Charleston Gazette

Security Concerns Put Bush at Capitol Complex for 4th

If you're POTUS - President of The United States - it's safer these days to be embraced by a state Capitol than stand along the edge of a riverbank, amid tall buildings and surrounding hills. So even though organizers had hoped President Bush would join Charleston's annual Fourth of July celebration at Haddad Riverfront Park on the Kanawha River, he's opting for the state Capitol Complex, not quite 2 miles upriver.

Inside

Inside

Supreme Court wraps up term U.S. Supreme Court completes landmark session.

Court Backs Comp Fund: ; Ruling Could Save State $1.1 Billion and Self-Insured Employers $200k

pjnyden@wvgazette.com The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state Workers' Compensation Commission was correct to strictly apply parts of the 2003 law that reformed the state's system to pay injured workers.

Inside

Brandon wins 5th area title Betty Brandon wins fifth Kanawha Valley Women's Golf Championship title.

Coming Saturday

'I Am Saddam Hussein': ; Defiant Despot Rebukes Judge

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A combative Saddam Hussein re-emerged for the world to see Thursday, rejecting an Iraqi judge's charges of massacres and chemical-gas attacks and denouncing his first day in court as "theater by Bush the criminal." Wearing an ill-fitting pinstriped jacket provided by the U.S. military, the man who once lorded over 26 million Iraqis appeared shortly before 11 of his top aides in a U.S. Army courthouse on the grounds of his former palace on the edge of Baghdad.

Mezzatesta Ruling May Get Review Before Ethics Panel

philk@wvgazette.com An ethics complaint dismissed last month against House Education Chairman Jerry Mezzatesta, D-Hampshire, could be reopened, based on documents that seemingly contradict his sworn statements to the Ethics Commission, executive director Lew Brewer said Thursday.

U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Thursday, July 1, 853 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 632 died as a result of hostile action and 221 died of non-hostile causes.

Gay-Rights Activists Rally Against Va. Civil Union Ban

RICHMOND, Va. - Gay activists rallied in major cities statewide to protest a new law that critics said could nullify legal contracts between same-sex couples. The state law, which went into effect Thursday, prohibits civil unions, partnership contracts or other arrangements "purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage."

Low-Threat Guantanamo Detainees May Be Released

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon might release some Guantanamo Bay detainees deemed not to pose a security threat without first giving them access to civilian courts, a spokesman said Thursday. Larry Di Rita, chief spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, told a news conference that no final decisions have been made about how the government will respond to Supreme Court decisions this week requiring that detainees be given a way to challenge their incarceration.

Images of Saturn's Rings Wow Astronomers: ; Cassini Spacecraft Sends Back Shots Five Times As Sharp As Voyager Photos

PASADENA, Calif. - Hours after settling into orbit around Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft sent back "mind-blowing" photographs Thursday of the planet's shimmering rings that resembled a fine-grained piece of wood or a grooved phonograph record. Scientists could not contain their excitement as the raw black- and-white pictures of the rings and the inky gaps between them arrived at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory from more than 900 million miles away.

'Day-of-Rest' Provision Alarms Va. Employers

RICHMOND, Va. - Because of a legislative oversight, a new Virginia law requires businesses to give workers Saturdays or Sundays off if they want them, alarming some businesses with weekend and round-the-clock shifts to cover. Some retailers are even trying to get a game plan in place for their holiday shopping season, still several months away.

Racists Seen Behind Mont. Fliers

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - Distribution of white supremacist leaflets in Great Falls and Bozeman has prompted concern from the state Human Rights Network that a racist group may be trying to recruit members in Montana. The fliers bear the name of the Hillsboro, W.Va.-based National Alliance.

Jury Thought Fulks Would Be Threat to Prisoners, Guards

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Chadrick Fulks' cunning, violent nature during a deadly multistate crime spree convinced jurors the 27-year-old should be given the death penalty, they said Thursday. Fulks, whose escape from a Kentucky jail began the crime spree, was sentenced to death because jurors said they were afraid he may try to escape again, and he was a danger to those around him.

In Perspective

Student Who Faked Abduction Gets Probation

MADISON, Wis. - A college student who faked her abduction and set off a desperate search was sentenced to three years' probation Thursday and ordered to repay the police department at least $9,000. Audrey Seiler, 20, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of obstructing officers and read a statement in court in which she said severe depression had caused her to act irrationally.

Kerry, Bush Break Fund-Raising Records

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry raised at least $34 million in June, lifting his record total to more than $180 million with a month of fund raising left. Kerry is expected to accept full government financing for his general-election campaign, which officially starts July 29 when he is nominated at his party's convention in Boston. At that point, he will receive about $75 million in taxpayer funding - the only money he can spend campaigning until the Nov. 2 election.

Nader Hopes New Book Reinvigorates Campaign

WASHINGTON - Ralph Nader has been labeled a spoiler, criticized by Democrats and shunned by the Green Party, but the seemingly inexhaustible consumer advocate is hoping to jump-start his independent presidential campaign with a new book. In "The Good Fight: Declare Your Independence & Close the Democracy Gap," Nader explores themes that will be familiar to anyone who has heard him: the power that large corporations wield over government, the toll of white-collar corruption, tax breaks that be...

Evangelicals Consider Risks of Partisan Politics

Memorializing Ronald Reagan, the National Association of Evangelicals called him "a great, if not the greatest, president of the 20th century." President Bush has addressed the annual Southern Baptist Convention for three consecutive years. His campaign this year held a pastors' reception near the meeting co-hosted by the denomination's outgoing president.