Saturday, October 19, 2013

Florida manhunt for convicted killers prompts officials to ponder what went wrong - CBS News | ...six members of a family killed in a crash with an Ohio police officer were Iraqi refugees... - USA TODAY

» 6 killed, officer hurt in crash near Ohio capital - USA TODAY
19/10/13 03:58 from Top Stories - Google News
San Francisco Chronicle6 killed, officer hurt in crash near Ohio capitalUSA TODAYUPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio (AP) — A social worker says six members of a family killed in a crash with an Ohio police officer were Iraqi refugees who were driving...

Ohio family of six dies in collision with police car

Fri, Oct 18 2013
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A family of six died in a car crash just outside Columbus, Ohio, early on Friday after being hit by a police vehicle rushing to the scene of a robbery, police said.
An officer from Upper Arlington, a Columbus suburb, was responding to a reported armed robbery at a McDonald's when he collided at an intersection with a car carrying a husband, wife and their four daughters, including a 2-year-old, the Perry Township Police Department said.
No one in the family appeared to be wearing a seat belt, and the toddler was not in a child safety seat when the accident happened at 1:35 a.m., the police said in a statement.
The officer, whose name has not been released, was taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Investigators believe the officer was using the cruiser's lights and siren before the crash, said Perry Township Police Lieutenant Steve Cesaro.
Cesaro said he did not know how fast the vehicles were traveling when the accident occurred or which car had the right-of-way at the intersection, which was in Perry Township's jurisdiction.
"We are investigating that, and it should take about a week or so before we will know," Cesaro said.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Mary Wisniewski, Colleen Jenkins and Eric Beech)

» Train Carrying Fuel Derails in Canada
19/10/13 14:27 from WSJ.com: World News
A fire broke out after 13 cars carrying crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas left the tracks, but no injuries were reported.


» CN Rail train carrying petroleum derails in Alberta
19/10/13 14:21 from Reuters: International
TORONTO (Reuters) - A train carrying crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas derailed west of Edmonton, Alberta, causing a fire, but no injuries, Canadian National Railway said on Saturday. 


» Florida manhunt for convicted killers prompts officials to ponder what went wrong - CBS News
19/10/13 12:49 from Top Stories - Google News
Washington PostFlorida manhunt for convicted killers prompts officials to ponder what went wrongCBS NewsORLANDO, Fla. As authorities search for two convicted killers freed by bogus paperwork, questions linger about who created the legiti...


» Bay Area traffic sluggish as BART strike continues - Christian Science Monitor
19/10/13 15:02 from Top Stories - Google News
Christian Science MonitorBay Area traffic sluggish as BART strike continuesChristian Science MonitorSan Francisco Bay Area rapid transit officials and union leaders are offering what they say are solutions to a strike that scrambled the ...


» BART strike bounces around the Twitterverse - San Francisco Chronicle
19/10/13 14:23 from Top Stories - Google News
Wall Street JournalBART strike bounces around the TwitterverseSan Francisco ChronicleShaky timing: "Nice of you to decide to do this while I was completely distracted by certain anniversaries, BART." @SFBayBridge,. 24 years aft...


» Train strike clogs San Francisco-area highways - Minnesota Public Radio
19/10/13 12:30 from Top Stories - Google News
Philly.comTrain strike clogs San Francisco-area highwaysMinnesota Public RadioOAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- San Francisco Bay Area rapid transit officials and union leaders are offering what they say are solutions to a strike that scrambled th...


» Train strike clogs San Francisco-area highways - Charlotte Observer
19/10/13 07:16 from Top Stories - Google News
Washington PostTrain strike clogs San Francisco-area highwaysCharlotte ObserverCommuters wait to board a ferry bound for San Francisco on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. Commuters in the San Francisco Bay Area got up before daw...



» Train strike clogs San Francisco-area highways - San Francisco Chronicle
19/10/13 06:56 from Top Stories - Google News
Washington PostTrain strike clogs San Francisco-area highwaysSan Francisco ChronicleOAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco Bay Area rapid transit officials and union leaders are offering what they say are solutions to a strike that scrambl...

» San Francisco Bay area commuters clog highways, swarm buses as train ... - Washington Post
19/10/13 06:55 from Top Stories - Google News
Washington PostSan Francisco Bay area commuters clog highways, swarm buses as train ...Washington PostOAKLAND, Calif. — San Francisco Bay Area rapid transit officials and union leaders are offering what they say are solutions to a strike...

» Fla. cracks down after 2 murderers released from prison - USA TODAY
19/10/13 11:46 from Top Stories - Google News
ABC NewsFla. cracks down after 2 murderers released from prisonUSA TODAYThe Florida Department of Corrections is cracking down on rules involving inmate releases after two convicted murderers walked out of a Panhandle-area prison with fo...



Fla. is cracking down on inmate releases after two convicted murderers were wrongly freed.

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The Florida Department of Corrections is cracking down on rules involving inmate releases after two convicted murderers walked out of a Panhandle-area prison with forged documents in late September and in October.
In a letter dated Friday and addressed to Florida's Circuit Court judges, Michael Crews, secretary of the state Department of Corrections, writes that effective Friday, the department would require verification of any order from a sentencing judge that results in early release of an inmate.
The inmate will not be released until verification is received, Crews writes. "In light of the potential for fraudulent use of court papers, we believe that the additional step of providing verification of sentence modification court orders is an important safeguard in ensuring the integrity of the judicial process," the letter continues.
The letter follows revelations that came earlier Friday that the convicted murderers, Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, both 34, checked in as required by Florida law with a jail after they gained their freedom from the Franklin Correctional Institution in Carrabelle, Fla.
On separate days, the men reported to the booking lobby of the Orange County Jail in Orlando, where they were photographed and fingerprinted for a state database, and where they filled out registration forms, jail spokesman Allen Moore says. During this process, an Orange County sheriff's deputy typically checks for outstanding warrants and if there is none to be found, the person is free to go, according to Moore's office.
Florida law requires felons to register with a local sheriff's office when they move to a new county.
The case has drawn attention to the state in recent days, since it was first revealed both men were voluntarily released from the prison with years to go on their sentences.
Jenkins was released Sept. 27th. He was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in the 1998 killing and botched robbery of an Orlando man.
Walker was released Oct. 8. He was convicted of second-degree murder in a 1999 slaying in Orange County, Fla. He also was serving a life sentence.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office is seeking help from residents in capturing the two men and asks anyone who sees either of them to call 911 right away.
"These men have been convicted of major felony crimes and should not be approached as they are considered to be very dangerous," Jeff Williamson, public information officer for the Orange County Sheriff's Office.



Chief Circuit Court Judge Belvin Perry, who presided over the Casey Anthony trial, has criticized the inmate release process as being lax.
"One of the things we have never taken a close look at is the verification of a particular document to make sure it's the real McCoy," the Associated Press quoted Perry as saying.
Florida state attorney Jeff Ashton, who also played a role in the Casey Anthony case, said

The case has been brewing over the last few days, since it was first revealed that both men
-

real McCoy - GS


  1. The real McCoy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_real_McCoy

    "The real McCoy" is an idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking world to mean "the real thing" or "the genuine article", e.g., "he's the real ...
- » 2 killers registered as felons after their escape - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader
19/10/13 07:46 from Top Stories - Google News
ABC News2 killers registered as felons after their escapeWilkes Barre Times-Leader(AP) As authorities search for two convicted killers freed by bogus paperwork, questions linger about who created the legitimate-looking documents that exp...


» 2 Florida prisoners registered as felons within days of being released by bogus ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune
19/10/13 06:00 from Top Stories - Google News
San Francisco Chronicle2 Florida prisoners registered as felons within days of being released by bogus ...Minneapolis Star TribuneORLANDO, Fla. — Authorities are searching for two convicted killers who were freed by bogus paperwork as qu...


» Long Island Man Faces Terrorism Charges After Failed Trip to Yemen
19/10/13 01:46 from NYT > International
Marcos Alonso Zea, who the authorities say tried to join a branch of Al Qaeda, was charged with conspiring to commit murder overseas and other counts.


» NY Man Charged With Trying to Support Terrorists - ABC News
19/10/13 05:49 from Top Stories - Google News
NewsdayNY Man Charged With Trying to Support TerroristsABC NewsFor 25 years Marcos Alonso Zea lived in America, working most recently as a clerk at a home improvement store on New York's Long Island. But federal authorities have arre...


» New York Man Arrested for Trying to Join al-Qaida
19/10/13 03:23 from Voice of America
U.S. authorities have arrested a 25-year-old New York man on charges that he tried to join an Al-Qaida-related organization in Yemen and conspired to commit murders overseas.Marcos Alonso Zea, as known as "Ali Zea," was arrested Friday...


» Police: NBA legend Bill Russell had gun at airport - KIRO Seattle
19/10/13 03:55 from Top Stories - Google News
Boston GlobePolice: NBA legend Bill Russell had gun at airportKIRO SeattleNBA legend Bill Russell was arrested Thursday night at Sea-Tac International Airport for bringing a gun into a prohibited area the evening of Oct. 16, KIRO 7 has c...


» Autopsy inconclusive for fetus found fetus found in NYC bag - Fox News
19/10/13 14:10 from Top Stories - Google News
San Francisco ChronicleAutopsy inconclusive for fetus found fetus found in NYC bagFox NewsNEW YORK – An autopsy of a fetus found in a teenage girl's shopping bag at a New York City lingerie store was inconclusive, and more tests will...




CBS/AP/ October 19, 2013, 8:43 AM

Florida manhunt for convicted killers prompts officials to ponder what went wrong

ORLANDO, FLA.As authorities search for two convicted killers freed by bogus paperwork, questions linger about who created the legitimate-looking documents that exposed gaps in Florida's judicial system.

Within days of walking out of prison, Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, who had been sentenced to life, traveled about 300 miles to a jail an Orlando and registered as felons. They signed paperwork. They were fingerprinted, and they were even photographed before walking out of the jail without raising any alarms. Had one of the murder victim's families not contacted prosecutors, authorities might not have known about the mistaken releases.
"We're looking at the system's breakdown, I'm not standing here to point the finger at anyone at this time," Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Friday as he appealed to the public to help authorities find the men. He said he believed they were still in the central Florida area.
In light of the errors, the Corrections Department changed the way it verifies early releases and state legislators promised to hold investigative hearings to figure out how the documents - complete with case numbers and a judge's forged signature - duped the system.

CBS News senior correspondent John Miller reported on "CBS This Morning: Saturday" that a similar order for Jenkins' release was filed in 2011.
"They've been creating these documents and sticking them in the files and hoping somebody would come across them and say, 'Hey, we've got to let this guy out,' for a while," Miller said.
Jenkins was released Sept. 27 and registered at the Orange County jail in Orlando on Sept. 30. Walker was set free Oct. 8 and registered there three days later.
Felons are required to register by law. When they do, their fingerprints are digitally uploaded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and a deputy at the jail verifies that they don't have any outstanding warrants, said jail spokesman Allen Moore.
By registering as the law required, they likely drew less attention.
"If there's no hit that comes back, they're free to go," said Isaiah Dennard, theFlorida Sheriff's Association's jail services coordinator.
If felons do not register, a warrant is put out for their arrest, Dennard said.
The sheriff said there had been some sightings of the men, and "most" of their families were cooperating, but he didn't go into specifics about either detail. Police were offering a $5,000 reward for help and billboards were going up in the area.
Authorities learned about the mistaken release when one of the murder victim's families notified the state attorney's office. Dennard said victims' families are automatically notified when a felon is released, typically by a computer voice-generated phone call.
It's not clear exactly who made the fake documents ordering the release or whether the escapes were related. Authorities said the paperwork in both cases was filed in the last couple of months and included forged signatures from the same prosecutor's office and judge. Both orders also called for 15-year sentences.
"There's reason to suspect that these aren't the first occasions," Demings said later of the releases.
Miller reports that another defendant last spring had an order for early release from a life sentence for the attempted murder of a police officer until a detective found it and brought it to the attention of prosecutors just in time.
The state Department of Law Enforcement and the Department of Corrections are investigating the error, but so far have not released any details.

Chief Circuit Judge Belvin Perry, whose signatures were forged, presided over the highly publicized trial of Casey Anthony in 2011. His signature is widely available on public documents and easily accessible online.
"I think it was lifted off another document and placed on that document, which is not hard to do," he told CBS News this week.
Perry said there were several red flags that should have attracted the attention, including that it's uncommon for a request for sentence reduction to come from prosecutors.
The Corrections Department said on Friday it verified the early release by checking the Orange County Clerk of Court's website and calling them.
Corrections Secretary Michael Crews sent a letter to judges saying prison officials will now verify with judges - and not just court clerks - before releasing prisoners early.
Sen. Greg Evers, who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, said he spoke to Perry on Friday and that the judge will offer a proposal in which judges review all early release documents before court clerks send them to prisons.
"They're working on some failsafe plans," said Evers, a Pensacola Republican. "If the court administrator put these plans in place throughout the state it will solve the problem."
New measures were implemented in the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts Office after workers there thwarted the release of a burglary suspect from forged paperwork in 2011. The changes included only accepting judge's orders from the judge's assistant and to treat them especially carefully, said Cindy Guerra, chief operating officer for the office.
"That situation in Orlando, that just doesn't happen here," said her colleague, Louis Tomeo, the office's director of criminal courts. "Our clerks, I venture to say, would have picked up on that easily."
As the Florida court system transitions into a paperless era, special email accounts have been set up for judges. The deadline to go completely electronic is February, though it has already been moved back several times.
Across the country, prisoners have had varying success trying to escape using bogus documents. In 2010, a Wisconsin killer forged documents that shortened his prison sentence and he walked free, only to be captured a week later. In 2012, a prisoner in Pennsylvania was let out with bogus court documents, and the mistake was only discovered months later.
Jenkins, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1998 killing and botched robbery of Roscoe Pugh, an Orlando man.
State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton said he learned Jenkins had been released when Pugh's family contacted his office. They reviewed the paperwork and found that it was a fake, then notified law enforcement.
Later, they discovered Walker's release documents were also fake.
"It is now clear that the use of forged court documents to obtain release from prison is an ongoing threat which all law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, court clerks and prison officials must address and stop," Ashton said.
Walker, 34, was convicted of second-degree murder in a 1999 slaying in Orange County. He told investigators that 23-year-old Cedric Slater was bullying him and he fired three shots intending to scare him.
© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Scientists who have long been puzzled about the purpose of sleep say it may be the brain's way of flushing toxins out.


Scientists who have long been puzzled about the purpose of sleep say it may be the brain's way of flushing toxins out.



Thinkstock image of woman sleeping
Cells shrink as we sleep, to allow waste to be removed more effectively

Humans need sleep so that the brain can flush toxic waste out of its cells, new research has shown.
The findings, published in the journal Science, show that the brain's unique method of cleansing itself, known as the glymphatic system, is highly active during sleep.
As we slumber, it clears away toxins that would otherwise build up and possibly trigger neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
The purpose of sleep has puzzled both philosophers and scientists since ancient Greek times.
However, the latest research suggests that during sleep, brain cells reduce in size to allow waste to be removed more effectively.
The findings indicate that waste disposal may underlie the restorative properties of sleep.
There could also be far reaching implications for understanding and treating disease.
"This study shows that the brain has different functional states when asleep and when awake," said Dr Maiken Nedergaard, a researcher at the University of Rochester.
"In fact, the restorative nature of sleep appears to be the result of the active clearance of the by-products of neural activity that accumulate during wakefulness.
"The brain only has limited energy at its disposal and it appears that it must choose between two different functional states - awake and aware or asleep and cleaning up.
"You can think of it like having a house party. You can either entertain the guests or clean up the house, but you can't really do both at the same time."


Why do we sleep? To clean our brains, say US scientists


Cerebral spinal fluid found to pump around the brain of sleeping mice, flushing out waste products like a biological dishwasher
scientists say they have found why we sleep
Scientists say they may have found the reason why we need to sleep. Photograph: Corbis
Scientists in the US claim to have a new explanation for why we sleep: in the hours spent slumbering, a rubbish disposal service swings into action that cleans up waste in the brain.
Through a series of experiments on mice, the researchers showed that during sleep, cerebral spinal fluid is pumped around the brain, and flushes out waste products like a biological dishwasher.
The process helps to remove the molecular detritus that brain cells churn out as part of their natural activity, along with toxic proteins that can lead to dementia when they build up in the brain, the researchers say.
Maiken Nedergaard, who led the study at the University of Rochester, said the discovery might explain why sleep is crucial for all living organisms. "I think we have discovered why we sleep," Nedergaard said. "We sleep to clean our brains."
Writing in the journal Science, Nedergaard describes how brain cells in mice shrank when they slept, making the space between them on average 60% greater. This made the cerebral spinal fluid in the animals' brains flow ten times faster than when the mice were awake.
The scientists then checked how well mice cleared toxins from their brains by injecting traces of proteins that are implicated in Alzheimer's disease. These amyloid beta proteins were removed faster from the brains of sleeping mice, they found.
Nedergaard believes the clean-up process is more active during sleep because it takes too much energy to pump fluid around the brain when awake. "You can think of it like having a house party. You can either entertain the guests or clean up the house, but you can't really do both at the same time," she said in a statement.
According to the scientist, the cerebral spinal fluid flushes the brain's waste products into what she calls the "glymphatic system" which carries it down through the body and ultimately to the liver where it is broken down.
Other researchers were sceptical of the study, and said it was too early to know if the process goes to work in humans, and how to gauge the importance of the mechanism. "It's very attractive, but I don't think it's the main function of sleep," said Raphaelle Winsky-Sommerer, a specialist on sleep and circadian rhythms at Surrey University. "Sleep is related to everything: your metabolism, your physiology, your digestion, everything." She said she would like to see other experiments that show a build up of waste in the brains of sleep-deprived people, and a reduction of that waste when they catch up on sleep.
Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, another sleep expert at Surrey University, was also sceptical. "I'm not fully convinced. Some of the effects are so striking they are hard to believe. I would like to see this work replicated independently before it can be taken seriously," he said.
Jim Horne, professor emeritus and director of the sleep research centre at Loughborough University, cautioned that what happened in the fairly simple mouse brain might be very different to what happened in the more complex human brain. "Sleep in humans has evolved far more sophisticated functions for our cortex than that for the mouse, even though the present findings may well be true for us," he said.
But Nedergaard believes she will find the same waste disposal system at work in humans. The work, she claims, could pave the way for medicines that slow the onset of dementias caused by the build-up of waste in the brain, and even help those who go without enough sleep. "It may be that we can reduce the need at least, because it's so annoying to waste so much time sleeping," she said.