Charleston Daily Mail

Post Office Celebrates 100 Years: ; London Fixture Is Gathering Place Where Residents Catch Up On Local Happenings

DAILY MAIL STAFF LONDON - A red, white and blue mobile home by the side of U.S. 60 may not look like a center of activity to passersby, but residents of this unincorporated area know otherwise.

Cato Pool Draws Big Holiday Crowd

DAILY MAIL STAFF So many people went to Cato Park swimming pool on Memorial Day, it's a wonder there was any water left in it.

Summer Events Make for 'a Heck of a Time' in City, Mayor Says

DAILY MAIL STAFF Forget going on vacation.

Officer 'Busted Up' in Fall: ; Charleston Patrolman Falls Through Ceiling, Breaks Both Arms, Gashes Face

DAILY MAIL STAFF A Charleston police officer today was recovering from surgery after suffering several broken bones when he fell through a grocery store ceiling while investigating a possible break-in.

Fewer Students On Road Crews: ; State Trimmed Program As Interest in Jobs Waned

DAILY MAIL CAPITOL REPORTER Students looking for summer jobs are shying away from the sometimes-grueling work with state road crews that once was considered a boon for teenagers hungry for paychecks.

Hot Weather Hits Early

Woman Gets 1 Year Probation for Sex with Minor

BECKLEY - A 30-year-old Raleigh County woman will spend one year on probation after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old boy. Tonya Jean Dickens pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of third- degree sexual abuse. She had been indicted on two counts of third- degree sexual assault.

Recommendations Made for Mine Safety

West Virginia underground coal mines need larger caches of emergency air packs, shelter chambers capable of keeping miners alive for at least two days, and extra two-way communication and tracking equipment, a state mine safety task force has concluded. Most of the recommendations are similar to requirements of a state law that West Virginia lawmakers passed after 14 miners died in accidents this past January. But the recommendations, which were issued in a report Tuesday, offer more specific...

Neb. Judge Asked to Resign for Short Sex Offender Ruling

LINCOLN, Neb. - A petition drive is calling for the resignation of the judge who sentenced a sex offender to probation instead of prison in part because of his short stature. The campaign is aimed at Cheyenne County District Judge Kristine Cecava, who last week sentenced Richard W. Thompson to 10 years' intensive probation instead of prison on two felony child sexual assault charges. Cecava said at the sentencing hearing that she did not believe the 5-foot, 1-inch Thompson could survive in pr...

Query Finds False Reports Were Made

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military investigation of how Marine commanders handled the reporting of events in the Iraqi town of Haditha last November, where troops allegedly killed 24 Iraqi civilians, will conclude that some officers gave false information to their superiors, who then failed to adequately scrutinize reports that should have caught their attention, an Army official said. The three-month probe, led by Army Maj. Gen. Eldon Bargewell, also is expected to call for changes in how U.S. t...

Man Busted After Angry Girlfriends Out Him As Fake U.S. Marshal

NEW YORK - To some, Richard Kudlik possessed the macho allure of a deputy U.S. marshal on a manhunt. They say he had the badge, raid jacket, flashing lights on his Dodge pickup truck, even a gun. But the real U.S. marshals - and a chorus of angry women - say Kudlik was only acting.

Troops to Get Training in Values: ; General Says Most of the Soldiers in Iraq 'Do Right Even When No One Is Watching'

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The top U.S. general in Iraq today ordered American commanders to conduct core values training on moral and ethical standards on the battlefield. The order from Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, came as the U.S. military investigated whether U.S. Marines intentionally killed unarmed civilians in the town of Haditha on Nov. 19.

Families Find Identities of Comatose Woman, Dead Crash Victim Mixed Up

CALEDONIA, Mich. - The casket was closed for Whitney Cerak's funeral more than a month ago. Her mother, Colleen, declined to look at the body, battered as it was in a collision between a van and a tractor-trailer. "They wanted to remember her the way she was," said Cerak's grandfather, Emil Frank.

Forecasts

Tonight Rain and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63.

Regional Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Akron 73 57 PCldy

National Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Anchorage 67 44 PCldy

Nation & World

North Korea invites U.S. nuclear envoy for talks

Byrd Senate Speech: ; Byrd Says Erma Gave Him a Monthly Allowance

* Editor's Note: May 29 would have been the 69th wedding anniversary of Sen. Robert C. and Erma Byrd. On the Senate floor recently, he rose and spoke about his wife, who died March 25. On Saturday, May 29, 1937, I was working in the meat shop at the Koppers Store in Stotesbury, West Virginia. At 5 p.m., I closed up my department, went home, put on my best suit - actually my only suit - and headed off to the house of the local hardshell Baptist preacher, U. G. Nichols, in the little town of So...

New Orleans Mayor Beginning Second Term

NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin, who urged voters not to change leaders before the hurricane season, starts his second term just as the season begins. His inauguration today comes less than two weeks after he defeated Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and on the first day of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season.

Delegates Back Marshall Man for Speaker Post

When he announced he was leaving the Legislature after this year, House Speaker Bob Kiss asked delegates to hold off the debate over his successor until after the November elections. That hasn't happened. The Raleigh County Democrat's leadership team - party members on the House Rules Committee - has unanimously endorsed Majority Whip Scott Varner for the post, Varner, D-Marshall, said Wednesday.