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Nation in brief
Compiled from Times wires Fiery Ariz. plane crash kills onePHOENIX -- A small plane crashed into a mobile home park about a mile from an airport Saturday, setting two homes ablaze and killing at least one person, an airport spokeswoman said. It wasn't immediately clear whether the victim was on the ground or in the plane. A mobile home was hit, two others were on fire and at least one person was dead, said Suzanne Luber, a spokeswoman for Sky Harbor International Airport, which oversees the smaller Deer Valley Airport near where the plane crashed. She said another person has been transported to a hospital with injuries. It wasn't clear if anyone was in the mobile homes at the time of the crash. After crackdown, more teens stealing cigarettesATLANTA -- A Texas study suggests more youngsters are stealing cigarettes since the state cracked down on the sale of tobacco to minors. The findings, released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggest that restricting access to cigarettes is not as simple as getting rid of vending machines and stiffening penalties for stores that sell to youngsters, said Terry Pechacek, a CDC expert on smoking. In 1998 and 1999, Texas passed tougher laws against selling tobacco to minors, limited vending machines to bars and required stores to check the IDs of anyone who looks younger than 27. The Texas survey interviewed students at 214 middle and high schools before and after the crackdown. After the crackdown, fewer youngsters reported buying cigarettes from stores and vending machines, and more of them said they stole tobacco or got it from an older person. Officials look for cause of wildfire in ColoradoKIOWA, Colo. -- Authorities worked Saturday to learn what caused a wildfire that burned a cabin and forced 300 people from their homes. The fire was contained after burning more than 100 acres, said Harold Shoemaker, public information officer for the fire district. Two teenage boys seen in the area when the fire started Friday were being sought for questioning, fire Chief Tracy Johnson said. Residents were expected to be allowed back home Saturday evening, Shoemaker said. Firefighters were putting out hot spots on the blaze near Kiowa, a town of about 600 people about 40 miles southeast of Denver. British official's son faces one less chargeNEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- A judge dismissed one count of vandalism in the stalking case against the son of Britain's top judicial officer. But Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey on Friday denied a defense request to throw out other charges against Alastair Irvine. "There's enough evidence here ... to support the charges," Dickey said, setting an Oct. 21 trial date. Irvine, 25, was arrested June 21 and accused of throwing a caustic chemical on a neighbor's Mercedes-Benz and threatening the boyfriend of a woman he met at a tanning salon. U.S. drug official ridicules Nevada pot proposalRENO, Nev. -- The nation's drug czar said Nevada's ballot issue to legalize possession of marijuana is ludicrous, and that the measure's supporters are relying on distortions and voter naivete. "This is a con and it's insulting to the voters of the state in which it is presented," John P. Walters said Friday during a gathering of reporters and law enforcement officials. Nevada's measure would allow adults to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana that could be sold -- and taxed -- in state-licensed smoke shops. Both sides focus election debate on economyWASHINGTON -- President Bush and congressional Democrats shifted the political debate from Iraq and toward the sluggish economy Saturday ahead of the crucial Nov. 5 elections, responding to pocketbook issues that voters say are their chief worry. Bush cited the bipartisan cooperation seen in the Iraqi debate as he urged passage of a terrorism insurance plan that he said would get 300,000 construction workers back to work. Democrats pressed a fix to the shaky economy and an extension of unemployment benefits, telling the president that those out of work "need your leadership more than ever."
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
