Sun Journal (Newspaper) - January 25, 2007, New Bern, North Carolina Sun Thursday January 252007 New Bern North Carolina 50 Cents Parents are thankful for help of Shriners Child with cerebral palsy gets treatment By Charlie Hall Sun Journal Staff Danzel and Mary Wil liams were excited when their first child was born seven years ago She appeared healthy and had a captivating smile even as an infant She was a happy baby But as she approached her first birthday and the couple anticipated every parents dream those first steps they simply didnt come She was at the point where she was just be ginning to walk and she started falling back into an infant stage and we didnt know what it was her mother recalled She start ed crawling She wouldnt get up and walk She was up holding onto things and she would let go a little bit but she wouldnt take a step The parents took her to a Greenville doctor who di a muscle disorder and prescribed muscle re medication When she was 3 or 4 she cried all the time like she was having muscle spasms in her legs she recalled Medicine helped but little still wasnt walking After two years of frustra tion the dark clouds began Charlie Journal Williams center with her parents Mary and Danzel Williams on the front porch of their Pembroke community home who suffers from cerebral palsy receives free treatment through the Sudan Shri ners orthopedic hospital in Greenville SC Sudan Shriners Winter Ceremonial Shriners from 42 counties converge on New Bern this week culminating in the annual Shriners pa rade at noon Saturday in downtown See Today A family is thankful to Sudan Shiners for helping their only child who suffers from cerebral palsy Friday Preview of Saturdays big parade featur ing 42 Shriner units Saturday Shriner history and a look at the Road runners volunteer drivers who take children to and from Shriners Hospitals Sunday Parade coverage and a new potentate is announced Senators criticize Bushs Iraq plans for troop buildup Foreign Relations Committee rejects presidents recommendations 129 By David Espo The Associated Press WASHINGTON In a calculated snub of President Bush the Sen ate Foreign Relations Committee dismissed plans for a troop buildup in Iraq on Wednesday as not in the national interest of the United States The president has made his decision Vice President Dick Cheney fired back a response that made it clear the administra tion would go ahead We get the job done The commit tee vote 129 along party lines capped hours of debate in which Republicans and Democrats vent ed their frustra u There is no strategy This is a pingpong game with American lives Sen Chuck Hagel tion and anger both with the ad ministration and their own past unwillingness to change the course of a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3000 US troops There is no strategy This is a pingpong game with American lives said Republican Sen Chuck Hagel of Nebraska This Congress was never meant to be a rub ber stamp added Sen Barbara Boxer Read the Constitution The Congress has the power to declare war And on multiple sions we used our power to end conflicts Hagel was the only one of 10 committee Re publicans to support the nonbinding measure Several of the panels 11 Democrats said they favored stronger legislation to register their op position to the war In the wake of midterm election losses Bush announced two weeks that he would order an See WTC memorial not acceptable to families Some details such as ages would be left off By Amy Westfeldt The Associated Press NEW YORK Family members who are upset that details such as their loved ones ages will be left off the Sept 11 memorial launched a television ad campaign Wednesday in protest and said they would not support private fundraising for the project The debate over how to list the names of the 2979 people killed on Sept 11 and in the 1993 trade center bombing is the latest and most divisive issue surrounding the me Other disputes have centered on its cost a design that once had the names of the dead listed underground and whether to build at the base of the towers where many victims remains were found Construction on the memo rial only began last spring It See Minimum wage hits wall in Senate Senators voted against the minimum wage insisting that it include new tax breaks Pay would increase from to over two years per hour M Federal minimum wage 2008 dollars Removal of Ketner light still scheduled 25 cents 38 40 SO 60 70 II 80 00 TO SOURCE Department ol Labor AP Minimum wage increase is stalled over tax breaks Democrats begin laying groundwork to blame GOP for any impasse By Jim Kuhnhenn The Associated Press WASHINGTON The minimum wage increase that was supposed to zip through Congress veered onto a col course Wednesday as lawmakers argued over busi ness tax breaks that would be attached to ensure lican support Democratic leaders in the House began laying ground work to blame the Republi cans for any impasse Sen ate Democrats however cautioned their House col leagues not to jeopardize legislation theyd promised to approve if they gained control of Congress House Democrats de manded a clean from the Senate no tax attachment setting up a confronta tion that could delay final congressional passage of the an hour increase The Senate did vote 5443 to advance a measure that would lift the pay floor without any accom tax cut However See Havelock residents are pinning their hopes on legislators to intervene By Zac Goldstein Sun Journal Staff HAVELOCK With the Ketner Boulevard traffic light still slated for removal Havelock residents are pin ning their hopes on tors to intervene MC Skipper chairman of the Ketner Citizens Action League has appealed to state and local officials to oppose the closure Its not too late to correct the errors of others he said Monday expressing disap pointment in eight months of failed negotiations with the city and the Department of Transportation Skipper said Neil Lassiter DOT division engineer told him the decision to remove the light to make way for another on US 70 near Wal Mart had been made and would require a political so lution to reverse it He urged city and county officials to appeal to the gov office claiming Gov Mike Easley would not go against the wishes of local Sun Journal file photo Traffic on Ketner Boulevard is pictured in Havelock MC Skip per chairman of the Ketner Citizens Action League has appealed to state and local officials to oppose removal of a traffic light government Mayor Jimmy Sanders said Havelock commissioners would examine their options but have not committed to an appeal The city has pledged up to to repair the grade differential between the highway and a service road that DOT cited as the reason for the removal of the signal State Sen Jean Preston said she would continue to act as a peace maker and hear all sides of the issue verbally asked DOT to reconsider removing the she said Wednesday from Raleigh citing the im pact on local businesses However Preston said she is concerned about the safe ty of the intersection and believes some of the pro posed alternatives such as removing the Trader Street traffic light could have longterm consequences if new housing is built Neither Lassiter nor main tenance engineer John Rouse could be reached for com ment Zac Goldstein can be reached at 6355673 or at Since 1876 Weather clouds seasonable fr y 50 Region City encourages more public art displays See Page Dl Sports West Craven falls to DH Conley See Page Bl World Blair rejects calls for October troop withdrawal See Page A8 Inside TV
