Ann Richards has esophageal cancer
Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards said Wednesday she has cancer of the esophagus and will undergo treatment at the world-renowned M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Richards, 72, went in for tests Monday and got the diagnosis Tuesday, said spokesman Bill Maddox. The former governor is waiting to hear from M.D. Anderson how advanced the cancer is and what her chances are.
About 13,000 cases of esophageal cancer are diagnosed each year. Treatment includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. According to the American Cancer Society, the 5-year survival rate is 16 percent.
Richards, a Democrat, was governor from 1991 to 1995, losing a re-election bid to George W. Bush.
Anchorage
Alaska oil spill one of area’s largest
An oil spill in Alaska’s North Slope could end up being one of the region’s largest, officials said Wednesday as the cleanup continued.
Crews have recovered 58,590 gallons – or 1,395 barrels – of crude and snow since the pipeline spill was discovered Thursday in the Prudhoe Bay field, about 650 miles north of Anchorage. Most of the recovered material will probably turn out to be crude once the water is separated out, officials said.
That means the spill could be the largest ever in the North Slope, surpassing a 38,850-gallon spill in 1989. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons when it ran aground in Prince William Sound in 1989.
Temperatures are well below zero and are expected to approach 60 below in coming days, complicating the cleanup, officials said.
Washington
Senate votes to ban gifts from lobbyists
The Senate voted Wednesday to forbid members of Congress and their aides from accepting gifts or dining out on a lobbyist’s tab.
But a broader discussion of ethics reform was delayed after the issue became embroiled in the controversy over an Arab company’s prospective management of six U.S. ports. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the lobbying debate would resume today.
Before the delay, the prohibition on meals and gifts was approved in a bipartisan voice vote. The meal ban and other pieces of the legislation face considerable hurdles in the House.
For months, many Democrats and Republicans have talked at great volume and length about their intentions to overhaul rules on lobbyists and lawmakers. Yet the discussion Wednesday was far more subdued and the breadth of the reform considerably narrower, leaving meals and gifts as a centerpiece.
Tulsa, Okla.
Church won’t picket soldiers’ funerals
A small Kansas church known for its anti-gay protests said Wednesday it has stopped picketing for now at soldiers’ funerals in states with new laws against the practice.
“We’re not going to get arrested. We obey the law,” said Shirley Phelps-Roper, an attorney and member of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, a fundamentalist congregation headed by her father, the Rev. Fred Phelps.
Westboro Baptist has outraged mourning communities across the nation by showing up at soldiers’ funerals. Members of the congregation contend soldiers are being struck down by God for defending a nation that tolerates homosexuality.
In response, several states have passed or considered legislation restricting when and where pickets may demonstrate at funerals. Violators can be fined or jailed.