Around the Nation

IDAHO

Infections triple for whooping cough

BOISE — Cases of whooping cough are on the rise in parts of Idaho. Officials with the Central District Health Department say the number of whooping-cough cases this year is triple the normal number.

So far, 72 cases have been reported in the region. Most people are vaccinated during childhood, but the vaccination can wear off, so the health department is urging residents to get revaccinated.

INDIANA

200 homes must be razed

BOONVILLE — Building inspector Mike Winge said approximately 200 homes in Warrick County will have to be razed because of damage from the Nov. 6 storm that left 23 persons dead in the region.

Another 400 homes sustained serious or major damage and will need extensive rebuilding and repair. Many homes that escaped the storm’s tornado suffered damage from other winds.

KENTUCKY

Violation found with Cheney records

FRANKFORT — Gov. Ernie Fletcher and state police improperly withheld expense records for services provided when Vice President Dick Cheney was briefly in the state en route to an Indiana fundraiser, a judge ruled yesterday.

The administration had invoked a new exception to the Kentucky Open Records Law that allows governments to keep some records secret if they can show their disclosure would pose a “reasonable likelihood” of being useful for plotting a terrorist attack.

Franklin County Circuit Judge Roger Crittenden ruled that the administration had shown no such likelihood.

On March 28, Mr. Cheney flew in and out of Louisville, where he was driven across the Ohio River into southern Indiana to attend a political fundraising event. The state police helped provide some security, traffic control and other services.

The Associated Press requested overtime, expense and other records. Attorney General Greg Stumbo’s office, which reviews initial appeals of records decisions, sided with Mr. Fletcher, a Republican.

MASSACHUSETTS

Georgetown woman joins Harvard board

BOSTON — Harvard University, whose president sparked debate over his remarks on women and has faced criticism from senior black faculty, has appointed the first black woman to the school’s governing board.

Patricia King, a Georgetown University law professor, takes up her post as a member of the Harvard Corp. in May, the university said on its Web site (www.harvard.edu). The seven-member board makes personnel decisions such as hiring the university’s president.

Mrs. King, a 1969 Harvard Law School graduate, is a specialist in biomedical law and ethics, and her appointment coincides with Harvard’s expansion into research on stem cells, which some scientists say may yield treatments for a range of diseases from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s and diabetes.

She will replace Conrad Harper, the board’s only black member, who resigned this year to protest a pay raise for Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, who was a U.S. Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Woman sought children for months

CONCORD — The Ohio woman who found the bodies of two New Hampshire children missing since 2003 said she had been looking for them for months because of clues that the grave site could be in the region.

Stephanie Dietrich said she began looking for the Sarah and Philip Gehring in July after she heard that Teri Knight, their mother, had asked for the public’s help.

“I figured I was the public,” Mrs. Dietrich, 44, told the Telegraph of Nashua. “She asked for help, and I didn’t have anything else going on.”

The children had been last seen in Concord on July 4, 2003. Their father, Manuel Gehring, confessed to killing Sarah, 14, and Philip, 11, driving for hours and then burying their bodies somewhere in the Midwest.

OKLAHOMA

Police review pursuit policy

OKLAHOMA CITY — The city’s police department is reviewing its chase policy.

Three persons have died and more than 10 have been injured in wrecks resulting from police pursuits since late October. The department has sent surveys to the nation’s 50 largest municipalities asking about their pursuit policies.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Tax officials probe write-offs

COLUMBIA — The state Revenue Department is expanding its review of overstated tax write-offs for charitable donations.

A previous audit found questionable land-conservation easements taken as tax breaks by golf-course owners. State Revenue Director Burnie Maybank says he has begun reviewing deductions taken on other property, including artwork and buildings.

TENNESSEE

Arrest made in balloon theft

KNOXVILLE — Authorities have arrested a man they say stole a hot-air balloon from a Knox County home before breaking into another house and forcing the family to feed him.

Gregory A. Williams, 40, was caught by police Friday night as he left the home where authorities say he demanded a meal from a couple. The couple’s daughter hid in a closet and called authorities on her cell phone, said Loudon County Assistant Chief Deputy Jimmy Davis.

The hot-air balloon, which belongs to James Hood, was packed in a trailer and parked in his driveway Friday morning when a neighbor saw someone hitch the trailer to a vehicle and take off, authorities say.

Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison said thief eventually ditched his vehicle and the balloon trailer in a field in Loudon County and fled into nearby woods.

Mr. Hood recovered his trailer and balloon, valued at nearly $30,000.

Authorities say Williams was already wanted on a probation-violation warrant and now faces felony theft charges.

WASHINGTON

Mayor seeks limit on strip clubs

SEATTLE — Mayor Greg Nickels announced a plan Friday to limit any new strip clubs to a largely industrial area south of downtown.

Two months ago, the city banned lap dances. Club owners then organized a petition drive to overturn the new rules, gathering more than enough signatures to put the issue before voters next year.

From wire dispatches and staff reports