Ferguson Crisis: Missouri Gov Says Police Will Present 'Softer Front' / Robin Williams Had Parkinson's / Cease-Fire Extended

Whitney Curtis for The New York Times        

 Capt. Ron Johnson (above photo) of the Missouri State Highway Patrol was chosen to command the officers taking over security responsibilities in Ferguson from the St. Louis County police, which had been criticized for inflaming tensions with protesters by firing rubber bullets and tear gas and deploying armored vehicles. Alarm had been rising across the country at images of a mostly white police force, in a predominantly African-American community, aiming military-style weapons at protesters and firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, the highway patrol official appointed by the governor to take over the response, immediately signaled a change in approach. Captain Johnson told reporters he had ordered troopers to remove their tear-gas masks, and in the early evening he accompanied several groups of protesters through the streets, clasping hands, listening to stories and marching alongside them.

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N.Y TIMES

FERGUSON, Mo. — The chief of police here said  that he had reconsidered his decision to release the name of the police officer involved in the fatal shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager and would not do so because of concerns about the officer’s safety.

The Ferguson Police Department had said it would release the officer’s name by noon on Tuesday, but then it reversed itself after it said that threats had been made on social media against the officer and the city’s police.

“The value of releasing the name is far outweighed by the risk of harm to the officer and his family,” the police chief, Thomas Jackson, said in announcing a decision that was quickly criticized. The officer has been placed on administrative leave.

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DAILY BEAST
 Susan Schneider, widow of the late comedy legend Robin Williams, revealed in a statement Thursday that her husband had been battling the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disorder that targets the nervous system. “Robin’s sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety, as well as early stages of Parkinson’s disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly,” Schneider wrote. “It is our hope in the wake of Robin’s tragic passing that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid.” Williams took his own life at his home in Tiburon, California, on Monday morning.

NPR

So far, a five-day extension to a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appears to be holding, NPR's Jackie Northam reports from Jerusalem.
She says, "There were a few tense hours before the ... extension was announced — rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, and the Israeli military responded with airstrikes. But it's been quiet since, as both sides prepare to return to Egyptian-brokered negotiations aimed at creating a long-term truce."