Authorities reveal past complaint about LA teacher

In this undated police booking photo released by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department shows former Los Angeles teacher Mark Berndt, 61, who was arrested for felony molestation of 23 kids after photos surfaced. Berndt been charged with committing lewd acts with 23 boys and girls ages 7 to 10. AP Photo/ Los Angeles Sheriff's Department)

In this undated police booking photo released by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department shows former Los Angeles teacher Mark Berndt, 61, who was arrested for felony molestation of 23 kids after photos surfaced. Berndt been charged with committing lewd acts with 23 boys and girls ages 7 to 10. AP Photo/ Los Angeles Sheriff's Department)

Police are seen at the The Miramonte Elementary school in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. A school teacher, Mark Berndt, bound and gagged nearly two dozen children, put cockroaches on some of their faces and posed in photos with them in a classroom, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday. Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday and remained jailed on $2.3 million bail.(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Students are escorted to a waiting bus as they leave Miramonte Elementary school after classes Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 in Los Angeles. Veteran Miramontes Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday, Jan. 30, on charges of lewd conduct with 23 children after a film processor gave police photos showing blindfolded children with their mouths taped and cockroaches on their faces. Berndt remained jailed Tuesday on $2.3 million bail. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The Miramonte Elementary school's principal, Martin Sandoval spesaks to the media outside his school in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. Veteran Miramontes Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested on charges of lewd conduct with 23 children after a film processor gave police photos showing blindfolded children with their mouths taped and cockroaches on their faces. Berndt, 61, not seen, was arrested Jan. 30, and remained jailed Tuesday on $2.3 million bail. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

A student enters into Miramontes Elementary School in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. Veteran Miramontes Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was arrested Monday, Jan. 30, on charges of lewd conduct with 23 children after a film processor gave police photos showing blindfolded children with their mouths taped and cockroaches on their faces. Berndt remained jailed Tuesday on $2.3 million bail. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Deputies recommended in 1994 that an attempted fondling charge should be filed against a teacher now suspected of taking bondage-style photographs of children in his class, but prosecutors refused, saying there wasn't enough evidence, authorities disclosed Thursday.

The investigation came after a 10-year-old girl claimed elementary school teacher Mark Berndt reached toward her genitals during class and she pushed his hand away, sheriff's Sgt. Dan Scott said.

The details of the 18-year-old case and other claims by two former students about strange behavior by Berndt surfaced just three days after his arrest.

The allegations raised further questions about why he wasn't disciplined by school officials, who have been lambasted by some parents for waiting a year to reveal Berndt was suspected of photographing children for sexual thrills.

Only parents of children identified as victims were told by authorities about the most recent investigation.

School officials and investigators said proper procedures were followed to investigate and build a case against the teacher.

Scott said the incident involving the 10-year-old occurred in September 1993 but wasn't reported by the girl's mother to officials at Miramonte Elementary School until the following January.

The Los Angeles Times said the girl realized the teacher's behavior was wrong and came forward to her mother after seeing an "Oprah" show about inappropriate touching.

School officials notified the Sheriff's Department, and the results of the investigation were sent to prosecutors with a recommendation to pursue a charge of committing a lewd act on a minor under the age of 14, Scott said.

"Based on what I read, it was a thorough and complete investigation," said Scott, who noted the investigator who handled the case has retired.

Sandi Gibbons, a district attorney spokeswoman, said in a statement the case was rejected because there was insufficient evidence to prove a crime had occurred. The statement did not elaborate.

Berndt denied the allegation at the time.

Earlier, two women who said they were former students of Berndt told the Times that complaints were made about his odd behavior as far back as 1990.

Marlene Trujillo, 30, said she and two other fourth-grade classmates told a school counselor that Berndt often moved his hands under his desk, near his lap, at the front of the classroom.

Trujillo said the counselor "just told us it's not very good to make stories up. She said it was our imagination. It was never talked about again."

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. John Deasy told the newspaper he was struggling to determine how the alleged behavior went undetected for so long.

"How do I make sense out of the fact that this took place over a number of years and no one seemed to know about that?" Deasy said. "I'm definitely trying to understand how someone could not have known."

Berndt, 61, remained jailed on $23 million bail on felony charges of committing lewd acts on 23 boys and girls, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010. He could face multiple life sentences if convicted.

Using a cheap camera, Berndt is suspected of snapping nearly 400 photographs of Miramonte students, some with a giant Madagascar cockroach from a classroom terrarium on their faces.

Others were blindfolded or had clear tape over their mouths, and some were given sperm-laced cookies to eat as treats in the photo sessions that were treated like games, Scott said.

Some of Berndt's students defended him, saying he was a kind and generous teacher.

Angelica Zuniga, 16, now a high school junior was in third grade in 2003 when she had Berndt as a teacher. She said he never asked her or others to do anything strange or to play any inappropriate games.

"They're calling him 'monster.' He's just not that kind of person," Zuniga said. "He was one of the most amazing teachers out there. He's dedicated his life to us and I want to stick up for him."

The latest investigation of Berndt began in the fall of 2010 when a film processor became suspicious about the photographs and turned them over to Redondo Beach police, who on Dec. 2, 2010, handed them over to the Sheriff's Department, Scott said.

Berndt, who taught at Miramonte for more than 30 years ago, was removed from classwork in January 2011 and fired within the month.

___

Associated Press writers Robert Jablon and Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-02-02-Teacher-Classroom%20Bondage/id-c0c1a78210f94a408fbb35b735c6b697

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Source: http://navycelebration.com/?p=1665

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Democrats emboldened by Republican primary race (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama has long relished a dragged-out Republican primary contest that would leave the eventual GOP nominee battered before the fall election.

He might be getting his wish, a prospect that is firing up Democrats, galvanizing their ranks and boosting fundraising pitches and requests for volunteers.

"They've awakened some sleeping giants," said Ira Leesfield, a Miami attorney and a longtime Democratic fundraiser.

As the GOP voting shifts to contests in the Midwest and West, front-runner Mitt Romney's chief rival, Newt Gingrich, is attacking him at every turn and pledging to stay in the race well into the spring. And Romney is paying a price for it: The former Massachusetts governor's negative perceptions among voters have climbed in recent weeks, a trend that could hurt him in a general election matchup with Obama.

"The Florida primary will be a turning point in this race ? the other side is looking at what could be months of brutal, negative tactics that turn people off to politics altogether," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a fundraising pitch to supporters.

The Obama campaign's most recent fundraising report showed it had more than $80 million in the bank, a healthy sum for the coming year.

Democrats ? and Obama specifically ? are no stranger to drawn-out fights. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't drop out of the race until June 2008, but both candidates avoided driving up their negative ratings.

Obama's team is trying to take advantage of the extra time in this election year, using the next several weeks to focus on his best political asset: being president. As Republicans grind toward having a nominee, Obama is filling his time with a post-State of the Union agenda underscoring the themes of his re-election bid. That means pushing ideas with mainstream appeal, like helping struggling families refinance their homes or pay for the kids' college education.

It also means not directly engaging Romney for now because to do so would make Obama look more like a presidential candidate than the man running the country. But that has not stopped Obama from making not-so-subtle digs at Romney this week for his views on the auto industry bailout and home foreclosures.

"It is wrong for anybody to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible homeowners is to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom," Obama said in Falls Church, Va., on Wednesday in a clear reference to comments made by Romney to a Las Vegas newspaper last year.

Romney's negative ratings have climbed in recent weeks. Polling by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal showed that 36 percent had a negative feeling toward Romney, compared with 31 percent having positive feelings for him. A separate poll by ABC News and The Washington Post found 49 percent had a negative impression of Romney, a jump of nearly 20 points since September.

Democrats point to a growing storyline about Romney's work as a top executive for Bain Capital, a private equity firm, and soft support among ardent conservatives. Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter noted in a memo Wednesday that a recent Pew Research poll found nearly 3 in 5 GOP primary voters wanted another candidate to enter the race.

"You've got a lot of Republicans who are disenchanted with the `supposed' nominee in Mitt Romney," said Morgan Jackson, a North Carolina-based Democratic strategist. "As somebody who worked for John Kerry in 2004, we've seen this on our side. There were a lot of folks who liked John Kerry and voted for John Kerry but really wanted to be with somebody else."

Romney, addressing supporters in Tampa, Fla., dismissed suggestions that a lengthy primary fight would hurt his party's chances in the fall.

"A competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us, and we will win," he said.

But Gingrich gave no indication of bowing out anytime soon. His campaign even distributed signs at his Florida primary night rally that declared, "46 States to Go."

In Florida, Leesfield said he watched the negative ads and said "it put me into high gear." He had planned to raise money for Obama, but said he was now "exponentially more" interested in encouraging his fundraising network to give to Obama's campaign.

In Nevada, Erin Bilbray-Kohn, a member of the Democratic National Committee, said the Republican contest had boosted interest among Democrats organizing their volunteer base. "They're watching the Republicans and they want to do something and what they can do right now is work their precincts," she said.

Democrats have plenty of bad news on their side. The nation's unemployment rate has consistently topped 8 percent during Obama's presidency, a red line for any incumbent. A Gallup survey showed Obama's approval ratings dropping in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, all critical to his re-election. In New Hampshire, which Obama carried in 2008, he had an approval rating of about 38 percent.

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The White House hopes the first result will be a law in which Congress polices itself on insider trading, then a deal to extend a payroll tax cut. All the while, Obama will be issuing executive orders to try to jolt the economy and win over voters. He also will keep up a brisk pace of fundraisers.

"In 2008 we needed to make change ? we needed change," said Gaylene Kanoyton, who leads the local Democratic committee in Hampton, Va. "The theme for 2012 is we need to guard the change."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120202/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_democrats

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Source: http://www.presort.com/2012/01/31/how-to-leverage-direct-marketing-in-your-business-articles/

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Egypt sent back U.S. request to lift travel ban (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Egypt's justice minister said on Tuesday he had sent back a letter from the U.S. ambassador that asked for an end to a travel ban on Americans being investigated for alleged illegal funding of pro-democracy groups.

Justice Minister Adel Abdelhamid Abdallah said he had urged the U.S. embassy to redirect the letter to investigating judges.

The case has highlighted strains between Washington and its long-standing Arab ally since the overthrow last year of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising.

Washington said several U.S. citizens working for civil society groups were banned from leaving Egypt and took refuge at its embassy in Cairo after the non-governmental organizations were raided by the military-led Egyptian authorities.

Abdallah said the request from Ambassador Anne Patterson was sent to his home and he returned it to the U.S. embassy because it should have been sent to the investigating judges.

"In it were the names of the people banned from travel and it was asking for a cancellation of this decision to be considered, as their constitutional right," he said.

"I spoke to the embassy and I returned this letter and told them that this letter should be sent to the investigating judges and not to the minister of justice," he said.

Abdallah said only those concerned by the travel ban or their representatives were entitled to send such a letter.

In Washington, the State Department confirmed that Patterson sent the letter, describing it as one of a number of attempts to raise the travel ban issue with Egyptian authorities.

"It was the justice minister's prerogative to send this letter back. We're going to continue to engage on this," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing.

Toner said Washington would continue to press Egypt to allow the NGO staffers to leave.

"We believe that it's important that they be allowed to travel freely and that the conditions that have been placed on them are unfair," Toner said.

Parliament speaker Mohamed Saad al-Katatni, a leading figure in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood which now dominates the assembly's lower house, said Patterson's request was "interference by the American embassy that we do not accept".

The U.S. embassy in Cairo had no comment.

In a weekend call to the head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged the Egyptians to lift the travel ban and expressed concern over restrictions placed on NGOs.

Egypt's government says the number of NGOs violating the law on funding political activities had grown since the uprising against Mubarak.

Groups including the U.S.-funded National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute were raided in late December by judicial police, who took documents and equipment before sealing their offices shut.

Civil society groups said the military council had ordered the raids to defame and stigmatize activists, rights groups and others who were at the forefront of the anti-Mubarak revolt and are now demanding the army hand power immediately to civilians.

Among those prevented from leaving Egypt was the IRI's Egypt country director Sam LaHood, who is the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Tom Perry; additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Edmund Blair and Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/ts_nm/us_usa_egypt_ban

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GOP race's approaching lull will test Gingrich

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at Pioneer Park in Dunedin, Fla., Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at Pioneer Park in Dunedin, Fla., Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich arrives for a campaign stop, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The rapid-fire GOP presidential primary is about to ease into a slower pace and a more spread-out map. The shift will pose new challenges for Newt Gingrich.

February's only televised debate is three weeks away. Some primaries or caucuses will be in states with significant Mormon presences. Also voting in February is Michigan. Mitt Romney's father was governor there.

Campaigning in several states is costly.

All these factors would seem to play to Romney's advantage.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-30-Campaign-Next%20Up/id-636e3190b8304f01b191108a90530529

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