Nation in brief: Domenici says he has brain disease
Sen. Pete Domenici told a gathering of family members and supporters in Albuquerque that he has been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease and will not seek a seventh term next year.
Domenici’s retirement represents the end of an era for both the Senate and New Mexico, where the Republican has been an institution for 35 years, and it opens up a seat in a swing state in 2008.
Although Domenici has struggled with various ailments in recent years, his party had hoped that he would hold on for one more term to limit the potential electoral damage. But Domenici, 75, said he has been diagnosed with frontotemporal lobar degeneration and that recent tests showed the disease to be progressing.
Concord, N.H.
Tax evaders arrested at home
Convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown have been arrested at their Plainfield home without incident, the U.S. marshal’s office in New Hampshire said Thursday.
The couple had been convicted on federal tax charges in January. They refused to turn themselves in to authorities when they were sentenced in April and had been holed up in their rural, fortress-like home since. It was not immediately clear how they were taken into custody.
“The Browns may now begin serving their 63-month federal prison terms,” U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier said. “High-profile situations like this are always difficult, but they don’t have to be tragic.”
The Browns have claimed the federal income tax is not legitimate.
Philadelphia
Armored car guards shot dead
Two armored car guards were shot and killed by a robber as they removed deposits from a bank ATM in a brazen daylight heist Thursday, setting off a sweeping search for the killer that shut down a nearby mall and several schools.
After hours of searching, authorities had few leads and only a sketchy description of the gunman, who police said approached the guards and fired without saying a word.
“He just came out initially and just assassinated them, that fast,” Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said.