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Nation in brief
With almost no fanfare, construction begins at World Trade Center site
By wire services
Published November 4, 2005
NEW YORK - When are they ever going to start building the new World Trade Center?
That would be, well, yesterday.
Thirty-nine years after the first concrete was poured into the first trench for the first telephone vault for the first trade center, carpenters on Thursday built a 168-foot-long wooden trough in a gentle S curve through the south tower footprint at ground zero. From this sinuous sprout, Santiago Calatrava's PATH commuter train terminal and transportation hub will emerge.
"Don't laugh; it's a milestone day," said Charles A. Gargano, vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site and is building the $2.21-billion terminal over the next four years.
Georgetown students greet prince warmly
WASHINGTON - Prince Charles received the warmest public welcome so far of his U.S. tour Thursday, mingling with more than 1,000 cheering students at Georgetown University - and even signing a softball.
Arriving for a seminar on faith and social responsibility, Charles spent 15 minutes talking to students and staff who craned over barricades to catch a glimpse of him - offering handshakes to many and a rare autograph on a softball to one young man.
Many in the crowd yelled "Prince Charles!" as he approached - one woman adding, "Where's William?"
Charles, who has called in the past for a greater understanding of Islam from the West, met representatives of Christian, Muslim and Jewish groups at Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
IRS increases audits of corporations, wealthy
WASHINGTON - More corporations and wealthy taxpayers had their tax returns audited by Internal Revenue Service examiners this year, helping the agency haul in a record $47.3-billion in unpaid taxes.
The tax collectors released the statistics while emphasizing that they continue to improve their record on telephone calls and electronic services.
The IRS audited 1 in 63 wealthy individuals and families, those reporting $100,000 or more in earnings.
About 1 out of every 107 individuals and families faced an audit, more than last year when about 1 in 129 taxpayers were audited.
Bush reinstates wage laws in Katrina-affected region
President Bush on Thursday reinstated wage laws that were suspended in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
On Sept. 8, Bush indefinitely suspended the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act that sets wages for workers on federal contracts in the hurricane affected areas.
The rules require companies awarded the government contracts to pay prevailing wages, usually an amount close to the pay scales in local union contracts.
The administration said the suspension of the regulations would reduce rebuilding costs and benefit local residents by stretching financial resources.
Last week, a caucus of pro-labor Republicans protesting the president's action sat down with White House chief of staff Andrew Card to air their complaints.
Afterward, the White House promised to restore the act on Tuesday.
[Last modified November 4, 2005, 01:42:07]
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