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Today
Saturday Sunday
M fc*.
o
High: 57
Low: 39
Precip: 30%
High: 60
Low: 38
Precip: 10%
High: 65
Low: 40
Precip: 20%
IN BRIEF
Six policemen killed, 15
wounded in car bombing
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Car bombs
killed six policemen and wounded 15
in new attacks on Iraq’s security serv
ices Thursday as political factions
wrangled over putting together
a government.
The Shiite Muslim-dominated
United Iraqi Alliance and a Kurdish
coalition, which emerged from the
Jan. 30 elections with the two biggest
blocks of seats in the National As
sembly, made little headway in their
talks on combining forces to select
the leaders of the new government.
Meanwhile, interim Prime Minister
Ayad Allawi, whose party finished
third, denied rumors he had given up
his effort to stitch together support
from other groups, including the
Kurds, that would allow him to
remain prime minister.
Forming Iraq’s first democratically
elected government is a key step in
the U.S. plan for stabilizing the coun
try, and insurgents have been striking
at Iraqi police and military forces
seeking to undermine the effort.
Pilot breaks nonstop
circumnavigation record
SAUNA, Kan. — First by balloon,
now by plane, Steve Fossett is
once again a ‘round-the-world
record holder.
The millionaire adventurer on
Thursday became the first person to fly
around the world alone without stop
ping or refueling, touching down in
central Kansas after a 67-hour, 23,000
mile journey that appeared endangered
at times by a troubled fuel system.
Fossett, who failed five times be
fore successfully circumnavigating
the globe solo in a balloon, needed
just one try to make the trip in a
plane. He holds many other records
as a balloonist, pilot and sailor.
Fossett’s GlobalFlyer, designed by
the same engineer who came up
with the Voyager aircraft that first
completed the trip in 1986 with two
pilots aboard, touched down on the
center line at the Salina airport at
1:50 p.m. Thursday.
Immediately after leaving the
cockpit, a jubilant Fossett hugged his
wife, Peggy, and was congratulated by
Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin At
lantic founder who financed the flight.
Accuser's sister testifies
in Michael Jackson trial
SANTA MARIA, Calif. — The
teenage sister of Michael Jackson’s
accuser told jurors Thursday about a
series of unusual events that unfold
ed around the time of the alleged
abuse, including a sudden trip in
which the family was whisked away
to Miami on a private jet.
The testimony was elicited to sup
port allegations that the singer con
spired to hold the accuser’s family
captive to get them to rebut a Febru
ary 2003 documentary in which Jack
son said he allowed boys to sleep in
his bed. The Miami trip occurred as
the program was about to air.
The witness also told the jury that
on the flight back from Miami, Jack
son shared a soda can with her broth
er and also gave him a watch and a
jacket decorated with sparkles.
Prosecutors allege that the boy, a
cancer survivor, was molested twice
by Jackson after the program aired.
They contend Jackson gave the boy
wine in the soda can and the gifts as
bribes to keep quiet about the alcohol.
— The Associated Press
Senate rejects attempts to
moderate bankruptcy law
BY MARCY CORDON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate De
mocrats were thwarted Wednesday
in their attempts to soften the impact
on seniors and sick people of a pro
posed law making it harder to erase
debts in bankruptcy.
Mostly along party lines, the GOP
controlled Senate voted 59-40 to re
ject an amendment that would have
allowed older people to get special
homestead exemptions to keep
their homes when they file for bank
ruptcy. Currently, such exemptions
are determined by the states.
Also rebuffed, 58-39, were
two proposals focused on people
whose significant medical expenses
for illness force them to file
for bankruptcy.
The first would have allowed peo
ple to keep at least $150,000 of the
equity in their primary residence. If,
in addition, the medical bills exceed
25 percent of the person’s income,
the second proposal would have ex
empted them from a new test in
the legislation measuring income
and assets of bankruptcy applicants
to determine whether debts can
be discharged.
Under unlimited homestead ex
emptions in a half-dozen states,
“fat cats who go into bankruptcy
don’t lose their mansions,” said
Small change
The federal minimum wage rate
was last changed to $5.15 per
hour in 1997.
Historic wage increases
(Dollars per hour)
1997
15
1991
$4.25
1981
$3.35
90
SOURCE: Department of Labor AP
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.,
author of the twin amendments.
“Where is fairness in this bill?”
By another 59-40 tally, the Senate
defeated a Democratic proposal to re
quire that credit card statements
show how long it would take the con
sumer to pay off his or her debt by
making only the minimum monthly
payment and what the total interest
charges would be.
It was the second day of defeat
for Democratic amendments to
the sweeping bill to overhaul the
bankruptcy code. On Tliesday, the
Senate accepted a more limited
GOP provision that would give a
break to active-duty military per
sonnel and some veterans who file
for bankruptcy.
As work on the legislation grinds
on in the Senate, Kennedy will try to
get an increase in the minimum wage
— a top priority of the Democrats —
attached to the bill, aides said.
Kennedy’s proposal would lift the
hourly minimum from $5.15 to
$7.25 over two years.
The bankruptcy overhaul bill
would raise the threshold for
dissolving credit card and other
consumer debts in bankruptcy
court. Supporters are predicting a
swift victory after nearly eight years
of congressional gridlock and fever
ish lobbying by banks and other
credit-card issuers.
The new “means” test in the leg
islation is intended to determine
whether those seeking bankruptcy
protection must repay their debts or
are allowed to have them canceled.
Under the current system, bank
ruptcy judges have the discretion to
decide that.
The Republican leadership main
tained tight discipline, as Sen. Orrin
Hatch, R-Utah, warned against “killer
amendments” that could jeopardize
the bill’s acceptance by the House.
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