SOUTH

WIDOW’S DEATH SETS OFF VIRGINIA REVIEW OF DOG LAWS

RICHMOND, Va. – A Virginia lawmaker is proposing tough legislation to punish dog owners whose pets injure or kill, following a fatal attack on an elderly widow by three roaming pit bulls. Dorothy Sullivan, 82, was attacked March 8 while walking her small dog, Buttons, in her own front yard in Partlow. Buttons also was killed.

Her family and some legislators say her death spotlights the need for legislative action. In the absence of a specific law, the woman who prosecutors say owned the pit bulls, Deanna Large, faces trial Tuesday on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. It is the first time in Virginia a dog owner will be prosecuted on such a charge in a fatal mauling.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

MCCAIN: HARSH TREATMENT OF SUSPECT WOULDN’T VIOLATE STANDARDS

Senator McCain, the Republican of Arizona who pushed the White House to support a ban on torture, suggested yesterday that harsh treatment of a terrorism suspect who knew of an imminent attack would not violate international standards.

Mr. McCain said legislation before Congress would establish in American law the international standard banning any treatment of prisoners that “shocks the conscience.” That would include, Mr. McCain said, mock executions and the controversial technique known as “water boarding,” in which a subject is made to think he is drowning.

Asked on ABC’s “This Week” whether such treatment of a terrorism suspect who could disclose information that could stop a terrorist operation would shock the conscience, Mr. McCain said it would not.

– Associated Press

GATES AND WIFE, BONO NAMED TIME’S PERSONS OF THE YEAR

Time magazine has named Bill and Melinda Gates and rock star Bono its “Persons of the Year,” citing their charitable work and activism aimed at reducing global poverty and improving world health. The magazine said 2005 was a year of extraordinary charity in which people donated record amounts in response to extreme natural disasters, from the tsunami in South Asia to Hurricane Katrina.

– Associated Press

MIDWEST

POLICE: GIRL, 9, FATALLY SHOOTS BROTHER

RIVERDALE, Ill. – A 9-year-old girl accidentally shot and killed her 13-year-old brother while playing with a semiautomatic handgun she found in her parents’ bedroom, according to police in this Chicago suburb. The shooting was unintentional, but the parents might face charges for not having a trigger lock on the weapon, authorities said.

– Associated Press

WEST

TEENAGERS ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED COLUMBINE-STYLE PLOT

LANCASTER, Calif. – Two teenagers were in custody for allegedly plotting to carry out a Columbine-like massacre at their former high school next Valentine’s Day, authorities said. The former Quartz Hill High students, whose names were not released, were arrested Thursday after searches of their homes turned up knives, ammunition, a gas mask, and bomb-making instructions downloaded from the Internet, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

They were being held at the Sylmar Juvenile Detention Center for investigation of making terrorist threats, sheriff’s Sergeant Darrel Brown said.

On Friday, deputies at the sheriff’s station in Lancaster displayed a page from the 15-year-old’s notebook with the scrawled message: “When I’m God, everyone dies.” The notebook was accompanied by a three-ring binder with pictures of Columbine High School killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, and murderer Charles Manson.

– Associated Press