Lawyer: Kin of girl with Uzi devastated

Lawyer: Kin of girl with Uzi devastated

PHOENIX

An attorney for the parents of a 9-year-old girl who accidentally killed an Arizona shooting-range instructor with an Uzi said Tuesday the family is devastated by the tragedy that occurred on a brief excursion during a vacation.

The statement came as investigators released police reports and 911 recordings involving the Aug. 25 shooting of instructor Charles Vacca at the Last Stop range in White Hills, Ariz., about 60 miles south of Las Vegas.

The police reports name the child’s parents as Alex Gen and Alison MacLachlan and don’t list the couple’s hometown.

Immigrants at risk to lose insurance

MIAMI

More than 200,000 immigrants who bought insurance through President Barack Obama’s health care initiative could lose their coverage this month if they don’t submit proof this week they are legally in the country, but language barriers and computer glitches are hindering efforts to alert them.

The government mailed letters in English and Spanish last month notifying about 300,000 people that if immigration and citizenship documents aren’t submitted by Friday, their coverage under the Affordable Care Act will end Sept. 30.

However, few seem to be responding. U.S. Health and Human Services officials released information Tuesday showing that 239,000 of the original 300,000 still were receiving final notices.

Immigration advocates say the notices in only two languages don’t take into account the wide variety of immigrant languages.

Study: Low-carb diet beats low-fat

Good news for people who like oil more than bread: People on a low-carbohydrate diet lowered certain risk factors for cardiovascular disease and lost nearly three times as much weight as those on a low-fat diet, a new study found.

“This isn’t a license to hit the butter and meat fats,” cautioned Dr. Lydia Bazzano, a professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and one of the study’s lead authors. “But even very high-fat diets can be healthy.”

The yearlong study, published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that total and “bad” (HDL) cholesterol levels — considered a primary risk factor for heart disease — went down equally for both groups, but “good cholesterol (LDL) went up quite a bit more on the low-carb diet than it did on the low-fat diet,” Bazzano said.

At the end of the study period, participants in the low-carb group had lost nearly 12 pounds on average. Those in the low-fat group had lost 4 pounds on average.

Teen told to remove makeup sues DMV

COLUMBIA, S.C.

A 16-year-old in South Carolina is suing the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles because the agency won’t allow him to take a driver’s-license photo wearing makeup.

Chase Culpepper regularly wears makeup and either androgynous or women’s clothing. He told reporters Tuesday that being ordered by officials to remove what they called a disguise was humiliating.

The lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday says the DMV violated the teen’s rights.

The agency wouldn’t let Culpepper wear makeup for the photo because of a policy that bans license pictures when someone is purposefully altering his or her appearance.

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund says that rule is unconstitutional because it is vague and arbitrary. The DMV had no immediate response.

Combined dispatches