New York

Statue of Liberty to reopen today for first time since 9-11

Barring last-minute terrorism alerts or other problems, the Statue of Liberty will reopen to visitors today for the first time since the 9-11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the nearby World Trade Center.

National Park Service officials went ahead with the reopening plan despite warnings of terrorist threats to the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan and to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington, D.C.

“I think it’s significant that, despite the raising of the alert levels, we are still going ahead with the reopening,” Assistant Interior Secretary Craig Manson said Monday. “I think it shows the world that liberty cannot be intimidated.”

North Carolina

Hurricane warning issued

The North Carolina coast was given a hurricane warning Monday as Tropical Storm Alex, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, made its way closer to the Outer Banks.

Alex had maximum sustained winds near 60 mph as of 4 p.m. CDT and was expected to grow into a hurricane in the next 24 hours. The warning was issued for the North Carolina coast from Cape Lookout to Oregon Inlet.

The storm was centered about 150 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, N.C. Tropical storm force winds extended out 105 miles from the storm center, and the storm was moving north-northeast at 6 mph.

Washington

Exonerated Muslim chaplain announces Army resignation

A Muslim chaplain cleared of espionage charges after being imprisoned for 76 days resigned Monday from the Army, saying officials never apologized or allowed him to retrieve his belongings from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Capt. James Yee, 35, of Fort Lewis, ministered to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay naval station, where the military is detaining terror suspects. He was taken into custody after the military initially linked him to a possible espionage ring at the Guantanamo Bay naval station in Cuba.

The Army arrested him last September carrying what authorities said were classified documents.

In March, Army officials dismissed all criminal charges against him, which were mishandling classified material, failing to obey an order, making a false official statement, but found him guilty of the noncriminal Army charges of adultery and downloading pornography. The reprimand he received was later thrown out.