The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, April 4, 2013 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, April 4, 2013 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS LUDINGTON, Mich. Police: Plant experts can help find baby's remains Authorities are hoping that plant experts will be able to help them find the remains of a West Michigan baby who disappeared nearly two years ago, police said Wednesday. Investigators think that botan- ical evidence found on the shoes of Sean Phillips could lead them to the body ofhis daughter, Kath- erine, who was last seen when she was 4- -months-old, Ludington Police Chief Mark Barnett said at a news conference. Phillips was last year convict- ed of unlawful imprisonment in the case and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. Police are treat- ing Katherine's disappearance as a homicide. PHOENIX Man set free in Ariz. enjoys first day of freedom Louis Taylor broke down in tears Wednesday as he described how he spent his first hours of freedom after more than 40 years in prison for a hotel fire that killed 29 people: an evening hike and some fast food. He struggled to operate what he called an "Apple telephone" and said he was more familiar with 8-tracks than modern tech- nology. Taylor was released Tuesday after doubts about his convic- tion surfaced and he agreed to a deal with prosecutors that set him free. He pleaded no contest to each of the nearly 30 counts of murder against him in an agree- ment that allowed the judge to sentence him to time served. NEW YORK Weak economic reports send stock market down Weak reports on hiring and service industries sent the stock market sharply lower Wednesday, giving the Dow Jones industrial average its worst day in more than a month. The Dow fell 11L66 points, or 0.8 percent, to 14,550.35, its worst decline since Feb. 25. The Stan- dard & Poor's 500 index dropped 16.56 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,553.69. Both indexes closed at record highs the day before. The stock market started 2013 with a rally as investors became more optimistic about the U.S. economy, especially housing and jobs. The reports Wednesday dis- appointed the market and came two days after news that U.S. manufacturing growth slowed unexpectedlylast month. The losses were widespread. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 index fell. Banks and energy stocks had the worst losses, 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent. Utilities, which investors hold when they want to play it safe, fell the least, 0.3 percent. WILLIAMSON, W.Va. Sheriff fatally shot, suspect in custody A new sheriff who was cracking down on the drug trade in south- ern West Virginia's coalfields was fatally shot Wednesday in the spot where he usually parked his car for lunch, and State Police said the suspect was in a hospital with gunshot wounds inflicted by a deputy who chased him. Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum died of his wounds, but State Police Capt. David Nelson didn't say how many times he was shot or offer many other details as two dozen law enforcement offi- cers gathered around him on the courthouse steps. The suspect, 37-year-old Ten- nis Melvin Maynard, was being treated at ahospital in Huntington late Wednesday. -Compiled from Daily wire reports. Connecticut expected to approve sweeping restrictions on guns AP North Korean leader Kim Jung Un gathered legislators Monday for an annual spring parliamentary session, one day after party officials adopted a statement declaring building nuclear weapons one of the nation's top priorities. Noth Korea warns military cleared to attack U.S. Pentagon will send missile defense system to Guam SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Ratcheting up the rhetoric, North Korea warned early Thursday that its military has been cleared to wage an attack on the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified nucle- ar" weapons. The Pentagon, meanwhile, said in Washington that it will deploy a missile defense sys- tem to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam to strengthen region- al protection against a possible attack from North Korea. The defense secretary said the U.S. was seeking to defuse the situ- ation. Despite the rhetoric, analysts say they do not expect a nuclear attack by North Korea, which knows the move could trigger a destructive, suicidal war that no one in the region wants. The strident warning from Pyongyang is latest in a series of escalating threats from North Korea, which has railed for weeks against joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened sanctions for a February nuclear test. Following through on one threat Wednesday, North Korean border authorities refused to allow entry to South Koreans who manage jointly run factories in the North Korean city of Kaesong. Washington calls the mili- tary drills, which this time have incorporated fighter jets and nuclear-capable stealth bombers, routine annual exercises between the allies. Pyongyang calls them rehears- als for a northward invasion. The foes fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The divided Korean Pen- insula remains in a technical state of war six decades later, and Washington keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea to pro- tect its ally. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington was doing all it can to defuse the situation, echoing com- ments a day earlier by Secre- tary of State John Kerry. "Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear dan- ger and threat to the interests, certainly of our allies, starting with South Korea and Japan and also the threats that the North Koreans have leveled directly at the United States regarding our base in Guam, threatened Hawaii, threatened the West Coast of the United States," Hagel said Wednesday. In Pyongyang, the military statement said North Korean troops had been authorized to counter U.S. "aggression" with "powerful practical military counteractions," including nuclear weapons. Conn. leaders in the spotlight act as national model HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut lawmakers were expected to approve sweeping new restrictions on weapons and large-capacity magazines on Wednesday, a response to the Newtown school shooting that will give the state some of the country's tightest gun control laws. The December massacre of 26 people inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, which reig- nited a national debate on gun control, set the stage for changes in the state that may have been impossible elsewhere: The gov- ernor, who personally informed parents that their children had been killed that day, championed the cause, and legislative lead- ers, keenly aware of the attention on the state, struck a bipartisan agreement they want to serve as a national model. "The tragedy in Newtown demands a powerful response, demands a response that tran- scends politics," said Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., a Democrat. "It is the strongest and most comprehensive bill in the country." The bill passed the Senate in a bipartisan 26-10 vote following a respectful and at times somber six-hour debate Wednesday eve- ning. The House of Representa- tives then debated the bill and was expected to vote later in the night. Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he would sign it into law. The legislation adds more than 100 firearms to the state's assault weapons ban and creates what officials have called the nation's first dangerous weapon offender registry as well as eligibility rules for buying ammunition. Some parts of the bill would take effect immediately after Malloy's sig- nature, including background checks for all firearms sales. Connecticut will join states including California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts in having the country's stron- gest gun control laws, said Brian Malte, director of mobilization for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington. "This would put Connecticut right at the top or near the top of the states with the strongest gun laws," Malte said. Colorado and New York also passed new gun control require- mentsinthewakeoftheNewtown shooting, in which a 20-year-old gunman used a military-style semi-automatic rifle to kill 20 first-graders and six educators. Compared with Connecticut's legislation, which, for example, bans the sale or purchase of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds, New York restricted magazines to seven bullets and gave owners of high- er-capacity magazines a year to sell them elsewhere. Colorado banned ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. "There are pieces that are stronger in other states, but, in totality, this will be the stron- gest gun legislation passed in the United States," Betty Gallo, a lobbyist for Connecticut Against Gun Violence, said of the Con- necticut bill. Many senators spoke of bal- ancing the rights of gun owners with addressing the horror of the Sandy Hook shooting. Lawmak- ers said they received thousands of emails and phone calls urg- ing them to vote for or against the bill, with veteran Sen. Joan Hartley, a Democrat, saying she's never seen a more polarizing issue at the state Capitol. Argentina floods cause 52 deaths About 2,500 her familyto a friend's house on higher ground. people evacuated President Cristina Fernandez from homes arrived by helicopter in Tolosa, a La Plata neighborhood where she grew up and where her LA PLATA, Argentina (AP) mother was among those evac- - At least 52 people drowned uated. She announced security in their homes and cars, were measures to combat vandalism, electrocuted or died in other help for identifying the dead, accidents as flooding from days and three days of national of torrential rains swamped mourning for the victims. Argentina's low-lying capital She was then was surround- and province of Buenos Aires. ed by her mother's neighbors, in At least 46 died Wednesday a rare uncontrolled encounter in and around the city of La with everyday citizens. Some Plata, Gov. Daniel Scioli said. hugged and thanked her. Others Six deaths were reported a day complained angrily and shouted earlier in the nation's capital. at her to "go away." Many people climbed onto "It's a disgrace," Miguel Gar- their roofs in the pouring rain cia, a 58-year-old shopkeeper, after storm sewers backed up. said earlier. "They need to gov- Water surged up through drains ern. My mother-in-law is dis- in their kitchen and bathroom abled. We had to carry her up floors, and then poured in over to the roof, and then we had to their windowsills. rescue ourselves because no "It started to rain really hard ambulance would come." in the evening, and began to The coast guard finally flood," said Augustina Garcia reached the Bozzano family on Orsi, a 25-year-old student. "I their rooftop an hour before panicked. In two seconds, I dawn. By then, their car had was up to my knees in water. It floated away and everything came up through the drains - I inside the house was destroyed. couldn't do anything." "We were trapped inside The rains also flooded the the house and couldn't get out country's largest refinery, caus- because of the water pressure. ing a fire that took hours to put Finally we were able to open out The LaPFlatasrefineryesus- a doorhand escapedto the pended operations as a result, roof. That's where we spent and Argentina's YPF oil com- the night," Mauricio Bozzano pany said an emergency team said. was evaluating how to get it The heaviest rain - almost 16 restarted. inches (400 millimeters) in just "Such intense rain in so lit- a few hours, beating historical tle time has left many people records for the entire month of trapped in their cars, in the April - hit provincial La Plata streets, in some cases electro- overnight. A day earlier, the cuted. We are giving priority to capital of Buenos Aires was hit rescuing people who have been hardest. stuck in trees or on the roofs of About four more inches (100 their homes," Scioli said. millimeters more) of rain were But many complained that expected before the bad weath- they had to rescue themselves er passes on Thursday, the and their neighbors as cars national weather service said. flooded to their rooftops and At least 2,500 people were homes filled with up to two evacuated from their homes to meters (six feet) of water. about 20 centers in the La Plata "We lost family heirlooms, area, which is about 37 miles (60 appliances, clothing," said Nata- kilometers) southeast of Argen- lia Lescano, who escaped with tina's capital. Make Learning Sweeter Thi's Summer Study This Summer at SMU in Dallas Get ahead in your degree plan this summer with extensive, affordable course offerings at SMU in Dallas. Summer Schedule of Classes available online - ENROLL TODAY. smu.edu/summer r SMU.