Here is a news article: After losing his primary to tea party challenger David Brat, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced he will be stepping down from House leadership at the end of July. (Associated Press)

 After losing his primary to tea party challenger David Brat, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced he will be stepping down from House leadership at the end of July. (Associated Press)

 Majority Leader Eric I. Cantor (R-Va.) will step down from his leadership post at the end of July, ending a swift rise through the ranks of national politics and upending a leadership team that has run the House since Republicans took control after the 2010 tea party wave election.

 Less than 24 hours after losing a primary contest to a tea party-backed economist, Cantor announced Wednesday afternoon that he will resign as leader July 31, but keep his seat until his term ends in January. He said that House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would make an “outstanding” successor.

 “While I may have suffered a personal setback last night, I couldn’t be more optimistic about the future of this country,” Cantor told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “I’m honored that I’ve had the privilege of serving the people of Virginia’s 7th District.”

 House Republicans plan to hold new leadership elections next Thursday, according to senior aides. In addition to McCarthy, several senior Republicans are mulling bids for top posts, so it wasn’t immediately clear which positions will be open next week.

 (Live updates on the Cantor upset and its aftermath)

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 Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) led a Wednesday afternoon meeting of the House Republican conference and thanked Cantor and his staff for their service.

 “This is a speech I never expected to give,” Boehner said. He was in tears later as Cantor addressed his 232 Republican colleagues.

 Cantor’s decision to leave his leadership post after losing Tuesday to economist Dave Brat came on a day that Republicans began scrambling to build support and fill the leadership vacuum.

 McCarthy, the next in line after Boehner and Cantor, is preparing to run for majority leader, but will have competition from more conservative colleagues.

 Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee, began texting colleagues Tuesday night asking to speak with them about his bid for majority leader. His top advisers were actively positioning him for the race.

 A confident Sessions predicted in an interview that he would beat McCarthy, arguing that his work to elect Republicans during the 2010 elections and his current leadership of powerful Rules Committee makes him ready to manage the House floor.

 “I’ll be a majority leader who will be clear-headed about what we’re going to try to accomplish, putting more focus on what we’re trying to sell,” Sessions said, adding that he has a “strong and open” relationship with Boehner. “I know how to win.”

 The large Texas Republican delegation, which represents 10 percent of the entire House Republican Conference, planned to meet later Wednesday with the possibility of producing a unified front for Sessions or Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, to be the Lone Star State’s favorite GOP son for a leadership slot.

 It’s unclear when elections would be held to succeed Cantor, something that will be out of his control. Republicans aligned with more establishment figures privately expressed interest in shortening the race, for fear that a seven-week race until the end of July would be an ideological battlefield that tears the caucus apart.

 Next week’s planned leadership elections will allow a transition period for Cantor and his staff to leave his post. Allies of the majority leader described the timing of July 31 as one based largely on helping his staff make their moves.

 In addition to stepping down as majority leader, Cantor told colleagues Wednesday that he will not run as a write-in candidate in November.

 Cantor returned to the Capitol Wednesday morning by sneaking into the building through a back door on the Senate side in hopes of avoiding reporters. He appeared stone-faced and tense, grimacing when asked by The Washington Post whether he would step down from his leadership post or resign from Congress.

 Cantor, who has represented the Richmond suburbs since 2001, lost by 11 percentage points to Brat. The 51-year old had been considered the next generation’s GOP leader, who would take over for Boehner, 64,when he retired. In a caucus deeply divided between establishment Republicans and fire-breathing conservatives, these were the two who had shown some ability to keep order.

 McCarthy hesitated even behind closed doors Wednesday morning to say he would run for majority leader, still stunned by the loss of his close friend, Cantor, according to aides not authorized to speak publicly about the unfolding leadership race.

 McCarthy spent the morning in his spacious suite on the first floor of the Capitol, reaching out by telephone to more than 100 members, declining to go into details about his plans while hinting, with his appreciation for the encouragement, that he would run for majority leader. Later, he was seen huddling with several colleagues, including Reps. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Dennis A. Ross (R-Fla.), as he tries to shore up support and avoid competition.

 A race between McCarthy and Sessions would revive a long-simmering rivalry. They both ran for whip in 2010, with McCarthy besting his older opponent. Ever since, Sessions, 59, has been eager to challenge McCarthy and is telling colleagues that an older, more conservative hand is needed near the top, aides said.

 With McCarthy seeking to climb the leadership ranks, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), the chief deputy whip, announced to his inner circle Wednesday morning that he will run for whip, the third-highest position in leadership, and throw his support behind McCarthy as majority leader.

 Roskam told The Washington Post that he would not comment out of respect to Cantor. He was seen heading to a meeting with his allies to discuss his path ahead.

 But Roskam is expected to face competition from Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who leads the conservative Republican Study Committee and is already privately whipping votes, and possibly Hensarling, according to aides familiar the jockeying.

 In his conversations with colleagues, Scalise is making the case that he would serve as “a red state voice” in leadership ranks currently lacking a hardline conservative. Hensarling was seen huddling on the House floor Wednesday afternoon alongside House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), a key conservative broker. Earlier, he had huddled with Reps. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), a trio of renegade Republicans who rarely back leadership.

 In a brief interview, Hensarling was coy, saying that he was still mulling a potential leadership run. But he was upbeat and smiling — somewhat unusual for the taciturn Republican — and enjoying the speculation.

 Amid all the activity, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), currently the fourth-ranking Republican as chairman of the House Republican Conference, said Wednesday that she wouldn’t be seeking a higher position, meaning the leadership contest will focus on the majority leader and whip jobs.

 Boehner, meanwhile, appeared unfazed by the developments. He chatted Wednesday on the floor with close friends and avoided areas of the floor where McCarthy and others were chatting with colleagues. On Tuesday night, he stuck to his usual routine by hanging out with close friends and aides at an Italian restaurant that he likes near Capitol Hill.

 The fast-paced developments left rank-and-file members stunned as the 233-member caucus began splintering off behind favored candidates.

 Several conservatives said they were eager to see Cantor replaced by a southern conservative.

 “I just think that there is a geographical area of the country that has not been represented in leadership and I think that could be the determining factor in what happens,” said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, (R-Ga.).

 Asked to further clarify which area of the country he thought the next majority leader should hail from, Westmoreland replied: “Get a map.”

 But Rep. Pat Tiberi, an Ohio Republican close to Boehner, pushed back on suggestions that the next leader needs to be from the south.

 “Where does it say that in the constitution?” he quipped to reporters.

 Tiberi cautioned that the tea party success in ousting Cantor doesn’t necessarily signal an oncoming insurgence of conservatives into the GOP House leadership.

 “I’ve been around this business for 14 years and I can’t remember when there hasn’t been an anti-Washington feeling,” he said.

 Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) suggested that the GOP leadership team should have more equal political representation. “We need to have some people on there from red states as opposed to having all of them from blue states,” he told reporters.

 Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), a frequent critic of Boehner and Cantor, said he hopes to elect a leader with deeper roots in the conservative base of the party.

 “There’s a widespread concern about the Republican establishment not listening to conservatives and so I think it had energized the tea party,” he said. “It’s certainly not dead as we found out last night.”

 Other colleagues, still shellshocked by Tuesday’s stunning turn of events, just expressed condolences.

 “I’m sorry my friend lost,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.).

 Brat, meanwhile, appeared to struggle under fresh scrutiny of his upstart campaign. His campaign abruptly cancelled a scheduled news conference.

 “Sorry, we’re kind of flying by the seat-of-our pants today,” a staffer said, explaining that the campaign decided to develop a media strategy before talking again to the press.

 That decision came after Brat appeared on MSNBC to suggest that Cantor had lost touch with his district. Cantor “has not been present in the district,” he said.

 “I was door-knocking, I know what was on the minds of the folks,” he added later.

 But Brat appeared caught off guard by a barrage of policy questions. “I thought we were just going to chat today about the celebratory aspect,” he said.

 Wesley Lowery, Jackie Kucinich and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report. ||||| Eric Cantor — looking composed and even unusually at ease — went before the press on Wednesday afternoon and announced he’s stepping down as majority leader, ending an 11-year run in Republican leadership.

 The No. 2 House Republican called his defeat to an upstart primary challenger a “personal setback,” adding that his campaign team had done everything it could to win.

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 The public appearance came after a closed-door speech to his colleagues earlier in which Cantor said that it “doesn’t have to be a bad day.” He was the recipient of several standing ovations.

 (Also on POLITICO: The GOP leadership scramble)

 “Suffering is part of life, misery is a choice,” said Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in the House, quoting a Holocaust survivor. “As conservatives, we aren’t just the party of no. We really do believe in a better way of life.”

 Cantor then addressed the national press corps, one day after his stunning defeat, dismissing the argument that he had absented himself too frequently from his Seventh District in Richmond.

 “I was in my district every week,” Cantor insisted emphatically. “There is a balance between holding a leadership position and serving constituents at home. Never was there a day that I did not put the constituents of the 7th district first and I will continue to do so.”

 He endorsed California Rep. Kevin McCarthy to succeed him as majority leader. The election will be held June 19, and Cantor plans to leave his post by the end of July. He’ll stay in the House until December.

 (PHOTOS: Scenes from Eric Cantor HQ)

 Asked about his future plans, Cantor replied: “That’s probably between my wife and me.”

 Addressing his colleagues earlier, Cantor’s words drove Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to tears. Leadership elections are slated for just eight days away on June 19, according to a source in the room.

 “Winston Churchill once famously said: ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts,’” Boehner said, according to a source in the room. “As one who suffered a tough defeat myself in 1998, I can tell you there’s plenty of wisdom in that statement. Eric, we salute you, and we thank you, and your amazing staff as well. We’re losing a leader, but you’ll never stop being our colleague and our friend.”

 Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will seek the No. 2 job, which means two slots will open in the leadership hierarchy.

 (Also on POLITICO: 5 takeaways from Cantor shocker)

 Cantor’s resignation as majority leader will be effective July 31. He’s not expected to leave Congress until his term ends in January.

 Cantor, who came to Capitol Hill in 2001, lost his primary election Tuesday night to Dave Brat, an economics professor at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va. — a historic defeat for someone who was assumed to be the next speaker of the House. Just hours after his loss, Cantor’s GOP colleagues began rallying support for leadership races.

 On Wednesday afternoon, McCarthy, the Californian who is now majority whip, held a meeting with his close allies to talk strategy about his run for leader.

 McCarthy is starting to build establishment support within the GOP Conference. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was seen leaving McCarthy’s office on the first floor of the Capitol. And Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan said in an interview he would support McCarthy for majority leader.

 Prior to a 1 p.m. House vote, a sizable group of young Republican lawmakers — including Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida — met to talk about who they would rally behind.

 (Also on POLITICO: Vampire writer challenging Brat)

 Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), a McCarthy rival who chairs the House Rules Committee, has also begun rallying support in calls and text messages. He began Tuesday night, just after Cantor lost, with a mass text message saying he wanted to serve as majority leader.

 Sessions had ambitions to be whip following the Republican takeover of the House in 2010, but McCarthy had more support and the Texas Republican instead ended up as Rules chairman.

 As of now, McCarthy is fielding calls, and speaking with many Republican lawmakers, but has not yet engaged in a formal campaign. His strategy will be to make his ascension appear to be the most logical choice for Republicans. He has the whip operation and piles of chits to win the race. ||||| The jockeying among Republicans to replace Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.) as House majority leader began Wednesday within hours of his stunning primary loss and escalated when he announced he would step down early from his leadership post.

 Ambitious Republicans began working the phones, holding meetings and pigeonholing colleagues to line up support for their bids for two potential openings: majority leader and whip.

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 While Cantor will stay on as majority leader through July 31, the election to replace him will take place on June 19, a week from Thursday, setting off a scramble among possible contenders.

 The current majority whip, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), faced an immediate challenge from Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) in his expected bid to become majority leader, the second-ranking leadership job behind Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

 Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sessions cited his experience as chairman of the Rules Committee and before that as the House GOP campaign chief as his qualifications for the job.

 With the issue of immigration seen as a factor in Cantor’s defeat, the conservative Texan said he would focus on border security — an indication he would be unlikely to work with Democrats on a broader overhaul to provide citizenship to illegal immigrants.

 “I think my strength is that I am a well-known conservative who will push for and want to have an agenda that I will go get the votes that is conservative, that is pro-business and solves the problems of the country,” Sessions said. “And I think that our focus on that will need to start with the border.”

 Yet Sessions moved so quickly that he may have irritated some members, who reported receiving a text message from him 20 minutes after Cantor’s defeat became official.

 “How about waiting until the body's at the morgue?” one member said.

 McCarthy opted to wait until Cantor had made his decision before campaigning to be the next majority leader, according to a source who was in McCarthy's office late Tuesday night.

 “McCarthy said ‘We're not doing anything until Eric does what Eric's going to do, we're going to give him room to make his decision,’” the source told The Hill.

 In announcing his decision to step down, Cantor made clear that McCarthy would have his full support if he chooses to run for majority leader.

 The fast election could benefit McCarthy, a fellow GOP “Young Gun” who has spent years building up his base of support within the conference. Lawmakers also said they did not want a drawn-out election to distract from their agenda and leave time for outside conservative groups to try to influence the outcome.

 Boehner is officially neutral, spokesman Michael Steel said.

 “We have important work to do and need to get the new leadership team in place as soon as possible,” he said. “And he has not endorsed anyone in any race.”

 Inside the meeting where Cantor announced his decision, Boehner made clear that he would run for Speaker again in the 114th Congress, lawmakers said.

 Another Texas conservative, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, was also considering a bid for majority leader. Currently chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Hensarling served in the leadership until 2013 but has frequently voted against Boehner and Cantor in the year-and-a-half since he left.

 Hensarling has played coy in recent weeks when asked whether he might challenge or seek to succeed Boehner.

 “I am humbled by the many people who have approached me about serving our Republican Conference in a different capacity in the future,” he said. “There are many ways to advance the causes of freedom and free enterprise, and I am prayerfully considering the best way I can serve in those efforts.”

 Hensarling would have the support of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), a vocal second-term conservative who is gunning to be chairman of the Republican Study Committee in the next Congress.

 If McCarthy succeeds in the election to replace Cantor, his position would open up and the race for that potential post also heated up: Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) moved rapidly to challenge Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), the chief deputy whip who has been eyeing the spot for months.

 “He’s in for the whip’s race,” a source close to Roskam said on Wednesday.

 Scalise is chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, and a GOP aide said on Wednesday that as soon as Cantor’s loss became official, he began receiving calls from colleagues urging him to run for majority whip.

 “Obviously, no one saw Leader Cantor losing yesterday,” the aide said. “It was a tectonic shift that caught everyone off guard.”

 Scalise had been laying the groundwork for the race in the event Boehner decided to retire at year’s end, but he is now prepared to run whenever the opening occurs.

 “Regardless of Leader Cantor’s position, he’s ready to go,” the aide said.

 Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R-Ohio), a close Boehner ally, told reporters that the Texas GOP delegation was meeting to discuss leadership possibilities, with both Sessions and Hensarling being discussed as potential Cantor replacements.

 Tiberi declined to endorse any candidates, but made it clear he was a fan of McCarthy and Roskam and that they had strong chances to move up the leadership pecking order.

 “They both have a very successful tenure in their positions in leadership, and I think they have a lot of support within the conference generally speaking for the job that they’ve done,” Tiberi said.

 If McCarthy loses his bid to become majority leader, the position of whip would not open up.

 Amid the jockeying, the fourth-ranking Republican, Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), announced Wednesday that she would stay put rather than seek a promotion.

 “After much encouragement from my colleagues, conversations with my family, and many prayers, I have decided to remain conference chair at this time,” said McMorris Rodgers, the highest-ranking Republican woman.

 Also staying out of the races will be Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the House Budget chief and 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee.

 “I’m not interested,” he told reporters.

 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), another respected conservative and former RSC chairman, also told The Hill he did not plan to run for any of the open positions.

 The emerging battles will pit establishment Republicans close to Boehner like McCarthy and Roskam against conservatives likely to push the party further to the right.

 Lawmakers frustrated with the current leadership have spoken for months about the need to have more representation at the top from members who hail from deeply Republican states. Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy and McMorris Rodgers all represent states that President Obama carried in the last two presidential elections.

 “I think that when all of the key leaders are from blue and purple states, and the rank and file are from red states, it creates some tension, or miscommunications, or misunderstandings that occur in our conference right now,” Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said. “So I am hopeful that somewhere in the mix of new leadership there will be a strong red state advocate who is more reflective of the type of Republican that I represent.”

 —This story was updated at 6:29 p.m.

 Molly K. Hooper, Bernie Becker, Erik Wasson, Peter Schroeder and Cristina Marcos contributed. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Eric Cantor confirmed this afternoon that he won't be launching a long-shot bid to remain in Congress with a write-in candidacy in Virginia's general election. He told his GOP colleagues behind closed doors that he will serve out his term but will step down as majority leader at the end of next month. “It doesn't have to be a bad day," he said at the GOP meeting, reports Politico. "Suffering is part of life, misery is a choice." He reiterated his decision at a news conference later, reports the Washington Post. “While I may have suffered a personal setback last night, I couldn’t be more optimistic about the future of this country,” Cantor said. So what's next for him? "That's probably between my wife and me," he said. Meanwhile, the House will have elections to pick a new majority leader on June 19, with the leading candidates being majority whip Kevin McCarthy of California and Pete Sessions of Texas. Sessions may have rankled colleagues by waiting only 20 minutes after Cantor's defeat was announced to start pushing his own candidacy, reports the Hill. (Click to read about the candidate who stunned Cantor in the primary, David Bratt.)


A judge has resigned over his conduct of a rape trial in the face of a blistering recommendation for his removal from a national disciplinary body.

 Federal Court Justice Robin Camp had asked a complainant in a 2014 rape trial why she did not keep her knees together, and mocked the law of consent. At a hearing conducted last fall by a disciplinary panel established by the Canadian Judicial Council, the 19-year-old homeless complainant said Justice Camp’s comment made her hate herself and feel like a slut. After the panel unanimously recommended his removal, Justice Camp went to great lengths to save his job. He publicly apologized to the complainant and his fellow judges.

 Justice minister on resignation of 'knees together’ judge (The Canadian Press)

 He called his knees-together comment “unforgivable,” and acknowledged that he had perceived the complainant’s fragility. He attended in-depth counselling and education sessions with several feminist scholars, three of whom testified at his disciplinary hearing last fall (attended daily by his wife and daughter) that he was sincerely interested in changing.

 Related: Before Justice Camp, these two judges were recommended for removal

 Unfounded: Police dismiss 1 in 5 sexual assault claims as baseless, Globe investigation reveals

 And he fought for an opportunity to appear in person before the larger body of judicial council members who considered the panel’s recommendation, to explain to them that he had acted out of “ignorance, not animus.”

 The council would receive only written submissions from him.

 By a vote of 19 to 4, the judicial council said in its ruling released on Thursday that the deep harm Justice Camp had done to public confidence made his dismissal necessary.

 “We find that the Judge’s conduct, viewed in its totality and in light of all of its consequences, was so manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role that public confidence is sufficiently undermined to render the Judge incapable of executing the judicial office,” the council said.

 All four dissenters, who found Judge Camp guilty of misconduct but opposed his dismissal, are male, and from the Atlantic provinces (one is Chief Justice of the Tax Court of Canada).

 Alice Woolley, the president of the Canadian Association for Legal Ethics and a law professor at the University of Calgary, who, along with three other professors, filed the first complaint against Justice Camp, said she is pleased with the outcome.

 “I don’t think anything would have been served by carrying this on any further,” she said. “The denunciation was unequivocal. I think [resigning] was the admirable decision on his part and the right thing to do.”

 Constance Backhouse, chair in sexual assault legislation at the University of Ottawa’s law school, said rape myths are still pervasive in the justice system and society.

 “Our legal system still remains mired in 19th-century stereotypes about women, who are suspected of duplicity, promiscuity, malice, and false testimony,” she said. “And our legal thinking reflects the wider culture, which shares far too many of these notions. Until we get over the premise that it is women alone who are responsible for protecting themselves from rape, I suspect we will see more such trials and more protests demanding a woman’s right to sexual autonomy.”

 The law of consent and the judiciary’s handling of sexual-assault trials continue to create controversy. In Nova Scotia, a judge acquitted a taxi driver last week of sexually assaulting a female passenger, saying “a drunk can consent.” That ruling is under appeal. The woman was so drunk she had urinated on herself and passed out in the back seat.

 Recommendations that judges in effect be fired are rare in the Canadian system, which deems judicial independence a cornerstone. Justice Camp is only the third judge whose removal has been recommended since the judicial council was established in 1971. Both of the others also resigned rather than be removed under a provision of the Constitution that requires Parliament to approve dismissing a judge.

 Justice Camp’s comments came in the trial of Alexander Wagar in Calgary. The ruling came to light a year later, when the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned it, saying the judge had applied myths and stereotypes about sexual-assault victims. (By then, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper had promoted him from provincial court.) The judicial council received scores of complaints. Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley asked for the public disciplinary hearing. “On reviewing the transcripts, I felt it was important that victims know this was not an acceptable way to be treated by the justice system,” Ms. Ganley said in an e-mail to The Globe after Justice Camp resigned.

 Justice Camp, a father of three, received his law degree in 1975 from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, passed exams in Canada in 1998 and was admitted to the Alberta bar in 1999. In 2012, the Progressive Conservative government of Alison Redford appointed him to the Provincial Court. Before then, he practised business law in Calgary.

 Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould brought a motion to the House of Commons in which she declared the government’s intent to support the recommendation for removal. Shortly afterward, Justice Camp issued a brief statement through his lawyer, Frank Addario of Toronto, expressing his “sincere apology to everyone who was hurt by my comments during the Wagar trial.”

 With a report from Patrick White

 Report Typo/Error ||||| A judge who asked a sexual assault complainant why she couldn't keep her “knees together” confirmed he will resign after the Canadian Judicial Council recommended his removal.

 Justice Robin Camp issued a statement Thursday in which he said he will resign from the Federal Court of Canada effective Friday.

 “I would like to express my sincere apology to everyone who was hurt by my comments,” Camp’s statement went on.

 "I thank everyone who was generous and kind to me and my family in the last 15 months, particularly my legal team."

 The Canadian Judicial Council’s report called Camp’s conduct “so manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role that the judge was rendered incapable of executing the judicial office."

 Justice Camp’s lawyer Frank Addario had argued that removal was not necessary to preserve public confidence in this case. Four of the council's 23 members did not support removal.

 Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was in the process of moving forward on the council’s recommendation in Parliament Thursday when she learned of Camp’s resignation.

 Wilson-Raybould later told reporters that the extremely rare removal would have been needed “to ensure the integrity and public confidence in the justice system and the judiciary.”

 “Sexual assault and gender-based violence is in no form acceptable and we will continue to stand up for victims of sexual assault and gender-based violence,” Wilson-Raybould added.

 Norman Sabourin, Executive Director and Senior General Council at the Canadian Judicial Council, told CTV News Channel removals are recommended when the “public has lost confidence in a judge’s ability to discharge the duties of office.”

 “The report of the council emphasizes that all judges have to know the law but also have to possess empathy, have to understand that people who come before them are often vulnerable people and they have to treat them with a degree of civility and deference,” Sabourin said.

 Camp, who was appointed to the federal court in 2015, faced judicial review after it was revealed that he had stated in a 2014 Alberta provincial court decision that "pain and sex sometimes go together” and asked the complainant why she didn’t just “keep her knees together.” He also said, "Young wom[e]n want to have sex, particularly if they're drunk."

 Alexander Wagar was acquitted by Camp.

 Alberta’s Appeal Court ordered a new trial and last month Wagar was again acquitted.

 The complainant, who was 19 at the time of the first trial, told the disciplinary hearing last year that Camp's comments had made her hate herself. She said she had contemplated suicide as a result of her experience.

 After Thursday’s decision, the complainant said "I was feeling so unhopeful and pretty down and not very hopeful about the justice system but it has kind of turned around by this.”

 ‘Watershed moment’

 Alice Woolley, the University of Calgary law professor who complained about Camp’s conduct, said she was pleased with the decision.

 “Actors within the legal system can make really terrible decisions and terrible mistakes and in his case engage in real misconduct,” she said.

 “But the legal system orients towards progress,” she added. “It tries to get it right in the end.”

 Kathleen Mahoney, who is also a law professor at the University of Calgary, told CTV News Channel that she believes the removal is a “watershed moment” in how courts treat sexual assault.

 “I think this is a very strong statement from the judges of Canada that the time has come that gender bias in these kinds of decisions will no longer be tolerated,” she said.

 Mahoney added that she believes the case highlights the need for mandatory judicial training focusing on gendered issues such sexual assault, domestic violence and sexual harassment.

 The Conservatives have introduced legislation that would require better training for judges in handling sexual assault cases. The justice minister agreed Thursday that judges need to be properly trained.

 Camp’s decision is not the only recent case to raise questions about how judges handle sexual assault.

 In Halifax earlier this month, Justice Gregory Lenehan acquitted a taxi driver accused of sexually assaulting a passenger so intoxicated that she passed out.

 Lenehan said in his ruling that “clearly, a drunk can consent.”

 With a report from CTV’s Glen McGregor and files from The Canadian Press ||||| Federal Court Justice Robin Camp, dubbed the "knees together judge" for his comments in a sex assault case, has submitted his resignation following a recommendation from Canada's judicial watchdog that he be removed from the bench.

 In a ruling announced Thursday afternoon, the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) said that at a 2014 sexual assault trial he was presiding over, Camp "showed obvious disdain for some of the characteristics of the regime enacted by Parliament in respect of sexual assault issues."

 "We find that the judge's conduct, viewed in its totality and in light of all of its consequences, was so manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role that public confidence is sufficiently undermined to render the judge incapable of executing the judicial office," the council's ruling reads.

 In a statement from his lawyer, Camp announced his intention to resign and apologized.

 "I have advised Chief Justice Crampton that effective March 10, 2017, I will resign as a member of the Federal Court of Canada," the statement read.

 "I would like to express my sincere apology to everyone who was hurt by my comments during the [sex assault] trial. I thank everyone who was generous and kind to me and my family in the last 15 months, particularly my legal team."

 Before Camp's statement was issued, Justice Minister and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould rose in the House of Commons seeking unanimous consent for a motion to remove Camp from the bench, but that consent was denied.

 Conservative Saskatchewan MP Tom Lukiwksi then rose on a point of order and complained the minister had not ensured she had the unanimous consent of all parties before moving her motion.

 Votes in both the House of Commons and the Senate are required to remove a federal judge, a move presumably no longer required with Camp's resignation.

 Wilson-Raybould told reporters on Parliament Hill she learned of Camp's decision after she sought support for her motion.

 The unexpected move by the federal Justice Minister was stopped by an opposition MP 1:05

 Court transcripts from the 2014 sexual assault trial show Camp, who was then a provincial court judge, called the complainant, who was homeless and 19 years old at the time of the alleged assault, "the accused" numerous times — a mistake he repeated at the judicial council hearing before correcting himself.

 Camp also told the young woman "pain and sex sometimes go together" and asked why she didn't just keep her "knees together."

 'Antithetical' to contemporary values

 The judge apologized several times for those comments, underwent counselling and took additional training on Canada's sexual assault laws.

 But that wasn't enough for the CJC.

 "The statements made by Justice Camp during the trial and in his decision, the values implicit in those statements and the way in which he conducted himself are so antithetical to the contemporary values of our judicial system with respect to the manner in which complainants in sexual assault cases should be treated that, in our view, confidence in the system cannot be maintained unless the system disassociates itself from the image which the judge, by his statements and approach, represents in the mind of a reasonable member of the public," wrote the majority.

 Parliament considers training for judges

 NDP MP Murray Rankin said that by resigning, Camp took the only course of action available in light of the conclusions of the judicial council.

 Rankin added that Camp's case bolsters a private member's bill by interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose to ensure judges know Canada's sexual assault laws. Parliament voted unanimously this week to send that bill to committee for further study.

 Ambrose, in a statement welcoming the council's ruling, said her bill was designed to hold the judiciary responsible for the ongoing training of its judges.

 "Unfortunately, there is not enough accountability on the part of the judiciary in ensuring that judges have the updated training Canadians expect them to have. This needs to change," Ambrose said in the statement.

 Until Thursday, Camp had fought hard to keep his job.

 He asked to speak directly to the 23 chief and associate chief justices who make up the CJC. But the majority said Camp had already "been fully and fairly heard," and declined saying nothing had changed since his public hearing last fall.

 Camp then asked the Federal Court to stop the judicial council from deliberating his fate and to review an earlier decision he be dismissed. His lawyer Frank Addario argued the judicial council should consider the fact that Alexander Scott Wager, the man who was accused of sexual assault in the original trial, had once again been acquitted. The judge refused to stall the CJC.

 Since the council's creation in 1971, no judge has gone to such lengths to keep his job. There have only been two other cases where the council recommended Parliament remove a judge from the bench and in both cases the men resigned almost immediately.

 Just like any other judge facing discipline, Camp's legal battle has been paid for by taxpayers through the Commission for Federal Judicial Affairs, which has refused to say how much it has cost so far.

 Four judges dissented from the majority and said Camp should not lose his job because he has rehabilitated himself through counselling and further education. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A judge who asked a 19-year-old woman why she couldn't have just kept her legs together to prevent being raped has quit rather than be forced out. Justice Robin Camp resigned from the Federal Court of Canada Thursday after members of the country's judicial watchdog voted 19 to 4 in favor of removing him, the CBC reports. In widely condemned remarks during the 2014 rape trial, Camp repeatedly referred to the complainant as "the accused" and wondered why she hadn't done more to fight off the 240-pound defendant. When she testified that the incident had been painful, Camp, who acquitted the defendant, said, "Sex and pain sometimes go together, that's not necessarily a bad thing." Camp, after admitting that his thinking was "infected" with "stereotypical beliefs and discredited myths," fought hard to keep his job, attending counseling classes and publicly apologizing to the defendant, but the Canadian Judicial Council determined that his conduct had undermined public confidence so much that he was "incapable of executing the judicial office," the Globe and Mail reports. "I would like to express my sincere apology to everyone who was hurt by my comments," Camp said, per CTV News. The rape complainant, who told a hearing last year that she hated herself and considered suicide after Camp's comments, said the council's decision made her feel a lot more hopeful about the justice system.


Article:
NEW YORK (AP) — Choosing between a "C'' and a "K'' for her new name was no small task for Caitlyn Jenner, considering her famous K-heavy family of Kardashians.

 In new material from Jenner's Vanity Fair interview teased Monday online, she said coming up with a new name had her looking in a variety of places.

 "It's one of the hardest things in life — choosing your own name," she said. "One way she attempted to come up with ideas was by watching the Miss America pageant."

 She also liked Heather and Cathy, but Caitlyn was a front-runner when her assistant, Rhonda, independently suggested it, Jenner said.

 She responded: "I love that name, too!" and the coincidence helped seal the deal, according to Vanity Fair.

 But Jenner went back and forth about how it would be spelled, deciding it was best to break the Kardashian tradition.

 Jenner, formerly known as Bruce, was married to Kris Jenner and step-parent to the Kardashian clan. Her daughters are also named K-names — Kylie and Kendall. ||||| The Kardashian-Jenner clan is keeping two more secrets.

 Just one day after Caitlyn Jenner’s stunning Vanity Fair cover, a well-placed source tells Confidenti@l that Kim Kardashian is confiding to her inner circle that she’s now pregnant with twins.

 “Kim has told a handful of people that she had in vitro and that two eggs were fertilized. She is waiting to see if they both ‘stick’ before she makes any kind of announcement,” says our source. “She has to wait and see if they are both OK. And she is waiting to get an OK from her doctor that both the fertilized eggs are healthy.”

 We're told that little North West is going to have not one, but two little siblings because mom Kim Kardashian is pregnant with twins. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images)

 We’re told the only people who know that Kim is carrying twins are her mom, sisters and husband Kanye West.

 It is uncertain if both embryos will be viable for a full pregnancy, and Kim, 34, is waiting it out to see.

 Kim’s struggles with fertility were well documented on this past season of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” including discussion of a failed in vitro attempt. On the final episode of the 10th season on Sunday, the reality star, exhausted from trying to conceive, said she was “over it.”

 A trailer after Sunday’s episode showed Kim announcing to Khloe, “I just got the blood test back, and I’m pregnant!”

 A media insider tells us that Kim wants Caitlyn to have her moment, and is lying low about her pregnancy for now. She is also planning to be seen with Caitlyn very soon, adds the second source, saying, “They’re planning a family outing that’s going to be ‘accidentally’ filmed by the paparazzi.”

 “They’re talking about doing it in New York and not L.A. Kris is reluctant to take part in it.”

 'So f**king sick today on all levels!!!!! UGHHHHHHHHH I can't deal!!!!!!!!!! Praying I get through the day!' Kim Kardashian claims to be suffering from morning sickness from her second pregnancy in a Twitter post Tuesday. (@KimKardashian via Twitter)

 Kim Kardashian West attends the 2015 CFDA Awards in New York City on Monday. (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic) Kim Kardashian walks around New York City's Soho neighborhood Tuesday. (Raymond Hall/GC Images) Kim Kardashian is not just pregnant — she's carrying twins, a source tells us.

 On Tuesday, Kardashian made a promotional appearance in Nashville, Tennessee for Hype Energy drinks. Before she hit the carpet, a mignion was dispatched to alert reporters that Kardashian didn’t want to discuss Caitlyn.

 However she spilled to Confidenti@l that she had spoken to Jenner since the big reveal, but when we pressed her on how the Olympian felt about the cover, she shut us down saying, "I don't want to talk about the details."

 That wasn't the end of the stern demands to journalists. Upon arrival, press were told by event staff that the reality star wanted to be addressed as Mrs. West, rather than the more familiar Mrs. Kardashian.

 She also explained that she's suffering with laryngitis but can't take antibiotics because of the pregnancy and said that she plans to take a week off in Los Angeles to recover.

 ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE. ||||| Caitlyn Jenner's mother, Esther Jenner, has spoken about the Olympian's glamorous debut on the cover of Vanity Fair's July issue.

 Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair July 2015 cover (Vanity Fair)

 "She's beautiful!" the 88-year-old Jenner matriarch told Access Hollywood's Stephanie Bauer exclusively on Monday after the cover was revealed.

 Esther explained that she met Caitlyn prior to the magazine's July issue debut.

 PHOTOS: Transgender Celebrities

 "I was there last week, well actually, I got home a week and a half ago. And I met Caitlyn. She is… so much more at ease," Esther said of her child.

 As for how she'll refer to Caitlyn, Esther will be sticking to what she's used to, at least for now.

 "I still have to call him Bruce. His father and I named him that," she explained. "It's going to be a struggle for me to get used to the change, but happily so… I'm very happy for him – or her!"

 READ: Kardashians & Stars React To Caitlyn Jenner

 When asked if Caitlyn reminded Esther of anyone famous, she said Caitlyn resembles another member of the Jenner family.

 "You know who she reminds me of, my granddaughter Samantha. There is a lot of Sam!" she said, explaining that Samantha is Caitlyn's niece.

 On Monday, Bruce Tweeted, "I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me."

 I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me. — Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) June 1, 2015

 -- Jesse Spero ||||| After making her first appearance in Vanity Fair earlier this week, Caitlyn Jenner will now give her fans an inside look into what it's like to live as a transgender woman.

 In the first promo for E!'s eight-part, one-hour documentary series, I Am Cait, Caitlyn -- formerly known as Bruce Jenner -- lets cameras into her home as she applies makeup and talks about what goes into being a woman. "You start kind of learning all of the pressures women are under all the time about their appearance," Jenner says over shots of her applying makeup and getting ready.

 NEWS: Caitlyn Jenner's Mother -- 'I Have Nothing But Admiration for My Child'

 Caitlyn goes on to tell the camera that she never had a professional come in a do her makeup, and "what a difference" it makes.

 "So many people go through life and they never deal with their own issues," the 65-year-old Olympian says. "No matter what those issues are -- ours happen to be gender identity -- but how many people go through life and just waste an entire life because they never deal with themselves? To be who they are."

 WATCH: Kim Kardashian Met Caitlyn Jenner for First Time at Vanity Fair Shoot

 Caitlyn is also seen with her friends in a golf cart going "officially off the property." Visibly excited, she exclaims, "We're out into the world! It's so bright out there."

 NEWS: How Caitlyn Jenner's Transition Is Helping Her Reconnect With Her Kids

 She adds, "Isn't it great that maybe someday you'll be normal?" Her friend is quick to quip back, "You're normal!"

 Caitlyn responds, "Put it this way, I'm the new normal."

 I Am Cait premieres Sunday, July 26, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on E!

 Related Gallery |||||Summary:

– The New York Times sheds a little more light on what went on behind the scenes of Caitlyn Jenner's super-secretive Vanity Fair cover shoot, via the paper's conversation with Jessica Diehl. Diehl, VF's fashion and style director, says she found her job "completely petrifying," partially because in depicting Jenner, Diehl wanted to nail "how she sees herself," she explains. And then there was the secrecy: Only about 10 people at the magazine knew Jenner was being photographed; Diehl told the rest of the team Barbra Streisand was the subject of the shoot. And, because of the need for secrecy, Diehl had to buy rather than borrow some of the clothing for Jenner to wear—a challenge for a 6-foot-2-inch cover model. One dress was sourced traditionally from Zac Posen, and the designer didn't realize he was going to be part of such a "historic moment," as he later called it, until he saw the magazine Monday morning. More news: In case you were wondering why Caitlyn didn't go with Kaitlyn, in a nod to ex-wife Kris, stepdaughters Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian, and daughters Kylie and Kendall, well, she's not saying. But, as the AP reports, Caitlyn does acknowledge in the full VF interview that she at least considered the "K" spelling before deciding to break the tradition. Jenner's mom is having a hard time adjusting to all the changes: Caitlyn is "beautiful" and "so much more at ease," Esther Jenner tells Access Hollywood, but "I still have to call him Bruce. His father and I named him that. It's going to be a struggle for me to get used to the change, but happily so … I'm very happy for him—or her!" Caitlyn seems to have overshadowed Kim Kardashian's pregnancy news, but a source tells the New York Daily News that Kim and Kanye are expecting not one but two babies. "Kim has told a handful of people that she had in vitro and that two eggs were fertilized. She is waiting to see if they both 'stick' before she makes any kind of announcement," the source says, adding that Kim also doesn't want to take away from Caitlyn's moment. Another source tells E! the due date is December. Click to watch a promo for Caitlyn Jenner's upcoming reality show.


Here is a news article: A $6.3 million grant to the Iowa Department of Health will be used to help save the lives of people suffering cardiac arrest across Iowa.

 The grant comes from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

 Leona Helmsley was a well-known New York City businesswoman who earned the nickname the "Queen of Mean."

 Iowa health officials said the grant will help purchase LUCAS 2 Chest Compression System devices in ambulances and hospitals across the state, and to provide training to use them. The device provides automated chest compression allowing for long and more consistent CPR delivery.

 Each device costs $10,000. Studies show the devices help improve CPR outcomes anywhere from 5-50 percent. ||||| NEW YORK—Nine years after Leona Helmsley died, a battle over her estate erupted Thursday in a New York court. The state attorney general said a $100 million fee sought by the estate’s executors, including two of Mrs. Helmsley’s grandchildren, is “astronomical” and should be cut, potentially by about 90%.

 Mrs. Helmsley, a onetime owner of a sprawling property portfolio that included the Empire State Building, left most of her $4.78... |||||
A summary of this is?

– How much should you get paid for handling the estate of a dead billionaire? Apparently $100 million—or more than $6,400 per hour—If that estate belongs to Leona Helmsley, the Wall Street Journal reports. “By any definition, this hourly rate is exorbitant, unreasonable, and improper,” states a filing from the New York Attorney General's Office. The executors of Helmsley's will—two grandchildren, a lawyer, and a business advisor—defended their request for the "astronomical" fee stating they "faced enormous risks" while increasing the estate's value. Helmsley—a famous New York City property owner who KCCI points out was known as the "Queen of Mean"—was worth $4.78 billion when she died in 2007, the Journal reports. Helmsley left most of her wealth to charity, the Journal reports. And the Attorney General's Office has the power to make sure charities aren't getting fleeced by "excessive and unreasonable expenses," such as the fees being demanded by her estate's executors. The state is hoping to cut the requested fee by up to 90%. This isn't the first controversy surrounding Helmsley's estate. Her will left $12 million to her dog—more than two of her grandchildren got. And two other grandchildren who were left out of her will entirely are challenging it. While Helmsley's executors fight for $100 million, Iowa announced this week that $6.3 million from her estate will be going to pay for automated chest compression systems to give cardiac arrest victims around the state a better shot at survival, according to KCCI.


Brian Fligor, an audiologist who is a member of the World Health Organization’s working group on safe listening devices, advised the team on how to compare its results to data on the 85-decibel workplace limit. (Headphones and earbuds are much closer to the ear, obviously; the workplace limit was devised with open areas in mind.)

 Lauren Dragan, an editor at The Wirecutter, also corralled a half-dozen children, 3 to 11 years old, to try on each model, choose favorites and compile a “hate list” of ones they would never use.

 In the end, the overall pick for the children was a Bluetooth model called the Puro BT2200 ($99.99). The headphones were well-liked by both toddlers and tweens, had excellent sound quality, offered some noise cancellation features and adequately restricted volume as long as the cord wasn’t used.

 The battery lasts an impressive 18 to 22 hours, and the wired connection is used only as a backup. But that cord must be plugged in as labeled, with one particular end to the headphones and the other to the music device. If inserted the wrong way, “it’ll play really loud,” said Brent Butterworth, an audio expert who helped test all the headphones.

 “If they are using it in Bluetooth mode, it’s impossible to make too loud,” he added.

 Most of the other models relied on resistors, which impede electrical currents, inside the cord to reduce volume, but they sometimes failed to work. Both of the overall runners-up were not Bluetooth, however; despite the cords, their maximum volumes did not exceed 85 decibels.

 Toddlers liked the fit of Onanoff Buddyphones Explore ($29.99) but will most likely outgrow them, the analysis found, and the sound quality didn’t compare to that of the Puro. The corded pick for older children, ages 4 to 11, was JLab JBuddies Studio ($29.99).

 The Wirecutter team also assessed the headphones’ ability to reduce ambient noise. Children often wear headphones in noisy places, like car back seats and planes. Without noise cancellation, the natural tendency is to pump up the volume to hear over the background noise. ||||| Transcript for Report Reveals Kids' Headphones May Cause Hearing Problems

 And we're back now with that alert about headphones a brand new report out this morning is raising big questions could some potentially hurt your children's hearing. ABC's nick watt has more. Yes indeed but are some heads but eventually parroting. Some of our testing they got as loud as a chainsaw or a check hammer. The study suggests one in five teens now suffers some hearing loss and some doctors. Blame that fans for seeing kids as young as seven. Who've had. Noise induced hearing loss they are listening to her headphones that. Full blast you're really talking about listen to a rock concert on a daily basis. The wire cut their tech guide just tested their tickets had phones style fits and safety using plastic here and some real life children. Their flat feet if this they're squishy. Basically she its report this morning. There's no governing board that oversees a staff she says these headphones old Clayton to limit the volume to around 85 decibels lad as the fled there. Safe according to the World Health Organization. Once considered the best are the Caro BT 2200 free to fail safe limit their basic six and change. But choir concert claims other models went over the 85 DB. During their tests had friends that received a poorest rating kid's gear wired headphones yup. My kids to use them and the vinyl and hitting hard on knees it's Ari gone prisoners come pick it's off. Went to limit their wire cuts reclaimed the audio level it's fine way to act was glad his 110. Decibels but still out. Farms it's geared told us in over fifteen years we've never had a customer complaints on using your limits are when needed when volume limit to his youth stakes and is achieved any issue it volume. Is a user. Configuration issue aren't present Justin humor. Please Good Morning America and it bought ABC news. Save us. No wire cutter does get a percentage of money from retailers for products sold through their links in their articles and it's important to note is up to adults to monitor child's overall noise exposure. Headphones are on my kids Christmas as every year really I never checks. I will now. They haven't guitar right.

 This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate. ||||| The human ear and brain can’t accurately assess the volume of sound; if they could, there might be no need for volume-limiting headphones. So in order to test how loud the kids headphones could play, we did a set of formal objective sound measurements using audio-testing equipment.

 Immediately we found a problem: Almost all these headphones can produce dangerously high volume if you use them with certain gear. And not just specialized gear—a relatively high-powered headphone amplifier, such as the ones built into many AV receivers, or the stand-alone amps popular among enthusiasts (and for most traditional lab measurements), could drive most any headphones well above 85 dB.

 This problem happens because most of these headphones don’t really limit volume but merely reduce it. Passive headphones (that is, non-powered headphones, the kind you’re probably most familiar with) reduce volume using resistors, an inexpensive electrical component that reduces electrical flow. The technique is similar to splicing a narrow piece of water pipe onto the end of a fatter pipe, which reduces the amount of water coming through the pipe. However, you can get the overall flow of water back up to the original level by increasing the pressure going through the pipe. In the case of headphones, you apply the extra “pressure” by turning up the volume on the source device. Sure, the headphones are reducing the volume as if you had the dial on 5 instead of 8, but if you turn the volume to 11 it’ll still sound like it’s on 8.

 Active headphones (in other words, internally powered ones) such as the Puro BT2200 can employ a digital limiter that stops the sound from playing any higher than a certain volume level. But few of the headphones we tested for this guide have internal amplifiers or digital processors, so they’re not precise. In our tests, a few of the passive models produced little, if any, reduction or limiting of volume.

 Of course, a child will almost certainly use a phone, tablet, or portable music player for most or all of their listening, so the fact that most of these headphones will play much louder with a headphone amp is largely irrelevant in day-to-day use. However, we did need to settle on an appropriate source for the audio signals we would be using in our tests. Jason Wehner, an engineering consultant who has been involved in the design of volume-limiting headphones, made the sensible suggestion of using an iPhone as our source device, because iPhones are the loudest source most people will encounter—the iPhone’s internal amplifiers are more powerful than those found in most Android phones. We ended up using an iPod touch (sixth-generation model), which was able to play slightly louder (+0.38 dB) than our iPhone 6s and substantially louder (+4.4 dB) than our Samsung Galaxy S6. The iPod touch is popular as a “starter screen” for young children, so it seemed an appropriate choice here. We haven’t, however, exhaustively tested the output of all possible sources—video game consoles and home theater receivers, for example—so we’re unclear on how these headphones would perform with them. In any case, such devices would likely be used by older kids with gaming headsets, which don’t make any volume-limiting claims and are somewhat outside the scope of this guide (though parents and caregivers should be aware).

 The hearing experts we consulted suggested using pink noise, a common test signal with an equal amount of energy per octave that more or less mimics the content of music. To the ear, pink noise sounds a lot like the white noise you’d hear between stations with an old analog-tuner FM radio, but less hissy sounding. We used pink noise with A-weighting, which basically removes frequencies below about 500 Hz (about an octave above middle C on a piano). According to Brian Fligor, chair of the WHO’s Make Listening Safe initiative and one of the experts we interviewed and consulted, low frequencies have a negligible effect on hearing loss.

 As we’ve already discussed, the general consensus among experts is that an environmental noise level of 85 dBA (the “A” standing for A-weighting) is considered reasonably safe for an hour of listening. (For the technically inclined, the pink noise we used for these tests has an average level of -10 dBFS, or decibels relative to full scale, which is what audio manufacturers often use to measure the maximum volume of their devices.)

 Although pink noise loosely simulates the content of music, it’s still just a simulation, one that serves to make measurements easier and more repeatable. We wanted to add a more real-world evaluation of how loud these headphones could get. To do that, we played a recent Top 40 hit, “Cold Water” by Major Lazer, through all the headphones and measured the A-weighted L eq (equivalent continuous sound level). L eq is a commonly used gauge of sound exposure over time; to oversimplify a bit, it’s sort of like the average volume.

 We used the first chorus (from 0:45 to 1:06), which is one of the louder parts of “Cold Water” and roughly analogous to loud dance music. This was something of a worst-case test, because our L eq measurement of the entire tune was typically -1.3 dB lower, although we could have listened at an even louder level for this test because the second chorus typically measured +1.5 dB louder than the first. We also ran test measurements using another tune, ZZ Top’s “Chartreuse.” This track is a very loud recording that’s heavily dynamically compressed, which means the average sound level is pretty close to the maximum sound level possible, resulting in a track that to the ear sounds louder overall. The results were similar to what we measured from the first chorus of “Cold Water.”

 For all of these measurements, we attached the headphones to a G.R.A.S. 43AG ear/cheek simulator. At the suggestions of the hearing experts we consulted, we used what’s referred to as a “diffuse-field calibration curve.” We did so because hearing researchers originally determined the theoretically safer environmental sound levels (the 85 dBA amount) using a sound pressure level meter held in free air without much around it. Sound that reaches the eardrum—and sound that reaches the measurement microphone built into the G.R.A.S. 43AG—is altered by the earlobe and ear canal (or in the case of the 43AG, by the simulated rubber earlobe and metal ear canal). So to make sure our measurements were comparable to that 85 dBA free-air measurement, we had to create a method to electronically reverse the way the 43AG’s simulated earlobe and ear canal change the sound. The correction curve (think of this as similar to an EQ adjustment) we created was the “diffuse-field calibration curve.” We created this curve by playing pink noise through a speaker, measuring that noise with an Audiomatica MIC-01 measurement microphone and CLIO 10 FW analyzer, and then comparing that measurement with one taken using the G.R.A.S. 43AG in the same location. Thus, using this correction curve, the levels we measured through the ear/cheek simulator would be directly comparable with environmental-noise measurements.

 We calibrated the 43AG’s level using a Reed SC-05 calibrator. For the A-weighted pink noise and L eq measurements, we connected the 43AG to an M-Audio Mobile Pre USB interface and a laptop computer running Room EQ Wizard, a free but powerful audio-measurement application. (By the way, we employed roughly $8,000 worth of test gear in this effort.)

 Note that headphone measurements have some inherent inconsistency. Small differences in the fit of the headphone on the ear/cheek simulator can affect the result, just as moving a headphone around slightly on your ear changes the sound. We did everything possible to ensure a good fit of each pair of headphones on the simulator, including using light pressure from the 43AG’s clamping mechanism to help seat the headphones on the simulated rubber earlobe, and listening to the signal coming from the 43AG’s internal microphone to confirm that the sound from each model being tested was coming through properly. Still, we needed to allow for possible measurement inaccuracy, so we decided to make 88 dBA our pass/fail point on the pink noise tests. Any set of headphones that doesn’t exceed that level with pink noise can be considered reasonably safe, along the guidelines explained in this review. Any set of headphones that exceeds this threshold by a few decibels isn’t necessarily dangerous but is less safe than models that pass the test.

 As Brian Fligor pointed out to us, “Most all earphones [headphones] could be used in an unsafe manner. If the max sound level is so low that it can’t get over the background noise of an airplane or minivan on a highway, then it’s not going to sound very good. To make music sound good, the max level does need to have some headroom. This is where a combination of safer level limits along with earphones that block out competing background noise is probably the safest combination.”

 To find out which kids headphone models performed well in this regard, we ran the same type of isolation measurements we use to test noise-cancelling headphones: We played pink noise through two speakers and a subwoofer at a level of 75 dB, placed each headphone model on the G.R.A.S. 43AG ear/cheek simulator, and then performed analysis using TrueRTA software to learn how much sound was leaking around or through the headphone into the 43AG’s microphone (and, by extension, into the wearer’s ears).

 Unfortunately, only four of the headphones we tested provided notably effective isolation, blocking out a significant amount of sound in the audio spectrum (50 Hz to 2 kHz) that’s typically loudest in the backseat of a car, where we expect kids headphones might get a lot of use. And these pairs weren’t among the best performers in volume limiting, nor were they among our child test panel’s favorites. This group included the Direct Sound YourTones, which reduced sounds in this region by -8.1 dB, and the Fuhu Nabi Headphones, which reduced the same sounds by -4.8 dB. (Note that both of those pairs are large over-ear models.) The two in-ear models we tested did an even better job of blocking outside sounds. The Etymotic ETY-Kids3 reduced environmental noise by -22.0 dB in the test spectrum, and the Puro IEM200 reduced it by -14.4 dB. Note that these results are relevant only for situations where most of the noise is fairly low-frequency, such as in a car or an airplane cabin. Many of these headphones will do a better job of blocking common household noise such as the roar of a vacuum cleaner. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– If you're on the hunt for children's headphones—so-called because they limit the volume of sound that they emit to protect children's ears—experts are issuing a stern warning: They're not necessarily safe, even if they purport to be. The Wirecutter, a product recommendations site, has just tested 30 sets of children's headphones and found that half of them in fact do not cap volume at a promised limit, and that the worst of the bunch emit such high volumes that damage can occur in a matter of minutes. "These are terribly important findings," one pediatric audiologist not involved in the testing tells the New York Times. "Manufacturers are making claims that aren’t accurate." Meanwhile, the Wirecutter's headphones editor tells Good Morning America that there isn't even a governing board that oversees this. The World Health Organization has deemed sound below 85 decibels to be safe for up to eight hours, but half the headphones went above this level, and in some instances children can even remove the volume limiter. Meanwhile, one in five teens suffers from hearing loss, according to a 2010 report in the Journal of American Medical Association, and some docs blame headphones. "We’re really talking about listening to a rock concert on a daily basis," one otolaryngologist tells ABC News. So which headphone set came out on top? The Wirecutter recommends Puro BT2200, which are Bluetooth wireless headphones that'll set you back $100. (Back in 2008, researchers predicted an 'epidemic' of hearing loss thanks in part to headphones.)


Article:
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Effigies of black lynching victims found hanging on a Northern California college campus have sparked debate over whether the images are powerful protest art or just plain tasteless and racist.

 The photographic images were found Saturday morning hanging at two prominent spots on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. They were discovered a few hours before a demonstration against police brutality organized by a black student union was to start. Police are investigating, but officials say they still don't know who hanged the images or the motivation.

 "It's unclear if this is racially motivated effort or an effort at something else," campus spokeswoman Claire Holmes said.

 Social media sites hosted debates between those who viewed the effigies as art and those offended by the images.

 Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, a UC Berkeley professor of social psychology who studies prejudice and stereotyping, said he sees no redeeming quality in the images hanged Saturday.

 "Given the volatility of the protests, I think it's misguided regardless of the protest," Mendoza-Denton said. "It's inflammatory and is triggering upset and anger."

 Others, however, said the effigies may have been a form of "guerrilla art" and that images of lynching victims have been used by artists in the past. The rap group Public Enemy used a photograph of two lynching victims on the cover the single "Hazy Shade of Criminal" released in 1992.

 Leigh Raiford, an associate professor of African American studies at UC Berkeley, told the San Francisco Chronicle (http://tinyurl.com/lo44y4c) that the effigies may have been created to provoke thoughtful discussion about historical black repression.

 "To me this suggested a really powerful public art installation that was trying to provoke people to make a historical connection between the history of lynching, state violence against black folks and the contemporary situation that we're faced with around police brutality and these non-indictments,"

 A black student union representative said the group is also mystified about who hanged the effigies and why.

 "We hope that it's someone who wanted to bring attention to the issue," said Spencer Pritchard, 21, a Berkeley student who helped organize the Berkeley demonstration.

 About 300 people participated in the peaceful Berkeley protest Saturday afternoon. Many of them later joined a larger demonstration in Oakland that was mostly peaceful, though police arrested 45 people. ||||| BERKELEY -- Three effigies of African-Americans hanging from a noose were found on the UC Berkeley campus Saturday morning ahead of a noontime "#blacklivesmatter" protest in Sproul Plaza, a UC Berkeley spokeswoman confirmed.

 Amy Hamaoui, interim executive director of UC Berkeley's communications and public affairs, confirmed the effigies and also said that university officials are looking to see if there are more effigies.

 The cardboard cutouts had the names of historical lynching victims and the date. It's unclear if the effigies were placed by people supporting the protests as a political statement or from a group opposing the protests.

 Two of the effigies were found hanging from the arches at famed Sather Gate, and another was discovered in a tree near Bancroft Lane, Cal integrative biology student Eniola Abioye said.

 Police took possession of two of the effigies and students took one, said Pastor Michael McBride of the Way Christian Center and co-director of Intervarsity's Black Campus Ministries at UC Berkeley. Campus police could not be immediately reached for comment.

 "This is racial terror they are experiencing," McBride said. "I don't care if it was a white person, a black person, a blue person, if it was an adversary or ally, these images strewed across campus have terrorized my students."

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 Over the past week, the campus has been a starting point for demonstrators protesting grand jury decisions not to indict two officers who killed unarmed black men in New York and Ferguson, Missouri. A "#blacklivesmatter" rally was scheduled at noon Saturday in Sproul Plaza, and will continue as scheduled, Abioye said.

 David DeBolt covers breaking news. Contact him in Richmond at 510-262-2728. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt. ||||| Protesters in Berkeley, Calif. echoed marchers in Washington, D.C. and New York City calling for justice for unarmed blacks shot by white cops. Organizers worked hard to keep the protest peaceful after nights of destruction. Chris Wiggins for USA TODAY

 Students protest on the UC Berkeley campus. (Photo: Chris Wiggins)

 As thousands marched to end police brutality in Washington D.C., and New York City on Saturday, three cardboard cutouts of African-Americans were found hanging in effigy by nooses on the Berkeley campus of the University of California.

 School spokeswoman Amy Hamaoui told the AP the effigies appear to be connected to a noon-time demonstration nearby planned to coincide with a national protest against police brutality. The effigies, two male and one female, included names of lynching victims and the dates of their death. Hamaoui said it's unclear who hanged the effigies and police are looking into the matter. "We are unsure of the intent," Hamaoui said.

 As of late afternoon, no suspect had been identified. "It certainly could have been racially motivated, so we're taking it very seriously and are very interested in finding out who did this and what the intention was," UC Berkeley spokeswoman Claire Holmes tells USA TODAY.

 Fusion.net reports the female effigy of a lynched woman was identified as Laura Nelson from 1911, and included the hashtag "#ICantBreathe. Police officers took two of the effigies down soon after the student learned of them at 9:10 a.m, Holmes says. Students took down the third.

 Many on Twitter reacted with confusion and disgust.

 "No one knows who put effigy up it was not CAL BSU students or ally," tweeted Michael McBride, pastor of the Way Christian Center in Berkeley, who walked with protesters. "The impact is the same: racial terror & it's unacceptable."

 "This happened on the campus of the #1 Public Institution," wrote user @itsMumbeeezy. "Don't tell me that Racisim isn't alive."

 User @WhoGonStopMePR wrote "whether intentions were good or bad, the delivery IS distasteful. As an AfAm alum, I DON't support this."

 Hundreds of protesters in Berkeley, aided by the hashtags #berkeleyprotest and #Ferguson2Cal on Twitter, marched up and down Church street beginning at noon, chanting "the whole damn system is guilty as hell" and "I think that we will win." Police presence was minimal.

 Berkeley protesters merged with an Oakland contingent at 2 p.m. On campus, "there were no incidents from the protests," says Holmes.

 This morning at UCBERKELEY campus an effigy of a Black man was found hanging at one of the entrance gates. pic.twitter.com/Jcak10o2yY — Rosa A. Clemente (@rosaclemente) December 13, 2014

 Contributing: Chris Wiggins, The Associated Press

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– Amid nationwide protests against police brutality, effigies of three black people hung by their necks turned up on UC Berkeley campus in northern California yesterday—but was it racism or politically inspired art? "We are unsure of the intent," a school spokeswoman tells the AP. The effigies, one female and two male, had the names of lynching victims on them and the dates when they were killed. One effigy with the hashtag #ICantBreathe was named after Laura Nelson, who died by lynching in 1911, Fusion reports. (See a tweeted photo of an effigy here.) "It certainly could have been racially motivated, so we're taking it very seriously and are very interested in finding out who did this," another school rep tells USA Today. No one has claimed responsibility, and police are investigating. Meanwhile, people are debating whether the effigies are designed to support or terrorize protesters. "This is racial terror they are experiencing," an on-campus Berkeley pastor tells the Oakland Tribune. "These images strewed across campus have terrorized my students." But others call it "guerilla art" reminiscent of Public Enemy's 1992 single, "Hazy Shade of Criminal," the cover of which showed two lynching victims. "To me this suggested a really powerful public art installation" that connects lynching, "state violence against black folks," and the "situation that we're faced with around police brutality and these non-indictments," a Berkeley black studies professor tells the San Francisco Chronicle. Hundreds of protesters marched yesterday in Berkeley, without incident, under minimal police presence. (Protests there last weekend led to violence and six arrests.)


Article:

A 12-year-old boy died Monday after being electrocuted when he touched a fence that had been electrified by a live wire at a Fleming Athletic Complex ball field near the Bernie Ward Community Center.

 Melquan Kwame Robinson, of the 3400 block of Applejack Terrace, was at football practice at the Lumpkin Road complex when he went over a chain-link fence, according to Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen.

 A live wire was reportedly touching the fence, and when Melquan grabbed the fence, he was electrocuted, Bowen said. Three other people were also injured in the incident.

 Melquan was taken to the Children's Hospital of Georgia where he was pronounced dead at 9:56 p.m. His body will be taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation lab for an autopsy Tuesday.

 Don Clark, a Robinson family friend and Melquan's former coach, said the child's parents are trying to go through the grieving process. Melquan was their firstborn and one of three children.

 "They're definitely upset over the fact of how could this happen, with the fact that there were so many children," Clark said. "You can play the what ifs in many different scenarios and it will never get any better. The fact that this situation happened with so many kids out here, it's heartbreaking."

 Clark said Melquan was very protective of his siblings and loved his family, which makes the situation that much tougher. Clark feels that it might be hard for his siblings to deal with the loss of their brother because of how young they are.

 According to a statement from the city of Augusta, which owns and operates the community center and athletic complex, three other people were injured in the accident. Two were juveniles and the other was an adult, according to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

 "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all involved in this accident," Mayor Hardie Davis said in a statement. "We ask Augustans to stand together to extend our condolences and embrace the family of Melquan Kwame Robinson with love during this sudden and unexpected loss."

 Clark praised the courage shown by the two other children who were injured trying to save their friend. Their conditions were not available Tuesday night.

 "The friends, the way they responded, what motivates a young boy that young to jump into action and help their friend out," Clark said. "Those are the two young boys that are in the hospital right now because they were trying to help out a friend."

 Clark said he will remember Melquan's smile. Melquan was energetic, very athletic and very passionate about playing football and sports, according to Clark. He said Melquan wanted to be a professional athlete when he grew up.

 Melquan was a member of the Trinity Elite Titans football team, which issued a statement on Facebook: "Good morning everyone, this is a sad moment for our Trinity Elite Titans family......we are still in disbelief. We are sending our prayers and love out to the family of our football player, #MelquanKwameRobinson#, who has gone to rest with the Lord. One solider gone too soon.........you will be truly missed!!!!"

 Although the family is grieving, Clark wanted to remind people that this is affecting friends, teammates and coaches of Melquan. He hopes the city and the community are able to come together for the family and friends.

 "This is exactly one of those tests, that as a city and a community, we all need to stand up and move forward toward the challenge," Clark said.

 According to a sheriff's office report, a deputy who responded to the scene performed chest compression on Melquan about 9 p.m. Another deputy stated in the report that he was told the child had been electrocuted by the outfield fence. After a few rounds of chest compressions, Melquan coughed and was turned to his left side. A deputy checked his pulse but none was found, and chest compressions were continued, the report states.

 A Gold Cross ambulance unit arrived about 9:16 p.m. and loaded Melquan onto a stretcher. Another ambulance arrived to transport a second victim, according to the incident report, which stated that the child was with Melquan and was injured when he tried to pull his friend down from the fence.

 A third victim told deputies that he and Melquan were throwing a football and it went over the fence. Melquan climbed the fence to get the ball and when he came back over, he was electrocuted, the incident report states. He tried to pull Melquan from the fence and he too was injured, according to the incident report.

 Bowen said his office, the sheriff's office and the city will each conduct investigations. Bowen will primarily focus on the death, while the city will look into how the live electrical wire happened.

 Georgia Power released a statement saying it will work with local officials as they conduct the investigation.

 "Georgia Power's condolences and sympathies are with the individuals and their families following last night's tragic event at Fleming Athletic Complex," the statement says. "Our preliminary investigation indicates that Georgia Power does not control or maintain the voltage that energized the fences at the complex."

 Melquan was a seventh-grader at Morgan Road Middle School, according to Kaden Jacobs, the Richmond County school system's director of communications.

 "Our thoughts are with the family during this difficult time," Jacobs said. "We have provided additional support to Morgan Road Middle School for students and staff."

 All football activities have been canceled for the rest of the week at Fleming Park, according to a spokesperson for the complex.

 Clark said more details will be provided in the future on how the community can help.

 "We lost a future leader," he said. "We lost a future athlete. We lost a child in our city."

 A vigil will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Bernie Ward Community Center.

 Staff writers Amanda King and David Lee contributed to this article. ||||| Tuesday, October 16, 2018

 (News 12 at 11)

 AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Multiple investigations begin after a 12-year-old boy is electrocuted at a local park and two other boys who tried to help him are still recovering from their injuries.

 The mom of David Sette, one of the boys who tried to help, said her son is doing better. He was moved from ICU to a regular room at The Children's Hospital, but she says doctors have some concerns with his blood levels involving muscle breakdown, which can lead to future problems. We haven't yet heard a condition update of the other friend who jumped in to help.

 It was a freak accident that turned tragic for three families. Deputies say 12-year-old Melquan Robinson climbed over the fence at Fleming Park to get a football. The incident report says, "When Robinson went to come back over the fence, he was electrocuted."

 "He had the grit and motivation to get up and keep going," said Melquan’s former football coach, Don Clark.

 Deputies say Melquan had no pulse. They tried to revive him, but couldn't.

 "If my child was the one that didn't make it, I think I would just be devastated. I wouldn't have words," Whitney Winston said.

 Two of Melquan's friends ran to help. Both boys were shocked too, taken to the hospital, but survived.

 "The fact that this happened with so many kids out here it's just. It's heartbreaking," Clark said.

 Parents hit especially hard knowing this could have been their child.

 "I was out here for my son's football game," Winston said.

 Whitney Winston's 6-year-old son was playing a football game right before it happened. It's her son's first year playing here, and now possibly his last.

 "Worried, cause I don't know if we'll stay playing football," Winston said.

 Tonight, she's holding onto her son a little tighter and sending her prayers to all those mourning the loss of this 12-year-old boy.

 "I wish well to the parents. I send out my thoughts and prayers and strength, and to the boys," Winston said. "And that mother that has one less child."

 Tuesday, October 16, 2018

 (News 12 First at 5 / News 12 at 6 O’Clock / NBC 26 at 7)

 AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Two young boys are recovering in the hospital while one family mourns the loss of a son. 12-year-old Melquan Robinson was killed Monday when he tried to jump over a chain link fence that was charged by an underground electrical wire.

 It happened during football practice at Fleming Park, owned by the city.

 There’s absolutely more than one victim in this tragic accident, as parents and teammates watched in horror. Two young boys jumped into action to help pull Melquan from the fence.

 News 12 had the chance to speak with Melquan’s former football coach Tuesday afternoon. He’s been chosen as a spokesperson for the Robinson family as they grieve. He says heartbreak has hit the young band of brothers.

 “The fact that this happened with so many kids out here, it’s just heartbreaking,” Don Clark was able to hold his emotions while he spoke to us Tuesday.

 Melquan died a short time after he was brought to a local hospital. Clark says the family is sick over their loss.

 "[Monday] this mother went to bed, or woke up with her son still walking around living, and [Monday] she realized she lost her first born. It's not an easy thing."

 He says the family is too hurt to even speak.

 "This just happened yesterday. They are barely even able to determine what’s what."

 Melquan's former coach is saying what his parents can't.

 “This young man was where he needed to be. He was doing what he loved. He was doing what was tied to his passions.”

 Clark tells us the city is suffering the loss of a future leader, athlete and an overall amazing child.

 Melquan's family is holding a vigil Thursday at 6:00 at Bernie Ward Community Center. They are opening it up to the entire community.

  |||||
What is a summary?

– A 12-year-old was killed and two other boys were injured after a chain link fence electrified by a live underground wire electrocuted them at a city park in Georgia. During football practice at Fleming park in Augusta on Monday, Melquan Robinson hopped a fence to retrieve a ball, WRDW reports, citing the incident report that says when he "went to come back over the fence, he was electrocuted." The seventh-grader was pronounced dead later at Children's Hospital of Georgia, according to the Augusta Chronicle. Two other boys who tried to help their friend were injured and hospitalized, according to reports. The mother of one of them, David Sette, tells WRDW that her son is improving. Per the Chronicle, an adult also was injured in the incident. "We lost a future leader. We lost a future athlete. We lost a child in our city," Melquan's former coach, acting as a spokesman for the bereaved family, tells the Chronicle. The oldest of three children, Melquan loved his family and was very protective of his siblings, he says. Multiple investigations into the incident are reportedly underway, with city officials looking into how the fence became electrified. Georgia Power, offering "condolences and sympathy," said in a statement that the utility "does not control or maintain the voltage" that caused the electrocution. Melquan's family will hold a vigil Thursday at the Bernie Ward Community Center. "This young man was where he needed to be," his former coach says, per WRDW. "He was doing what he loved." (A medieval re-enactor was impaled in a freak accident.)


News article:

Don Miller, owner of Creative Impressions in Virginia, is worried about paying higher unemployment taxes when his business is down.

 UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES UNEMPLOYMENT TAXES Thirty-six states have increased the annual tax businesses pay to finance unemployment benefits.

 State Average tax

 per worker Change Ala. $267 124% Alaska $447 19% Ariz. No change Ark. $300 16% Calif. No change Colo. $236 45% Conn. No change Del. No change D.C. No change Fla. $312 200% Ga. $213 48% Hawaii $1,070 1089% Idaho $816 134% Ill. $323 7% Ind. $385 79% Iowa $468 23% Kan. $350 116% Ky. No change La. $111 14% Maine $328 74% Md. $422 159% Mass. Varies Widely Varies Widely Mich. $21 surcharge per employee Minn. $450 14% Miss. No change Mo. No change Mont. $482 72% Neb. $300 165% Nev. No change N.H. $332 71% N.J. $896 57% N.M. No change N.Y. $349 9% N.C. No change N.D. $333 36% Ohio $270 2% Okla. No change Ore. $646 49% Pa. $432 13% R.I. $675 7% S.C. No change S.D. $227 191% Tenn. $293 49% Texas $165 85% Utah No change Vt. $329 38% Va. $171 78% Wash. No change W.Va. $348 61% Wis. $384 23% Wyo. $581 69% Sources: U.S. Labor Department and state workforce agencies MORE FROM PROPUBLICA MORE FROM PROPUBLICA See an interactive chart on the health of your state's unemployment insurance trust fund and how it affects you at propublica.org/unemployment. Payroll taxes increase for many employers across USA NORFOLK, Va.  Last year was the worst Don Miller had seen in more than 20 years of running a graphic printing business here. Business slumped 15%, and he had to lay off two of the three workers who helped him print stickers and signs for Navy ships. Miller hopes to bring them back, but hiring will be more expensive for all Virginia business owners this year. The recession has emptied Virginia's unemployment insurance trust fund, and the state is making up for it by raising taxes on employers and cutting jobless benefits for seniors. In 2009, the average business owner paid $95 per employee. This year, the tax will be $171, according to estimates by the state workforce agency. "It's another added expense to hiring somebody," Miller says. "Everything's going up, and business is going down." Similar tax increases are hitting employers nationwide this year as states struggle to pay the 5.5 million Americans currently collecting state jobless benefits. So far, high unemployment and, in many cases, poor planning have prompted 25 states to borrow more than $25 billion from the federal government to keep benefit checks in the mail. In other states, unemployment compensation funds are still in the black, but reserves are rapidly dwindling. Nine more states likely will be borrowing by mid-year, according to a ProPublica analysis of state revenue and benefits. Tax on businesses Business owners in 36 states face tax increases ranging from a few dollars to nearly $1,000 per worker. Six states are scaling back or freezing benefits for the unemployed: • Jobless Pennsylvania workers will get 2.3% less in benefits starting this month, while the average tax this year for businesses will increase to $432 from $384 per worker. • Hawaii's employers face an average increase to $1,070 from $90 per worker. The state also proposes decreasing the maximum benefit by as much as a third — about $190 per week. • Texas, where the trust fund is $1.4 billion in the red, has increased the average tax on employers to about $165 from $89 per worker. Instead of fulfilling the unemployment insurance system's purpose of stimulating the economy, these measures may contribute to joblessness, says Gary Burtless, an economist who studies labor policy at the Brookings Institution, a think tank. "We don't want to pick this moment of all moments to boost taxes on employers," Burtless says. "We want to encourage employers as much as possible to add to their payrolls." Workers are being hurt in another way — through benefit cuts. In Roanoke, Va., James Hay, 70, received a letter from the state informing him that his monthly unemploymentbenefits are being cut to $100 from about $800 because state law limits payments to Social Security recipients when the state's fund runs low. "I was devastated when I read it," Hay says. "I thought, 'Lord, what am I going to buy heating oil with this winter?' " Like many other seniors, Hay was working full time to supplement his $1,400 monthly Social Security check, which he says was not enough to support him, his granddaughter and her two young children. Then the asphalt factory laid him off. Unemployment insurance made up for some of the lost income, but now Hay is not sure how his family will get by. "We'll just have to do whatever we can do," he says. "I hope and pray we'll be all right." States borrow heavily The state hopes to save about $11 million through the cuts to seniors but anticipates borrowing $1.3 billion to replenish its unemployment fund before the recession ends. "The middle of a recession is when people need help most," says Maurice Emsellem, policy co-director of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for low-wage workers. Cutting unemployment benefits, he says, "undermines the fundamental goals of the program — boosting the economy and keeping people out of poverty in an economic downturn." Many states such as Virginia are already at or near the highest payroll tax rates allowed by law, and others have pushed politically difficult tax increases through their legislatures, making further benefit cuts likely if high unemployment persists, says Rich Hobbie, executive director of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. Some of the pain might have been avoidable. Long before the recession began, Virginia and many other states that have imposed tax increases or benefit cuts let their trust funds dwindle well below the 18 months of reserves the U.S. Labor Department recommends. Virginia had to slow down federal borrowing despite the impact on businesses and seniors, says Republican state Sen. John Watkins, chairman of the Virginia Commission for the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. "I have angst for people who are unemployed," he says. "But our trust fund is busted — it's gone." Pierce reports for ProPublica, an independent, non-profit newsroom based in New York. USA TODAY editors worked with her in preparing this story for publication. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more ||||| The unemployment insurance system is in crisis due to a combination skyrocketing unemployment and – in some cases – poor planning. A record 20 million Americans collected unemployment benefits last year, and thirty states have run out of funds and been forced to borrow from the federal government, raise taxes, or cut benefits. In many other states the situation is deteriorating fast. Using near real-time data on state revenues and the benefits they pay out, we estimate how long state trust funds will hold up. Click on a state to find the latest, plus historical data, and details on tax increases and benefit cuts. Related Story. (Last update February 03, 2011)

 This news application is no longer being updated as of February 3, 2011. The historical data is still accurate. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Massive unemployment is putting a strain on state benefit funds, and states in turn are trying to recoup the money by raising taxes on employers. In all, 36 states have raised payroll taxes, a strategy that critics say will backfire by putting a crimp on hiring. “Everything’s going up, and business is going down,” one Virginia employer tells USA Today. In that state, taxes have gone up from $95 per employee in 2009 to $171 in 2010. The increases range from a few dollars in some states to nearly $1,000 per worker in Hawaii. "We don't want to pick this moment of all moments to boost taxes on employers," says an economist at the Brookings Institution. "We want to encourage employers as much as possible to add to their payrolls." Times are tough, however: Twenty-five states have borrowed a total of $25 billion from the federal government to keep up with jobless benefits, and another nine will be in the red by mid-year, reports ProPublica.