Release of Cheney visitor logs ordered

A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to release information about who visited Vice President Dick Cheney’s office and personal residence, an order that could spark a late election-season debate over lobbyists’ White House access.

While researching the access lobbyists and others had on the White House, the Washington Post asked in June for two years of White House visitor logs. The Secret Service refused to process the request.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina said Wednesday that, by the end of next week, the Secret Service must produce the records or at least identity them and justify why they are being withheld.

The Secret Service can still try to withhold the records but, in a written ruling Thursday, Urbina questioned the agency’s primary argument – that the logs are protected by Cheney’s right to executive privilege.

Livington, Texas

Convicted killer commits suicide

A convicted killer facing lethal injection beat the executioner to it Thursday, committing suicide by slitting his throat and arm with a blade in his Texas death row cell 15 hours before he was supposed to die.

Michael Dewayne Johnson, 29, was found in a pool of blood by officers making routine checks on him every 15 minutes, authorities said.

Garden Grove, Calif.

GOP leaders ask candidate to quit

Orange County Republican leaders on Thursday called for the withdrawal of a GOP congressional candidate they believe sent a letter threatening Hispanic immigrant voters with arrest.

Tan D. Nguyen denied knowing anything about the letter and said he fired a campaign staffer who may have been responsible for it. County Republican Chairman Scott Baugh, however, said that after speaking with state investigators and the company that distributed the mailer, he believes Nguyen had direct knowledge of “obnoxious and reprehensible” letter.

The letter, which was written in Spanish and mailed to an estimated 14,000 Democratic voters, warns, “You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time.” Immigrants who are adult naturalized citizens are eligible to vote.

Albany, N.Y.

Church agencies lose on birth control

New York’s highest court ruled Thursday that social service agencies run by the Roman Catholic Church and other faiths must provide birth-control coverage to their employees even if they consider contraception a sin.

The 6-0 decision by the Court of Appeals hinged on whether Catholic Charities and the nine other groups are essentially social service agencies, not churches.

At issue was a 2002 state law that requires employers to provide health insurance coverage for mammograms, bone density screening and other preventive services for women, including prescription contraceptives. The law exempts churches, seminaries and other institutions with a mainly religious mission.

The New York Catholic Conference said it may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.