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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY RADY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2006
LOTTERY
'100 Miracles' wins Powerball
Sargento Foods Inc. workers try good luck charms,split money
BY CARRIE ANTLFINGER ASSOCIATED PRESS
FOND DU LAC, Wis. — The organizers of a lottery pool at a cheese company were starting to get discouraged. They had tried good luck charms for three years and even considered going to a different store to buy the tickets.
But then a worker suggested rubbing the belly of a Buddha statue, which some say will bring good luck. They set the statue on the tickets in a worker's locker, and people went in to rub it.
"We don't know if it's the Buddha that brought us the good fortune to win this. We don't know if it was our prayers to God that were
answered," said Mary Entringer, who organized the pool at Sargento Foods Inc. in Plymouth. "We're just grateful it was 100 people, and we're all going to share in this bounty."
The winners, who call themselves the "100 Miracles," turned in their $208.6 million Powerball ticket Friday. They have hired a lawyer and plan to split the prize equally.
Entringer, 55, said 70 to 90 workers on the plant's second shift usually pool their money for the lottery when the jackpot is over $100 million. But she said something made her go against company rules and make an announcement over the public address system the
day before the Aug. 5 drawing. That boosted participation to 100 employees.
Entringer spoke during a news conference with about 75 of the winners Wednesday in front of Ma and Pa's Grocery Express in Fond du Lac, where they bought the ticket. The store will receive $100,000 for the win.
The grocery is along the so-called "Miracle Mile," a street where several stores sold multimillion-dollar tickets during the 1990s.
Entringer said four winners have left the company — one 63-year-old woman retired, a man went into business with his wife and another person wanted to pursue other opportunities.
Bald no more
John Gomes/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tom Melius, with the Fish and Wildlife Service, left Lisa Pajot, second left, and Gary Bullock, second from right, with the Bird Treatment and Learning Center, and Pat Lampi, with the Alaska Zoo release a bald eagle in Anchorage Alaska Saturday. Sept. 25, 2006. The eagle was cared for by the Bird and Treatment and Learning Center after it lost its tail feathers and was released after the feathers grew back.
CONGRESS
Terrorist interrogation now approved Democrats oppose bill, want to 'tone down' Bush's power
ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his antiterror plan.
The 253-168 vote in the House came shortly after senators agreed to limit debate on their own nearly identical bill, all but assuring its passage on Thursday.
Republican leaders are hoping to work out differences and send Bush a final version before leaving town this weekend to campaign for the Nov. 7 congressional elections.
For nearly two weeks the GOP have been embarrassed as the White House and rebellious Republican senators have fought publicly over whether Bush's plan would give him too much authority. But they struck a compromise
last Thursday, and Republicans are hoping approval will bolster their effort to cast themselves as strong on national security, a marquee issue this election year.
House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, all but dared Democrats to vote against the legislation.
"Will my Democrat friends work with Republicans to give the president the tools he needs to continue to stop terrorist attacks before they happen, or will they vote to force him to fight the terrorists with one arm tied behind his back?" he asked just before members cast their ballots.
Democrats opposed the bill by about a five-to-one margin, with many wanting to tone down the powers it would give to Bush and the limits it would impose on terror-war suspects' abilities to defend themselves during trials.
The measure also provides extensive definitions of war crimes such as torture, rape and biological experiments — but gives Bush broad authority to decide which other techniques U.S. interrogators can legally use. The provisions are intended to protect CIA interrogators from being prosecuted for war crimes.
The legislation would establish a military court system to prosecute terror suspects, a response to the Supreme Court ruling last June that Congress' blessing was necessary. While the bill would grant defendants more legal rights than they had under the administration's old system, it nevertheless would eliminate rights usually granted in civilian and military courts.
Said Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohi; "This bill is everything we don't believe in."
In a statement issued after the vote, Bush, who will visit GOP senators Thursday morning, urged the Senate to approve the measure and congratulated the House for its "commitment to strengthening our national security."