Liberty County man arrested after body found in barn

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LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas -

The decomposing body of a woman was found Monday next to a dead pit bull by Liberty County deputy constables in a barn in the small community of Clark, about 22 miles north of Liberty.

The body was covered by a tarp and trash in a small barn behind a trailer house in the 26000 block of Highway 146. Investigators estimate the woman had been dead six or seven months. An autopsy is being performed to determine the exact cause of death.

The owner of the property, Billy Ray Bennett, told sheriff's detectives the dead woman was a friend who had died of natural causes. Bennett has been charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He's being held in the Liberty County Jail.

Constable Mark Davidson and Sgt. Investigator Brian Bortz of the Liberty County Sheriff's Office went to Bennett's home at around noon Monday acting on a tip. Liberty Co. Sheriff's Captain Ken DeFoor says Bennett gave them verbal consent to search after the officers noticed a funny smell coming from the barn.

"They went back there, raised the door, there was a dead dog inside the building. It was also decomposing. He (Bennett) said that's probably what everybody was smelling," DeFoor said. "They went a little bit further and found the deceased wrapped up in tarpaulin, not far from where the dog was."

Deputies returned to the property Tuesday to search the trailer and barn and to collect seven pit bulls and six puppies they found locked in a room in the trailer. The dogs were turned over the Houston SPCA.

Bennett, 44, has an arrest record dating back to 1988 that includes drug possession and theft. Family member say the trailer belonged to his parents and that he moved in last fall after his mother passed away. Bennett's father, Assistant Chief William Bennett, died in 2011 after serving 34 years with the Pasadena Volunteer Fire Department.

Bennett is estranged from surviving family members, according to Red Parham, Bennett's sister's father-in-law.

"The family... is taking it hard.," Parham said. "It's a bad day."

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Liberty County man arrested after body found in barn

New Republican Liberty Caucus endorses Fulcher, other challengers

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A libertarian group operating within the Idaho Republican Party is making its first endorsements in a slate led by Sen. Russ Fulcher in his challenge to two-term GOP Gov. Butch Otter.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho also backs challengers to three other statewide incumbents: Idaho County Commissioner Jim Chmelik over Lt. Gov. Brad Little; Boise lawyer C.T. Chris Troupis over Attorney General Lawrence Wasden; and Boise businessman Todd Hatfield over Controller Brandon Woolf.

In races for open statewide seats, the group endorses Rep. Lawerence Denney for secretary of state over Evan Frasure, Phil McGrane and Mitch Toryanski; and for John Eynon for superintendent of public instruction over Andy Grover, Randy Jensen and Sherri Ybarra.

The group was chartered as an arm of a national group, the Republican Liberty Caucus, founded in 1991 at the urging of Roger MacBride, a 1976 Libertarian Party presidential candidate.

To gain the endorsements, candidates were required to sign The Liberty Compact, which reads:

I pledge to the citizens of this state, and to the American people, that as their elected representative I will work to restore liberty, not restrict it; shrink government, not expand it; reduce taxes, not raise them; abolish programs, not create them; promote the freedom and independence of citizens, not the interference of government in their lives; and observe the limited, enumerated powers of our Constitution, not ignore them.

Founded in 2012 at the Idaho Republican Party convention, the Liberty Caucus also made what it calls a first round 31 of endorsements for the Legislature.

Among the notable legislative endorsements: Scott Smiths bid to unseat Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill of Rexburg; Danielle Ahrens over nine-term Sen. Shawn Keough in Sandpoint; Toby Schindelbeck over Rep. Luke Malek in Coeur dAlene; Lee Rice over Sen. Todd Lakey in Nampa; Robert Muse over Rep. Rick Youngblood in Nampa; Diego Rodriguez over Sen. Fred Martin in Boise; Charles Pratt Porter over Lori DenHertog and Rich Jarvis for Fulchers open Senate seat in southwest Ada County; Lance Earl over Rep. Kelley Packer in Bannock and Power counties; and Ron Nate over Rep. Doug Hancey in Madison County.

RLC state charters are organized specifically to bring voters back into the Republican Party at the state level that left due to apathy, antagonistic behaviors of of GOP county central committees or poor candidate choices, said RLC Idaho Secretary Jason Robinson.

Robinson said the Idaho chapter is the largest state organization in the country, but he said both state and national membership numbers are confidential and not something I can release.

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New Republican Liberty Caucus endorses Fulcher, other challengers

Groups split over their GOP support

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A PAC founded by North Idaho businesspeople is supporting Gov. Butch Otter's re-election. A new libertarian PAC is backing challenger Sen. Russ Fulcher.

The North Idaho Republican Political Action Committee and the Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho PAC offer plenty of contrary advice on other statewide races and the Legislature.

The North Idaho group focuses on northern counties and was founded to support "reasonable" Republicans. In its first election two years ago, the group had a 6-1 record in legislative races and helped defeat scandal-plagued Rep. Phil Hart. The group has upped the ante in 2014 by targeting five tea party-friendly GOP lawmakers for defeat, supporting five incumbents and endorsing in two races for open seats.

The North Idaho group formed to respond to claims that business-backed lawmakers were RINOs - "Republicans in Name Only." The PAC opposes the GOP platform's call to have legislators elect U.S. senators, abolish the Federal Reserve Bank and return to the gold standard.

The two groups exemplify the battle for control of the Idaho Republican Party, pitting libertarian and tea party loyalists against Otter allies. The conflict reaches from the top of the ticket to hundreds of precinct committee races.

The Idaho branch of Liberty Caucus, established in 2012, is affiliated with the national Republican Liberty Caucus, founded in 1991 by former members of the Libertarian Party.

The North Idaho PAC endorsed all four GOP incumbents statewide who face primaries: Otter, Lt. Gov. Brad Little, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and Controller Brandon Woolf.

The Liberty Caucus backs their challengers: Idaho County Commissioner Jim Chmelik over Little; Boise lawyer C.T. "Chris" Troupis over Wasden; Boise businessman Todd Hatfield over Woolf; and Fulcher.

For the open secretary of state job, the business group endorses Ada County Chief Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane, while the Liberty Caucus backs Rep. Lawerence Denney. The other GOP candidates are Evan Frasure and Mitch Toryanski.

The Liberty Caucus endorsed John Eynon for superintendent of public instruction over Andy Grover, Randy Jensen and Sherri Ybarra. The North Idaho PAC made no call in the race, but it is backing challengers to lawmakers who opposed Otter's state-run health exchange.

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Groups split over their GOP support

Forest area and Japanese building after invasion of Saipan in Mariana Islands. HD Stock Footage – Video

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Forest area and Japanese building after invasion of Saipan in Mariana Islands. HD Stock Footage
Link to order this clip: http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675035307_forest-area_Japanese-building_smoke-columns-rises_coastline-of-island Historic Stock F...

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Forest area and Japanese building after invasion of Saipan in Mariana Islands. HD Stock Footage - Video

Cook Islands Performing Artist in Residence

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Cook Islands Performing Artist in Residence

Whitireia performing arts programme leader, Tuaine Robati, has been selected as the Pacific Dance Artist in Residence for 2014. This artist in residence is offered to established dance practitioners of Pacific Island heritage and is the only one of its kind offered in New Zealand.

The working title of this years residency is Pureu; meaning blossom or bloom. The aim of the residency, which is workshop based, is to foster and enhance pride in being of Cook Islands descent this is through engaging in heritage, dance and culture. Workshops are tailored for secondary school students who will be taught by Robati and guided by Whitireia Performing Arts graduates who will also be mentored as part of the residency.

This residency is a wonderful opportunity for students said Tuaine. It will build confidence and pride in Cook Islands heritage as well as raise educational aspirations and achievement for students. I am excited to be given this opportunity.

The residency will see Robati based in Porirua at Pataka Art + Museum, on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday. This is the fifth year of the residency and the second consecutive year that it has been hosted in Porirua.

In addition to teaching on the performing arts programme at Whitireia, Robati is also the Artistic Director and International Tour Director for the groups of students he leads to international festivals each year; he has been doing this since 1994. He is also a Cooks Islands Community Liaison at Whitireia. In 2013, he was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Education and Pacific Communities.

The residency was launched on Saturday 26 April.

The Pacific Artist Dance Artist in Residence is supported by Pacific Dance New Zealand, DANZ (Dance Aotearoa New Zealand), Creative New Zealand and Pataka Art + Museum.

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Cook Islands Performing Artist in Residence

Pretoria: Experts tackle security of health-care facilities – Video

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Pretoria: Experts tackle security of health-care facilities
As part of the ICRC-led Health Care in Danger project, renowned experts and field practitioners work to improve safety of health-care delivery in armed conflict and other emergencies. Last...

By: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

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Pretoria: Experts tackle security of health-care facilities - Video

University of Iowa hopes to better diagnose and treat patients

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By Vanessa Miller, The Gazette

Some patients with a suspected genetic disorder will go on what medical professionals call a diagnostic odyssey to find the cause of their symptoms.

But those explorations, on occasion, can come up empty, frustrating patients and prompting health care providers to seek outside expertise.

Last month, the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Iowa began offering such expertise through whole exome sequencing.

The genetic test, which analyzes a portion of about 20,000 genes in the human genome in hopes of helping practitioners diagnose and treat a patient, is among several initiatives the institute is pursuing to further personalize medicine for patients in Iowa and across the country.

The research we do here is to develop new tests to bring precision medicine to the state, said Colleen Campbell, assistant director of the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics and associate with the UI Department of Otolaryngology.

Researchers with the institute also are conducting tests around secondary findings from exome sequencing the discovery of variants in genes unrelated to a patient's primary condition and how a person's genes interact with prescribed medication, including pain medication.

The technology is new, but officials with the Iowa institute said genetic sequencing one day could become so widely used that every infant will have it done as part of the standard newborn screen. Then, as a child grows, practitioners will be able to use the information to determine what type of pain medication to prescribe and at what level, for example.

Our focus is to bring innovation to the state, Campbell said. We want patients to be more informed when they go to the doctor and are offered these new tests. And we want to be able to offer this as a tool to doctors.

The Iowa Institute of Human Genetics is among only a dozen or so institutions nationally that offer whole exome sequencing to physicians wanting to order the test on behalf of a patient.

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University of Iowa hopes to better diagnose and treat patients

The shift from physical to digital: excerpt from my talk at Future Day 2014. Futurist Speaker Gerd – Video

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The shift from physical to digital: excerpt from my talk at Future Day 2014. Futurist Speaker Gerd
Software is eating the world:) An except from my talk at Future Day 2014 in Istanbul, see http://gerd.fm/1mZmwGd for details, slides and full version, The en...

By: Gerd Leonhard

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The shift from physical to digital: excerpt from my talk at Future Day 2014. Futurist Speaker Gerd - Video