American Scene

HAWAII

’Vog’ damages island crops

OCEAN VIEW — For eight years, Tony and Sam Bayaoa have grown thousands of bright red, yellow and pink protea flowers on their farm. Then last month, Kilauea volcano opened a new vent and began spewing double the usual amount of toxic gas.

Now about 70 percent of their crop is dried, brown and brittle.

Big Island crops are shriveling as sulfur dioxide from Kilauea wafts over them and envelops them in “vog,” or volcanic smog. People are wheezing, and schoolchildren are being kept indoors during recess. High gas levels led Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to close several days this month, forcing the evacuation of thousands of visitors.

Dr. Cliff Field, who works at a local hospital, said there is a potential long-term harm. Large amounts of “vog” may cause emphysema and chronic lung disease over time. Still, he questioned whether living next to Kilauea is any worse than living in a city such as Los Angeles.

ILLINOIS

Prosecutors rest in Rezko trial

CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors have rested their case in the corruption trial of a prominent political fundraiser in Illinois.

Antoin “Tony” Rezko is charged with scheming to get a $1.5 million bribe from a contractor who wanted state permission to build a hospital. He is also accused of seeking kickbacks from money management firms wanting to do business with a state pension fund.

Chief defense counsel Joseph Duffy is expected to make a motion for an immediate acquittal from the judge before beginning his own case. The prosecution rested yesterday.

Prosecutors contend that Mr. Rezko’s prolific fundraising for Gov. Rod Blagojevich provided him with the clout to manipulate such matters behind the scenes. Mr. Blagojevich is not charged with any wrongdoing.

KANSAS

Voters need photo ID

TOPEKA — House and Senate negotiators agreed Saturday on a bill requiring Kansans to show photo identification at the polls to vote. The measure also calls for the state to provide free photo IDs to low-income people and those on welfare.

It would take effect in 2010, although voters will be asked this year for a photo ID to get them used to the process.

MICHIGAN

Suspected on trial in serial killings

LANSING — A prosecutor told jurors yesterday that a suspected serial killer’s hobby was attacking women with household objects such as beer bottles and toilet lids.

Matthew Macon, also known as “Chili” by police, is charged in the August killings in Lansing of Sandra Eichorn, 64, and Karen Delgado-Yates, 41, and in an assault on Linda Chapel Jackson, 56.

“Chili’s passion was murder,” Assistant Prosecutor Catherine Emerson said during opening statements.

Mr. Macon’s attorney, however, said Mr. Macon’s brother is responsible for Miss Eichorn’s death and the attack on Miss Jackson.

“They resemble each other,” Mike O’Briant said, adding that Mr. Macon and his brother shared clothing, shoes and work gloves.

Mr. O’Briant said another man killed Miss Delgado-Yates.

Police have said Mr. Macon is a suspect in the slayings of five other women, but the 28-year-old hasn’t been charged in those cases.

Mr. Macon’s family has questioned whether he can get a fair trial in Lansing. City residents were alarmed last summer when five women were killed in a month.

MISSOURI

Small quake shakes state

ST. LOUIS — A small earthquake shook the St. Louis area yesterday, causing some residents to awake to a disconcerting rumbling for the second time in less than a month.

There were no reports of damage or injuries.

The epicenter of the quake at 6:25 a.m. was in southwestern St. Louis County — just the sixth documented earthquake in the past two centuries centered in St. Louis or the county. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated its magnitude at 2.7. Seismologists at Saint Louis University say it was a 2.8 or 2.9.

Several residents reportedly heard a “boom” as the ground began to shake. The Geological Survey received hundreds of reports from people who felt it, mostly in the St. Louis area but some in Illinois.

On April 18, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake shook much of the Midwest, including parts of St. Louis. Its epicenter was in southern Illinois near the Indiana border, about 140 miles from St. Louis. More than two dozen aftershocks followed.

Until Monday, the most recent earthquake centered near St. Louis was a magnitude 2.4 temblor on Jan. 15, 1998, with an epicenter of Kirkwood.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Baseball spat preceded killing

NASHUA, N.H. — After a Red Sox-Yankees argument spilled out of a bar, a Yankee fan aimed her car at a group of people to scare them and didn’t brake, hitting and killing a man, authorities and witnesses said.

The Yankees fan, Ivonne Hernandez, was arraigned yesterday on reckless second-degree murder and drunken driving charges and was held without bail. She did not enter a plea.

Miss Hernandez, 43, was speeding early Friday toward a small group that included the man, Matthew Beaudoin, 29, and never hit her brakes, a prosecutor said yesterday.

“She accelerated at a high speed for about 200 feet. She went directly at this group of people,” prosecutor Susan Morrell said. “She indicated to police that she wanted to scare this group of people. She thought they would get out of the way.”

Mr. Beaudoin died of massive head trauma at a hospital, Miss Morrell said.

Miss Hernandez of Nashua was arrested at the scene. She said she had been drinking and refused to take a breath-alcohol test, said Miss Morrell. Miss Hernandez said she had been in an argument with the group.

OHIO

Governor wants attorney general out

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s governor and other Democrats called yesterday for the state’s attorney general to resign, saying a sex scandal has compromised his ability to do the job.

Attorney General Marc Dann quickly responded with a promise to remain in office after admitting Friday to having an extramarital affair with a subordinate. The admission came after findings in an unrelated sexual harassment investigation threatened to reveal the relationship.

In a letter sent Monday, Gov. Ted Strickland joined Democratic state legislators and state officeholders in asking Mr. Dann, also a Democrat, to leave.

“The work of the Office of the Attorney General matters more, and is far more important, than any one person,” the letter said. “In many, many cases it is all that stands between the people and the powerful. Sadly, we no longer have even the most remote hope that you can continue to effectively serve as Attorney General and that is why we are asking for your resignation.”

Mr. Dann, who was elected in 2006, had previously conceded that his own behavior had contributed to an atmosphere in the office that permitted two junior staffers to be harassed and threatened by a friend and neighbor whom he had hired as an aide.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Vibrations shutter nuclear reactor

GREENVILLE — A reactor at the Oconee Nuclear Station will remain off-line until the cause of vibrations can be found. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the investigation should be complete within a couple of weeks.

An inspection last week failed to find the cause of high vibrations in three reactor coolant pumps for Unit 1 at the Duke Energy plant near Seneca.

From wire dispatches and staff reports