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Show b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b b bbbbb] Today'slssue Today is Monday, August 25, 2008. Today's issue of The Utah Statesman is published especially for Jake Lott, a junior majoring in landscape architecture from Alpine, Utah. US aid reaches Georgia Celebs&People ABOARD THE U.S.S. MCFAUL (AP) — A U.S. Navy destroyer loaded with humanitarian aid reached Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi on Sunday, bringing baby food, bottled water and a message of support for an embattled ally. Before the warship arrived, a Russian general suggested U.S. ships moving across the Black Sea would worsen tensions already driven to a post-Cold War high by a short but intense war between Russia and Georgia. "The population of Georgia will feel more safe from today from the Russian aggression," Georgian Defense Minister David Kezerashvili told The Associated Press on the aft missile deck of the McFaul after greeting U.S. Navy officers in crisp white uniforms on shore. "They will feel safe not because the destroyer is here but because they will feel they are not alone facing the Russian aggression," he added. Local children offered the Americans wine and flowers. In Europe, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would convene a special meeting of European Union leaders over the crisis as Russia ignored Western accusations it has fallen short of its commitment to withdraw forces from its smaller neighbor. The war erupted Aug. 7 as Georgia launched a massive artillery barrage targeting the Russianbacked separatist province of South Ossetia. Russian forces repelled the offensive and drove deep into Georgia, taking crucial positions across the small former Soviet republic. Russia pulled the bulk of its troops and tanks out Friday under a cease-fire brokered by ClarifyCorrect The policy of The Utah Statesman is to correct any error made as soon as possible. If you find something you would like clarified or find unfair, please contact the editor at 797-1762 or TSC 105. \ Briefs Fay forces Fla. residents to evacuate. MIAMI (AP) — Flooding left behind by Tropical Storm Fay forced residents in parts of northern Florida out of their homes Sunday, while the storms remnants were forecast to dump several inches of rain on at least four other states. Officials ferried people by boat from homes in DeBary, 25 miles north of Orlando, where some streets were under 4 feet of water, and flooded neighborhoods in and around Tallahassee. "The water is very deep. It's already at everybody's door," said Debra Galloway, who lives in the Timber Lake subdivision east of Tallahassee. She was still at home Sunday evening but had no power and said if the rain continued, she would join neighbors who had already left by boat. Iraq: suicide bomber kills 25 west of Baghdad BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in the midst of a celebration to welcome home an Iraqi detainee released from U.S. custody, killing at least 25 people, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the arrest of an al-Qaida in Iraq figure who allegedly planned the 2006 kidnapping of American journalist Jill Carroll — one of the highest-profile attacks against Westerners in Iraq. The suicide attack occurred inside one of several tents set up outside a house in the Abu Ghraib area on Baghdad's western outskirts, according to residents and police. It was unclear if the former detainee was among the casualties. Kidnap suspect calls days with daughter 'glorious' BOSTON (AP) — The man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller and is accused of kidnapping his young daughter says he spent "six glorious and wonderful days" with the girl while evading authorities, but he still isn't talking about his life before 1993. Police say Rockefeller is really a German immigrant named Christian Gerhartsreiter. California authorities want to question him about a couple who disappeared in 1985. Gerhartsreiter has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping his daughter, Reigh Boss, on a Boston street during a supervised visit in July. US S A I L O R S unload humanitarian boxes on the deck of the guided-missile destroyer USS McFau! anchored in the harbor of Batumi, western Georgia, Sunday, AP photo Sarkozy, but built up its forces in and around South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another separatist region. They also left other military posts at locations inside Georgia proper. The U.S. and EU say both those moves violated Russia's commitments. NATO halted the operations of its vehicle for interaction with Russia, demanding a fuller withdrawal, and Moscow responded by freezing military contacts with the alliance — its Cold War foe whose eastward expansion has angered a resurgent Russia. Moab plane crash kills pilot, 9 cancer clinic workers MOAB, Utah (AP) —It had already been a long day when Dr. Lansing Ellsworth and his team of dermatology specialists climbed aboard a twin-engine plane in southeastern Utah, ready to return home to their families 200 miles away. But shortly after takeoff Friday evening, their Beech King Air A100 crashed in the nearby hills and exploded. All 10 people on board were killed. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Tealeye Cornejo said the investigation will be difficult because much of the plane burned. "The fire was so intense, there's not a lot of it left," she said. On board were employees of Southwest Skin and Cancer/Red Canyon Aesthetics & Medical Spa, a dermatology company based in Cedar City. Moab was one of nine regular stops the team made traveling in Utah, northern Arizona and Nevada, providing skin treatment that might not otherwise be available in small, remote communities. They had gotten an early start Friday, flying east to Moab so they could spend the day at a clinic there dedicated to the prevention and treatment of skin cancer. "They felt it was a need they could service," said Dane Leavitt, a friend of many on the trip and CEO of the company that owned the plane. "Our hearts are broken." Grand County Sheriff James Nyland identified the dead as pilot David White; the company's director, Lansing Ellsworth, 50, and his son Dallin, 23; David Goddard, 60, and his daughter Cecilee, 31; Mandy Johnson; Marcie Tillery, 29; Valerie Imlay, 52; Keith Shumway, 29; and Camie Vigil, 25. "It is with disbelief that we struggle to comprehend the events of yesterday," the Ellsworth family said in a statement Saturday. Those on the trip with Southwest Skin and Cancer "provided much needed dermatology care to patients who might otherwise go without." Linda Snow, the company's office manager in Cedar City, said, "We are just deeply saddened. These are individuals that were highly skilled and very professional in what they do, and they will be missed." The airplane is owned by Leavitt Group Wings, part of the Cedar City-based Leavitt Group, an insurance brokerage. The dermatology group had a time-share agreement for use of the plane, said CEO Dane Leavitt. Pilot David White was a Leavitt Group Wings employee, Leavitt said. "He was very well qualified. He'd flown that plane for hundreds of hours. He'd flown this route many times," Leavitt said. CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Even at 50, the queen of pop just can't stop courting controversy. As Madonna kicked off her international "Sticky and Sweet" tour Saturday! night, she took a none-too subtle swipe at the presumptive Republican! nominee for U.S. ' president. MADONNA Amid a four-act show at Cardiff's packed Millennium Stadium, a video interlude carried images of destruction, global warming, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, Zimbabwe's authoritarian President Robert Mugabe — and U.S. Senator John McCain. Another sequence, shown later, pictured slain Beatle John Lennon, followed by climate activist Al Gore. Mahatma Gandhi and finally McCain's Democratic rival Barack Obama. The rest of the show had the usual Madonna fixtures: sequins, fishnets, and bondage-style outfits drawn from the 3,500 items of clothing reportedly whipped together by 36 designers specifically for the tour. Dancers sauntered across stage in top hats and tail coats, and Madonna tried her hand at breakdancing and pole-dancing. NEW YORK (AP) —Olympic superstar Michael Phelps will write a book telling the story behind his historic eight gold medal swims just in time for the holiday season, Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced Friday. In "Built to Succeed," Phelps will also cover his philosophy on training and competition, as well as his life being raised by a single mother and coping with an attention-deficit disorder, the publisher said. LOS ANGELES (AP) — The action comedy "Tropic Thunder" weathered a rush of new movies to remain No. 1 for a second-straight weekend with $16.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. LateNiteHumor Top Ten New Words 10- "McCaincient" 9-"Winehoused" 8- "iPants" 7- "Osama Mia!" 6- "Craptastic" 5- "Andydickulous" 4- "Spitzwhore" 3- "Trebekkie" 2- "Lindsay Lo-hesbian" 1- "Presidork" |