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Univ. of Florida closes fraternity over abuse of wounded vets

Zeta Beta Tau

The University of Florida closed a fraternity Tuesday amid allegations that its members hurled drunken insults and spat at a group of disabled veterans at a Panama City Beach resort.
The closing of Zeta Beta Tau’s fraternity comes a week after the school suspended the fraternity, which expelled three of its members after finding out about their inappropriate behavior. The school previously said it was charging the fraternity with obscene, behavior, public intoxication, theft, causing physical or other harm and damage to property.
The fraternity’s Florida chapter has 128 active members. The organization was founded in New York City in 1898 as a fraternity for Jewish students, who at the time were not allowed into other Greek organizations. The national organization agreed to the closure.
"We are absolutely disgusted by the accusations that have been made regarding the behavior of members of this chapter. ZBT has a long history of serving our country, with brothers currently serving in all ranks of the military," said ZBT Fraternity International President Matthew J. Rubins.
The Warrior Beach group says the frat members were extremely drunk and were urinating on flags, vomiting off of balconies and were verbally abusive while the two groups were at the Laketown Wharf Resort last weekend. The veterans were there for an annual retreat meant to honor their service, while the fraternity had a social gathering.
"I continue to be saddened and disappointed by the reported mistreatment and disrespect of our military veterans," University of Florida President Kent Fuchs said in a statement. "Our university has always honored, and will always honor, the service of veterans. The reported conduct of this fraternity contradicts the values of service and respect that are at the center of this university."
Members of Zeta Beta Tau from the University of Florida and Emory University in Georgia were attending their spring formals at the resort. Emory officials are investigating, but so far they found no evidence to implicate their students.
The fraternity was already on conduct probation for a hazing incident in the fall semester. The fraternity has hired its own independent investigator to find out what happened.

California Gov. Jerry Brown calls for large fines for severe water wasters

California Gov. Jerry Brown called for $10,000 fines Tuesday for residents and businesses that waste the most water during the drought, as his administration rejected calls from cities to relax its mandatory water conservation targets.
The recommendation was part of a proposed legislation to expand enforcement of water restrictions. It comes as his administration faces skepticism from some local water departments about his sweeping plan to save water.
Later Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board released updated mandatory water reduction targets cutting consumption as much as 36 percent compared with 2013. The proposal was largely unchanged from a previous version and did not include the modifications some communities had sought.
"We've done a lot. We have a long way to go," Brown said after meeting with the mayors of 14 cities, including San Diego and Oakland. "So maybe you want to think of this as just another installment on a long enterprise to live with a changing climate and with a drought of uncertain duration."
Brown also said he is directing state agencies to speed up environmental review of projects that increase local water supplies. Mayors have complained that such projected have been delayed by red tape.
Brown’s actions will not extend to the construction of dams and reservoirs. A legislative panel on Monday rejected a bill, supported by Republicans, to expedite construction of water storage projects near Fresno.
State regulators authorized last summer $500 fines for outdoor water wase, but few cities have levied such high amounts. Many agencies have said they would rather educate customers than penalize them.
The mayors who gathered Tuesday with Brown did not indicate they were seeking higher fines.
Brown said steep fines should still be a last resort and that “only the worst offenders” that continually violated water rules for be subject to $10,000 fines.
California is in its fourth year of drought, and state officials fear it may last as long as a decade. State water officials on Tuesday toured the High Sierra by helicopter, finding snow at only one of four sites that normally would be covered, said Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources.
 "We'd be flying along at 10,000 feet, where there should be an abundant snowpack this time of year, and it's dry, dusty ground," he said by telephone.
Brown previously ordered a mandatory 25 percent reduction in statewide water use in cities and towns after voluntary conservation wasn't enough to meet his goals.
The board is scheduled to vote next week on regulations to achieve Brown's water saving goals, which call for cities to cut water use from between 4 percent to 36 percent compared to 2013, the year before Brown declared a drought emergency.
   Some cities say the targets are unrealistic and possibly breaking the law. Some Northern California communities say their longstanding legal rights to water protect them from having to make cuts to help other parched towns. 
The current conservation plan is based on per-capita residential water use last summer. The board rejected alternatives that reflect greater demand for water in more arid parts of the state and give credit for conservation efforts before the drought began.
"There are entities like San Diego that are doing a remarkable job on conservation," Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in an interview after the meeting with Brown. "We're investing significant dollars in desalination and wanting to invest significant dollars into water recycling."
Caren Trgovcich, chief deputy director of the water board, said regulators are focused on saving as much water no matter where it comes from and proposed alternatives were less likely to meet Brown's 25 percent savings goal. 
Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin said she was pleased that the governor intended to streamline regulations for such things as her city's planned surface water treatment plant and a water recycling facility. 
Earlier this month, an appeals court struck down tiered water rates designed to encourage conservation in the Orange County city of San Juan Capistrano, saying rates must be linked to the cost of service. 
Brown, however, said the ruling does not eliminate using tiered water rates but added "it's not as easy as it was before the decision."    
In a prepared statement, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said she was reviewing the proposal but "it's clear that local governments need additional enforcement tools" to conserve water.

IRS watchdog recovers thousands of missing Lois Lerner emails

The Treasury’s Inspector General for Tax Administration notified the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday that they have recovered thousands of Lois Lerner emails that were not previously produced to Congress, committee members told Fox News.
The inspector general recovered approximately 6,400 Lerner emails and will carefully examine them as part of the committee’s bipartisan IRS investigation.
The Hill reported that around 650 emails were from 2010 and 2011, while most of them were from 2012. The inspector general has found about 35,000 emails in all as it sought to recover emails from backup tapes.
The IRS, in a statement to the website, said that it was pleased to hear the Treasury’s inspector general found the emails saying it was an “encouraging development that will help resolve remaining questions and dispel uncertainty surrounding the emails.”
The IRS also said it took the inspector general around 10 months to come up with the emails sent or received during the period affected by Lerner’s computer crash.
The agency said last year that Lerner’s computer crashed in 2011 and her emails were lost.
Lerner has been the focus of an investigation into the agency’s target of the Tea Party and other nonprofit groups with conservative names that applied for tax-exempt status.
Lerner was placed on leave in May 2013 and retired four months later.
“I have not done anything wrong,” Lerner said in her 2013 opening statement. “I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations. And I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.”
The IRS scandal broke in May 2013 when Lerner said at an American Bar Association gathering and during a follow-up conference call with reporters there was a “very quick uptick” in nonprofit applications and that the vetting process was limited to the agency’s Cincinnati office.
The extent to which the Obama administration knew about the targeting, beyond Lerner’s unit in Washington, remains unclear in part because, she says, her computer crashed and emails were lost.
Lerner attorney William Taylor said he and is client are “gratified but not surprised” by the decision by the U.S. Attorney’s Office not to pursue contempt of court charges against her earlier this month after she refused to testify about her role at the IRS in the targeting of conservative groups.
“Anyone who takes a serious and impartial look at this issue would conclude that Ms. Lerner did not waive her Fifth Amendment rights.” he said. “It is unfortunate that the majority party in the House put politics before a citizen’s constitutional rights.”
Steel also said the White House still has the opportunity to “do the right thing and appoint a special counsel to examine the IRS’ actions."

Baltimore quiets down as residents obey all-night curfew

The streets of Baltimore were eerily quiet Tuesday night into early Wednesday as residents obeyed an all-night curfew enforced by 3,000 police and National Guardsmen, a day after riots engulfed the city.
The 10 p.m. curfew got off to a not-so promising start as 200 protesters initially defied the warnings of police and pleas from activists to disperse.
Some people in the crowd threw water bottles or lay on the ground as a line of police behind riot shields hurled gas canisters and fired pepper balls to push the crowd back. Demonstrators picked up the canisters and hurled them back at officers, but the crowd would rapidly disperse and was just down to a few dozen people within minutes.
The clash came after a day of high tension but relative peace and calm in Baltimore, which was rocked by looting and widespread arson Monday in the city’s worst outbreak of rioting since 1968.
Police, political leaders and many residents condemned the violence and hundreds of volunteers showed up Tuesday to sweep the streets of glass and other debris.
Just before midnight Tuesday, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts declared the curfew, which ends at 5 a.m., a success. 
"We do not have a lot of active movement throughout the city as a whole. ... Tonight I think the biggest thing is the citizens are safe, the city is stable," he said. "We hope to maintain it that way."
Batts said a total of 10 people were arrested after the curfew went into effect; two for looting, one for disorderly conduct and seven for violating the curfew.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other officials made appearances throughout the day, promising to reclaim and restore pride to the city. Baltimore Public Schools CEO Gregory Thornton said in a notice posted on the school system’s website that schools would open Wednesday and all clubs and sports activities will take place.
But life was unlikely to get completely back to normal anytime soon: The curfew was to go back into effect at 10 p.m. Wednesday and baseball officials -- in what may be a first in the sport's 145-year history -- announced that Wednesday's Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards would be closed to the public. 
The violence set off soul-searching among community leaders and others, with some suggesting the uprising was not just about race or the police department, but also about high unemployment, high crime, poor housing, broken-down schools and lack of opportunity in Baltimore's inner-city neighborhoods -- issues that are not going away anytime soon. 
Activists also stressed that they would continue to press authorities for answers in the case of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died of a spinal-cord injury under mysterious circumstances while in police custody. His case is what spurred Monday's riots.
A group of pastors announced plans to hold a rally and prayer vigil for the city of Baltimore and Gray’s family at noon Wednesday and to “draw public attention to 17 police accountability bills the state legislature failed to pass during the recent legislative session.”
Meanwhile, under the state of emergency Gov. Hogan declared Monday, the more than 200 people arrested since the unrest began could wait longer than usual to have their day in court. 
Normally, state law requires that people arrested without warrants appear before a court official within 24 hours of their arrests. But as part of the state of emergency, the governor extended the period to no later than 47 hours, according to a letter he sent Tuesday to Judge Barbara Baer Waxman, the administrative judge for the Baltimore District Court.
"This exercise of my authority is necessary to protect the public safety and to address the more than 200 arrests that were made by Baltimore Police Department and other law enforcement officials," Hogan wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.