Saturday International
Pope tells young in Rio to treasure the elderly PAGE 9
It’s Where You Live! www.troydailynews.com July 27, 2013
Volume 105, No. 176
INSIDE
City’s D.A.R.E. officer resigns Two other officers named SROs for coming year By Melanie Yingst
U.S. says won’t seek death penalty for Snowden WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder has told the Russian government that the U.S. will not seek the death penalty for former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden. In a letter dated July 23, the attorney general said the criminal charges Snowden faces do not carry the death penalty and that the U.S. will not seek the death penalty even if Snowden were charged with additional death penalty-eligible crimes. See Page 10
Iraq’s security woes hit local economy BAGHDAD (AP) — Sunni truck driver Obeid Manaa had been hauling goods from neighboring countries to Baghdad for years but won’t go near the Iraqi capital after a Shiite militia gave a very specific warning. “If you enter Baghdad again we will chop your legs off,” one of the militiamen told a fellow Sunni truck driver recently. Page 11
INSIDE TODAY Business..................2 Calendar....................3 Crossword.................9 Deaths.......................5 Charles W. Cathcart Steven A. Karnehm L. Jean Lontz Claude E. Brown Opinion......................4 Sports........................13
OUTLOOK Today Chance of storms High: 77º Low: 63º Sunday Partly cloudy High: 72º Low: 53º Complete weather informaiton on Page 10 Home Delivery: 335-5634 Classified Advertising: (877) 844-8385
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Staff Writer myingst@civitasmedia.com
Kirt Wright
TROY — Troy Police Department accepted the resignation of Officer Kirt Wright on Tuesday, according to the Troy Police Department’s Capt. Joe Long. Wright also served as the Troy
Long said Troy Junior High School school resource officer Chris Madigan also has been reassigned to the city of Troy’s detective division. Long said Officer Nick Freisthler will become the Troy City Schools’ elementary school resource officer for the 2013-2014 school year. Officer Jeff Waite will serve as the Troy Junior High School’s resource officer for the 2013-2014 school year. Both Waite and Freisthler previously served as patrolmen for the police department.
City School’s elementary schools’ school resource officer and D.A.R.E coordinator for the district. Wright served with the Troy Police Department for 14 years, according to Long. “We have had a resignation within our department,” Long said. “Wright resigned on his own free will.”
Spain train-crash driver accused of ‘recklessness’
“We took another look at the condition of the barn and decided if we were to do a paint job, it would only last about eight years before we’d have to address the issues again,” Drake said Thursday. Drake said the coat of paint for the barn was originally estimated to cost $9,000. The park department staff would provide the labor to install the siding. The siding and two new doors is set to cost approximately $8,000 and the siding includes a warranty, Drake said. “We decided if we installed the siding ourselves, it would be cheaper than the paint job and last a lot longer,” Drake said. “It just
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (AP) — Spanish police said Friday they have arrested the driver of the train that sped through a curve and toppled over, killing 78 people, and plan to question him over suspected reckless driving. As blame increasingly fell on the still-hospitalized driver over Spain’s deadliest railway crash in decades, authorities located the train’s so-called “black box” that is expected to shed further light on the disaster’s cause. Investigators said they would seek evidence of failings by Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, the 52-year-old driver, as well as the train’s internal speed-regulation systems in Wednesday’s derailment. The train company, Renfe, defended the driver Friday, lauding what it called his exhaustive experience. But the country’s railway agency, Adif, noted that the driver should have started slowing the train long before reaching the disastrous turn. In an interview with The Associated Press, an American passenger injured on the train said he saw on a TV monitor screen inside his car that the train was traveling 194 kph (121 mph) seconds before the crash — far above the 80 kph (50 mph) speed limit on the curve where it derailed. The passenger, 18-year-old Stephen Ward, said the train appeared to have accelerated, not decelerated. And Gonzalo Ferre, president of the rail infrastructure company Adif, said the driver should have started slowing the train 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) before reaching a dangerous bend that train drivers had been told to respect. “Four kilometers before the accident happened he already had warnings that he had to begin slowing his speed, because as soon as he exits the tunnel he needs to be traveling at 80 kilometers
• See BARN on page 2
• See TRAIN on page 2
Staff Photos/ANTHONY WEBER
City of Troy employees including Charlie Brown along with Marvin Epley and Kevin Pyers (both not pictured) install metal barn siding to eliminate painting at the Barn in the Park this week at the Troy Community Park.
New look for Barn
Troy landmark getting a facelift By Melanie Yingst Staff Writer myingst@civitasmedia.com
TROY — From housing the final assembly of the historic WACO airplane to serving the city’s thespians, The Barn in the Park has been part of the city of Troy’s landscape for decades and now is undergoing a face lift to preserve its place in Troy Community Park for years to come. Located in Troy Community Park, The Barn in the Park is getting a new lease on its historic life by the city’s park department. According to the city of Troy’s Park Superintendent
Jeremy Drake, the barn’s facade will get a fresh coat of paint to maintain the historic look of the porch area and the rest of the building will have metal barn siding installed next week. Rotting wooden boards and other areas were rapidly deteriorating the barn’s exterior, Drake said. The condition of the exterior of the barn led the Drake to forgo the original plan for a coat of paint in the 2013 park budget. Instead, Drake revised the plan to install metal barn siding to seal the exterior of the historic building and saved $1,000 by doing the work inhouse.
Castro pleads guilty in Ohio kidnap case CLEVELAND (AP) — The man who imprisoned three women in his home, subjecting them to a decade of rapes and beatings, pleaded guilty Friday to 937 counts in a deal to avoid the death penalty. Ariel Castro told the judge he was addicted pornography, had a “sexual problem” and had been a sexual abuse victim himself long ago. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors recommended Castro be sentenced to life without parole plus 1,000 years. Castro, 53, said he understood that he would never get out of prison, saying he expected he was “going to get the book thrown at me.” He later added, “I knew that when I first spoke to the FBI agent when I first got arrested.” Castro, wearing glasses for the first time in court, was far more interactive than in previous court appearances when he mostly kept his head down and eyes closed. He answered
AP Photo
Ariel Castro sits in the courtroom Friday in Cleveland. Castro, who imprisoned three women in his home, subjecting them to a decade of rapes and beatings, pleaded guilty Friday to 937 counts in a deal to avoid the death penalty. In exchange, prosecutors recommended Castro be sentenced to life without parole plus 1,000 years.
the judge’s questions in a clear, intelligible voice, saying he understood the proceedings and that he would never be released from prison.
Castro, who was born in Puerto Rico, said he could read and understand English well but had trouble with comprehension.
“My addiction to pornography and my sexual problem has really taken a toll on my mind.” He later said he had been a sexual abuse victim as a child, but the judge cut him off. Near the end of the 2 1/2-hour hearing, the judge accepted the pleas and declared Castro guilty. Sentencing was set for Thursday. The deal comes more than a month after a statement issued on behalf of the women said they were “hopeful for a just and prompt resolution” and had “great faith in the prosecutor’s office and the court.” Castro had been scheduled for trial Aug. 5 on a 977-count indictment, but 40 counts were dropped as part of the plea deal. The indictment included two counts of aggravated murder related to accusations that he punched and starved one woman until she miscarried. The former school bus
• See CASTRO on page 2
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