Arlington National Cemetery plans controversial expansion to avoid running out of room

Published May 05, 2013

FoxNews.com

Looking to avoid running out of burial sites at the most iconic burial ground in the U.S., Arlington National Cemetery leaders are hoping to start a controversial 27-acre expansion this fall.

The planned expansion, called the Millennium Project, would add more than 27,000 burial sites for veterans on the northern side of the grounds, the Washington Post reports.

“This is important,” said Kathryn Condon, executive director of Army National Military Cemeteries, “because if we do nothing today, we will run out of in-ground burial space in 2025.”

But critics say the Millennium Project expansion doesn’t fit the Arlington National Cemetery historic site, and it would damage a stream and force hundreds of Civil War-era trees to be bulldozed.

“I love Arlington. But it’s not big enough for all future wars,” Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Post. “It seems like we need to be preparing for Arlington Two, making sure it’s just as nice and wonderful and historical as Arlington One.”

The cemetery will dedicate a columbarium court, which can hold more than 20,000 cremated remains, on Thursday.

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Nuggets defeat Bulls in controversial OT thriller

Chicago, IL –  Andre Iguodala's 3-pointer and Joakim Noah's offensive goaltending in the final 7.1 seconds of overtime kept the Nuggets' winning streak alive, as Denver escaped United Center with a controversial 119-118 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

After Iguodala's go-ahead make, Marco Belinelli drove the left side and threw up a jumper that appeared to be short. Noah swooped in and got a hand on the ball as it was coming down and celebrated with his teammates as the ball went through with 1.7 seconds showing.

But the excitement was short-lived, as officials overruled the bucket with the aid of instant replay, saying Noah touched the ball as it was in the cylinder to give the Nuggets their 12th consecutive victory.

"From my angle it look like a good play, it looked like it was short," said Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, whose club has lost three of their last four. "I guess we have to call the league to get an interpretation."

Wilson Chandler scored 35 points for Denver, while Nate Robinson paced the Bulls with 34.

The goaltending call overshadowed a great game from Noah, who totaled 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks and six assists and gave the Bulls a 117-116 lead with 32.8 seconds to go in overtime with a tip-in.

Noah blocked a Chandler shot in the lane on the ensuing possession, and Robinson went 1-of-2 at the foul line with 18.4 seconds to go.

Following a timeout, Andre Miller drew two defenders in the post and kicked it back to an open Iguodala for what turned out to be his 13th assist. Iguodala was 2-of-13 from the field prior to providing the fifth and final lead change of the extra session with a 3-pointer.

"Nine (wins) in a row in January and now with 12. We know we can win and play anyone," Denver head coach George Karl said.

The Bulls trailed 79-73 entering the fourth and were down by nine with 4 1/2 minutes to play, but pulled within a point, 103-102, on Belinelli's deep jumper with 1:03 remaining in regulation.

Miller drove inside for a tough bucket, but was whistled for a questionable traveling violation the next time down, giving the ball back to the Bulls with 17.7 seconds to play.

Robinson answered with a game-tying 3-pointer, and Ty Lawson airballed a 22- footer to send the game to an extra five minutes.

The Nuggets opened the second quarter on a 15-4 run and never trailed until the opening possession of overtime. Corey Brewer ended the spurt with a 3- pointer for a 36-24 cushion, and it was a 53-45 game at halftime.

Game Notes

Both teams had six players score in double figures ... Iguodala finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds ... Luol Deng scored 21 points for Chicago, which had eight fastbreak points to Denver's 30 ... The Nuggets have won four straight over the Bulls.

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Report says school shooter Lanza had controversial sensory condition, Asperger's

Connecticut school shooter Adam Lanza had been diagnosed with a controversial disorder that made it hard for him to deal with sights, touch and smell and Asperger's syndrome, a new report claimed Tuesday.

The report, a joint venture of PBS' "Frontline" and The Hartford Courant, provides perhaps the most detailed account to date of 20-year-old Lanza and his mother Nancy, who was one of the 27 people shot to death on Dec. 14 in Newtown. 

Through interviews with family friends and anonymous emails allegedly from family members, a picture emerges of a young man who could not stand to be touched and was virtually isolated from the outside world by the time of the massacre.

Marvin LaFontaine met Nancy Lanza when their children were in Cub Scouts together, and says he kept in touch with her over the years. He provided reporters with home footage of Nancy, Adam and other children and parents at an outing. 

LaFontaine says Adam Lanza had been flagged in kindergarten as requiring an "individual education plan" because of special needs.

"There was a shyness and a learning thing and they were trying to unravel it," he says of Adam in the report."Adam was a quiet kid. He never said a word. There was a weirdness about him and Nancy warned me once at one of the Scout meetings … 'Don't touch Adam.' She said he just can't stand that. ... He'd become teary-eyed and I think he would run to his mother."

The report says Adam Lanza went to both public and private schools during his elementary and middle schools years, including Sandy Hook Elementary, where police say he killed 20 children and six adults in the shooting spree.

Once Adam Lanza reached high school, he eventually joined a technology club run by Richard Novia, who served as security chief for Newtown schools. Novia says he immediately identified the teen as a possible target for bullies, and reached out to Nancy Lanza.

"I interacted with his parent early on to find out as much as I could," Novia says in the report. "As a staff member, and certainly a person who's going to be overseeing your child, I need to know what I'm dealing with … so my interaction with Nancy Lanza was really, 'Tell me about Adam. Tell me what, how you deal with Adam.'"

Novia claims Nancy Lanza said her son had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and sensory integration disorder. The latter disorder, which is not widely accepted in the medical community, means he would have had difficulty coping with loud noises, bright lights, confusion, and change. Adam Lanza also would have not responded appropriately to pain.

The report says after Adam Lanza left high school, he attended a local college for a bit but it didn't stick. A friend of his father Peter said Adam Lanza stopped communicating with his father in 2010, a year after his parents got divorced.

"Something happened with Adam," the person says in the report. "Given the amount of time they were spending with each other, it was a sudden shift."

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