House passes extension of USA Patriot Act

House passes extension of USA Patriot Act

WASHINGTON — Key provisions of the nation’s primary counterterrorism law would be extended for a year under a bill passed by the House on Thursday evening after Democrats retreated from adding new privacy protections.

The House voted 315 to 97 to extend the USA Patriot Act, sending the bill to President Barack Obama. Without the bill, the provisions would expire Sunday.

The Senate approved the extension Wednesday. The privacy protections were cast aside when Senate Democrats lacked the necessary 60-vote supermajority to pass them. Thrown away were restrictions and greater scrutiny on the government’s authority to spy on Americans and seize their records.

Neb. lawmakers discuss fetal-pain abortion bill

LINCOLN, Neb. — A group of lawmakers is pushing to make Nebraska the first state to outlaw most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the argument that the fetus might feel pain during the procedure.

Emboldened by the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision upholding a ban on what abortion rights opponents call partial-birth abortions, in which a fetus is partially removed from the woman’s womb and then destroyed, the Nebraska legislators are seeking to ban all late-term abortions except when the mother’s life is threatened.

If the bill were to pass — and it’s unclear it would — it would surely face a court challenge and could end up in front of the Supreme Court. Medical and legal experts testified Thursday for and against the bill before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. No other state has attempted to restrict abortions based on the pain a fetus might feel.

‘Growing Pains’ actor found dead, police say

VANCOUVER — Vancouver police say “Growing Pains” actor Andrew Koenig has been found dead.

At a press conference in the downtown park where his body was found, police said foul play was not suspected but would not release a cause of death because the coroner is still investigating.

The actor’s father, Milton Koenig, said his son “took his own life.”

Friends found the body around noon Thursday in a heavily wooded area about 100 feet from a popular foot path.

Koenig, 41, was visiting friends in Vancouver when he went missing more than a week ago.

The Venice, Calif., native had a recurring role on the 1980s sitcom as Boner, a pal of star Kirk Cameron’s character, Mike.

First heavy rain hits Haiti capital since quake

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The first heavy rain since the earthquake doused Haiti’s capital Thursday night, soaking hundreds of thousands of homeless in a city where barren hillsides and weakened buildings are threatening to give way.

The storm hit as relief officials changed tack on dealing with quake survivors, delaying plans to build big refugee camps outside the capital. Instead, they want the homeless to pack up their tents and tarps and return to destroyed neighborhoods.

People dashed for shelter down streets streaming with runoff from the driving tropical rain. The downpour swept trash along roadside gutters, clogging drains and turning depressions into ponds.

Rangel broke rules, ethics panel finds

WASHINGTON — Rep. Charles Rangel, the most powerful tax-writing lawmaker in Congress and a 34-year veteran of Capitol Hill, knowingly accepted Caribbean trips from a corporation in violation of House rules, the House Ethics Committee ruled Thursday, The Associated Press has learned.

At least four other members of the Congressional Black Caucus who were also on the 2007 and 2008 trips were exonerated by the panel, according to a congressional source familiar with the findings.

The finding is certain to jeopardize Rangel’s chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee. The tax-writing committee will take a lead as Congress determines the fate of former President George W. Bush’s expiring tax cuts.

Associated Press