Charleston Gazette

Legal Superstar Cochran Dead at 67

LOS ANGELES - Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who became a legal superstar after helping clear O.J. Simpson during a sensational murder trial in which he uttered the famous quote "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," died Tuesday. He was 67. Cochran died of a brain tumor at his home in Los Angeles, his family said.

Bill Seeks to Clarify Immunity for Lawmakers

sfinn@wvgazette.com A bill moving through the House of Delegates seeks to describe when lawmakers are immune from civil or legal prosecution.

Hotel Tax Bill Ok'd by Senate: ; Increase Will Help Cities, Supporters Say; the Capitol Report; 2005 Legislature

philk@wvgazette.com For the first time in 20 years, the Senate Tuesday passed 24-9 and sent to the House legislation (SB237) to authorize cities to raise municipal hotel-motel taxes from the current 3 percent to as much as 6 percent.

Signs of Spring

Unpaid Taxes Top $300 Billion

WASHINGTON - Americans' unpaid taxes are now topping $300 billion a year, with people who underreport their income the biggest culprits. The government is also losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year because Internal Revenue Service computers don't record interest due on penalties for those unpaid taxes.

Laura Bush Visiting Afghanistan: ; First Lady Expresses Solidarity with Afghan Women

WASHINGTON - Laura Bush says she has been waiting a long time to tell the women of Afghanistan that American women stand with them. The first lady was to be in the country for about five hours today, time to visit women who are training to be teachers and others who have made a business of selling handicrafts. She was also to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and have dinner with U.S. troops stationed at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul.

National Briefs

3 more ill in outbreak of E. coli in Florida TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Three more people have fallen ill from an E. coli outbreak that can lead to a potentially deadly kidney disease, state health officials said Tuesday.

Ex-Guantanamo Detainees Remain Jailed: ; Former U.S. Prisoners Still in Custody of Pakistani Authorities

HUSSAINABAD, Pakistan - More than three dozen Pakistanis who were freed from an American prison at Guantanamo Bay remain jailed in their home country, most without charge and with no sign of when they might be released, security and government officials say. The prisoners - including 32 men released from U.S. custody in September 2004 and seven freed in the past six weeks - staged a protest earlier this month seeking an end to their legal limbo, shunning food and shouting slogans at jail staf...

Court Grants Terri's Parents Right to File Rehearing Petition

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court early today agreed to consider a petition for a new hearing on whether to reconnect Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. The ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals came as the severely brain-damaged woman entered her 13th day without nourishment.

Drug Discount Changes Put Heat On Senate Panel

philk@wvgazette.com With changes the House made to the governor's bill (HB2852) to authorize the new state Pharmaceutical Advocate to negotiate prescription drug price discounts, the pressure is back on the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee.

Delegate Doubts Stricter Parental Notification Bill: ; the Capitol Report 2005 Legislature

Schedule Senate 11 a.m.: Floor session 2 p.m.: Government Organization, Transportation 3 p.m.: Finance, Judiciary 5 p.m.: Floor session House 8:30 a.m.: Agriculture and Natural Resources 10 a.m.: Banking and Insurance 11 a.m.: Floor session

House Rejects Amendment to Contraceptives Coverage

tomsearls@wvgazette.com Members of the House of Delegates rejected an amendment Tuesday that would have weakened legislation requiring health insurance policies to cover contraceptives for women, while extending a coal mining reclamation tax for 18 months.

Mudslide Closes U.S. 60 West of St. Albans

Deputy's Tires Punctured During Call

A Kanawha County deputy had his cruiser's tires punctured while responding to a call early Tuesday. Deputy R.D. Evans was investigating a destruction of property call on Mammoth Coal Company's property on Hughes Creek. On his way there he drove over jackrocks - an item used to puncture tires - in the road, said Lt. B.C. Stover. Evans was not hurt.

Man Arrested On '01 Arson Charges

Kanawha County deputies and Charleston police officers arrested a man wanted on three arson charges from 2001 in Charleston Tuesday. Timothy Wayne Belcher Jr., 24, allegedly used gasoline to start a fire in a Marmet park; tried to burn a tractor-trailer; and tried to burn a tractor and stole a CB radio and tools out of a truck, according to criminal complaints filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. All the alleged crimes happened in September 2001.

Up to 1,000 Feared Dead in Indonesia Earthquake: ; Some Islands Are Cut Off From Help

GUNUNG SITOLI, Indonesia - The death toll from a powerful earthquake that devastated a remote Indonesian island rose to an estimated 1,000 today, according to Sumatra's governor, as rescuers searched frantically through collapsed buildings for survivors. Bodies were still being dug from ruins of houses and shops early today and laid out in front of churches and mosques.

U.S. 60 Salvage Yard Gets 60 Days to Clean Up

cshumaker@wvgazette.com WINFIELD - L.T. Kelley's property has been under fire for years.

Iraqi Parliament Fails to Pick Speaker

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In a chaotic session marred by shouting, finger- pointing and walkouts by Iraq's top leaders, the new parliament failed Tuesday to choose a speaker - an impasse that brought tensions to the surface and raised concerns about a government that still isn't in place two months after landmark elections. The National Assembly's second meeting ever was certainly its stormiest - marked by outbursts of anger and wrangling among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish legislators. The session was fir...

Military Deaths in Iraq

As of Tuesday, at least 1,528 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 1,160 died as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department. The figures include four military civilians. The British military has reported 86 deaths; Italy, 21; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Spain, 11; Bulgaria, eight; Slovakia, three; Estonia, Thailand and the Netherlands, two each; and Denmark, El Salvador, Hun...

Obituaries: ; Obit

Ruth E. Atkins Ruth E. "Libby" Atkins, 65, of Dry Branch died March 28, 2005, at home.