apartment.
Mitchell says the two earlier argued about some jewelry he gave her, then allegedly took back and she wanted the jewelry returned.
When officers were sent to the woman’s home, they arrived to find four fried goldfish on a plate. The woman said she already ate the other three.
That sounds like angry to me.
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Tsunami death toll could top 100 in Samoan islands
A series of tsunamis smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa killing possibly more than 100 people, some washed out to sea, destroying villages and injuring hundreds, officials said on Wednesday.
President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in American Samoa, a U.S. territory, and ordered federal aid to help recovery efforts, with a U.S. C-130 military transport aircraft due to leave Honolulu for the tiny South Pacific islands.
Television images showed homes ripped apart, cars submerged in the sea or lodged in trees and large fishing boats hurled ashore by the waves generated by a 8.0 magnitude quake southwest of American Samoa.
A second 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra late on Wednesday, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami watch for Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia.
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Arrest warrants indicate those arrested in Clifton murder conspired to rob victim
Arrest warrant affidavits reveal that the five Clifton residents, ages 14 to 23, charged with capital murder in connection with last week’s shooting death of 57-year-old Arturo Chavez had conspired to rob the man in Dahl Park.
The affidavits state that Jennifer Thompson Dunn, 22, told Clifton police that she and four others had agreed to meet Chavez before 10 p.m. Wednesday in the park, where “another party” would confront and rob the bank janitor.
Dunn, as well as 23-year-old Angelica Nieto and 23-year-old Pedro Ramirez III, are being held in the Bosque County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail. Two additional suspects, a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, are being held in juvenile detention. All are charged with capital murder.
A resident of a home neighboring the park called Clifton police around 10 p.m. in reference to what the person thought was a drunk man passed out in the park.
When police arrived, Chavez was lying on the ground with a gunshot under his right jaw bone, the affidavit states.
Clifton police have said that they have taken what they believe to be the murder weapon, a gun, into custody as evidence. They’ve also said that the five suspects knew each other and Chavez.
It is unclear in the affidavit why Chavez was targeted.
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Falls County Jail guard fired, arrested for marrying inmate
A female guard who works with a private firm through the Falls County Jail was fired and arrested after an internal investigation revealed she had married a 31-year-old inmate by proxy.
Guard Chastity Withers was married by proxy Aug. 23 to inmate Timothy Hargrove, who was jailed at the time, said Bill Palatucci, a spokesman with Community Education Centers Inc., which provides treatment and education services to inmates.
Hargrove was sentenced to 30 years in prison on a manufacturing of a controlled substance conviction.
A marriage by proxy is when the bride and groom are not together for a marriage service. These are typically seen among members of the military.
Withers was arrested and charged with possessing prohibited items and substances in a correctional facility, a misdemeanor. She was released from jail on a $1,000 bond.
Details on the charge were not available. The case is still under investigation, Palatucci said.
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Damage minimal from Mexia State School kitchen roof fire
Mexia firefighters extinguished a blaze early today on the roof of the kitchen at the Mexia State School.
Mexia fire officials say cooks called the fire department around 5:30 a.m. to report that the kitchen was filled with smoke.
The fire started near a vent hood on the roof, where work had recently been done.
Officials say damage was minimal, and that state school employees expected to have the kitchen running like usual by mid-morning.
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Terror suspect Zazi pleads not guilty
The Afghan immigrant suspected of plotting to turn common chemicals into weapons of mass destruction and use them to blow up trains in New York City pleaded not guilty Tuesday.
Najibullah Zazi, 24, a native of Afghanistan who worked as a Denver airport shuttle driver, entered the plea in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was transferred to New York from Colorado on Friday.
Zazi is accused of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in a suspected terror plot. Authorities believe it had the potential to be the worst terrorist attack in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001.
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Have you seen our latest cheerleader pics?
The parade of cheerleader photos online at WacoTrib.com continues with the addition of slide shows for La Vega and Bosqueville high schools.
Click the above school names to go to those slide shows. All the cheerleader slide shows from area schools can be accessed here.
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American jailed in Japan for trying to get his chldren back
CNN has an interesting story about a Tennessee dad who went to Japan to retrieve his two children from his ex-wife, who defied U.S. law and ran away with them.
But he’s the one in jail in Japan charged with the abduction of minors. His ex-wife is considered the victim.
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Suspect admits role in beating death of Chicago honor student
One of the suspects accused of killing an honor student in a beating captured on tape in Chicago has admitted to jumping on the victim’s head after he was already lying on the ground, said a spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney.
In the videotaped confession, 19-year-old Silvanus Shannon also said that the victim, Derrion Albert, never struck him, said the spokeswoman, Tandra Simonton.
Three teens arrested in Albert’s death — Silvanus Shannon, 19; Eric Carson, 16; and Eugene Riley, 18 — were seen on the videotape attacking Albert, and were charged with first-degree murder and held without bail, Simonton said. Monday night authorities said they charged a fourth suspect, 17-year-old Eugene Bailey, with murder.
On Monday during the bond hearing, prosecutors described how the street fight escalated from a dispute between two factions at Albert’s high school to a beating that left the honor student dead.
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Big marijuana find in Navarro County
Navarro County sheriff’s deputies helped harvest and then confiscate more than $7 million worth of marijuana near a levee system.
Capt. Elmer Tanner says removal of the marijuana plot, about 5,000 plants, began Monday.
No arrests were immediately made, but Tanner says some individuals are under investigation. Two camp sites were located.
Chief Deputy Mike Cox put a street value on the marijuana, discovered Saturday during aerial surveillance by law officers, at $7.5 million.
Cox told the Corsicana Daily Sun that an elaborate pipe system provided irrigation, drawing water from creek bottoms.
Cox also sent these two images of some of the marijuana plants found. Click the images to enlarge.
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Consumer confidence takes unexpected dip in September
Americans’ worries about job security flared up in September, causing a widely watched barometer of consumer confidence to fall unexpectedly and raising more concern about the upcoming holiday shopping season.
The New York-based Conference Board, a private research group, said that its Consumer Confidence Index dipped to 53.1 in September, down from the revised 54.5 reading in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a reading of 57.
The index - fueled by signs that the economy might be stabilizing - had enjoyed a three-month climb since hitting a historic low in February of 25.3 but has been bumpy since June as rising unemployment has caught up with shoppers.
A reading above 90 means the economy is on solid footing. Above 100 signals strong growth.
Economists watch consumer sentiment because spending on goods and services for consumers, including housing and health care, accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity by federal measures.
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Huntsville district shuts down its schools due to flu
The flu — regular and H1N1 (swine) — have been hitting school districts hard and now all schools in the Huntsville Independent School District are closed until Thursday due to students and staff being sick.
A statement on the school district’s Web site says classes and extracurricular activities Tuesday and Wednesday at the eight campuses, with about 6,300 students, are canceled “due to a high rate of absences.”
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Homeless Georgia sex offenders ordered to move
Yesterday I posted an item about nine homeless sex offenders living in the woods near a suburban Atlanta office park because they couldn’t find anywhere else to live, in part because of state law concerning sex offenders.
Now they are searching again for a place to stay after being ordered to move.
According to The Associated Press story, they had been directed to the spot by probation officers who said it was a location of last resort for the sex offenders barred from living in many areas by one of the nation’s toughest sex offender policies.
William Hawkins is a 34-year-old who has lived in the camp for about two weeks and says he’s not sure where he’ll move. He says he’ll be arrested again if he has nowhere to go.
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Inspiration for ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ dies
CNN has the story that the childhood friend of John Lennon’s son who served as the inspiration for the Beatles’ classic “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” has died.
Lucy Vodden was a 4-year-old classmate of Julian Lennon when he showed his father a drawing of her. “That’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds,” he told his father.
Vodden was 46. She died from the chronic disease lupus.
John Lennon had always claimed that the title of the song was suggested by Julian, not a code for the hallucinogenic drug LSD, though the debate goes on.
Here is that song, via YouTube, from the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine movie, if you’re up for it.
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Philippine death toll rises; new storms threaten
The toll from floods in the northern Philippines rose to at least 284 dead or missing Tuesday as bedraggled victims queued up for aid and Typhoon Ketsana roared into Vietnam.
The storm, which struck Manila and surrounding provinces on Saturday, gathered strength across the South China Sea, and claimed at least 23 lives as it made landfall Tuesday in central Vietnam, where 170,000 were evacuated from its path. It was weakening as it headed west into Laos.
Two new storms were brewing in the Pacific and threatened to complicate relief efforts in the Philippines, officials said.
The homes of nearly 1.9 million people in Manila and surrounding areas were inundated in the weekend flooding, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said. Nearly 380,000 people have sought shelter in schools, churches and other evacuation centers.
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Video shows Indonesian bombers relaxing outside hotels before blast
Two Indonesian suicide bombers lounged and casually snacked in a grass field near luxury Jakarta hotels weeks before they attacked them, videos released by police Tuesday showed.
The footage was pulled from a laptop found in a backpack on regional al-Qaida commander Noordin Top, a Malaysian who was shot dead two weeks ago during a police raid in Central Java.
The video, taken in the last week of June, also shows the men jogging on a road that passes the hotels and trying on clothing to wear on the day of their deaths.
Three weeks later, the men walked into the lounges of the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott and blew themselves up. The July 17 explosions killed seven people and wounded more than 50, ending a four-year pause in terrorist attacks in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
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Waco Dairy Queen robbed
A Waco Dairy Queen restaurant was robbed just before midnight Monday, according to police.
The Dairy Queen at 1412 N. New Road was robbed by three men wearing black ski masks at 11:42 p.m.
One of the suspects went to the office, pulled a gun and demanded money from the manager. After getting an undisclosed amount of cash the suspect put the money in a back pack.
Suspects were last seen walking south on New Road, Anderson said.
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