The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • A9

The PanTagraPh Tuesday, sepTember 11, 2018 A9 1 DEL QUENTIN WILBER Tribune News Service WASHINGTON FBI agent Dave LeValley was driving to work in Manhat- tan when he saw the first jetliner strike the World Trade Center on a bright September morning 17 years ago. He quickly parked his car and sprinted to the scene, where he scoured for evidence and helped survi- vors while dodging falling debris and bodies. When the first tower col- lapsed, he dove into a bo- dega, escaping with his life. What he outrun: the toxic cloud of dust. saw him a couple of hours later, and he looked like a snowman, covered head to toe in that said Gregory W.

Ehrie, a fellow FBI agent who spent several weeks with LeValley digging in the rubble. LeValley, who joined the FBI in 1996 and rose to lead the Atlanta office, was diagnosed in 2008 with chronic lymphocytic leu- kemia. He died in May, age 53, from a different form of cancer that had metasta- sized to his brain. FBI of- ficials and health experts say both were likely caused by carcinogenic fumes and dust after the Sept. 11 at- tacks.

In all, 15 FBI agents have died from cancers linked to toxic exposure during the investigation and cleanup, the FBI says. Three of them, including LeValley, have died since March a rash of deaths that has reopened traumas of the worst terror- ist attacks in U.S. history and sparked fresh anxieties. like bin Laden is still reaching out from the said FBI agent Thomas who is president of the FBI Agents Association, a service and advocacy group for active and former agents. af- fects us all in serious ways.

People are dying, others are sick. Those that are not yet sick wonder: Is that head- ache, is it really cancer? Is that sore hip really The 15 deaths, which the FBI says occurred in the performance of their duties, are only a tiny part of a much larger tragedy. More than 7,500 emergency responders, recovery and cleanup workers, and vol- unteers at the three Sept. 11 crash sites have been diag- nosed with various forms of cancer, according to the World Trade Center Health Program, which is admin- istered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention.

New York City officials say that more than 300 fire- fighters and police officers already have succumbed to cancers and other diseases related to the attacks. Alongside police and fire- fighters, FBI agents combed the rubble for victims and clues at the crash sites the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa. Scores of agents also spent 12- hour shifts sorting debris in warehouses and at the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island. Most did not wear ap- propriate safety gear be- cause agencies did not understand the danger in the poisons unleashed by burning jet fuel and other hazardous material, accord- ing to who heads the FBI association. More than a dozen current and former agents who re- sponded to the crash sites now have cancer, he added.

organization has urged agents to sign up for the federal health program, which provides medical monitoring and treatment to more than 71,000 former responders and 16,000 other survivors. He began to weep as he de- scribed watching his wife, Jean also an FBI agent, who had rushed to the crash site at the Pentagon open an envelope containing her test results. She got good news she was just fine. have no idea the stress this said, FBI Director Christopher Wray has eulogized the three agents who died this year and said the deaths have profoundly affected him and his agency. breaks my heart even more to see more victims, which is what they are, victims of the attacks in a different Wray said in a statement, adding he spoke to LeValley and another agent, Brian Crews, before each died.

thing that really jumps out to me about the three agents whose memo- rial services been to is how just utterly selfless these people Wray said. were extraor- dinary The FBI and the association are working with the Department of Labor to declare the deaths and illnesses of agents who responded to Sept. 11 a re- sult of performance of their duties. That designation would make the families eligible for more federal benefits than the FBI provides by itself. The Labor Department has so far determined that five FBI deaths were caused by their exposure to Sept.

11 toxins, according to the group. The FBI and the association are seeking the same desig- nation and benefits for the other 10 who died. A Labor Department spokes- man declined comment on specific cases, citing agency guidelines. Agents die from cancers linked to cleanup TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE The facade of one of the towers of the World Trade Center lies in ruins as workmen work in the early morning hours on sept. 14, 2001.

JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK On Stephen Feuerman saw the World Trade center aflame through the window of his Empire State Building office and watched, transfixed, as a second fireball burst from the twin towers. He ran through the 78th floor urging everyone to get out, thinking their sky- scraper could be next. With transit hubs shut down, he get home to his family in suburban West- chester for hours. Shaken by the experience, the apparel broker, his wife and their two small children moved within four months to a gracious South Florida suburb they figured would be safer than New York. So it was until this past Day, when mass violence tore into Parkland, Florida, too.

really is no safe says Feuerman, whose children survived but lost friends in the mas- sacre that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He still feels the family made a good move after and he feels all the more attached to Parkland since the shooting plunged him into a whirlwind of events and advocacy on school safety and other is- sues. had a good life he says. again, this could have happened The Sept. 11, 2001, ter- ror attacks prompted the Feuermans and an un- counted number of oth- ers to move quietly away from their lives near the hijacked-plane strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

Some sought safety. Some placed a new importance on living near family. Oth- ers re-evaluated what they wanted from life. As the 17th an- niversary approaches, The Associated Press caught up with some who left and asked: Have they found what they were looking for? really made us have a wake-up About 30 weeks a year, Scott Dacey drives from his home near New Bern, North Carolina, to Washington for a few days. The 350-mile trips are a price the federal lobbyist pays for peace of mind after Sept.

11. He and his wife, Jennifer, once expected to stay in the Washington area for years. Then came the strike on the Pentagon and the new feel- ing of living under heavy se- curity in northern Virginia. really made us have a wake-up call: do we want to live our Scott says. we want to be up here in this rat race of Washington, D.C.?” Or raising kids somewhere less on-guard and closer to family? The 2002 move meant extra costs, including a Washington apartment.

Jennifer, already a lawyer, had to take a second bar exam in North Carolina. But the move also opened new opportunities. Scott is a county commissioner and ran for Congress; a Repub- lican, he never considered seeking office when they lived in Democratic-leaning northern Virginia. And their children, 17 and 15, grew up in a town ranked among the safest. would not be for ev- erybody, but for us, been the right Jennifer says.

outside the bubble, and this is how America re- ally only going to change your life when things are There had to be a better way to live, Michael and Margery Koveleski thought. A furniture designer, Michael sensed emotional burnout surrounding him as he worked in lower Manhattan after Se- curity measures length- ened his commute from Queens, devouring his time with the children. And two months after the terror at- tacks, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed near the home, killing 265 people. The next spring they moved to Springfield, Ohio, where they had church friends. If a better way, it always smooth.

It was ini- tially a challenge for the children to be the new, mixed-race kids Michael is white, while Margery has Haitian heri- tage in an area less diverse than Queens. And Michael struggled to find work in the shaky economy. He found it by founding his own business, Design Sleep, which sells natural latex mattresses and plat- form beds. now in its 14th year. only going to change your life when things are bad or Michael says.

am thrilled at the way it came my country, my Georgios Takos rides through northern Wy- oming in the Greek Station, his food truck, with a sou- venir New York license plate on the wall. a reminder of the place he once thought would bring his American dream to life. Growing up in northern Kastoria region, Takos longed to live in the America he saw in movies. He was elated to get to New York City in 1986. There were tears in his eyes as he left 15 years later, days after shattered his sense of safety and the city.

He headed for restau- rant work in Arizona, then California, where he met his wife, Karine, a teacher. On a visit to her home state of Montana, he found the wide-open America imagined. The couple moved to nearby Powell, Wyoming. Takos still appreciates what New York taught him about working hard. But by leaving it, now have found what I was look- ing he says.

my country, my Some sought fresh start after WILFREDO LEE, ASSOCIATED PRESS stephen Feuerman poses for a photo in front of the marjory stoneman douglas High school sign in parkland, on aug. 27. KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA Associated Press BANGKOK A wild- life monitoring group says research it has conducted since 2016 has found a sharp increase in the number of people belonging to Face- book groups in Thailand where endangered animals are bought and sold. The monitoring network TRAFFIC said its research- ers found 1,521 animals for sale online in 12 Facebook groups in Thailand in less than a month of moni- toring in 2016. Follow-up research on the same 12 groups showed that at least nine were still active in July this year, with one becom- ing secret, and their overall membership had increased to 203,445 from 106,111.

a i Phassaraudomsak, data and research officer for TRAFFIC in Thailand, said in an email Monday that the monitoring how easy it is to carry out this business and market wildlife publicly while stay- ing anonymous and out of reach of A new report by the group shows screenshots of exotic animals advertised for sale on Facebook. In one exam- ple, an unidentified user posted a picture of a rare hornbill bird with a caption saying baby rhinoceros hornbill is available for purchase. Interested buyers, please contact by Facebook private The price was listed as $289. The report said rarer and pro- tected species command higher prices. The report said the vast majority of animals offered in the online wildlife trade were juveniles, prized for pets.

Exotic animal trade activity rises on Facebook DAVID BAUDER Associated Press NEW YORK CBS re- vealed Monday that it set aside $120 million in sever- ance for ousted chief exec- utive Leslie Moonves. But whether he sees a penny of it is one of the tough and potentially incendiary de- cisions the network faces after his resignation over sexual misconduct accu- sations. Despite an- nounced exit Sunday, out- side law- yers hired by CBS continue to investigate allegations a a i him and Jeff Fager, the top ex- ecutive at In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CBS said it will release the severance money if the investigation finds there was no cause for him to be fired. Any payment to Moonves is likely to anger the movement that has brought down other powerful men in Hollywood and the me- dia, including Hollywood studio boss Harvey Wein- stein, Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose. Meanwhile, wife, Julie Chen, did not appear Monday on the season-opening episode of her daytime show, and co-host Sha- ron Osbourne said on the air that here at CBS is nervous about their stock price slid.

As head of most popular network, Moonves was among the most powerful and rich- est executives in the TV industry, making a total of nearly $140 million over the last two years. His exit was announced hours after The New Yorker posted a detailed story al- leging misconduct. In two stories posted this summer, a total of 12 women have said they were mistreated by the TV mogul, including forced oral sex, groping and retaliation if they resisted. Moonves has denied the charges, though he said he had consensual relations with some of the women. The chief operating officer, Joseph Ianniello, is taking over as president and CEO until a reshaped board of direc- tors can find a permanent replacement, CBS said.

David Nevins, chief exec- utive at Showtime network, was said to be a leading candidate. Some of the allegations predate working at CBS, which he joined as entertainment president in 1995. A determination on whether there was cause for his firing will focus on whether he violated any company policies while at CBS, said Dan Eaton, an employment lawyer and expert on severance issues as a professor at San Diego State University. it turns that their re- porting comes back with inconclusive findings on Mr. conduct, then a negotiated resolu- tion is highly Eaton said.

CBS Corp. stock ended the day down 85 cents, or less than 2 percent, after rebounding in the after- noon. The stock has fallen more than 8 percent this year, with its biggest drop when the first round of ac- cusations against Moonves surfaced. On Osbourne said Chen was taking time off to be with her family. Chen, who is also host of the CBS prime-time show has been married to Moonves since 2004.

not been con- victed of any crime, but obviously the man has a Osbourne said. Osbourne said she was particularly taken by the story of Phyllis Gold- en-Gottlieb, who told The New Yorker that Moonves pushed her head into his lap and forced her to per- form oral sex when they both worked at the pro- duction company Lorimar in the late 1980s. Gold- en-Gottlieb said Moonves my when she resisted further ad- vances; Moonves strongly denied hurting the careers of any women. The New Yorker also reported Sunday that a former intern at Min- three decades ago, Sarah Johansen, said that Fager groped her at a party. Fager is the gatekeeper for the most influential news show on television, and only the second executive producer it has ever had.

CBS sets aside $120M Moonves severance Moonves.