WASHINGTON

MILITARY TO DEVELOP BUGS TO SNIFF OUT EXPLOSIVES

Scientists at the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency intend to breed insects capable of transmitting data about explosives to soldiers, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported. The bugs would be implanted with Microsystems at the pupa stage of their development, so that the technology would be incorporated into their bodies and their movements could be controlled remotely, according to the network. The military has asked for bids on the project.

“Not all wacky ideas are without value. Some do produce goods. My feeling is this will probably not produce the goods,” the BBC quoted an entomologist at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, George McGavin, as saying, calling the proposal, “ludicrous.”

– Staff Reporters of the Sun

OFFICIALS EXHUME INFECTED COW, PLACE AGE AT 10 YEARS

The government has exhumed the Alabama cow with mad cow disease and concluded she was at least 10 years old, the Agriculture Department said yesterday.

The age is still an estimate, an official said. But it suggests the cow may have been infected before America took steps to safeguard cattle feed from mad cow disease.

Nine years ago, the government banned ground-up cattle remains from use in cattle feed. Meat and bone meal from cattle was a common ingredient until it was implicated in a massive outbreak in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and 1990s.

– Associated Press

IDAHO GOVERNOR NAMED INTERIOR SECRETARY

President Bush selected Dirk Kempthorne as Interior secretary yesterday, saying the Idaho governor brings wide experience to the job of managing the nation’s parks, public lands and natural resources.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 54-year-old Kempthorne – himself a former senator – would replace Gale Norton in the Cabinet. She resigned last week after more than five years in office.

“Dirk understands that those who live closest to the land know how to manage it best,” the president said, “and he will work closely with state and local leaders to ensure wise stewardship of our resources. Dirk has had a long and abiding love for nature.”

– Associated Press

WEST

MAN HITS HIS OWN CAR THEN SUES HIMSELF

LODI, Calif. – When a dump truck backed into Curtis Gokey’s car, he decided to sue the city for damages. Only thing is, he was the one driving the dump truck. But that minor detail didn’t stop Mr. Gokey, a Lodi city employee, from filing a $3,600 claim for the December accident, even after admitting the crash was his fault.

After the city denied that claim because Mr. Gokey was, in essence, suing himself, he and his wife, Rhonda, decided to file a new claim under her name.

City Attorney Steve Schwabauer said this one also lacks merit because Rhonda Gokey can’t sue her own husband.

“You can sue your spouse for divorce, but you can’t sue your spouse for negligence,” Mr. Schwabauer said. “They’re a married couple under California law. They’re one entity. It’s damage to community property.”

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

CONNECTICUT SEX OFFENDER ARRESTED IN FLORIDA GIRL’S 1996 MURDER

HARTFORD, Conn. – A database of DNA from convicted sex offenders has linked a Connecticut man to the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Florida almost 10 years ago, police said yesterday.

Robert Mitchell, 43, was being held on $5 million bail after being arraigned yesterday as a fugitive from justice. He waived extradition, and will face first-degree murder and sexual battery charges in the death of sixth-grader Cherie Morrisette, police said.

– Associated Press