President's Row

Earlier today at Teddy Kennedy's funeral:

TS Danny is 4th named storm of the season.

At 1100 am EDT... 1500 UTC... the center of Tropical Storm Danny was located near latitude 24.9 north ... longitude 70.3 west or about 445 miles... 715 km... east of Nassau and about 775 miles... 1250 km... south-southeast of Cape Hatteras North Carolina.

Danny is moving toward the west-northwest near 18 mph...30 km/hr. A general northwestward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected today and Thursday...with a turn toward the north-northwest expected on Friday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph ...75 km/hr... with higher gusts. Slow strengthening is possible during the next couple of days.

Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles ...220 km mainly to the north of the center.

The minimum central pressure estimated from NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft data is 1009 mb...29.80 inches.

Danny is expected to cause storm total rainfall of 2 to 3 inches... with maximum amounts of 4 inches...over the central and northwestern Bahamas. Storm total rainfall of 1 to 2 inches are expected over the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

See top of blog page and side bar for regular updates.

Edward M Kennedy, dead at 77

BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, a towering figure in the Democratic Party who took the helm of one of America's most fabled political families after two older brothers were assassinated, died at age 77, his family said.

"Edward M. Kennedy, the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply, died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port (Massachusetts)," the Kennedy family said in a statement early on Wednesday.

One of the most influential and longest-serving senators in U.S. history -- a liberal standard-bearer who was also known as a consummate congressional dealmaker -- Kennedy had been battling brain cancer, which was diagnosed in May 2008.

His death marked the twilight of a political dynasty and dealt a blow to Democrats as they seek to answer President Barack Obama's call for an overhaul of the healthcare system.

Kennedy was a longtime advocate of healthcare reform, a signature issue of Obama's presidency. Obama said on Wednesday he was heartbroken to hear of the death of Kennedy, a crucial supporter of his presidential candidacy.

— Full Reuters Story

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