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Compassionate act commemorated Pikesville man to meet again the person he credited with saving his life 49 years ago.

October 15, 1991|By Patrick Ercolano | Patrick Ercolano,Evening Sun Staff

Chaim Shapiro has plenty of stories about his experiences in Europe and the Soviet Union during World War II.

One of the stories involves a man named Ludwik Seidenman. Shapiro, a 68-year-old Pikesville resident, says Seidenman saved his life with a compassionate act amid the war's horrors.

This weekend, the two will meet at Seidenman's New York home for their first face-to-face encounter in 49 years.

"It's unbelieveable. It just came out of a blue moon," Shapiro says of the way the two men found each other after five decades. "I've thought of him often, but I figured he'd be dead by now."

Seidenman, 84, is in fact alive and well, and still practicing law up to six days a week in Manhattan.

Their scheduled reunion came after Seidenman read "Go, My Son," Shapiro's autobiographical work about his wartime adventures. Published in 1989 by the Feldheim company of New York and Jerusalem, the 500-page volume has become a best-seller in Jewish book circles.

Last July, Seidenman sent a fan letter of sorts to Shapiro. The two have since phoned each other a few times. They will meet at 11 a.m. Sunday. Shapiro and members of his family, including his wife, Hadassa, had already arranged to be in New York this weekend for a wedding.

"Go, My Son" describes a brief but critical encounter between Shapiro and Seidenman during the war.

They first met in the Soviet town of Kuybishev in 1942. At the time, Shapiro was a young Jewish Pole on the run, trying to stay a step ahead of the Nazis. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, he had heeded his mother's advice to flee eastward (her last words to him supplied the title of his book). He never saw his parents or three brothers again. All perished during the war.

Shapiro was traveling in 1942 with a Red Army outfit in Kuybishev, where Western nations had moved their embassies out of fear that the Germans would take the capital in Moscow. Shapiro was hoping to join the Soviet forces so he could kill Nazis. But when he learned that he would be assigned to work in the Soviet oil fields, he opted to leave his outfit and search for the Polish Embassy. His new plan was to join the army of his native country.

Wandering around Kuybishev, Shapiro knew that if was picked up by Soviet policemen or Red Army soldiers and did not have the proper papers, he could be shot.

He managed to locate the Polish Embassy, and after nearly getting thrown out by a rude receptionist, he was sent to an embassy official called "Dr. Seidenman." According to Shapiro, "Dr." was a title of respect in Europe for lawyers.

Seidenman, also a Polish Jew, took pity on Shapiro and got him a letter of recommendation from the embassy's top military officer.

"He didn't have to do that, but he felt bad for me," Shapiro says. "He wanted to help me out. If I'd left the embassy without that letter, I'm sure I would have walked outside and been arrested for not having any documentation on me. The Soviets would have thought I was a spy or a deserter if I was carrying no papers. You know what they did with those guys? They shot 'em! So that's why I say Seidenman saved my life."

Later, Seidenman would help get Shapiro a more authoritative document, a Polish passport.

By war's end, Shapiro had joined the Red Army and then served as a tank commander in the Polish Army. It had been a long journey for a young man who was a meek yeshiva student when the war began.

Seidenman, who had been imprisoned by the Soviets around 1940 and freed a year later, stayed with the Polish Embassy in Moscow during the war.

He eventually moved to New York and opened his law practice in 1958. His clients have included Alexander Kerensky, the head of the provisional Russian government that was swept away by the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917; the wife of the pianist Arthur Rubenstein; the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America; and Svetlana Stalin, daughter of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

In a phone interview, Seidenman says he was given "Go, My Son" earlier this year by a friend who informed the lawyer that he was featured in the book.

"It was very good, very truthful and factually accurate, I found," Seidenman says of the book. "I was very pleased that he [Shapiro] remembered me positively. I think that on Sunday we will have a very friendly meeting."

Reminded that Shapiro credits Seidenman with saving his life, Seidenman says quietly, "I'm delighted."

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YWCA to promote breast cancer tests Goal is recruiting low-income women

May 05, 1993|By Marina Sarris | Marina Sarris,Staff Writer

Offering free breast cancer exams to low-income women is one thing. Getting them to sign up for them is another.

The state health department has had trouble getting enough eligible women to take advantage of the exams, so it will soon be enlisting the help of the YWCA.

Using its own money and federal funds, the YWCA plans to comb low-income neighborhoods, senior centers and churches to persuade Marylanders to sign up for free exams at clinics and hospitals. The nonprofit group will even provide vans to take the women to their mammograms and cancer education seminars.

The one-year pilot project will be launched in Baltimore and Prince George's County in November, said Jane Christie, executive director of the YWCA of Greater Baltimore. If successful, it would be used as a model for other states, she said.

Maryland ranks seventh in the nation in breast cancer deaths.

The YWCA's involvement is important because the organization has contacts in neighborhoods with "hard to reach" women who cannot afford exams for breast and cervical cancer, said Dr. John W. Southard, director of chronic disease prevention at the state health department.

"The Y has access to the American Indian, Latino and African-American communities that we want to reach, particularly older women," he said.

Said Ms. Christie, "We're not a frightening entity, which is different from a nurse in a white uniform."

She said the national YWCA organization will use a roughly $80,000 grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control to launch the Maryland project, and the YWCA itself will pump in more than $100,000.

An estimated 46,000 women nationwide are expected to die from breast cancer this year. Last year, the disease claimed 900 lives in Maryland, according to the American Cancer Society.

A disproportionate number of low-income women die from the disease because they cannot afford, or do not have access to, the exams that can detect cancer in its earliest, most treatable phase, said state Health Secretary Nelson J. Sabatini.

In Maryland, many hospitals offer free or low-cost mammograms to women with little or no health insurance, and the state will pay for screenings, diagnosis and treatment of uninsured women over age 50. A woman's risk of developing breast cancer increases with age.

Although the plan is still being devised, the YWCA expects to use a van and volunteers to work with churches and other groups to find high-risk women and convince them to sign up for free exams.

"We're good at rustling volunteers and working collaborately with women's sororities and other groups," Ms. Christie said.

Before they can sign the women up, they probably will have to correct common misperceptions about mammograms, a specialized breast X-ray that can detect cancer.

Lillian Brown, a 59-year-old widow in Baltimore, said she had heard rumors that a woman could get cancer from TC mammogram and that the exam would hurt.

But her doctor and others convinced her otherwise, and she took part in an education and screening program involving the YWCA and a Baltimore hospital last year.

"A lot of women, they're afraid if they never had it done," she said.

Mrs. Brown said her mammogram did not hurt, and now she urges other women to participate in the screenings.

"I would say to any woman to get it done."

Maryland has two screening programs, one funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the other by a commission that monitors hospital costs.

All together, the programs have more than $5 million a year available for breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment.

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Western, Carver now names of two county high schools, too

August 18, 1993|By Lem Satterfield | Lem Satterfield,Staff Writer

Baltimore County has two new high schools, both with names similar to schools in the city.

Carver Center for the Arts and Technology, whose teams are nicknamed the Wildcats and use the colors green, white and black, may cause some confusion with the city's Carver Bears, whose colors are blue and white.

And Western School of Technology and Environmental Sciences, whose teams are nicknamed the Wolverines and use the colors Carolina blue, black and silver, is not related to the city's Western, whose Doves sport black and red.

Carver, located at 938 York Road, was formerly the Central School of Technology, Towsontown Junior High and Carver High. Western, in the Catonsville area at 100 Kenwood Ave., was formerly the Western School of Technology Center.

Western doesn't have a gymnasium or athletic center, so the Wolverines will play at Catonsville Education Center on Bloomsbury Avenue about two miles from the school.

Only freshmen and sophomores are presently enrolled in the two schools, which will be classified as 1A programs and play junior varsity schedules, offering all sports this year except football, which both programs hope to introduce in 1994.

County coordinator of athletics Ron Belinko said that the two programs "should eventually level off to be solid 2A schools."

For athletic directors, Carver has Stuart Tarleton, former AD at Beth Tfiloh, and Western has Barbara Parry, a former teacher/coach at Woodlawn.

Each is relatively young, with Parry, 25, being a 1985 Woodlawn graduate, and Tarleton, 33, a 1978 alumnus of Loch Raven.

"They are both two energetic people," said Belinko. "I expect they'll jump right in and do a good job."

Parry becomes the youngest AD in county history and currently is the only woman running such a department solo. She is a recipient of the McNeely Merit Award from the Maryland Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, for her work as vice president of athletics for that organization. She is secretary for the county Women's Coaches Association.

"It's a lot to do," she said. "but I like a challenge."

Tarleton, a 1982 graduate of Western Kentucky, ran cross country and track in high school, twice winning the 300 hurdles county title. He said he will run his cross country team on a varsity schedule.

"It looks like we'll go varsity in all sports next year, because of the county's rule that juniors can't compete on junior varsity," Tarleton said. While Tarleton's uniforms are coming in, Parry's are behind schedule.

"The orders were placed in June, and we have no equipment yet," said Parry, a 1990 Towson State graduate and a former field hockey and lacrosse player at Woodlawn who will coach girls soccer and softball.

"I come from a much larger faculty at Woodlawn, where there were five women and five men in the athletic department," said Parry. "But I've found a coach for every fall sport, with the exception of cheerleading. And I have several applicants for the winter sports, and they're very enthusiastic about it."

Tarleton is still searching for a couple of fall coaches.

"If the two leads pan out for girls soccer and field hockey, I'll be all right for the fall," Tarleton said. "I still need coaches for girls and boys basketball and a couple in the spring. About half of the coaches right now are from this school, but if I have to go to other schools, that'll be fine."

Tarleton will coach only cross country and possibly baseball in the spring, "taking off in the winter unless I have to fill a coaching vacancy."

"But basketball's a popular sport, so that shouldn't be a problem," he said.

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Designer hired for renovation at police HQ

September 02, 1993|By JoAnna Daemmrich | JoAnna Daemmrich,Staff Writer

Baltimore officials hired a design team yesterday to develop plans for a $32 million expansion and renovation of the city police headquarters.

Amid some lingering questions, the city's Board of Estimates awarded a $2.6 million contract to a joint venture between RCG Inc. of Baltimore and HOK of Washington, a division of the firm that designed Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

City Council President Mary Pat Clarke, who chairs the board, expressed reservations over building a 100,000-square-foot annex adjacent to the headquarters at 601 E. Fayette St. She asked if money could be saved by simply leasing office space while renovating the existing building, which is saddled with heating, ventilation and asbestos problems.

"Are we designing this [annex] as a holding area?" asked Ms. Clarke, who cast the lone dissenting vote.

But David Mitchell, the project coordinator, said the addition is needed to house modern police labs and criminal investigation rooms. He also said the option of leasing space elsewhere during construction was ruled out as too expensive.

Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, who had initially wanted to relocate the central police operations to the vacant Hecht Co. department store at Howard and Lexington streets, asked that the board be kept up to date with the design progress. He promised "tough questions" if the costs prove higher than expected. The mayor originally had pushed for the Hecht Co. site in an attempt to help revitalize the languishing Howard Street retail corridor. But the cost proved prohibitive.

The design team was selected from a field of seven candidates, Mr. Mitchell said. Its contract came under fire yesterday by the president and CEO of Manekin Corp., one of the area's largest real-estate development companies. Manekin had proposed building new headquarters.

"I think this is an exceedingly high fee," said Richard Alter, Manekin's president.

Mr. Mitchell dismissed the criticism, saying the $2.6 million contract was standard because it represented 8 percent of the total budget.

About 900 police officers and civilians work in the central building, which was defective the day it opened two decades ago. Not only was it full of asbestos, but many of the ventilation ducts on the blueprints were never installed. Many workers currently share cramped offices, said Deputy Police Commissioner Michael Zotos.

Plans call for construction to be completed by July 1997. The annex will be built first, then contractors will remove the asbestos and renovate the headquarters.

The city has already earmarked $12 million toward the cost, the ** bulk from a court settlement with the asbestos manufacturer.

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Annapolis Council Endorsements ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

October 27, 1993

Annapolis voters are lucky: For the first time in years, all eight of their aldermanic races are contested, with most candidates having something to offer the city.

Our endorsements for Wards 1 through 4 follow. On tomorrow's editorial page, we will comment on the races in Wards 5 through 8.

* Ward 1: In the downtown historic district, incumbent Republican John Hammond is seeking a fifth term against architect Craig Purcell. These intelligent men hold different visions of the future of downtown. Mr. Hammond has ensconced himself in the camp of residents fighting later bar hours, neon signs and touristy shops. Mr. Purcell espouses the refreshing view that it's time to defuse these feuds and attract more business.

Even though we find Mr. Purcell's message welcome after so many bitter debates, we still give the edge to Mr. Hammond. Some of his views on preservation are extreme, but the council needs his fiscal expertise; he bears a great deal of responsibility for the city's solid financial standing.

* Ward 2: Likable Democratic newcomer Richard Ackenback wants to unseat incumbent Dean Johnson, an independent seeking his second term. They agree on most issues, including opposition to commercial development along Rowe Boulevard. We support Mr. Johnson, due to his strenuous constituent service and involvement in major planning issues.

* Ward 3: Three-term incumbent Democrat Sam Gilmer is fending off Republican Steven C. Kerstetter, owner of a karate school.

Mr. Gilmer is best known for his stands on minority issues, but his record consists more of rhetoric than accomplishment. We endorse Mr. Kerstetter, who is committed to minority issues but also concerned about stemming divisiveness.

* Ward 4: Republican Joseph Sachs, appointed in August to fill a vacant seat, and Democrat Shepard Tullier both want more community involvement to fight crime and better planning to control traffic. Mr. Sachs boasts an impressive history of civic activism. But Mr. Tullier's 15 years as a county planner gives him an expertise that the council needs.

In Wards 1 through 4 for Annapolis City Council, The Sun endorses John Hammond, Dean Johnson, Steven Kerstetter and Shepard Tullier.

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Asimenios survives all-Maryland finals to take All-Star Classic

March 27, 1994|By DON VITEK

Top seed Adele Asimenios beat out nearly 100 of the finest women duckpin bowlers in the country at the 14th annual Ladies All-Star Classic last weekend at Fair Lanes Southwest in Linthicum, taking home the $2,000 first-place prize.

For the second year the five finalists formed an all-Maryland line-up: Asimenios, Sharon Sachs, Dorrie Brenner and Diane Ludwig are from the Baltimore area, and Diane Sicca is from Laurel. Sachs and Ludwig were in the top five last year.

In the first of the four stepladder matches, Ludwig defeated Sicca, 171-141. After Ludwig threw a third-frame spare and capped it with a double-header strike, the match was never in doubt.

In the second game, against Brenner, Ludwig appeared headed for her second victory, opening with a triple-header in the first three frames, a fourth-frame 9-count and a pick-up of the single pin for a spare and a 34-pin lead in the fifth frame. But in duckpins, strange things can happen.

In the next five frames, Ludwig faced splits and never marked again. Brenner, after three open frames, fired a strike in the seventh and finished with three spares to defeat Ludwig, 153-148.

Brenner faced Sachs in the semifinal game. After the second frame, (both women spared in the first two frames) Sachs held a lead of two pins. Even with Brenner filling the last four frames with marks, the outcome was never in doubt. Sachs finished with 162 to Brenner's 147.

The final match pitted Sachs against Asimenios in what everyone expected to be a high-scoring match. But this was duckpins, and strange things happen.

In the first frame, Asimenios blew past the head pin and left the 1-3-6; then picked off a single pin and stayed clean with her third ball.

Sacks chopped with her first ball and in the second frame faced the 7-8 split.

It was an ugly start and never really got much better. In a game that was marred by a plethora of chops and splits, Asimenios held on for a 128-114 victory.

For Asimenios, the title was her third of the last six months. She won the Ladies Grand Prix in November at Fair Lanes Westview with a string of seven straight marks against Corrine Lipka. Early this month with her partner, Jeff Pyles, she won the Pinland Doubles Open tournament.

Sharon Petrecca of Pasadena, an 120-plus-average duckpin bowler, fired the only 200 game in last weekend's tournament. In the qualifying round on Saturday, she "concentrated on hitting her spot" and posted a 201 game.

A deadly Piranha

Joe Hock Jr. of Glen Burnie is on a roll. Bowling since he was 12 years old, he is a serious tenpin player.

A 220 average, 18 300 games, a high series of 814 and competition in five leagues and on the PBA regional circuit testify to that.

In the last month and a half, he has pounded out "about a dozen 700 sets with a high of 781."

How did he do it?

"The Piranha," Hock said. "It just out-hooks anything I've used. I drilled it myself and since I've started using it [less than two months ago] I've been averaging about 235."

That's the Columbia 300 Piranha, a two-piece reactive resin bowling ball containing up to two inches of FLEXCEL urethane by BASF, a new resin that allows increased hook on oily lanes when sanded and an increased flip when polished.

Tournament news

The DARE [Drug Abuse Resistance Education] tournament will draw police personnel from departments across Maryland to Bowl America Odenton on April 11.

"We're looking for another great turnout," said Bill Daywalt of the Anne Arundel police department and a DARE officer. "The tournament is a lot of fun and we raise a lot of money for the DARE program."

Information: (410) 222-DARE or Bowl America Odenton at (410) 551-9163.

* On Saturday and next Sunday, National Amateur Bowlers Inc. will be at Crofton Bowling Centre. First prize is $1,500. Information: (410) 721-2401.

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Pioneers finally get it all together on the softball field

April 14, 1994|By Roch Eric Kubatko | Roch Eric Kubatko,Sun Staff Writer

Going into yesterday's doubleheader at Camden Community College, the Anne Arundel CC softball team had won four in a row and seven of its last eight. And the reasons are obvious to anyone who has seen the Pioneers play lately.

"Timely hitting, good fielding and strong pitching. They're all coming together finally," said coach Jim Hendricks, whose team improved to 13-8 overall, 8-3 in the JuCo conference with Monday's 11-3 romp over Delaware Tech.

Ericka Shade (4-5) went the distance Monday, giving up five hits, walking two and striking out seven. She didn't allow an earned run, lowering her ERA to 1.22. She also had a hit and knocked in a run.

Amy Fichter continued her torrid hitting, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. She led off the game with a triple.

Kristen Meade went 2-for-3 with one RBI, one run and a stolen base. Alicia Conine had one hit and two RBIs. Christine Winters went 2-for-3, including a double, knocked in a run and scored once. Holly Hladycz had two RBIs and two stolen bases and scored a run.

Two weeks ago, the Pioneers' team batting average was .287. Now, it's up to .359.

Hladycz leads the team in hitting with a .462 average. She also has two home runs, 18 RBIs and 18 runs scored.

Conine is batting .424 with one home run, 25 RBIs and 18 runs scored. Sarah Storrs has a .435 average and 12 RBIs. Winters and Fichter are batting .366 and .323.

Despite a pulled thigh muscle, Shade pitched Anne Arundel to an 8-2 win over Hagerstown JC Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader. She barely could walk once the game had ended, but when Stacy Reynolds suffered a hand injury and had to leave the nightcap in the third inning, Shade took over and helped Anne Arundel to a 15-5 victory.

"It was one of the more amazing performances I've ever seen," Hendricks said.

Anne Arundel's baseball team fell behind by two runs in the first inning against visiting Dundalk CC on Tuesday. Then, the Pioneers went to work.

They scored twice in the second inning and three more times in the fifth and seventh to hand Dundalk an 8-4 loss.

Left-hander John Degen gave up eight hits in seven innings before another southpaw, Lee Haney, took over in the eighth. Ryan Scott and Rich Spiegel homered, as the Pioneers raised their record to 17-7.

Everything went well for them "except for us throwing the ball around again in one inning. I almost had heart failure," said coach Clayton Jacobson. "We had errors at second, short and third in the same inning. When we do something like that, it seems to spread."

On Saturday, Anne Arundel was swept in a doubleheader at Hagerstown, 2-1 and 15-3. In the opening game, Hagerstown scored two unearned runs in the first inning off lefty Ed Nalley, who deserved a better fate.

So did the Pioneer hitters.

"We must have hit five balls that would have gone out of any park in the world, but the wind was blowing in at 30 mph and we paid the price," Jacobson said.

Men's lacrosse

Anne Arundel's men's lacrosse team won its eighth game in 10 tries, blanking Harford CC through the first two quarters and cruising to a 21-5 victory on Tuesday.

Steven Phipps scored four goals for the Pioneers, who raced out to an 11-0 lead at halftime. Dave Livingston and Andy Goeller each had three goals, and Craig McKenzie and Jamison Miller each had three assists. Livingston had two assists.

Chris Brown made five saves in the first half before giving way to Matt Pugh, who stopped 15 shots.

Anne Arundel was coming off a 17-8 loss at Nassau CC (N.Y.), the No. 2 junior-college team in the nation. Phipps had three goals, McKenzie scored twice, Maury LaPointe had one goal and two assists and Miller added one goal and one assist.

Women's lacrosse

Anne Arundel's women's lacrosse team continues to overwhelm its opponents, "and it's tough to coach when you take over games like that," said Jim Shuck.

The Pioneers, who were 4-0 going into yesterday's game at Hood College, routed visiting Harford CC, 20-2, Monday. Robin Quinton and Kristy Moltz each scored four goals, and Quinton also had four assists.

Angie Burnett had two goals and seven assists. Michele Credno, Karen Chesley and Emily Chones each scored twice, and Jennie Young, Amy Brown, Denise Perrone and Heather Knutson each had one goal. Brandee Snyder made five saves.

Anne Arundel had it just as easy with Virginia Tech's club team Sunday, building a 10-0 lead at halftime and winning, 18-1.

Eleven players had a hand in the scoring for Anne Arundel, led by Quinton with four goals and two assists. Moltz had three goals and two assists, Chesley added two goals and four assists, Chones, Young, Burnett and Knutson each scored twice, and Heather Riley had one goal. Perrone (two), Knutson, Credno and Brown were credited with assists.

Anne Arundel held a 29-5 advantage in shots, and Wendy Baxter made four saves.

Anne Arundel will have a bigger challenge tomorrow against Chesapeake Club, which includes Shuck's daughters, Jennifer and Leann.

Anne Arundel's golf team shot a 324 to defeat Montgomery-Rockville (327) and host Essex (357) Tuesday.

Matt Tengwall paced Anne Arundel with a 78 score, and Brian Jones shot an 81. Anne Arundel has won its first three matches.

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Spirit rallies in 9th to beat Keys, 14-11

April 19, 1994|By From Staff Reports

FREDERICK -- Micah Franklin went 4-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI to lead the Winston-Salem Spirit (5-6) to a 14-11 victory over the Frederick Keys (5-6) in a Carolina League game at Harry Grove Stadium last night.

Trailing 11-9 after eight innings, the Spirit rallied for five runs in the ninth.

Winston-Salem had built a 9-0 lead after four innings before the Keys scored four in the fifth, four in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth.

Kimera Bartee had a home run and six RBI for the Keys.

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Chicago Breaking News Articles
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Free samples on National Caramel Popcorn Day

April 06, 2011

Chicago’s iconic Garrett Popcorn is giving away free snack-sized bags of its Caramel Crisp today at its Loop and River North stores to celebrate National Caramel Popcorn Day.

Not only can you satisfy your guilty pleasure, but you can feel good about it: Garrett’s will donate $1 to Save the Children’s Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund.

Read more at Chicago Breaking Business.

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Heart disease is leading killer of women, but patient care lags that for men

December 29, 2008|By Judith Graham, Tribune reporter

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S., yet a wealth of data shows female cardiac patients receive inferior medical care compared with men.

Too many physicians still discount the idea that a woman could be suffering from heart disease, delaying or denying needed medical interventions, experts note. Most community hospitals in the U.S. still are not following guidelines for treating women with heart attacks. And primary care doctors don't do as much as they could to emphasize prevention.

As a result, women are failing to reap the full benefits of enormous advances in cardiovascular medicine.

The point was underscored this month by a study published in the journal Circulation finding that women who have heart attacks receive fewer recommended treatments in hospitals than men, including aspirin, beta blocker medications, angioplasties, clot-busting drugs and surgeries to re-establish blood flow. Women with the most serious heart attacks, known as STEMIs, were significantly more likely to die at a hospital than men.

"We need to do a better job of defining women's symptoms and treating them aggressively and rapidly, as we do for men," said Dr. Hani Jneid, the study's lead author and assistant professor of medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

In Israel, when guidelines have been applied much more rigorously, the mortality difference between the sexes all but disappeared, according to a July study in the American Journal of Medicine.

Outside hospitals, too few internists, family doctors, obstetricians and gynecologists are implementing recommendations for preventing heart disease in women, experts say. Eighty percent of heart attacks in women could be prevented if women changed their eating habits, got regular exercise, managed their cholesterol and blood pressure, and followed other preventive measures.

Although death rates from cardiovascular disease have fallen, the condition killed 455,000 women in 2005, according to data from the American Heart Association. Heart disease causes about 72 percent of cardiovascular fatalities; the rest are strokes and other related conditions.

The next decade could see major advances as scientists better understand how the biology of heart disease differs in women, said Dr. Joan Briller, director of the Heart Disease in Women program at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago.

Already, for example, researchers have learned that plaque deposits tend to be spread more widely in women than in men, resulting in fewer big blockages in the arteries. That means standard therapies such as angioplasty are often less effective in women. Also, woman metabolize certain heart drugs at a different rate than men.

Women should learn about the symptoms of acute heart disease -- which can differ from those in men -- respond promptly if they sense something is wrong, and "find physicians who care about them," said Dr. Annabelle Volgman, medical director of the Heart Center for Women at Rush University Medical Center.

"Ask your doctor: Are you familiar with the guidelines for the prevention of heart disease in women published in 2007? Do you follow them? If they say 'no,' find yourself another doctor," she said.

These Chicago-area women learned the importance of that advice the hard way:

Channeling anger into medical activism

The first time Debbie Dunn collapsed, doctors diagnosed pneumonia. A high fever, they said, had caused her cold sweats and thumping heart.

The next three times Dunn felt on the verge of collapse, her heart racing wildly, medical providers told her she was having panic attacks.

Eventually a cardiologist gave her a new diagnosis: supraventricular tachycardia, an abnormally rapid heart rhythm. "It's benign," Dunn says he told her.

For years, Dunn visited the cardiologist occasionally but primarily relied on a technique he taught her to control symptoms. Still, more and more often, she said, "My heart felt like tennis shoes in the drier doing flip-flops."

In 2002, at a restaurant with her husband, Dunn felt what she calls a "ripping, burning sensation above my breast." Her left arm went numb, then started to ache.

At a nearby hospital, after hours of waiting, a nurse casually told Dunn she'd had a massive heart attack. A cardiologist said her heart was profoundly damaged and operating at about 30 percent of capacity. Dunn was prescribed medications but felt perpetually exhausted.

"I tried to be a good mom, a good wife, and go back to my activities but I couldn't keep up," said Dunn, 52. Her cardiologist prescribed another medication for inflammation, but it didn't help either.

A turning point came when Dunn read an article in O magazine on women and heart disease. Seeing herself in the story, she went to see Oprah Winfrey's cardiologist. In the physician's office, having a cardiac stress test for the first time, Dunn had another heart attack.


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6A |

Terrell's 2-point conversion sends Crete-Monee past Lemont

Crete-Monee 28, Lemont 27

November 17, 2012|By Brian Hedger, Special to the Tribune
(Warren Skalski/For the Chicago Tribune)

Marcus Terrell saw the play his Crete-Monee coaches had called for a crucial two-point conversion attempt was covered.

The Warriors' senior quarterback then did something he'd done only four times to that point late in the fourth quarter of Crete-Monee's 28-27, come-from-behind road victory against Lemont in a Class 6A semifinal Saturday night.

He made a run for it. The ball landed, in his hand, just over the goal line to push the Warriors (13-0) ahead for the first time with 3 minutes, 13 seconds left.

"I was just thinking, 'We need this. This is for the team,'" said Terrell, who also threw for 294 yards and a touchdown. "Those were two big points. I just had to do what I could to get in there."

Lemont (11-2), which led 17-14 at halftime and held leads of 24-14 and 27-20 in the second half, was forced to punt on its ensuing possession with 2:00 left. The Warriors sealed the game, however, when receiver Laquon Treadwell picked up 5 yards on third-and-4 from Crete-Monee's 30.

Terrell took a knee for three snaps as the clock expired, sending the Warriors to the state championship game for the first time in school history.

"(We) made it interesting, to say the least," Crete-Monee coach Jerry Verde said. "It was a great game. The kids played their hearts out and made it happen. We went for two at the end because we thought that was the right thing to do after we'd missed the (previous) extra point."

Christos Giatras gave Lemont a 24-14 lead with 2:37 left in the third on a 4-yard TD run, which came a play after a Crete-Monee offsides penalty gave the Indians a first down while they lined up to attempt a field goal. Crete-Monee cut it to 24-20 on a 1-yard TD plunge by Nyles Morgan early in the fourth.

Lemont recovered a muffed punt by Lance Lenoir to keep its next possession alive, and tacked on a 30-yd field goal by Joe Hehir.

After Treadwell's 57-yard TD catch was negated by an illegal block, DeShaun Smith ran in from 4 yards to make it 27-26 in favor of Lemont.

"Their kids made some plays," Lemont coach Eric Michaelsen said. "It's not for lack of effort on our kids' part. Our kids played with heart and soul. It was a special group of seniors who led with tremendous energy. It just didn't turn out our way."

Player of the game: Marcus Terrell, Crete-Monee, 29-for-45, 294 yards, 1 TD, game-winning 2-point conversion run.

Key performers: Crete-Monee — Lance Lenoir, 13 catches, 110 yards, Laquon Treadwell, 10 catches, 138 yards, 1 TD. Lemont — Christos Giatras, 31 carries, 110 yards, 1 TD; Drew Slee, 2 catches, 68 yards, 1 TD.

Next: 6A final — Crete-Monee vs. Cary-Grove, 1 Saturday, Memorial Stadium, Champaign.


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Prep sports: Giants fight their way to .500

January 24, 2013|By Bob Narang, Special to the Tribune

Highland Park boys basketball coach Paul Harris anticipated some tough moments to start this season.

The Giants opened by playing like anything but their namesake, going 2-7. Highland Park didn't have a returning starter to carry scoring and leadership roles and had a tough time reaching the 60-point mark during the first month of the season.

"Last year we were such a senior-dominated team," Harris said. "Those guys played well together. We returned some guys from that team, but they hadn't played a ton of varsity. We knew there would be an adjustment period."

Sprinkled in those early losses were signs of growth that eventually translated into victories. Sophomore guards David Sachs and Luke Norcia emerged as steady players.

Highland Park's climb to .500 became a reality with a 46-37 win over Maine East on Friday. The Giants (9-9, 4-2 Central Suburban North through Monday) have won seven of nine since the slow start.

"I think we're trying to get better," Harris said. "We had some growing pains to start the season, but we're finding a way to win. Everybody's getting used to playing on the varsity level. This is a great group of kids that's really invested in what they're doing."

The Giants will have an opportunity to measure their improvement at home Friday against Niles North. The Vikings cruised to a 62-44 victory over Highland Park on Dec. 7.

"(Niles North) is playing exceptionally well," Harris said. "Our guys are excited to play them again. Niles North shot the ball well the first time. They're a hard matchup with their quickness. We'll try and slow down their shooters. It's pick your poison with them. They have so many weapons."


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Going to opposite field key to Dunn's turnaround

Though slugger achieved 30 homer milestone again, he's hitting nearly .300 since June 8

August 28, 2013|By Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune reporter

When White Sox slugger Adam Dunn cranked a two-run homer to right field Monday night against the Astros, he reached 30 homers for the ninth year in his career.

He joined Jim Thome as the only left-handed hitters in Sox history to record consecutive seasons of 30 or more.

But Sox manager Robin Ventura said Tuesday that Dunn has been able to turn around a slow start to his season in part because he has found a balance that also includes hitting to the opposite field.

"We are looking at teams starting to play him a little more straight up than the big shift that everybody has done before," Ventura said. "He can still hit homers like he did (Monday) night. I just think it makes him a bigger threat because he has power to go the other way.

"He has had better at-bats when he really has shifted his focus on being able to go the other way."

Entering Tuesday, Dunn was hitting .299 with 17 home runs, 48 RBIs and 40 walks since June 8.

Headed to Arizona: Sox pitching prospects Chris Bassitt, Charlie Leesman, Stephen McCray and Kevin Vance and infielders Micah Johnson and Marcus Semien will be sent to play for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League this year.

The league, which runs from Oct. 8 to Nov. 16, hosts some of baseball's best prospects.

Leesman, the only left-handed pitcher of the bunch, heads the group after he made his major league debut with the Sox earlier this month during a doubleheader against the Twins. He went five innings, giving up four hits and one earned run, walking five and striking out eight in a no decision. He is 4-3 with a 3.87 ERA in 16 starts with Triple-A Charlotte.

Semien, a shortstop with Charlotte, is hitting .279 with 58 RBIs and 19 home runs in 130 games between Double-A Birmingham and Charlotte. Johnson has played second base and is hitting .269 with 12 RBIs in 48 games with high Class A Winston-Salem. He has 83 stolen bases in 125 games in the minor leagues this season.

Quiet return: Philip Humber, who recorded the third perfect game in Sox history on April 21, 2012, returned to U.S. Cellular Field as a relief pitcher with the Astros this week.

After being relegated to the Astros' Triple-A team in May because of a rocky start, he rejoined the Astros on Aug. 12. He has stayed quiet upon his return, however, because he lost his voice more than a month ago and has been unable to speak much, he rasped Tuesday upon request for an interview.

Entering the series with the Sox, he had a 9.00 ERA and 0-8 record in seven starts and 13 appearances with the Astros this season.


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Dance Reviews

In 'Most Wanted,' Irony and Reality

September 22, 1997|LEWIS SEGAL

Part environmental theater fantasy and part sound and light spectacle, "Most Wanted" finds the predictably provocative Collage Dance Theatre exploring ideas about regimentation, freedom and escape at the historic, abandoned Lincoln Heights Jail in East Los Angeles.

After thumb-printing and wrist-banding her audience members like inmates, director Heidi Duckler divides them into subgroups and marches them off to different cellblocks under the supervision of LAPD look-alikes. This experience alone might be memorable in such a huge, dark concrete cave, barred in every direction. However, at the Friday premiere, it took awhile before the spectators settled down and took advantage of their right to remain silent.

Soon, however, the events staged in sites within the site make their effect. A sequence titled 'The Cage" juxtaposes fear of imprisonment with memories of life outside by showing dancers desperately climbing the bars of a narrow corridor while, nearby, a romantic dinner for two turns murderous.

In "Insecurity Station," a jail guard played by John Pleshette becomes as trapped and helpless as any inmate, interrogated by two blandly threatening figures on video monitors--both also played by Pleshette.

More bitter irony colors the "Solitary Refinement" section, in which audience members sit inside small cells and consider the punishment or parole options available from a house menu.

Through all this, projectors bombard the walls with cliches that turn nasty behind bars: "Come Back Soon," "Call Me When You're Free," "Wish You Were Here." In the finale, an endless corridor becomes a pathway to hell as the dancers serve as anonymous projection screens for this kind of babble, handcuffed together as a soprano moves among them singing about being "wild and free."

A night of sad illusions and grim realities, with many, many talents contributing to its success. Among them: video director Hali Paul, writer-designer BJ Krivanek, poet Merridawn Duckler and composers Robert Fernandez, Claudius Bruse and Carla Lucero.

* "Most Wanted" continues Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Lincoln Heights Jail, 421 N. Avenue 19, East Los Angeles. $12-$18. (818) 784-8669. Secured parking available.

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Subway Finds a Railroad Tie-In

August 12, 1999|GREG HERNANDEZ

McDonald's scored big this summer with its promotional tie-ins to Disney's "Inspector Gadget" and "Tarzan" films. In contrast, Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut did only so-so when the three Tricon-owned chains teamed up with the new "Star Wars" film.

Now Subway, the submarine sandwich chain with 13,000 stores in the United States and Canada, has announced it is reentering the summer movie promotion sweepstakes for the first time since 1993, when it teamed with the film "The Coneheads," a feature-length version of a popular "Saturday Night Live" skit.

The sandwich chain, which has 108 locations in Orange County and 324 in Los Angeles County, has signed an agreement with Destination Films for a promotional tie-in with the movie "Thomas and the Magic Railroad."

As part of the seven-week promotion, items from the film will be distributed in a special kid's meal pack.

Since 1993, Subway has participated in cross-promotions with films during seasons that are less competitive than the summer, when movie studios and the fast-food industry pull out all the stops. Subway teamed in December 1995 with the box office smash "The Santa Clause" starring Tim Allen. Earlier this year, the chain had a promotion featuring the animated film "The King and I."

Greg Hernandez covers the restaurant industry for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5989 and at

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State's Job Growth Hits Unexpected Cold Spell

Labor: Unemployment rate inches up at year's end after a strong November. Analysts say it could signal a slower economy.

In a sobering finale to an otherwise robust year of job growth, California employers added a measly 4,400 new jobs in December and the jobless rate edged up at the end of the year, government officials said Friday.

December's surprisingly skimpy job gains were in sharp contrast to the whopping 378,000 nonfarm jobs created nationwide last month. Unemployment in the state inched up to 5.9%, from a revised 5.8% in November, although the U.S. unemployment rate dipped last month by the same magnitude to 4.3%.

Friday's California report, however, showed that job growth in November was much stronger than previously estimated, and that statistical adjustment by the state's Employment Development Department probably exaggerated the weakness in December. The unusual cold spell in December also may have held back construction payrolls in California, even as unseasonably warm weather in the Midwest and East inflated employment rolls there last month.

State monthly payroll numbers, which are adjusted for seasonal variations, are based on a relatively small sample of employers and can be volatile, depending on the survey period and other statistical quirks. Last July, California employers added just 3,700 jobs, triggering concerns, but that was followed by a burst of hiring in the ensuing months.

There is less likelihood of that happening this time, however. With recessions in Asia buffeting high-tech manufacturers and the unsettling conditions in Latin America, analysts said the latest report for California may portend the economic slowdown widely expected in the months ahead. Asia's troubles already have weakened the state's exports and led to a sharp deceleration in the San Jose area.

Southern California's more diversified economy has held up better, and that trend continued in December. Los Angeles County, where 29% of the state's payroll workers are employed, added more than 101,000 jobs for all of last year--about a quarter of the state's new jobs. For the county, that was a growth rate of 2.6%, smaller than the statewide average but still solid.

In December, Los Angeles County's nonfarm payrolls totaled 4.05 million--the highest this year and more than 300,000 jobs higher than December 1993, the year-end low point this decade. Still, as of last month the county remained about 140,000 jobs shy of the peak year-end employment in December 1989. The county's unemployment rate last month stood at 6.7%, up slightly from December 1997.

Statewide, job growth for all of last year exceeded many people's expectations. Assuming that December's figures hold up, nonfarm jobs last year grew by more than 418,500 from 1997, based on monthly averages. That was a growth rate of 3.2%, just a bit lower than the 3.3% increase for all of 1997, when the state churned out 424,000 jobs. By comparison, the nationwide job growth rate for all of last year was reported at 2.3%.

The industries that propelled California's expansion last year were construction, which added nearly 51,000 jobs, a gain of more than 9%; and business services--a group that includes employment agencies and computer software and services, which overall boosted payrolls by more than 81,000, or 8%.

California's employment in wholesale and retail trade last year advanced by 2.4%, or about 72,000 new jobs; and the number of employees in finance, insurance and real estate rose by 3.4%, or 25,300.

Manufacturing employment, meanwhile, wound up with a growth of 1.5%, or 28,300 jobs, after expanding at more than double that pace in the previous year. That was still better than the nation, which shed a total of 269,000 factory jobs last year.

The slowdown in manufacturing and some other industries is expected to cut the state's overall job growth this year to a more modest rate of about 2%.

Sung Won Sohn, an economist for Wells Fargo Bank, said Friday that California's small job growth in December was probably a reflection of the delayed effects from the Asian crisis on manufacturing, which in turn is now starting to weaken the service industries.

"Asia has not disappeared and it is working its way through California's economy," Sohn said. He pointed, however, to the divergent picture between Northern and Southern California that was evident in the state's report Friday.

In December, job growth in Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley, fell to an anemic level of less than 1% on an annual basis, even though the unemployment rate there fell to 3% last month. Nonfarm employment in San Francisco County was up less than 2% in December.

By comparison, Los Angeles County's payrolls were up 2.3% in December compared with a year ago, and the surrounding areas did considerably better. Jobs in Orange County increased by 3.4%, and the year-over-year growth rate was a stunning 5.2% for the Inland Empire and a strong 3.8% for Ventura County.

The unemployment rates for the surrounding counties of Los Angeles all plunged last month, although these figures are not adjusted for Christmas hiring and other seasonal factors. Orange County's jobless rate dropped to 2.4% from a revised 2.7% in November; the Inland Empire's declined to 4.8%, from 5.5%; and Ventura County's fell to 5.2% from 5.9%.

Jobless Rate Up

California unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted:

December 1998: 5.9%

Source: Employment Development Department

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Latest Loss to Tigers Has Mariners Feeling a Bit Buggy

August 24, 2000|From Associated Press

The fans were swarmed over by clouds of flying insects. The Seattle Mariners didn't do any better.

"I thought we were going to get bugged out in the first," Seattle starter Paul Abbott said Wednesday night after the Mariners' 6-5 loss to the Tigers at Detroit. "It was amazing. A stampede from bugs."

Juan Encarnacion hit a two-run triple in a five-run seventh inning as Detroit rallied and sent Seattle to its ninth loss in 10 games.

Swarms of flying insects caused fans to flee their seats early in the game. Fans began running up the aisles as Seattle's Edgar Martinez batted in the first inning, swatting at the insects as they moved.

Those who remained in their seats were constantly swatting at the bugs on themselves or others.

"I couldn't believe the crowd," said Abbott, who pitched 6 1/3 solid innings before the Mariners' bullpen wilted.

Pitchers in the Tigers' bullpen started a small fire trying to ward off the attack. The game was never delayed, and fans returned to their seats as play progressed.

"It wasn't as bad on the field as it was on the perimeter," Tiger Manager Phil Garner said.

There was no immediate word on what caused the swarm.

Martinez hit his career-high 30th home run and Mike Cameron also homered for Seattle, whose AL West lead remained at 3 1/2 games.

The Tigers, who moved back within a game of .500, stayed 5 1/2 behind Cleveland in the wild-card race.

Detroit trailed, 4-1, before batting around in the seventh, getting five straight hits.

Arthur Rhodes (3-7) gave up four consecutive hits after relieving Abbott, who allowed a leadoff double to Deivi Cruz. Jose Macias had an RBI single, Wendell Magee a pinch single, Encarnacion tripled to the right-field corner and Bobby Higginson hit a run-scoring single.

Juan Gonzalez greeted Jose Mesa with an RBI single before Dean Palmer's sacrifice fly gave Detroit a 6-4 lead. All of the hits went the opposite way.

"It was a beautiful job," Garner said. "That showed the mark of good discipline."

Cleveland 7, Oakland 5--David Segui hit a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning as the Indians beat the Athletics at Cleveland for their fifth consecutive win.

Jim Thome homered as Cleveland won for the 14th time in 19 games and sent the A's to their fifth loss in six games.

Segui, sent sprawling earlier by an inside pitch from Tim Hudson (13-6), hit an RBI double for a 6-5 lead in the sixth. Cleveland's pitchers threw two pitches over Ben Grieve's head.

New York 10, Texas 9--Jorge Posada went three for four with a homer and five RBIs and Tino Martinez hit a game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning at New York.

The Yankees won despite stranding 14 runners in the first eight innings, blowing a 7-4 lead and making two errors in a five-run eighth.

Posada's two-run homer in the eighth tied it for the Yankees.

Chicago 8, Baltimore 4--Magglio Ordonez had three RBIs and the White Sox made the most of nine walks and two Baltimore errors at Chicago.

Lorenzo Barcelo (1-1) allowed one run and two hits in 3 1/3 innings of relief.

Toronto 9, Kansas City 8--Carlos Delgado had his fifth two-homer game of the season, hitting a go-ahead drive in the eighth off Andy Larkin (0-2) at Toronto as the Blue Jays won their third straight.

Delgado, who tied Chicago's Frank Thomas for the AL lead with 38 homers, hit a leadoff homer in a five-run seventh.

Minnesota 8, Tampa Bay 2--Cristian Guzman had three hits, including a two-run triple, his major league-leading 19th this season, and Danny Ardoin hit a bases-loaded double for the Twins at Minneapolis.

Mark Redman (12-6), who leads AL rookies in wins, strikeouts, earned-run average and winning percentage, gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings, and LaTroy Hawkins finished with hitless relief for his ninth save.

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ATF's gun surveillance program showed early signs of failure

Just a few months into Operation Fast and Furious, an agency official called for a strategy to shut down the program aimed at following guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

August 11, 2011|By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau
  • William Newell, special agent in charge of the ATF's field office in Phoenix, speaks behind a cache of seized weapons. The controversial Operation Fast and Furious was run out of his office.
William Newell, special agent in charge of the ATF's field office… (Matt York, AP )

Reporting from Washington — In March 2010, the No. 2 man at the ATF was deeply worried. His agents had lost track of hundreds of firearms. Some of the guns, supposed to have been tracked to Mexican drug cartels, were lost right after they cleared the gun stores.

Five months into the surveillance effort — dubbed Operation Fast and Furious — no indictments had been announced and no charges were immediately expected. Worse, the weapons had turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the ATF official was worried that someone in the United States could be hurt next.

Acting Deputy Director William Hoover called an emergency meeting and said he wanted an "exit strategy" to shut down the program. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for decades had dedicated itself to stopping illegal gun-trafficking of any kind. Now it was allowing illegal gun purchases on the Southwest border and letting weapons "walk" unchecked into Mexico.

But those at the meeting, which included a Justice Department official, did not want to stop the illegal gun sales until they had something to show for their efforts. Hoover suggested a "30-day, 60-day or 90-day" exit plan that would shut Fast and Furious down for good — just as soon as there were some indictments.

But indictments did not come for another 10 months. By then, two semiautomatics had been recovered after a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed south of Tucson, and nearly 200 had been found at crime scenes in Mexico.

"I probably should have been a lot more strident with that, there's no question," Hoover has since acknowledged. "I probably should have jumped on a plane and flown to Phoenix and gotten the field division team and the U.S. attorney's team together and had a discussion."

Fast and Furious was a highly secret undercover program begun with great ambition. The border was out of control, and the new Obama administration wanted to stop U.S. guns from crossing into Mexico and arming drug cartels.

The Justice Department, which oversees the ATF, was pushing for agents to stop arresting small-time gun smugglers and concentrate instead on the big-name cartels.

Today, the program is the subject of two investigations into why it was approved, why no one put a speedy end to it, and who among top ATF and Justice Department officials should be held responsible. No one in hindsight believes it was a good idea.

"This is not a technique that should ever be used," said Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., who ordered an inspector general investigation into Fast and Furious.

House and Senate Republicans are also investigating, with their sights set on Holder and other political appointees. "The Justice Department is not our partner in this effort," said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "They are the subject of this investigation."

Indeed, according to memos, emails and other material obtained by The Times, along with transcripts of sworn depositions and Capitol Hill testimony, the Justice Department provided the initial impetus for what became Fast and Furious.

In October 2009, officials in the office of then-Deputy Atty. Gen. David W. Ogden, the No. 2 slot under Holder, sent a nine-page memo to supervisors on the border. Called the "Department of Justice Strategy for Combating the Mexican Cartels," it specifically instructed the ATF to broaden its scope to "identify, investigate and eliminate" the cartels. This approach, the memo added, "ensures that scarce ATF resources are directed at the most important targets."

The memo did not suggest agents purposely allow illegal purchasers to walk away with guns, and Justice Department officials insist they never approved the "operational" concept for Fast and Furious. Nevertheless, the ATF viewed the memo as marching orders.

Kenneth E. Melson, the ATF acting director, told investigators that his subordinates took the memo and came up with "tactical strategies" that created Fast and Furious. "We have to go after the cartels to stop the flow of guns," he said.

William D. Newell, then the special agent in charge of the ATF field office for Arizona and New Mexico, said "the memo fitted into how we were going to address this" problem. Fast and Furious was launched the following month, November 2009, and was run out of Newell's field office.

Under the program, agents were to watch — in some cases record on video — illegal sales and then use surveillance teams and electronic eavesdropping to follow the guns and learn how the weapons were moved. The goal was to arrest cartel leaders overseeing gun smuggling on the U.S. side of the border.

By January 2010, agents with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force run by the Justice Department were brought in to help. The manpower included investigators from the Homeland Security Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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40 officials in Orange County get conflict-of-interest warnings

Ethics panel staffer sends letters to council members who have voted themselves onto local boards that pay stipends up to $5,000.

February 20, 2012|By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Sacramento — Dozens of city officials throughout California have voted to appoint themselves to local boards that pay stipends of up to $5,000 annually, a practice state watchdogs say violates conflict-of-interest laws.

The mayors and council members involved argue that the amounts are so small, and the votes so routine, that they deserve an exemption from those laws. Most of the appointments are made to sanitation, fire and water boards by votes of city councils.

Fair Political Practices Commission staff member Gary S. Winuk, chief of enforcement, has concluded that the votes violate state political law. Rather than fine the council members, he issued letters to 40 of them in Orange County, telling them to stop. He agreed that the money at issue is not significant enough to warrant prosecution and penalties — at least not yet.

Ethics board staffer: The headline on earlier version of this online article said an ethics panel member had sent letters to city council members who had voted themselves onto local boards. The person who sent the letter is not a member of the Fair Political Practices Commission; as chief of enforcement, he is a staff member.

Taxpayer advocate Lew Uhler called the warning letters a "slap on the wrist" and is urging that the officials be fined. They should know better, he said.

"That's a clear conflict of interest, where members are voting on something from which they will derive a personal benefit in compensation,'' said Uhler, president of the California-based National Tax Limitation Committee.

The full Fair Political Practices Commission will take up the matter March 15. It was brought to the panel's attention in a number of sworn complaints filed by Matthew Delaney, a Tustin painting contractor who noticed that city council members throughout Orange County were regularly helping to vote themselves onto paid boards.

Delaney did not return calls for comment, but his written complaints named 69 council members in 22 Orange County cities including Buena Park, Huntington Beach, San Clemente and Tustin who allegedly participated in such votes.

Tustin Mayor Jerry Amante, Orange Mayor Carolyn Cavecche, Cypress Mayor Doug Bailey and Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Anthony Beall were among those who received Winuk's warning that they could be fined up to $5,000 per violation if they continue to vote on their own appointments.

"Your actions violated the … personal financial effects provision'' of the 1974 Political Reform Act, Winuk wrote. "However, based on the fact that your decision did not affect your personal finances by a significant amount, and the fact that you do not have an enforcement history, we are closing this matter with a warning letter.''

The state does not track how many California cities permit the council members' practice. A brief survey by The Times found that those in San Fernando, Gilroy and San Rafael vote on their own paid appointments.

The commission next month will consider a petition by 19 council members from cities including Anaheim, Irvine, Yorba Linda and Newport Beach to exempt them from the prohibition that Winuck cited in his letters.

The panel's staff is "just wrong about the law,'' said Irvine City Councilman Larry Agran, who received one of the warning letters. "It is absolutely ludicrous to tell somebody he has a material conflict of interest in voting on these routine appointments.''

Agran said he received $700 last year for serving long hours as his city's representative on the Orange County Fire Authority, an amount he said helps cover gas and expenses. The sum is in addition to his $10,560 pay for serving part time on the City Council.

Some boards pay much more. Several city officials serve on the board of the Orange County Sanitation District, which pays a $212.50 stipend for each meeting attended. Board members typically attend two meetings a month, so they could receive $5,100 per year.

In response to Winuk's letters, several Orange County cities have altered their practices, at least until there is an FPPC decision on whether to exempt such votes.

In Irvine, as of last month, a City Council member leaves the room when the group is voting on his or her appointment to a paid board, Agran said.

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Autumn wind of change swirls over Oakland Raiders

Owner Mark Davis takes over after death of his father, Al Davis, with new Coach Dennis Allen and GM Reggie McKenzie. Meaningful overhaul includes mandate of accountability and respect for the past.

July 30, 2012|By Sam Farmer
  • Raiders Coach Dennis Allen meets with reporters before training camp on Monday.
Raiders Coach Dennis Allen meets with reporters before training camp on… (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press )

NAPA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders know their past, are surrounded by reminders of their past, and pay homage to their past.

But they're no longer stuck in their past.

That's the early indication, anyway, as the Raiders begin their next chapter with new owner Mark Davis — son of the late Al Davis — first-year Coach Dennis Allen, and top football executive Reggie McKenzie, the club's first general manager since the elder Davis began running the entire operation in 1963. Al Davis died in October, and control of the franchise was passed to his son.

Even the team's 2012 media guide, finally printed in color, reflects the change, bearing the slogan "A New Era of Excellence" on the cover.

Suddenly, the Raiders feel a little less like a maverick organization and a little more like the other 31 teams in the NFL.

That might not necessarily be embraced by the entire fan base, but a club that has missed the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons was due for a meaningful overhaul.

"You acknowledge the rich history with some of these great players that still come around," Allen, Denver's former defensive coordinator, said Monday, the team's first day of training camp. "I know at some point we'll have some Hall of Fame players who will slide through here and come watch practice. But at the same time, that was done the way that was done, and we're going to do it the way that we're going to do it."

That's true in the macro sense, with Mark Davis empowering McKenzie and Allen to make personnel decisions — whereas his father exercised final say on every signing — and at the micro level. For instance, there's a feeling among Raiders players that there's no longer an owner playing favorites, and there's more personal accountability among everyone on the roster, meaning it's no longer OK to stroll into a meeting two or three minutes after the designated start time.

"It doesn't matter if you're Richard Seymour, Michael Huff or a rookie, we're all treated the same," said Huff, a safety who has been with the Raiders since 2006.

Said McKenzie, a former Raiders linebacker who was with Green Bay for the last 18 years, most recently as director of football operations: "When you hold players and coaches accountable for what they do, that's part of the winning process. That's part of the changing of the minds and the way of thinking. It's not about being late to meetings. That's not showing you want to be accountable and want to win.

"The little things matter."

Rich Gannon, the Raiders quarterback-turned-broadcaster whose candid criticism of the organization at times angered Al Davis, was invited back by the new regime to talk to the team before training camp.

"You get a sense of the change when you talk to more than just players," Gannon said. "I went over to the locker room and talked to equipment guys and trainers, video guys. You just get the sense these guys are excited. You get the sense that change has come. There's new leadership.

"I don't mean any disrespect to Mr. Davis; he did an incredible job. I just think that any time you bring new people in there's going to be change. People sense there's a new era, and that the leadership with Reggie and Dennis is going to make a difference."

There is opportunity in the tightly knotted AFC West, in which Denver, San Diego and Oakland finished 8-8 last season, and Kansas City was 7-9.

Still, no team entered the off-season in worse salary-cap shape than the Raiders, and Oakland didn't make its first pick in the draft until the third round. They unloaded a slew of high-profile and/or high-paid players — among them linebacker Kamerion Wimbley, cornerback Stanford Routt, running back Michael Bush, receivers Chaz Schilens and Louis Murphy, and quarterback Jason Campbell — and have a defense that's largely untested behind the solid front four.

The Raiders have the potential to score a lot of points, however. Much of their offensive success rests on the health and effectiveness of quarterback Carson Palmer and running back Darren McFadden.

With Hue Jackson as coach last season, the Raiders started 7-4 before fizzling down the stretch, losing four of their final five, including a 38-26 home loss to San Diego with a trip to the playoffs hanging in the balance.

By McKenzie's thinking, change doesn't mean much if it's not reflected in wins and losses.

"We've still got to win football games," he said. "Ain't no bones about it. To be a great organization, you've got to win."

Los Angeles Times Articles


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YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsOpinion

Reworking California's jobless fund

The state needs to repay its debt to Washington while sensibly building a reserve for the future.

August 05, 2013|By The Times editorial board
  • Job seekers wait to interview with company representatives at the Hire Live Job Fair in El Segundo.
Job seekers wait to interview with company representatives at the Hire… (Patrick T. Fallon / Bloomberg )

Swamped with more unemployed residents than any other state, California has paid a staggering sum in jobless benefits over the last six years — nearly $40 billion. But the state didn't have nearly enough money in its unemployment insurance fund to handle all the claims from idled workers, so it borrowed heavily from the federal government to cover the shortfall. Now Washington is starting to take its money back, at the expense of California employers and taxpayers. The state should come up with a better way to shore up the long-neglected fund.

Unemployment insurance is financed by state and federal taxes on employers. In California, workers are eligible for benefits if they lose their jobs or have their hours cut significantly through no fault of their own. The state pays the initial benefits, up to a maximum of six months. The federal government kicks in extra weeks of aid when jobs are unusually scarce, as they have been in the latest downturn.

Although 32 states' unemployment programs needed a bailout from Washington, California was singularly ill-prepared for the last recession. The milder slowdown in 2001 had left its unemployment insurance trust fund empty in 2004, so when unemployment started to climb in 2007, the fund was soon rendered insolvent again. It has since borrowed about $10 billion from Washington, far more than any other state.

The borrowing has drawn two responses from the federal government. First, it is raising the tax on California employers by 0.3%, or $21 a worker, each year until the debt is repaid. That may not sound like much, but it is projected to cost employers an extra $1.9 billion by 2016. And second, the feds are making state taxpayers pay interest on the debt, a charge that amounts to roughly $300 million a year.

The overwhelming debt stems from the state's unwillingness to build up a sensible reserve in the trust fund. That's not because lawmakers were lavishing the unemployed with cash. The state's average weekly payment of $294 is among the smallest in the country.

A more likely culprit is the unusually low unemployment tax burden the state imposes on employers (and, indirectly, on their workers, whose wages often are reduced to offset the cost of unemployment insurance). The state caps the amount of wages subject to taxation at the lowest level in the nation — $7,000 per worker. The cap hasn't budged since 1984, while average state wages have almost tripled. The low cap means that unemployment taxes are relatively lighter on companies with high wages than those with low pay scales. And it helps explain why employers collectively pay a much smaller percentage of their wages into the trust fund than they did in the 1960s and '70s.

Employers acknowledge that they're going to have to pay more into the fund in the future. But they've also called for the state to cut the costs of the program by making it harder for part-time employees to qualify for benefits and reducing the amount that workers can collect before their benefits are exhausted. In addition, they've suggested that the state consider issuing bonds to raise the money to repay its trust fund debt.

It doesn't make sense to reduce benefit levels when there are still many more applicants for jobs than there are openings. And issuing bonds would be a more costly way to pay off the debt in the long run, considering how little the federal government demands in interest. But it's worth considering whether benefits should be available to so many people who are only marginally in the workforce. The state sets such a low earnings threshold to qualify for benefits, it may be paying benefits to those who don't need to work as well as those who do.

Even if the state manages to trim the costs of its program, it needs more revenue to be sustainable. The challenge for lawmakers is finding a way to do so without stunting the state's already sluggish growth. The faster companies grow, the lower the demand for unemployment benefits and the higher the revenue in the trust fund. As they search for consensus on how to repay the trust fund debt, lawmakers and the Brown administration have to balance that call for growth against the responsibilities of employers to repay the debt and the need for a program resilient enough to survive the next recession without a bailout.

Los Angeles Times Articles


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YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsChild Abuse

Letters: The fallen cardinal

February 03, 2013
  • Cardinal Roger M. Mahony applauds during the December installation of Kevin W. Vann as bishop of the Diocese of Orange County. The public censure of Mahony, one of the most powerful men in the Catholic Church, was unparalleled, experts said.
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony applauds during the December installation of… (Los Angeles Times )

Re "Mahony relieved of duties," Feb. 1

Let me see if I've got this right.

On April 6, 2010, Jose Gomez became the coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles. Until last week, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles did everything it could to prevent full access to its records of child abuse. After years, the church exhausted all legal procedures and released the records. On Thursday, Gomez stripped his predecessor, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, of his public duties and issued a public apology. Does he expect our praise?

Until Thursday, Gomez was just another person who covered up child abuse.

Charles Fox

Huntington Beach

Finally, we have some forced accountability in this long, drawn-out drama involving unforgivable acts.

Mahony has stood behind the cloth for way too long. Hopefully, real justice is around the corner and more victims will experience some closure.

Ronald L. Wallace

Sherman Oaks

Gomez claims that Mahony "failed to fully protect young people entrusted to his care." Mahony didn't fail to fully protect kids; he barely tried. Mahony did, however, work to fully protect predator priests. And for a while, he succeeded.

If Gomez "fails" to describe the horror that has happened in the church accurately, he has no chance of preventing such horror in the future. This is about children, for heaven's sake.

Kristine Ward

Dayton, Ohio

Bravo, L.A. Times, for refusing to be cowed by a powerful institution. You represent the best in investigative reporting and remind us why freedom of the press is essential for shinning a light in the dark places. Naming those who allowed this outrage has forced accountability and, hopefully, provided some solace to the many victims.

Joyce White

Simi Valley

Letters: Guns and Kiwis don't mix

Letters: Perspectives on Chuck Hagel

Letters: Why healthcare costs so much

Los Angeles Times Articles


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Meningitis Vax Tied to Bell’s Palsy Risk

meningitis vaccine for children

Story at-a-glance -

  • A significantly increased risk of Bell’s palsy, which causes paralysis or weakness of facial muscles, was found when meningococcal vaccine was given along with another vaccination
  • The risk of Bell’s palsy increased 2.9-fold in the 12 weeks after vaccination among those administered concomitant vaccines
  • Bell’s palsy has previously been noted as a complication of hepatitis B, smallpox and influenza vaccination (seasonal and H1N1)

By Dr. Mercola

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends meningococcal conjugate vaccines (brand names Menactra and Menveo) for all 11- to 12-year-olds along with a booster dose at 16.1

Menactra and Menveo vaccines (MCV4) contain four strains of meningococcal (A, C, W-35, Y) and are intended to help prevent invasive meningococcal disease, which is a bacterial infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis, or meningococcus, when the bacterium enters the blood stream.

Meningococcal organisms are naturally present in the throat and nasal passages of humans and the majority of children develop antibodies to the bacteria without having any symptoms.

There is a very low incidence of meningococcal disease in the U.S. but, rarely, individuals who are genetically or biologically susceptible to developing invasive meningococcal disease are at risk for severe injury and death, including loss of limbs.

Symptoms may start out similar to influenza and can progress to nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, red or purple skin rash and confusion.

Other symptoms of severe bloodstream infection and inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis) include sudden high fever, severe persistent headache, stiff neck, joint pain and unresponsiveness.

Despite the CDC's insistence that vaccination is the best way to protect all children against invasive meningococcal disease, serious questions remain about the vaccine's safety and effectiveness.

Meningococcal Vaccination Linked to Bell's Palsy

In a study using data from nearly 49,000 people between the ages of 11 and 21 years, Hung-Fu Tseng, Ph.D., from the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Pasadena, California, and colleagues evaluated the safety of quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine.

A significantly increased risk of Bell's palsy, which causes paralysis or weakness of facial muscles, was found when the vaccine (Menveo) was given along with another vaccination. The condition typically occurred five to 10 weeks after vaccination.

Overall, the risk of Bell's palsy increased 2.9-fold in the 12 weeks after vaccination among those administered concomitant vaccines. Bell's palsy has previously been noted as a complication of hepatitis B,2 smallpox and influenza vaccination (seasonal and H1N1) as well.3

Research published in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics also revealed an increased risk of cranial nerve palsies following vaccination, especially combinations of vaccines.4

In 59 percent of the cases, the palsies were identified as serious, which suggests, the authors noted, "that a cranial nerve palsy may sometimes be the harbinger of a broader and more ominous clinical entity, such as a stroke or encephalomyelitis [inflammation of the brain and spinal cord]." They continued:5

"Cranial nerve palsies have been reported to VAERS [Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System] following a wide variety of inactivated and live attenuated vaccines.

Reports for trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine were the most frequent among single-vaccine reports, but they constituted only a weak plurality and not an overwhelming majority.

The reports listing multiple vaccines largely reflected the most common combinations of routine immunizations administered to infants and young children: Diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine, Hemophilus influenzae type b vaccine, Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 7-valent, and Poliovirus vaccine inactivated given together, as well as measles, mumps and rubella vaccine live co-administered with varicella vaccine live."

Serious Adverse Events Revealed When Menactra Is Administered Along With HPV Vaccine

Bell's palsy is not the only adverse event that's been revealed when meningococcal vaccines are administered along with other vaccinations, particularly Gardasil human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

The CDC recommends both Menactra and Gardasil for all 11- to 12-year olds in the U.S. and, although they may often be administered simultaneously, this concomitant use was not studied for safety in Gardasil's initial clinical trials.

In 2007, only a year after Gardasil was approved, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) analyzed reports of serious adverse events reported to VAERS after individuals received Gardasil alone or along with Menactra.6

They revealed a 1,000-percent increase in reports of the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) to VAERS when the vaccines were administered simultaneously. Reports of other serious adverse events were also significantly increased, including:

  • Respiratory problem reports increased by 114 percent
  • Cardiac problem reports increased by 118 percent
  • Neuromuscular and coordination problem reports increased by 234 percent
  • Convulsions and central nervous system problem reports increased by 301 percent
  • Reports of injuries from falls after unconsciousness (vasovagal syncope) increased by 674 percent

In 2010, Merck released a clinical trial showing that the concomitant use of Menactra with Gardasil "did not compromise the safety," but at the same time admitted that the trial may have been skewed because of "incorrect administration" of the Menactra in 92 subjects,7 which in my opinion questions the validity of this trial, especially since it had so few subjects in it to begin with.

State-Mandated Meningococcal Vaccines

Total video length: 18:51

More than two dozen states mandate meningococcal vaccines for all children attending school, typically during grade 6 or 7, but there is much debate over whether this one-size-fits-all policy is safe and cost effective.

MCV4 is one of the more expensive pediatric vaccines on the U.S. market. It costs an average $115 per shot in a private pediatrician's office, not including administration fees, and an average $78 per shot through the federally subsidized Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.8

As noted by Christina Abel, a registered nurse with Vaccine Awareness Minnesota in response to Minnesota's meningococcal vaccine mandate for 7th graders:9

"It does not seem reasonable nor is there a need to require the meningococcal vaccine in Minnesota …

Meningococcal disease is rare in the U.S., including Minnesota

The bacteria [are] not easily transmittable

Vaccinating adolescents does not create herd protection in the community.

The vaccine does not reduce the seriousness of the disease

Routine vaccination of Meningococcal vaccine (MCV4) is not cost-effective."

Rates of meningococcal disease in the U.S. are at a historic low. Cases decreased more than 60 percent from 1998 to 2007,10 and in 2013, the CDC reported there were about 550 total cases of meningococcal disease reported in the U.S., which is an incidence rate of 0.18 cases per 100,000 persons.11

In other words, meningococcal disease is relatively rare. In 2011, Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of NVIC, explained some of the concerns about adding meningococcal vaccines to the U.S. vaccine schedule.

Be Informed About the Meningococcal Strains Included in Each Vaccine

In 2000, the CDC recommended that all college freshmen get a dose of meningococcal vaccine that contains four strains (A, C, W-35 and Y). In 2005, they also recommended that all 11-year-olds receive the MCV4 vaccine. However, strain B, a type that is not included in MCV4 vaccine, is associated with more than 50 percent of meningococcal cases and deaths. In children under the age of 5, strain B is responsible for up to 70 percent of meningitis cases.

In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a meningococcal vaccine that includes strain B, but the vaccine showed lower-than-expected results when tested on college campuses. The vaccine (4CMenB) was administered during an outbreak at Princeton University in 2013 (before it was approved for use in the U.S.).

Out of the nearly 500 college students who received two doses of the vaccine, 34 percent had no immune response to the outbreak strain, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).12

Many People Are Asymptomatically Colonizing and Are Carriers of Meningococcal Organisms

According to the NEJM, at any given time about 5 percent to 10 percent of Americans are asymptomatically colonizing meningococcal organisms in their nasal passages and throats.13 Globally, the numbers of asymptomatic carriers may be higher, depending upon the country.

While this may sound like a reason to increase vaccination, being an asymptomatic carrier actually boosts the person's innate immunity to invasive meningococcal infection. This is doubly beneficial for women of child-bearing age, because women with innate immunity are able to transfer maternal antibodies to their newborns, which protects them until they can make their own antibodies.

"By the time American children enter adolescence, the vast majority have asymptomatically developed immunity that protects them," NVIC explains.14 In contrast, any protection provided by meningococcal vaccination decreases over time, which is why a booster dose is recommended for children at age 16, following the first dose at age 11 or 12. The CDC notes:15

"Available data suggest that protection from meningococcal conjugate vaccines decreases in many teens within [five] years, which highlights the importance of the 16-year-old booster dose so that teens maintain protection during the ages when they are most at risk for meningococcal disease. Early data on serogroup B meningococcal vaccines suggest that protective antibodies also decrease fairly quickly after vaccination."

Recommending the vaccine be given at age 11, when children are generally at low risk and knowing any given protection will decrease before the age when they may need it (living in crowded living conditions in college or in the military increases the risk), is therefore highly questionable.

Meningococcal Disease on the Decline Prior to the Use of Meningococcal Vaccines

The CDC further notes that meningococcal disease is at an historic low in the U.S. but not because of routine vaccination:16

"Rates of meningococcal disease have been declining in the United States since the 1990s, with much of the decline seen before the routine use of meningococcal vaccines. In addition, serogroup B meningococcal disease has continued to decline even though vaccines were not available to help protect against it until the end of 2014."

As far as using the argument of herd immunity for vaccinating all middle-schoolers, the CDC itself notes, " … [D]ata suggest meningococcal conjugate vaccines … do not provide protection to the larger, unvaccinated community through herd immunity."17

It's true that the disease can be deadly: It's fatal in about 10 percent to 15 percent of cases. In about 11 percent to 19 percent of cases, long-term or permanent health problems, including loss of limbs, deafness, nervous system problems or brain damage will result.18 However, this is not a disease that's typically transmitted just by standing next to someone who has it.

Meningococcal bacteria cannot live outside the human body very long, so it's not as easily transmitted as, say, a cold virus. Infection occurs via the exchange of saliva, such as sharing a toothbrush or kissing — not from standing next to someone in an elevator.

So the risks of mandated, one-size-fits-all meningococcal vaccination policies need to be carefully reassessed, while researchers should be focusing on why certain people seem to be more susceptible to meningococcal disease than others. According to NVIC:19

"A small minority of individuals, who have genetic and other unknown biological factors … [that] prevent them from naturally developing protective circulating antibodies, are up to 7,000 times more likely to get severe invasive meningococcal disease at some point in their lives."

Children, adolescents and young adults may further minimize their risk of meningococcal disease by not sharing utensils, cups and other personal items, like toothbrushes, with others. And, as always, the key to avoiding infections is to maintain a strong immune system.

The basic steps to keeping your immune system healthy are positive lifestyle choices such as proper diet, stress management, high-quality sleep and exercise, with an emphasis on eating clean, whole foods (organic, pasture-raised and, preferably, locally sourced).

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Man Arrested On Arson Charges

August 17, 1986|By Nancy E. Roman and Todd Nelson, Staff Writers

Pompano Beach -- A man was arrested Wednesday after, police said, he set his sister`s bed on fire.

Eugene Wade, 28, of the 300 block of Northwest 14th Street, was arrested and charged with arson and resisting arrest after he torched his sister`s bed, police said.

Police said the sister of the defendant had told Wade and another brother that they could no longer live with her, and that Wade yelled he would get her back.

The sister of the arrested man walked a few blocks to her house, and minutes later smelled smoke coming from the northwest bedroom, police said.

A witness later told police that Wade was seen tossing a torch onto the bed. The Pompano Beach Fire Department extinguished the fire. Police said minimal damage was done to the house.

After some struggle, police said, Wade was arrested and transported to the county jail.

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Panel Pushes For Access To Hrs Files

October 2, 1986|By VALERIE HILL-MORGAN, Staff Writer

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Bracing for a negative decision that could come next week, members of a governor-appointed watchdog panel plan today to ask its state group to push legislation that would give them access to confidential child abuse case records.

The Human Rights Advocacy Committee is sending two representatives to make the recommendation at the quarterly statewide HRAC meeting being held in Orlando today, said Nancy Matthews, acting chairman of the Broward County group.

Suzanne Gunzburger, appointed this year to represent Broward and Palm Beach counties at the state HRAC level, suggested during the Broward group`s meeting Wednesday that the local organization develop a proposal that would change state laws dealing with access to confidential records in child abuse cases.

At the meeting, the Broward group expressed growing concern that lawyers in Tallahassee may conclude that the HRAC is not entitled to confidential records on child abuse cases under active police investigation or that are in the courts. The case has been under review for a week.

The HRAC, which is charged with monitoring the activities of the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services in Broward, has heavily criticized the agency this year on its handling of four abuse cases involving three children who died and one who nearly died while under HRS care.

``In order for the HRAC to do the job they were empowered to do, they need access to certain records that are important to their investigation,`` said Gunzburger, who also is a Hollywood city commissioner. ``They can`t investigate HRS because they are being crippled by the verbiage in the present law.``

Broward`s HRS, which had routinely given the HRAC confidential information, stopped the release of data on active cases three weeks ago after HRS lawyers issued a new opinion. HRS District Administrator John Stokesberry said the agency unknowingly had been breaking the law by giving the HRAC the confidential information.

That prompted lawyers in the governor`s office and other lawyers in Tallahassee to begin last week poring over state laws in an effort to determine whether Broward County`s HRS is interpreting the law correctly. They are not expected to reach a decision until next week, officials in Tallahassee said.

``I think it is important that we get the wheels in motion just in case they decide something that would not be agreeable to us,`` Matthews said. ``We need to have access to those files as we always have had in the past.``

Matthews said waiting for police and the courts to finish their investigations could delay her group`s inquiry for months. The committee is concerned that it would be nearly impossible to effectively review HRS procedures in child abuse cases that long after a police investigation or after the case has gone to court.

Matthews said that Wednesday marked the third time since HRS issued its new opinion that her group has been denied access to child abuse case files.

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Every time she spoke up for an abused child, Patti...

October 7, 1986|By JENNI BERGAL, Staff Writer

Every time she spoke up for an abused child, Patti Wilson ran the risk of going to jail.

``They kept telling me not to rock the boat,`` said Wilson, a former volunteer guardian. ``I was muzzled.``

Wilson claims she was forced to quit after she accused social workers of bungling the case of Basil Kishi -- one of four local toddlers beaten to death this year while under state care.

Releasing information from child abuse case files can be a crime.

State law directs the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to keep all abuse reports confidential ``in order to protect the rights of the child and his parents.``

HRS caseworkers, guardians and police have access to the files, but must not make them public. To do so is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

But Broward child advocates argue that HRS is manipulating the secrecy law to conceal its mistakes -- and to intimidate groups set up to critique HRS operations.

``Confidentiality doesn`t protect the child. It hides the truth,`` said former guardian Wilson. ``I look at it as covering up.``

Guardian program Director Sherry Anderson declined comment on Wilson`s charges. She gave a reporter personnel records that show Wilson was suspended because of ``numerous problems,`` including an ``inability to follow procedures`` for handling cases.

Some child advocates also argue they have been harassed for doing their jobs right.

Broward Human Rights Advocacy Committee Chairman Sharon Solomon, whose group investigates HRS handling of abuse complaints, was threatened in July for telling a reporter the agency botched a fatal case.

HRS warned Solomon she could face ``legal action and/or removal from the committee`` for her comments.

``We should follow the law or get it changed,`` said HRS Secretary William Page, adding that the agency must protect the privacy of families. ``I don`t believe I can interpret the law any way I want to.``

Human Rights Advocacy Committee members, whose primary tool for change is the press, say things have gotten worse.

Last month, HRS enraged the committee by refusing to give the group any child abuse records until police finish their investigation.

Gov. Bob Graham ordered his staff to determine whether HRS` action was proper.

In interviews, Broward HRS officials have denied child advocates or the newspapers are their enemy.

But HRS memos refer to the rights committee and the press as ``operational constraints.`` Officials dubbed the watchdog group ``particularly vigilant`` and the press as ``aggressive`` and ``exploitative.``

South Florida newspapers have sued HRS three times since 1985 to gain access to the case files of three abused children who died or were severely injured in the agency`s care.

HRS has won two of three cases.

The News/Sun-Sentinel obtained copies of confidential files of both children whose records HRS succeeded in withholding. The records reveal violations of HRS regulations and other caseworker errors.

The News/Sun-Sentinel also is suing HRS to make public ``unusual incident`` reports filed by child abuse workers.

Child advocates think public scrutiny is the best tonic for HRS` troubles.

``The only rights we are protecting are those of the people (in HRS) who have created these problems or let them happen,`` said Ronald Reeves, a former Broward associate medical examiner who now holds a similar position in Brevard County.

Foremost among those problems, advocates argue, is the number of abused children left in their homes.

``The whole idea of HRS is getting families back together, so they`ll get a gold star in Tallahassee,`` said Wilson.

``But how many of those gold stars are draped in black?``

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