Salvation Army gets $1,000 bill in kettle

MORGANTOWN - Salvation Army Major Richard Hathorn knew when and where it would happen, but he still doesn't know who slipped the $1,000 bill into one of the charity's Christmas kettles. Each Christmas since 1978, someone has covertly stuffed one of the big bills into a kettle in this northern West Virginia university city. This year, Hathorn says, the donor alerted the Salvation Army that the tradition would continue with a deposit between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday at the Wal-Mart at University Town Center. (AP)

President Bush's top Iraq war commander says that as far as he knows, his command performances now and in the future will be strictly military, not political. In fact, Army General David Petraeus cited the words of Civil War-era General William T. Sherman in declaring he has no interest in shedding his uniform and running for the White House, as General Dwight D. Eisenhower did 55 years ago. "None," Petraeus replied, when asked on "Fox News Sunday" if he had an interest in running. "I have great respect for those who do choose to serve our country in that way. I've chosen to serve our country in uniform," Petraeus said from Baghdad. (AP)

GRAND RAPIDS - A nearly 14-hour power outage caused some flight delays yesterday for holiday travelers at Gerald R. Ford International Airport, which was left without heat in the passenger terminal. The Grand Rapids airport lost primary power to its passenger terminal building about 8:45 p.m. Sunday and the outage continued yesterday, Bruce Schedlbauer, airport spokesman, said. The airport used backup power until primary power was restored yesterday morning. Some flights were diverted from the airport Sunday, but flights took off and landed yesterday. The machines used to screen checked baggage didn't have power, so workers manually screened those bags, Schedlbauer said. (AP)

CINCINNATI - No cash for the collection basket at church? No problem. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati has made online giving an option for its 230 parishes and 110 parochial and diocesan schools in its 19-county region. "It's a way to make things a little easier for people and for them to be a little more regular in their giving to the church," Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk said. The new way, he said, won't replace the old: the collection basket during Mass. With the online donation option, the diocese joined a growing group of churches nationwide that are using technology and the Internet to make weekly giving easier. (AP)