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THE TIMES NATIONAL WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2013 N A15

Voters in Northwest City Back $15 Minimum Wage National Briefing By KIRK JOHNSON the victory celebration was pre- SEATAC, Wash. — After weeks mature. SOUTH of ballot counting, elections offi- “I think it’s still unresolved,” cials said on Tuesday that voters said Bruce Beckett, the director Virginia: Recount Sought in Attorney General Race in this small city south of Seattle of government affairs for the Washington Restaurant Associa- had in fact approved by 77 votes The Republican candidate, Mark Obenshain, said Tuesday that he tion, which along with several the highest municipal minimum would seek a recount in the close race for Virginia attorney general. He other businesses, including Alas- wage in the nation, $15 an hour, said he would make his request formal on Wednesday. A mere 165 votes ka Airlines, has challenged the more than twice the federal mini- separate Mr. Obenshain and his Democratic opponent, Mark Herring, measure in court. The suit ques- mum. who was certified the victor in the race on Monday by the State Board tions if the city has legal author- of Elections. A recount would be at taxpayer expense because the mar- But the battle is not over. A ity to regulate businesses inside group opposing the measure said the airport even if they are within gin between the two is less than one-half of 1 percent. (AP) it would immediately ask for a city limits, and whether the hand recount, and a lawsuit by measure overreached in trying to MIDWEST business groups is still going for- bundle too many goals together. ward in state court. A group called Common Sense Labor union officials who fo- SeaTac said in a statement it : 3 at School District Put on Leave After Charges cused on SeaTac as a template would request a recount of the The Steubenville school superintendent and two district employees for wage battles yet to come ELLEN M. BANNER/ SEATTLE TIMES, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS roughly 6,000 ballots. All voting is have been placed on leave after they were charged in an investigation around the country said the re- Supporters in SeaTac, Wash., rejoiced on election night when it done by mail in Washington. prompted by the rape of a 16-year-old girl by two high school football sults would be a thunderbolt and looked as if the measure would pass, but the count took weeks. But if the backers prevail, little players, school officials said Tuesday. A grand jury on Monday charged a call to action. The vote means SeaTac, population 27,000, would the superintendent, Mike McVey, and three others with lying or failing thousands of airport workers be thrust into heady national to report possible child abuse after an investigation prompted by the here, the host city to Seattle-Ta- cently approved a $10 minimum, the conversation about wages,” ranks. San Francisco has the coma International Airport, could phased in over two years. The Mr. Rolf said. rape of the West Virginia girl after an alcohol-fueled party in August highest municipal minimum 2012. The others charged were the football team strength coach, Seth see substantial pay raises start- federal minimum is $7.25. The ballot measure, Proposi- wage, at $10.55, but wage rates Fluharty; a volunteer football coach, Matthew Belardine; and an ele- ing next year. It also sets the “Voters said, enough is tion 1, exempts airlines and small over $11 have recently advanced stage, union organizers said, for a enough,” said David Rolf, the businesses, including restaurants in Washington, D.C., and in the mentary school principal, Lynnett Gorman. Mr. Belardine is not a battle to advance a $15 wage in president of a Seattle chapter of with fewer than 10 employees, Massachusetts Senate, according school employee. (AP) Seattle, where the mayor-elect, the Service Employees Interna- but could raise pay for about to the National Employment Law Ed Murray, has pledged support tional Union, at a news confer- 6,500 workers in the city, on and Project, which works with low- Michigan: Creditors Want Role in Art Assessment for the idea. ence at the airport against a off airport property — and would wage workers. A few places have Some of Detroit’s largest creditors are asking a judge to let them have a Washington already has the backdrop of clattering baggage give paid sick days to many of special district wage rules over role in assessing the city’s art collection. In a court filing on Tuesday, highest state minimum in the na- carousels and travelers passing those workers for the first time. $15, including Los Angeles In- the creditors in Detroit’s bankruptcy say they are in the dark when it tion, at $9.19, but stands to be sur- by with their wheeled bags. “We The spokesman for a business ternational Airport, where work- comes to art at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The art has been un- passed by California, which re- have seen a national change in group opposing the measure said ers get a minimum of $15.37. dergoing an appraisal by the Christie’s auction house. The report is ex- pected in December. Judge Steven Rhodes is being asked to appoint a 10-member committee to work with Detroit on a strategy to possibly make money from the art to pay creditors if the bankruptcy case pro- Governor Calls for Congressman to Quit After Arrest ceeds. Creditors say they are concerned that the emergency manager, Kevyn D. Orr, might not maximize the art’s potential. The Michigan at- By ASHLEY PARKER anchorman and conservative talk them of his arrest until just be- torney general’s office says the art cannot be sold. (AP) show host in southwest , fore it was reported in the news WASHINGTON — Gov. Rick Pressure grows on Wisconsin: Appeal Made to Vatican on Trust Fund Scott of Florida added his voice won the seat in the 19th Congres- media, have largely steered clear sional District — which includes of weighing in on what he should Tuesday to calls for Representa- Clergy sexual abuse victims and priests said Tuesday that they have the cities of Naples and Fort My- Trey Radel after a do next. tive Trey Radel to resign from asked Roman Catholic officials at the Vatican to make more than $50 ers — in 2012, with 62 percent of But in Florida, where Mr. Congress after pleading guilty to cocaine conviction. million from a cemetery trust fund available to settle bankruptcy claims the vote. Radel’s district is solidly Repub- cocaine-related charges here last against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The letter to the Congregation He pleaded guilty a week ago lican and unlikely to fall into week. for the Clergy, which oversees abuse cases, essentially asks it to undo to a misdemeanor charge of buy- Democratic control, Republican “We have to hold all of our ing 3.5 grams of cocaine in Wash- “The people of Florida’s 19th officials have been less forgiving. an order that authorized Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York to elected officials to the highest ington last month and was sen- Congressional District need a Former Representative Connie create the trust fund in 2007, when he was archbishop in Milwaukee. standards,” Mr. Scott told report- tenced to a year of probation. congressman who is 100 percent Mack IV, who gave up the 19th The fund had been seen as one of the archdiocese’s few significant as- ers in Florida, adding, “My pray- During a late-night news con- focused on the needs of south- District seat in 2012 for an unsuc- sets when it filed for bankruptcy in 2011, but a federal judge declared it ers and my wife’s prayers are ference last week, Mr. Radel said west Florida,” Mr. Curry said in a cessful Senate run, has been qui- off-limits, saying the trust was protected by the First Amendment’s with his family.” he would take a leave of absence statement. “Therefore, Congress- etly trying to consolidate support freedom of religion. That decision has raised questions about how much On Monday night, Lenny Cur- from Congress, enter “intensive man Radel should step down and for a potential bid to return to the money is available to pay the hundreds of sexual abuse victims who ry, the chairman of the Repub- inpatient treatment” and work to focus his attention on rehabilita- House. Other possible candidates have filed claims in bankruptcy court. The letter has no bearing on Unit- lican Party of Florida, called on regain the trust of his family and tion and his family.” include Lizbeth Benacquisto, the ed States court proceedings but is an appeal to the church to do justice Mr. Radel, 37, to step down. And constituents. A spokesman for the Florida majority leader of the Florida according to its own teachings and legal code, said the Rev. James Con- state party strategists consider He blamed his “extremely irre- Republican Party, in a follow-up State Senate, and Chauncey nell, a former vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and co- the Radel scandal an opportunity email, said that Mr. Curry was re- sponsible choice” on his “strug- Goss, who finished second to Mr. founder of the Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance. (AP) for other politicians who are look- gle with the disease of alcohol- flecting the views of Mr. Radel’s Radel in the Republican primary ing to move to Congress, and ism,” and checked into a rehabili- constituents, including Republi- last year. Illinois: Settlement Reached in Clergy Abuse Case they see no downside in holding a tation facility in Naples. He said can leaders in Collier and Lee In an email, a spokesman for special election if Mr. Radel re- he would donate his salary to Counties, who in a joint state- Mr. Radel, Dave Natonski, dis- Lawyers on Tuesday announced a $2.3 million settlement with the signs. charity until he was able to re- ment urged Mr. Radel to resign missed calls for his resignation: Archdiocese of in a lawsuit involving a man claiming he was Mr. Radel, a former television turn to Congress. immediately. “Congressman Radel’s top priori- sexually abused by a former priest. The suit does not identify the vic- A growing number of Repub- Republican leaders in Con- ty right now is to complete his re- tim, but says he is now in his early 20s and was abused by the Rev. Dan- licans in Florida say that is not gress, despite expressing frustra- habilitation and then return to iel McCormack as a teenager. Mr. McCormack pleaded guilty in 2007 to Remember the Neediest! enough. tion that Mr. Radel did not tell work as soon as possible.” abusing five children and served 21/2 years of a five-year term. (AP)