LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The layman’s translation is,‘We are where we thought we were.’”
BP spokesman Bill Salvin,
on efforts to drill a relief well to stop the Gulf gusher Article, this pagePetraeus lauds Purple Heart awardees
NEW WINDSOR, N.Y. - Gen. David Petraeus paid tribute to more than 400 veterans, including 100 recipients of the Purple Heart, on Friday in upstate New York.
The Army general picked by President Barack Obama to replace the U.S. military’s top commander in Afghanistan was the keynote speaker at the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Tribute in New Windsor.
He focused on the sacrifice of the gathered veterans, especially those who earned the Purple Heart, an honor bestowed on those wounded or killed in combat.
“Today’s troopers stand on the shoulders of those who came before them and because of your service, they stand very tall indeed,” he said.
He invited each of the 100 Purple Heart recipients and several Gold Star mothers, those who have lost children in combat, onstage to shake their hands and give each a commemorative coin.
Obama tapped Petraeus for the top job in Afghanistan after accepting Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s resignation Wednesday. Petraeus currently oversees the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as head of U.S. Central Command.
Transportation security boss confirmed
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Friday confirmed John Pistole, the former deputy FBI director, to head the Transportation Security Administration. The vote was unanimous.
President Barack Obama’s first two choices to run the agency, Erroll Southers and retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Harding, dropped out during their confirmation processes over the past year.
Pistole had a 27-year career with the FBI and rose through the ranks of its counterterrorism division. His background was touted as delivering an enhanced law enforcement perspective to the agency, whose primary mission is to shore up the nation’s defenses against terrorist threats in the air, on roads and rails.
The Transportation Security Administration was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and it’s most well known for screening passengers at airports.
Jamaican gang leader pleads innocent
NEW YORK - Jamaican gang leader Christopher “Dudus” Coke appeared in U.S. court Friday after the government had sought for months to extradite him from his home and pleaded innocent to charges that he ran a drug ring in the eastern United States from his Caribbean stronghold.
The 42-year-old boss of the Shower Posse gang was sent to New York on Thursday under tight security after waiving extradition. His case had sparked street violence in Kingston that left more than 70 dead.
Coke, wearing a blue inmate smock and speaking softly, entered the plea during a brief appearance in Manhattan federal court. Asked by U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson whether he understood the charges, he replied, “Yes, sir.”
A defense attorney temporarily assigned at the arraignment told the judge that Coke planned to hire another lawyer. Attorney Frank Doddato said after the hearing that he expects to represent Coke and would vigorously fight the charges.
In court papers, New York prosecutors said Coke conspired to distribute cocaine and marijuana throughout the eastern United States since 1994.
Pistol drawn by mistake, jurors told
LOS ANGELES - A former San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer testified Friday that he mistakenly pulled out his pistol instead of a stun gun when he shot and killed an unarmed black man who was lying facedown on an Oakland train platform.
Johannes Mehserle, 28, broke down in tears as he told jurors in his murder trial that he heard a pop and thought the Taser had malfunctioned.
“I remember the pop that wasn’t very loud. It wasn’t like a gunshot. I remember wondering what went wrong with the Taser. I thought it malfunctioned,” he said.
Mehserle, who previously testified that earlier he had pulled out his Taser twice, said he thought of using only the stun weapon.
“It was the only option that crossed my mind,” he said.
“Given the situation, the backdrop, the thought of using my gun never entered my head.”
Mehserle, who is white, has pleaded innocent to murdering 22-year-old Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009.
The trial was moved to Los Angeles from Alameda County because of intense media coverage and racial tensions. Mehserle resigned shortly after the shooting.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 06/26/2010