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News / National News
Published 09/02/2010 - 5:42 p.m. CST

Agrees to Forfeit $360,000 to U.S. Government

WASHINGTON - A former senior employee of a U.S. military contractor pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to pay $360,000 in bribes to U.S. Army contracting officials stationed at a U.S. military base in Kuwait, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.


Published 09/02/2010 - 4:38 p.m. CST

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), Maricopa County, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for refusing full cooperation with the department’s investigation of alleged national origin discrimination in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI prohibits discrimination in programs that receive federal funds, and also requires grant recipients to cooperate with investigations of discrimination by providing access to documents, facilities and staff. MCSO signed contractual assurance agreements as a condition of receiving federal funds, and promised that it would cooperate with investigations of alleged discrimination.


Published 09/02/2010 - 3:52 p.m. CST

Director Bromwich to Host Forums in Texas and Mississippi to Discuss Deepwater Drilling Safety, Containment and Spill Response; Experts from Academia, Industry and Environmental Organizations to Give Presentations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) today announced that Director Michael R. Bromwich will hold the next two events in a series of fact-finding forums in Houston, Texas and Biloxi, Miss. the week of September 6, 2010. The forums are designed to collect information and views about deepwater drilling safety reforms, well containment, and oil spill response, which Director Bromwich will consider in evaluating whether to recommend any modifications to the scope or duration of the deepwater drilling suspensions announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on July 12, 2010.


Published 09/01/2010 - 5:38 p.m. CST
WASHINGTON – American pharmaceutical manufacturer Allergan Inc. has agreed to plead guilty and pay $600 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of its biological product, Botox® Therapeutic, for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today. The resolution includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $375 million and a civil settlement with the federal government and the states of $225 million.


Published 09/01/2010 - 3:10 p.m. CST

RALEIGH, NC - Gov. Beverly Perdue issued the declaration during this afternoon briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center near the state capital. The governor’s declaration covers the entire state of North Carolina.

Perdue also issued Executive Order No. 61 in anticipation of Hurricane Earl’s arrival to temporarily suspend some motor vehicle regulations to ensure the transport of essentials and restoration of utility services as needed.

Published 09/01/2010 - 12:56 p.m. CST

obama-netanyahu
Obama, Netanyahu

“Senseless slaughter,” says Obama - Hamas calls it "Heroic Operation"

WASHINGTON, DC - Israel demands vengeance today for the murders of four Israeli settlers who were ambushed and shot to death in their car yesterday in the West Bank. Those murders occurred on the eve of scheduled peace talks brokered by President Obama between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas has not only claimed credit for the murders, Palestinians have danced in the streets celebrating what Barack Obama referred to as the “senseless slaughter” of the four Israeli settlers including a pregnant woman.

Published 09/01/2010 - 10:21 a.m. CST
The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Scenic View Dairy of Hamilton, Mich., its president, and three of its managers alleging that they sold dairy cows for human consumption that contained illegal drug residues in edible tissues.

The complaint, filed Aug. 31, 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, also alleges that the defendants, despite numerous warnings, sold for slaughter dairy cows that were treated with drugs contrary to the drugs’ FDA-approved labeling and without a valid veterinary prescription authorizing such use.


Published 09/01/2010 - 8:30 a.m. CST

Hanna's Rains - Not Surge - Damaged Hundreds of Boats

ALEXANDRIA, VA - Four days before 2008's Hurricane Hanna struck the South Carolina coast and ran up the eastern US seaboard, she was downgraded to a tropical storm. But that still didn't stop the damage to hundreds of recreational boats deluged by the storm's intense rains. And with Hurricane Earl now forecast on a parallel course just eastward of Hanna's old track, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) is again urging boaters from the Mid-Atlantic to New England to protect their vessels from the forecasted heavy precipitation.


Published 09/01/2010 - 6:06 a.m. CST
U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Dem – TX 30th) has awarded $25,000 in scholarships to her own grandson and to a top aide’s children. In total Johnson gave out 23 awards since 2005 violating Congressional Black Caucus Foundation eligibility rules which prohibit nepotism and require the recipients of the scholarships to live within the representatives congressional district.
Published 09/02/2010 - 5:23 a.m. CST

This week the Army, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard announced a decrease in activated reservists, while the Air Force and Navy announced an increase. The net collective result is 215 fewer reservists activated than last week.


Published 09/01/2010 - 3:33 p.m. CST
WASHINGTON – Hakimullah Mehsud, the self-proclaimed emir of the Pakistani Taliban, has been charged by criminal complaint for his alleged involvement in the murder of seven American citizens on Dec. 30, 2009 at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, the Justice Department announced today.

The two-count criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Aug. 20, 2010 and unsealed today, charges Hakimullah Mehsud, aka Hakimullah Mahsud, with conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens abroad and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against U.S. citizens abroad.


Published 09/01/2010 - 1:58 p.m. CST

james lee discovery channel
James Lee
UPDATE:  SIEGE ENDS - 3 hostages rescued. Gunman shot.  Explosive device reportedly "went off" but only some smoke and sparks resulted.  Police are now working to clear the rest of the building of potential explosive devices.  The suspect is alive, condition unknown, and is in police custody.


Gunman's Manifesto reads in part: "Focus must be given on how people can live WITHOUT giving birth to more filthy human children since those new additions continue pollution and are pollution".


WASHINGTON, DC - An individual identified by Discovery Channel employees as James Lee entered the Discovery Channel building in Silver Spring, Maryland today. The siege is ongoing. Employees and children in a Day Care Center located in the building have been evacuated. There are reports that Mr. Lee has a bomb and is holding hostages. Reports vary on the number of hostages, ranging from 1 to as many as 12.

Published 09/01/2010 - 11:53 a.m. CST

joemiller
Joe Miller wins GOP nomination in Senate primary

In the biggest upset to date in the current election cycle, unknown Alaska attorney Joe Miller has defeated incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski. Miller burst onto the political radar following the endorsement of former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin.

Miller, a Tea Party candidate working outside of the traditional GOP inner-circle has upset the apple-cart for all those who say the Tea Party will have no impact in November by becoming the first Tea Party backed candidate to upset a sitting U.S. Senator in a head-to-head primary battle. Sarah Palin has proven again to be the conservative candidate’s best friend.

Published 09/01/2010 - 9:35 a.m. CST
PHOENIX – Governor Jan Brewer announced yesterday that the federal district court has granted her motion to dismiss the challenge to SB 1070 filed by Tucson police officer Martin Escobar.

The Arizona Legislature enacted SB 1070 primarily to require that Arizona’s law enforcement officers cooperate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws and, pursuant to the State’s broad police powers, to adopt state crimes that mirror existing federal laws. These laws were duly passed by the Arizona Legislature to protect the citizens of Arizona from the federal government’s failure to enforce the immigration laws.


Published 09/01/2010 - 6:32 a.m. CST
PHOENIX, AZ -- Calling it another attempt by the media to vilify him as an evil racist, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio today says he is troubled by reporters who are drawing the
conclusion that a murderous character in a film set for nationwide release this Friday, September 3, 2010, is actually modeled after Arpaio.

Published 08/31/2010 - 7:12 p.m. CST

President uses the national podium to push his economic agenda

Barack Obama began his remarks by saying, “I know this historic moment comes at a time of great uncertainty for many Americans. We’ve now been through nearly a decade of war. We’ve endured a long and painful recession and sometimes in the midst of these storms the future that we’re trying to build for our nation; a future of lasting peace and long-term prosperity may seem beyond our reach.”