President defends industrial pollution rules

President Bush defended his proposal to ease industrial pollution rules Monday, saying the regulations would fight dirty air while keeping electricity flowing and Americans working.

The proposed rules would make it easier for thousands of older power plants, refineries, factories, chemical plants and paper mills to make major upgrades without installing costly new anti-pollution controls.

The old rules “created too many hurdles, and that hurts the working people,” he said at a coal-fired electric plant as he tried to strengthen his environmental image during a trip to Michigan and Pennsylvania, two states crucial to his re-election strategy.

The president’s remarks provoked criticism from environmentalists and Democrats.

Kansas City, Mo.

Hallmark to add Muslim holiday cards

For the first time, Hallmark will sell cards for the Muslim feast of Eid ul-Fitr and the Hindu celebration of Diwali.

“With the increase in the number of Hindus and Muslims, we realized there was an ongoing need that we were not satisfying,” said Deidre Parkes, spokeswoman for the Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark company that has been making greeting cards for Americans since 1910.

Parkes said Eid and Diwali were “just as important as Lent and Easter for Christians, and Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah for Jews.”

At the end of the monthlong fasting period known as Ramadan, Muslims around the world celebrate with a feast of eating and gift-giving called Eid ul-Fitr.

This year Eid is expected to fall on Nov. 24 or 25, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

Washington, D.C.

Government releases vehicle rollover ratings

The BMW Z4 convertible was the only one of 21 vehicles tested to win the government’s highest rating for its ability to resist rollovers, according to test results released Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Ford Explorer Sport Trac sport utility vehicle and a rear-wheel drive version of the Jeep Liberty performed worst, earning two-star rollover ratings on NHTSA’s five-star scale.

The Honda Pilot and the Nissan Murano were the only SUVs earning four-star ratings. Both the front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive versions of the Murano were tested.

Washington, D.C.

Senate to vote today on FCC ownership rules

In a rare showdown with President Bush, the Republican-led Senate is set to vote today to overturn new rules that would make it easier for large media conglomerates to expand.

A coalition of Republicans and Democrats and liberal and conservative groups have teamed to oppose the Federal Communications Commission rules. Those rules have intensified concern throughout the country and in Congress about the rash of consolidation among newspapers and television and radio stations.

The Senate weighs in today with a vote on a rarely used measure that would amount to a congressional veto of the Bush administration rules.

North Carolina

Embezzlement charges filed against sheriff

A sheriff known for such tough-on-crime tactics as pink jail cells and paramilitary uniforms was arrested at his office Monday on charges of embezzlement and obstruction of justice.

Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege was named in 15 indictments unsealed Monday in Superior Court; an additional 21 indictments remained sealed.

A hearing on the removal petition was scheduled for Sept. 29.

The indictments charge Hege with six counts of obtaining property by false pretense, five of embezzlement by a public official, two of obstruction of justice, interception of an oral communication and aiding and abetting the interception of an oral communication.

California

Arrest made in death of tennis players’ sister

A man was arrested in the shooting death of a sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, and authorities searched Monday for four other possible suspects in the slaying outside a house known to attract gang members.

Aaron Michael Hammer, 24, was booked for investigation of murder late Sunday and jailed without bail. Sheriff’s deputies said he had ties to a gang but was not a member.

Yetunde Price, 31, was shot in the chest early Sunday about a mile from the tennis courts where her younger sisters first rose to prominence in this gang- and violence-plagued city outside Los Angeles.

The motive for the slaying remained under investigation.

As many as four other possible suspects were being sought, Deputy Richard Pena said.

Georgia

Hunters begin state’s first alligator season

Georgia’s first-ever alligator hunt is under way, with 180 people picked by lottery to kill the giant reptiles that pose a nuisance by crawling into carports and sliding into swimming pools.

Georgia is allowing the hunt in 13 counties and a wildlife management area near Valdosta. The hunt began Saturday and ends Sept. 28.

The state Department of Natural Resources received 2,557 applications for the hunt and chose 180 people at random.

With state and federal conservation efforts, Georgia’s alligator population has surged from almost none in the 1960s to an estimated 200,000.

Washington, D.C.

Ashcroft denounces Patriot Act ‘hysteria’

Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft denounced as “hysteria” the contention by some librarians and civil liberties groups that the FBI can use a new anti-terror law to snoop into Americans’ reading habits.

“Now, you may have thought with all this hysteria and hyperbole, something had to be wrong,” Ashcroft said. “Do we at the Justice Department really care what you are reading? No.”

A portion of the Patriot Act, passed shortly after the 2001 terror attacks, gives federal authorities access to library, bookstore and other business records as part of terrorism investigations. Some libraries have begun purging their records more frequently.