European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 16, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 162007 stars and stripes Page 9 president supports Gonzales by Merrill Hartson the associated press Washington president Bush said wednesday he is Trou bled by the Justice departments misleading explanations to con Gress of Why it fired eight us attorneys and expected his attorney general to fix them Bush said he stood by attorney general Alberto Gonzales amid Calls for his ouster mistakes were made and in frankly not Happy about them Bush told reporters at a news con Ference in Mexico where he is wrapping up a we Klong trip to latin America any time anybody goes up to Capitol Hill Treyve got to make sure they fully understand the facts and How they characterize the Issue to members of con Gres Bush said and the fact that both republicans and democrats feel like that there was not straightforward communication troubles me and it troubles the at Torney general so he took action and he needs to continue to take action but the president called the actual firings entirely appropriate and noted that the us attorneys serve at his pleasure past administrations have removed us attorneys its their right to do so Bush said critics have said the firings appeared to be politically motivated and some of the prosecutors who were dismissed in a dec 7 purge said they Felt pressure by Republican lawmakers to investigate More democrats before elections the dispute Over the us attorneys has become the latest clash Between Bush Republican party and the newly empowered democratic majority in Congress democrats who have Long accused republicans of running roughshod Over opponents have portrayed the firings As part of a Campaign of intimidation and obstruction by the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers on wednesday Gonzales acknowledged As he had on tues Day that mistakes were made in the handling of the us attorney firings and said he wanted to re main in the Job to make things right with Congress Andrew Nenque the Beaumont Texas Joseph Jones 70 looks Over his Avenue c neighbourhood in Beaumont Texas at a Home belonging to the late Larry Euglon Eglons Home did not sustain much damage during Hurricane Rita mummified remains of 05 storm victim found by Juan a Lozano the associated press Beaumont Texas As his family and neighbors in Beau Mont Texas focused on rebuild ing Homes and lives battered by Hurricane Rita few gave much thought to Larry Eglons Long absence All the neighbors asked where or Larry was said Osborne Johnson who lived across the Street from Euglon for More than 20 years we decided he had evacuated with other people and didst have the Chance to come Back in fact he never left the Skele Tal mummified remains of the 51yearold Recluse were recently discovered lying on his bed inside his Home which had no major storm damage but was still enveloped by thick branches from two splintered Oak Trees now people wonder Why it took nearly 18 months for Euglon to be found in this Southeast Texas City i walked away with More questions than answers you keep thinking Why didst someone no Tice this said Jefferson county Justice of the peace i Mcginnis it has been the talk of the town investigators believe Euglon died of natural causes but cannot Tell if it happened before or after Rita he apparently had been ill for some time before his death and lost considerable weight but the exact nature of his illness is not known some neighbors remember him turning Down an offer of evacuation in the Days before the storm made landfall at nearby Sabine pass on sept 242005 Dorothy Euglon remembered her Nephew As a hard worker who told humorous stories about being a construction labourer and was nicknamed big tank because of his onetime weight problem knowing him he thought he could ride the storm out she said now what did he die from could it have been fright could it have been a heart attack with 120 Mph winds tearing up your House who knows Only god knows Johnson 73 said most people left the neighbourhood before Rita and stayed away for weeks when they returned their focus was on repairing their Homes not eur Glons whereabouts police and fire officials concentrated on Homes that sustained structural damage Eglons House had no such damage so it was not checked his property gradually became an eyesore with overgrown grass and scattered trash and was about to be sold for unpaid property taxes a potential buyer inspecting the property on Jan 27 discovered Eglons fully clothed body on his bed atop the covers the Interior of the House appeared undisturbed covered by a thick layer of dust the living room was still neatly arranged and China plates and wine glasses still sat on the dining room table trawler nets thousands of novel life forms from seas the Washington Post Washington it took some mighty Fine nets but scientists who spent two years trawl ing the worlds oceans for bacteria and viruses have completed the most thorough census Ever of Marine microbial life revealing an astonishingly diverse and bizarre microscopic menagerie countering a longheld Assumption that Ocean Waters Are largely sterile the new re port released tuesday reveals an otherworldly world of organism Al ferment including thousands of novel life forms that could help Speed the development of new antibiotics and alternative Energy sources and clarify the oceans role in climate change the census which in a single stroke has doubled the number of known genes in earths biological kingdom comes from a 21stcentury version of Charles Darwin 19thcentury voyage on the has Beagle led by a Rockville a based team that Circum navigated the Globe on a specially equipped Sailboat the project focused not on the microbes themselves most of which Are too Fin icky to be kept alive in culture dishes but on their Dan easily obtained from cells and later decoded on Shore perhaps most exciting said study Leader j Craig Venter is that the rate of discovery of new genes and proteins the building blocks of life was As great at the end of the voyage As it was at the Start suggesting that humanity is nowhere close to closing the logbooks on Glo bal biodiversity instead of being at the end of discovery it Means were in the earliest stages said Ven Ter chairman of the j Craig Venter Institute a nonprofit Gene research Center the new findings described in the March Issue of the journal plos biology build on re sults Venter obtained during a 2003 test Voy age in the Sargasso sea which had been considered an especially lifeless body of water that netted More than 1 million genes entirely new to science pm reports profit in fourth Quarter Detroit general motors corp reported a profit on wednes Day of million for the fourth Quarter of 2006 a big turnaround from a loss of billion a year ago due in part to Cost cuts and higher automotive revenues the worlds biggest automaker which is in the midst of a massive overhaul that includes shedding thousands of jobs and closing plants to become More competitive with asian automakers such As Toyota motor corp wound up with a loss of billion for All of 2006 compared with a restated loss of billion in 2005 a changes 7 exits in Wake of bus crash Atlanta the Georgia department of transportation is making safety changes to seven of its lefthand commute Lane exits along interstate highways in metro Atlanta after a deadly bus crash at one of the exits nearly two weeks ago the department will add signs raised pavement and reflective striping to the ramps starting wednesday spokesman David Spear said he declined to say whether the safety measures could have prevented the March 2 wreck where the bus Driver apparently mistook the commit Erlane exit ramp for an inter state Lane its almost impossible to speculate Spear said Texas House makes Huv shots voluntary Austin Texas Texas Law makers Are fighting the Gover nors order requiring girls As Young As 11 and 12 to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes most cervical cancer with the House giving final approval wednesday to a Bill that would make the shots strictly voluntary conservatives say gov Rick perrys executive order contradicts the states abstinence Only sexual education policies and in Trudes into family lives some critics also ask whether the vaccine has been proven Safe the House on wednesday approved a Bill that would keep the vaccine off the list of required shots for school attendance the measure now moves to the state Senate where More than half the members Are cosponsoring an identical Bill democrats seek to increase Public Access Washington the House on wednesday pressed Forward on Bills to open government records to the Public and protect whistle blowers brushing aside White House warnings that the Bills faced opposition and in some cases a veto charging that that Bush administration has been one of the most secretive in decades the demo cratic majority took up four open government Bills including one engendering a veto threat that would overturn a 2001 presiden tial directive giving the president authority to keep his records from Public View the House also took up a Bill aimed at government Foo drag Ging in answering the millions of Freedom of information act re quests it receives every year from the associated press