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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2011)
www . THESkANNEr . COM M ArCH 9, 2011 P OrTLAND V OLuME XXXIII, N O . 19 25 CENTS i nSiDe Employment page 4 Greatest Nutz page 6 Not Broke C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow Fourteen Pirates Indicted page 6 Community joy nOrfOlK, Va. (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted 13 suspected pirates from Somalia and one from Yemen in the February hijacking of a yacht that left four Americans dead, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday. The men face piracy, kidnapping and firearms charges stemming from their efforts to hold the Americans for ransom, according to the indictment. If convicted, the men could face life in prison. U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said that more charges could be filed, and that a 15th suspected pirate was not charged because he was a juvenile and had a limited role in the hijacking. The suspected pirates are scheduled to make an initial court appearance Thursday in Norfolk, which last year was the site of the first successful piracy prosecution in nearly 200 years. The yacht’s owners, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death after pirates took them hostage several hundred miles south of Oman. It was the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in recent years. The pirates are typically motivated by the potential for mil- lions of dollars in ransom money. The Adams, who were retired, had been sailing full-time on their 58-foot yacht, the Quest, delivering Bibles around the world. The indictment says at least three of the indicted men shot and killed the four Americans without provocation. They died less than a week after a Somali pirate was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison by a New York court for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. That hijacking ended when Navy sharpshooters killed two pirates holding the ship’s American captain. ``It’s my sincere hope this sends a mes- See pirateS on page 3 inDex News ................2,3,6,8 Opinion ..................4,5 A & E ......................6,7 Food..........................6 Bids/Classifieds ..........8 pHOtO BY BOBBie fOSter Somali and Yemen Sailors Attacked American Yacht Mardi Gras was happily celebrated at St Andrews Catholic Church, Alberta Street, Portland. The church posts many events on their website, standrewchurch.com, for the community to comes together and enjoy Mardi Gras Heralds Lent New Orleans revelers end the craziest time you can have in life neW OrleanS (AP) — At the stroke of midnight, Louisiana’s official Mardi Gras party ended. Police on foot, some on horse- back, on Wednesday ushered in the Christian season of Lent by clearing Bourbon Street and closing the 2011 Carnival sea- son which has been among the most raucous since Hurricane Katrina, partly because it over- lapped with college spring break. Tony Anello, 57, operated a daiquiri stand on Bourbon Street, and estimated business was up by at least 10 percent over last year despite gloomy skies, scattered rain drops and threats of severe weather watch- es for tornadoes and flash floods. Anello said he briefly quit working for his uncle, who owns one of four daiquiri shops in the French Quarter, because he was disgusted by past crowd’s behavior. Though this year’s crowd seemed larger than last year, he said the people seemed tamer. “It’s been getting better and better every year,’’ he said. Sally Dellasperanza, 58, of New York City, arrived Thursday with friends for her 10th straight Mardi Gras. She said the crowds also seemed larger than other post-Katrina celebrations. ``It’s so much fun,’’ she said as she headed back to her hotel to check out so she could catch a flight home. ``How could you not come back? It’s good food, good music and good people.’’ Clarinetist Pete Fountain kicked off Tuesday’s parades shortly after dawn with his marching group. The tradition- ally African-American Krewe of Zulu and the parade of Rex, King of Carnival, followed. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu led Zulu on horseback before dismounting at the ante- bellum-columned Gallier Hall for champagne toasts with Mardi Gras royalty. By afternoon, the party had largely shifted from the family- friendly neighborhoods where See lent next on page 3 School Bus Driver’s Confederate Flag Oregon School Bus Driver Fired Over Confederate Flag grantS paSS, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon school bus driver fired after he refused to remove a Confederate battle flag flying from his pickup truck has enlisted the help of a conservative civil liberties group in hopes of getting his job back. The Rutherford Institute of Charlottesville, Va., sent a letter Wednesday to First Student Bus Transportation Services demanding that Ken Webber of Medford be reinstated. The institute said flying the flag on the pickup truck while it was parked at the bus yard was protected by Webber’s First Amendment right to free speech. ``These are important free speech issues,’’ institute President John Whitehead said from Virginia. ``We are facing a crisis in this country of political correctness.’’ First Student spokeswoman Bonnie Bastian did not immediately respond to a telephone call and e-mail for comment. Webber said he was fired Tuesday for gross insubordination after refusing for the second time to take the flag off his CB antenna while parked in the bus yard in Talent, which is owned by the Phoenix- Talent School District. ``The flag’s flying,’’ he said from See flag on page 3
