Vegas performers can battle Venetian hotel in court, judge says

Score one for the Las Vegas Strip’s ersatz Chewbaccas and Michael Jacksons.

In recent years, Las Vegas Boulevard has grown packed with costumed characters who pose for photos and tips. Some are refugees from Hollywood, where a police crackdown resulted in the arrests of an Elmo, a Freddy Krueger and a Mr. Incredible, among others.

Their arrival in Las Vegas inspired financially strapped locals to take a similar approach for (relatively) easy cash. (You can read a Times story about the Vegas street performers here.)

Photos: Costumed characters on the Strip

Casinos and law enforcement agencies have repeatedly clashed with the Strip buskers, some of whom hassle tourists and one another. Last year, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of two brothers, Jason Perez-Morciglio, who dresses as Zorro, and Sebastian Perez-Morciglio, who dresses as Darth Vader. 

Zorro was detained one day by Venetian hotel-casino security guards, who claimed he’d sold a tourist a sword outside the hotel, according to a summary of findings by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro. Zorro said he hadn’t, and refused to leave what he said was a public sidewalk.

His brother, who was not wearing his Darth Vader costume, approached and asked what Zorro had done wrong. Both men were handcuffed, taken into the hotel and searched by hotel security. Police arrived and gave them trespassing warnings.

Attorneys for the Venetian and Las Vegas police had asked that the lawsuit be thrown out, but as Vegas Inc. reported, Pro last week allowed the brothers to continue pursuing the suit. They claim that Venetian security staff used excessive force and that police were inadequately trained to protect the performers’ 1st Amendment rights.

The brothers have history on their side.

A few years back, after the ACLU filed suit on behalf of street preachers who worked on the Strip, county officials changed an ordinance that prevented them from brandishing signs larger than their bodies. The signs had been anathema to Vegas marketers, with messages such as "The sin and the sinner go straight to hell together."

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-- Ashley Powers in Las Vegas
Twitter.com/ashleypowers 

Photo: Kotton Kandy, a.k.a. Dwayne Dukes, 47, performs for tourists on the Strip. Dukes lost his job selling time shares in Las Vegas and has been posing for pictures for money. Credit: Genaro Molina /  Los Angeles Times

Mom of 'Baby Lisa' says her arrest is imminent; police deny it

A Missouri woman whose 10-month-old daughter went missing a week ago says she believes she's about to be arrested by Kansas City police, possibly as early as today, in the case. Police, however, deny plans to arrest the woman.

It's the latest public twist in what's known as the "Baby Lisa" case.

Kansas City police say they have hit one roadblock after another in their bid to find the blond 10-month-old who was reportedly last seen Oct. 3, when her mother, Deborah Bradley, tucked her in for the night. The baby's father, Jeremy Irwin, returned home from a night shift about 3:30 a.m. the next morning, and that's when the couple discovered the baby was missing, they told police.

The FBI has joined the search, which has taken authorities to a local landfill and led to the questioning of a teenage neighbor. They've even looked into a tip that a couple in California were seen with a child matching Baby Lisa's description. Most recently, officials were searching an abandoned well not far from the little girl's home.

But Capt. Steve Young, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, has told The Times that officials still do not have any suspects.

Nonetheless, Bradley believes that police seem determined to pin the potential kidnapping on her instead of focusing on finding the real culprit, according to Ashley Irwin, the missing child's aunt. Irwin told ABC that she believes Bradley's arrest is "inevitable" -- but also misguided.

"It's what the police do," Irwin was quoted as saying. "They don't have any leads, so they just have to pin it on somebody."

Irwin and other relatives, including the baby's grandparents, say they don't believe that Lisa's mother had anything to do with the child's disappearance.

Meanwhile, a Missouri grand jury has begun issuing subpoenas to local TV stations, seeking raw video of interviews with the child's relatives or family friends, according to the Kansas City Star. It appears to be a bid to look for discrepancies. Law enforcement authorities also returned to the child's home this week to search the backyard.

This isn't the first time that police and the child's parents have clashed during the course of the weeklong investigation. At one point, police suggested that the parents were no longer cooperating.

The parents said this wasn't true and that they were only asking for a momentary reprieve from nonstop questioning.

Bradley also has reported to the media that police told her she failed a lie-detector test, but she said she believes that was a ploy because she was not involved in the child's disappearance.

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-- Rene Lynch
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Photo: Baby Lisa, shown in an undated photo handed out by police. Credit: Reuters

 

What happened to Baby Lisa?

 
The case of missing 10-month-old Baby Lisa has baffled Kansas City, Mo., law enforcement.

The baby's mother said she put the infant to sleep in her crib on the evening of Oct. 3 and then retreated to her own bedroom and fell asleep. When her husband returned home about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday after his evening shift, the electrician said he found the front door wide open, the lights on -- and an empty crib.

The parents began frantically searching the house and shouting at each other to call 911. It was then that they discovered that their three cellphones, which were lined up on the counter for charging and reprogramming of phone numbers, were also missing.

Now, a week has gone by with no sign of Baby Lisa.

"Right now, we truly have no suspects," Capt. Steve Young, spokesman for the Kansas City, Mo., police department, told The Times.

Law enforcement officers have been working around the clock combing the area for clues, including searching an area landfill. Over the weekend, they re-created one possible scenario -- an intruder crawling in through the bedroom window -- as part of their investigation. The FBI has joined the search, and other local law enforcement agencies are loaning out their own lawmen to help in any way they can, Young said.

The parents, meanwhile, have issued plea after plea to whomever has their daughter: Please return her to safety.

At one point last week, the baby's parents, Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley, appeared to be embroiled in a dispute with the police. There were media reports that they were no longer cooperating with law enforcement. That's not true, the parents said, and insisted that they were doing everything asked of them.

Moreover, Deborah Bradley told the Associated Press that officials told her she had failed a lie detector test. She says she believes it was a ploy, and that she has told law enforcement everything she knows.

On Monday, Young said he would not comment on that wrinkle in the case other than to say that "Everybody is back talking again and we're very happy with that."

Friends and relatives are also pitching in to find the little girl. The baby's aunt handed out thousands of fliers to NASCAR fans attending the Kansas Speedway's Sprint Cup race over the weekend, and a Help Find Lisa Irwin page has been set up on Facebook.

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-- Rene Lynch
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Photo: From the Help Find Lisa Irwin Facebook page. 

Crowd lifts burning car off man: Eyewitness catches it on film

In a dramatic rescue Monday near Utah State University, a crowd of good Samaritans lifted a burning car off a motorcyclist trapped underneath -- and all of it was captured on video.

Chris Garff said he was doing what any good videographer would do when he grabbed his camera and went to investigate the black smoke billowing outside the Logan, Utah, business building where he was preparing to videotape a lecture for a business professor.

But as he trained the camera's eye on the action, he realized he was capturing something extraordinary. "I knew there was some pretty remarkable footage," he said in an interview with The Times. "Then it really starts to set in, that this is going to be a big deal."

Moments earlier, a motorcycle and a BMW had collided, leaving the motorcyclist trapped underneath the car; the bike quickly went up in flames that spread to the front of the BMW.

By the time Garff started shooting from his perch on the ninth floor, a few bystanders had rushed over and frantically tried to lift the vehicle -- but it wouldn't budge. Then came a second wave of help, including some nearby construction workers still wearing their hard hats.

The crowd hoisted up the side of the car so that it was resting on just two wheels. That created just enough space for one of the construction workers to dart underneath and pull the man's seemingly lifeless body to safety. (If you look closely, you can see the flames starting to creep up the man's left foot.)

Emergency workers began treating the man; Garff said he continued to roll and tried to figure out what to do next. And then he realized the man was moving -- and still alive.

"I was just freaking out, you can hear my voice on the video, I thought that guy was a goner," Garff, 31, said. "I couldn't believe it when I saw him move."

The man, later identified as 21-year-old Brandon Wright, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and treated for broken bones and other injuries. He faces a long recovery, and his family released a statement thanking the strangers who saved him.

"Brandon and our entire family would like to express our deep gratitude to all of the people who stopped at the crash scene on Monday to help rescue Brandon," the statement said. “The fact that so many people would risk their own lives to save Brandon is a testament to the spirit of the community, and we will forever be thankful for these angels saving our son."

As for Garff, he said he had to get back to work after the rescue -- the media production specialist still had a lecture to shoot. But when class was over, he prepped the video and contacted local media to see if they might be interested.

Were they ever.

In less than 24 hours, the video has had more than 42,000 views on YouTube, and Garff's phone is ringing off the hook with interview requests from the likes of CNN and other media outlets.

Garff said he's pleased with the attention, but he's more pleased to know he lives in a world where strangers will put their lives in danger to help others.

"The guy survived, thankfully he did. Those people didn't stop to think... they acted. Strangers stopped and lifted a car and saved a man's life. It tells you that there's hope."

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--Rene Lynch
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Photo: Screen grab of the video posted on YouTube.

Public gets first up-close view of September 11 Memorial

The National September 11 Memorial in New York opened to the public Monday, offering the first up-close view of the gray, cavernous waterfalls that designer Michael Arad calls "voids."

The somber memorial features twin reflecting pools that sit within the footprints of the original twin towers. The pools are nearly an acre in size and feature the largest artificial waterfalls in North America. The names of victims of both the first World Trade Center attack in 1993 and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are inscribed in bronze panels placed around the edge of the pools.

Hundreds of swamp white oak trees dotting the surrounding plaza are intended to create a canopy that will dramatically change with the seasons.

Photos: A look at the new September 11, 2001 Memorial

Kevin Nolan of Philadelphia told a Los Angeles Times reporter after his visit that he found the site "very nice," though neither he nor a friend with him understood the concept behind the design. "I think they should have rebuilt," said the friend, who declined to provide her name. "To me, building up is more important than building downward."

Nolan praised the etching of victims' names into the parapets surrounding each pool, because it offers the families a way to run their fingers over their loved ones' names. "That's really important to them, I'm sure," he said of people who lost loved ones.

He said he was surprised that for all the security concerns of late he was not asked to show an ID before entering. (Visitors produced printed passes and had their handbags and other personal items scanned.)

Fears about a security bottleneck did not materialize. Nor did the crowds inside. Visitors said there was plenty of space to wander among the oaks and peer down at the pools.

"I found it beautiful -- moving," said Esmerelda Martinez, who had come from Jersey City, N.J. She told a Times reporter: "I'm not sure I understand the design or why they did it this way, but it works."

Demand for passes to the memorial was so overwhelming that many people showed up without bookings, hoping they could still get in.

Among those taking the gamble were Stephanie Austin of Los Angeles and her friend, Lia Killeen of San Francisco, who were in New York this week for vacation.

After Sunday's formal dedication, Austin said she wanted to see the memorial for herself, "just to reflect on the event closely."

Though the women were just 13 when the attacks occurred, and neither knows anyone injured or killed, Austin said she felt a connection to the victims whose names are engraved in the parapets. "As an American, I felt like we were all in this together."

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-- Tina Susman reporting form New York and Rene Lynch reporting from Los Angeles

Photo: Visitors look over one of the pools at the September 11 Memorial Plaza on Monday. Photo: Mike Segar / Associated Press

9/11 anniversary: How the loss was felt worldwide

In Paris, they unfurled a giant American flag and framed the Eiffel Tower with Twin Towers made out of scaffolding.

In Manila, there were roses, balloons and prayers. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak sent a letter to President Obama conveying his "deepest condolences" and calling the terrorist attacks 10 years ago "unpardonable." And in New Zealand, where the time zones made that country among the first in the world to mark the anniversary, players participating in the Rugby World Cup tournament paused before game time to remember the dead.

PHOTOS: A nation mourns the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

The United States was not alone in its day of remembrance on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Media reports were brimming with reminders that many around the globe mourned with us:

--Firefighters in Sydney, Australia, climbed the stairs to the top of the city's tallest building -- to symbolize the first responders who rushed to help victims -- and hundreds more gathered at a ceremony to remember those who were lost. In Madrid, a crowd planted trees and offered up a moment of silence.

--In London, dignitaries recalled those countrymen who died in the attacks. "Although that dreadful act of violence was meant to divide us, it has actually drawn us together, one person to another, one community to another," Prince Charles was quoted as saying.

--About 500 soldiers gathered at Bagram Air Field near the Afghan capital, Kabul, for a ceremony in front of a piece of World Trade Center rubble. It was briefly interrupted by a reminder of war -- when a fighter jet buzzed closely overhead.

--At NATO's headquarters in Brussels, a French soldier played taps and the flags of 28 alliance states were lowered to half-staff as a tribute to the victims. About 130,000 NATO troops -- two-thirds of them Americans -- now serve in Afghanistan. More than 2,700 service members have died in that war.

--And at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI offered a prayer in memory of the victims and was quoted in the media as saying, "I invite the leaders of nations and men of goodwill to reject violence always as a solution to problems, to resist the temptation to hate and to work within society based on the principles of solidarity, justice and peace."

In Paris, the 82-foot-tall replicas of the Twin Towers were adorned with the names of 9/11 victims as well as the words, "The French Will Never Forget," in English and in French. A memorial service with the American ambassador to France, Charles Rivkin, and the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, was held to coincide in real time with the attacks 10 years ago.

Due to heavy rain, a smaller than expected crowd of a few hundred gathered for the ceremony, waving American and French flags. For many of the French citizens present, 9/11 was a tragedy that struck a nation and culture to which they felt closely attached. Many said they could imagine Paris being just as easily targeted by terrorists, and that 10 years ago they felt as though their own people were under attack.

"We experienced 9/11 too, with them. We watched the images at the same time," said 17-year-old Megan Coipel, who said she brought a large American flag to the event as a show of support. "It could
happen here. We're not safe from anything," added her friend, Maxime Desprez, 16.

Older generations said they felt forever indebted to the United States because of its role in liberating France from Nazi occupation. "Since World War II I know how grateful we must be to the Americans," said Eliane Brouilhit, 68. "I was shattered on 9/11. I was pulled down to pieces. I shall never forget."

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-- Devorah Lauter in Paris and Rene Lynch in Los Angeles

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Model twin towers made of scaffolding frame the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Credit: Michael Euler / Associated Press

On 9/11 anniversary, a solemn Shanksville to take center stage

In the 10 years since tragedy fell from the sky and landed in its backyard, the tiny town of Shanksville, Pa., has come to embrace its role in history.

United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field just outside of this town of fewer than 300 people in western Pennsylvania. The crash site, a reclaimed mine, is just a few miles from the town center, which is little more than a cluster of homes, churches, Ida’s country store and a sign that welcomes visitors to "Shanksville, a friendly little town."

PHOTOS: A nation mourns the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

On this anniversary weekend, Shanksville aimed to live up to its billing. Tiny flags lined the curbs, as if awaiting a parade. Churches posted messages of remembrance. "Remember Flight 93" signs hung from lamp posts and porches.

"We went from being a town nobody even knew ... to a place known around the nation," said Ben Eisler, a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter. Like many in town, Eisler came out to the new Flight 93 memorial on Sunday to commemorate the day. President Obama was slated to lay a wreath here later in the day.

Eisler said he’s been to the site every year since the crash, which took 44 lives. His mom was an "ambassador" -- one of many local volunteers who flocked to the site to assist victims' families and other visitors.
 
The town has gotten used to helping outsiders find their way. More than a million people have visited the site in the last decade. The town’s firehouse holds a musem of sorts, including a collection of patches traded with firefighters visiting from across the country. Outside the firehouse is an iron cross reclaimed from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

A few miles away, a local chapel built a smaller memorial its in back garden, giving tourist a place of quiet reflection while the $60-million memorial was under construction at the site of the crash. The hijackers are believed to have been planning to crash the plane in Washington, D.C., either at the Capitol or the White House. But the plane went down in the Pennsylvania field after passengers banded together and fought back.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the attention has become commonplace for Shanksville and the mountain towns around it. But longtime residents still remember a time when the area was known for coal mining, farming, hunting -- or not much at all.

"It’s just amazing that something of this magnitude happened in this little area," said Cathy Haer.

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Photo: A family member of one of the victims of the crash of United Flight 93 walks along a section of the national memorial in Shanksville, Pa. Credit: Amy Sancetta / Associated Press

Texas firefighter pained by house he could not save

 
Battalion Chief Ken Gold spent much of Tuesday on a street in Bastrop, Texas, called Pine Tree Loop, trying to shore up the few houses untouched by flames. Few homeowners there had bothered to clear away 6-inch-thick layers of pine needles, which were bone dry and fire-prone as matchsticks.

"They kind of let nature be nature," the 60-year-old from Denton, Texas, said. "It didn't seem very fire-aware."

The 10-person crew scattered among the houses and scraped potential fire fuel away. But the area was littered with smoldering stumps and pine needles. Spot fires flared up and the team had neither the manpower nor the water supply to douse them all.

"We didn't have enough resources to be everywhere at the same time," said Gold, a firefighter for nearly four decades. "We'd see a column of smoke and sometimes we'd get there and sometimes not."

Photos: Texas wildfires

Gold was among the weary-looking firefighters milling around the Bastrop County convention center Wednesday which served as a command post for firefighters. The area has been among the hardest hit in a state raging with fires. So far, that conflagration has swallowed up 34,000 acres, destroyed or damaged more than 785 homes and forced the evacuation of about 5,000 residents. It also has claimed two lives, a number that could rise as authorities sift through the debris and assess the damage. Authorities on Wednesday identified one of those victims as Michael Farr, 48, who worked for the city of Austin's electrical department, and was found in his home.

The fatigue is visible among the firefighters. Their eyes drooped from days on the line, either here or elsewhere in the state (Gold had been pulled here from a fire in Possum Kingdom, about 200 miles north). Many couldn't remember what day of the week it was.

Texas firefighters battling scarce resources as well as fierce flames

Del Birdwell and Kevin Wright were beating back flames near Fort Worth, Texas, just last week. Over the weekend, they began fielding urgent calls from Bastrop County, about 200 miles south.

The men are part of a firefighting brotherhood, Texas Interagency Fire Mutual Aid System. They hopscotch the state helping battle blazes, which this year haven't let up since the spring.

"We had guys saying 'If y'all can get here, get here,'" Wright said of the weekend phone calls. "They basically said: 'Come, run.' They really needed help."

Photos: Texas wildfires

Earlier this week, Birdwell, 41, a division chief from Nacogdoches, and Wright, 30, a firefighter from Galveston, were at the Bastrop Convention Center, which has served as a command post for what is arguably the most destructive of the fires raging in Texas. It has swallowed up 34,000 acres, destroyed or damaged more than 785 homes, and forced the evacuation of about 5,000 residents.

The men were preparing to jump back on the fire lines as soon as possible. "It's been like that off and on since March or April," Birdwell said. He pointed to a squat white truck nearby. "We got that in February and it has 10,000 miles on it," he said. Wright nodded to his own truck and added, "We put 2,000 miles on ours since last week."

Firefighting resources are stretched thin in Texas. The state recently cut funding for volunteer fire departments by 75% as a cost-saving measure. Birdwell and Wright feel the brunt of those cuts -- but wouldn't consider walking away.

"This fire grew faster than anything," Birdwell said. "It just grew horribly fast."

He said that any department would be overwhelmed by such a conflagration, even as he conceded that the state's resources have been stretched.

"Texas has a lot of resources," he continued. "But this year is like no other. There's such a huge area to cover and everything's on fire."

Elsewhere, the scarce resources were more apparent.

Americans give resounding 'no' on financial aid to rebuild Libya

Americans don't seem to agree on much these days, whether it's politics, climate change or Lady Gaga's  gender-bending performance at the Video Music Awards. But there's one thing that an overwhelming majority of Americans appear to agree upon: They don't want to foot the bill for rebuilding Libya.

A CNN / ORC poll released Tuesday found that a stunning 73% oppose any U.S. financial aid to rebuild Libya's business and educational infrastructure, and 67% said the U.S. shouldn't be involved in "attempts to form a civilian government and restore order in that country." 

The poll also found that 62% of those polled are worried about what lies ahead in Libya, with 67% believing there will be widespread violence. And 49% said they are either "not too confident" or "not confident at all" that the U.S. and its allies can prevent Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups from establishing a new base of operations in Libya.

Given all that, and a pervasive feeling among Americans that the U.S. is already overextended in many ways inside and outside its borders, this will not come as a surprise: 

Fifty-four percent of those polled said they are either "not confident at all" or "not too confident" that a stable democratic government will be established in Libya.

The poll questioned 1,017 adults on Wednesday and Thursday and reports a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

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