SOUTH

IRAQ HELICOPTER CRASH MEMORIAL DEDICATED

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – It was the deadliest single event for American troops in Iraq: Two Black Hawk helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division collided and crashed, killing 17, apparently as a result of enemy fire.

Yesterday, to mark the anniversary of the November 15, 2003, crash in Mosul, soldiers from an aviation unit dedicated a granite memorial at Fort Campbell in honor of six unit crew members killed that day.

“We fashioned this memorial out of the sorrow, respect, love, and pride for our cherished comrades,” said Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Burns, commander of the 4th Battalion of the 101st Aviation Regiment.

Written on the front of the memorial is the battalion’s motto: “Wings of the Eagles.” Around it, six maple trees were planted in honor of those killed on the helicopter that was carrying soldiers from Talafar, Iraq, to Mosul for a rest break.

– Associated Press

NATIONWIDE

ABORTION PILL REPORTEDLY GETS STRONGER WARNING

Federal drug regulators strengthened the warning label on the abortion pill RU-486 after the pill was linked the death of a California woman in January, the Web site of the New York Times reported last night.

The Food and Drug Administration has linked three deaths to RU-486, also known as mifepristone, since the pill’s approval in 2000.The labels did carry warnings, but the warnings will now be given greater prominence, the Web site said. Doctors urged a redoubling of efforts at watching patients carefully for signs of systemic bacterial infection, excessive vaginal bleeding, and tubal pregnancies. The California woman died after a bacterial infection in her uterus had spread to her blood, leading to blood poisoning, medical officials said.

Anti-abortion politics played no role in the agency’s decision, officials told the Times.

A spokeswoman for Danco Laboratories, the American maker of RU-486, said she did not believe the California fatality should be attributed to the drug, the Web site said. The Danco spokeswoman pointed out that the victim had also taken a cancer medication known to be used to induce abortions, according to the coroner’s report.

Anti-abortion groups called for the drug to be removed from the market yesterday, the Web site reported. A group supporting a woman’s right to choose abortion was quoted as saying the news of the label change on RU-486 was “not monumental” and “rather routine,” according to the Times.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

NORTHWEST

MAN WHO KILLED FAMILY GETS LIFE IN PRISON

TILLAMOOK, Ore. – A man who admitted killing his pregnant wife and three children and leaving their bodies in a snowy forest two years ago was sentenced yesterday to four consecutive life terms in prison.

Edward Morris, 39, avoided a possible death sentence by pleading guilty in September to four counts of murder and promising not to appeal the life terms. Tillamook County Circuit Judge David Hantke reminded him at yesterday’s hearing that there will be no parole and no mitigation of his sentence.

Morris was arrested in February 2003 in Baker City, Ore., after fleeing to Arizona and Nevada. Police have not said why he returned to Oregon.

– Associated Press