Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 7

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010 DECATUR, ILLINOIS NATIONWORLD A7 www.herald-review.com FREE ACOUSTIC GUITAR! BRIEFS Taliban launch fear campaign Simply enroll in our comprehensive three month lesson plan and we'll give you the guitar! Call for details! to 1481 Winning public support in this former Taliban stronghold in Helmand province 360 miles southwest of Kabul is considered essential to preventing insurgents from returning. The Marjah operation will serve as a model for campaigns elsewhere, including one expected by summer to secure villages around Kandahar, the Taliban's spiritual birthplace and the largest city in the south. Military commanders believe the Taliban campaign is achieving some success because of questions raised at town meetings: Do the U.S. forces want to shut down the mosques and ban prayer? Will they will use lookout posts on their bases to ogle women? Are they going to take farmers' land away? "Dislocating the insurgents physically was easy. Dislocat- Come Take A Spin or Pan Son prize uecciur Hometown careen snow Fighters linger after losing battle to coalition troops MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) A month after losing control of their southern base in Marjah, the Taliban have begun to fight back, launching a campaign of assassination and intimidation to frighten people from supporting the United States and its Afghan allies.

At least one alleged government sympathizer has been beheaded. There are rumors that others have been killed. Afghans in the town that U.S., Afghan and NATO troops captured in a three-week assault that began Feb. 13 awake to letters posted on their doors warning against helping the troops. (at thtDecatut Civic Cenfery BOOtHt36i4 Prizes Include: Windows Gutters Insulation Handyman Service Cfcsh Gift Certificates Dale's Southlake Pharmacy Just call us and we'll take care iL.

or everytning: Seventeen-month-old Emma Mcintosh sleeps while her father, Jason Mcintosh, protects her ears during the 183rd St. Patrick's Day parade Wednesday in Savannah, Ga. World goes green to mark St. Patrick's Day 1 Hogan Grain and Equipment Win an $800 Lawn Home Lawn and Garden Show 2010 ing them socially, proving that we're here to stay and to help, is a lot harder," said Lt. Col.

Jeff Rule, the head of operations for Marines in Helmand. There are no firm figures on how many Taliban are left in Marjah. Marine and Afghan military officials say they believe most of those still here are from the area, and the foreign fighters have fled. Regardless of Taliban numbers, their influence is still felt. New cell phone towers brought phone service to Marjah a little over a week ago.

But the service doesn't work at night because the Taliban threaten or bribe tower operators to shut off the network, presumably to prevent people from alerting troops and police as they plant bombs after dark. Clinton heads to Mideast strategy talks WASHINGTON (AP) With the Mideast peace process stalled and U.S.Israeli relations in crisis, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton headed Wednesday to a Mideast strategy meeting of top international diplomats. As originally conceived, the meeting in Moscow of the so-called Quartet group of peacemakers, the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, was intended to lend support for the start this week of indirect talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. But those talks fell apart before they began, a casualty of Israel's provocative approval of new housing in east Jerusalem. The diplomatic crisis erupted last Tuesday when Israel announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden that it would build 1,600 apartments for Jews in disputed east Jerusalem, the sector of the holy city that the Palestinians claim for a future capital.

Clinton called the announcement an insult and "a deeply negative signal" for the peace process; she even questioned Israel's commitment to its relationship with the United States. Clinton also will use her Moscow visit to discuss another high foreign policy priority of the Obama administration: arms control. The U.S. and Russia are said to be close to concluding a follow to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expired in December, but the final bargaining has been rocky. William Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, told reporters traveling with Clinton that her visit to Moscow was an important opportunity to advance the arms talks, but does not necessarily mean an agreement is imminent.

"We are getting closer," Burns said, but he added he could not estimate how much longer it would take to settle the remaining issues. He declined to identify the specific sticking points. The agreement is expected to reduce each side's long-range nuclear weapons by about one-quarter from levels set in a 2002 treaty that superseded the earlier START pact. if "i 1 i mmmm LU I PLUS RUNG FEE I SINGLE CH 7 I PAYMENT PLANS mmm HSR news service reports PENNSYLVANIA VA fined for wrong radiation doses PHILADELPHIA The Department of Veterans Affairs was fined $227,500 after incorrect radiation doses were given to 97 veterans with prostate cancer at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, a federal agency announced Wednesday. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the fine is the second largest it has ever levied for medical errors.

The VA was cited for lacking procedures to ensure and verify the treatments were done correctly, failing to properly train staff and neglecting to immediately report mistakes. The men underwent brachytherapy, a common surgical treatment that involves implanting tiny radioactive iodine pellets, often called "seeds," in the prostate to kill cancer cells. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Mercury emissions up at biggest plants WASHINGTON Many of America's coal-fired power plants lack widely available pollution controls for the highly toxic metal mercury, and mercury emissions recently increased at more than half of the country's 50 largest mercury-emitting power plants, according to a report Wednesday. The nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project reported that five of the 10 plants with the highest amount of mercury emitted are in Texas. Plants in Georgia, Missouri, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Michigan also are in the top 10.

The report found that mercury emissions increased at 27 of the top 50 plants. CALIFORNIA Rate of triplet births on the rise LOS ANGELES The rate of natural triplet births, those not resulting from assisted reproductive technology, is 2.5 times as high as it was in the 1970s, probably because of the increased use of ovulation-inducing drugs and the older age of mothers, Norwegian researchers reported Wednesday. And despite improvements in prenatal care, the death rate for triplets is about 10 times as high as for a singleton, Dr. Anne Tandberg of the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen and her colleagues reported in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (www.bjog.org) CALIFORNIA Police round up biker gang members RIVERSIDE Three booby-trap attacks on an anti-gang task force in Southern California prompted the arrests of about 30 members of the Vagos, California's largest motorcycle gang, prosecutors said Wednesday. On Dec.

31, someone drilled a hole in the roof of the gang unit's headquarters and diverted a natural gas line from a heater, filling the space with flammable gas. The trap was discovered before anyone was hurt. Last month, a gun rigged to shoot when a headquarters security gate was opened sent a bullet whizzing past an officer. Nobody was hurt. The third incident involved the discovery of a dangerous device near an officer's car.

Would-be robbers killed by police GALLATIN Two bank robbery suspects, including one dressed in a green leprechaun costume, were shot dead after a St. Patrick's Day chase and shootout with police in Tennessee, authorities said. First State Bank in the Nashville suburb of Gallatin was held up by a man who wore a green costume and carried a large-caliber gun at 12:28 p.m. Wednesday. Police said two men were in the car that sped away, and they fired at police during the chase.

Storment said the two ditched their vehicle and ran into a field near a subdivision. They were killed while exchanging fire with officers, he said March Carpenter, ocoi 742 22 Budding the Community Stnce 1901 Ouster SOlUnOCHECK MUSIC CENTER "The Musician's Toy Store" West King Fairview Park Plaza Decatur, IL (21 7) 422-4455 Wfieei m. mm SUM S080TTKA As. SOU Tumi to SOY-AM Tuesday) fre S-6 for "Pharmacy Facts I Mrttta Fmrtdi" Free delivery! Full-time patient advocate Locally owned operated mi ii. im itfl 19-21 Drratur, IL 7300 enter fiL E2f Ucatlij 0.rePr."UN 1 770 E.

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NEW YORK (AP) All the world from the Sydney Opera House to the Empire State Building turned Irish, or at least Irish for the day, as revelers marked St. Patrick's Day with bagpipes, dancing, emerald lights and green body paint in a flurry of celebration. New Yorkers and visitors from all over the globe lined Manhattan's Fifth Avenue a dozen deep for the world's oldest and largest St. Patrick's Day parade Wednesday, as crowds gathered along sun-warmed routes in Dublin and cities around the United States to mark the holiday. The day simultaneously served as a celebration of spring in many cities, with participants in parades and other outdoor gatherings basking in temperatures in the 60s after a harsh winter.

The 249th St. Patrick's Day extravaganza in New York City was to be the last of the Big Apple's world-famous parades to take place before new restrictions go into effect April -j-fA." Associated Press 1 requiring all parades to be shorter to save money. The city issued the new rules in February, requiring all parades to trim routes by 25 percent and reduce time to less than five hours, changes estimated to save $3.1 million in police expenses. On Wednesday, Glen Gag-nier of the 198th Army band lugged a 25-pound tuba up the 2.1-mile route from 44th Street to 86th Street but said it was so exhilarating he would have marched double the distance "When it's done, I'll want to do it all over again," he said. Some welcomed the idea of a pared-down event.

"It'll be good because people will be able to get where they're going easier," said Yogesh Pai, of Henderson, Texas, as he navigated the crowd with his 5-year-old son. St. Patrick's celebrations around the country and in Dublin featured threads of the same bagpipes, marching bands and crowds eager to see spring weather. the issue has been addressed so it doesn't happen again. "I depended on Wal-Mart for all my needs, because the store has pretty much everything you could want," Covington said.

"But until this issue is addressed in a way I'm comfortable with, I can't walk through those doors again." DECU! We're Your Financial Playmaker. f7 Mm DECATUR if jf EARTHMOVER MBS CREDIT UNION Jr 21 7-875-2301 li SYlenJs, Sinily you! White Vinyl Double Hung Window Only OTS5SS8, each kJ iLL INSTALLATION SIDING JilL; for 9Q0sitms Announcement ordering blacks out draws apology from Wal-Mart Good FoocU.Good Times Lenten Special: All you can eat walleye every Friday starting at 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 1:30 a.m.-4 p.m.: $1 off all appetizers Karaoke with Stevie Ray at 8:30 p.m. every Wednesday nght. Also, Friday, March 26 Full service bar, full menu, sandwiches and appetizers including walleye, prime rib, ribeye famous broasted chicken $5 lunches Call ahead for carryout WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J.

(AP) A Wal-Mart store announcement ordering black people to leave brought chagrin and apologies Wednesday from leaders of the company, which has built a fragile trust among minority communities. A male voice came over the public-address system Sunday evening at a store in Washington Township, in southern New Jersey, and calmly announced: "Attention, Wal-Mart customers: All black people, leave the store now." Shoppers in the store at the time said a manager quickly got on the public-address system and apologized for the remark. And while it was unclear whether a rogue patron or an employee was responsible for the comment, many customers expressed their anger to store management. "I want to know why such statements are being made, because it flies in the face of what we teach our children about tolerance for all," said Sheila Ellington, who was in the store at the time with a friend. "If this was meant to be a prank, there's only one person laughing, and it's not either one of us." Ellington, of Monroe, and her friend Patricia Covington said they plan to boycott the retailer until they're assured -m atuij 8ASEFE 50.000 CASES RUED 20 ILLINOIS OFFICES I ILLINOIS' LARGEST BANKRUPTCY ONLY LAW FIRM relief agency.

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