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Atlanta Jews remember 1958 bomb
ATLANTA -- The bombing of a prominent Atlanta synagogue in 1958 claimed no lives, but the community outrage that it prompted helped galvanize the city's nervous Jewish community to embrace the civil rights movement.
Members of The Temple gathered Sunday for the blast's 50th anniversary, recalling its terrifying aftermath and the way it changed their congregation's mission to promote racial equality.
"What could have been a terribly tragic event had the effect of making the congregation more confident, and more willing to get involved in controversial events," said Ellen Rafshoon, who curated an exhibit on the bombing at Emory University's rare manuscripts library.
ATF director's confirmation blocked
BOSTON -- For more than two years, U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan has been consumed by the latest entry on his resume: acting chief of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Republican has been balancing both jobs while dealing with opposition to his ATF confirmation from members of his own party in the Senate. Now, with the presidential election a month away and Congress adjourned, Sullivan, 54, could soon end up unemployed.
"I am going to remain focused on these two positions until the time I decide or somebody else decides it's time for me to move on to something else," he told The Associated Press. "At that point in time, I will be looking for some level of employment."
With Congress in recess, there's virtually no chance Sullivan will be confirmed before the election. For now, he's overseeing an ATF staff of 5,100 with no pay except for a $3,150 per month housing stipend for his apartment in Washington. He draws his $149,000 annual salary for serving as U.S. attorney, a job he does mainly by phone, e-mail and weekly visits to the state.
2nd out-of-state teen dropped in Neb.
OMAHA, Neb. -- A Michigan mother drove roughly 12 hours to Omaha, so she could abandon her 13-year-old son at a hospital under the state's unique safe-haven law, Nebraska officials said Monday.
The boy from the Detroit area is the second teenager from outside Nebraska and 18th child overall abandoned in the state since the law took effect in July.
"I certainly recognize and can commiserate and empathize with families across our state and across the country who are obviously struggling with parenting issues, but this is not the appropriate way of dealing with them, whether you're in Nebraska or whether you're in another state," said Todd Landry, who heads the state's Department of Health and Human Services' division of children and family services.
There was no sign the boy was in immediate danger before he was abandoned, but an investigation into the boy's situation was still continuing, Landry said.
The boy has been placed in an emergency shelter. Landry said the family doesn't appear to have ties to Nebraska and he wasn't sure if the family had sought help in Michigan first.
State officials have met with the boy's mother, Landry said, but wouldn't immediately address her reasons for leaving her son.
He said he believed the boy's parents were married but wasn't sure if the father agreed to the decision.
"Regardless of why or how, our focus remains on the safety of the child," he said.
Houston TV station helicopter crashes, 2 dead
HOUSTON -- A pilot and television camera operator died Monday when their helicopter crashed on the way to cover a story.
KTRK, an affiliate of national TV network ABC, reported Monday that the two were on their way to a shooting scene when the news station's helicopter crashed in a state forest on the northern edge of Houston's suburbs.
Local stations showed video of burning trees and a pile of debris made up of pieces of the helicopter.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. |
