FREMONT, Neb. – Voters in the eastern Nebraska city of Fremont on Monday approved a ban on hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants. About 57 percent of voters in Fremont supported the proposal, according to unofficial results that still must be certified by the election commissioner. The measure is likely to face a long and costly court battle, with the American Civil Liberties Union saying it will try to block it before it even goes into effect.

The measure will require potential renters to apply for a license to rent.

The application process will force Fremont officials to check if the renters are in the country legally. If they are found to be illegal, they will not be issued a license allowing them to rent.

Lawmakers agree

on Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON – House and Senate negotiators said Monday they have reached agreement on a new round of economic sanctions against Iran aimed at dissuading the Tehran government from pursuing the development of nuclear weapons.

The latest proposed sanctions against Iran focus on disrupting exports of gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran and banning U.S. banks from doing business with foreign banks that provide financial services to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The draft agreement, announced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., comes on the heels of both international and U.S. moves to punish Iran for its refusal to abandon its nuclear program.

Three people die

in plane crash

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – A small plane chartered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture crashed into a home Monday, killing three people aboard and narrowly missing a couple inside the house.

The Cessna 210 was on final approach when it went down west of Lock Haven’s William T. Piper Memorial Airport at about 1 p.m. Monday and struck the house, a utility pole and three vehicles, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said.

Three Forest Service workers on board were killed, he said.

The plane was owned by a Colorado company and had been chartered by the USDA, Peters said. Officials did not yet know where it was coming from, its final destination or whether more than three people were aboard, he said.

Orszag quitting

White House job

WASHINGTON – White House Budget Director Peter Orszag will resign this year, a Democratic official said Monday night.

As director of the Office of Management and Budget, Orszag holds Cabinet-level rank and a pivotal role in shaping and defending how the administration spends the public’s money. The exact timing of Orszag’s leaving was unclear.

Ansel Adams print

fetches $722,000

NEW YORK – A mural-size photograph by Ansel Adams of Yosemite National Park has sold for more than $722,000 at auction in New York City.

Sotheby’s says Monday’s sale of the photograph set an auction record for Adams.

“Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park” had been estimated to sell at a top price of $500,000 before bidding started. The auction house didn’t release the name of the buyer.