Washington, D.C.

Memorial dedicated to Columbia crew

NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe on Monday dedicated a memorial to the crew of space shuttle Columbia at Arlington National Cemetery, eulogizing the astronauts as “pilots, engineers and scientists all motivated by a fire within.”

More than 400 Columbia family members, former astronauts and NASA staff attended the dedication, which took place a year and a day after the ship disintegrated on its return to earth, claiming the lives of all seven astronauts.

The memorial features a bronze replica of a mission patch designed by crew members. The names of the Columbia astronauts — Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon — are etched into the bronze.

The graves of 29 astronauts — including Anderson, Brown and Clark from the Columbia shuttle — are in the national cemetery in Arlington, Va. The memorial is near a monument to the shuttle Challenger, which fell apart on its ascent Jan. 28, 1986.

Virginia

‘Partial-birth’ abortion ban struck down

A federal judge struck down Virginia’s ban on a type of late-term abortion Monday, saying the law violated privacy rights and failed to make an exception for the health of the woman.

U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams, in Richmond, called the ban on what opponents call partial-birth abortion “impermissibly void for vagueness.”

The judge blocked the law in July, the day it went into effect, calling it a “no-brain case.”

He also has challenged the use of the term “partial birth infanticide” by the law’s backers, saying it was an attempt to alarm the public.

Salt Lake City

Legislators want U.S. out of United Nations

The Utah House of Representatives voted Monday to urge Congress to withdraw from the United Nations, asserting the organization was a threat to American sovereignty.

The nonbinding resolution, which passed 42-33, favors “freeing the nation from a large financial burden and retaining the nation’s sovereignty to decide what is best for the nation and determine what steps it considers appropriate as the leader of the free world in full control of its armed forces and destiny.”

It was a victory for state Rep. Don Bush, who for years has been trying to find approval for a resolution expressing Utah’s will to the president and Congress.

A year ago his resolution was put on hold as President Bush sought U.N backing for an invasion of Iraq. He didn’t get it.

Some of Utah’s conservative Republicans have long harbored fears that the U.N. was plotting to take over this country, do away with freedom, create a world government and levy a global tax.