In the Nation

MICHIGAN

'Rosie the Riveter' factory is spared

The Detroit-area factory where Rosie the Riveter showed that a woman could do a "man's work" by building World War II-era bombers has been saved from the wrecking ball, organizers of a campaign to build a museum on the site announced Thursday.

The site's manager had given the Save the Willow Run Bomber Plant campaign a Thursday deadline to raise the $8 million needed to buy a 150,000-square-foot piece of the property. As recently as Tuesday, the group was about $1 million short, but later in the day "closed on a big one," fund-raising consultant Michael Montgomery said.

That allowed him and his partners to get close enough to go forward with a purchase agreement, which he expects to be finalized in a week or so.

Meanwhile, those behind the effort will go back to raising the additional dollars needed to make the new Yankee Air Museum a reality. - AP
WASHINGTON

House blocks raise

House lawmakers voted for the sixth year in a row Thursday to deny themselves the cost-of-living pay hike that they would otherwise automatically receive next January. The move would freeze congressional salaries at $174,000 a year and is attached to legislation to fund Congress' budget, which passed the House by a 402-14 vote. Lawmakers haven't received a pay hike since January 2009. - AP
CONNECTICUT

Shoot for stars, grads

University of Connecticut alumnus Rick Mastracchio would have liked to deliver this year's graduation address to the school of engineering in person. But he'll be out of town on May 10 - orbiting the globe on the International Space Station. So UConn has arranged for the astronaut to give the speech from space. His recorded address will be shown on the video boards at Gampel Pavilion. Mastracchio, 54, who will receive an honorary doctorate, is wrapping up his fourth trip into space. - AP