Fire claims seven; three hospitalized

Five children, a teenager and a mother died Saturday in a fire that engulfed a Memphis home, witnesses and fire officials said.

Memphis Fire Department Lt. Keith Staples said two teenagers and an 11-year-old boy escaped and were hospitalized in stable condition.

The cause was under investigation, and authorities were unsure how the survivors escaped, Staples said.

Next-door neighbor Lamar Boyce, who said he was awakened by the victims’ cries for help, said two of the survivors escaped by jumping from a second-story window of the burning home.

Authorities did not immediately release identities or ages of the victims.

Relatives identified the mother as Melissa Poole, 38, and said she lived in the home with her four children. A niece and nephew were visiting when the fire broke out, they said.

WASHINGTON

Pelosi says drilling part of package

Democrats’ stance against offshore drilling has shifted more, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaling on Saturday her willingness to consider opening up more coastal areas to oil and gas exploration.

In her party’s weekly radio address, Pelosi said opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling would be a part of energy legislation that House Democrats intend to put forward in the coming weeks to combat oil dependence and high gasoline prices.

Lawmakers will be able to “consider opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling, with appropriate safeguards, and without taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil,” said Pelosi, D-Calif.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.

Schwarzenegger injures knee

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pulled out of an environmental conference Saturday to have his knee examined after injuring himself while exercising.

The governor had been scheduled to co-host a climate change summit in South Lake Tahoe, but Sen. Dianne Feinstein told the crowd Saturday morning that Schwarzenegger had called her to say he couldn’t make it.

He injured his knee while working out, Schwarzenegger spokesman Matt David said. A doctor was expected to examine Schwarzenegger’s knee for a possibly torn meniscus.

COLUMBUS, Ohio

Ex-congressman’s confinement ends

Former congressman Bob Ney of Ohio has been released from a halfway house in Cincinnati after serving a sentence in connection with a public corruption scandal.

Ney has served nearly 1 1/2 years of his original 2 1/2-year prison sentence. The sentence was reduced after he completed treatment for alcohol problems.

Ney admitted trading political favors for golf trips, other gifts and campaign donations arranged by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates.

From wire reports