Human Race

Charged

A House ethics panel has formally charged Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters with an unannounced list of alleged ethics violations. The investigation centers on whether the 71-year-old lawmaker helped steer $12 million in bailout funds to a bank where her husband was a stockholder. Waters refused a plea agreement, setting the stage for a trial before the House ethics committee. Waters, who insists she has not violated any rules, wants details of the case made public and an expedited trial, but that may not happen until after New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel's unrelated ethics trial, which is scheduled to begin in the fall.

Appointed

The Baptist World Alliance elected Virginia native John Upton to serve as its new president. Upton will serve a five-year term.

Reinstated

The university that fired Catholic professor Kenneth Howell for explaining to his class the Catholic Church's position on homosexuality has agreed to reinstate him. The University of Illinois said in a letter it will offer Howell an adjunct position to teach an introductory Catholicism course.

Parted

It's over-again. Bristol Palin, 19, broke off her recent re-engagement to ex-­boyfriend Levi Johnston, saying she had been "played" by the father of her son, Tripp. The announcement follows reports Johnston, 20, may have fathered a child with another teen girl.

Unearthed

Archaeologists claim to have found the remains of John the Baptist on a Bulgarian island in the Black Sea. The team, which discovered the bone fragments in a reliquary at a fifth-century monastery, reports that a Greek inscription on the container references June 24, the date John the Baptist was believed to have been born. Other experts have cast doubt, however, saying carbon dating is necessary to determine the authenticity of the remains.

Died

Alan Medinger, who founded the ex-gay ministry Regeneration in 1979 as a result of his recovery from same-sex attractions, died June 28 at age 74 of complications from leukemia. Medinger authored Growth into Manhood and was a former executive director of Exodus International.

Died

Former Illinois Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, a powerful lawmaker who shaped tax policy in the 1980s as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, died Aug. 11 at age 82. The Chicago Democrat helped lead opposition to the "Reagan Revolution," and at one time was a contender for House speaker. But his 36-year stay in Congress ended with allegations he had created no-show jobs and misused the House Post Office. Chicago voters rejected him at the polls after he was indicted in 1994. He served 17 months in federal prison before President Bill Clinton pardoned him in 2000.