– Three weeks after the deadly terror attacks in Paris, one of the targeted venues has opened its doors again, making it the first of the targets to do so. Customers filtered Friday into A La Bonne Biere—where five people perished at the hands of Islamic State gunmen on Nov. 13—with a crowd of media reps standing outside to commemorate the occasion, AFP reports. After thanking the restaurant's supporters, manager Audrey Bily said, "We have carried out some work, and repainted the walls to wipe away the signs of this nightmare. The Bonne Biere cafe was a place where people meet and exchanged and shared. That is what we want it to be again today." A banner that read "Je suis en terrasse" ("I am on the terrace") hung above the Bonne Biere's entrance, echoing the defiant message that's been bandied about the city since the attacks, the BBC notes. By most accounts, it was business as usual, with the flowers and notes that had been on the outdoor patio replaced once more with chairs and tables. "I need to feel that life is resuming," one customer told AFP. "It feels good to be here, with people who go to the same cafe, the same flower shop, the same bakery." The nearby Casa Nostra pizza restaurant, also targeted that day, remains closed, as do four more cafes and restaurants and the Bataclan. (President Obama visited the Bataclan concert hall earlier this week to pay tribute to the victims there.)

Expand this summary.

PARIS (France) (AFP) - A Paris bar where five people were killed in the jihadist attacks became the first to re-open, with customers defiantly returning to the site where black-clad gunmen sprayed bullets at terrified evening drinkers.

 A La Bonne Biere opened for business on a bright and sunny morning in the east of the capital and the first customers pushed through the doors as if everything was -- almost -- normal.

 The manager, Audrey Bily, came out to address a crowd of journalists and television cameras, standing near to where a carload of gunmen had pulled up on November 13 and spread terror through the trendy district as people enjoyed an end-of-week drink.

 "I would like to thank everyone who has supported us for your poems, your messages and posts that have so helped us," Bily said.

 "What are we going to do to start again, to bounce back? We have carried out some work, and repainted the walls to wipe away the signs of this nightmare.

 "The Bonne Biere cafe was a place where people meet and exchanged and shared. That is what we want it to be again today," she said.

 View gallery Five people were killed at the Paris bar A La Bonne Biere, which became the first bar hit by the dea …

 Piles of candles and flowers in memory of the victims have been moved to make way for wicker chairs on the terrace as the everyday life of the bar resumed.

 But a pile of floral tributes still lines the pavement in front of the bar, many wilting but some fresh. In the middle of them someone has hung a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan "Proud to be Parisian".

 One of the customers having a coffee at the bar, David, 45, told AFP: "I need to feel that life is resuming. We mustn't give in to fear, you have to fight.

 "It feels good to be here, with people who go to the same cafe, the same flower shop, the same bakery."

 In the evening the cafe was packed with diners, more so than before the attack, according to locals.

 View gallery Audrey Bily (R) and Romain Debray, managers of A la Bonne Biere, hold a press conference on December …

 Bily pronounced herself "very happy".

 - Tributes still being laid -

 But while the bar has defiantly re-opened, the Casa Nostra pizza restaurant opposite, which was also hit, remains closed.

 CCTV footage from the Casa Nostra showed the horror of the assault, with one desperate woman's life saved when either an attacker's gun jammed or he had second thoughts.

 The gunmen -- the attacks' ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, Brahim Abdeslam and an as yet unidentified third man -- sprayed five bars and restaurants with gunfire.

 View gallery Coordinated jihadist attacks killed 130 people in Paris on November 13, 2015 (AFP Photo/Kenzo Tribou …

 Abdeslam then killed himself by detonating an explosives vest in another bar, Le Comptoir Voltaire, although no one else was killed there.

 In the worst of the violence, another team -- including former Paris bus driver Samy Amimour -- killed 90 people as they attended a rock concert at the Bataclan concert hall, which is a short walk away from A La Bonne Biere.

 Hundreds of people still flock to the Bataclan every day, which has become the focus of the mourning for France's worst ever terror attack.

 This week, two of the Bataclan's owners said they intended to reopen the venue by the end of next year, while Eagles of Death Metal -- the band of that were playing at the time of the attack -- said it plans to return to the French capital Sunday.

 The California band will join U2 for the Irish rockers' final song at the AccorHotels Arena, also known as Bercy, the US magazine reported, in what promises to be a highly emotional moment for both bands and the thousands in the crowd.

 View gallery A sign with a message in memory of the victims is placed outside the bar "A la Bonne Biere" …

 Eagles of Death Metal has already said it wants to be the first to play the Bataclan when it reopens.

 Cleaning workers have also begun clearing away flowers from outside the Carillon bar and the Petit Cambodge restaurant, where 15 people lost their lives.

 While the A La Bonne Biere bar has wiped the traces of the attack away and reopened, for many locals the scars are mental, and harder to get rid of.

 Psychological help has been made available to residents, while others are seeking solace in their religion.

 Ibrahima Gueye, a building caretaker, said he was no longer visiting his mosque, but instead praying at home.

 "If someone sees me go into the mosque, they'll take me for a terrorist," he said. ||||| Media caption Audrey Bily, manager of A la Bonne Biere, paid tribute to the emergency services

 A Paris cafe where five people were killed during the terror attacks last month reopened its doors on Friday - the first of the targets to do so.

 Three weeks on from the violence, the bullet holes that pockmarked the windows of La Bonne Biere are gone and Parisians have returned to its terrace.

 "It is time for us to gather together again, united, and to go forward in order not to forget," the owners said.

 The attacks on 13 November left 130 people dead and more than 350 wounded.

 Close-circuit cameras at La Bonne Biere recorded the moment two gunmen approached the cafe and opened fire at those sitting on the terrace.

 Piles of flowers and candles still line the pavement where the victims died, but for the first time in three weeks on Friday a handful of customers returned to the tables and chairs for their morning coffee.

 A banner above the entrance reads "Je suis en terrasse" - I am on the terrace - a message of defiance popular among Parisians in the wake of the attacks.

 Image copyright EPA Image caption Customers mingled with members of the media as the cafe reopened on Friday morning

 Manager Audrey Bily thanked supporters and said the cafe would "bounce back".

 "I would like to thank everyone who has supported us for your poems, your messages and posts that have so helped us," she said.

 "We are going to start again, to bounce back. We have carried out some work and repainted the walls to wipe away the signs of this nightmare.

 "The Bonne Biere cafe was a place where people meet and exchanged and shared. That is what we want it to be again today."

 A handwritten message on a blackboard outside the cafe offered condolences to the victims' families and thanked the emergency services at the scene that night.

 Image copyright Twitter

 Paule Zlotnik, a neighboring shopkeeper, praised the cafe's decision to reopen. "It's time they open and that we continue life as it was before," he said.

 The Casa Nostra restaurant opposite the cafe, which was also hit, remains closed. The four other cafes and restaurants targeted in the attacks as well as the nearby Bataclan concert hall, where 89 people died, are also still closed. |||||


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 Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. ||||| NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — The president of the University of Oklahoma says a campus lockdown likely was the result of a false alarm.

 Students crowd the corner of Asp Avenue and Lindsey Street outside the school stadium on the University of Oklahoma's campus in Norman, Okla. on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. Reports of shots fired at the... (Associated Press)

 University of Oklahoma President David Boren speaks on the University of Oklahoma's campus in Norman, Okla. on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. Reports of shots fired at the University of Oklahoma's architecture... (Associated Press)

 President David Boren said what was reported as gunfire Wednesday could have been related to construction projects near the university's architecture building. He said it was likely that noises near Gould Hall could have been misinterpreted as gunshots.

 University officials issued a notice late Wednesday morning that shots had been reported near the center of campus and that people should stay where they were. Within an hour, police issued an all-clear for most of the 30,000-student campus, which is about 20 miles south of Oklahoma City.

 Boren said emergency texts were distributed within three minutes of the initial call coming in and that it appeared students and faculty responded appropriately. ||||| Add a location to your Tweets

 When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| Add a location to your Tweets

 When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more |||||Summary:

– The University of Oklahoma went on high alert today over a reported shooting that now appears to have never occurred. Around 11:30am local time, the school sent an alert to students. "Shooting on Campus. Avoid Gould Hall. Seek immediate shelter in place," its official Twitter feed warned. Students told the Oklahoma Daily that one or two shots were heard around Gould Hall at 11:20 am, and that police responded in force. One student who was in Gould reported a SWAT team coming in with guns drawn and ordering students to put their hands up and evacuate. Police reportedly evacuated nearby Dale Hall as well. "We saw police get off their motorcycles and one pulled out a gun," one student says. "It wasn't even a regular gun, it was like a freaking rifle." But at 12:05pm, the school sent out a new tweet saying that "As of this time, no evidence has been found of any shots being fired. There are no injuries reported at this time." The school's president held a news conference just after 1pm saying the whole thing appeared to be a false alarm, with the sound likely related to a nearby construction project, the AP reports. A SWAT team is conducting a second search of Gould Hall, however, just to be sure. The incident comes just a day after a shooting at Purdue University.


CLOSE SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Mike Jones on the three things NFL fans should keep an eye on heading into training camps. USA TODAY Sports

 Louisville is removing Papa John's from the name of its football stadium. (Photo: Jonathan Palmer, AP)

 After an incident last week in which Papa John's founder John Schnatter admitted to using an offensive racial slur during a conference call in May, multiple professional franchises and collegiate athletic programs have suspended or ended their sponsorship contracts with Papa John's.

 The Utah Jazz is the latest. The NBA team is dropping the brand, first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday.

 The University of Utah is evaluating its deal with Papa John's and is removing any photos of Schnatter and replacing pizza boxes with his likeness on them, per the Tribune.

 Since the controversy blew up on social media, Schnatter has stepped down as chairman of the pizza franchise. In addition to using the racial slur, Schnatter also was criticized for using graphic imagery to describe the lynchings of African Americans in his hometown in Indiana.

 One of the first athletic programs to rid itself of the company's name was the University of Louisville, which announced July 13 that it would remove Papa John's from the name of the school's football stadium and call it "Cardinal Stadium."

 As of Thursday, 21 athletic organizations have cut ties with Papa John's.

 MLB

 MLB suspended its "Papa Slam" promotion. The New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays all suspended their relationship with the company. The Kansas City Royals suspended their promotions. The Texas Rangers canceled their promotions indefinitely.

 NFL

 The Seattle Seahawks ended their partnership with the company. AMB Sports and Entertainment (Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, Mercedes-Benz Stadium) suspended its relationship.

 NBA

 The Orlando Magic suspended their partnership. The Utah Jazz ended its relationship.

 MLS

 In addition to Atlanta United, FC Dallas suspended its promotion.

 College athletics

 In addition to Louisville, the University of Kentucky discontinued its financial relationship with Schnatter. And Oregon State suspended its sponsor relationship. ||||| LISTEN TO ARTICLE 3:00 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email

 Papa John’s International Inc.’s founder John Schnatter regrets resigning as chairman after using a racial slur during a training session and believes the company’s board mishandled the situation by pushing him aside without an investigation, according to people familiar with his thinking.

 The people, who asked not to be identified discussing private views, didn’t say what action Schnatter might take in response or whether he would ask to be restored to his post. Schnatter declined to comment. The Papa John’s board declined to comment, according to spokesman Peter Collins.

 Papa John’s shares fell 1 percent on Tuesday to $50.88 at 9:35 a.m. in New York. The stock has lost about a third of its value in the last 12 months.

 John Schnatter Photographer: Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America

 Even as Schnatter stewed over his resignation during the weekend, the rest of the six-member Papa John’s board was taking action to further distance the pizza chain from its outspoken founder for his use of a racial slur. On Sunday, a special committee of independent directors ordered the termination of a so-called founder’s agreement that designated Schnatter as the brand’s face and voice. Papa John’s has requested he cease media appearances on behalf of the firm and evicted him from the headquarters, according to a company statement.

 Schnatter, 56, stepped down as chairman at the request of the board on July 11 after a Forbes report that he used a racial slur and graphic descriptions of violence against minorities in a conversation with the company’s former media agency, Laundry Service. That was just months after he exited the chief executive officer job over critical comments about the National Football League’s national-anthem controversy. The restaurant chain said last week that it plans to appoint a replacement chairman.

 Schnatter admitted to using the slur but said he was taken out of context. “Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society,” he said, according to a statement emailed last Wednesday.

 A spokeswoman for Wasserman, the talent-management agency that owns Laundry Service, declined to comment.

 Papa John’s said Friday that Schnatter will no longer be featured in any of the company’s advertising or marketing materials. The New York Yankees said the same day that it was suspending its relationship with the firm. The University of Louisville announced that the school will change the name of its football stadium from Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium to Cardinal Stadium.

 Schnatter is still on the company’s board of directors and is its largest shareholder, and the board can’t just remove him, according to people familiar with the matter. Shareholders would have to take that step at the next annual meeting, which is typically held in May. Schnatter, meanwhile, still owns almost 30 percent of the company, which could complicate a potential vote on his ouster.

 Schnatter’s tied to the company in other ways, too. His wife, Annette Schnatter, is a Papa John’s franchisee with one restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the company’s latest proxy statement. Last year, royalties earned by the company from her restaurant were about $76,000. Schnatter’s airline, Hampton Airways Inc., provides business travel to the company as well.

 — With assistance by Scott Soshnick |||||

Write a summary.

– Papa John's founder has stepped down as chairman and been kicked out of his office at company headquarters—but the company is still experiencing fallout from John Schnatter's use of a racial slur. Since the former CEO admitted using the n-word during a conference call, numerous professional and college teams have cut their ties with the pizza chain, reports USA Today. Major League Baseball has ended its "Papa Slam" promotion and at least a dozen teams have suspended their relationships with the company, as have at least two teams each in the NFL and Major League Soccer. The NBA's Orlando Magic has also ended Papa John's promotions. Oregon State University has canceled its sponsor relationship with Papa John's over what it calls "derogatory and insensitive" comments from Schnatter, and the University of Louisville has dropped Papa John's name from its football stadium and is now calling it "Cardinal Stadium." Schnatter has been removed from all the company's promotional material but since he is still its largest shareholder, he can't be removed from the six-person board easily—and probably not before its annual meeting. Sources tell Bloomberg that Schnatter now regrets his resignation as chairman and thinks the company was wrong to oust him without an investigation.


Article:
At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Wednesday night, newly married Congressman Barney Frank said he and his husband have been warmly greeted “as heros” by delegates who are “proud to be a part of this movement.” He also previewed the speech he will give tonight at the convention, focusing squarely on "Myth Romney," and he slammed the gay GOP group Log Cabin Republicans for its support of the GOP, saying, “I now understand why they call themselves Log Cabin: their role model is Uncle Tom." (Listen to the interview below)

 "Obviously it’s been overwhelmingly supportive from the Democrats,” Frank said in an interview for my SiriusXM OutQ radio program, discussing the response by his colleagues in Congress to his wedding in July, in which he married his long-time partner, Jim Ready. “They’ve really reached out. On the Republican side, at first they were ignoring it. A few have congratulated me. One case I found a little bit odd: One Republican member sent us a wedding present -- a member who is sort of not a moderate but not an extreme right winger. But then [the member] voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. So Jim and I returned the present.”

 “One thing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have to say,” he continued, "[is that] maybe 30 years ago you could get some points for being personally nice to us while you were opposing our rights. We’re beyond that. That’s over.”

 Frank said at the convention, while walking the corridors, Democratic delegates from around country, who ratified the most LGBT-inclusive platform in history, including backing marriage equality, have been nothing but supportive.

 “On the whole, people are glad to be participating in what I believe is the beginning of the end,” he said. “Jim and I have been greeted as heroes. I walk along and people ask for a picture, and I say, ‘Meet my husband.’ And they’re even more excited. People are proud to be part of this movement ... If you’re under 60, you’re probably too old to be part of the civil rights movement. For a lot of people today, to be able to participate in the movement to give legal equality to LGBT people, gives them a very good feeling. You become a Democrat in part because you have these kind of values that say you want to promote fairness and community, so most Democrats are proud.”

 Frank then laced into the Log Cabin Republicans, who spoke highly of the GOP last week in Tampa, with its executive director, R. Clarke Cooper, commenting that gay GOPers felt more welcome than any time in the past.

 “Frankly I’ve been appalled to see the Log Cabin club, in the face of this worse and worse record on public policy by Republicans on our issues," Frank said. "Mr. Cooper said, ‘Well at least they’re not saying bad things about us.' That’s just extraordinary. Again, 30 years ago when we were emerging from the vice of prejudice, I understood that. But no, we shouldn’t be accepting a kind of second class citizenship, [and saying], ‘You can treat us badly as long you don’t yell at us.’"

 “They’re accepted on [the GOP's] terms,” he continued. “They’re willing to be accepted with no rights -- no right to marry, no right to serve in the military, no right to be protected against hate crimes, no right to be protected in employment. I’ll be honest: For 20 years now I’ve heard how the Log Cabins are going to make Republicans better, but they’ve only gotten worse. I now understand why they call themselves Log Cabin: their role model is Uncle Tom.”

 On the speech he is going to give tonight on the state of the Democratic National Convention, Frank gave a preview.

 “I’m mostly going to talk about Mitt Romney,” he said. “I was a representative in Congress for four years under Governor Romney. He was a fairly mediocre governor except for the health care law, which he’s now repudiating. Now I read that because he was a businessman, he will bring to any government he heads enormous jobs. Well, I wish that’s what we saw.”

 “There are two Romney’s,” Frank continued. “Mitt Romney --- who was a hum drum governor of Massachusetts and not very successful with our economy. And then there’s Myth Romney – a superhero of job creation, He is a businessman -- put him in charge and everything will hum. I wish Myth Romney had been governor of Massachusetts. My state would have been a lot better off. Instead we had Mitt Romney and I’m just going to have to contrast the reality and the myth.” ||||| CHARLOTTE — Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who is openly gay, slammed LGBT Republicans Thursday for standing by their party even as it refuses to budge on gay rights.

 Speaking at an LGBT caucus meeting at the Democratic convention Thursday morning, Frank singled out the Log Cabin Republicans in particular for praising Paul Ryan’s selection to the national ticket despite his opposition to marriage rights and his vote against repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

 “I’m … inclined to think they’re called the Log Cabin Club because their role model is Uncle Tom,” Frank said to shocked murmurs from the packed crowd.

 In a statement responding to a similar comment Frank made in a Huffington Post interview, the group accused Frank of undermining their efforts to remake the GOP.

 “Frank calls us ‘Uncle Toms’ and pretends that Log Cabin hasn’t been on the front lines of the fight for equality,” Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper said. “The truth is, by speaking conservative to conservative about gay rights, Log Cabin Republicans are doing some of the hardest work in the movement, work that liberals like Barney are unwilling to do and couldn’t do if they tried.”

 Frank is also slated to speak Thursday during the convention’s closing night.

 Democrats, who were on defense in 2004 over gay marriage amid Republican attacks, have made Obama’s support for marriage equality a major part of their convention speeches and events. Republicans have been just as reluctant to talk about the issue as Democrats have been willing to bring it up, maintaining their stance on marriage and taking a dig at gays in the military in the GOP platform while largely avoiding the topic in speeches.

 Frank said Democratic success in turning public opinion to their side was no reason to let up on opponents of gay rights.

 “A good general puts on the pressure when the enemy is slipping,” he said.

 Among the top priorities Frank said only Democrats could achieve: repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and putting in place judges who believe in gay rights.

 “With the right selection of president we will get a Supreme Court that I believe will at some point recognize marriage rights,” he said. |||||Summary:

– Barney Frank blasted "Myth Romney's" economic record at the Democratic National Convention yesterday, but the Massachusetts congressman got almost as much attention for remarks he made earlier in the day. Frank, who is openly gay, slammed gay Republicans for praising Paul Ryan, despite his opposition to gay marriage and repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell, reports Talking Points Memo. I'm "inclined to think they’re called the Log Cabin Club because their role model is Uncle Tom," he said, referring to the leading gay Republican organization. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Frank accused Log Cabin director R. Clarke Cooper of "accepting second-class citizenship." Cooper, in turn, accused Frank of undermining the group's efforts to reform the GOP. "Frank calls us 'Uncle Toms,' and pretends that Log Cabin hasn’t been on the front lines of the fight for equality," he said. "The truth is, by speaking conservative to conservative about gay rights, Log Cabin Republicans are doing some of the hardest work in the movement, work that liberals like Barney are unwilling to do and couldn’t do if they tried."


News article:

S. Korea calls North missile tests calculated provocation

 (AFP) – 14 hours ago

 Seoul — South Korea on Friday labelled North Korea's test firing of four short-range missiles a calculated, provocative act timed to coincide with South-US joint military exercises.

 North Korea test-fired the missiles into the Sea of Japan on Thursday, three days after the joint drills kicked off in the face of vocal opposition from Pyongyang.

 "With the exercises underway, we see the firings as a calculated, provocative act," defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told journalists.

 He noted that the launches also came days after an incursion by a North Korean patrol boat across the disputed Yellow Sea border that has been the scene of brief but bloody naval clashes in the past.

 Kim said the tests were of Scud-type missiles at the longer edge of the short-range spectrum, with an estimated reach of 300-800 kilometres (185-500 miles) -- capable of striking any target in the South.

 "If the North re-engineers Scuds or tests them, we always undertake a serious analysis to consider counter-measures," he said.

 Kim stressed that the annual military drills with the United States would continue as planned.

 In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki urged North Korea "to exercise restraint and take steps to improve its relations with its neighbours".

 But Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren acknowledged that such short-range tests did not put the North in breach of international resolutions.

 "We view this as an unannounced weapons test that we see somewhat regularly," he told reporters in Washington.

 It is not unusual for North Korea to carry out such tests and observers said they were unlikely to trigger a significant rise in military tensions.

 Despite the start of the South Korea-US drills on Monday, which the North routinely condemns as rehearsals for invasion, relations between Seoul and Pyongyang are currently enjoying something of a thaw.

 This year's drills overlapped with the end of the first reunion for more than three years of families divided by the Korean War -- an event that has raised hopes of greater cross-border cooperation.

 Pyongyang had initially insisted that the joint exercises be postponed until after the reunions finished on Tuesday. But Seoul refused and -- in a rare concession -- the North allowed the family gatherings on its territory to go ahead as scheduled.

 North Korea has hundreds of short-range missiles and has developed and tested -- with limited success -- several intermediate-range models.

 Its claims to have a working inter-continental ballistic missile have been treated with scepticism by most experts, but there is no doubt that it is pushing ahead with an active, ambitious missile development programme.

 Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ||||| SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired four suspected short-range missiles into its eastern waters on Thursday, a South Korean official said.

 North Korea routinely conducts short-range missile tests, but the latest came three days after South Korea and the U.S. began annual military drills that Pyongyang calls a rehearsal for invasion.

 A Defense Ministry official said North Korea fired four projectiles believed to be short-range missiles with a range of more than 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) into the waters off its east coast. The official spoke anonymously citing department rules.

 North Korea has recently eased tension by taking a series of conciliatory gestures toward South Korea such as allowing reunions between relatives who have been separated since the Korean war 60 years ago.

 Earlier Thursday, North Korea presented to the media a South Korean missionary who it says was arrested last year for allegedly trying to establish underground Christian churches in the country. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– A North Korean ship slipping across the South's borders was apparently just the opening act. Days after South Korea began its war games with the US, North Korea has fired four, suspected short-range missiles from its southeastern coast toward the sea, a South Korean defense official said, per Yonhap News. "We first believed they were an improved version of the KN-02 ground-to-ship missile, but we now believe they are Scud series missiles, as they have a range of more than (125 miles)," says a government source. While the AP notes that missile launches are routine in the North, a Scud launch would be North Korea's first since 2009. South Korea notes it "will maintain tight vigilance in preparation for additional launches or any military provocation from the North," while an expert tells the AFP that the launch is "mainly about sending a message—about the drills and also its anger over the recent UN rights report ... I don't think it will take any further steps and risk escalating tensions. Pyongyang is more interested in seeing some benefit from its compromise on the reunions."


– Men suffering from serious and even painful penis curvature have a new medical option—if they can afford to pay $26,000 or more. The FDA has approved Xiaflex, a drug that targets Peyronie's disease by reducing the build-up of a protein that creates scar tissue in the penis, the LA Times reports. That scar tissue can cause the penis to curve by 30 degrees or more when erect, making sex impossible. "It’s a soul-destroying disease," says a plumber in Colorado Springs who started an association for Peyronie's disease advocates, reports the New York Times. Xiaflex offers hope to the 65,000 to 120,000 men who get Peyronie's disease each year, but costs are formidable: $3,300 per injection, or $26,000 for a full treatment of eight injections plus a doctor's fee. (Until now, doctors have used less-expensive treatments like a generic blood-pressure drug.) So far, Xiaflex is only available in a restricted program because it's a little dangerous: Health care providers must carefully "model" the injected penis, which may experience adverse reactions such as ruptured penile tissue. Less worrisome side effects include penile pain, swelling, and bruising, the FDA says.

Expand this summary.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first drug treatment for Peyronie's disease, a condition that results in severe and sometimes painful curvature of the penis, officials said.

 The action marks a new use for the drug Xiaflex, which is already used to treat Dupuytren's contracture, a disease of the hand that impairs a person's ability to straighten their fingers.

 Xiaflex is a bacterial enzyme -- collagenase clostridium histolyticum -- that is believed to reduce the build-up of collagen, the structural protein that makes up scar tissue.

 Peyronie's disease is the result of scar tissue forming beneath the skin of the penis and causing it to deform and bend 30 degrees or more during an erection. The condition can cause a painful erection in some men and prevent intercourse, according to doctors.

 According to a statement from the drug's maker, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Chesterbrook, Pa., between 65,000 and 120,000 men are diagnosed with Peyronie's disease each year.

 "Today's approval expands the available treatment options for men experiencing Peyronie's disease, and enables them, in consultation with their doctor, to choose the most appropriate treatment option," said Dr. Audrey Gassman, deputy director of the FDA's Division of Bone, Reproductive and Urological Products.

 Treatment with Xiaflex involves two injections of the drug into the penile scar tissue and a penile "modeling" procedure that involves manipulation of the penis by a healthcare provider.

 Currently, the drug is available only through a restricted program under a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, due to the potential for serious adverse reactions, such as penile fracture -- the rupture of tissue within the penis -- and other injuries. The strategy requires that healthcare practitioners and facilities be specially trained and certified to use the drug.

 Other, less severe, side effects include penile bruising, swelling and pain, according to the FDA. ||||| What Is beyond 9%

 Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with Peyronie’s disease or have known for some time, it can be difficult to see beyond the frustrations and limitations that regularly confront you. But rest assured, you’re not alone. In fact, more than 9% of men may develop Peyronie’s. At the APDA, we understand the challenges you’re facing. We’re patients, partners and physicians dealing with it each and every day. And we’re dedicated to helping you go beyond Peyronie’s and back to a more fulfilling life.Learn more

 Welcome to APDA Because the founder of the APDA has Peyronie’s disease, he understands what it’s like. Hear from him and members of the Medical Advisory Board about the organization and its mission to help patients become their own advocates. The APDA can only exist through donations, please Donate today!

 Welcome to APDA Hear from the APDA founder and members of the Medical Advisory Board about the organization and its mission to help patients become their own advocates. Related Videos Welcome to APDA Hear from the APDA founder and members of the Medical Advisory Board about the organization and its mission to help patients become their own advocates. New Site Features Learn what’s new on the APDA website. Find out about helpful new features for patients and partners, including a physician finder and interactive treatment comparison chart.

 Announcements

 Videos are now back up! For this and other Announcements, click here. ||||| The first drug to treat Peyronie’s disease — an embarrassing and sometimes painful curvature of the penis — won approval on Friday from the Food and Drug Administration.

 The drug, Xiaflex, is made by Auxilium Pharmaceuticals. It estimates as many as 9 percent of men have the condition, which can make intercourse painful or impossible.

 “It’s a soul-destroying disease,” said Stan Hardin, a plumber in Colorado Springs, who started the Association of Peyronie’s Disease Advocates after developing the condition 12 years ago. He said the approval offered hope to men, many of whom might now seek treatment.

 Named after the French physician who first described it in 1741, the condition is caused by the buildup of plaque under the skin of the penis. |||||


– A "music video" filmed at South Carolina's Kershaw Correctional Institution made inmates famous on the Internet last year. They're now paying the price, big time. Public documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show seven inmates were handed a combined 20 years in solitary confinement for the clip, which shows inmates rapping, beatboxing, and dancing in a cell. Filmed in 2014 and posted to WorldStarHipHop.com, the video became a key part of their sentencing, as prison officials pointed out the use of gang signs, a cellphone to film the clip, and social media to make it public, the New York Daily News reports. The inmates also lost visitation hours and other privileges. "South Carolina becomes the poster child for abuse of solitary confinement" with the move, says Dave Maass, an investigative researcher with the EEF. The digital rights group has set its sights on the state before: Back in February, the EFF found the South Carolina Department of Corrections doled out stints in solitary confinement to hundreds of inmates caught using Facebook—including 37 years to an inmate who posted to the site 38 times, though such punishments are often shortened, per Buzzfeed. The SCDC's director said severe punishments for the use of contraband cellphones and social media were warranted, noting a corrections officer "was shot six times in his home due to an attempted contract killing via a contraband cellphone." Still, the SCDC in February revised its policy, saying it wouldn't let an inmate stay in solitary for more than 60 days. In explaining the length of the latest punishments, a rep says they are justified because the inmates "are gang members and a continued threat to safety." (Here's how solitary confinement breaks the mind.)

Expand this summary.

Last year, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) launched an investigation after the group of inmates released a rap video that made its way to WorldStarHipHop:

 The investigation into the rap video and the punishment were revealed in public records obtained by Dave Maass, an investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

 Seven inmates in a South Carolina prison were punished with a combined total of nearly 20 years of solitary confinement — for making a rap music video and posting it on WorldStar.

 Records show five of the inmates received 180 days in "disciplinary detention," while two others received punishments of 270 and 360 days, for "creating or assisting with a social media site."

 But additional punishments for "security threat group" (gang-related) materials and possessing a contraband cell phone added up to a combined 7,150 days, or 19.75 years, in solitary confinement for the inmates.

 The inmates also lost years' worth of canteen, phone, and visitation privileges, as well as good time accrued.

 The disciplinary records note that "video from www.worldstarhiphop.com was used as evidence."

 "When the video went viral the first time, viewers caught a fleeting glimpse of the creative energy that exists behind bars," Maass told BuzzFeed News. "Now that we know how dearly each inmate paid for their participation, the video takes on all new significance. People in this country are still sacrificing their freedom and well-being for expression."

 The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) came under fire earlier this year after the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group, obtained public records showing that corrections officials punished inmates with dozens of years in solitary confinement for using Facebook and other social media.

 For example, Tyheem Henry received 13,680 days, or more than 37 years, in disciplinary detention in October 2013 — as well as more than 74 years’ worth of telephone, visitation, and canteen privileges — for 38 posts on Facebook.

 Space constraints often lead to those punishments being suspended or lessened, though. According to the EFF, for the inmates it reviewed the average time served in solitary was 512 days.

 In February, the SCDC announced it was changing its policy for solitary confinement, making 60 days the maximum punishment in solitary confinement for an infraction. It also stopped making each post on social media an individual infraction.

 However, Stephanie Givens, a spokesperson for the SCDC, said the inmates' punishments were reviewed and found to be appropriate.

 "Their placement is not just tied to that rap video," Stephanie Givens, a spokesperson for the SCDC, told BuzzFeed News. "It’s the fact that they are gang members and a continued threat to safety."

 The seven inmates are serving time for a variety of serious crimes, such as armed robbery, burglary, and voluntary manslaughter.

 David Fathi, the director of the ACLU's National Prison Project, said the punishment of the seven inmates raised First Amendment questions.

 "It's hard to believe that South Carolina prison officials don’t have better things to do than troll the internet looking for prison videos," Fathi told BuzzFeed News.

 While Fathi said that it's clear that inmates can be punished for contraband materials, and that prison officials can limit inmate's speech for security purposes, the inmates' punishments are "disturbing to the extent that prisoners are being punished for pure speech that’s posted on the internet."

 "They’re finding them guilty of a separate violations of creating or assisting with social networking site," he continued. "That seems like a First Amendment violation on its face."

 The ACLU and many other human rights groups also oppose the use of extended solitary confinement as punishment.

 "The more we learn about solitary confinement, the more we know how profoundly damaging it is to physical and mental health," Fathi said, noting that a United Nations expert on torture has called for solitary confinement over 15 days to be completely abolished. "We know there are measurable changes in the brain after seven days in isolation. A year or six months is grossly excessive."

 However, Bryan Stirling, the director of the SCDC, said that allowing prisoners to have access to social media can be a grave security threat.

 “We have to look no further than our own S.C. corrections officer, Captain Johnson, who was shot six times in his home due to an attempted contract killing via a contraband cellphone,” Stirling said earlier this year. “We take the use of contraband cellphones and social media by inmates very seriously, and the punishments for using them are severe. We are no different from any other corrections department across the country dealing with this issue.”

 The SCDC estimated earlier this year that roughly 1,400 state prisoners remain in solitary confinement for disciplinary infractions, down from 1,700 last year. That's about 6.5% of its inmate population. ||||| Rating is available when the video has been rented.

 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| Talk about getting a bad rap.

 Seven South Carolina prison inmates are facing the music for a viral rap video they filmed in 2014 while locked up in a cell.

 South Carolina's Kershaw Correctional Institution officials punished the group heavily, giving a combined sentence of over 7,000 days — almost 20 years — in solitary confinement.

 Public documents revealed by Dave Maass, an investigative researcher for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, showed the inmates would each spend, on average, 1,000 days in solitary confinement for the viral video stunt.

 The nearly six-minute video was viewed more than a million times on World Star Hip Hop, and features the seven inmates humming and beatboxing with the chorus, "I'm on . . . I'm on fire, I'm on fire" inside a cell.

 One inmate is standing with his back to the camera, with the SCDC prison shirt on. Most of the rapping inmates are wearing white shirts and du-rags dancing in the background.

 The viral video stunt came with harsh consequences, as the inmates were punished for throwing gang signs in the video, having a cellphone to film it with and accessing social media to post the clip, prison documents showed.

 The video was viewed more than a million times on WordStarHipHop.com when it was uploaded in 2014. (YouTube)

 Records showed that investigators specifically used the World Star Hip Hop video as evidence during the sentencing. The inmates also lost several privileges, including visitation hours, canteen use and phone time.

 Maass told the Daily News that prison officials most likely dealt this heavy sentencing because they were "embarrassed" by the viral clip. But what the prison really should be ashamed of is its harsh punishments, he said.

 "It's embarrassing for them that it happened, because it makes them look like they have no control, but on the whole, South Carolina becomes the poster child for abuse of solitary confinement," he told the Daily News.

 Each rapper in the video will spend an average of 1,000 days in solitary confinement for the viral stunt. (YouTube)

 South Carolina's prisons have become notorious for how easily it drops the harsh punishment, especially for non-violent crimes.

 In February, the same prison sent up to 400 inmates to solitary confinement just for using Facebook or asking a friend to update their page, the EFF found. For South Carolina's corrections department, using social media while locked up is on the same level of offense as attacking a guard, rioting and taking a hostage is.

 The state's prisons are actually running out of space because of this policy, Maass said.

 "It doesn't help the prison at all if they're filling up disciplinary detention with social media violators," he said. He defended the inmates' video, saying it "was a work of art, not an act of violence."

 The SCDC spokesperson told BuzzFeed News the punishment did fit the crime, and the inmates were serving time for armed robbery, burglary and voluntary manslaughter.

 Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing! |||||


– Well, this is awkward: Maryland's attorney general, who has gone so far as to film a public service announcement against underage drinking and who is also currently running for governor, was at a wild-looking teenage party in June. The Baltimore Sun broke the news this week, running a photo (see it here) of Doug Gansler at the party (in the same shot, there are three scantily-clad teens dancing on a table). Gansler said he was simply there to talk to his son (who he says wasn't drinking), and he initially insisted he had no "moral responsibility" to intervene. But at a news conference yesterday, he admitted, "Perhaps I should have assumed there was drinking going on, and I got that wrong. There could be Kool-Aid in the red cups, but there's probably beer in the red cups." Gansler and other parents helped organize and pay for the week-long beach trip that preceded the party, as a high school graduation gift, and the teens were apparently only instructed not to drink hard alcohol, with no similar rule about beer. He says he helped pay the rent on the Delaware house, where almost a dozen grads were staying, the Washington Post reports. Two other adults (ostensibly the "chaperones" he referred to in the news conference) are shown in the photo, one of them apparently holding a wine glass. This isn't the first controversy to threaten his gubernatorial campaign: Last week, it came out that he allegedly ordered state troopers to speed and run red lights while driving him even to routine appointments, and in August, he made racially charged comments about an opponent. (Meanwhile, some Connecticut parents reacted very differently to their teens' party.)

Expand this summary.

Attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Doug Gansler listens to reporters after his remarks during a Thursday news conference in Silver Spring. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

 A month after launching his campaign for governor, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler was entangled Thursday in yet another controversy, this time acknowledging a lapse in judgment when he appeared at a beach-house party and did nothing to stop apparent underage drinking going on there.

 At a half-hour news conference in Silver Spring, Gansler (D) said that when he stopped by a party for graduating high school students in June, he should have been more vigilant about ensuring that the teenagers were not doing anything illegal. A photograph shows Gansler in the middle of a party scene, surrounded by young people. He said that failing to more thoroughly investigate what was going on at the party was “a mistake I made.”

 “In hindsight, I probably should have assumed there was drinking and talked to the chaperones about what they thought was appropriate,” Gansler said. But Maryland’s top law enforcement official said he was there as a parent, hoping to talk briefly to his teenage son about travel plans, and not as “a police officer or anything else.”

 He saw teenagers drinking from red plastic cups that night, Gansler said. “There could be Kool-Aid in the red cups,” he said, “but there’s probably beer in the red cups.”

 Gansler, 50, called the news conference in response to a Baltimore Sun story that included a photograph of him amid a throng of teenagers, three of whom were dancing on a tabletop.

 At a news conference Thursday in Silver Spring, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler (D) said that he should have investigated whether there had been underage drinking at high school "beach party" where he stopped by to visit his son. (WJLA/NewsChannel 8)

 At the news conference, Gansler was shown a copy of the photo that appears to show him holding a phone. When asked whether he was taking a photo with it, he said he had not yet learned how to do that with his new iPhone. He said he thought he was reading a text message.

 Gansler told reporters that he visited “a dance party with loud music” to tell his son what time they had to leave Delaware in the morning. “What I’m doing in that picture is walking through — my son was upstairs; he was the DJ,” he said. “I walked through the party, walked through the dance floor, walked upstairs, talked to my son, walked downstairs and left.”

 In the photograph, two other adults can be seen in the corner of the room, one of them holding what appears to be a wine glass.

 The June 13 party took place at a six-bedroom rental home in South Bethany, Del., where Gansler’s son was staying with close to a dozen other graduates of the Landon School in Bethesda during “beach week.” Gansler said that his name was not on the lease but that he contributed to the rent.

 He said that he faced the tensions facing any parent of a teenager: “How much do you let them go? How much do you rein them in? . . . I’m really no different from any other parent.” He said neither he nor his son was drinking.

 Other photos and videos posted on social media from the party depict a wild environment at the house, with teenagers standing on a bar and perched on a banister in the main room as others dance below to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”

 Gansler’s appearance at the beach party is the latest episode to detract from the fledgling Democratic primary campaign, in which Gansler faces Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and Del. Heather R. Mizeur (Montgomery) in June.

 Last week, The Washington Post reported that written accounts by the Maryland State Police alleged that Gansler regularly ordered troopers assigned to drive for him to speed and run red lights, even on the way to routine appointments. Gansler accused a police commander who documented those concerns of being a politically motivated “henchman” trying to help Brown’s campaign.

 In August, before Gansler formally announced his long-

 anticipated bid for governor, The Post reported that he was secretly recorded at a meeting with volunteers saying that Brown was relying on his race to get elected and that his campaign slogan was: “Vote for me, I want to be the first African American governor of Maryland.”

 Gansler said Thursday that he remained undeterred by the controversies and was eager to talk about issues affecting Marylanders. He said he is a “a big boy” and understands the scrutiny that comes with running for governor. “We’re in it,” he said. “I’m going to win it.”

 As attorney general, Gansler has taken on the issue of underage drinking. He appeared in a public- service announcement less than a year ago for the Century Council, a group that works to combat teen drinking. “Parents, you’re the leading influence on your teen’s decision not to drink,” Gansler said in the video. “It’s never too early to talk with your kids about smart ways to say no.”

 Among other battles, he took on Pabst Brewing in a strongly worded 2011 letter. He and other attorneys general called for an end to a fruit-flavored, high-alcohol malt beverage that he said was packaged as “binge-in-a-can” and designed to appeal to young people.

 And Gansler’s office got behind legislation this year to help prevent would-be underage drinkers from surreptitiously purchasing alcohol at a grocery store by checking out with a self-scanner.

 Mothers Against Drunk Driving issued a statement Thursday saying that the group was “disheartened” to learn that Gansler may have attended an apparent underage drinking party. Gansler is considered a leader on the issue, the group said. It said that adults must “take the lead and make it clear to their children that drinking any alcohol before age 21 is both dangerous and illegal.”

 The legal drinking age in Delaware, as in Maryland, is 21. According to Delaware state law, an adult who buys or gives alcoholic beverages to people younger than 21 or allows someone under his or her supervision to consume alcohol can be subject to a fine of up to $500 and sentenced to perform community service and serve up to 30 days in jail. But the law does not apply to family members within the private family home.

 It is not clear how the law would apply to a rental home with chaperones and underage teenagers from many different families. A spokesman for Delaware’s attorney general said the office would not comment on hypothetical scenarios.

 But Gansler told the Sun: “Assume for purposes of discussion that there was widespread drinking at this party. How is that relevant to me? . . . The question is: Do I have any moral authority over other people’s children at beach week in another state? I say no.

 “My responsibility is only to my child,” Gansler added. “Everybody has their own moral compass. Mine is to raise my own child.”

 He softened that at the news conference, which drew national media attention, acknowledging that he should have at least approached the chaperones to ensure everything was all right. He emphasized, however, that he did not witness anyone in danger or exhibiting signs of intoxication.

 “I didn’t see anybody in front of me clearly in danger or in any risk,” he said.

 Earlier on the night of the party, Gansler had appeared in Ocean City at an event sponsored by the Maryland Bar Association, according to his campaign.

 Timothy Dickson, a Virginia man who owns the South Bethany beach house, said he is seeking a legal remedy for significant damage to the house that he said is believed to be connected to the tenants who stayed there during the week of the party.

 Police have said the damage probably occurred during a break-in after tenants departed — a scenario that Gansler said Thursday was his understanding of what occurred.

 At a town council meeting a few weeks later, damage at the property was said to be about $50,000, according to the minutes.

 Dickson said he had forwarded to police some documents discovered in the home after the tenants left. They include a roster of the boys who stayed there that week and a list of parent chaperones throughout the week.

 A “Doug” is listed as a chaperone on the Saturday and Sunday before the Thursday party, according to a copy of e-mails sent to parents that were obtained by The Post. Gansler’s attorney general e-mail address is among the recipients.

 Gansler spokesman Bob Wheelock said Gansler never filled a chaperone shift. “He wasn’t a chaperone for those two nights or any other night,” Wheelock said.

 Wheelock said Gansler, who was staying in another beach house in the area that week, dropped by the house where the teens were staying one night earlier in the week. Gansler might have had a beer that night with the chaperones on duty, Wheelock said.

 Robert Lynch, a parent who was scheduled to chaperone the night of the June 13 party, declined to be interviewed by The Post on Thursday.

 “If this is about the Doug Gansler thing, I’m not going to comment,” he said before hanging up the telephone.

 A list of “2013 Beach Week Rules” included in the documents says that “no hard liquor or controlled substances may be consumed.”

 The rules also note that “chaperones will record any DAMAGE to house and inform incoming chaperones. Damages will be discussed with boys as it happens, if blame can be placed on an individual, his security deposit will reflect damage.”

 At Thursday’s news conference, Gansler was asked whether he was accompanied by a Maryland state trooper the night of the party.

 Gansler hesitated, then said: “I may have, but I really, really doubt it.”

 Susan Svrluga, Peter Hermann, Mark Berman, T. J. Ortenzi and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report. ||||| This photo -- obtained by ABC News -- was taken at a party attended by Doug Gansler. ( )

 Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler said Thursday that showing up at a "beach week" party of teenagers and not investigating whether there was underage drinking was "a mistake that I made."

 "Perhaps I should have assumed there was drinking going on, and I got that wrong," Gansler said.

 He said he stopped only briefly at the party in Delaware last June to see his son and left without asking the teenagers — including shirtless boys and a girl dancing on a tabletop — about the red plastic cups scattered around the party.

 "There could be Kool-Aid in the red cups, but there's probably beer in the red cups," he told reporters.

 Gansler, Maryland's chief law enforcement officer and a candidate for governor, held a news conference Thursday after The Baltimore Sun published a photo that showed him at the center of the party in South Bethany, along with his comments that he had no "moral responsibility" to intervene.

 The image and Gansler's assertion made national news Thursday. Gansler has been an outspoken advocate for stricter laws against underage drinking.

 The episode delivers the latest blow to Gansler's campaign for the Democratic nomination next year.

 "Can things get any worse?" asked Matthew Crenson, professor emeritus of political science at the Johns Hopkins University.

 Gansler has faced allegations that he ordered the state troopers on his security detail to drive recklessly and speed, failed to pay for traffic tickets and described his chief Democratic political rival Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, an African-American, as relying on his racial heritage to get elected.

 In each case, analysts said, the damage was amplified by Gansler's response.

 "He's just had one mistake after another," Crenson said. "I just can't believe people are going to put up with this."

 At the news conference in front of his Silver Spring campaign headquarters, Gansler dismissed suggestions that his bid for governor had faltered.

 "We're in it. We're going to win it," Gansler said. "The people of Maryland, they want somebody with the character, judgment, record, vision, authenticity, who is genuine and going to make the best Maryland. We're fine."

 At the same time, Gansler reversed some of his comments about his responsibility at the party. Campaign spokesman Bob Wheelock said the change came "after reflection."

 The party came at the end of a weeklong trip Gansler and other parents helped organize and finance for a dozen boys who had just graduated from the Landon School, a private school for boys in Bethesda.

 Written rules given to the teens who were staying at the house for the week forbade drinking "hard liquor," but included no such instructions about beer.

 On Thursday, Gansler described himself as a father facing "the tension for all parents" of teenagers about to leave for college.

 "How much do you let them go? How much do you sort of rein them in?" he said. In hindsight, he said, "I should have assumed that there was drinking."

 Gansler said his son wasn't drinking at the party.

 The report sparked a vigorous debate on Baltimore talk radio about the responsibilities of parents to monitor the alcohol use of their underage children. Former Ravens owner David Modell called in to WBAL-AM to demand Gansler's resignation. |||||


Write an article based on this summary:

– Ohio's former governor is taking a stand in favor of raising the minimum wage—by living on it himself. Ted Strickland tried restricting his spending last week to the $77 the wage offers, and by Thursday, he failed, he writes at Politico. The experience involved skipping meals, turning to unhealthy food, and walking to meetings because he couldn't afford other transportation, he writes. "When I actually caught a cold, I felt lucky to already have medicine at home that would help with the symptoms," Strickland notes. "Medicine, along with any other unexpected or additional expenses, often prevents the budget from stretching as far as it needs to stretch." But many in Washington don't realize that thanks to their insulated lifestyles, he writes. Strickland, a Democrat, is among officials and activists trying to "Live the Wage" and calling on members of Congress to do so, too, "before opposing an increase that would help millions of Americans who currently live in poverty." Click for his full piece.

In The Arena I Tried to Live on Minimum Wage for a Week

 For all of last week, I worked hard to live on the budget of a minimum wage worker. That meant I had $77 to spend on food, transportation, activities and other personal expenses for the week. I didn’t make it.

 Most mornings started with eggs and toast, bought last Sunday during a grocery trip costing more than $15. Lunches were normally leftovers, macaroni and cheese or McDonald’s. There were no big dinners or coffee stops on a whim. But the challenges were beyond food.

 Wednesday morning, I had a meeting about a mile from my apartment, but in the opposite direction of my office. I would normally take a cab, but this time, I took off my jacket and walked the mile in 90-degree heat, then walked back almost 2 miles to my office. Walking made me late to my meeting, but a minimum wage budget doesn’t allow for extra transportation costs, making it my only option.

 And early in the week when I actually caught a cold, I felt lucky to already have medicine at home that would help with the symptoms. Medicine, along with any other unexpected or additional expenses, often prevents the budget from stretching as far as it needs to stretch. That was a lesson I learned when my budget ran out on Thursday evening.

 These are just some of the small realities I have learned about life on the minimum wage.

 Washington is in a bubble that keeps our representatives away from the experiences of those they actually represent. We need to understand the challenges faced by Americans who are being left behind in our economy. That’s why I joined members of Congress and dozens of organizations in taking the Live the Wage challenge (www.LivetheWage.com), and asking those in Congress to actually try living on the minimum wage for a week before opposing an increase that would help millions of Americans who currently live in poverty.

 For the week, I walked as much as I possibly could to avoid paying for transportation, skipped meals to save money — and I ate much smaller and less healthful meals when I did eat. Because fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to find at a price within a minimum wage budget, I turned to bread, peanut butter, bananas and bologna more than anything else. That was what I could find when I took this budget to the grocery story last Sunday. And that’s why I ate lunch from the McDonald’s dollar menu. ||||| This crawl of online resources of the 115th US Congress was performed on behalf of The United States National Archives & Records |||||


STINSON BEACH, Calif. — The toughest part of the Dipsea, said to be the country’s oldest trail-running race, might not be the first mile, which contains nearly 700 stairs rising through the forests above Mill Valley.

 It is not the jiggly-legged drop into Muir Woods, or the steep rise up Dynamite, so named because your churning legs might feel ready to explode. And it is not even the next big hill, called Cardiac. (If your legs have not burst, maybe your heart will.)

 It is not the treacherous plunge toward the ocean, the crooked depths and broken steps of Steep Ravine, even the poison oak that crowds the skinny trails and tickles the legs before blooming into a postrace rash. And it’s not the course’s maze of permissible shortcuts, like the one named Suicide, that give locals an advantage, as long as they stay upright and do not get lost.

 No, unexpectedly, the toughest part of the 7.5-mile Dipsea, a topographically schizophrenic romp that was first run in 1905, could be mental. It is knowing that the slowest runners are given head starts and the fastest ones begin at the back. It is like unloading a zoo’s worth of animals in reverse order of mobility and releasing the cheetahs at the end. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

 The Dipsea Race:

 First run in 1905, the Dipsea is the oldest trail race in America. It is run every year on the second Sunday in June. The scenic 7.4 mile course from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach is considered to be one of the most beautiful courses in the world. The stairs and steep trails make it a grueling and treacherous race. And its unique handicapping system has made winners of men and women of all ages. Because of its beauty and challenge, it is a very popular event, and because of safety and environmental concerns the number of runners is limited to about 1,500. While racers enter from all over the world, the Dipsea is primarily a Northern California event and the entry process is tilted slightly to favor local contestants. Please see the section on How To Enter for details.

 Latest News:

 Dipsea Stairs Dedication Ceremony October 20: The Dipsea Race Foundation is hosting a special ceremony on Saturday, October 20, to officially dedicate the renovated second flight of the famed Dipsea Stairs in Mill Valley.

 The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on Marion Avenue at the foot of the second of three flights totaling 680 steps rising from Old Mill Park to Sequoia Valley Road at Edgewood Avenue. The refurbished second flight, consisting of approximately 200 steps, leads to Hazel Avenue and the third flight. Read more here!

 2018 Final Results are posted!: The final results of the 108th Annual Dipsea Race have been posted. You can view the results sorted by overall place, alphabetical order, or headstart group.

 Tim Amyx's 2018 Dipsea Race Recap!: Relive the 108th Dipsea Race with Tim Amyx's video to see who earned a Dipsea Survivor T-shirt at the end! Thanks to all the volunteers, participants, and people who make the Dipsea The Greatest Race!

 The Dipsea Race is in The New York Times!: NYT writer John Branch gives his entertaining first-hand account of his maiden voyage in the unique and historic race and up and down and around the Dipsea Trail. It's a must read! https://nyti.ms/2HLIeKZ.

 2018 Dipsea Summary is posted!: For the second year in a row, Chris Lundy, a 47-year-old San Francisco veterinarian from Sausalito, outlasted 32-year-old Alex Varner of San Rafael and his record-tieing performance to win the 108th Dipsea race. Check out our summary of the 2018 Dipsea Race!

 Preliminary Results are posted!: The preliminary results for the 2018 race are posted here: https://www.dipsea.org/2018/2018final.html

 Congratulations to Chris Lundy!: Congratulations to Chris Lundy on her second Dipsea win! Stay tuned for race results... we'll try to post them as soon as possible!

 Purchase photos of the Women’s Dipsea Hike!: Relive memories of the 100th Anniversary Women's Dipsea Hike, with professional images from the official Dipsea photographers.

 Cameramen were positioned at both the start in Old Mill Park and at the top of the Cardiac climb on Mt. Tam. You can purchase photos from both locations, here:

 dipseaphotos.smugmug.com

 All profits from the sale of photos will go toward the Muir Woods Bridge project, an effort to build a permanent bridge across the creek on the route of the Dipsea Race.

 Dipsea: The Greatest Race, Centennial Edition: The Centennial edition of Dipsea: The Greatest Race, by official Race historian Barry Spitz, is a must for all who love the Dipsea. Completely revised from the original 1993 version, with new tables and photographs, many in color, the book tells the story of all 100 Dipseas, with supplements for 2011-2017. Results go up to 100 deep, so your name may be in it! Go to DipseaBook.com to order.

 Period Dress Costume Contest Honors Women's Dipsea Hike Pioneers: To honor her late grandmother Laura for the 100th anniversary celebration of the Women’s Dipsea Hike on Saturday morning, April 21, Valerie Stratta Trenev of San Francisco is going to dress up – like it’s 1918. Read More

 Longtime Dipsea Runner Barbara Robben to Participate in Women's Dipsea Hike: Longtime Dipsea Runner Barbara Robben will participate in next month's Women's Dipsea Hike. Click here to read more of her story!

 The History of the Women's Dipsea Hike: In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the historic Women's Dipsea Hike, here's an article about the Hike's history and origins.

 Women's Dipsea Hike Registration: On Saturday, April 21st, 2018 to honor its centennial anniversary, the historic Women’s Dipsea Hike – started in 1918 and was the first ever cross country sporting event in the United States organized for women as its exclusive participants – is staging a ceremonial tribute hike along the Dipsea trail from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach.

 The untimed event, held on Earth Day weekend, is sponsored by the Dipsea Race Committee in partnership with One Tam and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

 The application for this 100th anniversary of the Women’s Dipsea Hike will be posted for download on the Dipsea website (www.dipsea.org) this Saturday, February 3, at noon. The event hike will be limited to the first 500 participants. Following the event there will be a separate optional buffet luncheon with special guests. Reservations are required for the luncheon and due to seating restrictions the luncheon event will be limited to the first 100 reservations.

 Applications for the event must be downloaded, filled in and mailed to the Dipsea Race. Instructions and additional information will be available with the application upon download.

 Remembering Women's Dipsea Hike Pioneer Edith Hickman: To look forward to the 100th anniversary celebration of the Women’s Dipsea Hike on April 21 in the new year, Barbara “Bobby” Van Meurs and her daughter, Arianna, recently were delighted and enlightened to look back through scrapbooks created and stories told to the time when their mother/grandmother, Edith Hickman, was the first champion of the hike and a lot more. Click here to read more!

 Dipsea Stairs update: The rebuilding of the second flight of the Dipsea Steps is continuing. Completion is expected to be sometime in October. However, a temporary stairway has been constructed to allow egress along the steps. Click the photos for a larger picture.

 We're working on more details on the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Women’s Dipsea Hike on Saturday, April 21, 2018. Click here for more information! Save the date of April 21, 2018. The Dipsea Race is going to honor the 100th anniversary of a momentous pioneering event – the Women’s Dipsea Hike – exactly 100 years to the date of the very first one on Saturday morning, April 21, with a special women’s-only tribute walk/run over the Dipsea Trail beginning at Old Mill Park in Mill Valley and ending in Stinson Beach. Click here for more information! The final results of the 107th Annual Dipsea Race have been posted. You can view the results sorted by overall place alphabetical order , or headstart group Tim Amyx has posted his recap of the 107th Annual Dipsea Race. Watch it here! The preliminary results are posted. Note that the results may change slightly in the coming days. You can view the results here or view the 2017 Race Summary here.Congratulations to Chris Lundy on her first Dipsea win, and to all Dipsea Race finishers! We will try to get the results posted as soon as possible, so please be patient!2017 is the 50th anniversary of Jack Kirk's second and last Dipsea win, and 10 years since he passed away at age 100. Drow Millar made this touching video of Jack Kirk's last Dipsea appearance.

 Jack Kirk's Last Race 2006 from Drow Millar on Vimeo.

 This is the time of year that we traditionally count our blessings and give our thanks. This then is the perfect time to tell you about a caring man and an inspirational dog and how the Dipsea Trail and Dipsea Race connects them. This is not a dog and pony show. After Thanksgiving, Craig Sultan of Mill Valley has invited a group of close friends to meet with him at the bottom of the second flight of the famed Dipsea Stairs for a special ceremony for his dog, Riley. Click Here to read the full story! Tina Humphrey has posted hundreds of photos from Dipsea race day, including photos at the start, at the finish, and at the award ceremony. You can see them here! Paul and Tina Berensmeier shared this video of the first 100 finishers of this year's Dipsea Race!The Dipsea Race Committee and the Dipsea Race Foundation mourn the loss of Dipsea Hall of Famer and DRF Emeritus Director Jerry Hauke – a Dipsea legend and the man most responsible for saving the historic trail race from possible extinction.

 Jerry died in his sleep on Thursday at his home in Weaverville.

 “This is a difficult loss for all of us. Jerry's enthusiasm for life was contagious,” says Merv Regan, longtime chair of the Dipsea Race Committee and Dipsea Race Foundation. “I met him about 36 years ago when I jumped in and volunteered to help him and Bob Knez. When there was a lull, I asked what they were raising the money for. Bob said for the Dipsea Race. I asked `What's the Dipsea Race?’ Jerry was shocked. He said, `You don't know about the Dipsea Race? You have to come to a meeting!’ The rest is history. I will miss my friend. We all will.”

 Jerry was a member of the Mill Valley Falls Arts Festival who created the Dipsea Beer Booth in Old Mill Park. In 1963, as a member of the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce (later known as MV Jaycees), Jerry stepped in to rescue the race after the previous race organizing group withdrew its sponsorship. Jerry also intervened in 1977 when the town of Stinson Beach and County of Marin threatened to end the race if changes were not made.

 Hauke led construction of an alternate trail on the race route – dubbed Hauke Hollow – and has a Dipsea Race award – the Red Tail Hawk Award, also named the Jerry Hauke Perpetual Award for Sportsmanship, Leadership, and Dedication– named after him. Hauke Park in Mill Valley also is named in Jerry’s honor.

 Our heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the Hauke Family. A memorial service is pending.

 Video of Jack Kirk and the Dipsea Trail: Thanks to Hoka One One for a remarkable story about the Dipsea Race and the late, great Jack Kirk, a.k.a. "The Dipsea Demon" plus incredible views of the Dipsea Trail in its production of "San Francisco: Top Trails" on Runnerspace.com. The 16-minute video begins with ultrarunners Larisa Dannis and Magdalena Boulet talking about the trail and concludes in the final five minutes with a history of the Dipsea Race and the legend of Kirk!!! Here is link to full story ... http://bit.ly/1joJIhI

 Dipsea Course Preview by UltraSportsLive.TV!: UltraSportsLive.TV has produced a Dipsea Race course video preview!

 How To Get In The Dipsea If You Can't Get In The Dipsea...: Many Dipsea runners and Dipsea wanna-be runners have lamented the fact that it's so difficult to get into the race. So we've written a short essay on how to improve your chances of getting into the race.

 Results Database online: Dipsea fan David Bronstein has created a great resource for the Dipsea website: a searchable results database with all of the Dipsea results from 1996 to present. Check it out here.

 Course Page Updated: We've updated the Course Page on our website, including detailed photos to help first-time Dipsea explorers follow the race route.

 We're on Facebook: If you're on Facebook, check out our page there and become a fan of the race to get up-to-the-minute updates to your news feed. Click Here to become a fan!

 Answers to your questions: We've added a Frequently Asked Questions page to the website which addresses most of the questions we get throughout the year.

 Marin Independent Journal Coverage: Once again, the Marin Independent Journal has complete coverage of the Dipsea Race in print and on its Web site, www.marinij.com. On race day, check the site for complete results, a photo slideshow and up-to-the-minute commentary and analysis from Mill Valley, Stinson Beach and all points in between.

 Past Race Info Now Available: Ever wonder how fast you need to run to qualify for Invitational? Or how far out of your grasp one of those spiffy black shirts are? Or perhaps you just want to find out how "elite" a Dipsea finisher really is... Well, your prayers have been answered, as we've added a table of historical times to the Previous Races page.

 Check back for more news about Dipsea Race events! |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– When it comes to metaphors, John Branch has the perfect one to describe the annual Dipsea trail-running race: "It is like unloading a zoo’s worth of animals in reverse order of mobility and releasing the cheetahs at the end." That's just one quirk of the 7.4-mile Stinson Beach, California, race, which Branch doesn't just delve into for the New York Times: The 50-year-old actually gave it a try. Held since 1905, it's thought to be the country's second-oldest race behind the Boston Marathon, and it has two highly distinctive features. One is the course, which is treacherously steep, involves nearly 700 stairs to climb in the first mile alone, and allows for shortcuts. The other is that handicapping, which places children and the most elderly runners at the front of the pack; at the rear are men ages 19-30. In the middle are runners distributed "by a complex algorithm of gender and age" now handled by an MIT-educated engineer, with waves released every minute for 25 minutes. That's allowed an 8-year-old girl and 72-year-old man to win the June race in recent years. The winner of the 2017 race was a 46-year-old woman named Chris Lundy. There's a heck of a lot of passing involved, and by extension, "a lot of touching, hands on sweaty backs and shoulders, to keep in control." As for Branch, he started out six minutes before the young male runners. Read his full piece to find out where he finished, how many people he managed to pass, and how Lundy did this year.


Article:

Eydie Gormé Dies, Singing Legend Was 84

 A Gift for Languages and for Singing

 Everett

 A Son Who Predeceased Her

 Concert and recording superstar Eydie Gormé, who – performing everything from ballads to bossa nova with singing partner and husband Steve Lawrence – made an indelible impression on American audiences during the swingin' '60s, died Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas, her spokesman, Howard Bragman, tells PEOPLE. She was 84."Legendary singer and performer Eydie Gorme passed away peacefully today at Sunrise Hospital following a brief illness," Bragman said in a statement. "She was surrounded by her husband, son and other loved ones at the time of her death."In his own statement, Steve Lawrence said: "Eydie has been my partner on stage and in life for more than 55 years. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing."He added: "While my personal loss is unimaginable, the world has lost one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time."A favorite on The Ed Sullivan Show, in showrooms in the Catskills and in Las Vegas – where they married on Dec. 29, 1957, and later took up permanent residence – as well as on stages, including Carnegie Hall, Steve and Eydie, as they were known, sang popular hits of the day, including Broadway standards, and exchanged pointed personal banter – all of which their audiences ate up.Born in the Bronx to a tailor originally from Sicily and a mother from Turkey, Gormé was a Sephardic Jew whose real name was Edith Gormezano. Spanish was spoken in the home, while at William Howard Taft High School she became the Taft Swing Band's lead female vocalist.Her gift for languages helped land her a job as a translator at the United Nations shortly after high-school graduation, and her mellifluous voice soon got her an audition with Tex Beneke's Big Band. A year's tour followed, as did a contract with Coral Records.She met Lawrence, a cantor's son (his original surname was Leibowitz), in September 1953 on Steve Allen's Tonight show. Booked for two weeks as the program's vocalist, she ended up staying five years. Lawrence was also a regular on the show, and the two were often paired in musical numbers and comic sketches.Once married, in 1958 they had their own summer TV show, which was canceled after the one season because Lawrence was drafted into the Army. Gormé then performed in nightclubs around Washington, D.C., where he was stationed, and after his discharge in 1960, the "Steve and Eydie" act was born, as was their legend.So accustomed were the two to appearing together, that when Lawrence did a show by himself in 2009 – Gormé had retired and took up blogging on her and her husband's website – he told Newsday that it was strange. "It's also about the first time in 50 years I'll be able to finish a sentence without being interrupted."Not that they didn't have successes on their own. In 1962, Lawrence had his great hit, "Go Away Little Girl." A year later, Gormé scored on the Billboard charts with "Blame It on the Bossa Nova." The bouncy number made her an international star, and she became a Latin crossover artist when she began singing in Spanish the following year.Gormé and Lawrence had two sons: David, a composer, and Michael, who died in 1986, at 23, from an undiagnosed heart condition. Steve and David Lawrence survive her, as does a granddaughter and generations of fans. "Services are pending and will be private," said Bragman."A prolific 93 albums, 12 Emmys, 2 Grammys and innumerable national tours later, they're still singing together," The New York Times reported in 2004, when the two headliners performed to an appreciative crowd in Westbury, Long Island.The newspaper added: "At the end of a show that lasted nearly three hours, Ms. Gormé's sign-off, 'God bless us all,' prompted a standing ovation." ||||| Eydie Gorme, the popular nightclub vocalist and half of the longtime musical partnership Steve & Eydie, died in a Las Vegas hospital Saturday after an undisclosed illness. She was 84 years old.

 Together with her husband, Steve Lawrence, Gorme was known for a breezy, easy listening style that merged well with the adult contemporary pop sound of the time. As a solo performer, she performed the Grammy-nominated 1963 hit "Blame It on the Bossa Nova," which was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (listen below).

 Gorme -- who was born to Sephardic Jewish parents in New York City -- also earned fame for Spanish language recordings, including the 1964 collection of standards "Amor," which was recorded with the Mexican group Trio los Panchos.

 Gorme's big break happened as she joined the cast of Steve Allen's New York television show in 1953, which is where she first began working with Lawrence in musical and comedy segments. The collaboration continued as Allen's show became "The Tonight Show," and she and Lawrence married in 1957.

 Eventually billed as Steve and Eydie, the duo won a Grammy in 1960 for best performance by a vocal group and became known for a repertoire of nightclub-ready standards that included songs by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hammerstein. The duo continued to perform together for decades, up until Gorme's retirement from performing in 2009.

 Gorme is survived by her husband; her son, David; and a granddaughter.

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 Twitter: @chrisbarton |||||
What is a summary?

– Eydie Gorme, the fairer half of the Steve and Eydie husband-wife nightclub act whose career spanned half a century, died yesterday in Las Vegas of an undisclosed "brief illness," reports People. She was 84. Calling his loss "unimaginable," husband Steve Lawrence said in a statement that "the world has lost one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time. Eydie has been my partner on stage and in life for more than 55 years. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing." The couple, who wed in 1957, were a favorite of the Ed Sullivan Show and the Tonight Show, as well as a staple on stages from New York to Vegas. Gorme, the daughter of Sephardic Jews with a flair for languages, went on to some Spanish-language success on her own, notes the LA Times. A solo number, "Blame It on the Bossa Nova," hit the Billboard charts in 1963. She retired in 2009, at which time Lawrence remarked how strange it was to perform solo, calling it "the first time in 50 years I'll be able to finish a sentence without being interrupted."


“Justine didn’t have to die.”

 Those were the first public words from Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau on Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian woman who was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer responding to a 911 call by Damond herself.

 “Based on the publicly released information from BCA, this should not have happened,” Harteau told reporters Thursday evening, referring to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the shooting at the request of Minneapolis police.

 The publicly released information isn’t too detailed.

 Damond had called 911 twice shortly before 11:30 p.m. to report what she believed might be a woman being raped in the alley behind her house in south Minneapolis. Officer Matthew Harrity drove his squad vehicle with the lights off, as he and Officer Mohamed Noor headed down the alley behind the 5000 block of Washburn Avenue South.

 According to what Harrity told BCA investigators, there was a loud noise and then Damond approached Harrity’s side of the vehicle. Noor opened fire across Harrity and through the driver’s side window, fatally striking Damond. She was unarmed.

 That was enough for Harteau.

 Harteau acknowledged it was rare for a chief to speak so strongly so early in an investigation into an officer’s conduct.

 “Rare, but each situation is different, and I can certainly speak on what the public knows,” she said. “The death of Justine should not have happened.”

 Harteau’s remarks came so many days after the shooting because she was on vacation, backpacking in what she called a “remote” mountainous area with only sporadic cellphone coverage.

 “For a chief, this is a nightmare, not only to have an event like this occur but to not be here,” she said in response to repeated questions from several reporters. She added: “But I assure everyone in this community that there wasn’t anything that didn’t get done.”

 She said the impact of the shooting, which has drawn international attention, particularly from Australia, has not been lost on her.

 “This has had a negative impact on the trust we’ve built,” she said.

 More than once, Harteau implied that blame should fall squarely on Noor. “We are talking about one individual’s actions,” she said.

 Harteau said she had spoken with Damond’s family and promised them “justice.”

 Noor has expressed sympathy through an attorney but has refused to speak with BCA investigators — his constitutional right. However, he could face discipline or even lose his job if he refuses to speak with Minneapolis police internal affairs investigators.

 Harteau said she hopes Noor will talk.

 “I would prefer Officer Noor would speak, whether it be to our internal process or the BCA,” she said. “There are questions that need to be answered.” ||||| Video (01:55) : In her first public remarks since returning from a hiking trip in Colorado Thursday, Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau condemned the actions of officer Mohamed Noor.

 In her first public appearance since a Minneapolis police officer shot and killed Justine Damond, Chief Janeé Harteau said the department will work on regaining the public’s trust, acknowledging that “Justine didn’t have to die.”

 The shooting and any possible misconduct are still under investigation by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but Harteau repeated several times at a news conference Thursday that the death was unnecessary and the officers should have turned on their body cameras, casting the shooting by officer Mohamed Noor as “one individual’s actions” and not reflective of the department.

 “Based on the publicly released information from the BCA, this should not have happened,” Harteau said, referencing a preliminary investigative report released earlier in the week. “On our squad cars you will find the words ‘To protect with courage and serve with compassion.’ This did not happen.”

 “I believe the actions in question go against who we are as a department, how we train and the expectations we have for our officers,” she continued. “These were the actions and judgments of one individual.”

 Harteau stopped short of calling the shooting was legally unjustified, saying “that’ll be part of the criminal investigation.”

 The brief but expansive news conference gave no more information as to why Noor shot Damond after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault last Saturday in south Minneapolis. The death of the 40-year-old spiritual teacher, who was engaged to be married, drew international attention and widespread mourning. In an interview Thursday, Mayor Betsy Hodges also reiterated calls to reform the city’s body camera policy.

 Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau made her first remarks Thursday since the high-profile shooting death of Justine Damond. Behind Harteau was Assistant Chief Medaria Arradondo.

 Harteau’s news conference, attended by several members of the Australian media, spanned from Noor’s training to why Harteau had been absent from public eye since the shooting. Harteau said she did not know Noor well, and had only spoken to him in passing, but that he “absolutely” performed well in his training. She dismissed claims from critics such as former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who on Wednesday called Noor, who is Somali-American, “an affirmative action hire.” “This is about an individual officer’s actions. It is not about race or ethnicity,” Harteau said. “We have a very robust training and hiring process. This officer completed that training very well, just like every officer. He was very suited to be on the street.”

 Harteau emphatically maintained that based on what she knows, both officers body cameras should have been running. Plans are in place to enhance the current policy for when they should be on — and that’s in multiple scenarios, she said, “Certainly when you’re going to have interaction when you’re dispatched to a call.”

 However, she said the program is only eight months old, so “It’s not second nature for officers to put those cameras on yet.”

 Harteau said she spoke with Damond’s fiancé, Don Damond, who told her he worried the shooting would send a message to the community that it’s unsafe to call 911.

 “Although disheartening, I understand the fear and why it exists,” she said. “This has had a negative impact on the community trust we’ve built. Moving forward, we will work toward regaining the trust with everything we do.”

 Harteau said she wishes Noor would reconsider his decision to refuse to be interviewed by investigators, because “there are questions that need to be answered and he is the only one that has those answers.”

 Noor’s partner that night, Matthew Harrity, told investigators that as he was driving in an alley he was startled by a loud sound near their squad, according to a BCA report released Tuesday.

 Damond approached the driver’s side window of the squad car “immediately afterward,” according to the BCA. Noor shot from the passenger seat, across his partner and through the window, striking Damond in the abdomen. She died at the scene 20 minutes later.

 Asked about firing the shot from inside the squad, Harteau was succinct: “That’s not how we train.”

 The BCA has declined to provide any additional information into the investigation. A spokesman for the Hennepin County attorney’s office said Thursday that the BCA has not provided a timeline for when the investigation will be completed.

 Harteau has been out of town since the shooting, and she said Thursday she was backpacking in remote mountains on a personal trip, but receiving briefings.

 Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges expressed similar sentiments to Harteau Thursday, saying that the fatal police shooting of Justine Damond should not have happened — and that the lack of body camera footage from the incident is unacceptable.

 “Given the facts that we know that the investigators have given us, those body cameras should have been on,” Hodges said in an interview. “Why weren’t they?”

 Hodges said she expects the police department “to make any and all changes needed to our policy so that we can be sure we will have bodycam footage when we need it,” and to take the events surrounding Saturday’s shooting into consideration when making those changes.

 Earlier this week, Damond’s family hired Twin Cities attorney Robert Bennett, who is known for working on high-profile police misconduct cases. He recently represented Philando Castile’s mother in a lawsuit, settled for $3 million, over the police shooting death of her son.

 Bennett said Damond’s relatives are seeking a transparent investigation, body camera policy reform and changes in how officers are trained and selected. He added that they also want swift discipline — including possible termination — for Noor.

 Following the criminal investigation, Bennett said it is likely Damond’s family here and in Australia will consider a lawsuit.

 “I can’t conceive the circumstances where they wouldn’t,” he said.

 Staff writers Hannah Covington, Brandon Stahl and Miguel Otárola contributed to this report. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– "Justine didn't have to die," Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau said Thursday in her first public comments on the shooting of an Australian bride-to-be who had called 911 to report hearing a possible sexual assault. The chief described the fatal shooting as "unnecessary" and said she had spoken to the family of Justine Damond and promised them justice. Harteau recently returned to the city after a vacation backpacking in a remote area. "For a chief, this is a nightmare, not only to have an event like this occur but to not be here,” she said, per the Pioneer Press. "But I assure everyone in this community that there wasn’t anything that didn’t get done." Harteau said the actions of officer Mohamed Noor, who shot Damond when she approached a squad car, went against "how we train and the expectations we have for our officers." But she rejected former Rep. Michele Bachmann's claim that the Somali-American officer was an "affirmative action hire," the Star Tribune reports. "This is about an individual officer’s actions. It is not about race or ethnicity," the chief said. "We have a very robust training and hiring process. This officer completed that training very well, just like every officer." She did not provide further details on the shooting, but said she hopes Noor will start talking to investigators. (Here's why Noor doesn't have to ever talk to them.)