From the Wire

-Information compiled from The Washington Post

Hurricane Ivan expected to hit the Gulf Coast: Ivan is heading toward the Gulf Coast near Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi and is expected to hit land early Thursday. Forecasters said last night that Ivan is expected to veer at least 70 miles east of New Orleans before hitting land. Ivan, however, has been consistently drifting farther west than predicted. New Orleans is a below-sea-level city, and with Ivan’s 140- mph winds, the city could easily be submerged. Ivan’s winds could reach 160-mph and strengthen to a Category 5 by the time it blows ashore. A hurricane warning from the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that Ivan could bring a coastal storm surge of 10-16 feet and large waves. Officials in four states have strongly urged an estimated 1.9 million people to flee to higher ground.

Bush and Kerry: He said, He said: In a recent talk in Michigan, President Bush warned that a middle class under Kerry would be forced to pay higher taxes. The higher taxes would fund a government takeover of medicine. Kerry’s aides were not please, saying that Bush’s remarks were beyond what the Democrats had outlined. Census figures show that 3.8 million more American’s are uninsured than when Bush took office. Bush says that he wants to have health care and heath insurance become less expensive for individuals and employers by an expansion of tax-deferred health savings accounts and federal limits on liability in medical malpractice cases. Kerry says that he wants “affordable health care for all Americans,” and his campaign states that there will be twice as many health care tax credits as Bush has.

No dress for the bride: Hundreds of brides-to-be were without dresses when Kaufman’s Wedding World closed 17 stores in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Many brides said they were unaware of the closings. Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert went to court last Thursday to gain an emergency injunction to open the stores on Friday for brides who had a wedding over the weekend. A Commonwealth Court Judge directed all stores to reopen for at least four days to allow customers to pick up their prepaid merchandise. Some stores opened but others remained closed due to reports of disorder outside the stores. Employees said they were intimidated. One store hired two off-duty police officers to keep order.