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WASHINGTON -- More than 30 years after his death, an Air Force general has been exonerated of charges that he violated presidential restrictions on aerial bombing during the Vietnam War and ordered the falsification of records to conceal the missions. John D. Lavelle was forced to retire in April 1972 at the rank of major general - two stars below the rank he held as commander of air operations in Vietnam. He died in 1979. The story took a new twist in 2007 with the publication in Air Force Magazine of an article by a retired Air Force general, Aloysius...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — One blow ruined her smile and others crushed the middle of her face, but the attack on television personality Anne Pressly didn't end until after her jaw was forced to the back of her head and cut off blood flow to her brain, a medical examiner said Tuesday. Prosecutors rested their capital murder case against Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, after testimony from the state's deputy medical examiner, who spoke about Pressly's final moments of consciousness. Vance, of Marianna, has pleaded not guilty to murder, rape and burglary. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Defense...

Arkansas Anchorwoman's Face Shattered 'Like an Egg' During Attack November 10, 2009 LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — One blow ruined her smile and others crushed the middle of her face, but the attack on television personality Anne Pressly didn't end until after her jaw was forced to the back of her head and cut off blood flow to her brain, a medical examiner said Tuesday. Prosecutors rested their capital murder case against Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, after testimony from the state's deputy medical examiner, who spoke about Pressly's final moments of consciousness. Vance, of Marianna, has pleaded not guilty to murder,...

Trouble Brewing?(Fun and Games in the Great Socialist Cesspool of PA) By: Bob Bauder and Stephanie Waite - Times Staff 03/12/06 A three-month Times investigation revealed the Beaver Falls-based Beaver Initiative for Growth also has never been audited until this year, and has awarded lucrative contracts to campaign donors. The operations of BIG, which Veon and LaValle created 14 years ago, run contrary to accepted standards for economic development organizations and nonprofits alike, according to officials in those fields. In an arrangement one nonprofit observer described as "highly irregular," BIG's board of directors until recently had only two members: Veon...

On the back of mounting discount with the way the authorities solved the gas dispute with Russia’s Gazprom led by President Viktor Yushchenko’s former ally Yulia Tymoshchenko, the Verkhovna Rada voted to fire the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov on Tuesday. This is not a political crisis - it is about who got the short end of the stick in the gas deal. The motion passed with 250 votes, 24 more than the 226 required. The Yulia Tymoshenko Block, Party of Regions, Communists, Socialists and Lytvyn Block all voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motion. What happens now? *...

Contributors: Andrei Tsygankov, Dale Herspring, Vlad Ivanenko, Ira Straus, Eric Kraus, William Dunkerley, Donald Jensen, and Edward Lozansky Peter Lavelle: On Saturday, “Russia Today” television started broadcasting what it calls a “Russian perspective” on world events. When the establishment of the station was announced last summer, it also claimed that part of its mission was to “improve Russia’s image” in the world. Also related to Russia’s “image” in the world was the recent announcement that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has agreed to head the Northern European Gas Pipeline consortium’s council of shareholders on behalf of the majority shareholder in...

MOSCOW, September 14 (RIA Novosti political commentator Peter Lavelle). Viktor Yushchenko's decision to dismiss Yuliya Tymoshenko's government recasts Ukraine's domestic politics, and creates an opening for Ukraine and Russia to turn a new page in bilateral relations. Most commentary on Ukraine's latest political turmoil has focused on internal politics, and the fracturing of the "orange" coalition that delivered Yushchenko the presidency (and Tymoshenko the government). Few seem to notice, however, that Ukraine's foreign policy, particularly in regard to Russia, has been impacted just as dramatically. Yushchenko has freed his hands at home and will have little choice but to proceed...

MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti, political commentator Peter Lavelle). The meaning of Poland's Solidarity movement (Solidarnosc in Polish), established 25 years ago this week in Gdansk, has not been learned by Russia's liberal opposition. The political breakthrough Solidarity achieved against Poland's communist regime was due to a definition of politics that was not about power, but about representation. Once Russia's liberals absorb this lesson, the country's political environment will begin to change for the better. Twenty-five years ago Polish shipyard workers, with the help of the country's dissident intelligentsia, started a social movement that would eventually bring about the end...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Peter Lavelle). On Monday President Vladimir Putin asked lawmakers to refrain from the temptation to use windfall oil tax revenue to fund populist policies that would fuel inflation. Putin's statement comes as the 2006 budget is being drafted with an expected surplus of $17.5 billion. The president’s plea might or might not be heeded, but the real danger that threatens Russia’s longer-term macroeconomic growth prospects is unnecessary compromises and competition among Kremlin elites. Russia's economy continues to expand, though at a pace that disappoints most economists. The Kremlin's economic liberals such as Finance Minister Alexei...

MOSCOW - Looking back, it was never really made clear why Russia was invited to become a member of the G7 in 1998, transforming this exclusive group into the G8. Was it a token of respect recognizing Russia's former great-power status? Was it a personal favor from Bill Clinton to bolster Boris Yeltsin's hopes to reform Russia during its rough and tumble experience with both democracy and capitalism? Asking the question why Russia is part of this group of countries never really seemed important until a few weeks ago. About a year or so back, Russia's ambiguous relationship with what...

MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti political commentator Peter Lavelle). In an article adapted from the book Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the End of Revolution and published by The Washington Post, authors Peter Baker and Susan B. Glasser present a skewed interpretation of Vladimir Putin’s presidency and how Russia has changed over the past five years. The primary thesis Baker and Glasser promote is as follows: “The government had taken over national television, emasculated the power of the country's governors, converted parliament into a rubber stamp, jailed the main financier of the political opposition and intimidated the most potent...

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Peter Lavelle.) Garry Kasparov claims to have retired from chess, or simply quit, to take an active role in opposition politics. If Kasparov intends to lead or organize Russia’s liberals against the Kremlin in 2008, Russian liberalism – weak as it already is – may find itself facing extinction for a generation. Kasparov is the Kremlin’s greatest hope to sustain the current political status quo for years to come. It is hard to know whether to cry or laugh when thinking about Kasparov’s reawakened interest in politics. His comment that he will "do everything possible...

Moscow, August 1 (RIA Novosti commentator Peter Lavelle). According to Economy Ministry data released Friday, the average monthly wage slightly surpassed 8,655 rubles ($303) in June. This increase means wages have grown one and half times over the past 18 months. The $300-level is a new benchmark for wage growth. The average monthly income in December 2003 was $200, or the same as it was in 1999 and before the August 1998 financial crisis, which saw this figure drop to $70. Economy Ministry statistics report the increase in income was primarily the result of increases in budget-based salaries, which rose...

MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti political commentator Peter Lavelle) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's acrimonious exchange with a journalist this week is a very telling reflection of Ukraine's troubled Orange Revolution. When challenged on his son's spending habits and lifestyle, Yushchenko launched into a diatribe that was defiant, at times confused, and directionless. We may never really know what Yushchenko was thinking when a journalist from Ukrainska Pravda said he wanted to ask a question that "has to do with a much-talked-about issue these days. It's about the president's son - what car he is driving, and other quite expensive...

MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti commentator Peter Lavelle). The Fitch upgrade of Russia's sovereign rating to BBB with a stable outlook was widely expected following the country's debt repayment of $13 billion to the Paris Club this week. Fitch said the upgrade was also based on Russia's significant macroeconomic performance, coupled with the debt repayment and improvements in the country's financial ratios. Importantly, the agency said these three issues outweigh political risk and lack of structural and institutional reform. The upgrade should improve sentiment in the Russian market and facilitate a further tightening of sovereign and quasi-sovereign bond spreads. It...

Post-revolution staglution, a revolution stagnating By Peter Lavelle, Russia Profile's Weekly Experts Panel Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 22, 2005 Contributors: Vladimir Frolov, Janusz Bugajski, Patrick Armstrong, Ira Straus, Ethan S. Burger & Marc Greenfield, Gordon Hahn, and Dale Herspring Peter Lavelle: Western punditry can't accept that a so-called "colored revolution" in Russia is very unlikely. This is probably partly due to the fact there is a general built-in media bias against Russia and a very specific bias against Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, as well as the fact that local Russian spin-doctors and journalists weave the most incredible scenarios of gloom and...

Opinion: What Russia's liberals should learn from the Polish Solidarity movement 19:46 | 30/ 08/ 2005 MOSCOW, August 30 (RIA Novosti, political commentator Peter Lavelle). The meaning of Poland's Solidarity movement (Solidarnosc in Polish), established 25 years ago this week in Gdansk, has not been learned by Russia's liberal opposition. The political breakthrough Solidarity achieved against Poland's communist regime was due to a definition of politics that was not about power, but about representation. Once Russia's liberals absorb this lesson, the country's political environment will begin to change for the better. Twenty-five years ago Polish shipyard workers, with the help...