U.S. challenges decision to retry Cuban 5 case
The top federal prosecutor in Miami, R. Alexander Acosta, announced Sept. 29 that the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was being asked to reconsider a recent decision by a three-judge panel of that court reversing the convictions of the “Cuban Five.”
Texas judge rules against Posada extradition
“It’s bad enough when the world knows that we’re rendering suspected Islamic terrorists to countries that routinely use terror,” said an unnamed State Department official to a reporter on Sept. 26. “But here we have someone who we know is a terrorist, and it’s clear that we’re actively protecting him from facing justice. We have zero credibility.”
Tucson unites behind miners
TUCSON, Ariz. — Workers in Mexico are “standing strong” with the 1,500 copper miners on strike against multinational giant ASARCO corporation, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson told a Sept. 29 rally here. Two hundred supporters at the rally included representatives of most local and state unions, elected officials, Jobs with Justice and campus groups from the University of Arizona.
Bloomberg: the education mayor?
NEW YORK — Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg is campaigning for re-election as an “education mayor,” but many say the current state of city schools — overcrowded, in disrepair, with abysmal graduation rates — proves him to be the opposite.
California special election heats up
LOS ANGELES — “If you don’t vote, people like Bush get elected,” proclaimed a protest sign at a recent antiwar rally here. With his poll numbers slipping, people not voting is what California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is banking on.
National Clips
PITTSBURGH: Women’s rights fighter Molly Yard dies; RALEIGH, N.C.: Seeking in-state tuition for undocumented workers; WASHINGTON: Violence Against Women Act threatened by pork; CAMBRIDGE, Mass.: Students protest military recruiters
Chicagoans celebrate founding of new school
CHICAGO — More than eight years of lobbying and community protests, including a 19-day hunger strike in 2001, finally bore fruit Sept. 8 with the dedication of the new, state-of-the-art Little Village-Lawndale High School campus in the heart of the large, multiracial, working-class community on this city’s southwest side.
Who is Harriet Miers?
DALLAS — In 1991, corporate lawyer Harriet Miers answered a questionnaire from The Dallas Morning News. In response to the cue “Behind my back, people say…,” she wrote, “They can’t figure me out.”
DeLay could face life term if convicted
HOUSTON — Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) could face life in prison if he is convicted of money laundering, one of two crimes he was charged with last week. click here for Spanish text
Progressive Dems say run to win in 2006
WASHINGTON — Buoyed by the huge antiwar march a day earlier, hundreds of progressive Democrats at a “grassroots strategy” session here Sept. 25 vowed all-out struggle to break the grip of the Republican ultra-right in upcoming elections.
