DENVER — Protesters blocked the Columbus Day parade Saturday, pouring a bucket filled with fake blood and dismembered dolls onto the street as police arrested 83 people. At least 10 people face charges of resisting arrest, but most are accused of blocking a parade route or interfering with peaceful assembly, a police spokesman said. No serious injuries were reported. Denver’s parade, which was started in 1907, has a history of arrests and confrontations between supporters and detractors of Christopher Columbus. Protesters call him a slave trader who touched off centuries of genocide and oppression against native peoples.
California: Diocese passes hat
The Catholic Diocese of San Diego is asking parishioners and priests to make contributions to help pay for the recent $198.1 million sexual abuse settlement. A memo issued this week by Bishop Robert Brom asked priests to contribute one month’s salary, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. “We cannot ask of others what we are unwilling to do ourselves,” Brom wrote in the memo to about 280 priests, whose monthly salary can be as much as $1,535.
Utah: Mormons get new leader
The president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints named a new high-ranking church official at the 177th gathering of faithful Mormons on Saturday. President Gordon Hinckley appointed Elder Henry Eyring as the second counselor in the church’s First Presidency. Eyring replaces James Faust, who died Aug. 10 of age-related causes. Eyring previously served 12 years in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the church’s second-tier of leadership.
Louisiana: 11-year-old driver
An 11-year-old boy led police on a chase outside New Orleans that reached speeds of more than 100 mph, leading to charges for him and his parents, who are accused of letting him drive for months, state police said. The parents were charged with improper supervision of a minor and allowing an unlicensed minor to drive. Officials charged the boy with felony flight from an officer, reckless driving, speeding, passing on the shoulder, improper lane usage and having no driver’s license.
Virginia: Breast cancer death
U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis, a Republican who represented southeastern Virginia for seven years, died Saturday morning after a two-year battle with breast cancer, her office said. Davis, 57, died at her home in Gloucester. Davis was found to have breast cancer in 2005 and had a recurrence this year. Her health took a turn for the worse during the past week, her office said. She became Virginia’s first Republican woman elected to Congress in 2000.
Tennessee: Deadly zoning vote
A Clarksville councilman is considering resigning after a man pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head after the council declined to rezone his property. Marc Harris, who voted against the rezoning, said the council made the right decision, but he has since been bombarded with irate e-mail from citizens blaming the council for Ronald Ward’s death. When the council voted 7-5 against the rezoning proposal Thursday, Ward took out a handgun and shot himself in the head.
Taiwan: Typhoon lashes island
A typhoon lashed Taiwan with intense winds and rains Saturday, cutting power to thousands of homes and leaving at least two men missing in the capital. Mainland China was bracing for the storm next, with authorities ordering tens of thousands of people to higher ground. In the northern Taiwanese port city of Keelung, which bore the brunt of Typhoon Krosa’s 114-mph winds, about 400,000 households lost electricity, officials said.
Colombia: Court backs gay rights
Gays in Colombia may add their partners to health insurance plans, the nation’s highest court has ruled, building on an earlier decision granting inheritance rights to same-sex couples. Friday’s ruling by the Constitutional Court cannot be appealed. In February, the court said gay couples need only prove they have been living together for two years in order to obtain the right to half their partner’s possessions and inheritance after death or separation. The court has not ruled on pension rights for gay couples in the event a partner dies.
Saudi Arabia: Inmate furloughs
The Saudi Arabian government will temporarily release 55 prisoners recently transferred from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and will give each of them about $2,600 to celebrate the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, a newspaper reported Saturday. The interior minister granted the temporary releases from detention centers in Saudi Arabia so the prisoners could spend time with their families during the holiday, the Okaz newspaper reported.
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