LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When it comes to Mitt Romney and his economic philosophy the facts are clear - it
didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.”
David Axelrod,
President Barack Obama’s senior campaign adviser, on Romney’s record as Massachusetts governor Article, 4A
Jurors in Edwards case sent home
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The judge in the John Edwards campaign corruption trial sent the jury home on Wednesday after eight days of deliberations and told the four alternate jurors they do not need to return to the courthouse.
It was not clear whether the judge’s decision to release the alternate jurors meant that the regular panel was any closer to a verdict.
The four alternate jurors have drawn attention because they have at times worn the same color shirts. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Eagles said Wednesday that everyone in the courtroom will miss their cheerful faces and not knowing what color they will be wearing each day.
The judge said she was still dealing with a note from one of the 12 regular jurors, but she did not say what it was about. The panel is to resume deliberations this morning.
Wildfire biggest ever in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A wildfire that has burned more than 265 square miles in the Gila National Forest has become the largest fire in New Mexico history, fire officials confirmed Wednesday.
The erratic blaze grew overnight to more than 170,000 acres, surpassing a blaze last year that burned 156,593 acres in Los Conchas and threatened the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nation’s premier nuclear facility.
The Gila forest fire also is the largest one currently burning in the nation. It formed last week when two lightning-sparked blazes merged in an isolated mountainous area in southwestern New Mexico, where it has destroyed about a dozen homes and prompted evacuations of nearby towns and health alerts for some of the state’s largest cities.
Fire information officer Jerry Perry said about 1,200 firefighters from around the state were battling the growing blaze, but that they continue to face low humidity and shifting winds in their efforts.
Archdiocese: Paid priests to leave
MILWAUKEE - The Archdiocese of Milwaukee confirmed Wednesday that it had a policy to pay suspected abusive priests to leave the ministry.
The acknowledgment was prompted by a document made public by abuse victims’ advocates from the archdiocese’s bankruptcy that references a 2003 proposal to pay $20,000 to “unassignable priests” who accepted a return to the laity. The policy was crafted under then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is now a cardinal and head of the archdiocese in New York.
The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests characterizes the payments as a payoff and bonuses to priests who purportedly abused children. The archdiocese disputes that characterization, saying the payments were in part to more quickly move those men out of the priesthood.
The group is calling on the archdiocese to release all records involving the payments and its handling of clergy sex-abuse cases.
Likely suicide caps 5 Seattle slayings
SEATTLE - A gunman killed five people Wednesday in Seattle - four at a cafe and another in a carjacking - before he apparently shot himself as officers closed in after a citywide manhunt, authorities said.
The suspect died later Wednesday at Harborview Medical Center, hospital spokesman Susan Gregg said.
Police who began scouring the area for the person who opened fire at the cafe near the University of Washington responded a short time later to another fatal shooting near the city’s downtown. They say a man killed a woman in an apparent carjacking and fled in a black sport utility vehicle.
Police said late Wednesday that they believe one man was responsible for both attacks.
“At this time, we feel pretty confident that we have the suspect,” Assistant Seattle Police Chief Nick Metz said.
The Seattle Times identified the suspect as Ian Lee Stawicki, 40, of Seattle, citing unidentified law-enforcement sources. Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said he couldn’t confirm the name and said police would not publicly identify the suspect Wednesday night.
Andrew Stawicki, 29, of Ellensburg told the Times he recognized a photo shown on TV newscasts of the purported gunman as his brother Ian. Andrew Stawicki said Ian Stawicki was mentally ill.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 05/31/2012