Friday, May 17, 2013

In the news, Thursday, May 16, 2013


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WED 15      INDEX      FRI 17
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from iFIBER ONE News

Yakima hops remain a cornerstone of craft beer brewing

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from Fox News


Second IRS official out after Tea Party scandal, as outgoing commissioner faces Congress

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from KREM 2 News

State releases draft rules for marijuana industry

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from Kxly 4 News

Two men killed in separate but related Shootings; One Officer Involved

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from The Spokesman-Review

Two ricin-laced letters seized in Spokane

Spokane officers shoot suspect in Nine Mile Falls
Officers shoot suspect from earlier shooting

At least 6 confirmed dead in Texas tornadoes

Deadly storm strikes North Texas
At least six people killed, dozens reported injured

IRS chief forced out, behavior denounced

Boise man arrested on terrorism charges

Tree inventory helps arborists plan for Spokane’s future

House panel approves cuts to food stamps

Holder, Issa clash during House committee hearing

White House calls for press shield bill
The law would help journalists protect sources

Simpson testifies in bid for new trial in robbery

Police arrest suspect in Mother’s Day shooting

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In brief:  From Staff and Wire Reports

Arias eligible for death penalty, jury says

Phoenix – The same jury that convicted Jodi Arias of first-degree murder last week took less than three hours Wednesday to determine that the former waitress is eligible for the death penalty in the killing of her one-time lover.

The swift verdict sets the stage for the final phase of the trial to determine whether the 32-year-old Arias should be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty for the 2008 murder of Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home.

Prosecutors will call Alexander’s family and other witnesses in an effort to convince the panel Arias should face the ultimate punishment. It’s not yet known if Arias will testify.

Arias showed no emotion Wednesday after the jury returned a decision that was widely expected given the violent nature of the killing. The victim suffered a total of nearly 30 knife wounds and a gunshot wound to the forehead in what prosecutors described as an attack fueled by jealous rage after Alexander wanted to end his affair with Arias and prepared to take a trip to Mexico with another woman.

The jury simply had to determine the killing was committed in an especially cruel and heinous manner to complete the “aggravation phase” of the trial and move on to the penalty portion.


Governor’s stipend to begin on June 1

BOISE – Idaho plans to resume paying a $4,500 monthly housing stipend to Gov. Butch Otter starting June 1 as it clears furniture from the vacant governor’s mansion in Boise where he never lived.

The state decided earlier this year to give the hilltop mansion back to the descendants of J.R. Simplot, the billionaire potato mogul who donated the 7,400-square-foot home to be used as a residence for Idaho’s chief executive in 2004, four years before he died at age 99.

Otter, Simplot’s former son-in-law, declined to live in it, and escalating costs of about $180,000 annually to water the expansive lawn and maintain the 33-year-old home threatened to drain a $1.5 million fund to cover housing expenses for the state’s chief executive. It’s dwindled to $775,000 as maintenance, electricity and repair costs added up.

The decision to restore the housing stipend was unanimous among the Republican and Democratic members of the Governor’s Housing Committee. The panel concluded the $54,000 annual cost was a relative bargain, compared to keeping the home.


Spokane diocese’s lawsuit dismissed

A federal judge dismissed the Catholic Diocese of Spokane’s bankruptcy malpractice claim against law firm Paine Hamblen on Wednesday, ruling that the diocese needs to first secure permission from the bankruptcy court before turning to U.S. District Court to press its $12 million lawsuit.

Diocese attorney Robert Gould said Bishop Blase Cupich intends to obtain that permission and pursue the case.

There have been no substantive settlement talks between the sides, said Jane Brown, managing partner of Paine Hamblen.

The diocese accuses Paine Hamblen lawyers of mishandling its bankruptcy case that took several years and $50 million to resolve


Retail trade group slams safety pact for Bangladesh

NEW YORK – The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, is slamming a global pact to improve safety conditions in Bangladesh, backed by mostly European retailers. At the same time the association is offering few details to an alternative plan it’s pushing that it believes is more flexible.

More than two dozen brands have agreed to sign on to a five-year, legally binding contract that requires that they help pay for fire safety and building improvements in Bangladesh. Notably missing from the pact are U.S. firms, except PVH, the New York-based parent company of Tommy Hilfiger.

In a release Wednesday, the retail trade group criticized the pact for having a “one-size-fits-all” approach and says it leaves retailers open to legal action.


Jobless rate drops in April

OLYMPIA – Washington state’s unemployment rate dropped to 7 percent in April, and the state added an estimated 3,800 jobs last month, according to numbers released Wednesday.

The state has now regained about 78 percent of the more than 200,000 jobs lost during the recession, officials with the state Employment Security Department said.

The state’s unemployment rate has fallen by half a percentage point since the start of the year, with April’s rate down from March’s 7.3 percent. The state’s jobless rate is now the lowest since December 2008, when it was at 7.1 percent.

The national unemployment rate for April was 7.5 percent.

Since April 2012, when Washington state’s unemployment rate was 8.4 percent, the state has gained a total of 67,200 jobs.

More than 243,000 people were unemployed in the state and looking for work last month, including nearly 130,800 who claimed unemployment benefits.


Wholesale prices fall sharply

WASHINGTON – Sharp drops in fuel and food costs reduced a measure of wholesale prices last month by the most since February 2010, indicating inflation has slowed.

The Labor Department says the producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, fell a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in April from March. It was the second straight decline.

Gas prices dropped 6 percent. Food prices declined 0.8 percent.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices ticked up 0.1 percent in April.

Overall wholesale prices have increased just 0.6 percent over the past 12 months. That’s the smallest yearly gain since July. During the same period, core prices have risen 1.7 percent.


FDA OKs prostate cancer drug

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new injectable drug that uses radiation to treat advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the bones.

The FDA said Wednesday it approved the drug, Xofigo from Bayer Pharmaceuticals, for men whose cancer has grown into bone tumors even after receiving medication or surgery to lower testosterone. The hormone spurs growth of prostate tumors.

More than 238,000 U.S. men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year and 29,720 will die from the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Regulators approved Xofigo based on a study of 809 men with advanced prostate cancer who received the drug or placebo. Patients taking Xofigo typically lived 14 months compared to 11.2 months for those taking placebo.

Xofigo’s side effects include nausea and diarrhea.


Parker Aerospace to help develop Norway’s missiles

The Liberty Lake office of Parker Aerospace is part of a contract to develop components for a new generation of strike weapons for the Norwegian air force.

The company, in a news release, said the Liberty Lake group will work on the Joint Strike Missile, a project assigned to Kongsberg Defense Systems. That company is the largest defense contractor in Norway.

Because Parker has been hired by Kongsberg, the amount of the contract is not disclosed, a Parker spokesperson said.

The Joint Strike Missile is being funded by the Norwegian government and will be the primary weapon for its F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

Parker Aerospace will design and build the missile thermal management components including pumps, cold plates and fluid conveyance assemblies.

The Liberty Lake office was formerly the home office of SprayCool, a tech company created by Don and Chuck Tilton in the 1980s.

In 2010, SprayCool was purchased by Parker Aerospace, a business group of Parker Hannifin, based in Cleveland.


City prepares itself as volcano acts up

Mexico City – Seismic activity continued Wednesday at the Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City, and authorities said they have readied shelters and identified evacuation routes in case they should be needed.

Mexico’s National Disaster Prevention Center says there were two explosions at the white-capped volcano between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The center says the volcano spewed a plume of steam about a mile into the sky.

Popocatepetl has put out small eruptions of ash almost daily since a round of activity began in 1994. The eruptions started strengthening two weeks ago and increased even more this weekend.


Alleged recruitment is repeat, Russia says

Moscow – The arrest and expulsion of a U.S. embassy official this week for allegedly attempting, in a ham-handed way, to recruit a Russian intelligence officer was the second such case this year, Russian state television reported Wednesday.

The earlier arrest took place in January, when an embassy official identified as Benjamin Dillon was arrested “in the attempt to recruit a special services officer,” Rossiya-1 TV reported in an interview with a man identified as an officer of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet KGB. The officer was not identified and his face was hidden in shadow. He said Dillon was a CIA agent.

A U.S. embassy spokesman, Joseph Kruzich, said the embassy would have no comment on the report.


Pope issues sanction on Scottish cardinal

Vatican City – The Vatican on Wednesday ordered a disgraced Scottish cardinal to leave Scotland for several months to pray and atone for sexual misconduct, issuing a rare public sanction against a “prince of the church” and the first such punishment meted out by Pope Francis.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and recused himself from the March conclave that elected Francis pope after a newspaper reported unnamed priests’ allegations that he acted inappropriately toward them.

O’Brien subsequently acknowledged he had engaged in unspecified sexual misbehavior. He apologized and promised to stay out of the church’s public life.

On Wednesday, the Vatican said O’Brien, once Britain’s highest-ranking Catholic leader, would leave Scotland for several months of “spiritual renewal, prayer and penance.”

Google unveils products
Tech company debuts streaming music service

Economic low in eurozone now its longest
Austerity, sluggish market put region in double bind

Editorial: Justice Department scandal shows need for federal shield law

Obama needs to become presidential  Dana Milbank

Planet-hunting telescope down, not out
Two of four wheels broken on NASA’s Kepler

Landers: WFWD needs public’s help

Doctor K: Calcium may not be right for men

Walters’ style changed face of interviews

Monkeyboy Books has new owners
Shop specializes in quality used books

Artist’s works capture awe of simple wonders

Basil is king of summer gardens

Project teaches students about global affairs

Lands Council, STCU, students team up on watershed restoration

Pattern of sun, showers to follow warm start to May

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from U.S. News and World Report

The Facts About Food Stamps Conservatives Don't Want You to Hear  The data shows there is little waste, fraud or abuse in the food stamp program.

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from The Weekly Standard

Benghazi Emails Directly Contradict White House Claims

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from The Wenatchee World


Chelan County towns move away from sheriff’s contracts

New plans for Chelan development include open parks, trails to town

Wenatchee’s hospitals charge less than the national average

Need is growing for low-income legal help
By Rufus Woods      Publisher

Quincy can tout its cheapness
By Tracy Warner      Editorial Page Editor

Seattle couldn’t win this battle against NBA
By Jerry Brewer      The Seattle Times

Pinning down the physics of bubbles

Jobless claims take highest jump in six weeks

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from Yahoo News

How the IRS Launders Veterans Disability Checks
The IRS Has Not Only Been Singling Out Conservative Groups. They've Also Been Singling Out Disabled Veterans

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