Director charged in camper’s death
Phoenix The director of a boot camp for troubled youths was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison for the death of a 14-year-old camper who collapsed in desert heat.
Charles Long, 59, a former Marine, could have been sentenced to up to 27 years for the reckless manslaughter conviction and an unrelated aggravated assault conviction for threatening another youth with a knife.
Prosecutors accused Long of abusing his power at the “tough love” boot camp. But several parents said Long turned their children’s lives around.
In 2001, Anthony Haynes’ mother sent him to the camp after he was caught shoplifting and slashed the tires on her vehicle. The teen died of complications from dehydration after collapsing at the camp, where rules included wearing black uniforms in triple- digit heat and harsh discipline.
The America’s Buffalo Soldiers Re-enactors Association camp was shut down after the death.
Vets sue Rumsfeld over medical care
Washington Residents of a historic retirement home for war veterans filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claiming the Pentagon chief has imposed illegal cutbacks in on-site medical and dental services.
The suit was filed on behalf of the nearly 1,000 residents at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, one of two such institutions managed by the Defense Department.
But the home’s chief financial officer said the changes have saved money and produced efficiencies and improvements.
The retirement home, previously known as the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home, was opened in 1851 for wounded and disabled war veterans.
England waives right to dispute charges
Fort Hood, Texas Pfc. Lynndie England on Tuesday surrendered her right to challenge the seven charges she faces in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, moving her one step closer to a new military trial.
Her defense attorney would not provide details as to why he decided not to go forward with the Article 32 hearing – the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding. He said only that it was part of an “evolving trial strategy.”
Now the decision on England’s charges goes to Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, Fort Hood’s commanding general. He’ll decide whether she’ll face any or all of the charges.
England could face up to 11 years in prison. She faces two counts of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, four counts of maltreatment and one count of committing an indecent act.
Animal rights activist faces terror charge
Madison, Wis. An animal rights activist who had been on the run for more than seven years after allegedly freeing more than 7,000 minks at farms in five Midwestern states in 1997 pleaded not guilty to domestic terrorism charges Tuesday.
Peter Daniel Young, 27, faces up to 82 years in prison on charges of interfering with commerce by threat or violence and animal enterprise terrorism.
He was indicted in 1998 but wasn’t captured until March, when he was picked up for allegedly stealing CDs from a Starbucks.
Investigators say Young is part of the Animal Liberation Front, an animal rights group with a Web site saying it takes “direct action” against abuse by rescuing animals and causing financial loss to exploiters through property damage.