WASHINGTON – The Army suspended recruiting efforts Friday after reported excesses by recruiters trying to make up for a shortfall in new soldiers. The one-day suspension was to allow commanders to emphasize ethical conduct and “refocus our entire force on who we are as an institution,” the chief of Army recruiting said. He said he was aware of seven investigations into excesses by recruiters, mentioning incidents in Houston and Denver but otherwise not going into detail. Each Army recruiter must enlist two people a month into the service. But the Army is 6,600 recruits behind where it wants to be at this point in the year.
California: ‘Star Wars’ theater arrest
A man was cited outside the Del Oro Theater in Grass Valley Thursday for taking snapshots of the new blockbuster “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” with his digital camera. He was spotted by moviegoers aiming his camera at the screen during an afternoon showing. The man was given a citation for violating a penal code that prohibits operating a recording device in a motion picture theater without the proprietor’s consent – a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $2,500 and imprisonment.
Maryland: Gay rights bill vetoed
Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich vetoed a bill Friday that would have granted rights to gay partners who register with the state, concluding after weeks of intense deliberations that the legislation threatened “the sanctity of traditional marriage.” The emotionally charged bill was among 25 that Ehrlich rejected Friday. Ehrlich’s decision to side with business interests and social conservatives surprised some analysts, who thought he might try to burnish his credentials as a moderate.
Florida: War souvenirs costly
An Air Force officer at Eglin Air Force Base was sentenced to a year in prison and dismissed from the service Friday for illegally shipping home from Iraq a small arsenal of automatic weapons and hundreds of other war souvenirs. Maj. Gregory McMillion, 44, could have gotten eight years behind bars for taking booty that included a statue looted from an Iraqi museum, about 30 automatic rifles, six rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 1,183 Iraqi army berets, more than 600 pairs of socks and eight full uniforms.
Massachusetts: Indian ban ends
Gov. Mitt Romney signed a bill Friday repealing a 330-year-old law that barred Indians from setting foot in Boston. The 1675 law, adopted when settlers were at war with the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s tribes, had not been enforced for centuries but was still a source of anger among Indians. “It is our hope that signing this bill into law will provide some closure to a very painful and old chapter in Massachusetts history,” Romney said. “This archaic law belongs in the history books, not the law books.”
Arkansas: Suicide jumper rescued
A 65-year-old woman tried to commit suicide by hobbling to the edge of a bridge with her walker and plunging into a lake, but two passersby jumped in and rescued her, authorities said. Police said the woman was in good condition after the 45-foot drop into Lake Hamilton Thursday. Gigi Buhrow saw a car stop along the concrete bridge rail and a woman with a walker go over the side. She said a man also saw the woman jump. “We both took off our shoes and climbed to the edge and said, ‘Let’s go,’ It was a pretty big drop, and you just do it and you just have to do it.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
