NY Governor Orders Background Checks of His Staff

Gov. David Paterson has ordered background checks of all executive chamber employees after learning that such a check had not been done on his chief of staff, who came under fire for failing to pay taxes.

Sixty percent of executive chamber employees didn't have completed background checks and some of the material employees submitted for the checks is lost, Paterson said in a statement Wednesday night.

The background checks, which are not required by law, were started by Paterson's predecessor, Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

The checks were designed to discover and avoid any conflicts of interest. Potentially, an employee could lose his or her job if the check discovered a conflict or some other major problem, such as a felony conviction, that the employee hadn't reported to the governor.

A background check had not been completed on Paterson chief of staff Charles O'Byrne, who failed to pay nearly $300,000 in taxes from 2001-2005.

Background Checks Not Required for All Adults that Work With Children

It's a frightening prospect - 21 men, some driving hundreds of miles, to meet your child.

This time, the kids were actually adult decoys and police. The next time, and the time before, it may have been a different story.

When asked by 24 Hour News 8, one of the men arrested in last weekend's Internet predator sting said this was his first attempted encounter with a minor.

"You're telling me that this is the first time that you got into a sexual conversation with an underage person on the Internet?" 24 Hour News 8 asked one of the suspects.

"That I remember," answered 35-year-old Tyson Jenkins, a disabled Gulf War vet from Indiana.

Perhaps more frightening is the jobs some of these men have that put them in direct contact with children.

Eric Wesche was a junior varsity soccer coach in Cedar Springs. Mike Greenberg was a youth hockey league referee in Hazel Park. Michael Shaler worked at a Toys R Us store in Saginaw.

Nothing 24 Hour News 8 discovered in these men's history indicated a previous problem that a background check would have found.

TSA Proposes Background Checks on Private Jet Passengers

Travelers who fly on private corporate jets would have to clear background checks before boarding under a new proposal made Thursday by the Transportation Security Administration.

The TSA is seeking to impose the security requirements on roughly 15,000 corporate jets and 315 small airports that currently have none.

A group of private-plane owners and pilots warned that the proposal could be costly and represent an unprecedented intrusion into private flying. Hundreds of thousands of people travel each year on such jets.

There is no specific threat to corporate jets, but the TSA said in its 260-page proposal that many are the same size and weight as commercial planes "and they could be used effectively to commit a terrorist act." Private jets, possibly packed with explosives, could fly into a building or could transport terrorists or dangerous materials, the TSA said.

"This is an important milestone," said Michal Morgan, TSA head of general aviation security. "It's the evolution of security into a new operating environment."

Law Puts Troops on Fast Track to Citizenship

A new law will help speed up the application process for foreign-born U.S. troops seeking American citizenship.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced the Military Personnel Processing Act, which will reduce FBI background check delays and other red-tape barriers holding back Iraq and Afghanistan service members' citizenship applications. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law yesterday.

"When men and women risk their lives overseas to serve and protect America, it is unconscionable that America would then leave them hanging by a thread for months and years while waiting for citizenship in the country," Schumer said.

City Considers Background Checks for Dog Owners

Sumner dog owners could face police background checks before they could get a pet license under one proposal heard Monday night by the City Council as it considered the city's first dangerous dog ordinance.

Sumner City Councilman Matt Richardson said some procedure is needed to try and spot dangerous dogs coming into the community, saying the ordinance must have "no loopholes." At the very least, he said anyone seeking a pet license must state under pain of perjury whether they have been convicted of a dangerous dog violation in the past.

If one dog owner must get a background check then all dog owners would need one.

Councilman Curt Brown wondered if that meant the person with the little wiener dog would need a background check.

Sumner Police Chief John Galle said his concern is that background checks by the State Patrol would simply mean people won't license their animals. It would also cost $10 and add to the cost of a license.