Post your local newspaper's page 1 top story here

[gristy]

As many have been saying this weekend, this week is going to be a VERY big week, I think. Reporters are playing catch-up.

Here's the NY Times:

www.nytimes.com/2004/06/14/international/middleeast/14ABUS.html

Unit Says It Gave Earlier Warning of Abuse in Iraq

FRANKFURT, June 13 - Beginning in November, a small unit of interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison began reporting allegations of prisoner abuse, including the beatings of five blindfolded Iraqi generals, in internal documents sent to senior officers, according to interviews with military personnel who worked in the prison.

more...

[Justice]

1. Boston Globe- Car bomb kills dozen in Baghdad

Above The Fold - Boston Globe

Car bomb kills dozen in Baghdad
Iraqi official assassinated as violence surges

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/?p1=NewsWell_Globe

"The bloody weekend, which included the assassination of two high-ranking officials of the interim government as well as bombings, mortar and rocket strikes, and sabotage of power facilities, strongly suggested that insurgents were stepping up operations with the approach of the scheduled return of self-rule, just as US officials and their Iraqi allies predicted."


The other top of the fold story is a picture of the Big Dig area in Boston/changes in property valuation as a result of knocking down the highway.

[Bettie]

2. The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA

Chaos Mounts In Iraq
Subheadings:
Suicide Car Bomber Kills 12 in Baghdad
Second Iraqi leader assassinated in 2 days
U.S. Headquarters struck in rocket attack

Story is from AP and details recent events.

One thing I have to say since moving to Iowa, is that the paper here is relatively balanced. Their editorial page includes columns from both sides of most debates and the local people who write editorials are generally pretty sensible.

[WildClarySage]

3. "Ohio River conditions make fishing rough for competition "

http://www.newsandsentinel.com

ST. MARYS - Poor fishing conditions hampered the 214 anglers fishing in the 21st annual West Virginia Bass Festival Tournament Saturday and Sunday on the Ohio River.

[Kanary]

6. They're really going for the heavy stuff, eh? ^_^

So much for an informed citizenry.......

Kanary

[Ilsa]

4. A&M researchers find wreckage of Japanese sub fleet

A&M researchers find wreckage of Japanese sub fleet

COLLEGE STATION (AP) - Two Texas A&M University researchers have found the wreckage of a fleet of Japanese submarines that terrorized U.S. ships throughout World War II, including the one that sank the USS Indianapolis.

Victoria Advocate, online edition, Victoria Texas.
http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/

2nd headline:
Coalition will keep up to 5,000 detainees after power transfer
BAGHDAD (AP) - As many as 1,400 detainees will either be released or transferred to Iraqi authorities by the June 30 handover of power, the U.S. military said Sunday.

[Kanary]

5. "Re-enlistments Dip"

Subheadline... "Remembering victims of clergy abuse"

From the Rocky Mountain Pravda, in Denvoid.

Kanary

[notadmblnd]

7. One more to go

AUBURN HILLS - With just under six minutes left on another in the rapidly expanding catalog of magical nights at The Palace, Rasheed Wallace rose for a 3-point shot, the Pistons leading by five points, and it looked lethal as it cut an arc through air moist with anticipation. (MORE)

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/

it's also the lead story in the Detroit News and The Detroit Free Press

so f-ing sad

[sniffa]

8. boston heraLd - cops push for deaL

about the the BPPA picketing the DNC. they're in arbitration.

[Mandate My Ass]

9. U.S., Saudis search for missing contractor

U.S., Saudis search for missing contractor

Paul M. Johnson Jr., an engineer with Lockheed Martin, did not return from a work break. An al-Qaeda group posted a photo of him on its Web site.

By Dave Montgomery
Inquirer Foreign Staff


KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia - U.S. and Saudi officials searched yesterday for a missing U.S. defense worker who may have been kidnapped or killed by Islamic militants in Riyadh, apparently part of a stepped-up campaign to drive foreigners out of the country and undermine the oil economy.

On Saturday, another American was shot to death in his garage in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. At least 29 Westerners have been killed in Saudi Arabia since May 1.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/8917948.htm

[NoPasaran]

10. For drugstore chain, taco stand could be savior

Walgreen Co.'s unique bid to build a South Austin drugstore and taco stand has turned into an all-out crusade.

Already, developers of a proposed Walgreens store at South Lamar Boulevard and Bluebonnet Lane have taken unusual steps to gain city approval for the project.

Along with plan revisions and numerous neighborhood meetings, they made public in February their intention to build a permanent home for a nearby icon, Maria Corbalan's Taco Xpress.

Walgreen's San Antonio-based developer has even hired a consultant to generate neighborhood support for the project. The consultant, Mike Blizzard, is a political consultant with environmental leanings and a registered City of Austin lobbyist who successfully fought expansion plans by Wal-Mart and Lowe's home improvement stores.
-more-
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/metro/06/14taco.html

Somedays Austin feels like a big city. Other days, it's Hooterville.

[graham67]

11. Online Edition:

Print edition doesn't come out until 1:00pm.

Undercover mission: Was it impossible?

The Ohio Coalition for Open Government's recent audit of access to public records produced interesting results, to say the least.
As one of more than 90 members of the coalition, I had the opportunity to join a team of newspaper reporters, representatives of radio stations and other members of The Associated Press from across the state in this unique "covert" operation. The venture took months of planning and a lot of hard work, particularly on the part of those at the state's major metropolitan newspapers who coordinated the audit and collected the information it produced.

Our mission was to quietly sweep the state on April 21, seeking information at police stations, school districts and local government offices. In each of Ohio's 88 counties, auditors were armed with the same six-item list of desired documents.

By law, all of the information at the end of the rainbow in this treasure hunt was a matter of public record, or as our panel of attorneys explained, public documents reflecting this information should be made available to anyone who asks for them and should be provided in a timely manner.


http://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/story/0612202004_new01_survey.asp

[Skittles]

13. The Dallas Morning News

Prison Abuse noted earler
"Military interrogators say they reported allegations in November".

But it's on a split page next to another article Rebuilding Scout's Honor
"To Texan, program in Iraq should be more than campfires."

The first one is in bigger type but the second one's article is much larger with quotes from all sorts of wingnuts.

The Dallas Whoring News, true to form.

[LizW]

12. Birmingham News - top story is local

about a controversial parole hearing coming up.


Second story, above the fold, big headline:

Insurgent Violence Escalates
Suicide bomber kills 12 as handover nears

Photo: Color, above the fold: "Ex-President jumps into his 80's"

[The Stranger]

14. NPR (Neocon Public Relations) led with Iran, Iran, Iran.

Then it went on to Kerry "flip-flopping" and war criminal Cheney's "speech" to some group, probably four or five military cadets hidden away somewhere.

The Neocon agenda has been adopted by the co-opted NPR in full. No mention of the Washington Post's obtaining the war crimes legal memorandum that Arch Bigot Ashcroft refused to provide, no mention of more deaths widespread in the prison torture ("abuse") killings, no mention of revelations coming from Gitmo that connect it to the other war prisoner murders.