WASHINGTON – The Army censured a retired three-star general Tuesday for a “perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership” after the 2004 friendly-fire death in Afghanistan of Army Ranger Pat Tillman. Army Secretary Pete Geren asked a military review panel to decide whether Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, who led Army special operation forces after the Sept. 11 attacks, should also have his rank reduced. Geren said that while Kensinger was “guilty of deception” in misleading investigators, there was no intentional Pentagon cover-up of circumstances surrounding Tillman’s death.
Murdoch likely to buy the Journal
Rupert Murdoch is poised to win the Wall Street Journal. The boards of directors of Journal parent Dow Jones &Co. met Tuesday night to give final approval to Murdoch’s unsolicited $5 billion bid for the company, having received more than enough support from the deeply split Bancroft family, Dow Jones’ controlling owners. The deal would place America’s premier financial newspaper in the hands of a 76-year-old mogul who owns what may soon become the world’s largest media company.
Florida: Space shuttle has air leak
A week before Endeavour’s planned liftoff, NASA was analyzing a cabin leak in the space shuttle Tuesday. The leak was detected over the weekend. NASA thought it fixed the problem by tightening a loose bolt, but testing Monday night confirmed air was still escaping from the crew cabin, said NASA spokeswoman Tracy Young. Engineers have yet to pinpoint the leak, which could require so much work that NASA might not be able to launch Endeavour on Aug. 7.
New Jersey: Clean needle supply
Intravenous drug users will be able to get clean needles in four New Jersey cities under an experimental program approved Tuesday to try to slow the spread of HIV and AIDS. The needle exchange pilot program approved for Atlantic City, Camden, Newark and Paterson will end New Jersey’s status as the only state without a legal way for drug users to get clean syringes. The state Legislature approved a pilot program last year that allows up to six cities to establish needle exchanges for three years.
Indiana: Copper theft costly
Thieves in Indianapolis stole copper pipe from a freezer at the state’s largest food bank, wasting nearly half a million dollars worth of food meant to help the poor, police said. The copper theft was captured by security cameras Friday night, police said, but the freezer’s failure wasn’t discovered until Monday. By then, thousands of pounds of groceries at the Gleaners Food Bank had become unusable. The theft could cost Gleaners $464,000 in lost food, plus $20,000 for immediate repairs.
California: Chinese ginger warning
State public-health officials are warning consumers not to eat fresh ginger from China after inspectors found residues of an illegal insecticide in boxes of the root at an Albertsons grocery store in Roseville. The chemical, aldicarb sulfoxide, was found on the ginger at concentrations high enough to make a consumer sick, a spokesman for the state Department of Pesticide Regulation said. “This is not a life-threatening concentration, but it is illegal, and it is at a level where it could make somebody ill,” he said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
