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WORLD
In Iraq, thousands protest continued U.S. presence
Flying banners that said “No, no to the occupation,” tens of
thousands of followers of the anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr staged a peaceful rally Monday in one of Iraq’s holiest cities, where they burned American and Israeli flags and called for U.S. troops to leave Iraq.
But there were ominous signs afterward that al-Sadr’s enormous Mahdi Army militia may be preparing for renewed violence in Baghdad.
As protesters returned in trucks and buses to Baghdad’s sprawling Shiite slum of Sadr City, a McClatchy Newspapers reporter saw men in several buses carrying pistols and AK-47s, a violation of new security laws. One man who identified himself as a Mahdi Army member bragged that weapons were being taken from Najaf to Baghdad hidden in truck beds.
The protest in Najaf, which al-Sadr had called a gesture of national unity, took place under heavy Iraqi security on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Protesters waving red, white and black Iraqi flags marched about five miles from a mosque in the town of Kufa to Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad.
Although the Mahdi Army is blamed for the widespread kidnapping and killing of Sunni Muslims, over the weekend al-Sadr urged Iraqi security forces and all Iraqi people to band together against U.S.-led coalition forces. The rhetoric at the rally was menacing at times.
“The occupation and the people connected to it will vanish,” the demonstration’s organizers said in a statement, “and Iraq will stay for Iraqis and the country for its sons.”
Much of the country was quiet after a last-minute government decree made it a national holiday. Vehicles were barred from the streets of Baghdad for 24 hours, until 5 a.m.
At the protest, the message of unity appeared to prevail. Although the march culminated in Najaf’s al-Sadrain Square (which honors al-Sadr’s late father and uncle, both revered Shiite clerics) protesters didn’t carry pictures of al-Sadr or other religious leaders. Instead, the Iraqi flag was seen everywhere.
“It’s a spiritual duty for each Iraqi to go out and demand the departure of the occupation,” said Hamid Kahil, an al-Sadr supporter who traveled to Najaf from Nasiriyah, about 150 miles to the south.
“We will demonstrate and demonstrate,” he said, “and if the demonstration doesn’t work, there will be other ways to force the occupation to leave our beloved country.”
The vast majority of the demonstrators were Shiites, but some Sunnis from Iraq’s southern Basra province also participated.
“Our project is a national one,” said Omar Abdul Sattar, a spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party, the leading Sunni political party.
There was no appearance by al-Sadr, who hasn’t been seen publicly since a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown against the Mahdi Army and Sunni insurgents started seven weeks ago.
Some analysts speculated that the protest, which was announced two weeks ago, was Sadr’s attempt to reassert influence over his followers.
The march began at about 8:30 a.m. in the neighboring town of Kufa, a popular pilgrimage site for Shiites, and proceeded southwest to Najaf. Iraqi flags flew from balconies, public parks and government buildings in Najaf, the site of the tomb of Imam Ali (whom Shiites consider the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad) and one of the world’s holiest cities for Shiites.
“Iraqi flags are evidence of Iraqis’ unity, their pride in their country and their rejection of the occupation,” said Nassar al-Rubaie, the head of Sadr’s legislative bloc, who took part in the march.
NATIONAL
Animal hoarder found with 40 dogs in her car
Four weeks of investigation sparked by neighbors’ complaints led animal control officers to a woman found in her car with 40 dogs, including about 35 chihuahuas.
A search of her home turned up more dogs and other animals, as well as about a dozen animal carcasses in her freezer, officials said Friday. The couple who raised the pets are animal hoarders, authorities say.
“They have this compulsive behavior with animals,” said Dave Fulbright, animal control supervisor for Fort Worth. “They see them as their children, and they see themselves as the animals’ savior – their protector. They will keep them out of harm’s way.”
Each animal had a name and got expensive pet food. Some of the chihuahuas even slept in their own baby cribs, complete with heating pads, food and water containers tucked inside the master bedroom.
The discoveries began when animal control officers, armed with a search warrant, went to the home in Fort Worth, Texas, where they found several animals inside and outside the home. As they talked to neighbors they learned more about the woman who lived there.
“She had sometime in the recent past secured a U-Haul trailer, loaded it with dogs, as was witnessed by the neighbors, and took off somewhere,” Fullbright said.
Assisted by Fort Worth police, he found the woman in her Buick at a local gas station.
The woman agreed to turn the animals over to the officers. In all, 57 dogs, seven cats, five birds, four rabbits, two ferrets and one guinea pig were seized.
“Every one of these animals had a name, and she knew every one of them, which is classic of hoarders,” Fulbright said. “These were her babies. They were her children.”
Fulbright said he sees four to five animal-hoarder cases a year
in Fort Worth.
That two people were involved in this case is somewhat unusual, he said, but “the true hoarder was the female, and the gentleman who was residing there was protecting her,” Fulbright said.
As is routine, Fulbright said, investigators searched closets and cabinets for any small animals that may have been hidden.
“In doing so, we also look inside things like refrigerators and freezers. Upon opening one of the freezer units located in the kitchen, we removed 10 dog carcasses, one rabbit and one cat carcass,” Fulbright said.
Fulbright said animal hoarders sometimes keep remains because they have a difficult time letting an animal go.
The woman “was very disturbed about the fact that I had removed the animals from the freezer, because she was planning to have them cremated,” Fulbright said. “By all indications, these animals had been there a long, long time.”
LOCAL / BSU
Electric rates poised to rise
Lackluster snowfall this winter will likely mean higher electricity costs for Idaho Power customers.
The state’s biggest utility is asking state regulators to approve a rate increase that would kick in June 1.
It could boost average residential costs by 11 percent, or $6.41 a month, to $69.61 for the summer season. For all 455,000 customers, including commercial and agricultural, rates would rise 14.5 percent, or $77.5 million.
Ric Gale, an Idaho Power official in charge of regulatory affairs, said the request “reflects just how bad the winter snowpack was for Idaho Power and ultimately our customers.”
Precipitation trails annual averages in 16 of 19 Idaho river basins, according to the National Resources Conservation Service.
When the utility doesn’t have enough water in its reservoirs to generate normal supplies of hydroelectric power, it has to buy more expensive electricity on the open market – or get it from its three coal-fired power plants, which also produce more expensive power.
It is allowed to pass those costs on to customers.
Last year, heavy snows topped off Idaho reservoirs, allowing the utility to cut rates by nearly 20 percent.
Courtesy Idaho Press-Tribune
WHAT THE ?
Go ahead, shoot it, no one is around here – I promise
Two teenagers were walking through the Ochoco National Forest in Oregon firing rifles at road signs for target practice.
They probably went too far when they shot a temporary sign that read “Police Training Exercise Ahead,” because a sheriff’s patrol car was on them in seconds.
I’ll have to call you back
Police in Halifax, Nova Scotia, were searching the neighborhood for a man who had been seen breaking into parking meters nearby.
The thief hid himself in a dumpster, but was caught when his cell phone rang just as the cops were passing by.
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