Thursday SPORTS
Brewer’s burning desire led him to hall of fame PAGE 13
It’s Where You Live! www.troydailynews.com August 29, 2013
Volume 105, No. 204
INSIDE
Make A Stand’s founder to visit Troy By Melody Vallieu Staff Writer mvallieu@civitasmedia.com
MLK’s dream inspires a new march, and a president
Many little girls might use the profits from their childhood lemonade stand to buy a new doll dress — or perhaps a princess tiara. Vivienne Harr, 9, of California, uses hers to fight child slavery — to the tune of more than $1 million so far. This weekend, Vivienne, her father Eric, and members of the Troy First United Methodist Church will continue the fight
against child slavery with Make a Stand weekend. According to Brett Bogan, treasurer of First United Methodist Church, Vivienne and her father will travel to Troy to promote awareness of child slavery. Vivienne, founder of Make A Stand Inc., first learned about child slavery in 2012 and started a lemonade stand — which she ran for 365 days straight — and raised more than $100,000. When she reached the goal,
• See FOUNDER on page 2
Provided photo
Vivienne Harr, 9, of California, held a lemonade stand for 365 days and raised more than $100,000. Her bottled Lemon-Aid now has helped to raise more than $1 million and awareness of human trafficking crimes.
Illinois man exposes himself on Main Street
WASHINGTON (AP) — Standing at ground zero on the civil rights movement’s battlefield of justice, President Barack Obama challenged new generations Wednesday to seize the cause of racial equality and honor the “glorious patriots” who marched a half century ago to the very steps from which Rev. Martin Luther King spoke during the March on Washington. See Page 7
By Melanie Yingst Staff Writer myingst@civitasmedia.com
Staff Photo | ANTHONY WEBER
Tracey Barto, left, and Kelley Flanary paint a storefront at CRI$I$ Ent. (Entertainment) studio Tuesday in downtown Troy. The two said they are excited about the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Tour this weekend and are incorporating mustaches in the painting they created.
Egypt police arrest Brotherhood members’ relatives
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian authorities detained more than 60 people associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in less than 24 hours, including relatives of the group’s leaders, officials said Wednesday. See Page 10
INSIDE TODAY Calendar . ....................... 3 Entertainment................. 8 Deaths............................. 5 Mildred Berkemeier Patricia Willis Ronald W. Sexton Edythe Yount Sharon S. Puterbaugh Ralph L. Gunter Opinion...........................4 Sports............................ 13
OUTLOOK Today Mostly sunny High: 87º Low: 66º Monday Mostly sunny High: 88º Low: 67º Complete weather informaiton on Page 10 Home Delivery: 335-5634 Classified Advertising: (877) 844-8385
$1.00
Pulling out all the stops Downtown stores decorate for upcoming concert
By Melanie Yingst
Staff Writer myingst@civitasmedia.com
TROY —Downtown businesses are decked out to the nines with Union Jack flags scattered about and other British-themed regalia welcoming visitors from around the world this weekend. The London-based Grammy award winning musical group Mumford and Sons — who will be in town to headline the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Tour — will select their favorite store front, allowing business owners to win a set of VIP stage front passes for their performance on Saturday,
as well the possibility of a Troy business being featured in in the Rolling Stone magazine at a later date. Beth Kerber, owner of The 3 Weird Sisters studio located on 5 E. Main St., said she and her family have pulled out all the stops to decorate their storefront, which includes a metal statue of a dragon and an oldfashioned clock and gears on the historical building. Kerber said the production company, Jam Productions, has already contracted with the store to use many of its eclectic items to create a unique backstage environment for the bands during the Gentlemen of
the Road music festival. “This is just huge for us,” Kerber said. “We’re pulling out all the stops.” She said the production company has rented chairs, tables, even the rugs from the store. Kerber said the production company contacted her after seeing its unique items and store front on the business’ website and Facebook page. “We just jumped on it,” she said. “Whatever they wanted, they had access to. I was even out in my barn pulling stuff for them to chose from. It’s a great opportunity.”
• See STOPS on page 2
TROY — A man claiming to work for the production company in town for the Gentlemen of the Road Tour got cheeky with Troy Police officers and was cited for disorderly conduct shortly after midnight Tuesday. According to the reports, the man was spotted by Troy Police Department officers with his pants down as he was posing for a picture by the Sculptures on the Square statue entitled “God Bless America.” Robert Demaso, 50, of Burbank, Ill. was cited for disorderly conduct after exposing his buttocks near the “God Bless America” statue in the area of Main Street shortly after midnight Tuesday. According to the Troy Police report, the man was with a group of others near the statue when an officer saw Demaso with his pants pulled down near the statue as another member of the group he was with took a picture with a cell phone. One of the group members said they were with a production company that was in town for the upcoming Mumford and Sons concert. According to the report, the man said “this city would be out millions” if someone from the group was arrested and made other threats of shutting the event down. After the officer cited Demaso, he witnessed him walk over to another statue and make sexual gestures toward it, while others took photos. As the officer returned to the group, they exited the area, according to the report. Demaso is to be arraigned in court at 8 a.m. on Sept. 3.
Obama: Syrian government carried out chemical attack WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday declared unequivocally that the United States has “concluded” that the Syrian government carried out a deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians. But new hurdles emerged that appeared to slow the formation of an international coalition that could use military force to punish Syria. Obama did not present any direct evidence to back up his assertion that the Syrian government bears responsibility for the attack. While he said he is still evaluating possible military retaliation, the president vowed that any American response would send a “strong signal” to Syrian President Bashar Assad. “We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out,” Obama said during an interview with PBS’ NewsHour. “And if that’s so, then there need to be international consequences.” Earlier Wednesday, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council failed to reach an agreement on a draft resolution from the British seeking authorization for the use of force. Russia,
as expected, objected to international intervention. Obama administration officials said they would take action against the Syrian government even without the backing of allies or the United Nations because diplomatic paralysis must not prevent a response to the alleged chemical weapons attack outside the Syrian capital last week. Despite the administration’s assertions that it would press forward without the U.N., momentum for international military action appeared to slow. British Prime Minister David Cameron promised British lawmakers he would not go to war until a U.N. chemical weapons team on the ground in Syria has a chance to report its findings, pushing the U.K.’s involvement in any potential strike until next week at the earliest. Cameron called an emergency meeting of Parliament on Thursday to vote on whether to endorse international action against Syria. Even so, British Foreign Secretary William Hague suggested that U.S. military action need not be constrained by Britain. “The United States are able to
make their own decisions,” he told reporters late Wednesday, just after speaking with Secretary of State John Kerry. U.S. officials were in search of additional intelligence to bolster the White House’s case for a strike against Assad’s military infrastructure. American intelligence intercepted lowerlevel Syrian military commanders’ communications discussing a chemical attack, but the communications don’t specifically link the attack to an official senior enough to tie the killings to Assad himself, according to one U.S. intelligence official and two other U.S. officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the intelligence publicly. The White House ideally wants intelligence that links the attack directly to Assad or someone in his inner circle, to rule out the possibility that a rogue element of the military decided to use chemical weapons without Assad’s authorization. That quest for added intelligence has delayed the release of the report by the Office
• See SYRIAN on page 2
For Home Delivery, call 335-5634 • For Classified Advertising, call (877) 844-8485