Nation briefly
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, July 27, 2006
WASHINGTON – President Bush, joined by “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh, signed a new law Thursday that requires convicted child molesters to be listed on a national Internet database and face a felony charge for failing to update their whereabouts.
“Our nation grieves with every family that’s suffered the unbearable pain of a child whose been abducted or abused,” Bush said in a bill-signing ceremony in the Rose Garden. “This law takes an important step forward in this country’s efforts to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
Texas: Protester buys peace camp
War protesters will have a new gathering place when they return to President Bush’s adopted hometown: a 5-acre lot bought with insurance money Cindy Sheehan received after her son was killed in Iraq. A fellow war protester who acted as Sheehan’s agent said he recently bought the lot about a mile from downtown Crawford – and about seven miles from Bush’s ranch – for $52,500. The anti-war gathering was scheduled Aug. 16 through September, but will begin earlier because Bush is expected to be at his ranch the first two weeks of August.
Kentucky: Airliner aborts takeoff
A FedEx Corp. plane went off the runway at Louisville International Airport on Thursday after the pilot aborted the takeoff, airport officials said. “There’s no apparent aircraft damage, no injuries,” an airport spokeswoman said. The Boeing 727 cargo plane with a crew of three was scheduled to fly to Memphis, Tenn. A FedEx spokesman said the reason for the aborted takeoff is under investigation. He said he didn’t know how far the plane got off the ground.
Virginia: $10.4 million asbestos win
A jury awarded $10.4 million to the widow of a former shipyard worker who died of lung cancer after four years of working with materials that contained asbestos. The Newport News Circuit Court verdict in Wanda Jones’ wrongful death lawsuit against three companies that manufactured the materials was handed down Wednesday, the first anniversary of the death of 60-year-old Buddy Jones. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos.
Nevada: Fiery dust devil burns six
Six members of an elite firefighting crew were caught in a fiery dust devil that burned two so severely they had to be flown to a Las Vegas hospital, fire officials said. The fire whorl formed in live embers as the crew was burning off vegetation to prevent a nearly five-square-mile fire from spreading, the Bureau of Land Management said. Both hospitalized firefighters had first- or second-degree burns over 50 percent of their bodies but were expected to recover, an official said Thursday.
Kansas: Pit bull kills woman, 71
A pit bull leaped over a fence and killed a 71-year-old Kansas City woman who was gardening in her yard, police said Thursday. Jimmie May McConnell was in her yard about 11:30 a.m. when the dog jumped the fence and attacked her. Firefighters had to pull the dog off McConnell, who was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said. Pit bulls are banned in Kansas City. The dog was tranquilized and taken into animal custody for investigation.
Florida: Roller coaster fatality
A man who died after riding a roller coaster at Tampa’s Busch Gardens suffered from high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries, a medical examiner said Wednesday. Thomas Welch, 52, of Palm Harbor had trouble breathing, then collapsed after riding the Gwazi roller coaster Monday morning. Paramedics put a tube in Welch after they noticed a pink, frothy fluid coming from his mouth and nose, according to a report by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office.
