Top Local News Stories for Devine, Texas.

Top San Antonio Area Local News Stories

Anti-gay beating victim speaks out

The victim of a vicious beating by a gang of men shouting anti-gay slurs said Wednesday that he wants his attackers to face justice. Brandon White, 20, spoke out for the first time at a news conference in Atlanta. He said he should never have to worry about being assaulted just because he is a gay man. "If a straight person can walk to the store, I should be able to do the same thing," he said. "I could have died that day. They are monsters." A video circulated online shows three men punching and kicking White after he stepped out of the JVC Grocery and Deli in southwest Atlanta's Pittsburgh neighborhood. The men, believed to be members of a gang called Jack City, yelled: "No f----ts in Jack City." The store's surveillance video shows White, dressed in a purple shirt and black jeans with a cell phone to his left ear, exit the store along with another man. As soon as they step outside, White is accosted by his attackers. The surveillance video captured eight men standing around watching, two of them with video cameras in hand. One man lunges at White with a tire in his hands. Atlanta police said the incident occurred February 4. White said he did not report it right away because he did not want to draw attention to himself. He could not even bring himself to watch the video at first, he was so humiliated and embarrassed. The video was released on YouTube and WorldHipHop.com, and was posted on The Smoking Gun. When it went viral, White decided to talk to the police. "I feel I was violated," he said. "The scars run deeper than anyone will know. The physical pain, I can get over that. My thing is: Who's to say they won't come after me again? Who's to say they won't kill me?" FBI agents are also investigating the case to determine whether it meets criteria for prosecution under the federal hate crimes statute. U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said her office is looking into potential civil rights violations based on sexual orientation. Georgia does not have a state hate crimes statute. "The actions depicted in the video are appalling and unacceptable in our community, and we encourage anyone with information about this video to contact the FBI or Atlanta Police," Yates said. Enraged gay rights activists vowed that justice would be served, and residents appealed for expanded police presence in their community. Devon Barrington Ward of Change Atlanta said the Jack City gang has no place in the Pittsburgh neighborhood. "When I realized this was taking place in my own backyard, it was a gut-wrenching feeling," Ward said at Wednesday's news conference. "My brother was assaulted, so that means I was assaulted." Ward said tougher laws are needed to make victims like White feel empowered to come forward. White's attackers, Ward said, are "cowards" who will be caught. Pittsburgh community residents said the corner where White was attacked has been the scene of other acts of violence. They called for the JVC store to be shut down. "Pittsburgh is not Jack City," said LaShawn M. Hoffman, head of the Pittsburgh Community Improvement Association. He said he is alarmed by the fact that no one on that corner thought to call police while White was being beaten. "This is not the norm for our neighborhood," he said. Last year, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs released a study that showed that hate crimes committed against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and HIV-affected people were on the rise in America. In 2010, the coalition reported a 13% rise in LGBT hate crimes and documented 27 murders, a 23% increase from 2009. State Rep. Simone Bell, who is openly gay, told WSB she hopes this case will pave the way for anti-hate crime legislation in Georgia.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:54:10 GMT

N.Y. elementary school aide accused of making child porn

A New York teacher's aide previously accused of distributing child pornography has been arrested again, this time on a charge of making such pornography, possibly on school grounds. Taleek Brooks, 40, had been employed at Weeksville Elementary School in Brooklyn since 1995 and volunteered at an after-school program there with the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club. The Department of Education had suspended him without pay after learning of the initial arrest on January 13, when the FBI charged him with distributing child pornography. He was rearrested Tuesday and is being held without bail. According to the complaint, the FBI found photos and videos showing Brooks spanking a naked boy inside a classroom and touching another boy. Last month, FBI agents searched Brooks' home and discovered more than a thousand lewd photographs and videos, authorities said. They said Brooks told them he had been collecting the material for at least seven years. At the time, they said, Brooks admitted that he viewed and traded child pornography on daily basis. During the search, FBI agents seized a computer and two hard drives containing the material, authorities said. Brooks was scheduled to appear in court on the initial charge until investigators found evidence that some of the material was made by Brooks, they said. Dennis M. Walcott, chancellor of New York City schools, met with Weeksville's principal and staff after the news of the second arrest. "As a chancellor, and as a father, I am horrified and disgusted at the charges we learned today from the FBI," Walcott said in a written statement. "Our paramount concern is for the safety of our students, and we are cooperating fully with the federal authorities as they continue their investigation." The school sent a letter home with the children Tuesday, informing parents that a crisis team would be at the school Wednesday and an FBI hotline had been set up for people who want to offer information. The FBI was at the school on Wednesday trying to identify the victims and determine if the videos were shot inside the school. Jim Margolin, a spokesman for FBI, said children were not being interviewed at that time.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:50:39 GMT

Lady Gaga launches social site, 'Little Monsters'

Lady Gaga is already the reigning queen of Twitter, with her nearly 19 million followers topping those of anyone else on the site. Now, she's launching a site of her own. Little Monsters, now in invite-only beta testing, is the pop princess's effort at creating a network built around her fan base -- which she's dubbed the aforementioned "monsters." An early look at the site suggests it will be designed a lot like Pinterest, the fast-emerging mobile app that lets users "pin" locations and items that they like. Gaga's site also will emphasize sharing and creating photos and videos, as well as letting other users promote content from others that they like (something similar to sites like Reddit and Digg). The site is the first project by Backplane, the startup where Lady Gaga's manager, Troy Carter, is one of four founders. The company will focus on online community-building. "Backplane is about bringing together communities and Gaga's community just so happens to be the community we're using to learn about proper functionality," CEO Matt Michelsen said to Mashable, a CNN content partner. "We think we can really change the world." When other sites are launched, Backplane allows user to switch back and forth among as many as they want. Even with Gaga's massive social-media presence (she was the first artist to hit 1 billion YouTube video views), it remains an open question whether a social site devoted almost exclusively to her fans will have a big enough user base to fly. At The Frisky, another CNN content partner, Tiffanie Drayton imagines chat on the site this way: Little Monster 1: "Lady Gaga sure knows how to rock a bad-ass meat dress." Little Monster 2: "I think that getup must have smelled horrible." LittleMonsters.com Administrator: "Lady Gaga always smells like roses!" (squishes Little Monster 2) "Carry on with the idolatry you little monsters!" What do you think? Does this site have a chance?

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:41:17 GMT

Marilyn Monroe 'officially' joins Twitter

Add one more venue where the legend of Marilyn Monroe lives and her voice beckons: Twitter. As of Tuesday night, @MarilynMonroe became a verified account on Twitter. With a turquoise check mark next to its Twitter handle, the social media firm officially designated @marilynmonroe as the official voice of the estate of the actress and icon. Twitter did not return calls or emails for comment, but according to its website: "The goal of [the verification] program is to limit user confusion by making it easier to identify authentic accounts on Twitter." Celebrities and politicians are among those verified on Twitter. The social media firm shows Barack and Michele Obama's verified accounts as examples on its explanatory page. Who is Twitter's Marilyn? 18 months ago, a marketing firm specializing in intellectual property, Authentic Brands Group, purchased the rights to all things Marilyn Monroe for a reported $20 million to $30 million. Authentic Brands Group declined to comment on the purchase price. "We picked the person who handles our social media to tweet for the estate now," said Nick Woodhouse, chief marketing officer at Authentic Brands Group. "Over the next few months, we'll figure out our strategy to make sure we're properly representing who Marilyn is." Marilyn Monroe's Twitter account has already added about 3,000 followers, but at fewer than 14,000, Monroe's posthumous Twitter renown is minimal. With about 153 tweets, channeling Monroe's signature flair proves challenging on Twitter. The feed is sprinkled with Marilyn Monroe quotes: "We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle." reads one. The feed includes references to GE-owned NBC's new show Smash in which the debut episode is centered around a proposed Marilyn Monroe musical, and Michelle Williams' new movie "My Week with Marilyn." The estates of Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson and the family of Bob Marley have also attained verification by Twitter. All three have an edge on Monroe's following with Presley at roughly 50,000 followers; Jackson holding about 600,000, and Marley at 150,000. George Harrison and Jimi Hendrix's self-dubbed "official" Twitter feeds haven't received the company's stamp of authenticity. Outside of Twitter, film icon Marilyn Monroe is building quite the social media following with nearly 2 million "likes" on her Facebook page. Authentic Brands Group is expecting that those likes and followers will prove lucrative. Since owning her estate, the fund has created licensing partnerships with luxury brands Dolce & Gabanna and Dior. "We'll be tweeting with other celebrities soon," said Woodhouse. "We're going to be aggressive about our social media strategy, because fans want her legacy to live on."

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:51:28 GMT

Infants, medical staff among dead in Syria

Four straight days of shelling and bombing by Syrian government forces into the besieged city of Homs have left residents cowering, afraid to escape and fearing for their lives as bodies lie in the streets, unable to be recovered. That's how activists in Homs described the situation Wednesday. One, identified only as Abu Rami, out of fear for his safety, said he hears explosions every few minutes from bombs launched by unseen forces outside the city limits. Not even infants or medical crews have been spared, he said, calling it "a huge crime against humanity." "They are shelling from a far distance," Abu Rami said. "They are using many kinds of weapons -- heavy weapons, anti-aircraft, they are using nail bombs." He said more than 60 people have been killed in Homs, including women and children and five infants who died at a hospital because the electricity was cut off. Medical conditions are worsening too, he said. "Yesterday they targeted the field hospital in Baba Amr (a Homs neighborhood) and they killed three doctors of this hospital," Abu Rami said. "We have a shortage of medical tools and medical supplies. "We have at this moment more than 100 wounded people. We can't rescue them or make for them any necessary assistance." Families who tried to escape from Baba Amr were captured by government forces and killed, he said. The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday the Syrian regime is attacking the wounded and the staff who treat them. "In Syria today, wounded patients and doctors are pursued, and risk torture and arrest at the hands of the security services," said Marie-Pierre Allie, president of Doctors Without Borders. "Medicine is being used as a weapon of persecution." Patients are using false names and doctors are giving false diagnoses to help elude security forces, who search for patients with wounds consistent with those sustained in protests or demonstrations, she said. CNN cannot independently confirm reports from either side in Syria because the government has restricted journalists' access to the country. Another activist in Homs, identified only as Danny also out of fear for his safety, told CNN via a satellite Internet connection that people are scared to leave their homes because of snipers -- and that if they venture out, they cling to walls or wind through alleys to avoid the gunfire. "I have lost more than 30 of my friends," Danny said. "Ten or 12 of them died right in front of me 'cause I couldn't take them to the hospital, because I couldn't move them from the street." He held up a rocket that he said landed on a house and a mortar bomb that he said hit another house and killed a 2-year-old. Danny said he is living in a house with about 20 others, armed with only two handguns. He said he is certain they will be tortured and killed if the Syrian army captures them, because he said he has seen bodies with signs of electrocution or even cut in pieces. He pleaded for international help. "We want someone to move," he said. "We are living like animals in our houses. We are scared." The Syrian government has said it is fighting armed gangs and terrorists in its crackdown, which has lasted 11 months. But the rebel Free Syrian Army is unable to fight back because government forces are striking from a distance, outside the city, Abu Rami told CNN. "Who's going to resist? You can't see anything, so there is not any armed resistance in these areas," he said. Similar scenes of indiscriminate shelling have been described by other activists who have spoken to CNN from Homs, which has become the epicenter of the anti-government protest movement in Syria and has suffered death and destruction because of it. "There is nonstop shelling," said Shakir, a Homs resident. "They are shelling us using tanks." "We cannot count the dead anymore. They want to finish us," said Mohammed Salih, another resident of Homs. He described loud explosions from shelling Wednesday that started at 5 a.m. Even at home, activists say, no one is safe. Government troops are moving from house to house by breaking through walls rather than venturing back onto the street, where they might face the Free Syrian Army, Danny told CNN. The Free Syrian Army includes soldiers who defected from government forces. But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group, said 20 of the dead were members of three "unarmed" families, killed when government forces stormed three homes in a neighborhood of Homs. The Syrian National Council, the major opposition umbrella group, repeated its call for outside intervention to halt the killing and lift the siege of cities like Homs. And Amnesty International called on Russia "and other countries with influence over Syria" to take action to end the assault on Homs, where they said the majority of the dead were unarmed civilians. In particular, Amnesty urged Moscow "to make it clear to the Syrian government, both publicly and in private, that the military assault on the city of Homs must end immediately." "The situation in Homs is critical, and is turning into a major humanitarian crisis. Russia has blocked international efforts to stop the massive human rights violations in Syria, stating that they have a better plan for resolving the crisis," Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary-general, said in a written statement Wednesday. Russia, which joined China in vetoing a proposed U.N. resolution aimed at stemming the crackdown, has stood by its Soviet-era ally. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov touted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's commitment to ending the violence during a visit to Damascus on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Vladmir Putin said Monday the situation is for the Syrians to resolve. "One cannot act like an elephant in a china shop. People should be allowed to decide their future themselves," Putin said. "The conflicting sides and people should decide their future themselves." Navi Pilay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged the international community Wednesday "to cut through the politics and take effective action to protect the Syrian population." "I am appalled by the Syrian government's willful assault on Homs and its use of artillery and other heavy weaponry in what appear to be indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas in the city," Navi Pillay said in a statement. "The failure of the Security Council to agree on firm collective action appears to have fueled the Syrian government's readiness to massacre its own people in an effort to crush dissent." Pillay said since the start of the brutal government crackdown on largely peaceful protesters, thousands of demonstrators and civilians have been killed, injured, detained or tortured. She said the acts may constitute crimes against humanity, punishable under international law. U.N. officials estimate 6,000 people have died since protests began nearly a year ago. The Local Coordination Committees, a network of opposition activists that organizes and documents protests, said at least 7,339 people have been killed.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:18:32 GMT

US cities broke warm weather records last month

Dogwood and daffodils are abloom across the South, a fact that's not really that unusual until you look at the calendar -- it's only the first week of February. The blossom confusion is due to the unusually warm conditions across that region and most of the rest of the United States, with the temperatures from last month making it the fourth warmest January in 117 years, the National Climatic Data Center reported Tuesday. Several cities across the United States shattered or tied their record high temperatures for the month. In the northern Plains, where it's usually very frigid this time of year, tulips are already sprouting in Iowa due to the warm weather. Iowa broke a 98-year-old record for the latest winter day reached without hitting a zero degree temperature, the National Weather Service said. The lowest temperature so far this season recorded at the Des Moines airport was 1 degree above zero. The unseasonably warm weather could spell disaster for these early bloomers. With several weeks of winter left on the calendar, killing frosts and freezes are still possible. If the temperature dips below freezing, the blooms will die and fall to the ground, not coming back until next year. If fruit trees bloom too early, a cold snap could kill the blossoms, preventing the trees from bearing fruit. However, the warm weather does have an upside -- it's reducing home heating costs, putting more money in consumers' pockets. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, inventories of natural gas in storage are at significant margins above previous years' levels. The abundance in storage inventories is the result of reduced natural gas consumption this year due to the warm temperatures this winter. Natural gas prices have come close to 10-year lows, the administration said. Many cities across the United States are also experiencing below-normal snowfall. January had the third-smallest snow cover on record for that month, according to Rutgers Global Snow Lab. So far this season, Boston has only recorded 7.8 inches of snow. The city's Department of Public Works has only spent $1.5 million of their $17.1 million allotted for snow removal for the entire season. This is great news for the city's budget, which went over its projected snow removal budget last winter. But will the warm temperatures persist through the rest of the season? Not necessarily. Some of the coldest Arctic outbreaks in the lower contiguous United States have occurred in February. One of the most infamous blizzards, 1993's "Storm of the Century," occurred during the first week of March. Don't let your guard down yet!

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:51:51 GMT

Homes in foreclosure decline by 130,000

Slowly, but surely, the foreclosure crisis seems to be abating. The number of homes in foreclosure shrunk by 130,000, or 8.4 percent, in 2011, according to a report from CoreLogic, an economic research firm. These are homes owned by borrowers who had slipped far behind on payments, forcing lenders to put them into the foreclosure process. The homes remain foreclosure inventory until they're sold -- either at auction or in a short sale, which is when a home is sold for less than the mortgage value -- or until homeowners are current again on payments. There are dual reasons for the inventory drop, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. "The pace at which properties are entering foreclosure is slowing," he said. "And servicers nationwide stepped up the rate at which they were able to process distressed assets." In recent years, homes have entered foreclosure more slowly because lenders are carefully scrutinizing applicants; only very low-risk borrowers get loans. That, plus a gradual improvement in the economy, means fewer borrowers are getting into trouble. Even borrowers in default are not going into the foreclosure process as quickly as they used to. They're being held up by a variety of judicial and regulatory constraints, according to Fleming. For one thing, the robo-signing issue, in which banks filed sloppy and sometimes improper paperwork, made lenders more cautious about getting their paperwork in order before beginning to process foreclosures. Once the banks do put homes into foreclosure, they're trying to speed them through it faster. One way they've done that is by encouraging short sales. Another is that they've stepped up their foreclosure prevention efforts -- often with the aid of numerous government programs such as Home Affordable Modification Program, which the government claims has helped a million Americans keep their homes. After foreclosures are completed and the homes are back in the hands of their lenders, the homes are being sold very quickly. "This is the first time in a year that REO sales (those of bank-owned properties) have outpaced completed foreclosures," said Fleming. In December 2011, there were 103 sales of bank-owned homes for every 100 homes in foreclosure inventory. That was up considerably from November 2010, when there were only 94 REO sales for every 100 in the foreclosure process. Florida has the dubious distinction of recording the highest foreclosure inventory in the nation in December, with more than 17 percent of homeowners seriously delinquent and nearly 12 percent of homes with mortgages in foreclosure inventory The inventory in Florida is bloated because, as in more than half of all the states, most foreclosures have to go through the courts. Courts have taken a much closer look at the cases coming before them, no longer taking the bank's word for everything.. Consequently, it takes a longer time to schedule an auction, which keeps many homes trapped in the foreclosure pipeline. A hard-hit state such as Nevada, which has had the highest incidence of delinquency in the nation but where most foreclosures do not go through he courts, posted a foreclosure inventory rate of less than half that of Florida.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:50:55 GMT

Poll: Obama leads GOP candidates in Virginia

President Barack Obama edged out Mitt Romney in a hypothetical general election match-up in Virginia, according to a new poll. It is the first time the president led the former Massachusetts governor in the Super Tuesday state among registered voters in a Quinnipiac survey during this election cycle. Obama captured 47% to Romney's 43%, a wider margin than the two percentage point difference in the December results. But Romney fared better than his GOP rivals in the likely swing state. Obama led Newt Gingrich 51% to 37%, Rick Santorum 49% to 41% and Ron Paul 47% to 40%. The Republican White House hopefuls will first face each other on March 6, when Romney is favored to capture the state's 36 Republican delegates. Gingrich and Santorum failed to qualify for the ballot and Romney bested Paul among likely GOP primary voters 68% to 19%. Sen. John McCain won the state's 2008 GOP primary with 50% of the vote to former Gov. Mike Huckabee's 40.7% and Paul's 4.5%. But then-Sen. Barack Obama went on to win the state in the general election with 52.63% of the vote to McCain's 46.44%. Wednesday's poll also indicated the Senate battle is still neck and neck with former Democratic governor and Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kaine capturing 45% support and former Republican governor and Sen. George Allen with 44% among likely voters. The poll questioned 1,544 registered voters between Feb. 1 and Feb. 6 with a sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The Republican primary results included 546 likely voters with a sampling error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:01:44 GMT

Santorum sweep changes GOP presidential race

Rick Santorum swept the three Republican presidential contests Tuesday in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado, reshaping the race and raising questions about frontrunner Mitt Romney's ability to attract broad conservative support. More importantly, the former Pennsylvania senator's trifecta halted Romney's momentum after the former Massachusetts governor had won the previous two contests and three of the first five prior to Tuesday. Colorado was the most competitive state of the day, with Santorum winning 40% of the vote to 35% for Romney, 13% for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 12% for Texas Rep. Ron Paul. After a night of returns trickling in and the lead shifting between Santorum and Romney, Colorado Republican Party chairman Ryan Call announced Santorum was the winner. In Minnesota, Santorum got 45% of the vote to 27% for Paul, 17% for Romney and 11% for Gingrich, with 88% of the total counted, according to the secretary of state. The victory in a state Romney won in his unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid was a strong statement by Santorum that he represents a major conservative challenge to both Romney and Gingrich, the former House speaker. However, a low turnout in all three races signaled possible dissatisfaction among Republican voters with the candidates. All the delegates available Tuesday came from the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses, while the Missouri primary was nonbinding with no delegates at stake. The two caucus states didn't officially award delegates Tuesday night -- that will happen down the road at district and state conventions -- but the news media, including CNN, will use them to make unofficial delegate count estimates. With 100% of the Missouri vote counted, Santorum had 55% to 25% for Romney and 12% for Paul, according to unofficial results. Gingrich didn't make the ballot in Missouri. Such a dominating victory by the conservative Santorum showed his appeal to Missouri's large blocs of evangelical and tea party supporters. "Conservatism is alive and well in Missouri and Minnesota," Santorum told cheering supporters outside St. Louis, Missouri, before the Colorado count had been completed. Wearing a presidential suit instead of his trademark sweater vest, Santorum boasted of his triumph over Romney, saying "we doubled him up" in both Missouri and Minnesota. He continued his criticism of Romney as a moderate who would be unable to defeat President Barack Obama in November. Santorum also unleashed a harsh assessment of Obama, engaging in a responsive exchange with the crowd that repeated how the president thinks he's smarter than the American people and tells them what to do instead of listening to them. In the GOP race, Santorum is competing with Gingrich for conservative support to try to slow the momentum of frontrunner Romney, who had won two straight contests and three of the five before Tuesday. His sweep of all three Tuesday contests bolstered Santorum's argument that he is the strongest conservative contender to challenge the more moderate Romney for the nomination and then Obama in the November election. "I don't stand here and claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney," Santorum declared. "I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama." In Denver, Romney congratulated Santorum for his good night before the Colorado result was known. Rather than continuing criticism of Santorum, Romney sounded conciliatory in saying Republicans would unite behind the eventual nominee and that he expected to be that candidate. "We are going to stand united as a party to defeat Barack Obama and restore the values that make America the greatest country on Earth," Romney said. Perhaps in response to Santorum's success, Romney struck a populist note by telling the crowd how his father never graduated from college but went on to head a business and become governor of Michigan. "For my dad, this was the land of opportunity," Romney said, later adding: "I refuse to believe America is just another place on earth with a map. We stand for freedom and hope and opportunity." Earlier, Romney's campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul responded to Santorum's Missouri victory by noting no delegates were at stake. Santorum had mounted the strongest campaign in the Show Me State. To Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chair from Florida, Tuesday's results showed an underlying weakness in Romney's candidacy. "What should have been a night where he began to consolidate Republican support instead has shown that Republicans are reluctant to get behind him," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "Republicans are giving the field of candidates another look, demonstrating that the more people get to know Mitt Romney, the less they like him. They know he'll say anything to get elected, and they don't want a candidate they can't trust." She also cited "the lack of enthusiasm and low turnout we're seeing in these contests," adding that "no candidate embodies that dissatisfaction more than Mitt Romney." In Missouri, a state official told CNN that the turnout would be "significantly lower than predicted." The secretary of state's office had estimated turnout would be 23%. Romney's campaign appeared to consider Colorado its best chance of victory Tuesday. He canceled stops in Minnesota scheduled for Monday to concentrate on Colorado, where he spent caucus night. Romney, who won big in the state's 2008 caucuses, has been working Colorado since last summer and arguably has the strongest structure in the state. However, his team tried to tamp down expectations Tuesday, releasing a memo acknowledging the possibility of a loss in one of the day's contests. "Of course, there is no way for any nominee to win first place in every single contest," wrote Romney's political director, Rich Beeson. "John McCain lost 19 states in 2008, and we expect our opponents to notch a few wins, too." Specifically, Romney's campaign signaled Monday that it considered Santorum as a major threat in Minnesota and Colorado. Santorum needed victories or an overall strong showing to prove the viability of his campaign. "I think we need to win in the sense that we need to perform very well," he told CNN's John King earlier Tuesday. "I think we're going to run ahead of Speaker Gingrich, at least, obviously (in) Missouri (where) he's not on the ballot. We feel very comfortable that we can run ahead of him in one and maybe both the other states, even potentially win one of those states." Paul, meanwhile, predicted his focus on the caucus states would yield results. He spent the past week stumping in Colorado and Minnesota and spent Tuesday night in Minnesota. "We're gonna win some delegates. Whether we come in one or two or three, I don't know exactly that," Paul said on CNN's "John King USA." "But we feel positive about moving along and picking up more delegates. We'll have to wait and see." Paul stressed his strength in the upcoming Maine caucuses on Saturday. "Nobody else is about to at this point jump ahead of Romney," Paul said. "But we think we're going to keep doing. We have a very good chance on what's happening up in Maine." Gingrich fared poorly Tuesday after getting a late start in Colorado and Minnesota, and failing to get on the ballot in Missouri. The former speaker is looking ahead to Super Tuesday on March 6 in what he hopes will be friendlier territory in his native Georgia and other conservative states. As part of that strategy, Gingrich spent Tuesday night in Ohio, one of the Super Tuesday states. In an interview with KOA Radio in Denver, Colorado, Gingrich said Romney's multimillion-dollar attack campaign against him has paved the way for Santorum to do well on Tuesday. "The guy who hasn't been attacked has gained some ground and has done a good job, worked very hard and so my prediction is when tonight's over between Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, the whole race will be muddled and Romney's role as the frontrunner will be deeply discounted as compared to where it was a week ago," said Gingrich, speaking from Ohio. After weeks of bitter campaigning in Florida and Nevada, the candidates have focused on Obama in recent days. Romney, Gingrich and Santorum criticized the president over the administration's new rules requiring all hospitals -- including those run by the Catholic church -- to provide workers health insurance that covers contraception, including sterilization, which the church opposes. Obama's re-election campaign has pushed back on Romney's criticism, pointing to his refusal when governor of Massachusetts to exempt Catholic hospitals from providing emergency contraception to rape victims. "Mitt Romney continues to show that he will do or say anything to get elected," Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said. "He is even attacking the president for providing women with the same access to contraception and preventive health care services that he did as governor of Massachusetts. And now, in an effort to pander to the most conservative parts of the Republican base, he has embraced the extreme personhood amendment, which would ban many forms of birth control, including birth control pills. "This sends a clear message to women across America," Smith added. "Mitt Romney can't be trusted and his hypocrisy knows no bounds." Gingrich also pounced on Romney's stance Tuesday, telling an Ohio crowd: "The fact is Governor Romney insisted that Catholic hospitals give out abortion pills against their religious belief when he was governor. So you have a very similar pattern again. Over and over you get the same pattern. And I think a Massachusetts moderate finds it very hard to draw a sharp contrast with someone who is an Illinois radical." Whether Paul, Gingrich, or Santorum will have the financial resources to compete with Romney over the long haul remains an open question. Obama's campaign, however, remains well-financed. In a major development for the general election, the president's re-election team encouraged donors Monday night to start raising money for a Democratic super PAC -- a reversal of his previous stance on the issue. Obama has been an outspoken critic of current campaign financing laws, most notably the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that allowed the creation of super PACs. Until now he has kept his distance from the Democratic group, Priorities USA Action, which has lagged behind its Republican counterparts in fundraising. "The president's views ... haven't changed," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday. "He strongly opposed" the Supreme Court ruling in 2010 and "holds those views today." But "the rules are what they are," Carney added. The president's campaign "cannot compete effectively if there are two sets of rules," and the Democrats "cannot unilaterally disarm."

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:01:38 GMT

Santorum claims strong fundraising after Tuesday wins

Fresh off of his Tuesday night wins in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said Wednesday he has the momentum and fundraising to propel him towards success on Super Tuesday. "We're doing very, very well raising money," Santorum said on CNN's "Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien." "I think last night we raised a quarter of a million dollars online. So we're doing really well and we feel like going forward we're going to have the money we need to make the case we want to make." He said his campaign, whose cash intake has lagged behind that of his rivals, just experienced the "best two weeks that we've had of the campaign, fundraising-wise." Those resources will help Santorum compete as the campaign rolls next to Michigan, where delegates are allocated proportionally, and Arizona, which is winner-take-all. After those primaries and Washington state's caucuses on March 3, over 400 delegates are up for grabs on Super Tuesday. CNN delegate estimates showed Santorum moving to third place in the delegate count as of Wednesday morning. "We're heading to Michigan; we're really excited about that. We're also heading to Ohio. Super Tuesday is going to be a very, very big day for us," he said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We think Michigan is a great place for us to plant our flag and talk about jobs and manufacturing and giving opportunities for everybody in America to rise." Michigan has a significant population of evangelical voters, and the proportional allocation could help second, third, or fourth-place finishing candidates stack up the 1144 delegates to win the nomination. Mitt Romney was born in Michigan and his father was the state's governor. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, outraised Santorum by a 25-to-1 margin in the fourth quarter of 2011, though Santorum's fundraising picked up in January. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich brought in more than double Santorum's haul that quarter. Although no delegates were tied to Missouri's primary, and the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses will not directly correlate to delegate allocation, Santorum said the three wins -- combined with his first victory in Iowa -- gives him momentum as the race moves towards Super Tuesday in early March. "Iowa was a non-binding caucus too and that turned out to be a pretty important race and everybody participates in that every year, every presidential election year," Santorum said on CNN. "We definitely are the campaign right now with the momentum, the enthusiasm on the ground. Santorum said he hopes to pick up additional delegates through the apportioning process, which takes place at various conventions in the spring. He pointed to his wins as evidence that his message is resonating, despite having a smaller financial pool. "If money made the difference, we wouldn't have won four primaries so far," he said.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:36:25 GMT

Safety checks ordered for all Airbus A380 airplanes

All Airbus A380 airplanes must be checked for cracks in the wings, the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered Wednesday. The order does not mean the planes must be grounded, said Dominique Fouda, a spokesman for the aviation agency. "They can fly, they just have to be checked within the time frame," he said. It expands an existing order that the 20 oldest A380s must be checked for cracks, Fouda said, adding, "Now with the second directive we are including the whole fleet." Planes that have completed more than 1,384 takeoffs and landings must be inspected within three weeks of February 13, the agency ordered. Those that have completed between 1,216 and 1,383 flight cycles have six weeks, and planes that have performed fewer than 1,216 cycles must be examined before they reach 1,300 cycles. If cracks are found, the airline must contact Airbus for instructions, the agency said. There are 68 A380 planes in operation, the company says on its website, being flown by Air France, China Southern, Emirates, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qantas and Singapore Airlines. A further 185 planes have been ordered, Airbus says. Wednesday's order is not because any new cracks have been found, Fouda said, but is a normal follow-up to the original directive issued three weeks ago. Fouda called the directives an interim measure, saying a long-term fix is "now being worked on with Airbus." He said it should be in place by the summer.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:11:28 GMT

Prosecutors want Sandusky to stay inside

A judge should require Jerry Sandusky to stay indoors during his house arrest because neighbors fear for the safety of children at a nearby elementary school, prosecutors said. "He should be forbidden to be outside his home in proximity to a school playground, where his presence alarms teachers and members of the public," Pennsylvania's attorney general said in a motion filed this week. Sandusky has been under house arrest since December. The former Penn State assistant football coach is accused of sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Neighbors have expressed "grave concerns" about seeing Sandusky repeatedly outside his house, which borders a playground, prosecutors said. Prosecutors Tuesday also blasted Jerry Sandusky's recent request to see his grandchildren, saying the former Penn State assistant football coach should not be allowed to treat his house arrest like "a house party." "The public has concerns for the safety of the community under the present conditions. Those concerns will only multiply if (he is) granted more privileges," prosecutors said. Sandusky asked a judge two weeks ago to modify the terms of his bail so he could see his grandchildren or contact them via phone. His lawyer argued that Sandusky's "11 minor grandchildren ... have expressed their sadness to their parents about not being able to visit or talk" with him, court documents said. Prosecutors this week urged a judge not to allow the visits, arguing that Sandusky's home is not safe for children, according to court documents. Prosecutors also asked that Sandusky prove that his grandchildren or their parents want these visits. "Jill Thomas, ex-wife of Sandusky's son, Matthew Sandusky, strenuously objects to her three minor children having any contact whatsoever with Sandusky," prosecutors said. Along with being allowed to contact his grandchildren, Sandusky also asked the judge to allow him to have his friends visit his home, and that he be allowed to travel to meet with his attorney and private investigators working on his case. That request also drew a strong response from prosecutors. "(Sandusky) was fortunate to be granted house arrest when he is alleged to have committed at least 52 sexual offenses against innocent children," prosecutors said in court motions. "He has been granted the privilege of being confined in his home, which is spacious and private and where he can eat food of his own preference and sleep in his bed at night. House arrest is not meant to be a house party." A hearing on this issue is set for Friday at a Pennsylvania courthouse, authorities said.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:50:19 GMT

102-Year-old sisters named world's oldest twins

Guinness World Records announced that after an exhaustive search, Edith Ritchie and Evelyn "Evie" Middleton have officially been recognized as the world's oldest living twins. In a news release, GWR said the pair, from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, celebrated their 102nd birthday in November 2011. The twins, whose maiden name was Rennie, were born on a farm near Newburgh on Nov. 15, 1909, when King Edward VII was on the throne. Although not identical, their mother always dressed them exactly the same. After leaving school, they worked on farms before leaving to start their own families, according to the release. Evelyn married William Middleton and had four children, 12 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren. Edith married Nathaniel Ritchie and had four children, nine grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, and three-great-great grandchildren. GWR said the sisters have remained close throughout their life and now live together at Bonnyton House care home in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Neither of the pair has ever traveled out of the UK. When asked her secret to a long life, Edith said "simple living, hard work and a good husband." The sisters were verified as being the new holders of the record after providing the necessary birth certificate and supplementary evidence needed by GWR for verification. They succeed previous holders Lily Millward and Ena Pugh who were born on Jan. 4, 1910.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:49:21 GMT

Police: Drunk dad picks up son from jail

A father in suburban Philadelphia was arrested after police said he drove drunk to pick up his son who had been arrested on DUI charges. Timothy Smith arrived at the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Media, Penn., at about 10:45 p.m. Saturday and told troopers that he was there to pick up his son, who had been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, the Philadelphia Daily News reported. However, troopers took one whiff of Smith and deduced that he had been imbibing himself, according to the Daily News. Police arrested Smith on DUI charges and put him in jail with his son. It's unknown who picked the two of them up.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:35:09 GMT

Drone strike kills ten near Afghan border

Ten people were killed Wednesday when a suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles at an insurgent hideout in Pakistan's northwest tribal region, three security officials said. The early morning attack took place 10 kilometers east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the news media on the matter. North Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border and widely believed to be a haven for the Haqqani network and other militant groups that are fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan. The attack Wednesday morning was the fourth suspected U.S. drone strike on Pakistani soil this year, all of them targeting locations in North Waziristan. There has been a sharp drop in the number of drone attacks in Pakistan since a NATO airstrike in November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, driving U.S.- Pakistan relations to a low point. The Pakistani government shut down the two NATO supply routes in the country after the attack and has since been reviewing its partnership with the United States.

Published: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:27:47 GMT

DevineTexas.com HOTELS • REAL ESTATE • JOBS