Free Republic

Attorney General Tom Reilly is seeking a special grand jury to grill more than a dozen key witnesses in the Big Dig manslaughter probe, moving swiftly after documents revealed widespread knowledge of ceiling problems in the tunnel where Milena Del Valle was killed, a law enforcment source said. The grand jury, expected to be convened Oct. 3, will hear evidence for six months as investigators seek criminal indictments against officials involved in construction of the I-90 Seaport Connector Tunnel. Several key officials have already retained lawyers, the source said. “Nothing we have seen to date takes us off the path...

<p>Considering his fund-raising past, Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry —- the self-styled populist — has been displaying an extraordinary amount of chutzpah on the campaign trail since his surge in Iowa. "I'm running to free our government from the grip of lobbyists," he declared in his Iowa victory speech. In his New Hampshire victory speech, he delivered a message to the "influence peddlers" and other "special interests" who, he asserted, now call the White House home: "We're coming. You're going. And don't let the door hit you on the way out."</p>