American Scene

ARKANSAS

GOP activist Burnett dies at 62

CLINTON | Jim Burnett, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board for six years, has died at the age of 62 in his hometown of Clinton, Ark.

Mr. Burnett was named to the NTSB in 1981 by President Reagan and served on the board until 1991. From 1982 to 1988, he was chairman of the panel. Mr. Burnett was active in Republican Party affairs and had been a Republican National Committee member from Arkansas since 2004.

Bobby Ray Bradford, manager of Roller-McNutt Funeral Home at Clinton, said Mr. Burnett died Saturday at Ozark Health Nursing Center of complications from diabetes.

CALIFORNIA

Episcopalians install second gay bishop

LONG BEACH | The Episcopal Church has consecrated a woman as its second openly homosexual bishop, seven years after stirring lingering controversy by ordaining a gay man to a similar post.

The Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool of Baltimore was ordained and consecrated on Saturday. It also makes her one of the first two female bishops in the Diocese of Los Angeles’ 114-year history.

She was installed at Long Beach Arena before 3,000 people, who burst into applause at the end, church spokesman Bob Williams said.

Just before the ceremony began, a man stood, shouted about the need to repent and held up a sign that read, “Do not be deceived, homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God.” After he was escorted out of the ceremony, a boy in the same section rose holding a Bible and shouted similar slogans. Security guards also led him out of the church.

COLORADO

Balloon returned to boy’s parents

FORT COLLINS | The runaway UFO-like balloon that the world thought was carrying a 6-year-old boy is back in the hands of the parents who pleaded guilty to the hoax.

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said Richard Heene asked to measure the balloon to make sure it was the same one he launched into infamy on Oct. 15. Authorities said the Heenes staged the hoax to try to get attention for a reality television show.

Mr. Heene completed a 90-day jail sentence for his plea of falsely influencing authorities. His wife, Mayumi, was sentenced to 10 weekends working at nonprofits for filing a false report. The Heenes have agreed to pay $36,000 in restitution to agencies that responded to the hoax.

FLORIDA

Atlantis arrives at space station

CAPE CANAVERAL | Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday for what could be its last visit, delivering fresh batteries and other equipment to help keep the outpost running long after the shuttle program ends.

Atlantis’ dance card is empty after this flight, and NASA has just two missions remaining. But there’s a push to keep the space shuttles flying until next June and to give Atlantis one last hurrah.

Shuttle commander Kenneth Ham was visibly moved as he floated into the space station. He grabbed two of the station astronauts in a tight embrace.

“It’s bigger than we remember and, speaking for myself, better than I remember,” Mr. Ham said. “I love this place.”

ILLINOIS

Drug-resistant staph rises among children

CHICAGO | The number of children hospitalized with dangerous drug-resistant staph infections surged tenfold in recent years, a study found.

Disease incidence increased from two cases to 21 cases per 1,000 hospital admissions from 1999 to 2008. Most infections were caught in the community, not in the hospital.

The study involved methicillin-resistant staph infections, called MRSA. These used to occur mostly in hospitals and nursing homes but they are increasingly showing up in other settings in children and adults. Recent evidence suggests hospital-acquired MRSA cases may be declining while community-acquired cases are becoming more common.

The study didn’t examine whether deaths or the severity of infections increased. The results will be published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

MICHIGAN

Police raid kills 7-year-old girl

DETROIT | A 7-year-old girl was fatally shot when an officer’s gun went off during contact with a woman in a house where Detroit police were searching for a suspect in the slaying of a teenager, a police official said.

Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said at a news conference Sunday that Aiyana Jones was hit in the neck by a single bullet and died at a hospital.

Chief Godbee said officers with the department’s Special Response Team set off a flash grenade as they entered the home with their guns drawn about 12:40 a.m. Sunday with a warrant to look for a suspect in the Friday slaying of a 17-year-old boy.

The lead officer encountered a 46-year-old woman immediately inside the front room of the house and “some level of physical contact” ensued during which the officer’s gun went off, he said. The officers had identified themselves as police, he said.

NEVADA

Miss USA contest courts controversy

LAS VEGAS | A year after a question on gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant turned Carrie Prejean into a conservative celebrity, some judges asked the contestants similarly pointed questions, in one case prompting boos from the audience.

During the interview portion of the show, Miss Oklahoma USA was asked about Arizona’s new immigration law. Morgan Elizabeth Woolard said she backs the law, which requires police enforcing other laws to verify a person’s immigration status if they have “reasonable suspicion” he is in the country illegally.

“I’m a huge believer in states’ rights. I think that’s what’s so wonderful about America. So I think it’s perfectly fine for Arizona to create that law,” she said, adding that she opposes racial profiling, which critics of the law have said it would lead to.

“The Office” actor Oscar Nunez was booed as he asked the question and asked the audience to wait until he finished the question before they reacted.

The winner was Rima Fakih of Dearborn, Mich., who will go to represent the U.S. at the Miss Universe pageant.

In her interview, Miss Fakih was asked whether she thought birth control should be paid for by health insurance, and she said that it should because “birth control is just like every other medication, even though it’s a controlled substance.”

• From wire dispatches and staff reports