Group decries states’ lack of safety plans
WASHINGTON – Eight years after Hurricane Katrina, most states still don’t require four basic safety plans to protect children in school and child care from disasters, aid group Save the Children said in a report released today.
The group faulted 28 states and the District of Columbia for failing to require the emergency safety plans for schools and child-care providers that were recommended by a national commission in the wake of Katrina. The lack of such plans could leave children without food and basic supplies and make it harder for them to be reunited with their families, the study said.
The states were: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia.
“Every workday, 68 million children are separated from their parents,” Carolyn Miles, Save the Children’s president and CEO, said in a statement with the group’s annual disaster report card. “We owe it to these children to protect them before the next disaster strikes.”
Judge under fire orders new sentencing hearing
BILLINGS, Mont.– A Montana judge under fire for his comments about a 14-year-old victim in a schoolhouse rape case has ordered a new sentencing hearing for the former teacher who received just 30 days in prison for the crime.
In setting the hearing for Friday afternoon, District Judge G. Todd Baugh said Tuesday that state law appears to require a two-year mandatory minimum prison term for Stacey Rambold, 54, of Billings.
Rambold last week was sentenced to 15 years with all but 31 days suspended and a one-day credit given for time-served. He began serving his monthlong term last week at the state prison in Deer Lodge.
“In the Court’s opinion, imposing a sentence which suspends more than the mandatory minimum would be an illegal sentence,” Baugh wrote.
Associated Press
