Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/612741
ByDavidSharp The Associated Press BATH, MAINE The largest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy headed out to sea for the first time Monday, departing from shipbuilder Bath Iron Works and care- fully navigating the wind- ing Kennebec River before reaching the open ocean where the ship will undergo sea trials. More than 200 ship- builders, sailors and res- idents gathered to watch as the futuristic 600-foot, 15,000-ton USS Zumwalt glided past Fort Popham, accompanied by tugboats. Kelley Campana, a Bath Iron Works employee, said she had goose bumps and tears in her eyes. "This is pretty exciting. It's a great day to be a ship- builder and to be an Amer- ican," she said. "It's the first in its class. There's never been anything like it. It looks like the future." Larry Harris, a retired Raytheon employee who worked on theship, watched it depart from Bath. "It's as cool as can be. It's nice to see it under- way," he said. "Hopefully, it will perform as adver- tised." Bath Iron Works will be testing the ship's perfor- mance and making tweaks this winter. The goal is to deliver it to the Navy some- time next year. "We are absolutely fired up to see Zumwalt get un- derway. For the crew and all those involved in design- ing, building, and readying this fantastic ship, this is a huge milestone," the ship's skipper, Navy Capt. James Kirk, said before the ship departed. The ship has electric pro- pulsion, new radar and so- nar, powerful missiles and guns, and a stealthy de- sign to reduce its radar signature. Advanced auto- mation will allow the war- ship to operate with a much smaller crew size than cur- rent destroyers. All of that innovation has led to construction delays and a growing price tag. The Zumwalt, the first of three ships in the class, will cost at least $4.4 billion. The ship looks like noth- ing ever built at Bath Iron Works. The inverse bow juts for- ward to slice through the waves. Sharp angles deflect enemy radar signals. Radar and antennas are hidden in a composite deckhouse. The builder sea trials will answer any questions of seaworthiness for a ship that utilizes a type of hull associated with pre-dread- nought battleships from a century ago. Critics say the "tumble- home" hull's sloping shape makes it less stable than conventional hulls, but it contributes to the ship's stealth and the Navy is con- fident in the design. Eric Wertheim, author and editor of the U.S. Naval Institute's "Guide to Com- bat Fleets of the World," said there's no question the integration of so many new systems from the electric drive to the tumblehome hull carries some level of risk. Operational concerns, growing costs and fleet makeup led the Navy to truncate the 32-ship pro- gram to three ships, he said. With only three ships, the class of destroyers could be- come something of a tech- nology demonstration proj- ect, he said. FUTURISTIC SHIP Largest destroyer built for Navy headed to sea for testing ROBERTF.BUKATY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The U.S. Navy's first Zumwalt-class destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, leaves the Kennebec River on Monday, passing a crowd of spectators near Fort Popham, a Civil War-era fortification, Monday in Phippsburg, Maine. DAVID GOLDMAN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Fformer President Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown, in Plains, Ga. By Kathleen Foody The Associated Press ATLANTA A recent MRI showing no cancer on Jimmy Carter's brain is "very positive" news for the former president but will not end his medical treatment, doctors said. Carter, 91, announced Sunday that doctors found no evidence of the four le- sions discovered on his brain this summer and no signs of new cancer growth. He revealed in Au- gust that he had been di- agnosed with melanoma and had begun treatment, including surgery to re- move part of his liver, tar- geted radiation therapy and doses of a recently ap- proved drug to help his im- mune system seek out any new cancer cells. "For today, the news cannot be better," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, dep- uty chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society. "Circumstances may change over time or he may be in a situation where it does not recur for many years or at all." Carter said he will con- tinue every three weeks to receive the drug, Key- truda, one type of "immu- notherapy" that melanoma specialists credit for im- proving treatment of the disease without the side effects of traditional che- motherapy drugs that can cause hair loss and other symptoms, said Dr. Doug- las Johnson, a melanoma specialist at Vanderbilt-In- gram Cancer Center who is not involved with Carter's treatment. The drugs also have shown promise as a "long- lasting" treatment, but doctors continue to learn more as the drugs are used outside of clinical trials, he said. "So many cancer treat- ments can be effective in the short-term, causing tu- mors to shrink," he said. "Immune therapy, in at least a subset of patients, has truly long-lasting re- sponses." Carter has said he expe- rienced no side effects dur- ing treatment, a positive sign for his doctors, said Dr. Keith Flaherty, a mel- anoma specialist at Mas- sachusetts General Hos- pital's Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies who is not involved in Carter's treatment. "If (a patient) breaks the right way, the likeli- hood that he will do well in the short term is ex- tremely high," Flaherty said. "There have been in- stances of relapse two to three years in while us- ing immunotherapy treat- ment, but you'd say there is a good reason to be quite optimistic. At President Carter's age, it's very likely he's going to enjoy an ex- cellent quality of life." But doctors caution that they are still learning about the long-term effect of Keytruda and similar drugs, which have only re- ceived approval for wide patient use in the last five years. "President Carter's doc- tors certainly will continue close surveillance as they would for any patient in this situation," Lichten- feld said. "One hopes that by using immunotherapy the body can respond to whatever happens but can- cer cells are clever and can develop workarounds for the various treatments." Doctors will continue to scan Carter's brain and the rest of his body to ensure the disease hasn't spread, Johnsonsaid.Thescanstyp- ically are done every three months, for a year or two after tests show no signs of cancer growth, he said. Carter's unexpected comments Sunday came first at the small church where he frequently teaches Sunday school lessons in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. "And when I went this week, they didn't find any cancer at all," Carter told the congregation, prompt- ing gasps and applause as he smiled slightly. "So I have good news." Doctors: Latest brain scan is good news for Carter CANCER TREATMENT By Mark Sherman The Associated Press WASHINGTON Acting in the aftermath of the San Bernardino mass shooting, the Supreme Court on Mon- day rejected an appeal from gun owners who challenged a Chicago suburb's ban on assault weapons. Two conservative justices said they would have heard the case and struck down the ban. The Illinois State Rifle Association, one of the plaintiffs, indicated that it would keep challenging lo- cal gun restrictions. The court, though, left in place a lower court ruling that found that local gov- ernments have leeway in deciding how to regulate firearms. The federal ap- peals court in Chicago had upheld the city of Highland Park's 2013 law that bans semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity maga- zines. In October, the federal appeals court in New York largely upheld similar laws in Connecticut and New York, among a handful of states that ban semi-auto- matic weapons. The Supreme Court has repeatedly turned away challenges to gun restric- tions since two landmark decisions that spelled out the right to a handgun to defend one's own home. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, said the Chicago ap- peals court ruling "flouts two of our Second Amend- ment precedents." Without mentioning any mass shoot- ings in California and else- where that involved semi- automatic guns, Thomas said the weapons ban "is highly suspect because it broadly prohibits common semi-automatic firearms used for lawful purposes" by roughly 5 million Amer- icans. "The overwhelming ma- jority of citizens who own and use such rifles do so for lawful purposes, includ- ing self-defense and target shooting," Thomas wrote. The case had been under consideration at the high court for two months, but the delay in dealing with it now appears mainly due to waiting for Thomas to fin- ish his opinion. The appeal filed by Dr. Arie Friedman and the Illi- nois State Rifle Association argues that Highland Park has violated their consti- tutional rights by banning some of the most popu- lar semi-automatic guns in the United States, as well as ammunition magazines of more than 10 rounds. Richard Pearson, the di- rector of the Illinois State Rifle Association, was dis- appointed the Supreme Court did not hear the case but said his organization is still waiting for the conclu- sion of a state-court case challenging a similar ban in Illinois' largest county, Cook County. He said the group will also keep look- ing for new plaintiffs in ar- eas that have enacted as- sault-weapons prohibi- tions. "We are not going to give up and we're not going to go away," Pearson said. Even though lower courts have mainly upheld gun restrictions, the Highland Park case arises out of a decision by the federal ap- peals court in Chicago that struck down the only state- wide ban on carrying con- cealed weapons, in Illinois. In 2013, when state law- makers reacted to the court ruling by making it legal to carry a gun, they gave cit- ies around the state 10 days to come up with local re- strictions on assault weap- ons, or forfeit their right to do so. Highland Park was one of fewer than 20 munici- palities, all in the Chicago area, to enact regulations or bans, according to the rifle association. The city's assault weap- ons ban was upheld by the appeals court in a 2-1 deci- sion. Seven states and the Dis- trict of Columbia have en- acted laws banning assault weapons. The others are California, Hawaii, Mary- land, Massachusetts and New Jersey, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. In addition, Minnesota and Virginia regulate assault weapons. 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