3 in GOP criticize Santorum

WASHINGTON - Three moderate Republican senators sharply criticized Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., on Thursday for his remarks equating gay consensual sex with bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery.

Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R.I., Sen. Olympia Snowe, Maine, and Sen. Gordon Smith, Ore., all issued rebukes.

Despite the criticism from moderates, most Republicans have either kept quiet or offered support and the White House has dodged the issue.

On Wednesday, Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, another moderate, criticized Santorum.

POLYGAMIST TAKES OFFENSE: The leader of one of Utah's largest polygamist sects has objected to Sen. Santorum's comment lumping plural marriage with other practices the Pennsylvania Republican considers to be antifamily.

Owen Allred, 89, head of the United Apostolic Brethren, based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Bluffdale, said Santorum's inclusion of polygamy in his list tarnishes a religious tradition whose roots are traced to biblical figures such as Abraham, Jacob and Moses - defiling them as "immoral and dirty."

RED LION, Pa. - A 14-year-old boy armed with three handguns shot and killed his junior high school principal before fatally shooting himself in the head as his fellow eighth-graders prepared for class Thursday morning in the school's cafeteria, police and school officials said.

York County Coroner Barry Bloss identified the boy as James Robert Sheets, who lived with his family in Windsor Township, just outside Red Lion Area Junior High School.

FATHER KILLS SONS: A father in Nokesville, Va., killed his three sons at home with a shotgun, then killed himself, police said Thursday.

Robin Edwards, 37, picked up the boys from a babysitter Wednesday. His estranged wife called police when she learned the boys Bradley, 9, Ryan, 7, and Kyle, 5, weren't at school.

WASHINGTON - Striving to reduce fatigue-related truck crashes that snarl freeways and claim hundreds of lives a year, federal safety regulators Thursday announced new requirements that truckers get more rest.

The current eight hours of required rest per work day would be increased to 10 hours. But the Transportation Department rules would also permit one hour a day of additional driving, for a total of 11 hours.

However, federal regulators decided not to include a requirement that trucking companies install on-board electronic recorders to deter drivers from cheating on work limits. The new rules will take effect in January.

WASHINGTON - Nissan North America Inc. will recall as many as 198,000 1994 and 1995 Altima sedans to replace passenger air bags blamed for an unusually high rate of serious eye injuries, the government said Thursday.

Complaints about the Altima air bags prompted more than a dozen lawsuits and an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal auto safety agency (www.nhtsa.dot.gov) The agency will close its probe without issuing a conclusion about whether the air bags are defective.

GA. MAY REACH FLAG COMPROMISE: Black lawmakers in the Georgia House said a compromise may be reached over a proposal to create the state's third flag in two years, and they are backing away from a planned filibuster to kill the legislation.

GIULIANI TO WED: Rudolph Giuliani will wed his companion, Judith Nathan, on May 24 in the ex-mayor's old home, Gracie Mansion. The news was announced Thursday by Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel. His successor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will perform the ceremony.

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