State police announce sweeping changes
Associated Press
2:06 PM CST, November 22, 2008
BELLEVILLE, Ill. - State Police Director Larry Trent announced Friday troopers must follow a four-tiered response system that limits how fast they can drive.
Under the first level, called a "code one," troopers are limited to following traffic laws. Officers operating under codes two and three can drive faster than the speed limit, but must call a supervisor before exceeding 20 miles over the speed limit.
And only supervisors can issue a "code red," directing troopers to drive as fast as necessary, with no limit, State Police Lt. Scott Compton said. Those cases will later be reviewed by a committee, he said.
The agency said Illinois is only the second state in the nation to restrict trooper speeds.
Troopers also will be required to use a handsfree device with cell phones. And state police policy now specifies that they cannot turn in-car video cameras off while responding to emergency calls.
The changes are a direct result of a car crash on Interstate 64 last November, Trent said. Trooper Matt Mitchell lost control of his cruiser while driving 126 mph, crossing the median and hitting head on a car carrying 18-year-old Jessica Uhl and her 13-year-old sister Kelli.
"I am convinced that emergency response driving, whether it is police, fire, or ambulance, must change," Trent said. "The long-standing culture of response at all costs is no longer acceptable within the Illinois State Police."
Before the public announcement Friday, Trent told the Uhls' mother, Kim Dorsey, of the changes during a meeting with her lawyer, Thomas Q. Keefe.
"If these new policies save lives, then Jessica and Kelli died so that lives could saved," Dorsey said. "Well, that's a great tribute to their lives."
Dorsey has filed a $24 million lawsuit against the state and state police in the Illinois Court of Claims.
A second lawsuit was filed last week against Mitchell by a Fayetteville couple who say they suffered leg injuries in the multiple pileup caused by the trooper's crash with the Uhls' car.
State police have relieved 29-year-old Mitchell of duty and he isn't receiving worker's compensation. He's scheduled to stand trial early next year on two charges of reckless homicide in St. Clair County Circuit Court. He has pleaded not guilty.
Monday, November 24, 2008
NYC Churches Ordered Not To Shelter Homeless
NEW YORK (CBS) ― City officials have ordered 22 New York churches to stop providing beds to homeless people.
With temperatures well below freezing early Saturday, the churches must obey a city rule requiring faith-based shelters to be open at least five days a week -- or not at all.
Arnold Cohen, president of the Partnership for the Homeless, a nonprofit that serves as a link with the city, said he had to tell the churches they no longer qualify.
He said hundreds of people now won't have a place to sleep.
The Department of Homeless Services said the city offers other shelters with the capacity to accept all those who have been sleeping in the churches. The city had 8,000 beds waiting.
Last year, four unsheltered homeless people died in the city during cold weather, so three dozen emergency outreach teams were prepped to respond to reports of homeless people outdoors or in the subways.
"We really don't want people sleeping on the streets, on grates, on church steps. We want people sleeping in beds," said Homeless Commissioner Robert Hess.
The homeless can be coaxed indoors but not forced unless their life is in danger.
With temperatures well below freezing early Saturday, the churches must obey a city rule requiring faith-based shelters to be open at least five days a week -- or not at all.
Arnold Cohen, president of the Partnership for the Homeless, a nonprofit that serves as a link with the city, said he had to tell the churches they no longer qualify.
He said hundreds of people now won't have a place to sleep.
The Department of Homeless Services said the city offers other shelters with the capacity to accept all those who have been sleeping in the churches. The city had 8,000 beds waiting.
Last year, four unsheltered homeless people died in the city during cold weather, so three dozen emergency outreach teams were prepped to respond to reports of homeless people outdoors or in the subways.
"We really don't want people sleeping on the streets, on grates, on church steps. We want people sleeping in beds," said Homeless Commissioner Robert Hess.
The homeless can be coaxed indoors but not forced unless their life is in danger.
Pasco Man Jailed After Trying To Save Pets As Home Burns
Published: November 21, 2008
ZEPHRYHILLS - Henry Ben Morgan wanted to save his pets.
Instead, he ended up in handcuffs and at least three dogs and a cat perished in the blaze that destroyed his home.
Just before 11 a.m. today, firefighters were called to 35615 Chester Drive and arrived 12 minutes later, finding the home engulfed in flames.
At some point, Morgan's wife arrived, followed by Morgan a few minutes later, said Pasco Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello.
Morgan started running for the house. Sheriff's deputies and firefighters yelled for him to stay back, but he kept going toward a window.
Deputies and firefighters, according to a report, restrained him so he could not jump through the window and into the blaze.
Morgan, 41, was forcibly removed from the scene, the report states, and was arrested on charges of obstructing the extinguishment of a fire, a felony, and resisting arrest without violence, a misdemeanor, respectively.
He was being held at the Land O' Lakes Jail this evening. Bail was set at $5,150.
About 20 firefighters continued fighting the one-alarm fire but couldn't save the animals or the home, Ciccarello said.
"It looks like a total loss," he said.
The family of five, including two teenage girls and a 7-year-old boy, are being helped by the American Red Cross.
The fire began between a garage-turned-bedroom and a utility room in the small ranch home. The cause was a worn extension cord that had been run under a door, Ciccarello said.
No one was injured.
Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.
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