ELIZABETH, Ill. -- The world's most famous Elizabeth didn't show, but about 400 others did.

The event drew women from more than 20 states. Those participating had to show a copy of a birth certificate or driver's license.

"We did invite Queen Elizabeth II, but she politely declined," said Susan Gordy, who helped organize the event.

Elizabeth Taylor was also invited but did not reply, Gordy said.

The event was designed to celebrate the community and honor famous Elizabeths, including one of the women for whom the community of about 700 people was named.

In 1832, Elizabeth Armstrong, one of at least three Elizabeths living in the Apple River Fort settlement, played a prominent role in defending the community during an attack in the Black Hawk War, according to Gordy, who works at the Apple River Fort Historic Site.

WASHINGTON -- Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama on Saturday vied for the support of Hispanics, beginning a four-month courtship of a pivotal voting constituency by vowing to remake immigration policy.

"I come from a border state, my dear friends. I know these issues," McCain told Hispanic elected officials. The Republican senator from Arizona said overhauling the country's broken immigration system, not just securing its borders, "will be my top priority."

Appearing later before the same audience, Obama accused McCain of walking away from comprehensive immigration reform. The Democratic senator from Illinois said: "We must assert our values and reconcile our principles as a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. That is a priority I will pursue from my very first day."

The two spoke separately to some 700 Hispanics attending the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference. It's the first of three such appearances each is scheduled to make to Hispanic organizations in less than a month, underscoring the importance of the nation's fastest-growing minority group.

Both McCain and Obama were warmly received at NALEO; the crowd gave each standing ovations and cheered loudly. When McCain spoke, the audience shouted down anti-war protesters who interrupted the Republican's speech four times. The audience chanted Obama's name when the Democrat entered later. As he took the stage, Obama said "Si, se puede!" -- his 'yes we can' campaign slogan in Spanish -- and the crowed echoed him.

WINFIELD, Mo. -- A makeshift barrier holding back the Mississippi River failed early Saturday, swamping the low-lying part of the small community of Winfield and ending a valiant but ultimately doomed battle against the surging river.

About 300 National Guard soldiers worked nearly 20 hours to build a levee around a cluster of 100 homes in the flood plain after the river ripped through another levee there early Friday. Officials hoped the barrier would keep the water at bay long enough for it to recede.

It didn't. Still, those in the town of 720 people said they won't forget the heroic effort to try saving the neighborhood.

"I figured it was a long shot," said Jan Fox, 50, who finally left her mobile home Friday night when her power went out. She called the show of support overwhelming.

"It was wonderful, all the people who came, the sandbaggers, the military," she said.

ST. LOUIS -- An archbishop who tussled with singer Sheryl Crow, college basketball coach Rick Majerus, and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry over their support for abortion rights has been named as the first American to lead the Vatican supreme court.

Archbishop Raymond Burke, an expert in church law and perhaps the most outspoken of conservative U.S. bishops, will likely be made a cardinal after his appointment Friday. The supreme court is traditionally headed by a cardinal.

Burke's disputes with public figures drew attention to the archdiocese in his 4 1/2 years here, which seemed to surprise the affable church man who grew up in rural Wisconsin.

"I've been frustrated, and bothered that the impression of me has been quite negative ... as unpleasant, arrogant," Burke said Friday, reflecting on his time here. "I've tried to be a good shepherd for the flock."

Burke's new appointment shows that Pope Benedict XVI has a great amount of respect for U.S. bishops, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.

It comes on the heels of Benedict's naming William Joseph Cardinal Levada, former archbishop of San Francisco and Portland, Ore., as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"This is more power than Americans have ever had in Rome," Reese said.

IRONWOOD, Mich. -- A 24-year-old man has completed an 830-mile trek on aluminum stilts across Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas to make people aware of cerebral palsy.

United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan reports that Neil Sauter ended his eight-week journey Friday in Ironwood, Mich., on the Upper Peninsula border with Wisconsin. He began walking in early May from southeast Michigan.

Sauter has raised $16,000 for United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan. A 3-to-1 matching federal grant pushes that total to $64,000.

Sauter has mild cerebral palsy and used three pairs of stilts on the walk.

SANTA FE, N.M. -- A New Mexico appeals court on Friday ruled against a Los Alamos man who wanted to change his name to a phrase containing a popular four-letter obscenity.

The man appealed after a state district judge in Bernalillo County refused his request to change his name to "F Censorship!"

Judge Nan Nash ruled that the proposed name change was "obscene, offensive and would not comport with common decency."

The man -- whose current legal name is Variable -- argued on appeal that it was improper government censorship to deny him the name change.

"We do not believe that the district court's action infringes on petitioner's right to free speech," a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals said in its ruling.

The man has the right to call himself whatever he wants, unless there's fraud or misrepresentation involved, the judges said.

But once he seeks court approval for a name change, the court has the authority to turn him down on several grounds, including if the name is offensive to common decency and good taste, the judges ruled.

LITTLE CHUTE, Wis. -- A Wisconsin sculptor's version of a historical painting is a bit cheesy.

Troy Landwehr has carved a version of John Trumbull's painting "Declaration of Independence" in a 2,000-pound block of cheddar.

The artist's painting of the historic signing hangs in the Capitol in Washington and graces the back of the $2 bill.

The cheesy version is to be displayed near Independence Mall in Philadelphia for July 4, then returned to Wisconsin to be shown at Landwehr's Kerrigan Brothers Winery.

The cheddar will eventually be cut up and sent to food pantries.

It is Landwehr's second project for Kellogg Co.'s Cheez-It cracker brand. Last year, he did several renditions of Mount Rushmore.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Nebraska's largest city struggled Saturday to restore power to thousands of residents a day after a severe storm damaged homes, uprooted trees and killed two people in a neighboring community.

It will likely take days to restore electricity after high winds from Friday's storm, officials said. The storm is one of the worst the Omaha Public Power District has dealt with, said CEO Gary Gates.

About 49,500 customers remained without power Saturday afternoon, utility spokesman Jeff Hanson said. At the peak of the failures, 126,000 customers lacked electricity.

"We're talking about days before the last customer is restored, not hours," Gates said.

The storm ripped off some roofs and damaged others, shattered windows, and toppled trees. Several homes will be declared unlivable, but city and county officials did not know how many.

High winds predicted for Saturday never materialized, alleviating fears of further damage and disrupted recovery. A dry weekend forecast was expected to help the cleanup effort.