http://weareaustin.com/content/fulltext/?cid=58001

Reported by: Chris Coffey

Volunteers will soon start issuing parking tickets in Round Rock.  The Round Rock city council recently passed an ordinance that allows non-sworn officers the ability to write tickets.

Drivers may not park in the same spot for more than two hours in some areas of downtown Round Rock.  But some business owners see the same cars parked in the same spots the entire day.

“It takes away potential parking spaces for customers,” Sam David Paxman of Advanced Armorment said.

The city council passed the ordinance to enforce the rules and free-up capacity for uniformed Round Rock police officers.

However, any non-sworn staff member or volunteer that issues tickets will be monitored and trained.

Still, some drivers are opposed to the new ordinance.

“I like Round Rock, downtown, the way it is,” Nancy Pena said.  “I like not being overly-policed like we are in Austin.

Others do not want to see volunteers with too much ticketing authority.

“If Round Rock decides to hire a police officer to write tickets that are out here longer than two hours, they’re part of the police force, but if someone personally gave me a ticket I would rip it up and throw it away,” Lara McKeown said.

There is a free downtown parking garage for consumers to use.

Meantime, the mayor is still spreading the word about the new ordinance to business owners.
 
 

http://www.reddirtreport.com/news.php?id=15013

By RDR staff reportsRDR staff reports
From Red Dirt Report staff reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City bombing victim's family members and survivors, along with investigative journalists, law-enforcement officers, private investigators, documentary filmmakers and attorneys impacted by the bombing will hold a press conference to review the unanswered questions and latest revelations pertaining to this very important part of U.S. history.

Well-documented information contradicting the patently false, official account of the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995 as offered by the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI will be reviewed. Why should any one of us be asked to remember the deaths of the Oklahoma City bombing victims in a lie?

In addition, updates pertaining to the unsolved torture - murders of Kenneth Michael Trentadue and Oklahoma City Police Department Sgt. Terrance Yeakey will be presented.

Guest speakers include Pat Shannan, with the American Free Press in Washington, DC; Wendy Painting, a New York University graduate student and OKC bombing researcher; and V.Z. Lawton, a bombing survivor.

The location of this press conference will be in the Oklahoma State Capitol Building on the second floor, in the west wing - the State Supreme Court corridor. It will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, 2010.

For more information please contact Christopher Emery, executive producer with OTR Film Productions, LLC at otrfilms@cox.net or call 505-980-5422.
 
 

http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2010/04/police-shot-unarmed-civilians-after-katrina-officer-testifies.html

http://blogs.kansascity.com/.a/6a00d83451b1b869e20133ec8b8f13970b-pi

Federal prosecutors have accused New Orleans police of shooting unarmed civilians on the city's Danzinger Bridge days after Hurricane Katrina -- and then trying to cover up the incident. One officer has already entered a guilty plea, and yesterday, he spelled out what he said happened. From the Times-Picayune:
 

Hunter, 33, said a New Orleans police sergeant fired an assault rifle at wounded civilians at close range after other officers stopped shooting and after it was clear that the police were not taking fire. He also says he saw another officer in a car fire a shotgun at a fleeing man's back, although the man did nothing suggesting he was a threat to police.

That man, the Times-Picayune says, was severely mentally disabled, and he died as a result of the shooting, one of two who were killed. Four others were wounded. The attorneys for the accused police say they didn't do anything wrong and, if anything, feel more confident about their case after this latest development -- though they're not saying why.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Marvin! (Sorry about the incorrect, earlier HT, Marvin!)

Attorney Daniel Abel stands with Sherrel Johnson, mother of James Brisette, who was killed on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina, after former New Orleans police officer Michael Hunter pled guilty in connection with a police coverup of their shooting of unarmed civilians, outside Federal Court in New Orleans, Wednesday, April 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Posted by James Hart on Thursday, April 08, 2010 at 08:39 AM in Homicides - Other, Hurricanes of Ought Five, Police administration | Permalink
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http://www.newser.com/story/85372/your-credit-card-is-spying-on-you.html

Visa and other companies judge you based on what you buy
By Kevin Spak

(Newser) – Visa knows if you’re going to get a divorce. It knows that you just moved and, most importantly, it knows if you’re going to miss a payment—maybe before you do. Credit card companies have developed eerily accurate models for predicting consumer behavior based on the things they buy, the Daily Beast explains. “Card companies don’t really care about divorce in and of itself—they care whether you’re going to pay your card off,” explains one law professor.

People who buy cheap motor oil or drink in certain bars are considered risky borrowers, whereas people who buy carbon monoxide detectors and premium birdseed tend to pay on time. When American Express offered some customers $300 to close their accounts last year, it used this kind of data to pick its targets. And if the company predicts a major life change, like a move or divorce, it alerts marketing partners, so they can sell you things like furniture and home refurbishing services.