Palmer Says 'Sorry' For Teen's Hit-And-Run Death

SACRAMENTO, Calif. --
A man seemed remorseful as he was sentenced Tuesday in connection with the death of a Del Campo High School student.

Tyrone Palmer
"I'm so sorry … I am," Tyrone Palmer said, as he was led away in handcuffs from a Sacramento courtroom.

Palmer was convicted in October of second-degree murder. He was also convicted of eight other counts, including vehicular manslaughter and assault. He was sentenced Tuesday to 22 years and four months to life in prison.

"I hope you rot" and "Have a good time, buddy," were said to Palmer by watchers as he was taken out of the courtroom by a sheriff's deputy.

Valerie Schmidt, Shelly Curry and Kailey McGagin
Kailey McGagin, 17, Saychelle Curry and Valerie Schmidt were hurt after a hit-and-run wreck in 2007. Curry remains in a vegetative state.

A statement from Curry's father was read in court Tuesday, saying, "She stays in a local nursing home, needing 24-hour care."

McGagin's mother, Erin McGagin, was emotional in court and said her daughter "touched so many lives, even in death."

Erin McGagin
"My purpose has been taken. I have been mom for 17 and a half years and now, I don't get to ever get to hear 'Mom' again," Erin McGagin said.

Palmer turned around to look at the victim's mother after she asked for an apology, saying, "I just want to know that you would take it back because of everything that happened."

A teary Palmer said, "Yes, I would. I'm so sorry."

"And that is what I need. At the end of all of this, thank you," Erin McGagin said.

The three girls, all Del Campo High School students, left a birthday party on Oct. 13, 2007, and came across Palmer as he was stealing a trailer.

One of the girls threw an egg at him, prosecutors said.

Palmer jumped into his truck and chased a Honda carrying the teens, police said, using his truck to ram the Honda and cut it off. The Honda's driver lost control in Fair Oaks, hitting a pole and then a tree.


In court on Tuesday, Palmer said he never saw the crash.

After the sentencing, Erin McGagin said, "He's sick, and he's where he needs to be."

Source: http://www.kcra.com/news/21640996/detail.html

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Man Sentenced For Deadly Crash Talks To CBS13

The man convicted of killing a local teen in a car crash, was sentenced to 22 years in prison today. After he was sentenced, he gave his first and only interview to CBS13 from behind bars.

Tyrone Palmer spoke with CBS13 from behind bars Tuesday.
"I'm so sorry, I'm just so sorry for everything," said Tyrone Palmer. "I didn't want to hurt anybody."

Seventeen-year-old Kailey McGagin died in the crash. The driver, 18-year-old Seychelle Curry or "Shelly" remains in a vegetative state. Seventeen-year-old Valerie Schmidt suffered two broken legs.

A lot of people who admit their guilt go to prison without saying they're sorry, but this man apologized directly to the victims' families. Back in jail, Palmer talked to us, remorseful to the point where he could barely talk without crying.

Tyrone Palmer had more than an apology for Kailey McGagin's mother.

"I wanted to give her a hug and tell her I was so sorry," said Palmer.

They said they knew he was chasing them, and they were scared.

"What she is going through, no mother should be going through," said Palmer.

Palmer was a convicted felon with a history of assault. One October morning, of 2007...he was stealing a license plate off a trailer when a group of girls coming back from a high school party threw eggs at him.

"I was angry, but not to cause injury or death," said Palmer. "And then when I passed them and I realized it was girls, I was like, 'oh, it's girls'."

Palmer got into his truck and followed them. He quickly ran into the back of the car, stopping the driver Shelly Curry.

The driver drove off and Palmer pursued.

"I never saw them hit the pole. That was behind me," said Palmer. "I never saw the accident."

Palmer drover home and the CHP put out surveillance video showing the stolen truck he was driving.

Valerie Schmidt, Seychelle Curry and Kaylie McGagin (l-r)
"Did you see your truck on the news?" I asked.

"Yes, but that was a couple days later," said Palmer.

"So, then why didn't you call and say hey that's me let me explain my side of the story," I asked.

"I was scared," said Palmer.

A few months after the crash, Palmer went to jail for stealing that infamous white truck, and it was in jail that they connected him to the crash.

Source: http://cbs13.com/crime/tyrone.palmer.sentenced.2.1318248.html

NASA finds water on the moon

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A "significant amount" of frozen water has been found on the moon, the US space agency said Friday heralding a giant leap forward in space exploration and boosting hopes of a permanent lunar base.

Preliminary data from a dramatic experiment on the moon "indicates the mission successfully uncovered water in a permanently shadowed lunar crater," NASA said in a statement.

"The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon," it added, as ecstatic scientists celebrated the landmark discovery.

"Yes indeed we found water and we did not find only a little bit but a significant amount," said Anthony Colaprete, project scientist and principal investigator for the 79-million-dollar LCROSS mission.

The data was found after NASA sent two spacecraft crashing into the lunar surface last month in a dramatic experiment to probe Earth's nearest neighbor for water.

One rocket slammed into the Cabeus crater, near the lunar southern pole, at around 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) per hour.

Moon holds key to solar system's secrets

The rocket was followed four minutes later by a spacecraft equipped with cameras to record the impact which sent a huge plume of material billowing up from the bottom of the crater, untouched by sunlight for billions of years.

"In the 20 to 30 meter crater we found maybe about a dozen, at least, two-gallon buckets of water. This is an initial result," Colaprete told reporters.

"We are ecstatic," he added in a statement.

"Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact.

"The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water," Colaprete said.

Scientists had previously theorized that, except for the possibility of ice at the bottom of craters, the moon was totally dry.

Finding water on Earth's natural satellite is a major breakthrough in space exploration.

"It's very exciting, it is painting a new image of the moon," said Gregory Deloy, from the University of California hailing it as "an extraordinary discovery."

He theorized that "one of the possible source of water is a comet."

"We're unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and, by extension, the solar system," said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington.

"The full understanding of the LCROSS data may take some time. The data is that rich," Colaprete cautioned.

"Along with the water in Cabeus, there are hints of other intriguing substances. The permanently shadowed regions of the moon are truly cold traps, collecting and preserving material over billions of years."

Only 12 men, all Americans, have ever walked on the moon, and the last to set foot there were in 1972, at the end of the Apollo missions.

But NASA's ambitious plans to put US astronauts back on the moon by 2020 to establish manned lunar bases for further exploration to Mars under the Constellation project are increasingly in doubt.

NASA's budget is currently too small to pay for Constellation's Orion capsule, a more advanced and spacious version of the Apollo lunar module, as well as the Ares I and Ares V launchers needed to put the craft in orbit.

A key review panel appointed by President Barack Obama said existing budgets are not large enough to fund a return mission before 2020.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091113/ts_afp/sciencespaceusmoon

Iran accuses 3 detained Americans of espionage

TEHRAN, Iran — A senior Iranian prosecutor accused three Americans detained on the border with Iraq of espionage on Monday, the first signal that Tehran intends to put them on trial.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the release of the three. The announcement came as Washington and Tehran are maneuvering over a deadlock in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

"We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever," Clinton told reporters in Berlin. "And we would renew our request on behalf of these three young people and their families that the Iranian government exercise compassion and release them, so they can return home."

Clinton said the U.S. would continue to make that case through the Swiss channels who represent U.S. interests in Tehran.

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, all graduates of the University of California, Berkeley, were arrested July 31 after straying over the Iranian border from northern Iraq. The U.S. government and their families say there were on a hiking vacation and crossed accidentally.

Tehran chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi says the three "have been accused of espionage" and that investigations were continuing, according to the state news agency IRNA. He said an "opinion (on their case) will be given in the not distant future."

It is not clear from his comments whether formal charges had been made, but such announcements are often a sign that charges are imminent if not already filed. In Iran's opaque judicial system, the process of indictment and trial often takes place behind closed doors.

The timing of the announcement raised the possibility that Iran was using the case to pressure the United States amid the negotiations over its nuclear program. Iran is also holding another American, academic Kian Tajbakhsh, who was arrested amid Iran's postelection turmoil and was sentenced last month to 12 years in prison for an alleged role in opposition protests.

In January, Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was arrested in Tehran, was convicted of espionage, then released on appeal in May. Two months later, U.S. forces in Iraq freed five Iranians who they had been holding for months.

This undated file photo, released by freethehikers.org, Aug. 20, 2009, shows Americans Shane Bauer, left, and Sarah Shourd.

This image made from a July 29, 2009 video released Oct. 27, 2009
by Shon Meckfessel shows Fattal in the Kurdish city of Irbil, Iraq.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iUarMRGfLCax53RhHap9iLIi11hAD9BS2G182

Deadly shootings at US army base

A US army major has opened fire on fellow soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, killing 11 people and 31, officials say.

Base commander Lt Gen Bob Cone said the shooter had been killed in the incident and two suspects arrested. All three were US soldiers.

Lt Gen Cone said the motive for the shooting was not known. One of the dead was a policeman, others were soldiers.

President Barack Obama described it as "a horrific outburst of violence".

US officials identified the shooter as Major Malik Nidal Hasan

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, named the gunman as Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

He was reportedly a military psychiatrist in his late 30s or early 40s and due to be sent on a mission to Iraq.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, President Obama said: "It is difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women abroad, but it is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on US soil."

He extended his condolences to the families of the victims, adding: "We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident."

FORT HOOD
Largest US base in the world
Home to about 40,000 personnel
Built in 1942
Focus for anti-war protesters
Includes two museums and a lake

Mr Obama said the White House was working with the Pentagon, FBI and Department of Homeland Security to make sure Fort Hood was secure.

Fort Hood, near the town of Killeen, is the largest US base in the world.

Home to about 40,000 US troops, the base lies between Austin and Waco, about 60 miles (100 km) from each city.

Lt Gen Cone said the shooting had begun at about 1330 (1930 GMT) at a personnel and medical centre at Fort Hood, where soldiers who are preparing to deploy go for last-minute medical check-ups.

He said the shooter, who had two handguns, had opened fire and "due to the quick response of the police forces, was killed".

President Obama: "A number of American soldiers have been killed...in a horrific outburst of violence"

Two more suspects were apprehended in an adjacent facility, he said, adding that some eyewitness accounts suggested there might have been more than one shooter.

A serviceman stationed at Fort Hood who asked to remain anonymous told the BBC: "I heard the emergency announcement over the speakers outside and saw people rushing to get indoors."


Map showing Texas

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says units at Fort Hood are among those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some will have returned from there.

The base has a centre that deals with combat stress, our correspondent adds.

Hilary Shine, of the Killeen Fire Department told the BBC's News Channel Fort Hood was like a small city.

"It has schools, a hospital, a convenience store even. And it has a large daytime population - including civilians working on the base - with as many as 80,000 in this area during the daytime."

Local congressman John Carter, speaking to NBC News, said gunfire had erupted half an hour before a graduation ceremony was due to begin.

Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said in a statement: "I am shocked and saddened by today's outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others.

"My heart goes out to their loved ones."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8345713.stm

A Letter to Ahmadinejad

H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Tehran, Iran

November 2, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to appeal to you to intercede with the appropriate authorities for the immediate release of my friends Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal from detention in Iran.

I traveled from Damascus to Iraqi Kurdistan on vacation with Shane, Sarah and Josh in July. Several of our friends in Damascus had previously visited northern Iraq and recommended that we too make the trip to a region they told us was beautiful, peaceful and safe. We set out the day after celebrating the wedding of local friends at Shane and Sarah's apartment and had planned to be away for one week. That was three months ago.

Had I not had a cold and remained behind at our hotel when my friends hiked to the Ahmed Awa waterfall near your country's border, I would undoubtedly be in detention with them now. I was, in fact, en route to meet them when I received Shane's call that they had been taken into custody.

On August 6, I published a statement about our trip to northern Iraq which I attach to this letter. I had hoped the statement might clarify why we were in the area and help the authorities understand that Shane, Sarah and Josh had no intention of entering Iran. As I said in that statement, if they did so, it was because of a simple and very regrettable mistake.

Since then, I have maintained silence in deference to the investigation. As much as my friends' absence has been acutely painful, I understood that investigators would want to clarify the circumstances of their trip. I had hoped that the misunderstanding would be resolved quickly. Three months have now passed, and I cannot imagine what more the Iranian authorities might have to learn about my friends or what they were doing in the area. To help put to rest any such questions, I would like to offer to submit a notarized statement to your country's mission to the United Nations vouching for my friends and detailing the circumstances of our trip. If this is not sufficient, I would be willing to come to Tehran to attest to their characters in person.

Mr. President, by continuing to deprive Shane, Sarah and Josh of their liberty, Iran is working against some of the very causes it supports. Each of these three has a long and public record of contesting injustice in the world and addressing some of the inequities between rich and poor which you have spoken about through their humanitarian work in their own country and overseas.

I first met Shane in October 2005, after we had corresponded about our common interest in the Balkans, where I had lived for a time and where Shane had worked for one year in "Balkan Sunflowers," an independent organization helping Albanian and Roma youth in post-war Kosovo. Back in the United States, Shane continued his work with the underprivileged, as illustrated by his excellent "Hotel Poverty" photographic essay for the San Francisco Chronicle, and his article "Divorcing the US," from a trip we took to the poorest county in our country.

As a fluent speaker of Arabic, Shane has focused on injustices in the Arab world, in Iraq and Palestine in particular. The Christian Science Monitor published Shane's January 7 interview with Musa Abu Marzook, the only English-language interview with a Hamas leader during Israel's attack on Gaza. Two of his articles on the American occupation of Iraq were published as cover stories of major magazines just this summer.

Sarah and I met, by coincidence, the month after Shane and I met, when we found ourselves in the same car from San Francisco to New Orleans to help poor people begin to rebuild their homes after Hurricane Katrina. We both appear in a documentary entitled "Solidarity Not Charity" made about our group of volunteers. In Oakland, Sarah worked for one year in "Just Cause," which helped poor people fight evictions from their homes in the US.

I met Josh a week before we left on our trip, and was immediately drawn in by his warmth and humor. In the time we spent together, I was struck by his passion for justice, environmental sustainability, and intercultural understanding, as attested by his work with the Aprovecho community in Oregon, and as a teaching fellow on a study abroad program for university students.

I would like to mention one more friend who may be relevant. Earlier in July, Shane and I traveled to an Israeli hospital to spend time with Tristan Anderson, an American peace activist with whom Shane, Sarah and I have been close friends for many years. Tristan was shot in the head and critically wounded by an Israeli soldier after attending a non-violent protest against Israel's separation wall. He continues to fight for recovery. Shane and Sarah also visited Tristan in late March with Sarah's mother Nora, a nurse who counseled Tristan's family. There's a very simple explanation for these trips: We wanted to show solidarity with a dear friend whose support for Palestinian rights has been acknowledged in the Iranian media, throughout the Middle East and beyond.

I hope that this letter will help the Iranian authorities understand the true character of my friends. They have now been in custody for almost 100 days, which I hope you agree is more than sufficient punishment for their mistake. Please do everything you can to ensure that they are immediately released into the arms of their loving friends and families, who miss them more than my words can express.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely

Shon Meckfessel

Source: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091116/meckfessel