LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“He really doesn’t understand fully. He does
understand he will die in a U.S. prison. He understands that.”
Attorney Jon Babineau,
who represented Abdi Mohammed Gurewardher, one of five Somali men convicted on federal piracy charges Article, 3AObama pardons best-strutting turkeys
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama performed an annual presidential rite on Wednesday, pardoning a pair of turkeys on Thanksgiving eve and cracking jokes about the competition that brought them to his famous doorstep.
“For the record, let me say that it feels pretty good to stop at least one shellacking this November,” Obama said in the White House Rose Garden, where he was flanked by daughters Malia and Sasha. A “shellacking” is how Obama described the beating Democrats suffered in elections earlier this month.
Apple and Cider, two 21-week-old, 45-pound turkeys raised on a farm outside Modesto, Calif., were plucked from a group of 25 birds during a competition “that involved strutting their stuff before a panel of judges, with an eclectic mix of music playing in the background,” Obama said, calling it a “turkey version” of Dancing with the Stars.
The president also wished America’s families, including many buffeted by the economic slump, a safe and happy Thanksgiving. He also thanked the men and women of the U.S. military for serving “bravely and selflessly” in places far away from home.
Afterwards, Apple and Cider were driven to the home of George Washington, the nation’s first president, in Mount Vernon, Va.
U.S. sets aside ‘critical’ bear habitat
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is setting aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a “critical habitat” for polar bears.
The total, which includes large areas of sea ice off the Alaska coast, is about 13,000 square miles, or 8.3 million acres, less than in a preliminary plan released last year.
Tom Strickland, assistant interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, said the designation would help polar bears stave off extinction.
Designation of critical habitat does not in itself block economic activity or other development but requires federal officials to consider whether a proposed action would adversely affect the polar bear’s habitat and interfere with its recovery.
Nearly 95 percent of the designated habitat is sea ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska’s northern coast. Polar bears spend most of their lives on the frozen ocean and use it to hunt seals, breed and travel.
Murkowski urges speed in vote suit
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Wednesday called for a rapid resolution to a lawsuit brought by election rival Joe Miller, claiming Alaska will be harmed if she isn’t sworn in Jan. 3.
Attorneys for Murkowski said in a motion to intervene in the lawsuit that her seat will be vacant and Alaska will have only one senator if she’s not seated on time.
Miller sued Monday in Fairbanks Superior Court, claiming that election officials illegally accepted improperly marked write-in ballots that benefited Murkowski.
Miller said a strict interpretation of state law bans any ballot that does not include a candidate’s name as it appears on a declaration of candidacy, or simply the last name of the candidate.
Alaska elections officials have accepted minor misspellings on write-in ballots. Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell on Tuesday called Miller’s claims baseless and said state courts have erred on the side of enfranchising voters when their intent is clear.
Miller defeated Murkowski in the August GOP primary. The incumbent mounted a write-in campaign.
She holds a 10,328-vote lead over Miller, a total that includes 8,159 ballots contested by Miller observers.
Probe likely to delay shuttle again
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is looking at another launch delay for space shuttle Discovery that could push the mission into Christmas.
Mission managers were meeting Wednesday to review repairs made to Discovery since a Nov. 5 launch attempt. Hydrogen gas leaks halted the countdown. Unrelated cracks later were found on the fuel tank.
NASA wants to understand the cracking before launching Discovery to the International Space Station one last time. The space agency had been working toward a Dec. 3 liftoff for the 11-day mission. But that’s no longer feasible.
Discovery’s next launch window opens Dec. 17, after a new station crew lifts off from Kazakhstan. If the shuttle isn’t flying by year’s end, it will remain grounded until February.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 11/25/2010