US & World News, Monday 5/19

US & World Summary --- Gas Prices Still Rising With Big Holiday Travel Weekend Approaching With the big Memorial Day weekend just days away, hitting the road for the holiday break may require a separate suitcase with cash. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg says the latest readings show the price at the pump rose to three-dollars-79-cents a gallon across the country. Prices in Chicago and on New Yorks Long Island actually increased over four-dollars a gallon. Millions of people across the country are expected to be traveling this weekend despite the inflated pump prices. --- Senator Kennedy Resting Comfortably After Suffering Seizure (Boston, MA) -- Senator Edward Kennedy continues to recover from what has been described as a seizure this weekend at his summer home on Cape Cod. He is said to be resting comfortably at Mass General Hospital in Boston after having been airlifted from a medical facility in Hyannisport. The 76-year-old senior Democratic Senator from Massachusetts will undergo tests to determine what caused the apparent seizure. Family members including his oldest son Edward Kennedy Jr, his nephew Joe Kennedy and niece Caroline Kennedy have gathered at the hospital. --- China Begins Three-Day Mourning For Quake Victims (Beijing) -- From Beijings Tiananmen Square to recently erected tent cities in Sichuan province, sirens blared and millions of people in China stood for three minutes today to mourn the victims of last weeks earthquake. Tens of thousands of people have died from the magnitude seven-point-nine quake. The tribute took place at the exact time the quake struck a week ago. The Chinese flag is flying at half-staff in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, where a memorial ceremony was held at dawn. --- Primaries in Oregon Kentucky Approach Oregon and Kentucky are next up on the presidential primary trail. Oregon features the countrys only permanent vote-by-mail elections. At a campaign stop in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Hillary Clinton said the next President must stand up to big oil companies. Barack Obama told a Gresham, Oregon rally the current economic stimulus plan is not enough. Obama leads Clinton in the overall delegate count with few contests remaining prior to the Democratic National Convention in late August. 1/81/8 Note Nature of the Following 3/83/8 --- McCain Jokes During "Saturday Night Live" Sketch (New York, NY) -- Old age, pork barrel spending and a machine to determine whether someone is a homosexual featured prominently in Republican presidential candidate John McCains appearance on "Saturday Night Live." The sketch featured McCain sitting at a desk and speaking out against pork barrel projects and runaway government spending. McCain joked that he opposed a 160-million-dollar Department of Defense program to build a machine that jams "gaydar." --- Celtics Move On To NBA Conference Finals (Boston, MA) -- The cream continues to rise to the top in the NBAs Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics are moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals after their Game Seven semifinal round victory over Cleveland yesterday in Beantown. The Celtics will face the Detroit Pistons in the conference final with Game One slated for tomorrow night in Boston. In the Western Conference, the Hornets host the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in Game Seven of their semifinal series. The winner plays the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Final. --- Woman Plans To Sell Virgin Mary Rock On eBay A Florida woman is hoping to cash in on a rock she says resembles a figure of the Virgin Mary. The rocks owner, Dena Patterson, says the grooves on the rock show a picture of Mary holding baby Jesus. The woman from Hernando County plans on auctioning the rock on eBay in hopes of gaining travel money to visit relatives. (Copyright 2008 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-05-19-08 0845CDT