Miami: Coast Guard increases patrols for migrants

The Coast Guard said Tuesday it has stepped up sea and air patrols in response to a possible increase in the flow of illegal immigrants from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

The increase was announced as 19 Haitians were sent back home. They were the only ones who failed to get ashore when an overcrowded wooden freighter carrying more than 225 Haitians ran aground in Miami one week ago.

“We are preparing just in case better to be safe than sorry,” Luis Diaz, a Coast Guard spokesman in Miami.

Diaz wouldn’t give details on the increased interdiction. The Coast Guard regularly patrols the Windward Pass off western Haiti, the Old Bahama Channel between Haiti and Florida, and the Straits of Florida separating Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas.

It is normal U.S. policy to repatriate all immigrants picked up at sea.

Philadelphia: Airport workers indicted, suspected of lying

A grand jury has indicted 29 airport workers on charges they hid their criminal histories or gave false Social Security numbers when they applied for security badges, prosecutors said Tuesday.

After Sept. 11, federal authorities examined the records of nearly 15,000 employees at the Philadelphia International Airport.

The inspection found 17 current or former workers who didn’t disclose convictions for crimes including weapons offenses, drug possession and theft, prosecutors said.

Among those arrested was a baggage handler who had two guns in his home. Prosecutors said the guns belonged to a pair of law enforcement officers who reported them stolen from their bags.

Also, 12 food service workers were charged with using false Social Security numbers, prosecutors said.

Chicago:Study: Some crosswalks unsafe for elderly

Marked crosswalks can actually be more dangerous for elderly people than unmarked crossings, a study suggests.

Pedestrians 65 and older were three times more likely to be hit by cars when they crossed at intersections with painted crosswalks but no stop signs or traffic signals, rather than at unmarked crossings.

“Marked crosswalks may give older pedestrians a false sense of security,” which, coupled with their slow walking pace, makes them especially vulnerable, the study said.

University of Washington researcher Dr. Thomas Koepsell and colleagues examined pedestrian-car accidents at several cities in Washington state and California from 1995 to 1999. More than 800 street locations were analyzed.

The findings appear in today’s Journal of the American Medical Assn.

During the study, there were 282 accidents involving cars and older pedestrians. Twenty of those pedestrians died.

Philadelphia: Officers suspended in videotaped beating

Thirteen police officers will be suspended for participating in the beating of a robbery suspect caught on videotape in July 2000, the city’s police commissioner said Tuesday.

The suspensions range from five days to 15 days. Commissioner Sylvester Johnson declined to divulge the officers’ names, saying not all had been told of the punishments for beating or shooting at Thomas Jones.

High on cocaine and marijuana, Jones led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen car through north Philadelphia. He was stopped, but jumped into a police cruiser and tried to flee again.

Police shot him five times and yanked him from the cruiser as a news crew in a helicopter taped the arrest. Officers repeatedly kicked and punched Jones, a scene replayed on television across the country.