Nation in brief: Bill would grant Hawaiians powers

Native Hawaiians should regain some of the self-governance powers lost when the islands’ queen was overthrown more than a century ago, the House decided Wednesday.

The White House threatened a veto, saying the legislation that passed by a 261-153 vote would divide Americans “along suspect lines of race and ethnicity.”

The bill would give the 400,000 people nationwide of Native Hawaiian ancestry the right to form a governing entity that could negotiate with the state and federal governments over such issues as control of natural resources, lands and assets.

Native Hawaiians, who long have sought the bill, insist they deserve many of the self-autonomy rights provided to American Indians and Native Alaskans.

NEWARK, N.J.

Trucker charged with Goya theft

A truck driver who stole an art masterpiece from an unattended transport truck and then claimed he found it in his basement was charged with theft, authorities said Wednesday.

Steven Lee Olson, 49, was charged with stealing “Children with a Cart,” a 1778 painting by famed Spanish artist Francisco de Goya, federal prosecutors said. The painting was insured at a value of about $1 million.

The painting was being trucked to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan from the Toledo Museum of Art last November. It was stolen as the transport drivers spent the night at a Pennsylvania motel.

The painting was returned undamaged to the Ohio museum.

MIAMI

Reporter with gun arrested at school

A television reporter investigating a story on school violence was arrested after carrying a loaded gun onto school property, authorities said.

Jeffrey Weinsier of WPLG-TV, an ABC network affiliate, was taken into custody Tuesday at Miami Central High School after ignoring several warnings not to walk on school property, Miami-Dade schools police said.

Weinsier said he began carrying a gun after he received death threats stemming from a series he did about unsanitary conditions at restaurants, according to the station.