WASHINGTON

DELAY TO LEAVE HOUSE RE-ELECTION RACE

The former House majority leader, Tom DeLay, a Texan touched by a lobbying scandal that ensnared some of his former top aides and cost the congressman to his leadership post, won’t seek re-election to Congress, a Republican official said yesterday. Mr. DeLay was expected to disclose the plans today, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Mr. DeLay had not publicly disclosed his plans.

– Associated Press

WEST

RFK ASSASSINATION ARTIFACTS FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE LOS ANGELES – The two unmarked metal bins sitting in a storage lot in Los Angeles’ garment district hold artifacts from one of the most shocking events in modern American history: equipment and fixtures from the pantry where Robert F. Kennedy, 42, was fatally shot June 5, 1968, as he left a celebration of his victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary.

The 29 items from the now-demolished Ambassador Hotel, including chandelier lights, wainscoting and the ice machine behind which assassin Sirhan Sirhan may have hid, face an uncertain fate.

Some preservationists contend the collection should be used in a re-creation of the pantry at the school. Some historians want the artifacts given to a museum or library for permanent safekeeping.The Kennedy family wants all of them destroyed and kept out of the hands of collectors.

– Los Angeles Times

SCIENCE AND MEDICINE

COMPLEX ORGAN REBUILT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN BLADDER TRANSPLANTS

For the first time, scientists have rebuilt a complex human organ, the bladder, in seven young patients using live tissue grown in the lab – a breakthrough that could hold exciting promise for someday regenerating ailing hearts and other organs.

Only simpler tissues – skin, bone, and cartilage – have been lab-grown and transplanted in the past.This is the first time that a more intricate organ has been mostly replaced with tissue grown from the patient’s own cells.

“This suggests that tissue engineering may one day be a solution to the shortage of donor organs in this country for those needing transplants,” the lead researcher, Dr. Anthony Atala, said. He said he believes the work provides a model for growing other tissues and organs.

– Associated Press