Community Arts

Court decides secretary cannot be held accountable for past problems

By John Heilprin · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:51 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court threw out a contempt ruling Friday against Interior Secretary Gale Norton, saying she cannot be held accountable for her predecessors' mismanagement of a multibillion-dollar trust fund for American Indians. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia also ruled unanimously that Norton's conduct did not constitute fraud. In issuing contempt citations last September against Norton and the assistant secretary for Indian affairs, Neal A. McCaleb, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that by their actions they had defrauded his court.

Arab-American agent files suit against FBI for bias in 9/11 case

By Jennifer C. Kerr · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:50 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- A high-ranking Arab-American FBI agent is taking the bureau to court, accusing it of racial discrimination for freezing him out of the Sept. 11 investigation. The suit described agent Bassem Youssef as the only polygraph examiner qualified to conduct interviews in Arabic, with extensive experience and Middle Eastern contacts culled from his days with the FBI in Saudi Arabia. Yet, the complaint said, he was kept away from any substantial investigations related to the hijacking attacks on New York and Washington.

Leaders meet to push peace plan

By Jill Lawless · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:50 p.m.

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers met for two hours Sunday, kicking off 10 days of international diplomacy aimed at solidifying a fragile Mideast cease-fire and advancing the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan. The leaders met as the Palestinian Authority outlawed groups that incite violence and agitate for change through force, moving to meet a requirement of the "road map" peace plan -- and an Israeli demand -- that they disarm militant groups.

U.S. resident charged with espionage in China

By Lolita C. Baldor · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:49 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- A pro-democracy activist jailed in China for more than a year was indicted by the Chinese government Thursday on charges of espionage and entering the country illegally, according to his wife and their lawyer. Yang Jianli could go to trial as early as July 28. The trial will be closed because it involves "state secrets," according to information provided to Yang's wife, Christina Fu.

The Rubber Duckie Incident

By Joe Grace · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:47 p.m.

For years, the rubber duckie has ruled the bubbly seas with an iron plastic bill. Soon, however, the evil rubber duckie hegemony over bathtime fun will be lifted. This is because the toy beaver is on its way home to America after 11 years adrift at sea.

You're old, you drive, you lose

By Paige Gray · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:46 p.m.

A recent tragedy in Santa Monica, Calif., killed 10 people and left up to 45 others injured. This wasn't a mad gunman, terrorist attack, natural disaster or any other sort of epidemic. It was the result of a confused old man. Why did 86-year-old George Russell Weller plow his car through a farmer's market last Wednesday? There is an investigation to see whether it was intentional, but this seems unlikely. Weller told investigators that he might have hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.

Event celebrates history of the 'Hog'

By Aaron Uslan · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:45 p.m.

More than 1,000 motorcycle enthusiasts flocked to the Harley-Davidson dealership Saturday on West Gourley Pike to see the Harley-Davidson Traveling Museum. The museum, showcased in a 18-wheel semi-trailer, is a part of Harley-Davidson's marketing department, with its display of classic Harley bikes, memorabilia and rare archival images spanning 100 years of Harley history.

Love don't live here anymore

By Alyson Brodsy and Hank Grimes · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:45 p.m.

Last week, televangelist Pat Robertson called on his audience to pray for God to replace three Supreme Court justices with conservatives who are more of his ilk. Robertson's 21-day "prayer offensive" was launched in the wake of the court's 6-3 vote that decriminalized sodomy. And in a letter on the Christian Broadcasting Network Web site, he said that the ruling, "has opened the door to homosexual marriage, bigamy, legalized prostitution and even incest."

Elderly licenses under review

Sunday, July 20,2003 8:44 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A state lawmaker says Indiana might need to review its licensing system for motorists in the wake of fatal crashes involving elderly drivers, including one in Indiana. State Sen. Thomas J. Wyss, the chairman of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, said the recent tragedies could prompt a review of Indiana's licensing system.

He'll be back ... in office

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:44 p.m.

It's still 17 months until the 2004 elections, but the show is starting already, and this time it might have some celebrity guests. In California, politicos and journalists are buzzing about the possibility that a recall vote could replace Gov. Gray Davis, whose popularity level is approaching that of fellow Golden State native John Walker Lindh, with Mr. "the Barbarian" himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Mayor presents budget

By Daniel Lines · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:43 p.m.

Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez presented his 2004 city budget Friday during a press conference at his office in the Showers Building. Fernandez maintained the two solid goals he set out to accomplish for his previous budget -- to maintain an administrative focus on strategic investing and manage unavoidable cost increases to the city budget while keeping money in the taxpayers' pockets. "We're maintaining a key commitment to the community," Fernandez said.

Educational bubbles

By Gage Vandermeer · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:42 p.m.

The Frank Southern Ice Arena traded in its ice Thursday as Bloomington's eighth annual BubbleFest took the stage, sponsored by WonderLab and Bloomington Parks and Recreation. Guests were outfitted with "bubble blowers" as they walked onto the floor of the arena, where stations were set up to create all different kinds of bubbles, including 3-D bubble blowers, bubbles inside one another, bubbles used to paint pictures and bubble walls.

North Korea may have built new weapons plant

By Christopher Torchia · Sunday, July 20,2003 8:20 p.m.

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea would find it hard to secretly build another plutonium production plant, a key step toward making nuclear weapons, South Korean experts said Sunday. Yet they did not rule it out following a report that the North may be operating a second facility, possibly buried deep in the mountains. If true, the suspicions that North Korea has built a second plant for producing weapons-grade plutonium could complicate diplomatic efforts to seek the verifiable dismantling of Pyongyang's nuclear facilities.

Park explores his mediocrity, feelings

By Brian Eliott Johnson and Brian Elliott Johnson · Thursday, July 17,2003 12:02 p.m.

Patrick Park's latest album, Loneliness Knows My Name is an astounding tour of mediocrity. The album tracks seem as though they could take off at any moment and become at least catchy, if not inspiring, but that just isn't the case. It's not that Park can't sing, play his guitar or write decent songs, he can do all of these things, he just can't do them with any kind of force.

More 'Songs' about barrios and food

By -Val Tsoutsouris · Thursday, July 17,2003 12:01 p.m.

Quetzal has the worst quality a rock en espanol band can have. It's not from a Spanish-speaking country. In fact, the group is from Los Angeles. That's too bad because while the new Cafe Tacuba album gets most of the attention among recently released rock en espanol albums, Quetzal's Worksongs is hardly far behind.

It's kind of like dinner with your mother

By Michael Tapscott · Thursday, July 17,2003 12 p.m.

With a haze that recalls Yo La Tengo, hooks that resemble Pavement, song structures and vocals that evoke Elliott Smith and a producer who is duck-call player Jason Lytle from Grandaddy, Earlimart has the attention of the indie crowd which isn't obsessed with originality. And since the album title makes a statement for solidarity, Earlimart sounds like the house band for its forefathers.

Guster musters to 'Keep It Together'

By -Alec Toombs · Thursday, July 17,2003 11:59 a.m.

Boston-based rockers Guster have returned following a four-year hiatus with the intermittently entertaining and ultimately unchallenging Keep It Together. The trio, best known for its simplistic acoustic guitar and bongo-driven sound, has diversified by integrating pianos, banjos and the occasional flirtation with all instruments electric into the mix. This broader sonic palette makes Keep It Together a moderately more interesting listen than its predecessors, and yet, Guster seems unable to lift itself into the higher echelons of the pop pantheon.

Banhart conjures his demos and the cosmos

By Michael Tapscott · Thursday, July 17,2003 11:58 a.m.

Following a disappointing Xiu Xiu show, my friends and I sauntered from the bar at Schuba's in Chicago to the stage to begrudgingly watch the following act. We met Devendra Banhart with good-natured shock. The shaggy, playful guy, who was a dead ringer for Cat Stevens, who played a Nick Drake-style of nylon sting picking and had tremendous control over his tenor with a powerful vibrato.

Apparently Oklahoma folks are a little different

By Jessica Halverson · Thursday, July 17,2003 11:57 a.m.

Let's call this Pavement-based, weirdo rock by kids who listen to hip hop. The Starlight Mints second album, Built on Squares, is a transmission of desert space alien rock, with lyrics about girls and stories that give them a touch of earthiness. Even when they are ripping licks off the Kinks, this seven-person unit sounds tight in a cello, triangle, sound effects sort of way.

'Space-cowboy' pretenders

By Michael Tapscott · Thursday, July 17,2003 11:56 a.m.

Seriously, so much for the city. These guys sound so sick of the California stock that they feel the need to sonically reference old school retreatists the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers. It's kind of perplexing to find out that The Thrills are actually from Dublin.