Links to the News

Lincoln Journal Star, December 30, 2006 Newseum Image

December 30, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Nebraska newspaper, the Lincoln Journal Star:

Saddam Hussein dies on the gallows

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
(The Associated Press)

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein, the shotgun-waving dictator who ruled Iraq with a remorseless brutality for a quarter-century and was driven from power by a U.S.-led war that left his country in shambles, was taken to the gallows and executed Saturday.

It was a grim end for the 69-year-old leader who had vexed three U.S. presidents. Despite his ouster, Washington, its allies and the new Iraqi leaders remain mired in a fight to quell a stubborn insurgency by Saddam loyalists and a vicious sectarian conflict.
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Hartford Courant, December 30, 2006 Newseum Image

December 30, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Hartford Courant:  

Grim Era Ends
After Hussein Execution, Iraq's Future An Enigma

By SUDARSAN RAGHAVAN
(Washington Post)

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hanged shortly before dawn today for crimes against humanity in the mass murder of Shiite men and boys in the 1980s. He was sent to the gallows by a government backed by the U.S. and led by Shiite Muslims who had been oppressed during his rule.

In the early morning, Hussein, 69, was escorted from his U.S. military prison cell at Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad airport, and handed over to Iraqi officials. He was executed on the day Sunni Muslims, of which Hussein was a member, celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.
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The Honolulu Advertiser, December 30, 2006 Newseum Image

December 30, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Honolulu Advertiser:

Saddam Hussein executed

BY CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
(The Associated Press)

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In the end, Saddam Hussein died at the hands of those he brutalized during a bloody regime that led Iraq into two disastrous wars with the United States and left the country and its people in utter chaos.

The 69-year-old former dictator, clutching a Quran, struggled as he was taken from his cell but regained his composure as he was being led to the execution room wearing a black hat, jacket and trousers. He refused to have a hood placed over his head when executed before dawn for crimes against humanity.
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New York Daily News, December 29, 2006 Newseum Image

December 29, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the New York Daily News:

Still rocking 'em at his final show
 
By AUSTIN FENNER, ADAM NICHOLS and NICOLE BODE

In a celebration truly befitting the Godfather of Soul, thousands of fans danced, sang and lined the streets of Harlem yesterday in a rousing homecoming for James Brown.

Chanting Brown's black power anthem "Say it Loud! I'm Black and I'm Proud," and carrying signs depicting the soul legend's half-century of boundary-breaking performances, people lined up for hours along 125th St. for a chance to view Brown's casket at the Apollo Theater -- his spiritual home and the place that launched him to superstardom.

"His music does something to your soul," said Marian Pressley, 53, a retired nurse from midtown. "Every time, you got to move. That's why I had to be here."

She waited on line from 4 a.m. until she entered the Apollo at 2:30 p.m.

Brown's 24-karat-gold casket was ferried to the Apollo by pair of white horses leading a white-and-gold carriage on a 20-block trip down Malcolm X Blvd. to 125th St. Pallbearers carried it inside the famed theater, where Brown first set the stage aflame in 1956, fulfilling the final wish of one of America's musical giants.
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The Detroit News, December 28, 2006 Newseum Image

December 28, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Detroit News:

Graceful leader

By RICHARD A. RYAN

WASHINGTON -- Gerald R. Ford was president for 895 days. But he will be remembered for two things: his grace as he helped calm a nation rocked by scandal, and his pardoning of Richard Nixon.

America loved him for the first. It never quite forgave him for the second.

Ford, whose quiet self-confidence and reputation for honesty helped lift the nation from its worst constitutional crisis in more than a century, died Tuesday at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.

Although Ford was born in Nebraska, Michigan claimed him: The only Michiganian to serve in the White House, he is expected to be buried Wednesday on the grounds of the presidential museum in his beloved Grand Rapids, which he represented in Congress from 1949-73.
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The New York Times, December 27, 2006 Newseum Image

December 27, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The New York Times:

Gerald Ford, 38th President, Dies at 93

By JAMES M. NAUGHTON and ADAM CLYMER

Former President Gerald R. Ford, who was thrust into the presidency in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal but who lost his own bid for election after pardoning President Richard M. Nixon, has died, according to a statement issued late last night by his wife, Betty Ford.

He was 93, making him the longest living former president, surpassing Ronald Reagan, who died in 2004, by just over a month.

The statement did not give a cause, place or time of death, but Mr. Ford, the 38th president, had been in and out of the hospital since January 2006 when he suffered pneumonia, most recently in October at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for medical tests. He returned to his home in Rancho Mirage after five days of hospitalization.

"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age," Mrs. Ford said in a statement issued from her husband's office in Rancho Mirage, also the location of the Betty Ford Center. "His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."

President Bush praised Mr. Ford for his contributions to the nation "in an hour of national turmoil and division," in a statement released early today from his ranch in Texas.

"With his quiet integrity, common sense, and kind instincts, President Ford helped heal our land and restore public confidence in the presidency," Mr. Bush said. "The American people will always admire Gerald Ford's devotion to duty, his personal character, and the honorable conduct of his administration."

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The Washington Post, December 27, 2006 Newseum Image

December 27, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The
Washington Post:

Gerald R. Ford, 93, Dies; Led in Watergate's Wake

By J.Y. SMITH and LOU CANNON

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., 93, who became the 38th president of the United States as a result of some of the most extraordinary events in U.S. history and sought to restore the nation's confidence in the basic institutions of government, has died. His wife, Betty, reported the death in a statement last night.

"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age," Betty Ford said in a brief statement issued from her husband's office in Rancho Mirage, Calif. "His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."

Ford died at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday (PST) at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, the Associated Press reported. No cause of death was given. Ford had battled pneumonia in January and underwent two heart treatments -- including an angioplasty -- in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

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The Grand Rapids Press, December 27, 2006 Image from newspaper's Web site

December 27, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Grand Rapids Press:

Former President Gerald Ford dies at 93

By PAT SHELLENBARGER

Gerald R. Ford, Grand Rapids' favorite son who restored dignity to the White House and helped heal the wounds of Watergate and Vietnam, has died at the age of 93.

His death was announced late Tuesday by his wife, Betty.

"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away... ," Mrs. Ford said in a brief statement issued from her husband's office in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

"His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."

The statement did not say where Ford died or list a cause of death. Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments -- including an angioplasty -- in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He was the longest-living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

Ford, who represented the Grand Rapids area in Congress for 26 years, is to be buried on the west bank of the Grand River next to the museum built in his honor. Specific funeral and burial plans had not yet been announced. 
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Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2006 Newseum Image

December 27, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Los Angeles Times:

Gerald Ford dies at 93
Sworn in after Nixon resigned, new president helped nation recover

By ROBERT L. JACKSON

Gerald R. Ford, who as the 38th president of the United States helped restore the nation's political stability after the trauma of the Watergate scandal, has died, his widow, Betty, announced Tuesday night.

"My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, has passed away at 93 years of age," the former first lady said in a brief statement issued from her husband's office in Rancho Mirage. "His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."

He died at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage. No cause of death was released.
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The Augusta Chronicle, December 26, 2006 Newseum Image

December 26, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Augusta Chronicle:

James Brown 1933-2006

By DONNIE FETTER and BILL KIRBY

The Godfather of Soul is gone.

James Brown, the world renowned musical celebrity who never forgot his hometown of Augusta, died unexpectedly Christmas morning in an Atlanta hospital. He was 73.

....Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side.

"People already know his history, but I would like for them to know he was a man who preached love from the stage," Mr. Bobbit said. 
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 26, 2006 Newseum Image

December 26, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

JAMES BROWN: 1933-2006
An American voice, a worldwide star

By BO EMERSON

When James Brown sat for sculptor John Savage, Savage knew what sort of statue he wanted to create: a serious, classic, life-size bronze that would occupy a place of honor in Brown's hometown of Augusta.

"Like any classic sculpture, there would be no smile on the face," said Savage.

Brown hated the idea.

"Asking him to sit there and look serious, he absolutely looked like he was going to jump out of his skin, posing like that," said Savage. "He told me that he was all about happiness and joy. He was a smiling man, and he wanted a smile on his face."

There was joy in Augusta on May 6, 2005, when the statue was unveiled at a downtown park very near the street that had been renamed James Brown Boulevard. Thousands lined the streets for a dedication that was a love fest between the town and its most famous son.

On the face of the 600-pound bronze: a smile as big as day. Even bigger, and more blinding, was the smile on the guest of honor, James Brown, who accepted the accolades from a city that had been slow to celebrate the music legend.

Only the bronze smile remains now. James Brown, 73, died Monday of congestive heart failure.
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The New York Times, December 26, 2006 Newseum Image

December 26, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The New York Times:

Frank Stanton, Broadcasting Pioneer, Dies at 98

By HOLCOMB B. NOBLE

Frank Stanton, a central figure in the development of television broadcasting in the United States and the industry’s most articulate and persuasive spokesman during his nearly three decades as president of CBS, died Sunday afternoon at his home in Boston, a longtime friend, Elizabeth Allison, said.

He was 98 and had been in declining health, she said.

Dr. Stanton was the right-hand man of William S. Paley, the tycoon who built the Columbia Broadcasting System empire from a handful of struggling radio stations in 1928.

From 1946 to 1973, they operated as probably the greatest team in the history of broadcasting, making CBS, for a time, the most powerful communications company in the world, and the most prestigious. It was under Dr. Stanton and Mr. Paley that CBS, mixing entertainment programming with high-quality journalism and dashes of high culture, earned its reputation as the Tiffany Network.
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The Denver Post, December 22, 2006 Newseum Image

December 22, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Denver Post:

Stuck travelers fear a Christmas passed

By KELLY YAMONOUCHI 

As many as 100,000 travelers may not make it home in time for the holidays.

Nearly half a million travelers were scheduled to fly into or out of Denver International Airport on Wednesday, Thursday and today.

The midweek blizzard that closed DIA disrupted the travel plans of nearly 300,000 of them.

United Airlines has canceled more than 2,000 flights. Frontier Airlines canceled about 550 flights Wednesday and Thursday, with another 109 canceled this morning.

Even with DIA scheduled to open today, it will take days to reschedule displaced passengers on planes that were nearly sold out before the storm. Frontier flights leaving Saturday and Sunday, for example, were booked 90 percent full or more. Spokesman Joe Hodas said those planes will now fly at 100 percent capacity.

"It's awful," said Maday Carter, who lives in Lakewood and was scheduled for a flight departing Thursday morning. "I'm totally stranded."
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The Gazette, December 21, 2006 Newseum Image

December 21, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Colorado Springs newspaper, The Gazette:   

Blizzard shuts down the city, strands travelers

By ANTHONY LANE and R. SCOTT RAPPOLD

Colorado Springs came to a stop Wednesday. Travel stopped, work stopped, classes stopped, planes stopped.

Everything stopped except the snow and wind. And they won't stop until later today, forecasters said.

An unrelenting blizzard pummeled Colorado, closing Interstate 25 from Wyoming to New Mexico, stranding drivers and airline passengers days before Christmas and shutting schools, businesses and many government offices.
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Newsday, December 20, 2006 Newseum Image

December 20, 2006: An excerpt from a story in Newsday:

Freedom Tower steel beams go up

By EMI ENDO

New York took a step toward restoring its skyline as workers erected the first two white columns of the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero Tuesday.

"The steel rises, the Freedom Tower rises from the ashes of September 11th and the people of New York and the people of America can be proud," said George Pataki, on what was likely his final trip to the World Trade Center site as New York's governor.

With a giant red crane, crews hoisted the first massive steel beam -- bearing the words "Freedom Tower" and a picture of an American flag -- onto the ground as Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a host of other officials looked on from a balcony.

Whistles and applause from the workers in hard hats went up as the column, more than 30 feet tall and weighing nearly 25 tons, was bolted in place.
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Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 19, 2006 Newseum Image

December 19, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Four in family die, generator suspected

By SCOTT GUTIERREZ and AMY ROLPH

BURIEN -- December's vicious windstorm claimed four more victims Monday as family members were found dead inside their Burien home, likely poisoned with fumes from a gas-operated generator in their garage.

A fifth victim was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he was in critical condition from carbon monoxide poisoning, authorities said.

Monday's grim discovery pushed the storm's death toll to 12 -- six from carbon monoxide poisoning, caused by gas-powered generators or charcoal grills that residents fired up inside their homes to stay warm during widespread power outages.
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The Oregonian, December 18, 2006 Newseum Image

December 18, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Oregonian:

Grim news on mountain

By KIMBERLY A.C. WILSON, ERIC MORTENSON and ARTHUR GREGG SULZBERGER

Searchers found a climber's body Sunday in a snow cave near the summit of Mount Hood, nine days after three mountaineers became lost.

Discovered at 3:20 p.m., the body was left overnight on the mountain. The search for the remaining two climbers will resume today, the last day of clear weather expected.

Authorities notified the climbers' families of the dead man's identity Sunday night and planned to release it to the public this morning.

Climbers Brian Hall, 37, of Texas and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of New York, left Kelly James, 48, of Texas in a snow cave near the summit Dec. 9 and went for help during a raging storm. A day later, James made a four-minute cell phone call to his family, telling them he was not faring well. The phone went dead Tuesday.

Mountain rescue groups began their search last Monday but were hampered from going above 8,500 feet by days of high winds and heavy snow. Sunday was the first clear day in a week, allowing two Black Hawk helicopters and a Chinook from the Oregon National Guard's 1042nd Air Ambulance Company to examine the top of Mount Hood and drop rescuers there.
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Al Watan, December 14, 2006 Newseum Image

December 14, 2006:

Page One news from the Damascus, Syria newspaper, Al Watan.



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San Jose Mercury News, December 13, 2006 Newseum Image

December 13, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the San Jose Mercury News:

Frank's fight: An explosion, a plunge into the unknown

By MARK EMMONS  

Who had Frank Sandoval become?

Where was the tough soldier who wouldn't quit?

Michelle Sandoval broke down in tears, her brave front shattered as she tried to describe the man her husband had been before that awful day.

Frankie was someone who never gave up. He wouldn't make excuses and he didn't accept them. He always encouraged their young daughter by saying: I don't want to hear you say, "I can't." Just do it.

Now, she was watching him cry and plead those haunting words: I can't.

Frankie never would have done that before.

It was late January, and they had just arrived at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto. Frank could sit up in his wheelchair for only a few minutes. He couldn't feel or control much of his left side. His speech was nearly unintelligible.

And there was the more obvious evidence of his terrible wound: The right side of his head was sunken like a deflated basketball.

Frank now was a face of the modern war casualty. He had suffered a traumatic brain injury -- the emblematic wound of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. These devastating injuries have forever altered the lives of hundreds of U.S. soldiers and Marines, leaving their futures uncertain.

Like Frank's.
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Anchorage Daily News, December 12, 2006 Newseum Image

December 12, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Anchorage Daily News:

Alaska's Fallen Soldiers

Nearly 3,800 members of the Alaska-based 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team left for Iraq in late summer 2005. It was the largest deployment of Alaska-based soldiers since the Vietnam War.

Over the past three weeks, nearly all of them have returned to Fort Wainwright outside Fairbanks, and Fort Richardson outside Anchorage.

Twenty-six members of the brigade died in Iraq. The fallen soldiers will be honored today with the dedication of a memorial wall at Fort Wainwright, followed by a redeployment ceremony at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.

We're publishing a tribute to all of the members of the brigade who died in Iraq, presented chronologically.
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Las Ultimas Noticias, December 11, 2006 Newseum Image

December 11, 2006: The Santiago, Chile newspaper, Las Ultimas Noticias, reports on the death of Augusto Pinochet.

According to the BBC Web site: Chile's former military leader Augusto Pinochet has died at the age of 91. He had been thought to be recovering after a heart attack a week ago. Gen. Pinochet took power in a 1973 coup, and more than 3,000 people were killed or "disappeared" in his 17-year rule.

He was accused of dozens of human rights abuses as well as fraud but poor health meant he never faced trial. No state funeral or national mourning has been authorised. He will be buried with military honours on Tuesday.

"The government has authorised flags to fly at half-mast at army facilities," government spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said. Thousands of anti-Pinochet protesters took to the streets in the centre of the capital, Santiago, with tear gas and water cannon used to disperse crowds.
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West Hawaii Today, December 8, 2006 Newseum Image

December 8, 2006: An excerpt from a story in West Hawaii Today:

Pearl Harbor: 65th Anniversary
Commemorating the Greatest Generation

By AUDREY MCAVOY
The Associated Press

PEARL HARBOR -- Pearl Harbor survivors paid what for many might be their final tribute to fallen comrades in a dockside ceremony Thursday marking the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack, as historians vowed to keep memory of the day alive for years to come.

"Will all Pearl Harbor survivors please stand as able," implore Capt. Taylor Skardon, commander of Naval Station Pearl Harbor, at the end of the ceremony.

The veterans, most in Hawaiian aloha shirts and Pearl Harbor survivor caps, were honored with prolonged applause at the solemn ceremony near where some of the sunken ships remain rusting and moss-covered under the harbor's waters.
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The Washington Post, December 7, 2006 Newseum Image

December 7, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Washington Post:

Iraq Panel Proposes Major Strategy Shift
Study Group Calls for New Diplomacy, Greater Advisory Role for U.S. Military

By MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ and ROBIN WRIGHT 

A panel of prominent elder leaders yesterday offered a stinging assessment of virtually every aspect of the U.S. venture in Iraq and called for a reshaping of the American military presence and a new Middle East diplomatic initiative to prevent the country from sliding into anarchy.

The long-awaited report from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former Indiana congressman Lee H. Hamilton, said that the focus of U.S. troops in Iraq should shift from combat to training Iraqi soldiers and police, and that all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be withdrawn by early 2008.
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Richmond Times-Dispatch, December 6, 2006 Newseum Image

December 6, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Gates Appears Headed for Confirmation

By ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- With a frankness that won praise from Democrats and Republicans alike, Robert Gates, the former CIA director, maneuvered through five hours of nonconfrontational Senate questioning and appeared headed for certain confirmation to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld as secretary of defense.

He raised some eyebrows by stating bluntly that the United States is not winning in Iraq, contradicting President Bush, who said at an Oct. 25 news conference, "Absolutely, we're winning." But Gates later stressed that the U.S. also is not losing, and that the setbacks have been more political than military.

After the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 24-0 on Tuesday to recommend Gates be confirmed, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., announced that floor debate on the nomination would begin Wednesday.
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Dallas Morning News, December 5, 2006 Newseum Image

December 5, 2006: An excerpt from a story in The Dallas Morning News:

Another Giant Leap
NASA wants to build permanent lunar outpost as way station for space exploration

By MARC KAUFMAN
The Washington Post 

NASA unveiled plans yesterday to set up a small and ultimately self-sustaining settlement of astronauts at the south pole of the moon sometime around 2020 -- the first step in an ambitious plan to resume manned exploration of the solar system.

The long-awaited proposal envisions initial stays of a week by four-person crews, followed by gradually longer visits until power and other supplies are in place to make a permanent presence possible by 2024.
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Manila Standard Today, December 4, 2006 Newseum Image

December 4, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Philippine newspaper, the Manila Standard Today:

'A national emergency'

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of national emergency yesterday to speed up the release of P1 billion to the areas struck by typhoon Reming, which killed 309 people and left hundreds more missing when it slammed into the country last Thursday.

"All resources of the government will continue to be mobilized as we hope against hope on the search for survivors," Mrs. Arroyo said.

She said she had ordered the budget department to release money from the calamity fund to rehabilitate Bicol and Southern Luzon, the same areas devastated by typhoons Milenyo and Paeng.

The Navy said it had mobilized a team to transport relief goods to Mindoro and Bicol.

Hopes virtually vanished yesterday for finding survivors of typhoon-triggered mudslides that engulfed entire villages, and the Red Cross feared the death toll could reach 700.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council reported that 309 bodies had been retrieved and 298 people remained missing three days after Reming -- international name Durian -- struck, triggering mudslides in worst-hit Albay.

The storm affected more than 830,000 people, officials said.
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Tulsa World, December 1, 2006 Newseum Image

December 1, 2006: An excerpt from a story in the Oklahoma newspaper, the Tulsa World:

Snow day leaves kids in charge

By MICHAEL OVERALL 

From a distance, under a bulky coat and winter cap, with sleet and snow swirling in the air as thick as fog, a 13-year-old girl can look 30.

Especially when she's carrying a laundry basket, as if she darted outside in the middle of chores.

But no, Meiah King isn't the mom. Up close, with a lock of auburn hair sneaking out the front of her hat, she turns out to be a kid. And that empty laundry basket is a makeshift sled, with Meiah folding herself into it before her brother pushes her downhill in their Florence Park neighborhood.

Her authoritative posture -- heads up, shoulders square, one hand on her hip -- comes from the simple fact that Meiah is the oldest on the block, and therefore in charge of keeping the younger kids from sledding in front of traffic.

"It's more ice than snow," she says. "That just makes it faster."

A winter storm can obliterate authority figures as fast as it can cover traffic lanes.

School is canceled. Parents leave for work. Baby sitters can't make it, leaving the city's underage population largely on its own.