CRAWFORD, Texas – In a biting rebuke, the White House yesterday dismissed former President Jimmy Carter as “increasingly irrelevant” after his harsh criticism of President Bush.
Carter was quoted Saturday as saying, “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.” He said Bush had overseen an “overt reversal of America's basic values” as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own father, former President George H.W. Bush.
“I think it's sad that President Carter's reckless personal criticism is out there,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto responded yesterday from Crawford, where Bush spent the weekend. “And I think he is proving to be increasingly irrelevant with these kinds of comments.”
–Associated Press
Bus crash kills 2, injures 32 others
CLEARFIELD, Pa. – A bus veered off a highway and crashed in central Pennsylvania early yesterday, killing two people and injuring 32 others, authorities said.
The bus started its trip in Chicago and was going east on Interstate 80 with 36 people on board when it crashed six miles west of Clearfield, state police said.
Investigators initially had difficulty piecing together what happened because most of the passengers were Asian did not speak English, Trooper Terry Jordan said. An interpreter, Du Hua, who was was brought to help, and hospital officials said they have been in contact with the Chinese consulate in New York to help notify the families of victims.
–Associated Press
Park's peaks claim five mountaineers
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Five mountaineers have died on the treacherous peaks of Denali National Park this season, with four of those deaths occurring over the past week, park officials said yesterday.
Andre Callari, 33, of Salt Lake City and Brian Postlethwait, 32, of Park City, Utah, were the latest to be identified in the series of fatalities in the Alaska Range on routes that range from moderate to highly technical.
An avalanche swept the men to the base of 7,650-foot Mount Barille, where they were found by rescue personnel late Friday, said park spokeswoman Kris Fister.
Another pair of climbers, both experts from Washington state, had fallen to their deaths last week while descending 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America.
–Associated Press
Falwell's son urges work to continue
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Rev. Jerry Falwell's son told parishioners packed in a church yesterday that the man they remembered as a mighty force in conservative Christianity would want them to continue the work he began.
Jonathan Falwell, the church's executive pastor, addressed the crowd of around 5,000 at the second of two Sunday services at Thomas Road Baptist Church. Falwell said that if his father were alive, “He would say, 'I have finally – I have finally – reached glory.' ”
The elder Falwell died Tuesday at age 73. After the services, a horse-drawn hearse carried Falwell's body to the sanctuary for a viewing.
–Associated Press
