Charleston Gazette

State Orders Behavioral Health Provider to Close

A client with "pedophilic behaviors" was left alone with young boys on a riverbank last May by a mental health worker to "test" the client, according to a complaint filed with the state. The employee worked at Psychological Assessment and Intervention Services, a behavioral health provider based in Charleston that offers services to the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled.

Chief Justice has Cancer

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has thyroid cancer, a stunning disclosure Monday that caught even the closest Supreme Court observers off guard and injected into the presidential campaign the issue of appointments to America's most important legal panel. Rehnquist's diagnosis was announced in a terse statement issued by the Supreme Court. It said the 80-year-old widower who has led the court for a generation underwent a tracheotomy over the weekend and was hospitalized but exp...

Republicans Registered More New Voters, Democrats Still Hold Nearly 2-1 Edge Statewide, Figures Show

Republicans narrowly outpaced Democrats in registering voters for the Nov. 2 general election, according to figures released by the secretary of state's office on Monday. Also Monday, the state chairmen of the two major parties traded barbs on the increasingly negative tone of the fall political campaigns.

Kerry Attacks Bush On Weapons,: ; Missing Munitions Shows President 'Failed' As Commander, Senator Says

PHILADELPHIA - Sen. John Kerry cited the Iraq war and a huge cache of missing explosives Monday as proof President Bush has "failed the test of being commander in chief." The Republican slammed his rival as "consistently and dangerously wrong" on national security matters. In a race of ever-escalating rhetoric, the president also accused the Democratic challenger of "the worst kind of Monday-morning quarterbacking" on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But he fell silent on the disappearance o...

Wise Pushes Veterans Bonuses

Gov. Bob Wise encouraged West Virginians on Monday to approve a constitutional amendment that would give bonuses to veterans who served in Kosovo, Afghanistan or Iraq, and to families of those who were killed. As many as 2,900 veterans could qualify for a bonus of $400 or $600. The families of veterans killed in any of the three campaigns may qualify for $2,000.

Gi, 7 Others Killed in Iraq, U.N. Says Several Hundred Tons of High Explosive Missing

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bombings struck four coalition and Iraqi military convoys and a provincial government office Monday, killing at least eight people, including an American soldier and an Estonian trooper in the Baghdad area. Coming a day after the bodies of nearly 50 Iraqi military recruits were found massacred, the bombings occurred as a U.N. agency confirmed that several hundred tons of explosives were missing from a former Iraqi military depot in an insurgent hotspot south of Baghdad.

U.S. Deaths in Iraq War

As of Monday, at least 1,106 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 845 died as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department. The figures include three military civilians. The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's.

Clay Sheriff Resignation Refused

CLAY - Clay County commissioners on Monday refused to accept Sheriff Harald Fields' resignation. Fields, 73, said last week that he wanted to care for his ailing wife. His resignation was to take effect Oct. 31, two months before his term expires.

Aclu Demands Clay Pull Commandments

A state group has demanded Clay County commissioners remove a plaque of the Ten Commandments from their chamber or face legal action. Terri Baur, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, sent commissioners a letter on behalf of a Clay County resident. Several other people have also complained about the display, said Andrew Schneider, state ACLU director.

Final Candidate Disclosures in, Mcgraw, Hechler Each Surpass $1 Million in Spending

Two statewide campaigns have topped the $1 million spending mark through Oct. 15, according to initial filings of campaign financial disclosures with the secretary of state's office. Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw, in a bitter general election campaign against Republican challenger Brent Benjamin, reported that his campaign has raised $1.064 million year-to-date, and spent $1.021 million.

Call Center Better Use: ; for Hospital,; Study Finds

WESTON - A consultant hired to look at possible uses for the former Weston Hospital says the most promising industries are the same ones popping up across West Virginia - telemarketing call centers and order processors for catalog companies. Nearly 21,000 telemarketing jobs have been created in West Virginia since 1995, and Weston's central location and interstate highway access make it prime for expansion, Economics Research Associates of Washington, D.C., has concluded.

Mom Sending Phone Cards to Son's Usaf Unit in Iraq

PARKERSBURG - Barbara Haught is a woman on a mission. For the past month, the Parkersburg resident has been raising money to buy prepaid phone cards to send to her son, Tech. Sgt. Brian McGee, and the other 35 members of his Air Force unit in Iraq.

Little Theater to Get New Sound Setup,: ; $34,147 State Grant Will Match Theater Funding to Replace 1958 System

The Charleston Civic Center Little Theater will get a new sound system via a state grant, Mayor Danny Jones told members of the Capital Area Development Corp. on Monday. The new system will replace the original sound system installed when the Little Theater was built in 1958, Civic Center General Manager John Robertson said.

Early Voters Exceed 8,000 so Far in Kanawha County

Continued from 1A Gov. Bob Wise was among the 896 Kanawha County residents who cast an early ballot Monday.

Library Hours

The Charleston Newspapers library hours will be by appointment only beginning today. The library will reopen to the public at 11 a.m. Nov. 2.

Corrections

In the interview Monday with artist Charly Hamilton, the reporter mistakenly interjected that Hamilton's son drowned in water released from Summersville Lake. The release was from the dam at Hawks Nest. ***

Water Order

Dui: ; Checkpoint

Weather Around the World

Amsterdam 62 56 Rain Athens 75 61 Cldy

Weather Around the U.S.

Anchorage 37 26 Snow Atlanta 78 58 Cldy