National News
Jonathan Stone
Issue date: 3/1/06 Section: News
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Three teens are on trial for allegedly beating a homeless man to death.
William Ammons, 18, Brian Hooks, 18, and Thomas Daugherty, 17, all pleaded not guilty to first degree murder of 45 year-old Norris Gaynor. The same night that Gaynor was beaten to death, the teens were caught on tape beating another homeless man, Jacques Pierre, who survived. The tape was aired locally, which lead to the identification of the teens.
Pending on the prosecution's decision, Ammons and Hooks could face the death penalty, but due to his age, Daugherty would face a life sentence.
A witness has been quoted saying he saw Hooks and Daugherty approach the victim with baseball bats as he was sleeping. Daugherty struck the victim with the bat in the head.
William Ammon's attorney, Michael Rothschild said, "We believe the evidence will bear out that as far as Mr. Gaynor is concerned, that we think that Billy may very well not have been at the location where Mr. Gaynor was unfortunately killed."
MEN'S HOCKEY ELIMINATED; SECRETS REVEALED
The U.S. Men's Hockey team has been eliminated from the Olympics with a 4-3 loss to Finland in the quarter-finals.
The team went 1-4-1, just four years after they earned the silver medal in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mike Modano, who was part of the 1996 US World Cup team and was benched during the third period of the game against Finalnd, offered some reasoning behind the team's struggles. He said "The way things are run are questionable. It's frustrating. [The players] put a lot into it. You want things to run smooth behind the scenes. Basically we were on our own for arrangements, flights, hotels, tickets. Normally that's something you don't have to think about. [We should just have to] get ourselves ready to play and not have to deal with it."
"Maybe they need some new blood in there to kinda run things a little differently.[It's] probably time some things change. How things are operated, how things are run behind the scene. USA Hockey, you think, would be more of a well-oiled operation," he continued. (SI.com)
ATLANTA HOST TO REAL HUMAN EXHIBIT
The first of 21 real body exhibits has been put on display in the Civic Center in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.
The exhibit has been set up to further educate people about their bodies.
Dr. Roy Glover thinks that people are going to benefit from the exhibit. He says, "To see their body, to understand how it's put together, how it functions, the impact disease has on their body, and how to better take care of it. Especially when you begin to look inside of the body, you'll see that it's very, very complex."
However, the scientific reasoning behind the art display is not substantial enough to quell the criticism coming from a religious point of view.
Madie Fields, member of the Christian Coalition of Georgia, says in opposition, "I am just shocked that someone under the guise of art would be denigrating the human body to this degree. I think it is not honoring the dead. I think you can get that from illustrations and medical journals and in books. You don't need to have an actual human body exposed like this. I think it's obscene."
SOUTH DAKOTA CHALLENGING ABORTION
South Dakota legislation approved the bill to overturn 1973's Supreme Court decision in Roe Vs. Wade, which legalized abortion.
South Dakota senate passed the bill 23-12, and it is now up to the House to decide whether they will accept the changes.
The new legislation would make performing an abortion a felony, with up to five years in prison. The only exception would be when the abortion would save the life of the pregnant woman. This leaves victims of rape, incest, and women who have health risks other then death without the option of abortion.
Democratic Senator Julie Bartling said, "It is the time for the South Dakota Legislature to deal with this issue and protect the lives and rights of unborn children."