Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Nation in brief

Chicago police look into stun gun deaths

By wire services
Published February 12, 2005

CHICAGO - The Chicago Police Department will not distribute more Taser stun guns to its officers while it investigates the device's use on a man who died and a teen who was injured this week.

The department will continue to use the 200 Tasers it has now, police Superintendent Philip Cline said.

Police said they used the stun gun on a 54-year-old man Thursday after they were unable to restrain him as he tried to kick and bite officers. The man, identified as Ronald Hasse of Cedar Lake, Ind., went into cardiac arrest and later died, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. An autopsy was planned.

A 14-year-old boy remained in a hospital after going into cardiac arrest after the device was used on him Monday. Police had been called after the 6-foot-2, 220-pound boy attacked three state home workers and punched out security windows.

AUSTIN, Texas - A new report says giving by local dioceses to the national Episcopal Church dropped roughly $4-million last year - about a 12 percent decline in the first full year after the denomination confirmed its only openly gay bishop.

When final tallies are complete, church officials expect $27.5-million in donations from local dioceses for 2004, down from $31.2-million in 2003, according to a report given to a key church governing body Friday.

Through Nov. 30, the denomination had received $22.6-million from dioceses, the report said. Final figures were not available because December contributions have not been fully tabulated.

WASHINGTON - The number of U.S. military members discharged for making it known they are homosexual declined last year by 15 percent and has fallen by nearly one-half since 2001, the Pentagon said Friday.

The 653 discharges compares with 770 in 2003 and was the lowest number for any year since the Pentagon began keeping track in 1997.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named Bruce McPherson, a former Republican legislator and newspaper editor who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2002, as his choice for secretary of state on Friday.

The current secretary, Kevin Shelley, a Democrat, announced on Feb. 4 that he would step down on March 1. Shelley's resignation came in response to investigations into his handling of federal election money, his acceptance of disputed campaign contributions and his style in managing the secretary of state's office.

If confirmed by the Legislature, as is expected, McPherson, 61, would become only the second Republican currently in a statewide office. He would serve the remainder of Shelley's four-year term, which runs until the end of next year.

STORM POUNDS CALIF.: Heavy rain and winds gusting up to nearly 70 mph battered Southern California on Friday, triggering dozens of wrecks. At least two people died. The eastern edge of the storm also hit southern Utah. The storm dumped from an inch of rain on the coast to more than 3 inches in some mountain areas.

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:32:58]