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By From wire dispatches and staff reports

STIMULUS

Schumer objects to funds for China

Sen. Charles E. Schumer on Thursday called on the Obama administration to block the use of any U.S. economic stimulus funds for a wind farm project in West Texas that would use turbines built in China.

"I'm all for investing in clean energy, but we should be investing in the United States, not China," the New York Democrat said. "While the project is anticipated to generate as many as 3,000 jobs in Shenyang, China ... its job impact in the United States would be roughly one-tenth that amount."

He complained that the $1.5 billion project could get an injection of about $450 million in funds from Washington. That money would come from $787 billion spending package Congress approved this year to help bring the United States out of an economic recession with funds for domestic construction projects and other activities.

NTSB

Errant pilots appeal license loss

The Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles have filed appeals of their license revocations with the National Transportation Safety Board.

The appeals were filed late Wednesday, said board spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz. He said that appeals typically are heard by an administrative law judge with the board within 120 days.

The Federal Aviation Administration revoked the licenses of Captain Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., and First Officer Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., last week. The agency said the pilots put the 144 passengers of Northwest Flight 188 in serious danger on Oct. 21 when they failed to communicate with anyone on the ground for 91 minutes despite repeated attempts by air traffic controllers and their own airline to reach them.