Charleston Gazette

West Virginia Wind Helps Light Liberty

ericeyre@wvgazette.com There's no electrical transmission line from a Tucker County wind farm directly to the Statue of Liberty in New York.

Part of Building Damaged by Fire Collapses: ; No One Hurt; Rest of Building Torn Down

daveg@wvgazette.com A building that burned over the weekend tumbled onto the sidewalk Thursday afternoon - nearly hitting a woman - after city officials allowed it to stand.

Part of Building Damaged by Fire Collapses: ; No One Hurt; Rest of Building Torn Down

Resa Official Off Job for Now: ; $1 Million Missing; State School Board Cites Lack of Oversight

amallory@wvgazette.com The executive director of an education agency overseeing six Southern West Virginia counties has been suspended after an investigation into $1 million missing from the agency she heads.

Man Dies in Cruise Ship Fire: ; 11 Injured; Cigarette May Have Been Cause

Area residents aboard Area residents aboard Several Charleston Newspapers employees were passengers on the cruise ship. They left a message to say that they are OK, but could not be reached for further comment, said CN President and General Manager Craig Selby.

General: 'There Is Not Widespread Violence Across Iraq': ; Sunni Insurgents Strike at Police Again in Baghdad, Killing Dozens

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military's spokesman in Iraq asserted Thursday that major violence is largely confined to just three of the country's 18 provinces, but fighting there raged on, with at least 58 people killed in execution-style slayings, bombings and gunbattles. For the third straight day, Sunni insurgents hit a major police and jail facility - this time with a suicide car bombing that killed 25 in central Baghdad. The attacker detonated his explosives at the entrance to the Interior Minist...

A Daily Look at U.S. Deaths in the Iraq War

As of Thursday, at least 2,318 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. The AP count is four lower than the Defense Department's tally.

Lynch, Comrades Remember Piestewa: ; Pows Shed Tears with Family, Friends to Honor Fallen Gi

PHOENIX - Jessica Lynch and three other Iraq war veterans didn't have to explain the horrors of war or the haunting memories that follow. As they spoke Thursday about their friend, fallen soldier Lori Piestewa, their anguish was evident in every word they uttered - and those they couldn't.

State Briefs

Harrison must answer for property tax freeze CLARKSBURG - State tax officials want Harrison County commissioners to justify their "bold move" to freeze the county's property tax valuations at 2005 levels.

Saturday: ; Flipside

'United States of Appalachia' Author to Speak: ; Jeff Biggers Will Be On Hand at Charleston's Taylor Books Tonight, Tamarack On Saturday

pjnyden@wvgazette.com Jeff Biggers has just published "The United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture and Enlightenment to America."

Sister Mary Pellicane Honored

Sister Mary Pellicane will celebrate 60 years as a religious sister of the Cenacle with a reception for friends and guests from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday at the West Virginia Institute for Spirituality, 1601 Virginia St. E. Pellicane has ministered for 29 years in Charleston, leading retreats and offering comfort.

Beer Truck Wrecks On I-64

A tractor-trailer hauling beer wrecked on Interstate 64 on Wednesday morning, shutting down westbound lanes of the highway for almost half an hour, said Capt. Ron King of the Nitro Fire Department. Just after 9 a.m., a truck carrying bottles, can, and kegs of Heineken, Amstel, and Amstel Light beer crashed near mile marker 46 between Cross Lanes and Nitro, King said. Westbound traffic backed up on I-64 as all but one lane on the highway remained closed for four-and-a-half hours, King said.

Tech President Says 'Tech Is Back'

susanwilliams@wvgazette.com People worried about the future of the college once known as West Virginia Institute of Technology launched a campaign this year called "Take back Tech." After the Legislative session that made Tech a division of West Virginia University, Tech's president said Thursday that people are now saying, "Tech is back."

National Briefs

Moussaoui prosecutors wrap up testimony ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Prosecutors wrapped up their case for executing Zacarias Moussaoui with a former FBI agent's testimony Thursday that the bureau could have identified 11 of the Sept. 11 hijackers within weeks if the al-Qaida conspirator had confessed when he was arrested a month before the suicide attacks.

Audit Doubts Some Anti-Meth Grants

WASHINGTON - Some states with significant methamphetamine problems have not received their share of federal money because the bulk of a grant program was steered by lawmakers to favored projects in their districts, the Justice Department inspector general said Thursday. More than $179 million in anti-meth money administered by the department - 84 percent of the grant funds - has been earmarked, as the practice is known, by members of Congress for programs in their states and districts, Inspec...

Beckley Man Faces Wildlife Violations

BECKLEY - A taxidermist has been accused of illegally possessing a hawk and a bear cub, hunting in a state park and other wildlife violations. Frank Gilkerson, 39, of Beckley, faces a pretrial hearing in Raleigh County Magistrate Court on April 28. He also faces a pretrial hearing today on a prior charge of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, the state Division of Natural Resources said Thursday.

Artificial Joint Replacement Need Will Grow, Study Finds

CHICAGO - As Americans live longer, exercise more and become increasingly obese, the number of artificial joints that will be needed to replace damaged knees will jump 673 percent by 2030 to 3.48 million a year, according to a new study. The need for artificial hips will climb 174 percent over the same period to 572,000 a year, said Steven M. Kurtz, of Exponent Inc., a Philadelphia-based engineering and scientific consulting firm. The study is to be presented today at the American Academy of ...

Research Backs Simple Approach to Curing Type 1 Diabetes in Mice

ST. LOUIS - Washington University researchers have reaffirmed a simple approach to curing Type 1 diabetes in mice: stop the immune system before it kills off all the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. There is a window of time, after the onset of diabetes but before all the cells are destroyed, in which the mouse pancreas can be rescued, said Dr. Emil Unanue, a Washington University immunologist and author of the study, published today in the journal Science. "You have a window of time ...

Melting Ice Threat to Sea Level

WASHINGTON - The Earth is already shaking beneath melting ice as rising temperatures threaten to shrink polar glaciers and raise sea levels around the world. By the end of this century, Arctic readings could rise to levels not seen in 130,000 years - when the oceans were several feet higher than now, according to new research appearing in today's issue of the journal Science.