NEW YORK – American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen announced yesterday she'll step down in October after leading the group for nearly two decades.
Strossen, 57, is the organization's longest-serving president and the first woman to hold the job. She is halfway through her latest three-year term, but Strossen said she thought the national advocacy group could benefit from fresh leadership. The ACLU's governing board is to elect a successor in the fall.
Associated Press
Space station gets
2 tons of supplies
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A Russian supply ship docked to the international space station yesterday, delivering more than 2 tons of food, water, equipment and scientific experiments.
The three men aboard the space station monitored everything from inside. Russian and U.S. space officials said the docking went smoothly. The unpiloted Progress cargo ship blasted off from Kazakhstan two days earlier.
The shuttle Discovery will lift off May 31 with a massive laboratory built in Japan.
Associated Press
Virginia's Wilder
to retire as mayor
RICHMOND, Va. – L. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, announced yesterday he wouldn't seek re-election as Richmond's mayor, likely bringing his storied political career to a close.
The 77-year-old grandson of slaves announced his plans to retire during a meeting with Richmond city department directors, then issued a news release. He didn't disclose his future plans.
Wilder was elected mayor in 2004, a decade after he left the governor's office.
Associated Press
Takeoff, landing
auctions opposed
NEW YORK – Slots for taking off and landing at New York-area airports will be auctioned to increase competition and reduce air travel delays that ripple through the country, the federal Transportation Department said yesterday.
Airlines quickly opposed the planned auctions, calling them an experiment with dubious legal authority that will raise prices for passengers while doing nothing to ease air congestion.
Cox News Service
Small quake jars
town in Alabama
COFFEEVILLE, Ala. – The southwest Alabama town of Coffeeville was shaken yesterday afternoon by a small earthquake.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 3.1-magnitude quake struck about 1:39 p.m. in the rural area about 75 miles north of Mobile. There are no reports of injuries or significant damage.
Associated Press
Flight worker held
after fire on plane
FARGO, N.D. – A flight attendant angry about his work route smuggled a lighter aboard an airplane and set a fire in a bathroom, forcing an emergency landing, authorities said.
The Compass Airlines flight carrying 72 passengers and four crew members landed safely in Fargo on May 7 after smoke filled the back. No injuries were reported. The plane was flying from Minneapolis to Regina, Saskatchewan, authorities said.
Eder Rojas, 19, appeared in court Thursday, after his arrest a day earlier in Minneapolis, and was ordered held without bail, prosecutors said.
Associated Press
