� S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S � PAGE 5Saturday, November 21, 2009Saturday, November 21, 2009
ADAM BIRD/AP
Sarah Palin signs an autograph at a Barnes and Noble during the
first stop of her book tour in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday.
Fort Bragg allows
media access to
Sarah Palin event
Book royalties at Fort Hood
will go to families of victims
The Associated Press
FORT HOOD, Texas -- Sarah
Palin's tour to promote her new
memoir will include a stop at Fort
Hood to benefit the victims of
the shooting rampage and their
families.
An updated schedule for the
2008 Republican vice presiden-
tial nominee and former Alaska
governor includes a Dec. 4 visit to
the sprawling Texas post where
an Army psychiatrist is accused
of killing 13 people and wounding
more than 30.
The gunman, who faces mur-
der charges, was shot by civilian
police.
Palin,onherblogforthe"Going
Rogue" book tour, says she's "es-
pecially looking forward to meet-
ing our brave men and women in
uniform at Fort Hood."
Palin says she will donate roy-
alties from book sales during her
stop at Fort Hood to the victims
and their families.
BY MIKE BAKER
The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The U.S.
Army will allow the media lim-
ited coverage of 2008 Republican
vice presidential nominee Sarah
Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg
but will bar reporters from inter-
viewing her or her supporters on
the post, officials said Thursday.
A Fort Bragg spokesman ini-
tially said the Army would ban
the media from Palin's book sign-
ing next week, fearing it would
turn into political grandstanding
against President Barack Obama.
After The Associated Press and
The Fayetteville Observer pro-
tested, Col. Billy Buckner said
the post would permit restricted
access.
A small pool of reporters will
be allowed to view and document
the event but will be barred from
the interviews. The public will be
allowed.
Buckner said the setup will
allow reporters their right to ac-
cess while preventing the ap-
pearance from turning political
-- something that officials believe
would violate policy.
"If media are present, they can
capture the imagery of what's
going and sort of the ambiance of
what's taking place," he said.
Fort Bragg, which is home to
some 35,000 soldiers, does not
hold many promotional events,
especially not with political
figures.
Officials said they worried that
media coverage would turn the
appearance into a chance for peo-
ple to express political opinions
"directed against the commander
in chief."
"The main reason is to stop this
from turning into a political plat-
form," said Fort Bragg spokes-
man Tom McCollum. "There are
Army regulations that basically
prohibit military reservations
from becoming political plat-
forms by politicians."
AP Associate General Coun-
sel Dave Tomlin called the pro-
posed pools and restrictions
on interviews "unlawful and
unacceptable."
"If Army regulations forbid
`political events', the Army should
have considered that before al-
lowing Palin to hold a public auto-
graph session for a political book
on the base," Tomlin said.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The Senate on
Thursday unanimously passed legis-
lation that would provide monthly sti-
pends and medical benefits to family
members who stay home to care for
severely injured veterans of the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
The bill also includes travel expenses
and training for the caregivers, im-
proved health services for female vet-
erans and rural areas, and nearly $1
billion for veterans medical facilities.
The Congressional Budget Office esti-
mates the measure would cost nearly $4
billion over the first five years, most of
it to pay for the new caregiver benefits.
Although the bill had bipartisan sup-
port, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., held it
upforweekstryingtopersuadesenators
to pay for the new spending by making
cuts in other programs. He tried with-
out success Thursday to amend the bill
to cut funding for the United Nations.
"If, in fact, we want to honor our vet-
erans ... we ought to have the courage to
makehardchoicesabouthowwepayfor
it," Coburn said.But Coburn ultimately
supported the bill after his amendment
failed. The measure passed on a 98-0
vote. Supporters, including veterans
groups such as the Wounded Warrior
Project, argued that the spending is
part of the cost of war.
The House has passed similar leg-
islation, but it has more limited ben-
efits -- covering only the most severely
wounded veterans. The next step is for
a House-Senate conference committee
to resolve differences between the two
bills.
Judge rules
former sailor
can be retried
BY LARRY O'DELL
The Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. -- Prosecu-
tors can retry an ex-sailor who
received a conditional pardon
from Virginia's governor after
spending 11 years in prison for
the rape and murder of a fel-
low sailor's wife, a federal judge
ruled Thursday.
Derek Tice was one of four
sailors known as "The Norfolk
Four" who claimed their confes-
sions to the 1997 rape and mur-
der of Michelle Moore-Bosko, 18,
were coerced. Gov. Tim Kaine
freed three of the men from
prison in August, saying he had
"grave doubts" about their guilt
but lacked sufficient evidence to
declare them innocent.
The conditional pardons left
the convictions on the men's re-
cords. Tice's convictions were
tossed out six weeks later by U.S.
District Judge Richard L. Wil-
liams, who cited a defense attor-
ney's failure to try to suppress a
confession taken after Tice had
invoked his right to remain silent.
Lawyers for the state and Tice
disagreed on whether he could be
retried in light of the governor's
conditional pardon.
Williams said Thursday that
Tice can be retried and gave
prosecutors 120 days to make
a decision. "This Court has not
concluded that Tice is actually
innocent of the crimes of which
he was found guilty," Williams
wrote. "Tice has not persuaded
any court that he was the victim
of prosecutorial misconduct. Nor
is the Court persuaded that any
effort to retry Tice is suggestive
of prosecutorial vindictiveness."
Desmond Hogan, an attorney
for Tice, said he had hoped Wil-
liams would bar a retrial. He said
prosecutors don't have to retry
Tice, and he would be disappoint-
ed if they do.
"A lot of people would be
shocked if they did, given the
governor's grave doubts," Hogan
said. "In light of the entire history
here, it would really be a shame
to put Derek through this."
Thirty former FBI agents as
well as some ex-prosecutors had
lobbied to exonerate The Norfolk
Four. A fifth man convicted in
the case, Omar Ballard, has said
he alone raped and killed Moore-
Bosko. His was the only DNA
found at the scene.
Senate passes bill to let caregivers
of severely injured vets get benefits
6th Fleet gets new skipper
NAPLES, Italy -- Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris
Jr. assumed command of the U.S. Navy 6th Fleet,
headquartered in Naples, from Vice Adm. Bruce W.
Clingan on Wednesday, according to a Navy news
release.
Harris also becomes
deputy commander of
Naval Forces Europe/
Naval Forces Africa,
Joint Forces Maritime
Component Commander
Europe, and commander
of Striking and Support
Forces NATO.
He comes to Naples
after serving as deputy
chiefofNavalOperations
for Communications
Networks and as Department of the Navy deputy
chief information officer.
Clingan's next assignment will be as deputy chief
of naval operations for Operations, Plans, and Strat-
egy in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at
the Pentagon.
From staff reports

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