US & World News, Wednesday 6/18

US & World Summary --- Bush To Call For Lifting Ban On Offshore Drilling (Washington, DC) -- President Bush is pushing Congress to lift a ban on offshore oil drilling. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino says the President today will call on Congress to approve environmentally friendly offshore drilling in the outer Continental shelf. Citing environmental concerns, Democrats have steadfastly opposed such drilling. The drilling ban has been in place since 1981. The new push comes as gasoline prices in the U.S. have topped four-dollars per gallon. --- Low Profiles For Both Sides In Gay Marriage Issue Even though same-sex marriages in California have been legal since late Monday afternoon, both sides are gearing up for a court fight over the controversial issue. The "Los Angeles Times" reports both sides of the politically-charged issue are doing their best not to provide the opposition with any material for smear campaigns. Gay couples dressed conservatively when showing up to apply for marriage licenses, while same-sex marriage opponents refrained from acrimonious protests. So far, more than 23-hundred same-sex marriage licenses have been issued statewide. --- Celtics Rout Lakers To Clinch NBA Title (Boston, MA) -- The much anticipated Game Six of the NBA Finals was over at halftime. Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 131-92 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers last night in Boston. With the win, the Celtics captured their 17th NBA title in team history and first since 1986. The Celtics led by 23 points at halftime and by more than 30 heading into the fourth quarter. The 39-point final margin was the largest Finals-clinching margin in league history. --- Tim Russert Memorial Set For Today (Washington, DC) -- The nation says goodbye today to Tim Russert. A memorial service for the longtime host of NBCs "Meet the Press" takes place this afternoon at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The 58-year-old Russert died of a heart attack last Friday. President Bush and the First Lady were among the first to attend a wake and public viewing yesterday. Russert was a native of Buffalo, New York, and was also the Washington bureau chief for NBC News. Todays memorial service will be covered live by MSNBC beginning at 4:00 Eastern Time. --- Case Dismissed Against Haditha Marine (Camp Pendleton, CA) -- An incident in Haditha, Iraq that "Time" magazine referred to as a "massacre" has just about been put to rest. A military judge yesterday dismissed all charges against Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani at a California hearing. Chessani was the highest-ranking U.S. Marine accused in the killing 24 Iraqi civilians in November of 2005 and faced violating a lawful order and dereliction of duty charges. The Haditha killings made headlines and sparked angry debates after "Time" labelled the incident a quote, "massacre of unarmed civilians." --- Banks Raise Penalty Fees For Overdrafts Prepare to pay more for bouncing a check. "USA Today" reports banks are trying to recoup losses from bad home loans by hitting customers with more overdraft fees and multiple penalties. Bank of America and Washington Mutual are the latest to increase their overdraft fees to as much as 34-dollars per instance. In addition, Washington Mutual now allows customers to be hit with up to seven overdraft fees per day. The Center for Responsible Lending says credit unions and banks collect more than 17-billion-dollars a year in overdraft fees. --- Judge To Rule In Berkeley Tree Protest (Berkeley, CA) -- Some Berkeley, California activists who have been living in a grove of oak trees for the last year and a half may be coming back to earth. A judge today will determine whether U-C Berkeley can move forward with construction of an athletic center where the trees now stand. The lawsuit the judge will rule on is trying to stop construction on the grounds the center would be built on top of an earthquake fault. (Copyright 2008 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-06-18-08 0840CDT