A | Behrend Beacon
fcAj April 16, 2010
"I www.thebehrendbeacon.com
LOCAL NEWS
ERIE
The trial involving the family
of 18-year-old Dominica Ju
liano and Country Fair Inc.
began on Thursday.
In 2004, then 12-year-old Do
minica entered the Country
Fair store at West 18th and Sas
safras St. to buy some snacks
with her grandmother, where
an employee flashed his hand
operated bar code scanner
lightly over Dominica’s face
and told her to smile.
The next day, bums appeared
on Dominica’s face, which her
family claims were a result of
the clerk’s actions, which not
only caused burns, but also se
vere psychological problems
that followed after the incident.
The Country Fair company
claims that the child showed no
signs of distress during the in
cident, and that there is no sci
entific evidence that the
scanner used can cause the
kind of damage claimed by the
Juliano’s.
ERIE
Three Erie residents were
charged with attempting to ex
tort $l,OOO from an Erie couple
on Tuesday.
Tayron Cargile and Devon
Henderson were accused of try
ing to force a woman to with
draw money from her bank
account at Erie Federal Credit
Union on Monday.
The two suspects transported
the woman to the bank while
her husband was held against
his will by a third suspect with
an ice pick.
The woman alerted a teller
that the two suspects were
waiting outside in a car, and
asked that the teller call police.
After the call was made, po
lice responded and took the
two suspects into custody, and
later the third suspect.
The three defendants are
charged with false imprison
ment, extortion and conspiracy
to commit theft by extortion.
""ST&re police have no new in
formation to release on their in
vestigation about a Linesville
couple found murdered inside
their home last weekend.
Laurie and Tod Prenatt were
found dead in their home over
the weekend, which the Craw
ford county coroner ruled as a
homicide due to multiple gun
shot wounds on the victims.
Investigators are still probing
other Linesville-area crimes to
see if their are any way con-
nected
Among those crimes being
investigated include a robbery
at a Rite Aid store in Linesville
on April 2. They are also inves
tigating the abduction of an
Erie man who was assaultec
and taken against his will in
Erie.
NATIONAL POLITICS
Polish President and government staff perish in plane crash
MARCUS VEAGLEY
head copy editor
Polish President Lech Kaczynski
and nearly 100 government officials
died in a plane crash in western Russia
on Saturday.
Fifteen MPs, along with the heads of
Poland's armed forces, the central
bank governor, and several deputy
ministers were killed.
The delegation was heading to the
Russian city of Smolensk to commem
orate the 70th anniversary of the
Katyn massacre where Russian forces
killed over 20,000 Polish prisoners of
war.
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime min
ister, called the crash the "most tragic
event in Poland's postwar history."
The president's Tupolev Tu-154 jet
went down in heavy fog and crashed
in a forest, the Russian emergency
ministry said, according to A 1 Jazeera.
Russian investigators, working with
their Polish counterparts, said that the
pilots had not heeded repeated warn
ings from Russian air traffic con
trollers.
“The crew was aware of the in
evitability of the coming catastrophe,
if only due to the plane shaking after
the wings hit the trees,” said Andrzej
Seremet, the Polish chief prosecutor.
Russia's chief investigator, Alexan
der Bastrykin, said that the flight
✓v «gjcy
1. China prepares
rescue for earth
quake victims
JIEGU, China --China
started to airlift hundreds of in
jured people to hospitals on
Thursday, a day after a earth
quake struck the Qinghai
province.
The 6.9 magnitude earth
quake caused buildings,
bridges, and roads to collapse,
leaving 11,000 injured and over
750 dead.
Rescuers have pulled out
over 1,000 people buried under
ECONOMY
Planes grounded due to volcano
What event could stop all flights from
Western Europe and those from the United
States to Europe?
One answer: Volcano.
Since March 20, eruptions started to
occur in Iceland’s EyjafjallajokuJl glacier,
but the most recent eruption on April 14
blew a hole in the mass of ice, sending vol
canic ash thousands of feet into the air.
While an evacuation was placed for 800
people around the glacier due to fears of
flash flooding, over 6,000 flights were can
celed over eastern Europe, including the
U.K., Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium,
Denmark, France, and the Netherlands.
In the United States, over 32 continental
flights were canceled to Europe, refunds
included. The main reason for the major
shutdown was due to the volcanic ash,
which could clog the engines of airplanes,
causing disasterous results.
Manchester Airport spokesman Russell
Craig explained the dangers of volcanic
ash. “If the air in the engine were mixed
with ash, it could cause engine failure and
electrical difficulties with an aircraft,” he
stated.
“It’s happened before, and the aircraft
didn’t come out the other end in one piece.”
American Airlines also canceled flights
coming from airports from London, Paris,
Zurich, Brussels, Manchester, and Dublin.
recorders revealed there were “no
problems with the plane.”
World News
the rubble and are still search
ing for 234 people who are still
missing.
The Chinese government has
sent thousands of tents and
winter quilts to victims, along
with $29 million for aid.
2. Adoptions from
Russia suspended
MOSCOW - The govern
ment of Russia halted the adop
tion of children by American
families on Thursday. The
Russian government stated that
until ground rules pertaining to
adoption are laid out, all adop
ERIC PEIRCE
jvsf. news editor
American Airlines did manage to operate
15 flights both in and out of the U.K. on
Thursday before the airport was closed
down.
Officials do not have clear idea of when
flights will resume. According to Matt Wat
son, a geophysicist, two things needed to
Polish citizens mourn the loss of the Polish President and numerous government officials.
Local/National
Volcanic ash caused air travel to shut down in and out of Iceland.
Since the crash, thousands of Poles palace in Warsaw, including Vladimir
have gathered at the presidential Putin, the Russian prime minister.
tions by American citizens will
be temporarily suspended.
The U.S. ambassador to Rus
sia, John Beyrle, informed
American families that were in
the process of adoption “Not to
worry. We’re working on this
and we really don’t think that
this will have any long-term ef
fect on the ability of American
families to adopt here.”
This action comes after a
American woman “sent back” a
adopted Russian child last
Wednesday, after the woman
reported psychotic behavior
from the child.
3. Man dies while
waiting in line for
tickets
JOHANNESBURG, South
Africa - 64-year-old Ralph
von Heerden died while waiting
in line for World Cup tickets on
Thursday. Heerden was pro
nounced dead by paramedics,
and it was ruled that Heerden’s
death was a result of heart
problems after waiting in line
for over five hours.
The long waits in line for
South Africans stemmed from
ticket system breakdowns.
happen before flights were to resume.
“You need the volcano to stop emplacing
ash to the altitude that commercial aircraft
fly at 30,000 to 35,000 ft., and you then
need the upper-level winds to blow ash and
disperse it out of the air space.”
News
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QUOTE OF
THE WEEK
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! day and said... Come on !
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j went over. Nobody was j
! home.” 1
- Rodney Dangerfield
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FACT OF THE WEEK
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The first cellular phone
! measured 9" x 5" and j
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www.mentalfloss.com
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Both Putin and the Russian presi
dent, Dmitry Medvedev, offered their
condolences to the Polish people and
promised a thorough investigation of
the incident.
Of the 96 victims, 67 have been
brought back from Russia. Most of the
bodies, believed to be badly burnt and
disfigured, were taken to Moscow first
for identification, reports the BBC.
According to the Polish constitution,
the speaker of the lower house of par
liament, Bronislaw Komorowski, took
the position as the interim head of
state. A presidential election will be
held before the end of June.
“We are united - there is no [politi
cal] left or right - we are united in na
tional mourning,” Komorowski said.
Kaczynski, the president of Poland
since 2005, had a reputation of being
incorruptible. He was a popular polit
ical figure.
He was born in 1949 and began his
career in politics after studying law at
the University of Warsaw in the late
19605.
Within a decade, Kaczynski was at
the forefront of protests against Com
munist policies held by the Polish gov-
ernment.
He was eventually elected the mayor
of Warsaw and then president in 2005.