Gingrich recalls Falwell at college

LYNCHBURG -- Former House speaker Newt Gingrich told Liberty University's graduating class yesterday to honor the spirit of school founder Jerry Falwell by confronting "the growing culture of radical secularism" with Christian ideals. Gingrich, who is considering a 2008 presidential run, quoted Bible passages to a mournful crowd of about 17,000 packed into the university's football stadium four days after Falwell's death. Despite the somber tone of the day, graduates who covered the football field chanted "Jerry! Jerry!" in tribute to Falwell. Liberty's commencement has become a forum for conservative politicians. Last year's address came from Republican presidential candidate John McCain. (AP)

LOS ANGELES

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, whose discharge of a paraplegic man onto the streets earlier this year was widely publicized, says it will adopt new guidelines meant to end the dumping of homeless patients. The hospital said Friday that it would create new protocols and provide more staff training for discharging homeless patients. The nation's largest HMO, Kaiser Permanente, announced similar reforms on Tuesday. (AP)

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of Iraq's biggest Shi'ite Party, is in the United States for lung cancer treatment, The Washington Post said yesterday. Hakim arrived in Houston Thursday to meet with specialists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the paper said, citing US officials. (Reuters)

One day after its hurricane forecasters complained of budget cuts, the head of the National Weather Service and his deputy announced they will retire next month. David Johnson, the director, and John Jones, the deputy director, plan to bow out at the end of June, according to an internal memo they sent Friday to staff. On Thursday, the AP reported that Bill Proenza, director of the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, which is part of the weather service, believes the government is wasting millions of dollars on advertising while shortchanging his hurricane forecasters' budget. (AP)

OHIO

AKRON -- A proposal by the city to build a parking garage next to the federal courthouse in this city's downtown has provoked a strong and uncommonly public reaction from some judges, who say it would allow potential terrorists to get dangerously close to their courtrooms. The chief judge of the US District Court here, James G. Carr, and the chief judge of the District Bankruptcy Court, Randolph Baxter, warned in a letter to Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic that unless the city changed course, they would move their offices and courtrooms elsewhere. (New York Times News Service)