From United Press International:

Hundreds of bogus address changes have surfaced near St. Louis and the election board is warning voters to make sure they get a polling-place notification card.

If the card does not show up, a voter's address may have been fraudulently changed, the county elections director said.

The bogus address changes are among fraudulent voter-registration cards turning up in St. Louis County within the past couple of months, The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported.

The bogus registrations included at least one dead person, officials said.

Most of the suspicious registrations and address changes were submitted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN, election officials said.

ACORN is under scrutiny for thousands of suspicious voter registrations submitted in St. Louis, which is separate from St. Louis County, and Kansas City.

The group's Missouri registration drive is tied to its support for a ballot proposal to increase Missouri's minimum wage to $6.50 an hour from $5.15 an hour.

From United Press International:

Same-sex couples "must be afforded on equal terms the same rights as benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples," the New Jersey Supreme ruled Wednesday.

The court also said calling same-sex unions a "marriage" or some other term was "a matter left to the democratic process."

"Times and attitudes have changed, and there has been a developing understanding that discrimination against gays and lesbians is no longer acceptable in this state," the court said in a divided 4-3 ruling.

"Denying committed same-sex couples the financial and social benefits and privileges given to their married heterosexual counterparts bears no substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose," the 90-page ruling said.

The court gave the state Legislature six months to enact laws protecting same-sex unions. New Jersey's marriage statutes currently define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Until now, only Massachusetts authorized same-sex marriages. Nineteen states have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.

From United Press International:

The U.S. attorney general defended the new U.S. anti-terror law Wednesday, saying the Geneva Conventions' framers were not thinking of 21st-century terrorists.

"I do not believe the Geneva Conventions were drafted with the threat of al-Qaida in mind," he said at a meeting of the German Marshall Fund.

The U.S. legislation, signed into law last week, "means that a different set of rules is applicable," Gonzales said.

The law authorizes military trials of terrorism suspects, eliminating some of the rights defendants usually are guaranteed under U.S. law while allowing continued harsh interrogations of terror suspects, a provision U.S. President George Bush has said was vital.

"We must have the ability to detain and remove terrorists from the battlefields of this conflict, to collect from them the vital intelligence that enables us to capture their associates and break up future terrorist plots and to create effective and fair procedures that will allow us to prosecute and punish captured terrorists for their war crimes," Gonzales said.

God Bless Chris Stigall and Darla J. Chris had me on Monday for 5 minutes and Darla J. had me on for forty minutes. Chris let me cover a multitude of topics in a short amount of time. It was a good interview. Email or call Chris and say thank you.

Any of you that heard the Darla J. interview knows she was loaded for bear and gave it to me with both barrels about my supposedly telling the KC Star she banned me from her show and about us not contacting the media or not showing up on Google searches. All 3 assertions were incorrect.

I was able to turn her around after 10 minutes of grilling though she was feisty until towards the end when I pointed out an AP story had been released on Turk v. Cleaver and the only McClatchy paper to carry it was the San Jose Mercury News, not the KC Star or Lee’s Summit Journal, my hometown paper. You could hear Darla was stunned by that revelation. We did get to talk about the issues and take calls the 40 minutes I was on the air which was awesome and exposure we couldn’t buy. Email or call Darla J and say thank you.

You got us on the air and I was able to call Channel 41 out on not showing their interview with us and, voila, we will be on tonight at 5p, 6p, and 10p with a different short segment at each newscast.

Now we need on Jerry Agar and you are the one’s who will make it happen. Matt Elder has told our supporters there is no ‘buzz’ about this race. It is time to create one in his ears and on his and Jerry’s emails. Call in everyday to the Jerry Agar show to demand they interview me. If you are an advertiser, mention that. Email Matt and Jerry and copy me, Jacob@turkforcongress.com so I can refute Matt if he tells me no one is calling or emailing him. Let’s make it happen. When it does it will be huge!

Jacob Turk

My interview with Chirs Stigall this morning went well. I was on for about 5 1/2 minutes and Chris did not take any calls. My segment was followed by about 20 minutes of a pre-recorded late night rewind segment, news, weather, traffic before Chris did a segment on North Korea.

To his credit, Chris allowed me to cover a wide range of topics in that short time. I spoke about Cleaver’s eroding support taking issue with Chris calling him popular, border security, enforcement of immigration laws, protection of marriage, parental notification, and how we will win if folks will go to the polls November 7th. This was great opportunity and I thank each of you that arose early to listen and try to call in.

We will get the interview up on the website as quickly as possible.

Please keep phoning Jerry Agar and Darla J to interview me. Your efforts are working!

Jacob Turk

From the Kansas City Star:

U.S. Rep Emanuel Cleaver and Jacob Turk, who are competing for the 5th Congressional District seat, differ in many ways.

They disagree over big issues, such as the war in Iraq and immigration.

Cleaver, a Democrat, has spent two decades in elected office while Turk, a Republican, has never run for political office.

Turk doesn’t support a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. He said that would prompt a bloody civil war killing millions. On his Web site, Turk said he respected America’s service personnel for defending Americans against people who want to kill and harm us.

Cleaver strongly opposes what he calls America’s “occupation” of Iraq.

“I think it’s clear now that when we have … people even high up in the Bush administration who advised against invading Iraq, it just corroborates my own view that this was one of the most monumentally wrong-headed decisions that we have made in history,” he said. “We have incited the Islamic world to the point where they actually see us as invading infidels.”

Cleaver and Turk also disagree on illegal immigration.

Cleaver said current immigration law was broken and needed to be fixed, but a priority should be helping Mexico improve its economy. This would keep many Mexican people from wanting to come to the United States without proper work documents.

He also advocated stronger enforcement against the hiring of illegal immigrants.

Turk said he supported building fences on the border as well as sending much more muscle to keep illegal immigrants from coming into the United States.

“You have workers all across the district who are concerned about illegal aliens taking jobs,” Turk said.

Cleaver said he wanted to be re-elected so he could continue working for more civility in government. He also said he had succeeded in working well with Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

Turk alleged that Cleaver’s dual role as congressman and senior pastor at St. James United Methodist Church prevented Cleaver from devoting the time necessary to represent his constituent’s interests.

Turk pointed to Cleaver’s low ranking for effectiveness in Congress by a nonpartisan private company that tracks legislators.

Kansas City Star discusses same-sex education.

All the fourth-graders in Jennifer Bowar’s class Tuesday at Banneker Elementary School were girls.

Down the hall, Terry Grimes’ class was all boys.

The girls were working better than ever in math in small groups while exhausting Bowar’s supply of pink highlighters. The boys were tracking the Chiefs’ road trips as they studied geography.

Under new regulations announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education, public school districts nationwide will find it easier to offer same-sex classes.

Cardinals defeat Detroit Tigers 5-0.

A brief spasm caused a commotion on the mound, but the Cardinals' ace was more than OK, throwing the Detroit Tigers a curve and leading St. Louis to a 5-0 victory Tuesday night for a 2-1 series edge.

"He's so strong between the ears that nothing fazes him," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "He's got a good head, good heart, good guts."

Carpenter used big breaking balls to spin three-hit ball for eight innings. And with Jim Edmonds hitting a key double and St. Louis taking advantage of a poor throw, the Cardinals returned their focus squarely to the field.

Associated Press reports Security Council resolution.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to condemn North Korea and impose stiff sanctions on the communist government in response to its claimed nuclear test.

North Korea's ambassador immediately rejected the council's demand to dismantle its nuclear-weapons program and threatened to respond to the escalating pressure on the reclusive government with unspecified "physical countermeasures."
Addressing the council chamber in English, North Korea's U.N. ambassador, Pak Gil Yon, told the council that his government "totally rejects" the council's "unjustifiable" resolution. He said it was "gangsterlike" for the council to impose such "coercive" measures. He walked out of the chamber before the session ended.

Addressing the council chamber in English, North Korea's U.N. ambassador, Pak Gil Yon, told the council that his government "totally rejects" the council's "unjustifiable" resolution. He said it was "gangsterlike" for the council to impose such "coercive" measures. He walked out of the chamber before the session ended.

After Pak's speech, Bolton directed the council's attention to the North Korean diplomat's empty chair and suggested his right to address the council be suspended.

"That is the second time in three months that the representative of [North Korea], having asked to participate in our meetings, has rejected a unanimous resolution of the Security Council and walked out of this chamber," Bolton said. "It's the contemporary equivalent of Nikita Khrushchev's pounding his shoe on the desk of the General Assembly."

Philadelphia Inquirer analyzes illegal immigration.

In booming Charlotte, where rapid growth and plentiful jobs have attracted thousands of illegal immigrants, Romero is the latest catch in an aggressive new effort to turn routine arrests into one-way tickets out of the country.

With anti-immigration feelings running high and elections just three weeks away, this once-insular state has become a key actor in the national debate over how to absorb - or expel - illegal migrants. North Carolina has had a greater increase in foreign-born population over the last 15 years than any state in the nation: a 412 percent increase, almost five times the national average.

The same concerns and fears being voiced from Hazleton, Pa., to Riverside, N.J., to Phoenix, Ariz., are writ large in North Carolina. Illegal immigration has figured prominently in political campaigns here and in neighboring counties of South Carolina.

Chiefs oppose Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kansas City has won two straight and veteran QB Damon Huard is getting the job done. He is making solid reads and coming up with big throws in critical situations. For the Chiefs, this marks the beginning of a tough, three-game stretch that could determine their playoff future.

For Pittsburgh, the season is on the line this week. Baltimore and Cincinnati are creating a lot of separation at the top of the AFC North. Ben Roethlisberger is still struggling, but the Steelers don't have a lot of answers, so he must get better in a hurry.

Rams oppose Seattle Seahawks.

The Seattle Seahawks were supposed to rule the NFC West again. But Scott Linehan and the St. Louis Rams may have something to say about that.

On Sunday, first place will be on the line when the division rivals meet at the Edward Jones Dome.

Cardinals defeat New York Mets 5-0.

With Jeff Suppan doing just about everything for St. Louis, "No contest" would have been much more appropriate.

Suppan hit a rare home run and pitched a tidy masterpiece Saturday night that gave the St. Louis Cardinals control of the NLCS against the suddenly staggering New York Mets.

Texas A&M defeats Missouri 25-19.

Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione knew it was risky to tell his players they were going to beat No. 19 Missouri.

He did it anyway, and the Aggies did just what they were told.

Jorvorskie Lane ran for 127 yards and a touchdown and Texas A&M handed Missouri its first loss of the season by beating the Tigers 25-19 on Saturday.

Nineteenth ranked Missouri faces Texas A&M.

The Tigers are one of only nine unbeaten teams.

"Missouri is playing really well in every aspect of their game," [Dennis] Franchione said. "Right now, if you had to pick the team to beat in the (Big 12) North, you'd have to pick Missouri."

The Tigers are 6-0 for the first time since 1973 and haven't trailed in a game this season. They converted five Texas Tech turnovers into 28 points in last week's 38-21 win in Lubbock.