MIDWEST

BODY FOUND IN RIVER BELIEVED TO BE THAT OF MISSING IOWA GIRL

CHARLES CITY, Iowa – A young girl found dead in a river is believed to be a 5-year-old whose disappearance last week prompted a frantic search, authorities said yesterday. Searchers found the body Wednesday evening in the Cedar River, a couple of miles from little Evelyn Miller’s home in Floyd, County Attorney Marilyn Dettmer said. A positive identification was pending, but Ms. Dettmer said it’s believed the body is Evelyn, who disappeared last Friday. An autopsy was planned.

Ms. Dettmer declined to say who found the body or supply details about its condition. She said no one was in custody in the case and no arrests had been made. About 1,300 volunteers logged more than 9,000 collective hours in searching for Evelyn for nearly a week, Ms. Dettmer said.

Noel Miller, Evelyn’s mother, has said she left her children, Evelyn, Gabriel, 2, and Damian, 1, with her fiance, Casey Fredericksen, at their apartment in Floyd, a small farming community about 110 miles northeast of Des Moines.

When she arrived home from her overnight job later Friday morning, the apartment door was slightly open and Evelyn was gone.

Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for family members, said they are devastated. “We all believed Evelyn would be found and we’d bring her home safe,” she said.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

STATE BUDGETS STRENGTHENING AFTER YEARS OF WEAKNESS

Driven by robust tax revenues, state finances are surging again after years of anemic growth, giving governors and lawmakers an infusion of cash to spend on raises for state workers, preschool programs for the poor, and new roads.

The nation’s governors reported yesterday that soaring income, sales, and corporate tax receipts beat expectations in 42 states during the budget year that ended in June. That is a stark reversal of fortunes from the dark days of 2002, when 42 states saw revenues fall below estimates.

“There’s no question, we’ve turned the corner,” Rep. Bill Dix, of Iowa, chairman of the House committee that helps write his state’s $5.1 billion budget said.

Still, long-delayed spending needs and the rising costs of education and Medicaid, the health care program for the poor, are placing heavy pressure on state budgets. The report urged caution, warning that states faced difficult choices ahead.

But in comparison to the last three years, the study by the National Association of State Budget Officers and the National Governors Association, coupled with several other recent reports, portray a remarkable economic turnaround during the 2005 fiscal year. All but four states operate on a fiscal year that runs from July through June.

– Associated Press

GOVERNMENT REPORTS ON PETS THAT DIED ON AIRPLANE FLIGHTS

A cat named Tango and an overweight black Lab mix called Cave were among the four pets that died on commercial airline flights in May, according to the government’s first monthly report on such incidents.

The figures released yesterday by the Transportation Department bolsters airlines’ claims that the vast majority of animals survive flying without a problem.

Some animal-rights advocates had suggested that as many as 20,000 pets die in airliners every year. “One injured or killed pet is one too many,” a spokesman for the industry group Air Transport Association, Jack Evans, said. “But virtually all animals that are transported are transported safely.” Six American airlines reported a total of 10 incidents, including five cases in which a pet was injured and one in which a pet was lost. More than 2 million pets and other live animals are carried by airlines every year in America.

– Associated Press

SOUTH

STATE ATTORNEY FINDS NOTHING CRIMINAL IN SCHIAVO’S COLLAPSE

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida’s state attorney said there was no evidence Theresa Schiavo’s collapse 15 years ago involved criminal activity, and Governor Bush yesterday declared an end to the state’s inquiry.

Mr. Bush had asked State Attorney Bernie McCabe to investigate Schiavo’s case after her autopsy last month. He said he now considers the state’s involvement with the matter finished. “Based on your conclusions, I will follow your recommendation that the inquiry by the state be closed,” Mr. Bush said in a two-sentence letter.

In asking Mr. McCabe to look again into what put Schiavo in a persistent vegetative state, Mr. Bush had cited an alleged gap between when Schiavo’s husband Michael found her and when he called 911. The governor had said the issue remained unsettled. Mr. McCabe said, however, while such discrepancies may exist in the record, Michael Schiavo’s statements that he called 911 immediately had been consistent. “This consistency, coupled with the varying recollections of the precise time offered by other interested parties, lead me to the conclusion that such discrepancies are not indicative of criminal activity and thus not material to any potential investigation,” Mr. McCabe wrote in a letter to Mr. Bush accompanying his report.

The report was dated June 30, but not released until yesterday.

– Associated Press