What Caught My Eye Today

Peru - The death toll rose to 450 in the magnitude-8 earthquake that devastated cities of adobe and brick in Peru's southern desert. Doctors struggled to help more than 1,500 injured, including hundreds who waited on cots in the open air, fearing more aftershocks would send the structures crashing down. President Alan Garcia flew by helicopter to Ica, a city of 120,000 where a quarter of the buildings collapsed, and declared a state of emergency. He said flights were reaching Ica to take in aid and take out the injured. Government doctors called off their national strike for higher pay to handle the emergency. "There has been a good international response even without Peru asking for it, and they've been very generous," Garcia said during a stop in Pisco, where so many buildings fell that streets were covered with small mountains of adobe bricks and broken furniture. The help includes cash from the United States, United Nations, Red Cross and European Union as well as tents, water, medicine and other supplies. The U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, equipped with a staff of 800 and 12 operating rooms, is in Ecuador and could quickly sail to Peru if asked, U.S. officials said. In spite of the incredible tragedy these folks are going through, its times like this when you see evidence that the international community can rally together to ease some suffering. Too bad, it takes something like this for nations to act in a civilized manner.

Space Shuttle - NASA decided that no repairs are needed for a deep gouge in Endeavour's belly and that the space shuttle is safe to fly home. After meeting for five hours, mission managers opted against any risky spacewalk repairs, after receiving the results of one final thermal test. The massive amount of data indicated Endeavour would suffer no serious structural damage during next week's re-entry. Their worry was not that Endeavour might be destroyed and its seven astronauts killed in a replay of the Columbia disaster; the gouge is too small to be catastrophic. They were concerned that the heat of re-entry could weaken the shuttle's aluminum frame at the damaged spot and result in lengthy postflight repairs. Here's hoping these rocket scientists know what they're talking about.

Utah - Rescuers searching for six coal miners trapped for 10 days were drilling yet another hole into the mine, this time aiming for a spot where they had detected mysterious vibrations in the mountain. Officials said that the latest of three holes previously drilled reached an intact chamber with potentially breathable air. Video images were obscured by water running down that bore hole, but officials said they could see beyond it to an undamaged chamber in the rear of the mine. It yielded no sign the miners had been there. The drill holes can be used to pump air and send food down the mine, but the rescue effort is taking place underground, where miners have advanced to only 826 feet in nine days. They still have 1,200 feet to go to reach the area where the men were working. And so the vigil continues...

The King - Thousands of Elvis Presley fans braved 105-degree heat as they wound down Graceland's driveway in a graveside procession yesterday in advance of the 30th anniversary of the singer's death. some fans began lining up early in the morning for the candlelight vigil, setting up umbrellas and folding chairs on the sidewalk along four-lane Elvis Presley Boulevard. The procession, with fans walking mostly single-file and holding candles, filed up Graceland's long winding driveway and past Presley's grave in a small garden beside the white-columned house. The legendary entertainer, acclaimed as The King, died 30 years ago Thursday at age 42 of heart disease worsened by drug abuse. The vigil is the most popular and solemn anniversary event in a weeklong string of concerts, dances, movie screenings and other festivities put on by Graceland. No one keeps exact figures, but the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated up to 75,000 people would be drawn to town for the anniversary week. Elvis, lives, I tell you! This whole thing is just an elaborate CIA cover up. The King will never die!