6 more Michigan public workers charged in Flint water crisis

6 more Michigan public workers charged in Flint water crisis
  

FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- Six current or former state employees were charged Friday with misconduct and other crimes in the Flint water crisis, bringing to nine the number of public officials facing prosecution over the lead contamination that alarmed parents across the country.

Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a total of 18 new charges against three employees from the Department of Environmental Quality - Liane Shekter Smith, Adam Rosenthal and Patrick Cook - and three from the Department of Health and Human Services - Nancy Peeler, Corinne Miller and Robert Scott. In addition to the misconduct in office charges, there were willful neglect of duty and various conspiracy counts.

"Each attempted to bury or cover up, downplay or hide info that contradicted their own narrative, their story ... (that) there's nothing wrong with Flint water, it's perfectly safe to use. In essence, these individuals concealed the truth and they were criminally wrong to do so," Schuette said at a news conference in the poor, predominantly black city of nearly 100,000 people 55 miles north of Detroit.

Under the leadership of a state-appointed emergency manager, officials in April 2014 began using the Flint River as Flint's water supply to save money. State officials didn't require that the river water be treated for corrosion, and lead from aging pipes and fixtures leached into Flint homes and businesses. The city remained on that water supply for 18 months, despite complaints from residents about its smell and color.

Elevated levels of the toxin were discovered in children. Lead contamination has been linked to learning disabilities and other problems.

The announcement Friday represented the second round of charges stemming from the water crisis. In January, Schuette announced the appointment of a special counsel to help his office investigate whether laws were broken. In April, two state regulators and a city employee were charged with official misconduct, evidence-tampering and other offenses.

In June, Schuette filed a lawsuit against two water engineering companies, saying their negligence caused and exacerbated Flint's lead-tainted water crisis and demanding what could total hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Shekter Smith, former head of the state's drinking water office, appeared last month in a Detroit courtroom so her lawyer could assert her constitutional right against self-incrimination amid ongoing investigations. She hadn't yet been charged but was reassigned after the water crisis came to light and her firing was announced in February.

Shekter Smith's attorney, Brian Morley, said Friday that he was surprised she was charged.

"It's disappointing. ... I think we're going to be really hard-pressed to find that she did anything wrong, and certainly nothing criminally wrong," he said.

The Associated Press left messages for Cook and Miller and could not find listed numbers for Rosenthal, Peeler and Scott.

Four of those charged Friday have been suspended without pay.

The Environmental Quality and Health and Human Services departments said two workers from each department are off the job for now. The two other people charged Friday had either already retired or been fired.

Schuette and Andy Arena, the lead investigator who once led Detroit's FBI office, say nobody is off-limits from investigation or prosecution.

"You don't start at the top," Arena said. "We're starting to work our way up, and expanding our investigation. ... The scope of the investigation is progressing exactly how it should be."

Gov. Rick Snyder has apologized for regulatory failures, and the state environmental agency has said it wasn't required to add an anti-corrosion chemical until after a year of testing.

In March, a state task force that investigated the Flint crisis concluded that it was a "case of environmental injustice." The Michigan Civil Rights Commission is holding public hearings on the matter.

Federal experts now say filtered tap water is safe for everyone to drink in Flint, though some doctors still are recommending bottled water for pregnant women and children ages 5 and younger.

2 San Diego police officers shot, 1 fatally, during stop

2 San Diego police officers shot, 1 fatally, during stop

San Diego Police heavily armed police officers surround a house about a half-mile away, urging a man inside to surrender in San Diego Friday, July 29, 2016. One San Diego police officer was killed and another was wounded in a shootout following a late-night traffic stop, Friday night. A suspect was wounded and taken into custody a short time later and hours later police surrounded the home as they searched for man described as a possible accomplice.

  

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- One San Diego police officer was killed and another was wounded in a shootout following a late-night stop to check out a person, authorities said Friday. A suspect was wounded and taken into custody shortly after the gunfight and police hours later surrounded a home as they searched for man described as a possible accomplice.

Officers broke windows, pounded on the roof and shouted for the man they thought was there to surrender but he wasn't found there.

They then raced to another house about two blocks away, positioning an armored truck and robots outside. 

But he wasn't there either and the manhunt was still on Friday afternoon.

Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman identified the dead officer as Jonathan DeGuzman, a 16-year veteran of the force who was married with two children. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Officer Wade Irwin, 32, underwent surgery after being shot and was expected to survive, Zimmerman said. His wife was at the hospital during surgery.

Both officers were wearing bulletproof vests and body cameras, and quickly called for assistance from other officers, Zimmerman said.

Police initially said the shootout started following a traffic stop, but Zimmerman later clarified that detectives were trying to determine whether it was a traffic stop or an attempt by the officers to check out a pedestrian.

"It happened extremely quickly, very quickly," she said. "From the information that was put out that a stop was being made to that the officers called for emergency cover to when the other officers arrived on scene, we're talking very, very quickly, Seconds to a minute or so. Very quickly."

The male suspect was captured in a nearby ravine and was being treated Friday at a hospital. Police did not identify him but Zimmerman said he was in critical condition with a gunshot wound.

Residents were ordered to stay in their homes throughout the night as San Diego police and officers from other law enforcement agencies scoured ravines, yards, streets and alleys for other possible suspects. A helicopter hovered over the neighborhood.

About nine hours after the shootout, heavily armed police officers surrounded a house about a half-mile away, one of them using a bullhorn to urge a man to surrender. Authorities also detonated several devices at the scene that made deafening booms.

Zimmerman said a potential second suspect was holed up in the house and that information she did not describe led officers to the home.

She told reporters she had worked with Zimmerman before she was promoted to the police chief post in 2014.

"I can tell you he is a loving, caring husband, father. Talked about his family all the time," Zimmerman said. "I know him, and this is gut-wrenching. He cared. He came to work every day wanting to just make a positive difference in the lives of our community."

After visiting Irwin later at UC San Diego Medical Center, Zimmerman told reporters that the officer's prospects for recovery were good.

"It's a little bit of a long haul until he makes a full recovery, but the good news is that he is going to survive and he is going to recover," she said outside the hospital.

The shooting came as law officers around the country are on high alert following the killing of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this month.

"Violence against the men and women who wear the badge is violence against us all," San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said after the shootings in his city. "I ask all San Diegans and all people across our nation to join together in support of our officers who courageously protect our communities. We need them and they need us."

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch mentioned the San Diego shooting during a meeting Friday with police officers and other first responders in Baton Rouge, where a gunman killed three on-duty law enforcement officers earlier this month.

"I know this community, more than most knows exactly what these families are feeling at this moment," she said.

Protesters Gather Around Wells Fargo Center On Final Night Of DNC

Protesters Gather Around Wells Fargo Center On Final Night Of DNC

  

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Thursday marks the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Speeches and protesters have been the two underlying themes of the event.

The protesters, at times, have drawn more attention than the speeches and while Hillary Clinton prepared to face her biggest audience, so too did the protesters.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

#Not1More Campaign Marches In Philly For Immigration Reform

#Not1More Campaign Marches In Philly For Immigration Reform

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Volunteers from a number of immigrant rights groups marched in Center City today to push for the creation of just immigration policies, and an end to deportations.

Chanting “Not one more,” the marchers carried signs calling for a moratorium on deportations and the dismantling of detention centers. Adelina Nicholls, who lives in Georgia, says the increased expulsion of migrants under the Obama administration is breaking up families.

“The separation of families is huge, and have affected deeply our community. There are many parents — just in Georgia, we have more than 48,000 US citizen children without a parent, or both, because of the amount of deportations.”

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Pennsylvania’s Cigarette Tax To Rise By $1 Per Pack Aug. 1

Pennsylvania’s Cigarette Tax To Rise By $1 Per Pack Aug. 1

  

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Cigarette taxes are on the way up in 

Pennsylvania.

 

Starting Aug. 1, Pennsylvania’s newly enacted budget package means that the per-pack tax on cigarettes will rise by $1 to $2.60. Counting a $2 per-pack tax added in Philadelphia in 2014 to help fund the city’s schools, and the per-pack cigarette tax in Philadelphia will be $4.60.

That means Pennsylvania’s cigarette tax will go from tied for the nation’s 23rd highest with Ohio and Delaware to the nation’s 10th highest cigarette tax. Philadelphia’s tax will be the seventh-highest tax when combining local and state taxes. Chicago is No. 1 at $6.16 per pack.

That’s according to the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Local Police Receive Acts Of Kindness From Some Of Their Youngest Residents

Local Police Receive Acts Of Kindness From Some Of Their Youngest Residents

  

DELAWARE VALLEY (CBS) — Police officers throughout the Delaware Valley are receiving acts of kindness from some of their towns’ youngest residents.

Kids in Newark, Del. took to the sidewalks on Monday to hand out free lemonade and hugs to police, firefighters and EMTs who serve and protect their town.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Teen Killed In Triple Shooting Following Neighborhood Basketball Game In Cobbs Creek

Teen Killed In Triple Shooting Following Neighborhood Basketball Game In Cobbs Creek

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A 15-year-old boy is dead after what police are calling an ambush attack Monday night in Cobbs Creek following a neighborhood basketball game.

Philadelphia Police say the three teens between the ages of 14 and 16 had just finished playing in a basketball game as part of a neighborhood league when a man with a gun opened fire on them near Baltimore Avenue and Edgewood Street around 10 p.m.

From full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Documents: Paterno ignored boy's Sandusky complaint in 1976

Documents: Paterno ignored boy's Sandusky complaint in 1976

 

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 1999, file photo, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, right, poses with his defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, during the college football team's media day in State College, Pa. Newly released court documents provided new details Tuesday, July 12, 2016, on allegations that Paterno was told in 1976 about a sex abuse accusation against Sandusky, and that some of Paterno’s assistants witnessed improper contact between Sandusky and children in the 1980s. Sandusky, who was arrested in 2011, is serving 30 to 60 years in prison on a 45-count child molestation conviction.

  

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, told by a teenage boy in 1976 that assistant coach Jerry Sandusky molested him in a shower, responded that he didn't want to hear about it and had "a football season to worry about," according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.

The boy, now a man identified as John Doe 150, said in 2014 that other boys in a shower heard him yell that Sandusky had just touched him sexually. He said he told several adults about it before seeking out Paterno.

"Is it accurate that Coach Paterno quickly said to you, 'I don't want to hear about any of that kind of stuff, I have a football season to worry about'?" a lawyer for Penn State's insurance carrier asked the man.

"Specifically, yes," the man replied.

"I was shocked, disappointed, offended. I was insulted," John Doe 150 testified. "I said, 'Is that all you're going to do?'"

He said Paterno "just walked away."

Excerpts of the man's testimony were among dozens of documents made public Tuesday in Penn State's fight with Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association Insurance Co. over payments to Sandusky's accusers. 

Sandusky was convicted in 2012 of dozens of child sexual abuse counts and is serving decades in prison while he appeals.

A judge disclosed the existence of the 1976 allegation two months ago, along with claims Penn State coaches witnessed inappropriate contact between Sandusky and children in the 1980s, but the newly unsealed documents provided greater detail.

Paterno told a grand jury in 2011 he first learned of Sandusky's inappropriate sexual contact in 2001, though records show high-ranking Penn State officials dealt with a complaint in 1998 from a woman whose son had showered with Sandusky.

Paterno died in January 2012, two months after Sandusky's arrest. A lawyer for his family said elements of John Doe 150's story "defy all logic" and there's evidence that "stands in stark contrast" to his claims.

A lawyer for Sandusky, who retired in 1999, also denied the allegation.

Testimony made public Tuesday suggested some Penn State coaches were aware of Sandusky's abuse decades ago.

Mike McQueary, a former assistant coach who told Paterno he saw Sandusky abusing a boy in a team shower in 2001, said in a 2015 deposition former defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was "not shocked" when told of it.

Bradley, who briefly took over as head coach after Paterno's firing, "said he knew of some things" about Sandusky dating to the 1980s, McQueary testified.

McQueary said Bradley told him he'd been approached by someone in the '80s who saw Sandusky "doing something to a boy" and in the '90s former assistant coach Greg Schiano saw Sandusky in the shower with a boy.

Bradley, now the defensive coordinator at UCLA, and Schiano, who holds the same position at Ohio State, denied witnessing any inappropriate behavior at Penn State.

The newly unsealed documents also provide additional information about 1987 and 1988 encounters accusers say were witnessed by coaching staff.

A man called John Doe 75 said in a 2014 deposition assistant football coach Joe Sarra walked into a coaches' meeting room in 1987 and saw Sandusky with his hands down the then-13-year-old boy's shorts.

John Doe 75 said Sarra may have said something like, "Oh, sorry," and immediately walked out. Sarra died four years ago.

A 2014 deposition by a man called John Doe 101 said Sandusky fondled him when he was a boy inside a crowded Penn State pool and coaches often saw him showering with Sandusky. But the one coach the man named said he wasn't working there at the time.

The records also include an insurance company lawyer's analysis that Penn State overpaid to settle with Sandusky's accusers, possibly as a result of the university's concern about publicity and a desire to resolve the matter quickly.

Lawyer Eric Anderson said Penn State "made little effort, if any, to verify the credibility of the claims." The university has paid $92 million to settle claims from 32 Sandusky accusers.

Lawyer Ken Feinberg, who helped mediate claims against the university, said the process was "very 

objective" and none of the cases was easy to resolve. He said Penn State was diligent in making sure the claims were supported by sufficient proof.

Wharton Students To Trump: ‘You Do Not Represent Us’

Wharton Students To Trump: ‘You Do Not Represent Us’

 

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) — Students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance have penned a scathing, open letter to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, claiming the business mogul-turned-politician does not represent them.

 Trump regularly reminds the public he attended Wharton, and often credits the school for his business knowledge. However, on Friday over 1,400 current Wharton students and alumni expressed their disdain for Trump, saying they were “deeply disappointed” by his candidacy.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/