WEST

AUTHORITIES FIND HUMAN REMAINS IN SEARCH FOR MISSING BOY

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Authorities yesterday said they found human remains during their search for a missing 9-year-old boy whose sister was found days earlier at a Denny’s restaurant with a registered sex offender.

Sheriff Rocky Watson said the remains, found in western Montana, would be sent to an FBI laboratory for DNA analysis. He did not say whether the remains were believed to be those of Dylan Groene, and declined to answer questions.

Officials said previously that there was little hope that Dylan was still alive. The DNA analysis was expected to take three days.

Dylan’s 8-year-old sister, Shasta, was found Saturday with Joseph Edward Duncan III, more than six weeks after the children disappeared from the home where their mother, her boyfriend, and an older brother were bludgeoned to death. Authorities planned to charge Duncan, 42, of Fargo, N.D., with kidnapping and being a fugitive from justice, and have said more charges were possible. A judge ruled yesterday that there was probable cause to keep Duncan in jail until an initial court appearance today, when he will be assigned an attorney.

With Duncan refusing to talk, authorities have been relying on statements from Shasta, physical evidence in Duncan’s Jeep, and tips from the public as they searched for Dylan. Sheriff’s Captain Ben Wolfinger said Shasta had provided helpful information, but declined to say what the girl was telling officers.

“It’s a slow process with Shasta,” Captain Wolfinger said yesterday. “We’re taking that very slowly.”

– Associated Press

SOUTH

CHURCH’S RULE-MAKING BODY PASSES PRO-GAY MARRIAGE RESOLUTION

ATLANTA – The United Church of Christ’s rule-making body voted overwhelmingly yesterday to approve a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage, making it the largest Christian denomination to do so.

The vote is not binding on individual churches, but could cause some congregations to leave the fold. Roughly 80% of the representatives on the church’s 884-member General Synod voted to approve the resolution yesterday, a day after a smaller committee recommended it. The Reverend John Thomas, president of the United Church of Christ, said with the vote on Independence Day, the rule-making body “acted courageously to declare freedom.” The resolution calls on member churches of the liberal denomination of 1.3 million to consider wedding policies “that do not discriminate against couples based on gender.”

– Associated Press

HEALTH

PANEL: CHILDHOOD OBESITY HAS MULTIPLE WARNING SIGNS

CHICAGO – A respected medical panel is urging pediatricians not to focus only on height and weight in determining whether a child is too fat. Leading groups of family doctors and pediatricians endorse routine screening using the height-weight ratio of the body-mass index. But there’s no evidence that all children with high BMIs need to lose weight to be healthy – and there’s no evidence that pediatricians’ weight counseling results in weight loss and better health, according to a report from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a non-governmental panel of researchers. The report comes amid growing concern over how to stem the nation’s rising obesity. Some 15% of American schoolchildren are estimated to be obese, and 30% are believed to be overweight. BMI can be fairly effective at identifying children who likely have weight problems, said task force member Dr. Virginia Moyer. But it can’t determine if body mass is mostly fat or lean tissue, and not all children with high BMIs need to lose weight, said Dr. Moyer, a pediatrics professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

PENTAGON STRATEGY UNDER REVIEW

The Pentagon’s current strategy of requiring the military to be able to fight two large wars simultaneously is being questioned by top planners, according to a report on the New York Times Web site last night. In its place, they are considering enabling the military to wage one conventional war while putting greater resources toward anti-terrorism campaigns and defending America. The Pentagon is undergoing a thorough review of its strategy as ordered by Congress every four years. The results of the study will also determine the future size of the armed forces and how much money will be spent on the procurement and development of weapons, according to the Times.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BUSINESS

SPIELBERG, CRUISE WAGE ‘WAR’ WITH $77.6 MILLION JULY 4 WEEKEND

LOS ANGELES – “War of the Worlds” conquered the box office as easily as the movie’s aliens overpowered Earth, but it did not have enough firepower to overcome Hollywood’s prolonged slump. Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise’s sci-fi tale took in $77.6 million over the long Fourth of July weekend, lifting its total since debuting Wednesday to $113.3 million, according to studio estimates yesterday. That fell well short of the all-time high held by “Spider-Man 2,” whose $180.1 million haul in its first six days led Hollywood to a record Fourth of July weekend last year. The top 12 movies took in $160.1 million, off 25% from that 2004 record weekend.

It was the 19th straight weekend that domestic revenues were down compared with last year’s, extending the longest slump since analysts began tracking detailed box-office figures. The worst downturn previously recorded was 17 weekends in 1985. For the year, revenues are down about 7%, while factoring in higher ticket prices, admissions are off 10%.The longer the slump drags on, the harder it gets for Hollywood to dig itself out of that revenue hole, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

– Associated Press