A slow, violent descent

Cavs, Pistons all tied up
Michae l K. McIntyre
Plain Dealer Reporter
The Cavaliers played by the numbers
Tuesday night at The Q.
The equation had the familiar number,
23, the Chosen One, who added two free
throws with four seconds left, plus No. 90,
Drew Gooden, who hit key shots in the fi-
nal quarter. And No. 1, Daniel Gibson,
who had been a remainder most of the season, added 21 points, a career high.
The Cavs — raining twos and threes and,
down the stretch, ones at the free throw
line — delivered a one-two punch.
And they won, too, 91-87.
In the stands, 20,562 fans were frenzied
to the Nth Degree, rising for a three-beat
chant: Beat . . . Dee . . . troit.
The best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals stand tied, 2-2.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 the best? I
can tell you it is an 8,” said Cavs fan Ramani Kotagiri of Shaker Heights.
Just an 8?
“Two more. We will win. We will go to
the finals,” she said. “That will be a 10.”
LeBron James Jr. waves a “Rise Up” towel while on the shoulder of Eddie Jackson before the start of Game 4
of the Eastern Conference finals between the Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday at The Q.
News, pictures and your comments: cleveland.com/cavs
JOSHUA GUNTER
THE PLAIN DEALER
BREAKING NEWS: CLEVELAND.COM
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2007
NEWS
MINUTE
SPORTS
Tribe falls
to Red Sox, 4-2
The Indians hope to avoid
a sweep tonight.
Details, D1
INTERNATIONAL
10 U.S. soldiers
killed in Iraq
The Web site
icasualties.org says May
has become the third
deadliest month for U.S.
forces, with 117 deaths
thus far. Details, A4
Justices
A slow, violent descent
restrict
job-bias
claims
Police, courts left to wonder if they did enough to control suspect
Supreme Court says
Goodyear ex-worker’s
suit exceeded time limit
NATIONAL
Feds quarantine
man with rare TB
Alison Grant
Plain Dealer Reporter
The isolation order on the
Georgia man is the first
issued by federal officials
since 1963. Details, A6
METRO
Fifth rape
reported at UH
The family of a
71-year-old woman goes
to police after reading a
news report about the
sexual assaults of four
patients at Hanna
Pavilion. Details, B1
TASTE
Farm markets
Some spots already offering up this season’s
bounty. Details, F1
SCOTT SHAW
THE PLAIN DEALER
The Cleveland Heights community continues to mourn the loss of police officer Jason West, through a memorial at the
site of the slaying. A community vigil outside Cleveland Heights City Hall is scheduled for 8 p.m. today.
Rachel Dissell and Damian G. Guevara
Plain Dealer Reporters
S
ARTS & LIFE
Campaigning
for a bargain
Elizabeth Kucinich elects
resale shopping for her
versatile wardrobe.
Details, E1
FORECAST, B10:
A hot,
sunny day.
High 86, low 60.
outh Euclid police officers knew Timothy Halton Jr. was erratic and often delusional.
When on medication for mental disorders, the hulking Halton appeared calm.
When enraged, he unleashed his explosive and unpredictable aggression on relatives,
strangers and police, who always sent extra officers to deal with the 5-foot-11, 275-pound
man. Police, judges and probation officers say they did everything in their power to contain Halton and keep him on medication.
However, after numerous encounters with the law, the 27-year-old is now accused of
committing his most heinous crime: gunning down Cleveland Heights Detective Jason
West. West, 31, was shot dead Friday night as he responded to a large fight on a residential street.
South Euclid Sgt. Rick Friedl is exasperated and saddened that the efforts of police
weren’t enough.
“Me personally, dealing with him numerous times and seeing a brother officer then
killed by him is very frustrating,” Friedl said.
see HALTON
BREAKING NEWS
ALL DAY
FARMERS MARKETS
A list, plus
discuss your
favorite farmers
market
cleveland.com/taste
MAIN
NEWS
Section A
METRO
Section B
Obituaries...............B5
Opinion ..................B8
BUSINESS Section C
SPORTS
Section D
ARTS
& LIFE
Section E
Movies .................... E10
Comics ....................E7-9
TASTE
Section F
6
74776 18011
Timothy Halton’s run-ins with the law in S. Euclid
July 8, 2000: A bare-chested Timothy Hal- take the car, he chokes her. He later blames
ton Jr. punches and kicks a 60-year-old man
who walks past his home. The man is hit on
the side of the head, his jaw and his side.
Halton yells at the bloodied man to “get out
of here.” Police say in a report they know
Halton for his “violent tendencies.” Halton’s
younger sister, 19, tells police that Halton
had pulled up lawn ornaments and snapped
a rake earlier in the day.
July 9, 2000: Police get a call from Halton’s
INSIDE
4
A6
screaming sister, who has locked her brother
out of the home. The woman describes Halton — who is banging on the door — as bipolar and “violent when not properly medicated.” As a police officer tries to subdue
Halton, he mutters, “You better raise up off
of me, fool.” At the South Euclid jail, he
switches between politeness and aggression.
A disorderly-conduct charge is later dismissed.
May 24, 2001: Halton’s mother, Jeanette
Tiggs, calls police to say her son is threatening family members. Halton, she says, wants
to borrow her car so that he can “go kill”
President Bush, who is visiting Greater
Cleveland. When Tiggs refuses to let her son
his actions on the Holy Ghost.
Oct. 4, 2003: Tiggs calls police to report
Halton’s threats to relatives. While
keeping relatives at bay with a drinking glass, Halton says that he
wants “a bullet in his head” and
that he is going to “kill a police
officer.” Halton storms out of
his house and, when stopped
by police, smashes a patrol
car with a brick. He then
punches Patrolman Mark
Merims in the face, breaking the officer’s glasses.
SOURCE: South Euclid police reports,
court records
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday
made it harder for workers to use biased decisions that their employers made years ago
to win pay discrimination lawsuits today.
The court’s 5-4 decision, along conservative-liberal lines, rejected a former Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. manager’s claim that
she was paid thousands of dollars less than
her male colleagues because of a series of biased pay decisions over almost two decades.
Employers’ groups hailed the ruling as a
reasonable framework for assessing allegations of bias.
The National Partnership for Women &
Families called it “a painful and costly step
backward.”
A lawyer said the ruling should spur
workers to file charges early and often if
they suspect discrimination.
Lily Ledbetter had sued Goodyear, saying
that she was making $6,000 a year less than
the lowest-paid man doing the same work at
Goodyear’s plant in Gadsden, Ala. She cited
years of discrimination that had reduced
her salary by 15 percent to 40 percent compared with male counterparts.
She sued under Title VII, the section in
the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex or national origin.
see RULING A8
West’s services
Calling hours for slain Cleveland Heights Officer Jason
West will be from 2 to 9 p.m.
today at Misencik Funeral
Home, 36363 Detroit Road,
Avon. A private funeral Mass
will be at 11 a.m. Thursday
at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in
Avon. Details, A6
Updates all day
cleveland.com/news
Full coverage
of the Jason West
shooting
More inside
Dick Feagler:
No one calls a
cop just to thank
him. B9
Long waits
for passports
leaving fliers
out of time
Patri ck O’Donnell
Plain Dealer Reporter
Donna Michaels figured three months
was enough time to get a passport for her
son’s wedding in Jamaica next month, so
she applied for one the first week in March,
in between nailing down plane and hotel arrangements.
She’s still waiting.
Panic has set in as the Hinckley Township
woman considers gathering birth certificates and photos — again — and driving to
Chicago to stand in line to try in person.
Norman and Nina Wain have already
passed their breaking point. The Shaker
Heights couple applied for passport renewals in late February. His came in the mail
this month. Hers didn’t.
They were scheduled to fly to Israel with a
group today, but they pulled out over the
weekend rather than sweat it out until the
last minute.
“It was too much hassle,” said a frustrated
Norman Wain. “It’s just crazy. This was a
normal, routine renewal.”
But this year is anything but routine for
passport applications. Last year, the normal
waiting time was between four and six
weeks to obtain one by mail.
see PASSPORT A8