Clinton says replacement of campaign manager reflects need for more staff

WASHINGTON — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the replacement of her campaign manager reflected a need to add more people to her campaign staff.

Former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle will remain a trusted friend and adviser, Clinton said.

“There is just too much to be done, so we had to add some more people. There really is not significant change, we really just got to get more help, we just don’t have enough help,” Clinton told a Chicago television news crew. Solis Doyle is a Chicago native.

Maggie Williams, a longtime Clinton confidante and former chief of staff from Clinton’s days as first lady, replaced Solis Doyle.

Solis Doyle announced her departure to the staff Sunday.

“This has already been the longest Presidential campaign in the history of our nation, and one that has required enormous sacrifices from all of us and our families,” she wrote.

Clinton insisted she wasn’t concerned that the replacement of Solis Doyle, whose parents were Mexican immigrants, would anger Hispanic voters in Texas or other upcoming contests with a large number of Hispanic voters.

“No, no, not at all. We have a very strong base and she’s deeply involved in the campaign going forward,” Clinton said.

Clinton addressed a campaign audience in the District of Columbia one day before the nation’s capital holds its primary.

She told a small gathering sponsored by the National Council for Negro Women that she supports full voting rights for District residents.

“I think this is long overdue,” Clinton said to cheers. “I think it is wrong that we disenfranchise the people who live and work in this city.”

Voting rights in a significant issue in Washington, where nearly 60 percent of the population is black. The former first lady has struggled to gain traction with black voters in her race against rival Barack Obama, who hopes to be the first black president.

Obama was expected to win the District of Columbia primary on Tuesday, as well as contests in neighboring Virginia and Maryland, in part because of his popularity among blacks who make up a significant portion of the Democratic electorate in each place.

Clinton acknowledged that many black voters face a “challenging” choice between her candidacy and Obama’s.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Clinton said, noting their similarities.

She said, however, that it was “disappointing” that Obama’s health care proposal would not require everyone to carry health insurance, as her plan would.

Virgin Islands police officer, in his underwear, chases armed robbery suspects

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands — A police officer who chased armed robbery suspects clad only in his underwear won praise last Friday for not letting a little exposure get in the way of his job.

Officer Dariel Chinnery jumped, barely clothed, into his cruiser this week and chased two men suspected in a violent armed robbery in St. Thomas.

Chinnery, a veteran officer, went “a little above the call of duty,” said Police Chief Rodney Querrard, whose department has struggled to contain a rise in violent crime in the U.S. Caribbean island territory.

Last Tuesday night, a man frantically banged on Chinnery’s door, saying he had been shot in the arm by two men who demanded all his money, police said.

Chinnery grabbed his gun as the suspects drove away. After a short car chase, the men abandoned their car and escaped on foot.

Chinnery is well-known for his enthusiasm in issuing traffic tickets and using the loudspeaker on his patrol car to order people to move illegally parked cars.

“People complain, but he does his job,” the police chief said.

Some say strained race relations hint at Missouri City Council gunman’s motivation

KIRKWOOD, Mo. — No one may ever know what drove Charles Lee “Cookie” Thornton to shoot and kill five people at a City Council meeting in this St. Louis suburb. Even those who knew him best were stunned.

But Thornton’s family and friends — black and white — say a history of strained race relations between mostly white Kirkwood and the historically black neighborhood known as Meacham Park might hint at what pushed him over the edge.

“He was a black man in a white community,” said Jim Hollinshead, 46, a white businessman who went to high school with Thornton and remained his friend. “They started ticketing him for everything, and in my opinion, abused their authority. It festered and never got right. He had no way to find justice.”

“Does that excuse him killing all those people?” Hollinshead asked. “No, but I don’t think he felt he had another way out.”

City Attorney John Hessel survived the attack last Thursday night by throwing chairs at Thornton, telling him, “Don’t do this Cookie. I’m not going to let you kill me.”

Hessel said Thornton’s actions had nothing to do with being oppressed. Thornton, he said, was solely to blame.