Nation in brief

Storms in Texas, Oklahoma could hit $10-million mark

Authorities on Friday began tallying the damage from storms that roared through portions of Texas and Oklahoma this week, estimating the toll might hit $10-million.

The storms overturned mobile homes, ripped roofs off buildings and snarled airport and freeway traffic on Thursday. Three people died in rain-related traffic accidents in Oklahoma.

Winds were reported as high as 91 mph in Wichita County and surrounding counties, the Texas Division of Emergency Management reported Friday. At least 349 homes sustained damage, including 115 that were destroyed.

Storms marched eastward in a solid line stretching 250-300 miles from central Oklahoma to central Texas, said Alan Moller, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth.

In Oklahoma, a freight train partially derailed in the center of the state Friday morning, and officials were investigating whether flooding had washed out the tracks. No serious injuries were reported.

WASHINGTON - An elementary school teacher was suspended this week after school officials learned that he showed students excerpts from the movie The Passion of the Christ.

Ronald Anthony, who teaches at Malcolm X Elementary School, was placed on paid leave while investigators look into the incident, Elfreda Massie, the interim superintendent for District of Columbia Public Schools, said Friday.

Massie said Anthony acknowledged showing some of his sixth-grade students portions of the R-rated film on Tuesday. The movie depicts the crucifixion of Jesus and includes violent scenes. At least 16 students are believed to have seen portions of the film.

School officials learned of the incident when a parent complained, Massie said.

The school sent a note to parents Wednesday, saying that the film shouldn't have been shown and that the teacher believed it connected historical events from the students' social studies book. School officials also said they are looking into how Anthony obtained a copy of the film, which has not been released on video.

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush welcomed President Vicente Fox of Mexico to his Prairie Chapel Ranch on Friday for weekend talks expected to cover trade, water and immigration policies.

"El presidente!" Bush said as Fox stepped off a U.S. Marine helicopter at the 1,600-acre ranch.

"Hola!" Fox replied.

The two leaders had a budding friendship in the months after Bush took office in January 2001. But Fox canceled a trip to Crawford in 2002 to protest the execution of convicted murderer Javier Suarez Medina, a Mexican citizen, in Texas. Fox also didn't provide the support Bush wanted for the war in Iraq.

But Fox has embraced Bush's plan to grant guest-worker status to millions of undocumented workers. The plan's reception has been cooler on Capitol Hill.

ALBANY, N.Y. - A New York state judge on Friday barred the mayor of a college town from performing more same-sex marriages for a month.

Lawyers for the city of San Francisco, meanwhile, defended the more than 3,600 gay marriages sanctioned there, arguing to the California Supreme Court that nothing in the state Constitution requires local officials to obey laws they believe infringe on the civil rights of their citizens.

New York Justice Vincent Bradley issued a temporary restraining order against the 26-year-old mayor of New Paltz, Jason West, at the request of the Florida-based Liberty Council.

"The mayor in substance ignores the oath of office that he took to uphold the law," Bradley said.

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