K-9 Lost Sept. 11 Is Mourned
— -- K-9 Lost Sept. 11 Is Mourned
J E R S E Y C I T Y, N.J., April 24 — More than 100 K-9 dogs and their police handlers gathered today in a tribute to Sirius, the only police dog to die in the World Trade Center disaster.
As Officer David Lim went to help evacuate the trade center when it was attacked Sept. 11, he expected to return for the dog he left behind in a basement kennel.
But the towers collapsed, and Lim, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officer, was trapped in the debris for several hours. No one was able to save the 5-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, a bomb-sniffing dog for the trade center.
During today's gathering at Liberty State Park, across the Hudson River from the World Trade Center site, officers filed by a wooden urn and a medal dedicated to Sirius. Bagpipes played and a 21-gun salute echoed. Sirius' metal bowl, recovered from the wreckage, was presented to Lim.
Lim also lost several human friends Sept. 11.
"I never wanted to put Sirius in the forefront," Lim said. "He can have this one day, I guess. He did his job well at the World Trade Center."
Flanked by his German shepherd, Kiefer, New York City Officer Chris Hanley said the officers treated Sirius just like a fellow officer.
"You have to understand, he's there to protect you," Hanley said.
The dog's remains were found in January, and were removed draped under an American flag by Port Authority officers. That flag, folded in a triangular case, was displayed at the memorial service.
The ceremony honored the "thousands of police dogs who play vital roles in battling terrorists, smugglers and other dangerous criminals," said Charles D. DeRienzo, the Port Authority's superintendent of police and director of public safety. "
Sirius had worked with Lim at the Trade Center since July 2000. The dog lived with Lim and his family.
"My kids played with him," Lim said. "We miss him a lot."
Lim has been reassigned to work as an officer at the Holland and Lincoln tunnels and has a new partner, a black Labrador retriever named Sprig.
The attack that destroyed the trade center, the one that damaged the Pentagon and the crash of a hijacked plane in Pennsylvania killed more than 3,000 people. The toll in New York included more than 400 police officers and firefighters. Thirty-seven of the officers worked for the Port Authority, which built the trade center.
Dozens of police dogs, including all 32 New York City police department dogs, have been used in the rescue and recovery effort.
—The Associated Press
Ridge Wants Tech Industry to Fight Terror
W A S H I N G T O N, April 24 — The technology industry must invent and invest in new ways to undermine terrorists targeting the United States, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Tuesday night.
And the country's leading high-tech firms must also make sure they are watching their own backs, Ridge told members of the Electronic Industries Alliance attending a conference at a Washington hotel.
"One security analyst noted that many Silicon Valley firms he audited had great firewalls and no security downstairs," Ridge said. "Anybody can walk in and sit at a computer. Terrorists sitting at one computer can create worldwide havoc. … All a terrorist needs is a weapon of mass disruption."
The dozens of companies and groups represented by the industry alliance should also work to create new weapons against terrorism such as smarter ID cards and more foolproof X-ray scanners for airports, Ridge said.
If the technology industry does not innovate in the area of security, the nation faces being outsmarted by terrorists.
"While terrorists may not share our entrepreneurial approach, they do have access to our technology. … Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, used a laptop to research crop-dusters," Ridge said.
Ramzi Yousef — the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — "used his micro-technology training to make bombs."
Ridge also talked of a need for better information scanning systems — database technology that could be used to cross-reference records on a person or vehicle in minutes.
"We need this technology on our borders to separate high-risk people and high-risk cargo from no-risk people and no-risk cargo," Ridge said.
David McCurdy, president of the Electronic Industries Alliance, said the industry will be engaged in anti-terrorism security for the foreseeable future.
"This is a marathon, this is not a sprint," McCurdy said. "Some of the early challenges are obvious — both technology and human management in airport security," McCurdy said.
—The Associated Press
People Turn to Veterans for Proper Flag Disposal
D E T R O I T, April 24 — After the terrorist attacks last September, many people started flying Old Glory.
But now, some of those American flags are tattered and faded. So what to do with the Stars and Stripes? Many Detroit-area residents are taking their worn-out flags to local veterans groups for a proper disposal.
The Popovczaks of Novi discarded their 8-year-old American flag in February. They thought tossing their old flag in the trash was disrespectful.
"It's sitting in a bag on top of the washing machine," John Popovczak told the Detroit Free Press for a story today.
The Popovczaks plan to grab the flag and head to a nearby veterans organization to have it disposed of properly.
Since Sept. 11, the number of flags being dropped off at local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts has risen. Local veterans say the surge in patriotism is to blame.
People are flying their flags more often now and "they're a little more aware of the condition of the flag," said Doug Stemmler, commander of American Legion Post 32 in Livonia.
His post has received more than 600 tattered flags for the annual June burning ceremony — about 250 more than usual.
Higher-than-ever flag sales at Contemporary Awards & Trophy in Farmington is a sure sign that people are swapping old flags for new — or just finally buying a flag.
Shop owner Michael Wilczewski said he has sold more than 500 American flags since the start of the year. That's compared to the 150 flags he sold in a typical year before Sept. 11.
Plus, flag owners are dropping off old flags at the rate of five to 10 a month, Wilczewski said. Before Sept. 11, he said he'd maybe get one old, tattered flag a month.
"A lot of people thought it was a decoration for their house and, now, there's something behind it," Wilczewski said.
Add that to the reasons why VFW Post 1669 in Royal Oak takes its flag-burning ceremonies so seriously.
On Flag Day in June, post officials will gather around a fire pit, burn the old flags and say a few words as "a kind of eulogy," said post bartender Pat Woolf.
So far, the post has collected 40 flags — 35 more than usual, Woolf said.
Flag owners, Woolf said, are "grateful, very, very grateful that we have a proper way to dispose of them."
—The Associated Press
Service Returns to Normal at Reagan National, Almost
W A S H I N G T O N, April 24 — Full service will return soon to Reagan National Airport, restoring the nation's commercial air space to pre-Sept. 11 levels, a Transportation Department official said Tuesday.
Pilots will be able to follow the Potomac River rather than fly direct routes in and out of the airport near the nation's capital, planes larger than Boeing 737s will be allowed to land at National and flights can be scheduled before 7 a.m. and later than 10 p.m., said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Resumption to full service will occur as soon as the Federal Aviation Administration can arrange it, the official said.
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta was to make the announcement at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce luncheon today, the official said.
Reagan National had been the last airport still operating under restrictions following the terrorist attacks. The airport had shut down for three weeks after Sept. 11 because of its proximity to the Pentagon, White House and other government buildings, and commercial flights have been allowed to gradually resume. Private planes are still banned from using the airport, as they have been ever since National reopened.
Earlier this month, the Transportation Department dropped most restrictions, allowing National to have approximately 800 flights a day, more than 90 percent of its pre-Sept. 11 levels.
For passengers, special security procedures will remain in place. They include departures through specially secured gates, armed air marshals and requirements that passengers remain seated during the first and last 30 minutes of each flight.
—The Associated Press