Charleston Daily Mail

A House Divided: ; While Kiss Spent More Time in Charleston Than Raleigh County in a 2- Year Period, He Says Beckley Is His Main Residence

DAILY MAIL CAPITOL REPORTER The decision by House Speaker Bob Kiss, D-Raleigh, to end his tenure in the Legislature has not put an end to criticism that he might be thwarting state policy by spending too much time in the capital city.

Fan Holds On for One Last Game: ; Once On Steelers Taxi Squad, Man Now in Last Stages of Disease

DAILY MAIL STAFF Ken Abel's last wish is to live long enough to watch his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers play in this weekend's Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks.

Plane Crashes Near U.S. 35, Killing One

DAILY MAIL STAFF A single-engine plane crashed about eight miles from Henderson, resulting in a death, a Mason County 911 dispatcher said today.

Officials Hope Bush Tackles Mine Safety

DAILY MAIL STAFF West Virginia's congressional delegation is urging President Bush to tackle mine safety in his fifth State of the Union Address tonight.

Aep Planning W.Va. To N.J. Power Line: ; 'Project Mountaineer' Would Stretch 550 Miles From John Amos Plant

DAILY MAIL BUSINESS EDITOR American Electric Power today announced plans to build a $3 billion, 550-mile transmission line from its John Amos Power Plant near Winfield to New Jersey.

Coretta Scott King: ; 1927 - 2006; First Lady of Civil Rights, Coretta King, Dies; Widow of Martin Luther King Jr. Worked to Keep Legacy Alive

ATLANTA - Coretta Scott King, who turned a life shattered by her husband's assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died. She was 78. Flags at the King Center were lowered to half-staff this morning.

Uc President Says Trip to China Beneficial: ; Official Spent Two Weeks Visiting Schools, Meeting Prospective Students; for Exchange Program

DAILY MAIL STAFF University of Charleston President Ed Welch, a well-known travel buff, spent much of December in China, but it was more a business than pleasure trip.

Girl Named Top 'Kid Chef' for Spam Creation

Herriman, Utah - Being just 10 years old, Cynthia Coombs had never heard of SPAM - at least not from a can - until her cousin suggested they enter a cooking contest. "I thought it was Vienna sausage or something," Coombs said of the iconic spiced ham in a blue can.

Forecasts

Tonight Gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 29.

Regional Weather

Akron 45 27 Cldy Charlotte 57 30 Clr

National Weather

Anchorage 10 4 Clr Baltimore 48 28 Clr

Bush Aims to Regain Confidence: ; Speech Will Focus On Domestic Agenda, Easing Americans' Fears

WASHINGTON - President Bush is delivering his fifth State of the Union address today after arguably the worst year of his presidency, looking to reinvigorate confidence in his leadership and the U.S. role in the world. The speech gives the president an opportunity to lay out his agenda in this midterm election year directly to Congress and the American people. He will try to ease anxiety about continuing U.S. troop deaths in Iraq and the high price of fuel and health care that are dampening A...

Grandparents' Love Story Named Top Cell Phone Movie

ITHACA, N.Y. - A film starring a student's grandparents was named the winner of a college's contest for 30-second movies shot entirely on cell phones. Ithaca College junior Mike Potter, from Broomfield, Colo., won the $5,000 grand prize in the first CellFlix Festival on Monday, said Dianne Lynch, dean of Ithaca's communications school, which sponsored the contest.

Nation & World

Dog rescued from shelter wins national competition

Former Postal Worker Kills Six: ; Authorities Believe Woman Killed Herself; After Opening Fire Inside Calif. Facility

GOLETA, Calif. - A female ex-postal worker opened fire at a mail processing plant, killing six people and critically wounding another before committing suicide, authorities said early Tuesday. Deputies responding to a call of shots fired about 9:15 p.m. Monday found two people dead outside the plant.

Agency Says W.Va. Farmers Raising More Cattle and Sheep

More cattle, sheep and lambs are populating West Virginia farms, the state Department of Agriculture announced. There were 410,000 cattle in the state on Jan. 1, up 1 percent from the same time last year, according to the agency's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Conversations Conference Set for This Weekend

National and international speaker Richard Lavoie of Cape Cod will be the keynote speaker at the 2006 Conversations conference Saturday at the Charleston Civic Center. The conference is organized by the Kanawha County Schools' Parents/Educator Resource Center.

Graham Sues Wise, Other Ex-Officials: ; Suit Says Probe Was Retaliation for His Report On Misconduct

A day before he was indicted last week on federal charges, Bob Graham filed a lawsuit against former Gov. Bob Wise and two other top state officials, alleging they targeted him because he exposed misconduct. In the suit, the Wyoming County Council on Aging executive director said Wise and former state Bureau of Senior Services Commissioner Ann Stottlemyer launched a state investigation against him because he revealed wrongdoing in a statewide program and criticized Stottlemyer's former employ...

Eleven Will Vie for School Board Seats: ; Kanawha Officials Trying to Speed Up the Process of Hiring Substitute Teachers

DAILY MAIL STAFF In Kanawha County, 11 candidates will be seeking election to the school board May 9, including incumbents Becky Jordon, Bill Raglin, Barbara Welch and Pete Thaw.

Delegation to Offer Federal Mine Bill: ; Proposals Similar to State Law Manchin Pushed; Through Legislature in One Day and Signed Last Week

West Virginia's congressional delegation, responding to the deaths of 14 coal miners in the state in less than a month, plans to introduce federal mine safety legislation this week aimed at preventing future disasters. "Another mine accident could happen today. It could happen tomorrow. We cannot afford to sit and wait for the safety problems to fix themselves. We have a moral obligation to get this done," U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said.