Shorts: U.S.

Families of JCC shooting victims file $15 million claim

seattle (ap) | Five families with children who were shot or traumatized in a 1999 shooting at a Jewish community center in Southern California have filed a $15 million claim against Washington state, where the shooter had been on parole.

The claim, potentially a lawsuit, was filed Friday, Aug. 18 against Washington's Department of Corrections, which was responsible for supervising Buford O. Furrow Jr., an avowed white supremacist with a history of mental illness.

Furrow, now 44 and serving a life sentence, had been out of prison for three months at the time of the shooting spree at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills.

The claim states the agency should have monitored Furrow to prevent him from accumulating the weapons and paid more attention to his ties to hate groups, and that it failed to assess his mental health.

An agency spokeswoman would not comment, saying officials had not yet reviewed the claim. The state has 60 days to respond before plaintiffs can file the case as a lawsuit.




Congressman finds love online

new york (jta) | A U.S. Jewish congressman married a woman he met through the online dating service JDate.

Rep. Steven Rothman (D-N.J.) and Jennifer Anne Beckstein were married Aug. 18 by a rabbi in New York. Each has been married previously, and their five teenage children were in attendance.

Rothman made headlines two years ago when it was revealed that he was Steve3366, a government employee with a six-figure salary looking for Jewish love online. Rothman said at the time that he chose to search online because of severe limitations on his time as a lawmaker.




Wal-Mart advocate quits after remarks

(jta) | Andrew Young resigned as a Wal-Mart advocate after disparaging Jewish, Arab and Korean shop owners.

A former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and mayor of Atlanta, Young resigned as head of "Working Families for Wal-Mart," and apologized.

The Los Angeles Sentinel, a black newspaper, asked Young how he could advocate for an organization that displaces "mom and pop" outfits. Young said he was pleased when those stores were "run out" of his neighborhood. "I think they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it's Arabs, very few black people own these stores."

The Anti-Defamation League said the remarks were "offensive, hurtful and shameful."