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Prosecutors rested their capital murder case against Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, after testimony from the state's deputy medical examiner, who spoke about Pressly's final moments of consciousness. Vance, of Marianna, has pleaded not guilty to murder, rape and burglary. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Dr. Stephen Erickson said an examination of Pressly's body after her death revealed that her face shattered "like an egg" during the attack. "I could feel crunchiness" while examining Pressly's face, he said. A photo he used showed her nose pushed to one side. Erickson said some type of object likely was used...

DEH-E BAGH, AFGHANISTAN–Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan pulled no punches at a hastily called meeting with Afghan village elders Monday after a roadside bomb blast sent another Canadian soldier to hospital. Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, the commander of Task Force Kandahar, was on his way to the model village of Deh-e-Bagh in the Dand district southwest of Kandahar city when shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade struck one of the vehicles in his convoy.

Judge receives mental update in Pressly case Slaying suspect has confessed three times, prosecutors say BY JOHN LYNCH ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE The Marianna man accused of killing TV news anchor Anne Pressly has “confessed” three times to the slaying, a Pulaski County prosecutor revealed during a court hearing Tuesday. The claim by chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson prompted a challenge from defendant Curtis Lavelle Vance, who said his statements were made under duress because Little Rock police had threatened his life. “That was under extreme pressure,” Vance said. “I had a gun in my face.” Prosecutors denied Vance’s allegations of coercion...

The Rockefellers and Iran: Jay Rockefeller’s Reversal and the Iranian-American LobbyBy Fedora In 1979, Rockefeller representatives launched an unsuccessful operation to lobby the Carter administration in support of the Shah of Iran, who was seeking safe haven in the wake of a coup by Islamic revolutionaries. Codenamed Project Alpha, the operation was spearheaded by Chase Manhattan Bank Chairman David Rockefeller and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, with support from oil lobby lawyer John McCloy. Although Project Alpha won the support of National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, it met opposition from Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and failed to win...

HARTFORD, Conn. - Songwriter Paul Vance, who earned pop culture immortality with the 1960 smash about a bashful bather, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," has died. He was 68. The New Milford-raised Vance, whose real name was Paul Van Valkenburgh, died Sept. 6 at his home in Ormond Beach, Fla., said his wife of 32 years, Rose Leroux. He had been battling lung cancer for two years. Vance and songwriting partner Lee Pockriss also co-wrote "Catch a Falling Star," a No. 1 hit for Perry Como in 1958. But they had their biggest success with the song...

Songwriter Paul Vance, who earned pop culture immortality with the 1960 smash about a bashful bather, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," has died. He was 68. The New Milford-raised Vance, whose real name was Paul Van Valkenburgh, died Sept. 6 at his home in Ormond Beach, Fla., said his wife of 32 years, Rose Leroux. He had been battling lung cancer for two years. Vance and songwriting partner Lee Pockriss also co-wrote "Catch a Falling Star," a No. 1 hit for Perry Como in 1958. But they had their biggest success with the song about the girl...

A songwriter who co-wrote the 1960 pop hit “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” was stunned to read on a television screen this week that he had died — apparently after another man who claimed authorship of the song died and left behind confused survivors. The Associated Press on Tuesday carried an obituary reporting that Paul Vance had died on Sept. 6 at his home in Ormond Beach, Fla., citing his wife as its primary source. The A.P.’s managing editor, Mike Silverman, who is based in New York, said yesterday that the news service report was prompted by...

The man who co-wrote the song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" had the unsettling experience this week of reading his own obituary the result of an impostor who went through life claiming to be the author of the 1960s smash hit. On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported on the death of a 68-year-old man named Paul Van Valkenburgh of Ormond Beach, Fla., who claimed to have written the song under the name Paul Vance. The story cited the man's wife as the source for that claim. But the music industry's real Paul Vance, a 76-year-old man from...

5/8/2006 - VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) -- The U.S. commander in chief stopped here May 6 en route to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater to give the commencement address. President George W. Bush was greeted by more than 300 servicemembers, civilians and their families. While the event was special for the base, it was the "best 17th birthday present in the world" for Betsy Kriner, daughter of Col. Kevin Kriner, 71st Operations Group commander, and his wife, Mary. “It was a once in a lifetime experience,” said the Enid High School junior, who received a hug and had...

AMERICANS will certainly have 9/11 in mind when they vote today. But they should keep another date in mind, too — one almost exactly a quarter-century ago: Nov. 4, 1979. A clear path runs to 9/11 from the day of the raid on the U.S. embassy in Tehran and the seizure of American hostages. The 1979 embassy attack came at a time when the administration of President Jimmy Carter was trying to prop up the new Khomeinist regime in Tehran. Carter had decided to support Khomeini in the context of the so-called "Green Belt" strategy developed by National Security...

If the Republicans could somehow convince Dino Rossi to throw his hat into the Washington State Senate race, it may help give the Republicans an unexpected, but welcome, pickup opportunity in 2006. Here are the head-to-head results from the latest poll from Strategic Vision WASHINGTON SENATE Dino Rossi 49% Senator Maria Cantwell 40%Cantwell 49% Jennifer Dunn 39% Cantwell 50% George Nethercutt 40% Cantwell 52% Chris Vance 37% This poll was done March 19-21 of 800 registered voters.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington Republicans, considering whether to challenge Democrat Christine Gregoire's razor-thin victory for governor, yesterday demanded a list of the 900,000 who cast ballots in vote-rich, problem-plagued King County. [snip] "We're mostly posing questions," Vance said. "King County is where we saw the votes changing. King County is the one county that was allowed to take ballots that were declared dead in November and bring them back to life in December." He stopped short of committing to a challenge of the election results.

Below are important excerpts from the AP wire: ... Besides demanding a new recount, Democrats are asking the high court to order election departments to reconsider several thousand previously rejected ballots and potential trouble spots. These include questioned "provisional" and absentee ballots, including hundreds where the voter's signature was missing or didn't match the one on the voter registration card. ... Added Gregoire, "I love Dino's line `If you count and count and you count again, what do you get?' You get yourself a governor, Dino, because it's over at that point."* ... Republicans are more upset with the Supreme...

Republicans plan to field just one strong candidate each for governor and Senate. Chris Vance is running out of time. The chair of the Washington State Republican Party has an ambitious work plan—the transformation of the state GOP into, as he puts it, "a Northwest version of George W. Bush." Vance knows how to get it done: attract candidates for the 2004 U.S. Senate race and governor's contest who are "conservative enough to unite our base" yet at the same time "able to reach out to suburban voters, especially suburban women." It goes without saying that these same candidates need...

Guard gives Vance three more medals First details of firefight in Afghanistan emerge BY JAKE STUMP The Dominion Post Even though funeral arrangements for Sgt. Gene Vance Jr. remain uncertain, friends and community members are planning ways to honor the Morgantown soldier, who was killed Sunday in eastern Afghanistan. Adjutant Gen. Allen E. Tackett, the leader of the W.Va. National Guard, said Vance, a soldier in the 2nd Battalion of the 19th Special Forces Unit, will be awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit for his efforts in America's war against terror. Vance, 38, had already...