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Afternoon update: Obama flag, 14-year-old lifers, Goldman Sachs woes Mar 15th 2012, 20:09 By msnbc.com staff Here are some of the stories on msnbc.com that are resonating with readers today. The use of an image of the president replacing the stars field of the Stars and Stripes has caused a ruckus in Florida: Obama's image on American flag angers vets   The U.S. Supreme Court will be taking up this question next week: 14 years old: Too young for life in prison? It looks like Greg Smith's rant in The New York Times cost Goldman Sachs about $2 billion: Goldman Sachs, roiled by 'Muppetgate,' loses $2 billion Ranchers along the border with Mexico say they haven't seen a crime downturn, despite what federal officials say: US ranchers say feds downplay 'spillover violence' from Mexico And some clickers: Like 'Jaws': Girl pulled under by shark twice Students launch campaign to ban ‘r-word’ Meatball-eating bear stalks Southern California neighborhood And coming up: Hard to believe the bobbleheads they were selling at the Lincoln museum in Springfield, Ill.; and Rick Santorum makes some more news with English-Spanish comments in Puerto Rico.   Meatball-eating bear stalks Southern California neighborhood Mar 15th 2012, 19:23 By msnbc.com staff A large black bear entered a La Crescenta, Calif. garage early Wednesday morning and dined on Costco meatballs, then returned later that evening, television station KTLA reported. Homeowner Joey Ball told the station that he heard noises around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. When he opened his garage door, he found the bear sitting next to the refrigerator, eating the meatballs and tuna. “He looked at me and I thought, ‘uh-oh!’ So I slammed the door and locked the dead bolt,” Ball told KTLA. “You could hear him eating, slapping his gums,” Ball added. As a KTLA camera crew was at the home to report the story that night, the bear tried to get back into the garage. The station captured footage of the bear in Ball’s backyard. The station spotted the bear rummaging through trash cans in the same neighborhood a few hours later. Neighbor Mark Edelstein told the station that his family doesn’t take their dog out for walks at night and for a while was not putting their trash cans out overnight. City officials are warning residents against leaving food out in the open and urges anyone who spots the bear to contact the police, the Los Angeles Times reported. La Crescenta is 15 miles north of Los Angeles. More content from msnbc.com and NBC News Is 14 too young for life in prison? Supreme Court to weigh $10 million Degas is latest mystery in Huguette Clarke case Debate rages over Mexico 'spillover violence' Woman, 88, strangled to death by clothes in escalator Teen texts cops: 'I hid the body ... now what?' Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook Police chase, staff brawl, and money woes -- bad week for Pennsylvania school district Mar 15th 2012, 19:11 View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com. By msnbc.com staff and NBC News A police chase through the elementary school cafeteria during lunch on Tuesday. A brawl between the school board president and a teacher at the high school on Wednesday. Oh yeah, and that nagging $23 million deficit that still hasn't been resolved. Follow @msnbc_us It's been a rough week for the Chester Upland school district in Pennsylvania, a financially troubled school system that is regularly among the state's worst performers academically. On Tuesday, staff at The Village at Chester Upland Elementary School thought they would let in the unusually warm weather by opening up a side door to the cafeteria, the school principal told NBCPhiladelphia.com. The burst of spring air they were hoping for came in -- followed by a suspected burglar and police officers right behind him, authorities said. "I saw a guy running through, and police were chasing, and we all were screaming," one student who witnessed the lunchtime chase told NBC 10. The school was in lockdown for 45 minutes while police searched the school, NBC 10 reported. The suspect was found and arrested; no one was hurt. Wednesday didn't go any better. The district's school board president and a teacher had to be taken to a local hospital with scratches and other minor injuries after the two had a physical altercation in the teacher's classroom in front of students, according to NBC 10. Both women claimed the other started it. “She shoved me and pushed me away, pushed me hard,” Board President Wanda Mann said. “It went back and forth, she started cursing. I probably said some curse words back to her.” But high school teacher Leslye Jordan said Mann lunged at her first, reported NBCPhiladelphia.com. She told the station Mann was upset because Jordan wrote a letter to the district superintendent saying she felt unsafe at school after a student threatened her. “It’s terrible that teachers have to go to school and not only be threatened by students, but by the president of the school board,” Jordan said. Police are reviewing cell phone video of the fight to determine whether there will be charges filed. Financial 'disarray' For months, the district has been wondering if it would even have enough money to stay open for the rest of the school year. Impoverished Chester Upland claims Pennsylvania has been denying it necessary state funds for years. State officials maintain the district got into the mess due to its own money mismanagement problems. Regardless, the district is forecast to be $23 million in debt by June if nothing is done. On Tuesday, Pennsylvania's secrectary of education filed a report in federal court outlining recommendations for funding the district. The $27.7 million proposal noted that the district's finances are "in complete disarray," and asked a state judge to appoint an outside receiver for the district, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer. The plan is just a bandaid solution, only solving this year's "critical expenses ... truly necessary to keep the schools open through June," according to The Inquirer. Chester Upland depends on state aid for close to 70 percent of its funding, according to The Inquirer. When statewide budget cuts were issued last year, Chester Upland suffered. In addition, Chester Upland’s state-allocated funds go to two charter schools in the city. Earlier this year, the district filed a lawsuit against the state of Pennsylvania claiming that even though funds were transferred to the charter schools, demands on the district were not reduced, leading to huge financial problems. For nearly a week in January, Chester Upland teachers, bus drivers and staff members worked for free when cash ran out, before a $3.2 million advance from the state was approved by a judge. Sara Ferguson, an elementary school teacher in Chester Upland, told MSNBC-TV's Ed Schultz in January, "It's just unfortunate in the United States of America that a student's address and zip code can determine their worth and their right to a quality education. And I just want everyone to know that whether we got this 3.2 million dollars or not, the support staff, the teachers, the community, the parents, we are all committed to the students." More content from msnbc.com and NBC News Is 14 too young for life in prison? Supreme Court to weigh $10 million Degas is latest mystery in Huguette Clarke case Debate rages over Mexico 'spillover violence' Woman, 88, strangled to death by clothes in escalator Teen texts cops: 'I hid the body ... now what?' Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook msnbc.com's Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this report. Pension predicament: New York just the latest state to cut retirement benefits Mar 15th 2012, 18:36 Mike Groll / AP New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the pension reforms passed by state lawmakers will save more than $80 billion over the next 30 years. By msnbc.com staff The pension cuts that public workers in New York will face are just the latest in a litany of retirement benefit reductions instituted by financially strapped states across the country, even as the economy flickers back to life. A report released this week by the National Conference of State Legislatures says 43 states reduced retirement benefits for broad categories of public employees and teachers from 2009 through 2011. The changes to public pension plans, once considered a sacred cow immune from the chopping block, include increasing employee contributions, boosting age or service requirements for retirement, or both. “What it says is that policy makers have found existing public employee plans to be too expensive for them to afford in the future, so they’re essentially shifting more of the cost to employees in a number of ways,” Ron Snell, a director with the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver, told msnbc.com. The New York Legislature early Thursday approved a pension overhaul proposal backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that reduces retiree benefits for future state and local government workers, increases employee contribution rates and boosts the retirement age for most new workers by one year to 63. Cuomo said the reforms will save more than $80 billion over the next 30 years. "For years, local governments have struggled to cope with soaring retirement costs, driving up taxes on New York families and small businesses," Cuomo said in a statement Thursday. "Without this critical reform, New Yorkers would have seen significant tax increases, as well as layoffs to teachers, firefighters and police." New York lawmakers pass sweeping pension cuts The AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor group, blasted the plan as harmful to employees. “Instead of cutting pensions for workers, we should focus on ensuring that corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers are paying their fair share of taxes,” the labor group said in a statement this week. New York’s $140.3 billion fund is the third-largest U.S. public pension plan, and one of the best-performing. It had 101.5 percent of the money to pay its obligations in 2010, according to an annual study by Bloomberg Rankings. So if New York can’t afford to maintain its current level of retiree benefits, can any state? The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nation's largest public pension fund, this week lowered its forecast for investment returns and asked the state of California, school districts and local governments to increase contributions — a move that could siphon more money from basic services. CalPERS’ $233 billion fund, which serves 1.6 million California government workers, retirees and their families, has an unfunded liability of at least $85 billion, according to The Associated Press. Across the nation, Snell says, states are trying to play catch-up with a reservoir of unfunded liabilities caused by two severe recessions since 2000. The economic downturns wreaked havoc on the value of stocks and other assets held by pension funds. Couple that with an increasingly aging workforce that's nearing retirement and you have a recipe for pension pitfalls. “The big issue is not so much pensions going forward as it is large unfunded liabilities that are legacies of the past,” Snell says. “Reducing pensions costs going forward puts states in more favorable position to address those problems, but doesn’t resolve them.” More content from msnbc.com and NBC News Is 14 too young for life in prison? Supreme Court to weigh $10 million Degas is latest mystery in Huguette Clarke case Woman, 88, strangled to death by clothes in escalator Teen texts cops: 'I hid the body ... now what?' Alleged Manhattan madam changes lawyers Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook Media files: 120315-cuomo-1245p.photoblog400.jpg (image/jpeg)

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