8-year-old boy is charged in day-care shooting

8-year-old boy is chargedin day-care shooting
GERMANTOWN, Md. -- A 7-year-old girl was shot in the arm at a day-care center Tuesday after an 8-year-old classmate took one of his father's guns and it accidentally went off, authorities said. The father was arrested for gun offenses, and court documents outlined an extensive criminal record. The boy also was charged, but authorities said that was done only so he could be helped by juvenile authorities. The girl was taken to a Washington hospital with a wound that was not considered life-threatening. The boy had the gun in a backpack and was playing with it when it went off, said Montgomery County police spokesman Derek Baliles. Police said the boy had found the gun, a .38-caliber Taurus revolver, in a container in his father's closet. Police charged John Linwood Hall Sr., 56, with leaving a firearm in a location accessible by an unsupervised minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Mormon leader, 95,has hospital procedure
SALT LAKE CITY -- Gordon B. Hinckley, the 95-year-old president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, underwent surgery Tuesday to remove a cancerous growth on his large intestine, church officials said. The growth was found during a routine medical screening and was removed through a laparoscopic procedure, the church said in a statement Tuesday night. A laparoscope is an instrument inserted through an incision in the abdominal wall. Hinckley was expected to recover rapidly and resume his normal duties, the church's statement said. Earlier, the church said only that Hinckley, president of the 12 million-member Mormon church since 1995, had been hospitalized Tuesday for a routine procedure. Presidents of the Mormon church serve for life.
Federal government vowsto aid states on drug plan
CHICAGO -- Hoping to forestall a fight in Congress, federal officials promised Tuesday that states would be paid in full for emergency assistance they provide to needy seniors on Medicare who are having problems filling prescriptions. "States need to be reimbursed for the costs they have put out," said Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, vowing his department would make sure that happens. Twenty-six states have begun offering emergency help to elderly consumers earlier this month, after Medicare's prescription drug program got off to a rocky start on Jan. 1. Some states report spending more than $1 million a day on medications for impoverished seniors who should be enrolled in the new Medicare drug plan but find themselves without coverage. Medicare officials say no senior should walk out of a pharmacy without their medication, but it has been happening across the country. Until Tuesday, it wasn't clear how states would be paid for emergency outlays or whether they would recover all their expenses.
Leadership disputeconcludes in Kuwait
KUWAIT CITY -- It was a painful and public struggle as Kuwait's parliament and Cabinet stepped in Tuesday to end an unprecedented leadership dispute in a country where tribal honor and ruling family prerogative run deep. Shortly after parliament voted unanimously to oust the ailing emir, who had ascended the throne just nine days earlier, the Cabinet named Prime Minister Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah to take power in the oil-rich U.S. ally. Despite the embarrassment of an open quarrel within the ruling family, the leadership change served as a clear sign of the growing political maturity -- if not full-blown democracy -- in this tiny slice of the Mideast. The appointment of Sheik Sabah, half brother to the emir who died Jan. 15, still requires approval by parliament, where he reportedly enjoys unanimous support. A vote was expected early next week.
Vindicator wire services