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Giovanni Parisi, Boxing Champion, Dies at 41

This obituary is very short and does not follow the standard obituary that was given in class. The lead is a standard obituary lead, but it does not list family members, his place and date of birth, or any other information that would have told his life story. This obituary reminds me of the short obituaries that were printed after 9/11, because it concentrates on one aspect of his life rather than telling anything else. It is different from a resume because it doesn't list everything about his life. It only lists what he was most known for; boxing. It does not seem like any family members were contacted, if he had any, because the only sources used were an interview on a television show by another boxer and the official who confirmed his cause of death.

Posted by vangx570 at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 35-year-old man from Brooklyn Park was in jail and charged Thursday with raping a 16-year-old from Milwaukee he met online and held against her will.

According to the Star Tribune, Tony Xiong allegedly drove to Milwaukee, picked the girl up, brought her back to the Twin Cities and kept her in his home.

Xiong told Brooklyn Park police he was marrying the teenager and his actions were permissible, according to the charges.

Police found the girl locked in a bathroom after Xiong consented to a search, the complaint said. Xiong denied having sex with her or holding her against her will, the Star Tribune reported.

Xiong picked the girl up on last Saturday and drove her to Minneapolis, where he had sex with her even though she continued to tell him "no," the complaint said. According to the Star Tribune, the teenager told police Xiong told her he was 23 when they chatted online.

After the girl was able to call her parents and gave them Xiong's address, they called the police. The girl's parents told the Star Tribune they did not give him permission to take her.

The Hennepin County attorney's office charged Xiong with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and false imprisonment, which are both felonies.

Posted by vangx570 at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 42-year-old man suspected of killing his girlfriend's son killed himself after a police chase down Interstate 94 and releasing his girlfriend, who he held hostage in the car.

Peter Tek shot himself in the head after releasing his girlfriend. Authorities told the Star Tribune Tek shot his girlfriend's 27-year-old son, Savang Sath, at the family's home in Big Lake.

Tek's girlfriend suffered head injuries, police told the Star Tribune. She is currently hospitalized, but expected to recover. Tek had been living with her and her son for four years in Big Lake.

Cheth Tek, Peter Tek's brother, they had been at a party and returned home about 2 a.m. on Saturday. Authorities told the Star Tribune there was an argument between Tek and two adult females about an hour later. Tek and Sath then got into an argument and Tek shot Sath twice. After 20 minutes of holding both women hostage, he left with Sath's mother.

The Pioneer Press reported that Tek stopped near Stearns County Road 6. Deputies negotiated with Tek for an hour before he released his hostage, authorities told the Pioneer Press.

Tek killed himself in his vehicle with a Taurus .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol, and the shells casings were the same caliber as those found in the home Sath was shot, authorities told the Pioneer Press.

The Star Tribune reported that, a few hours before Tek shot himself, he called his ex-wife and spoke to his son, Phath Bauer. In the call, he implied he was going to kill himself.

Posted by vangx570 at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Massachusetts man fatally stabbed his 17-year-old sister, decapitated his 5-year-old sister in front of a police officer and approached his 9-year-old sister with a knife before being shot and killed by police officers.

A clear motive as to why Kerby Revelus, 23, slaughtered his sisters on Saturday is uknown. Sarafina, his 9-year-old sister, dialed 911 and watched as police shot her brother dead after he decapitated 5-year-old Bianca and stabbed 17-year-old to death.

Police told the Associated Press, Sarafina was hospitalized Sunday with defensive wounds to her hands and stab wounds to her abdomen and one of her legs.

Milton police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr. told AP Revelus was in a fistfight with a man living next door about 24 hours prior to the attack.

After the 5 p.m. 911 call, an officer patrolling the area was on the scene. The officer broke through the door when Sarafina did not open the door. When he entered, Revelus was decapitating Bianca, Wells told AP.

Four officers were inside within moments and two of them shot Revelus as he approached Sarafina, according to Wells.

Revelus had served jail time for a gun charge, Wells said, and police were called to the house in 2004 after Revelus had punched a woman there.

Details about who shot Revelus and the number of shots will be revealed after an autopsy. According to AP, officers involved in the case were placed on administrative leave and were receiving counseling from the Boston Police Department.

Posted by vangx570 at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A gunman went on a shooting spree in a North Carolina nursing home Sunday morning, killing seven residents and a nurse. He spared some people without explanation.

Robert Stewart, the gunman, also wounded three others at Pinelake Health and Rehab, authorities told the Associated Press. Those wounded included a police officer from the town, Carthage, N.C., who managed to subdue Stewart and end the rampage.

Moore County District Attorney Maureen Krueger charged Stewart, 45, with eight counts of first-degree murder and a single charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer, according to AP.

According to the Guardian, Carthage police chief Chris McKenzie told television stations the gunman was also injured before being apprehended by police, and that Stewart was not a patient at the nursing home. AP reports Stewart also is not believed to be related to any of the victims.

Stewart's ex-wife, Sue Griffin, told AP he had been contacting family members recently and telling them he had cancer and was preparing for a trip to "go away." She said he had been trying to call her through other family members, like her son, mother, sister, and grandmother.

Victims of the attack were Pinelake residents Tessie Garner, 88; Lillian Dunn, 89; Jessie Musser, 88; Bessie Hendrick, 78; John Goldston, 78; Margaret Johnson, 89; Louise Decker, 98; and nurse Jerry Avent.

Posted by vangx570 at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Spanish court on Saturday agreed to consider opening a criminal case against six senior officials in the Bush Administration for the use of torture in Guantanamo Bay.

Judge Baltasar Garzon, a leading anti-terror judge, agreed to send the case on to prosecutors, Gonzalo Boye, one of the lawyers who brought the charges, told the Associated Press.

The officials are former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; former secretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith; former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff David Addington; Justice Department officials John Yoo and Jay S. Bybee; and Pentagon lawyer William Haynes.

According to the Guardian, Boye believes the prosecutor would have little choice other than to approve the prosecution, and that Garzon would issue subpoenas in the next two weeks to make the six former officials present evidence.

Spanish law allows the courts to reach outside of Spain and prosecute in cases of torture or war crimes for universal justice. If arrest warrants were issued, the six accused would risk detention if they travelled outside the U.S., and President Barack Obama would be forced to open proceedings against them or request extradition from Spain.

The officials are charged with allowing interrogation methods like waterboarding suspects at Guantanamo, which the Spanish lawyers believe to have been torture.

President George W. Bush denied that the U.S. tortured anyone, and that all interrogations were lawful. The Obama Administration has acknowledged that they believe torture was committed, but they have not taken the steps toward a criminal inquiry.

According to the Guardian, the lawsuit listed six Spaniards who are said to have suffered directly from the Bush Administration's allowance of what international law might consider questionable interrogation methods. It claimed the six former officials "participated actively and decisively in the creation, approval and execution of a judicial framework that allowed for the deprivation of fundamental rights of a large number of prisoners, the implementation of new interrogation techniques including torture, the legal cover for the treatment of those prisoners, the protection of the people who participated in illegal tortures and, above all, the establishment of impunity for all the government workers, military personnel, doctors and others who participated in the detention centre at Guantánamo."

Posted by vangx570 at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An oil spill off Australia's northeast coast leaked ten times more oil than originally thought, a government official told the Associated Press Saturday.

Dozens of beaches in Queensland along a 37 mile coastline have been declared disaster zones after being covered in heavy fuel oil that spilled from a Swire Shipping ship, the Pacific Adventurer, on Wednesday.

Yahoo! News reported that the spill was initially estimated at 20 to 30 tons (5,300 to 7,900 gallons). Queensland state Deputy Premier Paul Lucas told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Saturday that it is "now apparent" the amount of oil spilled was around 230 tons (60,700 gallons).

Swire Shipping told Yahoo! News that an inspection of the hull by a diver found damage was greater than initially believed.

Containers of fertilizer had slipped from the ship's deck while it was being rocked in the seas by Cyclone Hamish and ripped a hole in a fuel tank.

AP reported that Queensland officials accused the company of misleading the government about the size of the spill. Premier Anna Bligh told AP that the initial estimate lead officials to predict there would be little environmental damage.

National parks at Moreton and Bribie islands were hardest hit by the oil, according to AP. Moreton Bay is a marine sanctuary and home to a range of sea birds as well as turtles, dolphins and pelicans.

The Environmental Protection Agency told AP no dead wildlife has been found so far.

Yahoo! News reported that Swire could face $977,000 in fines if found guilty of environmental or maritime breaches. The Associated Press said Swire could be fined up to $1.3 million and could be liable for up to $160 million more in penalties for causing environmental damage.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority told AP the ship would not be allowed to leave until officials were satisfied the spill had been explained. Yahoo! News reported Swire had to launch a separate clean-up effort on Friday to clean the oil leaked as the ship was being brought to port.

The New York Times reported the Pacific Adventurer lost 31 containers that held 620 metric tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and that the containers have not been found.

Experts fear the fertilizer could cause harmful algal blooms, suffocate fish and kill natural habitats, according to Yahoo! News.

Posted by vangx570 at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Japan on Friday warned North Korea, who plans to launch a rocket in April, that it can legally shoot down any threatening object if it falls towards its territory.

North Korea announced its plans to launch a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8, according to the New York Times. The rocket used will fly over Japan and drop fuel stages into the Pacific.

According coordinates Pyongyang provided to the United Nations, the Associated Press reported the rocket's first stage is expected to fall less than 75 miles from Japan's northwestern shore. The second stage should fall in the Pacific between Japan and Hawaii.

The AP reported that the U.S. and other governments have warned North Korea that any rocket launch would violate a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution banning the country from ballistic missile activity. This resolution also banned North Korea from nuclear tests and came after the country detonated its first nuclear device.

The New York Times reported the neighboring countries considered the launch a cover for testing North Korea's Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile.

"Legally speaking, if this object falls toward Japan, we can shoot it down for safety reasons," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told AP.

After a North Korean missile flew over its territory in 1998, Japan has been developing a missile defense system with the United States.

Lance Gatling, an independent defense analyst, told AP that Japan is capable of intercepting a medium-range missile, but the rocket expected to fire next month will be a long-range rocket.

If successful, the rocket will fly over Japan instead of falling towards it. The New York Times reported North Korea has said it will consider any attempt to intercept the rocket "an act of war" and will attack the interceptors.

Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at Sejong Institute near Seoul, told AP that if the launch is successful, it will provide the North an upper hand in future negotiations because it will show that the country has "a delivery vehicle for its nuclear weapons."

Posted by vangx570 at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A building materials company and its owner appealed a $12.6 million verdict, alleging the posts onto Twitter by a juror during the trial show he's biased against them.

The motion was filed Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court in Fayetteville on the behalf of Russell Wright and his company, Stoam Holdings. It claims eight messages were sent by juror Johnathan Powell to the Web on his cellular phone during the court case and influenced the outcome of the case.

According to USA Today, lawyer Drew Ledbetter wrote that the messages show Powell "was predisposed toward giving a verdict that would impress his audience."

The court case on Feb. 26 awarded $12.6 million two northwest Arkansas men who invested in the company, Mark Deihl and William Nystrom. The company sold Stoam, a building material that claimed to have the insulation abilities of foam and the strength of steel.

Deihl's attorney, Greg Brown, told the Associated Press the company was "nothing more than a Ponzi scheme."

During the court case, Powell sent eight messages to Twitter.com. According to USA Today, one of those read, "So Johnathan, what did you do today? Oh nothing really, I just gave away TWELVE MILLION DOLLARS of somebody else's money."

"I didn't really do anything wrong, so it's kind of crazy that they're trying to use this to get the case thrown out," Powell told the Associated Press. "I understand where they're coming from, they lost over $12 million."

Greg Brown, Deihl's attorney, told AP he doubts a new trial will be granted. He said the defendants must prove outside information entered the jury room and corrupted a verdict, not that information made its way out.

Posted by vangx570 at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The city of St. Paul asked the state of Minnesota to forgive a loan in order to build, own and operate an ice arena across the street from the Xcel Energy Center.

Mayor Chris Coleman proposed the idea of creating a second ice rink, called The Pond or 'Mini-X,' to a state House subcommittee Thursday. In order to build the rink, Coleman's bill asked the lawmakers to forgive $33 million in loans, which the city would use to build the arena.

According to the Star Tribune, the bill would also allow the city to issue up to $40 million in bonds to help finance the project.

The building will be 120,000 square feet and will have three stories. It will be open year-round, have seating for up to 4,000 people and, according to the Pioneer Press, house shops and restaurants in the future.

According to the Star Tribune, the Pond will provide a place for the Minnesota Wild to practice, to host amateur hockey and figure skating events, to handle overflow from the Xcel Center events and to give downtown visitors another recreational event that would make them spend more time and money in the area.

"It creates jobs, it's shovel-ready and it can have an immediate impact on the economy," Coleman told a subdivision of the House Finance Committee, according to the Star Tribune. "This is exactly what the city of St. Paul needs to be doing in this economy."

St. Paul officials told the Star Tribune the project will create 200 jobs and bring in more money. The early estimates say the rink will make at least $4 million annually.

The future of the plan is unclear.

The city has tried to persuade lawmakers to forgive the debt previous to this proposal, but it has failed.

According to the Star Tribune, the city will continue to pay the loan for the next four years, for a total of about $7 million. If the legislation is approved, the city would have paid back $15.3 million of the original $48 million Xcel loan.

Posted by vangx570 at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Police on Thursday seized a car suspected to be the car involved in a hit-and-run in Apple Valley that struck and critically injured a woman in an intersection crosswalk.

The family of the woman, Joan LeVasseur, 26, of Apple Valley, also said it has decided to remove her from life support.

Police said they were led to the car by a tip from the public. They seized the 2003 Ford Focus, and Apple Valley police Capt. Jon Rechtzigel told the Star Tribune the car had front-end damage consistent with striking a pedestrian.

LeVasseur has been in Hennepin County Medical Center with a severe brain injury, multiple fractures to her legs, a fractured pelvis, a broken right and and cuts on her face. The Pioneer Press reported her family wrote on her CaringBridge Web site that doctors told them there is "no sign of meaningful recovery."

Rechtzigel told the Star Tribune the people living at the home where the car was seized are not talking with police and have secured an attorney.

No one has been charged. The case remains under investigation, Rechtzigel told the Pioneer Press.

Posted by vangx570 at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The article about President Obama overturning Bush's limitations on funding for stem-cell research was an advance. The angle of the story was the fact that Obama is overturning a policy of the previous administration, and the article discusses what stem-cell research is and how different organizations feel about it. The reporter made this article more than merely a listing by discussing the potential conflict. The source for the news was a White House offical who was not named. It also includes opinions from people like the president of the Family Research Council and other government officials, and background information on the subject, like what Obama said during his campaign about stem-cell research and what he would do when he became president.

Posted by vangx570 at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An Elbow Lake, Minn., man accused of abducting his stepdaughter at gunpoint Saturday was arrested by police early Sunday morning.

David R. Sabby, 46, kidnapped his stepdaughter, Amy Henning, 17, in a parking lot at the West Ridge Mall Saturday evening. Around 1:15 a.m. Sunday, Sabby gave her the keys to his car and let her drive away, Fergus Falls Police Chief Tim Brennan told the Star Tribune.

Sabby later approached a home near Swan Lake in Otter Tail County looking for a phone and was arrested after the homeowner called the sheriff about him, the Star Tribune reported.

The Pioneer Press reported that Sabby had tied up Henning's stepbrother using duct tape and left him in the car Henning drove to the mall. After 20 to 30 minutes, the stepbrother managed to get free and notified authorities.

Henning had a restraining order against Sabby.

Brennan told the Pioneer Press Sabby was not cooperating with the investigators. Sabby was booked into Otter Tail County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault causing substantial injury, kidnapping causing bodily harm and possession of a firearm.

Motive for the kidnapping is unknown, Brennan told the Star Tribune. It is also unclear what happened while the girl was missing.

Posted by vangx570 at 8:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A deaf woman struck by a hit-and-run driver Friday in Apple Valley remains in critical condition.

Joan LeVasseur, 26, was walking eastbound on Cedar Avenue on 153 Street in Apple Valley when a car struck her. The Star Tribune reported she was walking towards Cub Foods in a crosswalk.

The vehicle left the scene without stopping.

The car was described to the Pioneer Press by police as a "large light-colored vehicle in the northbound lane." The Star Tribune reported there could be possible front end damage.

LeVasseur suffered severe head trauma, brain injuries and fractures in her legs, pelvis, right hand and lacerations to her face, Lori LeVasseur, her sister-in-law, told the Pioneer Press.

Apple Valley Sgt. Joe Shaw told the Star Tribune there have been no arrests in the case.

Posted by vangx570 at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. President Barack Obama will remove former President George W. Bush's limits on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research on Monday.

A senior administration official told Yahoo! News the president will sign an executive order reversing a policy that limits funding to stem-cell research.

The exact wording of the order was not given, but it will be in line with what Obama's campaign vowed to do in support for the research.

The New York Times said a ceremony at the White House is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. Eastern time Monday and Obama will make an announcement.

Posted by vangx570 at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A gunman walked down the aisle of a church during a Sunday service, shot and killed the pastor, and then stabbed himself and slashed two other people.

A man walked into First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., during the 8 a.m. service and spoke briefly with The Rev. Fred Winters before pulling a handgun and shooting Winters, Illinois State Police Master Trooper Ralph Timmins told the Associated Press. Four rounds were fired before the gun jammed and the gunman took out a knife and stabbed himself.

Jeff Ross, a lay minister at the church, told USA Today Winters was shot in the heart and neck.

Natalie Head told the Associated Press Winters was pronounced dead at Anderson Hospital, and the two people who were injured trying to subdue the shooter were flown to another hospital.

Timmins said Winters was fatally shot once before the gun jammed. Officials don't know whether Winters and the gunman knew each other. The motives of the attack have not been determined and the name of the gunman has not been released.

According to the church's website, Winters was the former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and an adjunct professor for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Posted by vangx570 at 8:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Early Sunday morning, a suicide bomber near a Baghdad police academy blew himself up, killing 28 people and injuring 57.

The bombing occured at an intersection between the police academy and the oil ministry. The bomber mingled with the crowd while oil employees were demonstrating, Amar Sami Abdul Hussain, a police lieutenant who was stopping people from going towards the site of the bombing, told the New York Times.

The bomb went off about an hour into the demonstration.

Hussain told the New York Times the police believe an accomplice set off the bomb using a remote control device.

A police officer told The Guardian that the bomber was riding a motorcycle when he drove into the line, but the interior ministry said this had not yet been determined.

Some police reports say the bomber's accomplice was on a motorcycle, and others say that the individual was wearing a suicide vest, the New York Times reported.

The Guardian reported no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Posted by vangx570 at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Facebook Article | FB Press Release + Article

The article talks about the press conference held by Facebook to address people's concern about the new Terms of Usage. The article took the aspects of the press release that were most important to tell readers and Facebook users and placed that first. Also added into the article was background information on the issue, as well as past issues in Facebook. All of the information contributes to the article and what would have led the people at Facebook to decide to ask users what they feel about changes in policies.

Though the press release was written like a regular article, it was not merely placed into the website. The information in the press release was compressed to something short and understandable for readers. The reporter used quotes to support points made by the press release and Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg. They also used quotes by other people who are related to Facebook or issues surrounding Facebook, like the Privacy International director.

Posted by vangx570 at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Police arrested a Duluth man after allegedly stealing a car and repeatedly calling 911 to brag to the police that they would not catch him.

Police told the Star Tribune the 23-year-old man, whose name was not released, stole gas from a gas station Friday night then fled in a car he allegedly stole earlier.

An officer chased the man after he spotted the stolen car, but after crashing into a guardrail the man turned off his lights and sped away.

After police found the car abandoned, the man allegedly began calling 911 and telling dispatchers he would not be caught because he was "smarter than the police."

Two hours later, a man called 911 to report a prowler and found the suspect hiding in a shed. Police arrested him.

Posted by vangx570 at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Fridley man was sentenced to 84 days in jail and will be on probation for six years after his release for exposing himself to underage girls last year.

According to the Pioneer Press, Brian Erik Thompson, 26, was sentenced by Judge Robert Awsumb in Ramsey County District Court. His sentence begins March 13.

He also had to pay a fine; remain law-abiding; have no contact with the victims, minors or vulnerable adults; not have any unapproved access to the internet; and possess no pornographic or sexually explicit material.

In 2008, Thompson exposed himself three times to girls younger than 16. On Feb. 6, he drove up to a 15-year-old girl in Roseville and asked her for directions while his penis was exposed. On April 29, Thompson pulled up to a girl walking home from school in St. Paul and asked for directions. When the girl approached him, he exposed himself to her. On June 17, he exposed himself to a 14-year-old girl delivering newspapers in Roseville.

Thompson was arrested on June 18 because the 14-year-old girl was able to give police his license plate number. In November, he pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Since his arrest, he has been admitted into a treatment program for sex offenders.

Posted by vangx570 at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Minneapolis police are investigating a possible link between five armed robberies committed Sunday morning in different areas of South Minneapolis.

The suspects were described as two men in their 20s and robbed seven people between 12:30 a.m. and 2 a.m., according to the Star Tribune.

Police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer told the Star Tribune the men drove up to victims in a car and robbed the suspects after threatening them with a gun, taking cash, wallets, purses, cell phones and clothing.

According to the Pioneer Press, the suspects approached people getting into or out of a vehicle.

The robberies occurred in three locations, the Pioneer Press reported. Two were near the Crosstown Commons, one was on East 35th Street west of Hiawatha Avenue, and two were east of downtown.

Posted by vangx570 at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The United Nations opened a tribunal at The Hague in The Netherlands to identify and prosecute those responsible for the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others in a car bombing in 2005.

According to the International Herald Tribune, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was set up by the United Nations Security Council because it did not believe the Lebanese government was in a position to hold an independent investigation leading up to the trials.

The chief prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare of Canada, told the International Herald Tribune he would soon ask Lebanon to transfer suspects and evidence and would continue his own investigations.

Syria is believed to be involved in the assassination, but it has denied any involvement. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported the tribunal is likely to ask Lebanon to hand over four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals who had been held since August 2005 on suspicion of murder and terrorist acts but never formally charged.

The tribunal will have eleven judges. Four judges will be Lebanese, but the others include British, Dutch and Italian judges. The names of the judges will be announced when they are sworn in.

Hriri was killed in 2005 when a van packed with explosives blew up.

Posted by vangx570 at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Washington state to begin Death with Dignity Act

The state of Washington passed a law allowing terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to ask their doctors for lethal medication.

The law, known as the Death with Dignity Act, will be in effect Thursday, according to Yahoo! News.

Dr. Tom Preston, a retired cardiologist and board member of Compassion & Choices, the group that campaigned for and supports the law, told Yahoo! News he believes there will be an increase in discussion about the issue between doctors and patients because of the law and over time more doctors will be open to participating.

Though patients will be able to ask their doctors for the medication, physicians and pharmacists are not required to prescribe or fill the prescriptions if they oppose the law. Some hospitals are not going to participate. The Olympian reported about a few hospitals whose board of commissioners voted against following the law in their hospital, including Prosser Memorial Hospital in Prosser, Wash., who will prohibit its medical staff, employees, independent contractors and volunteers from "assisting terminally ill patients in ending their own lives on the hospital's premises."

The law requires that any patient requesting fatal medication be at least 18 years old, declared competent, and a state resident. The patient would hve to make two oral requests, 15 days apart, and submit a written request witnessed by two people, one of which must not be connected to the requester or health facility where the requester lives. Additionally, two doctors must certify that the patient has a terminal condition and six months or less to live.

Posted by vangx570 at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)