Nation in brief: ‘Yucca Mountain Johnny’ targeted
The House voted to kill “Yucca Mountain Johnny” on Wednesday.
A measure by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., to cut off funding for the Energy Department’s Yucca Mountain Youth Zone Web site that’s home to the smiling, hard-hatted cartoon character was approved by lawmakers by a voice vote and without debate.
On the Web site, Yucca Mountain Johnny invites kids to learn about radioactive waste and the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump project in Nevada.
In a letter to colleagues, Berkley complained that the Web site “uses games and activities for children to promote a one-sided, unbalanced point of view regarding the disposal of nuclear waste.”
Her amendment would prohibit money in the Energy and Water spending bill that funds Yucca Mountain from being used to administer the Web site.
Boston
Kennedy annulment undone
The Vatican reversed the annulment of former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II’s first marriage, a union that had lasted 12 years and produced two sons.
Sheila Rauch on Wednesday confirmed a report on Time magazine’s Web site that her appeal of the annulment to Rome has succeeded.
“I’m very grateful that the marriage was validated,” she told the Associated Press.
Rauch had sharply criticized the Catholic Church for annulling her marriage, alleging in a 1997 book that the Kennedy family’s influence in the church had made it possible.
Rauch and Kennedy, the eldest son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, were granted a civil divorce in 1991.
Washington
Guard opens fire at Walter Reed
An armed security guard fired at least 10 shots at another guard during an argument outside a busy entrance to Walter Reed Army Medical Center early Wednesday, police said. No one was hurt.
“This was rush hour on a busy thoroughfare. There were cars and pedestrians in the line of fire,” said police Cmdr. Hilton Burton. At least two parked cars across the street were hit.
The guard who was fired upon ran to a nearby house to call police. The other guard, Dwan Thigpen, 34, of Fort Washington, Md., was arrested and charged with assault with intent to murder.
The guards worked for Vance Federal Security Services, said Joe Gavaghan, a spokesman for the company, which contracts with Walter Reed.
Honolulu
Third crack found on side of Kilauea
A third large crack has formed on Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, park officials said Wednesday. A forest area that is home to rare plants and species could be in danger.
The fissure, spotted in an area a few miles southeast of Kilauea’s summit, is near two others discovered since hundreds of small earthquakes were recorded in the area Sunday, suggesting magma, or underground lava, was shifting beneath the surface.
The fissure was spewing steam, but was not oozing lava like the others did. Heat from the fissures could spark a fire, scientists said.
“There’s just smoldering, there’s no open flames or anything like that,” Jim Gale, a spokesman for the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, said of the most recent fissure found. “We’re very fortunate because we just had a series of rains so the area is relatively wet.”
The area is home to honeycreeper birds, happy face spiders and damselflies.
There are also native trees and ferns found nowhere else in the state.