Massive manhunt on for ex-cop accused of killing 3

Massive manhunt on for ex-cop accused of killing 3 

Police respond in Riverside, Calif., early Thursday morning, Feb. 7, 2013, after one officer was killed and another critically wounded in a shootout with a murder suspect. Police were searching for former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner, who is the main suspect in the weekend killings of a couple whose bodies were found in Irvine, and who has threatened to kill police. Investigators believe Dorner is responsible for two separate overnight shootings about 60 miles east of Los Angeles in Riverside County. Dorner was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An ex-Los Angeles police officer who authorities say went on a deadly shooting rampage to punish those he blamed for his firing killed three people, setting off a manhunt that stirred fear across several states and Mexico.

The search for Christopher Dorner focused late Thursday on Big Bear Lake, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, where police found a burned-out pickup truck that belonged to Christopher Dorner. San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said officers were going door to door looking for him.

Throughout the day, thousands of heavily armed officers patrolled highways in the state, while some stood guard outside the homes of people police say Dorner vowed to attack in an angry rant posted online. 

Electronic billboards that usually alert motorists about the commute urged them to call 911 if they saw him.

"I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" to Los Angeles Police Department officers, on or off duty, said the manifesto. It also asserted: "Unfortunately, I will not be alive to see my name cleared. That's what this is about, my name. A man is nothing without his name."

Dorner, 33, had multiple weapons including an assault rifle, said Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck, who urged him to surrender at an unusual press conference in an underground room at police headquarters where there was more security than normal.

"Of course he knows what he's doing, we trained him. He was also a member of the Armed Forces," he said. "It is extremely worrisome and scary."

The nearly 10,000-member LAPD dispatched some of its officers to protect more than 40 potential targets across the region on Thursday. The department also pulled officers from motorcycle duty, fearing they would make for easy targets.

"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I'm terminating yours," the manifesto said.

At one point, officers guarding one location mistakenly opened fire on a pickup truck believing it matched the description of Dorner's dark colored 2005 Nissan Titan, injuring two innocent occupants.

The chief said there had been a "night of extreme tragedy in the Los Angeles area" and that the department was taking measures to ensure the safety of officers and their families.

The search for Dorner, who was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements, began after he was linked to a weekend killing in which one of the victims was the daughter of a former police captain who had represented him during the disciplinary hearing.

Monica Quan and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, were found shot in their car at a parking structure at their condominium on Sunday in Irvine. Quan, 28, was an assistant women's basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton. Lawrence, 27, was a public safety officer at the University of Southern California.

Police said Dorner implicated himself in the couple's killings in the manifesto posted on Facebook. They believe he wrote it because there were details in it only he would know.

In the post, Dorner wrote that he knew he would be vilified by the LAPD and the news media, but that "unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name."

Dorner was with the LAPD from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.

Quan's father, a former LAPD captain who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner, police said. Randal Quan retired in 2002 and later served as chief of police at Cal Poly Pomona before he started practicing law. Quan did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans. Dorner said that in the course of an arrest, Evans kicked suspect Christopher Gettler, a schizophrenic with severe dementia.

Richard Gettler, the schizophrenic man's father, gave testimony that supported Dorner's claim. After his son was returned on July 28, 2007, Richard Gettler asked "if he had been in a fight because his face was puffy" and his son responded that he was kicked twice in the chest by a police officer.

After his dismissal, Dorner said in his online rant that he lost everything, including his relationships with his mother, sister and close friends.

"Self-preservation is no longer important to me. I do not fear death as I died long ago," the manifesto. "I was told by my mother that sometimes bad things happen to good people. I refuse to accept that."

Dorner said he would use all of his training to avoid capture and track his targets.

In addition to police work, Dorner served in the Naval Reserves, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and pistol expert medal. He served in a naval undersea warfare unit and various aviation training units, according to military records, and took a leave from the LAPD and deployed to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.

"I will utilize every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordinance and survival training I've been given," the manifesto read. "You have misjudged a sleeping giant."

As officers searched for Dorner, there was a report of a shooting in Corona that involved two LAPD officers working a security detail, police said. A resident pointed out Dorner to the officers who followed until his pickup stopped and the driver got out and fired a rifle at them. A bullet grazed an officer's head.

Later, two officers on routine patrol in neighboring Riverside were ambushed at a stop light by a motorist who drove up next to them and opened fire with a rifle. One died and the other was seriously wounded but was expected to survive, Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz said.

Diaz said news organizations should withhold the officers' names because the suspect had made clear that he considers police and their families "fair game."

The hunt for Dorner led to two errant shootings in the pre-dawn darkness Thursday.

LAPD officers guarding a "target" named in the posting shot and wounded two women in suburban Torrance who were in a pickup but were not involved, authorities said. Beck said one woman was in stable condition with two gunshot wounds and the other was being released after treatment.

 "Tragically we believe this was a case of mistaken identity by the officers," Beck said.

Minutes later, Torrance officers responding to a report of gunshots encountered a dark pickup matching the description of Dorner's, police said. A collision occurred and the officers fired on the pickup. The unidentified driver was not hit and it turned out not to be the suspect vehicle, they said.

In San Diego, where police say Dorner tied up an elderly man and unsuccessfully tried to steal his boat Wednesday night, Naval Base Point Loma was locked down Thursday after a Navy worker reported seeing someone who resembled Dorner.

Navy Cmdr. Brad Fagan said officials don't believe he was on base Thursday but had checked into a base hotel on Tuesday and left the next day without checking out. Numerous agencies guarded the base. Fagan said Dorner was honorably discharged and that his last day in the Navy was last Friday.

Nevada authorities also looked for Dorner because he owns a house nine miles from the Las Vegas Strip, according to authorities and property records.

Ed Rendell Intervened to Stop EPA Action Against Range Resources in Fracking Contamination Case « Protecting Our Waters

Ed Rendell Intervened to Stop EPA Action Against Range Resources in Fracking Contamination Case « Protecting Our Waters

NJ Supreme Court Says Taking Illegal Drugs While Pregnant Isn’t Child Abuse

NJ Supreme Court Says Taking Illegal Drugs While Pregnant Isn’t Child Abuse

NEW JERSEY (CBS) — The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that taking illegal, addictive drugs during pregnancy is not a form of child abuse.

The court ruled in the case of a Cape May, NJ woman whose son was born with cocaine in his system.

The state’s Division of Youth and Family Services thought this was cause for a Family Protection Plan, placing conditions on the parents to maintain custody of the baby and his half-brother.

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

Boy Scouts delay decision on policy excluding gays

Boy Scouts delay decision on policy excluding gays 

Clockwise from left, Boy Scouts Eric Kusterer, Jacob Sorah, James Sorah, Micah Brownlee and Cub Scout John Sorah hold signs at the “Save Our Scouts” Prayer Vigil and Rally in front of the Boy Scouts of America National Headquarters in Irving, Texas, Wednesday, February 6, 2013. The Boy Scouts of America said Wednesday it needed more time before deciding whether to move away from its divisive policy of excluding gays as scouts or adult leaders.

 

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Caught in an ideological crossfire, the Boy Scouts of America is retreating until May from a decision about whether to ease its policy of excluding gays. Whatever the organization eventually does, it's likely to anger major constituencies and worsen schisms within Scouting.

The delay, which the Scouts attributed to "the complexity of this issue," was announced Wednesday after closed-door deliberations by the BSA's national executive board. Under consideration was a proposal to ease the longstanding ban on gays by allowing sponsors of local troops to decide for themselves on the membership of gay Scouts and adult leaders.

As the board met over three days at a hotel near Dallas, it became clear that the proposal would be unacceptable to large numbers of impassioned Scouting families and advocacy groups on both the left and right.

The iconic youth organization is now deeply entangled in the broader cultural and political conflicts over such issues as same-sex marriage and religious freedom. Tilting toward either side will probably alienate the other, and a midway balancing act will be difficult.

Gay-rights supporters contend that no Scout units anywhere should exclude gays, and vowed to maintain pressure on the BSA's corporate donors to achieve that goal. Some conservatives, including religious leaders whose churches sponsor troops, warned of mass defections if the ban were even partially eased. They urged supporters to flood headquarters with phone calls.

"In the past two weeks, Scouting has received an outpouring of feedback from the American public," said the BSA's national spokesman, Deron Smith. "It reinforces how deeply people care about Scouting and how passionate they are about the organization."

The BSA "needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy," Smith added. He said the board would prepare a resolution to be voted on by the 1,400 voting members of the BSA national council at a meeting during the week of May 20 in Grapevine, Texas.

The organization had announced last week that it was considering allowing Scout troops to decide whether to allow gay membership, ensuring that the executive board meeting would be in the national spotlight.

Learning that a decision would be deferred, gay-rights leaders assailed the BSA.

"Every day that the Boy Scouts of America delay action is another day that discrimination prevails," said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "Young Americans, gay and straight, are hurt by the inaction associated with today's news."

"A Scout is supposed to be brave, and the Boy Scouts failed to be brave today," said Jennifer Tyrrell, an Ohio mother ousted as a den leader of her son's Cub Scout pack because she's a lesbian.

"They failed us yet again," she told The Associated Press. "Putting this off until May only ensures other gay kids and gay parents are discarded."

Tyrrell was among several current and former Scouts and supporters who rallied outside BSA national headquarters Monday and delivered petitions opposing the policy.

Conservative leaders made clear they would keep pressure on the BSA ahead of the May meeting.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said his group would continue warning the BSA "about the grave consequences that would result if they were to compromise their moral standards in the face of threats from corporate elites and homosexual activists."

About 70 percent of all Scout units are sponsored by religious denominations, including many by conservative faiths that have supported the ban, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Mormon church.

The delay was welcomed by Southern Baptist leaders, some of whom had said they would urge their churches to seek alternatives to the Boy Scouts if the ban were eliminated.

In comments to the Baptist Press, the denomination's official news agency, SBC President Fred Luter suggested that "prayers of the righteous" played a role in the BSA decision.

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting said it would join in the BSA's consultations over the coming months. Whatever the outcome, the committee said, "Catholic chartered units will continue to provide leaders who promote and live Catholic values."

Michael Purdy, a spokesman at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints headquarters in Utah, said the BSA "acted wisely in delaying its decision until all voices can be heard on this important moral issue."

The extra time will give local Scout leaders in Utah and elsewhere time to determine how their members feel about the proposal, said Kay Godfrey, a spokesman for Boy Scouts in the Great Salt Lake Council. The heavily Mormon council is one of the largest in the country, with 5,500 troops and 73,400 youth members.

"It's so important and so historic in nature that serious deliberation over time, involving a broad spectrum of folks, is needed," Godfrey said.

Outside BSA headquarters, hundreds of supporters of the ban held a rally and prayer vigil Wednesday, carrying signs that read, "Don't invite sin into the camp" and "Homosexuality is a sin! BSA please resist Satan's test. Uphold the ban."

Scoutmaster Darrel Russell of Weatherford, west of Fort Worth, took his wife and five of their seven children to the rally. Russell said having gays in the scouting movement would be like mixing boys and girls.

"The whole idea is to protect our boys at all costs," Russell said, warning that if the ban is lifted, "we're shutting down our troop."

Among those joining the debate was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an Eagle Scout who told reporters the ban should be lifted.

"I can't urge them enough to make sure that every young man is eligible, regardless of his orientation, to be a scout and to benefit from a great program that really helps kids develop," he said.

In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney declined to comment on the BSA's delay but reiterated President Barack Obama's view that gays should be able to participate in the Scouts.

Members of the Scouts' executive board remained silent about their deliberations during and after their meeting. Police and security guards blocked journalists from entering the meeting area, and board members approached as they walked to their cars outside the hotel declined to comment.

However, it's likely the board - and corporations that contribute to the BSA - will face continued pressure.

By delaying the vote, the Scouts "have guaranteed continuing controversy and increased pressures on corporate sponsors to withdraw funding," said professor Kenneth Sherrill, a gay rights advocate who teaches political science at Hunter College in New York.

No national polling has been released conveying how current Scout parents and leaders feel about the ban. 

But overall, U.S. voters favor eliminating it by 55 percent to 33 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday. Quinnipiac said the poll's margin of error was plus/minus 2.3 percentage points.

"Now that the armed forces ban on openly gay service members has been lifted, and polls show increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage, most American voters think it's time to open up the Boy Scouts, too," said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's Polling Institute.

US Sues S&P Over Mortgage-Bond Ratings

US Sues S&P Over Mortgage-Bond Ratings

Obama stands firm on gun control despite long odds

Obama stands firm on gun control despite long odds 

President Barack Obama is applauded prior to speaking about his gun violence proposals, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, at the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operations Center in Minneapolis, where he outlined his plan before law enforcement personnel.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- President Barack Obama declared Monday on his first trip outside Washington to promote gun control that a consensus is emerging for universal background checks for purchasers, though he conceded a tough road lay ahead to pass an assault weapons ban over formidable opposition in Congress.

"We should restore the ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines," Obama said in a brief speech, standing firm on his full package on gun-control measures despite long odds. Such a ban "deserves a vote in Congress because weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools or threatening our law enforcement officers."

The president spoke from a special police operations center in a city once known to some as "Murderapolis" but where gun violence has dropped amid a push to address it from city leaders. Officers stood behind him, dressed in crisp uniforms of blue, white and brown.

The site conveyed Obama's message that a reduction in violence can be achieved nationally, even if Americans have sharp disagreements over gun control. That includes among members of his own party in Washington.

Suggesting he won't get all he's proposing, he said, "We don't have to agree on everything to agree it's time to do something."

The president unveiled his gun-control plans last month after the shootings at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. But many of the proposals face tough opposition from some in Congress and from the National Rifle Association.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he wants to give the bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines a vote. But he will not say whether he will support either, and advocates and opponents alike predict they are unlikely to pass.

Putting the controversial measures up for a vote could put some Democratic senators in a tough spot. That includes some from conservative-leaning states who are up for re-election next year and face the prospect of voting against either fervent gun-rights supporters or Obama and gun-control supporters in the party's base.

Reid himself came in for criticism for declining to stand with the president by Minneapolis' Democratic mayor, R.T. Rybak, who accompanied Obama while he was in town. "He's dancing around this issue and people are dying in this country," Rybak said of Reid on MSNBC.

Democratic lawmakers and aides, as well as lobbyists, say an assault weapons ban has the least chance of being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee that is working up the legislation. They say a ban on high-capacity magazines is viewed as the next least likely proposal to survive, though some compromise version of it might, allowing more than the 10-round maximum that Obama favors.

Likeliest to be included are universal background checks and prohibitions against gun trafficking, they say. One lobbyist said other possible terms include steps to improve record keeping on resales of guns and perhaps provisions that would make it harder for mentally ill people from obtaining firearms.

Asked last week what was likely to be in his committee's bill, committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he didn't yet know but "I don't know how anybody can be opposed to universal background checks." He added, "I think gun trafficking, you've got to be able to close that. I don't know how anybody, anybody can object to that."

Obama also was more upbeat on the prospects of universal background checks, including for purchases at gun shows.

"The good news is that we're starting to see a consensus emerge about the action Congress needs to take," he said. "The vast majority of Americans, including a majority of gun owners, support requiring criminal background checks for anyone trying to buy a gun. There's no reason why we can't get that done."

He urged Americans to call their members of Congress to push for his entire package of stronger gun controls. "Tell them now is the time for action."

"Changing the status quo is never easy," Obama said. "This will be no exception. The only way we can reduce gun violence in this country is if the American people decide it's important, if you decide it's important, if parents and teachers, police officers and pastors, hunters and sportsmen, Americans of every background stand up and say, this time, it's got to be different. We've suffered too much pain to stand by and do nothing."

The White House says Obama is not writing off any part of his package despite the long odds for the assault weapons ban in particular before votes are scheduled or he takes his arguments on the road. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who has been helping push the gun control package, said he and Obama spoke on the matter Sunday and agreed that Washington in a vacuum is unlikely to move quickly.

"If this is Washington trying to drive this by itself, it doesn't go very far," Duncan said at a meeting with college presidents who have signed on to help lobby Congress to take action to protect students.

The White House said Obama made his maiden trip on the gun control package to Minneapolis because the city has taken steps to tackle gun violence, including a push for stricter background checks. The city launched a program in 2008 aimed at providing more resources for at-risk youth and helping rehabilitate young people who have already committed crimes.

In January, Minneapolis also hosted a regional summit on gun violence for elected officials from around the Midwest. The county's sheriff, Richard Stanek, is a Republican who has been working with the White House to develop a palatable set of gun regulations, with a particular focus on strengthening background checks.

Ahead of Monday's trip, the White House released a photo of the president skeet shooting at Camp David, the presidential retreat, which prompted more question about the president's experience with guns. White House press secretary Jay Carney said he was not aware of Obama personally owning any firearms. He said Obama has shot a gun elsewhere, although he didn't know when or if he had done so- before becoming president. "He never intended to suggest he had grown up as a hunter," Carney said.

Asked whether the president shoots skeet or trap, Carney told reporters, "I'm not an expert, and I don't think he would claim to be either." But he said of the president's shooting skill, "I think he has gotten better."

On Tuesday, four House members - two Republicans and two Democrats - planned to announce bipartisan legislation making gun trafficking a federal crime and strengthening penalties against people who legally buy firearms but give them to others who are barred from purchasing them, such as felons.

House GOP leaders have sent no signals that they intend to move imminently on gun legislation.

"The committees of jurisdiction will look at the issues surrounding violence in our society. And when the Senate produces a bill, we'll take a look at it," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Officials: Boy safe, abductor dead after standoff

Officials: Boy safe, abductor dead after standoff 

Armed law enforcement personnel station themselves near the property of Jimmy Lee Sykes, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013 in Midland City, Ala. Officials say they stormed a bunker in Alabama to rescue a 5-year-old child being held hostage there after Sykes, his abductor, was seen with a gun.

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) -- Officers stormed an underground bunker in Alabama where a 5-year-old boy had been held hostage for nearly a week, rescuing the child and leaving the boy's abductor dead, officials said Monday.

Steve Richardson with the FBI's office in Mobile said at a news conference Monday afternoon that negotiations had deteriorated with 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes. Dykes, who a week earlier had abducted the child from a school bus after fatally shooting the driver, had been seen with a gun. Officers believed the boy was in imminent danger, Richardson said.

Officers stormed the bunker just after 3 p.m. CST to rescue the child, who was taken to a hospital in nearby Dothan. Officials have said the child has Asperger's syndrome.

However, it was not immediately clear how Dykes died.

Daryle Hendry, who lives about a quarter-mile from where Dykes' bunker was located, said he heard a boom Monday afternoon, followed by what sounded like a gunshot, all around the time officials said they stormed the bunker.

Melissa Nighton, the city clerk in Midland City, said a woman had been praying in the town center Monday afternoon. Not long after, the mayor called her with news that Dykes was dead and that the boy was safe.

"She must have had a direct line to God because shortly after she left, they heard the news," Nighton said.

Neighbors described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm.

Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that Dykes joined the Navy in Midland City, serving on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance.

He had some scrapes with the law in Florida, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

He returned to Alabama about two years ago, moving onto the rural tract about 100 yards from his nearest neighbors.

Ronda Wilbur, a neighbor of Dykes who said the man beat her dog to death last year with a pipe, said she was relieved to be done with the stress of knowing Dykes was patrolling his yard and willing to shoot at anyone or anything that trespassed.

"The nightmare is over. It's been a long couple of years of having constant stress," she said.

Authorities have said Dykes gunned down 66-year-old bus driver Albert Poland Jr. before taking the boy from the bus. Poland, who was buried Sunday, has been hailed as a hero for protecting the other nearly two-dozen children on board from harm.

"This man was a true hero who was willing to give up his life so others might live," Gov. Robert Bentley said in a news release Monday after learning of the boy's rescue.

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Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski announces run for lieutenant governor | PennLive.com

Harrisburg City Councilman Brad Koplinski announces run for lieutenant governor | PennLive.com

Details emerge about man at center of Ala standoff

Details emerge about man at center of Ala standoff 

This photograph released by the Alabama Department of Public Safety shows Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year-old retired truck driver officials identify as the suspect in a fatal shooting and hostage standoff in Midland City, Ala.

 

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) -- As an Alabama standoff and hostage drama marked a sixth day Sunday, more details emerged about the suspect at the center, with neighbors and officials painting a picture of an isolated man estranged from his family.

Authorities say Jim Lee Dykes, 65 - a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War known as Jimmy to neighbors - gunned down a school bus driver and abducted a 5-year-old boy from the bus, taking him to an underground bunker on his rural property. The driver, 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr., was buried Sunday.

Dykes, described as a loner who railed against the government, lives up a dirt road outside this tiny hamlet north of Dothan in the southeastern corner of the state. His home is just off the main road north to the state capital of Montgomery, about 80 miles away.

The FBI said in a statement Sunday that authorities continue to have an open line of communication with Dykes. The little boy requested Cheez-Its and red Hot Wheels cars, and both were delivered to the bunker, FBI spokesman Jason Pack told The Associated Press. Authorities had said they also were delivering medicine and other comfort items, and that Dykes was making the child as comfortable as possible.

In the nearby community of Ozark on Sunday, more than 500 people filed into the Civic Center to pay a final tribute to Poland.

Poland is now "an angel who is watching over" the little boy, said Dale County School Superintendent Donny Bynum, who read letters written by three students who had ridden on Poland's bus. "You didn't deserve to die but you died knowing you kept everyone safe," one child wrote.

Outside the funeral, school buses from several counties lined the funeral procession route. The buses had black ribbons tied to their side mirrors.

Dykes grew up in the Dothan area. Mel Adams, a Midland City Council member who owns the lot where reporters are gathered, said he has known Dykes since they were ages 3 and 4.

He said Dykes has a sister and a brother, but that he is estranged from his family.

Adams said he didn't know what caused the falling-out, but that he knew Dykes "had told part of his family to go to hell."

Midland City Mayor Virgil Skipper said Dykes' sister is in a nursing home. Adams said that law enforcement officers have talked to Dykes' family members and advised them not to speak with reporters, and that officers told his sister there was nothing she could do to help the child in the bunker.

Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that Dykes joined the Navy in Midland City, serving on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance.

Adams said that he, too, is a Vietnam veteran but that he never was close with Dykes. Adams said he recalls last seeing Dykes in the 1980s, when he drove a truck for a company that laundered uniforms.

At some point after his time in the Navy, Dykes lived in Florida, where he worked as a surveyor and a long-haul truck driver. It's unclear how long he stayed there.

He had some scrapes with the law in Florida, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

He returned to Alabama about two years ago, moving onto the rural tract about 100 yards from his nearest neighbors, Michael Creel and his father, Greg.

Neighbors described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm. Michael Creel said Dykes had an adult daughter, but the two lost touch years ago.

His property has a white trailer that, according to Creel, Dykes said he bought from FEMA after it was used to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. The property also has a steel shipping container - like those on container ships - in which Dykes stores tools and supplies.

Next to the container is the underground bunker where authorities say Dykes is holed up with the 5-year-old. Neighbors say the bunker has a pipe so Dykes could hear people coming near his driveway. Authorities have been using the ventilation pipe to communicate with him.

The younger Creel, who said he helped Dykes with supplies to build the bunker and has been in it twice, said Dykes wanted protection from hurricanes.

"He said he lived in Florida and had hurricanes hit. He wanted someplace he could go down in and be safe," Creel said. Authorities say the bunker is about 6 feet by 8 feet, and the only entrance is a trap door at the top.

Such bunkers are not uncommon in rural Alabama because of the threat of tornadoes.

Greg Creel was a friend of Dykes', but he said he would not comment for The Associated Press. "I will only talk to the police and the FBI," he said.

Michael Creel said Dykes kept to himself and listened to a lot of conservative talk radio.

"He was very into what's going on with the nation and the politics and all the laws being made. The things he didn't agree with, he would ventilate," he said.

James Arrington, police chief of the neighboring town of Pinckard, put it differently.

"He's against the government, starting with Obama on down," he said.

Morris Dees of Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, a group that tracks hate crimes, said Dykes was not on the group's radar.

Although the fatal shootings in December at a school in Newtown, Conn., are still on everyone's mind, Dees said he doesn't think Dykes was trying to be a copycat.

"Probably not. He had a whole bus load full of kids, and he could have walked up there and shot the whole crowd of them," he said.

"I think he's just a really angry and bitter guy with some anger management issues," Dees said. "He is just against everything - the government and his neighbors."

SUPER BOWL WATCH: Tickets, security, Phelps

SUPER BOWL WATCH: Tickets, security, Phelps 

Jennifer Jones dances outsidethe Superdome before the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Around the Super Bowl and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of everything surrounding the game:

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THIS IS RAVENS TERRITORY

The New Orleans Riverwalk has become the Ravenswalk.

The walkway lining the Mississippi River is the site of one of the weekend fan fests, and fans of all teams are there listening to music, eating New Orleans food and just enjoying the warm, sunny weather. But a section across from Jackson Park has turned into a gathering place for Ravens fans. A Baltimore radio station broadcasting from a riverboat on the section across from Jackson Park, and the whole area is a sea of purple.

- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

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QUICKQUOTE: JOHN HARBAUGH

After arriving at the Superdome on Sunday, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh told CBS that he and his brother, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, haven't spoken much this week.

"We have each other in our hearts but we're going against each other today," the Ravens coach told a reporter during the network's pregame show.

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TICKETS, ANYBODY GOT EXTRA TICKETS?

There are still tickets available for the Super Bowl, but it's going to cost you.

A lot.

Three hours before the game, one fan outside the Superdome was selling a single ticket for the terrace level - aka the nose bleed section - for $1,500. That's almost double the face value.

Tickets were a little cheaper on NFL Ticket Exchange, the NFL's official ticket reseller, but not by much. Terrace-level tickets were going for $1,250 to almost $2,200. By comparison, tickets on the first level were practically a bargain, ranging from $2,400 to $2,600.

- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

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PIZZA WEARY

Pizza Hut is thinking some people will be over regular pizza after the Super Bowl. So it's hoping tiny new pies will be enough of a temptation.

The chain is introducing "pizza sliders" on Monday.

Pizza Hut says each slider is roughly the equivalent of a slice, meaning a person might eat two or three. A pepperoni slider has about 260 calories, compared with 250 calories for a slice of a medium pie and 370 calories for a slice from a large pie.

It's not clear whether they have a higher profit margin than regular pizzas.

- Candice Choi

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SECURITY TIGHT, BUT NOT LIKE 2002

Alongside the Superdome runs Poydras Street, a main eight-lane artery into and out of the heart of downtown New Orleans.

There's no auto traffic on it on this Super Bowl Sunday, however. The entire stretch bordering the Superdome property is filled with a maze of metal barricades draped with purple and gold Super Bowl banners, as well as security tents.

Fire department personnel are stationed near hydrants, and volunteers, emergency medical staff and security forces have are visible at every turn.

Farther away, Concrete barricades prevent vehicle traffic from getting within two blocks of the stadium.

The Super Bowl is deemed a national security event, but not quite on the same level it was the last time the game was in New Orleans in 2002. That was the first Super Bowl after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, so security was run by the Secret Service. There were tanks in the street and snipers on roofs.

This year, the public plazas surrounding the dome look a little more festive and a little less militarized.

- Brett Martel - http://twitter.com/brettmartel

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PHELPS THE RAVEN

Michael Phelps missed out when the Baltimore Ravens won their first Super Bowl title.

Not this time around. No way.

Phelps, who retired from swimming last summer after winning a record 18 Olympic gold medals, is in New Orleans to cheer on his hometown Ravens.

"It's destiny," Phelps told the AP. "Ravens by seven."

When the Ravens won the 2001 Super Bowl, Phelps was a teenager just getting started on his record-breaking career. He remembers being at a meet in France with his longtime coach when Baltimore routed the New York Giants 34-7.

"I slept through the alarm to wake up and watch the game," Phelps said. "It was already 34-7 when I woke up. I was like, `All right, we're done. I can turn it back off.'"

He went back to bed.

Phelps is attending the game with his mother, sisters and several friends.

He hopes his buddy, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, can go out a champion - just like Phelps did in London.

"This time, I'll be there for the whole game," Phelps said. "I'll be able to watch Ray hopefully finish his career and his last game the way he wants to."

- Paul Newberry - http://twitter.com/pnewberry1963

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AGAINST THE HOMETOWN GRAIN

Despite growing up in District Heights, Md., San Francisco linebacker NaVorro Bowman has no allegiances to the Baltimore Ravens.

And no, it's not because he was a Washington Redskins fan.

"I was a Cowboys fan," Bowman said. "Being the youngest in the house, being the baby, my mom, my brother, my aunts - everyone liked the Redskins. So I decided to go to the rivals with the Cowboys."

- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

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DAHLBERG ON SAFETY

The latest piece from AP national sports columnist Tim Dahlberg asks: Could football end up killing itself?

It's Dahlberg's take on the current state of safety in the NFL, and where Commissioner Roger Goodell says things are headed.

An excerpt:

On Sunday perhaps the biggest audience ever to see a Super Bowl will gather in front of televisions for parties of their own. The game has become America's unofficial national holiday, its tradition of chip eating, beer drinking and commercial watching as deeply ingrained in the country's fabric as turkey and stuffing.

We celebrate the game even as it takes a brutal toll on those who play it. Football is a hurt business, and the biggest cheers on Sunday will be for those who deliver the biggest hits.

So remember when you jump and down and holler and scream that former players, some of whom entertained us in Super Bowls past, are suffering in the worst possible ways because of the beating their brains took on the playing field.

That the NFL is finally waking up to the crisis is commendable. That it took this long is deplorable.

It's hard to comprehend, and it may be the ultimate paradox. But football itself could be the one thing that kills the NFL.

Read the full column here: http://bit.ly/YuGUA1

- Tim Dahlberg - http://twitter.com/timdahlberg

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TEAMS ARRIVE AT SUPERDOME

The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers have arrived at the Superdome.

The teams left their hotels in buses roughly 3 1/2 before kickoff was scheduled Sunday.

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(NOT) PLAYING FAVORITES

Jack and Jackie Harbaugh know where they'll be after the Super Bowl.

"There's going to be one winner and one (son) that's going to be totally disappointed," Jack Harbaugh said. 

"Our thoughts go to that one that will not experience the thrill of victory."

With Baltimore Ravens coach John facing little brother Jim's San Francisco 49ers, the thrill of the NFL title game also puts Jack and Jackie in an awkward spot, knowing one son will celebrate the highlight of his career while the other will be absolutely gutted.

They got a "dry run" last season, when John's Ravens beat Jim's 49ers. On Thanksgiving Day.

"We opened the door to the Ravens locker room ... guys jumping up and down, the smile on John's face. 

They were just ecstatic," Jack Harbaugh said. "Then you realize that you're not needed here. So you walked across the hall to the 49ers locker room ... and finally saw Jim, all by himself in this room, just a table and a chair. He was still in his coaching outfit. His head was down in his hands and you looked into his eyes and you realized that this was where you're needed as a parent. Every single parent can identify with that.

"That thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. On Sunday night, we're going to experience both of those great emotions," Jack Harbaugh said.

- Nancy Armour - http://twitter.com/nrarmour

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ADS BONANZA

With 30-second spots going for as much as $4 million this year, the Super Bowl is advertising's biggest stage. 

Companies that shell out that cash want the more than 111 million viewers expected to tune in to remember their spot come Monday.

Most advertisers have released their ads already, trying to get a head start on capturing the buzz on social networks.

But some companies are still planning big reveals, including M&Ms, Chrysler, Oreo and BlackBerry.

"What we see on the night of the game is really important," said Kelly O'Keefe, professor at a professor, creative brand management, at the Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter.

- Mae Anderson - http://twitter.com/maetron

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GEARED UP FOR THE GAME

Any fan can show their love for their favorite player by wearing a jersey. Four Baltimore Ravens are doing it with entire outfits.

In addition to the heavy painted leather coats he and his fellow "Ravens Posse" members are wearing, Rick Bowlus (far left) has linebacker Ray Lewis' number and face painted on his jeans.

- Nancy Armour - http://twitter.com/nrarmour

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RATINGS HOPES

Three years running, the Super Bowl has set a TV viewership record. CBS is hoping that happens again on Sunday.

Last year, NBC's broadcast hit an average audience of 111.3 million people.

But ratings are a mere point of pride for CBS heading into kickoff. The ads have already been sold (some at more than $4 million a pop), so the network can now only hope to put forth its best broadcast and redirect as much of the Super Bowl glow toward its other programs and its cable sports network.

Telecasters Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will call the game while more than 60 cameras cover the action - with at least one keeping an eye on the parents of 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh.

- Jake Coyle

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NO RG3 IN THE HOUSE

There's only one way Robert Griffin III wants to go to the Super Bowl.

As a player.

The electrifying Washington Redskins quarterback came to New Orleans to pick up The Associated Press 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year award. But he won't be going to Sunday's game between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, planning to watch it with his family instead.

"I'm a firm believer you don't go to the Super Bowl unless you're playing in it," Griffin said.

- Nancy Armour - http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour

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HERE COME NINER BETTORS

After heavy betting on the Baltimore Ravens, sports betting professionals and last-minute casual bettors in Las Vegas and around the world are heavily swinging toward San Francisco.

The 49ers were favored by 5 points when betting action started two weeks ago, meaning San Francisco bettors need them to win by at least two field goals to collect. But the spread encouraged lots of bettors to take Baltimore, pushing the line down to 3 1/2. Now, San Francisco supporters have moved the line back up to 4 points in most sports books and 4 1/2 in others, according to gambling expert R.J. Bell of Pregame.com.

Bell says that a few days ago, nearly two-thirds of the bets taken in Las Vegas and online sports books offshore were on the Ravens. It's close to 50-50 now and the 49ers are closing the gap quickly in the hours before the game.

Adjustments to the line are encouraging bettors on the fence to pick sides.

"The moves are taking a lot of money right now," Bell said.

An estimated $10 billion is expected to be wagered on the Super Bowl, with less than 1 percent of that coming from legal sports books in Nevada, Bell says.

- Oskar Garcia - http://twitter.com/oskargarcia

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VAMOS CUERVOS

Rodolfo Rodriguez is in New Orleans all the way from Monterrey, Mexico, to cheer on his "Cuervos," the Spanish name for the Baltimore Ravens.

He's predicting a 28-24 Baltimore victory over San Francisco.

Rodriguez spent part of his weekend on Super Bowl Boulevard at Woldenberg Riverfront Park, waving toward a cruise ship arriving on the Mississippi River into the Port of New Orleans near the large Roman numerals for the Super Bowl.

- Julio Cortez - http://twitter.com/juliocortez-ap

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LIL WAYNE ROOTING AGAINST SF

The San Francisco 49ers prevented Lil Wayne's favorite team, the Green Bay Packers, from going to the Super Bowl. So the rapper wants the Baltimore Ravens to get a little revenge on his behalf.

"I'm salty about the team that beat us, so I gotta root against them, and that team is the 49ers," he said.

But his desire isn't all based on bitterness.

"Who doesn't want to see (Ravens linebacker) Ray Lewis succeed? And also who also doesn't want to see (49ers wide receiver) Randy Moss get his first ring as well?" he said.

"I'm kind of iffy about this game. I don't mind the outcome of it, I think either or, it's gonna be beautiful for both of them."

Lil Wayne plans to be in a suite for the game - after all, it's in his hometown. His friends and family all wanted tickets.

"I had to pay for those tickets and my team isn't even playing in that game - ah man, that hit the pockets kind of hard," he laughed.

Lil Wayne is well-documented sports fanatic.

- Nekesa Mumbi Moody - http://twitter.com/nekesamumbi

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BROTHERLY ADVICE: AARON RODGERS

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh and San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh are hardly the only high-profile siblings who've squared off in their arena of expertise. The AP is asking some others who can relate how to handle going against a family member in the Super Bowl.

As the middle of three brothers, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers knows a thing or two about high-stakes competitions with siblings. It wouldn't matter if he was facing one of his brothers in the backyard or the sport's biggest stage.

"I'd want to beat them pretty bad," the 2011 NFL MVP said. "I really would."

Less than two years separates Rodgers and his older brother, Luke, now on Fuel TV's "Clean Break," and the two are "very competitive."

"My older brother and I had a lot of great matchups, great one-on-one games. We competed a lot in sports," Rodgers said.

There's still a chance Rodgers could wind up facing one of his brothers on the field, maybe even at the Super Bowl. Jordan Rodgers led Vanderbilt to its first nine-win record since 1915 last season and is now preparing for the NFL draft.

"I hope so," Rodgers said of the prospects of a "Rodgers Bowl." `'And I hope we would win if that ever happened."

- Nancy Armour - http://twitter.com/nrarmour

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TWITTER BUZZ BUILDING

Americans on Twitter are already buzzing about the Super Bowl with about 6 hours until the game kicks off.

Four terms related to the game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers are trending in the United States: "Happy Super Bowl Sunday," `'49ers," `'Beyonce" and "Ray Lewis."

None, however, are trending worldwide yet.

- Oskar Garcia - http://twitter.com/oskargarcia

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GUN AD

Washington lawmakers watching the Super Bowl in the beltway are getting a 30-second visit from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control group.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of more than 900 mayors in 48 states, paid six figures for the local spot, according to a Bloomberg spokesman.

The ad calls on lawmakers to pass rules requiring background checks on guns. It is narrated by children with "America the Beautiful" playing in the background.

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QUICKQUOTE: ANDREW LUCK

Andrew Luck has high praise for San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, his old coach at Stanford. Even if he did pick an unusual way to express it.

"I always enjoyed playing under coach Harbaugh. He always brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm," the Indianapolis Colts quarterback said. "He was the type of guy you'd want in an alley fight with you. You could tell he wanted to win just as bad as the next guy."

www.fpnnews.us

www.fpnnews.us

Review: Open Stage's 'Joe Turner' Examines Race, Identity | PennLive.com

Review: Open Stage's 'Joe Turner' Examines Race, Identity | PennLive.com

As Ala. standoff drags on, town grieves bus driver

As Ala. standoff drags on, town grieves bus driver 

Police and emergency personnel remain on site at the property of Jimmy Lee Sykes, a suspect accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker on Saturday Feb. 2, 2013 in Midland City, Ala. Negotiators were still trying to persuade Jimmy Lee Dykes to surrender. Police have said they believe the Lee Dykes, a Vietnam-era veteran, fatally shot a school bus driver Tuesday, and then abducted the boy from the bus and disappeared into the home-made bunker.

 

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) -- As the standoff with a man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage continued Saturday, a nearby community prepared to bury the beloved bus driver who was shot to death when the episode started to unfold five days ago.

Charles Albert Poland Jr., a 66-year-old man known around his town as Chuck, was described by folks in his hometown of Newton as a humble hero who gave his life Tuesday to protect the children on his bus. Visitations services for Poland were scheduled for Saturday evening, and his funeral was set for Sunday afternoon.

"I believe that if he had to do it all over again tomorrow, he would," said Poland's sister-in-law, Lavern Skipper. "He would do it for those children."

Authorities said Jim Lee Dykes - a Vietnam-era veteran known as Jimmy to his neighbors -boarded a stopped school bus filled with 21 children Tuesday afternoon and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. When Poland tried to block his way, the gunman shot him several times and took one 5-year-old boy - who police say remains in an underground bunker with Dykes.

Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said in a briefing with reporters Saturday that Dykes has told them he has blankets and an electric heater in the bunker. Authorities have been communicating with Dykes through a ventilation pipe to the underground bunked.

Olson also said Dykes has allowed authorities to deliver coloring books, medication and toys for the boy.

"I want to thank him for taking care of our boy," Olson said. "That's very important."

The shooting and abduction took place in Midland City, a small town near Dothan, Ala., in the state's southeastern corner.

Newton is about three miles away, a small hamlet with fewer than 2,000 residents. It sits amid cotton farms and rolling hills sprinkled with red earth; most of the residents commute to Dothan or to a nearby Army post.

Nearly everyone in Newton is planning to attend Poland's visitation or funeral.

"He's probably the nicest guy you'll ever meet," said Lonnie Daniels, the 69-year-old owner of the NAPA Auto Parts store, one of three establishments in town that was open Saturday.

Daniels last saw his friend Tuesday morning, when Poland agreed to buy a car from him. The two men shook hands and closed the deal "like gentlemen," Daniels said. Poland was to return after working his bus route to pay for the car.

"He never came back," Daniels said quietly.

Daniels said Poland had been married to his wife for 43 years. Poland was from Idaho, but his wife was from Newton. The couple lived there for decades in a small mobile home, and Poland enjoyed gardening and clearing brush from his property.

"I knew that he was always there if I needed," said Daniels, adding that Poland was an excellent mechanic with an array of tools that he lent to people in town.

Neighbors and friends said Poland did various acts of kindness for people in town, from fixing someone's tractor to tilling the garden of a neighbor who had a heart attack.

"You don't owe me anything," Poland once told a recipient of his good deed. "You're my neighbor."

Skipper said Poland and his wife would often sit on their porch, drinking coffee, praying and reading the Bible.

"They loved to be together," Skipper said.

On Saturday morning, Poland's wife wasn't home. A rack of worn trucker's caps sat on hooks on the porch, and two freshly baked pies were laid atop a cooler.

As Newton grieves, residents are praying for the safe return of the boy being held hostage - and wondering about the man behind the abduction.

"We'd all like to get to him and say, `What's wrong with you?' " said Gerald Harden, owner of a gun shop in Newton.

Harden said he checked his records to see whether Dykes had bought a firearm there, but records showed he hadn't.

In Midland City, police were mostly staying mum about their talks with Dykes. It fell to neighbors to fill in the blanks about the man, described by some as a menacing figure with anti-government views.

One of Dykes' next-door neighbors said the suspect spent two or three months constructing the bunker, digging several feet into the ground and then building a structure of lumber and plywood, which he covered with sand and dirt.

Neighbor Michael Creel said Dykes put the plastic pipe underground from the bunker to the end of his driveway so he could hear if anyone drove up to his gate. When Dykes finished the shelter a year or so ago, he invited Creel to see it - and he did.

"He was bragging about it. He said, `Come check it out," Creel said.

He said he believes Dykes' goal is to publicize his political beliefs.

"I believe he wants to rant and rave about politics and government," Creel said. "He's very concerned about his property."

Police have used the pipe for communication and to deliver the boy medication for his emotional disorders. 

State Rep. Steve Clouse, who visited the boy's mother, said the boy has Asperger's syndrome - a mild form of autism - and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

But police have not revealed how often they are in touch or what the conversations have been about. 

Authorities waited until Friday to confirm the suspect's identity.

Local officials who have spoken to police or the boy's family have described a small room with food, electricity and a TV.

Sheriff Olson would not say Saturday whether Dykes has made any demands. Olson added that he is limited in the details he can release.

FBI spokesman Jason Pack said Saturday that officials were working to establish a command center near the bunker.

Dykes had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to answer charges he shot at his neighbors in a dispute last month over a speed bump.

Parcells, Sapp, Carter among 7 Hall inductees

Parcells, Sapp, Carter among 7 Hall inductees 

FILE - In this Nov. 8, 1999 file photo, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Cris Carter (80) celebrates his 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jeff George during the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys, in Minneapolis. Carter was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Coach Bill Parcells, Warren Sapp, Cris Carter, Jonathan Ogden and Larry Allen have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The class of 2013 also includes a pair of senior selections, Curley Culp and Dave Robinson. The announcement was made Saturday in New Orleans, a day before the Super Bowl.

Five players were eliminated in the final vote: Jerome Bettis, Charles Haley, Andre Reed, Michael Strahan and Aeneas Williams.

Earlier Saturday, the selection committee eliminated Tim Brown, Kevin Greene, Will Shields and former owners Edward DeBartolo Jr. and Art Modell.

How theft allegations unfolded against Corbett's son-in-law

How theft allegations unfolded against Corbett's son-in-law

Obama offers faith groups new birth control rule

Obama offers faith groups new birth control rule 

FILE - In this May 15, 2012 file photo, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks in Bethesda, Md. Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell religious groups to do, the Obama administration on Friday proposed a compromise for faith-based nonprofits that object to covering birth control in their employee health plans. Sebelius said in a statement that the compromise would provide "women across the nation with coverage of recommended preventive care at no cost, while respecting religious concerns."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell religious groups to do, the Obama administration on Friday proposed a compromise for faith-based nonprofits that object to covering birth control in their employee health plans.

Some of the lawsuits appear headed for the Supreme Court, threatening another divisive legal battle over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law, which requires most employers to cover birth control free of charge to female workers as a preventive service. The law exempted churches and other houses of worship, but religious charities, universities, hospitals and even some for-profit businesses have objected.

The government's new offer, in a proposed regulation, has two parts.

Administration officials said it would more simply define the religious organizations that are exempt from the requirement altogether. For example, a mosque whose food pantry serves the whole community would not have to comply.

For other religious employers, the proposal attempts to create a buffer between them and contraception coverage. Female employees would still have free access through insurers or a third party, but the employer would not have to arrange for the coverage or pay for it. Insurers would be reimbursed for any costs by a credit against fees owed the government.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the plan would satisfy the objections of Roman Catholic charities and other faith-affiliated nonprofits nationwide challenging the requirement.

Neither the Catholic Health Association, a trade group for hospitals, nor the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had an immediate reaction, saying the regulations were still being studied.

But the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents about 40 denominations and works with the administration on immigration and other issues, quickly rejected the rule. It said the change didn't create enough of a buffer between faith groups and birth control coverage.

"The Obama administration should have done the right thing and dropped the contraception mandate, or at least should have exempted all religious organizations," said Leith Anderson, the association's president.

Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing religious nonprofits and businesses in lawsuits, said many of his clients will still have serious concerns.

"This is a moral decision for them," Duncan said. "Why doesn't the government just exempt them?"

Some women's advocates were pleased.

"The important thing for us is that women employees can count on getting insurance that meets their needs, even if they're working for a religiously affiliated employer," said Cindy Pearson, executive director of the National Women's Health Network.

Policy analyst Sarah Lipton-Lubet of the American Civil Liberties Union said the rule appeared to meet the ACLU's goal of providing "seamless coverage."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement that the compromise would provide "women across the nation with coverage of recommended preventive care at no cost, while respecting religious concerns."

The birth-control rule, first introduced a year ago, became an election issue, with some advocates for women praising the mandate as a victory but some religious leaders decrying it as an attack on faith groups.

The health care law requires most employers, including faith-affiliated hospitals and nonprofits, to provide preventive care at no charge to employees. Scientific advisers to the government recommended that artificial contraception, including sterilization, be included in a group of services for women. The goal, in part, is to help women space out pregnancies to promote health.

Under the original rule, only those religious groups that primarily employ and serve people of their own faith - such as churches - were exempt. But other religiously affiliated groups, such as church-affiliated universities, Catholic Charities and hospitals, were told they had to comply.

Catholic bishops, evangelicals and some religious leaders who have generally been supportive of Obama's policies lobbied fiercely for a broader exemption. The Catholic Church prohibits the use of artificial contraception. Evangelicals generally accept the use of birth control, but some object to specific methods such as the morning-after contraceptive pill, which they argue is tantamount to abortion, and is covered by the policy.

Obama had promised to change the birth control requirement so insurance companies - and not faith-affiliated employers - would pay for the coverage, but religious leaders said more changes were needed to make the plan work.

Since then, more than 40 lawsuits have been filed by religious nonprofits and secular for-profit businesses contending the mandate violates their religious beliefs. As expected, this latest regulation does not provide any accommodation for individual business owners who have religious objections to the rule.

Questions remain about how the services ultimately will be funded. The Health and Human Services Department has not tallied an overall cost for the plan, according to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, an HHS deputy policy director.

However, in its new version of the rule, the department argues that the change won't impose new costs on insurers because it will save them money "from improvements in women's health and fewer child births."

The latest version of the mandate is now subject to a 60-day public comment period. The overall mandate is to take effect for religious nonprofits in August.

Corbett: 'Surprised, Concerned' Over Investigation Of Son-In-Law - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG

Corbett: 'Surprised, Concerned' Over Investigation Of Son-In-Law - DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG