Feeding tube removed after legal battle ends\nPINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Doctors removed the feeding tube Wednesday that has been keeping alive a severely brain-damaged woman at the center of an epic, six-year legal battle between her husband and parents.\nTerri Schiavo, 39, underwent the procedure at the Tampa Bay area hospice where she has been living for several years, said her father, Bob Schindler. Attorneys representing her husband, Michael Schiavo, said it will take between a week and 10 days for her to die.\nThe tube removal came just hours after Gov. Jeb Bush told Bob Schindler and his wife, Mary, that he was instructing his legal staff to find some means to block the court order allowing Michael Schiavo to end his wife's life.
Consumers stranded as California strikes continue\nLOS ANGELES -- Labor disputes roiled southern California, leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters stranded, grocery shoppers inconvenienced and county jails and courts threatened with closure.\nThe strike by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority entered its second day Wednesday, stalling the nation's third-largest mass-transit system. Some 2,000 MTA mechanics walked out, with an additional 6,000 bus drivers and clerks honoring their picket lines.\nMeanwhile, 70,000 grocery clerks from three chains -- Kroger Co.'s Ralphs, Safeway Inc.'s Vons and Albertsons Inc. -- began their fourth day on the picket lines in southern and central California Wednesday with no sign of a new contract.
