Liz Cheney: GOP foe 'confused'

Liz Cheney has started a Republican Party family feud with her announcement that she will run for the Wyoming Senate seat held by popular Sen. Mike Enzi. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.

By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

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Liz Cheney launched her campaign for Senate on Wednesday by calling the 69-year-old Republican senator she's looking to unseat "confused."

Cheney made official her Republican primary challenge in Wyoming to veteran Sen. Mike Enzi on Wednesday, calling for a "new generation" of conservative leaders in Washington. And, in the first of two campaign stops today, she said the state's senior senator must have been "confused" when he said Cheney had promised not to challenge him if he sought re-election.

"I think Sen. Enzi may be confused. I think he may have me mixed up with Cynthia Lummis," Cheney said at a campaign stop in Casper, Wyo. "What happened is I called Sen. Enzi to tell him that I was considering a run. And I have always believed that that decision should be made irrespective of whoever else is in the race."

Decrying what she says is President Obama's "wars" on the second amendment, religious freedom, and Wyoming's ranchers and energy industries, Liz Cheney announces her campaign for the Wyoming Senate.

She added: "It's not true -- I did not tell Sen. Enzi I wouldn't run if he did. I suppose he's just confused."

Enzi expressed his dismay toward Cheney's decision to challenge him when speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

"She said that if I ran, she wasn't going to run, but obviously that wasn't correct," Enzi said, adding: "I thought we were friends."

Cheney said that Enzi must have been confusing her with Rep. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican and Wyoming's lone representative in the House. Lummis, who said that Cheney's challenge was in "bad form," had said she would run for Senate if Enzi had decided to retire.

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, also sought to address "carpetbagger" claims related to her decision to move her family from northern Virginia, in the suburban Washington, D.C. area, to Wyoming just last year.

"Anybody who thinks you come here for political reasons has never been here. And they don't understand what a special place this is," she said. "I'm honored to be in this race, and I tend to think the people that make the 'carpetbagger' charge make it because they want to avoid talking about substance and issues."

This story was originally published on Wed Jul 17, 2013 4:09 PM EDT

Source: http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/17/19525491-cheney-calls-gop-senator-shes-challenging-confused?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=5

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Crowder College breaks ground for safe room

WEBB CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Crowder College in southwest Missouri has broken ground on an expansion at its Webb City campus that will include a large room intended to provide the community safety during tornadoes.

The college's new building in Webb City will add a total of 22,000 square feet to the campus and is scheduled to open in fall 2014, The Joplin Globe reported ( http://bit.ly/1bGNv2f ). The groundbreaking for the site was held Tuesday.

The new building will include a 9,000-square-foot safe room able to withstand an EF-5 tornado, which can pack winds of 200 mph. The safe room, which will also be available for classroom space, will be open to the community during tornadoes.

The $6 million cost of the project will be covered by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as with money from the college's building fund. Webb City businessman Jim Dawson also is leading a fundraising effort to raise $1.5 million in donations for the project

Officials with Crowder College, a two-year community college with about 5,400 students, have said the full project also will include improvements to parking lots and roads.

Webb City is about 25 miles north of Neosho, where Crowder College's main campus is located, and a few miles north of Joplin, which was struck by an EF-5 tornado in 2011. That tornado killed 161 people and destroyed a broad swath of Joplin.

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Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MO_CROWDER_COLLEGE_SAFE_ROOM_MOOL-?SITE=MOPAR&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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White House accuses Republicans of 'fishing expeditions'

By Tabassum Zakaria and Alina Selyukh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Sunday accused Republicans of conducting political "fishing expeditions," while Republican lawmakers showed no let up in attacking President Barack Obama's administration for a culture of what they called cover-up and "intimidation."

With controversies on three fronts - the Internal Revenue Service, the administration's explanation of last year's Benghazi attack and the Justice Department's seizure of the Associated Press' phone records - White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer pushed back against suggestions that Obama was under a cloud of scandal.

"I think we've seen this playbook from Republicans before," Pfeiffer said on NBC's "Meet The Press."

"What they want to do when they are lacking a positive agenda is try to drag Washington into a swamp of partisan fishing expeditions, trumped-up hearings and false allegations. We're not going to let that happen."

Republicans are pressing for investigations and congressional hearings and have kept up a stream of criticism of the White House over the three issues, forcing the administration to repeatedly defend its actions.

For the time-being, Obama appears to be weathering the storm. A CNN/ORC International poll released on Sunday showed 53 percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is doing his job, with 45 percent saying they disapprove.

More than six in 10 respondents said the president's statements about the IRS scandal are completely or mostly true, with 35 percent disagreeing. On the handling of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya last September, only 42 percent of respondents were satisfied, according to the telephone survey of 923 adults conducted on Friday and Saturday.

The White House has repeatedly expressed outrage about the conduct of the IRS in focusing on conservative political groups for additional scrutiny and Obama has said he first learned about it this month. Still, that has not dampened Republican criticism.

"There is a culture of intimidation throughout the administration. The IRS is just the most recent example," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on "Meet The Press."

Republican lawmakers said they still do not know who was responsible for the tax authority's targeting of conservative groups and want further investigation. The Senate Finance Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold hearings on it this week.

Senator Rob Portman, a Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said on ABC's "This Week" that a special counsel may be needed to investigate "because it has to be independent of the White House."

Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller was fired last week and Obama has pledged new checks and safeguards to prevent anything similar from happening again.

"Given the trend line we're seeing here in so many different instances, it's an unfortunate culture I think in the administration that it's OK to cover these things up," Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, said on the CBS program "Face the Nation."

Pfeiffer acknowledged it was important to try to repair the damage caused by the IRS scandal.

"This was a breach of the public trust. And we have to work together to rebuild that trust. That's going to require Republicans to do this in a legitimate, serious governmental way and not play politics with it," he said on NBC.

Republicans are also aiming criticism at Sarah Hall Ingram, the official who previously ran the IRS' tax-exempt division during the time that an audit by the Treasury's inspector general said the targeting of conservative groups began. Since December 2010, Ingram has headed the IRS division handling the implementation of the Obama administration's healthcare reform.

The White House said it was important to wait until the facts were determined.

"This individual was not named in the inspector general's report. No one has suggested she's done anything wrong yet," Pfeiffer said on "Fox News Sunday."

"Before everyone in this town convicts this person in a court of public opinion with no evidence, let's actually get the facts and make decisions after that."

Bob Woodward, who investigated the Watergate scandal as a reporter at the Washington Post during Richard Nixon's presidency, said likening that to the current furors was not accurate.

"People are making comparisons to Watergate. This is not Watergate. But there are some people in the administration who have acted as if they want to be Nixonian," he said on NBC.

(Additional reporting by Paul Simao; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-accuses-republicans-fishing-expeditions-192253563.html

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Chinese premier heads to India to boost ties

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Just weeks after a tense border standoff, China's new premier headed to India on Sunday for his first foreign trip as the neighboring giants look to speed up efforts to settle a decades-old boundary dispute and boost economic ties.

China says Premier Li Keqiang's choice of India for his first trip abroad since taking office in March shows the importance Beijing attaches to improving relations with New Delhi.

"We think very highly of this gesture because it is our view that high-level political exchanges between our two countries are an important aspect and vehicle for our expanded cooperation," said India's external affairs ministry spokesman, Syed Akbaruddin.

Jasjit Singh, a defense analyst and director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in New Delhi, said last month's border standoff was unlikely to overshadow Li's three-day visit, the first stop of a foreign tour in which he will also visit Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany.

Singh said Indian and Chinese leaders are likely to review border talks that have failed to produce a breakthrough despite 15 rounds of discussions over the past 10 years. The two sides also will probably discuss working together in Afghanistan after next year's U.S. pullout and cooperation with Southeast Asian countries, he said.

But tensions run high between the two nations. China already sees itself as Asia's great power, while India hopes its increasing economic and military might ? though still far below its neighbor's ? will eventually put it in the same league.

While China has worked to shore up relationships with Nepal and Sri Lanka in India's traditional South Asian sphere of influence, India has been venturing into partnerships with Southeast Asian nations.

Other irritants remain in the bilateral relationship. China is a longtime ally and weapons supplier to Pakistan, India's bitter rival. Also, the presence in India of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile is a source of tension. China accuses the Dalai Lama of wanting to split Tibet off from the rest of China, but he says he seeks more autonomy for Tibetans, not independence.

Unresolved border issues between the two nations have flared as well.

In last month's incident, India said Chinese troops crossed the countries' de facto border on April 15 and pitched camp in the Depsang valley in the Ladakh region of eastern Kashmir. New Delhi responded with diplomatic protests and then moved its soldiers just 300 meters (yards) from the Chinese position.

The two sides negotiated a peaceful end to the standoff by withdrawing troops to their original positions in the Ladakh area.

Gautam Bambawale, a senior Indian external affairs ministry official, said India and China are negotiating a Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, but declined to give details. Indian media reports said the agreement proposes a freezing of troop levels in the disputed border region as the two countries make efforts to settle the issue.

Bambawale also said Indian and Chinese officials recently held talks in Beijing on the future of Afghanistan. China, India and Russia have discussed the matter trilaterally with the idea of giving full support to Afghanistan's government as it makes the transition following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2014.

Shortly after his arrival in the Indian capital of New Delhi late Sunday afternoon, Li is to meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will host a dinner for him. Delegation-level talks between the two sides are scheduled for Monday. Li is to attend a business summit in Mumbai, India's financial capital, among other activities.

The border spat last month prompted the Indian opposition and media to pressure the government to take on China and call off Li's visit. The government, however, chose to go ahead with the trip, highlighting its policy of trying to widen areas of cooperation with China while attempting to resolve key differences.

China has become India's biggest trading partner, with two-way trade jumping from $5 billion in 2002 to nearly $75 billion in 2011, although that figure declined to $61.5 billion last year because of the global economic downturn. Trade remains heavily skewed in China's favor, another source of concern for India.

India and China have had chilly relations since they fought a brief but bloody border war in 1962.

India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin plateau in the western Himalayas, while China claims around 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Dorjee Tseten, director of the Students for a Free Tibet, said Sunday that New Delhi police had declined permission for Tibetans to hold a demonstration against Li's visit.

"Tibetan activists are currently on the run evading imminent police arrest," he said in a statement, complaining of a heavy police presence in a New Delhi area where a large number of Tibetans-in-exile live.

Police, however, allowed about two dozen members of Shiv Sena, a Hindu right-wing political party, to demonstrate near India's Parliament, where they burned an effigy of the Chinese premier.

"Go back, go back," chanted the protesters, who also carried placards urging the Indian government to respond toughly to China's alleged border incursion. The powerful regional party held power in Mumbai from 1995 to 2000.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-premier-heads-india-boost-ties-082549316.html

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Ex-Pa. officer once hailed as hero faces charges

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? A former Philadelphia police officer once hailed as a hero and given a seat next to the first lady at a speech by President Obama has been arrested and charged with rape and other crimes.

Authorities allege that former officer Richard DeCoatsworth left a party with two females early Thursday and took them to another location, where they allege that he produced a handgun and "forced the two females to engage in the use of narcotics and sexual acts."

A police spokeswoman said the two called police after he left, and 27-year-old DeCoatsworth was charged with rape, sexual assault, terroristic threats and related offenses.

DeCoatsworth was hailed as a hero after he was shot in the face during a traffic stop in September 2007 but still managed to chase after his attacker, who was later sentenced to 36 to 72 years in prison.

DeCoatsworth was invited by Vice President Joe Biden to attend the president's televised February 2009 address to Congress and sat with first lady Michelle Obama. He said he didn't know why he had been singled out, but being in the presence of the nation's leaders was an honor "that I will keep with me for the rest of my life."

WCAU-TV, which first reported his arrest, said DeCoatsworth retired from the department on disability in December 2011.

Police said no other information on the alleged attack would be released Saturday to protect the victims and the integrity of the ongoing investigation. Authorities declined to say give even general locations for the party and alleged crime scene and also wouldn't say when DeCoatsworth was arrested.

A listed number for DeCoatsworth has been disconnected and it was unclear whether he had an attorney.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a Philadelphia Daily News columnist in February of last year that he believed he had made a mistake in granting the former officer's request to go back to work too soon after he was shot.

"God bless him for still wanting to get out there and do police work, but did I act in his best interest? In hindsight, I would say probably not," Ramsey told columnist Sty Bykofsky.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-pa-officer-once-hailed-hero-faces-charges-181200222.html

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PFT: Te'o shows up at Maxim party

AP

At a time when the Jaguars aren?t interested in bringing Tim Tebow home to Jacksonville, he went there anyway.

Via the Florida Times-Union, Tebow was in town Friday night to speak at New Life Christian Fellowship.? As he did earlier this month in Michigan, he said nothing about his NFL future.

Tebow did offer one funny, self-deprecating jab at his NFL past.

?One of my favorite stories, ironically, was against the New York Jets,? Tebow said, referring to the game-winning touchdown run for the Broncos, in a 2011 Thursday night game.? ?And probably my greatest Jets highlight, I guess.?

The Jaguars remain uninterested in allowing Tebow to create similar highlights for them, even though in 2012 the Jags tried to trade for Tebow.? Jaguars legend Tony Boselli recently suggested that Tebow possibly could be a ?franchise quarterback,? but Boselli agreed with the Jaguars? decision to steer clear of Tebowmania.

?What team wants to bring a guy who?s a developing player onto their roster when he?s going to be a complete distraction ? through no fault of his own ? and become a disruption in the locker room?? Boselli said.? ?It becomes all about that ? whether he is going to play, whether it?s going to work ? and the rest of the team is saying, ?We?re trying to win ballgames.?? I feel bad for Tim because I don?t think it?s all his fault.? It?s outside circumstances and people who are making it tough on him.?

Still, Tebow?s image feels partially scripted and contrived.? Though he seems to be a good person, there?s a too-good-to-be-completely-true element that Tebow and/or those close to him possibly have helped perpetuate.? Many casual fans have bought it completely, prompting them to skew their view of his football abilities.

Unless a team is willing to embrace Tebow and Tebowmania, making him the starting quarterback no matter how bad he is in practice or the first 3.75 quarters of a close game, it won?t work.? With no team willing to do that for 2013, the question becomes whether a team that stinks this season will decide that, for 2014, it can stink again without Tebow ? or it can stink with him.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/18/teo-shows-up-at-maxim-party-honoring-fake-girlfriend/related/

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Tribe beats Mariners in 9th for 2nd straight day

Associated Press Sports

updated 6:05 p.m. ET May 18, 2013

CLEVELAND (AP) - Two ninth-inning losses in two days have left the Seattle Mariners reeling and frustrated.

Mark Reynolds' bases-loaded fielder's choice in the ninth inning Saturday scored Jason Kipnis and gave the Cleveland Indians a 5-4 victory over Seattle.

The Mariners had tied the score in the top of the ninth on two-out home runs by Raul Ibanez and Justin Smoak off Indians closer Chris Perez, but lost in heartbreaking fashion for the second time in less than 24 hours.

On Friday night, Kipnis hit a game-ending three-run homer in the 10th inning to give Cleveland a 6-3 win.

"You don't see that very often, to hit two solo homers off a top closer like Perez, then they come back and snatch it in the bottom of the inning," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said, shaking his head. "This was a tough one."

Mariners reliever Oliver Perez (1-1) started the ninth, but allowed all three Indians he faced to reach base. The veteran left-hander surrendered a single to Kipnis and a double to Asdrubal Cabrera after going up 0-2 to both hitters, then intentionally walked Nick Swisher to load the bases.

Rookie Yoervis Medina entered and Reynolds hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Brendan Ryan, but catcher Jesus Montero came off home plate after taking the throw. Kipnis scored standing up, making Chris Perez (2-0) the winner after blowing the save minutes earlier.

"I thought I had him," said Ryan, whose right knee was bloodied while making the stop. "I haven't seen the replay, so I don't know exactly what happened, but I did the best I could."

Wedge had plenty to say, especially about Montero's inability to record the force out.

"The throw beat him, but Monty came off the plate early," said Wedge, a former major league catcher. "You have to stand on the plate, but he came out a little bit early. We got the ground ball we wanted - Ryno made a great play - but we didn't get it done."

Montero said Ryan's throw pulled him slightly toward first base, which was enough to slide his left foot onto the dirt.

"Brandon made an unbelievable diving catch and I tried hard to stay on the plate," said Montero. "We usually block the plate, but the ball was a little too far and I couldn't do it."

The Mariners trailed 4-0 when starter Joe Saunders was pulled after 5 1-3 innings and a season-high 120 pitches. The lefty was rocked for 11 hits, including a home run by Reynolds in the fifth, and remained winless on the road in 2013.

Saunders is 0-4 with an 11.25 ERA in away games, but a sparkling 3-0 with an 0.94 ERA at Safeco Field.

"I'm gonna sacrifice a chicken before my next road start. ... This is just kind of a fluky thing," Saunders said. "I told (pitching coach Carl Willis) in the fifth that I'd go 150 pitches if I had to. I gave everything I had and battled my butt off today."

Seattle reliever Danny Farquhar, who was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Friday, made his first big league appearance since 2011 with Toronto. He tossed 2 2-3 perfect innings and struck out five after replacing Saunders.

Indians right-hander Zach McAllister took a shutout into the eighth, but was chased with one out when he allowed a two-run homer to Ryan. It was Ryan's first home run since Sept. 23, 2012, and landed on the home run porch in left.

Ibanez's blast was his second in two games against Cleveland, while Smoak's homer was his first since May 4.

"That was a very uneventful walkoff, but a win is a win," Reynolds said. "I just tried to put the ball in play somewhere. When I hit it I said to myself, `please get through,' then it was `please make a bad throw,' and Then `please get there.' "

The Mariners arrived in Cleveland having won 11 of their last 16, only to run into a buzzsaw in the Indians, who entered the day in a first-place tie with Detroit in the AL Central Division.

Seattle ace Felix Hernandez will start the third game of the four-game series Sunday against Cleveland's Justin Masterson. Hernandez leads the AL with a 1.53 ERA and has a 5-2 record.

Mariners right fielder Michael Morse (eye irritation) returned to the lineup after a one-game absence and was 0 for 4. He was hurt Friday while putting in a contact lens.

NOTES: Wedge said OF Franklin Gutierrez (right hamstring strain) will not be activated from the 15-day disabled list until "he can come up here, steal a base, and do some things." Gutierrez is playing CF and RF during his rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma. "If Guti is 100 percent, there is nobody better than him in center," Wedge said. "But Michael Saunders has been great there for us, and we need Guti to stay healthy. That's easier to do, playing either right or left field." ... Mariners RHP Aaron Harang (lower back stiffness) played catch before the game and will throw a bullpen session Sunday. Harang was a late scratch Thursday against the Yankees, but is scheduled to make his next start Tuesday against the Angels. ... Cleveland Browns coach Rob Chudzinski threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Cano's blasts?fuel Yankees

HBT: Robinson Cano homered twice while David Phelps had the longest outing of his career as the Yankees topped the Blue Jays 7-2 this afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51929219/ns/sports-baseball/

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