Nation in brief: RNC chief of staff resigns, senior adviser to leave

WASHINGTON – Amid unrelenting criticism of how the Republican National Committee has spent donors’ dollars, Chairman Michael Steele on Monday accepted the resignation of his chief of staff and allowed one of his senior advisers to exit the inner workings of his political machine.

RNC chief of staff Ken McKay became the highest-profile departure from the central committee after the revelation that the committee had picked up a nearly $2,000 tab at a sex-themed California nightclub. The incident proved embarrassing and a midlevel staffer was dismissed, a move that was not enough to assuage social conservatives urging a fundraising boycott.

Steele had insisted earlier Monday that he would not resign and defended his stewardship of party affairs. He dismissed criticism – some of it has centered on spending on flights, limousines and high-dollar hotels – as the talk of GOP figures uncomfortable with his “streetwise” managerial style.

McKay’s resignation also prompted one of Steele’s top advisers, Curt Anderson, to leave the committee’s circle of consultants.

Judge appointed, hearing set in Jackson doctor’s case

LOS ANGELES – With Michael Jackson’s mother, father and three of his siblings looking on, Dr. Conrad Murray began a slow process toward trial Monday with the appointment of a judge and the setting of another hearing to handle pending matters in his involuntary manslaughter case.

First, Supervising Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza assigned the matter to another judge for all further proceedings. Then, spectators, media and fans followed Murray down to a lower floor where he appeared before Judge Michael Pastor.

A large contingent of Jackson family members had been expected but only five appeared. Jackson’s mother, Katherine, his father, Joe, and siblings Janet, Jermaine and Randy sat quietly in the spectator section and made no comments to the press.

Trina Saunders, a representative of the attorney general’s office, asked that the hearing regarding Murray’s medical license be held sooner than June 14, but the judge rejected her request.

Failure of dish antenna hindering shuttle inspection

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Discovery’s astronauts are surveying their ship for signs of launch damage, but the job is being complicated by the failure of the space shuttle’s big dish antenna.

The antenna failed to operate after Discovery blasted into orbit Monday. That leaves the seven astronauts with no way to send or receive big packages of information, like the laser images of the shuttle’s wings and nose being collected early this morning.

Normally, these images are sent immediately to Mission Control.

Commander Alan Poindexter and his crew are storing the data on 40-minute tapes. The tapes will be fed into a computer, and the information will be relayed once the shuttle reaches the International Space Station on Wednesday.