NPR 2008-06-01

The Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee appears headed for a compromise concerning the Florida and Michigan dilemma 1. Those two states held their primaries earlier than party rules allowed. The deal was reportedly reached after committee members conferred during their lunch break. Now back in public session, the panel has voted to seat all of Florida's delegates. Rick Pluta has more.

The committee voted nearly unanimously to send full delegation 2 from Florida to the party's presidential nominating convention in Denver. But each of those delegates is only going to have half a vote. And what that does is that it allowed the delegation to be seated at the convention, but it still punishes Florida for holding a renegade presidential primary in January that broke the party's rules. It's expected the committee will vote on a similar arrangement for Michigan later on this evening. However, that situation is complicated because Barack Obama's name did not appear on the ballot 3 there. Rick Pluta reporting from Washington. One of Clinton's key supporters on the committee, Harold Ickes, has just said that Clinton reserves the right to take the dispute over Michigan's delegates to the Rules Committee at the convention in August.

The space shuttle Discovery is in orbit after a successful launch today from the Kennedy Space Center. Discovery (is) on a two-week mission to the International Space Station. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce has more.

The skies were clear and blue over Florida. And there were no technical glitches 4 to troubleshoot. So, NASA could count down to a picture-perfect launch. "Three, two, one! Booster ignition and lift-off of shuttle Discovery!" Discovery will arrive at the space station on Monday. The shuttle is delivering a new science lab built in Japan. It's the size of a bus and will be the biggest room on the station. The astronauts will install that module 5 and do other chores, one will be "to fix the station's balky toilet." The shuttle is bringing up a replacement 6 pump that NASA is hoping will get the toilet back to normal. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

President Bush will give the commencement address at Furman University in South Carolina this evening. Faculty 7 members at the small liberal arts school have been at odds 8 with students over Mr. Bush's visit there. From Greenville, South Carolina, Julie Rose has the story.

Senior class officers and many of today's graduates at Furman University say it's an honour to have the president at their commencement. The majority of their teachers disagree. Some thirty faculty will skip the graduation in protest. A few dozen others, including Judy Grisel, will stand in opposition 9 as the president speaks. "Wouldn't it be lovely to go to the beach for the weekend with my family and just forget about this whole mess? But I, I feel like, in some ways, that's not a responsible action for an American citizen at this time." As the president begins his speech, Grisel and her colleagues plan to remove their regalia and reveal white T-shirts with the words "We object". For NPR News, I'm Julie Rose in Greenville, South Carolina.

This is NPR News from Washington.

US military deaths in Iraq have fallen this month, the lowest monthly level in more than four years. Officials say 21 American troops have been killed this month, four of them in non-hostile incidents. That's just one more than the lowest monthly figure of the war set in February ,2004.

A crane collapse 10 that killed two construction workers in New York City yesterday has led city officials to convene 11 a safety summit today. From member station WNYC, Brian Zoomhuggin has the story.

The crane was turning to pick up a load of materials from the street when it tipped over, crashed into an apartment building and tumbled to the street. Construction workers on the job say the turntable, which is used to help the crane change direction, appeared to fall off before the collapse. The city's acting 12 Buildings Commissioner 13, Robert LiMandri, says investigators 14 will focus on a particular weld that failed. The department has suspended several construction operations across the city for the weekend and called an emergency meeting of industry experts today to discuss crane safety. Friday's collapse was the second deadly crane accident in less than three months. More than two dozen construction workers have been killed during the past year. For NPR News, I'm Brian Zoomhuggin in New York.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins tomorrow, but the season's first named storm has already made landfall at the border between Belize and Mexico. Tropical Storm Arthur dumping heavy rain on the region as it moves inland.

A clean-up is underway in parts of Indianapolis today after a tornado 15 touched down on the city's east side late yesterday. The twister damaged a number of homes and knocked out power to tens of thousands of businesses and homes.

A UN official says cyclone 16 victims in Myanmar who leave relief camps are at risk of not getting the food they need. But the country's military rulers are reportedly clearing those camps.