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USA TODAY THURSDAY, J ULY 21, 2011 NATION 3A

A military judge at Fort Hood on Wednesdayset a March trial for the Army psychiatristcharged with 13 counts of premeditated murderin connection with a November 2009 shootingspreeat thepostinTexas.

Maj. Nidal Hasan, who also faces 32 counts ofattempted premeditated murder, was arraigned

but did not enter a plea. He told the judge, Col.Gregory Gross, that he has dropped his civilianattorneyin favor of three military lawyers.

Hasan,40, wasparalyzed from the waistdownafter being shot by police the day of the carnage.Lt. Gen Donald Campbell announced two weeksagothatHasan would be tried in a military courtandcould facethe death penalty.

Brooklynchildwasdrugged, thenkilled

An 8-year-old boy who was abducted off aBrooklyn street lastweek and dismembered wasgiven painkillers and muscle relaxants before hewassmothered, themedicalexaminersaid.

Leiby Kletzky apparently was alive for a dayafter he disappeared July 11, police spokesmanPaulBrownesaid.Investigatorsbelievethatwhilesuspect Levi Aron was at work, the boy possiblywasin hisapartmentallday,Browne said.

Leibygotloston hiswalkhome from daycampandasked Aron forhelp.The boys feet, wrapped

in plastic, were found inArons freezer. Aron wasindicted Wednesday on eight counts of murderand kidnapping.

Space shuttle landing for last timeSpace shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to land

early today at Kennedy Space Center, markingtheend of NASAs 30-year-old shuttleprogram.

The landing of a shuttle mission, usually causefor celebration, will usher in massive layoffs forKennedy Space Center employees and contrac-tors on Floridas Space Coast. United Space Alli-ance, one of the areas primary employers, willprocess employee layoffs Friday.

Atlantislaunched July 8 ona mission todeliverfoodsuppliesand spareparts to theInternationalSpaceStation. DonnaLeinwandLeger

N.J. toprobe schools forcheatingNew Jersey education officials will investigate

34 public schools for possible cheating after astudy of scores from 2008 to 2010 found high

rates of erased answers on standardized tests.Christopher Cerf, the acting education com-

missioner, said 120 schools had high levels ofwrong-to-right erasures, but the results werein line with national trends. He said highwrong-to-right erasure rates are one way toidentify possible irregularities. The state is prob-ing12 schools,districts arereviewing22 others.

Recent state investigations in Atlanta and Phil-adelphia of school test results have put a spot-light on high erasure rates, while a USA TODAYinvestigation this year prompted Washington,D.C.,officials toreopen a cheatinginvestigationofmorethan100 schoolsthere. GregToppo

Good fencesmake goodneighbors

Arizona launched a website to accept dona-tions to payfor fencing along theMexico border.

A new law allows the state to build the fence,as longas backerscan raiseprivate donations andpersuade landownersto allowit on their proper-ty. Republican state Sen. Steve Smith, who spon-sored the bill, said buildtheborderfence.com hasaninitialgoalof $50million.

Donate to the countrys security, Smith said.This is an American problem, not an Arizonaproblem. AliaBeard Rau,TheArizonaRepublic

CDCissueswarning ondwarf frogsTheCentersfor Disease Controland Prevention

is advising parents of children under 5 to resistbuying them African dwarf frogs because of anongoing national outbreakof salmonella thathassickened more than240 people, mostly children,since 2009. The CDC said the outbreak has beentraced to Blue Lobster Farms, a breeding site inMaderaCounty,Calif. Elizabeth Weise

Nationline

Trial set for suspect inFort Hood shootings

Pleaserecycle

ByJohnBacon with staffand wire reports

PoolphotobySethWenig

Nearly10 years laterApart ofhistory: TheFDNYsLadder Company3firetruckis lowered by crane WednesdayintotheNational September11Memorial & Museumin NewYork. Thefiretruck wasused to evacuatepeoplefrom thetwin towers on 9/11.

ByJimMone,AP

Shutdownends inMinn.InSt. Paul:Democratic Gov.Mark Dayton re-ceives theMinnesota budget billto signWednes-day.The bill,which endsa government shut-down,was a deal made with GOPlawmakers.Dayton said hewas notentirelyhappywith it.

The Transportation Security Ad-ministration said Wednesday that ithasbegun installing softwareto givepassengers more privacy whentheyre screened bysomeof thefull-body scanning machines at airportcheckpoints.

The TSAsaysthe softwarefor mil-limeter-wave body-scanning ma-chines, which use electromagneticwaves toscreenpassengers,replacesa passengers image with a genericonethat willstillexposeany danger-

ousitems thatcouldbe hidden.It also says that the softwares

automaticdetection capabilityelim-inates the need for a TSA agent tolook at a passengers image in aviewing room.

Many fliers have objected to hav-ing their naked images viewed byTSA personnel.

Thissoftware upgrade enables usto continue providinga high level ofsecurity through advanced imagingtechnologyscreening, while improv-ing the passenger experience atcheckpoints, TSA Administrator

JohnPistolesaid Wednesday.The TSA says it expects all 241

machines at 40 U.S. airports to beupgradedby theendof theyear.

The agency plans to test similarsoftware in the fall for its 247 body-scanning backscatter devices,

which use high-speed X-rays andemit a low dose of radiation. Thebackscatter machines are at 38 air-ports.

The move doesnt appease someconsumer and privacy advocateswhosaythe machinesare a wasteofmoney and represent an unlawful,virtual strip search of passengers.They also are concerned that radia-tion from theX-ray devices could beharmful.

Themachines arenot effective, sothe new software is throwing mon-ey ata solutionthatsnot a solution,says Kate Hanni, executive directorof FlyersRights.org. The machineswont find low-density powderedexplosives, liquid explosives ormuch more than the old metal de-tectors.

TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball

says the machines are the besttechnology currently availableto de-tect well-concealednon-metallic ex-plosives, which are among the mostsignificant threats to our nationalsecuritytoday.

Ginger McCall of the ElectronicInformation Privacy InformationCenter a group that focuses atten-tion on civil liberties issues saysits unclear whether the new soft-ware will eliminate privacy con-cerns. She says the TSA must bemore transparent about the capa-bilities of thesoftware.

If the software is simply an over-lay whichstill permits the machinesto capture, store or transfer thegraphic naked image, thenit doesntsolve the privacy problems createdby these machines, says McCall, alawyer for thegroup.

TSA: Airport body scansmore privateCritics say new

software may notease fliers concerns

By GaryStollerUSATODAY

Make no mistake: Thisblistering heat wave nowgripping much of the coun-tryremainsremarkable bothforits intensityand duration.

With the number of daysof extreme heat and humid-ity of the current heat wave,it may be more significantand impact a larger area

than the deadly 1995 heatwave, AccuWeathermeteo-rologist Jim Andrews said.Chicago was ground zero inthe 1995 heat wave, he said,where thedeathtoll was750overthe four-dayepisode.

This weeksheatwavehaskilled at least 22 peopleacross the USA, a death tollthat remains a far cry fromthe carnage of 1995. It begsthequestion why.

The main reasons appearto be more community out-reach, better communica-tion of heat warnings anddanger and greater aware-ness, community leaderssaid.

In Chicago, we want tomakesure thepatientcomes

in and immediately getsback to a bed and right to adoctor, said Kaleem Malik,the chairman of the Depart-ment of Emergency Medi-cineat SaintAnthony Hospi-tal. Everything else can wait,he said, such astaking downinformation or checking rec-ords. The city has seen noheat-related deaths yet inthis heat wave, the ChicagoTribune reported.

In Louisville, where hightemperatures have beenabove 90 degrees for fourdays, with stifling humidity,no deaths have been report-ed thisweek.

Chris Poynter, spokesmanfor the Louisville mayors of-fice,credited a system called

OperationWhite Flag, whichputs a white flag outsidehomeless shelters to signalpeople they can take refugethere. When that flag is up,that means no one can beturned away, he said.

Even ifit meanssleepingona cot onthefloor, wewillfind a place for them. Its aplace to get water, food, gethydrated, take a shower iftheywant to.

Nationally, the American

College of Emergency Physi-cians puts out press re-leasesand alertsto reallytry

to emphasize for people towatch out for the heat, tostay cool, and to check onelderly neighbors, said Da-vid Seaberg, president-electof theorganization.

In Minnesota, which sawhigh tempertures in themid-to upper-90sthisweek,the press has done a goodjob of alerting people, saidEric Christianson, an emer-gency medical physicianwith the Minnesota Medical

Center in Fairview.If peoplehave any of the normal re-sources, then theyre able to

deal with it, hesaid.In New York, which is

bracing for the worst of theheat wave today throughSaturday, We have hun-dreds of cooling stations allaround the state, whichcould be a municipal library,a school, anythingwherewecan provide air conditioningand water, said Dennis Mi-chalski,spokespersonfor theNew York State Office ofEmergency Management.

According to the NationalWeather Service, 33 stateswere under heat advisoriesand warnings on Wednes-day in a direct line fromwestern Nebraska to south-ern Maine, a distance of al-

most1,600miles.A total of100 million peo-

plewereaffectedby the heatadvisories on Wednesday.

Chicago had a heat indexof 108 degrees on Wednes-day afternoon, The WeatherChannel reported. The heatindex measures how hot itfeels when humidity is add-ed to the actual air temper-ature.

On Tuesday, at least 17states hit the 100-degreemark, while more than 40surpassed 90 degrees, Accu-Weather reported.

Roads and sidewalksacross many cities andtowns from Oklahoma toPennsylvania have buckledin the extreme temper-

atures.Nationwide, the heat is

putting significant stress onthe nations power grid. To-day and Friday are expectedto be hotter than any timesince 1950 for many areas,said Travis Hartman, the En-ergy Weather Manager atMDA Earthstat, which pro-videsforecastsfor utilities.

Its going to mean elevat-ed power demandfor an ex-tended period of time for a

lotof people,he said.The dangerous heat will

peak Thursday through Sat-urday in the East, as windsturn west to southwest overthe Northeast and tap intothe hot, humid air from the

Midwest and South, saidWeather Channel meteorol-ogist Jon Erdman. The heatwill ease in the northernPlains and upper Midwestduring that same time, headded.

The break in the heattherewilllikelyonlybe tem-porary, asthe heatis forecastto build back into the Mid-west by next week, saidWeather Channel meteorol-ogist Brian Fortier.

The hoary clich, its notthe heat, its the humidity,appears to be accurate.

The heavy rain through-out the spring in the upperMidwest and northernPlains is helping to raise thehumidity levels across the

region during this heatwave, Fortier said.

The temperatures arentas hot because of all themoisture, he said.

But the humidity is mak-ing the heat just as bad ifnot worse than the historicheatwaves,Fortier said.

Contributing: Carly Mallen-baum; theAssociated Press

uCompleteweather, 10A

Outreach efforts help save lives

ByMikeDeSisti,MilwaukeeJournal-Sentinel,viaAP

Mistopportunity: Trayvon Harris, left,12andEdward Brown,9 , runthrough a sprinklerat FranklinSquareParkonWednesdayin Milwaukee. Theywere partof a group fromthe MilwaukeePublicSchoolsDepartmentof Recreation.

By Doyle Riceand Karl Gelles, USA TODAY

Source: HydrometeorologicalPrediction Center

Heat bakes USAThe heat index has soared well above 100 degrees across muchof the USA this week. The index measures how hot it feels whenhumidity is added to the actual air temperature.

Selected heat index values from Tuesday:

Newton, Iowa

Champaign, Ill.

Hutchinson, Minn.

Gwinner, N.D.122

123129

117

115

TerreHaute,Ind.

112Memphis

111Fort Hood, Texas

106Lawrence, Kan.

107Ardmore, Okla.

110Tekamah, Neb.

110Sidney, Mont.

110St. Louis

Heat death tollfar lower than1995 event

ByDoyleRiceandLuke Kerr-DineenUSATODAY

Three hikers who fell into the swollen MercedRiverabove oneof Yosemite NationalParks mostpopular waterfalls were swept over the edge andpresumed dead Wednesday, focusing renewedattention on the residual effects of a near-recordSierra snowpackand a cool,rainy spring.

The Yosemite Search and Rescue continued to

search for the hikers, who were identified asHormiz David, 22, Ramina Badal, 21, both ofModesto, Calif., and Ninos Yacoub, 27, of Turlock,Calif.Theyhadbeenvisiting the park ona daytripwith a groupof familyandfriends.

After making the steep, slippery and oftenspray-drenchedclimbalongthe aptly named MistTrailto 317-foot-tall Vernal Fall,the triocrossedametal guardrailplaced to keepvisitorsaway fromthe swift-moving water and were seen enteringthe water approximately 25 feet from the preci-pice,National ParkServicespokesmanScottGedi-mansaid.

Weheard thatit wasa chaotic scene,witha lotof other people telling them, Its not safe, headded.

Yosemite is famous for its spectacular, snow-

fedspring waterfalls, but this year the flowshavebeenstronger andhave lasted longer because of ahuge snowpack and unusually cool, wet condi-tions. The parks Tioga Pass Road stayed closeduntil mid-June, one of its latest openings onrecord, and several campgrounds remained off-limits until July.

Tuesdays Vernal Fall deaths are the sixth wa-

ter-related casualties in Yosemite this year. Twohikers were swept off as they tried to cross abridge spanning a waterfall near Hetch HetchyReservoir on June 29, and another hiker slippedand fell into theMercedRiveron theMistTrail onMay 13. The park averages 12 to 15 accidentaldeaths per year, with five or six tied to water,Gediman said.

The MistTrail, whichattracts upwards of 1,500visitorsa day,isoneof the more popular hikesup

outof theYosemite Valley dueto itscloseproxim-ityto the MercedRiver,and thereare a numberofspotswhere its very temptingto goclosetopoolsin the river and its cataracts, said Kurt Repan-shek, editor of the website National Parks Trav-eler.He added, Whilethereare railings andsignsinsome of the more dangerous spots,those oftenare ignored by more than a few visitors, to theirdetriment.

Warm summer temperatures coupled withturbulent, snow-fedrivers and streams are not agoodcombination, butI wouldntsay weredoinganything differently this year, Gediman said.We do our best to educate our visitors, butYosemite Valley is basicallyframed by 3,000-footcliffs, and its impossible to put up barricadeseverywhere.

3 hikers swept over falls presumed deadByLaura BlyUSATODAY

ByCraigKohlruss,TheFresnoBee,viaAP

View attop:Visitorspause behind a safety railingat a Vernal Fallobservationpoint lastsummer.