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

Nation in brief: Kennedy home after brain surgery

The Spokesman-Review

Fresh from his hospitalization for aggressive surgery on a cancerous brain tumor, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy announced it was “good to be home” at his family’s Cape Cod compound Monday and headed out for a sail.

Kennedy left the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., on Monday morning and arrived at his family’s Hyannis Port compound just before noon.

Within hours, he went out sailing with his wife, Vicki. It was the same homecoming routine he followed last month when he was released from a Boston hospital after being diagnosed with a malignant glioma, a lethal type of brain tumor.

“His doctors are pleased with his progress since surgery a week ago, and he will continue to recuperate at home before starting the next phase of his treatment,” Kennedy’s office said in a statement.

WASHINGTON

Indian trust fund trial starts

A group of American Indians is not entitled to a $58 billion claim against the United States – or anything close to that amount – over the mismanagement of century-old trust lands, government lawyers argued Monday.

The Indians’ 1996 suit claims they were swindled out of billions of dollars in oil, gas, grazing, timber and other royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887. They say the government has profited from money that should have gone promptly into individual Indian accounts.

Opening arguments began Monday in a trial that U.S. District Judge James Robertson has called to determine how much the government should pay the Indians. He ruled earlier this year that efforts by the Interior Department to account for the trust money were inadequate.

Lawyers for the Indian plaintiffs defended their estimates and plan to try and prove their accuracy in the upcoming trial.

COLUMBIA, S.C.

Girl, 4, shoots self with grandma’s gun

A 4-year-old girl shot herself in the chest Monday after snatching her grandmother’s handgun from the woman’s purse while riding in a shopping cart at a Sam’s Club store, authorities said.

The girl was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and was recovering Monday afternoon after surgery, said police department spokesman Brick Lewis. Hospital officials would not release her condition after the operation.

Lewis said the grandmother, Donna Hutto Williamson, has a permit to carry a concealed weapon and the purse containing the small-caliber handgun was in the cart near the child. The 47-year-old Williamson, of Salley, was not immediately charged with a crime.