Laura Bush plans more volunteering
Laura Bush said she will continue much of the same volunteer work she’s done as first lady after leaving the White House in January.
Bush, speaking Saturday at an American Red Cross event, said “I’m going to do a lot of volunteering” after she and President George W. Bush step down in less than two months.
Bush, who has championed the rights of Afghan women, said she’ll continue to help the women through the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, which was set up to help women gain the skills and education deprived them under the Taliban.
She also said some of her volunteer work will be done through her husband’s presidential library and public policy institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. The complex is under construction not far from the couple’s North Dallas neighborhood home.
The first lady, who has been a frequent, public critic of Myanmar’s military government, indicated she will continue helping the people there. The former librarian and teacher isn’t ruling out some school time either. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to go back to some schools and volunteer,” Bush said.
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Diaper, other items OK’d in Nowak trial
Diapers, latex gloves and other items found in an ex-astronaut’s car can be used as evidence when the woman accused of driving 1,000-miles to confront a romantic rival goes to trial, an appeals court ruled.
But the three-judge panel said Friday that Lisa Nowak’s six-hour police interview after her arrest cannot be used.
Nowak has pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault. She is accused of trying to abduct Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman from the Orlando International Airport in February 2007. Nowak and Shipman were vying for the affections of the same space shuttle pilot.
A lower court judge also threw out Nowak’s comments from the interview, saying investigators took advantage of the former astronaut, who had not slept for more than 24 hours, coercing her into giving information.
“The trial court applied the correct legal standards” in deciding that Nowak hadn’t waived her Miranda rights, the appeals panel ruled.