Drunken Driver Blamed for Death of Cop

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COMMACK (WALK) – A Plainview man driving drunk early Sunday morning in Commack has been blamed for causing a fatal crash killing a Suffolk County Police Department officer.

Police say the on-duty officer, whose name has not yet been released, was enroute to assist another officer around 4:15 a.m. At the intersection of Vanderbilt Motor Parkway and Commack Road in Commack the police squad car was involved in a crash with a 2007 Dodge Magnun

Jose Borbon, 23, of 178 Morton Blvd, has been identified as the driver of the Dodge.

Reports indicate the officer’s vehicle spun around from the force of the crash. The vehicle came to rest after striking a traffic pole and bursting into blames. Witnesses told Newsday the fire started and spread quickly and rescue efforts were impossible.

Borbon was arrested and charged with Driving While Intoxicated. He is scheduled for arraignment Monday at First District Court in Central Islip.

Newsday obtained court records which they report indicate Borbon has a history of DWI charges. On January 4, Borbon was arrested in Nassau County for DWI, holding more than one license, criminal possession of a weapon, not signaling, driving without a seat belt and failure to obey a traffic device, according to Newsday. He is set to appear in court in April on those charges.

The newspaper also reports Borbon held a D-class “conditional” license, which allows drivers to only drive to specific locations such as to and from work. Borbon is believed to be participating in the state’s Drinking Driver rehabilitation program.

New York State Department of Motor Vehicle records obtained by Newsday indicate Boron was involved in four separate accidents in 2006 and had his license suspended in 2007.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the officer killed in this terrible crash,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. “This officer made the ultimate sacrifice protecting and serving the people of Suffolk County.”

“The Suffolk County Police Department is mourning the loss of one of our own,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. “It’s a sad reminder of the dangers police officers face each and every day.”

Update: Facebook Rethinking its Terms-of-Use Change

By Wailin Wong
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO (MCT) - A Facebook of the people, by the people and for the people. And probably heavily reviewed by corporate attorneys.

The social networking site backtracked on a change in its user policy and invited its members Wednesday to send in suggestions for a Facebook "Bill of Rights and Responsibilities."

The document would replace Facebook's terms of use, the agreement for which the site had come under fire this week from privacy advocates and tens of thousands of its members.

Facebook had quietly revised its terms of use in early February, deleting language that ensured its license to use member content automatically would expire if a person quit the site. The change largely went unnoticed until the consumer rights advocacy blog Consumerist warned that Facebook now could do whatever it wanted with user content forever.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, said the site has reverted to its old terms of use while it undertakes a "substantial revision" of the agreement. The resulting document, which will take at least several weeks to complete, will be written in clearer language and incorporate member input.

"We apologize for the confusion around these issues," Facebook told its members on the site. "We never intended to claim ownership over people's content even though that's what it seems like to many people. This was a mistake and we apologize for the confusion."
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© 2009, Chicago Tribune.
Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Obama Unveils Plan to Stem Foreclosures

By Kevin G. Hall
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON (MCT) - President Barack Obama rolled out a bold $75 billion, three-part plan Wednesday to halt the soaring rate of mortgage foreclosures nationwide, one that seeks to encourage refinancing of homes now worth less than their mortgages and provides incentives for lenders to lower the debt load on struggling homeowners.

The Homeowner Stability Initiative, which Obama unveiled in Phoenix, seeks to address one of the triggers of the global financial crisis: the 2.3 million U.S. foreclosures last year that are protracting the housing crisis and helping to drive down home prices across the nation.

"When the housing market collapsed, so did the availability of credit on which our economy depends. As that credit dried up, it has been harder for families to find affordable loans," Obama said. "In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen _ a crisis which is unraveling homeownership, the middle class, and the American Dream itself."

Specifically, the Obama plan seeks to provide low-cost refinancing for as many as 5 million Americans. It seeks to help delinquent or at-risk borrowers get their mortgages modified so that no more than 31 percent of their income is tied up in their mortgages. And it provides financial incentives to lenders and even a new insurance program to promote more mortgage modifications.

Like the failed efforts under the Bush administration, however, the Obama plan doesn't compel banks and other lenders to modify troubled mortgages. Instead, it provides a menu of incentives that may or may not prove sufficient.

"This is not just the treasury secretary going into the room and asking people to do the right thing," said a senior Treasury official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak more freely. "This is the first time there has really been a systemic incentive strategy for them (lenders)."
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ON THE WEB
Treasury summary:
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg33.htm
Treasure plan:
http://tinyurl.com/bx295h
Treasury examples:
http://tinyurl.com/bhl6d8
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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.
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A-Rod: ‘Judge Me From This Day Forward'

By Phil Sheridan
The Philadelphia Inquirer

TAMPA, Fla. (MCT) - In a nationally televised news conference attended by many of his New York Yankees teammates, Alex Rodriguez admitted injecting a performance-enhancing drug for nearly three years as a member of the Texas Rangers from 2001 to '03.

"I screwed up big time," Rodriguez said at the end of the nearly 40-minute news conference. "The only thing I ask from this group and the American people is to judge me from this day forward. That's all I can ask for."

Rodriguez said a cousin, whom he declined to identify, brought an "over-the-counter" substance called "Boli" from the Dominican Republic in 2001. It is possible that "Boli" is slang for Perobolan, which is the substance that Sports Illustrated reported triggered Rodriguez's positive drug test in 2003. Perobolan is not legal in the United States even with a prescription.

"It was his understanding that it would give me a dramatic energy boost and otherwise harmless," Rodriguez said. "My cousin and I, one more ignorant than the other, decided it was a good idea to start taking it."

Rodriguez said his cousin injected him with the substance approximately twice a month for six months.

"Neither of us knew how to use it properly," Rodriguez said. "We consulted no one and had no good reason to base that decision. It was pretty evident that we didn't know what we were doing."

Rodriguez admitted using steroids from 2001 to 2003 after Sports Illustrated reported that he was one of 104 players to test positive during what was supposed to be anonymous survey testing in 2003.

Asked how a professional athlete in the first year of a 10-year, $252 million contract with the Rangers would risk using a substance he knew nothing about, Rodriguez, who was 25 at the time, said only that he was "young and stupid." He also said he was not sure whether the substance was a steroid or whether it even helped him.

"I'm not sure what the benefit was," said Rodriguez, a three-time AL MVP. "When you take any substance, it's half mental and half physical. If you take this glass of water and you say, I'm going to be a better baseball player, if you believe it, you probably will be. I certainly felt more energy, but it's hard to say."

If he "didn't think they were steroids," as he said, then why were he and his cousin so secretive about it?

"That's a good question," Rodriguez said after a pause. "I knew we weren't taking Tic Tacs. I knew it potentially could be something that perhaps was wrong. I really didn't get into the investigation. I wouldn't imagine doing something like that today, obviously. It's a different world, a different culture."

Rodriguez said he stopped taking "Boli" in 2003 after a neck injury that "scared me half to death" and because MLB began its drug-testing program with penalties in 2004.

"At that time," he said, "it became evident to me how serious this all was."

He said he had never taken human growth hormone but acknowledged using Ripped Fuel, a product containing the now-banned substance ephedra, "in the Seattle days." Rodriguez played for the Mariners from 1994 through 2000.

Asked about critical comments made by Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, his former Seattle teammate, in an interview with The Inquirer, Rodriguez said: "I'm sorry Jamie feels that way. He's definitely entitled to his opinion. . . . I'm going to focus on what I can do and move forward."

He reacted in similar fashion to questions about remarks made by MLB commissioner Bud Selig and Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt.

When the subject of his possible pursuit of the all-time home run record and his legacy came up, Rodriguez sounded especially contrite. His public admissions, first in an interview on ESPN and Tuesday, are clearly part of a strategy to salvage his reputation and his potential admission to the Hall of Fame.

"My best year of my career, arguably, was when I was 19, 20 years old in Seattle," Rodriguez said. "My other best year was in '07, just two years ago. So I hope that after my career is over, the evidence falls in my favor. But if it doesn't, I also understand that."

Rodriguez's 10-year contract with the Yankees, signed before the 2008 season, includes incentives worth millions of dollars if he catches and passes Barry Bonds for the all-time home run record. He has 553 home runs; Bonds' record is 762. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said there was little the team could do to change the contract.

"It is what it is," Cashman said. "We have to approach Alex as an asset who is going to be on this team a long time. If this is Humpty Dumpty, we've got to put him together again and put him back up on the wall."

Last week, Rodriguez was approached by the Taylor Hooton Foundation, which is named for a 17-year-old high school baseball player who committed suicide while withdrawing from steroids. Don Hooton, who has made steroid education his life's work since the loss of his son, said Rodriguez could help reach millions of young people.

"He's the perfect person to talk about this," Hooton said. "We've never reached out to any of the other players implicated in this."

Rodriguez said he would work with Hooton to try to educate young people about the dangers of steroid abuse. He apologized to baseball fans everywhere, as well as the Yankees organization and his teammates.

"For a week here, I kept looking for people to blame," Rodriguez said. "And I ended up looking at myself at the end of the day."
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© 2009, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.philly.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): rodriguez

Stimulus Bill Law

Bulletin: Obama signs stimulus bill into law

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Does Facebook Own Your Photos?

By Wailin Wong
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO (MCT) - Facebook knows your age, alma mater and favorite band. It's seen your spring break photos and read the messages you sent to your friend. So, can it do anything it wants with that content?

Legally, almost. But in practice, the rules that govern Facebook's relationship with its users are abstract and subject to constant negotiation.

The blogosphere was abuzz Monday after a popular consumer affairs blog pointed out changes to Facebook's terms of use that the social networking Web site quietly made earlier this month. The issue of who controls the data posted to the site is a massive gray area that continues to evolve as Internet companies and consumers shape social norms of how to define trust in the digital age and share their lives through new technology.

Under both the old and new rules, members grant Facebook a license to use content "on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof." But the revised agreement eliminates language saying this license would "automatically expire" if content were removed from the site.

"They're saying, 'Once data gets in our database, we can do whatever we want with it,'" said Eric Goldman, associate professor and director of the High Tech Law Institute at the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Suzie White, Facebook's corporate counsel for commercial transactions, announced on the company's official blog on Feb. 4 that the site was updating its terms of use. But Facebook didn't send out a mass notification asking users to sign off on the changes. And White's brief post, which didn't call attention to the content license, went unnoticed.

Then, on Sunday, the Consumerist blog, which is owned by the publisher of Consumer Reports, warned readers of the changes by describing the revised policy as, "We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever."

Facebook founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg responded to the controversy Monday, posting a note that explained the rationale for the content license.

"When a person shares information on Facebook, they first need to grant Facebook a license to use that information so that we can show it to the other people they've asked us to share it with," Zuckerberg wrote. "Without this license, we couldn't help people share that information."

In a statement, Facebook said its policy of maintaining a license over old content is consistent with general use of its site and other Web services such as e-mail. For example, if a Facebook member sends a message to a friend, that message remains in the friend's inbox even if the member quits the site. The company said this is similar to Web-based e-mail, where sent messages remain archived in recipients' inboxes even if the sender's account is deleted.

The controversy over the revised terms highlights a crucial question of user responsibility in the social networking age: Do consumers understand what can happen to their data? Privacy experts often warn that the notion that consumers can control the content they post online is illusory. Yet, most users don't bother reading terms of service or question a company's intentions when they sign up for a new site.

"Typically, terms of service approximate the length of a contract you would sign to buy a house," said Nathan Gilliatt, principal at social media consulting firm Social Target. "Half of it is in uppercase text that's almost unreadable. It's non-negotiable, and people want to use the service. So what are you going to do?"

One reason Facebook has become so popular is "it's convinced users that they have control over what takes place on the site," Goldman said. This level of trust is built into the culture of Facebook, not enshrined in any legal document.

Goldman said the language in Facebook's terms of use "runs directly contrary" to the tacit agreement the site has struck with its members. Users generally trust that their profile photos won't turn up on a roadside billboard without their permission, or that their blog posts won't be published in a bound volume and sold for profit.

Zuckerberg's Monday post sought to downplay fears that Facebook has dark motivations for amassing user data.

"We wouldn't share your information in a way you wouldn't want," Zuckerberg said. "The trust you place in us as a safe place to share information is the most important part of what makes Facebook work."
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© 2009, Chicago Tribune.
Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Three People Arrested for Burglary

Suffolk County Police have arrested three people for burglarizing homes in Lake Ronkonkoma and Lake Grove.

The burglaries occurred earlier this month during daylight hours when the residents were not home. The proceeds included cash, jewelry and electronics and were then sold at various locations within the nearby community.

Arrested and charged with two counts of Burglary 2nd Degree were:
· Albert Fernandez, 21, of 7 Melissa Court, Lake Grove
· Victoria Doyle, 18, of 7 Melissa Court, Lake Grove
· Melissa Haines, 17, of 2 Seawanhaka Ave., Nesconset

Doyle and Haines were also charged with Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. The suspects were arraigned on February 14. They are currently being held at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead awaiting further court action.

Fourth Squad detectives are continuing the investigation.