Public gives president high marks in new poll

Public gives presidenthigh marks in new poll
WASHINGTON -- Americans approve of President Bush's performance in office, but they don't necessarily agree with his priorities or see him as someone who understands their problems, a poll says.
Six in 10, or 63 percent, in the ABC-Washington Post poll approved of the job Bush is doing, while 32 percent disapproved.
The public has doubts about Bush's priorities, however.
By a 2-1 margin, those polled said Bush is more interested in holding down the size of government than in providing needed services. By the same margin, they thought it was more important to provide needed services than to hold down the size of government.
Just under half, 47 percent, thought Bush understands their problems while 51 percent said he doesn't.
Nearly two-thirds had a favorable impression of Bush as a person, felt he has a vision for the future and thought he could be trusted in a crisis.
The poll of 1,350 adults was taken Thursday through Sunday and has an error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
Teachers in Hawaiiend 19-day strike
HONOLULU -- A 19-day strike by Hawaii's public teachers ended early today only hours before a federal judge could have intervened and appointed a receiver for the school system.
A union spokeswoman, Danielle Lum, said the Hawaii State Teachers Association's 50-member board approved the deal just before midnight Monday and would formally present it to teachers statewide for formal ratification later today.
The strike kept the state's more than 180,000 elementary, middle and high school students out of school for 14 school days over more than three full weeks.
Details of the deal between the state and 13,000 public school teachers were not immediately disclosed, though teachers were expected to return to schools on Wednesday, with classes to start Thursday.
Lum said state and union negotiators were still meeting early today to "dot all the i's and cross the t's" before sending the new contract to teachers.
A separate strike by University of Hawaii faculty that also began April 5 ended when professors reached a two-year contract agreement with the state last week. The coinciding strikes were the first time a state's entire public education system had been closed by a labor dispute.
Board postpones voteon sex-change benefits
SAN FRANCISCO -- A vote was postponed Monday that would have made San Francisco the only city in the nation to pay for employees' sex changes.
The measure needs nine Board of Supervisor votes to pass. Two of the 11 supervisors were absent Monday and one supervisor opposes it. Supervisor Mark Leno, who supports the benefits, said he expected nine votes for the measure when it is taken up again next week.
Supervisor Tony Hall called the measure "a case of reverse discrimination" and said he had been inundated with calls opposing it. He said the sex-change surgery was elective and would cost city workers and retired employees an extra $1.70 a month for insurance that they might not want to pay.
"This is not like heart failure," Hall said. "This is an elective procedure."
While the issue had not received public opposition until Monday, a few people said they could not support the benefits.
"Why should insurance companies pay for something like this?" asked Jane Cogswell, 81, a retired nurse and longtime San Francisco resident.
American's trial opens
VORONEZH, Russia -- An American Fulbright scholar who was accused by Russian authorities of being a spy in training went on trial today on drug charges in the central Russian town of Voronezh.
John Tobin of Ridgefield, Conn., denied the charges against him under questioning by Judge Tatyana Korchagina.
"I never saw anyone in my apartment using drugs," he said, sitting in the cage in which defendants are kept in Russian courtrooms.
Prosecutors have charged Tobin with drug possession and selling, saying he and a friend ran a "drug den" in their rented apartment. The charges carry up to 30 years in prison, according to Voronezh police.
Tobin, wearing a black leather jacket and olive green sweater, looked pale and hollow-cheeked. He declined to answer journalists' questions as he was brought into the courtroom.
The 24-year-old student was arrested Jan. 26 as he left a Voronezh nightclub.