LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We need to sit down and have an adult conversation with them across a conference table and figure out how we’re going to fund the government for the rest of the year.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
whose top aide will open private talks with the office of House Speaker John Boehner Article, this page
Suspect arrested in officer’s killing
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Police arrested a suspect Tuesday in the fatal shooting of a police officer, the third in the St. Petersburg Police Department killed in the line of duty in the past month, officials said.
Officer David Crawford was shot Monday night investigating a report of a suspicious person in a neighborhood just south of Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball.
Police did not immediately give the suspect’s name. Officers in the 540-member department had been working 12-hour shifts to help the investigation.
The shooting happened after two officers were called to investigate a report of a prowler. Crawford, 46, spotted someone and got out of his car. At 10:37 p.m., another officer, Donald Ziglar, reported an exchange of gunfire and told dispatchers an officer was down.
Crawford, who was married, eligible for retirement and the father of an adult daughter, was pronounced dead at a hospital. Officers saluted the van that carried his body to the medical examiner’s office Tuesday morning.
On Jan. 24, two St. Petersburg officers, Jeffrey Yaslowitz and Thomas Baitinger, were killed as they helped serve a warrant on a man with a long criminal history. Their killer died in a siege. Before that, the St. Petersburg Police Department hadn’t had an officer killed in the line of duty in more than 30 years.
Sen. Reid to Nevada: Outlaw brothels
CARSON CITY, Nev. - U.S. Sen. Harry Reid took aim at the world’s oldest profession Tuesday, telling state lawmakers the time has come to have an adult conversation about Nevada’s legal sex trade if the state hopes to succeed in the 21st century.
The Democratic Senate majority leader made the comments before a joint session of the Legislature as brothel owners and lobbyists - and prostitutes from the rural establishments - looked on from the gallery.
When the nation thinks about Nevada, Reid said, “it should think about the world’s newest ideas and newest careers - not about its oldest profession.”
He received a smattering of applause when he first suggested Nevada outlaw bordellos.
By the time he finished with the topic, his remarks were met with silence.
N.Y. police honored in cadets’ rescue
NEW YORK - Five New York Police Department officers involved in the daring weekend helicopter rescue of two West Point cadets stranded on a cliff in high winds were recognized Tuesday for their heroism.
“This is a case where skill, experience and bravery combine to save lives,” said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who handed the officers a certificate of recognition at a ceremony.
The freshmen cadets had gone rappelling on Storm King Mountain on their own Saturday, the U.S. Military Academy said.
They got stuck on a narrow ledge and called 911.
Firefighters and other emergency workers went to the mountain but were unable to reach the cadets, who had tied themselves to a tree branch jutting out between rocks.
The Police Department’s rescue helicopter team was assembled just after midnight. Rescuers spotted the cadets around 2 a.m. using infrared devices and night vision goggles.
The helicopter hovered about 60 to 80 feet above the men in winds exceeding 30 mph, the chopper’s blades just 20 feet from rocks and trees.
The helicopter was kept within a 3-foot radius as the men were secured to a rescue harness dropped from it.
Small firms drive U.S., Obama says
President Barack Obama told a group of entrepreneurs and small-business owners in Ohio that they are among the primedrivers of the U.S. economy as he promoted his agenda to maintain government support for innovation and education.
Obama said that while the federal government must get the federal deficit under control, spending on education, infrastructure and research will help companies stay ahead of competitors around the world. He told the business owners gathered at Cleveland State University that he was there to hear their ideas for what the government can do to help them grow.
“The big companies generally get most of the attention in our economy,” Obama said in opening remarks before the audience broke up into smaller groups for meetings with Cabinet members and administration officials. “But it’s small businesses like yours that help drive America’s economic growth.”
Front Section, Pages 3 on 02/23/2011