Nation in brief

Cheney, Scalia hunt while case is pending

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spent part of last week duck hunting together at a private camp in south Louisiana just three weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to take up the vice president's appeal in lawsuits over his handling of the administration's energy task force.

While Scalia and Cheney are avid hunters and longtime friends, several experts in legal ethics questioned the timing of their trip and said it raised doubts about Scalia's ability to judge the case impartially.

But Scalia rejected that concern Friday, saying, "I do not think my impartiality could reasonably be questioned."

A lower court ruled Cheney must turn over documents detailing who met with his task force, but on Dec. 15, the Supreme Court announced it would hear his appeal. The justices are due to hear arguments in April in the case of in re Richard B. Cheney.

SANDUSKY, Ohio - A single-engine plane carrying at least nine people crashed Saturday in snowy weather shortly after taking off from an island in Lake Erie, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The pilot radioed a frantic call for help shortly after taking off about 5 p.m., but controllers then lost contact with the plane, Coast Guard Lt. J.G. Christopher Pasciuto said.

A helicopter found the wreckage about 7:30 p.m. Saturday about a mile west of Ontario's Pelee Island, Pasciuto said.

The wreckage of the Georgian Express plane was in the water with ice around it, airline president Paul Mulrooney said.

Helicopter search lights were scanning the water to look for survivors, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Mark Freeman said.

The plane, a Cessna 208 Caravan, was bound for Windsor, Ontario, across the border from Detroit, and crashed about 20 miles north of Sandusky.

Mulrooney said 10 people - nine passengers and a pilot - may have been on board, but it was unclear whether one passenger made the flight.

Mulrooney said his company, based in Mississauga, Ontario, has flights between the island and Windsor up to three times daily.

"It's only used in the winter months when the island is icebound and they can't use the ferry to get back and forth," he said.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. - Roy E. Disney got a standing ovation Saturday as he brought his campaign to oust Walt Disney Co. chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner to lovers of all things Disney.

Disney said management decisions have dulled the creative edge of the entertainment giant.

"One of the reasons for my leaving, other than the fact that they fired me, was that I saw that quality slipping away from us," Disney told about 200 collectors of Disney memorabilia at their semiannual meeting.

The 72-year-old son of company co-founder Roy O. Disney resigned from the board of directors in November.

Disney and longtime supporter Stanley Gold, who also resigned from the board, are trying to drum up support to replace Eisner, saying he is to blame for embarrassing management missteps and a focus on short-term profits over the company's core mission. Disney set up a Web site, www.savedisney.com

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A woman pregnant with sextuplets has given birth to the five remaining babies more than a week after delivering the first, a hospital official said Saturday.

The four boys and two girls were three months premature.

Amy Van Houten, 26, delivered four babies Friday and one Saturday morning, Spectrum Hospital spokesman Bruce Rossman said. All were in critical condition, weighing between 1 pound 4 ounces and 2 pounds 1 ounce. The family updates their conditions at www.vanhoutensix.org

"The Lord just blessed us abundantly," said father Ben Van Houten, a 29-year-old machine builder.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright