10/04/2012
Panel recommends parole for Manson follower
Former Manson follower recommended for parole
 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation / AP Bruce Davis, formerly a follower of Charles Manson, has been recommended for parole after 40 years in prison. During that time, he received a master's degree in philosophy and religion, which factored into the parole recommendation. By NBC News Former Charles Manson associate Bruce David, who was convicted of murdering two men, has been recommended for parole, KTLA.com reported. The California Parole Board recommended parole for Bruce David, 69, at his 27th parole hearing, finding that during his 40 years in prison he had a record of good behavior and had earned a master's degree in philosophy and religion through a correspondence course. Davis was convicted alongside Manson for the 1969 killings of Gary Hinman, a musician, and Donald Shea, a stuntman who lived with the Manson crew who was nicknamed "Shorty." Davis is serving two life sentences. His crimes were unrelated to the murders of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and six others. He has been in prison since 1972, The Associated Press reported. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Sequeira opposed his release. The governor will have to approve, deny or modify the parole board's recommendation; in 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reject a recommendation that David be released. Manson, 77, remains in prison. More content from NBCNews.com:
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4 injured as school bus plunges off Texas highway
 WOAI-TV A television image shows the bus separated from its chassis beneath Interstate 37 in San Antonio on Thursday. By Darlene Dorsey, Elsa Ramon and M. Alex Johnson, NBC News New in this version: Details on injuries Updated at 7:53 p.m. ET: Four people were injured when a school bus plunged 15 feet off an interstate highway in San Antonio on Thursday, authorities said. The bus had already dropped off most of its passengers and was carrying only three people — the driver, an adult monitor and a young boy — when it flew off I-37 into the parking lot of a Comfort Suites hotel in east San Antonio about 4:35 p.m. (5:35 p.m. ET). All three people on the bus were taken by ambulances to University Hospital under "priority one" protocols, which are invoked when a patient has "possibly life-threatening injuries," said Christian Bove, a spokesman for the San Antonio Fire Department. A fourth person in a separate vehicle on the highway also was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries. It wasn't immediately clear whether the two vehicles collided. Authorities said that despite the precautionary protocols, none of the injuries was believed to be grave — mainly broken bones for the driver and the monitor and facial cuts for the child. No information about the identities of any of the victims was immediately available. Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com The bus was traveling north on the interstate when it veered off the side, completely flipped in midair and landed right-side up, shearing it from its chassis, which came to rest at a right angle to the main body of the bus, NBC station WOAI-TV reported. Sherry Chaudhry, the hotel's manager, told WOAI that gasoline had spilled all over the scene of the accident and that bystanders broke out the bus' windows to rescue the boy. Chaudhry said she was able to speak with the bus driver, whom she quoted as having said a car cut off the bus and forced it off the road. This is a breaking news story. Check back for more details. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Could 'friendly fire' have killed Border Patrol agent?
| Investigators have told NBC News that they cannot rule out the possibility that Border Patrol agent Nicolas Ivie, who was shot to death Tuesday morning, may have been a casualty of "friendly fire." NBC's Mark Potter reports. By NBC News Federal investigators have told NBC News they are examining whether the shootings of Border Patrol agents early Tuesday morning were the result of friendly fire – officers accidentally shooting each other. Initial reports from U.S. and local officials blamed the shootings on armed criminals. Agent Nicholas Ivie, 30, was killed and another agent wounded in the incident. Mexican police said Thursday that they arrested two suspects in a Mexican military operation in the city of Agua Prieta, in Mexico's northern Sonora state, a few miles from where Ivie was shot, Reuters reported. Related: Mexican troops arrest two in killing of US border agent Ivie was responding to desert sensors that track movements in a remote area five miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, near Naco, Ariz., authorities have said. He was with two other agents, one of whom was wounded. The third agent, a woman, was unharmed. Ivie was a father of two who grew up in Utah and was active in the Mormon Church. He had been an agent for four years. It was the first fatal shooting of an on-duty Border Patrol agent since December 2010, when Brian Terry was killed in a shootout with bandits near the border. Terry's shooting was later linked to the government's "Fast and Furious" gun-smuggling operation, which allowed people suspected of illegally buying guns for others to walk away from gun shops with weapons, an attempt to track the weapons. Two Border Patrol agents were killed last year in an accident during a car chase with smugglers near Phoenix. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Edison seeks to fire up San Onofre nuclear reactor
| By NBC News staff and news services The operator of California's troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant proposed Thursday to restart one of the plant's shuttered reactors, despite an outcry from activists who say doing so could be catastrophic. Southern California Edison filed the proposal with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after concluding a reactor could be operated safely despite damage to scores of its tubes that carry radioactive water. A plan to return even one reactor to service is a milestone for Southern California Edison, which has spent months unraveling what caused excessive tube vibration and friction inside the plant's nearly new steam generators, then determining how it might be fixed. But the plant is far from returning to robust operation. Edison must wait for approval from U.S. nuclear regulators before restarting the unit. Nuclear regulators say there's no timetable to restart the plant, and review of the application could take months. "The agency will not permit a restart unless and until we can conclude the reactor can be operated safely," NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane told Reuters. "Our inspections and review will be painstaking, thorough and will not be rushed." Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com The proposal was immediately denounced by environmentalists and anti-nuclear activists who have argued for months that restarting the plant between San Diego and Los Angeles would set the stage for a catastrophe. About 7.4 million Californians live within 50 miles of San Onofre, which can power 1.4 million homes. "Both these reactors are alike, and neither is safe to operate," said S. David Freeman, a former head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power who advises Friends of the Earth. "While Edison may be under financial pressure to get one up and running, operating this badly damaged reactor at reduced power without fixing or replacing these leaky generators is like driving a car with worn-out brakes." Edison wants to operate Unit 2 at 70 percent power, which company officials predicted would prevent vibration that has caused excessive wear to tubing. Company officials expressed confidence in the proposal, which followed more than 170,000 tube inspections over more than eight months. Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter In January, the Unit 3 reactor was shut down as a precaution after a tube leak. Unit 2 was taken offline earlier that month. Neither unit has been operational since. The plant's Unit 1 was shut down permanently in 1992. Federal regulators examined the plant to determine what happened to Unit 3 and how it could have been prevented. While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission commended the staff for their handling of the leak, they expressed concern over the design flaw that caused it. Southern California Edison also pointed to the high costs of running the plant as a reason for downsizing its staff. Compared to similar plants, the staffing and costs are much higher. The company will also reduce costs by "improving plant processes while fully maintaining all safety commitments," they stated in August. This article includes reporting by NBCLosAngeles.com's Lauren Steussy and Reuters. More content from NBCNews.com:
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Meningitis outbreak points to pharmacy problem
| By Marilynn Marchione, The Associated Press Two people blinded in Washington, D.C., in 2005. Three dead in Virginia in 2006 and three more in Oregon the following year. Twenty-one dead polo horses in Florida in 2009. Earlier this year, 33 people in seven states with fungal eye infections. And now, at least five people dead and 35 sickened with fungal meningitis that has been linked to steroid shots for back pain. All these disasters involved medicines that had been custom-mixed at what are called "compounding pharmacies" — laboratories that supply hospitals, clinics and doctors to a much wider degree in the U.S. than many people realize. These pharmacies mix solutions, creams and other medicines used to treat everything from menopause symptoms and back pain to vision loss and cancer. Unlike manufactured drugs, these products are not subject to approval by the Food and Drug Administration. And some have turned out to be dangerously contaminated. Compounding pharmacies often obtain drugs from manufacturers and then split them into smaller doses, or mix ingredients sold in bulk. Any of those steps can easily lead to contamination if sterile conditions aren't maintained. For example, the fungus suspected in the current meningitis outbreak can spread in the air. The risks from these products have long been known but are being amplified now by a national shortage of many drugs that has forced doctors to seek custom-made alternatives to the usual first-choice treatments. The steroid suspected in the current outbreak has been in short supply. "Because of the incredible number of drugs that are out of stock or back-ordered, compounding pharmacies are working with local hospitals, clinics and physicians to fill that gap," said David Miller, executive vice president of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, a trade organization. These products have had remarkable growth. More than 7,500 compounding pharmacies operate in the U.S., up from 5,000 in 2009, Miller said. They account for a $3 billion segment of the drug market and 3 percent of all prescriptions filled. Some say this industry needs more regulation. "There's not a lot of oversight of compounding pharmacies" compared with drug manufacturers, said Allen Vaida, executive vice president of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a suburban Philadelphia advocacy group that tracks medication errors. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, agreed. "They fall into this gray area and no one supervises in a rigorous fashion their manufacturing processes. The state pharmacy boards don't have the resources or the knowledge or experience," and the FDA does not get involved unless a problem occurs, he said. The FDA has said the steroid in the current meningitis outbreak came from the New England Compounding Center, based in Framingham, Mass. The company recalled three lots of the drug last week and has said it has voluntarily suspended operations and is working with regulators to identify the source of the infection. Investigators also are looking into the antiseptic and anesthetic used during the injections. On Thursday, investigators urged doctors nationwide to avoid all products from the New England company. At least 23 states have received vials from the three recalled lots. Compounding pharmacies are supposed to supply products to meet unique patient needs, and to prepare drug products that are not available commercially, based on an individual prescription. They may cross a line if they supply a product on a large scale to a clinic or hospital without individual prescriptions, Miller and other experts said. "They, in effect, since they do this on a large scale, have become mini-pharmaceutical companies," Schaffner said. That appears to be the basis for an FDA warning to the New England company and four other firms in December 2006. The FDA told them to stop compounding and distributing anesthetic creams "marketed for general distribution rather than responding to the unique medical needs of individual patients." Too much anesthetic in a rubbed-on cream can cause seizures and irregular heartbeats, and at least two deaths have resulted, the FDA said. Miller said that in the current outbreak, it appears that the New England company was dispensing drugs widely to clinics and hospitals instead of filling individual prescriptions. Some compounding pharmacies have had more than one troubling episode. And some products seem to have problems over and over again. In May, officials reported 33 cases in seven states of a fungal eye infection caused by products mixed in a Florida pharmacy that also prepared supplements that killed 21 elite polo horses in 2009. The same steroid in the current outbreak was also tied to five cases of a different type of fungal infection in North Carolina in September 2002. Those patients also had shots from pain clinics, and one died. Related links: Fungal outbreak spreads to six states |
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