Around the Nation

ALABAMA

Burned church counts blessings

BRIERFIELD — The Rev. David Hand stood at a charred pulpit and counted the blessings of his little country church yesterday.

Fires blamed on arson hit five churches in a rural Alabama county last week, destroying three. But Mr. Hand’s church, Old Union Baptist, and another house of worship had only minor damage.

“I’m just so thrilled we have a building today,” Mr. Hand said to “Amens” from the 60 people gathered in the 146-year-old, wood-frame church.

Elsewhere, members of Rehobeth Baptist Church knelt in prayer beside the rubble of their church before holding Sunday school and a worship service in a nearby small fellowship building.

Investigators said they had no suspects or apparent motive, but the FBI said it was looking at possible civil rights violations under laws focusing on attacks on religious institutions.

ALASKA

Firewood favored for cheap heating

ANCHORAGE — Firing up a chain saw to cut your own firewood, a practice that had largely fallen by the wayside, is once again fashionable in Interior Alaska as the cost of heating oil soars.

It can make a big difference in a region where winter temperatures may plunge to 50 below zero and stay there for days.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources this fall expanded its cut-your-own firewood program, opening up more state land in the Interior for people willing to pay $5 for a household permit and do their own work.

Residents can use more than 200 miles of roads in the Interior to reach designated areas where trees have fallen or been killed by fire.

Twenty-five years ago, the state routinely issued more than 2,000 permits a year to Fairbanks-area residents. But that number plummeted, to as low as 180 permits in 2004, as petroleum-based heating fuel became more affordable. That has changed. Last year, the number increased to 308 permits. Forester Marc Lee said he wouldn’t be surprised to see more than 500 permits issued this year.

CALIFORNIA

Thirteen injured when car hits clinic

LOS ANGELES — Two cars collided in a South Los Angeles business district, sending one of the vehicles into a health clinic filled with patients and injuring 13 persons — six of them critically.

The midmorning crash Friday created a chaotic scene of shrieking people, shattered glass and confusion. Dozens of firefighters and police rushed to the scene, and at least one victim lost a foot.

The events that triggered the crash involving a black Nissan ZX and a white Lincoln Town Car remained under investigation.

“It appears at this time, although the investigation is continuing, that [the driver of the Nissan] was struck by that white Town Car, lost control and plowed into the clinic,” said Officer Jason Lee, a police spokesman.

COLORADO

Melting snow to relieve drought

DENVER — Deepening snowpack in the north-central Colorado mountains is good news for water utilities. Along the Front Range, utilities say supplies are up from last year.

Some reservoirs could fill for the first time since a major drought started in 1999. Melting snow contributes about 80 percent of the water in the state’s rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs.

ILLINOIS

Children lack calcium, exercise

CHICAGO — Doctors should evaluate children for the amount of calcium they get and encourage them to exercise to help prevent an epidemic of broken bones later in life, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises.

National data show that most American children older than 8 don’t get enough calcium, a deficiency that increases their risks for developing osteoporosis in adulthood, the academy said in a report released today in the journal Pediatrics.

There’s also evidence suggesting that fractures may be on the rise in U.S. adolescents, perhaps because calcium-deficient diets and little exercise already have weakened their bones even if they haven’t yet developed the bone-thinning disease, said Dr. Craig B. Langman, who treats pediatric bone problems at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital.

Calcium is needed for bone formation, and weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones.

MINNESOTA

Lost World War II airman identified

MINNEAPOLIS — Remains found in the California mountains last fall are those of an airman from Minnesota whose plane went missing during World War II, relatives said Saturday.

The U.S. Department of Defense determined the remains, recovered last October encased in ice, are those of Leo Mustonen, who was 22 when the plane he was in crashed 64 years ago in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the airman’s nieces Leane Mustonen Ross and Ona Lea Mustonen told CNN.

Leo Mustonen joined the war effort in 1942. He was on an AT-7 navigational training plane when it vanished after leaving on a routine flight Nov. 18 that year.

NEW JERSEY

Tank ruptures, leaks oil into river

TOTOWA — A ruptured tank spilled more than 9,000 gallons of refined oil into a river yesterday, causing an eight-mile oil slick, authorities said.

At least two water companies temporarily stopped taking water from the Passaic River after the 9 a.m. spill, said Passaic County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Bill Maer.

The leak started at a factory in Totowa, about 20 miles west of New York City. Oil was flowing “like a spout” into the water, said sheriff’s department Capt. James Hearney.

Authorities were setting up floating booms in the river to contain the slick, he said. The state Department of Environmental Protection was headed to the scene.

PENNSYLVANIA

Eater sets record at Wing Bowl

PHILADELPHIA — A 22-year-old man ate 173 chicken wings in 30 minutes, setting a record at the annual Wing Bowl.

Joey Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., bested a field of 27 eaters Friday to take the title and top prize, a 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara.

He qualified for the Wing Bowl by downing a gallon of milk in 41 seconds.

The event was sponsored by sports-talk station WIP-AM.

WASHINGTON

Ultraviolet spray helps catch fish

SPOKANE — In the ancient struggle between man and fish, man has a new weapon.

Forget fancy lures, depth charges or precision casting guns. The new weapon requires vision — ultraviolet vision.

Called Fool-a-Fish, it comes in a bottle that sprays titanium dioxide on fishing lures and bait. The chemical lights up the watery depths like a disco ball, luring fish from half a mile away.

Fool-a-Fish is the brainchild of a Spokane physician named Milan Jeckle — that’s Dr. Jeckle to you — who combined his love of chemistry and the outdoors into a new business. Fool-A-Fish is earning a growing reputation as anglers from Alaska to Florida enjoy success with the product.

“You catch three or four times more fish, and the biggest fish,” Mr. Jeckle contended.

From wire dispatches and staff reports