(CNN) -- A Delaware pediatrician has been indicted on 471 felony counts in the alleged sexual abuse of his patients, prosecutors announced Monday.
The Sussex County grand jury indictment accuses Dr. Earl Bradley, 56, who has had a practice in Lewes, Delaware, for more than 10 years, of victimizing 103 children -- all but one girls. The charges range from rape and sexual exploitation of a child to endangering child welfare and assault.
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden told CNN Radio the indictment is based on "video and digital evidence" seized from Bradley's home and medical practice in December. Authorities have not ruled out additional charges, he added.
"The reality is that as a prosecutor, the rules prohibit me from telling you exactly how I feel -- and I'm feeling a great deal today," Biden said.
Bradley also has medical licenses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. Authorities have said they have contacted officials in those states.
He was initially arrested and charged in December.
Bradley's attorney, Eugene Maurer Jr., said he would base his client's defense on mental health.
"Most of the evidence in this case comes from videotapes -- it's kind of hard to argue with videotapes," Maurer said, adding, "The issue in this case is going to come down to his mental health at the time."
Biden said Bradley will be arraigned within four to six weeks.
Monday, February 22, 2010
British Airways cabin crews vote to strike
London, England (CNN) -- Union members representing British Airways cabin crews said Monday they have voted overwhelmingly to strike, though no date was announced.
The industrial action by the Unite union is over the airline's plans to change cabin crew conditions. Unite said then that working hours were to be extended and crew levels cut, changes that it said would damage customer service and hit the BA brand.
In all, 81 percent of the nearly 80 percent of Unite workers who turned out voted in favor of the plan, the union said Monday.
A Unite representative told reporters the vote was an "indication of deep sense of grievance that our members feel" and shows that the airline must resolve this "through negotiation and not through litigation and certainly not through intimidation."
Shop stewards are to meet Tuesday to consider a strike date.
British Airways said in a posting on its Web site that it regretted the strike announcement.
"The outcome of the ballot is very disappointing and brings a renewed threat of industrial action, which is completely unjustified," the airline said.
"In the weeks before and during the ballot period, Unite claimed that we had breached individual crew members' contracts by making modest changes to onboard crew numbers on flights from Heathrow. We have always said this claim was false, and it was rejected by the High Court three days ago.
"The vast majority of crew who voted in this ballot will have done so before the High Court decision. We hope Unite will bear this fact in mind as it considers its next steps."
The airline said it believed it had made progress in recent talks and said it wanted to resolve the issues.
"However, we will not allow Unite to ruin this company," it added. "Should a strike take place, we will do everything we can to protect your travel plans as far as possible."
Last December, a judge blocked a planned 12-day strike by Unite that was to have begun just before Christmas.
The airline, which lost hundreds of millions of dollars last year, has said the changes would save the carrier $665 million
The industrial action by the Unite union is over the airline's plans to change cabin crew conditions. Unite said then that working hours were to be extended and crew levels cut, changes that it said would damage customer service and hit the BA brand.
In all, 81 percent of the nearly 80 percent of Unite workers who turned out voted in favor of the plan, the union said Monday.
A Unite representative told reporters the vote was an "indication of deep sense of grievance that our members feel" and shows that the airline must resolve this "through negotiation and not through litigation and certainly not through intimidation."
Shop stewards are to meet Tuesday to consider a strike date.
British Airways said in a posting on its Web site that it regretted the strike announcement.
"The outcome of the ballot is very disappointing and brings a renewed threat of industrial action, which is completely unjustified," the airline said.
"In the weeks before and during the ballot period, Unite claimed that we had breached individual crew members' contracts by making modest changes to onboard crew numbers on flights from Heathrow. We have always said this claim was false, and it was rejected by the High Court three days ago.
"The vast majority of crew who voted in this ballot will have done so before the High Court decision. We hope Unite will bear this fact in mind as it considers its next steps."
The airline said it believed it had made progress in recent talks and said it wanted to resolve the issues.
"However, we will not allow Unite to ruin this company," it added. "Should a strike take place, we will do everything we can to protect your travel plans as far as possible."
Last December, a judge blocked a planned 12-day strike by Unite that was to have begun just before Christmas.
The airline, which lost hundreds of millions of dollars last year, has said the changes would save the carrier $665 million
Labels urged for foods that can choke kids
Children 4 and younger are at the highest risk for choking on food, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
One child in U.S. dies every five days from choking on food, pediatrician group saysAmerican Academy of Pediatrics wants a food labeling system warning parents of risksGroup lists hot dogs as the highest risk food for young kids; grapes, raw carrots called riskyPediatrician group wants data collected on children's deaths, injuries from choking on food
(CNN) -- It's a silent, often overlooked danger that kills dozens of children every year, and it's easily preventable: choking to death on food.
Now the largest pediatrician group in the United States is calling for warning labels on foods that pose the highest risk for choking.
The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates at least one child in the United States dies every five days from choking on food. The academy rates choking as the leading cause of death among children 14 and younger.The group is issuing a new policy statement calling on the government and manufacturers to implement a food labeling system warning parents of these risks.
"This is a call to action," said Dr. Gary Smith, a pediatrician and immediate past chairman of the Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"For many years, the U.S. has protected children from choking on toys. We have legislation. We have regulation. We have voluntary standards. We have labeling. We have recall programs," said Smith, also director of the Center for Injury, Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
"But we don't have a consistent set of measures that have been put together for prevention of choking on food."
Children 4 and younger are at the highest risk for choking on food. Most only have their front teeth. They can bite off a piece of food, but they don't have molars in back to grind it.
"There are certain types of food that have high-risk characteristics that pose severe choking risks," Smith said. "For example, foods that are round or cylindrical in shape and are roughly the diameter of the back of a child's throat -- these types of foods can completely block the child's airway. When that happens, the child cannot move air. They then lack oxygen. And if that obstruction is not removed within a short amount of time, brain damage and death will ensue. So these are very serious choking risks."
The American Academy of Pediatrics lists hot dogs as the highest risk food for young kids. Grapes, raw carrots, apples and peanuts are also dangerous. Smith said he has treated many children who later died from choking on hot dogs and grapes.
"If I took the best engineers in the world and asked them to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, they couldn't do much better than a hotdog. It is exactly the right size and shape to wedge itself down into the back of a child's throat. It's compressible so it fits in very snugly, and it's almost impossible to dislodge."
Katherine Zuehlke knows this problem firsthand. She had a close call with her 2-year-old daughter, Tiffany, but her quick thinking helped save the child's life. Zuehlke said a candy-coated peanut became lodged in her daughter's throat.
"We flipped her over and started to pat her back pretty heavily," Zuehlke told the pediatrician group. "We were all really scared."
Zuehlke was lucky. As many as 100 families a year are not -- a rough estimate of how many children choke to death on food every year, according to the most recent statistics from a 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.
There is no centralized system for collecting data on child death and injury from choking on food.
Smith and the American Academy of Pediatrics want to see that change. Smith said he believes it's important to start a central database that includes those kinds of statistics.
"We can do it now for toys and other consumer products. But we can't do it for food. That's one of the things we're calling for in this new policy statement," he said.
In the meantime, the American Academy of Pediatrics lists a few tips on its Web site to help parents with problem foods. It suggests parents:
• Cut hot dogs lengthwise and grapes in quarters. This changes the dangerous shape of the food, which can block throats of young children and even teenagers.
• Avoid giving toddlers other high-risk foods such as hard candy, nuts, seeds and raw carrots.
• Never let small children run, play or lie down while eating.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' new policy statement on foods that pose a high-choking danger for children 14 and under appears online. It's scheduled for publication in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
One child in U.S. dies every five days from choking on food, pediatrician group saysAmerican Academy of Pediatrics wants a food labeling system warning parents of risksGroup lists hot dogs as the highest risk food for young kids; grapes, raw carrots called riskyPediatrician group wants data collected on children's deaths, injuries from choking on food
(CNN) -- It's a silent, often overlooked danger that kills dozens of children every year, and it's easily preventable: choking to death on food.
Now the largest pediatrician group in the United States is calling for warning labels on foods that pose the highest risk for choking.
The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates at least one child in the United States dies every five days from choking on food. The academy rates choking as the leading cause of death among children 14 and younger.The group is issuing a new policy statement calling on the government and manufacturers to implement a food labeling system warning parents of these risks.
"This is a call to action," said Dr. Gary Smith, a pediatrician and immediate past chairman of the Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"For many years, the U.S. has protected children from choking on toys. We have legislation. We have regulation. We have voluntary standards. We have labeling. We have recall programs," said Smith, also director of the Center for Injury, Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
"But we don't have a consistent set of measures that have been put together for prevention of choking on food."
Children 4 and younger are at the highest risk for choking on food. Most only have their front teeth. They can bite off a piece of food, but they don't have molars in back to grind it.
"There are certain types of food that have high-risk characteristics that pose severe choking risks," Smith said. "For example, foods that are round or cylindrical in shape and are roughly the diameter of the back of a child's throat -- these types of foods can completely block the child's airway. When that happens, the child cannot move air. They then lack oxygen. And if that obstruction is not removed within a short amount of time, brain damage and death will ensue. So these are very serious choking risks."
The American Academy of Pediatrics lists hot dogs as the highest risk food for young kids. Grapes, raw carrots, apples and peanuts are also dangerous. Smith said he has treated many children who later died from choking on hot dogs and grapes.
"If I took the best engineers in the world and asked them to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, they couldn't do much better than a hotdog. It is exactly the right size and shape to wedge itself down into the back of a child's throat. It's compressible so it fits in very snugly, and it's almost impossible to dislodge."
Katherine Zuehlke knows this problem firsthand. She had a close call with her 2-year-old daughter, Tiffany, but her quick thinking helped save the child's life. Zuehlke said a candy-coated peanut became lodged in her daughter's throat.
"We flipped her over and started to pat her back pretty heavily," Zuehlke told the pediatrician group. "We were all really scared."
Zuehlke was lucky. As many as 100 families a year are not -- a rough estimate of how many children choke to death on food every year, according to the most recent statistics from a 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.
There is no centralized system for collecting data on child death and injury from choking on food.
Smith and the American Academy of Pediatrics want to see that change. Smith said he believes it's important to start a central database that includes those kinds of statistics.
"We can do it now for toys and other consumer products. But we can't do it for food. That's one of the things we're calling for in this new policy statement," he said.
In the meantime, the American Academy of Pediatrics lists a few tips on its Web site to help parents with problem foods. It suggests parents:
• Cut hot dogs lengthwise and grapes in quarters. This changes the dangerous shape of the food, which can block throats of young children and even teenagers.
• Avoid giving toddlers other high-risk foods such as hard candy, nuts, seeds and raw carrots.
• Never let small children run, play or lie down while eating.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' new policy statement on foods that pose a high-choking danger for children 14 and under appears online. It's scheduled for publication in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Toyota hit with grand jury subpoena
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Toyota said Monday it has received a federal grand jury subpoena for documents relating to the unintended acceleration of its vehicles and braking systems in the Toyota Prius.
The carmaker also received a request and a subpoena for similar documents from the Los Angeles office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The subpoenas and request were revealed in an SEC fililng.
Top of FormBottom of ForToyota (TM) has recalled more than 8 million vehicles related to possible unintended acceleration. The 2010 Toyota Prius was the subject of a separate recall involving problems with its brakes.
The federal grand jury subpoena was from the Southern District of New York. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District declined to comment on the matter, saying "It is our office's policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation."Toyota intends to cooperate with the investigations, the automaker said in its filing.
Toyota president Akio Toyoda and other company executives are expected to testify in Washington on Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. The committee is looking into how the automaker and federal auto safety regulators dealt with concerns over unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.
Internal documents leading up to the hearing show Toyota executives boasting of the cash saved by negotiating down the severity of the recall related to acceleration.
Separately, the company said late Monday it will offer a brake override feature on more models to "provide an additional measure of confidence" for customers.
The feature automatically reduces engine power when the brake and accelerator panels are applied simultaneously. It will be added to the 2005-10 Tacoma, 2009-10 Venza and 2008-10 Sequoua when modifications are made to fix the sticking accelerators. Toyota said the brake override feature will be incorporated into most models sold in the United States by the end of this year. 
Personal Narrateve 4Th Six Weeks
Well this six weeks have been maybe the best of all i am starting to know more people and i just found out that i am not failing any classes. I feel as if school is getting easier and as if is the end of the school year is getting closer, in which it is. This six weeks went by flying practically there was a lot of things to do and is time going faster or is it just me. Projects seem easier as i think that i already have the hang of it and i already know what the teachers are accepting and what they are not willing to take. Classes are getting more comfortable and i feel more confident and outspoken although i feel is too late i know that it is never too late to start. I am so happy because my first period I will always fail it but now is just like i am not having any struggles. My second period is one of my best classes and well my third period is easy but i have so many regulations to follow. Last six weeks i failed two classes and i have to attend four tutoring sessions for each class man is hard this six weeks and i feel like i am getting use to it although all these tutoring sessions are getting frustrating i feel as if they are pushing me towards a good path as if now i am not having much trouble in all my classes. Hopefully next six weeks i do good without any failing involved although it seems impossible
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