Beauregard statue gone in New Orleans
NEWORLEANS — The statue of Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, the Confederate States of America’s first mega hero, was removed from its pedestal early Wednesday morning under the watchful eye of mounted police and police snipers.
At Fort Sumter, Beauregard ordered the attack that opened the Civil War. At Manassas in 1861, he helped rout the Union army and send its rookie soldiers fleeing back to Washington. He championed use of the distinct Confederate flag that would vex the nation for generations after he died.
The New Orleans statue, unveiled in 1915, depicted him on horseback. Late last year, the city council voted to remove monuments to Beauregard, and other Confederate figures.
“The statues ... were erected decades after the Civil War to celebrate the ‘Cult of the Lost Cause,’ a movement recognized across the South as celebrating and promoting white supremacy,” the city said in a statement Wednesday.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu added: “Today we take another step in defining our City not by our past but by our bright future. While we must honor our history, we will not allow the Confederacy to be put on a pedestal in the heart of New Orleans.”
Computer porn case
LOSANGELES — A federal judge in California this week threw out nearly all the evidence in a child pornography case, but rejected a key defense argument — which had the potential to impact many more cases around the country — that the investigation was tainted because it had started with a discovery made by a Best Buy “Geek Squad” technician.
The case against Mark Rettenmaier had gained national attention after the defense contended that technicians at a giant Best Buy computer repair facility in Kentucky were working so closely with federal investigators handling child pornography cases that they should be considered government agents — and therefore need search warrants.
However, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney on Monday found that Mr. Rettenmaier had given up his right to privacy by consenting orally and in writing to the search of his hard drive.
Judge Carney did find fault with the government’s case against Mr. Rettenmaier, though, ruling that searches of his home and cellphone were illegal because an FBI affidavit for a search warrant misstated key facts about the case.
Ford plans to cut jobs
DETROIT — Ford is getting leaner as it faces an onslaught of challenges, from slowing U.S. sales to hightech challengers to its own disgruntled shareholders.
The 114-year-old automaker said Wednesday it is cutting 1,400 non-factory jobs in North America and Asia Pacific. The company will offer voluntary early retirement and separation packages to around 10 percent of its salaried workers in departments such as sales, marketing and human resources.
The cuts are the biggest to Ford’s U.S. white collar staff since 2007, when 7,200 workers took voluntary buyout packages.
Also in the nation ...
A school bus in East Lampeter, near Lancaster, Pa., flipped on its side in a hitand-run accident involving four vehicles, sending 14 students, the bus driver and another driver to the hospital, authorities said. A student who was ejected from the bus and one other were seriously injured.