Nation in brief: Bike Week begins with five deaths

Five people died in motorcycle-related crashes over the weekend in the opening days of Bike Week, one of the nation’s largest annual biker gatherings, authorities said Monday.

The Florida Highway Patrol will officially determine whether the deaths were related to Bike Week after the event concludes Sunday, agency spokeswoman Kim Miller said.

Two people died Sunday night when their motorcycle was hit by a truck as they tried to merge onto a highway.

Also that day, a biker traveling the wrong way along U.S. 1 in New Smyrna Beach collided with two other motorcyclists, who were hospitalized, the patrol said.

A man died Saturday after missing a curve while speeding and being ejected into a ditch, the patrol said. Earlier that day, a woman was killed when she stepped in front of two motorcycles, whose drivers were injured.

RICHMOND, Va.

Animal-fighting laws bolstered

The state Senate approved tougher laws against dog- and cockfighting Monday in Virginia, the state where former NFL star Michael Vick ran his dogfighting operation.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine supports the legislation, which passed the Senate unanimously on Monday and previously had cleared the House of Delegates. It’s unclear when he would sign it.

The bill would make attendance at any organized animal fight, not just dogfights, a felony.

Participating in cockfighting would become a felony. Currently, it is a misdemeanor if gambling is involved, but otherwise cockfighting is legal.

MEMPHIS, Tenn.

Police find 6 dead, 3 wounded in home

Police found the bodies of six people, including two children, as well as three critically wounded children in a Memphis home on Monday in a case authorities were treating as a multiple homicide.

The cause of death was still under investigation, though Memphis Fire Department spokeswoman Melanie Young said the victims had been shot. Police said all the children were under the age of 12.

LOS ANGELES

Malibu, county face pollution suit

Two environmental groups sued Los Angeles County and the city of Malibu on Monday in an attempt to force them to clean up contaminated water and urban runoff discharged into coastal waters.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Santa Monica Baykeeper claim in the lawsuits that the county and city disregarded clean water standards. Data kept by the county showed Malibu Creek and the Santa Clara, Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers exceed safe levels of cyanide, aluminum and fecal coliform, the groups said.

Mark Pestrella, assistant deputy director for the county Department of Public Works, said the lawsuits lacked merit.