Nation in brief: NRA seeks owners of seized firearms
The National Rifle Association has hired private investigators to find hundreds of people whose firearms were seized by city police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to court papers filed this week.
The NRA is trying to locate gun owners for a federal lawsuit that the lobbying group filed against Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley over the city’s seizure of firearms after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.
In the lawsuit, the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation claim the city violated gun owners’ constitutional right to bear arms and left them “at the mercy of roving gangs, home invaders, and other criminals” after Katrina.
The NRA says the city seized more than 1,000 guns that weren’t part of any criminal investigation after the hurricane. Police have said they took only guns that had been stolen or found in abandoned homes.
WASHINGTON
9-second session thwarts president
The House was quiet the day after Christmas. But across the Capitol, the Senate was operating in an unusually efficient manner in its ongoing power struggle with President Bush.
A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without the pro forma session, the Senate would be technically adjourned, allowing the president to install officials without Senate confirmation.
Before Congress left last week, Democrats scheduled 11 pro forma sessions to fill the void until the Senate returns to regular session on Jan. 22. The purpose was to stop Bush from using the constitutional power presidents hold under the Constitution to bypass Senate confirmation and unilaterally install his nominees in office when Congress is adjourned.
CHICAGO
United cancels yet more flights
United Airlines canceled flights for a third consecutive day Wednesday as it struggled to recover from a weekend winter storm during one of the more crucial travel periods of the year.
The Chicago-based carrier canceled fewer than 5 percent of its 3,300 flights worldwide on Wednesday, spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said.
At Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, fog Wednesday morning forced some incoming flights to be held at their originating airports, but the Federal Aviation Administration reported arrival delays of 15 minutes or less by the afternoon.
DES MOINES, Iowa
Septic tank slip makes bad holiday
It was a stinky holiday for Robert Schoff.
The 77-year-old man spent part of Christmas Eve stuck upside down in the opening of his septic tank, with his head inside and his feet kicking in the air above.
“It wasn’t good, I’ll tell you what,” Schoff said Tuesday. “It was the worst Christmas Eve I’ve ever had.”
Schoff reached into the tank Monday in an effort to find a clog, but he lost his balance and got wedged into the opening.
The 5-foot-5-inch, 135-pound Schoff hollered and screamed for help, but it was an hour before his wife, Toni, walked by a window and saw his feet in the air.
She called 911 and two Polk County sheriff’s deputies yanked her husband out of the tank.