2 killed in avalanche in New Hampshire

2 killed in avalanchein New Hampshire
MOUNT WASHINGTON, N.H. -- An avalanche on Mount Washington slammed into a trio of climbing parties Friday, killing two men, officials said.
Seven people in all were swept 1,000 feet down Tuckerman Ravine just before 11:30 a.m., state Fish and Game Lt. Martin Garabedian said. Others climbing in the area called for help.
Four of the men were buried in the snow, but one managed to free himself and another was hospitalized.
The dead were identified as Thomas Burke, 46, of Springfield, N.H., and Scott Sandburg, 32, of Arlington, Mass.
The 6,288-foot peak, the highest in the Northeast, has some of the world's worst weather and was the site of the highest wind speed ever recorded -- 231 mph on April 12, 1934.
The bowl-shaped Tuckerman Ravine, on the southeast shoulder of the mountain, is known for its deep snow and challenging hiking and skiing terrain.
Hours before the avalanche, the Forest Service reported a moderate risk of avalanches in the area, the second-lowest rating in its system.
Bush cuts pay raisesfor federal employees
CRAWFORD, Texas -- Citing a state of national emergency brought on by last year's terrorist attacks, President Bush has slashed the pay raises most civilian federal workers were to receive starting in January.
Under a law passed in 1990, federal employees covered by the government's general schedule pay system would receive a two-part pay increase with the new year, a 3.1 percent across-the-board increase plus a pay increase based on private-sector wage changes in the areas where they work. Military personnel still will receive a 4.1 percent increase and aren't affected.
This law outlining federal pay kicks in because Congress has not yet passed the appropriations legislation directing a specific increase, said Amy Call, a spokeswoman for the White House's Office of Management and Budget.
The White House couldn't say exactly how many federal employees the change would impact, but said it would be almost all.
In a letter sent Friday to congressional leaders, Bush announced he was using his authority to change workers' pay structure in times of national emergency or "serious economic conditions" and limiting raises to the 3.1 percent across-the-board boost.
Italy releases moneyfor Venice sea barriers
ROME -- Italy's government gave the go-ahead Friday to the first chunk of money for an ambitious plan to save waterlogged Venice, authorizing some $450 million to build hinged barriers that will rise up in the sea to block the tides.
The "Moses Project" -- named after the Biblical figure who parted the Red Sea -- should receive the money over three years, the Interministerial Committee for Economic Programming said Friday. The go-ahead came more than a year after the plan was first approved.
The entire project is expected to take about a decade and cost some $3.5 billion. The hinged barriers would be erected in the Adriatic seabed near the entrance to the Venetian lagoon, and would be raised when high tides threaten the city.
Venice is frequently bedeviled by high water that floods into famed St. Mark's Square, prompting officials to set up raised plank walkways to keep the feet of Venetians and the many tourists dry.
Water threatens Venice on several fronts. The city itself is sinking, the level of the Adriatic is rising and high tides are becoming more frequent.
Mormon scholarfaces excommunication
SALT LAKE CITY -- A graduate student with Mormon family roots says he will probably be excommunicated next week for articles he has written questioning the validity of the Book of Mormon.
Thomas W. Murphy, 35, published an article in the May Signature Books anthology, "American Apocrypha", that uses genetic data to discredit the Book of Mormon claim that American Indians are heathen descendants of ancient Israel. The conclusion also is the thesis of his doctoral dissertation at the University of Washington.
"We're told to tell the truth, but not if the truth contradicts church doctrine. I would prefer to tell the truth," Murphy said.
Murphy, chairman of the anthropology department at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, Wash., will face a church disciplinary council Dec. 8. There, he will be allowed to make a statement and council members may try to change his mind about the Book of Mormon.
Church spokesman Dale Bills declined to comment specifically on Murphy's case.
Associated Press