Dixieland Bash for Mlle. Liberte

--The French celebrated their Statue of Liberty centennial as Miss Liberty’s smaller and less famous sister was formally unveiled in Paris after a yearlong restoration. The French ceremony provided a foretaste of what the United States has to look forward to over the Fourth of July holiday, when the original Statue of Liberty will be unveiled in New York Harbor. There were national anthems, schoolchildren waving French and American flags, flowery speeches about transatlantic friendship and a boatload of dignitaries headed by French Premier Jacques Chirac cruising up the River Seine in the company of a Dixieland band. Most important, there was Miss Liberty herself, draped in an assortment of stars, stripes and a blue-white-and-red tricolor, gazing in the general direction of the New World. The American community in Paris got together in 1885 to give the 52-foot statue to the French in gratitude for France’s original gift to the United States. The bronze reproduction is one of many versions in France of sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi’s giant creation.

--The man who claims he was left $150 million in the will of the late billionaire Howard Hughes is now flipping hamburgers for a living in the small Nevada desert town of Gabbs. Melvin Dummar recently quit his job as a Salt Lake City-based fish salesman to open a cafe that features the Dummar Burger, a hamburger with ham and Swiss cheese. The move represents a homecoming of sorts for Dummar, who attended high school in the 843-resident town about 100 miles southeast of Reno. “Most of the people here know me and they haven’t harassed me,” he said. “It’s kind of an easygoing community. That’s one of the things I like about Gabbs.” In 1968, Dummar allegedly picked up an elderly, disheveled Hughes in the central Nevada desert. Dummar, 41, still insists that Hughes rewarded him by leaving him $150 million in his will. But a Las Vegas jury ruled the so-called Mormon will a fake.

--With a dazzling display of knowledge about U.S. history and laws, Melinda Simmons, who wants to become America’s first doctor President, won the national Citizen Bee contest in Washington. The 18-year-old high school senior from Chanute, Kan., defeated seven boys in the final round of the civics competition by giving correct answers to such questions as what anarchy is and which union John L. Lewis led. “I’m really excited,” she said, accepting a $3,000 college scholarship. When asked how she prepared for the contest, Simmons said: “My mother kept me away from the television.”