Charleston Daily Mail

Mccain in Fight to Keep Arizona Seat

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. - A serious re-election fight wasn't what Republican John McCain expected when he returned to the Senate after losing the presidency. But the four-term senator is battling for his political life in a race that embodies the volatility of an unpredictable election year. He's facing former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, a fellow Republican pushing him farther to the right as GOP voters demand conservative purity in their candidates and punish those with ties to the Washington establ...

Summer Kicks Off with Movies at Magic Island

Magic Island Family Movie Night is in full swing for the month of June, with a free movie each Wednesday. Families are encouraged to bring picnics and blankets to Magic Island starting at 7 p.m., when inflatable toys and games will be set up. Movies start at dusk and are projected on a giant screen.

Officials in Line for Nice Raises

WEIRTON - Three of Weirton's highest-ranking employees could see their maximum salaries increase by about 20 percent or more if Weirton City Council gives its approval tonight. City Manager Gary DuFour, Police Chief Bruce Marshall and Fire Chief Dave Lashhorn each would receive additional pay over and above the 3 percent across-the-board increase for all city employees that council OK'd in March. The increases would take effect July1.

Special Olympics Athletes Compete: ; Nearly 2,000 Took Part in Fifth Consecutive Games in Charleston; Participants Range in Age From 8 to 70

With nearly 2,000 athletes from 30 counties taking part in this weekend's Special Olympics Summer Games, it took just as many, if not more, volunteers to make sure the events went off without a hitch - close to 2,200. Some of those volunteers were from the state's National Guard, the local community and the county delegations.

British Official Refuses to Rule Out Tax Hike

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron is refusing to rule out an increase in sales tax in his emergency budget this month in order to tackle the record budget deficit. "We want expenditure to bear the burden of what needs to be done," Cameron told the Sunday Times in an interview published Sunday, when asked whether he would refuse to raise value-added tax, currently levied at a rate of 17.5 percent.

N.J. Men Arrested for Terror Plot: ; Officials Say Two Had Plan to Seek Terrorist Training in Somalia

ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. - Two New Jersey men who envisioned a terrorist attack in the U.S. with a body count twice that of the Fort Hood massacre were arrested at a gate New York's Kennedy Airport as they were about to board flights on their way to Somalia to seek terror training from al-Qaida-affiliated jihadists, officials said. Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 26, were arrested Saturday before they could board separate flights to Egypt and then continue on to Somalia, fed...

Cap Offers Hope As Oil Spews: ; Container Is Believed to Be Capturing About Half the Amount Leaking Into the Gulf Daily

NEW ORLEANS - A device sucking some of the oil from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico offered a bright spot Sunday for a region that has seen its wildlife coated in a lethal muck, its fishermen idled and its beaches tarnished by the nation's worst oil spill. The containment cap placed on the gusher near the sea floor trapped about 441,000 gallons of oil Saturday, BP spokesman Mark Proegler said Sunday, up from around 250,000 gallons of oil Friday. It's not clear how much is still escapin...

North Korea Makes Threat for Un Move

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea threatened Sunday to retaliate against South Korea for taking it to the U.N. Security Council over the deadly sinking of a warship, calling the action an "intolerable provocation." South Korea officially asked the U.N. Security Council on Friday to punish North Korea, accusing its nuclear-armed communist neighbor of blowing apart one of its warships with a torpedo, killing 46 sailors. It was the first time Seoul has taken Pyongyang to the Security Council for ...

Fatal Storms Sweep Midwest

MILLBURY, Ohio - A tornado unleashed a "war zone" of destruction in northwest Ohio, destroying dozens of homes and an emergency services building as a line of storms killed at least seven people and threatened to do more damage Sunday as it hit the Northeast. Storms collapsed a movie-theater roof in Illinois and ripped siding off a building at a Michigan nuclear plant, forcing a shutdown. But most of the worst was reserved for a 100-yard-wide, 7- mile-long strip southeast of Toledo now litter...

Weather Almanac

Yesterday's high 79 Record high 97, 1932

Regional Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Akron, Ohio 72 47 PCldy

National Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Anchorage 62 46 Clr

Nation & World

Stray black bear closes Calif. road

State Doing Well Amid Slow Recovery: ; Study Finds W.Va. Has Largely Avoided; Tax, Salary Cuts

West Virginia continues to hold its own as most other states head toward what experts see as their toughest budget year yet in the wake of the Great Recession. The latest Fiscal Survey of States reports that unprecedented declines in tax revenues have contributed to ballooning budget deficit threats.

Australia Launches Investigation of Google

SYDNEY - Australia announced a police investigation Sunday into whether Google illegally collected private information from wireless networks, becoming at least the second country to probe the Internet giant's "Street View" mapping service. The Australian criminal investigation comes as more regulators and consumers watchdogs around the world are complaining that Google doesn't take people's privacy seriously enough. Google maintains that its users' privacy is one of the company's highest pri...

Bar Codes Get More Sophisticated

SAN FRANCISCO - It used to be that the only time you'd notice a bar code was at a store, maybe when a cashier scanned your groceries. But lately bar codes are showing up in more places around town - and getting more sophisticated. You might have seen one cousin of the traditional bar code: Known as a QR code, this jumble of little squares randomly arranged within a larger square is popping up on everything from bus stop billboards to restaurant windows. If you spot one and snap it with your c...

Hearing On Power Company's Rate Hike Today

A public hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. today in Charleston on a request by Appalachian Power to raise rates by 7.4 percent. If the state Public Service Commission approves it, a typical residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month would see their monthly bill increase from $80.47 to $86.44.

Smart Money: ; Divorce, Not Separation, Keeps Marital Assets Apart

DEAR BRUCE: My wife and I separated, but are still not divorced. I am buying her share of the house from her. The house is in my name alone. If something were to happen to me, would she be able to claim any or all of the house? I already removed her from my will. Reader

Bp has Paid $48 Million in Gulf Coast Oil Claims

PENSACOLA, Fla. - An official for BP PLC says the oil giant has paid 18,000 claims along the Gulf Coast totaling more than $48 million. Darryl Willis is the BP vice president overseeing the claims process. He said Sunday in Florida's Escambia County that the company has received 37,000 claims so far.

Porn Actor Sought for Fatal Attack Falls to Death in Calif.

LOS ANGELES - Surrounded by a SWAT team on a rocky cliff, a porn actor suspected of killing a colleague last week moved to the edge of the outcropping and fell some 40 feet to his death, ending a dramatic, daylong standoff with police outside Los Angeles. Video of the apparent suicide captured by news cameras Saturday shows Stephen Clancy Hill in Chatsworth, talking to police negotiators, with a crowd of media watching. Hill tumbled down the hillside after scooting to the ledge from a seated ...