Washington, D.C.

IRS releases schedule for tax refund checks

The Internal Revenue Service has announced the schedule it will follow in distributing checks with advance refunds to families who qualified for child tax credits on their 2002 federal income taxes.

For taxpayers who filed their return by April 15, checks will be distributed based on the last two digits of the Social Security number for the taxpayer who is listed first on the tax form.

Checks were mailed Friday for qualifying taxpayers whose Social Security numbers end in 00 to 30. The refunds will be sent Friday to qualifying taxpayers whose Social Security numbers end in 34 to 66; those ending in 67-99 will be mailed Aug. 8.

Eligible taxpayers whose returns were not processed in time for the initial mailing dates will have their checks sent out after the IRS processes their returns, the IRS said.

The refunds will total up to $400 per child.

Pennsylvania

Ex-governor, miners recall coal mine rescue

The Quecreek Mine is “hallowed ground,” former Gov. Mark Schweiker said Saturday as he returned to the spot where nine coal miners were brought to the surface after being trapped underground for three days.

Today is the first anniversary of the day that rescuers finally drilled a hole into the mine, which had been flooded by water from an abandoned, adjacent mine. Through that narrow shaft, the miners were pulled to the surface the next morning one at a time in a small rescue capsule.

At a public ceremony Saturday at the site, sculptor Alan Cottrill unveiled the first of a proposed 32 statues depicting the rescue.

Colorado

Demonstrators gather to carry on nuns’ protest

Hundreds of demonstrators Saturday fanned out across parts of Colorado and Nebraska to carry on the work of pacifist nuns sentenced to prison for their anti-war protest at a missile silo.

Religious and political activists targeted the Minuteman III site, known as M-11, about 140 miles northeast of Denver — one of 49 silo sites in Colorado — to pray, sing, dance, beat drums and hang an eviction notice. Officials said protesters also gathered at three missile sites in southwestern Nebraska.

Jackie Hudson, 68, Ardeth Platte, 66, and Carol Gilbert, 55, were convicted in April of obstructing the national defense and damaging government property for cutting a fence and walking onto a Minuteman III silo site, swinging hammers and using their blood to paint a cross on the structure.

A federal judge Friday sentenced Hudson to 2 1/2 years, Platte to almost 3 1/2 years and Gilbert to two years and nine months. All three were given three years of supervised probation.

Atlanta

Thousands mourn family killed in crash

Thousands of mourners poured into a memorial service Saturday for 12 family members killed in a Kenyan plane crash last week.

Dr. George Brumley, a philanthropist and former head of pediatrics at Emory University, was killed — along with his wife, three children and their spouses and four grandchildren — when their plane crashed into Mount Kenya on July 19. Two pilots also died in the crash.

The memorial service, held at a Presbyterian church in one of Atlanta’s wealthiest neighborhoods, was closed to the press. A family spokesman said the remains had been recovered but were still being identified.