QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I pray today’s bill - the most far-reaching gun-safety legislation in the country - will prevent other families from ever experiencing the dreadful loss that the 26 Sandy Hook families have felt.”
Connecticut House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, a Democrat, on legislation signed by Gov. Dannel Malloy Article, this page
Killer of 3 job seekers sentenced to die
AKRON, Ohio - A self-styled street preacher was sentenced to death Thursday in the killings of three down-and out men lured by bogus job offers posted on Craigslist.
The jury that convicted Richard Beasley of murder recommended that he face execution. The judge had the option of reducing the sentence to life in prison.
Beasley, 53, was convicted of teaming up with a teenager in 2011 to use the promise of jobs on a southeast Ohio farm to lure them into robberies. Killed were Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron; David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Va.; and Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, Ohio. A fourth would-be victim, Scott Davis, now 49, was shot in the arm, but survived and testified against Beasley.
Memphis marchers remember slain King
MEMPHIS - Hundreds of union members and their supporters marched in Memphis on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder, calling for a new commitment to the causes he died for.
With the march and a dedication ceremony Thursday, they honored King and the sanitation workers strike that drew him to Memphis, where he was assassinated by James Earl Ray in 1968.
Surviving Memphis strikers Baxter Leach, Alvin Turner and the Rev. Leslie Moore joined the marchers when they arrived at a rally at the National Civil Rights Museum, built on the site of the old Lorraine Motel where King was killed by a rifle bullet on April 4, 1968.
Speakers at the rally included Martin Luther King III and Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
City officials started the day by dedicating a section of historic Beale Street as “1968 Strikers Lane,” to honor the 1,300 sanitation workers who walked off their jobs in February 1968 after two garbage collectors were crushed to death in a malfunctioning truck. The strikers demanded - and eventually received - higher pay and safer working conditions.
Posthumous pardons of 9 sent to governor
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Alabama lawmakers voted Thursday to issue posthumous pardons to nine black teens who were wrongly convicted of raping two white women more than 80 years ago on the basis of false accusations.
The bill setting up a procedure to pardon the group known as the Scottsboro Boys must be signed by GOP Gov.
Robert Bentley to become law. He plans to study the legislation but has said he favors the pardons.
All but the youngest member of the group, whose ages ranged from 13-19, were sent to death row after their convictions by all-white juries, though all were eventually freed. The last of the men died in 1989.
The House approved the legislation Thursday morning in a 103-0 vote. The measure earlier passed in the Senate 29-0.
The nine teens from Georgia and Tennessee were accused of raping two white women on a freight train in north Alabama in 1931. There had been a fight between whites and blacks on the train, and the two women made the false rape accusations in hopes of avoiding arrest.
The case set important legal precedents, including Supreme Court rulings that guaranteed the right to effective counsel and barred the practice of keeping blacks off juror rolls.
Gunfire leaves suspect, detective dead
JACKSON, Miss. - A murder suspect being interviewed at the Jackson police headquarters shot a detective Thursday and those who arrived to investigate the gunfire found both men dead, authorities said.
The suspect, who was not named, was being questioned on the third floor of the building when the shooting happened, said Police Chief Rebecca Coleman. Police did not release any details on the sequence of what happened but had scheduled a news conference for later Thursday.
But Jackson City Councilman Chokwe Lumumba was in police headquarters with the mayor and said the detective, identified as Eric Smith, was shot by the suspect. He did not know how the suspect ended up dead.
“I understand there may have been more than one police officer in the room,” he said outside the police building.
City spokesman Chris Mims said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will take over the investigation, which is standard procedure.
“We’re asking for everybody’s patience, we will be releasing information as soon as we have it,” he said. “This is an extraordinarily tragic situation.”
Front Section, Pages 4 on 04/05/2013