CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.
Marine colonel “not a coward”
The officer who recommended that Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani not inspect the area where Marines had just killed 24 Iraqis testified Saturday that he regrets his recommendation because it contributed to a false report being filed about the deaths.
“Col. Chessani is not a coward,” said Maj. Sam Carrasco. “He’d be the first to go into a house (filled with insurgents) if we needed to.”
Carrasco, who was the battalion’s operations officer, said he felt there were too many Marines and vehicles in the battle-torn neighborhood of Hadithah and that Chessani’s presence would only make things more dangerous.
Chessani’s failure to inspect the street where Marines killed five young men and the three houses where 19 other Iraqis were killed in 2005 has become a major focus of the Article 32 hearing.
Chessani is charged with dereliction of duty and failure to obey an order. He grew up in Rangely in northwestern Colorado.
HOMOSASSA SPRINGS, Fla.
Barry may cool Fla.-Ga. wildfire
Tropical Storm Barry weakened into a tropical depression as it moved through Tampa Bay on Saturday, bringing nearly 7 inches of rain to parts of the drought-parched area.
The depression’s sustained winds had slowed to near 35 mph, and it was moving north-northeast about 23 mph.
The rain was expected to help cool down some of the smoldering areas of a massive wildfire along the Florida- Georgia border, said Larry Morris of the firefighters’ joint information center.
In Mexico, Tropical Storm Barbara made landfall Saturday and weakened into a depression as it moved inland from the southern Pacific coast near the Guatemala border, an area notoriously vulnerable to flooding.
At least 1,400 people were evacuated from coastal communities in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state. With maximum sustained winds of nearly 35 mph and higher gusts, Barbara was centered about 20 miles north of Tapachula.
MELBOURNE, Fla.
Space shuttle worker union votes to strike
A union representing 570 space shuttle program workers at the Kennedy Space Center voted to strike Saturday, less than a week before the planned launch of the shuttle Atlantis.
The International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, which represents the United Space Alliance employees, rejected the company’s contract offer Saturday, Florida Today reported.
The union could strike as early as Saturday, a day after NASA plans to launch Atlantis. It was unclear whether the vote to strike could affect the launch.
Both sides have agreed to a five-day cooling-off period.
PHOENIX
New champ gorged on 59.5 hot dogs
A California man smashed the world record for hot-dog eating at a contest Saturday, gobbling up more than 59 franks in 12 minutes.
Joey Chestnut, 23, of San Jose shattered the record held by Takeru Kobayashi of Japan by downing 59 1/2 hot dogs and buns during the Southwest Regional Hot Dog Eating Championship at Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe.
Kobayashi’s record of 53 3/4 was set last year at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, held at Coney Island in New York.
Chestnut placed second in last year’s world championships, consuming 52 hot dogs.
