Rao bulletin 15 January 2015 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles
Download 6.84 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Vet Awardees ► Patrick Olive | Purple Heart | Vietnam
This statue near a veterans' memorial in King, North Carolina, was removed last week after the city council voted that keeping it up could cause millions of dollars' worth of legal fees. (right) Protesters took turns recreating the statue at the Memorial Those who voted for the settlement said the city and taxpayers could not bear the high cost and that they had been told the city would not win. Burnette thanked the veterans there, but said, “There’s no win in this situation.” According to a press release issued by the city, King had already incurred more than $50,000 in legal fees and costs and estimated that litigation costs would have approached $2 million, exceeding the city’s $1 million insurance coverage. The city was also facing the loss of that insurance coverage if the matter proceeded to trial, according to the release. Hewett, a U.S. Army veteran, sued the city in November 2012 in U.S. District Court in Greensboro, alleging that King officials had violated his constitutional rights by allowing the Christian flag to fly at the Veteran’s Memorial in the city’s Central Park. Hewett asked a federal judge to bar the city from allowing the display of the Christian flag at the memorial, from displaying the statue of the soldier kneeling at a cross and from sponsoring religious activities at events at the site. In July, U.S. District Court Judge James A. Beaty Jr. barred the city from promoting Christianity at ceremonies but ruled that the Christian flag and statue issues could go to trial. The city and Hewett have since been in discussions about the possibility of settling. Gregory Lipper of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of Hewett’s attorneys said, “We’re pleased that the city council voted to approve the settlement agreement.” He said they will file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and have the court enter the settlement agreement as an order. The controversy over the Christian flag began in 2010 after a resident complained, and in September 2010 the King City Council voted 3-1 to remove the Christian flag from the memorial on the advice of its attorney. The council approved a limited public forum policy that December, a lottery procedure which determined who could fly a religious flag or no flag each week in honor of a veteran at the Veteran’s Memorial. The Christian flag flew there most weeks. The flag had not flown there since last month. The city did not hold a flag lottery in December, while the council was weighing options. The flag policy has now been repealed. Burnette said the council hopes to replace the kneeling soldier statue with another soldier statue. Under the agreement, the city’s insurance company, Scottsdale Insurance Company, will pay $500,001 to Americans United for Separation of Church and State for fees incurred by Hewett’s legal counsel. The American Legion and American Legion Post 290 of King was allowed to join the lawsuit as defendant-intervenors, meaning their attorneys could argue their position in court if the lawsuit goes to trial, but they were not allowed to intervene in the settlement. Don Holland, commander of the American Legion Post 290 in King, said after the meeting, “I’m extremely disappointed, but I don’t fault the city whatsoever.” He said the city had no chance of winning it. Public safety officials were prepared to make people sit outside if the room was packed, but it never got to that point. There were still a few free seats, King Fire Chief Steve Roberson said. Six supporters of the Christian flag and soldier statue spoke to the council during the public comment session. “Please do everything you can to keep that flag up,” said Jack Westmoreland, a U.S. Air Force Veteran who said the names of seven veterans from his family are represented at the Veteran’s Memorial. David Keaton, pastor of Missions Baptist Church in Winston-Salem and a King resident, said it was a sad day in King. He said God had blessed King, and that the city did not need to turn its back on Him. [Source: Winston-Salem Journal & ArmyTimes | Meghann Evans | Jan. 06 & 12, 2014 ++] ******************************** Vet Awardees ► Patrick Olive | Purple Heart | Vietnam When Army Spc. Patrick Olive came home from the Vietnam War, he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to talk about the buddies he had lost, the carnage he had seen or even the battlefield heroics that earned him two commendation medals for valor. He certainly did not want to talk about the ammunition dump explosion that nearly took his life. "I am a person who has to be occupied and I was determined to better myself," said Olive, 66, a Plantation resident who went on to a 30-year career chasing drug smugglers in the Caribbean as a U.S. Customs Service agent. "I was not going to sit around and feel sorry for myself."  
Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2015 2015 -> Police Militarization 2015 -> 2015 ihbb championships: hs history Bowl Round 4 – Prelims First Quarter 2015 -> Wrtp/big step · 3841 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, wi 53208 2015 -> Rao bulletin 1 December 2015 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles 2015 -> Darton College 2015 -> Training Workshop on Planning and Implementation of Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) in Bihar Date : 6th 2015 -> Rao bulletin 15 June 2015 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles 2015 -> Rao bulletin 1 September 2015 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles 2015 -> Rao bulletin 1 August 2015 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles 2015 -> Science, and transportation united states senate Download 6.84 Mb. Share with your friends:
|