A test of faith

The Amish of Lancaster County, Pa., spiritual siblings of the Old Order Mennonites of Ontario's Waterloo County, have managed to live with intrusion and insult for decades-the kind of taunting against which detective John Book (played by Harrison Ford) struck back in the 1985 Hollywood film Witness. But this assault-the binding and execution of little girls at school-is a violation so deep that it will test their faith to the point that some will, privately, not survive it.

We have only begun to learn of the deep mental afflictions that drove 32-year-old Charles Roberts to murder five female children in cold blood and seriously injure others. He appears to have recognized a …

Al Gore, Bono: efforts to fight climate change, poverty, moving forward, but slowly

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and U2 frontman Bono offered measured praise Thursday for efforts in tackling climate change and global poverty, but warned the World Economic Forum that conditions were not improving as much as they could.

At an early-morning session that drew several hundred attendees, many clutching cups of coffee or tea to stave off sleep, Gore warned that the world climate crisis was worsening.

"We could take the whole session talking just about the new scientific evidence of the last few weeks and months," said Gore, who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to fight climate change, adding that the …

Searching for signs of King’s dream

"The daily life of the Negro is still lived in the basement of the Great Society."

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., from "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?"

More than four decades later, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words ring louder than the thunder on this gray summer day as I drive down Emmett Till Road. The skies cry.

The "dream" now more resembles a nightmare, no matter how great our stride toward freedom, or having now witnessed a black man sworn into the White House, or even the looming dedication Sunday of the grand white-stone structure on the National Mall in King's memory.

Out here, in ghetto America this afternoon, the sound of …

Footwear made with recyclables

Deep E Co. is a manufacturer of footwear, apparel and accessories that uses natural and synthetic recycled materials such as tire rubber, wool and recycled polyester in many of its products. One example is the "Headwaters Hiker," which comes with a black outsole that is 45 percent postconsumer tire rubber, or a speckled outsole of 35 percent preconsumer materials that include rubber and mixed resin plastic residuals from footwear factories. Other components and their materials are: removable sockliner and midsole in …

US, Australian filmmakers die in helicopter crash

SYDNEY (AP) — Award-winning American cinematographer Mike deGruy and Australian television writer-producer Andrew Wight have died in a helicopter crash in eastern Australia, their employer National Geographic said Sunday.

Police said two people — an Australian pilot and an American passenger — died Saturday when their helicopter crashed soon after takeoff from an airstrip near Nowra, 97 miles (156 kilometers) north of Sydney, but did not immediately release the victims' identities. Australia's ABC News reported that Wight was piloting the helicopter when it crashed.

National Geographic and "Titanic" director James Cameron confirmed the victims' identities in a joint statement …

Guatemalan authorities order lawmaker's arrest in parliamentarians killings

Guatemalan authorities on Thursday ordered the arrest of a congressman suspected of conspiring to kill three Salvadoran politicians and detained the lawmaker's alleged accomplice.

The charred bodies of the three Salvadoran politicians, all members of the Guatemala-based Central American Parliament, and their driver were found along a rural road Feb. 19. No motive has been determined for the crime.

The lead investigator in the case, prosecutor Alvaro Matus, said an arrest warrant had been issued for Guatemalan Congressman Manuel Castillo. On Wednesday, a court stripped Castillo of his immunity from prosecution. He leaves Congress this month to become mayor of Jutiapa.

Neither Castillo, nor his lawyers were available to comment on Thursday. Castillo has repeatedly refused to answer questions about the accusations.

Matus alleged that Castillo has links to Carlos Gutierrez, another suspect in the case who was arrested Thursday in Jutiapa, near the border with El Salvador.

Gutierrez, a suspected drug trafficker, was in constant telephone communication with the parliamentarians' killers the day of the slayings, Matus said.

Castillo "told us he didn't know (Gutierrez) but we have evidence to the contrary," Matus said.

Two former police detectives have also been detained in the case, and four other detectives linked to the crime were murdered by inmates inside their prison cell just hours after they turned themselves in to authorities.

Bears' draft strategy based on Grossman

The key player in the Bears' 2003 draft, the centerpiece of theirentire plan, wasn't the guy they wound up taking first. Floridaquarterback Rex Grossman, the second of two first-round selectionsacquired when the team traded out of the No. 4 slot, was the guy theBears wanted most.

Months ago, the Bears identified Grossman as their quarterback ofthe future and the one player they felt they must have to justifytheir trading down and stockpiling talent. Michael Haynes, the PennState defensive end selected No. 14 overall, was one of threedefensive linemen--along with tackles Johnathan Sullivan and JimmyKennedy--that the Bears felt they would be choosing among with theirfirst pick.

But Grossman, not Byron Leftwich or Kyle Boller or DewayneRobertson, was the guy the team wanted to land in 2003. In fact, thegreatest moments of tension in the team's war room didn't come asdefensive linemen fell off the board early, but rather during picks20 and 21, when the Bears feared Green Bay might trade ahead of themand take Grossman.

The Bears thought about taking Grossman at No. 14 and doublingback for a lineman later but felt the best way to ensure the coachingstaff got the player it needed for today while the franchise got theplayer it wanted for tomorrow was to sweat out the middle of thefirst round.

With Dick Jauron and his staff on the coaching hot seat, takingthe player couldn't have been an easy sell, but Jerry Angelo knowsthe role of a general manager is doing what he believes is right forthe future of the franchise while still giving the team a chance towin immediately. And if everything works out as expected, the key manin this draft, Grossman, won't play a down next season.

"You nailed it right on the head," Angelo said. "You hit themother lode on that one. We came together as a unit on that decision.[The coaches] bought into [the draft plan], which made me a happycamper because at the end of the day, it's best for business."

Angelo said the key to drafting any quarterback is having a planon how to develop the player and that the Bears' coaches "had a lotof influence and input on that." That might sound a bit scary becausethe last time the Bears traded down in a draft with the idea oftaking a quarterback, they selected Cade McNown and attempted todevelop him by giving him the third series of every game early in hiscareer. But the plan has changed significantly with Grossman.

"We wanted to speed up the process for Cade," Jauron said. "Thatis not necessarily the case now."

Jauron said circumstances have changed this time around withKordell Stewart signed as a free agent and taking the reins of theteam. When the Bears signed McNown, they had Shane Matthews as theirstarter, but the coaching staff was in a grace period, not fightingto save its jobs. Matthews hardly had the reputation or experience ofStewart, and the Bears were a less talented team.

"Everything is different," Jauron said. "When we are healthy, wehave a team that can contend. We're going to put Kordell in controlof that team, and he's going to run it for us. It will give Rex achance to learn as he goes along. We won't throw him right out there,and that's probably a better way to do it. It might work the otherway too. The other way, there are a lot of things you have to dealwith if you're going to play a guy for a series. You have to dealwith your starter. How is it going to affect him?

"Shane was pretty resilient in that regard. I'm not certain Iwould want to take a guy that was an established starter and saywe're going to take you out a series of the game, particularly withthe team we have right now. That's not a very good idea."

With the Bears in the unusual position of teaching two newquarterbacks--Stewart and Grossman--their system, Jauron said the No.2 man next season will be Chris Chandler.

"Chris is our second," Jauron said. "He has done an outstandingjob in the offseason. He will only help us on the field, off thefield in the meetings, those kind of things. It will be positive."

Does Jauron resent being involved in the process of developing aguy when he might never reap the benefits of that development?

"I like this guy," Jauron said. "I like coaching everybody, butwhen you have guys that are talented and coachable and have a passionfor the game, that is a fun guy to coach."