Sen. Kirk's condition upgraded to 'good'
CHICAGO, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., has been upgraded to good condition as he continues to make progress in his recovery from a stroke, his neurologist said Monday.
Dr. Richard Fessler, neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said Kirk's medical team anticipates the Highland Park Republican will soon be able to begin the rehabilitation phase of his treatment.
"Sen. Kirk is making good progress in his recovery. He is visiting with family and even watched the Super Bowl last night," Fessler, a professor of neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a statement. "We are very pleased with his continued improvement."
Kirk, 52, has undergone multiple operations to ease brain swelling since his stroke last month but has been given a good prognosis for full mental recovery, Roll Call said. Doctors, however, say it is likely Kirk will have some degree of permanent physical damage to his left side.
Serial killer's arraignment delayed
SANTA ANA, Calif., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The arraignment of an ex-Marine charged with the slaying of four homeless men, a woman and her son in Southern California has been delayed.
The arraignment for Iraq war veteran Itzcoatl "Izzy" Ocampo, 23, was set for Monday but was rescheduled for March 16 because his attorney, Randall Longwith, said he needed more time to review the latest charges, The Orange County Register reported.
Ocampo was due to enter a plea in connection with the Oct. 25 stabbing deaths of Raquel Estrada, 53, and her son, Juan Herrera, 34, in their Yorba Linda home, KNBC-TV, Los Angeles, reported.
Authorities initially arrested another of Estrada's sons, Eder Giovanni Herrera, in connection with the slayings, but DNA evidence allegedly collected at Ocampo's home prompted investigators to drop charges against Herrera focusing only on Ocampo.
"This case has now expanded from murdering random, vulnerable strangers, to murdering people he knew," Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at a Friday news conference announcing the additional charges against Ocampo.
"It is chilling to know that these murders took place two months before the murders of four homeless men began."
Hoekstra TV ad called racist
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Michigan senatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra denied accusations a TV ad shown during the Super Bowl was racially insensitive to Asian-Americans.
The ad by the Republican former congressman allegedly was to attack the spending of his incumbent rival for the Senate seat in the November election, Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., the Grand Rapids Press reported Monday.
The 30-second spot, shot not in Michigan but in California, features a young woman of Asian ancestry riding a bicycle through a field. She stops and addresses the camera in halted English.
"Debbie spend so much American money, you borrow more and more, from us," the woman says. "Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs.
"Thank you, Debbie 'Spenditnow.'"
The ad then cuts to Hoekstra sitting by a fire.
"I think this race is between Debbie 'Spenditnow' and Pete 'Spenditnot.' I'm Pete 'Spenditnot' Hoekstra and I approve this message," he says.
Hoekstra said the television spot was intended to initiate debate on spending.
"The ad is only insensitive to Debbie Stabenow and her spending. The ad clearly lays out that the Chinese benefit from the recklessness of U.S. spending," Hoekstra said.
"It doesn't criticize the Chinese at all. The spending weakens us and improves the Chinese. It's about clearly pointing out our reckless spending. This ad isn't nasty at all. It simply points out the facts," he added.
Powell family reacts to e-mails
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Josh Powell's family said they panicked at e-mail messages before his apparent suicide and resultant death of his two young sons in their Washington home.
"I thought he was going to harm himself," Nathan Leach said after receiving a cryptic e-mail from his cousin Josh Powell Sunday afternoon that said simply: "I'm sorry. Goodbye."
Leach said he frantically called his sister along with Josh's sister and brother, Alina and Michael Powell. He said he even called 911 from his home in Texas to get emergency services over to Powell's house in Puyallup, Wash., The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.
Death had arrived ahead of emergency responders, who found the Powell home in flames with Josh Powell and his two sons Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, in it.
Powell's family is in shock, the newspaper said.
"According to Michael there was no talk of any of this," Leach said. "That was a very horrible choice he made. I can't imagine the pressure that took him there, none of us can."
Powell was a person of interest in his wife's 2009 disappearance and was undergoing a custody battle with his mother- and father-in-law over his sons before they were killed. He was being cyberbullied, the Tribune said.
"I can tell you that Josh was terrorized. I'm sure there are people out there who would consider this appropriate given the mass assumption of his guilt. … This reminds me of North Korea's process -- walk the accused out into a field and put a bullet in them. The difference here is that everybody spends their time enjoying the prelude as some form of sick entertainment while posting Bible scriptures to justify to themselves the reason for which they are finding so much enjoyment," Leach said.
LA parents protest teachers' alleged abuse
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Parents and others Monday picketed a Los Angeles elementary school where two teachers are accused of lewd acts with their young students.
The protesters unfurled a large banner outside Miramonte Elementary School before the day's classes started that declared, "We the parents demand that our children be protected from lewd acts," KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, reported.
"I want the principal out here to give us an explanation, an answer," one unidentified parent told the TV station. "I think they should shut down the school to start with. Shut it down, temporarily, until they find a way to let us know that our children are protected."
City schools Superintendent John Deasy, who was to meet with parents Monday night, has said he is "sickened and appalled" by the allegations against the teachers.
Miramonte Elementary was to be closed Tuesday and Wednesday as the investigation into the child abuse scandal moves forward, KTLA-TV said.
Investigators arrested Martin Bernard Springer, 49, of Alhambra, Friday following allegations he fondled two girls in his classroom in the past three years, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker said.
Springer's arrest followed the Jan. 30 arrest of Mark Berndt, 61, who is accused of taking bondage-type photos and other lewd acts involving 23 children between 2008 and 2010.
While the two cases are not directly tied, investigators said Saturday one student was inappropriately touched by both teachers.
Both men remained jailed in lieu of bond.
