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Sharpton calls for DNA test over revelation

By Times Wires
Published February 27, 2007

NEW YORK - The Rev. Al Sharpton said he wants a DNA test to determine whether he is related to the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, a former segregationist, spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger said Monday. It was reported Sunday that professional genealogists working for Ancestry.com found that Sharpton's great-grandfather Coleman Sharpton was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.

Top Ney aide pleads guilty

WASHINGTON - The top aide to convicted former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday to federal conspiracy charges stemming from a congressional bribery scandal that downed his boss. William Heaton, 28, acknowledged accepting a golf trip to Scotland, expensive meals and tickets to sporting events from 2002 to 2004 as payoffs for helping clients of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, but probably will serve between 18 and 24 months as outlined under federal sentencing guidelines. No date was set for sentencing. Ney was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in January.

Joint Chiefs chair: Military is strained

WASHINGTON - Strained by the demands of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a significant risk that the U.S. military won't be able to quickly and fully respond to yet another crisis, according to a new report to Congress. The assessment, done by the nation's top military officer, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, represents a worsening from a year ago, when that risk was rated as moderate. The report is classified, but anonymous senior defense officials confirmed Monday the decline in overall military readiness.

Carnival likely an economic success

NEW ORLEANS - The economic impact of the 2007 Carnival season was strong, if not quite up to the levels it reached before Hurricane Katrina, city officials said Monday. The real financial effects of the two-week party that ended last week on Mardi Gras won't be known until sales tax figures are compiled in mid March. However, Mayor Ray Nagin said he thinks it brought in about 80 percent of the $250-million that economic experts say Carnival generated before the hurricane struck in 2005, or about $200-million.

Elsewhere:

West Palm Beach: A Florida appeals court issued a stay Monday in the dispute over Anna Nicole Smith's body, ruling that her remains cannot be moved to the Bahamas until the judges hear a challenge from the centerfold's estranged mother. Virgie Arthur wants her daughter buried in Texas. Smith died in a Florida hotel Feb. 8 at age 39.

Washington: The House ethics committee has determined that a trip to South Korea that two Republican congressmen cut short but five Democrats continued did not violate travel rules, the Associated Press reported Monday.

Washington: Former Treasury Department employee David C. Faison, 56, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison Monday for stealing more than $67,000 in uncut sheets of $100 bills that he tried to launder through casino slot machines.

[Last modified February 27, 2007, 01:06:27]