Charleston Gazette

Detroit Mayor Proposes Tax On Fast Food

DETROIT - Would you like fries with that? Either way, the Detroit city treasury would like a bite. Faced with a $300 million budget hole, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is hoping people in this already heavily taxed city won't mind forking over a few extra cents for their Big Macs and Whoppers.

A Few Family Courts Have Double the Average Wait

tobycoleman@wvgazette.com A handful of family court judges in West Virginia force people to wait months for hearings that other judges get done in weeks, a survey by the state Supreme Court found.

Story Continued at Last: ; Cruelty of the Holocaust Is Seen Through Eyes of Teens Who Came Before

cbroadwater@wvgazette.com THEY would run into each other on the rainy streets of Prague in 1955, Honza Kurtz wrote.

Bush, Putin Put On Smiles: ; Leaders Downplay Differences

MOSCOW - Changing the tone from tough talk to friendship, President Bush and Vladimir Putin went out of their way to take a unified stand on Middle East peace and terrorism Sunday after sharp words in recent days about democratic backsliding and postwar Soviet domination. A smiling Putin even put Bush behind the wheel of his prized 1956 Volga, a pristine white sedan, and let him take it for a spin around the grounds of his private compound 25 miles west of Moscow. Putin also kidded the presid...

Age Becoming Less of an Issue in Surgery

CHICAGO - Vito Buffalo didn't let his age stand in the way of open spine surgery to relieve his back pain. The 73-year-old retired butcher from Wauconda, Ill., said he needs to feel good because he leads an 18-piece swing band. "I'm a singer, and there are a lot of songs I have not yet sung," he said, explaining his decision to try surgery.

Sunni Refuses to Accept Cabinet Post: ; Bombings Kill 3 U.S. Soldiers On Sunday

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An explosion of insurgent violence killed seven U.S. servicemembers in Iraq over the weekend even as the Shiite- dominated parliament approved four more Sunni Arabs to serve as government ministers. One of the four Sunnis rejected the post on the grounds of tokenism, tarnishing the Shiite premier's bid to include the disaffected minority believed to be driving Iraq's deadly insurgency.

Judge Declares Mistrial in Ohio Road Shootings

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A judge declared a mistrial Sunday in the case of a man who admitted to a string of highway shootings - one of which killed a woman - but claimed innocence by reason of insanity. The hung jury came after four full days of deliberations in the trial of Charles McCoy Jr., charged with 12 shootings that terrified the Columbus area over five months in 2003 and 2004.

National Briefs

Parishes battle to keep assets from plaintiffs PORTLAND, Ore. - Roman Catholic parishes and schools are competing with alleged victims of clerical sex abuse to claim assets held by the Archdiocese of Portland, the first in the country to file for bankruptcy because of abuse settlements.

Manchin's Hands-On Start Recalls Days of Caperton

Less than four months into his four-year term, Gov. Joe Manchin has given the West Virginia Legislature something it hasn't had in a while: an aggressive governor. "His presence in working with the Legislature was stronger than any governor since Gaston Caperton in 1995," said Richard M. "Kit" Francis, a Charleston lawyer and longtime lobbyist.

Tyler County Teacher Becomes Wvea Chief

WHEELING - The state's largest teacher's union has made a Tyler County physical education teacher its president. The West Virginia Education Association elected Charles Delauder, a teacher at Arthur I. Boreman Elementary School, to a three-year term during a meeting Friday in Charleston. His term begins June 15.

20th Century Images: ; Bottle Plant 1962; by Richard Andre

The time is May 1962 and these men are heading home after leaving their shift at the Owens-Illinois Bottle Plant in Kanawha City. They are walking out 57th Street to the parking lot, perhaps thinking about what's for supper. In the distance, the giant stacks of the Libby-Owens-Ford Sheet Glass Plant can be seen along MacCorkle Avenue. All of this is gone now, and when you view the site today, you will see the Cracker Barrel restaurant and the Kanawha Mall where the stacks once dominated the s...

Police Briefs

Three shot at SC club after man denied entry Three people - a bartender, a bouncer and a female patron - were shot early Sunday at a club in South Charleston, police said.

Airport Does Not Want Mesa to Get Subsidy

WILLIAMSTOWN - Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport officials don't want Mesa Air Group to apply for federal funds to maintain its local service, because they fear the subsidy will keep the airport from growing. The Phoenix-based airline has been flying between the Parkersburg area and Pittsburgh for 12 years, primarily through its subsidiary Air Midwest.

Bulletin Board

TODAY Upshur County Democratic Executive Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. at River Bend Golf Course.

Annie's Mailbox: ; Gay Teen Should Seek Support

Dear Annie: I am a 15-year-old teenager in Maine and, like everybody else who writes in, I have a problem. I am attracted to the same sex. This is not the problem. The problem is that nobody will accept it. I know most people would say I am too young to know what I want. But parents should know that in today's world, young teens are discovering what they want and becoming sexually active earlier. Well, the thing is, I have a girlfriend, and we do have sex. Obviously, I like it, and so does sh...

Class Notes

Students win awards for letters to authors Four local students have won state writing awards from the West Virginia Center for the Book.

Savvy Senior: ; Most Forms of Skin Cancer Easily Cured

Dear Savvy Senior: Can you tell me about skin cancer? My sister, who's 57, just had two skin cancer spots removed from her neck and has been telling me I need to get checked, too. But the thought of cancer bothers me so much, I don't want to know if I have it. What do you think? - Cancer Phobic Dear Phobic: The word "cancer" is unsettling for a lot of people, but you need to be aware that most forms of skin cancer are easily cured, especially when detected early. Here's what you should know.

Yoakam Gets Honorary Degree at Ohio Valley

VIENNA - Country music singer and actor Dwight Yoakam wore cowboy boots with his cap and gown when he got an honorary doctorate from Ohio Valley College. Yoakam was invited to give the commencement address Saturday by the Rev. Keith Stotts, chancellor and former president of Ohio Valley College. Stotts baptized Yoakam when he was a boy attending the Cleveland Avenue (now Northland ) Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio.

Horoscope

Monday, May 9, 2005 Your birthday today: Once you achieve your first objective, you'll be ready for another. You're overflowing with creativity this year. Start by making a list.

Concert Rescue No Surprise: ; Review

It turns out that Yakov Kasman's dramatic, triumphant rescue of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra's concerts of the past weekend, where he filled in without rehearsal for the ailing Olga Kern, was not a first-time experience for the pianist. Kasman replaced an injured Louis Lortie for an Oregon Symphony concert in October 2004.