NRA, San Francisco reach deal to delay handgun ban
San Francisco – The city of San Francisco and the National Rifle Association reached a deal Wednesday under which city officials will delay enforcement of part of a voter-approved handgun ban.
Voters on Nov. 8 approved banning the sale and possession of handguns in the city. Residents must get rid of their weapons by April 1. But the NRA and the city agreed to extend from Jan. 1 to March 1 the deadline for banning sales.
In exchange, the NRA agreed to drop its bid for a temporary restraining order and will instead have the issue litigated in court, which should resolve it more quickly.
The measure was put on the ballot by the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors, which was frustrated by the number of gun-related homicides. About 58 percent of voters voted for it.
ANAHEIM, Calif.
Disneyland tree fire clears out hotel
A 35-foot Christmas tree caught fire early Wednesday in the lobby of the Disneyland Grand Californian Hotel, forcing the evacuation of more than 2,000 guests, officials said.
No one was injured except for a guest who complained of a strained back and another with symptoms of stress.
The sprinkler system kept the 3 a.m. blaze in the artificial tree in check, and firefighters were able to quickly put it out.
A spokeswoman for the Anaheim Fire Department called the fire “electrical in nature,” saying it started after employees changed some light bulbs on the tree and turned the lights back on.
CRAWFORD, Texas
Bush to visit wounded troops for New Year’s
President Bush plans to begin 2006 by visiting wounded troops at an Army medical center in Texas on New Year’s Day.
Bush will stop at Brooke Army Medical Center on Sunday on his way back to Washington from a week-long stay at his Texas ranch, said White House spokesman Trent Duffy. Most of the soldiers he will see were injured in Iraq, Duffy said.
During his holiday stay, the Crawford chapter of Veterans for Peace is organizing small demonstrations near Bush’s ranch. The group wrote a letter to the president on Christmas Eve, asking him to limit air attacks to reduce civilian casualties and bring U.S. troops home.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.
State closes plant until foul odors fixed
A foul-smelling plant that turns turkey byproducts into fuel oil was ordered closed by the governor Wednesday until the company finds a way to clear the air.
Renewable Environmental Solutions Inc. in the southwestern Missouri community of Carthage had agreed in May to improve its odor-control systems after state and city officials sued, alleging a public nuisance.
DETROIT
Man kills his mother, co-worker, himself
A man killed his mother and a co-worker Wednesday and seriously wounded a teenage niece in an early-morning shooting spree that ended when he committed suicide.
Jamal Samuels, 22, shot his mother, 56-year-old Annie Samuels, and his 14-year-old niece multiple times at their home on Detroit’s northwest side.
Samuels then drove to the United Parcel Service facility in Livonia where he worked and shot a co-worker in a parking lot about 3 a.m. after lying in wait.
Samuels, a part-time employee, had been at the UPS facility earlier that night but had left because there was no work for him. McDermott identified the victim as 23-year-old Kelton Lamarr Kidd of Detroit.
Family members told police that Samuels had “mental issues.”
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka
Norwegian wants peace talks to resume
A Norwegian official who brokered Sri Lanka’s 2002 cease-fire called on the Asian country’s government and the Tamil Tiger rebels to resume peace talks urgently to avoid sliding back into civil war.
Erik Solheim’s warning Wednesday came as government soldiers shot and killed two suspected rebels in the latest violence jeopardizing the fragile truce and a day after a land mine killed 10 soldiers in an attack that the military blamed on rebels.
His comments were the strongest signal yet that the tropical island was at risk of returning to the war that erupted in 1983 and ended with the 2002 cease-fire, which Norway helped broker.
KABUL, Afghanistan
Bomb on road kills U.S. soldier, wounds 2
A remote-control bomb exploded on a mountainous road in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing one U.S. service member and wounding two, officials said.
The attack occurred as the troops were driving in an armored vehicle in Kunar province near the regional capital, Asadabad, said Sgt. Maj. Larry Lane, a military spokesman.
Kunar is a mountainous province on the border with Pakistan, and scores of militants are believed to hide out there.
Provincial Gov. Assadullah Wafa blamed “enemies of Afghanistan” for the attack, a term commonly used to refer to Taliban rebels.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia
Saudi militant dies after police shootout
One of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted militants has died in custody after being wounded in a gun battle in which he killed five policemen, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday.
Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al-Suwailmi, who was No. 7 on the list of the kingdom’s 15 most wanted suspects, died late Tuesday, bringing to nine the number of people on the list who have been captured or killed.
Police are looking for a second man involved in the gun battles that led to al-Suwailmi’s capture, the ministry statement said.
