LITHONIA, Ga. -- Ten thousand mourners -- including four U.S. presidents, numerous members of Congress and many gray-haired veterans of the civil rights movement -- said goodbye to Coretta Scott King on Tuesday, with President Bush saluting her as "a woman who worked to make our nation whole."
The immense crowd filled the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church -- a modern, arena-style megachurch in a suburban Atlanta county that was once a stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan but today has one of the most affluent black populations in the country.
More than three dozen speakers at the funeral took turns remembering the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who worked to realize her husband's dream of equality for nearly 40 years after his assassination. She died Jan. 30 at age 78 after battling ovarian cancer and the effects of a stroke.
The president ordered flags flown at half-staff across the country.
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Former tour manager pleads guilty to club fire
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The former tour manager for the heavy metal rock group Great White pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter Tuesday for setting off the pyrotechnics that caused one of the deadliest nightclub fires in U.S. history.
Under a plea bargain, Daniel Biechele, 29, will serve no more than 10 years in prison.
The Feb. 20, 2003, blaze killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. It was the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history.
Biechele set off a flashy pyrotechnics display during a concert at the West Warwick club called the Station. The sparks ignited flammable soundproofing foam inside the club.<
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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