NATIONAL NEWS

Hunter attacked after shooting a bear A Pennsylvania bear hunter was bitten by a large black bear after having shot the bear four times. Forty-Seven-year-old Samuel H. Beauchamp was hunting in the Rothrock State Forest near Cassville, Penn. early Monday morning when the incident occurred. He reportedly shot the bear four times with a .444 Marlin high-powered rifle before approaching the injured bear. Upon approaching, the bear alerted to action and bit the hunter twice in the legs. Beauchamp was treated for the injuries at an area hospital and later released. New voting machines purchased for Tenn. Tennessee will be spending $25 million on new electronic voting machines for up-coming elections. Forty-four Tennessee counties will be receiving portions of the money to replace any outdated voting machines and another 46 counties will receive some money to purchase machines designed for handicapped voters. Another 17 counties which already use electronic voting booths will receive money to update their existing systems to allow for a paper trail of the voting activity. Tennesseans will be voting next year in races for the governor’s seat, US Senate elections, and several other state and local positions. Calif. Congressman admits to corruption Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.) announced his resignation from the House after pleading guilty to taking bribes while in office. Cunningham tearfully admitted to receiving $2.4 million in bribes at the federal court in San Diego. After looking into the sale of the congressman’s home, federal investigators uncovered a conspiracy cash payments and vacations. The congressman is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion. Icing on the cake for hurricane season The 26th tropical storm of the season has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, just days away from the supposed end to this year’s record breaking Atlantic Hurricane season. Tropical Storm Epsilon had maximum sustained winds of about 50 miles-per-hour and was centered 800 miles east of Bermuda as of 4 p.m. Tuesday. The storm is heading west but is expected to begin moving northward and dissipate before striking any landforms. This year’s Atlantic Hurricane season broke at least seven records including: the most named storms (26, as compared to the previous record of 21 in 1933), the most hurricanes (13), the most category-five hurricanes (three: Katrina, Rita and Wilma), the strongest hurricane (882 mb), the costliest hurricane (Katrina), the greatest total damage from hurricanes for a year, and the most major hurricanes to make landfall (four).