Motorcycle group meets with Bush

Members of the Rolling Thunder motorcycle group met with President Bush at the White House yesterday to push for increased veterans benefits. Artie Muller, its executive director, told Bush that many veterans have been classified as having a personality disorder when they should be getting compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder. The president said he would look into the problem. (AP)

President Bush asked Americans to pay tribute to veterans by pausing on Memorial Day for "a moment of remembrance." The tribute will be held at 3 p.m. local time today. Major League Baseball games will pause, the National Memorial Day parade will halt, and buglers in military cemeteries will play taps. Bush encouraged citizens to pray, place flags at veterans' graves, or visit battlefields. (AP)

WASHINGTON - President Bush's former chief political adviser denied meddling in the Justice Department's prosecution of Alabama's former governor and said yesterday that the courts will have to resolve a congressional subpoena for his testimony. Last week, the committee ordered Rove to appear July 10. Lawmakers want to ask him about the White House's role in firing nine US attorneys in 2006 and the prosecution of Don Siegelman, Democrat and former governor of Alabama. (AP)

GILROY - Easing winds and lower temperatures helped firefighters get a handle yesterday on a wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains that has brought a fierce start to the state's fire season. Flames charred nearly 6 square miles and destroyed at least 20 homes since Thursday. The fire still threatened 550 homes and 20 other buildings but was expected to be fully contained early this week, fire officials said. (AP)

NEW YORK - US Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, released a report yesterday that said flight delays across the country cost the US economy about $41 billion a year, according to figures from the Department of Transportation and the Joint Economic Committee. He is proposing legislation to open military airspace, increase airport funding and staff, and create a task force to address flight cancellations. (AP)

NEW YORK - More than 8 in 10 building plans certified by architects and engineers instead of city inspectors violate zoning rules, city officials found. The Buildings Department recently checked 869 of the "self-certified" plans and issued objections against 727 of them, the New York Post reported yesterday. (AP)