Half-million cheer multicultural St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin

By: Associated Press | Saturday, March 17, 2007 7:05 PM PDT ∞

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Lithuanian musicians, drum-beating Punjabis and West African dancers used Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday to celebrate their place in a booming Ireland that has become a land of immigrants.

One man dressed as St. Patrick in papal hat and sunglasses did the samba, while another float nearby featured "Miss Panty," Dublin's premier drag queen.

Dublin's freewheeling parade drew a half-million spectators and included Christine Quinn, the first openly gay leader of the New York City Council. Quinn is boycotting the more conservative New York parade because the organizers refuse to let gay and lesbian groups march.

This year, she accepted an Irish government invitation to be part of the Dublin City Council contingent.

"The fact I'm here in Dublin and able to march and participate in inclusive events should send a message of how backwards the New York parade is," said Quinn.

The Irish economy has been booming for the past 13 years, drawing immigrants from around the world to the country -- and its festivities.

"Nowadays there's far more color in the parade. It's great to see all our new Irish from across the world dressed up in green," said Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who normally spends St. Patrick's Day in the United States but returned overnight after visiting President Bush in the White House.

The parade also featured about a dozen U.S. high school and college bands.

The leader of Ireland's 4 million Roman Catholics, Archbishop Sean Brady, appealed to Ireland to remember the religious roots of the holiday in this rapidly secularizing, heavy-drinking land.

"The challenge for all of us is to be consistent and coherent, not just in honoring Patrick with our lips and our parades, but with our hearts and lives -- to honor what he really represents by earnestly trying to embody it in our own lives," Brady said.

More than 1,000 police were on duty to deal with expected alcohol-fueled trouble in the evening, following widespread drunkenness that led to 700 arrests in 2005 and lesser trouble last year.

Dublin liquor stores were ordered closed until 4 p.m. to deter public drinking until well after the parade concluded.

This was the first St. Patrick's Day period when police have been empowered to breathalyze drivers randomly on road checkpoints -- a new law that resulted in 60 arrests in the hours before the parade.

On the Net:

St. Patrick's Festival, http://www.stpatricksday.ie/cms/home.html

Passenger jet crash lands in central Russia, kills 6

MOSCOW (AP) -- A Russian airliner came down short of a runway in heavy fog Saturday, bouncing and then flipping onto its back. Six people were killed and 26 injured, the government said.

Prosecutors investigating the crash in the central Russian city of Samara said bad weather and pilot error were the most likely causes.

The plane was a Tu-134 passenger jet owned by Russian airline UTAir. Experts say the aging Tu-134, the workhorse of Russian civil aviation, is harder to land than more modern aircraft, especially in bad weather. Transport officials have ordered the planes gradually phased out because of that and other problems.

The plane, carrying 50 passengers and seven crew, was en route from the Siberian city of Surgut to the western city of Belgorod with a stop in Samara, a city on the Volga river, about 550 miles southeast of Moscow.

The Emergency Situations Ministry Web site listed six people killed in the crash and 26 who were hospitalized with injuries.

After the crash, the plane's wrecked fuselage lay on thick snow yards from the landing strip, its wings, tail and engine scattered about as rescuers worked to evacuate surviving victims and bodies of the dead and police searched for clues.

Yuri Naryshkin, a spokesman for regional emergency authorities, told NTV television the plane touched down before the landing strip, then overturned.

Prosecutors probing the crash said in an official statement that the plane touched down about 400 yards short of the landing strip. Regional prosecutor Alexei Kopylov told NTV television that pilot error and bad weather were regarded as the primary causes of the crash.

Rossiya television channel cited UTAir officials as saying that plane had been in good condition and was flown by an experienced pilot. A company spokeswoman reached by the Associated Press declined comment.

Emergency officials said they had retrieved the plane's flight recorders, the Interfax news agency reported.

The last major crash of a Russian airliner was on Aug. 22, when a Tu-154 operated by Pulkovo Airlines crashed in Ukraine, killing all 170 people aboard.

Last month, Transport Minister Igor Levitin ordered the Tu-134 and Tu-154 phased out of civilian use over the next five years. Russia ended production of Tu-134 planes in the early 1980s. Complete Tu-154 jets are no longer being built. Existing ones are being upgraded with more modern spare parts.

Associated Press reporter Maria Danilova contributed to this report from Moscow.

Pair of teens accused of plotting to kill principal, others at their school

RINER, Va. (AP) -- Two teens were charged with conspiracy to commit murder after one of them allegedly took a gun to school and at least one discussed shooting the principal and others, authorities said.

The boys, ages 14 and 15, were taken into custody Friday, said Lt. Brian Wright of the Montgomery County sheriff's office.

He said another student told sheriff's Deputy Kirk Hendricks, Auburn Middle School's resource officer, that the boys had a gun. "He probably saved some lives," Wright said.

Officers found a .22-caliber revolver and an undisclosed amount of ammunition, but it was not clear who the gun belonged to or how the boy obtained it, Wright said. He would not say where the gun was found. No shots were fired.

"We take this seriously, and the fact that we found a gun and ammo means this wasn't just talk," Wright said.

According to a preliminary investigation, at least one of the boys talked about plans to shoot Hendricks, Principal Guylene Wood-Setzer and at least one student, Wright said. Authorities would not say why the three were allegedly targeted.

The boys' names were withheld because they are minors. The 15-year-old was also charged with taking a gun onto school property and possession of a firearm by someone under 18.

Wood-Setzer declined to comment.

The school has 291 students in grades six through eight.

Riner is in southwestern Virginia, about 30 miles southwest of Roanoke.

Del. elementary school teacher who seduced boy, 13, sentenced to 10 years

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A sixth-grade science teacher who was accused of having sex with a 13-year-old student has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Rachel L. Holt, 35, had pleaded guilty to second-degree rape. She sobbed in court Friday as Superior Court Judge Calvin L. Scott gave her the mandatory minimum sentence.

Prosecutors had wanted Scott to sentence Holt to the maximum of 25 years.

Holt was initially charged with 28 counts of first-degree rape.

Police accused her of having sex with the boy that many times during an intense weeklong affair. She was also accused of plying the boy with alcohol and allowing him to drive her car.

Holt's attorney, John S. Malik, said the sentence was much longer than what teachers convicted in similar cases got. He reviewed 40 such cases and found the average was 18 months to two years.

In her brief comments to the court, Holt apologized "to everyone who suffered" as a result of her actions, including the victim and his family.

"I hope you can forgive me," she said. "I know what I did was wrong."

The victim's uncle, who spoke on behalf of the family, asked for the maximum sentence, saying Holt had tarnished the reputation of teachers and violated his nephew's trust.

"He had his innocence taken away through betrayal," he said.

Passengers again stranded on jets stalled by storm at NYC airport

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hundreds of passengers were stranded for hours overnight on airliners that couldn't take off from John F. Kennedy International Airport because of the ice and snow storm that pummeled the Northeast.

The exact number of planes stuck on the tarmac was unclear, but irate passengers reported that the problems seemed to affect several airlines, and may have been linked to shortages of deicing fluid at the airport.

Rahul Chandran said he was trapped aboard a Cathay Pacific Airways jet from midnight until nearly 9:30 a.m. Saturday, when the flight to Vancouver was finally canceled.

Throughout the night, the pilot repeatedly described problems with deicing equipment, including a lack of fluid, that kept the plane waiting endlessly to have its wings sprayed. When the airline finally gave up and tried to return the plane to its terminal, it took at least another hour to arrange a gate, he said.

"You can't keep your passengers on the plane for 9.5 hours," said Chandran, 30, of New York City. "They kept saying 'half an hour more, 45 minutes more.' But by the time it got to hour six, we were pretty much accepting that we weren't going to go ... At least in the terminal, you can get up and walk around."

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the metropolitan area's airports, said airlines -- not the airport -- are responsible for supplying and maintaining terminal deicing equipment.

From Friday to Saturday morning, more than 3,600 commuter and mainline flights were canceled because of the effects of the storm. JetBlue, US Airways, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines all reported cancellations.

One Virgin Atlantic flight from London was diverted to JFK when the weather temporarily closed Boston's airport Friday evening. The plane, with about 200 passengers on board, sat on a taxiway for around six hours before it could take off again, said Virgin spokeswoman Brooke Lawer.

The plane, which was supposed to have arrived in Boston at 6:30 p.m. Friday, finally touched down there at 4 a.m. Saturday.

Last month, JetBlue stranded passengers on several planes for up to 10.5 hours during the Valentine's Day storm. The airline was unable to resume normal operations for days.

For this storm, JetBlue took no chances of a repeat. It canceled about 400 of 550 of all scheduled flights across the country Friday because of the weather, rather than risk leaving more people stuck aboard idle planes.

JetBlue expected mostly normal operations Saturday, said spokeswoman Jenny Dervin.

Friday's snow, ice and rain storm closed schools in parts of the Northeast and made highways treacherous. The weather was blamed for nearly a dozen traffic deaths in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Woman says white rats are great pets, 'gentle creatures ... very loving'

BANGOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Marylou Morin has no use for mice, but she thinks their bigger cousins make great pets. That's right, domesticated rats. And her dog likes them, too.

Morin, known as the "rat lady," has babied rats for about eight years, ever since her daughter brought home a lab rat named "Wicket" from Western Michigan University. The one-pound, white male rat with pink eyes would fall asleep in her lap while she watched television.

She and her husband, Don, once had as many as 13 rats in their home. It's not uncommon for Morin to have a rat or two on her shoulder. The preschool teacher lets them crawl all over her.

The little animals -- her current critters are "Cubby," "Sweet Pea" and "Little Bit" -- relieve the stress of the daily rat race.

"They help me relax a whole bunch. They're gentle creatures, and they're just very loving," she told The Bay City Times.

Unlike wild rats, the domesticated rodents don't pose health risks, Morin said. They groom themselves frequently and even groom each other.

Her 26-pound miniature schnauzer, BobbiAnne, herds the three 8-ounce rats like a border collie rounds up sheep.

"She thinks they're her babies," Morin said. "She lets them chew on her beard, and sometimes they'll lie on her back."

Confederate flag hanging from gallows ignites controversy at Tallahassee museum

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- When artist John Sims sees the Confederate flag, he sees "visual terrorism," and a symbol of a racist past. When Robert Hurst sees the flag, he is filled with pride as the descendant of a soldier who fought for the South during the Civil War.

Their differences have flared into a war of words, catching a local museum in the middle.

Hurst walked into the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science this past week and saw an exhibit by Sims, including a Confederate flag hung from a noose on a 13-foot gallows in a display titled "The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag."

Hurst asked the museum to remove the display, along with 13 other pieces by Sims.

The museum, however, announced Friday it is standing by Sims' work, on display since Feb. 26, because it wants to inspire dialogue in the community about a symbol that engenders a diversity of strong responses.

"There's a balance between the nature of the art that we show and the outcome that we seek, which is to promote dialogue and conversation, and have you maybe think of something in a slightly different way," said Chucha Barber, the museum's executive director.

Hurst, commander of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter, said Friday he has lost respect for the museum, calling the display of Sims' work "offensive, objectionable and tasteless."

"They're alienating a large portion of the population around here," Hurst said. "Maybe they just wanted to cause some controversy."

He called Sims an "irrelevant individual" with no artistic talent.

"There are some people who have great talent, and they rely on that talent to be successful. There are others who don't have great talent, and they have to rely on a gimmick," Hurst said.

Sims responded that he's about as irrelevant as the Constitution.

This is not the first time that Sims and the Sons of Confederate Veterans have sparred. In 2004, Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania drew protests from the group when it displayed the same gallows.

Barber said she was not aware of the confrontation in Gettysburg, but said it probably would not have changed her museum's decision.

Hurst says he has discussed the possibility of taking legal action against the museum, although he's reluctant to give Sims more publicity.

Florida statutes say it's unlawful to "deface, defile or contemptuously abuse" the Confederate flag, but say it's also illegal to prevent the display of the flag "for decorative or patriotic purposes."

"I think that we're well within the statute," Barber said.

On the Net:

Mary Brogan Museum: http://www.thebrogan.org/

Jury selection near in murder trial of music legend Phil Spector

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For decades, famed music producer Phil Spector was a recluse, hiding in his hilltop suburban castle. Then, a glamorous actress who starred in a cult movie was shot and killed there, and he could no longer run from the Hollywood spotlight.

"'I think I killed somebody,"' Spector was quoted by his chauffeur, Adriano De Souza, who also told a grand jury that Spector had emerged from his mansion holding a gun, with blood on his hands.

"What happened sir?" De Souza said he asked.

"'I don't know,"' Spector responded.

On Monday, the search begins for a jury to decide if Spector, 66, is guilty of murdering Lana Clarkson on Feb. 3, 2003, after taking her home with him from the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip.

Testimony will follow later this spring, as jurors try to unravel conflicting evidence about what happened before police found Clarkson slumped dead in a chair in the foyer, her teeth blown out by a gunshot to her mouth.

The coroner's office called it a homicide -- "death by the hand of another" -- but also noted that Clarkson had gunshot residue on both of her hands and may have pulled the trigger.

In an e-mail to friends, Spector called the death "an accidental suicide." He has pleaded not guilty and remained free on $1 million bail since being arrested after the shooting. He faces life in prison if convicted.

Attorney Bruce Cutler said his defense will be simple: "He didn't shoot this woman."

"Everything in this case is consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Cutler said. "The cause of death is not at issue. the manner of death is the question."

Cutler has been careful not to call the death a suicide.

"There was no malice, no motive, no intent, no homicide, no crime," he said. "If it had happened in any other home, there would have been no charges."

The prosecution theory of the case, outlined during grand jury proceedings, is that Spector deliberately placed a gun in Clarkson's mouth and pulled the trigger. Prosecutors claimed he had threatened women with guns in the past but never been charged.

Spector's "wall of sound" recording technique revolutionized rock music in the 1960s. He also produced the "Let It Be" album by the Beatles and "Concert for Bangladesh" by George Harrison, and has been cited as an influence by Bruce Springsteen and countless other artists.

Spector also wrote such rock classics as "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Be My Baby," "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling" and "River Deep-Mountain High," although his name is rarely mentioned along with the artists who recorded the songs.

Clarkson was 40 when she died and best known as the star of Roger Corman's cult film "Barbarian Queen." She was working as a hostess at the House of Blues when she went home with Spector. Authorities were called when the chauffeur heard a gunshot.

The prosecutors assigned to the case, Alan Jackson and Pat Dixon, recently won the conviction of Michael Goodwin in the 19-year-old murders of racing legend Mickey Thompson and his wife, Trudy. That cold case, based on circumstantial evidence, was considered a significant challenge.

Cutler, assessing his opponents as "a formidable duo," has lined up a strong defense team.

His co-counsel is Roger Rosen, whose trials include the "Twilight Zone" case in which director John Landis and four others were acquitted of manslaughter in 1983 in the deaths of three people during filming of the movie.

Cutler also enlisted forensic expert Robert Blasier, who worked with the O.J. Simpson defense team.

Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler, rejecting protests from Spector's lawyers, decided to let the trial be televised when testimony begins.

While making the ruling, the judge said he doesn't expect the same media hysteria that surrounded the O.J. Simpson trial 12 years ago on the same floor of the downtown courthouse.

He believes the time has come for the public to see trials on TV rather than rely only on reports from commentators.

"If it had not been for Simpson, we'd be there now," the judge said

On March 19 and 20, Fidler will summon 300 prospective jurors to his courtroom. With Spector seated in the defendant's chair, the panelists will be asked if they can serve in what promises to be a high-profile trial.

Time will be an issue, since the proceedings could last three months. Those who say they can serve will fill out questionnaires then be sent home for a few weeks while lawyers study their answers and file final motions.

On April 16, the prospects will return for in-court questioning known as "voir dire" in which they will be asked by lawyers if the can give Spector a fair trial, among other questions. A jury is expected to be seated by April 30, when opening statements are set to begin and cameras will roll.

Spector's appearance may rivet TV audiences. His theatrical attire usually includes three-inch-high boots, frock coats and outlandish wigs.

Unlike the Simpson trial, where jurors' familiarity with the celebrity defendant was a huge issue, Spector's musical legacy may be dusty enough to escape notice by most prospective jurors.

The celebrity factor is likely to be minimal because only older people will remember Spector.

Defense attorneys might prefer a sympathetic, star-struck jury, if not for the fact that older jurors are usually more conservative and prosecution-oriented, said Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson.

"The defense may want music fans who have an appreciation for Phil Spector's mark on music history," she said. "But there won't be many of those in the jury pool, not even in Tinseltown."