COLUMBIA, S.C. — Smoke inhalation and carbon-monoxide poisoning killed the seven college students who died Sunday in a fire at Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., before the flames reached them, Dr. John Butts, the state’s chief medical examiner, said Wednesday.
Jeff Yelton of Greenville, father of Clemson University student Emily Yelton, said medical officials told him his 19-year-old daughter and six students from the University of South Carolina would have been incapacitated after taking just a few breaths of the poisonous fumes from the fire that gutted the two-story beach house.
Additional national news briefs:
Tips offered for cancer prevention
NEW YORK — Shedding unhealthy pounds, limiting alcohol consumption and shying away from red meats are highlighted as tips anyone can follow to help prevent cancer, according to a joint international report released Wednesday.
Scientists at the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund in Britain analyzed thousands of studies and produced 10 recommendations to help people lower their risk.
Men should consume no more than two alcoholic beverages daily, and women only one, the report says. Other recommendations include avoiding cigarettes, red and processed meats; consuming a diet rich in vegetables; and exercising 30 minutes a day. The guidelines also caution against sugary foods and soft drinks.
The report can be found at .
Ex-Girl Scout leader admits bilking troop members
PENSACOLA, FLA. — A former Girl Scout leader pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing her Scouts’ identities in order to obtain $87,000 in illegal tax refunds. Holly M. Barnes, 33, entered pleas to 19 counts of making false tax refund claims and 15 counts of identity theft. She could face a maximum of 230 years in prison. She admitted asking parents to provide their children’s Social Security numbers for a fake medical release she claimed was required to take trips.
House OKs expanding job assistance
WASHINGTON — Ignoring a veto threat, the House on Wednesday approved an $8.6 billion expansion of a federal program that assists workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.
The bill would expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program, increasing federal funding for training displaced workers and extending eligibility to workers in service industries. The Senate is working on its own version of the measure.
The House vote was 264-157, short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
The White House objected that the bill would expand the program to workers “not demonstrably affected by trade.”
Anti-gay-rights lawmaker in blackmail case quits
OLYMPIA, WASH. — A state lawmaker who has voted against gay rights resigned Wednesday, days after he was quoted in police reports as saying a man he had sex with was trying to blackmail him. Rep. Richard Curtis, 48, said he was resigning immediately to spare his wife and children more public embarrassment. Curtis, a Republican, also declared he was not gay.
Hate-crime unit probes swastika, noose at college
NEW YORK — Jewish professor Elizabeth Midlarsky found a swastika painted on her office door at Teachers College, a graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, police said Wednesday. Professor Madonna Constantine found a noose on her office door at the college Oct. 9. Both are professors of psychology and education. The New York Police Department’s hate-crime unit is investigating both incidents.
