FOUR PEOPLE ARRESTED IN ATTACK ON SINGER

Four people arrestedin attack on singer
NEW YORK -- A singer suffered a broken jaw and other injuries in an attack by a group yelling anti-gay slurs, yet he hopes to perform again by the end of the month, police and his publicist said. Kevin Aviance, 38, whose songs have topped the Billboard dance chart, is expected to be released today from the hospital where he underwent surgery, publicist Len Evans said. Four people were arrested on hate-crime charges, police said. Aviance's jaw is wired shut, but he hopes to perform in the city's Gay Pride parade at the end of the month, Evans said. The agent had said earlier that Aviance would not be able to sing at the event. "He's going to try to get his strength back so that he can perform," he said. Aviance's song "Alive" hit the top of the chart in 2002. His other popular songs have included "Give It Up," released in 2004, and "Din Da Da," which topped the Billboard dance chart in 1997.
Mad cow cases appearto be mysterious strain
WASHINGTON -- Two cases of mad cow disease in Texas and Alabama seem to have resulted from a mysterious strain that could appear spontaneously in cattle, researchers say. Government officials are trying to play down differences between the two U.S. cases and the mad cow epidemic that has led to the slaughter of thousands of cattle in Britain since the 1980s. It is precisely these differences that are complicating efforts to understand the brain-wasting disorder, known medically as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE for short. "It's most important right now, till the science tells us otherwise, that we treat this as BSE regardless," the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, John Clifford, said in an interview. The Texas and Alabama cases -- confirmed last year and this one, respectively -- are drawing international attention. At a meeting in London last month, experts presented research on the U.S. cases and on similar ones in Europe.
Bus driver suspended
GAYLORD, Mich. -- A school bus driver was suspended after she apparently abandoned some students on a dirt road last month, district officials said. Gaylord Community Schools bus driver Sena Black forced some students from her bus May 22, authorities said. She was suspended with pay pending a school board meeting today. On a video recording from the bus that includes sound, Superintendent Carl Hilling said the students can be heard telling the driver that they did not know where they were. Hilling said the driver responded by saying: "I don't care." The video did not show any bad behavior by the students, he said. Information about the number and ages of the students onboard was not available. The students called their parents from a nearby home, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported Sunday. There was no telephone listing for Black in Gaylord, which is located about 200 miles northwest of Detroit.
Men drown during rescueattempt in Tampa Bay
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Two men drowned in Tampa Bay after they jumped in to save the wife of one of them, who had fallen off their boat, authorities said. Richard Hostutler and James Smith, both of the Tampa Bay area, were not wearing life jackets Saturday afternoon in their attempt to rescue Hostutler's wife, who survived, officials said. A sudden storm caused strong currents that pushed the men away from their 21-foot boat and complicated rescue efforts, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. People in another boat spotted Smith's wife yelling for help and pulled the three from the water, Hill said. It was not known when the men were pronounced dead. Alcohol might have been a factor in the accident, said Lt. Rick Feinberg of St. Petersburg Fire Rescue.
Publisher missing
BALTIMORE -- Rescue crews searched the Chesapeake Bay on Sunday for a prominent publisher and former diplomat whose sailboat was found sitting on the water with its engine running. Philip Merrill, 72, an experienced sailor, had been sailing alone in breezy weather Saturday, said Tom Marquardt, executive editor of The (Annapolis) Capital, one of seven periodicals Merrill publishes. Merrill "has been an avid yachtsman since he first learned to sail at age 7. He has been actively cruising the Chesapeake since 1958," his wife, Eleanor, and children said in a statement issued by Marquardt. "If there was anyone who could captain a boat competently alone, it was Phil. ... He just couldn't resist a sunny day with the wind at his back." The wind blew at 15 to 20 mph Saturday near Annapolis, with gusts up to 30 mph, said David Manning, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va. State and federal agencies joined the search.
Associated Press