Telegraph-Forum from Bucyrus, Ohio • Page A2

2A WEDNESDAY, 0 5.13.15 WWW.BUCYRUSTELEGRAPHFORUM.COM Obituaries and photographs submitted to the Bucyrus Telegraph Forum may be published, distributed, repurposed and otherwise used in print, electronic and other media platforms. Hair analysis shows the limits of science BE THE FIRST TO ADVERTISE HERE AS OUR WEATHER SPONSOR! Call 419-563-9212 for information GALION: Alberta M. "Bert" Busier, 91, of Galion died Monday, May 11, 2015 at Mill Creek Nursing and Rehab, Galion after a lengthy battle with kidney failure. Alberta was born in Iberia on February 20, 1924 to the late Walter and Bertha (Sulser) Noe. Alberta was a member of Iberia United Methodist Church.

She was also a member of Galion Moose Alberta M. Busier and Brownie Troop Mother assistant. Alberta enjoyed music and people. She was truly someone who did not know a stranger. She is survived by her three children, Rosemary Irene Reed of Galion, Barbara Jean "Jennie" (Mike) Petrick of Crestline and Ronnie William (Judy) Busier of Galion; her nine grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren; 11 great-great grandchildren; her sister, Gladys Creger of Upper Sandusky; and her special friend, Cathy.

She was preceded in death by her two brothers, John and Harold Noe. Friends may call from 1-4 6-9 PM Thursday at the Mark A. Schneider Funeral Home, 303 Portland Way North, Galion. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 am on Friday May 15, 2015 at the Mark A. Schneider Funeral Home, Galion, with Chaplain Jed Brake officiating.

Burial will follow in Iberia Cemetery, Iberia. Memorial contributions may be made to the HomeCare Matters Home Health Hospice in care of the funeral home. Online condolences may be made to the family at masfh.com through hair analysis. The FBI has acknowledged its scientific limitations and uses the practice now in conjunction with more scientifically reliable DNA testing. Federal review In 2012, the Justice Department started reviewing cases after high-profile exonerations in which microscopic hair analysis was used.

The government has identified nearly 3,000 cases in which FBI examiners submitted reports or may have testified in trials involving hair analysis. The government provided an update last month when it revealed that of the 268 trials reviewed as of mid-March, investigators found erroneous statements from FBI experts in nearly all of the cases including in death-penalty prosecutions. The review is limited to cases dating before 2000 in which FBI examiners provided evidence. But the number of affected cases would almost certainly be much higher if the review took into account cases involving FBI-trained state examiners. Still, no one knows how many defendants have been wrongly convicted because the existence of flawed testimony often just one element of a prosecution doesn't establish innocence.

"What it does mean is that those cases need to be looked at very closely to see what role hair played in the case," said Norman Reimer of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Advocates say they are working to ensure that people potentially affected have opportunities to challenge their convictions. They've also encouraged states to do their own audits because most of the prosecutions were local cases. The Justice Department has said it will waive procedural objections, including statute-of-limitations claims, in federal cases. Rosemary Weyand UPPER SANDUSKY: Rosemary Weyand, age 78, of Upper Sandusky died at Fairhaven Community on Sunday, May 10, 2015 at Arrangements are in care of Bringman Clark Funeral Home.

www.BringmanClark.com US Airways likely to stop flying this fall ASSOCIATED PRESS FORT WORTH, Texas After more than 75 years of flying, the end is near for US Airways. American Airlines plans to shut down the carrier over a 90-day stretch that could begin as soon as July, which would mean a final departure around October. American executives designed the gradual fade-out to avoid the kind of technological glitches and flight delays that plagued United Airlines after it abruptly switched to Continental's computer systems in 2012. US Airways flights will slowly disappear and be replaced by American flights in a single reservations system. "It's absolutely critical because it's really the core system for almost every customer-facing transaction that happens Flawed, pre-DNA techniques may affect thousands of cases ERIC TUCKER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON Kirk Odom was convicted of a 1981 rape and robbery after a woman identified him as her attacker and an FBI specialist testified that hair on her nightgown was consistent with that on Odom's head.

But DNA testing some 30 years later affirmed what Odom had long maintained: The hair wasn't his; neither was the DNA evidence left on a pillowcase and robe. A felony conviction that imprisoned him for decades was overturned in 2012 by a judge who declared it a "grave miscarriage of justice." "I was hoping that I was going to go home that day," said Odom, now 52, recalling his trial in Washington, D.C. Instead, "they sentenced me to 20 to 66 years in prison." His experience is only one example of flawed forensic science from the pre-DNA era, a simmering problem that now appears far more widespread than initially thought. The Innocence Project, which works to exonerate the wrongly accused, has identified 74 overturned convictions in which faulty hair evidence was a factor. Now, a new disclosure by the FBI that experts gave erroneous testimony on hair analysis in more than 250 trials before 2000 suggests that number could rise dramatically.

Defense lawyers say the latest revelations on top of established concerns about bite-mark identification and arson science confirm fears about the shortcomings of old-fashioned forensic techniques and could affect thousands of cases. Advancing technologies have put such techniques Secular Continued from Page 1A cent to just under 71 percent of the population. Protestants now comprise 46.5 percent of what was once a predominantly Protestant country. Researchers have long debated whether people with no religion should be defined as secular since the category includes those who believe in God or consider themselves "spiritual." But the new Pew study found increasing signs of secularism. Last year, 31 percent of "nones" said they were atheist or agnostic, compared to 25 percent in 2007, and the percentage who said religion was important to them dropped.

Greg Smith, Pew's associate research director, said the findings "point to substantive changes" among the religiously unaffiliated, not just a shift in how people describe themselves. Secular groups have become increasingly organized to counter bias against them and keep religion out of public life through lawsuits and lobbying lawmakers. The growth of "nones" Crestline Continued from Page 1A investigation over to the BCI. The allegation did not include the name of a specific officer nor a number of officers involved. Telegraph-Forum eaia LOCAL WEATHER TODAY HIGH: 58 LOW: 37 Mostly sunny and cool THURSDAY SHIGH: 70 1 LOW: 52 Pleasant and warmer FRIDAY HIGH: 78 LOW: 62 Cloudy with a t-storm CCbL SATURDAY 1 HIGH: 76 A L0W: 63 A thunderstorm in spots ALMANAC Through 4 p.m.

yesterday TEMPERATURES HighLow 6456 Normal 6847 Record 87(1 991 )27(1 938) PRECIPITATION 24 hrs 0.27" Month to date 0.93" Normal month to date. 1.61" Yearto date 14.33" Normal year to 14.40" Last year to date 14.21" SUN MOON Today's sunrisesunset: 6:15 a.m.8:38 p.m. Today's moonrisemoonset: 3:28 a.m.3:37 p.m. i New First Full Last May 18May 25 Jun 2 Jun 9 NATIONAL EXTREMES Bainbridge, GA 95 Cedar Point, UT 22 AccuWeather.com Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. 2015 LOTTERIES Pick 3 (D): 8-3-1 Pick 4(D): 4-1-1-8 Pick 5 (D): 5-1-7-4-6 Rolling Cash 5: 8-13-16-19-27 Pick 3: 2-0-7 Pick 4: 2-6-1-1 Pick 5: 5-0-6-7-5 Telegraph-Forum Volume 93, No.

66 2015 113 W. Rensselaer Bucyrus, OH 44820 Phone: 419-562-3333, 800-838-6329 Office hours: Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Closed for lunch noon-1 p.m. Newspaper delivery and billing: 877-424-0209, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

weekdays, 7 to 11:30 a.m. weekends. Classified ads: 419-562-9205 Other ads: 419-562-3333 News: 419-563-9227 Subscriptions: 877-424-0208 QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS Anthony Conchel Editor 740-375-5107 aconchelnncogannett.com Ida Hanning Distribution Manager 419-521-7279 ihanninggannett.com Kelly Gearhart Advertising Sales Manager 419-521-7343 kgearhartgannett.com POSTAL INFORMATION USPS: 536-960 Postmaster address changes to: Telegraph-Forum, P.O. Box 471, Bucyrus, OH, 44820. Periodicals postage paid at Mansfield Post Office, Mansfield, OH 44901-9998 Lodge 303, the Red Hat Society and the Iberia Volunteer Fire Dept.

PL. 1 I auxiliary, one vuiuiueereu as a Future Homemakers of America at the airline," said Maya Leibman, the chief information officer for parent American Airlines Group now the world's biggest airline operator. Vestiges of US Airways will remain. American won't finish repainting all the US Airways ets until mid-2016 and even later for a few US Airways Express planes. Company executives expect they will still be combining labor groups and flight-operating systems through 2017, four years after the merger.

The disappearance of US Airways isn't likely to affect fares. American already sets those for both carriers. Since 2005, mergers have eliminated five big airlines and left four companies controlling more than 80 percent of the U.S. air-travel market. Fares have been rising modestly, and fees have gone up sharply.

to weave a narrative that depicted the University of Virginia as an institution that is indifferent to rape on campus, and more concerned with protecting its reputation than with assisting victims of sexual assault." "A Rape on Campus," published in November, detailed an alleged gang rape at the UVA chapter of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. The magazine back-pedaled after the story failed to hold up to media scrutiny. Local police also failed to find evidence supporting the claims made by a student identified as "Jackie." The magazine issued an apology in December for its failures in reporting and editing. BEANS: Cash $9.51 and new $8.96 WHEAT: Cash $4.76 and new $4.61 The latest grain prices at Mennel Milling Bucyrus Flour Division: WHEAT: Cash $4.86 and new $4.86 Give your budget Check today's classified ads for good buys! Kirk Odom under more scrutiny, including from judges, and highlighted the limits of once-established practices. "There are forces converging at the moment that are finally bringing some recognition to the failings of many venerable techniques," said Chris Fabricant, director of strategic litigation at the Innocence Project.

'Unreliable' A 2013 Associated Press investigation found at least 24 men convicted or charged with murder or rape based on bite-mark evidence the practice of matching teeth to a flesh wound were exonerated since 2000. Some high-profile criminal cases involving arson science have come under renewed scrutiny amid debunked fire investigations. Microscopic hair analysis, which involves comparing hair specimens through a microscope, has been an established FBI practice for decades, passed along at seminars to hundreds of state-level examiners. Critics say the technique lacks objective standards, with limitations that to often led experts to overstate the likelihood of a match. Though this kind of analysis can be used to exclude a person as a potential source of a hair sample, critics say there's no way to know conclusively how common the specimen is because no national database of hair specimens exists.

A 2009 report from the National Academy of Sciences described as "highly unreliable" testimony purporting to identify a particular defendant has political significance as well. People with no religion tend to vote Democratic, just as white evangelicals tend to vote Republican. The Pew study found a slight drop about 1 percent in the evangelical share of the population, which now comprises a quarter of Americans. But the overall number of evangelicals rose to about 62 million people. Pew researchers said Christian losses were driven by decreases among mainline, or liberal, Protestants and Roman Catholics.

Mainline Protestants declined by about 5 million to 36 million between 2007 and 2014. Pew found 13 percent of U.S. adults are former Catholics. The study put the number of Catholic adults at 51 million, or just over one-fifth of the U.S. population, a drop of about 3 percent over seven years.

In 2007, Catholics made up about one-quarter of Americans. However, Pew researchers acknowledge those conclusions differ from those of some other major studies that found only slight declines or even a slight uptick in the numbers of Catholics in the last couple of years. Georgetown University's Throughout the investigation, the department has not placed any officers on paid administrative leave. During an April village council meeting, Butler said he did not see enough evidence to support placing the officer on leave. The accusations were made primarily on social media, he said.

UVa dean sues Rolling Stone over rape article Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which tracks American Catholicism, puts the U.S. adult Catholic population at 61 million. Regarding other religions, Pew found an increase in membership of non-Christian faiths, driven mainly by growing numbers of Muslims and Hindus. Despite the increase, their numbers remain small. Muslims and Hindus each comprise less than 1 percent of the U.S.

population. The number of Jews rose slightly over the period, from 1.7 percent to 1.9 percent of Americans. Overall, religious groups have become more ethnically diverse along with the broader population. Latinos now comprise one-third of U.S. Roman Catholics, although fewer U.S.

Latinos identify as Catholic overall. One-quarter of evangelicals and 14 percent of mainline Protestants are racial minorities. Membership in historically black churches has remained relatively stable over the period. The survey of 35,000 people, titled "America's Changing Religious Landscape," was conducted from June 4 through Sept. 30 of last year.

Councilman Gene Toy backed that notion, saying the allegations were "hazy or gray enough" for the officer or officers to continue working. kdurbingannett.com, 419-521-7205 Twitter: njKaitlinDurbin JOHN BACON USA TODAY A dean at the University of Virginia sued Rolling Stone magazine Tuesday, claiming the publication cast her as the "chief villain" in its discredited article about a rape on campus. Nicole Eramo, associate dean of students who counseled the alleged rape victim, said the lawsuit filed in Charlottesville, Virginia, will "set the record straight." The lawsuit seeks more than $7 million from the magazine and publisher Wen-ner Media. The lawsuit claims the "defendant's purpose in publishing the article was MARKETS The latest grain prices at Sunrise Cooperative, New Washington: CORN: Cash $3.41 and new $3.31 BEANS: Cash $9.46 and new $8.86 WHEAT: Cash $4.76 and new $4.61 The latest grain prices at Crestline: CORN: Cash $3.55 and new $3.41 Bucyrus News Rashes BUCYRUS APPLIANCE REPAIR Serving Crawford Surrounding Counties 419-569-9746 BRIAN RANKINS-OWNER BucyrusTF facebook.comstelegraphforum.