Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 2

Pensacola News Journal Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Page edited by Phil Nickinson, 435-8672 after 4 p.m. T)I Stuff to do today Who's in the 2A MEWS Escambia County School District Look who's blogging now Sociallyunhinged Sociallyunhinged is passionate about politics, humor and current events. A recent comment about a story on skipping jury duty: "While I agree that jury duty is an 'honor' of sorts, and that people should welcome the opportunity to the economics involved here makes it more of a curse rather than an honor. There is NO way I could afford to serve on a jury and miss work; regardless of the warm fuzzy feeling I'd get." What's hot Monday's popular items at pnj.com: 1 Photo gallery: Suit up 2. Story: Cuts could force school closings 3.

Story: Car wash shooting victim dies. The school officials met Monday and decided to continue discussions about cutting positions at various schools. Find out what readers are saying about this heated topic at pnj. com Second annual Dinner of Hope 7 p.m. today.

Gulf Coast Wings of Hope will present the second annual Dinner of Hope. Guests will be treated to five courses, complimentary champagne and wine and a live auction. Proceeds will benefit families of children with cancer and blood disorders. Tickets are $75; $400 for a table of six; $500 for a table of eight. Angus Restaurant, 1101 Scenic Highway.

Rosemary Staples, 291-1541, or visit www. wingsofhopeinc.org. McGuire's Running Club Run 5:45 p.m. meeting; 6 p.m. run, today Runners, walkers and in all in between are welcome to this weekly 5K run.

Participants get a free T-shirt after six runs that entitles the wearer to discounted drink specials and other perks. McGuire's Irish Pub, 600 E. Gregory St. George Scapin, 455-0012, or e-mail gthescapins.com. MILITARY Services are taking more felons MILITARY BRIEFS Admiral reprimanded for lying Felony waivers up The number of Army recruits with felony convictions more than doubled from 2006 to 2007.

Felony conviction waivers 2006 2007 Army Marine Corps 208 immxmammm 350 Navy 48 $42" House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, who released the data, noted that there may be valid reasons for granting the waivers and giving individuals a second chance. But he added, "Concerns have been raised that the significant increase in the recruitment of persons with criminal records is a result of the strain put on the military by the Iraq War and may be undermining military readiness." The services use a waiver process to let in recruits with felony convictions, and many of the crimes were committed when the service members were juveniles. For example, in several of the Marine sex crime cases, the offender was a teenager involved in consensual sex with another underage teen. In one Army case, a 13-year-old who threw a match into his school locker was charged with arson and had to receive a felony waiver six years later. "Waivers are used judiciously and granted only after a thorough review," said Pentagon spokesman Lt.

Col. Jonathan Withington. Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press WASHINGTON Under pressure to meet combat needs, the Army and Marine Corps brought in significantly more recruits with felony convictions last year than in 2006, including some with manslaughter and sex-crime convictions. Data released by a congressional committee shows the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007.

And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350. Those numbers represent a fraction of the more than 180,000 recruits brought in by the active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007. But they highlight a trend that has raised concerns both within the military and on Capitol Hill. The bulk of the crimes involved were burglaries, other thefts, and drug offenses, but nine involved sex crimes and six involved manslaughter or vehicular homicide convictions.

Several dozen Army and Marine recruits had aggravat- said Navy spokesman Rear Adm. Frank Thorp. It will now be up to Navy Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, to recommend at what rank Stufflebeem would be allowed to retire, Thorp said. The final decision on rank, which will be made by Navy Secretary Donald C.

Winter, will affect Stufflebeem's retirement pay. The investigation by the Pentagon inspector general began on the basis of an anonymous letter accusing Stufflebeem of having an inappropriate relationship while serving as a military aide to President George H.W. Bush in 1990. The investigation's findings have not been made public. WASHINGTON A senior Navy officer has received a written reprimand and requested retirement after an investigation concluded that he lied about having an inappropriate relationship while working at the White House in 1 990, the Navy said Monday.

Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, a career naval aviator, was demoted in rank in March from three-star to two-star level and fired from his senior staff job, in connection with the matter. On Friday, Stufflebeem received a punitive letter of reprimand for having violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice by making a false statement during the investigation, Associated Press ed assault or robbery convictions, including incidents involving weapons. Both the Army and Marine Corps have been struggling to increase their numbers as part of a broader effort to meet the combat needs of a military fighting wars on two fronts. As a result, the number of recruits needing waivers for crimes or other bad conduct has grown in recent years, as well as those needing medical or aptitude waivers.

-General: Stop-loss is still needed Gates: Air Force must accept change Air Force and other services must act more aggressively. Gates has been trying WASHINGTON It will be more than a year before the Army can end the unpopular practice of forcing soldiers to stay in the service beyond their I retirement or re-enlistment 1' dates, a top official said Monday. I Lt. Gen. James D.

Thurman, deputy chief of staff for operations, said I he hoped that wartime demand for troops will decline enough by around I the fall of next year to end "stop-loss." He said there are more than 12,000 currently serving under I the practice an action that critics have called a I "backdoor draft." I Thurman also said that as officials continue to business, it's been like pulling teeth," Gates said of his prodding. "While we've doubled this capability in recent months, it is still not good enough." Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates' complaint about struggling to get more drone aircraft to the battlefield was aimed not only at the Air Force but at the military as a whole. Gates made his remarks to a large group of officers at the Air Force's Air increase the size of the Army, it could be possible by the fall of 2011 for troops to be home two years for every year they are deployed. The two issues of stop-loss and long tours of duty have been among the Pentagon's most disliked practices among troops. Thousands have been forced to stay in the service beyond their contracts since the start of the global war on terrorism.

And tours of duty were increased to 15 months from 12 months a year ago so the Army could come up with the extra forces President Bush ordered for the troop buildup ip Iraq. Associated Press Robert Burns Associated Press WASHINGTON In unusually blunt terms, Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday challenged the Air Force, whose leaders are under fire on several fronts, to contribute more to immediate wartime needs and to promote new thinking. Gates singled out the use of pilotless surveillance planes, in growing demand by commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan, as an example of how the University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. Later, Gates flew to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., to deliver a speech to cadets and faculty members.

He encouraged young soldiers to "take on the mantle of fearless, thoughtful but loyal dissent" "when the situation calls for it, and to "defend your integrity as you would your life," according to a text of his prepared remarks released in advance by the Pentagon. for months Gates to get the Air Force to send more unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, like the Predator drone that provides realtime surveillance video, to the battlefield. "Because people were stuck in old ways of doing pnj.com Newsjournal Member of the Associated Press Vol. 1 20 Issue 113 TO REACH THE INFORMATION CENTER: To get general information about newsroom services, ask questions about news coverage, submit news tips and story ideas, call the Community Announcement Desk Get a sure thing in an unsure economy. at 435-8542 or e-mail us at newspnj.com.

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