Officials debunk one of the most disturbing Katrina stories

George Pawlaczyk, Knight… Officials debunk one of the most disturbing Katrina stories

George Pawlaczyk, Knight Ridder Newspapers

NEW ORLEANS – It may have been the most disturbing story of death that emerged after Hurricane Katrina pummeled New Orleans and its suburbs.

A week after Katrina hit, Knight Ridder and other media outlets reported on Sept. 5 that 22 bodies had been found tied to a single rope near tiny Violet, La., in devastated St. Bernard Parish. The parish, or county, is east of New Orleans.

The story was sent around the world. Knight Ridder moved two stories on Sept. 5 that quoted Sheriff Jack Stephens saying rescuers had found the bodies tied with rope and wrapped around a pole.

Last week, St. Bernard Parish Fire Chief Tom Stone said the reports weren’t true.

“It’s a hurricane urban myth. It’s fictitious. It never happened. Thank God,” he said.

While news reports about the rope of death contained purported confirmation from a top police official, Stone said that early on, parish rescue personnel had no reliable way to confirm or deny much of anything. Travel was by boat only, and radio communication was spotty at best.

Minority aid at Southern Illinois University faces federal suit

Jodi S. Cohen, Chicago Tribune

Taking on the divisive issue of race-based university programs, the U.S. Justice Department said it plans to file a lawsuit by Friday against Southern Illinois University over three paid fellowships for minority and female graduate students.

Affirmative action proponents fear the Justice Department’s action will undermine efforts to increase racial and ethnic diversity on college campuses, while critics said the challenge should be a wake-up call to universities with similar programs.

The government argues that Southern Illinois University’s programs discriminate against “whites, non-preferred minorities and males,” according to a Nov. 4 letter to the University. The agency claims that the University’s graduate student fellowships, which include stipends to work in academic departments, violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act bars employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex or national origin.

In its reply, the University asked for more time to “consider appropriate modifications” and to provide the Justice Department with more information about the programs, including one that is financed by the National Science Foundation.

“We have no reason to believe that these programs are discriminatory,” said SIU spokeswoman Sue Davis. “They have successfully expanded the depth and breadth of diversity in many professions and many disciplines for people serving Illinois citizens.”

Suspected bomber in Jordan detained, released by U.S. forces in ’04

Hannah Allam, Knight Ridder Newspapers

AMMAN, Jordan – One of the suspected suicide bombers in the deadly attacks on three luxury hotels in Jordan’s capital apparently was detained and released last year by U.S. forces in Iraq who determined that he was not a threat to security, a U.S. military spokesman said Sunday.

The Jordanian government identified four suspected bombers Sunday: three Iraqi men who died in the attacks and an Iraqi woman who survived when her explosives vest failed to detonate. The name of one of the male attackers, Safah Mohammed Ali, matches the name of a man who was detained for about two weeks during fierce clashes between insurgents and U.S. Marines in Iraq’s western insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, said the military spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ali and the other suspected bombers killed 57 people and injured more than 100 during three nearly simultaneous bombings at upscale hotels in Amman on Wednesday. Al-Qaida in Iraq later claimed responsibility for the attack.