In brief: Milwaukee Archdiocese files bankruptcy plan

MILWAUKEE – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee on Monday filed its bankruptcy reorganization plan, formalizing a recent settlement deal that will divvy up $21 million among more than 300 victims of clergy sex abuse.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2011 to address its sex abuse lawsuit liabilities. The bankruptcy plan is scheduled for review in November, and church officials are “hopeful this is approved by the judge,” archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said.

The creditors’ committee, which comprises five abuse victims, is expected to endorse the deal, committee chairman Charles Linneman said.

Airman sentenced for child sex abuse

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – An Air Force technical sergeant who fled Illinois earlier this year while awaiting a court-martial will spend 25 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to child sexual assault charges.

David Lawrence Helm, 35, also pleaded guilty to a desertion charge and to illegally recording the private area of a woman. In addition to the prison term, Helm was dishonorably discharged and forfeited all pay and allowances.

Helm entered the guilty pleas at the start of his court-martial as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, who dropped some the charges against him, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Helm was accused of sexually assaulting a girl between the ages of 12 and 16 at several locations in 2013 and 2014, including at southern Illinois’ Scott Air Force Base and in Tennessee.

Perry campaign pays some staffers

DES MOINES, Iowa – Rick Perry’s presidential campaign said Monday it had started to again pay some staffers who lost their salaries earlier this month amid sluggish fundraising – but the operation’s Iowa director has already moved on.

Sam Clovis, who served as Perry’s Iowa state chairman, said he was leaving because the campaign was in transition and future compensation was uncertain. He also insisted, though, that it was about more than the money.

Struggling to stay relevant in a crowded Republican field after formally kicking off his bid in early June, Perry announced raising about $1 million during the first month. That sparked a cash crunch severe enough for the campaign to stop paying its small staffs in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – which open presidential primary voting – as well as at headquarters in Texas.

Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said in a statement that despite Clovis’ leaving, Perry remains “committed to competing in Iowa, as well as South Carolina and New Hampshire, and there are many people across the country who continue to work to elect Rick Perry as president.”

Bills would tighten drone-use rules

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California lawmakers advanced legislation Monday seeking to rein in the use of privacy-invading drones, passing one bill to prevent the use of drones by paparazzi and another making it a trespassing violation to fly drones over private property without permission.

In the state Senate, lawmakers voted 40-0 to approve AB856 classifying drone use to take pictures or video on private property as an invasion of privacy. “This bill will make paparazzi accountable for the breach of private property boundaries,” said Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, who carried the bill in the Senate.

Meanwhile, the Assembly voted 43-11 on AB856, which would create a trespass crime for operating a drone less than 350 feet above ground over private property without consent.

Missing boy, 10, found a day later

SALT LAKE CITY – A 10-year-old boy who disappeared while hiking with family in eastern Utah has been found alive more than 24 hours after he got lost while looking for mushrooms near a remote mountain lake, authorities said Monday.

Malachi Bradley survived by curling up between some rocks as temperatures dipped into the upper 30s overnight, Uintah County Sheriff Vance Norton said. The boy wrapped his T-shirt around his legs and huddled in his jacket to keep warm in the remote area near the Wyoming border.

Malachi was spotted by a rescue plane Monday afternoon and picked up by a police helicopter, Norton said. He was cold and hungry but otherwise healthy.