8/4/2019 Youth Programs Hit as States Cut Budgets

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USA TODAY TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2011 NATION 3A

PresidingJudge Katherine Feinstein saidabout200 of the courts 480 workers will be let go bySept. 30 to close a $13.75million budget deficitcausedby state budgetcuts.Andshe said it couldget worse if optimistic revenue projections dontmaterialize by January. As a result, Feinsteinsaiditwilltakemanymorehoursto paya traffic ticket

in person, up to 18 months to finalize a divorceandfiveyears fora lawsuit togo totrial.The civil justice system in San Francisco is

collapsing, Feinstein said.

Minnesota man admits aiding terrorists

A Minnesotamanpleaded guiltyto a terrorismcharge for helping Somali men travel from Min-neapolisto theirhomelandto take uparmswithamilitant group, averting the first trial in a long-running federal investigation into the recruitingof U.S. fightersfor al-Shabab.

OmerAbdi Mohamed,26, ofSt. Anthonyplead-ed guilty to one count of conspiracy to providematerial support to terrorists, admitting hehelped provide people as part of a conspiracy tomurder, kidnap and maim others in a foreigncountry. He faces a maximum of 15 years inprison whenhe is sentenced.

Mohamed didnt travel to Somalia, but ad-mitted he attended secret meetings and helpedthe menwho traveled.

Nuclear sites may get national parksAnti-nuclear activists were lining up against

legislation to createnationalparksat LosAlamosNational Laboratory and two other sites wherethe first nuclear bombswere developed.

InteriorSecretaryKen Salazarhas recommend-ed establishinga national historical park to com-memorate the top-secretManhattan Project thatdevelopedthe atomic bomb.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., wants to createsites at Los Alamos; Hanford, Wash.; and OakRidge, Tenn.

Said Greg Mello, a co-founder of the anti-nuclear watchdog Los Alamos Study Group: Arewereally poisedto makea nationalparkoutof afew shabby ruins where we built instruments ofmass murder?

Teen accused of bludgeoning parentsA Florida teen is accused of bludgeoning his

parents with a hammer, then hosting dozens of

friends for a party while their bodies lay in thebedroom, police said.

TylerHadley,17,is charged withtwin counts offirst-degree murder. He is being held withoutbondat a juvenile detentioncenter.

His parents, Blake and Mary-Jo Hadley, werelikelystruck with thehammer in their headsandtorsos aftertheir sonposted on Facebook alertingfriends to a partySaturdayevening.

About 60 people attended the party at thehouse, PortSt. LuciePolicespokesman TomNich-olssaid.

Vermont wins roundin nuke plantfightA federal judge said he wont order Vermonts

onlynuclearplantto remain openwhilea lawsuitto determineits long-termfuture playsout.

The state is moving to close the VermontYankee plant when its initial 40-year licenseexpires in March. The plants owner, New Or-leans-based Entergy Corp., got a 20-year licenseextension for Vermont Yankee from the federalNuclear Regulatory Commission and filed a law-suitarguingthat thefederal action pre-empts thestates effort to closethe plant.

Also . . .uMEDFORD, Ore. A mother and her four

children with stab wounds were pulled from aburninghouse anddied, andthe father wasunderpolice watch, Police Chief Tim George said. Hesaid thefirewasarsonandthe deathshomicides.

Nationline

Budget cuts hobbleSan Francisco court

Please recycle

ByJohnBacon with staffand wire reports

ByEd Andrieski,AP

Denver inaugurationNativeAmerican blessing:Michael Hancockis

blessed byGraceGillette ofthe DenverPow-WowCommittee beforehe isswornin asDenvermayor Monday duringinaugurationceremonies.

ByJohn Fitzhugh, SunHerald,via AP

After the rainsIn Mississippi: A stateDepartment of Trans-portationemployeeclears sandfrom the surfaceofa drainon U.S. 90 inPassChristian,Miss., onMonday. Heavyrainsfell overnightcausinglocalizedfloodingacrossSouth Mississippi.

Sign upfor USATODAYsFREEDailyBriefinge-mailnewsletterto receive theworldstopnewseach morning.Goto email.usatoday.com

CHICAGO Sweat dripped offJames Langers face Monday as hehuntedfor a cool place to escapethe

tropical heat and humidity alongMichigan Avenue.I cant stand being outdoors for

another minute, said Langer, 24, acollege student from Houston. Ithought it was always cool here. Itwas 92 degrees in Chicago as hespoke; 90 degrees backhome.

Much of the Midwest sufferedMonday with heat and high humid-ity that wont loosen their grip fordays. More than 1,000 high temper-ature records have been broken thismonth, saidWeatherChannel mete-orologistMark Ressler said.

Heat is very expansive from theRockies right over to the East Coast,with the core of it in the middle ofthe country, he said. There wereheat warnings, advisories orwatches in 17 states Monday.

Theculprit,Ressler said, isa dome

of high pressure aloft that couldbreak by the end of the week in thenorthern tierof affectedstates.

In Madison, Minn., which boaststhat its the USAs Lutefisk Capital fish cured in lye and is halfway

between the equator and the NorthPole, the temperature was an equa-torial 91 degrees by midafternoon.The heat index, which measureshow hot it feels when humidity isfactoredin: 123.

Sunday night, Madisons dewpoint was 86. KSTP-TV reported theonly other spot in the hemisphere

with a dew point in the 80s was theAmazon jungle.People are spending more time in

the air-conditioned Madison PublicLibrary, librarian assistant JackieSiegert said. At lunch Monday, con-

densation dripped from the restau-rant ceiling onto hertray.Whenits20 below, we want this, she said.When its like this, we want 20below.

Elsewhere:uThetemperaturewas 104Mon-

dayinHays,Kan.Business isup 3%atthe Dairy Queen this month, owner

Jeff Pinney said.Shake sales go upwhen its hotter, he said. Two

$3,000compressorsblew out.uMcFarland Clinic in Story City,

Iowa, saw increased traffic, includ-ing senior citizens and outdoor

workers, as the heat index soared to108, clinic managerSue Bohner said.

Im thinking Alaska sounds goodright now, she said. Mondays highinAnchorage wasin the60s.

In New Orleans, Joey Knesel, gen-eral manager of The Bulldog Bar &Grill, was hoping for some heat. Hisoutdoor diningarea wasspurned by

customers amid steady rain andtemperatures around 80.Ill take sunshine and hot over

this anyday, hesaid.

uComplete weather, 8A

Hot times offer little shelter from swelterMidwest bearsbrunt of heat wave

ByJudyKeenUSA TODAY

ByMattRourke,AP

Sprayand play:Jazia Pratt,8,rompsneara fire hydrantMonday in Philadelphia.

Source: Climate Prediction Center

By JulieSnider, USATODAY

Summer sizzlerThe eastern half of the USAis enduring excessive heat,which may continue untilJuly 29 in many areas:

Excessive heat

When Edouard Garneau died lastAugust, his wife of 53 years ordereda bench-style tombstone.

I goandtalkwith him, saidFayeGarneau, who admits she isnt sosure she likes that her own name isalready areinscribedthere, too.

That wasnt all: Several monthslater, the monument maker added ahigh-tech innovation a small,square image known as a quick re-sponse or QR code,affixed alongsidethe bigletters spellingout Garneau.

The monument maker a friend was working on the code beforeGarneau died ofcancer atage 78.

People scanning the code withtheir smartphones are taken to awebsite that includes Garneausobituary and a photo gallery high-lighting the Seattle-area business-man. They learn he was a collisionauto body repair expert, a worldtraveler and a loving uncle. In thefuture, morephotosand stories fromfamily andfriendscan be added.

I think its a neat deal, Faye Gar-neau said. It kind of keeps peoplealive a little longer, down throughthe generations.

Free to think creatively

The Seattle-based tombstonecompany isone ofmanynew adopt-ers of quick response or QR codesthat also includes, a Florida naturetrail and a T-shirt maker.

New uses for the technology arepopping up almost daily, said ShaneGreenstein, a professor at North-western University in Evanston, Ill.,who studies IT markets. Thats be-cause the bugs are worked outfrom thecode,which wascreatedinJapan in the early 1990s, Greensteinsaid, adding that theres no licens-ing fee; there are no restrictions.Users are free to think creative-ly.And, theyare.

In Seattle, Quiring Monumentshas made code-adorned livingheadstones for about two months.It has sold about 30 so far, GeneralManager JonReecesaid,adding hesgotten tonsof inquiries,often from

people still very much alive: Theysay, I want my story to be told theway Iwantitto betold.

Quiring Monuments offers the QRcode, website and website hostingfree to people buying new monu-

ments from the company, Reecesaid, noting the company will add itto existing grave markers for$65.

On Sanibel Island, Fla., the J.N.DingDarlingNational WildlifeRef-uge unveiled QR code signs lastmonth along Wildlife Drive, onwhichnearly 800,000 visitors a yeartravelby car, foot orbicycle.

It was nice and easy, said 13-year-old Tom Garvey of Delran, N.J.,who put his iPhone an eighth-gradegraduationgift touse onthetrail. TherefugesiNatureTrail sports10 signs, each with two QR codes one that pulls up videos and educa-tional websites for adults, and an-otherthatstailoredto children.

We wanted to find that niche toget kids outdoors and excited aboutnature, said refuge ranger ToniWestland. The videos feature snip-pets about ospreys, alligators andother creatures living along themangrove forest-dotted estuaries ofthe 6,400-acrerefuge.

Newspapers, including USA TO-DAY, use the codes to direct readerstoitemslikevideos and photos.

A multitudeof uses

Exampleselsewhere include:uBoulder, Colo., acoustic rock

band SoundRabbit sells orhandsoutT-shirts with codes that take smart-phones to free music downloads,said Chris Anton, band member,shirt creator and website designcompany co-owner.uLafayette, N.J.-based Fuzzy Na-

tion, a designer and wholesaler ofgifts fordog-lovers,for thefirsttime

is putting QR codes on hangtags onits products sold at Macys depart-ment stores nationwide, said FuzzyNation owner Jennifer Liu. Thescanned code helps people enter acontest beginning July 11 that pro-

motes pet adoption and will earnoneshelter a $10,000stipend.uOrganizers of the Chevrolet

Fireball Run Adventurally Sept. 23through Oct. 1 say it will be the firstnational motoring event to use QRcodes. For this years multistate runthough the South, competition carswill sport decals with codes. And,driving teams will distribute miss-ing-child posters with codes. Thescanned codes aid people with cru-cial information to share with theNational Center for Missing & Ex-ploited Children, said J. Sanchez,eventexecutiveproducer.uKansas City, Mo.-based mobile

tech marketing firm Kickanotchsends code-imprinted frosted gra-ham crackers to new clients as athank you and to take them to awebsite offering more ideas for thecodes, CEO AndyLynn said.uTrinity Baptist Church in Lake

Charles, La., is using QR codes in itsbulletins and posters to encouragesign-upsfor special family andyouthprograms, said Steven Haney,church mediadirector.

Real estate sales agent MarilynBoudreaux did a double take whenspyinga code forthefirsttimein thechurchs bulletin: I was like, wowweare with thetimes.

Her discovery occurred shortlythe worship service began. Thatmade the QR code a temptation,Boudreauxsaid,Iwanted topulloutmyphone, andscan it.

Ruanealso reports forTheNews-Press inFort Myers,Fla.

PhotosbyAndy RogersforUSA TODAY

High-tech memorial: FayeGarneausits on the gravestone benchat her husbandsgrave in Shoreline,Wash.

QR codes everywhere even on grave markers

Carved incyberspace:TheQR codeon EdouardGarneausheadstonetakessmart-phone userstoa websitememorializ-inghiminwords andpictures.

New applicationsfor the technologypop up almost daily

By LauraRuaneUSA TODAY

Youthorganizationsare turningaway children,and some saytheymayshut down, because stateleg-islaturestryingto balance budgetsarecutting theirfunding.

Michael Avila, 17, foundhimselfinoneof thoseprograms, ThePos-itive Alternatives for Youth in LosAngeles, after a vandalism arrest.Once I realized that people careabout me and my everyday life, itchangedme, he says.

The non-profit organization,which gets troubled teens into

public-service projects, will loseits $350,000 annual state funding 98% of its budget on Dec. 31,executive director Frank Thomassays. He says hell try to raisemoney to keep the 41-year-oldprogram open, but it will be in-credibly difficult.uIn Beaufort, S.C., the Boys

andGirlsClubput itsnewbuildingup for sale, moved back intosmaller shared quarters and laidoff 20 of 90 staffers. The club haslost about $500,000 in annualstate grants to what was a $2million budget, executive directorDoug Barry says. I think every-thing thats going on is affectingall non-profits, and its tough, hesays. Its forcing us to be moreefficientand thinklike a business.uIn Vero Beach, Fla., the Sub-

stance Awareness Council of Indi-an River County, which counselsteens, last year lost more than$200,000 in state funding, cuttingits budget to $750,000, executivedirector Robin Dapp says. Shelaidoff four of 17 staffers and startedcharging fees. She says fundrais-ing has filled half the gap, but shefears having to cut services.uIn Sedgwick County, Kan.,

Big Brothers Big Sisters will oper-atenextyearwitha budgetof justover $1 million 20% less thanthis year. The chapter lost$300,000 in county and stategrants and the national office lost$38million in federal funding, ac-cording to DanSoliday,CEO ofthestate group. He says he mighthave to lay people off: We serveabout 254 kids currently, butwere probably not going to beable toservethatnumber now.

We need to invest in thesechildren, says Mary Lee Allen ofthe Childrens Defense Fund.They aretheworkforce oftomor-row.

John Williams of the conserva-tive American Legislative Ex-change Council, says unbalancedbudgets and high taxes are thebiggest concernsof moststates.

States that are keeping taxeslow are performing the best . . .andcreatingmore jobsthan thoseon the tax-and-spend model, hesays. Lowering taxes will createmore jobs, which will lead tomore revenue for programs likethese.

State cutsthreatenchildrensprograms

Funding loss putsservices for kidson chopping blocks

By LukeKerr-DineenUSA TODAY