FORT
LAUDERDALE,
Fla.
—
A
Florida
man
was
sentenced
on
July
8
to
five
years
in
federal
prison
for
plotting
to
fire
bomb
abortion
clinics,
churches
and
gay
bars.
Stephen
John
Jordi,
36,
pleaded
guilty
in
February
to
a
single
charge
of
attempted
arson
of
an
abortion
clinic.
Judge
James
Cohn
declined
to
sentence
Jordi
under
a
federal
terrorism
law,
which
could
have
resulted
in
a
longer
sentence.
Cohn
explained
that
federal
sentencing
rules
require
plots
to
have
an
international
component
in
order
to
be
considered
terrorism.
“This
crime
was
strictly
domestic
and
in
no
way
transcended
national
boundaries,”
Cohn
said.
Jordi’s
attorney,
Anne
Lyons,
told
the
Associated
Press
that
her
client
was
the
victim
of
an
“aggressive
confidential
informant.”
Jordi
has
his
own
Web
page,
which
is
linked
to
the
Army
of
God
Web
site
(www.armyofgod.com/stephenjordi).
On
his
Web
site,
Jordi
claims
he
was
entrapped
by
a
federal
informant
and
accuses
his
own
brother
of
“ratting”
on
him.
NEW
YORK
—
A
New
York
court
has
closed
a
popular
downtown
sex
club,
citing
a
threat
to
the
city’s
health.
Wall
Street
Sauna
had
been
an
attraction
for
businessmen
looking
for
a
midday
rendezvous,
among
other
things.
New
York
City
Department
of
Health
undercover
officials
had
witnessed
dozens
of
high-risk
sex
acts
on
premises
when
they
sought,
and
received,
a
partial
closing
of
the
establishment
in
February.
Management
promised
to
curtail
the
high-risk
behavior,
but
the
Health
Department
said
officials
continued
to
witness
those
sex
acts.
“High-risk
conduct
was
so
pervasive
at
this
establishment
that
the
new
management’s
promises
cannot
be
deemed
a
sufficient
safeguard
against
their
continuation,”
the
decision
of
the
Supreme
Court,
Appellate
Division,
First
Department,
read.
The
court
went
on
to
say
that
the
partial
closing
was
not
sufficient
in
curtailing
the
behavior
because
closing
“only
a
portion
of
the
premises
would
probably
cause
the
high-risk
conduct
to
migrate
to
the
portion
of
the
premises
permitted
to
remain
open.”
SEATTLE
—
In
a
city
known
as
being
accepting
of
gay
people,
an
attack
last
month
against
a
gay
man
has
unified
residents,
the
Seattle
Post-Intelligencer
reported.
Three
men
beat
Micah
Painter
and
used
a
broken
vodka
bottle
to
slash
him,
leaving
him
seriously
injured
in
an
attack
outside
a
gay
bar,
the
newspaper
reported.
Since
the
incident,
gay
activists
have
come
together,
and
planned
a
rally
late
last
week,
the
Post-Intelligencer
reported.
“This
type
of
viciousness
is
not
something
the
community
has
seen,”
Meighan
Doherty,
a
gay
activist,
told
the
newspaper.
“It’s
really
hit
home
for
a
lot
of
people.”
Seattle
police
are
still
investigating
the
attack,
while
gay
rights
advocates
work
to
raise
awareness
of
such
crimes,
the
Post-Intelligencer
reported.
Police
said
they
have
promising
leads
in
the
case,
but
have
not
given
further
details,
the
Post-Intelligencer
reported.
The
attack
has
been
classified
a
hate
crime,
police
told
the
newspaper.
FORT
LAUDERDALE,
Fla.
—
Police
are
seeking
tips
in
the
case
of
a
man
who
disappeared
June
26
from
his
home
at
Drake
Tower
Condominium
in
Fort
Lauderdale.
Mark
Douglas
Jackson,
35,
was
last
seen
at
his
condo
at
about
5
a.m.
on
June
26,
police
said.
Earlier,
during
the
evening
of
June
25,
Jackson
went
to
the
Coliseum,
a
local
gay
club,
with
a
friend
who
was
visiting
from
out
of
town,
police
said.
Police
declined
to
identify
the
friend.
Jackson
and
the
friend
left
the
Coliseum
together
and
returned
to
Jackson’s
condo,
police
said.
A
surveillance
camera
captured
Jackson
and
his
friend
entering
Jackson’s
condo
building
in
the
early
morning
hours
of
June
26.
When
he
awoke
the
next
morning,
the
friend
said,
Jackson
was
gone,
said
Det.
Mark
Breen
of
the
Fort
Lauderdale
Police
Department.
The
friend
said
Jackson
left
behind
a
note.
The
friend,
who
was
visiting
for
the
weekend,
is
not
a
suspect,
Breen
said.
HOUSTON
—
An
avalanche
of
charges
are
expected
in
the
coming
weeks
against
a
50-year-old
accountant
who
has
confessed
to
being
the
man
homeless
youth
in
the
city
call
“Spanky.”
Police
said
James
Michael
Broomas,
was
arrested
July
6
and
accused
of
having
sexual
contact
with
a
15-year-old
boy
in
1999.
Houston
police
investigator
Matt
Dexter
said
more
charges
are
likely
as
additional
victims
are
located.
Broomas
came
under
investigation
about
two
months
ago
after
police
received
an
anonymous
letter
sent
to
a
state
legislator
detailing
the
suspect’s
activities
and
indicating
that
his
treatment
of
victims
may
have
bordered
on
sadistic.
Dexter
said
Broomas
told
investigators
he
has
been
preying
on
teens
for
about
20
years.
