Statue of Liberty set to reopen today
NEW YORK -- Barring last-minute terrorism alerts or other problems, the 117-year-old Statue of Liberty will reopen to visitors today for the first time since the 2001 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center. National Park Service officials went ahead with the reopening plan despite warnings of terrorist threats to US financial institutions in New York, Washington, D.C., and Newark. (AP)
CALIFORNIA
Witness says Peterson was falling into debt
REDWOOD CITY -- A witness in Scott Peterson's murder trial said yesterday that Peterson was going broke and getting deeper into debt in the months before his wife was killed. In 2002, Peterson was paying out nearly 70 percent of his average monthly take-home pay of $3,694 to cover credit cards bills and other fixed debt, not including everyday expenses, said Gary Nienhuis, an internal auditor for the city of Modesto. A year earlier, Peterson's average income was higher -- an average of $4,335 a month -- and he was paying out 58.7 percent of it to make debt payments, said Nienhuis, who examined Peterson's tax returns and other financial records. (AP)
MISSOURI
Runaway barge sinks, halting river traffic
ST. LOUIS -- A runaway grain barge hit one of the Mississippi River's busiest crossings and sank, forcing the Coast Guard to close a 2-mile stretch of the river yesterday while the agency decided how to deal with the submerged vessel. The barge was among 15 that broke away late Sunday from a towboat and floated down the river, with an unknown number hitting the Poplar Street Bridge, the Coast Guard said. Highway officials later determined that the bridge, which carries three interstates across the river and averages about 120,000 vehicles daily, was safe. There were no injuries. (AP)
Small plane crashes, killing all five aboard
POINT LOOKOUT -- A small private plane crashed on takeoff yesterday from an airport belonging to the College of the Ozarks, killing all five people aboard, a college spokeswoman said. The single-engine Piper plunged about 50 feet into a ravine between the runway and a highway, breaking apart and catching fire, said Camille Howell, the spokeswoman. Howell said the plane did not belong to anyone associated with the college. The victims were not immediately identified. (AP)
WASHINGTON
Four more fires set in spate of arson
SEATTLE -- Four deliberately set fires were reported early yesterday in north Seattle, the latest in a string of weekend arsons that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. The fires bring the total number since Saturday night to 11; at least nine were arsons. No one has been hurt. (AP)
ALABAMA
Expelled judge seeks Supreme Court appeal
MONTGOMERY -- A former Alabama chief justice who refused a federal court order to move a Ten Commandments monument claims he was ousted for "professing a belief in God" and is appealing to the US Supreme Court. Attorneys for Roy Moore argued that a judicial ethics panel imposed an "unconstitutional religious test" on Moore when it expelled him in November. (AP)
