US & World News, Friday 5/30

US & World Summary --- Suspected Tornadoes Hit Nebraska, Colorado Recovers (Kearney, NE) -- No deaths or injuries are reported from a suspected tornado that hit the central Nebraska town of Kearney 1/81/8 CAR-knee 3/83/8 yesterday afternoon. The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency reports several buildings at the University of Nebraskas Kearney campus, including some student housing, were damaged. The citys airport also suffered some damage and the governor has declared a state of emergency for the region. Meanwhile, a prayer service was held yesterday in Windsor, Colorado at the exact time that a tornado devastated the town one week ago. --- IBM Study Shows Traffic Pains Go Beyond High Gas Prices (New York, NY) -- Its more than just high gas prices causing headaches for millions of commuters. CNNMoney.com reports on a new survey from IBM that shows that in addition to high fuel prices, drivers are experiencing everything from increased stress and anger to sleep deprivation and loss of productivity at work. Nearly half of the four-thousand respondents in ten major cities reported that traffic congestion had increased their stress levels, while another 28-percent say it increases their feelings on anger and one in five cited decreased productivity at work or school. --- Texas Supreme Court Okays Return Of FLDS Children (Austin, TX) -- The Texas Supreme Court says the more than 450 kids taken from an FLDS compound can be returned to their parents. The court yesterday agreed with a lower court ruling that said Child Protective Services overstepped their bounds by taking the kids away from their parents at a polygamist ranch near Eldorado 1/81/8 el-doh-RAY-doh 3/83/8 last month. The supreme court agreed with the Texas appeals court that CPS didnt prove that the children were in immediate danger and ordered a lower court judge to vacate an order placing the children in foster care. --- Men Charged With Selling Body Parts Due In Court (Los Angeles, CA) -- Two men charged with running a body parts for profit scheme are due in a Los Angeles courtroom today. Henry Reid, who was director of the UCLA willed body program, and Ernest Nelson, an associate, deny the charges. Prosecutors say that Reid sold human body parts to Nelson for thousands of dollars and Nelson is then alleged to have made more than one-million-dollars by selling those cadavers and body parts to more than 20 private pharmaceutical and medical research companies. --- Shuttle Ready For Saturday Launch (Cape Canaveral, FL) -- Space Shuttle Discovery is sitting on the launch pad in good shape for tomorrow afternoons scheduled liftoff. Mission managers say there are no technical problems with the orbiter and the weather forecast looks good for the 5:02 p.m. Eastern time liftoff. Ground crews have packed the replacement parts needed to fix a broken toilet on the space station after the components were flown in from Russia. Discovery and its seven-member crew will install the giant new Japanese science lab called Kibo 1/81/8 kee-BO 3/83/8 and attempt a repair of a broken solar array. --- Lakers Advance To NBA Finals (Los Angeles, CA) -- The Los Angeles Lakers are headed back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2004. Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 39 points leading the Lakers to a 100-92 win over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in Game Five of the Western Conference finals. The Lakers will play either the Boston Celtics or Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals. LA lost to Detroit in five games in the 2004 NBA Finals. (Copyright 2008 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-05-30-08 0838CDT