Washington, D.C.

Two birds spared amid White House roasting

President Bush used the annual Thanksgiving turkey-pardoning rite Wednesday to roast the bitter campaign for the White House, jokingly recalling fund-raising disputes, attack ads and a polarizing political movie. “Now’s the time for healing,” he said, as he ceremonially spared two birds.

The winning “candidates” in his satirical rendition of the presidential campaign were Biscuits and Gravy, turkeys raised in Mathias, W.Va. They won in an online contest.

“It was a close race. You might say it was neck and neck,” Bush said. He spoke in the Rose Garden during a rare joint appearance with Vice President Dick Cheney.

“There was a scurrilous film that came out, ‘Fahrenheit 375 Degrees At 10 Minutes Per Pound,”‘ he added, panning the documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

Boston

Study: Ultrasound helps stroke patients

The same type of sound waves that pulsate from sonar fish-finders and ultrasound fetal monitors can dramatically boost the power of anti-clotting medicine and help it dissolve brain blockages in stroke patients, a study suggests.

This technique may one day offer a safe accessory for helping up to 100,000 U.S. patients a year, or 15 percent of the nation’s stroke victims, doctors said.

Imaging specialist Dr. Joseph Polak at New England Medical Center in Boston said more doctors should now consider adopting the technique.

“It’s a relatively big impact for a disease where we don’t have many options,” he said.

The study and Polak’s commentary appear today in The New England Journal of Medicine. The research was conducted by the University of Texas Medical School at Houston with partners in Canada and Spain.

Ohio

Election officials find ballot problems

Election officials in one Ohio county found that about 2,600 ballots were double-counted, and two other counties have discovered possible cases of people voting twice in the presidential election.

Prosecutors were trying to determine Wednesday whether charges should be filed against a couple in Madison County accused of voting twice. In addition, Summit County election workers investigated possible double votes found under 18 names.

In the other case, Sandusky County election officials discovered that about 2,600 ballots from nine precincts were counted twice, likely because of worker error, elections director Barb Tuckerman said.

President Bush won the election by taking Ohio with 136,000 votes more than Democrat John Kerry, according to the unofficial tally.

Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Dole to lead 2006 Senate campaigns

Senate Republicans on Wednesday narrowly chose North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole to lead their campaign operations for 2006.

The race for chairing the National Republican Senatorial Committee pitted Dole, a familiar face who led the Red Cross and is married to former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, against Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, an energetic politician who defeated former Vice President Walter Mondale in 2002. Both are first term-senators.

Dole, 68, won the job after getting 28 votes to 27 votes for Coleman in a caucus of GOP senators and senators-elect.

Dole’s supporters said she would help Republicans win over female and minority voters.

As the new chairwoman, Dole will be responsible for raising money and recruiting candidates for the party in the 2006 Senate races.

Washington, D.C.

Bush pardons six people

President Bush granted pardons Wednesday for six people, including one man convicted 41 years ago for a stolen vehicle offense in Mississippi.

The president has now pardoned 25 individuals since taking office in January 2001 and he has commuted the prison sentences of two other people.

Among those pardoned Wednesday was Richard Arthur Morse of Rowley, Mass., who was sentenced to five months in jail in 1963 in Mississippi for interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.

Others pardoned included:

• Meredith Elizabeth Casares, of Kansas City, Kan., who was convicted in 1989 of embezzling U.S. postal funds. She was placed on probation and ordered to pay $1,534 in restitution.
• Russell Don Sell, of Independence, Mo., placed on probation in 1995 for aiding and abetting the making of a false statement to a credit union.