| View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com. By Sharon Bernstein and Annette Arreola, NBCLosAngeles.com An agreement was reached Tuesday night to end the crippling strike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. The announcement came just hours after federal mediators arrived at the port of Los Angeles, called on by Villaraigosa to help resolve a strike that has idled most of the docks at the ports for more than a week. George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and Scot Beckencaugh, deputy director for mediation services, arrived Tuesday night to begin talks between shipping and union officials, the mayor's office announced. It was unclear whether a vote had been planned prior to their arrival or what role they played in the developments late Tuesday. Read the original story on NBCLosAngeles.com The mayor flew back from a trip abroad to help bring an end to the work stoppage, staged by clerical workers who use computers to help track the progress of shipments into and out of the nation's busiest port complex. Villaraigosa, who had been in Latin America pitching Southern California's port operations to manufacturers, shippers and retailers there, arrived at the harbor at about 11 p.m. Monday, joining the negotiations in the hope of brokering a deal. Tuesday morning, he said, he called to request help from a federal mediator. The mayor said he also discussed the matter with California's two Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and that he has placed a call to the White House. Despite claims by both sides that they had made significant concessions in the talks so far, Villaraigosa said at a news conference that neither had moved on issues of top concern to the other. In particular, he said, the union, which is worried about outsourcing jobs, might need to compromise on other issues to get movement on its top priority. As the talks dragged on, the clerical workers continued to walk picket lines. Each side blamed the other for the slow pace of negotiations. John Fageaux, spokesman for Local 63 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said his organization had backed down on a demand that the companies re-hire 51 positions that the union said had been outsourced, but received no productive response from the employers. Read more news on NBCLosAngeles.com But Stephen Berry, an attorney representing the shipping companies, said those jobs had never been outsourced in the first place. Instead, he said, they represented positions that had been held by clerical workers who were not replaced after they retired. For his part, Berry said that the shipping companies had agreed to one of the union's key demands, saying that they would hire certain temporary workers from the union's hiring hall, rather than going to outside contractors. But he said that the union was not satisfied with that offer. He said the union failed to recognize that the economy had still not recovered from the boom years. The stoppage at 10 of the port's 14 terminals will not affect holiday shipments, experts said, because the toys, books, electronics and clothes aimed at the gift market arrived months ago. But Villaraigosa said it affects about 20,000 truck drivers, retailers and others who are awaiting shipments for upcoming seasons.
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12/04/2012
'Mission accomplished': Contract reached in port strike
Inside Israel's planned settlement
Penn State sorority apologizes for Mexican-themed party
| A sorority having a Mexican-themed party seems harmless. But a Penn State sorority party photo surfaced Monday showing a group of girls wearing sombreros, ponchos and fake moustaches and holding signs saying "will mow lawn for weed" and "I don't cut grass, I smoke it," reports the Onward State. The school's newspaper the Daily Collegian reports the offensive photo reached the Penn State Penhellenic Council to investigate the Nu Gamma Chapter of Chi Omega who in turn issued an apology. "Our chapter of Chi Omega sincerely apologizes for portraying inappropriate and untrue stereotypes," said the chapter's head Jessica Riccardi. The identity of the girls from the Chi Omega sorority were discovered because they were tagged on Facebook. The students have not been disciplined yet since the case is still under investigation, reports Gawker. Onward State reports Susan LeGalley, Penn State's Assistant Director of Fraternity & Sorority would not comment on the case adding her office "traditionally doesn't talk with reporters." This is not the first time students hold inappropriate parties. Last week , pictures of Baylor University students also in sombreros, moustaches displaying "Green Card" signs attempting to scale a border fence surfaced on Facebook and Instagram. "Baylor is an academic community that does not and would not tolerate racism on our campus," said Lori Fogleman, the director of Media Communications told Latino Rebels . Though the school confirmed the student who posted the pictures was a Baylor student, they could not say if the pictures were taken on campus. In June, A Southern California high school cancelled senior week "Seniores" and "Senoritas" events after deciding students dressed as gang members, Border Patrol agents and a pregnant female pushing a stroller were offensive. |
Parents of girl taken from hospital: We took her to save her life
| Norma Bracamontes, 35, unleashed a firestorm and was being sought by police after she took her sick 11-year-old daughter with leukemia out of Phoenix Children's Hospital. Authorities said the girl could die if she didn't return to the hospital because of her medical condition. But in an exclusive interview with Telemundo, the parents say they were simply protecting their daughter from what they allege is bad medical treatment, which was endangering her life. "It was the only way because they had her threatened and intimidated," Norma told Telemundo.  In an exclusive interview with Telemundo, Luis Bracamontes, claims they were just protecting their daughter by taking her from an Arizona hospital where she was being treated for Leukemia. (Telemundo) The father, Luis Bracamontes, 46, and the mother say one of the most painful things they've had to deal with is that the hospital told them their daughter already came to the hospital with a serious arm infection, which became so dangerous that her arm was partially amputated after multiple surgeries. Yet, the parents allege she must have contracted the infection at the hospital. "They told my wife that she already had it," Luis said. "That's not true. Her arm was healthy." Authorities say the girl, Emily, had been receiving chemotherapy at Phoenix Children's Hospital for about a month, according to the Associated Press. The arm infection forced doctors to insert a catheter in her heart. The device was set to be taken out before her Norma removed an IV from the girl, changed her clothes, and walked her out of the hospital Wednesday night. Doctors were worried that if the catheter was left in too long, it could lead to a deadly infection. Police told Telemundo charges were still possible for negligence, abuse or putting her daughter in danger but that Emily's health was the number one concern. Luis is a Mexican citizen with a U.S. resident alien identification card, while Emily and her mother are U.S. citizens, police said. Phoenix Children's Hospital released a statement Monday night saying they are profoundly worried about Emily's safety and well-being and continue to cooperate with authorities. The hospital says that if her family has any questions they are willing to talk and discuss their options. Meanwhile, Norma insists that she had no choice because her husband's insurance was running out and she feared she would not be allowed to take her daughter to Mexico. During the interview, where Norma spoke through a cell phone call, Emily also spoke to her father Luis. "Hi daddy," she said in English. "Hi Emily, how are you?" he responded. "Good," she said. Luis says that his daughter's leukemia is in remission, but he remains heartbroken over his baby girl, who lost her arm. Authorities tell Telemundo they will continue looking for her. |
Bob Costas: 'Availability of guns makes mayhem easier'
| NBC Sports' Bob Costas speaks out in this exclusive interview with Lawrence O'Donnell about his Sunday night comments on the gun culture of America and the murder-suicide committed by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher. By NBC News staff NBC Sports commentator Bob Costas on Tuesday expanded on comments he made about the need for gun control in the wake of the murder-suicide of an NFL player. "What I was talking about here – and I'm sorry if that wasn't clear to everybody – was a gun culture," Costas said, referring to comments he made during his weekly half-time slot on NBC's Sunday Night Football. "I never mentioned the Second Amendment. I never used the words gun control. people inferred that. Now do I believe that we need more comprehensive and sensible gun control? Yes I do. That doesn't mean repeal the Second Amendment. Costas sparked a firestorm when he quoted from a column written by Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock: "If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today," Costas said. Belcher, a Kansas City Chiefs linebacker, shot and killed his 22-year-old girlfriend Kasandra Perkins before fatally shooting himself. The gun he used was registered legally, police confirmed on Monday. Following Costas's comments, social media sites lit up with views from both sides of the argument: On Tuesday, Costas told reporters that it was a "mistake" to address "football culture, the gun culture, domestic violence" in the brief half-time slot. "My mistake is I left it open for too much miscommunication," Costas told "The Dan Patrick Show." Costas said the proliferation of guns and semi-automatic weapons are the problem. "Among young people, there seems to be too cavalier an attitude toward guns," Costas said on the show. Meanwhile Fox's Whitlock told Roland told Roland Martin of Roland Martin Reports that he hadn't gone far enough in his original commentary. He said that he took advantage of writing about gun violence in his column because so many people ignore the real world but they do pay attention to sports. "I believe the NRA is the new KKK," Whitlock said. "And that the arming of so many black youths, and loading up our community with drugs, and then just having an open shooting gallery, is the work of people that obviously don't have our best interests." More content from NBCNews.com: |
World's oldest person dies at age 116
(CNN) -- Besse Cooper, the world's oldest person, died Tuesday. She was 116. Cooper died in Monroe, Georgia, about 45 minutes east of Atlanta. Her son Sidney said his mother "had a long, good life. She went very easy." Her best years were when she was in her 80s, he said. Born August 26, 1896, Besse Cooper gained the distinction of being oldest living human from Guinness World Records in January 2011. She briefly moved to second on the list when the record keepers found a woman in Brazil who was 48 days older, but Maria Gomes Valentim died in June 2011, just weeks before her 115th birthday. When asked for her secret, Cooper told the Guinness website: "I mind my own business. And I don't eat junk food." Only eight people have ever been documented to have lived to age 116. The oldest person to have ever lived, according to Guinness World Records, was Jeanne Louise Calment. She died in southern France in 1997 at the age of 122.  |
One more guilty plea in Miss. hate-crime death
| By NBC News staff and news services JACKSON, Miss. -- Another white man has pleaded guilty to a hate crime charge in the death of a black man who was run over by a pickup truck in Mississippi. Three other white men have already pleaded guilty to hate crime charges in the death of James Craig Anderson, who was beaten and then run over in Jackson on June 26, 2011. None of the men have been sentenced. William Montgomery pleaded guilty Tuesday during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Jackson to two hate crime counts -- one involving the fatal rundown of Anderson and the other involving the assault of another black man, who was not identified in court documents. In addition, Jonathan Gaskamp pleaded guilty to two hate crime counts in the assault of the unidentified black man. In March, Deryl Dedmon, 19, pleaded guilty to state murder and hate crime charges in Mississippi for running over Anderson. He received two life sentences on the state charges. In the federal case, Dedmon, John Aaron Rice and Dylan Butler each admitted to conspiracy and violating the 2009 federal hate-crimes law, according to federal prosecutors. They face sentences of up to life in prison and $250,000 in fines. Dedmon admitted in court that he and a group of white teens were partying in Puckett, a small town outside Jackson, when he suggested they find a black man to harass, federal prosecutors said. The group reportedly went to Jackson because of its majority-black population. They found Anderson outside a hotel, where he was beaten before Dedmon ran over him. Anderson was a 47-year-old worker at a car plant. More content from NBCNews.com:
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