Charleston Daily Mail

Recommended College Vaccines Could Run $1,000,: ; Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Recommends Seven Shots

Students headed off for their first year of college might have more to worry about than fitting furniture in a dorm room or buying the right books. Some colleges and universities are requiring students to get certain vaccinations before classes start, and health officials in West Virginia advise - regardless of a school's requirements - that all incoming college freshmen should consider multiple immunizations, some that are fairly new and controversial.

Man Says He Got Band-Aid in His Biscuit

Joining his wife and friends for their usual breakfast outing at the McDonald's in Elkview, Arden Carte unwrapped his plain biscuit, cut it in half and smothered each piece with jelly. According to a suit filed in Kanawha Circuit Court, Carte then sank his teeth into it and felt something foreign in his mouth: a blood-stained Band-Aid.

Trip Shows Capito Progress, Challenges of Soldiers in Iraq

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has just returned from an unpublicized trip to Iraq and Kuwait. Though Capito, R-W.Va., had to tread around mostly in full military armor in 116-degree heat, she said the visit helped reinforce her confidence in U.S. efforts there.

Investigator Gets 5 Years for Forging Inmate Papers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A former private investigator who admitted forging documents to try to save the lives of four death row inmates was sentenced to five years in state prison. Kathleen Culhane, 40, admitted Thursday that she made up statements from real witnesses and jurors and forged their signatures to try to stop the executions. The fake statements were turned over to attorneys and filed with the courts and governor's office as they considered whether to commute the men's death sentences.

Ex-Nasa Worker Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

ORLANDO, Fla. - A former NASA employee pleaded guilty in federal court to fraudulently charging more than $150,000 to the agency for personal purchases, including a bed, artwork and an air conditioner. Elizabeth Ann Osborne, 52, pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling $157,384.21 from NASA, where she worked for 31 years, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Teen Re-Sentenced for Killing Boy with Bat

LANCASTER, Calif. - A 15-year-old boy who killed another teen with a baseball bat two years ago will spend up to 11 years in custody, a juvenile court judge ruled, though the charges were reduced earlier this year. The boy, who was not named because of his age, was 13 when he struck 15-year-old Jeremy Rourke on the knee and again on the head after an April 12, 2005, Pony League game in Palmdale, a suburb 40 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Mercer Man Among 5 Killed in Iraq During Test Flight

A Mercer County man was among five U.S. service members killed when their helicopter crashed during a routine post-maintenance test flight in Iraq, the Department of Defense said. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed near Taqaddum air base on Tuesday. Among the victims was Staff Sgt. Stanley B. Reynolds, 37, of Lashmeet.

Rainelle Project to Seek Extension, Company Seeks to Build $215 Million Power Plant in Greenbrier County

The company that plans to build a $215 million power plant in Rainelle is expected to seek an extension of its financing later this month, said David Warner, executive director of the West Virginia Economic Development Authority. For years, Western Greenbrier Co-Generation Limited Liability Co. has been planning to build a 90-megawatt power plant that would burn coal waste. The company even held a job fair in 2005. Project financing includes a $3 million loan from a consortium of banks led by...

Couple Arrested in Protest to Get $80,000

The federal government has agreed to pay $80,000 to a Texas couple arrested and charged with trespassing in 2004 after they refused to cover up homemade T-shirts with anti-Bush slogans. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Nicole and Jeffery Rank of Corpus Christi, Texas, announced the settlement on Thursday.

National Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Akron 74 55 PCldy

Weather,: ; Forecasts

Tonight Mostly clear and cooler with lows in the mid 50s.

Weather,: ; Temps

Hi Lo Otlk Anchorage 67 52 PCldy

Survivor Excited to Return to Virginia Tech

RICHMOND, Va. - Colin Goddard does not know how he will feel when he returns to Virginia Tech and meets other victims of the April 16 massacre. He does not know how he will react when he steps into a classroom on Monday. But as he stands in his parents' driveway, scrubbing the little car he'll soon fill with clean clothes, frozen pizzas and supplies, he knows he's not afraid to return to the Blacksburg campus where he was shot four times.

Little Remains in Quake Area, Death Toll Reaches 510; Survivors Lack Tents, Food, Medicine

LIMA, Peru - The death toll in a massive earthquake that battered Peru's Pacific coast soared to 510 on Thursday as rescue workers struggled to reach scenes of devastation and stunned victims appealed for medical aid, water and coffins. Teams dug beneath the rubble in the cities of Pisco and Ica and the nearby town of Chincha, all situated near the epicenter of the magnitude 8.0 quake south of the capital, Lima. The damage and casualties appeared to be concentrated in those three communities,...

Bush Pal Target of Russian Identity Theft

NEW YORK - A Russian con artist posing as presidential pal Charles J. Wyly Jr. ordered a new checkbook from the Texas billionaire's bank account and wrote a $7 million check for a pile of gold, U.S. authorities said Thursday. Igor Klopov orchestrated the identify theft scheme from his home in Moscow, where he used his computer to mine Web sites for financial data about Wyly and other wealthy Americans, Manhattan prosecutors said. Klopov and four accomplices were charged with stealing $1.5 mil...

Cave-in Kills 3 Rescuers

HUNTINGTON, Utah - The search for six miners missing deep underground was abruptly halted yesterday after a second cave-in killed three rescue workers and injured at least six others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach them. It was a devastating turn for the families of the six men trapped in the Aug. 6 collapse at the Crandall Canyon mine and for the relatives of those trying to rescue them. It's not known if the six are alive.

Nation & World

Indiana woman is world's oldest person SHELBYVILLE, Ind. - A 114-year-old Indiana woman who became the world's oldest person this week celebrated the distinction Thursday with a slice of her favorite cake.

Earthquake Hits Eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful undersea earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on today, the U.S. Geological Survey and local officials said. No tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage. The temblor had a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 and hit 145 miles southeast of Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, said Suhardjono, an official at the Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysics Agency, who goes by only one name.

Police and Courts

Nitro couple charged with domestic battery A Nitro couple faces charges stemming from a physical confrontation they allegedly had while the woman was carrying their 2-week-old infant.

Mitt Romney Campaigns at the W.Va. State Fair

FAIRLEA, W.Va. - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney repeated his pledge to make West Virginia coal key to his national energy plan, and said that commitment would include federal funding for technology to convert coal into liquid fuel. "We will invest as a nation in new sources of energy, including clean coal," Romney said Thursday while walking with a crowd at the State Fair of West Virginia.