WASHINGTON — Former Democratic Party chairman Paul Kirk has taken over for the late Edward Kennedy in the Senate. Vice President Joe Biden swore in Kirk on Friday hours after a Massachusetts judge rejected a Republican request to delay it. The GOP had argued that Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick exceeded his constitutional authority by appointing Kirk before a traditional 90-day legislative waiting period had expired. State lawmakers passed a bill this week giving Patrick the power to choose an interim senator. Kirk gives Senate Democrats a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority with the health care fight at a critical point.
Ginsburg goes back to work
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had cancer surgery earlier this year, made a quick return to work Friday after feeling ill at the office and spending the night in a Washington hospital as a precaution. The 76-year-old justice was released from Washington Hospital Center in the morning and was at her desk by early afternoon, the court said. Ginsburg became lightheaded in her office Thursday afternoon after receiving treatment for anemia.
Hawaii: New fleet commander
Adm. Patrick M. Walsh has taken over as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The Navy said Walsh assumed control of the fleet’s 80 ships and 1,500 aircraft at a ceremony Friday at Pearl Harbor. He succeeds Adm. Robert F. Willard, who is becoming the top U.S. military commander in the Asia-Pacific region as head of the U.S. Pacific Command. Willard succeeds Adm. Timothy Keating, who is retiring. The U.S. Pacific Fleet includes 125,000 sailors, Marines and civilians.
Wyoming: Yellowstone ruling
The state has asked a federal appeals court to give a judge authority to block a proposal reducing the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone National Park. The National Park Service has said it intends to release a plan that could limit snowmobile traffic into Yellowstone and neighboring federal lands to 318 trips a day — less than half of last season’s daily limit of 720. The Wyoming Attorney General’s Office argued Friday that the plan would violate a U.S. District judge’s order that set the daily limit at 720 snowmobiles a day.
Ohio: Accidental baby born
A woman who had the wrong embryo implanted by a fertility clinic has given birth to a boy. Sean and Carolyn Savage said that the ‘healthy baby boy” was delivered Thursday at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo. The Savages offered their “heartfelt congratulations” to the baby’s biological parents, Paul and Shannon Morell of Michigan. The Savages have said the fertility clinic transferred the wrong frozen embryo to Carolyn’s womb in early February.
Brazil: A call for nukes
Brazil’s vice president said in an interview published Friday that his country should develop nuclear weapons. Jose Alencar, who also served as defense minister from 2004 to 2006, said his country does not have a program to develop nuclear weapons, but should: “We have to advance on that. The nuclear weapon, used as an instrument of deterrence, is of great importance for a country that has 15,000 kilometers of border to the west and a territorial sea” where oil reserves have been found, Alencar said. An Alencar aide confirmed the comments. But he said they were personal opinions and not a position of the government.
Mexico: Slaying suspects
Police have arrested five men accused of dozens of murders, including two mass killings at drug treatment centers in Ciudad Juarez. Police said the men were members of the Sinaloa cartel, a violent gang entrenched in a brutal turf war for control of drug routes to the United States. The men are accused of 45 different executions in Mexico’s most violent city. They were arrested by law enforcement agents during a routine street patrol, federal police said. Police said with Friday’s arrests, officials have accounted for 292 of the 1,720 murders in Ciudad Juarez so far this year.
Cuba: No more free lunch
The Cuban government plans to close free cafeterias in state ministries and instead give employees a stipend to buy food. Under the program, designed to save money for Cuba’s cash-strapped government, workers who ate free or for little cost in their government jobs instead will receive about 70 U.S. cents a day — a significant amount in a country where the average monthly salary is $19. The pilot program announced Friday will start Oct. 1 for the ministries of Work, Finance, Commerce and Economy. If successful, it will be extended nationwide, the Communist Party daily Granma said.
From Herald news services
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