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Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn., Charley Walters column
Dec. 05--Don't be surprised if next season the Minnesota Vikings make it three straight years out of the playoffs. This team needs a huge influx of talent, mainly via the draft, to contend again.
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BRIEF: Vikings' Ponder 'should be fine' for Sunday's game
Dec. 05--Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder suffered a hip pointer after taking a shot to his right hip in the first quarter of Sunday's 35-32 loss to the Denver Broncos.
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Staind’s new CD was a struggle to produce
ST. LOUIS — Rock band Staind released its latest album, the self-titled “Staind,” by the skin of its teeth.
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Madonna to perform during Super Bowl XLVI halftime show
LOS ANGELES — It’s official: Madonna will perform during the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show on Feb. 5.
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Supreme Court to hear case on arrest at Dick Cheney event
By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether a Secret Service agent can be held liable for arresting a Colorado man who confronted then-Vice President Dick Cheney and told him his “policies in Iraq are disgusting.”
The justices will decide whether the arrest violated the First Amendment because it was done in retaliation for the critical comments.
Obama administration lawyers had urged the high court to take up the case and throw out the lawsuit against the Secret Service agent. They argued that the agents protecting Cheney had acted reasonably and deserve to be shielded from personal lawsuits for doing their jobs.
In June 2006, Steven Howards spotted Cheney emerging from a shopping mall in Beaver Creek, Colo., and chatting amiably with several people. Howards approached the vice president and allegedly pushed or touched him on the shoulder as he voiced his criticism.
Nothing happened immediately, but Gus Reichle, a Secret Service coordinator on the scene, heard about the incident from other agents. He then confronted Howards, accused him of an assault and ordered his arrest.
Howards was detained for several hours and released. A harassment charge against him was dismissed.
He then sued Reichle, accusing the agent of violating his Fourth Amendment rights against an unreasonable seizure and his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
In March, Howards won a split decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver. Its judges said his arrest was reasonable and lawful, but they agreed that he could sue the agent on First Amendment grounds.
The Obama administration and lawyers for Reichle appealed to the high court and urged the justices to block the suit from going forward. They argued that it made no sense to hold that an agent could be held liable for a lawful arrest. They also said agents must be able to act quickly to protect the president and vice president, and should not fear being sued later.
The justices agreed to hear the appeal in Reichle vs. Howards and to issue a ruling by late June.
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©2011 Tribune Co.
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Obama prods Congress on payroll tax as Democrats unveil new plan
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are offering a new proposal to extend the payroll tax holiday, a strategy designed to reach out to Republicans who have shown little interest in continuing the $1,000 tax break for working Americans that expires at the end of the year.
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Navy asked to explain policy for naming ships
 WASHINGTON — The Senate wants the Navy to explain how it selects names for new ships in the wake of controversy over the naming of a ship in memory of labor leader Cesar Chavez.
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Justices weigh seizure of weapons from home of suspect’s foster parents
By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court heard arguments over whether Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies went too far when they obtained a search warrant and seized all the guns from a home in South Los Angeles where a wanted violent gang member was thought to be living.
Usually, police officers are protected from lawsuits if they enter a home with a search warrant issued by a judge.
But last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in an 8-3 decision, cleared the way for Detective Curt Messerschmidt to be sued for the raid on a house because it said he did not have probable cause to believe the suspect had a wide array of firearms.
That rationale did not sit well with most justices during Monday’s argument. They noted that the wanted suspect, Jerry Bowen, had threatened to kill his girlfriend and fired several shots at her with a sawed-off shotgun. He was also a member of the Mona Park Crips gang.
Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Anthony M. Kennedy said that a police officer would have good reason to seize all the firearms. “What is wrong with a reasonable officer thinking: He’s tried to kill her in the past using one gun. He’s a member of a gang. He’s very likely to have other guns, and (they) may be found in the home where we believe he’s living?” Alito asked.
Moreover, said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the deputy’s supervisor and a magistrate had approved the search warrant. Allowing the deputy to be sued for an overly broad search warrant “seems to me a pretty heavy burden to put on the cop on the beat,” Roberts said.
Bowen had lived with the Millender family as a foster child, but he was not there when the police carried out their predawn raid. However, he was later arrested at a nearby motel.
“The search terrified an innocent family and damaged their home” and sent 73-year-old Augusta Millender to the hospital, their lawyers told the court. She died during the summer when the case was pending, but her daughter has carried on the suit against the deputy sheriff.
The case of Messerschmidt v. Millender brought together some strange bedfellows when it reached the Supreme Court. The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Rifle Association and the California Rifle and Pistol Association joined in supporting the Millenders, whose personal guns were seized. Meanwhile, the Obama administration joined with Los Angeles County in arguing for the suit against the deputy to be dismissed.
The Fourth Amendment gives persons a “right to be secure” in their homes and says “no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause … and particularly describing … the persons and things to be seized.” The 9th Circuit recited the words of the amendment in upholding the Millenders’ suit against deputy Messerschmidt.
But the justices have been wary of allowing lawsuits against police officers or federal agents who carry out a search once it has been approved by a magistrate.
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©2011 Tribune Co.
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Scientists: Osteoporosis drug useful for astronauts
TOKYO — A team of researchers has confirmed five astronauts who stayed long term at the International Space Station were able to prevent bone density loss by taking osteoporosis drugs.
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Bombings target Shiite Muslim pilgrims in Iraq
BAGHDAD — A series of powerful explosions ripped through processions of pilgrims celebrating a major Shiite Muslim religious holiday Monday, threatening to inflame sectarian tensions as U.S. troops streamed out of the country ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline.
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Iran explosions prompt speculation of secret attacks
JERUSALEM — A series of mishaps at Iranian nuclear facilities and weapons sites may be part of a covert organized attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, according to Western intelligence officials.
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Peru’s president moves to quell protests over copper mine
LIMA, Peru — Digging in his heels against opponents of a huge gold and copper mining project, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala declared a 60-day state of emergency and called on residents to maintain “serenity and calm.”
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WikiLeaks’ Assange allowed to continue extradition fight
LONDON — Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks website, is free to ask Britain’s highest court to decide whether he should be extradited to Sweden on allegations of sexual assault, judges ruled Monday.
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Change in Chinese position bright spot at climate talks
DURBAN, South Africa — China's delegate to the United Nations climate conference in South Africa kicked off the conference on Monday with a surprise announcement: China, he said, might favor carbon curbs — eventually.
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Nigeria launches first rape helpline as cases increase
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria's government launched Monday a helpline for rape victims after the government said such cases were on the increase.
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Syria says deal is close on Arab League monitors
BEIRUT — With the threat of more sanctions looming, Syria said Monday that it is ready to sign a deal soon with the Arab League allowing foreign observers into the country to monitor a plan aimed at ending months of deadly unrest.
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Thousands protest preliminary results in Russia elections
MOSCOW — Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow on Monday to voice their anger at polling irregularities they fear will allow the ruling party to maintain control of the parliament’s lower house, despite a relatively weak showing in elections held Sunday.
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U.S. should lead the way to halt climate change
The U.N. Climate Summit opened over the weekend in Durban, South Africa, amid still more evidence of dangerous changes in extreme weather patterns.
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Gingrich’s immigration test
One week ago, I arose before dawn and went to buy coffee and a newspaper at a southwest Florida 7-Eleven. I was the lone white guy in a convenience store jammed with Latinos wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the names of lawn services whose trucks packed the parking lot.
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Zoning Board of Adjustment to meet Tuesday, address waste-to-energy plant permit
 The Mason City Zoning Board of Adjustment will be meeting Tuesday afternoon at 4 pm. The board will address the controversial CES waste-to-energy plant proposed for Mason City's south side. Public input will be allowed, sources tell NorthIowaToday.com. PHOTO: Rod Flores and Joe Yavorski of CES speak to the Zoning Board of Adjustment on November 1, 2011.
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Editorial: They kill horses, don’t they?
MCT FORUM - By Gemma Vaughan - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Horses haven’t been slaughtered in the United States for the last five years. But Congress recently restored funding for U.S. inspectors to oversee horse slaughter, paving the way for horses to be killed and butchered in the U.S. once again. While killing horses anywhere is contemptible, the decision does provide an opportunity to re-examine this entire issue.
A ban on killing horses in the United States doesn’t help horses — it prolongs their suffering. And they will continue to suffer as long as the industries that breed horses for profit — horse racing, rodeo and the carriage trade — keep exploiting these animals for our “entertainment.”
When horse slaughter was banned in the United States in 2006, it didn’t stop horses from being killed. Mercenary ranchers who make their living from horse flesh simply jam horses into undersize trucks and haul them for hundreds — sometimes thousands — of miles to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.
Horses who manage to survive this grueling journey often arrive at the slaughterhouse with gashed foreheads, broken bones, compound fractures, eye infections and other injuries. They meet their end with a bolt gun, an often slow and agonizing death caused by the carelessness of workers who fire poorly aimed bolt after bolt until the animal finally dies. They are then bled out and skinned, usually in full view of other terrified horses.
Anyone who cares about animals should condemn horse slaughter altogether and call for an absolute ban on both the export of live horses and slaughter in the United States. One doesn’t work without the other.
Horses have been exploited for human purposes and profit since the beginning of time, and we need to take an honest look at the disconnect between society’s horror over eating horses and its tacit approval of exploiting them in so many other ways. Many of the horses who end up in slaughterhouses used to pull carriages, perform in rodeos or cross the finish line but are now too worn-out to continue.
Even though horses tend to be skittish and sensitive, they are still forced to provide carriage rides on busy city streets and, at this time of year, in shopping mall parking lots for seasonal promotions. Fighting crowds, dodging traffic and trying not to slip on icy streets while hauling oversized loads day after day takes a toll. Accidents have occurred in nearly every location where carriage rides are allowed and many horses have died. But as long as people pay to ride, horses will continue to be worked until they can’t take another step.
The horse racing and rodeo industries are equally culpable for sending horses to their deaths. Horses are bred over and over until “winners” are produced. But not every horse makes money, and continual breeding has led to a critical overpopulation of horses: too many horses, not enough good homes. And just like dogs and cats, unwanted horses are often abandoned, neglected, starved and left to die without veterinary care. Thousands are sold to meat buyers and go from grassy fields to blood-soaked killing floors.
If eating horse flesh appalls you, so should the industries that provide the bodies. People can make a real difference by staying away from the racetrack, shunning carriage rides and steering clear of the rodeo.
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© 2011, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
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Tough guys on illegal immigration
By Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times
“I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though some time back they may have entered illegally.”
That was Ronald Reagan speaking during his 1984 re-election campaign. After that election, he stuck to his guns, signing an immigration reform law that allowed illegal immigrants to apply for residency if they could prove they’d lived in the country for five years, held jobs and committed no crimes. The law also called for tougher border enforcement, but its primary effect was to provide 3 million people with a path to legalization, and many of them eventually became citizens of the United States.
Reagan would have been pilloried if he were running for his party’s presidential nomination today.
Recent weeks have seen a furious battle among the GOP candidates over who can take the hardest line on immigration.
It began in September, when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney attacked Texas Gov. Rick Perry for having granted in-state college tuition to the children of illegal immigrants in Texas. Then, last month, Romney attacked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich over his support for a plan that would grant temporary work permits — but not a path to citizenship — to illegal immigrants who had lived in the United States for 25 years.
Rep. Michele Bachmann jumped into the fray promising that, if elected, she would try to deport every one of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. Perry, still smarting from his college-tuition gaffe, said he’d seek more deportations too, as did former Sen. Rick Santorum, who added: “I don’t like to break up families, but … we’re not sending them to Siberia. They’re going to Mexico, which is a great country, a nice country.”
And Gingrich, though he didn’t walk back from his once-conventional, now-bold proposal for work permits, made it clear that he was talking only about immigrants with deep roots in their communities — church members, grandparents — and that he still favors a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border and vigorous enforcement of the law.
The spectacle has provided a perfect illustration of the perils of trying to debate national policy in a primary contest that focuses on a few conservative voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The candidates are narrowcasting. They’re jostling for the right edge of the platform, and they think that GOP primary voters, especially in Iowa and South Carolina, are very attentive to immigration.
One of Romney’s first mailers in Iowa boiled down his pitch to this: “The strongest Republican to beat Barack Obama and end illegal immigration.”
But there’s a flaw in this approach.
To begin with, it’s not what American voters are asking for, not even the bulk of Republican voters.
A Fox News poll last year found that almost two-thirds of Republicans believe that “illegal immigrants who pay taxes and obey the law” should be given a chance to remain in the United States under some kind of legalization program. A majority also favored tougher enforcement of the law, but only one-third said they believed that deportation was the solution to the problem.
And, almost needless to say, a campaign that focuses on cracking down on illegal immigrants is a good way to alienate Latino voters, one of the fastest-growing parts of the electorate.
“Latinos feel as if they’re being used as a political piñata,” complained Hector Barajas, a GOP strategist in Sacramento who was Meg Whitman’s spokesman in her 2010 campaign for governor.
“Obama says I’m with you but I’m not willing to do anything for you. The Republicans say we want to secure the border and enforce the law, but that’s all they’re saying. What happens after that? We never get to hear.”
In Arizona, he warned, Democrats are registering thousands of new Latino voters in the wake of a controversial law that requires police to check the immigration status of anyone they detain while enforcing other laws, if the suspect appears to be a potential illegal immigrant.
“You’re giving them something to fight for,” he said. “Republicans should drop the subject (of immigration) and talk about jobs instead.”
Latino support for Obama has remained solid, even though many Latino activists have been vocally dissatisfied with the president’s failure to advance immigration reform legislation. A 21-state Univision poll last month found that in a head-to-head matchup, Latinos favored Obama over Romney by a lopsided 67 percent to 24 percent, a bigger margin than Obama enjoyed over John McCain in 2008 (and a far cry from when George W. Bush won an estimated 44 percent of the Latino vote in 2004).
Asked how he would energize Latino voters in a year when Democrats fear that their supporters will suffer from an “enthusiasm gap,” Obama said the Republicans are doing his work for him.
“We may just run clips of the Republican debates,” he told Univision. “We won’t even comment on them. We’ll just run those in a loop on Univision and Telemundo.”
By the time the election rolls around in November, I’m betting the Republican candidate, whoever he is, will sound more like the Mitt Romney of 2007. “The 12 million or so that are here illegally should be able to sign up for permanent residency or citizenship,” Romney said then, “but they should not be given a special pathway, a special guarantee that all of them get to stay here.”
There’s a lot of electioneering to come between now and then, and a lot of time for the GOP to do itself more damage. But this is an issue on which most Republican voters are more sensible than their candidates.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Doyle McManus is a columnist for The Los Angeles Times.
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©2011 the Los Angeles Times
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Emperor Goodell should do even more
In the time of ancient Romans, the gladiator spectacle first involved criminals, slaves and prisoners of war as forced participants. The games to the death were noisy and fun, and crowds and interest and gambling kept swelling, so something interesting happened to the bloodsport’s evolution.
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Lineup of live music for December at the Mason City Library
Live Music Series in the Commons at the Mason City Public Library for December 2011:
Saturday, December 10, 2011 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM -Feldspar-Jazz Ensemble
Saturday, December 17, 2011 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM- Matt Jansen-Contemporary Keyboardist
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Survey results show broad consensus on reform goals put forward by Branstad, Reynolds
(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today released the results of a survey of the Iowa Education Summit participants. Survey participants generally agree that the governor and lt. governor’s blueprint for education transformation, released in October, is a good starting point.
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Branstad, Reynolds to hold six education transformation town hall meetings, parent roundtable
 (DES MOINES) – Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds today announced that they will hold six education transformation town hall meetings and a parent roundtable in coming days.
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Pump Malfunction Results in Sewage Reaching Mississippi River in Keokuk
An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 gallons of sewage was released to the Mississippi River by the city of Keokuk after a pump malfunction Monday morning.
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Iowa hunters injured over weekend
An Altoona man was injured Saturday after being hit by a deer slug while hunting in Lucas County.
Ryan Mills, 25, was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines where he was being treated for a non-life threatening injury to his right thigh Saturday evening.
Mills was blocking in a hunting party of 12 approximately three miles east of Derby when a deer ran between him and other hunters in the group. A 12-gauge slug passed through a deer striking him in the thigh shortly after noon on Saturday.
The incident serves as a reminder to other hunters to make sure they know where they are in case an emergency does occur.
“In this particular incident, none of the hunters had ever hunted this farm before and they had a hard time providing accurate directions to the dispatcher,” said DNR Recreational Safety Officer Allen Crouse.
Crouse said it is also important for all hunters to know where other members of the party are at all times.
“Hunters need to plan the hunt and then hunt the plan so that all of the hunters know where the other members of their party will be. Shooting at deer running between members of a hunting party is the number one cause of shooting related injuries during shotgun deer season,” said Crouse.
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Hunter wounded Sunday near Rathbun Lake in Appanoose County
A Waterloo man was airlifted to a Des Moines hospital Sunday after sustaining a gunshot wound while deer hunting in Appanoose County.
Thomas S. Burns, 38, was hunting in a group of 21 hunters when one of the other hunters in his party shot at a running deer hitting Burns in his midsection with a 12-gauge shotgun slug at approximately 10 a.m. Sunday. He was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines where he was in stable condition Sunday evening.
The group was hunting at the Prairie Ridge area on Rathbun Lake, about six miles southwest of Moravia.
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Hunter injured in Page County on Saturday
A Grinnell man was injured late Saturday afternoon when the gun he was handling discharged into his foot.
Benjamin Parker, 35, had just finished hunting four miles northeast of Braddyville in Page County when his gun became entangled in some bags he was carrying and discharged a deer slug into his right foot. He was taken to Clarinda Regional Health Center then transferred to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines where he was being treated for a non-life threatening injury.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources was assisted at the scene by the Appanoose County Sheriff’s Department and the Iowa State Patrol.
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Construction Update – 19th Street SE Widening
From the city of Mason City:
Week beginning Monday, December 5
Mid-Continent Contracting will install the decorative railing on the new culvert crossing Mason Creek this week.
After this week all work will be suspended due to the winter season, with work resuming in spring 2012. The remaining work consists of the installation of pedestrian ramps on the south side of 19th Street SE between South Pennsylvania Avenue and South Carolina Avenue.
Beginning this week 19th Street SE residents are asked to resume placing their recycling curbside on 19th Street SE for collection. Residents with alley access are asked to continue placing their garbage in the alley for pickup. If pick up is missed please call the Sanitation Department at (641) 421-3691.
Remember to stay alert and exercise caution if travel is necessary in or around the construction zone.
Questions may be directed to the Mason City Engineering Department by calling 641-421-3605.
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When and how do endorsements matter?
By certifying Speaker Newt Gingrich as a kindred conservative spirit and hinting that Gov. Mitt Romney is instead a shape changer, the Manchester, N.H., Union Leader’s weekend proclamation invites the question, “When and how do endorsements matter?”
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