Judge clears cop of sex assault of colleague’s 9-year-old, orders counseling

A cook County judge who had cleared a longtime Chicago police sergeant of the sexual assault of a colleague’s young daughter, convicting him instead of misdemeanor battery, ordered the cop Wednesday to undergo up to two years of sex offender counseling.

In explaining the unusual move, Judge Charles Burns said prosecutors had failed at trial to prove, as required by law, that Dennis Barnes fondled the girl for his own sexual arousal, yet the judge said he believed “something was going on, and that’s something that I find disturbing.”

The alleged victim’s mother, herself a Chicago police officer who had invited Barnes to her home for the first time for a family barbecue, blasted the judge’s decision, saying she felt Barnes had been given preferential treatment because he was a Chicago cop.

“I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it because of all the evidence,” she said, wiping away tears after court Wednesday as she recalled the judge’s decision to find Barnes guilty of a lesser, nonsexual offense after a short bench trial in January. “The judge even admitted that it disgusted him, so why would you say it’s only a misdemeanor battery?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-cop-sex-offender-counseling-met-20160406-story.html

Judge’s accused killer committed to stand trial

A man accused of killing a retired Ottawa federal tax court judge, his wife and a neighbour has been committed to stand trial on three counts of first-degree murder.

Ian Bush, 60, was committed to trial following a five-day preliminary hearing that concluded Wednesday.

Bush is accused of killing Alban Garon, 77, his wife, Raymonde Garon, 77, and neighbour Marie-Claire Beniskos in late June 2007. The three were found dead in the Garons’ upscale Riverside Drive condominium.

Bush was charged with first-degree murder a year ago after he was arrested and charged in the December 2014 attempted murder and robbery of 101-year-old Second World War veteran Ernest Côté in his New Edinburgh condominium. Côté had a bag placed over his head and was left for dead after an intruder claiming to be a city employee gained access to his residence. Bush is set to stand trial on those charges in March 2017.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/judges-accused-killer-committed-to-stand-trial

Jury sent home for day in officer’s stairwell shooting trial

Jurors weighing the fate of a rookie New York City police officer who fatally shot an innocent man in a public housing stairwell have gone home for the day.

The jurors were sent home Wednesday evening after the first full day of deliberations in the manslaughter trial of Officer Peter Liang (lee-ANG’).

Jurors asked to rehear testimony from Liang and other witnesses.

Liang says he accidentally fired the gun after being startled by a noise while patrolling the stairwell in 2014. Prosecutors say he was reckless and did little to help the dying victim, Akai (ah-KEYE’) Gurley.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/Jury-to-decide-fate-of-NY-officer-in-stairwell-6819736.php

Guilford County tests voting machines to ensure they are ready for early voting

Early voting doesn’t begin for a few weeks, but voting machines already have been put to work in Guilford County.

Elections staff began testing, cleaning and calibrating the touch-screen machines more than a week ago, a multistep process designed to ensure that votes are tabulated accurately, ballots print correctly, and voters have an easy time at the polling place.

“We started Monday, working 8 to 5 just on this,” said Daniel Lassiter, early voting manager for Guilford County. “We just got done with testing, and we’ll now do a general set-up of the machines. It takes about a week and a half to do.”

http://www.greensboro.com/news/guilford-county-tests-voting-machines-to-ensure-they-are-ready/article_8cfe3200-4719-5ccc-9726-ef946e1fcf03.html

 

Bernie Sanders Isn’t Interested in Your Bipartisan Solution

The students of Concord High School had just finished a week of exams but remained in school for an afternoon assembly. The New Hampshire school’s guest speaker was 74-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders. Rather than groaning about having to stick around for another couple of hours, though, the students were elated.

It’s so funny, we’ve been bringing some candidates in throughout the year, and everyone’s really excited and been asking good questions and having a great time,” said Chrigus Boezeman, a social studies teacher doubling effectively as Sanders’ hype man on this Friday in January, a few weeks before the New Hampshire primary. “And everyone’s saying to me, ‘Mr. Boezeman, gosh, it’s really great that you’re having all of these candidates come in. But … do you think Mr. Sanders can come in?’ ” The students, who were about to get the candidate they’d wanted to see for months, whooped with approval, breaking out into periodic chants of “BER-NIE, BER-NIE!” while they waited.

 

A high school student body is never the most voter-rich crowd to address on a cramped two-day swing through a crucial primary state. But for Sanders, whose campaign message rests on expanding voters’ realm of the possible in an age of frustratingly static politics, the opportunity to mold impressionable young minds was too good to pass up. These are the same sort of minds that then-Sen. Barack Obama, the last candidate to successfully inspire voters to look beyond the stale politics of the day and imagine something better, captivated in 2008.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/02/bernie_sanders_grassroots_revolution_isn_t_interested_in_barack_obama_s.html

More budget cuts likely for Oklahoma schools, roads, prisons

Budget cuts of 3 percent that began in January for Oklahoma agencies, including its public schools, will grow deeper beginning in March, the state’s finance director warned on Monday.

Collections to the state treasury have continued to come in below projections, exacerbating the revenue failure that was declared in December, Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger said in an email to state agency directors and finance officers.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/8/more-budget-cuts-likely-for-oklahoma-schools-roads/

Senate debates death penalty, but abolition not yet on horizon

In what one lawmaker described as a “refreshing” change, members of the Missouri Legislature called for an end to the death penalty Monday during a rare debate on the Senate floor.

Although the sponsor of a proposal to end capital punishment in Missouri said the measure is not expected to win approval this year, the more than hour-long discussion was notable because it represented the farthest an attempt to abolish the death penalty had traveled in the General Assembly in recent memory.

“I know I don’t have the votes to advance this bill,” said state Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial. “I’m thankful we had this discussion today. I’m convinced this issue is moving in the right direction.”

Wieland said he is pushing for the ban on future executions because he is a devout Catholic.  He said it is doubtful that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime and expressed concern that the state could execute an innocent person.

“All it would take is one mistake,” Wieland told his colleagues. “We’re not operating it at a zero percent margin of error.”

State Sen. Gina Walsh, D-Bellefontaine Neighbors, agreed.

“Mistakes are made. That’s pretty much where I’m at with it,” Walsh said. “It’s a very emotional subject. It’s a very difficult subject.”

State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, called the debate a remarkable occurrence in a Senate controlled by Republicans.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/senate-debates-death-penalty-but-abolition-not-yet-on-horizon/article_0a37be83-1d39-5b8f-899f-5055d529b2e1.html

Pro-Lifers Will File Ethics Complaint Against D.A. if She Doesn’t Drop Charges Against David Daleiden

If Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson doesn’t drop the charges against the man behind the videos exposing Planned Parenthood selling the body parts of aborted babies, pro-life advocates say they will file ethics charges against her. They are giving Devon Anderson three weeks to comply.

Daleiden posted bail last week  in response to what his attorneys and pro-life groups explain are bogus charges related to his undercover investigation and exposure of the Planned Parenthood abortion business selling the body parts of aborted babies. Dozens of pro-life advocates turned out to support him.

A Texas grand jury indicted David Daleiden and another pro-life activist, Sandra Merritt, behind the videos. Instead of prosecuting Planned Parenthood for selling aborted baby parts, Daleiden was indicted for buying them.

http://www.lifenews.com/2016/02/08/pro-lifers-will-file-ethics-complaint-against-d-a-if-she-doesnt-drop-charges-against-david-daleiden/

Uber’s Super Bowl 50 Plans Were Overwhelmed Postgame At Levi’s Stadium

In the days before Super Bowl 50, some angry Uber drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area planned to protest the big game. On Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, the disgruntled drivers were hardly seen or heard from.

But that doesn’t mean Uber’s first attempt to be part of the mass transit solution to a Super Bowl exodus went off without a hitch. The startup reportedly paid up to $500,000 to be the Super Bowl’s first official ride-hailing partner, which came with a parking lot near the stadium from which Uber could stage drop offs pregame and pick ups after the Broncos upset the Panthers.

Overall, Uber calls the night was a success, with “thousands” more drop offs and pick ups than expected. The Uber app used geofencing to direct departing fans about a 15 minute walk to the lot, from which they lined up and requested rides just as they would normally. Uber employees on site let users find their car only once a match was made and the driver pulled in and parked.

“We had huge numbers of people use Uber on Super Bowl Sunday and during Super Bowl week, including new services like uberPOOL that help reduce congestion and pollution. It was great to be part of the celebrations, helping passengers get from A to B at the push of a button–and we’re pleased that partners had such a busy week,” Uber spokesperson Laura Zapata told FORBES.

Yet, as one might expect, the size of the crowd attempting to request a ride ballooned as the majority of stadium-goers exited following the trophy ceremony. Managing huge groups of tired (and drunk) people is difficult, although it’s a skill that Uber will need to learn as it aspires to eventually be akin to a mass transit option. In this case, the company wasn’t perfect.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2016/02/08/ubers-super-bowl-50-plans-overwhelmed-postgame-at-levis-stadium/#50f7bc36ff6a

In Albany, Bharara Challenges Lawmakers to Act, Not Enable

Asked how he can spur legislators to enact major ethics reforms during his visit to Albany on Monday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said he has a “particularly blunt incentive…the avoidance of prison.” The reminder from Bharara comes as legislative leaders and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are quietly discussing possible ethics reforms behind closed doors–reforms none of them have appeared interested in discussing publicly since Cuomo outlined his platform in his State of the State address last month.

Speaking before a captive audience, Bharara focused on the lack of a public conversation on ethics by lawmakers and the strict control legislative leaders have over rank-and-file members, and called on legislators to speak up against the norm and blow the whistle on corruption. The crusading U.S. attorney delivered prepared remarks and sat for an interview at an event on public corruption hosted by WAMC public radio and good government groups.

Bharara didn’t need an indictment to send lawmakers scurrying for the exits during his visit. Earlier Monday at the Albany Hilton where they both addressed the New York Conference of Mayors, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan bolted up a flight of stairs before Bharara, the man who successfully prosecuted Flanagan’s predecessor, Dean Skelos, took the stage.

Flanagan unsuccessfully tried to avoid reporters who inquired why he wasn’t staying for Bharara’s remarks. He said that he had “appointments” in his office. Flanagan refused to answer questions about what ethics reforms he might support this session, continuing what has been a deafening silence from legislative leaders on ethics reform for the last month.

Flanagan also avoided mentioning ethics in his speech to the mayors conference–Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb both discussed the need for reform. Democratic Assembly Majority Leader Carl Heastie did not attend the event, his surrogate, Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle, spoke instead and also avoided discussing reform.

“They’re afraid they’re going to get asked questions by the press about ethics reform,” said Barbara Bartoletti of The League of Women Voters. “I would doubt we will hear anything from them on it soon. We have said ‘please open up these leaders’ meetings and tell us what issues you’re looking at in the budget’ but this governor has not done that.”

http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/government/6155-in-albany-bharara-challenges-lawmakers-to-act-not-enable