Friday, May 21, 2010

“Parents Want Council To Look Into Bus Death - msnbc.com” plus 3 more

“Parents Want Council To Look Into Bus Death - msnbc.com” plus 3 more

Parents Want Council To Look Into Bus Death - msnbc.com

Posted: 21 May 2010 02:45 PM PDT

DETROIT - The day after an 11-year-old girl who stuck her head out of a school bus window and was fatally struck by a branch, a group of parents from her Detroit school went to city officials and demanded action.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing told the parents that school children's safety is his first priority and that he will be reviewing their safety recommendations.

Parents also met with City Council President Charles Pugh Friday and demanded that a stop sign be erected where the freak accident happened, on Pershing and Central streets on the city's southwest side.

Police said Tiffany Lynn Ross-DiCicco, who is a fifth grade student at Phoenix Multi-Cultural Academy, was waving goodbye to a friend when the bus turned to pull out of the school's lot and she was hit.

"She stuck her head out the window and she said, 'Christianna', and then I turned around, and then her face hit the tree", said Christianna Garcia, the friend Ross-DiCicco was waving to.

Watch:

Detroit Student Killed While Riding Bus

Ross-DiCicco was rushed to Children's Hospital, where she later died.

"She was a sweet little thing. She was a character but she was our Tiffany, and now we can't have her no more," said Christina Garcia, who witnessed the accident.

Students at the school said the girl had a brother and sister who also attended the school.

The Michigan State Police are investigating the death. Local 4 has learned that the bus involved in the fatal accident was operated by a vendor that supplies transportation for the district.

The company's contract with the school district expires at the end of the month.

The driver has been removed from that route for the time being.

School Grieves For Girl Killed In Bus Accident

"I always teach my children that when they are on any kind of a vehicle, bus whatever, that they sit down, don't get up, don't move. I don't like that kind of stuff," said Phoenix Multi-Cultural Academy mother Amanda Mullins.

Detroit Public Schools Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb was at the scene Thursday and spoke briefly to the media.

"This represents another sad day for the Detroit Public Schools," he said. "If I count up the last few weeks, in one 10-day period we've had four Detroit Public School students pass. This represents a fifth."

Counselors were on hand for Friday for students at the school.

"There's not a whole lot one can say to the parents when they bring their children to our schools and expect that at the end of the day their children will return safely," Bobb said.

Family members gathered to remember Ross-DiCicco Thursday night and created a makeshift memorial at the tree that took the girl's life.

"She's just very smart, and loved her music. (She was on the) honor roll, she loved her teachers, and Twilight (books and movies). Yeah, she was Twilight-crazy," said Ross-DiCicco's aunt, Paula Wallace.

"As a mother myself, I don't believe I could go through something like this. I don't think I would be strong enough to be able to let go of a child, to just lose one," said Mullins.

A memorial fund has been established for Ross-DiCicco's family. Donations can be dropped off at any Comerica Bank.


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11 Most Endangered Historic Places Named - WXIA 11 Alive

Posted: 20 May 2010 09:03 AM PDT

Posted By -  CNN 

Last Updated On:  5/20/2010 12:13:25 PM

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The National Trust for Historic Preservation added 11 sites to its most-endangered list Wednesday, including one of the last remaining Negro League ball parks, a Civil War battlefield, a prehistoric cultural site in Guam and America's state parks and state-owned historic sites.

The annual list highlights important examples of the nation's architectural, cultural and natural heritage that are at risk of destruction or irreparable damage, the National Trust said in a release.

"While the 23rd annual list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is, by definition, about historic places, it's also about neighborhoods and communities that contribute to the quality of life in America and the people who work hard to preserve them," said National Trust President Richard Moe.

Among the 11 sites are:

-- Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey, one of the last remaining Negro League ball parks. Legends such as Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Dizzy Dean played at the stadium, which now stands vacant and dilapidated.

-- America's state parks and state-owned historic sites, which face uncertain futures and closures due to state budget shortfalls.

-- Wilderness Battlefield in Orange and Spotsylvania counties, Virginia, which was the site of one of the most important battles of the Civil War and the first meeting of legendary generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. A big-box retailer wants to build on the site, the National Trust said.

-- A prehistoric cultural site revered by the Chamorro people of Guam, the westernmost U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. The site is threatened by a planned massive military buildup that will put irreplaceable ancient artifacts at risk, the National Trust said.

Other sites include: Black Mountain in Harlan County, Kentucky.; the Industrial Arts Building in Lincoln, Nebraska; the 1844 adobe Juana Briones House in Palo Alto, California; the 37.5-mile Merritt Parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut; the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, Washington, where funerals were held for abolitionist Frederick Douglass in 1895 and civil rights icon Rosa Parks a century later; the 2,500-acre Saugatuck Dunes in Michigan, home to several endangered species; and the Art Deco 16-story Threefoot Building in Meridian, Mississippi.

(CNN)

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Police Look Into Girl's Death On Bus - ClickOnDetroit.com

Posted: 21 May 2010 02:10 PM PDT

Paris heightens museum vigilance after heist - WHDH.com

Posted: 21 May 2010 12:22 PM PDT

PARIS -- Paris City Hall, embarrassed by a major art heist at a museum with a broken alarm, urged security guards Friday to be more vigilant -- and pleaded with the perpetrators not to damage the Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani spirited away from the city's Museum of Modern Art.

Despite mounting criticism of museum security following Thursday's $123 million theft and other recent heists, the deputy mayor for culture said there were no plans to add security personnel or make sharp changes to how Paris protects its cultural treasures.

"My only worry today, to be completely honest, is the safety of these paintings," Christophe Girard told AP Television News. "These people who have taken them, I beg them not to do anything to these paintings .... These are masterpieces that belong to millions of people."

"Don't touch them. Give them back," he pleaded.

The Museum of Modern Art had reported a partial malfunction of its alarm system on March 30 that remains to be fixed. With no alarm to worry about, a black-clad intruder entered the museum overnight Thursday by breaking a window, took five canvases out of their frames and fled, according to police and prosecutors.

Girard praised the thief or thieves as having "good taste" in their choice of works: Pablo Picasso's "Le pigeon aux petits-pois" (The Pigeon with the Peas); "La Pastorale" (Pastoral) by Henri Matisse; "La femme a l'eventail" (Woman with a Fan) by Amedeo Modigliani; "L'olivier pres de l'Estaque" (Olive Tree near Estaque) by Georges Braque; and "Nature morte aux chandeliers" (Still Life with Chandeliers) by Fernand Leger.

Girard said the audio level of the alarm was partially damaged, so that guards might not have heard if an alarm signaled an intruder. But he insisted that the video cameras were working, and that he and police had seen the masked intruder on video.

Asked whether Paris museums would heighten security measures, he said, "We will continue to survey our museums, mobilize our personnel."

Speaking earlier Friday on France-Info radio, he said, "We are not going to close off the works" or add extra security staff. He said security workers are "traumatized enough to feel obliged more than ever to monitor even better."

Stephane Thefo, a specialist at Interpol who handles international art theft investigations, said there is no surefire way to protect paintings, and that securing treasures in historical buildings, for example, is a challenge.

"Zero risk doesn't exist," he told The AP by phone from Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France. "The aim of the game is to limit the risks."

He said the key to finding missing art is having high quality photos and descriptions of the works. He also dismissed calls for electronic chips on artworks to better prevent theft and track stolen goods.

"We don't have a universal marking system. We have works on canvas, leather, bronze, wood -- there is not one thing that is adaptable for all material," he said.

Both he and Girard said the missing paintings would be extremely hard to sell given how well-known they are.

Estimates of the total value of the paintings varied: The prosecutor's office initially put their worth as high as $613 million (euro500 million) but later downgraded the figure to about $111 million (euro90 million). Girard said the total value was about $123 million (euro100 million).

The Paris Museum of Modern Art reopened in 2006 after spending $18 million (euro15 million) and two years upgrading its security system.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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