Sunday, July 21, 2013

Help: Model release for baseball players

The short answer is no.

Individuals have rights and only they can sign a model release, or their parent / legal guardian if they're a minor. Nobody else has the right to sign a legal document on their behalf saying that they grant the photographer the right to legally exploit the photos for commercial purposes and exempting the photographer from any future legal responsibility. The subjects of the photos need to sign the releases.

As for whether they could be uploaded as Editorial, a lot would depend on the nature of the baseball tournament, whether the organisers have any restrictions on commercial photography and how professional the thing was. Have a read through the Editorial Training Manual and then ask any specific questions in the editorial Editorial Forum, if you have any:

Editorial Training Manual

Source: http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=355122&messageid=6917774&source=rssforums

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Friday, July 19, 2013

Shia LaBeouf reaches settlement in 'Orphans' firing

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - It was a saga that lasted longer than "Orphans" ran, but the Shia LaBeouf fiasco has finally reached an end.

The actor and the producers of the Broadway revival announced a settlement this week over LaBeouf's very public firing from the show.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, although the tone of the statement was conciliatory with Cole and Zollo saying that they would like to work with LaBeouf in the future.

In a statement, LaBeouf and the producers said, "We regret the circumstances that caused Shia's departure from ?Orphans.' Shia is a gifted actor whose full preparation to undertake the role of Treat demonstrated his respect and devotion to the play. The parties recognize that neither Mr. LaBeouf nor the producers was at fault."

"Orphans" centers on two orphan brothers who kidnap a rich man and gradually find themselves bonding with their captive.

LaBeouf exited the production during rehearsals after clashing with co-star Alec Baldwin. He was replaced by Ben Foster. In a grievance against the producers filed by Actors Equity union, LaBeouf claimed he was unfairly dismissed from the show, according to a report in the New York Times.

LaBeouf's firing became a staple of the New York tabloids, but the notoriety did not translate into strong ticket sales or sterling reviews. The show closed in May after 27 previews and 37 regular performances. The limited engagement was originally slated to close on June 30.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shia-labeouf-reaches-settlement-orphans-firing-223128631.html

Grammy nominations 2013

Sunday, July 14, 2013

The Daily Caller presents: The first annual Elementary and Middle School Stupidity Awards

The dog days of summer have provided a nice opportunity to commemorate the academic year that was in various ways. For example, The Daily Caller?s College Stupidity Awards provided an impressive collection of folly and futility. The High School Stupidity Awards also offered sad-but-comical amusement.

However nothing ? nothing ? compares to the lunacy and outrageously cringe-worthy poor judgment on display, mostly by teachers and administrators, at America?s elementary schools and middle schools in 2012-13.

Park Elementary School (Baltimore, Md.): Dumbest suspension for a breakfast pastry that isn?t a gun

Second-grader Josh Welch was suspended for two days because his teacher thought he shaped a poptart into something resembling a gun. Welch?s goal had been to turn it into a mountain, but that didn?t materialize. Mo one was hurt during the incident. School officials later denied an appeal to have the suspension expunged from the boy?s permanent record. There is good news, though. The National Rifle Association granted the seven-year-old a free lifetime membership. (RELATED: Second-grader suspended for having breakfast pastry shaped like a gun)

Chicago Public Schools: Most officious use of little kids as props by Michelle Obama

Courageous Chicago fifth-grade teacher Lisa Putnam wrote a scathing critique of the almost comical misery her students endured during a massive February 28 event kicking off Michelle Obama?s Let?s Move! Active Schools campaign. There was a three-hour wait ? in straight lines ? in the morning, Putnam explained. ?Then imagine after one hour of ?fun? that they have to sit around and wait for three more hours that bus to pick them up. Oh, did I mention that are not allowed to have a morsel of food the entire time?? On the bright side, Obama?s crack staff gave the 10-year-olds free ?XL men?s t-shirts.? (RELATED: Let?s starve! Kids forced to go hungry for hours during Michelle Obama media event)

Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School (Silver Spring, Md.): Dumbest suspension for a kid using an opposable thumb

A suburban Washington, D.C. family retained legal counsel after their six-year-old son was suspended from school for one day for making a gun gesture with his thumb and forefinger, pointing at another student and saying ?pow.? The boy made the universal kid sign for a gun a week after 20-year-old Adam Lanza massacred 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. School officials later reversed and expunged the suspension from the kid?s permanent record. (RELATED: Maryland school suspends six-year-old boy for making gun gesture, saying ?pow?)

Mount Carmel Area Elementary School (Mt. Carmel, Pa.): Dumbest suspension for a toy Hello Kitty gun gun that never actually materialized

A rural Pennsylvania kindergartener was suspended after she told another girl she planned to shoot her with a pink Hello Kitty toy gun that bombards targets with soapy bubbles. Events unfolded when the five-year-old was waiting at a bus stop with other students. The girl reportedly did not have the Hello Kitty gun or any other weapon with her. Nevertheless, she was originally suspended for 10 days for issuing a ?terroristic threat.? The charge and the suspension were later reduced, but the girl had to submit to psychological testing before school officials allowed her to return to school. (RELATED: Kindergartener suspended for making ?terroristic threat? with Hello Kitty bubble gun)

St. Mary?s County Public Schools (Maryland): Most bizarrely oppressive school district in America and possibly the world

Officials with St. Mary?s County Public Schools in southern Maryland instituted a policy banning hugging and homemade food. Parents must also register to enter the playground and they can?t push anyone except their own kids on the swings. The distribution of birthday invitations on school grounds is also now verboten. Officials say the new rules are necessary to provide a generally safe environment. ?We think it?s the right balance between safety and parental involvement,? school district representative Kelly Hall explained. (RELATED: Maryland school district outlaws hugging, homemade food, pushing kids on swings)

Logan Middle School (Logan County, West Va.): Dumbest suspension for something that isn?t a gun, clothing category

Eighth-grader Jared Marcum was suspended and arrested after he refused to remove a t-shirt supporting the National Rifle Association. In a move The Daily Caller can only characterize as courageous, the 14-year-old then?returned to school wearing exactly the same shirt, which depicts a hunting rifle with the statement ?protect your right.? Despite intense national mockery, prosecutors pressed forward with a criminal charge of obstructing an officer against Marcum. In legal documents, arresting officer James Adkins asserted that the boy did not follow his orders to stop talking. About 10 weeks after the incident occurred, prosecutors withdrew the charges. (RELATED: Charges finally dropped against eighth-grader who wore NRA shirt to school)

D. Newlin Fell School (Philadelphia, Pa.): Most awful search of a fifth-grade girl because she had a paper gun her grandfather made for her

An official at D. Newlin Fell School searched fifth-grader Melody Valentin in front of her entire class after she made the mistake of pulling out a gun constructed wholly from paper. Her grandfather had made it and given it to her the day before. After the search failed to turn any more weapons (paper or non-paper), the staffer intensely scolded the little girl ? also in front of the whole class. ?He yelled at me and said I shouldn?t have brought the gun to school and I kept telling him it was a paper gun but he wouldn?t listen,? the girl explained. (RELATED: Philadelphia girl searched, berated for having a gun made of paper at school)

The whole state of New Jersey: Most poorly-conceived and anti-American attempt to stop bullying

The state of New Jersey boasts some of the strictest anti-bullying law in the country and must now hold trials for kids who call each other names on the playground. An eighth-grader in the village of Ridgewood who allegedly called a girl ?horse,? ?fat? and ?fat ass? is one of many students facing criminal prosecution under the 2011 law. The boy denied calling his classmate any name other than ?horse.? (RELATED: Under strict bullying law, kid who called classmate ?horse? and ?fat ass? goes to court)

Dowell Elementary School (Lusby, Md.): Dumbest suspension for a toy gun and also interrogating a kid until he peed his pants

A Maryland kindergartener was suspended from school for 10 days because he showed a friend his cowboy-style cap gun on the bus on the way to school. School officials at Dowell Elementary then interrogated the five-year-old. During the ordeal, he peed his pants. The boy?s mother was not notified for two hours. Principal Jennifer L. Young reportedly told the kindergartener?s mother that things would have been even worse had the toy gun been loaded with caps. In that case, the school would have regarded the plaything as an explosive and called police. School officials later reduced the suspension but refused to expunge it from the boy?s permanent record. (RELATED: Kindergartener interrogated over cap gun until he pees his pants, then suspended 10 days)

Public School 59 (New York, N.Y.): Worst story problems for fourth-graders involving slave whippings

Fourth-grade teacher Jane Youn decided it would be a good idea to give her charges homework questions that combine basic math with the whipping and mutiny-related deaths of slaves. Another teacher had copied the offensive questions and was going to assign them before common sense somehow intervened. Sample question: ?One slave got whipped five times a day. How many times did he get whipped in a month (31 days)?? (RELATED: NYC public school teacher?s math homework asks students about whipping, killing slaves)

Mission Viejo Elementary School (Aurora, Colo.): Most obliviously racist principal

Andre C. Pearson, the principal at Mission Viejo Elementary, sent letters home to parents informing them that only students of color were eligible for an after-school tutoring initiative. Some shocked parents of students at the public school alleged discrimination and segregation. Pearson left a voicemail with one parent saying, ?It?s focused for and designed for children of color, but certainly, if we have space for other kids who have needs, we can definitely meet those needs.? (RELATED: Elementary school bans white kids from tutoring)

Schall Elementary School (Caro, Mich.): Most fascist, anti-American confiscation of soldier-festooned cupcakes

Administrators at Schall Elementary impounded a third-grader boy?s batch of 30 homemade birthday cupcakes because they were adorned with green plastic figurines representing World War Two soldiers. The school principal, Susan Wright, branded the military-themed cupcakes ?insensitive? in light of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. ?It disgusted me,? the boy?s father said. ?It?s vile they lump true American heroes with psychopathic killers.? The principal actually responded by saying, ?Living in a democratic society entails respect for opposing opinions.? (RELATED: School confiscates third-grader?s cupcakes topped with toy soldiers)

J.O. Davis Elementary (Irving, Tex.): Cruelest economic incentive for second-graders

A seven-year-old boy at at J.O. Davis Elementary wet his pants in class because he hadn?t accumulated enough good behavior credits to secure a trip to the bathroom. His teacher had a reward system using ?Boyd Bucks.? The cost of an unscheduled bathroom visit was two Boyd Bucks. Unfortunately, the boy was fresh out of Boyd Bucks when nature called urgently. ?He tried to hold it as much as he could, but he just couldn?t,? the boy?s mother said. ?He came home from school, and he was crying and really upset.? (RELATED: Second-grade teacher charges good-behavior ?bucks? for bathroom breaks; empty-pocketed boy wets pants)

Strobridge Elementary School (Hayward, Calif.): Silliest gun buyback program

The toy gun trade-in?at Strobridge Elementary allowed kids to swap their harmless toy weapons for a raffle ticket and a chance to win a shiny, new bicycle. ?Playing with toys guns, saying ?I?m going to shoot you,? desensitizes them, so as they get older, it?s easier for them to use a real gun,? said Chris Hill, the school principal. The trade-in occurred on the school?s ?Safety Day? which also featured safety tips from police officers and firefighters. Fingerprinting for participation in a real government database was also available. (RELATED: School asks kids to trade in toy guns for a bicycle)

Driver Elementary School (Suffolk, Va.): Dumbest suspension for a pencil that isn?t a gun

A seven-year-old student in Suffolk, Virginia, was playing a game with another student when his teacher noticed him pretending to shoot his pencil like a gun. Consequently, both students were given two-day suspensions. ?A pencil is a weapon when it is pointed at someone in a threatening way and gun noises are made,? lectured school district spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw. The student, Christopher Marshall, said he was pretending to be a Marine, just like his father. (RELATED: Suspension for boy who held pencil like gun)

Cedar Hills Elementary School (Jacksonville, Fla.): Most appalling political statement foisted upon a fourth grader who wrote in crayon

A teacher in Duval County, Florida allegedly instructed students to express ? in crayon ? their desire to trade rights guaranteed in the Constitution for a feeling of added security. The incident occurred in a civics lesson. ?I am willing to give up some of my constitution rights in order to be safer or more secure,? one student wrote (in tri-color), according to his parents. The purported goal of the overall lesson was to ?create an awareness? of constitutional rights and help the free-thinking fourth graders ?determine their opinions on which rights they value most and least.? (RELATED: Florida fourth graders allegedly told to write down desire to give up constitutional rights)

Mary Blair Elementary School (Loveland, Colo.): Dumbest suspension for an entirely make-believe hand grenade

Seven-year-old Alex Evans hurled an imaginary grenade ? probably heroically far ? at a bunch of make-believe bad guys on the playground of Mary Blair Elementary. For his attempts to fight imaginary bad guys, Evans was suspended. School officials reportedly told his mother that his creative play broke two crucial rules. The school?s list of ?absolutes? includes no real or pretend fighting and no real or pretend weapons. School officials allegedly changed their stories a few times, but suggested that Evans was not suspended merely for pretending to throw a grenade. (RELATED: Seven-year-old boy lobs pretend grenade during recess, gets suspended)

Old Mill Pond Elementary School (Palmer, Mass.): Dumbest detention for a tiny LEGO toy that looks like a gun

A six-year-old boy on the way to Old Mill Pond Elementary brought a plastic Lego gun roughly the size of a quarter on the bus. Another student on the bus spotted the tiny toy and promptly shouted to the driver. The boy was forced to apologize to the bus driver and had to serve detention. There was also talk of a temporary suspension from riding the bus. School officials also promptly sent a letter home to all parents explaining that there was no real gun, only a very small molded piece of plastic. (RELATED: Kindergartener gets detention, forced to apologize for Lego gun the size of a quarter)

Hurricane Middle School (Hurricane, Utah): Most deliberate and hostile ginger discrimination

Hurricane Middle School student Rylee McKay was suspended for dying her hair red. The school?s dress code policies stipulate that students can only dye their hair within a range of ?normal? colors. School authorities determined that McKay?s hair was too pink when examined under certain lighting, and suspended her until she changed it back. (RELATED: Student, kicked out of school for having red hair, returns to class)

Follow Eric on Twitter?and send education-related story tips to?erico@dailycaller.com.

Robby Soave contributed to this piece.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/daily-caller-presents-first-annual-elementary-middle-school-002008884.html

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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Concert for Oklahoma tornado victims draws big names

Ronnie Dunn performs at the Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert at the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday, July 6, 2013 in Norman, Okla. (Photo by Alonzo Adams/Invision/AP)

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) ? Some of country music?s biggest stars, including Garth Brooks, Toby Keith and many others with ties to Oklahoma, played a sold-out show Saturday at the University of Oklahoma to raise money for the victims of the recent tornadoes that strafed the state.

Organizers of the concert, which was held in the school?s Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, estimated that nearly 65,000 people braved the searing heat to watch the show and show their support for the victims, the Tulsa World reported.

The money raised from ticket sales benefits the United Way of Central Oklahoma, which established a fund to aid victims of the May storms that killed dozens of people.

A separate benefit concert last month hosted by Oklahoma native country music star Blake Shelton raised more than $6 million in donations and pledges.

Saturday?s concert was organized by Keith, who was still playing to a packed house seven hours into the show.

Brooks, who was the biggest draw, took to the stage Saturday afternoon to a rousing ovation.

?Today the healing begins,? said Brooks.

Brooks played ?Two of a Kind, Workin? on a Full House? and ?Papa Loved Mama.? His wife, Trisha Yearwood, joined him for a duet, ?In Another?s Eyes.?

?God bless you, Oklahoma!? Yearwood yelled, according to the World.

Some concertgoers said their experiences with tornadoes or someone affected by the recent storms drew them to the fund-raising event. Continued...

Marie Carter, a physician whose office is in Oklahoma City, said she watched helplessly as a twister moved through Moore, coming within a half-mile of her own home.

?It was very scary for a lot of us,? Carter said, according to the World. ?We?ve been out there helping our friends, digging through the rubble, and because we?re so close, we?ve had a lot of patients come in who lost everything who have symptoms of PTSD. It?s almost surreal, but we wanted to come out and support this cause.?

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Information from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com

Source: http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/07/08/entertainment/doc51da568ef4124653666015.txt

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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Holder: U.S. killed four Americans overseas in drone strikes since 2009

This photo, from Oct. 2008, shows Imam Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike. (Muhammad??Attorney General Eric Holder informed Congress on Wednesday that the U.S. has killed four Americans in drone strikes since 2009 ? radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and three others who were ?not specifically targeted.?

Holder?s disclosure, first reported by the New York Times, came a day before President Barack Obama was to defend his counter-terrorism strategy in an afternoon speech at National Defense University. Obama was slated to focus on drone strikes ? which have sparked anger across the Muslim world and increasingly tough questions in Congress ? and on his broken promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected extremists.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that Obama planned to lift a ban on sending prisoners from Guantanamo to Yemen. The administration prohibited transfers to Yemen out of concern that, once there, they might carry out attacks or radicalize other Yemenis.

The administration will also resume transferring detainees to their home countries that the Pentagon has cleared for release, the paper reported.

Eighty-six of the 166 Guantanamo detainees have been cleared. Of those, 56 are from Yemen. But the first transfers will likely be of prisoners not from Yemen, the Journal reported, citing US officials.

There is little appetite in Congress for closing the brig. Republicans and some Democrats have opposed doing so. And lawmakers of both parties were sure to scrutinize the attorney general's letter on drones.

"The President has directed me to disclose certain information that until now has been properly classified," Holder said in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) that was made public by the Administration.

"Since 2009, the United States, in the conduct of U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Qa'ida and its associated forces outside of areas of active hostilities, has specifically targeted and killed one U.S. citizen," Awlaki, Holder wrote.

"The United States is further aware of three other U.S. citizens who have been killed in such U.S. counterterrorism operations over that same time period," he wrote. "These individuals were not specifically targeted by the United States."

Awlaki was killed in a drone strike in Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011. His 16-year-old-son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, was killed in another strike two weeks later. Obama was "surprised and upset and demanded an explanation" for the second attack, according to a new book about the president's counter-terrorism strategy.

Two other Americans, Samir Khan and Jude Kenan Mohammed, were also killed in drone attacks, Holder wrote.

The letter also went to the heads of the Armed Services, Intelligence, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the chambers' top Republican and Democratic leaders.

A White House offiicial confirmed that the disclosure was timed "to coincide with the speech the president will give tomorrow, in which he will discuss our broader counter-terrorism strategy ? including the policy and legal rationale for our use of targeted, lethal force against al-Qaida and its associated forces." It also reflects Obama's commitment "to pursue greater transparency around our counter-terrorism operations," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Holder also disclosed for the first time that Congress knew early on about plans to kill Awlaki.

Top officials ?briefed the appropriate committees of Congress on the possibility of using lethal force against al-Aulaqi,? Holder wrote. ?Indeed, the Administration informed the relevant congressional oversight committees that it had approved the use of lethal force against al-Aulaqi in February 2010 -well over a year before the operation in question -and the legal justification was subsequently explained in detail to those committees, well before action was taken against Aulaqi.?

And the attorney general said that key congressional committees will be briefed on a document that institutionalizes what he called ?exacting standards and processes? for deciding when to capture or kill a suspected extremist ?outside the United States and areas of active hostilities.?

The human rights group Amnesty International reacted with alarm.

?No one should be reassured by Attorney General Holder's letter to Senator Leahy,? Zeke Johnson, the organization?s director of Security with Human Rights, said in a statement.

?The Obama administration continues to claim authority to kill virtually anyone anywhere in the world,? he said. ?An independent investigation into all alleged extrajudicial killings should begin immediately, with remedy for any killings found to be unlawful.?

Leahy said Wednesday he had spoken to Holder. ?I appreciated his briefing about the letter and other matters. I will be reviewing it, among other materials, and look forward to the president's address," the senator said.

By disclosing that the Administration is looking to write formal rules for drone strikes and making another stab at closing Guantanamo Bay, Obama is keeping promises he made in his State of the Union.

?I recognize that in our democracy, no one should just take my word for it that we?re doing things the right way,? he said in that speech. ?So in the months ahead, I will continue to engage Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks and balances, but that our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and to the world.?

He's also giving a nod to concerns from Americans -- including many in his Democratic base -- uneasy with both his targeted assassination policy and the prospects of keeping prisoners locked up forever without charge or trial.

Obama?s speech on Thursday also comes as key lawmakers are looking at revising the post-9/11 law that underpins virtually every aspect of the so-called war on terrorism.

The law, best known as the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or AUMF, sailed through Congress by overwhelming votes shortly after the 2001 terror attacks. It gave the president the power ?to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.?

Critics ? from human rights and civil liberties groups to influential members of Congress ? have argued that the legislation is outdated and that the executive branch has used it for purposes beyond its original intent.

?The fact is that this authority ? has grown way out of proportion and is no longer applicable to the conditions that prevailed that motivated the United States Congress to pass the Authorization for the Use of Military Force that we did in 2001,? Republican Sen. John McCain told a Pentagon witness at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday that Obama recognizes the ?absolutely valid and legitimate? criticisms and concerns about his drone policy. And the President agrees ?there need to be structures in place that remain in place for successive administrations so that in the carrying out of counterterrorism policy, procedures are followed that allow it to be conducted in a way that ensures that we?re keeping with our traditions and our laws.?

And the speech itself reflects Obama?s desire to shape the debate.

But the White House attitude towards a re-write of the AUMF has undergone several changes.

In March, spokesman Josh Earnest said the legislation did not need any updating.

?At this point, we feel like we have the authorities we need to go after elements of al Qaeda and those self-identified enemies of the United States and our allies and our interests, and we?re doing that very aggressively in order to protect the American people and our interests,? Earnest said in response to a question from Yahoo News.

By early May, with Congress apparently ready to work on changing the AUMF with or without the White House, the message had changed.

?The Administration welcomes continued engagement with Congress on critical national security issues questions relating to the conflict with the Taliban and al-Qaida,? National Security Council Spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told Yahoo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/holder-four-americans-killed-overseas-drone-strikes-since-204200672.html

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Crews race to find survivors of Oklahoma twister

Residents pass a destroyed car as they walk through a tornado-ravaged neighborhood Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Residents pass a destroyed car as they walk through a tornado-ravaged neighborhood Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

An aerial view shows Tower Plazas Elementary school in Moore, Okla., Tuesday, May 21, 2013 as rescue workers make their way through the structure. At least 24 people, including nine children, were killed in the massive tornado that flattened homes and a school in Moore, on Monday afternoon. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dalton Sprading, right, hands a gun to his uncle Roger Craft as he salvages items from his tornado-ravaged home Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A member of a security team helps guard an area of rubble from a destroyed residential neighborhood, one day after a tornado moved through Moore, Okla., Tuesday, May 21, 2013. The huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against the winds. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Austin Brock holds cat Tutti, shortly after the animal was retrieved from the rubble of Brock's home, which was demolished a day earlier when a tornado moved through Moore, Okla., Tuesday, May 21, 2013. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

(AP) ? Emergency crews searched the broken remnants of an Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday for survivors of a massive tornado that flattened homes and demolished an elementary school. At least 24 people were killed, including at least nine children, and those numbers were expected to climb.

The state medical examiner's office cut the estimated death toll by more than half but warned that the number was likely to climb again. Gov. Mary Fallin said authorities did not know how many people were still missing, but they vowed to account for every resident.

"We will rebuild, and we will regain our strength," said Fallin, who went on a flyover of the area and described it as "hard to look at."

Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm that struck Monday afternoon. Downed communication lines and problems sharing information with officers exacerbated the problem, she said.

"It was a very eventful night," Elliott said. "I truly expect that they'll find more today."

Authorities initially said as many as 51 people were dead, including 20 children.

New search-and-rescue teams moved at dawn Tuesday, taking over from the 200 or so emergency responders who worked all night. A helicopter shined a spotlight from above to aid in the search.

Many houses have "just been taken away. They're just sticks and bricks," the governor said, describing the 17-mile path of destruction.

The National Weather Service said the twister was on the ground for 40 minutes, with winds estimated at 190 mph.

Emergency crews were having trouble navigating neighborhoods because the devastation is so complete, and there are no street signs left standing, Fallin added.

Fire Chief Gary Bird said fresh teams would search the whole community at least two more times to ensure that no survivors ? or any of the dead ? were overlooked. Crews painted an 'X' on each structure to note it had been checked.

"That is to confirm we have done our due diligence for this city, for our citizens," Bird said.

The community of 56,000 people, 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, braced for another long, harrowing day.

"As long as we are here ... we are going to hold out hope that we will find survivors," said Trooper Betsy Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

More than 200 people had been treated at area hospitals.

Other search-and-rescue teams focused their efforts at Plaza Towers Elementary, where the storm ripped off the roof, knocked down walls and turned the playground into a mass of twisted plastic and metal as students and teachers huddled in hallways and bathrooms.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said she watched up close late Monday as rescuers tried to find people in the wreckage of the school.

"It was an incredible sight to see how big the debris field was and how much destruction there was," Fallin said. "It would be remarkable for anyone to survive."

Seven of the nine dead children were killed at the school, but several students were pulled alive from under a collapsed wall and other heaps of mangled debris. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain of parents and neighborhood volunteers. Parents carried children in their arms to a triage center in the parking lot. Some students looked dazed, others terrified.

Officials were still trying to account for a handful of children not found at the school who may have gone home early with their parents, Bird said Tuesday.

Many parents of missing schoolchildren initially came to St. Andrews United Methodist Church, which had been set up as a meeting site. But only high school students were brought to the church, causing confusion and frustration among parents of students enrolled at Plaza Towers. They were redirected to a Baptist church several miles away.

"It was very emotional ? some people just holding on to each other, crying because they couldn't find a child; some people being angry and expressing it verbally" by shouting at one another, said D.A. Bennett, senior pastor at St. Andrews.

After hearing that the tornado was headed toward another school called Briarwood Elementary, David Wheeler left work and drove 100 mph through blinding rain and gusting wind to find his 8-year-old son, Gabriel. When he got to the school site, "it was like the earth was wiped clean, like the grass was just sheared off," Wheeler said.

Eventually, he found Gabriel, sitting with the teacher who had protected him. His back was cut and bruised and gravel was embedded in his head ? but he was alive. As the tornado approached, students at Briarwood were initially sent to the halls, but a third-grade teacher ? whom Wheeler identified as Julie Simon ? thought it didn't look safe and so ushered the children into a closet, he said.

The teacher shielded Gabriel with her arms and held him down as the tornado collapsed the roof and starting lifting students upward with a pull so strong that it sucked the glasses off their faces, Wheeler said.

"She saved their lives by putting them in a closet and holding their heads down," Wheeler said.

The tornado also grazed a theater, and leveled countless homes. Authorities were still trying to determine the full scope of the damage.

Roofs were torn off houses, exposing metal rods left twisted like pretzels. Cars sat in heaps, crumpled and sprayed with caked-on mud. Insulation and siding was smashed up against the sides of any walls that remained standing. Yards were littered with pieces of wood, nails and pieces of electric poles.

President Barack Obama declared a major disaster and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.

"Among the victims were young children trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew ? their school," he said Tuesday.

The town of Moore "needs to get everything it needs right away," he added.

Obama spoke following a meeting with his disaster-response team, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and top White House officials.

The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale, the second most powerful type of twister. It estimated that the twister was at least half a mile wide.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., forecast more stormy weather Tuesday in parts of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, including the Moore area.

In video of the storm, the dark funnel cloud could be seen marching slowly across the green landscape. As it churned through the community, the twister scattered shards of wood, awnings and glass all over the streets.

Monday's tornado loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region with 300 mph winds in May 1999. It was the fourth tornado to hit Moore since 1998.

The 1999 storm damaged 600 homes and about 100 businesses. Two or three schools were also hit, but "the kids were out of school, so there were no concerns," recalled City Manager Steve Eddy.

At the time of Monday's storm, the City Council was meeting. Local leaders watched the twister approaching on television before taking shelter in the bathroom.

"We blew our sirens probably five or six times," Eddy said. "We knew it was going to be significant, and there were are a lot of curse words flying."

Betty Snider, 81, scrambled inside with her son and husband. She put her husband, who recently had a stroke, in a bathroom, but there wasn't room for both of them. So she and her son huddled in a hallway.

"That is the loudest roar I've ever heard in my life," she said.

She said she didn't have time to do anything. She couldn't duck, couldn't cover her ears, couldn't find another place to hide.

Snider lived through the 1999 tornado, but said this was the closest a twister had ever come to her house, which was still standing.

Monday's twister also came almost exactly two years after an enormous twister ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people and injuring hundreds more.

That May 22, 2011, tornado was the deadliest in the United States since modern tornado record keeping began in 1950, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Before Joplin, the deadliest modern tornado was June 1953 in Flint, Mich., when 116 people died.

___

Associated Press writers Sean Murphy and Ramit Plushnik Masti; and Associated Press photographer Sue Ogrocki contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-21-Oklahoma%20Tornado/id-553a3110e6d94c8f88ea0d0db90882d9

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