Virginia

Elizabeth Dole voices support for troops

At a time when the U.S. military is coming under fire, Sen. Elizabeth Dole chose to focus instead on the positive, saying American soldiers were “filling the pages of history with tales of heroism, courage and compassion,” while winning the war on terrorism in Iraq.

“They display their commitment to our country each and every day,” she said at the keel-laying ceremony Saturday for the North Carolina, a new Virginia-class submarine bearing the name of her state.

The Republican senator did not mention the scandal over the abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison. Instead, she praised the troops serving in Iraq for “writing history.”

Minnesota

Circus performer dies after fall

A circus performer who fell 30 feet onto a concrete floor during a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus show died from her injuries.

Dessi Espana, 32, was twirling on long chiffon scarves when the silky cloth gave way during Saturday’s performance, witnesses said. She died later that night.

“We are starting an investigation into the death,” police Sgt. Rick Klein said. “We don’t suspect foul play, but we will be trying to collect the rope or (part) that broke.”

It was the first fatal accident in a Ringling Bros. circus in at least a decade, spokesman Mark Riddell said Sunday.

“The nature of aerial performance entails calculated risks, and our safety record is a very good one over the course of 134 years,” Riddell said, adding that the circus was opening its own investigation.

Wyoming

Advocacy group says park officials censored

The Bush administration is muzzling national park superintendents by ordering them not to stray in public comments from a list of rosy stances on budget matters, an advocacy group says.

National Park Service officials acknowledge providing “talking points” to help guide employees but say that’s standard practice and insist that no policy prevents superintendents from being candid.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a group based in Washington, D.C., contends park leaders are being forced to downplay negatives because President Bush made election-year promises to take good care of the nation’s parks.

Park Service spokesman David Barna, author of the “talking points,” disputed PEER’s claims. Park superintendents “are free to talk to the press,” he said. “There has not been a restriction at all.”

Washington, D.C.

Rock concert sends almost 50 to hospitals

Nearly 50 people were sent to area hospitals, and more than 200 others were treated for heat exhaustion Saturday at a concert festival at RFK Stadium.

The daylong HFStival featured performers such as The Cure, The Offspring, Papa Roach, Jay-Z and the Violent Femmes.

Thousands of concertgoers crowded on to the stadium field in sweltering heat, and danced violently in several mosh pits. The most serious injuries came out of those pits, city Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman Alan Etter said.