80 Wis. soldiers still wait for service benefits
Associated Press
January 28, 2012
OSHKOSH, Wis.— Dozens of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers are still waiting for thousands of dollars owed to them for their service in Iraq.
The delay is due to bureaucratic glitches and clerical errors, the Oshkosh Northwestern reported.
The soldiers, members of the Wisconsin National Guard 1157th Transportation Co., spent much of 2006 and 2007 in Iraq. When they came home they were due extra pay or days of leave for serving multiple deployments, but some never received what was owed to them because of errors in the way the Army computed and paid the benefits.
"It's frustrating," said Richard Vander Sande, one of the roughly 170 guardsmen and women in the unit. "
For some it's the issue of the money. For some it's the principle. If soldiers are owed something, they should be paid."
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Fort Benning soldiers acquitted after facing court-martial
Fort Benning soldiers acquitted after facing court-martial in beatings of ex-soldier and woman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: January 28, 2012
FORT BENNING, Ga. — Two Fort Benning soldiers have been acquitted of assault charges in the beatings of a former soldier and a woman in Columbus.
A military jury in the court-martial of Army Pvt. Nathan Smajda found him not guilty Friday of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily injury in the downtown attacks last April. A second soldier, Pvt. Dillon Fisher, was acquitted by a court-martial panel earlier this month.
read more here
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: January 28, 2012
FORT BENNING, Ga. — Two Fort Benning soldiers have been acquitted of assault charges in the beatings of a former soldier and a woman in Columbus.
A military jury in the court-martial of Army Pvt. Nathan Smajda found him not guilty Friday of assault with intent to commit grievous bodily injury in the downtown attacks last April. A second soldier, Pvt. Dillon Fisher, was acquitted by a court-martial panel earlier this month.
read more here
Wilder Marine killed in Afghanistan returned to Idaho
Wilder Marine killed in Afghanistan returned to Idaho
by Justin Corr
KTVB.COM
Posted on January 28, 2012 at 4:47 PM
Updated yesterday at 5:08 PM
BOISE -- After making the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, the remains of a Marine from Wilder are back in Idaho.
Lance Corporal Kenneth Cochran was killed in combat on January 15 -- he was just 20 years old.
Cochran always wanted to be a Marine.
"We grew up hearing stories about my dad, and his time in the service," said Michael Cochran, Kenneth's sister. "So, it was kind of ingrained in us to be awesome and go for your dreams. And Kenny's dream was to become a Marine."
read more here
by Justin Corr
KTVB.COM
Posted on January 28, 2012 at 4:47 PM
Updated yesterday at 5:08 PM
BOISE -- After making the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, the remains of a Marine from Wilder are back in Idaho.
Lance Corporal Kenneth Cochran was killed in combat on January 15 -- he was just 20 years old.
Cochran always wanted to be a Marine.
"We grew up hearing stories about my dad, and his time in the service," said Michael Cochran, Kenneth's sister. "So, it was kind of ingrained in us to be awesome and go for your dreams. And Kenny's dream was to become a Marine."
read more here
Arkansas Iraq War vet gets life in prison for killing girlfriend
Arkansas Iraq War vet gets life in prison for killing girlfriend
Published January 28, 2012
Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Iraq War veteran who sought acquittal on a capital murder charge in the death of his girlfriend has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
A Pulaski County jury of six men and six women deliberated about 90 minutes Thursday and eight hours on Friday before finding Steven Russell Jr. guilty.
Russell called police in November 2009 and told them had had shot Joy Owen, 24, a North Little Rock High School teacher, to death after an argument at the apartment the two shared, records show. He told officers where to find the gun he used, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in a story for Saturday's editions.
At the time of Owens' death, Russell was on probation for a 2008 domestic battery conviction. Prosecutors alluded to the conviction in Russell's trial, but gave no details. The assault was included in Russell's mental health records and forensic reports submitted to the jury.
Russell's defense team admitted he killed Owens, but blamed the shooting on post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by his war service in the Middle East. Owen served in the Iraq War in 2003.
read more here
Published January 28, 2012
Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Iraq War veteran who sought acquittal on a capital murder charge in the death of his girlfriend has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
A Pulaski County jury of six men and six women deliberated about 90 minutes Thursday and eight hours on Friday before finding Steven Russell Jr. guilty.
Russell called police in November 2009 and told them had had shot Joy Owen, 24, a North Little Rock High School teacher, to death after an argument at the apartment the two shared, records show. He told officers where to find the gun he used, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in a story for Saturday's editions.
At the time of Owens' death, Russell was on probation for a 2008 domestic battery conviction. Prosecutors alluded to the conviction in Russell's trial, but gave no details. The assault was included in Russell's mental health records and forensic reports submitted to the jury.
Russell's defense team admitted he killed Owens, but blamed the shooting on post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by his war service in the Middle East. Owen served in the Iraq War in 2003.
read more here
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Pastor Joel Hunter of Northland featured in CNN report
Florida Evangelicals a different breed of voter than brethren in Iowa, South Carolina
By John Sepulvado, CNN
(CNN) – Conservative Christian activist Ralph Reed has called the Bible Belt home for decades, but he grew up in Miami in the 1970s, when the city was emerging as a diverse megalopolis.
Among his middle school friends were Jews, Catholics and Methodists.
Then, at age 15, Reed's family relocated to the sleepy mountain town of Toccoa, Georgia, so his dad, a doctor, could take a better-paying job.
“It was very conservative,” says Reed, who now lives outside Atlanta. “At first – as would be true of any 15-year-old – I didn’t like it. I think it was a culture shock.”
Ultimately, the mostly evangelical residents of Toccoa shaped Reed’s faith, helping lead him to Jesus in his 20s. But in terms of his faith-based organizing, the well-known activist drew more on his experiences in hyper-diverse Miami.
"Later on in life, when I became a leader in the Christian Coalition, I had a greater appreciation [for] ethnic and religious diversification,” Reed says.
That could be good news for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is looking to regain momentum from chief rival Newt Gingrich, after the former speaker’s upset in South Carolina, in Florida’s Tuesday primary.
By John Sepulvado, CNN
(CNN) – Conservative Christian activist Ralph Reed has called the Bible Belt home for decades, but he grew up in Miami in the 1970s, when the city was emerging as a diverse megalopolis.
Among his middle school friends were Jews, Catholics and Methodists.
Then, at age 15, Reed's family relocated to the sleepy mountain town of Toccoa, Georgia, so his dad, a doctor, could take a better-paying job.
“It was very conservative,” says Reed, who now lives outside Atlanta. “At first – as would be true of any 15-year-old – I didn’t like it. I think it was a culture shock.”
Ultimately, the mostly evangelical residents of Toccoa shaped Reed’s faith, helping lead him to Jesus in his 20s. But in terms of his faith-based organizing, the well-known activist drew more on his experiences in hyper-diverse Miami.
"Later on in life, when I became a leader in the Christian Coalition, I had a greater appreciation [for] ethnic and religious diversification,” Reed says.
That could be good news for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is looking to regain momentum from chief rival Newt Gingrich, after the former speaker’s upset in South Carolina, in Florida’s Tuesday primary.
A more centrist evangelicalism
As a percentage of GOP voters, there are fewer evangelicals in Florida compared to South Carolina and Iowa, where Rick Santorum won the presidential caucuses, according to CNN exit polls from 2008.
In that year, evangelicals accounted for 40% of Republican primary voters in Florida, compared to 60% in the Iowa caucuses and South Carolina primaries.
And compared to those other early primary states, Florida is much more religiously diverse. In the 2008 primary there, Catholics were nearly a third of the Republican vote, with other kinds of Christians, Jews and those with no religious affiliation each claiming a chunk of the vote.
Still, evangelical Christians claim a bigger share of the Florida Republican vote than any other religious tradition. There also are signs they may be more tolerant of a Mormon candidate than born-again Christians in the Bible Belt and Midwest.
In the South Carolina primary, Romney claimed 22% of the evangelical vote, compared to 44% for Gingrich, according to CNN exit polls.
Florida’s evangelicals are “more open” to the idea of a Mormon in the White House, according to Orlando area pastor Joel C. Hunter.
“Our nature, of being a fairly mobile state, with a lot of tourism and a lot of transcultural and transnational interaction really makes us boundary spanning, rather than sticking to our own affinity groups,” Hunter says.
He leads a congregation of 15,000 at Northland, a Church Distributed, a nondenominational megachurch of the kind that are more popular in Florida than in Iowa or South Carolina.
“For any independent church, you’re going to be open – necessarily open – to non-ready made boundaries, open to other religious groups,” Hunter says. “You’ll be more likely to partner with groups that aren’t necessarily like your own.”
The pastor cites his church’s partnerships with local synagogues and mosques to help local homeless children. For Hunter, teaming up with different religious traditions follows the example of Jesus.
“Jesus talked to the people, the religious leaders others wouldn’t talk to,” he says.
“As an evangelical, I should be ready to talk to a lot of people that aren’t like myself, because that’s what I see in the life of Christ, and I’m looking to build relationships.”
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