Nation in brief: Democrats consider closing Guantanamo

Key House Democrats said Thursday they are considering a plan to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by the end of 2008, with the exception of several dozen detainees in the war on terrorism who would be kept at the facility and tried there.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he hopes to include the provision in legislation this spring that Democrats also intend to use to try to prevent further increases in troop strength in the war in Iraq.

Murtha dispatched Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., to the detention center on a one-day trip late last month to recommend ways for closing it. Both men said the prison has become counterproductive as the United States tries to win converts in the war on terrorism.

The prison opened on Jan 11, 2002, and none of the more than 700 prisoners who have entered the facility – suspected of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban – has been tried.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

Fire extinguished at chemical plant

Firefighters doused the last flames and watched for hot spots Thursday at a chemical distribution plant that was devastated by fire a day before.

Robert Garner, senior vice president of environmental affairs for plant owner Chemcentral Corp., said an environmental team was ready to begin its investigation in tandem with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Evacuation orders remained in effect Thursday for people within a half-mile of the site.

Fire Chief Richard Dyer said it appeared that a chemical was released and ignited, which set off additional explosions. The chemical may have been polybutene, which is used in a variety of products, including liners for cereal boxes, Garner said.

Officials said tests had found no threat to human health from the fires.

WASHINGTON

Edwards says he won’t fire bloggers

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Thursday he was personally offended by the provocative messages two of his campaign bloggers wrote criticizing the Catholic Church, but he’s not going to fire them.

Edwards issued a statement and answered questions about the fate of Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen, two days after the head of the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights demanded they be fired for messages they wrote before working on the campaign.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League that counts 350,000 members, criticized Edwards for not firing the bloggers.

Donohue demanded the bloggers’ firing on Tuesday, citing posts that the women made in the past several months in which they criticized the church’s opposition to homosexuality, abortion and contraception, sometimes using profanity.

Atlanta

Church says gay pastor must quit

A disciplinary committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ruled Thursday that a gay pastor in Atlanta must give up his pulpit, saying it was reluctantly enforcing a “bad policy.”

Following a five-day church trial last month, seven of the committee’s 12 members voted to remove the Rev. Bradley Schmeling, 44, from the clergy as of Aug. 15. The committee set that date to give the denomination an opportunity to reconsider its policies on homosexuality at its next general assembly, Aug. 6-12 in Chicago.

The 4.9 million-member ELCA allows gay men and lesbians to serve as ordained clergy as long as they remain sexually inactive. Schmeling notified his bishop last year that he was in a committed, monogamous relationship with Darin Easler, a former ELCA pastor who has since joined the United Church of Christ, which welcomes gay clergy. The bishop brought charges.