Cheryl K. Chumley
Columns by Cheryl K. Chumley
Obama to send 2 Gitmo terror suspects back to Algeria
The White House announced Thursday it was transferring two Guantanamo Bay inmates — one who's accused of plotting to bomb a U.S. Embassy, and the other of fighting against U.S. troops — back to Algeria, an apparent step in the direction of achieving President Obama's promise to close the detention facility. Published December 5, 2013
Executive order: Obama ups green-energy mandate on feds to 20 percent
By 2020, federal agencies will have to up their use of renewable energy sources significantly, and replace 20 percent of electricity with greener options, President Obama said, in a new executive order due for release on Thursday. Published December 5, 2013
GOP launches candidate training: How to talk to women
The National Republican Congressional Committee has gone back to basics and teamed up with top aides to help school GOP members facing election challenge on a key campaign skill: How to talk to women. Published December 5, 2013
N.Y.’s Rockefeller Center lights up, as Bloomberg flicks on 76-foot Christmas tree
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg flicked the switch on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree Wednesday evening, following in the footsteps of a tradition that's been honored since 1933 — the annual tree lighting at the downtown site. Published December 5, 2013
Northern Ireland turns to ‘Game of Thrones’ to draw in tourists
Northern Ireland tourism agents trying to spark some travel and pull in some revenues are looking to television for ideas, trying to piggyback off the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones” as a destination draw. Published December 5, 2013
Washington woman live-tweets husband’s horrific car death
A Washington woman with an affinity for tracking police activity on her scanner, and live tweeting out updates to her followers, unwittingly sent out social media details of her own husband's fatal car crash as the action unfolded. Published December 5, 2013
China City of America mulled for New York — with $65M tax dollars
A Long Island businesswoman said her plan to build a huge “Chinese Disneyland” in upstate New York, laid out in Feng Shui fashion, could draw in thousands of wealthy immigrants and up to $6 billion in foreign investment. All that’s needed is a $65 million contribution from the federal government to help kick off the construction. Published December 5, 2013
Yemen defense ministry rocked by suicide bomber, gunfire
A suicide bomber carting explosives in a car set off a firestorm at the defense ministry facility in Yemen, killing 15 soldiers and injuring at least 40. Published December 5, 2013
Hack attack: 2 million Facebook, Twitter passwords stolen
Social media users beware: Hackers have busted into at least 2 million accounts and stolen passwords at Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and other sites, a new report revealed this week. Published December 5, 2013
‘Black Santa’ display at IU sparks student outrage
A bulletin display at one Indiana University residence hall didn’t go over so well – a ‘black Santa’ posting that was aimed at revealing cultural and racial stereotypes among students – and campus heads were pressured to apologize and remove it. Published December 4, 2013
Drone technology turns South, targets feral pigs to kill
Louisiana Hog Control, an extermination company that launched in 2011, says it has killed more than 300 pigs in the past six months using radio-controlled aircraft that transmit messages to hunters on the ground — the latest inventive use for drones. Published December 4, 2013
Israel mulls gift of West Bank land to Palestinians
Israel soon may give 7.7 square miles of land in the West Bank that it has controlled since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords to the Palestinian Authority for farming. Published December 4, 2013
Doctors say ‘profound’ new HIV treatment may prove the cure
Forget the anti-viral drugs. Doctors say they may very well have discovered a new and more successful treatment for HIV-positive patients – flooding the body with powerful bursts of radiation that weaken and kill infected white blood cells. Published December 4, 2013
NYPD head Ray Kelly wins big retirement perk — a $1.5M tax-paid team of bodyguards
Raymond W. Kelly, the commissioner of the New York Police Department, will receive a 10-member team of around-the-clock security officers when he retires next year, a task force that's going to cost taxpayers an estimated $1.5 million a year. Published December 4, 2013
Libraries to feds: Stop spying on us
Libraries around the nation have joined together to pressure lawmakers to clamp down on the federal government's ability to demand data on the books that borrowers' read and the Internet sites that visitors search. Published December 4, 2013
Angry NTSB ousts railroad union from N.Y. train crash site
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board have sent union members packing from the site of the train derailment that killed four and injured dozens Sunday in the New York borough of the Bronx, saying railroad workers violated an agreement and released sensitive information to the press. Published December 4, 2013
Sen. Bernie Sanders hints at White House run
Sen. Bernard Sanders, an independent who describes himself as a democratic socialist, said to his Vermont constituency in a local newspaper article that the time might be right for him to make a run for the White House. Published December 4, 2013
Westboro Baptists slam actor Paul Walker: He’s ‘in Hell’
Westboro Baptist Church members have announced plans to protest and picket at the funeral of Hollywood actor Paul Walker, who, along with another man, died Saturday in a fiery car crash in California. Published December 4, 2013
United States ranks 19 of 177 on global corruption survey
As far as corruption goes, you can’t get any worse than Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia, a just-released survey of 177 nations from the group Transparency International revealed. But America could stand to do a lot better, ranking only 19 out of 177 for transparent and honest governance in this latest survey. Published December 4, 2013
Apple wins facial recognition patent for iPhone 6
First Apple introduced a fingerprint sensor to unlock its latest iPhone 5 device. Now, the company says it’s been awarded the rights for another security patent — for facial technology. Published December 4, 2013
