WASHINGTON

LAWMAKERS DEMAND DeLAY ACTION

WASHINGTON – Rep. Christopher Shays said yesterday that fellow Republican Rep. Tom DeLay should step down as House majority leader because his continuing ethics problems are hurting the GOP.

“Tom’s conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority, and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election,” Mr. Shays said yesterday, calling for Mr. DeLay to step down as majority leader.

Mr. DeLay, a Republican of Texas, has been dogged in recent months by reports of possible ethics violations. There have been questions about his overseas travel, campaign payments to family members, and his connections to lobbyists who are under investigation.

A moderate Republican from Connecticut who has battled with his party’s leadership on a number of issues, Mr. Shays said efforts by the House GOP members to change ethics rules to protect Mr. DeLay only make the party look bad.

Rick Santorum, the no. 3 Republican in the Senate, said yesterday that Mr. DeLay needs to answer questions about his ethics.

“I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves,” Mr. Santorum told ABC’s “This Week.” “But from everything I’ve heard, again, from the comments and responding to those, is everything he’s done was according to the law.

– Associated Press

WEST

STATES LOOK TO NATIONAL GUARD AS LAST RESORT IN COMING FIRE SEASON

SEATTLE – The Northwest faces what could be one of its worst wildfire seasons in years, but military duty in Iraq means forestry officials might not be able to call on their states’ National Guard units as much as they’d like.

Wildland fires burned more than 155,000 acres in 2004 across Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, and this year a preliminary outlook shows above-normal fire potential in the region because of unusually dry weather.

“The Pacific Northwest, including northern Idaho and western Montana, has pretty serious water and fuel issues, so the folks in those states are being wise to look at preplanning,” said a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, Rose Davis. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat of Montana, has already asked the Pentagon to free up some of his state’s 1,500 National Guard soldiers still on active duty because of the war.

Lieutenant General Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said he couldn’t do that, but he promised help from other states if Mr. Schweitzer asks for it.

– Associated Press

JACKSON’S MOTHER DENIES LEAVING COURT TO AVOID GRAPHIC TESTIMONY

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Michael Jackson’s mother said yesterday that she briefly left the courtroom during her son’s child molestation trial last week to use the rest room – not to avoid hearing graphic testimony. Katherine Jackson, who has attended every day of the trial, said through a spokeswoman that many press outlets misinterpreted her brief absence from the courtroom on Thursday.

“Accusing me of leaving due to graphic testimony when I simply went to the rest room is not fair, not accurate,” she said in a written statement. Her spokeswoman, Angel Howansky, said Katherine Jackson stepped out during a break when attorneys were meeting in the judge’s chambers. When she tried to re-enter, the jury had already been seated and she had to wait until the next break, Ms. Howansky said.

Michael Jackson, 46, is on trial for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy at his Neverland ranch in 2003. On Thursday, a former security guard at the ranch told a lurid story about seeing Mr. Jackson kiss, fondle, and perform oral sex on a boy who later received a financial settlement from the pop star.

– Associated Press

MIDWEST

OHIO HOUSE FIRE KILLS 3, INJURES 2

OXFORD, Ohio – A fire early yesterday morning at a house near Miami University killed three people believed to be students and injured two others, authorities said.

The cause of the fire was unknown and the identities of the victims have not been released, according to city officials.

Two females were found in separate, second-floor bedrooms, fire chief Len Endress said. A male was found near the front door.

“It looked like the house had wings of flame, almost,” said a Miami sophomore who lives in a nearby university housing complex, Jesse Gerulis.

Eight of the nine male students who leased the two-story house have been accounted for and are alive, said Thayer Talbott, a spokesman for the police department.

Two residents were treated and released from McCullough-Hyde Hospital in Oxford – across the street from the house.

“A guy jumped out of a second-story window and walked straight into the hospital, head down, a nasty cut on his leg,” said Alli Davis, 18, who had been sitting on the roof of a nearby house when the fire started.

– Associated Press