WASHINGTON – Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Wednesday she will vote for chief justice nominee John Roberts, describing her vote as one of hope over fear. Her vote also represents “hope that equal justice under the law means something powerful to every American, regardless of background or political situation, and hope that John Roberts responds to the needs of this nation to have a Supreme Court that honors our past and helps secure the rights and liberties of every American into the future,” Murray said. Roberts, a 50-year-old federal Appeals Court judge, is expected to win confirmation from the Senate today.
Full production to begin on Osprey
The Pentagon on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to begin full production of the V-22 Osprey, the hybrid helicopter-airplane that the Marine Corps considers vital to the future of its air fleet. A joint venture of Boeing Co. and Textron Inc.’s Bell Helicopter unit builds the aircraft in Texas and Pennsylvania. According to Bell, the current plans include the delivery of 360 aircraft to the Marines, 50 to the U.S. Air Force and 48 to the Navy. The total program is worth more than $19 billion to the companies through 2018.
SEC upgrades its probe of Frist
The Securities and Exchange Commission, which is examining a stock sale by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, has upgraded its initial informal inquiry to a formal investigation. The change means the agency can issue subpoenas for documents rather than just requesting them. Federal prosecutors also are investigating the Tennessee Republican’s recent sale of stock in HCA Inc. about two weeks before its price dropped. Frist’s family founded the big hospital operating company.
Colorado: Arctic melting speeds up
New satellite observations show that sea ice in the Arctic is melting faster, while air temperatures in the region are rising sharply, scientists say. Since 2002, satellite data have revealed unusually early springtime melting in areas north of Siberia and Alaska. Now the melting trend has spread throughout the Arctic, according to a national collaboration of scientists. The latest observations through September show that melting this year began a record 17 days earlier than usual. “The melting and retreat trends are accelerating,” said Ted Scambos, of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Arkansas: Free abortions offered
A doctor has offered to perform free abortions on hurricane evacuees, saying it may be too dangerous for them to wait until they return home. Despite protests from abortion opponents, the Little Rock Family Planning clinic director said he has already performed six free abortions. The clinic usually charges $525 to $600 for a first-trimester abortion. “If we didn’t provide it now, they would get it later – a late-term abortion that would give greater risk to the mother’s health,” he said.
California: Crash was human error
A helicopter crash in Iraq in January that killed 30 Marines and a sailor – the deadliest crash in more than two years of combat in Iraq – resulted from human error, not mechanical failure or hostile fire, according to a report released Wednesday by the Marine Corps in San Diego. The crew of the Super Stallion became disoriented when weather turned bad and visibility was reduced ,and flew the helicopter into the ground. The crew apparently did not realize that the helicopter had begun banking to the left rather than flying straight, the report said.
No charges for Alzheimer’s patient
A 62-year-old Alzheimer’s patient accused of beating a stray cat to death with a golf club will remain in a locked mental hospital as part of an agreement sparing him from animal cruelty charges. Robert Kelly could have gotten seven years in prison on charges of cruelty to the cat and threatening a woman who tried to intervene. “Society has nothing to worry about,” a San Mateo prosecutor said. “He is and will remain in a locked facility where … he can be watched and treated.”
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