6A The Daily Sentinel • Tuesday, March 9, 2010 .... Court takes case of protest at Marine’s funeral in 2006 By THE NEW YORK TIMES disturb him. advertisement suggesting that NEWS SERVICE “For the rest of my life,” Falwell had incestuous sex in an Snyder said, “I will remember outhouse. (Coincidentally, Fal- WASHINGTON — The Su- what they did to me, and it has well expressed views not wholly preme Court on Monday agreed tarnished the memory of my different from those of the to decide whether the father son’s last hour on earth.” funeral protesters, saying that of a Marine killed in Iraq may He added that he became an- the nation’s attitudes toward sue protesters who picketed his gry and tearful when he thought homosexuality and abortion son’s funeral with signs that about the protest and that the had played a role in the Sept. 11 read “God Hates You” and memory of it had caused him attacks.) “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.” to vomit. Snyder contends that the Hus- A federal appeals court dis- The protesters complied with tler decision should not apply to missed the lawsuit on First local laws and instructions from lawsuits brought by one private Amendment grounds and threw the police about keeping their person against another. In libel out a $5 million award against distance. and other cases, the Supreme DEAN HUMPHREY/The Daily Sentinel the protesters, who are members They did not know the Sny- Court has limited the First GRAND JUNCTION POLICE INVESTIGATE at the scene of a fatal shooting late Sunday night in the 2400 block of Westboro Baptist Church in ders, and they had staged simi- Amendment protection afforded Topeka, Kan., and maintain that lar protests at other military to purely private speech. of Texas Avenue in Grand Junction. Andrew Boxa died from a gunshot wound to the head. God hates homosexuality and funerals. A three-judge panel of the 4th that the death of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan is God’s way of punishing the United States for Snyder’s central claim is that the protesters intentionally inflicted emotional distress on U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Richmond, Va., unanimously ruled against Snyder, though NEIGHBOR: Married man had two young boys its tolerance of it. him. the judges split 2-1 over the ra- The fallen Marine was Lance In 1988, the Supreme Court tionale. ® Continued from Page One Samaritan,” Hill said of Boxa’s According to records on file Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, and his ruled that the First Amendment The majority said the mes- actions. with the Mesa County Justice funeral was held in Westmin- barred the Rev. Jerry Falwell sages on the protesters’ signs On Monday, McCleland was Center, Robert McCleland be- ster, Md., in 2006. from suing Hustler Magazine were protected under the First disturbance Christmas evening. ordered held on $1 million tween 1996 and 1999 was charged His father, Albert Snyder, for intentional infliction of Amendment because they ad- No action was taken, according bond at Mesa County Jail on in seven separate misdemeanor testified at trial in 2007 that the emotional distress. Hustler dressed matters of general to police records. suspicion of first-degree mur- cases of being a minor in pos- protests continued to haunt and had published a parody of an interest. Another resident in that block der, first-degree assault with a session of alcohol. He pleaded of Texas Avenue said Boxa was deadly weapon, menacing with guilty to the charge five times. a married father of two young a deadly weapon, prohibited use In two of the cases, the Detroit wants to save itself by shrinking boys and that the family would occasionally go to that resident’s home to watch football games. of a weapon and reckless endan- germent. “He’s been a good kid his en- charges were dropped after McCleland pleaded guilty to obstructing a peace officer and By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Betty Hill, 78, said she baby- tire life, except for his alcohol possession of less than an ounce DETROIT — Detroit, the very Detroit’s population drops drastically sat for one of the young girls at McCleland’s home. issues,” McCleland’s father told Mesa County Judge Craig of marijuana. He will be formally charged in symbol of American industrial The city’s population has Population 1,849,568 “He was just being a good Henderson. the shooting case on Monday. might for most of the 20th cen- been shrinking since the 1950 tury, is drawing up a radical re- 1950s, from nearly 2 million 1990 1,027,974 newal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blight- people to less than half that number in 2005. 2005 890,963 This time, Aspen man escapes canyon’s wrath ed, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed By DENNIS WEBB myself. In a sense I did, but you use fencing to try to safeguard Detroit before the automobile. Detroit Dennis.Webb@gjsentinel.com know that’s not going to hap- the canyon from rockfall, but Highland City Highland City Operating on a scale never be- Park Hamtramck Airport Park Hamtramck Airport pen to me again. If that sounds he also doesn’t think complete fore attempted in this country, When the man who lost his weird, you know you almost protection is possible. the city would demolish houses family in 1995 to a rockslide in have to believe that.” At the same time, he can’t DETROIT in some of the most desolate Lake Glenwood Canyon heard Mon- Fifteen years ago, Daily lost hole up in Aspen and avoid driv- sections of Detroit and move Percent St. Clair day morning about the boulders his wife, Kathy, and their two ing through it, especially with residents into stronger neigh- decrease by that crashed onto Interstate 70 neighborhood, sons, Tanner, 10, and Shea, 6, sons who are active in sports. borhoods. Roughly a quarter of the previous night, he felt relief. when a boulder struck the ve- Daily estimates that he goes 1950-2005 the 139-square-mile city could go CANADA “Thank heavens that there hicle he was driving through through the canyon about 10 More than 75% was no one underneath this from urban to semi-rural. the canyon. Daily eventually re- times a year. 50.1 to 75 rock,” Aspen attorney Art Daily Near downtown, fruit trees married and had two more sons, “It’s the only effective way to 25.1 to 50 said. “That was my only reac- and vegetable farms would re- MI. and just last year, he and his get from there to here,” he said. 0.1 to 25 decrease 0 3 mi tion, was thank God this rock place neighborhoods that are an wife, Allison, coauthored “Out He added, “You have to keep Gained population DETAIL didn’t hit anybody. A lot of my eerie landscape of empty build- 0 3 km of the Canyon,” a story about doing things. There’s no way to ings and vacant lots. Suburban SOURCES: Southeast Michigan Council of Governments; U.S. Census Bureau AP friends were coming through (the canyon Sunday) night.” coping with loss and moving on collectively protect ourselves commuters heading into the with life. against fate.” city center might pass through expected to unveil some details don’t accept that, but that is the That’s not to mention that Daily himself drove through Ironically, on Sunday night The whole concept of fate what looks like the countryside in his state-of-the-city address reality.” some 90 minutes before the Daily was returning from one remains a mystery to Daily, but to get there. Surviving neigh- this month. The meaning of what is afoot midnight torrent of boulders of his son’s hockey games, same he accepts its reality. He can’t borhoods in the birthplace of “Things that were unthink- is now settling in across the that tore holes in the interstate. as before the 1995 incident. This explain why fate claimed his the auto industry would become able are now becoming think- city. pockets in expanses of green. But Daily isn’t dwelling on how time his son, Burke, 12, and whole family in 1995, while leav- able,” said James W. Hughes, “People are afraid,” said Deb- Detroit officials first raised dean of the School of Planning orah L. Younger, past executive remarkably close he came to Burke’s friend were in the car. ing him alive to deal with their the idea in the 1990s, when and Public Policy at Rutgers director of a group called De- having a second encounter with Daily said he remains “in- loss. But he also welcomes fate’s blight was spreading. Now, with University, who is among the troit Local Initiatives Support the canyon’s wrath. tensely aware of the power of role in sparing him and his pas- the recession plunging the city urban experts watching the ex- Corporation that is working to “I came through almost an the canyon and what the can- sengers Sunday night. deeper into ruin, a decision periment with interest. “There revitalize five areas of the city. hour and a half ahead this yon can do.” He thinks state “I guess this was my turn to on how to move forward is ap- is now a realization that past “When you read that neighbor- time. I almost didn’t relate it to highway officials work hard to come through OK,” Daily said. proaching. Mayor Dave Bing, glories are never going to be re- hoods may no longer exist, that who took office last year, is captured. Some people probably sends fear.” CRISIS: Protective fencing may be considered RIGGED: Gas pedals are now being shortened ® Continued from Page One EXECUTIVE DECISION of Hanging Lake Tunnel. Rocks ® Continued from Page One think this could be a software- Toyota dealers are shorten- punched several holes into Gov. Bill Ritter declared a 17-mile stretch of Interstate 70 that was closed by an related issue.” ing or redesigning gas pedals the roadway, part of which is early morning rockslide in Glenwood Canyon a disaster area Monday. Gilbert did not address the and adjusting the floor area to elevated above the canyon wall, The governor’s office said the executive order was a necessary first step helping Gerdes said at the news confer- criticisms of his experiment prevent the risk of pedal entrap- and the largest hole is one about the state to get reimbursement for repairs from the Federal Highway Administration. ence webcast from Torrance, Monday but said in a statement ment by a floor mat. 10 feet by 20 feet in size. Calif. “Dr. Gilbert provides no that he had watched Toyota’s They also are adding an elec- In his order, Ritter said it could take weeks for highway crews to clear the roadway, No one was injured and no ve- evidence that his scenario oc- presentation and would visit tronic failsafe, a brake override hicles were damaged, although and that detours would add “at a minimum” two hours of travel time for anyone curs in the real world.” Exponent next week to look feature. And they are fixing ped- Stegman said two semitrailers trying to get around the closed road. The northern detour is at least 200 miles. If such damage occurred in at the information presented als that can return slowly or get came across the scene shortly the wiring, there would be signs Monday. stuck. afterward and had to be turned by the rock, it brought back provisions. Engineering and of corrosion, the engineers Many of the experts, politi- Toyota said Monday it was in- around. memories for the program planning work will be occurring said. cians and others weighing in vestigating a report that police The rocks ranged from 3 feet engineer in the transportation this week. Kristen Tabar, general man- on Toyota’s recalls are linked in California were dispatched to 10 feet in diameter. Crews department’s Glenwood Springs “We’re looking forward to get- ager of electronics systems at either to the automaker or to on a 911 call from the driver of used dynamite to splinter larger office. He saw similar damage in ting a quality contractor in here the Toyota Technical Center plaintiffs’ lawyers. a Prius hybrid who said the gas boulders, including one weigh- almost the exact same location to make the repairs in a timely in Ann Arbor, said Toyota had During the Feb. 23 House hear- pedal was stuck. The Prius has ing about 66 tons, into smaller after a rockfall on Thanksgiving manner,” Elsen said. examined many components ing, Buyer elicited that Gilbert been recalled, but not for stick- pieces that could be hauled Day of 2004. No protective fence is in place from vehicles reported to have was being paid by Sean Kane, ing pedals. away. Although it took only a day to above the part of the interstate accelerated uncontrollably, and the head of Safety Research & Toyota insists that it has not Meanwhile, geologists made reopen the interstate to two-way hit by the rockfalls Monday “we’ve found no evidence of Strategies Inc. and an adviser to found a problem with its elec- a two-hour climb up the canyon travel then, repairs required a and in 2004, but one may be corrosion.” plaintiffs’ lawyers. Buyer comes tronic throttle control, despite side Monday to determine the couple of months, Elsen said. considered now, Stegman said. EXPERT: SOME DOUBTS REMAIN from Indiana, home to a Toyota extensive testing. likelihood of more rocks falling. Stegman said the repairs cost She said the 2004 rockfall came Bill Visnic, senior editor at plant. “We’re confident in our Stegman said crews typically about $1.2 million. from higher up the canyon wall Edmunds Autoobserver.com, ‘CONFIDENT’ IN THROTTLE CONTROL electronic throttle control bring down threatening rocks Elsen said Monday’s rockfall and wouldn’t have been stopped said Toyota scored points. The automaker has recalled systems,” said Toyota spokes- through means such as blasting damaged fewer 23-foot-long by a fence. “They refuted fairly damning 8.5 million vehicles worldwide man Mike Michels. Referring or inflating an airbag that loos- retaining wall panels than last “This one is a little bit lower. evidence presented before Con- since November, including more to Exponent’s review, he said: ens them. She said they presum- time. The state also may benefit I think they’re going to be look- gress,” he said. “What it doesn’t than 6 million in the United “The testing was commissioned ably would try to dynamite the from the lower bids that have ing at that,” she said. answer, and what it will not States, mostly for acceleration- to reassure and revalidate what rock that concerns them to shat- been typical since contractors Monday’s incident came at silence, are the doubters who related issues. we know. ter it so it doesn’t cause more have struggled to find work as a a time of year when there’s major damage to the highway result of the recession. high rockfall danger because as it falls. Whatever the repairs cost, of thawing and freezing cycles As Joe Elsen peered into the they will begin soon, under that widen fractures and loosen biggest of the holes left behind emergency contract bidding rocks. Which media’s Web site Petraeus for president? ‘No’ a handy answer will you depend on for By THE ASSOCATED PRESS — and he didn’t mean As the most popular no book; he meant and widely known your local news - WASHINGTON — For a guy who professes to have no inter- no race for the White House. general of his genera- tion, Petraeus, 57, is est in running for president, Part of his stock approaching a new Gen. David Petraeus can come reply to the politics juncture in a career off as surprisingly eager to talk question — even when that catapulted him to about it — sometimes without it’s not asked — is to fame when President even being asked. cite lyrics from a Lor- George W. Bush sent In a recent appearance at the rie Morgan country- him to Baghdad in GEN. PETRAEUS early 2007 to carry out one that deals in reality World Affairs Council of Phila- delphia he turned a question western song about rejecting an unwanted a long-shot “surge” about his retirement plans into suitor: strategy that arguably rescued or reality shows? an opportunity to deny he has political ambitions. “What part of ‘no’ don’t you Iraq from collapse. understand?” Ambitious, shrewd, articu- GJSentinel.com An audience member asked if Then he chuckles as if to sug- late, famously competitive — Pe- he planned to write a book when gest he’s a bit embarrassed by traeus has a three-decade record he left the Army. He responded the fuss — fuss sometimes of of accomplishment, a penchant by saying he’d feared the poli- his own making. for publicity and a reputation We’re all over the news. tics question. Is he keeping his options for toughness that sets him “The answer is ‘no,’ ” he said open? apart in today’s military.