WASHINGTON – Squelching reports of his retirement, Chief Justice William Rehnquist said Thursday he will continue heading the Supreme Court while battling thyroid cancer. “I’m not about to announce my retirement,” he said. “I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement,” Rehnquist, 80, said in a statement. “I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits.” Rehnquist issued the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital after being admitted for two days with a fever.
Veterans Administration seeks funds
The White House asked Congress on Thursday for another $2 billion to cover a shortfall in funding for veterans health benefits, just two weeks after asking for $975 million. The latest request includes $300 million for current needs and $1.7 billion for the budget year starting Oct. 1. The additional money is necessary to correct underestimations by the Veterans Affairs Department of the number of veterans seeking care, as well as increased costs of treatment and long-term care.
New Jersey: $1.8 million crash fine
A charter flight operator whose Bombardier Canadair Challenger CL-600 aircraft skidded off a runway at Teterboro Airport, crossed a highway and slammed into a warehouse earlier this year had a poorly trained crew and was carrying falsified weight records, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The agency levied a $1.8 million fine against Platinum Jet Management, saying in a July 8 letter that the company, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., “operated the aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another.” Twenty people were injured in the Feb. 2 crash.
California: Lawmaker won’t run
A California congressman who is under federal investigation for his dealings with a defense contractor announced Thursday he will not seek re-election. U.S. Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham made the disclosure at a hastily arranged news conference. “The time has come for me to conclude the public chapter in my life,” the eight-term San Diego-area Republican said. “Quite simply, right now I may not be the strongest candidate.” His term ends in January 2007.
Ohio: Falwell back in hospital
Months after suffering a near-fatal respiratory arrest, the Rev. Jerry Falwell was at the Cleveland Clinic on Thursday for medical tests. The television evangelist and founder of the Moral Majority was to undergo a chemical stress test and possibly a heart catheterization – a diagnostic procedure for various cardiac conditions, his son said. Falwell, 71, was hospitalized in Virginia March 28 following complaints of shortness of breath. He lost consciousness as he and his wife, Macel, arrived at the hospital, and was placed on a ventilator.
Virginia: Mercy killer sentenced
An 84-year-old man who said he strangled his wife of more than 50 years as she slipped deeper into Alzheimer’s disease was sentenced to prison by a judge who said the case was the toughest he had faced on the bench. William Hurt was sentenced Wednesday in Roanoke to a 10-year prison term, to be suspended after he serves one year, for killing 83-year-old Neva Hurt. On Easter morning 2004, Hurt placed a plastic bag over his wife’s head to end what he said was her steady decline to the disease. He then attempted, but failed, to kill himself.
Massachusetts: Editor arrested
An editor for the publishing company that puts out the Weekly Reader children’s newspaper was fired after he allegedly solicited sex from a minor over the Internet. Noel E. Neff, 46, of Norwalk, Conn., was arrested by FBI agents Saturday at Franklin Village Mall, where authorities say he expected to meet a 14-year-old boy named Chris he met online in April. Chris was actually an undercover FBI agent. According to an affidavit, Neff sent the agent a picture of himself in his underwear and said he’d had sex with other boys he’d met online.
Michigan: Nazi honor an error
City officials in Cadillac gave a certificate of appreciation to a neo-Nazi group after members sporting T-shirts with swastikas participated in a park cleanup two months ago. City officials said an employee didn’t realize who the group was when she made out a certificate to the National Socialist Movement, signed by the mayor. The group calls itself America’s Nazi Party.
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