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NOVEMBER 23,2010


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GDP growth faster than expected, not enough to cut unemployment

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White House evaluating TSA security methods
Amid outcry over measures, TSA chief says only small percentage of travelers get body searches


msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 19 minutes ago 2010-11-22T18:35:23
+-WASHINGTON — The White House says the government will take into account the public's concerns and complaints as it evaluates the Transportation Security Administration's tough new airline boarding security checks.

President Barack Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, says the goal is to put in place procedures that maximize security and minimize invasiveness. He says those procedures will continue to evolve.

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For 30 years, Marcia Miller has flown to Toledo, Ohio, to join four generations of her family for Thanksgiving. But this year, thanks to new airport security measures, she's opting to stay home.
Holiday travel 2010: what you need to know
..With the busy holiday travel season nearing, air travelers are protesting new requirements at some U.S. airports that they must pass through full-body scanners that produce a virtually naked image. Those who refuse to go through the scanners are subject to thorough pat-downs that include agency officials touching the clothed genital areas of passengers.

"We're going to look at how can we do the most effective screening in the least invasive way knowing that there's always a trade-off between security and privacy," TSA chief John Pistole said on NBC's TODAY show.

Pistole noted that those getting body searches constitute "a very small percent" of the 34 million people who have flown since the new policy went into effect.

He urged passengers unhappy with the policy not to "tie up people who just want to go home and see their loved ones." Some travelers have vowed to unleash a surreal spate of Nov. 24 disruptions just as millions of Americans fly off for annual family feasts.

Related: Passenger chooses strip-down over pat-down
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.Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano echoed Pistole's comments Monday, saying that few passengers receive pat-down searches and that minimally invasive searches must be weighed against security risks.

She says pat-downs are the only choice for those who decide they don't want to go through body scans or X-rays. She says that's because a security threat remains.

Napolitano appeared with Sen. Frank Lautenberg at an event at a New Jersey train station to warn travelers to be vigilant as they head into the holiday travel season.

'Refinement and adjustment'
As to whether the TSA would alter the security procedures, Pistole said he would go back to the Government Accountability Office, which conducted security tests last year, and find out if there was a way to modify the screenings.

The remarks echoed the sentiment of a statement issued Sunday by Pistole, who said, "there is a continual process of refinement and adjustment to ensure that best practices are applied."

Story: TSA has met the enemy — and they are us
Still, he pointed to the alleged attempt by a Nigerian with explosives in his underwear to try to bring down an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight last Christmas. "We all wish we lived in a world where security procedures at airports weren't necessary," Pistole said, "but that just isn't the case."

The statement came just hours after Pistole, in a TV interview, said that while the full-body scans and pat-downs could be intrusive and uncomfortable, the high threat level required their use.

In the TV appearance, Pistole appeared to shrug off statements by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the TSA would look for ways to alter screening techniques that some passengers say are invasions of privacy.









St. Louis tops list of most dangerous US cities


The Associated Press
updated 11/21/2010 8:24:05 PM ET 2010-11-22T01:24:05
Share Print Font: +-TRENTON, N.J. — St. Louis overtook Camden, N.J., as the nation's most dangerous city in 2009, according to a national study released Sunday.


The study by CQ Press found St. Louis had 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, compared with a national average of 429.4. That helped St. Louis beat out Camden, which topped last year's list and was the most dangerous city for 2003 and 2004.

More U.S. news Guilty verdict in Chandra Levy murder case
Updated 18 minutes ago 11/22/2010 6:39:46 PM +00:00 A jury on Monday found an El Salvadoran immigrant guilty of murdering Washington intern Chandra Levy. Full story

..
Detroit, Flint, Mich., and Oakland, Calif., rounded out the top five. For the second straight year, the safest city with more than 75,000 residents was Colonie, N.Y.

The annual rankings are based on population figures and crime data compiled by the FBI. Some criminologists question the findings, saying the methodology is unfair.

Greg Scarbro, unit chief of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, said the FBI also discourages using the data for these types of rankings.

Kara Bowlin, spokeswoman for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, said the city actually has been getting safer over the last few years. She said crime in St. Louis has gone down each year since 2007, and so far in 2010, St. Louis crime is down 7 percent.

Erica Van Ross, spokeswoman for the St. Louis Police Department, called the rankings irresponsible.

"Crime is based on a variety of factors. It's based on geography, it's based on poverty, it's based on the economy," Van Ross said.

"That is not to say that urban cities don't have challenges, because we do," Van Ross said. "But it's that it's irresponsible to use the data in this way."

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEWBERRY, S.C. (AP) — The shooting death of a black man whose body was dragged for several miles is being investigated as a possible hate crime after a white man was arrested, South Carolina's state police chief said.


Anthony Hill The FBI was in Newberry County in central South Carolina on Wednesday assisting in the investigation of the shooting death of Anthony Hill, 30, State Law Enforcement Division director Reggie Lloyd said.

See Video: More on Anthony Hill's Murder

"We don't yet have a definitive motive for all this," Lloyd said.

Hill's body was found around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. Highway 176 and Newberry County sheriff's deputies followed a trail of blood to the home of Gregory Collins.

For several hours, Collins refused to come out and SLED agents fired tear gas into the home, prompting him to surrender, Lloyd said.

Collins is charged with murder, Lloyd said. It was not clear Thursday if he had an attorney.

Hill died from a single gunshot wound to the head, Newberry County Coroner Craig Newton said.

Hill and Collins worked together at a chicken processing plant in Newberry County, Lloyd said. Neither man had a serious criminal record. There was some other evidence that linked the men that Lloyd did not want to discuss.

"We don't want to attribute something to Collins that isn't necessarily true," Lloyd said. "But out of precaution, given the circumstances, we are investigating the racial angle."

Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said Collins and Hill spent most of Tuesday together and were at Collins' house late Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning when Hill was shot.

Foster said Collins then attached a nylon rope around Hill's body and began dragging it behind his truck, apparently until the rope snapped several miles later.

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Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com/