VICTIMS AND FAMILY members of those killed or wounded in the July 20 shooting at a theater in Aurora, Colo., asked for answers about $5 million raised in the victims’ names at a news conference Tuesday.
The money raised by the Community First Foundation using pictures and names of “murdered loved ones” is now being denied to the family members, according to group spokesman Tom Teves, whose son was fatally shot.
Teves said those touched most by the tragedy had not been consulted in deciding how the millions of dollars raised would be spent. So far, about $100,000 was given to 10 nonprofit organizations around Aurora and $350,000 was given to the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, of which $5,000 each was provided to the families of the dozen killed and 57 injured, according to USA Today.
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WEST NILE VIRUS cases in the U.S. increased another 40 percent in the past week the director of the Centers of Disease Control’s division of vector-borne diseases Lyle R. Petersen said in a news teleconference Wednesday.
A total of 1,590 cases of West Nile in people have been reported in 48 states. Petersen said 66 people have died this year from complications of the virus, and last week’s death toll of 41 represented a 61 percent increase from the week before.
More than 70 percent of all the cases have been in six states: Texas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Michigan. Petersen urged people to follow precautions against mosquito bites by wearing long sleeves and pants and using insect repellents while outdoors.
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PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA entertained questions from the web for a half hour Wednesday afternoon on Reddit.com, drawing more than 12,000 comments on the post in less than an hour. Wrote Obama: “Hey everybody – this is (B)arack. Just finished a great rally in Charlottesville, and am looking forward to your questions. … I want to thank everybody at reddit for participating – this is an example of how technology and the internet can empower the sorts of conversations that strengthen our democracy over the long run.”
Questions the president fielded ranged from topics including Internet freedom, which Obama said he supported, to funding for the space program (“Making sure we stay at the forefront of space exploration is a big priority for my administration.”), to how Obama would help recent college grads, which he said he would do by expanding the economy. Obama also said the most difficult decision he made during his first term was the choice to “surge… forces in Afghanistan”
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THE CITY OF New Orleans has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to combat the arrival of Hurricane Isaac as the tropical storm continues to batter the Gulf coast.
The curfew began last night and has no end date planned.
The state of Louisiana has also ordered the evacuation of about 3,000 people in a parish outside New Orleans and is rescuing many others trapped in the area.
Winds have blown at speeds as high as 80 miles per hour in southeast Louisiana, accompanied by water levels as high as 12 feet and more than 700,000 households and businesses reportedly losing power. Energy officials have said it may be days before service is restored to some areas.
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THE CHICAGO TEACHERS Union filed a 10-day strike notice on Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune has reported. The Tribune wrote that the notice does not necessarily mean the teachers will strike at the end of 10 days, but it could mean that teachers would begin their strike after the first week of school for a majority of students.
From the Tribune: “The teachers have remained angry with (the Chicago Public Schools) administration and Mayor Rahm Emanuel even after a deal on the longer school day in which the district agreed to hire 477 teachers who had been laid off. That allowed teachers to work the same number of hours even though students are in school longer.”
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OF 36 CITIES studied, the New York boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn rank as the first and second cities, respectively, with the most “spoiled” kids.
The data, compiled by Bundle.com, examined spending habits on young children against the national average of $12,000. The information did not include food and health care, but rather focused on items such as toys, clothing and other dispensable children’s items. Milwaukee was third from last on the list, spending 144 percent less on its kids on average than the leader.
Coming in third on the list was Miami, Fla., followed by Minneapolis, though twin city St. Paul, Minn., was near the bottom of the list, just bellow Milwaukee. Madison was dead last, while Chicago was 14th.
Only 12 of the cities studied were above the national average.
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ORGANIZATION FEST, held by the Marquette Office of Student Development, will take place today from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Central Mall located behind Raynor Memorial Libraries. According to OSD’s website, O-Fest is designed to “(offer) students the opportunity to explore Marquette’s student organizations by talking to organization representatives and signing up for organizations of interest.”
Each year at O-Fest, hundreds of organizations along with university offices and departments set up booths and hold various giveaways and informational sessions on how to get involved on campus.