Cheney vows more conservative judges
Vice President Dick Cheney assured a conservative lawyers’ group on Friday that the Republican loss of Congress would not dissuade President Bush from nominating more judges who believe in interpreting rather than making law.
“Throughout our time in office, the president has selected judges who understand their role in the constitutional system,” Cheney told the Federalist Society.
“And I assure you, nothing that’s happened in the last two weeks will change his commitment to nominating first-rate talent like John Roberts and Sam Alito,” Cheney said, referring to the two members of the Supreme Court named by Bush.
Las Vegas
Ruth Brown, R&B singer, dies at 78
Singer Ruth Brown, whose recordings of “Teardrops in My Eyes,” “5-10-15 Hours” and “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” shot her to rhythm-and-blues stardom in the 1950s, has died. She was 78.
Brown, who later in life won a Grammy and a Tony, died Friday of complications from a stroke and heart attack at a Las Vegas-area hospital, said Lindajo Loftus, a publicist for the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which Brown helped establish.
“Ruth was one of the most important and beloved figures in modern music,” singer Bonnie Raitt said in a statement. “You can hear her influence in everyone from Little Richard to Etta (James), Aretha (Franklin), Janis (Joplin) and divas like Christina Aguilera today.”
Brown’s soulful voice produced dozens of hits for Atlantic Records, cementing the fledgling record label’s reputation as an R&B powerhouse.
As R&B and rock ‘n’ roll fell out of style in the late 1950s, Brown and her musical contemporaries were forced into retirement. She spent most of the 1960s raising her two sons alone and earning a living as a maid, school bus driver and teacher.
Brown enjoyed a career renaissance in the mid-‘70s when she began recording blues and jazz tunes for a variety of labels and found success on the stage and in movies.
She won acclaim in the R&B musical “Staggerlee” and won a Tony Award for best actress in the Broadway revue “Black and Blue.”
Lincoln, Neb.
Fire at fraternity kills student
Fire broke out in a fraternity house early Friday, killing one student and critically injuring three others, officials said.
The blaze started around 4 a.m. in a second-story room at the Phi Kappa Tau house at Nebraska Wesleyan University, said Lincoln Fire Chief Dan Wright. At least 39 people were inside.
The fire was under investigation.
Nebraska Wesleyan, a Methodist Church-affiliated liberal arts college, has about 1,800 students.