Around the Nation

Judge delays decision about feeding tube

TAMPA, Fla. — A judge yesterday refused to order a new trial to determine whether a severely brain-damaged Terri Schiavo would want to be kept alive artificially.

The ruling in the long-running right-to-die case moves Mrs. Schiavo’s husband one step closer to having her feeding tube removed.

But Circuit Judge George Greer in Clearwater blocked removal of the tube until at least Dec. 6 so Mrs. Schiavo’s parents can decide whether to appeal.

Mrs. Schiavo has been at the center of a bitter dispute between her husband and her parents.

Bob and Mary Schindler had asked Judge Greer for the new trial to determine whether their daughter, who was a practicing Roman Catholic when she collapsed and suffered brain damage 14 years ago, would still choose to have her feeding tube removed based on recent statements by Pope John Paul II regarding people in vegetative states.

The pope said people in vegetative states still have the right to nutrition and health care.

Sinclair airs parts of anti-Kerry film

BALTIMORE — Sinclair Broadcast’s much-criticized news special featuring a documentary critical of Sen. John Kerry aired last night, devoting as much coverage to the controversy as the film that sparked the uproar.

The program featured a few minutes of excerpts from the documentary, “Stolen Honor,” as well as excerpts from a pro-Kerry documentary, interviews with veterans who support and oppose the Democratic presidential nominee, and pieces on issues such as the impact of new media, like the Internet, on politics.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a nonprofit watchdog group, said the show did not appear to be what Sinclair had originally intended.

“The program that ran tonight suggests the public has been heard,” Mr. Schwartzman said.

Sinclair, whose executives are Republican contributors, originally said the program would air in prime time on all of its 62 stations, many in swing states, prompting protests from critics and shareholders. It aired on 40 stations.

Gay ’marriage’ ban legally on ballot

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the last legal challenge to placing a constitutional amendment banning homosexual “marriage” and recognition of same-sex couples on the Nov. 2 ballot.

The court ruled 6-1 on technical grounds, saying it did not have jurisdiction over the claim, that opponents did not make their claim far enough ahead of the election and that a lower court had already ruled on the same issues.

“This thing is definitely going to go forward,” said David Langdon, an attorney representing Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values, which gathered the signatures to place the issue on the ballot.

Opponents had argued the initiative was invalid because it lacked the required summary and certification from the Ohio attorney general, but they said they weren’t surprised by Thursday’s ruling.

Dog pack kills six gazelles

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A pack of stray dogs entered the Kansas City Zoo and attacked a herd of gazelles, killing six of the animals.

Two of the four strays were shot to death and a third was caught with a net before the zoo opened Thursday. The fourth dog ran into nearby woods. Zoo officials feared the dogs would attack more animals.

“It’s an unfortunate thing,” zoo Director Randy Wisthoff said. “We have done a walk of the entire zoo, and we still haven’t been able to figure out where the dogs came in.”

Prison clerk killed by ’lifer’ inmate

KENEDY, Texas — An inmate serving a life sentence for sexual assault killed a prison clerk and then committed suicide, authorities said.

Rhonda Osborne, 33, was attacked and choked Thursday, then shoved to the floor of a storage room at a maximum-security prison unit, TDCJ spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said. Miss Osborne, who had worked at the prison five years, was pronounced dead at a hospital, but her exact cause of death had not been determined.

The attacker, Gary Laskowski, sentenced to life for two counts of aggravated sexual assault, later killed himself by cutting his neck and wrists with a sharp object, she said.

From wire dispatches and staff reports