Nation & world

Grateful Dead to

play Obama event

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Barack Obama has the Dead on his side again.

The Democratic presidential candidate's campaign has confirmed along-rumored fundraising concert that will include four remainingmembers of the Grateful Dead at Penn State University's Bryce JordanCenter.

Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart played at a get-out-the-voteconcert in February in California for the campaign.

A Pennsylvania spokeswoman for the campaign says the trio will bejoined by a fourth surviving member, Bill Kreutzmann, at the Oct. 13show in State College.

New Detroit mayor

takes oath of office

DETROIT - Ken Cockrel Jr. became the city's new mayor today,vaulted into office by a sex scandal that destroyed the reign ofKwame Kilpatrick and threw Detroit's government into chaos formonths.

Cockrel, who was president of the City Council, took the oath ofoffice Wednesday, but the change didn't take effect until 12:01 a.m.today.

Cockrel has hired a former federal prosecutor as deputy mayor,picked a police chief and urged residents to put their trust in thenew team at City Hall.

Taxman gives Ike

victims a break

WASHINGTON - Taxpayers in Texas counties and Louisiana parisheshit by Hurricane Ike will get until Jan. 5, 2009 to take care of taxfilings and payments due this fall, the Internal Revenue Servicesaid.

The IRS said the deadline extensions apply to 29 Texas countiesand 14 Louisiana parishes declared presidential disaster areas.

The postponements apply to return filings, tax payments and otheracts due on or after Sept. Sept. 7 in the case of Texas and Sept. 11for Louisiana. They include individual estimated tax returns andcorporate tax returns due Sept. 15 and amended individual returnsdue Oct. 15.

Glitch shuts down

particle collider

GENEVA - The world's largest particle collider malfunctionedwithin hours of its launch to great fanfare, but its operator didn'treport the problem for a week.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research reported for thefirst time that a 30-ton transformer that cools part of the colliderbroke, forcing physicists to stop using the atom smasher just a dayafter starting it up last week.

The faulty transformer has been replaced.

Megachurches get frequent attenders

WASHINGTON - Members of the nation's largest churches go toworship services more often and have more friends in thecongregation than those who attend very small churches, according toa new study of American religious beliefs and values.

Far from offering an anonymous worship experience, the report byBaylor University's Institute of Studies of Religion suggests,megachurches with more than 1,000 worshipers offer a surprisinglypersonal environment for faithful who flock to them weekly.

Researchers also found that megachurches members are more like toattend church weekly than those attending smaller churches.

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS