Cleveland
Gruesome discovery: Police have found the bodies of at least 10 people in the home of a convicted sex offender they had arrested for sexual assault. When police last week first entered the home of Anthony Sowell, 50, they discovered two bodies. Subsequent searches yielded eight more, either in the house or buried on the grounds, as well as a skull in the basement that may belong to an 11th victim. All six of the victims who have been identified so far were women. Neighbors said they had long smelled a foul odor in the vicinity, but attributed it to a corner sausage shop or faulty sewers.
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Witnesses to rape: A 15-year-old girl was gang-raped for more than two hours outside her high school while up to 20 people watched, laughed, and took pictures, police said. The victim, who had left a homecoming dance, was found unconscious under a bench; six suspects have been arrested. It is illegal in California to not report a witnessed sex crime against a child, but the law applies only to victims 14 and under. “We do not have the ability to arrest people who witnessed the crime and did nothing,” said police Lt. Mark Gagan. But some legal experts said that those who encouraged the rape could be charged as accomplices.
Dearborn, Mich.
Slain imam: The leader of a Detroit mosque was shot and killed last week during an FBI raid and gunfight at a Dearborn warehouse. Authorities said they were trying to arrest Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah on charges of receiving stolen goods, mail fraud, and illegal firearms possession when he opened fire; he was killed when agents returned fire. A federal complaint calls Abdullah a leader of a “radical fundamentalist Sunni group” that advocates jihad against the U.S. Some members of the area’s large Muslim population expressed outrage over the incident. “He used to run a soup kitchen,” said Dawud Walid of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “I knew nothing of him that was related to any nefarious behavior.”
Washington, D.C.
Cheney forgot: On 72 occasions in a single interview, then–Vice President Dick Cheney told the FBI he couldn’t recall any role in exposing Valerie Plame as a CIA operative, a newly released summary of the 2004 interview shows. Cheney told agents he didn’t remember how he first learned of the identity of Plame—whose husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, had disputed White House reports about Iraqi attempts to buy uranium ore from Niger. He also was fuzzy about whether he had directed his chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was later convicted of perjury in the CIA leak case, to reveal her identity to reporters. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sued to get the summary released, said Cheney showed “an astonishing inability to recollect even simple facts.”
Augusta, Maine
Gay-marriage setback: Voters in Maine this week overturned a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry, just six months after the state legislature approved it. The referendum to repeal the law passed with about 53 percent of the vote. Gay marriage has been rejected in all 31 states that have put it to a vote, but this marks the first time voters rejected same-sex nuptials after they had been approved by the legislature, as opposed to ordered by a court. “The institution of marriage has been preserved,” said Frank Schubert, a leader of the repeal effort. Gay-rights advocates vowed to battle on. “We’re here for the long haul,” said activist Jesse Connolly. Four states—Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and Iowa—permit gay marriage; it will become legal in New Hampshire in January.
Philadelphia
Transit walkout: Mass-transit workers in the Philadelphia metropolitan area went on strike this week, stranding hundreds of thousands of commuters and causing multi-mile backups on highways and bridges. The 5,100 drivers and mechanics had agreed not to strike while the Phillies were hosting the 2009 World Series. But following the last out of Game 5 and the return of the series to New York, the union broke off talks with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Many residents were not happy. “These guys need to see that we’re facing 10 percent unemployment and be grateful for good jobs,” said commuter Lee Henderson. The union has been working without a contract for seven months.
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