WASHINGTON

LAWYERS FOR MINOR POLITICAL PARTIES PUSH FOR CDP INVESTIGATION

Lawyers for several former third-party candidates for president and vice president, and for three minor political parties yesterday asked a federal appeals court to force the Federal Election Commission to reconsider whether the Commission for Presidential Debates can legally sponsor such debates.

Jason Adkins, attorney for John Hagelin, Ralph Nader, Patrick Buchanan, Howard Phillips, Winona LaDuke, the Natural Law Party, the Green Party of the United States, and the Constitution Party, told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the FEC should be required to investigate whether the CPD is truly nonpartisan, a requirement under campaign finance laws to be eligible to organize presidential debates. The CPD is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1987 by the Republican and Democratic parties.

The case, Hagelin v. FEC, arises from the CPD’s decision to exclude Mr. Nader from the 2004 presidential debates, and to prevent any third-party candidates from sitting in the audience of the 2000 debates. The candidates claim that because of its alleged ties to the two major parties, the CPD is a de facto partisan corporation that acted improperly when it limited their access to the debate halls.

A lower court remanded the case to the FEC in August 2004,ruling that the commission had not conducted a proper investigation of possible partisan bias at the CPD. The FEC appealed that ruling in yesterday’s hearing.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MARINES RECALL COMBAT VESTS AFTER CONCERNS ABOUT TESTING

The Marine Corps is recalling 5,277 combat vests issued to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Djibouti after a newspaper article raised concerns that they failed a test to determine whether they could stop a bullet. The Marines said in a statement they are recalling the vests to alleviate any doubts caused by a Marine Corps Times article published yesterday, but service officials insisted they do not believe the vests are faulty. The armor in question is called the Outer Tactical Vest and it is part of the Interceptor body armor package issued to troops in combat zones. The vest, when combined with protective plates, is designed to stop a rifle round.

Without the plates, the vest should still provide some protection against 9 mm pistol rounds and fragments from an explosion. But several vests manufactured by Point Blank Body Armor of Pompano Beach, Fla., fell short of the Marines’ standards during testing in 2004, according to Captain Jeff Landis, a Marine spokesman. The Marine statement described an urgent need for the vests as Marines prepared to deploy.

– Associated Press

MIDWEST

TWO GIRLS FOUND STABBED TO DEATH IN ILLINOIS

PARK ZION, Ill. – Two second-grade girls who disappeared while riding bikes together were found dead yesterday, both stabbed multiple times and left to die off a bicycle path in a park, authorities said. A resident walking through a wooded nature area in the park discovered the bodies of best friends Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9, at dawn. “This is a heinous crime. It was a crime not only against those kids but against all of us,” Police Chief Doug Malcolm said.

The parents of one of the girls had reported her missing about 8:50 p.m. Sunday, about two hours after she was expected home, Malcolm said. The parents of the other girl called shortly afterward, and authorities with rescue dogs began searching. Mr. Malcolm said no weapons were found and there was no evidence of sexual assault. A girl’s bicycle was found nearby. He said police had not identified any suspects and that there were “no solid leads that we’re focusing on.”

The killings stunned this town about 45 miles north of Chicago, prompting police and school officials to escort children directly onto buses at the end of the school day. Dozens of anxious parents waited until their children emerged from the front doors of the school, then put their arms around their kids or clutched their hands as they walked to their cars.

– Associated Press

WEST

FORMER EMPLOYEE KILLS WORKER AT SAN FRANCISCO MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC

SAN FRANCISCO – A man who was fired from a mental health center last year returned to the office yesterday and opened fire with a handgun, killing one employee. Two others tackled the gunman as he reached for a shotgun, police said. “They subdued him before he could do a lot worse,” an administrator at Conard House Inc, Seth Katzman, said. Gregory Gray, 54, of San Francisco, was arrested and charged with murder, police said. Mr. Katzman said he was fired from the center in September. Police said they did not immediately know what motivated the attack or if the gunman was targeting the slain man.

– Associated Press