NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) -- Yale is banning drinking games from this year's football game against Harvard and will shut down all tailgate parties after halftime -- a move some alumni say could put a damper on one of college football's oldest and most storied rivalries.The rules to discourage binge drinking at the Yale Bowl will take effect November 5, when Yale faces Brown, but they are clearly aimed at the most raucous event of the season -- the November 19 Harvard-Yale game.The Ivy League contest, known simply as "The Game," dates to 1875 and draws nearly as many fans outside the stadium as inside. Students and alumni fill U-Hauls with kegs, grills and hard liquor and set up elaborate buffets under party tents. Some parties serve up domestic beer; others offer champagne and shrimp cocktail."Our major concern is for the health and safety of our students," said Betty Trachtenberg, Yale dean of student affairs. "Perhaps over the years those concerns had been lost sight of."Harvard tightened its rules last year, requiring wristbands to prove people were old enough to drink. The school also limits the amount of alcohol that can be brought into the tailgate area. Yale followed suit this week, issuing eight new rules.Among other things, drinking games will be banned along with related paraphernalia, such as the tables used to play beer pong."We don't want to send hordes of students to the hospital after each game. Drinking games are meant to get people drunk," Trachtenberg said.For alumni, the biggest change will be the early closing time for tailgate parties, said Patrick Ruwe, a 1983 graduate and the president of the Yale Football Association Board."I think it will have an effect on the character of the game, independent of alcohol, just for tailgating with families," Ruwe said.Brian Ameche, a 1975 graduate and former defensive end, said: "Unless you have a personal interest in the game -- you're a former player or you have a child who's playing -- it's as much about the tailgating as it is about the game of football."Harvard athletic department spokesman Chuck Sullivan said the university wanted to prevent tailgating parties from spilling over into nearby neighborhoods. Last year, police issued a number of citations for underage drinking and threatened to ban student tailgating.New Haven Police spokeswoman Bonnie Winchester said that while there have been no "remarkable" problems at Yale in recent years, the department welcomes Yale's new rules.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AMHERST, Massachusetts (AP) -- Accustomed to low and flat New Orleans, Tameka Noel finds herself huffing and puffing as she walks the hilly campus of Amherst College near the Berkshire Mountains. And though it's just October, it already feels like winter to her.She misses friends, and Cajun food, and Bourbon Street, which puts small-town Amherst's nightlife to shame.She and the six other students from Xavier University who wound up here this semester won't lie and tell you Hurricane Katrina was the best thing that ever happened to them, just because they get to spend time at an elite liberal arts college. They will, however, say they are grateful for the hospitality, and that -- when all is said and done -- their time at Amherst might have broadened their education."Some days are difficult and others aren't," said Noel, a senior from New Boston, Texas, who is part of Xavier's well-regarded premed program. "But I think being outside your comfort zone is something everybody should experience."An estimated 75,000 college students were displaced from New Orleans by the storm. Many are still in the South, or at least at schools close to family. But others are temporarily enrolled at colleges far from home, both geographically and culturally. About a dozen from Xavier, a historically black, Roman Catholic school, were taken in by Amherst and nearby Williams -- schools some would call archetypal New England liberal arts colleges.Around the country, host schools have worked hard to make the students feel welcome. Loyola of Chicago, which accommodated about 300, hosted a Midwest-themed welcome barbecue and a party to watch a New Orleans Saints football game. Washington & Lee University had Cajun night in the dining hall. Santa Clara University in California gave students skateboards and offered a one-time class called "Skateboard Etiquette 101" -- figuring it would help students both get around and feel more Californian.Amherst took its visitors shopping for the winter clothes they suddenly needed, and is even paying for them to fly home for Thanksgiving. In the classroom, it organized tutorials to help them catch up after missing the first two weeks of class. College officials say the students are doing fine academically.For the Xavier students, it's a way to get the courses they need to stay on track to medical school. But it's also a chance to try some new things. At Xavier, they said, most classes are in a lecture-and-drill format. Their Amherst seminars have been a nice change of pace in both structure and content."We discussed homosexuality, which is definitely a big taboo at Xavier, being Catholic and all that," said Noel, who added an elective on "cross-cultural constructions of gender" to her science coursework. The different classroom experience "is something I've enjoyed," she said.In interviews with students scattered across the country, several said they had found the chance to spend a few months at another college unexpectedly valuable."I wouldn't take it back. I honestly wouldn't," said Dawnyel Verrett, a junior from Loyola of New Orleans who is at Santa Clara and says she has been warmly welcomed -- and enjoyed discovering Mexican food. One of 19 displaced undergraduates at Washington & Lee, in tiny Lexington, Virginia, Tulane sophomore Jennifer Comarda says she has enjoyed some aspects of small-town life, like getting to know the man who works at a local ice cream shop.And being at Loyola of Chicago has allowed Zac Markey, who had expected to start at Loyola of New Orleans this fall, the chance to sample some bands on the local music scene.But make no mistake: Small and unexpected pleasures aside, being displaced is tough, for all sorts of reasons."I think all of us here are getting a little bit of cabin fever," said Comarda, who had never spent more than a few days outside her home state of Louisiana. "We're so used to going to the movies and having so many opportunities in a big city, going to the mall. There's no mall here. There's a Wal-Mart."Markey says he's never quite felt comfortable at Loyola of Chicago. "I'm not getting used to anything here," he said. "I kind of just see it as getting a few credits out of the way."People have been friendly, but he hasn't made close friends: "There's definitely a division between the Chicago students and the (New Orleans) students. They're from two different cultures."Some, like Josh Solowiejczyk, a Tulane student relocated to the University of Pennsylvania, have done New Orleans-related charity work to keep up their connection to the city. He has raised over $15,000 for a children's charity by selling bracelets. Others are showing up at recruiting events for their New Orleans colleges.But most students said they hadn't become involved with campus extracurricular activities; catching up on coursework was a higher priority.In some respects, the upperclassmen, who are far away from friends and feel like they are missing the best years of college, seem the most frustrated. Freshmen were already prepared for a new scene this fall, so the change is not necessarily as jarring."The hardest part is to know how to find the things we need to live day-to-day," said Terilyn Lake, a Xavier senior from Jackson, Mississippi, who talked about her experience while at an Amherst dining hall. "I don't feel much of a culture shock. It's just a lot of unknowns.""I feel like a freshman again," she said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- To an out-of-towner, the 79 acres of fountains, sculptures and eye-popping landscapes nestled in a south city neighborhood are known as the Missouri Botanical Garden.But St. Louisans often refer to the botanical displays as "Shaw's Garden," a nod to businessman Henry Shaw, who built his country estate on the grounds and worked to open the gardens to the public in 1859.Shaw's country home, known as Tower Grove House, was expected to reopen to visitors on October 29 following a two-year, $1 million restoration.The hope is that it will provide a new glimpse into Shaw's life, his era and his motivation for turning his gardens into a long-lasting gift to the public.Visitors approaching Shaw's Italianate-style home pass a profusion of blooming flowers and reflecting pools with sculptures. The gardens have grown from a gentleman's estate to a botanical center -- with a strong research component, a tropical rain forest conservatory and a Japanese garden among its offerings -- ranked among the most prestigious anywhere.Among other accolades, the garden received the 2004 "Garden of Excellence" award from Horticulture Magazine and the American Public Garden Association."Over the years, the Missouri Botanical Garden has become one of the leading botanical institutions in the world, rivaling the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the New York Botanical Garden in the breadth and strength of its worldwide reach," writes the garden's director, Peter Raven, in the foreword of a new book, "Henry Shaw's Victorian Landscapes," written by Carol Grove.Raven writes that Shaw's influence in St. Louis continues to grow nearly 120 years after his death. In addition to the gardens, Shaw gave land to the city that became its Tower Grove Park.Shaw even put a bequest in his will for a sermon to be preached annually on the goodness God has shown in the growth of flowers, fruits and vegetables. In that tradition, Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in the city holds an annual Flower Festival with a street fair, where a guest speaker still visits to preach during the two-day event. Flowers provided by the botanical gardens are used for decoration, Episcopal Diocese of Missouri spokesman Robert Brown said.Early fortune A marble statue of Henry Shaw rests above his tomb in the mausoleum outside of Tower Grove House. Amy Haake, the coordinator of programs at the Missouri Botanical Garden, said Shaw made his fortune early, allowing him to retire at 39 and focus on the gardens.She said Shaw was born in 1800 in Sheffield, England, an area known for its iron and steel manufacturing.In 1818, Shaw came with his father to Quebec, Canada, looking to sell knives and metal tools in the Americas.When a shipment of goods couldn't be located in New Orleans, Shaw's father sent his son there to find them. Shaw got the saws, chisels and other goods, but couldn't sell them, so he booked passage on a steamship called the Maid of Orleans, traveling to the Mississippi River community known as St. Louis.He opened a hardware store there, selling cutlery and tools to those passing through to points west. As his business prospered, he also began lending money and buying land in the region, Haake said."He amassed about $25,000, and thought that was more than one man should make in a year," she said. Shaw retired with a fortune of about $250,000. Haake said that would be equivalent to about $4 million today.Shaw hired architect George I. Barnett to design his country home in 1849. At the time, it was built on property southwest of the city. Now that St. Louis is much larger, the garden sits well within the city limits.With an observation tower on its front, and located near a grove of sassafras trees, the residence came to be called Tower Grove House, Haake said.But Shaw didn't just want a country estate for himself. He wanted to open the grounds to the public.Public spaceShaw, who liked plants and gardens as a young man, was impressed with the estates and parks he saw in his travels to Europe, such as the Duke of Devonshire's Chatsworth and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.Botanists and naturalists convinced him that his garden should have strong research and science facilities, and that aspect continues to this day.But his plan to fund the Missouri Botanical Gardens was threatened when a woman, Effie Carstang, sued Shaw for breach of promise. She said he promised to marry her, but then broke his word. Carstang initially won a judgment of $100,000 in 1859, but Shaw later won an appeal."Some people say that if he had lost the appeal, we wouldn't have the garden today," Haake said.At Shaw's restored home, visitors will have a chance to see what his house looked like at the time of his death in 1889.Shaw kept meticulous records -- so good that they were donated to the Harvard School of Business for a period of time so students could see an example of how to keep thorough records, Haake said.The records were also helpful in preparing the house for the public. His dining room table, for instance, will be covered with gardening magazines and maps to show how he used it as a work space. The east wing of the house is not original, so part of it will be used as gathering space to provide information for tour groups.And should visitors want to pay their respects to Shaw or see what he looked like, they won't have to go far. He had two mausoleums built, the first of which he rejected as unsuitable because of its materials. The second one he commissioned was made of red granite and bears his likeness in a sculpture.Shaw was laid to rest in his garden; in the sculpture, he holds a single rose.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- Mexican authorities were still assessing the damage from Hurricane Wilma as they worked to get aid to the storm-ravaged Yucatan Peninsula, but the country's tourism minister said the region stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.The storm hovered over the coastal paradise for days, flooding resort hotels and reducing stores and businesses to heaps of twisted metal.Tourism Secretary Rodolfo Elizondo estimated the area would lose $800 million in tourism revenue between now and December. He said that about 38 percent of all international tourists to Mexico visit Cancun, the Mayan Riviera or Cozumel. Tourism is Mexico's fourth-largest industry and pumped about $10.8 billion into the country's economy last year, according to the Mexican Tourism Secretariat. That's almost 10 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product.It's one of the country's largest sources of income, behind oil, industry and money sent from other countries. "This is having trickle-down effects with people saying 'are we going there over spring break,' or 'should we go somewhere else for spring break,' that sort of thing," Chicago travel agent Mike O'Malley said.He said his small agency was working with about 10 couples who had planned to travel to the region this week. Most were switching destinations rather than staying home."People have planned a honeymoon and they still want to go on a honeymoon or they've taken time off of work and they don't want to sit home for a week and they're looking for alternatives," he said.One of those couples, Timothy Olsen and his fiance, Gina Valentini, planned to go to the Mayan Riviera after their November 13 wedding."We're going on our honeymoon and don't necessarily want an adventure as much as we want to relax" after the long, stressful wedding process, he said.He said they had trip insurance, so they were thinking about going instead to Jamaica, the Dominican Republic or maybe taking a cruise.Olsen said they were disappointed at first, but they realized that "the honeymoon is one thing that we've been able to keep in the low stress, since it's sort of a reward."Dallas agent Nancy Strong said Cancun is a popular destination for her clients because it's so close."It's an ideal quick vacation getaway out of this town. You're guaranteed the sun and the beach, a short flight and you don't get off the plane and have to drive for two hours," she said.Strong said about 30 clients have canceled trips and are asking her to make new arrangements. That could add up to a big loss -- Banco de Mexico estimated that international tourists spend an average of $698 each. More than 15 million tourists visited the country in the first eight months of the year, the bank said. Mexican President Vicente Fox predicted that the hotels would be up and running in time for the busy winter season."I am absolutely sure and confident that if today we are at zero, not one single hotel operating, within two months we will see this rise to 80 percent," Fox said during a weekend tour of Cancun. The vice president of the Cancun Hotels Association told The Associated Press that it may be Easter week before the area has fully recovered.Mexican authorities said they still have to evacuate about 40,000 tourists from the region and get help to residents before they can focus on rebuilding and bringing in new tourists.The U.S. State Department said it was working to get about 10,000 stranded Americans home.Continental and American Airlines were sending nine flights to Mexico on Wednesday, airline and State Department officials said. Continental Airlines spokesman Martin Deleon said the airline would send four flights from Houston Wednesday morning -- two to Cancun and two to Cozumel -- and all four were expected to return to the United States later in the day. American Airlines will send five jets: three to Cancun, one to Cozumel and one to Merida, spokesman John Hotard said. "We are hoping to continue that through the weekend," Hotard said. "We will have one flight a day into Cozumel through Sunday and we are hoping to get more flights into Cancun." Mexicana Airlines flew 800 people on five flights Tuesday from Cancun to Mexico City, and four flights were planned for Wednesday. A cruise ship is also on its way to Cozumel to pick up Americans and take them to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, free of charge, State Department officials said. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

DARMSTADT, Germany (Reuters) -- Students from more than 20 universities across Europe have designed, built and on Thursday launched their own satellite into space.The SSETI Express satellite is about the size of a standard washing machine and was shot into space by a Russian launcher from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, the European Space Agency said.If the satellite settles into a successful orbit around the earth, it will encircle the planet from pole to pole at a height of around 505 km (314 miles).The SSETI Express took a year and a half to build. Some 200 university students from more than 20 universities in 12 countries participated in the project.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -- Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG said Thursday it had temporarily suspended shipments of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to wholesalers and other private sector recipients in the United States to ensure that enough treatments will be available for the regular influenza season."We have temporarily suspended shipment of Tamiflu there," said Roche spokesman Alexander Klauser. He stressed that the suspension would not affect the U.S. government's order for the drug."We have agreed orders with governments and we will fulfill them," Klauser said. "It is important that this is seen separately from the pandemic offers."He confirmed a report in The New York Times that Roche's management in the United States proceeded with the temporary suspension because of the increased global demand for Tamiflu, the drug that experts believe would be most effective in treating a pandemic strain of flu. Demand has increased due to fears of the potential spread of bird flu."The priority is that there is enough Tamiflu for the people who need it at the start of the influenza season," Klauser told The Associated Press. "At the moment, there is no influenza currently circulating."Supplies have become tight because governments and other organizations are stockpiling it in case the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu spreading from Asia to Europe mutates into a form that can pass easily to and between people, sparking a human flu pandemic.Experts are pinning their hopes on Tamiflu to soften the impact of a pandemic. It would be used to treat the sick and those who have come into close contact them in hopes of saving their lives and stopping the spread of the virus while scientists rush to make a vaccine.Klauser said the increased demand would mean that "over the next few weeks, limited stocks would be available in most countries."He declined to comment on what the temporary halt in shipments would mean for U.S. pharmacies and wholesalers.On Tuesday, the Swiss drug giant's Canadian branch made a similar announcement that it was suspending private sales of Tamiflu in Canada until the flu season begins in December because soaring stockpile demand threatened the seasonal flu allocation.Paul Brown, a vice president of Roche Canada, said they saw more demand for Tamiflu on one day last week than in all of 2004.Some 40 countries are scrambling to create Tamiflu stockpiles. The World Health Organization recommends governments keep enough anti-viral drugs and regular human flu vaccines for at least 25 percent of their populations.Local management in each country is responsible for managing the drug's distribution, Roche says.Roche has donated 3 million treatments to WHO for a global stockpile in case of a flu pandemic.Tamiflu is one of four drugs that can treat regular flu if taken soon after symptoms begin.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Harriet Miers took her name out of consideration for the Supreme Court on Thursday amid a brewing showdown over White House documents. But some lawmakers and observers suggest that the impasse was simply the most graceful exit possible for a floundering nominee.Miers never served as a judge and her critics said her background as an attorney, a former head of the Texas State Bar Association and as a Dallas city council member provided few clues to her judicial philosophy.Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee had asked for documents she had worked on as the White House's top lawyer. The president refused, calling the request "a red line I'm not willing to cross." (Full story)In a letter to the president on Thursday, Miers said she was concerned that she would be called upon to testify about her service as White House counsel, which she said would jeopardize the independence of the Executive branch."I am concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and its staff and it is not in the best interest of the country," she wrote. (Watch Miers withdraw her nomination -- 1:38)In a statement issued by the White House, Bush said, "It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House -- disclosures that would undermine a president's ability to receive candid counsel." But Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownbeck suggested the line could have been drawn somewhere else to avoid the impasse."We were not asking for documents regarding attorney-client privilege -- or privileged communications," he said. We were saying 'show us documents of policy issues discussions,' so we could get some framework of her policy views."Also, the White House learned from a key Capitol Hill ally Wednesday night that opposition to the nomination was building, CNN's Ed Henry reported.In a blunt assessment, Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, Miers' main advocate in the Senate, told high-level White House aides that the nominee faced stiff opposition from conservatives, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist called White House Chief of Staff Andy Card to tell him that Miers did not have the votes to be confirmed, sources told Henry.Miers has been under fire since her nomination was announced, with critics arguing that she was being appointed because of her close relationship to the president, rather than her legal credentials or her knowledge of constitutional law.Some of the harshest criticism came from members of Bush's conservative base who were furious that he did not choose to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the swing seat on the court, with someone who clearly would shift the court to the right."When the president announced this nominee, I expressed my tentative support, based on what I was able to discover about her. But I also said I would await the hearings to learn more about her judicial philosophy," said James Dobson, head of the group Focus on the Family. "Based on what we now know about Miss Miers, it appears that we would not have been able to support her candidacy. Thankfully, that difficult evaluation is no longer necessary."The White House tried to reassure Dobson and other social conservatives, by stressing Miers' evangelical Christian faith, but the effort was unsuccessful. (Full story)Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, suggested in a column in last Friday's Washington Post that the White House press the documents issue as a face-saving way to withdraw the nomination."That creates a classic conflict, not of personality, not of competence, not of ideology, but of simple constitutional prerogatives: The Senate cannot confirm her unless it has this information. And the White House cannot allow release of this information lest it jeopardize executive privilege," he wrote. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who said he had recommended that Bush nominate Miers, blamed "the radical right wing of the Republican Party" for killing her nomination. "Apparently, Ms. Miers did not satisfy those who want to pack the Supreme Court with rigid ideologues," the Nevada Democrat said. (Watch Democrats blame 'radicals' for failed pick -- 3:40)Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, said Bush now "should nominate a strict constructionist conservative.""That's what he is and ran as as president," Lott said. "He said if you elect me, this is the nominee you will get." (Watch Lott say withdrawing was the right thing -- 5:43)Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, urged the president to choose a nominee in the mold of O'Connor instead of someone from what he called the radical right.Conservative columnist Ann Coulter told CNN that the Miers controversy proves that Bush should appoint someone further to the right, instead of reaching out to Democrats."This does show the power of the radical right wing, as Democrats call it -- normal Americans as I call it -- in this country," she said.Activist Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum, echoed those sentiments. "The president did the right thing in withdrawing her and saving her from further embarrassment. I now hope he'll deliver on his campaign commitment to pick a judge in the mold of [Justices Clarence] Thomas and [Antonin] Scalia." A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted over the weekend found that 50 percent of Americans surveyed said they disapproved of the pick.Forty percent of respondents said they approved of the choice in the survey, which had a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.Only 20 percent of respondents said that they thought Miers was one of the most qualified candidates for the court. Forty-nine percent said they thought she was qualified, but that others were more qualified and 22 percent said she was not qualified.In the survey, 70 percent said that it was a negative that little was known about her views on major issues and 66 percent said her lack of experience was a negative.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans voted to cut student loan subsidies, child support enforcement and aid to firms hurt by unfair trade practices as various committees scrambled to piece together $50 billion in budget cuts.More politically difficult votes -- to cut Medicaid, food stamps and farm subsidies -- are on tap Thursday as more panels weigh in on the bill. It was originally intended to cut $35 billion in spending over five years, but after pressure from conservatives, GOP leaders directed committees to cut another $15 billion to help pay the cost of hurricane recovery.President Bush met with House and Senate GOP leaders and said he was pleased with the progress. He also appeared to endorse a plan by House Speaker Dennis Hastert's plan for an across-the-board cut in agency budgets, perhaps including the Pentagon, by the end of the year."I encourage Congress to push the envelope when it comes to cutting spending," Bush said.Budget billDozens of issues are at play as Republicans in both the House and Senate cobble together the sprawling budget bill. The measure is the first in eight years to take aim at the automatic growth of federal spending programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.In the Senate, the Budget Committee voted along party lines to bundle together the work of eight legislative committees into a bill that will be debated next week by the full Senate. The Congressional Budget Office said the Senate measure would save $39 billion over five years -- $4 billion more than the budget passed last spring.Pressed to produce more savings than the Senate, House committees took more political chances in drafting the $50 billion House plan, which has become a rallying point for the GOP's conservative wing and its anxiety about hurricane relief worsening the deficit.The House Education and the Workforce panel, for example, was told to generate $18 billion in savings over five years. On Wednesday it approved squeezing lenders in the student loan program and raising premiums to employers for government insurance of their employees' and retirees' pension benefits.'Raid on student aid'It also imposes new fees on students who default on loans or consolidate them and higher fees on parents who borrow on behalf of their college-age children. California Rep. George Miller, the senior Democrat on the panel, called the package a "raid on student aid."The Ways and Means Committee approved on a party-line vote a plan by its chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-California, with so many difficult-to-swallow provisions that lawmakers and aides whispered about whether the intent was to make it hard for GOP leaders to win its passage in the full House.It includes $3.8 billion in cuts to child support enforcement. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota, charged that Republicans were appealing to the "constituency of deadbeat dads."The bill also would tighten eligibility standards for foster care assistance in nine states and delay some lump-sum payments to very poor and elderly beneficiaries of Social Security's Supplemental Security Income program."It was abundantly clear that Thomas didn't want to do this stuff," said an aide to a Ways and Means Republican who spoke on condition of anonymity but cited meetings that occurred behind the scenes. House GOP leaders this month directed Thomas to produce $8 billion in savings, eight times the original target he was assigned.The Ways and Means plan also would eliminate payments to industries harmed by unfair foreign trade practices. Those payments come from the proceeds of duties on foreign goods "dumped" into the U.S. market.ANWR drillingThe House Resources Committee approved a controversial plan to raise $2.4 billion in lease revenues by permitting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.Minority Democrats opposed virtually everything that was done, saying Wednesday's actions are part of a broader GOP budget blueprint that also calls for $106 billion in new tax cuts over the next five years."They are targeting programs for poor people to pay for tax cuts for rich people," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wisconsin. Once those tax cuts are passed, Obey added, deficits will be increasing again.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(Entertainment Weekly) -- The 1999 "Oz" disc was crammed full of magical extras -- deleted scenes, documentaries, screen tests. The package was so pristine it was named EW's DVD of the year. You can now throw it away. That's because an exhaustive new set featuring all this plus oodles more proves as precious as Dorothy's ruby slippers.Following the yellow brick road of "The Wizard of Oz" through all three discs takes about 15 hours, but it's a journey every film buff should make. A plethora of docs cover Toto's real gender (he is actually a she), the feminist interpretation of the film (beyond Toto, of course), and "the advent of a breakthrough technology -- lip-synching." And the five previous versions of "Oz" include a slapsticky entry from 1925 with Oliver Hardy as the Tin Woodsman and a truly bizarre ending in which the Scarecrow apparently plunges to his death (talk about brainless).The film looks fabulous thanks to a fancy-schmancy process called Ultra-Resolution (there's a doc on that too), and features a top-notch track of old interviews with the cast and poor Buddy Ebsen, who was bumped from the role of Scarecrow and then forced to bow out as the Tin Man after having an allergic reaction to the aluminum-dust makeup. "They thought I bore a grudge and now I was going to get even with them," says Ebsen. "They never quite believed that I was really sick." What's truly sick is the astounding wealth of information and archival footage here.As Peter Jackson says in one of the extras, "You can feel the heart and care that's gone into every frame of that film." You could say the same for the entire package.EW Grade: A'Titanic'Reviewed by Dade HayesThe third "Titanic" release in six years promises glory but skates by on scant fresh bonus material. The film, meanwhile, has never looked or sounded better (6.1 DTS ES, if you're curious), and the Cecil B. DeMille comparisons on an uproarious crew video are apt. Among the recycled EXTRAS, new lures include over 45 minutes of deleted footage, with thrilling shots of the doomed couple kissing under a shooting star and running in a complex, expensive chase sequence. Less captivating is an alternate ending emphasizing the "epiphany" Brock (Bill Paxton) experiences, seeing the error of his diamond-lusting ways. Leonardo DiCaprio is still notably absent, but Kate Winslet quips about the embrace on the bow at sunset: "We were like, 'Ugh, God, we are so over this scene!' " Director James Cameron recalls it differently, with trademark humility: "This is one of those great moments in cinema."EW Grade: B-'Bewitched'Reviewed by Timothy GunatilakaIn this update of the beloved bedknobs-and-broomsticks series "Bewitched," Will Ferrell plays an arrogant actor trying vainly to remake the classic show and Nicole Kidman is a doe-eyed dimwit casting pesky spells. Director/co-writer Nora Ephron seems to have forgotten that romantic-comedy leads are supposed to be likable. EXTRAS In the revealing making-of and commentary, Ephron explains how the story derived from a last-second request from a studio desperate to cast Kidman as Samantha. Such concessions underscore the movie's problem: Its modestly clever concept has no brains behind it. One of the outtakes even depicts a meeting of uninspired writers, hoping to "add the magic later." Meanwhile, the pop-up factoids during the film are amusing only because of their utter irrelevance -- did you know (and do you care) that the original martini was called a martinez? Note: Season 2 of the original TV show, also just released, is the better buy.EW Grade: D

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- In 1963, long before television became a stage for celebrities eager to expose their every flaw and foible, Shelley Berman threw a reality TV tantrum.In an era of sanitized television, when outbursts were limited to the chorus on "Sing Along with Mitch," the comedian erupted over a stagehand's flub on a cinema verite segment of "The DuPont Show of the Week."Today, Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown and Britney Spears can gleefully explore their off-kilter home lives for eager audiences, while others of faded fame actively misbehave on "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!"But Berman, who had already made his name in comedy clubs, on Broadway, in movies and on TV and rightfully expected more success to come his way, felt his career was stunted when the incident evolved into the unlikely stuff of Hollywood legend.Even as the 79-year-old Berman has enjoyed a renaissance, playing Larry David's father on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and with roles in other television and film projects ("Grey's Anatomy" on November 6, "Meet the Fockers") this odd chapter remains open."It's great conversation. In the industry, it's great talk," said Berman, offering his take on the shelf life of what seems no more than a minor lapse and one that pales next to stories of truly egregious star misbehavior.He asked a producer on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" if he knew about it. "Sure, we all know," he was told. Then there was the time he introduced himself to Don Imus: "Yes, I know you. You tore a phone off the wall," the radio host replied, repeating an embellished version.It's unlikely that many viewers remember the incident, and Berman ultimately thrived despite it, in entertainment and elsewhere. At this point he casts himself as a poet rather than a performer and is a longtime writing teacher at the University of Southern California.Berman, who won the first Grammy for a comedy record for "Inside Shelley Berman" in 1959, still can provoke rapturous praise. When he appeared last year on MSNBC's "Countdown," Keith Olbermann called him "one of the greatest humorists of the last half-century."One day to the nextBut he can't shake the misstep. Ask Berman the year he first got his name above the title for a Broadway play or when he made his first comedy album and he's vague on dates. Query him on when the "DuPont Show" documentary called "Comedian Backstage" aired and he's precise."March 3, 1963. On March 4, I was a goner," Berman said in his distinctive, rich-but-nasal voice. On "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Berman (second from right) plays star Larry David's father. He had agreed to be filmed onstage and off in an effort to distinguish himself from several other comedians who were hot or gaining popularity at that time.Berman was among the breakthrough artists of the '50s and '60s who brought comedy out of the era of the one-liner and into more honest, reflective territory. In particular, Berman had perfected routines in which he improvised his end of imaginary phone calls.Mort Sahl was another groundbreaker and, even though his humor focused on social and political satire, Berman was uneasy that they were being confused. Even more worrisome was the fact that Bob Newhart had gained notice with his phone routines."I was concerned about 'who am I?' to the audience. So when they (the filmmakers) said, 'We'll follow you,' I bit. I insisted on the right to approve the rough cut. So there I was, safe, everything fine," Berman said.Then came a Diplomat Hotel gig in Miami. On the second night, when a backstage phone rang during his routine, Berman told his new road manager to silence all phones at show time. Two nights later a poignant father-son phone bit, a Berman favorite, was interrupted by ringing."I finish the routine, walk off stage and I blow my stack," he recalled. It was captured on film and, when it was included in the finished documentary, Berman was appalled: In editing, the blowup appeared as if it took place on opening night and that he was angry without reason.'I had to try to be likable'His managers, his wife, Sarah, and others said he was being too sensitive and that the scene painted him only as a deeply committed artist. Instead, Berman quickly realized, it had branded him a jerk."If I asked for a (stage) light, it was not an ask but a demand. If I demanded, I was having a fit," Berman said. Returning to Mister Kelly's, the famed Chicago nightclub where he first made his name as a comedian, staff members he considered friends were obviously wary of him.Did it affect his comedy?"Yes. I couldn't be right on top of where I wanted to be in my performance," he said. "I had to try to be likable. You couldn't work all the time walking on eggs."Although myth has it that Berman dropped out of sight and out of work, his credits belie that and he dismisses that as dramatic overkill. He went on to appear on popular programs including the Dean Martin and Andy William shows and on "The Hollywood Palace" variety series.Trained as an actor, Berman toured in plays and guest-starred in an eclectic mix of TV shows, including "Bewitched," "St. Elsewhere" and "L.A. Law." He savors the memory of working with Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson and Lee Tracy in the 1964 political film "The Best Man."But Berman believes that the chance of a starring role in a sitcom eluded him because of that brief flash of film."Big things didn't really happen, the thing that would have brought great rewards of work and money. The money I sometimes needed wasn't there," he said. At one point he was forced into bankruptcy.Berman wants to make it clear he isn't angling for pity. He knows what real tragedy is (a son died at age 12 from a brain tumor) and was able to pursue his chosen work, if under imperfect circumstances. His comedy legacy, he acknowledges, stands."The truth is, I was not down and out, I wasn't destroyed. I wasn't like Pete Rose, let me tell you. I was not denied the hall of fame. There are people who admire me, and I'm very proud of that."HBO is a division of Time Warner, as is CNN.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Yahoo Inc. is doubling the price of its online music subscription service for portable MP3 players, ending a short-lived promotion that sought to lure consumers from Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iTunes store.Effective November 1, Yahoo will charge about $120 annually for access via download to more than 1 million songs that can then be transferred to portable players. The Internet powerhouse has been charging just under $60 annually -- a price most industry observers predicted wouldn't last when Yahoo entered the market in early May.Subscribing to the service on a monthly basis will cost $11.99, up from $6.99 under the initial pricing plan. That's closer to but still below services from Napster Inc. and RealNetworks Inc., which each charge just under $15 per month.With its service, Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo joined Napster and RealNetworks in trying to sell the concept of renting an unlimited amount of tunes for a set fee instead of buying copies individually.The rental approach is supposed to encourage customers to sample different genres and discover new artists. But if the subscription expires, the previously downloaded music becomes unplayable. Customers at Apple's iTunes store, by contrast, keep the songs they buy.Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Yahoo's low rental prices didn't impress most consumers because the service isn't compatible with Apple's iPod -- which boasts about 75 percent of the market for portable players."About 90 percent of the (iTunes) music store's success has to do with the devices that it works with," Munster said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(AP) -- Watching a TV show requires far more attention than listening to a song, so it would be no surprise if Apple Computer Inc.'s new video-capable iPod music player provided a less-than-satisfying viewing experience.After all, the stylish design that puts thousands of songs in your pocket may not seem so cool after you've held it up to your face for hours. And while a tiny screen is great for displaying tune titles, a full-length TV show is another story.Though Apple could not overcome the inherent shortcomings of video on its popular portable, the latest iPod does a superb job of making the drawbacks seem far less significant than might be expected.For one, it's touting video as a feature, not the focus, which remains music. It's also kept the same price as the previous generation -- $299 for the 30-gigabyte model (7,500 songs) and $399 for the 60 GB model (15,000 songs).The color display has been bumped up to 2.5 inches from 2 inches while the gadget's overall size has been kept to roughly the length and width of a playing card. Both models are noticeably less thick than previous models.And the battery life has been extended to 12 hours on the 30 GB model and 20 hours on the 60 GB model when playing music.The improvements not only enable the video feature but also enhance music listening and slideshow viewing. Apple has created a compelling reason to buy an iPod even if it's never used to watch a single video.But with all the attention given to video in the months leading up to the launch earlier this month, most new iPod owners will give it a try.Purchasing and transferring a show is just as easy as music at Apple's iTunes Music Store. The content, once downloaded to the computer, automatically transfers to the portable as soon as its connected via a USB cable.With a 6-megabit-per-second DSL connection, an episode of "Desperate Housewives" was downloaded and transferred to a unit in about 10 minutes. Using the click wheel, you start the video just as you would a song or a slideshow.The program looked remarkably clear, and had no problem reading the tiny credits at the beginning and end of the show. The video was largely stutter-free, the audio quality pristine.Surprisingly you can hold the iPod in a comfortable viewing position for the 44 minutes of the episode (no commercials!). This might turn out to be a very popular iPod use on subways, buses and airplanes.But continuous video playing severely cuts down the battery life. A 30 GB model lasted just 2.5 hours -- still 30 minutes longer than Apple promised -- before it ran out of juice.Unlike music bought at the online store, video can't be transferred to a CD or DVD from the new iPod, thanks to copyright protection technology though an optional cable can be used to display an iPod show on a regular TV.The biggest problem is the anemic selection of commercial programming.Outside video can, of course, be transferred to the new iPod. But so far, offerings are slim in the video department of Apple's iTunes music store.There are episodes from five Disney television shows -- including "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" -- for $1.99 a pop. ITunes charges the same to download one of the 2,000 music videos or a half-dozen Pixar Animation Studios shorts.The business model is promising. If only more content owners would open their vaults.Even when counting the music videos and video podcasts, the selection pales compared to the 200,000 song tracks available when the iTunes Music Store launched in 2003. Today, it has more than 2 million songs.Movie studios, television networks and other content providers must determine whether there's money to be made in Apple's latest online venture without cannibalizing their existing businesses.While waiting for the number of titles to grow, iPod owners can fill their players with home movies and other video, provided their software can encode the video in a supported format (H.264 or MPEG-4 video) and other specifications.It's a fairly easy process on a Mac equipped with Apple's iMovie or Final Cut Pro. Windows users are advised to buy QuickTime Pro ($30), which has an export setting specifically for iPod video.Though watching home movies is fun, the promise of commercial content will interest a lot more people. But there's no indication when more TV shows or even movies might arrive on an iPod near you.In the meantime, there's always music.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed "dismay" over the Iranian president's comments urging the destruction of Israel.Annan, in a statement issued Thursday, reminded "all member states that Israel is a long-standing member of the United Nations with the same rights and obligations as every other member."It added that "under the United Nations Charter, all members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state."Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday lambasted Israel and Zionism and quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Israel to be "wiped out from the map."In response, Israel's prime minister has suggested that Tehran should be expelled from the United Nations.Ariel Sharon, in remarks issued Thursday by the Israeli government press office, said he believes any country that calls for the destruction of another cannot be a member of the United Nations.The U.N. statement didn't address that contention.But it said Annan "had already decided to visit Iran during the next few weeks, to discuss other issues."He now intends to place the Middle East peace process, and the right of all states in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force, at the top of his agenda for that visit."Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday called comments by Iran's president "completely and totally unacceptable." "I felt a real sense of revulsion at those remarks," said Blair, who spoke at a press briefing after a European Union summit near London. "There has been a long time in which I've been answering questions on Iran with everyone saying to me 'tell us you're not going to do anything about Iran,'" he said."If they carry on like this, the question people are going to be asking us is, 'When are you going to do something about this,' because you imagine a state like that with an attitude like that having a nuclear weapon."Ahmadinejad comments were made during a meeting with protesting students at Iran's Interior Ministry.He quoted a remark from Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of Iran's Islamic revolution, that Israel "must be wiped out from the map of the world."The president then said: "And God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism," according to a quote published by Iran's state news outlet, the Islamic Republic News Agency.The remarks by Ahmadinejad coincided with a month-long protest against Israel called "World Without Zionism" and with the approach of Jerusalem Day.In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Ahmadinejad's views "underscores our concern and the international community's concerns about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons."Ottawa also issued a strong rebuke, with Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew saying: "We cannot tolerate comments of such hatred, such anti-Semitism, such intolerance. These comments are all the more troubling given that we know of Iran's nuclear ambitions."'Completely unacceptable'Across Europe, the reaction was equally strong.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Thursday he condemned the Iranian statement "absolutely." "It is a completely unacceptable statement, of course. We should respect borders and respect the integrity of Israel, and we want Israel to live in peace with its neighbors," he told BBC radio. Asked whether he believed that Iran should be expelled from the U.N., Barroso said: "I condemn absolutely that statement, but I will not make any concrete proposal now." In Paris, Ahmadinejad's comments prompted the French foreign minister to summon the Iranian ambassador for an explanation. France, along with Germany and Britain, has been involved in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he learned about Ahmadinejad's comments from news reports. "If these comments are correct, they are unacceptable. I greatly condemn them and have asked for the Iranian ambassador in Paris to be summoned to the Foreign Ministry to demand explanations," Douste-Blazy said."For France, the right for Israel to exist should not be contested. This state was created by a decision of the U.N. General Assembly. International law applies to all. The question of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be used as a pretext to put into question the fundamental right for Israel to exist."Foreign ministries in Berlin, Madrid and Rome also made their opposition to Ahmadinejad's remarks known to Iran's representatives in their countries, AP reported.Spain summoned the Iranian ambassador in Madrid to protest the comments, while the German Foreign Ministry summoned a representative of the Iranian Embassy to underline Berlin's opposition to the remarks.Italy said the remarks confirmed concerns over Tehran's nuclear program, and that the Foreign Ministry had expressed "discomfort and concern to the Iranian ambassador in Rome." "The contents and tone of such unacceptable statements confirm worries over the political positions pursued by the new Iranian leadership, especially concerning the nuclear dossier," a statement from Rome said. Journalist Shirzad Bozorghmehr contributed to this report Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein manipulated the United Nations oil-for-food program so that his regime received $1.8 billion in illicit payments, a U.N.-backed independent report said Thursday.The investigation, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, said kickbacks came from some 66 member states and illicit surcharges came from 40 member states."Oil surcharges were paid in connection with the contracts of 139 companies and humanitarian kickbacks were paid in connection with the contracts of 2,253 companies," the report said.In a speech to the General Assembly, Volcker recommended the United Nations undertake "fundamental and wide-ranging administrative reform" to ensure future programs are not similarly corrupted."Corruption of the program by Saddam and many participants could not have been nearly so pervasive with more disciplined management by the United Nations," he told the U.N. governing body."At stake is whether the organization will be able to act effectively."He called for the secretary-general -- typically selected for diplomatic rather than organizational skills -- to hire a strong chief operating officer to ensure oversight, auditing and inspection functions are better insulated from management influence and control."What's needed is a widely respected, independent oversight body ... equipped with enough staff to review budgeting and staffing," he said.In the audience was Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who told reporters afterward he would "take measures to strengthen the organization," adding that he had already had received proposals "to ensure that, in the future, we are better equipped to handle this sort of program."The report -- the probe's eighth and final document released about the now-defunct program since August 2004 -- describes "how thousands of contractors, wittingly or unwittingly, facilitated the process," Volcker told reporters earlier at a New York hotel.It is based in large part on data from the former regime itself, supplemented by banking and other records, Volcker said.He called the oil-for-food program -- which began in late 1996 and ended in 2003 -- "the mother of all humanitarian programs," noting that thousands of employees were involved in running it.A critical point came in 2000, when the program was almost three years old and "the regime began openly to demand illicit payments from its customers," the report said."Iraq's largest source of illicit income under the program came from kickbacks paid by companies that had been selected to receive contracts for humanitarian goods," the report said."Available evidence indicates that Iraq derived more than $1.5 billion of income from the kickbacks."Once the kickbacks and payoffs became generalized, "it should have been caught. There were provisions in the program and in its management and oversight that should have permitted it to be caught."By the time the surcharge program ended two years later, the Iraqi government had received $228.8 million in illicit income, the report said.Program had separate goalThe program sought to ease the toll of sanctions imposed by the United Nations after the 1991 Persian Gulf War by allowing Iraq to sell oil to provide revenue for humanitarian needs.Volcker blamed Hussein's ability to decide how much to charge and to whom to sell for making it easy for him to manipulate the program.In addition to its humanitarian component, oil-for-food had a separate goal, which was to keep Hussein from obtaining or maintaining unconventional weapons, Volcker said. Though the program appears to have succeeded on both counts, "that success came with a high cost; in my judgment, an intolerably high cost," he said.The 630-page report said there was plenty of blame to go around. Though the oil overseers expressed concern to the U.N. secretariat and to the Security Council about Iraq's demands for payment, "little action was taken," it said.The report cited Banque Nationale de Paris, which held the escrow account for the $64 billion program and provided the letters of credit needed for the financing, saying it "was in a position to have firsthand knowledge" of what was going on but "did not recognize a particular responsibility to adequately inform the U.N."In response, BNP said it operated through subsidiaries and affiliates that could not share customer information with each other, an argument the report described as "unpersuasive."In addition, the report said countries that "were responsible for approving their national companies to do business with the program took no action."The report pointed to a number of contracts with Russian companies, which it said accounted for about 30 percent of oil sales."By far, the largest portion of surcharge payments went through the Iraqi Embassy in Moscow between March 2001 and December 2002," when more than $52 million in surcharges was paid, the report said.Companies deny involvementThe companies have denied involvement, despite being confronted with evidence, the report said.Among those cited were subsidiaries for Siemens, one of the world's largest electrical engineering and electronics companies.The subsidiaries -- in France, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates -- "paid kickbacks to the Iraqi regime in order to obtain program contracts," the report said.The company, in a written response published in the report, said its own inquiries "cannot confirm the committee's allegations" and that its management considers the conclusions "premature" and "unjustified."Volvo of Sweden, which sold $11.8 million in heavy construction equipment to the regime under the oil-for-food program, was cited for having paid kickbacks of more than $317,000 in April 2002 to Iraq's central bank account in Amman, Jordan.The company decided not to furnish any contrary evidence, the report said, though its vice president and general counsel said in a letter to the commission, which was published in the report, that the conclusions were not supported by the evidence.The report said Marc Rich & Co. financed 4 million barrels of oil under a 9.5-million-barrel contract awarded to the European Oil and Trading Co., a French-based shell company."Surcharges were imposed on the oil," the report said, and "Marc Rich & Co. directed BNP Paris not to disclose its identity to BNP NY in connection with its financing of the U.N. contract."It added, "According to an individual familiar with the companies, EOTC and Marc Rich & Co. agreed that the premium paid to EOTC would cover a commission and a surcharge. The premium paid by Marc Rich & Co. of 30-40 cents per barrel was sufficiently high to cover both."The company responded that it "continues to dispute vigorously" the report's conclusion.The report named Daimler Chrysler for having "knowingly made or caused to be made a kickback payment of approximately $7,134."The report said the payment was known to at least one managerial-level person working for the company in Germany.The company issued as statement saying it was aware of the report and "in light of ongoing investigations" had no comment.Volcker cautioned that just because a company's individual contract was identified as the subject of an illicit payment "doesn't necessarily mean that company made, authorized or even knew about the illicit payment."The report names British Member of Parliament George Galloway for receiving proceeds, either directly or through an associate, from 18 million barrels of oil. (Galloway challenges senators)Galloway, a critic of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, heatedly denied the allegation.Volcker said he had found no evidence linking former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who led the world body from 1992 to 1996, to any of the corruption schemes.Annan's son was employed by a contractor that got an oil contract, and Volcker's panel in September released findings that criticized the elder Annan. (Full story) Annan himself authorized an inquiry into his son's dealings, but Volcker was not impressed at the elder Annan's move."It was not much of an inquiry," Volcker said Thursday. "We have criticized him, I think, about as severely as you can in saying he made a mistake."Volcker said the commission members would make themselves and their information available to any law enforcement or regulatory agencies that might want to pursue particular cases, but would disband in about a month.In New York, meanwhile, Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony charges of conspiring to pay kickbacks as part of the oil-for-food program.U.S. District Judge Denny Chin set a June 20 trial date for Wyatt, former chairman of Coastal Corp.CNN's Liz Neisloss contributed to this report.

POMPANO BEACH, Florida (CNN) -- Gov. Jeb Bush told Floridians on Thursday there is no gasoline shortage, only a temporary distribution problem caused by power outages throughout the southeastern part of the state. At the few gas stations that had electricity, cars were lined up for blocks. The governor urged residents not to hoard fuel.Bush said Florida Power and Light officials told him they will focus on restoring power to gas stations along major roads after electric substations have been repaired. More than 200 of the 500 substations in South Florida were damaged by Wilma, Bush said.The governor said plenty of water, ice and food can be found at distribution centers, but he has asked for help from other states to get through the crisis caused by Hurricane Wilma, which hit Monday."We have basically made a call out to the rest of the United States of America for a short period of time, anybody who's got water, ice or some version of a MRE (meals ready to eat), we would take everything they've got," Bush said. The governor's brother -- President Bush -- spent several hours touring south Florida and meeting with officials Thursday."Things don't happen instantly, but things are happening," the president said.About a third of the 6 million people who lost power after the Category 3 storm cut across the bottom of the peninsula have had their electricity restored, reported Florida Power and Light.But the most populated counties -- Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach -- may have to wait up to 25 days, the utility said. Broward County Mayor Kristen Jacobs said oil companies have promised to rush electric generators to their stations so they can reopen. On Wednesday, the governor accepted blame for distribution troubles that have forced many to wait in long lines for free government water and ice, he also suggested that some residents failed to stock up adequately in advance of the storm."People had ample time to prepare," Gov. Bush said. "And it isn't that hard to get 72 hours' worth of food and water ... just to do the simple things that we ask people to do."U.S. tourists returning from CozumelAbout 650 Americans stranded for about a week in Cozumel, Mexico, are returning to the United States on a cruise ship, the State Department said Thursday. Several thousand people remain in the tourist city of Cancun and a few dozen are still in Merida, officials said. Sixty-five U.S. consular officers are in the area, visiting shelters and hotels to make sure Americans have the supplies they need and trying to assist them with transportation.About 18 flights are expected to leave Cancun on Thursday, officials said.About 8,000 Americans came home on Tuesday and Wednesday.CNN's Jim Polk contributed to this report.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A Texas grand jury asked Thursday for all e-mail sent and received in 2002 by three indicted associates of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay as part of an investigation into an alleged campaign finance scheme.The latest subpoenas request correspondence to and from e-mail addresses belonging to John Colyandro, Jim Ellis and Warren RoBold. The grand jury did not ask DeLay to provide e-mails.Colyandro was executive director of Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee founded by DeLay. Ellis runs DeLay's national fund-raising committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, and Robold is a Republican fundraiser in Washington.Prosecutors allege that DeLay and his associates funneled corporate money given to the Texas committee to an arm of the Republican National Committee, which sent it back to seven GOP candidates for the Texas Legislature. Texas law prohibits corporate money from being used directly in a political campaign.DeLay, Ellis and Colyandro are charged with conspiracy and money laundering. Colyandro and RoBold are charged with accepting or making restricted corporate donations.Among the information being requested, the grand jury seeks records from DeLay's political committee in Texas, including billing information and subscriber and recipient details.The grand jury also repeated a request for telephone records from DeLay's daughter, Danielle DeLay Ferro, a political consultant who did work for DeLay's Texas committee."It's interesting that they're trying to find evidence at this late date," said Ellis' attorney J.D. Pauerstein, who filed motions Thursday to get the charges against his client dismissed.Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who conducts the grand jury, did not comment on the latest subpoenas.DeLay's legal team, meanwhile, sought subpoenas for three Texas officials -- state Democratic party chair Charles Soechting; David Reisman, executive director of the Texas Ethics Commission; and Chris Elliott, chairman of the Travis County Democratic Party in Austin.The officials may be asked to testify at a hearing Tuesday to decide whether state District Judge Bob Perkins should continue to preside over DeLay's case. DeLay wants the judge removed because of contributions Perkins has made to the Democratic candidates and causes.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is focusing his investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity on whether White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove committed perjury, two lawyers involved in the case told CNN.Fitzgerald is expected to announce Friday the results of his investigation and whether he has come up with indictments, a source said.The source said Fitzgerald summarized his case before the grand jury Wednesday and met with the U.S. District Court's chief justice afterward for about 45 minutes. (Watch how the leak affected the CIA and its operatives -- 2:32)The details of what Fitzgerald and District Court Judge Thomas Hogan discussed were not immediately disclosed.The grand jury session came two days before its term is set to expire Friday. While Fitzgerald could ask for more time for the investigation, most legal experts CNN talked to do not think he will ask for an extension.Rove testified before the grand jury four times, most recently on October 14.Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame's name to reporters has gripped Washington and kept the White House tight-lipped and on edge.Two aides close to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney -- Rove, Bush's longtime political adviser, and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's chief of staff -- have been entangled in the two-year-old investigation.Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, was appointed as a special prosecutor to investigate whether anyone in the Bush administration deliberately leaked the name of Plame, a CIA operative, to retaliate against her husband, Joseph Wilson. (Fitzgerald profile)Intentionally disclosing the identity of a CIA operative can be a federal crime.Plame and her husband, a retired State Department diplomat, have accused Bush administration officials of deliberately leaking her identity to the media to retaliate against Wilson after he published an opinion piece in The New York Times. The July 2003 article cast doubt on a key assertion in the Bush administration's arguments for war with Iraq -- that Iraq had sought to purchase uranium in Africa for a suspected nuclear weapons program.Wilson, who was acting ambassador to Iraq before the 1991 Persian Gulf War, said the CIA sent him to Niger, in central Africa, to investigate the uranium claim in February 2002 and that he found no evidence such a transaction occurred and it was unlikely it could have. (Full story)Days after Wilson's article was published, Plame's identity was revealed in a piece by syndicated columnist and longtime CNN contributor Robert Novak.The New York Times reported Tuesday that notes of a conversation between Cheney and Libby indicate that Libby first learned about Plame from the vice president -- and that Cheney got the information from then-CIA Director George Tenet.However, the Times reported that the notes do not indicate that Cheney or Libby knew Plame was undercover and her identity protected by the federal law.The Times said lawyers involved in the case described the contents of the notes to the newspaper.About five months after the purported conversation with Libby, Cheney told NBC's "Meet The Press" that he did not know Wilson and had "no idea" who enlisted him to go to Africa.Wilson has charged administration officials were displeased with his conclusion that there was no evidence to substantiate any transactions between Iraq and NigerCNN's Kelli Arena contributed to this report

I've never understood people's fascination with the weather. "Why do you care what temperature it is in Tempe, Arizona?" I ask a friend of mine who watches The Weather Channel with a devotion bordering on the religious.The truth is, I've never owned an umbrella, galoshes, or, until recently, a raincoat. I don't believe in five-day forecasts, and I resent the suggestion that I should adjust my life according to wind chill -- whatever that is. One of the great joys of living in New York is that I am able to ignore what little bit of sky I ever see. Isn't that what progress is all about -- man's triumph over nature?I do, however, like a challenge, and when three major hurricanes hit the Southeast in one month, I volunteered to cover them for CNN. It turns out that hunting a hurricane is like covering a war: You're running toward what everyone else is running from. You rent an SUV and load it up with water and beef jerky and whatever else you can lay your hands on. Gas cans, coolers, ice and beer are always the hardest things to find.In a war you head to the front. In a hurricane you head to water. Hurricane Charley was supposed to strike Tampa, Florida, on a Friday night. I got there that morning and found a bay-front hotel that was already evacuated. The manager, a large woman with a small parrot on her head, agreed to let me stay if I signed a waiver absolving the hotel of any responsibility for my safety. As I signed the paper, the parrot defecated on her shoulder. "She's just a little excited about the S-T-O-R-M," she said, spelling it out. That made two of us.Everyone always makes fun of reporters for standing in a hurricane, but the truth is, people love to watch it. Viewership doubles in big storms. You know how during the Olympics everyone suddenly becomes a gymnastics judge? ("No way was that a 9.5. She didn't stick the landing.") It's the same with hurricanes. ("That was definitely a Category 4.") Everyone becomes a meteorologist, talking in knowing tones about storm surges, wind gusts, and eye walls.Why do we watch? No doubt, some have genuine concern for those in the storm's path, but compassion and empathy can't account for all of the ratings spike. One guy I know admits he watches storms on TV because it makes him feel better about his own life. "Sure, I feel bad for the people there," he says, not entirely believably, "but then I feel happy because I'm not one of them." I imagine a lot of viewers simply tune in to see reporters get bitch-slapped by Mother Nature, and frankly, who can blame them?For much of the day before a hurricane hits, it's hard to believe a storm is on the way. The sun shines, birds chirp, and if it weren't for the deserted streets and boarded-up stores, you wouldn't know all hell was about to break loose. At first the winds just pick up gently. Then it starts to rain.My fancy new Gore-Tex raincoat kept me dry for about half an hour, then water started to seep in. By the second hour, my feet were sloshing around in my boots and my hands were wrinkled and white. If you've ever wondered what your skin will look like when you're dead, try standing in a hurricane for a few hours.It wasn't until the third hour of storm coverage that I learned the fundamental truth about hurricanes: There's not that much to talk about. Once you've discussed evacuations and preparations, the storm's path and the projected forecast, what's left? Hurricanes are really just wind and water and how much can you say about that?By the fourth hour, the hurricane wasn't even close but the winds were already pushing me around. I found myself using phrases I swore I never would: "This storm really packs a punch. ... It's hit this town and hit it hard. ... The rain feels like pinpricks on my face." Avoiding storm debris is tough, but avoiding storm clich�s may be even tougher. By the fifth hour, I had to rack my waterlogged brain for new adjectives to describe rain. I would have paid a thousand dollars for a waterproof thesaurus.When darkness fell, conditions deteriorated rapidly. What seemed like high winds two hours ago now seemed calm by comparison. The electricity went out and transformers exploded, lighting up the night sky with greenish-blue flares.I could no longer see debris flying through the air. I'd hear metal ripping but couldn't tell what it was or where it was headed. Between live shots, I lumbered inside to drip in steamy darkness, but as the storm intensified, the network started coming back to me more and more. It was a bit like talking to an amnesiac: Interesting at first, but after repeating myself over and over, the novelty wore off. "It's really blowing now . . . and the rain, it's torrential."The height of the storm was an awesome sight. The wind, whipping at more than a hundred miles an hour, seemed visible, a solid mass, a wet wall of white. My producer worried that the winds were too strong and that it was getting too dangerous, but it was hard to resist the challenge of standing up in the storm. So he tied a rope around my ankle: If I got knocked over, he could at least try to pull me back. Finally, after about 12 hours on the air and in the wind, it became impossible to stand, and we called it a night.You see weird stuff in a storm: Coke machines floating past, boats washed up on roads. During Frances, two guys in a brand-new Humvee with "Hurricane Research Team" printed on the side pulled into the marina where we were working. They looked like scientists in their matching yellow raincoats, but it turned out they were just two dudes with a storm fetish. I last saw them around 1 a.m., in 110-mph gusts, hooting and hollering and videotaping each other.It's easy to get caught up in all the excitement, easy to forget that while you are talking on TV, someone is cowering somewhere with their kids, or drowning or getting the roof ripped off their home.A few hours after Charley passed, I drove into a small town called Punta Gorda. Block after block of mobile homes were crushed, the flotsam and jetsam of people's lives strewn about: An old plastic Christmas tree, a family album and a sofa lay in the street.Everywhere I looked, aluminum siding was wrapped like tinfoil around trees and lampposts. A woman stood surveying the damage, the bits and pieces of her home scattered about her feet like kindling. Her eyes were raw from crying; she was unable to speak.There is, at times like these, a ghoulish aspect to reporting. A relief official mistakenly said that there were a dozen or more bodies at one trailer park, and all morning reporters in news vans crisscrossed the damaged town, searching for the dead. They'd slow down and ask local residents if they knew of a nearby trailer park where "anything bad had happened."In the end, the real power of a hurricane isn't found in its wind speed. It's in what it leaves behind: the lives lost, the lives changed, the memories obliterated in a gust of wind. As it turns out, standing in the aftermath of a storm is a lot harder than standing in the storm itself, no matter how hard the wind blows.

(CNN) -- Development and storms have eroded much of the coastal wetlands that provide "speed bumps" for approaching storms. CNN.com asked readers whether steps should be taken to rebuild them. Here is a sampling of those responses, some of which have been edited:We should stop challenging and tweaking Mother Nature. Wetlands should be allowed to return to their normal state. I am not saying just go in and rip people out of their houses and businesses, but we should have a national law that prohibits rebuilding any structure that is damaged by a storm. Over time, this would allow things to return to normal. As far a New Orleans goes, ...this is a golden opportunity to build it higher and smaller, allowing space for floodwaters. Bottom line, taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for some people's foolhardiness. Fidel Cardenas, Oakland, New JerseyFor years now, people have been intruding into wetlands to live, fish, farm and build. Everything we do near or in a wetland destroys some of the protection we are depending on. Restoration of wetlands, especially in areas like the Mississippi Delta and Atlantic coastal areas, should be a national priority. Stop all development immediately. Buy out developed areas and remove all structures. Give the swamps back to the alligators and fish. Stay out! C.H. Specht, Las Cruces, MexicoFEMA (and taxpayer dollars) should not be used to compensate losses for property built on known flood plains or burn zones. Private risk-based insurance would also become prohibitively expensive, thus making the entire proposition economically unfeasible, which is why these places were never built upon in the old days. John Anderson, Isleton, California This has been an issue for many years and it took a disaster like this to get this country's attention. We need money for diversion projects to get the sediments to the marshes. We need to clean up our wetlands, especially after this storm. The saltwater intrusion is destroying plant life and erosion is eating away the land. Americans have ignored our coastal problems for years -- but they sure enjoy the seafood and use the oil! Sarah Acosta, Napoleonville, LouisianaAfter reading several readers' comments it is clear that some people are missing the point. I think the main reason that these wetlands are being destroyed and eroded is human development. Without our help, nature will not have a chance to rebuild itself. If people think that nature should simply "take its course," would they also agree to let the Western wildfires burn uncontrolled? Most of these fires are naturally occurring and humans have intervened to stop them. Forests require regular, natural burns to stay healthy, so why not let them burn? In the case of coastal wetlands, it would not be wise to ignore the problem and continue coastal development without first assessing the long-term implications. We have obviously done so in the past, now let's try to be more aware in the future. Drew Kleinhans, Atlanta, GeorgiaWhile a hurricane is a natural cause of wetland loss, the wetland loss from the recent suite of hurricanes would not have been as severe had the wetlands not already been hurt by human activity. In coastal Louisiana, wetland loss is a result of a combination of manmade and natural factors, with the largest single factor being the diversion of the sediment-rich waters of the Mississippi River from its historic flood plain. Melissa Carle, Durham, North CarolinaI think the restoration decision should be up to the people who live close to the wetlands and who are truly affected by their destruction. Everyone else, including me, who did not even see these wetlands before, should not have a say in whether wetlands should be restored because the answer does not affect us in the same way as the people of Louisiana. Even if it does costs a billion dollars, even $10 billion, between 200 million taxpayers, 50 bucks extra on thousands of tax dollars is not a lot to ask for, if it's needed. Mark, New York, New YorkA better environment doesn't have to cost any money at all. Remediation can be expensive if you accelerate it, but all you really have to do, absent persistent pollution, is to let the natural forces reassert themselves. It costs virtually nothing to short-circuit the river-straightening system that caused this problem, and you will save money by not having to maintain that system in the future. Robert Platt, New York, New YorkThe idea of restoring the coastal wetlands of Louisiana is not a new concept. There are, and have been, numerous organizations working with the local, state, and federal governments, the residents, and the large corporations to find the best way to restore the wetlands while maintaining the economic viability of the region. However, wetlands are lost because of complicated interactions of manmade and natural processes. Scientists are working to understand and quantify how these different mechanisms interact and how much of a role they each play. If we don't understand the mechanisms driving wetland loss, our attempts to restore them has the potential to fail, or even make the problem worse. Ellen Mallman, Stanford, CaliforniaYes, the wetlands need to be rebuilt! It was the actions of human beings, either directly or indirectly, that caused the erosion of our once bountiful wetlands. When man tampers with the ecology that is so carefully balanced by nature, no good ever comes of it. Species of flora and fauna that were once plentiful diminish to the borderline of extinction. An equally terrible scenario occurs when we must undergo the ravages of a tropical storm, tornado, or hurricane and instead of it having to pass over these natural speed bumps, and weaken in so doing; now we are faced with storm surges with no barriers to slow them down. We should immediately write our legislators and insist that new funding be appropriated for the rebuilding of our wetlands. Keith Daggett, Mohave Valley, ArizonaWetlands should be rebuilt. Take a look at what man has destroyed in the name of commerce and progress. Wetlands, forest, species all gone in the name of progress and greed. When will it stop? David L. Gomez, Santa Barbara, CaliforniaWetlands should be rebuilt where possible, and future developers should be more wary of damaging them. There's nothing "unnatural" about rebuilding wetlands, any more than it is "unnatural" to plant trees to try to bring back a damaged forest, or restock polluted rivers with fish. If we don't take active steps to manage and preserve nature, we will only end up "managing" it anyway, in a negative sense, through unrestrained development of land and natural resources. Jason Thompson, San Francisco, CaliforniaI am stunned by the ignorance of the people submitting opinions on this issue. Wetland loss in coastal Louisiana is not like in other areas of the country. It is not the same in cause, effect, scope, or scale. It is not caused by nameless "developers" building strip malls in marshes. Wetland loss has been caused by the Army Corps of Engineers channeling the Mississippi for flood control, with the result that all the sediment in the river is being lost over the continental shelf. It's also due to the Corps allowing oil companies to dredge shipping channels through the wetlands, thereby encouraging saltwater intrusion, which kills the marshes. The "developers" in this case are companies that supply oil to the whole country. What we're losing is not just hurricane protection and a few jobs for hunting and fishing guides, but also the breeding grounds that support half this nation's seafood industry. We're losing the buffer that used to filter the Mississippi's waters. The scale, scope and effects are all enormous. Anonymous, Slidell, Louisiana

(CNN) -- Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti Jr. has issued 73 subpoenas in an investigation into allegations that euthanasia may have taken place at one of the hospitals flooded by Hurricane Katrina, he told CNN Wednesday night.The subpoenas were served on employees of all levels at Memorial Medical Center, which is owned by Tenet Healthcare, because "cooperation, lately, has not been as good as I had hoped," Foti said. The subpoenas require that people appear before investigators for questioning."Some people were not coming forward. We learned Tenet sent out a letter that had a chilling effect," Foti said. "We had no choice but to issue these subpoenas.""They [Tenet] seem to be in a position of protecting themselves, while we are just trying to get to the facts of what happened at the hospital," the attorney general said.CNN obtained the memo -- dated October 14 -- to which Foti was referring. In it, Tenet's assistant general counsel, Audrey Andrews, advised staff members that "in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, you may be contacted by a government representative or a representative of the media.""In fairness to you, if you are contacted by a representative of a state or federal agency, or if you are contacted by the media, you may wish to first confer with legal counsel. You have certain legal rights about which you should be aware."First, you have the right to decide whether or not you wish to be interviewed. You can consent or decline. The decision as to whether or not you consent to be interviewed is yours alone," Andrews said.However, she added that if anyone spoke to investigators, they were obliged to "provide truthful information in response to questioning."Three days after Katrina flooded most of New Orleans, staff members at Memorial had repeated discussions about euthanizing patients they thought might not survive the ordeal, according to a doctor and nurse manager who were in the hospital at the time. Katrina came ashore August 29. (Full story)After allegations of mercy killings surfaced, Foti's office asked that autopsies be performed on all 45 bodies taken from the hospital after the storm.Tenet has told CNN that most of the 45 patients who died were critically ill, and about 11 patients died the weekend before the hurricane struck and were placed in the morgue."We have asked for certain records from Tenet 15 days ago, and we have yet to receive them," Foti said. "We have also asked for the location and address of every employee working at the hospital at the time of the hurricane, and they have not provided that either."A spokesman for Memorial denied that the hospital has been uncooperative."We have never discouraged any employee from working with the Louisiana attorney general's office. In fact, we know that some have already spoken to his representatives. We've been cooperating with the attorney general's office, and have spoken regularly about employee interviews," the spokesman said.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- I'll admit it. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. And I can only begin to understand what it was like for the people who lived there.On Thursday, I rode along with residents from the devastated Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans as they toured the area by bus.For some, it was the first chance to see their homes, their neighbors and their belongings. But they weren't allowed to get off the bus. This angered some; others knew there was simply nothing to salvage. (Watch as residents take the bus tour -- 2:13)Officials said this restriction was because the houses aren't structurally sound, and because bodies are still being recovered. We did see at least one K-9 cadaver team during the tour.Home after home was destroyed by the flooding after the breach in the levee beside the Industrial Canal. Block after block is nearly unrecognizable as a place where people once went about their daily lives.Even the residents on the bus described it as looking like a movie set.There's just nothing else to compare it to. Foundations flattened. Cars upside-down. Children's toys on the road. Mud and debris everywhere. These were the homes where people needed airlift evacuations shortly after the waters rushed in.We were allowed to stop at one home to get an idea of what the others look like.We could barely open the front door. Inside, the rotting contents of the home were pushed all over the floor. Insulation and wood support beams hung from the ceiling. Windows were shattered. Dirt covered every surface. Complete destruction.As the bus drove up and down the streets for about 90 minutes, I spoke with the eight or so residents on board.Bishop George Albert Jr. and his wife, Vernette, got a chance to see their house, and even managed to convince the driver to stop for a few minutes while they got out.In their front yard, blue and red ribbons remained from a party Vernette had hosted for her son just before Hurricane Katrina hit August 29.Albert's church is in the neighborhood, and he spent time on his cell phone talking with members of his congregation and taking photos to show the damage to those who couldn't make the bus trip.For him, it was a small feeling of closure, and he firmly believes he'll return to live one day. He also made a passionate plea to not portray the people of the Lower 9th Ward as all poor or uneducated.When you see people suffering in a case like this, it's almost impossible not to think of your own house, your own neighborhood. And what it would be like -- to be scattered to live in a shelter or a temporary home.I've been in New Orleans only since Monday, and the pictures on TV really don't do it justice.Seeing it in person, I can't seem to wrap my head around it. Even as I read over my notes, I can't believe it.Maybe it'll get easier.Somehow I doubt it.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Mars is ready for another close-up.For the second time in nearly 60,000 years, the Red Planet will swing unusually close to Earth this weekend.Mars' latest rendezvous will not match its record-breaking approach to Earth in 2003, when it hovered from 35 million miles away. But more skygazers this time around can glimpse the fourth rock from the sun because it will glow above the horizon."This is the best we're going to see Mars, so we should strike the iron while it is hot," said Kelly Beatty, executive editor of Sky & Telescope magazine.On Saturday, Mars' orbit will bring it 43.1 million miles away from Earth, with its closest pass scheduled for 11:25 p.m. EDT. The two planets -- normally separated by about 140 million miles -- will not be this close again until 2018.Mars will still seem small to the naked eye, appearing about the size of a penny seen from 620 feet away. The rust-colored planet will be at its brightest this weekend, and no celestial body in that part of the sky will be as luminous, Beatty said.Most backyard telescopes will see Mars as a small, brilliant ball. Observers with more powerful instruments might be able to discern details on the planet's surface, including its southern ice cap and white clouds.The orbiting Hubble Space Telescope will train its eyes on Mars during the passing, snapping close-ups as it did in 2003.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Danny DeVito has a $26 check waiting for him from Allstate Insurance. Reese Witherspoon is owed nearly $100 by Tiffany Co.And California first lady Maria Shriver has more than $300 waiting for her in the state's unclaimed property vault, according to the state controller's Web site.State Controller Steve Westly kicked off a campaign Wednesday to find the owners of $4.8 billion worth of items in the vault including checks, jewelry and antique gold coins.Once a year, the controller's office puts out ads listing owners of uncollected assets. Westly is making the process easier by creating a new Web link where people can quickly determine if the goods belong to them.Among the more impressive of the unclaimed items is an 88-carat natural Blue Star sapphire ring worth $25,000.But before anyone thinks they might have a new bauble, Westly cautioned that most of the gems were turned over by banks from safe deposit boxes. Those claiming them must be listed as the owner or next of kin."There's a real uptick," Westly said of the number of the unclaimed items. "It happens more often then you'd believe. Someone passes away. Someone moves and doesn't change the address."Last year the state opened 503,000 new unclaimed accounts, bringing the total number to about 7.6 million, said Garin Casaleggio, a spokesman for the controller's office.Westly, a Democrat likely to challenge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger next year for office, handed out reclaimed checks to a group of Los Angeles residents at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles.Carlos Orellana, 32, of Los Angeles received one for $2,688. The janitorial supply manufacturer had tucked away money in a bank account for years, but when he finally contacted the bank, he found the money had been turned over to the state."I just thought the money was gone" he said. "They told me I could get it back, but it was very complicated."Orellana, a native of El Salvador, said he planned to use part of the money to buy his 4-year-old daughter Litzy the "Dora the Explorer" bicycle she wanted.Westly also said his office was working on a version of the Web site in Spanish.Banks, insurance companies and other institutions must forward unclaimed property to the state when an owner cannot be found. State officials check recent tax records for a more current address. If they find one, they notify people by mail.But they can't do much beyond that, and the state holds the assets in perpetuity, earning interest on the money each year.Laurence Martin, a former adjunct business professor at California State University, came to collect a check for more than $14,000 from unclaimed retirement funds, but didn't get to go home with the money because his check was accidentally switched with another recipient."It's good to know the money hadn't disappeared," he said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Consumers can't just put their faith in a trusted brand name when it comes to looking for a new car.Nissan and Hyundai had models in both the highest and lowest rankings of Consumer Reports predicted-reliability survey this year, according to the magazine.Nissan's luxury brand, Infiniti, had two of the most reliable models -- the Infiniti M35 and M45. But four Nissan cars -- the Nissan Quest, Armada and Titan and and Infiniti QX56 -- landed on the list of worst for predicted reliability. (Click on car names for vehicle details and images.)For Hyundai, Consumer Reports predicted, the Hyundai Tucson SUV will likely have poor reliability, while theSanta Fe SUV and and the Elantra should have average reliability. Reliability for the newly redesigned Sonata remains unknown."The message to consumers is clear: You can't gauge reliability based only on a nameplate. Some automakers do have a better track record but individual models -- especially newer ones -- can have some problems," said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center, in a statement. "New-car buyers should always check our reliability rating for the model they're buying."Of the 31 cars that earned the top rating, only two were from U.S.-based manufacturers -- the remaining 29 vehicles were from Japanese automakers, and none represented European brands. Almost half of the top 31 -- 15 vehicles -- were manufactured by Toyota.Of the vehicles with the worst reliability, 22 were from U.S.-based manufacturers, 20 from European brands, four from Japanese makers and two from South Korean companies.Hybrid models turned in above-average results, despite their complex mechanical drivetrains. Hybrids use both gasoline engines and electric motors that run on batteries charged by the gasoline engine.Consumer Reports surveyed the owners of more than a million vehicles. Owners were surveyed through the magazine's Web site and through surveys mailed to subscribers. To calculate predicted reliability for 2006 model-year vehicles, the magazine averaged overall reliability scores for the last three model years, provided that the vehicle remained substantially unchanged over that time. For vehicles that were new or substantially redesigned during that time, data from the just one or two years was used.Best predicted reliability:(As calculated by Consumer Reports)Small cars:Toyota EchoHonda Civic (2005)Toyota PriusHonda Civic Hybrid (2005)Toyota CorollaSubaru Impreza (non-turbo)Sporty cars/Convertibles CoupesHonda S2000Mazda MX-5 Miata (2005)Lexus SC430Chevrolet Monte Carlo (2005)SedansLexus GS300/GS430*Infiniti M35/M45*Lexus IS300 (2005)Honda Accord Hybrid*Toyota CamryHonda Accord 4-cyl.Lexus LS430WagonsToyota MatrixMinivans(None rated "Best")Small SUVsToyota Rav4 (2005)Honda CR-VHonda ElementSubaru ForesterMercury Mariner*Mitsubishi OutlanderMid-sized SUVsLexus RX400h (hybrid)*Toyota HighlanderToyota 4Runner (V-8)Infiniti FX35Large SUVsToyota Land CruiserPick-up trucksHonda Ridgeline*Toyota Tundra