LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There’s no doubt this is a tough election, because we
have been through an incredibly difficult
time as a nation.” President Barack Obama, speaking at a campaign rally in Bridgeport, Conn.
Article, 15A1,700 back home after Colorado fire
BOULDER, Colo. - More than 1,700 people evacuated because of a wildfire west of Boulder were allowed to return to their homes Saturday after firefighters worked through the night to stop the blaze from spreading.
Calm winds and higher humidity helped keep the 144-acre fire from spreading overnight. It was 70 percent contained.
Concerns about high winds spreading the flames prompted the evacuation of hundreds of people in the west part of Boulder and in the mountains west of the city when two fires started Friday.
The fires then merged into one.
No buildings have burned.
Repairs again put off shuttle launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
- Last-minute leak repairs have again pushed back space shuttle Discovery’s final launch, this time until Wednesday.
NASA delayed Discovery’s flight to the International Space Station yet another day because more work was needed than initially thought to replace a pair of leaking pipe hookups near the shuttle’s tail, NASA test director Jeff Spaulding said Saturday.
The problem cropped up earlier in the week, forcing NASA to give up on the original Monday launch attempt and aim instead for Tuesday.
Spaulding said the latest delay gives shuttle team members “a little bit more breathing room” to get to the polls.
This will be Discovery’s 39th and final mission. NASA is retiring the shuttle fleet next year.
Shooting survivors
laud deployment
MADISON, Wis. - Members of a U.S. Army Reserve psychological unit that lost three people in the Fort Hood shootings said Saturday that their deployment to Afghanistan helped them deal with the tragedy.
The 467th Combat Stress Control Detachment went home to Wisconsin last week after a year in Afghanistan.
“It was a relief to be [in Afghanistan],” Sgt. Kara Kortenkamp said Saturday.
“We could sort of throw ourselves into that and focus on that and feel, in a way, normal again, to be working and be productive.”
The 467th arrived at the sprawling Texas Army base Nov. 4. The next day, an attacker fatally shot 13 people at the base and wounded dozens more.
Weeks later, the 467th left for Afghanistan.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 10/31/2010