Iowa State Beats Buffalo to Remain Undefeated

Abstract: Georges Niang had 31 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double of the season, as No. 4 Iowa State beat visiting Buffalo, 84-63. Iowa State (7-0) remains one of the last unbeaten teams. Jarryn Skeete led Buffalo with 16 points. ■ Isaiah Cousins scored 19 points and Buddy Hield added 18 as No. 7 Oklahoma cruised to a 78-55 victory over No. 9 Villanova in the Pearl Harbor Invitational in Honolulu. Josh Hart, Phil Booth and Ryan Arcidiacono each scored 10 points for the Wildcats. ■ A. J. Hammons scored 14 points, and Kendall Stephens added 13 to lead No. 11 Purdue to an 80-53 victory over Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis in West Lafayette, Ind. ■ Kelan Martin scored 20 points, and Roosevelt Jones added 14 to help No. 18 Butler to a 93-66 victory over Virginia Military Institute in Indianapolis. ■ In a women’s game, Courtney Williams scored 16 points, and Courtney Walker added 15 to help No. 15 Texas A&M beat S.M.U., 67-55, in College Station, Tex. ■ Thirty Boston College students, including at least eight members of the men’s basketball team, complained of gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at a Chipotle restaurant, college officials said. It was not immediately known if the illnesses were part of a national outbreak of E. coli that has been linked to the Chipotle chain. The college said that it had notified the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and a spokesman for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said that the Boston restaurant had been closed temporarily.

College basketball
Butler University
Boston College
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Iowa State
State University of New York at Buffalo


Precocious Rickie Fowler Is Used to Firsts

Abstract: LEMONT, Ill. — It caused quite a stir in the golf world when Rickie Fowler’s name was announced by Corey Pavin last Monday as one of the four captain’s picks for the United States Ryder Cup team. To those who know him, though, what seemed unusual was that Fowler was picked last. His two runner-up finishes in 2010 aside, Fowler is more accustomed to firsts. A 21-year-old emerging star in his first PGA Tour season, Fowler was the first college freshman to win the Ben Hogan Award as the top college golfer. He was the first 4-year-old to play in the junior golf program in Murrieta, Calif., and, as far as anyone knows, the first 9-year-old to pitch against 13-year-olds in the city’s youth baseball league. He was the first 4-year-old coached by the golf pro Barry McDonnell, 72, at Murrieta Valley Golf Range. Now he is the first tour rookie to be chosen to step into the pressure chamber of a Ryder Cup, one that will be played on the road in front of what promises to be if not a hostile environment, certainly a raucous one. Surprise? Not really. Fowler has been preparing for this moment since 1991, when he was 3. His Japanese grandfather, Taka Tanaka, presented him with his first golf club that year, and his father, Rod, a motocross star who won the 1986 Baja 1000, got him his first dirt bike. He pursued both paths until he was 15, and somewhat reluctantly chose one. “I toned it down, kind of mellowed it out,” he said of the budding motocross career. This meant no more freestyle tricks — like the “two-footed can-can” or the “heel-clicker” — and no more of the competitive racing at which he excelled. He broke three bones in his foot a few weeks before tryouts for the Murrieta Valley High golf team. With mental and physical toughness honed at an early age, it figures Fowler would be preparing himself for what he will face Oct. 1 in Wales, when the first ball is hit in the Ryder Cup, the biennial team competition between the United States and Europe. He will draw on the experience from his first Walker Cup in 2007 during his freshman year at Oklahoma State. He went 4-0 against the top amateur golfers from Britain. “Europeans are a fun crowd to play in front of,” he said Thursday after shooting 71 in the first round of the BMW Championship . “It will be tough, especially if they start getting some momentum. The crowds can get tough then. I’m trying to think back on ’07 at Royal County Down in Ireland, and multiply it by 10, 20 or 30.” Fowler was seated at a table near the door in the players- and family-only dining room at Cog Hill Golf Club. With the tour in town, there was no rule against hats in the clubhouse, so Fowler wore his robin’s-egg-blue flat-billed cap spun around on his head. The address for his Web site was stitched across the back, and the logo of his main sponsor — the familiar outline of a leaping puma — was on the front. A gleaming, steel Rolex was on his left wrist, and he cracked his knuckles as he spoke in the even tones of experience. He wore blue-and-white shoes from a line he had a hand in designing, and a blue-and-white shirt. “They’re going to be pulling hard for the Europeans,” he said. “But in ’07 they were respectful over there. They cheered some for us. They weren’t just dead silent if we did something.” Fowler can seem much older than his years, although everything about him screams young and hip: his colorful outfits, his long hair and his baby-face looks that are compared to those of the actor Zac Efron and the singer Justin Bieber. “I am old school,” he said flatly. It is true, and manifests itself in different ways, like in his close ties to his parents. He and his father constantly rode dirt bikes together and were playing a video game on Monday night when the call came from Pavin. He talked about how his mother, Lynn, an excellent motocross competitor who not long ago won a 24-hour mountain race, “chauffeured me around to junior golf and made sure I was on time.” Mostly, the old school comes out on the golf course, where Fowler plays fast and with a great deal of feel and imagination. He moves the ball both ways, maneuvers it high or low depending on the wind or other variables, sometimes gripping down on the shaft and taking a longer club for a short shot, other times hitting a shorter club a long way. Fowler learned these traditional techniques at a young age, and he often imagined golf-course situations that demanded different shots, said McDonnell, Fowler’s only swing coach. McDonnell still teaches at the range where he first met Fowler 17 years ago. “We always worked on shots,” McDonnell said in a telephone interview from his home in Murrieta, a bedroom community some 50 miles north of the San Diego County line. “My standard line to him was always, ‘Rick we need this shot, can you do it?’ And he would say: ‘Yeah, I can do it. I can do it.’ “And he would. Sometimes we would hit drivers with our eyes closed. He’d knock ’em right out there. I could see he was special when he was little, but when he was about 14, then I knew. I used to tell him: ‘You’ve got 65s in your bag. You don’t know it yet, but you’ll find out.’ ” About a month later, Fowler won a high school championship and shot a 62, McDonnell said. Out here, Fowler’s eyes are wide open. Last week, one of the game’s greatest putters, Brad Faxon, gave him a few tips, and Fowler had his best putting tournament yet, taking fewer than 30 putts each round for the first time. He listens intently when he is counseled by older pros, like Justin Leonard and Justin Rose, who — at the advanced age of 30 — says Fowler is a blast to play golf with. Fowler is the one having a blast, and it is only just beginning.


Far-Right Party Trades on Merkel’s Refugee Policies in Her Home State

Abstract: ROSTOCK, Germany — As Germany grapples with integrating refugees, it seemed like a good idea: Take 15 newly arrived, unaccompanied minors, mix them in with German teenagers and scatter them in groups of two or three through empty apartments in revamped Communist-era housing blocks on the edge of this Baltic port city. The German and foreign youths — Afghans, Syrians and Somalis, just a handful of the 60,000 unaccompanied minors now in Germany — would gather in what social workers saw as a “communal living room,” formerly a physiotherapy space, in an adjacent small shopping mall. But in an atmosphere heated by looming state elections on Sept. 4, it did not work out that way. On right-wing websites, the foreign newcomers became “Salafists,” or Islamic extremists, and their communal living room a mosque. From late May, angry young residents started gathering near the “living room,” taunting the foreigners. At least two physical clashes ensued; the police had to intervene. After a confrontation on July 23 — three days after the rising far-right Alternative for Germany party held a rally in central Rostock — city authorities announced they would move the foreign youths elsewhere. The unsettling drama has come to illustrate just how delicate and difficult it is to follow Chancellor Angela Merkel’s maxim — “We can do it” — when it comes to integrating refugees. Image A child playing in Gross Klein. Credit Gordon Welters for The New York Times Worse yet for Ms. Merkel, the drama has played out in her political home state, one of the poorest in Germany, where the Alternative for Germany party looks set to win seats in a new state legislature for the fourth time this year. Polls predict a tight race. Ms. Merkel’s conservative bloc and its center-left partners in the federal government hover just four or five points ahead of the unprecedented 19 percent support for the far-right in the state, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in the former Communist East. This made the decision to move the foreign minors all the tougher for Steffen Bockhahn, the Left Party senator in Rostock who was responsible for making it. “You can’t do anything else. If something happened … ” His voice trailed off. “These young people have come to seek shelter. And if they are beaten up by Nazis, then we have failed.” Annette Kob, 49, whose group Newcomers Without Barriers, started the experiment in the Rostock suburb of Gross Klein, was equally dismayed. “I don’t know what else one could have done in this situation,” she said in an interview. “To leave them there with a constant police guard was also not sustainable.” The right-wing website Patrioten Rostock, meanwhile, hailed a “victory of the residents” but cautioned: “Now they are just meeting in another corner.” Europe’s Rising Far Right: A Guide to the Most Prominent Parties Amid a migrant crisis and discontent with the European Union, many far-right parties have achieved electoral success. Here are eight of the most noteworthy. “People, stay watchful where you live and stand up decisively against this state of affairs,” it urged. As the commentator Annett Meiritz concluded in Der Spiegel, relocating the refugees “was the right move, but with fatal effect.” The drama of Rostock, she wrote, illustrates how right-wing extremism has taken root over the decades and how problem areas in both east and west Germany have sunk into isolation and helplessness, while establishment politicians underestimate the threat. Even before the recent events, Rostock, a city of some 200,000, had a difficult reputation — an 11-story refugee shelter within sight of Gross Klein was notoriously set ablaze as young men yelled “Germany for the Germans!” in August 1992. A generation has grown up since then, with no further such episodes in 24 years. But the problems here have only been amplified by the fact that Ms. Merkel has her parliamentary constituency just down the coast, in Stralsund, and that President Joachim Gauck, once an anti-Communist pastor here and a voice of moral authority in Germany, still visits regularly. How Far Is Europe Swinging to the Right? Right-wing parties have been achieving electoral success in a growing number of nations. Everyone interviewed emphasized that Gross Klein is not, as Ms. Kob put it, “an especially Nazi place.” Mr. Bockhahn noted that “nothing happened” in the city as the refugee intake swelled last year. Hundreds of Rostock volunteers united last fall to help and temporarily shelter 36,000 refugees who passed through the city to board ferries to Sweden, after Denmark closed its borders to new arrivals. In Gross Klein, Lukas Hecht, 18, belligerently asserted that Muslim newcomers pursue German women and said he would not stand for it. His friend Tobias Rosner, 26, took a less aggressive stance. “I have friends on both sides,” he said. Mr. Rosner’s conclusion is that, for the first time, he would vote in the state elections. “I am not having my voice taken away,” he said. Across Germany, as elsewhere in Europe and the United States, many people feel they have lost out in globalization and are competing for jobs or state resources. Mr. Hecht and Mr. Rosner both suggested the refugees were getting an unfair share of government benefits. Down the coast in Stralsund, Heike Carstensen, an election candidate for the center-left Social Democrats, observed that people in that town — a beautifully renovated Hanseatic port that was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2002 — are most worried about education and what their grandchildren will have. Even if they themselves are working and living better than under Communism, she said, they feel insecure, and are ready to punish the mainstream political parties. Voters “only want to deal us a blow,” Ms. Carstensen said. Using the German acronym for the far-right party, she added: “They expect nothing from the A.F.D. They only want us to feel bad. And that we can’t reach them, and the others do, does make me feel bad.” At an election meeting in Neustrelitz, in the south of the state, Ms. Merkel invited questions on any topic. Curiously — after a virtuous hour debating local highways and state-funded theater — someone finally asked about the subject that seemed to be on everyone’s mind: refugees and whether Islam belongs in Germany or not. The chancellor replied by noting that more than 3 million predominantly Muslim Turks live in Germany, and that any religion that keeps to Germany’s Constitution is of course accepted. Islamic terrorism, she pointed out, was present even before the refugees arrived in such numbers. Security was the biggest theme at a two-hour debate hosted by a local Rostock newspaper, the Ostsee Zeitung, featuring the leaders of all parties. Leif-Erik Holm, a former radio journalist with a soothing manner and voice, is the top candidate for the Alternative for Germany. “We must close the borders,” he said to applause from the crowd of hundreds. If new asylum applicants arrived despite closed Balkan borders, “they must be sent back.” Equally clear, in his view, is that the chancellor is to blame. “We are attacking the Merkel policy,” Mr. Holm said. “Our party is not directed against those who have come. They want a better future. But not everyone can come. And that is what we represent.”

Middle East and Africa Migrant Crisis,European Migrant Crisis


Players in Sayreville Football Hazing and Abuse Case Will Be Tried as Juveniles, Lawyers Say

Abstract: The seven football players accused of hazing and sexual abuse at Sayreville War Memorial High School in New Jersey in a scandal that has led to cancellation of the season and drawn national attention will be tried as juveniles, according to lawyers representing them. The lawyers said they were informed on Monday morning that the students, who range in age from 15 to 17, would not be “waived,” or transferred, to adult court. Under state law, defendants under 18 are initially sent to family court, no matter how serious the charges. But prosecutors can decide within 30 days to move them to the criminal system to be tried as adults. Punishments meted out in family court are typically far less harsh than those in criminal court. And because juvenile records are not made public, defendants are not named, shielding them from much of the publicity that could be expected to surround such a prominent case if they were tried as adults. “I think it’s the proper way to proceed under the circumstances,” one lawyer, Richard Klein, said. He, like others, declined to comment further. James O’Neill, a spokesman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, did not return calls and emails seeking comment. The players are accused of attacking four members of the freshman football team in what victims have described as a frightening locker room ritual over a period of 10 days in September, beginning just after the team’s second game. Victims and witnesses have said the older players would shut off the lights and blare music, then surround and pin a younger player, sometimes groping his genitals, and in some cases, kicking him or penetrating him from behind with a finger. Those charges are outlined in prosecutor’s complaints, which say that “one or more” of the defendants held the victims against their will, touched them “in a sexual manner” and, in one case, kicked a victim. The accusations prompted school officials in Sayreville to suspend the players and coaches, and to cancel the remainder of the football season. The schools superintendent has said that it was unclear whether the football program itself would continue. Coming on the heels of accusations of domestic and physical abuse in professional and college football, the scandal prompted the state’s governor, Chris Christie, to call the allegations “extremely disturbing.” The scandal has divided the middle-class town of 44,000 people, where the championship football team, with its motto “Commitment and Character,” has long been a source of pride and unity. Groups have formed to support the four victims of the alleged attacks, but also to defend Coach George Najjar, who has led the team for 20 years and to three state sectional championships. Some residents have defended the coaches, arguing that the district should have done more to teach them how to prevent bullying. Even some victims have dismissed the behavior as “just horsing around,” and students have harassed other victims on social media for speaking out. But others agree with the superintendent that the district had to send a message that the safety of its students was paramount, and wondered why the coaches did not question the freshmen when they started changing outside the locker room to avoid being attacked. Three of the seven defendants are charged with multiple counts including aggravated sexual assault and criminal sexual contact; four others face various counts including aggravated assault and conspiracy. Whether a case is waived to the adult system generally depends on the age and history of the teenager, and the nature of the charge. A conviction in adult court results in a criminal record, and generally, longer prison terms. Juveniles serve any terms in separate facilities. But whether they are tried as adults or juveniles, teenagers convicted of sex crimes are required to register as sex offenders for at least 15 years.

Hazing
Football
Rape
Sayreville NJ
Sayreville War Memorial High School


Ohio Death Row Inmate Asks for a Delay

Abstract: CINCINNATI — This month’s failed attempt to execute a man convicted of murder and rape in Ohio has prompted another death row inmate to ask the Ohio Supreme Court and a federal appeals court for a stay of execution. Lawyers for that inmate, Lawrence Raymond Reynolds Jr., who is scheduled to die on Oct. 8, said training and procedures for the execution team were inadequate to prevent cruel and unusual punishment. They cited the problems associated with the unsuccessful execution of Romell Broom, who was convicted of the 1984 abduction, rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl. “If his death sentence is not enjoined or otherwise delayed, the same inadequately trained and unskilled individuals will attempt to execute Reynolds under the same flawed lethal injection protocol employed in the Sept. 15, 2009, attempted execution of Broom,” the lawyers wrote in a motion filed Monday with the state’s Supreme Court. Technicians tried and failed for over two hours to find a usable vein in Mr. Broom to administer lethal drugs before Gov. Ted Strickland ordered the execution postponed. A federal judge further delayed the execution last week by scheduling a hearing on the matter for Nov. 30. Mr. Reynolds, 43, was found guilty of the January 1994 murder and attempted rape of Loretta Foster, 67, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The police found Ms. Foster in her home, strangled and beaten, after three men reported that Mr. Reynolds had confessed to the crime while playing pool at a bowling alley the night of the killing. “The horrors of Reynolds’s crime cannot absolve the state of its statutory duty to ensure a quick and painless execution,” his lawyers argued in the Supreme Court filing. “If Reynolds’s execution goes forward, the state will cross its fingers and hope it can do a job it has already demonstrated it is incapable of performing.” Kelly Schneider, a lawyer with the Ohio Public Defender’s office who represents Mr. Reynolds, said the postponement of Mr. Broom’s execution and two prolonged executions in the last three years showed that the state’s procedures were unreliable. In 2006, the execution of Joseph Clark was delayed over an hour because of problems with IV placement, and in 2007, the execution of Christopher Newton was delayed over an hour while technicians tried at least 10 times to insert the IV. Mr. Reynolds’s lawyers also appealed for a stay of execution in a federal appeals court in Columbus on Thursday. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has not responded to the motions in the state Supreme Court case, but it argued in the federal court that Ohio was still capable of carrying out successful executions. “The difficulties in accessing Broom’s veins and the postponement of Broom’s execution are not indications that the execution of Reynolds or other prisoners cannot be conducted appropriately,” Charles L. Wille, principal assistant attorney general, wrote in the federal court filing. Amanda Wurst, a spokeswoman for Mr. Strickland, said that the governor could not issue a blanket moratorium on executions but that he was reviewing Mr. Reynolds’s case, as he did every capital case. “He takes the time he needs to thoroughly review the case before making a decision,” Ms. Wurst said.

Capital Punishment
Ohio
Broom Romell
Strickland Ted
Clark Joseph
Newton Christopher
Appeals Courts (US)
Prisons and Prisoners
Supreme Courts (State)
Crime and Criminals


Uganda: A Threat to Pull Peacekeepers

Abstract: The Ugandan government delivered a veiled threat to the United Nations about withdrawing peacekeepers from Somalia because it is furious about a report on Congo that accuses Ugandan troops of war crimes. In a letter made public on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry wrote, “Such sinister tactics undermine Uganda ’s resolve to continue contributing to, and participating in, various regional and international peacekeeping operations.” Uganda provides several thousand peacekeepers to Somalia. Rwanda had also threatened to withdraw peacekeepers because of its displeasure over the report, which is to be published Friday. The document blames various armed groups, including the Ugandan and Rwandan armies, for hundreds of massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

War Crimes Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity


Shelving of Panel on Mideast Roils School

Abstract: When the principal of the elite Fieldston school notified parents by e-mail of an assembly that was to feature two Palestinian speakers, he said that it would further the school's "progressive reputation" and that the Palestinian viewpoint was one that "few of us, students or faculty, are familiar with or can claim to understand." Then came a flurry of e-mail messages and telephone calls from parents who objected to one of the speakers, who has advocated a boycott of Israel, as well as the fact that no Israelis were on the panel. On Tuesday, the high school's principal, John Love, sent another e-mail message canceling the event and explaining that the forum was "not appropriate given the sensitivity and complexity of the issue." Now the controversy is roiling Fieldston, a private school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx with a mission to provide a "rigorous and humanistic education" and a long history of sending graduates to the Ivy League. It is the same sort of debate over Middle East politics that has engulfed universities in recent years. And in this case, both sides say they are speaking on behalf of the values of free expression and open-mindedness for which Fieldston prides itself. Phone calls to Dr. Love were returned by Ginger Curwen, a school spokeswoman, who said the assembly was canceled "because it really wasn't a balanced" presentation. She added, "I don't think there was that much reaction." But David Swartwout, a dean and history teacher, said that when the assembly was announced, "There are kids who were upset, there are parents who were upset." He said opinions remained divided. "Some kids thought it needed to be canceled because there were issues we needed to explore more thoughtfully and carefully," he said. "Other kids are looking at this as an issue of censorship and free speech." Students said that news of the cancellation spread on Tuesday night, and that by Wednesday morning, someone had papered the school walls with fliers featuring the slogan "Progressive Education + Censorship = Oxymoron," and quotations from Aristotle. A profanity and the word "censor" was scrawled on a plaque in a hallway, they said. Yesterday, at Salvatores of Soho, a pizzeria near the school, a group of hyper-articulate sophomores on their lunch break dissected the controversy over slices and soda. "Every hallway, every corridor, this is the topic," said Jake Chaplin, 16. Evan Krasner, 16, said that while he was a "great believer in the First Amendment," he thought the panel was poorly planned. "How can this be a diverse debate? It's two sides of one side." At another table, Ali McMillen, 16, said she was curious to hear what the panelists had to say, adding that Fieldston educators "always say they want to show us both sides of an argument and let us make our own decisions." In some cases, the debate has moved into touchy territory. One flier featured a picture of a hand holding money and a slogan intended to imply that complaints from donors had shut the session down, students said. Ms. Curwen declined to respond to a question about any role donors might have had. The controversy started on Friday, when Dr. Love, principal of the Fieldston Upper School -- the 9th- through 12th-grade component of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School -- sent an e-mail message to parents about the assembly, planned for next Thursday. He said it would feature two 10-minute speeches followed by questions. Muhammad Muslih, a Long Island University professor, would speak in favor of a "two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he wrote, while Mazin Qumsiyeh, identified as an associate professor at Yale, would speak in favor of a "one-state solution." (A two-state solution envisions Israeli and Palestinian states side-by-side; a one-state solution envisions a single state in which Jews and Palestinians live together, and there is no longer a country of Israel.) The Israeli perspective, Dr. Love wrote, would be the subject of a future assembly. But in a school with a substantial Jewish population, that did not sit right. Then Zach Tumin, a parent, sent an e-mail message to other parents, describing Dr. Qumsiyeh as an "unfortunate choice." He included portions of an Anti-Defamation League press release describing Dr. Qumsiyeh as an "extremist anti-Israel activist." The release was issued amid a controversy last month, in which the World Economic Forum published, then apologized for, a magazine with an article in which Dr. Qumsiyeh called for a boycott of Israel and compared Israel's policies toward Palestinians to apartheid. In canceling the assembly, Dr. Love wrote to parents that he had received "many thoughtful phone calls and e-mails." "Many of you who were most concerned about our plan framed your concerns in the most positive and constructive terms, and I deeply regret the unhappiness that my letter and support for this project has caused you," he wrote. That note, however, generated even more unhappiness. "It may not have been the best planned event, but the symbolism of canceling it is terrible," said Kenneth Roth, a Fieldston parent who is executive director of Human Rights Watch but said he was speaking privately. "It suggests that some parents who supposedly believe in progressive education and trust their kids to hear all sides of disputes don't extend that principle to disputes about Israel." Renée Berliner Rush, a parent who opposed the assembly, was irate at the way in which it was canceled, saying school officials should have apologized for planning a one-sided forum in the first place. "It basically blamed a group of parents, which is not a reason to cancel an assembly," she said. "This wasn't about Palestinians. This was about equality and bigotry and a fair, open forum." She also pointed out that Dr. Qumsiyeh is no longer at Yale, saying school officials should also have apologized for inaccurately describing his credentials. In a telephone interview, Dr. Qumsiyeh said he left his position as an associate professor of genetics at the Yale School of Medicine more than a year ago and is running a clinical laboratory. Dr. Qumsiyeh said that Harrison Howard, a history teacher, had contacted him a few months ago about participating in the assembly, and that the teacher is one of thousands of people to whom he sends e-mail messages. Dr. Qumsiyeh said he was disappointed when Dr. Love told him the event had been canceled. Mr. Howard did not return two telephone calls seeking comment. At an assembly on gender roles held yesterday, and in yet another e-mail message to parents, Dr. Love announced that a special "modified awareness day" about the Middle East would take place in the spring. The longer format, he wrote, would enable "the widest possible perspective on this complex issue." Ms. Curwen, the school spokeswoman, explained: "This is a volatile and complicated topic for the world, let alone for a school. And we decided it deserved more than a 40-minute assembly."

NEW YORK CITY
ISRAEL
FIELDSTON SCHOOL
LOVE JOHN
PALESTINIANS
CENSORSHIP
EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION


Jeff Fisher Cut Loose as Titans’ Coach

Abstract: In a surprising move, the Tennessee Titans have parted ways with Jeff Fisher, who just completed his 16th full season as the N.F.L. ’s longest-tenured coach. The team said in a news release Thursday night that “Fisher will no longer be the head coach of the team.” The Titans announced the move within an hour of a report by SI.com that they were negotiating Fisher’s departure. He was 147-126 with the Titans and 6-10 this season. Though Fisher, 52, had been derided locally as Coach .500 or Coacho Ocho, he seemed to have just survived a battle with quarterback Vince Young. Bud Adams, the Titans’ owner, decided Jan. 5 to either release Young or trade him. The owner announced two days later that he would be keeping Fisher. Fisher and Young never really jelled after the Titans drafted Young with the third overall pick in 2006 under orders from Adams. The relationship frayed even as Fisher publicly defended Young until Nov. 21, when Young tossed his shoulder pads and other equipment into the stands after an overtime loss in which the quarterback sustained a season-ending injury. One of the leading candidates to replace Fisher is Mike Munchak, the Titans’ offensive line coach. RAVENS FIRE ZORN The Baltimore Ravens fired the quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, who spent a year on the job after being dismissed as the Washington Redskins ’ coach. Ravens Coach John Harbaugh said Cam Cameron, the offensive coordinator, would work closer with quarterback Joe Flacco next season. peppERS FINED FOR HIT Chicago defensive end Julius Peppers was fined $10,000 by the N.F.L. for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers that drew blood Sunday. Peppers was flagged for roughing the passer on the play. IDENTITY CONFIRMED An autopsy confirmed that a body pulled from the Mississippi River is that of the brother of Ravens safety Ed Reed and found the preliminary cause of death to be accidental drowning. Brian Reed, 29, jumped into the river about 30 miles northwest of New Orleans after an encounter with a sheriff’s deputy on Jan. 7. BATTLE BY TWITTER Though pointed at times, the negotiations between the N.F.L. and the players union have been largely civil. Then there are the comments by players on Twitter that have turned ugly. Antonio Cromartie, a Jets cornerback, said that both sides should reach a deal to avoid a lockout. Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck shot back: “Somebody ask Cromartie if he knows what CBA stands for.” He then deleted it, prompting Cromartie to write that if Hasselbeck had something to say, “then be a man about it. Don’t erase it. I will smash ur face in.” The Jets do not face the Seahawks anytime soon. KEN BELSON

Fisher Jeff
Tennessee Titans
Coaches and Managers
National Football League
Football
Baltimore Ravens
Washington Redskins
Green Bay Packers
New York Jets
Seattle Seahawks


Rangers Recharge Batteries After Draining Game

Abstract: WASHINGTON — After a day off to see a movie, walk around town or tour Arlington National Cemetery, the Rangers were fresh and loose at practice Friday. It was their first time on the ice since they won Game 3 in the wee hours of Thursday morning, after 114 minutes 41 seconds of sweat-drenched, bone-rattling, muscle-burning hockey. “I feel fine,” said the skater who played the most in a 2-1 win over Washington in triple overtime , defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who compiled 53:17 of ice time. “I don’t think there’s really any hangover. We were happy about the outcome. Yesterday was kind of our day to soak it in and enjoy it. Today we move by it and get ready for tomorrow.” McDonagh is likely to be a marked man in Game 4 at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Verizon Center, with the Capitals trying to draw the series level at two games apiece. Washington Coach Dale Hunter provided a clue as to what the Capitals had in mind for McDonagh. “They did play one guy too much,” Hunter said Thursday, when reminded that four Rangers defensemen had more ice time than the most-used Washington blue liner. “We basically played six D,” Hunter said. “You just want to finish your checks on their D and hopefully tire them out.” So the plan, it seems, is to go hard at McDonagh physically. In Game 3, McDonagh threw three body checks but was the target of six, including Matt Hendricks’s pile-driving shoulder-to-chest blast early in the first overtime. But the Capitals’ hard-hitting approach did not slow McDonagh or the rest of the Rangers, who were outhit by 59 to 46 yet had a noticeable edge in play through most of the overtime periods. The Rangers are an exceptionally well-conditioned team, and on Friday Coach John Tortorella dismissed any notion that they had to deal with the prospect of fatigue. “We’re not tired,” he said. “This isn’t a tired team. Our team’s fine.” Tortorella ran a typical off-day practice, which featured some shuffled line combinations after he mixed and matched lines often during Game 3. On Friday, one line had Brian Boyle centering Ryan Callahan and Ruslan Fedotenko, while another had Derek Stepan centering Chris Kreider and Artem Anisimov. Marian Gaborik, who broke a slump by scoring the game-winner , was reunited with the man who set him up, Brad Richards, with Carl Hagelin on the other wing. At the end of practice, Tortorella gathered his players in one corner of the Verizon Center rink and could be heard reminding them that Game 3 was nothing more than a single victory. “We’ve got a lot more ahead of us,” Tortorella told his players. “So no excuses.” On Thursday, the Rangers took a break from the rink. Some, like goalie Henrik Lundqvist, went to see “The Hunger Games.” “I had a good day — went to a movie, just relaxed, didn’t do much,” Lundqvist said. “That’s the key when you play a lot of hockey, to switch. When you’re here, you’re so focused, you play the game. When you’re not here, you try to get away from it and save your energy. Yesterday was that type of day.” Boyle was among a group of about a dozen players and team personnel who took a tour of the Arlington cemetery. “We worry about winning and losing — that’s what we put our hearts and souls and everything we have into,” Boyle said. “But it does put things into perspective when we see all those gravestones, as far as you can see. All the lives that have been laid down for us to be able to be doing what we’re doing right now.” The fourth-line center John Mitchell noted the warm weather and how helpful it was to have a day out. “You can’t stay in bed all day, or your body will get stiff,” said Mitchell, who had five shots on goal in Game 3 after failing to put a shot on net in the first nine games of the playoffs. “It was a nice day. You walk around, there’s plenty of shops and museums and things to see here. You can certainly get away from the game.” SLAP SHOTS The players ate a variety of food to replenish their energy during the marathon Game 3. Defenseman Karl Alzner and other Capitals players had white rice with soy sauce during an overtime intermission. Alex Ovechkin had energy bars on the Washington bench. The Capitals’ staff picked up bananas at a nearby store during the game. The Rangers had fruit, bagels and cold pizza, which was delivered to the locker room in the third period, per custom, but uneaten through overtime.

New York Rangers
Washington Capitals
McDonagh Ryan
Hockey Ice
Tortorella John
Playoff Games


Privatizing Greece, Slowly but Not Surely

Abstract: THE government inspectors set out from Athens for what they thought was a pristine patch of coastline on the Ionian Sea. Their mission was to determine how much money that sun-kissed shore, owned by the Greek government, might sell for under a sweeping privatization program demanded by the nation’s restive creditors. What the inspectors found was 7,000 homes — none of which were supposed to be there. They had been thrown up without ever having been recorded in a land registry. “If the government wanted to privatize here, they would have to bulldoze everything,” says Makis Paraskevopoulos, the local mayor. “And that’s never going to happen.” Athens agreed. It scratched the town, Katakolo, off a list of potential properties to sell. But as Greece redoubles its efforts to raise billions to cut its debt and stoke its economy, the situation in Katakolo illustrates the daunting hurdles ahead. In the three years since the International Monetary Fund , the European Central Bank and the European Commission — the so-called troika of lenders — first required Greece to sell state assets, a mere 1.6 billion euros have been raised. Last Tuesday, European leaders said Greece needed an additional 15 billion euros in aid through 2014 to meet debt-reduction targets — partly because Athens has failed to make money on privatization. Now, the troika may consider cutting an already lowered target for Greece to raise 19 billion euros by 2015 to about 10 billion euros as investors worry that Greece may have to leave the euro. The troika is requiring that Greece must still raise 50 billion through privatizations by 2022. The I.M.F. estimates that those funds, should they materialize, will trim only up to 1 percent from Greece’s debt, which is expected to rise to a staggering 189 percent of the nation’s economic output in 2013, from 175 percent this year. But with Greece’s economy headed into its sixth year of recession, and unemployment at 25 percent, the nation’s immediate goal is to lure any investment it can through long-term leases on state properties to create jobs and get money flowing into depleted public coffers. “This could put the economy back in motion,” says Andreas Taprantzis, the executive director of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund , a new agency set up to hasten privatization. If investors develop land, restructure highways or build business parks, the activity would “help employment, which is a major issue for Greece,” he says. Indeed, privatization is one of the last hopes here for luring foreign cash. Efforts stumbled anew last summer, when the government fell and two chaotic elections were held, amplifying fears of what is known in financial circles as a “Grexit” — a Greek exit from the euro. Investor confidence fell so low that a recent survey by the BDO consulting firm found that Greece was considered more risky for investment than Syria. Yet as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras took steps last week to secure an additional 31.5 billion euros of bailout money from creditors, the thinking is that if one major asset can be sold now, investors will feel better about spending their money on Greece. OFFICIALS are trotting out Greece’s most tempting offer: OPAP, the highly profitable gambling company in which the government has a major stake. Its gambling agencies abound around Athens and in Greek villages. Last week, as the government went on a road show to China to drum up investor interest, eight bids landed, including one from a Chinese concern. Still, Mr. Taprantzis’s agency faces a daunting task. The idea of the country selling off its crown jewels touches a raw nerve here. Many Greeks say the government is buckling to decrees from the troika. Citizen protests have flared over nearly every state asset up for offer, including ones that have long bled cash — even if shedding them would help Greece’s finances. Others say the government is so desperate that prime assets will be sold too cheaply. In the case of OPAP, Greeks grumble about the government’s logic in selling one of the few things that brings a steady stream of money to the treasury. Given the culture of clientelism that pervades business dealings in Greece, others are concerned that properties will wind up in the hands of powerful Greek oligarchs who, these critics worry, may be waiting for an opportunity to get them at a cut-rate price. Questions swirled after a huge Athens media center and shopping mall built for the 2004 Olympics by Spyros Latsis, one of Greece’s wealthiest men, was put up for privatization. The government had initially leased the property, Golden Hall, to Mr. Latsis’ Lamda Domi firm in a 2007 deal worth about 320 million euros over 40 years. But this year, as real estate values plummeted, Lamda won an open tender for a new 90-year lease, paying the government 81 million euros in exchange for maximum additional payments of 32.4 million euros over the life of the contract. The Greek blogosphere lit up with accusations that the government handed an influential businessman a prime asset at a loss. Mr. Taprantzis called such criticism naïve, because it failed to account for the net present value of the leases. Still, Daniel Sahl, the head of bilateral relations at the Federation of German Industry , says there is a pattern of Greek “princes” profiting on deals at the expense of the state. “The question is whether Greek society and the Greek government are really interested in privatization or not,” says Mr. Sahl, who advocates handing the task to an outside body that would operate free from Greek political machinations. “If they are not, they should be honest,” he says. “But if they are, they should work to get as much as they can out of the assets.” THE agency’s mandate is to clean up legal obstacles tied to the huge package of assets being offered for concession. About 15 percent of the portfolio is stakes in banks and utilities, as well as the national lottery. The bulk, however, includes properties that would require years to develop and wouldn’t generate significant cash flow instantly. Approximately 30 percent comprises ports, airports, motorways and other infrastructure. The vast remainder consists of real estate — from a former royal palace to the Athens police headquarters — and prime cuts of land. These include beaches on the vacation playgrounds of Rhodes and Corfu. Interest is high. Six bids — including one from Lamda — have been submitted for a site on Rhodes alone. But even if investors are persuaded to part with their money, the properties must still be cleared of a thicket of complications. “The reality is that the assets that have been allocated to the fund are not conducive to privatization,” said a person who has been involved in the initiative and spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the situation. “Nearly every one is fraught with problems.” For instance, while investors are expected to commit equity, foreign banks remain wary of lending for deals in Greece. Some financing must come from Greek banks, which are now barely making loans. More than 85 percent of the aide tranche of 31.5 billion euros that Greece hopes to receive this month is needed to recapitalize Greek banks. And many assets are encumbered with legal issues. In many cases, such problems must be resolved through government decrees or politically charged legislation. This month, Parliament squabbled over a privatization law revoking the condition that the state retain a minimum stake in utilities and ports. The measure, which barely passed, cleared the way to privatize assets like Greece’s water utility. Yet even there, a new regulatory agency must be established, along with a public policy on how to price water. The government owes the utility around 700 million euros in unpaid bills; when it will ever pay is unclear. And then there is land: It is the bulk of the portfolio, and it comes with the biggest problems. Property registries are almost nonexistent in Greece, a curiosity that dates back to the Ottoman Empire . Ownership was almost never recorded, so investors could face potential lawsuits from people claiming land as theirs. “Just imagine — the state doesn’t know exactly what real estate it really owns,” says George Katrougalos, a Greek constitutional lawyer who is currently a fellow at New York University . “It’s a legal mess.” Worse still, Greeks built on state land probably while the government looked the other way. That was the situation that Mr. Taprantzis’s agency found in Katakolo, a once-verdant beachfront near ancient Olympia. in the Western Peloponnese, where thousands of people squatted on state land without paying for or registering the property. Local politicians enabled the activity. For decades, on days when national elections were held, hundreds of people would throw up cinder-block houses literally overnight. In exchange, locals supported candidates who would not sanction them or force them to pay taxes on the construction. Electricity was eventually brought in through political favors, and little by little, a community was established. “Politicians turned a blind eye in exchange for votes,” Christos Konstantopoulos, a spokesman for the mayor, said during a recent tour of the area. The result: miles of beachfront property littered with the skeletons of shabbily built homes. Taxes went unpaid. Other homes had been spruced up over time, with porch swings, ornamental hedges and, in one case, a faux lighthouse with a small pool. “Everybody in town has a brother, a sister, an uncle or a cousin who lives here,” Mr. Konstantopoulos said, calling the situation disheartening. “But now we’re stuck with it.” The state lost untold income, including that from unpaid taxes, although residents are now forced to pay a property tax through electricity bills. Still, the area is a lost cause for privatization, as far as Mr. Taprantzis’s agency is concerned. NOW, the government is scrambling to set up an electronic land registry. It is a herculean task, though not insurmountable, Mr. Taprantzis says. At Hellinikon, the old Athens airport site that is one of the largest land areas to be privatized in Europe, “the property is more or less clean,” says Spiros N. Pollalis , the head of the project and a professor at the Harvard school of design. Property disputes have been fast-tracked for resolution, and the concerns of locals who feared excessive development have been largely addressed, he says. If all goes well, some investor will spend six billion euros on a huge urban landscaping project to turn the 1,500-acre site into a vast business hub and pedestrian area, Mr. Pollalis says. That could draw innovative companies and generate more than 20,000 high-paying jobs. Mr. Pollalis hopes that developers will see things his way, even if their goal is to maximize profit. “In Hellinikon, we need not only a partner but someone who understands the needs of the Greek people,” he says. “We do not want greed.” That was a concern of locals in the Afandou beachfront area of Rhodes, which was founded as a refuge in an era when pirates roamed the Mediterranean. Like Katakolo, some parts of the land were squatted on — a problem that blocked four previous efforts at privatization. The agency is bent on clearing the land titles, but that requires a ruling by Greek courts, which can up to a decade to occur. Local residents wanted the Afandou plot transformed into year-round, sports-theme vacation attractions. Some are now trying to block privatization for fear that investors will erect cheap hotels, bringing only low-paying jobs. Nektarios Santorinios, a representative of the left-leaning Syriza party who is heading protests, contends that the state was so desperate that it was accepting about 50 euros per square meter, compared with an estimated market value of 180 euros. “They are trying to sell the gold of Rhodes in a fire sale,” he says. “Meanwhile, the money will just go into a black hole, which is the national debt.” BACK in Athens, Mr. Taprantzis says the government understands that it needs to show Greeks that they have nothing to fear from privatization. The process could be a breakthrough for Greece that clears away deep-seated problems like the one in Katakolo. “The state is not the best businessman,” he says. “So privatization will be transformational in many respects.” Although any transition would be painful for vested interests, Mr. Taprantzis says, “we’re discussing this as if Greece had another option.” He paused, then added, “I’m not sure another option is there.”


Youkilis Remains Out, Adding to Yankees’ Vulnerability Against Lefties

Abstract: ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Kevin Youkilis was not in the starting lineup for the third straight game Tuesday because of a back problem, and the timing could not have been worse for the slumping Yankees. Facing a second left-handed starter in a row, the Yankees needed any and every right-handed batter they have, and without Youkilis they are stretched thinner than normal. “I’d like to have him, no doubt about that,” Manager Joe Girardi said before the Yankees played the Tampa Bay Rays. It is only a small sampling of games, but it appears as if the threat of left-handed pitching is emerging as a problem for the Yankees. They carried a .190 batting average against left-handers into Tuesday’s game after they managed only two hits against Rays starter Matt Moore in Monday’s loss. David Price, another quality left-hander, was scheduled to face them Tuesday, and without Youkilis, Girardi was forced to use four left-handed batters for the second straight game. Youkilis, a career .293 hitter against left-handers who has not had much success against them so far this season, injured his back during Saturday’s game in Toronto. Girardi said Youkilis was receiving treatment Tuesday and was not expected to be available for Wednesday’s series finale. Girardi was hopeful Youkilis could return by Thursday, when the Yankees open a seven-game homestand. “It’s difficult when he’s not in there,” Girardi said. “He’s a big part of our lineup against left-handers. But we have to deal with it.” He dealt with it by using the left-handed-hitting Lyle Overbay, who was only 1 for 15 this season against left-handers going into Tuesday, at first base. Ichiro Suzuki, another left-hander, was back in right field, with the right-handed Ben Francisco at designated hitter, batting fifth, despite a .091 average (2 for 22) going into Tuesday’s game. Francisco did not have a hit in four previous at-bats against Price. But he was the only right-handed option Girardi had. Image Brett Gardner catching a fly ball against the Tampa Bay Rays. Credit J. Meric/Getty Images Normally Girardi could rely on Derek Jeter and the switch-hitter Mark Teixeira to punish left-handed pitchers. But Jeter is out with a broken ankle and Teixeira is recovering from a strained tendon in his right wrist. Without them, the Yankees’ success rate against left-handers has plummeted in the first few weeks of the season, although they did win three of their six games against right-handed starters. Last year — with Jeter and Teixeira in the lineup for most games — the Yankees hit .263 against left-handers, three points off their batting average against right-handers, and they went 37-24 when they faced a left-handed starter. “You definitely feel it a lot because of what they’ve done off of left-handers in their careers,” Girardi said of the loss of Jeter and Teixeira. “A leadoff hitter and a middle-of-the-order hitter, you take those guys out and it’s something substantial.” Jeter will not be back until at least the All-Star break. Girardi said Jeter returned to Charlotte, N.C., to see Dr. Robert Anderson, the foot specialist who performed the surgery on Jeter’s ankle last October and then found a new fracture in it last week. Girardi exchanged text messages with Jeter and was under the impression that Jeter is wearing a protective boot on his left foot. He said Jeter planned to meet the team in New York on Thursday. Teixeira, who injured his wrist while training with the United States team for the World Baseball Classic, had been hoping to return around May 1. But on Tuesday he said that was not feasible because lingering stiffness has kept him from progressing faster than he hoped. “It’s probably not going to be May 1,” he said. Teixeira insisted the stiffness was not a setback, and was simply the result of taking new steps in his rehabilitation and subjecting the muscles in his wrist to workouts they had not been through lately. If all had gone well, he would have remained in Tampa, Fla., to start taking batting practice and then playing in extended spring training games. Now he plans to return to New York with the team, and he will fly back to Tampa when he is ready to start playing. Teixeira was originally told the recovery time when he injured his wrist would be eight to 10 weeks, and the 10-week period, ending around May 15, is the new target date. “I’m hoping that’s still the timetable,” he said. Girardi said he would stick with Francisco, despite his early lack of success. Girardi noted that Francisco had hit some balls hard, even though they did not result in hits. “We’re going to stick with him and that’s why we brought him here,” Girardi said. “We think he’s going to get it done.” But Francisco is only a career .255 hitter, and was hitting .247 against left-handers. So Girardi said he would consider using Travis Hafner, the left-handed designated hitter who was signed to face only right-handed pitchers.

Yankees
Kevin Youkilis
Mark Teixeira
Baseball
Lyle Overbay
Ben Francisco


Yankees Pitcher Darrell Rasner, Used to the Shadows, Is Now a Bright Spot

Abstract: Darrell Rasner won just once for the Yankees last season, and hardly anybody noticed. It was the day a burly Texan burst into the press box at Yankee Stadium and told the crowd he was coming back. Rasner did not mind being overshadowed; it is the story of his career, and besides, he was excited to see Roger Clemens. Watching Clemens was a guilty pleasure for Rasner while growing up in Nevada. He knew that he was not meant to pitch like him. If Rasner were to last in baseball — and he had no doubts he would — he understood he would have to emulate someone else. “I always liked Tom Glavine,” Rasner said. “I know he’s a lefty, but I always liked how he pitched. I remember when I was younger, just watching how he pitched, changing sides and beating guys just with his location and changing speeds.” That is what Rasner has done for the Yankees, going 3-1 with a 1.80 earned run average as the surprise success story of their uneven season. His next outing comes Sunday at the Metrodome against the Minnesota Twins, the team he beat for his first major league victory in 2006. That season had begun with disappointment and ended with opportunity, the way it usually goes for Rasner: ¶In February 2006, he was cut by the lowly Washington Nationals, who needed room for a backup catcher, Matt LeCroy. The Yankees, of all teams, claimed him on waivers. ¶In May 2007 — “May 19,” Rasner said, recalling the precise date — he was struck on the right index finger by a one-hopper from the Mets’ Endy Chávez. He did not return to the majors but was able to spend all summer with his wife and young son, a rare gift for a traveling ballplayer. ¶This season, when the Yankees’ plan to rely on the heralded prospects Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy turned sour, Rasner, 27, has come to the rescue. “He’s a guy who feels that he’s always in the losers’ bracket of a tournament, like he’s got to win twice to get into the winners’ bracket,” said Rasner’s agent, Matt Sosnick. “He’s never the guy who’s going to grab the No. 1 seed and get a bye, but I know he believes — and he’s right — that if you put him in the draw, he’s going to keep winning.” Sosnick has represented Rasner since 2002, when the Montreal Expos took him with their second-round draft choice. Rasner moved steadily through the minors as the franchise migrated to Washington. He reached the majors briefly at the end of 2005, but by then, he was not throwing a mid-90s fastball anymore. When he did, the pitch straightened out and was hammered. Just days before the start of the next spring training, the Nationals designated Rasner for assignment. Most teams have no room on their roster by then, and even the Yankees were not overwhelmed by the chance to take him. “We weren’t jumping up and down,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “He showed up on the waiver wire, and Billy Eppler” — the professional scouting director — “said that based on his department’s reports, we should put a claim in on him. We felt he was better than what we had at the back end of our 40-man roster.” They were modest expectations, and Rasner had modest success. In 12 games for the Yankees the next two seasons, he was 4-4 with a 4.20 E.R.A. Last December, Cashman told Sosnick that the Yankees wanted to take Rasner off the 40-man roster. But Cashman did so only with the knowledge that Rasner would accept a minor league deal. He sweetened it by offering Rasner the chance to make $35,000 to $40,000 a month in Class AAA, about four times the typical salary for that level. “The organization approached me the right way,” Rasner said. “They were super professional about it and basically told me, honestly, what the deal was. I respected that and I trusted what they said. I know how many guys we used last year, so I thought this was a great opportunity.” Rasner understood the vagaries of baseball simply by looking at his index finger, which is still swollen around the knuckle. Two pins were inserted in the finger after the injury, and Rasner struggled with the simplest of everyday chores. “I couldn’t do anything,” he said. “Couldn’t open a can, couldn’t hold groceries, couldn’t hold doors, you name it. I couldn’t shave. I had to shave lefty; sliced myself up.” Weeks of tedious rehabilitation followed. Squeezing putty. Dipping his hand in hot, waxy goo to stimulate the joints. Straining just to make a fist. He made three starts in the minors to finish the season, but his arm strength was not fully back. Even in spring training, the Yankees did not see the same life on his pitches. But Rasner worked on a cutter at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and dominated the International League. He has gone back to killing the American League softly with curveballs, changeups, cutters and pinpoint fastballs. “Everything’s on the corners and sinking off, changing speeds,” said Luke Scott of the Baltimore Orioles. “I was looking at video of my at-bats off him, and there was not one ball that caught any of the plate. On the black, every one.” Scott compared Rasner to Toronto’s Shaun Marcum, a right-hander who has held opponents to a .160 average this season. The American League is hitting .209 against Rasner, whose simple approach is working. “I just want to throw strikes, make it as simple as possible and get these guys in to hit,” Rasner said. “Just good, quality strikes, aggressively thrown — with everything, not just the fastball; throw everything with conviction.” INSIDE PITCH Brian Cashman said Thursday that he did not want to bother Manager Joe Girardi on the Yankees’ day off, so the team did not firm up plans for when Joba Chamberlain will make his first start. But Chamberlain, whose pitch count could go as high as 75 in his next appearance, seems likely to start in place of the injured Ian Kennedy on Monday or Tuesday. “I think we all have an idea what direction we’re going with this,” Cashman said. ...Catcher Jorge Posada caught again in extended spring training, and he is scheduled to throw to bases in a game on Saturday. Posada, whose injured shoulder has kept him out more than a month, is expected to rejoin the Yankees next week. “Every day has gone as well as we could have hoped for, so far,” Cashman said.

New York Yankees
Rasner Darrell
Baseball


In Prison Call, Inmate Feared New Action in a Cold Case

Abstract: Through a telephone at the Attica state prison, a feared figure of Russian organized crime learned last year about movement in a murder case 14 years cold. “Oh, my God, oh, my God,” the inmate, Marat Krivoi, said in transcripts read aloud in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn yesterday. Minutes later in the transcript, his tone shifted to circumspect: “It’s not that I’m worried; it’s just I’m interested in knowing about these people.” Mr. Krivoi’s calls were recorded last year in state prison, where he was serving a sentence of 10 to 20 years for assault. In the new case against him, prosecutors presented the transcripts as evidence of his role in committing two murders in the summer of 1992. Along with a co-defendant, Vitaly Ivanitsky, 33, Mr. Krivoi has been charged with the murders of a criminal associate and a high-stakes pool player. Prosecutors say the associate, Boris Roitman, 21, was suspected of cooperating with the police, while the pool player, Thien Diep, 24, was a robbery target. After nearly a month of testimony, including cooperating witnesses who described planning and carrying out the killings on Mr. Krivoi’s orders, prosecutors rested their case yesterday with the recordings of his own words. But Mr. Krivoi, 37, did not make himself clear on the phone with his friends. Speaking mostly in Russian, he cursed and, prosecutors say, spoke partly in code. In court, he sat and flipped through a newspaper as a prosecutor, Christopher P. Blank, tested the speaker system. Outside the presence of the jurors, Mr. Blank played one recording aloud. A not exactly human voice began: “This is MCI, I have a collect call from Marat, an inmate at Attica Correctional Facility...” As the operator’s voice cut away, thanking Mr. Krivoi for using MCI, it was replaced with a rapid conversation punctuated by an inventive and bilingual range of profanity. The justice overseeing the case, Albert Tomei, ruled that the recording was too muffled to be useful. Instead, he ordered the transcripts read aloud to the jury. Mr. Blank turned to the gallery. “Interns, front and center,” he called. Three young law students in dark suits took their places at microphones around the courtroom. The jurors returned. “Playing the role of Marat Krivoi — want to give your name, sir?” Justice Tomei asked. The intern answered, “Jay Thornton.” From the defense table, Mr. Krivoi appraised his new theatrical counterpart. Mr. Thornton bore him little physical resemblance, but in acting, it is often the quality of the performance that counts. A second intern was introduced to play the part of David Mitnitsky, Mr. Krivoi’s friend on the telephone. The two young men began to read the translated conversations in the unaffected tones of TV news anchors, voicing their parts in crisp English. In the first transcript, after some small talk, Mr. Krivoi asks his friend for news. His friend replies, “What did I hear, ah, the bull got taken in.” At first, Mr. Krivoi does not seem to understand. His friend says, “Think.” Then Mr. Krivoi says, “Oh, God.” The friend tells Mr. Krivoi that he has heard that the matter concerns something old, from 1992 or 1993. “She told me that he got written up for, how she say it, uh, two felony murders or something,” the friend says. Mr. Krivoi expresses some fear about all this, and his friend says, “Shut your mouth.” When the reading ended, a third intern, Nadia Kruler, took the microphone. She was cast as Mr. Krivoi’s girlfriend, Elvira, identified in the transcripts as “Elvira Girlfriend.” Seconds after he ends the call with his friend, Mr. Krivoi calls Elvira. She quickly senses his concern. They call each other “Little One” and “Love,” but 10 sentences into the call she asks, “What’s with you?” Mr. Krivoi tells her, “This is not an over-the-phone conversation.” Later they speak of fears and dreams. She seeks to know the cause of his concern; he demurs. He calls her the next day and again the next. Finally he tries to explain: “You are thinking as a woman and I understand you, love. My whole life I was feared, and it is not a pleasant feeling. When you are feared, understand, constantly people will be afraid to speak with you and open up to you, and in some cases it’s not bad, but in others it is not that good, love. Understand, when you are feared, you are always being plotted against.”

Prisons and Prisoners
Organized Crime
Murders and Attempted Murders
Brooklyn (NYC)


Nigeria: Soldiers Open Fire in City After Explosion

Abstract: Soldiers angry about the killing of an officer on Monday razed buildings and killed more than 30 people believed to be civilians in Maiduguri, a northeastern city. The soldiers belong to a unit in Maiduguri, the spiritual home of Boko Haram, a radical Islamist sect. A soldier who did not identify himself claimed that the attack was a response to a bombing nearby that he said killed a lieutenant.


Libya Frees 4 From International Criminal Court

Abstract: PARIS — Libya on Monday released four officials from the International Criminal Court who had been detained for a month on charges that one of them had brought letters that could harm national security while visiting Seif el-Qaddafi, the imprisoned son of the former dictator, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The president of the court, Song Sang-hyun, a South Korean judge, had flown to Libya for the transfer and met the group at Zintan, the western town where they had been held. The group left the Tripoli airport for The Hague on Monday evening, a court statement said. Judge Song said before departing that he “wished to apologize for the difficulties which arose due to this series of events,” and he thanked the Libyan authorities for allowing the court’s staff members to return to their families. Ahmed al-Gehani, a Libyan lawyer who is the coordinator between the government and the court, said the four officials had been “investigated” and were released. He said that they had not been prosecuted, as originally planned. “They are free, but they will not be coming back,” Mr. Gehani said. Asked in a telephone interview what the charges had been, Mr. Gehani said, “The charges were not very clear. They were decided by the prosecutor general.” The group’s release ended a monthlong diplomatic tussle. The continued captivity of four international officials, who were entitled to immunity while on an international mission, was at the very least bad publicity for a new Libyan government preparing trials of people accused of abuses in the past. It also raised further doubt about the government’s competence and its understanding of the legal process. Melinda Taylor, a lawyer who was accused of bringing the letters to Seif el-Qaddafi, and the three other officials were put under house arrest, Mr. Gehani said, because she had refused to answer any questions, including where she had met the people who gave her the letters. He said this had been the main reason for her detention. Ms. Taylor, who is Australian, was accused on June 7 of handing smuggled letters to Mr. Qaddafi on an approved visit to the prison in Zintan, which remains under control of the region’s militia. It was her second visit to see Mr. Qaddafi, who has been in the militia’s custody since he was captured in the Sahara late last year. “She brought letters for Seif from two different people, dangerous people who are supporters of the old regime, and she had a page with drawings that looked like codes,” Mr. Gehani said. “I was the person who saw this.” “She should have been more careful to carry documents without knowing the contents,” he said. “She had an Arabic interpreter.” Adding to the suspicion, he said, was that the lawyers secretly brought in a camera disguised as a pen. No one has disclosed the contents of the letters. But a lawyer familiar with the case said that Libya had circulated a note to the United Nations Security Council last month contending that Ms. Taylor had passed a coded letter from an aide to Mr. Qaddafi. The note said the documents carried by Ms. Taylor were not related to the international court’s investigation, the lawyer said. Ms. Taylor, who works for the international court’s public defense office, was visiting Mr. Qaddafi on orders of the court, which is based in The Hague. The court had indicted Mr. Qaddafi before his father’s government was overthrown on charges of crimes against humanity. Libya’s new authorities have said they want to try him at home on a broader variety of charges. While the question of who will try Mr. Qaddafi was being worked out, judges in The Hague sent Ms. Taylor as an interim counsel for Mr. Qaddafi, because he was believed to have no legal representation. The court also sent two others, Alexander Khodakov, a former Russian diplomat, and Esteban Losilla, a Spanish lawyer, to ask Mr. Qaddafi if he wanted to appoint counsel of his own choosing, the court said. Although the two men were told they were free to leave, they chose to stay to support Ms. Taylor and her interpreter, Libyan officials said. The episode is expected to raise further debate about the safety of defense lawyers working for the international court.

Libya
International Criminal Court
International Relations
Taylor Melinda
Detainees


London’s Countdown to 2012 Begins With Questions

Abstract: BEIJING — If there were any doubts that the 2012 Olympics in London would be different from those in Beijing, they vanished as soon as the mayor of London appeared during the closing ceremony Sunday night. The mayor, Boris Johnson, appeared after Guo Jinlong, his Beijing counterpart, and Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee , had given speeches. Guo and Rogge were thin, erect and serious, encased in creased dark suits. Johnson shambled out, his middle button undone, a hand in his pocket. He waved, pointed, pumped his fist and grinned: a naughty schoolboy out with the grown-ups. Johnson was there for one of the many rituals built into the Games. Guo passed the Olympic flag to Rogge, who passed it to Johnson — a relay symbolizing the passing of the Olympics from one city to another. How well London will carry that flag is a question its representatives have found themselves asked repeatedly over the last two weeks. What can they do to follow this no-expenses-spared Olympics, with its spectacular arenas, clockwork organization and attention to detail? The first problem for London is simply one of cash. Estimates for the cost of the Beijing Games, apart from the Beijing organizing committee’s operating budget, start at $40 billion. And that does not account for the difference in labor costs, which are considerably lower in China than they will be in London. Everyone involved with the London Games is clear on their numbers: a $3.7 billion operating budget for the organizing committee; a $17.2 billion budget for building everything. For London, the trap is to avoid being accused of wasting money on a short-lived event, while not being seen as skimping. “It is unlikely that you will see a Games of this size and scope and stature ever again,” Sebastian Coe, the chairman of the London committee, said at a news conference. The I.O.C. is caught in the same trap. This was its party, and China spent $40 billion on it. Yet the I.O.C. can hardly gloat about how much money went into an event that lasts just 17 days. The I.O.C.’s solution is to stress what the Games leave behind. Beijing is a huge, fast-growing and even faster-modernizing city that was short of sports venues. The Games will leave a legacy of arenas here. That is not a legacy London needs. It has two 80,000-seat venues — Wembley and Twickenham — and a host of other sports venues. “Our priority is to leave a legacy for the community,” Coe said. “Our message has been clear and unambiguous: to use the London Games to drive the participation in Olympic sports. “No Games has produced a sustainable shift in participation.” The London organizers say that the majority of the city’s Olympic venues already exist. They include Wembley and Wimbledon for tennis . Lord’s Cricket Ground will have to be tweaked for archery . Earl’s Court, which will house volleyball , is an exhibition hall, not a sports arena, and parts of it date from the late 1930s. Greenwich Park, site of the equestrian events; Hyde Park, where the triathlon will be held; and Regent’s Park, the road cycling venue, are existing venues only in the sense that the parks are already there. The same goes for Horse Guards Parade, a rather surreal choice to host beach volleyball . Wembley and the North Greenwich Arena, which will house badminton , are reminders of how badly planning in London has often gone wrong in recent years. Both were delivered late and massively over budget. The North Greenwich Arena, originally the Millennium Dome, cost an estimated $1.9 billion. Wembley was recently rebuilt. It was scheduled for completion in 2006 but opened in 2007 and cost $1.5 billion. Despite the huge budgets, a modern Olympics depends heavily on those who provide their labor for free. One of the defining elements in Beijing has been the legions of young volunteers. Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the London Olympic committee, said he could not hope to duplicate their numbers. “One of the great strengths of China is the ability to mobilize so many resources and people,” he said. “We will give the individuals bigger roles and more independence. That is a model that works best for the British.” The volunteers in Beijing have been more than matched in numbers by the security forces. Terrorism is a shadow that hangs over any mass event. Beijing has not seen terrorist attacks in recent years, but London has — notably on July 7, 2005, the day after London won the right to host the Games. London, Coe said, “is a huge, global, capital city. There will be a balance. The Games must be enjoyable, and the city will not be locked down.” The police and soldiers were again everywhere in Beijing on Sunday. While the show put on by the hosts Sunday night was not an epic narrative like the opening ceremony, it was still spectacular, huge and, except for the athletes’ entry, meticulously choreographed. Then the British appeared, with a dance skit including a London bus and members of three dance companies. Clearly, they were playing far from home, with limited resources. Even so, it looked chaotic and under-rehearsed. Jimmy Page almost rescued the moment, with a demonstration of the simple power of the electric guitar. David Beckham received what may have been the biggest cheer for any non-Chinese athlete at the Olympics, just for kicking one soccer ball toward the crowd. It was a powerful demonstration of how to get a lot from a little.

Olympic Games (2008)
Olympic Games (2012)
London (England)
Beijing (China)
Olympic Games
International Olympic Committee


Week 15 N.F.L. Matchups

Abstract: Bengals (8-4-1) at Browns (7-6) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Browns by 1 ½ Cleveland quarterback Johnny Manziel was a good sport when Cincinnati Coach Marvin Lewis mocked his height . Lewis, while brushing off the suggestion that any special attention would be paid to the 6-foot Manziel, used a derogatory term for little people to describe him. “It’s absolutely funny,” Manziel said. “I’m not going to sprout five inches over the course of the week. It is what it is. My height is my height.” The focus on Manziel’s stature is strange because quarterbacks his height or shorter have had success throughout N.F.L. history. If Manziel throws his first touchdown pass this weekend, he will be the 192nd quarterback 6 feet or shorter to do so, according to ProFootballReference.com. The 6-feet-and-shorter club has produced seven Hall of Fame quarterbacks and four others who have won at least one Super Bowl or N.F.L. championship. Many of the shorter quarterbacks were successful in a far different era. But Russell Wilson, who guided Seattle to a Super Bowl win last season, is 5-11, and Drew Brees, a Super Bowl winner with 391 touchdown passes in his career, is 6 feet. Anyone who watched Manziel star at Texas A&M knows that he plays as if he were bigger and is just as much of a threat to run as he is to pass. When this meeting is over, the Bengals, whose defense is ranked 21st against the pass and 27th against the run, might wish they had spent the week constructing a game plan tailored to Manziel rather than listening to their coach apologize for his offensive words. Pick : Browns Cowboys (9-4) at Eagles (9-4) 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Line: Eagles by 3 ½ DeMarco Murray has rushed for 100 yards or more in 11 of 13 games for Dallas, but even this season, Philadelphia has proved to be his Kryptonite. In four games against the Eagles in his career, Murray has never gained 100 yards, and on Thanksgiving they held him to a season-low 73. He bounced back quickly, rumbling for a season-high 179 yards in a Dec. 4 win over Chicago. The big game gave Murray a 375-yard lead over Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell in his pursuit of his first rushing title, and leaves him on pace for 1,977 yards for the season. But if Murray has any hopes of breaking 2,000, he will need a big game against Philadelphia. The key to that will be the lackluster Dallas defense, which must do a better job of limiting the scoring so the Cowboys do not deviate from the run-heavy attack that has enabled Murray to thrive. Counting on the Eagles, coached by the offensive mastermind Chip Kelly, to struggle to put up points for a second consecutive game would be unwise. Pick : Eagles 49ers (7-6) at Seahawks (9-4) 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Line: Seahawks by 10 In his first season as San Francisco’s starting quarterback, Colin Kaepernick nearly won a Super Bowl. The next season he was a few inches from winning the N.F.C. championship game. This season he has a winning record and is on pace for a career high in passing yards. But after last week’s loss to Oakland, some 49ers fans, spoiled by growing up with Joe Montana and Steve Young, were filmed burning their Kaepernick jerseys in protest. A 24-12 regular-season record, and four postseason wins, are apparently not enough for the fans who also gladly brushed Alex Smith aside less than a season after he nearly led the team to a Super Bowl. Signed to a contract extension before the season, Kaepernick probably does not have to worry about his job security anytime soon, but Super Bowl-obsessed 49ers fans can console themselves with the knowledge that should the team decide to go in a different direction, the salary-cap ramifications will be minimal. Pick : Seahawks Dolphins (7-6) at Patriots (10-3) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Patriots by 7 ½ A Pennsylvania judge ruled Wednesday that a marijuana possession charge against New England running back LeGarrette Blount can be dropped if he completes 50 hours of community service by his February court date. In a league suddenly obsessed with off-field behavior, resolving the matter would be good for Blount’s career. He is trying to rebuild his on-field résumé after his release by Pittsburgh, and he has a chance for a big game against Miami. The Dolphins’ defense has forgotten how to defend against the run, allowing 661 yards on the ground over the last three games. Even with Justin Forsett limited in Week 14, Baltimore ran for 183 yards against Miami, and the frustration boiled over as Dolphins defensive tackle Jared Odrick berated Coach Joe Philbin on the sideline. Coach Bill Belichick is always at his best in December, and an opponent in disarray just makes winning at home that much easier. Pick : Patriots Texans (7-6) at Colts (9-4) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Colts by 7 Imagine if the version of Jadeveon Clowney who burst through Michigan’s offensive line to tackle Vincent Smith in South Carolina’s 2013 Outback Bowl victory could line up in a Houston front seven with J. J. Watt, the most dominant defensive player in the N.F.L. The combination of speed and power they possess would be virtually unstoppable. Alas, Clowney is out for at least nine months after microfracture surgery, and the Texans, who drafted him No. 1 over all, may never see him regain his form. Pick : Colts Packers (10-3) at Bills (7-6) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Packers by 6 Green Bay is one of the most decorated N.F.L. teams, with 708 regular-season victories, 13 championships and 22 players in the Hall of Fame. But for all the Packers’ glory, they are 0-5 in road games against Buffalo, a streak dating to November 1979. In Green Bay’s most recent loss, in 2006, turnovers sank the Packers although their defense limited the Bills to 184 yards of total offense. Aaron Rodgers, who is probably on his way to his second Most Valuable Player award, seems like the quarterback to end this streak. Pick : Packers Broncos (10-3) at Chargers (8-5) 4:05 p.m. Sunday, Line Broncos by 4 ½ With Demaryius Thomas limited by an ankle injury and Julius Thomas out, the Denver passing game looked pedestrian at best in Week 14. Peyton Manning’s streak of games with a touchdown pass ended at 51. Although running back C. J. Anderson picked up the slack with another big effort, the Broncos will need more balance in their offense to win at San Diego. If Julius Thomas can return to the field, the Broncos could wrap up their fourth consecutive A.F.C. West championship. Pick: Broncos Jaguars (2-11) at Ravens (8-5) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Ravens by 14 With three and a half sacks in Week 14, Baltimore’s Elvis Dumervil set a single-season franchise record that stands at 16 for now. He has 25 ½ sacks in two seasons since his agent missed a deadline to file contract paperwork, a mistake that resulted in his release from Denver. If the Ravens win their final three games, they have a chance to make the playoffs, and Dumervil’s intimidating presence could be a huge factor. Pick : Ravens Vikings (6-7) at Lions (9-4) 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Line: Lions by 8 Detroit has had a solid season, with its defense outshining its offense. The Lions face teams with losing records in two of the final three weeks and have a chance to win at least 11 games for the first time since 1991. But defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has been a recent distraction by making it clear that his agent will decide where he plays next season. Frequently fined for being overly aggressive, Suh is a driving force on the interior defensive line. If this is his last home game for the Lions, they will struggle to do as well next season. Pick : Lions Steelers (8-5) at Falcons (5-8) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Steelers by 2 ½ Roddy White made it clear that it was fine for people to complain about a postseason structure that could result in Atlanta’s hosting a playoff game, but that acting as if the Falcons might become the first franchise to capitalize on its status as the best team in a weak division was unfair. Seattle hosted a playoff game in 2011 after going 7-9, so he might have a point. Always tough at home, the Falcons will need Julio Jones and White at 100 percent to beat Pittsburgh. If Atlanta wins, the Falcons will continue to control their fate, because an 8-8 record would be enough to capture the N.F.C. South. Pick : Falcons Redskins (3-10) at Giants (4-9) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Giants by 7 Eli Manning has been the Giants’ starting quarterback in every game since Nov. 21, 2004. In that time, Washington has had 10 starting quarterbacks. The revolving door does not appear to be stopping anytime soon, as the Redskins appeared determined to delay committing to a quarterback for this game from among the three who have started for them this season. Yet Washington still has more passing yards this season than the Giants. DeSean Jackson, a wide receiver signed this off-season, has helped introduce a vertical element to the Redskins’ offense, resulting in a team average of 8.1 yards per pass attempt, which is third in the N.F.L. Manning no doubt provides more consistency than anyone Washington has to offer, but the Redskins’ triumvirate has outperformed Manning, a two-time Super Bowl winner. Pick : Redskins Raiders (2-11) at Chiefs (7-6) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Chiefs by 10 Between its victories, Oakland lost to St. Louis, 52-0, so any talk that the Raiders have turned a corner may be premature. If Jamaal Charles returns for Kansas City, this game could look a lot more like the Raiders’ loss to the Rams than either of their surprising victories. Pick : Chiefs Buccaneers (2-11) at Panthers (4-8-1) 1 p.m. Sunday, Line: Panthers by 3 ½ For a few days, Carolina fans were able to enjoy a win over a division rival and relax a bit. The franchise quarterback Cam Newton appeared to have regained some of his composure that had been missing as the Panthers went seven games without a victory. But on Tuesday, Newton sustained two lower-back fractures in a car accident. The injury, described as similar to the one Dallas quarterback Tony Romo is playing through, will keep Newton out indefinitely. Carolina has a competent backup in Derek Anderson and a hapless opponent in Tampa Bay, so hope is not lost for the Panthers. Pick : Panthers Jets (2-11) at Titans (2-11) 4:05 p.m. Sunday, Line: Jets by 3 Percy Harvin is injured, which seems like a cliché at this point, but it is notable because he appears to be the only receiver who can make the Jets’ Geno Smith look like a quarterback. If Harvin is out, the Jets will run more, but some semblance of a passing game is necessary to defeat even lowly Tennessee. Pick : Titans Saints (5-8) at Bears (5-8) 8:30 p.m. Monday, Line: Saints by 3 How can a team crack the N.F.L.'s top 10 in both passing and rushing and still have a losing record? In the case of New Orleans, it requires a comically bad defense. The Saints’ is 31st in the N.F.L. in yards allowed and 30th in points allowed. The cure for what ails the team could come against Chicago, one of the few teams whose defensive front can claim to have played worse than the Saints’. The Bears have allowed an N.F.L.-worst 29.1 points a game, and with Jay Cutler turning the ball over at an alarming rate and Brandon Marshall out for the season, their offense has little chance to pick up the slack. New Orleans can still salvage a .500 season and make the playoffs, but changes need to be made if the team has any interest in getting back to the Super Bowl during the waning years of Drew Brees’s prime. Pick : Saints


Police Search Harriman State Park in Hunt for Eugene Palmer

Abstract: Eugene Palmer was always a loner, his neighbors in the Rockland County town of Haverstraw said. Armed with a shotgun, they said, Mr. Palmer often menaced people who strayed uninvited onto his hilly, overgrown property, and he was known to retreat into the woods near his home to camp and hunt. It was to those woods that he fled on Monday night after, the police said, he killed his son’s estranged wife, Tammy Palmer, 39, who had lived with his son and their two children in a trailer home 50 feet from Mr. Palmer’s house. According to The Journal News, Mr. Palmer told his sister that he needed an hour to escape the authorities, then, carrying at least one gun, he disappeared into Harriman State Park, which stretches over more than 46,000 acres. That led the police on a manhunt that had not ended by Wednesday night. Charles Miller, the Haverstraw police chief, said about 30 armed officers were scouring the woods in teams. Around 4 p.m. Wednesday, about a dozen officers could be seen massing on the southwest side of Lake Welch, about two miles from Mr. Palmer’s home and the scene of the shooting. As the search dragged on, turning up possible traces of Mr. Palmer’s flight — his green pickup truck abandoned here, an ashy campfire there — people in Haverstraw began predicting a bad ending to what had already been several weeks of violence and tension among Mr. Palmer, 73; his son John Palmer; and Tammy Palmer over a restraining order that Ms. Palmer had filed against her husband about a month ago. “He’s very coldhearted,” John Pannirello, Ms. Palmer’s father, said of the elder Mr. Palmer. “The detective says he won’t be surprised if something goes on between us and him, if he has guns with him. I just have a bad, bad feeling.” The police believe that Mr. Palmer, an avid outdoorsman who does not appear to have a criminal record, is carrying a shotgun, and they said that a rifle was also missing from his home. Chief Miller said his officers were prepared. “They’re all armed, and they have bulletproof vests,” he said. “They’re being diligent out there.” The Palmers and Pannirellos have been intertwined since Ms. Palmer’s older sister had a son with John Palmer’s older brother 20 years ago. Tammy and John separated about five months ago, Mr. Pannirello said. She filed a restraining order after he continued to show up at her home. The couple had been married for about 17 years, Mr. Pannirello said — painful years for his daughter. In the past few weeks, there had been a custody battle for the children. Efforts to reach the younger Mr. Palmer on Wednesday were unsuccessful. The elder Mr. Palmer, whose family has lived in the same secluded acres at the edge of Haverstraw for generations, did not make life much easier, Mr. Pannirello said. He railed against the restraining order, demanding that Ms. Palmer leave and shutting off the trailer’s electricity when she refused, Mr. Pannirello said; he also spied on her through binoculars and hurled racial epithets at his granddaughter’s friend. Days before the shooting, he told her, “This is your last chance,” while holding a gun in his pocket, and Ms. Palmer responded by threatening him with a log, Mr. Pannirello said. Mr. Pannirello said that the police had asked him to give up his rifle and had posted officers around his house, fearing that the elder Mr. Palmer might show up, he said. Mr. Palmer, a diabetic, had a heart attack last year, and the police do not know if he is carrying any medicine, Chief Miller said. On Tuesday, police dogs trailed a scent from Mr. Palmer’s abandoned pickup truck to an area of the park known as the Irish Potato Trail before losing the scent. The police also found the remnants of a campfire that they believed to be Mr. Palmer’s. On Wednesday, the Department of Defense sent a helicopter equipped with infrared technology to aid the search, which has been hampered by the thickness of the woods. At the home of Elaine Babcock, the elder Mr. Palmer’s sister, about a dozen relatives and friends had gathered Wednesday, shooing away reporters. “Right now, he’s a desperate man, and there’s no telling what he’s going to do,” one neighbor who would give only his first name, Tommy, said of the elder Mr. Palmer. “He’s definitely not right in the head right now.”

Murders and Attempted Murders
Palmer Eugene
Haverstraw (NY)
Harriman State Park (NY)
Palmer Tammy