Corps wants to shift Mississippi River levee-repair funding

The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to divert up to $1.3 billion for levee repairs from the Mississippi River's East Bank, which was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, to the West Bank, where tens of thousands of people have resettled.

The West Bank was one of the only parts of the New Orleans metropolitan area spared the flooding that followed the 2005 hurricane. But the levees protecting it and the roughly 250,000 people who live there are inadequate, the corps says.

If approved, the plan has the potential to slow new work on the East Bank, where most of New Orleans is situated, and pit the city's residents against those on the West Bank.

The shift in funding is outlined in a budget proposal to be released this week and which Congress must approve. It would bring the total earmarked for West Bank projects to $3.3 billion, the bulk of $5.7 billion approved to fix levees after Katrina.

Columbia, S.C.

Giuliani indicates he'll join GOP race

Rudy Giuliani appeared to move a step closer to announcing his presidential ambitions Saturday, saying after an appearance in South Carolina that "there's a real good chance" he will run.

Giuliani's intentions have been all but taken for granted by most political observers. He has formed an exploratory committee, hired campaign workers and moved to divest himself from a large chunk of his consulting business to avoid conflicts in the event of a presidential bid in 2008.

After a speech before Republican Party leaders in South Carolina, Giuliani came closer than he had before to giving a definitive response. "There's a real good chance," he told an Associated Press reporter.

Other Republican White House contenders who have yet to formally declare their intentions include Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

Boston

Turner will pay for security scare

Turner Broadcasting has agreed to pay all costs of a security scare triggered by a marketing campaign that disrupted travel in Boston for nearly a day, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas Menino said.

Travel on major roadways and rail lines was suspended as police rounded up 38 battery-powered devices, which were intended to promote a television cartoon, in Boston and surrounding cities. Authorities blew up one device.

Menino's spokeswoman declined to say what the cost would be. The Boston Globe reported Friday that the tab for the response of the Boston police, transportation authority and police from other nearby cities could run to $1 million.

Independence, Mo.

Man convicted in cellphone assault

A jury convicted a man of second-degree domestic assault Saturday for shoving a cellphone down his girlfriend's throat.

Prosecutors said Marlon Brando Gill, 25, of Kansas City, forced the cellphone into Melinda Abell's mouth during an argument in December 2005. Gill denied the charge, claiming that she tried to swallow the phone to prevent him from finding out whom she had been calling.

Abell, 25, of Blue Springs, was taken to a hospital where doctors removed the phone. Doctors said she nearly died of a blocked airway.

It was Gill's second trial since his arrest more than a year ago. Jurors in July were unable to reach a verdict on a first-degree domestic assault charge, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Pierre, S.D.

State House OKs bill on petition rules

The state House has voted to make it illegal to pay people per signature in campaigns to gather enough support to get a measure on South Dakota's ballot.

The legislation, now headed to the Senate, was inspired by an unsuccessful petition campaign last year to eliminate judicial immunity in which critics say thousands of phony signatures were submitted.

If the new law passes, petition carriers could still be paid by the hour or get a set salary, and a quota could not be set on the number of names they must obtain. It would also require petition circulators to be South Dakota residents.

Four states — Ohio, Oregon, Wyoming and North Dakota — have banned the practice of paying per signature, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Federal courts have upheld the Oregon and North Dakota provisions but said similar measures in Idaho, Maine, Mississippi and Washington were unconstitutional, according to the state legislatures group.

Seattle Times news services