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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2011)
www . tHeSkaNNer . COM M arCH 9, 2011 S eattLe , w aSHiNGtON V OLuMe XXXiii, N O . 19 25 CeNtS i nSide Movies page 2 Opinon page 3 Sports C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow page 4 exile devolves lead Bomb Bail Hearing waived pHoto bY aSSociated preSS Suspect in MLK Day Bomb Case Waives Bail Hearing the Dalai Lama said thursday that he will give up his political role in tibet's government-in-exile, shifting that power to an elected representative. the tibetan spiritual leader, speaking on the anniversary of the 1959 tibetan uprising against Chinese control, said the time has come “to devolve my formal authority to the elected leader.” He has long insisted that he wants the exile government, based in this indian hill town, to have more power. But the thursday speech gave a formal timeframe to that transition, saying he would soon be proposing amendments to the exile constitution to bring about the changes Pirates of Seattle Victims indicted 14 Indicted in Pirate Attack on American Yacht 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, kidnap- ping and firearms charges stem- ming 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 lim- ited 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 indeX News ........................2,4 Opinion .......................3 Sports ..........................4 Bids/Classifieds............4 pirates took them hostage sever- al hundred miles south of Oman. It was the first time U.S. citi- zens 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 millions 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 sen- tenced to more than 33 years in prison by a New York court for the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. That hijack- ing ended when Navy sharp- shooters killed two pirates hold- ing the ship’s American captain. ``It’s my sincere hope this sends a message,’’ said Diego SpoKane, Wash. (AP) — Investigators have arrested a man they say planted a sophisticated bomb along a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade route in Spokane — a failed attack but one that raised concern, because he has ties to a white supremacist organization. A federal complaint provided no details of the investigation or what led to the arrest of Kevin William Harpham nearly two months after city workers found the bomb, which had been left in a backpack Jan. 17 on a bench. The city workers alerted authorities, and the device was defused without inci- dent. Harpham, 36, of northeastern Washington, waived his right to a bail hearing as he made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Spokane Wednesday. He has been charged with one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruc- tion and one count of possessing an unregis- tered explosive device in a case the FBI has called an act of domestic terrorism. A national organization that tracks hate groups says he is an avid poster on a white supremacist Internet forum. The Southern Poverty Law Center says Harpham made more than 1,000 postings on the Vanguard News Network site, many of them under the pseudonym ``Joe Snuffy.’’ In 2008, a Kevin Harpham complained on the website that he couldn’t access his ``Joe Snuffy’’ account. A 2010 posting mentioned the radioactive element thorium was useless in making bombs. Another, from 2006, said, ``I can’t wait till the day I snap.’’ A federal law enforcement official con- firms investigators are reviewing online postings attributed to Harpham as part of their probe. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing. Harpham, who was shackled at the ankles in court, will remain in the Spokane County Jail unless he changes his mind and asks for See pirateS on page 2 See bomber on page 2 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 horseback, on Wednesday ushered in the Christian season of Lent by clearing Bourbon Street and clos- ing the 2011 Carnival season 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 watches 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 dis- gusted 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- See lent on page 2
