QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The Court has concerns about implementing an order which has dramatic
effects, then having that order reversed, which is one possibility.”
U.S. District Judge John Heyburn, who issued a ruling that allows Kentucky to delay officially recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere while the case is under appeal Article, this page
Verdicts in suicide-advice case reversed
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed the convictions of a former nurse accused of encouraging two people whom he met online to kill themselves.
William Melchert-Dinkel was convicted in 2011 of two counts of aiding suicide. The judge found that he “intentionally advised and encouraged” an Englishman and a Canadian woman to take their own lives.
The high court struck down a section of the state’s assisted-suicide law that makes it a crime to “encourage” someone to commit suicide, but upheld part of the law that makes it a crime to “assist” in someone’s suicide.
Since the lower-court judge did not rule on whether Melchert-Dinkel “assisted” in a suicide, the high court sent the case back to that judge for further consideration.
Melchert-Dinkel’s attorney, Terry Watkins, said he doesn’t believe that there is enough evidence to prove that.
U.S. plans climate-change-data website
WASHINGTON - As part of its campaign to step up efforts to address climate change, the White House on Wednesday announced the creation of a new website to serve as a one-stop location for the large amount of climate data housed at different federal agencies.
The initiative to make the information more accessible to communities, researchers and industries trying to adapt to global warming is the latest move by the White House to deliver on a pledge that President Barack Obama made in June to use his executive authority to address the causes and effects of climate change in light of congressional inaction on the issue.
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are spearheading the new Climate Data Initiative, the White House said in a statement. The beta version of climate.data.gov will provide data sets of sea-level rise and coastal flooding. The White House also said the site would eventually provide information about the effects of climate change on the food supply, public health and energy sources.
Border Patrol chief defends field tactics
PHOENIX - The chief of the U.S. Border Patrol defended his agency Wednesday against criticism that agents are too aggressive in using deadly force, telling the audience at a conference that he takes the issue very seriously.
Chief Michael Fisher said there’s been a mischaracterization that his employees “indiscriminately” open fire on aliens.
Fisher, who spoke at the annual Border Security Expo in Phoenix, spent the greater part of his half-hour talk giving details of the metrics the organization uses to assess border security. But he devoted the final few minutes of his speech to address the controversy over the use of force.
“If you are like me, there’s nothing more terrifying than fighting for your life when you’re alone with no communication, and the thought for a split second that you may never get home at the end of that shift to see your wife and son again,” Fisher said. “The only thing that is equal to the ripple of fear is thinking of having to use deadly force against another human being.”
Probe to reassemble fatal crash’s copter
SEATTLE - Federal investigators plan to reconstruct the wreckage of a fatal helicopter accident to determine what caused the aircraft to crash at a busy intersection near Seattle’s Space Needle, killing two men on board and seriously burning a third on the ground.
A team from Illinois-based Helicopters Inc., which owned the aircraft, also is in the state assisting with the probe, Dennis Hogenson of the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
Investigators are poring over pilot, maintenance and company records, and they will re-create the crash scene to look for anomalies, he said.
It may be months before federal investigators know what caused the KOMO-TV news chopper to hit the pavement and burst into flames Tuesday, setting three vehicles ablaze and spewing burning fuel down the street.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 03/20/2014