OBAMA PUSHES FOR CLEAN-ENERGY LEGISLATION:
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Seizing on a disastrous oil spill to advance a cause, President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Congress to roll back billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil and pass a clean-energy bill that he says would help the nation end its dependence on fossil fuels.
Obama predicted that he would find the political support for legislation that would dramatically alter the way Americans fuel their homes and cars, including placing a price on carbon pollution, even though such legislation is politically divisive and remains bogged in the Senate.
"The votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months," Obama told an audience at Carnegie Mellon University. "I will continue to make the case for a clean energy future wherever and whenever I can, and I will work with anyone to get this done. And we will get it done."
The president spoke as Americans remain deeply frustrated by the worst oil spill in the nation's history, which is still spewing crude in the Gulf of Mexico more than a month after a BP drilling rig sank.
Fully embracing a clean energy future, Obama said, means improving energy efficiency, tapping natural gas reserves, pursuing nuclear power "and it means rolling back billions of dollars in tax breaks to oil companies so we can prioritize investments in clean energy research and development."
STUDENT DIES IN SCHOOL BUS CRASH:
ZANESVILLE (AP) - Officials say a school bus overturned in eastern Ohio, killing an elementary school student and injuring the driver.
Details of how the accident occurred were not immediately available, but the bus wound up on its roof in a ditch.
The Tri-Valley Local school district says the crash occurred as the bus was taking seven students to Nashport Elementary, about 45 miles east of Columbus. School officials say the bus driver was taken by helicopter to a hospital, but they were not releasing information about the students.
A highway patrol dispatcher in Zanesville confirmed the student's death Wednesday morning but said she had no further information about the victim.
ICE CREAM SOCIAL SEASON APPROACHING:
Ice cream social season in the area kicks off this weekend with the Salem Township Volunteer Fire Department's annual social on Saturday.
The event will be held at Salem-Liberty Elementary School beginning at 4 p.m. and will feature karaoke, bingo, coronation of the Queen and Little Fire Chief and games for kids.
Ice cream socials are an annual tradition for many local volunteer fire departments as a way to raise money for day-to-day operations.
For a schedule of upcoming socials, see Thursday's edition of The Marietta Times.
