This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
WEST VIRGINIA
Prosecutor says workers didn't torture chickens
MORGANTOWN - The prosecutor investigating mistreatment of chickens at a slaughterhouse said Tuesday that he does not believe what he has seen so far amounts to torture.
An animal rights group released secretly recorded footage last month of workers stomping on chickens and slamming them into walls at a Pilgrim's Pride plant in Moorefield. Pilgrim's Pride quickly fired 11 employees.
''From where I stand, I don't think it's torture at this time,'' Hardy County Prosecutor Lucas See said Tuesday. ''It looks as though that was the quickest method they had available to them to kill the birds.''
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which released the footage, has accused See of not taking the case seriously and urged him to file felony animal-cruelty charges.FLORIDA
Astronauts walk in space,
install guides for cargo ships
CAPE CANAVERAL - Two spacewalking astronauts improved the parking situation at the international space station Tuesday, putting up the latest devices for guiding in a brand new line of cargo ships.
Russian Gennady Padalka and American Mike Fincke installed laser reflectors and antennas for the cargo carrier that is scheduled to arrive in another year, and hung out fresh science experiments in place of old ones.
It was their third spacewalk in just over a month.
MISSOURI
Voters approve amendment
against gay marriages
JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday to ban gay marriage, the first such vote since the ruling in Massachusetts last year that legalized same-sex weddings there.
Although the ban was widely expected to pass in conservative Missouri, experts said the campaign served as a key barometer for which strategies work as the gay marriage battle spreads to ballot boxes around the nation. At least nine other states, and perhaps as many as 12, will vote on similar amendments this year.
The amendment had garnered 72 percent of the vote with 58 percent of precincts reporting.
Missouri and 37 other states already have laws defining marriage as only between a man and a woman.
COLORADO
Transcripts in Bryant case give insight into prosecution
DENVER - Transcripts released from a closed two-day hearing in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case provide rare detail of the fierce battles over evidence, including a candid assessment by the prosecution about its chances should the judge rule on a number of issues.
District Judge Terry Ruckriegle withheld 68 lines out of about 200 pages of June 21-22 testimony dealing in part with Colorado's rape-shield law.
''If in fact you were to rule that all of the rape-shield evidence were going to come in, in this case, I'm thinking the prosecution is going to sit down and re-evaluate the quality of its case and its chances of a successful prosecution,'' prosecutor Ingrid Bakke told the judge.