WASHINGTON

REVIEW: FEMA GAVE $31M IN HURRICANE AID TO PEOPLE NOT DIRECTLY HIT

The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave more than $31 million to thousands of Floridians who may not have qualified for any disaster aid after Hurricane Frances, one of several findings of a federal audit that said the aid system was vulnerable to fraud. The finding, released to a Senate committee yesterday, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted requests for aid in Miami-Dade County on verbal assurances, without proof of damage like repair receipts or proof of ownership.

“It was a pay first, ask questions later approach,” said Senator Collins, a Republican of Maine, chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. With another active hurricane season on the horizon, “we cannot sweep such allegations under the rug,” Ms. Collins added. “This issue has ramifications that are relevant to future disaster relief efforts in all regions of our country.” FEMA chief Michael Brown said he regretted the findings but said such problems are not widespread in his agency.

– Associated Press

ADMINISTRATION IMPOSING LIMITS ON CHINESE CLOTHING IMPORTS

The Bush administration said yesterday it will impose new limits on imports of clothing from China. The action follows complaints that a surge of Chinese apparel to America was hurting American companies. The administration will restrict a number of items that China can ship to America: men’s and boys cotton and man-made fiber shirts, man-made fiber trousers, man-made fiber knit shirts and blouses, and combed cotton yarn.

American retailers are concerned that the move will raise the prices of these goods for American consumers. The government committee, led by the Commerce Department, that decided to set the new quotas found that those categories of imports threatened to disrupt the American market.

– Associated Press

MIDWEST

BANK ROBBER SHOT AFTER TAKING HOSTAGES TO AIRPORT

OLATHE, Kan. – A bank robber who took at least six people hostage and ordered them to strip down to their underwear was shot by police at an airport yesterday during what may have been an attempt to make a getaway in a small plane, authorities said.

The 44-year-old Wichita man was taken by helicopter to a hospital. He was in critical condition late yesterday, FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said. No one else was hurt. Police and the FBI said the robber held up a bank in Olathe, about 25 miles from Kansas City, then loaded the hostages – four women and two men – into a minivan owned by one of the hostages, a teller at the bank.

The teller was forced to drive the minivan to the Johnson County Executive Airport, about two miles away, and pulled up next to a plane on the runway, authorities said.

Police and the suspect exchanged gunfire, FBI agent Jeff Lanza said. The suspect was outside the minivan when he was shot. Mr. Lanza said investigators questioned a flight instructor and student who were onboard the plane and determined they were not involved in the robbery. The airplane was taxiing when the minivan pulled in front of it, forcing it to stop, he said.

– Associated Press

WEST

MAN SOUGHT FOR QUESTIONING IN SLAYING FOUND

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – A man sought for questioning in the bloody slayings of three people was found yesterday as the search continued for two children missing from the home where the killings took place. Detectives were arranging to interview Robert Roy Lutner yesterday afternoon, the Kootenai county sheriff’s captain, Ben Wolfinger, said. Captain Wolfinger did not say where Mr. Lutner was found, but news reports said the interview was in Coeur d’Alene, in norther Idaho. Captain Wolfinger also would not discuss whether the missing children, Shasta and Dylan Groene, were with Lutner, but an Amber Alert remained in effect hours after the man was located.

Authorities have said Mr. Lutner was known to have been at the children’s home on Sunday night, the night before the bodies of their brother, mother and a man were found. Police in several states had been attempting to locate Mr. Lutner, and Captain Wolfinger said Mr. Lutner had known he was being sought.

– Associated Press