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Phil Gramm steps down from McCain presidential campaign
The AP and CNN are reporting that former Republican Texas Senator Phil Gramm is leaving John McCain’s team for the 2008 presidential bid in the wake of his comments last week which caused some furor.
You may recall that he said the United States had become a “nation of whiners” whose constant complaints about the U.S. economy show they are in a “mental recession.” Gramm said in a statement late Friday that he is stepping down to “end this distraction.”
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Bush agrees to time ‘horizon’ on Iraq troop cuts
WASHINGTON — President Bush and Iraq’s prime minister have agreed to set a “general time horizon” for bringing more U.S. troops home from the war, a dramatic shift from the administration’s once-ironclad unwillingness to talk about any kind of deadline or timetable.
It also could complicate the presidential campaign arguments of Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama who have staked out starkly opposite stands about the unpopular war.
According to the AP, the sharp reduction in violence in Iraq — to the lowest level in four years — has made the country’s leaders increasingly confident and more assertive about its sovereignty, giving rise to demands for a specific plan for American forces to leave.
The two leaders agreed that improvements in security should allow for the negotiations “to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals, such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in their cities and provinces and the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq,” the White House said.
Bush repeatedly has vetoed legislation approved by Congress setting deadlines for American troop cutbacks.
Friday’s White House statement was intentionally vague and did not specify what kind of timelines were envisioned. That allows Iraqi officials, who are facing elections in the fall, to argue they are not beholden to Washington or willing to tolerate a permanent military presence in Iraq. For Bush, it points the way toward a legal framework for keeping American troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires on Dec. 31.
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Grass fire along I-35 in Waco
Waco firefighters have a grass fire under control by the southbound Interstate 35 access road near Fourth Street.
A law enforcement helicopter spotted the fire at about 2:25 p.m., Waco police officer Eric Hawkins said.
Firefighters responded and have contained the fire. A stretch of about 150-200 yards burned.
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Texas jobless rate dips in June, but …
The Texas unemployment rate dipped to 4.4 percent in June as the pace of job growth picked up, state officials said today.
Employers added 47,700 jobs in June, after just 8,700 in May, helping push the jobless rate down slightly from 4.5 percent in May, the Texas Workforce Commission said.
The national unemployment rate for June was 5.5 percent.
The Texas figures were mixed, however. The widely reported unemployment rates are adjusted for seasonal trends in hiring and firing, which most economists believe gives a better picture of the job market.
Without the seasonal adjustment, the Texas unemployment rate rose to 4.8 percent from 4.3 percent in May.
Also, initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 8.9 percent in June, to 69,157, according to a Workforce Commission report.
— The Associated Press
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Double-amputee sprinter not on South African Olympic team
Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will not compete for South Africa against able-bodied athletes at the Beijing Olympics after failing to make the roster for the 1,600-meter relay team.
Pistorius, who recently won the right to compete against able-bodied athletes in an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, failed to meet the qualifying standard in the 400 meters. He had hoped to be chosen as an alternate for the 1,600 relay, but his name was not on the roster announced today.
Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene said four other runners had faster times, and two others were chosen as alternates.
Pistorius battled the International Association of Athletics Federations for the right to run. In May, the Court of Arbitration ruled against the IAAF, saying his carbon fiber prosthetic blades did not provide an unfair advantage against able-bodied athletes.
But Pistorius fell short of the 400 qualifying time of 45.55 seconds, despite running a personal best 46.25 on Wednesday at a meet in Lucerne, Switzerland. The 21-year-old Pistorius, who said his legal battles prevented him from focusing on training, had acknowledged it might be more realistic to aim for the 2012 London Olympics.
— The Associated Press
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Baby panda adopted, nursed by cat dies
This is a sad end to what started as a touching story about a cat that adopted a orphaned baby panda.
Amsterdam’s Artis zoo says a baby red panda adopted by a zookeeper’s cat after being rejected by its mother has died, the Associated Press reports.
The zoo says an autopsy on the tiny panda found its windpipe filled with milk, indicating it choked to death. The zoo had hoped the panda would be able to suckle from the cat for three months before moving onto a diet of bamboo and fruit.
The tabby cat came to the cub’s rescue July 1 after it was spurned by its mother. A second cub died shortly after the cubs’ birth on June 30.
In a message on its Web site Friday, the zoo says the cub was healthy until its unexpected death Thursday. The rest of its adoptive family — the tabby and her four kittens — are in good condition.
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Report: Electrical risks high at U.S. bases in Iraq
The New York Times has this story today that indicates electrical dangers at military bases in Iraq are worse than previously known.
The Times uses internal Army documents to claim that shoddy electrical work by private contractors on U.S. military bases in Iraq causes more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged.
The story says:
During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.
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Grenade attack at India bus terminal injures 35
Suspected Muslim rebels threw a grenade at a crowded bus terminal in the Indian portion of Kashmir today, wounding 35 people, including seven children, police said.
The suspected separatists hurled a hand grenade at a police and paramilitary patrol near a busy bus stop in Banihal, roughly 75 miles south of Jammu-Kashmir state’s main city, Srinagar, said senior police official Hemant Lohia.
At least five people were wounded critically and were rushed to a hospital. Six police and paramilitary officers were wounded, Lohia said.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.
About a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian government forces to carve out a separate homeland or to merge Jammu-Kashmir — India’s only Muslim-majority state — with Pakistan. At least 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the start of the rebellion in 1989.
No group claimed responsibility for today’s attack.
— The Associated Press
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Laci Peterson’s mom upset over former son-in-law’s blog
CNN has this story that the mother of Laci Peterson is upset that her former son-in-law is blogging from San Quentin State Prison.
Scott Peterson is facing the death penalty in his wife’s murder. He has a personal Web site that includes photos of him and Laci. It also links to his family’s Web site, which includes a blog message from Scott discussing what he calls his “wrongful conviction.”
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Bark in the Park breakfast event canceled
Just in case you had this penciled in on your calendar: the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce has canceled its Bark in the Park: Reading and Picnic Breakfast event that was scheduled to take place from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday in Indian Spring Park.
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Pope: All faiths should unite against violence
In Australia today Pope Benedict XVI urged religious leaders of all kinds to unite against those who use faith to divide communities — an apparent reference to terrorism in the name of religion.
Benedict met with representatives of Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist faiths for about 40 minutes during the Roman Catholic Church’s youth festival, which has drawn hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Sydney.
“In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity,” Benedict told a gathering of clerics from different faiths in Sydney.
— The Associated Press
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Naming sewage plant for Bush on San Francisco ballot
Oh, those wacky San Franciscans. A measure that qualified for the November ballot is renaming a San Francisco sewage plant after the president, the Associated Press reports.
The measure certified Thursday would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
Supporters say the idea is to commemorate the mess they claim Bush has left behind by actions such as the war in Iraq. Local Republicans say the plan stinks and they will oppose it.
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European Union calls for $1.6 billion food crisis found
The European Union today proposed a $1.6 billion two-year emergency fund to help poor countries cope with the global food crisis.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the fund will aim to help mostly African nations and stabilize supply markets. The fund has been put together from cash that has gone unspent in this year’s EU farm budget.
“The impact of high food prices is particularly severe for the world’s poorest populations,” Barroso said in a statement. He said that if European nations did not step in and help, United Nations goals to halve world poverty would be put at risk and it would “exacerbate tensions” between countries in Africa over resources.
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Molasses spill left mess in Sugar Land
A sticky mess has been cleaned up after an overturned tanker truck poured 5,000 gallons of molasses onto a major Texas highway.
Drivers heading to Sugar Land were rerouted Thursday after the afternoon accident shut down State Highway 6 at Southwest Freeway for eight hours.
The Houston Chronicle reports that city of Sugar Land spokeswoman Pat Pollicoff said the road reopened around midnight Thursday and that there was no environmental problem with the coating of “healthy, all natural molasses.” The spilled molasses was supposed to be used in cattle food.
The 26-year-old driver of the truck, Joe Albert Loya, was taken to Sugar Land Methodist Hospital with minor head injuries.
— The Associated Press
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French nuclear plant has uranium leak
Uranium-bearing liquid has leaked from a broken underground pipe at a nuclear site in southeastern France, the national nuclear safety authority said today. It was the second leak discovered at a French site this month.
Experts are working to determine how much leaked uranium is present at nuclear company Areva’s plant in the town of Romans-sur-Isere, the Nuclear Safety Authority said in a statement. Specialists are to work to clean up the site.
The communique said the pipe is believed to have ruptured several years ago. It added that the pipe “was not in line with the applicable regulations, which require shock resistance ability sufficient to avoid rupture.”
Areva spokesman Charles Hufnagel said the leak of lightly enriched uranium did not spread outside the site and had “absolutely no impact on the environment.” He said the factory hoped the leak would be classified as a level 1 problem — the most minor of seven possible rankings.
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Mandela turns 90, says rich should help poor
Nelson Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday today by urging the wealthy to share their prosperity with the less fortunate and by saying he wished he had been able to spend more time with his family during the anti-apartheid struggle.
In an interview at his home in rural southeastern South Africa, the anti-apartheid icon was asked if he had a message for the world.
“There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty,” Mandela said.
Accompanied by his wife, Graca Machel, a smiling Mandela walked into his private lounge in the large home he built in Qunu, before sitting in his favorite yellow armchair and addressing a small gathering of reporters.
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Florida officer, suspect killed in shooting
Florida authorities say a police officer and a suspect were shot and killed after police responded to a disturbance call.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Larry King says there was an exchange of gunfire around 2 a.m. today in downtown Fort Myers.
The names of the officer and suspect have not been released. It was not immediately known what prompted the disturbance call or if the armed suspect was alone.
Several downtown streets were blocked off as detectives investigated.
The officer was a former missionary in his 30s and had been with the police department for about a year. He was married with three children.
City Councilman Johnny Streets, a retired law enforcement officer, told the Fort Myers News-Press that the last time the city lost an officer to a shooting was in 1924.
— The Associated Press
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Mills requests change of venue for embezzlement trial
New slide show: Today’s hearing
MORE
- Photos: Slide show — arraignment, photo retrospective
Indictment: Read the charges (» PDF)
Video: Arraignment- Video: At county jail
The attorneys for former Downtown Waco Inc. executive director Margaret Mills this morning requested a change of venue to have her embezzlement trial moved out of Waco.
The pretrial hearing for Mills, 67, in Judge Matt Johnson’s 54th State District Court lasted about 10 minutes, mainly handling matters of scheduling and the approval of routine discovery motions.
The state has an Aug. 29 deadline to provide witness lists.
The hearing for the change of venue has been set for Sept. 3.
In the motion to transfer the case, Mills’ attorney Rick Bostwick alleges that news coverage about the case has been “constant, extensive, excessive and widespread” and created “so great a prejudice against the defendant that the defendant cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial” in McLennan County.
Mills was indicted on first-degree felony theft charges in November for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars while serving as head of the downtown civic development organization.
Her trial is set to begin Sept. 22.
Meeting with Johnson this morning were Mills and her attorneys Bostwick and Pat Beard, and Assistant Attorney General David S. Glickler, who is prosecuting the case.
Mills appeared at ease before the hearing, smiling with her attorneys. She was solemn once the hearing began.
Downtown Waco’s board received a restitution check for $70,000 in September 2006 that was written on an account from Coke Mills’ former law firm. Coke Mills is Margaret Mills’ husband. She acknowledged at the time that she had taken some “liberties” with Downtown Waco Inc. accounts.
Mills, who remains free on bond, was charged in a 16-page, 116-paragraph indictment with stealing more than $200,000, the amount at which a theft case becomes a first-degree felony.
Glickler, who took over prosecution of the case when McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest recused his office, has said that Mills reportedly took about $511,000 from the nonprofit organization, which has since ceased operation.
The indictment alleges that Mills deposited as many as 116 checks into her personal accounts. Check out our slide show for photos from today’s hearing.
For previous coverage on this case, click here.
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Average gas price in Texas up 2 pennies
AAA-Texas’ weekly survey of gasoline prices in Texas show that the average price for regular unleaded gasoline rose 2 cents this week to reach $3.98, the Associated Press reports.
AAA-Texas said that motorists in the Lone Star State are paying nearly $1.04 more per gallon than they did one year ago.
The national average price this week for self-serve regular gasoline is $4.11.
San Antonio and Corpus Christi have the least expensive gas in the state, according to AAA-Texas, reporting $3.95 per gallon. Drivers in Port Arthur and Beaumont were paying the highest average, at $3.99.
We have a story today about how those high gas prices are keeping rural residents closer to home for shopping.
And check out local gas prices at our GasBuddy link.
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It’s Friday, and it’ll be hot
The National Weather Service forecast is pretty blunt for today. It reads: “Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.”
Surprisingly, no mention of the heat index, which I’m sure will kick us into the low 100s.
Good luck staying cool today.
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Baylor lands 2 on preseason All-Big 12 football team
Two Baylor defensive standouts landed on the 2008 Preseason All-Big 12 Football team, the conference office announced today.
Bears junior linebacker Joe Pawelek and junior defensive back Jordan Lake were tabbed as preseason all-conference defensive players.
Pawelek posted 99 tackles, 40 solos, as a sophomore in 2007 on his way to second-team all-Big 12 honors by the Associated Press.
Lake led Baylor in total tackles with 110 and solos with 67 as he too earned second-team all-conference according to the AP last season.
Baylor had more preseason all-conference selections than Nebraska, Kansas State and Texas A&M, each of which had one representative on the team, and Iowa State and Oklahoma State, which landed no players on the squad.
Missouri led the conference with eight players on the preseason all-Big 12 team, including preseason Offensive Player of the Year Chase Daniel. Oklahoma was next with six representatives, including preseason Defensive Player of the Year Auston English.
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Chad Conine blogs on the British Open
Trib sports reporter Chad Conine was on the scene last year at Carnoustie, so he’s got a unique persepctive on the first round of the British Open today.
You can read his take on the blog, Teed Off, where he’s always got something to say about golf at the local and national level.
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Government: Go ahead and have a tomato
The U.S. government has declared it’s OK to eat tomatoes again, lifting its salmonella warning amid signs that the outbreak — while not over — may finally be slowing. Officials reiterated earlier warnings that the people most at risk of salmonella should avoid hot peppers — jalapenos and serranos.
The government still doesn’t know just what caused the salmonella outbreak, and Thursday’s move doesn’t mean tomatoes are cleared. Early on, there was good evidence linking them to the sick, but it’s unlikely that any field where tomatoes were harvested in April and May still is in production.
But among later illnesses, there seems to be more evidence against peppers. The FDA is sending inspectors to Mexico to investigate a packing house that receives peppers from a number of farms.
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Sen. Hutchison secures $149,000 for BU biofuel research
U.S Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that the committee has approved the Fiscal Year 2009 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which includes $149,000 for the next generation of advanced biofuel production research at Baylor University. The bill is now ready to be considered by the full Senate.
“Funding for alternative and renewable energy sources will keep Texas at the forefront of our nation’s energy independence efforts and ensure the long term strength of our economy,” Hutchison said.
Baylor and Texas A&M University researchers will use the funding to collaborate with industry leaders in alternative fuels to investigate and maximize the use of sorghum for the production of advanced cellulosic biofuel. Sorghum is an inexpensive, easy to grow alternative to corn, which is the primary source of ethanol production today. Increased production of corn-based ethanol has resulted in unintended impacts on both food and feed prices.
“We must transition into the next generation of biofuels which do not use food for fuel,” said Sen. Hutchison.
The project will examine the promising potential of sorghum to substantially increase fuel and chemical yields from agricultural resources, as well as construct and operate a biomass conversion facility to implement research results and demonstrate the ability to convert sorghum to fuels and chemicals.
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Wreck slows Highway 6 traffic
A rollover accident on eastbound State Highway 6 about a mile west of the Twin Bridges has the highway lanes shut down, but traffic is passing on the shoulder.
Texas Department of Public Safety Senior Cpl. Charlie Morgan said the driver of a westbound Ford Escape apparently overcorrected and the vehicle flipped, going into eastbound traffic. There are no apparent injuries, he said.
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Man found dead at Limestone County gas well identified
A man found dead in the back seat of a Chevrolet Suburban Wednesday at a gas well in Limestone County has been identified today as 51-year-old William David Luedke of Crockett, Texas.
Preliminary investigations by the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office reveal Luedke’s death was not a result of foul play.
The man’s body was found by sheriff’s office investigators at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, after officials had received a call of a suspicious vehicle parked at the gas well just east of the intersection of State Highway 164 and Highway 39.
A contract oil field worker told investigators that he first noticed the vehicle at the location on Monday.
Sheriff’s officials said today that the death is under investigation, and are waiting on results of an autopsy.
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Seizure or heart attack possible in fatal wreck
Texas Department of Public Safety officials today said a 77-year-old Navarro County man who died earlier this week had a heart attack or seizure while driving and lost control of his vehicle just miles from his Blooming Grove home.
A Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman said he had no information as to why the report was not available until today. The accident occurred at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Elmer Ledbetter, a retired Blooming Grove resident, was driving his 1999 Nissan Altima south on Farm-to-Market 55, the spokesman said, when the man had a heart attack or seizure.
The spokesman said Ledbetter had a medical history of seizures and heart problems. The Altima spun clockwise off the west side of the roadway and struck a tree. The impact sent the vehicle spinning in the other direction until it struck another tree.
Ledbetter was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car, the spokesman said. Authorities are still investigating whether the man died before the impact, the spokesman said.
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U.S. judge OKs first Gitmo detainee trial
A federal judge says the first Guantanamo Bay war crimes trial can begin Monday.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson rejected an effort by Osama bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan, to postpone his trial. Hamdan argued he would suffer irreparable harm if he was tried before he could challenge the legality of the process.
Robertson’s ruling today is a victory for the Bush administration, which suffered a setback last month when the Supreme Court ruled that detainees can challenge their detention in federal court. Hamdan’s attorneys hoped to use that ruling to delay his trial.
Robertson’s decision came shortly after a military judge at Guantanamo Bay also denied Hamdan’s request for a postponement.
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You think you’ve got inflation bad …
I don’t think any country can lay claim to beating Zimbabwe’s inflation rate — it’s officially 2.2 million percent — and has shot as high as 70 million percent in the past year for some basic goods sold on the black market, the state central bank said today.
Worsening shortages of basic goods, and the deadly political and economic turmoil surrounding the national elections March 29 and a disputed presidential runoff vote June 27, helped spur the spike in inflation in recent months, according to the Associated Press.
The last announcement of official annual inflation, in February, put the rate at 165,000 percent.
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Texas approves big wind power project
Texas is moving forward on the nation’s largest wind-power project, a plan to build billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines to bring wind energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas.
Texas is already the national leader in wind power, and supporters say Thursday’s preliminary approval by the Public Utility Commission, will make the Lone Star State a leader in being able to move all that energy to the urban areas that need it.
— The Associated Press
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