Depleted Red Cross to receive $100m

October 8, 2008

The American Red Cross said yesterday that it will receive $100 million in emergency funding from Congress to replenish its disaster relief reserves, which were depleted as the charity plunged into debt to provide shelter, food, and other services during a string of hurricanes this past summer. The Red Cross has spent about $260 million this year responding to natural disasters, including the spring tornadoes, California wildfires, and Midwestern floods, as well as hurricanes Gustav and Ike. To fund the relief, the charity took out loans totaling $200 million, Red Cross president Gail McGovern said. The group launched a national campaign three weeks ago to recoup some of those costs. (Washington Post)

NEW YORK - Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bid to change the term-limits law so that he can campaign for another four years rests in the hands of the City Council, where two competing bills were introduced yesterday. The 51-member council won't vote until Oct. 23 at the earliest, and two hearings were set for next week on the issue that could dramatically alter the city's political landscape. (AP)

PITTSBURGH - A suburban Pittsburgh teenager tried to kill his sleeping family by placing homemade chlorine bombs while they slept, police said. Christopher Janney, 16, of South Fayette, was charged with attempted homicide for leaving what police described as "chlorine compression bombs" near the heads of five family members while they were asleep. Janney is being charged as an adult. No one was injured. Police said the six devices were made of clear bottles with white powder. (AP)

HAMBURG - A leaky generator probably was the source of carbon monoxide gas that filled a Mississippi River houseboat, killing two couples during a weekend birthday celebration, investigators said. The houseboat where four people were found dead Sunday had a carbon-monoxide detector, but it didn't have any batteries in it, Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris McCloud said yesterday. Fumes came out of the generator because of a leak in a seal, McCloud said. (AP)