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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Nation in brief: All the better to smell you with


Lucy, a calf, was born May 4, with two noses on Mark Krombholz's hobby farm in Lincoln County, Wis. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
The Spokesman-Review

Mark Krombholz had to look twice at his new calf, Lucy – one time for each nose.

“I didn’t notice anything too different about her until I got her in the barn,” Krombholz said, “and all of a sudden I went to feed her a bottle of milk, and I thought maybe she’d been kicked in the nose and there were two noses there.”

The second, smaller nose sits on top of the first.

“It’s a functioning nose because the middle of her second nose, the flap would go in and out when she drank out of the bottle like that,” Krombholz said. “It was kind of funny.”

Krombholz said Lucy, who was born May 4, will be a pet and bred if she’s able.

Washington

Bill to reorganize Red Cross signed

President Bush signed a bill into law Friday that overhauls the way the American Red Cross governs itself and streamlines its leadership in an effort to avoid the type of problems that beset its response to Hurricane Katrina.

The charity’s 50-member board of governors, widely criticized as unwieldy, will be trimmed to no more than 25 members by 2009 and no more than 20 members by 2012.

The board henceforth will focus solely on governance and long-term oversight, not on regular operational decisions. All new members will be elected by the board itself; in the past, eight were appointed by the U.S. president and often had spotty attendance records at board meetings.

The bill also creates a new position of ombudsman, who will have unfettered access to all Red Cross operations and will provide annual reports to Congress.

Sharonville, Ohio

2 planes collide, killing 3 on board

Two small planes collided Friday over suburban Cincinnati, raining debris onto roads and backyards and killing three people on board, federal investigators said.

The Federal Aviation Administration had no information about the aircrafts’ flight plans or why they were so close together. Blue Ash Airport, a runway used by small planes, is several miles away.

The planes’ pilots were not required to file flight plans and apparently were not in contact with air traffic controllers, the FAA said. Under federal regulations, the pilots were responsible for maintaining a safe distance on a clear, sunny afternoon.

Two of the victims were aboard a Cessna 172, and their identities were withheld pending notification of relatives. The pilot of the other plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza, was identified as Neils Harpsoe of suburban West Chester.

No injuries were reported on the ground. Several roads were closed because of the debris.