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DOT, Delta Reach Settlement Regarding Discrimination Against Passengers The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced a consent order reflecting an agreement with Delta Air Lines regarding treatment of certain air travelers who are or were perceived to be of Arab, Middle Eastern or Southeast Asian descent and/or Muslim in the period following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The order finds that Delta acted in a manner inconsistent with federal laws that prohibit discrimination and requires the carrier to provide civil rights training over the next two years to its pilots, flight attendants and passenger service agents at a...

Chance Phelps was wearing his Saint Christopher medal when he was killed on Good Friday. Eight days later, I handed the medallion to his mother. I didn’t know Chance before he died. Today, I miss him. Over a year ago, I volunteered to escort the remains of Marines killed in Iraq should the need arise. The military provides a uniformed escort for all casualties to ensure they are delivered safely to the next of kin and are treated with dignity and respect along the way. Thankfully, I hadn’t been called on to be an escort since Operation Iraqi Freedom began....

Four Brave Men By Melissa Vaughan Four Brave Men were slain today, and their souls arrived in Heaven. God said to each, "What do you think of this fate that you have now been given?" The First Brave Man, standing tall and proud, said in his voice like a song, "Our bodies have been burned and broken, but our souls are whole and strong." The Second Brave Man, said with tears in his eyes, gesturing down below, "Our families may be grieving, but their love we will forever and always know." The Third Brave Man, turning to look at the...

Two sets of protective suits contaminated by radiation in Kuwait are in a box at Camp Lejeune awaiting proper disposal, military officials said Wednesday. The suits, used by troops for protection from nuclear, biological or chemical substances, were exposed to depleted uranium when troops were cleaning tanks during the war with Iraq. The gear, commonly called NBC suits in the military, were shipped to Lejeune in a box. The radiation was detected by Marines from 2nd Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Force Service Group when the box was opened at Lejeune. How long and how many Marines were exposed to the radiation...

Wednesday, July 2, 2003 FMCSA to Conduct Hazardous Materials Safety and Security Field Operational Test The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today announced the beginning of its Hazardous Materials Safety and Security Field Operational Test. This test will measure the effectiveness of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) safety and security technologies for safeguarding hazardous materials being transported by trucks. The announcement was made today by FMCSA Assistant Administrator and Chief Safety Officer John Hill at the California Goods Movement and Port Security Conference in Long Beach, CA, hosted by the California Alliance for Advanced Transportation...

<p>ELON, N.C. -- Former CBS news anchorman Walter Cronkite called President George W. Bush "grossly arrogant" for invading Iraq without the approval of the United Nations.</p> <p>Walter Cronkite appeared Tuesday at Elon University for a news conference and a taped conversation with David Gergen, a former presidential adviser.</p>

In mid-1984, a former Egyptian Army officer with an engaging manner and a gift for languages approached the C.I.A. in Egypt with what seemed an intriguing offer: He volunteered to be a spy. The agency tried him out, but the Egyptian flunked. He had made contact in Germany with a branch of Hezbollah, the Middle Eastern terrorist group, and told its members that he was working with the CIA, a betrayal the agency quickly discovered. Soon after, C.I.A. officials branded him untrustworthy and cut off further dealings with him, suspecting that he wanted to help the terrorists spy on Americans,...

Victims wanted out of marriages Army wives' cases show similarities The Associated Press FAYETTEVILLE - Four Army wives who investigators say were killed by their husbands all wanted to get out of their marriages, The Fayetteville Observer reported Sunday. In January, Jennifer Wright, 32, told her parents she was "tired of being a military wife" and wanted a divorce. Investigators said her husband, Master Sgt. William Wright, 36, killed her at the end of June. They said he confessed three weeks later and led authorities to her body. Marilyn Griffin, 32, separated from her husband in May. Two months later,...

Fallen a long way Judge: "A male would have gotten 20 years" Betty Mackie is sentenced to eight to 10 months in prison for having sex with a middle school student of hers. RALEIGH - Betty G. Mackie, at one time praised, honored and beloved for her skills in opening the world of literature to hundreds of Wake County pupils, must turn herself in today for a prison sentence of at least eight months for having sex two years ago with a 13-year-old boy, a former student. Mackie, 47, was sentenced at a hearing Tuesday for her May 22 guilty...

A peaceful trip Triangle churches, citizens help take food, medical supplies to Cubans Staff Photo By Shawn Rocco By YONAT SHIMRON, Staff Writer Jim Stockwell wanted to donate his 1990 blue Chevy truck to a good cause. First, he went to his son's school. Then he went to his church. When neither place took him up on his offer, he decided to do something more radical. On Wednesday morning, the longtime social activist from Raleigh met up with a group of like-minded people and hit the road. By next week, the group hopes to cross into Mexico on buses --...

June 18, 2002 The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security, John W. Magaw, today announced the five airports selected to participate in the Private Security Screening Pilot Program -- intended to test the feasibility of having private contractors perform federally supervised passenger and property screening at airports. Airports chosen for the two-year pilot program are San Francisco International, Kansas City International, Greater Rochester International in New York, Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming, and Tupelo Airport in Mississippi. “The airports selected for this pilot program will be key in determining how TSA moves forward in meeting provisions under the Aviation and...

Study: 2:13 p.m. EDT June 6, 2002 GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Minorities and whites with equal criminal backgrounds are getting similar prison sentences in North Carolina, according to a state study. The study by the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission found that 35 percent of minority defendants received prison time compared with 28 percent of whites with similar backgrounds. Whites were given longer sentences on average, 36.7 months to 34.1 months for minorities with the same criminal history. The 30-member commission examined 27,015 felony cases handled between July 1999 and June 2000 in North Carolina courts. The commission was...

Author Elliot Hester Regular contributor Elliot Hester is a flight attendant for a major U.S. airline. June 2, 2002 Whenever I hear about passenger "outbursts" at airport security checkpoints, my temperature rises a few degrees. What are these problematic people trying to accomplish? Why are they being so thorny with the very people who are trying to keep them safe? But after my recent clash with airport security at Miami International Airport, I realize that some passengers have valid complaints. Traveling for pleasure and dressed in civilian clothes, I placed my carry-on on the conveyor belt and prepared to walk...

U.S. Office of Special Counsel and TSA Sign Memorandum of Understanding WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) to handle whistleblower complaints from security screeners employed by TSA. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), which created the TSA, provides the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security a wide degree of flexibility to set personnel policy for security screeners. Security screeners were not specifically covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act. All other TSA employees are covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act....

Gifts to Dems linked to NC DMV(corruption) The Associated Press ASHEVILLE - State Division of Motor Vehicles officers from Western North Carolina pumped more the$30,000 into state Democrats' campaigns in the 1990s, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported Sunday. Campaign finance reports and other documents appeared to support a former DMV officer's allegations that on-the-job campaigning and fund raising were required in the district enforcement section where he worked, the newspaper reported. The allegations are part of a 2-year-old probe by the State Bureau of Investigation into claims that DMV employees fixed traffic tickets and took bribes to ignore truck safety regulations....

Ex-Girlfriend Reacts To No-Sex Plea Man Owes Thousands In Child Support LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- One of the ex-girlfriends of a Louisville man who agreed to abstain from sex until he paid off his back child support reacted in disbelief Wednesday to his plea deal. Crawford's Ex-Girlfriend Is Outraged Luther Crawford was faced with a sentence of one-to-five years in the penitentiary if he didn't pay back $33,000 in child support. Instead, he worked out the no-sex deal. Juana King had a baby girl with Crawford 15 years ago, Louisville station WLKY-TV reported. King was furious with the deal. "They should...

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- Since the events of Sept. 11, the government has given the Federal Bureau of Investigation the go-ahead to hire an additional 700 agents. Many of those could be Tar Heel-bred.</p> <p>North Carolina is a hot spot for FBI recruitment, sending double the normal number of recruits to the FBI Academy.</p>

Miscommunication between the U.S. military and local police that led to the recent death of a soldier in North Carolina is a symptom of a deeper problem. Poor communication between military and civilian defense officials, and between federal and local authorities, is a threat to the United States' homeland defense network.AnalysisOne soldier training to become a U.S. Army Green Beret was killed and another injured in rural North Carolina on Feb. 23, when a local sheriff's deputy mistakenly shot them during a 19-day Army training mission. A similar training simulation last fall in South Carolina also went awry, raising questions ...

Second Suspect In Investigation Of Weapons Found In Storage Unit Could Be Set Free Judge Says David Silverman Not Considered Flight Risk Kamal Wallace, Staff Writer RALEIGH, N.C. -- Ten days ago, police and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms found dozens of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in a storage unit. A suspect in the case could soon be set free. A detention hearing was held Monday at the Federal Courthouse in Durham for David Silverman. Silverman and Michael McMoil lived in the same North Raleigh home with Silverman's mother. On the stand, ATF ...

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- Authorities may have found a new link in the case of a weapons stash found at a Raleigh storage facility.</p> <p>Besides assault rifles, ATF agents searching Michael McMoil's storage space Saturday also discovered hand-drawn maps. According to a police source, the maps lead to the home of a Raleigh police officer.</p>