Junior League Kicks-Off Another Christmas in Cowtown

The Junior League of Fort Worth is holding their fifth annual Christmas in Cowtown Holiday Gift Market Thursday through Saturday at Will Rogers Memorial Center.

The gift market is an ideal venue to shop more than 130 merchants from across the country featuring home décor, jewelry, clothing, children's products, gourmet food and more.

Proceeds from the Christmas in Cowtown Holiday Gift Market benefit the JLFW in its mission to impact the lives of women and children and improve the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

Tickets can be purchased for $10 at the door. Discount tickets are available at Tom Thumb stores.  Kids 5 and under are free.

The market is open until 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and until 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Big 12 Bans High School Highlights From LHN

The Longhorn Network will not show high school game highlights under an agreement approved by leaders of the Big 12, including Texas.

The NCAA has already banned school-affiliated networks from showing high school games, saying they would be an unfair recruiting advantage.

The Big 12 Board of Directors on Thursday banned the use of highlights from prep games, though scores, standings and game statistics will still be allowed if approved by the NCAA.

The Longhorn Network is a 20-year, $300 million venture between Texas and ESPN struck earlier this year.

The Big 12 also said that airing a second football game on the network requires approval by both schools and the league's television partners, Fox Sports and ABC/ESPN.

Garland Library Renovations Over

After months of construction, renovations to the Central Library in Garland are complete.

The library  was opened in 1976, and the last time it was renovated was 1989.

The renovation added a technology center, a children’s area, group study rooms and other features. To facilitate space, areas that were once closed to the public are now public.

The renovations are part of the long-term capital improvement program approved by voters in 2004. 

The city of Garland will have a library open house on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Dallas County Officials Do Not Expect TB Outbreak

Dallas County health officials say the rate of tuberculosis infections in the county has been decreasing.

An outbreak of tuberculosis has been reported at Ennis High School, and Denton school district officials said Denton High School has a suspected case of the infection.

Dallas County's health department treated 188 people for tuberculosis last year, and that was a decline from years past.

"It's very treatable illness from my viewpoint," said Dr. Garry Woo, the county medical director for tuberculosis control.

Tuberculosis is an airborne bacterial infection.

"If someone coughs or someone sneezes in the room or even talks in the room and you inhale the air, you can be infected with someone else's tuberculosis," Woo said.

But the infection is contracted much differently from viruses such as the flu or the common cold. It takes time -- between 40 to 80 hours over a two-week time span -- and proximity to someone infected an active cause of tuberculosis to contract the infection.

Tuberculosis is often most visible in lung X-rays and is very similar to pneumonia.

Woo said a healthy diet and immune system are critical to avoiding the infection if you are around someone who has it. But beyond that, tuberculosis is treatable, he said.

"I don't believe you should be frightened of the disease there's a high awareness of it in Dallas County," he said.

A tuberculosis infection is significantly different from exposure to tuberculosis.

A simple skin test can determine whether if someone has exposed to tuberculosis. A positive test result means tuberculosis is lying dormant.

Those who test positive for exposure to tuberculosis are not infectious. But getting rid of the bacteria requires nine months of antibiotics.

"You're waiting for the organism to awaken, become active so that the antibiotics can work," Woo said.

EPA Rolls Back Air Rule, Texas Gets Most Leeway

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to ease new pollution rules that angered several states and infuriated GOP presidential contender Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The proposed fix to the cross-state pollution rule published Thursday will allow 10 states, including Texas, to emit more sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. EPA regional administrator Al Armendariz says most of the additional pollution will come from Texas.

Armendariz says the change is being made because the EPA understands it had incorrect data about some utilities, including Luminant in Texas. He says it is not political.

Luminant says the EPA used the wrong data when calculating the standards. It is checking whether the new proposal will allow it to roll back on plans to idle two units and lay off hundreds of employees.

Wastewater Treatment Product Sparked Chemical Plant Fire

A wastewater treatment product never revealed to state regulators caused a massive fire at chemical plant in Waxahachie on Monday, according to the company.

Magnablend CEO Scott Pendery said Thursday the fire occurred while the company was producing the 16th batch of the product. The production process caused excessive steam, and there was a spark nearby.

"Clearly there's an unacceptable result here along the way, which we're trying to figure out what caused it," he said. "The product, as we understand it, should never have yielded that kind of result."

The company had been making the product at the plant since August.

Pendery said it is not clear whether the company is required to disclose ingredients of the product to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as must be done with many hazardous chemicals.

He refused to reveal those ingredients Thursday.

"At the company, we know what we're putting in that tank," he said. "It's not something I'm at liberty to discuss right now."

On Monday, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality erroneously reported that ammonia and several acids were used in producing fertilizers at the plant.

Pendery blamed that mistake on the state agency but admitted that current records on exactly what is produced there may not have been filed with the TCEQ.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigators at the scene said the plant primarily produces animal feed additives.

EPA Coordinator Nicolas Brescia said smoldering of those animal feed compounds is the cause of an extremely foul odor rising from the scene, but that continuous EPA air monitoring has detected no air quality danger.

"They’re sulfur compounds," he said. "They smell bad. Just because they smell bad does not mean it is a public health hazard."

Customers at a nearby gas station said they were concerned about the foul odor and the plant.

"As of right now, it's pretty intense over there, so it's hard to say what was in there," said Ted Hancock, a professional nurse.

Brescia said nearby schoolchildren are being kept indoors to avoid the odor and exposure to fire runoff water from the plant.

Pendery said tests of the runoff water have not detected health hazards but that the water and soil that came in contact with it will be removed at the company's expense as a safety measure anyway.

The EPA, the TCEQ and the Waxahachie fire marshal will all conduct investigations of the fire and Magnablend's compliance with state and federal rules.

Robber Rips Wedding Ring Off Grandma's Finger

An armed intruder barged into the Fort Worth home of an 82-year-old widow and stole the wedding ring off her finger.

JoAnn Britton said she was watching television when an armed woman entered her unlocked apartment. Her door was unlocked because she was expecting a neighbor.

"I turned on the TV and wham, about that time, the door came open," Britton said. "And she came in with a gun."

Fort Worth police released surveillance video of the robber Thursday and asked the public for help in identifying her.

"She said, 'Don't move,'" Britton said. "I looked at her and I said, "Huh-huh, I ain't moving.'"

The robber didn't find much cash, but something on Britton's hand caught her eye -- the wedding ring from her longtime husband, Donald, who died seven years ago.

"It was my engagement band and my wedding ring," the grandmother said. "I've worn them for years and years and never thought about taking them off when I took a bath or anything."

"She pulled on them and hurt my fingers," Britton said. "She was trying to pull them off. They were kind of tight. And finally I just twisted them off like I'm doing that one, And I said, 'Here.'"

Britton stands 5 feet tall and weighs just 98 pounds -- no match for the much younger, stronger robber who was armed with a pistol.

"She was built like a wrestler," Britton said. ""Really, I was just so scared."

As if that wasn't enough, the cold-hearted bandit also took Britton's earrings right off her ears, the gold watch off her arm and other items from the jewelry box in her bedroom.

"I hope somebody catches her, I really do," she said.

She said she has recuperated from the robbery, which happened Aug. 27, and has learned to keep her door locked all the time.

Thieves Target Ford Trucks at State Fair

Dallas police are asking officers to keep a close eye on Ford trucks parked at the State Fair of Texas after two were stolen from the same lot.

One of the victims, Vickie Rodgers said had only fond memories of the State Fair until now.

"I always felt safe, would fall asleep on the way home as my dad drove us home," said Rodgers, who has been making the trip from Jacksboro since she was a child.

Her 2006 Harley Davidson special edition Ford F-250 truck was stolen while she and her husband enjoyed the fair.

"We left with a good feeling and headed out to the parking lot and preceded to look for our vehicle," she said.

The Rodgers said they made a point to park in a $15 front-row spot near one of the Dallas police watchtowers.

"I was just wishing I could have walked out there at the time the person was breaking into my truck," Larry Rodgers said.

Their truck was the second Ford F-series truck stolen from Lot 2 since the fair opened Sept. 30.

"I'm sitting there thinking, 'This is why we don't go to Dallas very often,'" Vickie Rodgers said.

The Rodgers said knowing police are keeping an extra eye on Ford trucks at the fairgrounds is little consolation for their loss.

"It was a special truck, we worked very hard for this vehicle," Larry Rodgers said.

Dallas police said they are looking at the fairgrounds' surveillance cameras to see if the crime was captured on camera.

Suspect Uses Bags in Bank Holdup

San Diego police FBI and bomb squad team members are investigating two potential bombs left at the Chase Bank during a robbery attempt.

A person entered the bank on Plaza Boulevard in National City wearing a dark blue hoodie with only eyes showing.

The person dropped off two packages - one red and one green - then left the building.

Soon after, the bank received a call from an unidentified man telling employees to put $100,000 in the red package or the green package would explode, police said.

Witnesses reported seeing a person fitting the clothing description running west of the bank location. The person took off the clothing and continued to run according to police.

Something suspicious may have been left under the clothing officials said.

The bank was evacuated along with 25 to 30 businesses in the South Bay Plaza Shopping Center.

A robot was sent into the building to examine the packages to see what type of device, if any, may be inside.

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Taxi Cab Bandit Sentenced to 94 Years

The man behind a string of bank robberies starting in 2009 was sentenced to 94 years and eight months.

Ronnell Davis became known as the “taxi cab bandit” due to the nature of his escapes. After robbing several Chula Vista banks, he used a taxi cab to flee the scene, Chula Vista police said.

Davis pled guilty to 48 felony counts and eight felony robbery counts. On September 29, Davis was sentenced to 94 years and eight months.

He robbed five banks in Chula Vista before police caught him:

• December 16, 2009: Wells Fargo on H St.
• December 28, 2009: San Diego National Bank on H St.
• January 7, 2010: Vibra Bank on Broadway Ave.
• January 14, 2010: Bank of America on E St.
• January 26, 2010: Bank of America on Third St.

During the last bank robbery on Third St., police caught Davis as he was fleeing from the robbery and took him into custody. The same day, the FBI served a search warrant at his house, where they found his disguises and the stolen currency.

Three months after he was taken into custody, he was released on bail but was on parole, only to rob more banks, including:

• March 28, 2011: San Diego County Credit Union on H St.
• March 30, 2011: Citibank on Broadway Circle in San Diego
• April 1, 2011: Bank of America on West Broadway in San Diego

On April 1, 2011, police tracked Davis back to a motel, where they took him into custody.

 

Pot Decision Could Lead to Dispensary Bans

Cities throughout the state are expected to start outlawing medical marijuana dispensaries in the wake of a court decision that overturns a key effort to regulate them.

The ruling by a panel of judges on California's 2nd District appellate court this week said cities could restrict marijuana dispensaries, but they can't do anything that would appear to give them approval or legitimacy.

The ruling could have wide repercussions in the state, said Jane Usher, an assistant City Attorney in Los Angeles who works on issues of cannabis dispensaries.

Small cities, she predicted, would simply ban dispensaries outright, in order to avoid violating federal law. Others would try to find more modest ways to regulate them, such as limiting the hours that they could remain open, or banning them from certain neighborhoods.

Already, on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported renewed efforts by federal prosecutors to shut down some dispenaries in the state.

"Medical marijuana is under assault by the federal government," said Joe Elford, chief counsel for the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access. He confirmed that several dispensaries around the state had received letters Wednesday and Thursday from federal prosecutors, ordering them to close down.

Both issues - regulating the dispensaries and allowing them to stay open at all - grow out of a conflict between state and federal laws. Even though California law allows marijuana to be used for medical purposes, federal law does not.

Feds Order Pot Shops to Shut Down

Federal prosecutors have launched a crackdown on pot dispensaries in California, warning the stores that they must shut down in 45 days or face criminal charges and confiscation of their property even if they are operating legally under the state's 15-year-old medical marijuana law.

In an escalation of the ongoing conflict between the U.S. government and the nation's burgeoning medical marijuana industry, at least 16 pot shops or their landlords received letters this week stating they are violating federal drug laws, even though medical marijuana is legal in California. The state's four U.S. attorneys are scheduled to announce a broader coordinated crackdown at a Friday news conference.

Their offices refused to confirm the closure orders. The Associated Press obtained copies of the letters that a prosecutor sent to at least 12 San Diego dispensaries. They state that federal law "takes precedence over state law and applies regardless of the particular uses for which a dispensary is selling and distributing marijuana."

"Under United States law, a dispensary's operations involving sales and distribution of marijuana are illegal and subject to criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions," letters signed by U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy in San Diego read. "Real and personal property involved in such operations are subject to seizure by and forfeiture to the United States ... regardless of the purported purpose of the dispensary."

The move comes a little more than two months after the Obama administration toughened its stand on medical marijuana following a two-year period during which federal officials had indicated they would not move aggressively against dispensaries in compliance with laws in the 16 states where pot is legal for people with doctors' recommendations.

The Department of Justice issued a policy memo to federal prosecutors in late June stating that marijuana dispensaries and licensed growers in states with medical marijuana laws could face prosecution for violating federal drug and money-laundering laws. The effort to shutter California dispensaries appears to be the most far-reaching effort so far to put that guidance into action.

"This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The administration is simply making good on multiple threats issued since President Obama took office," Kevin Sabet, a former adviser to the president's drug czar who is a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Substance Abuse Solutions. "The challenge is to balance the scarcity of law enforcement resources and the sanctity of this country's medication approval process. It seems like the administration is simply making good on multiple statements made previously to appropriately strike that balance."

Greg Anton, a lawyer who represents a Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, said the 14-year-old dispensary's landlord received an "extremely threatening" letter Wednesday invoking a federal law that imposes additional penalties for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and playgrounds.

The landlord was ordered to evict the pot club or risk imprisonment, plus forfeiture of the property and all the rent he has collected while the dispensary has been in business, Anton said.

The Marin Alliance's founder "has been paying state and federal taxes for 14 years, and they have cashed all the checks," he said. "All I hear from Obama is whining about his budget, but he has money to do this which will actually reduce revenues."

Kris Hermes, a spokesman for the medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, said the warnings are part of what appears to be an attempt by the Obama administration to curb medical marijuana on multiple fronts and through multiple agencies. A series of dispensary raids in Montana, for example, involved agents from not only the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, but the Internal Revenue Service and Environmental Protection Agency.

Going after property owners is not a new tactic, though, Hermes said. Five years ago, the Department of Justice under President George Bush made similar threats to about 300 Los Angeles-area landlords who were renting space to medical marijuana outlets, some of whom were eventually evicted or closed their doors voluntarily, he said.

"It did have an impact. However, the federal government never acted on its threats, never prosecuted anybody, never even went to court to begin prosecutions," Hermes said. "By and large they were empty threats, but they relied on them and the cost of postage to shut down as many facilities as they could without having to engage in criminal enforcement activity."

Occupy San Diego Gears Up For Protest at Civic Center Plaza

The unrest that started in lower Manhattan three weeks ago has spread the opposite corner of the country.

Occupy San Diego will follow the lead of Occupy Wall Street protestors Friday evening, staging a protest that will move through downtown San Diego.

The movement has established a general message of frustration regarding economic inequality in the U.S.

Protestors in San Diego have adopted one of the Occupy Wall Street mottos as their own: “We are the 99 percent,” their Facebook event image reads. The percentage refers to what they call the “lopsided distribution of wealth.”

The protest begins at 3:30 at the Children’s Park on 1st St and Island Ave., and will move to Civic Center Plaza at 4 p.m. The group will deliver a list of demands at Civic Center Plaza, which they said will be in sync with Occupy Wall Street’s demands.

A photojournalist from media partner VoiceOfSanDiego.org attended a planning meeting for Occupy San Diego Wednesday night, where the protest group’s “general assembly” gathered to share goals, strategies and resources.

The assembly debated the level of communication they would like to have with San Diego police. Former City Attorney Mike Agguirre offered his experience with protests and suggested the group establish a police liaison.

Check back here Friday night for images and updates on the Occupy San Diego protest.

 

Good Time for Whale Watching: Expert

A pod of blue whales has been spotted off the coast of San Diego in the past couple days. An expert says they’ll be staying until the end of the month.

The whales are feeding rather late in their migration pattern. Usually, this time of year, they have migrated north, said whale expert John Hildebrand with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Cold currents from the north met warmer waters from the south on the San Diego coast. This created nutrient-rich waters for whales to feed on.

Blue whales are the largest animal in the history of the earth, Hildebrand said.

 

New Plan to Convert Waste From U.S. Capitol into Electricity

Between Senators, Congressmen, and the rest of the public servants that work in the Capitol building, 5,300 tons of solid waste gets generated every year.

While many say they want to cut down on government waste, the Architect of the Capitol wants to convert those throw-aways to good use.

The Architect's office announced a plan with a contractor on Thursday to convert all the solid waste that doesn't get recycled into electricity, in a new "waste-to-energy" program. 

"Under this new contract, instead of being placed in landfills, the waste will be burned," Architect of the Capitol Stephen T. Ayers said in a statement,  "generating enough electricity to power an office building the size of the Dirksen or Longworth Building for several months.”

When the solid waste gets burned, it heats up water to produce steam, which in turn gets converted into electricity.  According to the Architect, the project will make use of solid waste that would otherwise wind up in landfills.

Ayers' office said the program would complement the current recycling program.

Grandmother Guilty in Toddler's Death at Tysons Corner

A jury found a Virginia woman guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old granddaughter, News4's Julie Carey reported.

The jury recommended a sentence of 35 years in prison for Carmela dela Rosa. The prosecution sought a life sentence.

Dela Rosa threw Angelyn Ogdoc off the sixth-level walkway connecting a parking garage to Tysons Corner Center on Nov. 29. The toddler died hours later.

Dela Rosa's defense tried to prove she was mentally ill and legally insane at the time. Dela Rosa claimed she did not know right from wrong when she threw Angelyn.

Dela Rosa intentionally killed the child out of anger toward James Ogdoc, her son-in-law, prosecutors argued. She did not forgive him for getting her daughter pregnant out of wedlock.

Dela Rosa confessed to police after the incident. In the videotape of her statement, dela Rosa said that when Ogdoc called his wife as she dined with family at Tysons Corner that night, it triggered something in her and she formed the plan to throw Angelyn off the walkway. She told detectives that she saw Angelyn as a way to get back at her son-in-law.

Mall security video showed dela Rosa carrying Angelyn out of the mall after urging everyone to go ahead of her then going to the rail to drop the girl.

Dela Rosa twice attempted suicide in the months leading up to the incident. Friends and her longtime psychotherapist testified that dela Rosa suffered bouts of depression for a decade but went into a tailspin last year after her daughter's pregnancy. Public defender Dawn Butorac argued that dela Rosa was a different woman in her depressive episodes, withdrawn and "afraid of the world" to the point that she regularly refused to leave the house.

The judge will sentence dela Rosa in January. The judge can reduce the sentence from 35 years but can't exceed the jury's recommendation.

Dog Chases Man Into Path of Vehicle

A man died after being struck by a vehicle in northwest D.C.

Witnesses said the man was chased into the street by a pit bull during a fight between two groups of people near 14th Street and Webster Street, News4’s Jackie Bensen reported. He was struck by a maroon Jeep Liberty and pinned against a minivan.

The driver of the Jeep left the scene. Police are looking for a maroon Jeep Liberty with extensive front-end damages.

Fourteenth Street was closed in both directions.

Demolition Begins at Mobile Home Park Flooded by Tropical Storm Lee

Demolition crews arrived at Holly Acres Mobile Home Park in Prince William County, Va.,  today. The community in Woodbridge was devastated by Tropical Storm Lee nearly a month ago.

On Tuesday, the county approved a permit to demolish about 40 homes at the mobile home park InsideNova.com reported. 

Scott Beranek, the founder of Vista Properties, said his goal is to offset the cost of the transportation of donated equipment by salvaging the scrap from the 40-plus homes he has received permission to demolish. Whatever money is leftover he hopes to give directly to the former residents who were flooded out of their homes on Sept. 8.

All of the former residents displaced by Tropical Storm Lee have found temporary shelter but most are still looking for permanent housing, according to non-profit officials.

The county declared 66 unsafe for habitation, leaving more than 150 people homeless.

Vienna Police Investigate Hospitalized Child

Police searched a Vienna, Va., home Thursday in an investigation to find out why an 11-month-old boy is in the hospital.

A caregiver took the unresponsive boy from the home in the 1100 block of Lakewood Drive to his mother in Reston Wednesday. She called 911, and the child was taken first to Reston Medical Center and then flown to Children’s National Medical Center.

Police went to the home in Vienna Thursday. They said there is no evidence yet of any wrongdoing.

The child remains hospitalized.

Suspects Held Without Bond in Federal Bribery Case

Four men indicted earlier this week in a federal bribery scheme involving government contracts and kickbacks were ordered to remain behind bars Thursday.

Michael Alexander, a high ranking official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has emerged as the alleged ringleader in a scheme that netted $20 million in four years. According to prosecutors, $1 million went to a mistress in South Korea to buy a coffee shop. Authorities found $180,000 in cash hidden in his bedroom

His attorney said Alexander's affair had ended and asked that he be released from custody to help his wife, who is battling life-threatening leukemia.

"I don't think the United States needs him to be at the D.C. jail as much as she needs him at home," Christopher Davis.

A magistrate judge disagreed.

The 55-year-old Alexander worked with fellow Army Corps of Engineers official Kerry Khan to steer contracts for kickbacks, prosecutors said. Khan and his son Lee set up shell companies to launder the money, they said.

Lee Khan is a two-time convicted felon who threatened to kill his brother if he told what he knew about the scheme, prosecutors said. The brother, who was in prison, was given $383,000 in hush money, they said.

The fourth defendant, 60-year-old Harold Babb, director of contracts at Dulles-based Eyak Technology transferred $2 million to the Bahamas and $218,000 to Panama, prosecutors said.

The men had plans to steer an almost billion dollar government contract for even more kickbacks, prosecutors said. They would have walked away with $100 million.

Prosecutors are seeking lengthy sentences for all four defendants.

D.C. Council Panel to Discuss Students From, Md., Va.

D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown said he is trying to determine why students from Maryland and Virginia are attending the city's public schools illegally.

Brown invited eight witnesses to appear before a committee on Thursday to discuss why parents from other states are dropping off their children in D.C. schools without paying tuition. He told The Washington Times that the issue was raised with him by parents and that license plates from neighboring states often turn up at city schools in the morning >

Brown introduced a bill last spring designed to improve enforcement of school residency laws. His office says the bill is not designed to look into whether someone is in the country illegally, but to see if they are a city resident.

Workgroup Explores Medical Marijuana for Maryland

Maryland's health secretary says academic institutions in the state are exploring the possibility of running a medical marijuana program in Maryland.

Joshua Sharfstein said Thursday that two or three institutions have expressed interest to him. The secretary spoke during a meeting of a workgroup that is putting together a medical marijuana plan to bring to lawmakers in the 2012 legislative session.

Sharfstein declined to name the institutions, because he hasn't had long conversations with them.

The workgroup is crafting a proposal that would allow an academic institution to propose a patient population that could use the drug and an approach to monitoring its use. Institutions would provide marijuana to patients. The institution also would have oversight responsibilities that would be monitored by the health department or an independent board.

Take That, Harvard

The California Institute of Technology has plenty to brag about these days, and the university took its bragging rights straight to its website.

Caltech created a “Ca#1tech” graphic for its homepage Thursday after it was rated the world’s number one university in the 2011-2012 Times Higher Education World University rankings of the top 200 universities.

Caltech overtook Harvard University, which has held onto the top ranking in the survey’s eight-year history.

Three other California schools are in the top 20. Stanford University tied with Harvard for second place, and UC Berkeley and UCLA came in tenth and thirteenth, respectively.

According to a news release on Caltech’s website, the rankings are based on thirteen performance indicators representing research, teaching, citations, international outlook and industry income.

“The differences at the top of the university rankings are miniscule, but Caltech just pips Harvard with marginally better scores for ‘research-volume, income, and reputation,’ research influence, and the income it attracts from the industry. With differentials so slight, a simple factor plays a decisive role in determining rank order: money,” said Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in a written statement.

To that point, the survey shows many U.S. universities that depend on public funding, including UC Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara, all slipped in the rankings compared to a year ago, according to Baty.

Caltech reported a 16 percent rise in research funding, according to the survey.

”Caltech has been one of California’s best-kept secrets for a long time,” said Caltech trustee Narendra Gupta. “But I think the secret is out!”

 

"In Cold Blood" Approved by Glendale School Board

After months of contention, the board of the Glendale Unified School District Tuesday agreed to allow Truman Capote’s "In Cold Blood" to be taught in the school’s AP English classes.

The book was brought to the school board for a routine approval by a Glendale High School AP English teacher during the 2010-2011 school year. The school district’s PTA reviewed the proposal over the summer and recommended against the book.

The proposal was then put under preliminary review at their meeting on September 13, said Glendale Unified public information officer Steven Frasher.

"The thought amongst the reluctant members of the board was that it’s a grim story, a somewhat graphically told story, by 1960s standards, that they felt they did not want to subject students to, while recognizing the discussion value the teacher intended to address," said Frasher.

At Tuesday evening’s board meeting, four board members voted in favor of the book, while one member, Mary Boger, chose to abstain, Frasher said.

"She essentially felt that young people are subjected to enough violent images in other arenas of their life," Frasher said. "The school curriculum didn’t necessarily had to be one of those places."

"In Cold Blood” ranks 53rd on the Radcliffe's Rival 100 Best Novels List. It among at least 46 classics targeted for bans in schools, according to the American Library Assocation's Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Barbara Jones, director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom, says she’s all too familiar with the issue of books getting banned in school districts.

“I think good books, true classics, make us uncomfortable,” Jones said. “That’s what a good book does, it challenges us to think about ideas we’ve never thought of, or experience lives we’ve never lived, or to know people we’ve never known. These things can make us uncomfortable. And I think uncomfortable books get challenged.”

One issue some school boards may have with classics is the sensitive subject matter they often present, Jones said.

“We respect that there is risk," she said. Jones said she's seen success when a school board and administrators sit down with students and parents and address concerns about touchy themes such as violence, sex, drugs and suicide.

"Rather than ban the book, discuss the issue,” she said.

When asked about the community’s reaction to the outcome of the vote, Frasher said he didn't expect any backlash from the school board's decision.

"This discussion takes place in an open forum so we can look at things from all sides." Frasher said. "And I think it was a good reminder to the public that that’s what they’re there for.”

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Cal Fire to Take Over Coverage for Norco

The city of Norco is expecting to save millions by transitioning fire coverage out of the city's domain.

The Norco City Council voted Wednesday 3-1 in favor of transitioning coverage from the city's local department to Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, said Norco City Clerk Brenda Jacobs.

Councilman Harvey Sullivan voted against the deal. Councilwoman Kathy Azevedo was not present.

Sullivan said he voted against the proposal because of the process, not the idea or fiscal reality facing the city.

The cooperative agreement will save an estimated $1.7 million a year, and Norco FD's 18 employees will transition into Cal Fire employees.

The change is a good thing for the city, said Norco Fire Chief Peter Bryan. Fire responses, which total about 2,200 a year in Norco, should continue at the same speed, about 5-7 minutes per call, said Bryan.

The city department will retain two engines and two reserve engines that will be operated by Cal Fire, Bryan said.

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Pot Decision Could Lead to Dispensary Bans

Cities throughout the state are expected to start outlawing medical marijuana dispensaries in the wake of a court decision that overturns a key effort to regulate them.

The ruling by a panel of judges on California's 2nd District appellate court this week said cities could restrict marijuana dispensaries, but they can't do anything that would appear to give them approval or legitimacy.

The ruling could have wide repercussions in the state, said Jane Usher, an assistant City Attorney in Los Angeles who works on issues of cannabis dispensaries.

Small cities, she predicted, would simply ban dispensaries outright, in order to avoid violating federal law. Others would try to find more modest ways to regulate them, such as limiting the hours that they could remain open, or banning them from certain neighborhoods.

The ruling is sure to up-end efforts by the City of Los Angeles to regulate its many pot dispensaries,  Usher said.

"What you’ll see in the coming weeks are lots of cities in California adopting complete bans on all dispensaries," Usher said.

Long Beach council members will consider whether to ban the dispensaries there, and officials in Los Angeles will face similar decisions, officials in both cities said.

Bob Shannon, City Attorney of Long Beach, said he plans to brief the council on their options during a closed-session meeting on Oct. 11, and action is expected soon after.

He said the city may have little choice.

"If we allow collectives in the city of Long Beach, we can do very little to regulate them," Shannon said. "We can’t do anything to permit them so basically it puts us in a Catch-22. It almost leads to the conclusion that if we want to act in the best interests of the citizens of Long Beach we have to ban these collectives."

Already, on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported renewed efforts by federal prosecutors to shut down some dispenaries in the state.

"Medical marijuana is under assault by the federal government," said Joe Elford, chief counsel for the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access. He confirmed that several dispensaries around the state had received letters Wednesday and Thursday from federal prosecutors, ordering them to close down.

Both issues - regulating the dispensaries and allowing them to stay open at all - grow out of a conflict between state and federal laws. Even though California law allows marijuana to be used for medical purposes, federal law does not. The court in Long Beach walked a fine line, ruling that states could decriminalize the use of pot, but they couldn't make it actually legal.

The city's effort to regulate, the court said, resulted in a situation in which Long Beach had actually approved the dispensing of pot, in violation of federal drug laws.

Long Beach's ordinance was one of many attempts by cities to regulate pot dispensaries, which have been proliferating at great rates throughout California. The city held a lottery, and allowed the winners to distribute marijuana to customers who had prescriptions for it. 

Like other cities, L.A. has struggled with an incredible proliferation of pot dispensaries  over the past several years. The city had considered a lottery similar to the one used by Long Beach, but will no longer be able to do so.

Ironically, perhaps, the law was challenged by a dispensary that did not win the lottery.

11 Arrested at Downtown Bank of America

Eleven protesters armed with a giant check for $673 billion were arrested Thursday at a Bank of America location downtown, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Five women and six men were arrested on suspicion of trespassing, said LAPD Officer Richard French. Bail was set at $5,000 a person, according to the LAPD.

"They presented a check to the Bank of America, and they made it out to the American people. It was a gesture," said French.

The oversized check to the "People of California" was in the amount of $673 billion.

Once inside the bank, demonstrators chanted, "make banks pay" and also screamed, according to video recorded by Jesse Luna.

BoA security detained the protesters and then LAPD took them into custody. Aerial video showed police escorting some of the protesters out of the bank in hand cuffs.

The bank sit-in capped a march organized by the ReFund California campaign, a statewide effort that its leaders say is designed to force banks to keep families in homes, pay their fair share of taxes and help rebuild hard-hit neighborhoods.

About 500 people participated in Thursday’s march, including some members of Occupy LA, a loosely organized group of people camping outside City Hall since Oct. 1 as part of a nationwide series of demonstrations.

Some of the marchers blocked the intersection of Seventh and Figueroa streets.

Seven of the 15 Los Angeles City Council members have signed a resolution to support "peaceful and vibrant exercise in First Amendment Rights carried out by 'Occupy Los Angeles.'"

Hundreds of demonstrators have been camping on or near Wall Street in New York City since Sept. 17. As many as 700 people have been arrested since then.

The Los Angeles city resolution calls for a vote on a "responsible banking" measure by Oct. 28. It would require the city to divest from banks and financial institutions that have not cooperated with efforts to prevent foreclosures.

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Mortgage Rates Hit Historic Low, May Still Not Help California

Mortgage rates fell to an historic low Thursday but it still may not be enough to resuscitate Southern California's ailing housing market.

On Thursday, Freddie Mac said the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped from 4.01 percent last week to 3.94, the lowest rate ever. The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan dipped to 3.26 percent, also a record.

But low rates may do little to boost California home sales which have been struggling in a battered economy.

"Credit is still tight and qualifying for loans is still problematic for many people," said Andrew LePage, a spokesperson for DataQuick, a real estate data tracking firm. "There are still a lot of negatives out there like a weak job market and whether housing prices have bottomed out."

In addition, the requirement for higher credit scores and a 20 percent down payment for first-time buyers is making it difficult for many to enter the market.  A lack of confidence in the U.S. economy plus concerns about European markets are also making home investors nervous. 

Rates have been near historic lows for more than a year and have done little to the boost market. This year is shaping up to be among the worst for sales of previously occupied homes in 14 years.

While rates might not improve home sales, it could provide some help to the economy if more people refinance. When homes are refinanced at lower rates, that leaves more money for homeowners to spend on other goods and services.

Consider a homeowner who owes $400,000 and is paying 5.09 percent on a 30-year fixed mortgage. If they refinanced at 3.94 percent, the savings could be over $3200 per year.

But many homeowners with good jobs and stable finances have already refinanced over the past year. Most experts say rates would need to fall at least a full percentage point before it makes sense for a homeowner to pay thousands of dollars in closing costs to refinance again.

The average fee for the 30-year and 15-year rose to 0.8. The average fees for both the five-year and one-year adjustable-rate loans were 0.6 and 0.5, respectively.

Mortgage rates could fall even further now that the Federal Reserve plans to reshuffle its portfolio of securities to try and lower long-term rates.

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Driving While Texting Doubles Road Danger

In the few seconds it takes a distracted driver to read or send a text message, that driver could have traveled the length of a football field, according to a study released Wednesday from Texas A&M University’s Texas Transportation Institute.

In the study, as shown in this video, drivers between the ages of 16 and 54 were measured on how long it took them to respond to a flashing light positioned on an eleven-mile test track, while sending or reading text messages.

The study showed that when the drivers drove the same track while focusing completely on the road, their response times were cut in half.

The average time it took for a non-distracted driver to respond to the flashing light, which turned on and off at random, was one to two seconds, according to Bernie Fette, a senior research specialist for the institute.

It took a distracted driver three to four seconds to respond to the light while typing or reading a text message.

“That makes the driver less likely to respond to a swerving vehicle, a child running into the street or a car suddenly braking in front of them,” Fette said.

The study also showed drivers were more than eleven times more likely to miss the flashing light altogether when they were texting.

“The other big take away from the study is that we found the acts of reading and writing a text message are equally dangerous,” Fette said.

The experiment may be one of the only distracted driving studies conducted in an actual driving environment, as opposed to a simulated environment, he said. The course was a straight-line course that contained no hills and no traffic.

“It is frightening,” the researchers wrote in the study, “to think of how much more poorly our participants may have performed if the driving conditions were more consistent with routine driving.”

“This study is a testament to the fact that we need more laws or stronger laws," Fette said.

In California, lawmakers tried to double the fines for distracted driving violations, but SB 28 was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 7.

“I certainly support discouraging cell phone use while driving a car, but not ratcheting up the penalties as prescribed by this bill,” Brown wrote in his veto message.

California law bans drivers from using wireless devices to write, send or read text-based communication and from using cell phones unless they are used with a hands-free device.

If caught, they face a $20 fine for the first offense and $50 for other convictions.

The California Highway Patrol writes about two-thirds of the distracted driving tickets issued in the state, according to this report by the website handsfreeinfo.com.

A CHP spokesman told USA LOCAL NEWS it issued about 150,000 tickets for use of handheld cell phones last year, and a total of 3,742 text messaging tickets since the texting law went into effect Jan. 1, 2009.

While some reports show texting laws have not reduced the number of car accidents, according to Vince Ramirez, a CHP spokesperson, the number of fatal car accidents due to inattention went from 119 in 2008 to a total of 82 in 2010.

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Movie Museum Could Open in LA

People come to LA mainly for two reasons, the weather and the movies, and sometimes it's just the movies. Hollywood is, after all, where the industry took hold and flourished, so why shouldn't LA have a motion picture museum?

Well, we don't. Not yet anyway.

But now the LA County Museum of Art and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have agreed to start working on turning the historic May Co. building at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, which is currently known as LACMA West, into the new academy museum.

"What actually will be in the museum itself will be ever evolving," said Dawn Hudson, CEO, Academy of Motion Pictures. "The world of film is so different now than it was 100 years ago, 50 years ago, three years ago."

The agreement is a huge undertaking for the museum which will begin fundraising efforts. As for LACMA, leasing out the May Co. building to the academy is a win win.

"If we can have the world class film museum that only the Academy can make, next to a world class art museum with a whole history of art, I think the world will get the point," said Michael Govan, LACMA Director, and CEO.

For the academy it will finally be a chance to celebrate in a permanent space, all of the crafts that go into the art form.

"We're looking forward to showing the world just what we have, and who we are," said Tom Sherak, President of the Academy of Motion Pictures. "It's more than just movies. The movie is a big part, but it's the craft that makes up the movies.

There's no date set yet for the museum's completion.

Prince Frederic von Anhalt Announces Candidacy for LA Mayor

Angelenos looking for lower taxes and lower DWP bills may want to consider Prince Frederic von Anhalt for mayor of Los Angeles, according to the candidate's newly unveiled billboard.

The eccentric husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor announced his mayoral run via a billboard located at 8789 Sunset Blvd., an address that should sound familiar to von Anhalt fans -- it was the same billboard he used to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary back in July.

Mayoral details are sparse, but according to his website, a press conference is scheduled for Friday at 11 a.m.

During a recent run-in with TMZ, the candidate said his campaign will focus on jobs and homelessness.

"400,000 people out of jobs and 40,000 homeless. I see people eating out of trash cans every day. This must end," he told TMZ.

Last year, von Anhalt ran for governor of California, but dropped out of the race to help take care of his ailing wife. Von Anhalt, 68, and Gabor, 94, recently moved into a condo and put their Bel Air mansion up for sale.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be termed out of office in 2013.

Making It Easier to Keep Businesses in Los Angeles

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he believes Los Angeles could do a better job in attracting new companies and keeping existing businesses from leaving the city.

Thursday morning he visited a pharmaceutical laboratory where he announced a new website specifically designed to help business owners learn the best place for them to do business in Los Angeles, and how the city can help eliminate red tape.

Villaraigosa also emphasized an active plan that has combined the various departments where permits are obtained for different types of businesses.

"We've expedited about 600 permits for businesses," said Villaraigosa.

Andy Hasroun is president of the Atwater Village Chamber of Commerce, and a he's in the process of opening a new restaurant next to his existing wine-tasting business.

"It's taking about five months," said Hasroun when asked how long he's been navigating city hall.

He agreed the process is faster, but still not perfect. Hasroun expects to hire as many as 30 employees.

The expedited permits kept Grifols Biologicals, Inc. in California.

"If we didn't expedite the permitting process we would not have been here. There are a lot of places in the country where they are expedited," said company president David Bell. 

Grifols ultimately decided to remain in Los Angeles; launching a $150-million expansion and creating 300 new jobs.

Mayor Villaraigosa told NBC4 News "we're elected to fix things that are broken and this city hasn't been business friendly enough." 

The new website for businesses looking to relocate to Los Angeles is >.

Occupy LA Protester Gets Eviction Reprieve

A woman who was about to lose her home announced Thursday she had just received a reprieve from the mortgage giant, Fannie Mae, and One West Bank.

Rose Gudiel, 34, who is a state worker, protested Wednesday outside Fannie Mae offices in Pasadena and joined the Occupy LA protest in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday.

But overnight, the bank had notified her it was ending the eviction process that would have put her out of the La Puente home she shares with her disabled mother and other family members.

She explained she fell behind in her house payments when the state decided to reduce the hours of workers to save money.

Then, her brother who had been helping her with her house payments was murdered.

For two years, she said she sought a loan modification but had been rejected until Thursday.

So why was she still taking part in the protests?

"The fight is not just mine. This fight is all these people that are herein one way or another. They are being affected by what the banks are doing," she said.

She added she felt downtown at the protest was where she needed to be.

"But again, it's a cause. We need to do something. The banks need to start hearing and the people need to start reacting to the bad practices of the banks," she said.

Marine Vets Start-Up Biz Supports Armed Forces

Twenty years ago, when Dennis Wynant was a young Marine, starting On Point Energy wasn't even on his radar.

"Starting a business was the absolute furthest thing from my mind back then," said Wynant, the company's co-founder and CEO.

It was at Marine Corp Air Station Tustin that he met his future business partner Doyle Schaefers.

"This is where Doyle and I met," he remembers. "And this is where my military career started."

Many years later, the men reconnected and decided to go into the energy shot business.

The energy shot market looked appealed to the pair because there was only one main competitor, 5 Hour Energy, which holds 90 percent of the market share.

"I said for every Coke, there's a Pepsi and for every Ford, there's a Chevy," said Wynant.

But On Point is driven by a different motive, to give back to military communities -- 40 percent of the profits go to organizations that support troops, veterans and their families.

"It's broken up into two separate categories: 20 percent of our profits go directly to charities and 20 percent goes into a venture fund," said Wynant.

The venture fund is designed to help veterans transition back into civilian life.

The term "On Point" is actually a position in the military. It's the person at the front of a combat formation. But Wynant said the name means more than that to them.

"On point to us, is just doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons," said Wynant.

Wynant admits that giving away 40 percent of your proceeds doesn't leave much in the way of a paycheck.

"I didn't create the company to pay my bills. I created the company because I was passionate about what we wanted to do," he said.

So the men behind On Point reap the rewards in other ways.

"The easiest part has been waking up and doing something that you are passionate about," Wynant said.

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Searching For the Next Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs dropped out of college. But that doesn't mean the next person to revolutionize the way we do things will do the same thing. And if higher education has anything to do with it, you don't have to travel far to find a place where people dream big. CalTech.

Just this week, a prestigious British survey named the California Institute of Technology as the greatest research University in the world.

Of course, it may be silly to talk about "the next Steve Jobs." Visionaries, as the name suggests, have vision, as in, to see ahead.

Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau, President of CalTech, thinks the next big breakthrough in technology may come in the area where it is most needed.

"Energy, we need a number of 'Steve Jobs' in the energy area," says Chameau. "We need to make a dramatic jump, change the game completely."

Jobs hung around college campuses and took courses he liked, but he never found time to graduate. He was too busy starting Apple Computer at the age of 21. Maybe there's another visionary on a campus somewhere, waiting to take his or her place on the world stage, just like Steve Jobs.

"We look for people, in students, faculty, who we believe have the potential to think outside the box," says Chameau.

 

Cellini Defense Distances Powerbroker from Blagojevich

The specter of Rod Blagojevich hung over the corruption trial of a longtime Illinois powerbroker Thursday as defense attorneys tried to distant their client from the impeached governor and prosecutors sought to link him as closely as possible to the disgraced Democrat.

William Cellini, once known as The King of Clout for the vast influence he wielded in Illinois politics for nearly four decades, is accused of conspiring to shake down the Oscar-winning producer of "Million Dollar Baby," Thomas Rosenberg, for a $1.5 million campaign contribution to Blagojevich, a Chicago Democrat.

But lead defense attorney Dan Webb told jurors Thursday that the 76-year-old Republican from Springfield had no direct dealings with Blagojevich — never talking on the phone or holding meetings with him.

"Cellini never personally knew Blagojevich," he said as he finished his opening statement Thursday morning.

Later, the prosecution attempted to show Cellini's connections were not directly to Blagojevich himself, but to the then-governor's closest confidants, calling one witness on the first day of testimony Thursday to make just that point.

Prosecutors say Cellini plotted with Blagojevich insiders Tony Rezko and Chris Kelly, and others to squeeze Rosenberg for a contribution by threating his investment company with the loss of $220 million in funds from the state's Teachers Retirement System.

Cellini, whose trial is the last in a series of trials that grew out of a decade-long investigation of Blagojevich, looked on calmly from the defense table. He appeared to tire during sometime tedious testimony regarding the inner workings of the $30 billion state pension fund.

The 12 jurors and four alternates — a Sears store manager, a longtime employee for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a retired AT&T employer among them — also seemed fatigued and sometimes confused by the testimony as the day wore on.

For his own part, presiding Judge James Zagel made it clear during the questioning of would-be jurors earlier in the week that Blagojevich was not directly relevant to the shakedown case against Cellini.

"Blagojevich is not on trial here," he said at one point. Zagel added that jurors should set aside any negativity they might harbor toward the twice-elected governor as they assess the evidence against Cellini.

Blagojevich, 54, was convicted at his retrial earlier this year on multiple corruption counts, including allegations that he tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. His early October sentencing date was delayed until after Cellini's trial is over.

A former executive director of the Teachers Retirement System, Keith Bozarth, and another witness later in the day — one-time pension system attorney Steven Loren — both offered overviews of how it operated.

A third government witness, Marvin Traylor Jr., who works for the Illinois Asphalt Paving Association, also testified. Cellini has been executive director of the Springfield-based association that helps advocate on behalf of highway contractors since 1973.

A clearly reluctant government witness, Traylor went out of his way to praise Cellini. "He's a good, wise man," Traylor said.

But under questioning by the prosecution, Traylor also helped the government explain to jurors Cellini's depth of knowledge about the levers of state government, and he described the attention Cellini paid to political fundraising.

To drive home their point while Traylor was on the stand, prosecutors showed an email from Cellini, in which he wrote about someone's fundraising: "That REALLY gives us the clout -- — and there isn't a number you can put on that."

Before his opening statement Thursday morning, Webb complained to Zagel about a Cellini nickname prosecutor's mentioned in their opening remarks to jurors: "the pope" of Illinois politics. The moniker was inappropriate, Webb said, and all part of a push by prosecutors to suggest to the jury that Cellini became rich primarily from his state connections not as a result of his business savvy.

Cellini, who is free on a $1 million bond, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include attempted extortion.

NTSB Questions Crash Helicopter Pilot for Hours

The pilot who survived the helicopter crash into the East River that killed one person spent hours being interviewed by investigators on Thursday.

The National Transportation Safety Board said at a briefing that Paul Dudley had spent three hours with federal investigators and was still speaking with them by evening. He was described as being fully cooperative.

They are asking him about his past experience and flight time, and for a specific rundown of what he did in the moments before takeoff and when the helicopter crashed minutes later.

It's all part of "a more thorough opportunity to understand" what happened, NTSB member Mark Rosekind said

Investigators are also looking into the weight of the aircraft and passengers along with the winds at the time it plummeted into the water.

The allowable weight of the passengers is still being determined, investigators said, and the helicopter is being weighed with special aircraft scales as part of that investigation.

Stay with us on Twitter @NBCNewYork and Facebook/NBCNewYork.

Jim Jones Admits Driving Bentley With Suspended License in NY

Rapper Jim Jones pleaded guilty Thursday to driving his Bentley with a suspended license.

The hip-hop artist and actor, whose "We Fly High" was one of 2007's top-selling rap tracks, admitted to a traffic misdemeanor and was fined $200.

Jones was pulled over March 30, telling police he was heading to a video shoot, according to court documents.

The rapper hadn't realized his license had been suspended over a traffic ticket he hadn't fully paid, said his lawyer, Marianne E. Bertuna.

"If it was as simple as paying a fine, he would have. He just didn't know about it" and has since cleared it up, she said.

Jones wanted to resolve the case to get on with his career and a charity project, Bertuna said. He has worked with the Entertainers 4 Education Alliance, a New York-based group that harnesses celebrities' star power to promote education and social commitment to young people.

The rapper, born Joseph Jones, is one of the Diplomats, a Harlem-based rap crew that also counts Cam'ron, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zekey among its members. Besides "We Fly High," his hits include "Pop Champagne." He released a new album, Capo, in April.

Jones, 35, also appears on the VH1 reality show "Love & Hip Hop," has a T-shirt line and starred in 2009's "Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones," a play about his life on the road and on the streets.

Jones has said he's doing his best to stay out of the Manhattan criminal courthouse, where he pleaded guilty in 2009 to a misdemeanor assault charge for punching one of R&B star Ne-Yo's friends in a dust-up at a Louis Vuitton boutique. He was sentenced to time served — the few hours he was in custody after turning himself in to police.

Protests and Tribute on an October Night

The contrast was striking. Protesters tried to push their way to Wall Street, hoping to demonstrate at the very doors of the Stock Exchange. Other people streamed into the 9/ll memorial at ground zero to pay tribute to those who died here.

The police clashed with demonstrators and five were arrested at Broadway and Wall Street. It was about 7:50 P.M. on a crisp October night. The waxing moon shone brightly in a cloudless sky. Amid the beat of drummers, demonstrators chanted anti-Wall Street slogans and, police said, some tried to break through their lines.

I happened to be visiting the memorial this night with some relatives from Norway. It seemed strange that, even as the streets were exploding in sound outside, the memorial was an oasis of tranquility. Indeed, the noise in the outside world could hardly be heard.

My wife had applied for tickets online -- and we had a 7 p.m. reservation. The tickets are free. A few hundred had elected to come at this hour. They were gathered around the very center of the memorial, the two square reflecting pools.

The pools, each about an acre in size, are placed within the footprints of the original twin towers. The very concept of the memorial is to stand separate from the frenzied activities of the city. It’s supposed to convey a spirit of peace and an opportunity for contemplation.

We approached one pool, and looked down into its black interior. It seemed very deep and the waterfalls flowing into the pool somehow brought a sense of sadness. The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center are inscribed on the bronze parapets surrounding the pools.

As you look at the names and the water rushes down into the darkness beneath, you feel sorrow. Thousands of names. Thousands of deaths. You run your fingers over the names etched in bronze.

My wife, Vera, says: "When I touched the names it brought tears to my eyes. I imagined the families, how they must feel, how they deal with their horrible loss."

Our visitors, Vera’s niece, Siri Bergeroy and her 18-year-old son, Jon, were deeply affected. Said Siri: "It’s very powerful, silent and beautiful. The falling water is peaceful. And the black hole…I thought about the tragedy, the airplanes, the falling buildings. The park is so simple yet so beautiful in its simplicity."

Her son, Jon, said: "It made what happened more real for me."

Among the visitors this evening were Beverly Burges and her family. "You feel so sad," she said. "They did a beautiful job in building this memorial." And her daughter, Rene, agrees. "It makes me feel very sad too. This is heartrending. You get gooseflesh."

Jagdish Purohitchai: "It’s gorgeous but it made me very sad."

The architects who won the competition that produced the memorial, Michael Arad and Peter Walker, said their aim was to build a space "that resonates with feelings of loss and absence that were generated by the destruction of the World Trade Center and the taking of thousands of lives."

Of the cascades of water that feed the pools with a continuous stream, they wrote: "They are large voids, open and visible reminders of the absence" and, about the tall trees that decorate the memorial plaza: "Through its annual cycle of rebirth, the living park extends and deepens the experience of the memorial."

In a way, the angry sounds of protest, outside, and the poignant memorial, inside, symbolize something else.

The memorial pays tribute to those destroyed in a horrible plot against America and its values. The protesters enjoy those values even as they try to right wrongs they perceive in American society.

Cuomo Orders More Language Translations to Help Immigrants

Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered state agencies Thursday to translate documents and provide interpreters in six languages for immigrants seeking public services.

The $1.5 million effort covered by state and federal funds will also provide the translations to illegal immigrants, depending on what services they seek, Cuomo said. Immigrants won't be asked about their federal immigration status.

The project will translate documents and websites from agencies including social services and motor vehicles into Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Russian, French and French Creole. The group New York Lawyers for the Public Interest estimates 2.5 million immigrants in New York require help understanding English. The new initiative includes state workers as translators and translators from a hired service.

Cuomo said state government for too long made immigrants responsible for learning enough English to apply for public services.

"It's government's responsibility to figure out how to communicate with the person," Cuomo said.

"This is the problem with government today," said state Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long. "We try to do everything for everybody. When immigrants came here at one time, they focused on learning English as fast as possible so they could assimilate into the American culture.

"This is only enabling people to not try to assimilate because the government will take care of them, which is only increasing the cost of government," Long said.

Alabama recently enacted laws that require police to act if they suspect someone of being an illegal immigrant, businesses to check the legal status of workers and schools to report the immigration status of students. Supporters said the measures were prompted by lack of enforcement of laws against illegal immigration.

Cuomo said the "New York experience" is different.

"Most of us are immigrants that made this state the greatest state in the country, we're proud of it," Cuomo said, opening his news conference in Italian. "We invite people here ... so to the extent we can expedite and facilitate communication among our family members, that's exactly what we're going to do."

Secretary of State Cesar Perales said children of immigrants have often had to act as interpreters, relaying to officials why their mothers need government help to feed their families. He called it "one of the greatest indignities" he ever saw.

Some Republican senators had complained in 2009 that a measure to translate ballots into Russian was a Democratic attempt to register more Democrats among New York City's growing Russian population. Spanish-speaking New Yorkers, those from Puerto Rico as well as immigrants, have usually provided a strong Democratic vote in New York.

There was no immediate comment from the current Republican majority in the Senate.

The Legislature, led by Latino lawmakers, had pushed several times for the translations, but the bills were rejected by previous governors as too expensive.

The Cuomo administration says the $1.5 million interpreter contract using current employees would have to be extended in the 2012-13 budget due in April. The service provides a way for state agencies to translate applications and documents and to contact state workers who are interpreters in various languages.

Cuomo said the money can be found in the state's $137 billion budget, even with a projected $2 billion deficit.

"New York state government simply cannot do its job if it cannot communicate with millions of New Yorkers who need to report crimes, or seek vital services," said Javier Valdes, deputy director of Make the Road New York, an immigrants' advocacy group.

Twitter Opens Madison Avenue Digs

Twitter has opened its new East Coast headquarters on Manhattan's Madison Avenue.

Twitter Chairman Jack Dorsey made the announcement Thursday with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg didn't hold back in his praise for Dorsey. "In the wake of Steve Jobs' passing, we will no doubt look to the next generation of great innovators and entrepreuners," said Bloomberg as he introduced Dorsey. "And as one of the pioneers of the digital age, Jack certainly is part of this group."

Noting that New York City has more people on Twitter than any other city around the world, Dorsey said there were many opportunities for the company in New York. He added the emergent Twitter ecosystem has already seen significant investment and growth opportunities in New York City.

Besides appearing in person, both of them tweeted the news.

The Madison Avenue office will have 40 full-time employees, including engineers, designers and — of course — advertising executives.

VIDEO: Armed Robberies at Manhattan Jewelry Stores

Police have released surveillance video of two Manhattan jewelry store robberies, saying they've established a pattern linking the two incidents.

The first armed robbery happened Aug. 24 at about 1:45 p.m. Three men walked into the Crown Jewelers International store at 60 West 8th St. in Greenwich Village, one taking out a gun and pistol-whipping the store owner while another used a hammer to smash several display cases, police said.

The three men took assorted jewelry from the cases and fled westbound on West 8th Street in a black Chevrolet Suburban, according to police.

Two of the men were wearing brightly colored safety vests, police said.

The second robbery happened Aug. 25 at about 11 a.m. at Kenjo Jewelers at 40 W. 57th Street in Midtown. Two men walked into the store, one with a gun and the other with a rubber mallet, according to police. The man with the rubber mallet tried to break open a case with it but was unsuccessful, and ordered the clerk to open the case.

The clerk complied, and the suspects fled, police said.

Anyone with information on the robberies is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.

$2,500 Reward in Case of NJ Shot Whale

A $2,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of whoever shot a whale at sea, leaving it to wander the ocean in agony for a month or more, slowly starving to death until it washed up on a New Jersey beach last month.

The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust offered the reward Thursday, a day after the Sept. 24 death of the whale became widely publicized. It washed up on a beach in Allenhurst, just north of Asbury Park, and died shortly after police responded.

A necropsy showed the short-finned pilot whale had been shot in the head. The bullet lodged in the animal's jaw, causing an infection that left it unable to eat.

It weighed 740 pounds at its death, but should have tipped the scales at well over 1,000 pounds.

"The appallingly callous action of the person or persons responsible for this crime caused this animal to suffer immensely and die a slow death," said Kathy Schatzmann, the Humane Society's New Jersey director.

Whales are protected by the federal marine Mammal Protection Act. The whale's killer could get up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The wound near its blow hole had closed and faded somewhat, indicating the animal had been wounded as long as a month ago, said Bob Schoelkopf, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine. 

Schoelkopf said the whale could have been shot anywhere on the East Coast, given the amount of time that it spent losing weight before dying.

The Humane Society said thousands of poachers are arrested nationwide each year, but estimated that only 1 to 5 percent of all poached animals ever come to the attention of law enforcement.

Anyone with information in the whale shooting case is asked to call Matthew Gilmore, a special agent with the National Oceanographic and Oceanic Administration at (732) 280-6490, or the agency's national hotline at 1-800-853-1964.

The whales travel in large groups of 25 to 50 animals, feeding primarily on squid, octopus and fish. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, there are about 31,000 pilot whales, both long and short-finned, in the western North Atlantic Ocean.

There are an additional 300 or so off the West Coast of the United States, about 8,800 in Hawaii, and 2,400 in the northern Gulf of Mexico.