Cross Country
A Terror Scare Hits Beantown
Are Bostonians more paranoid or just more vigilant than people in other cities? Authorities set off a minor panic when they closed highways, subways, and bridges during rush hour and called in the bomb squad when they discovered 38 electronic devices throughout the city. Cable news shows postulated possible terrorism, but the items, which looked like circuit boards with exposed wires, were advertisements for a show on the Cartoon Network.
Artists Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, were charged with placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct; they laughed and waved in court. Mayor Thomas Menino, who called the ads "outrageous in a post-9/11 world," said he'd seek at least $750,000 from Turner Broadcasting Services, the parent company of the Cartoon Network, for police expenses. The firm apologized in newspaper ads and was talking with city officials about how to make amends. The devices had been up for two or more weeks in 10 cities before the Boston incident.
The Hunters and the Hunted
Gray wolves will soon be back in the cross hairs, thanks to an Interior Department plan to remove 5,200 wolves from the federal endangered species list by early next year. Wolves were almost obliterated in the United States by 1950 and were put on the endangered list shortly after it was created in 1974. Once the wolves lose federal protection, state and tribal officials in the northern Great Lake states, as well as Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, will be in charge of maintaining populations.
Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin plan to ban trophy hunting of the animals for five years. In Wyoming, however, officials have suggested all wolves outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks be classified as "predators" that can be shot without a permit. "It's simple persecution," said Suzanne Stone of the Defenders of Wildlife. Wolves are hunting targets because they eat livestock.
Court Ruling on WTO Protests
The mass arrest of about 200 protesters in Seattle during the World Trade Organization meeting in 1999 violated the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and the city should be held liable, a federal jury ruled last week. The verdict could lead to millions in damages. "You cannot arrest peaceful protesters here in Seattle or anywhere else in the country," said Kenneth Hankin, a Boeing worker and lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit.
Jurors also determined, however, that the free speech rights of protesters weren't violated because the arrests were not made to squelch their views. Lawyers for the city argued that the arrests were made to help gain control of 50,000 demonstrators; the lawyers will ask the court this week to reverse the jury's finding.
Planning for Castro's Demise
There are few world leaders whose deaths have been anticipated like that of Fidel Castro. But the city of Miami may have put the cart before el caballo when a municipal committee discussed plans to host a party in the Orange Bowl upon the Cuban leader's demise.
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