Augusta Chronicle, The

Lawmakers' Pet Projects Undeterred by Criticism

New ethics rules designed to cleanse spending bills of questionable pet projects have done little to quench lawmakers' thirst for them. Demand is up, and the battle for them is as fierce as ever. While House Democrats are holding to their promise to cut in half the price tag on back-home projects, familiar poobahs of pork in both parties have larded spending bills with more than 10,000 of them totaling at least $10 billion. Many more are to come.

Scientists Study Bodies of Mummified Mexicans

HARTFORD, Conn. - People who lived in the mining town of Guanajuato, Mexico, more than a century ago left behind a scientific mother lode: their own accidentally mummified bodies. Scientists are conducting what they say is the first intensive examination of more than 100 bodies mummified in the city, while stored in aboveground crypts from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. The bodies from the Guanajuato's Museo de las Momias (Museum of the Mummies) are believed to be the largest mummy...

Lawmakers' Pet Projects Undeterred by Criticism

WASHINGTON - New ethics rules designed to cleanse spending bills of questionable pet projects have done little to quench lawmakers' thirst for them. Demand is up, and the battle for them is as fierce as ever. While House Democrats are holding to their promise to cut in half the price tag on back-home projects, familiar poobahs of pork in both parties have larded spending bills with more than 10,000 of them totaling at least $10 billion. Many more are to come.

The Nation

Ex-astronaut allowed to shed ankle monitor ORLANDO, FLA.- Former astronaut Lisa Nowak can remove an electronic monitoring bracelet from her ankle while she awaits trial on charges that she attacked a romantic rival, a judge ruled Thursday.

Text Alerts Will Warn Students

Augusta State University is implementing a new system to alert its students if there's an emergency. This week students, faculty and staff members began signing up to have emergency text messages sent to their cell phones, Director of Public Safety Jasper Cooke said.

Father Supports War Effort After 2nd Son's Death

CLOVIS, Calif. - A father who lost a second son last week in the Iraq war said Thursday that the support his family has received has strengthened his backing for the United States' efforts to combat global terrorism. "The nation's at war," said Jeff Hubbard, the soldier's father, a retired police officer. "We just want people to support the nation and what it's trying to get accomplished by making the world a better place."

College Defends Steps in Attack Panel Says Alerts, Halting Class Could Have Saved Lives

BLACKSBURG, Va. - As a maelstrom of criticism swirled around him, Virginia Tech's president was as firm Thursday as he had ever been that the university did everything it could in response to the nation's deadliest school shooting. A state panel said lives could have been saved if alerts had been sent out earlier and classes canceled after two people were killed, but Charles Steger rejected that. He even suggested that the death toll might have risen above 33 if police and school officia...

Sex Scandals Bring Wives Into Spotlight

She didn't say a word, and she wore big sunglasses, but Suzanne Craig was standing by her man - conservative Republican Sen. Larry Craig, who at that moment was denying he had propositioned a man in the stall of an airport bathroom. She had walked hand-in-hand with her husband of 24 years to a news conference in front of a Boise, Idaho, bank. She placed her hand on the small of his back as he maintained he'd done nothing wrong, that he wasn't gay and that he'd mistakenly pleaded guilty ...

Incomplete Papers Cause Widow to Face Deportation

SAN FRANCISCO - Jacqueline Coats' husband drowned after he dove into a fierce Pacific Ocean riptide to rescue two boys. Now Mrs. Coats, an immigrant from Kenya, might be forced to leave the United States because he died before filing her residency application. She is among more than 80 foreign-born widows across the nation who face possible deportation because their husbands died before immigration paperwork was approved. Some attorneys want to challenge the government's policy of rejec...

Assessments of Iraq Disputed

WASHINGTON - Stung by the bleak findings of a congressional audit of progress in Iraq, the Pentagon has asked that some of the negative assessments be revised. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Thursday that after reviewing a draft of the Government Accountability Office report - which has not yet been made public - policy officials "made some factual corrections" and "offered some suggestions on a few of the actual grades" assigned by the GAO.

Eviction Turns Into Stabbing, Shooting Resident Attacked Deputy, Authorities Say

AIKEN - An Aiken County sheriff's deputy was stabbed and a North Augusta man was shot in a confrontation during an eviction Thursday, authorities said. Chris Godbee, 46, was shot in the abdomen by a sheriff's deputy after Mr. Godbee stabbed one of the deputies in the thigh with a butcher knife, according to the Aiken County Sheriff's Office.

Plane Carrying U.S. Legislators Evades Shooting

WASHINGTON - A military cargo plane carrying three senators and a House member was forced to take evasive maneuvers and dispatch flares to avoid ground fire after taking off from Baghdad on Thursday night. The lawmakers said their plane, a C-130, was under fire from three rocket-propelled grenades over the course of several minutes as they left for Amman, Jordan.

Today in History

1886 An earthquake rocked Charleston, S.C., killing 60 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Iraqi Says Report Is No Cure-All

BAGHDAD - A senior Iraqi official cautioned Thursday against expecting "magical solutions" from the upcoming reports to Congress on military and political progress in Iraq and acknowledged the Iraqis are still not ready to defend the country on their own. The assessments by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari touched on some of the core U.S. frustrations expected in next month's report: The inability of Iraq's leaders to put aside political feuds and make strides toward creating a security ...

The World

Taliban releases last 7 missionary captives JANDA, Afghanistan - Taliban militants released the last seven South Korean hostages Thursday under a deal with the government in Seoul, ending a six-week drama that the insurgents claimed as a "great victory for our holy warriors."

In the Spotlight

Brown, Houston fight over their daughter ORANGE, Calif. - Bobby Brown claims in a lawsuit that Whitney Houston has kept him from seeing their teenage daughter.

5 Could Be Tried Under New Law

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Five men who police accused of breaking into at least two dozen cars near Bluffton could become the first suspects prosecuted under the state's new gang law. "We've got five individuals that are no doubt committing crimes and causing havoc," said Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner. "Based on their actions, they're calling themselves a gang, so I want to treat them as one."

Assessments of Iraq Disputed

WASHINGTON - Stung by the bleak findings of a congressional audit of progress in Iraq, the Pentagon has asked that some of the negative assessments be revised. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Thursday that after reviewing a draft of the Government Accountability Office report - which has not yet been made public - policy officials "made some factual corrections" and "offered some suggestions on a few of the actual grades" assigned by the GAO.