NEW YORK
Navy assault ship ready for service
NEW YORK - The USS New York, built with steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center, was put into service yesterday as a symbol of healing and strength. “No matter how many times you attack us, we always come back,’’ Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said at the amphibious assault ship’s commissioning. He spoke on a Manhattan pier where hundreds of Navy officers and sailors joined first responders and families of Sept. 11 victims.
MINNESOTA Teen who fled state declared cancer-free
MINNEAPOLIS - A teen who fled Minnesota to avoid chemotherapy finished his cancer treatment. Daniel Hauser, 13, of Sleepy Eye, underwent his final radiation session Friday, and his family says he is cancer-free. Daniel stopped treatment after one session in February and fled, citing religious beliefs. After he returned, he underwent court-ordered chemo for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, then started radiation therapy. A judge has asked for reports from Brown County Family Services and Daniel’s doctor. If everything looks good, the case could be closed.
CALIFORNIA Contest encourages elevator to space
LOS ANGELES - A Seattle team collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop an elevator to space, an idea spurred by science fiction. The robotic machine raced up more than 2,950 feet of cable danged from a helicopter. Powered by a laser pointed at photo voltaic cells, the LaserMotive machine completed a climb in about 3 minutes, 48 seconds. The contest encourages development of a theory popularized by Arthur C. Clarke’s 1979 novel “The Fountains of Paradise.’’
ALABAMA Poor county holds civil rights holiday
MARION - A small, rural county is in the midst of a five-day celebration that concludes tomorrow with an official holiday marking the election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first black president. Perry County employees will get a paid holiday tomorrow as government offices close. Events included a civil rights rally and march, a carnival, and a parade through Marion.
