Charleston Gazette

Best Bet: ; We're Off to See 'the Wizard'

The Idiot Box: ; Sorkin's Sour Grapes Make 'Studio' Exit Even More Bitter

I have faithfully supported "Studio 60," which ends at 10 p.m. tonight. How was I rewarded? By having my character assassinated. OK, not me specifically, but my profession. On last Thursday's penultimate episode of the show, creator/head writer Aaron Sorkin took several pot shots at journalists.

The Gazz Calendar: ; June 28-July 4

Today 6.28 Music

Best Bet: ; River Revelry

Festivall Map Sets Record On Web Site

The interactive FestivALL map at wvgazette.com has become a huge online success. The colorful view of our fair city, which is still available at www.wvgazette .com/multimedia, set a Gazette record for hits on a multimedia project. Over the weekend, the Festiv-ALL guide surpassed the wildly popular O.J. Mayo ejection video from earlier this year.

Cover Story: ; Country Queen; Martina Mcbride Returns to the Capital City

IF YOU GO WHAT: Martina McBride with openers Little Big Town. WHEN: 7:30 p.m. today. WHERE: Charleston Civic Center. TICKETS: $51.25. Call 342-5757 or visit www.ticket master.com. lynch@wvgazette.com

Film Clips

* "1408": HH 1/2 Marquee Cinemas, Park Place Stadium Cinemas. Most ghost stories bore you with a long setup before getting down to the good stuff, but this one is just the other way around. The first half hour is terrific, smart, clever and subtle. The actual scary part is a letdown. Rated PG-13. * "EVAN ALMIGHTY": HH 1/2 MC, PPSC. It's a gentle, warm, "big tent" big-budget comedy with all the rough edges rubbed off. You'd be hard-pressed to find something that would offend, unless you're rac...

Festivall Numbers Look Good

bobschwarz@wvgazette.com Emily Roles sold nine paintings in two days from her table at FestivALL's Capitol Street art fair.

Gazz Podcast Debuts with Poet Mckernan

Visit thegazz.com for the new gazz podcast and blog "MountainWord," devoted to readings, interviews and profiles of works by writers with roots in West Virginia. (Look for "MountainWord" under blogs at the top of the home page or in the side navigation bar.) This first show, hosted by Gazette news editor Vic Burkhammer, features Marshall University English professor and poet John McKernan, whose poems have been published in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review and many other pla...

Mu Festival Features 5 New Plays

The Robert Hinchman New Works Festival will offer staged and unstaged readings of five new plays at 8 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday at Marshall University's Francis Booth Experimental Theatre in the Joan Edwards Playhouse. There will be three one-act plays tonight, including "Lunch At the Fork n' Finger" by published playwright and Marshall University theater alumnus Jonathan Joy. In it, a man returns to his boyhood home to find that his single mother has fallen in love with his old high sc...

Gazzopolis

FestivALL postscript If you attended FestivALL, or want to glimpse what you missed, you'll find online a bunch of photos, slide shows and video capturing the music, theater, crafts, street performers and much more. Click on the "Multimedia" tab at the top of the wvgazette.com homepage to find:

Science Duo Hops Into Town

IF YOU GO Flumpa and Friends Live!, 10:30 a.m. today at Dunbar Public Library (301 12th Street Mall, call 766-7161); 6:30 p.m. today at Riverside Public Library (1 Warrior Way, Suite 104, call 949-2400); 10:30 a.m. Friday at Marmet Public Library (9303 Oregon Ave., 949-6628) and 2 p.m. Friday at St. Albans Public Library (602 Fourth St., 722-4244). Free. For more information, call the respective libraries or visit www.flumpa.com. lynch@wvgazette.com

Review: ; Rat Tale Goes Beyond Kids' Film

'Ratatouille' HHH Marquee Cinemas, Park Place Stadium Cinemas This may be the first Pixar movie that is so advanced, so sophisticated, it doesn't feel like it was made for kids. On a fundamental level, sure, children will probably enjoy watching the adventures of a plucky Parisian rat as he leaves the colony to pursue his dream of becoming a gourmet chef. There's some slapsticky physical comedy, and writer-director Brad Bird, the mastermind behind "The Incredibles," keeps things going a...

In Short

Independence Day This year, the fireworks move from the riverfront to Appalachian Power Park, where they'll take place after a concert by The Legends, who call themselves "America's favorite rock & roll comedy show," and Rip Chord, a group of children who perform classic and Southern rock. The concert and fireworks are free, but the West Virginia Power game earlier in the evening requires a ticket.

'Die Hard' Stunts Go Too Far

REVIEW Live Free or Die Hard HH 1/2 Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and action, language and a brief sexual situation) Directed by Len Wiseman Starring Bruce Willis, Justin Long and Timothy Olyphant Marquee Cinemas, Park Place Stadium Cinemas Let's be clear. "Live Free or Die Hard" is silly, outlandish and painfully implausible, and it grows more so as director Len Wiseman revs up the climactic action sequences to preposterous extremes.

Tears, Applause and Jeers: ; Tony Blair Out, Gordon Brown in As Britain's Pm

LONDON - Tony Blair began the day as prime minister and ended it as Mideast envoy - no longer responsible for the well-being of Britons but for peace in the Middle East. Blair left office Wednesday after a decade in power, taking with him a legacy that includes peace in Northern Ireland, a historic stretch of economic prosperity - and deep divisions over the war in Iraq.

Yeager Unveils Plans for New Hangar

rsteelhammer@wvgazette.com A new hangar proposed for Yeager Airport could bring 35 high paying, technical and mechanical jobs to Charleston, airport director Rick Atkinson said Wednesday.

Senate Subpoenas White House, Cheney

WASHINGTON - The Senate subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's office Wednesday, demanding documents and elevating the confrontation with President Bush over the administration's warrant-free eavesdropping on Americans. Separately, the Senate Judiciary Committee also is summoning Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to discuss the program and an array of other matters that have cost a half-dozen top Justice Department officials their jobs, committee chairman Patrick Leahy an...

W.Va. Officials Mixed On Ruling: ; U.S. Supreme Court Decision Limits; Political Advertising

State officials appear divided over whether this week's U.S. Supreme Court decision targeting limits on political advertising spells changes for West Virginia's "electioneering communications" law. The 5-4 ruling, in a Wisconsin case, upends a provision of the 2002 federal campaign finance law. The measure had barred political "issue ads" from corporations or unions, if they mentioned a candidate for federal office within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary or caucus.

Chambers Endorse Table Games: ; Business Groups in Hancock, Kanawha; Urge 'Yes' Vote

tomsearls@wvgazette.com Business organizations in Kanawha and Hancock counties are now advocating voters endorse table games at racetracks in their counties, betting on both additional jobs and spin-off businesses.