B.C.: 11,000 flee forest fires
About 11,000 residents of a Kelowna subdivision threatened by a forest fire in southern British Columbia have been evacuated, officials said Sunday. At least three homes were destroyed. Helicopters, air tankers and firefighters were attacking the 1.35-square-mile blaze raging behind the Glenrosa subdivision, about 170 miles east of Vancouver. It’s not clear what caused the blaze, though one fire official hinted strongly it may have been human-caused.
South Africa: AIDS vaccine tests
South Africa is launching clinical trials of the first AIDS vaccines created by a developing country, beginning this month on 36 healthy volunteers, though years of testing will be needed. The vaccine was designed at the University of Cape Town with technical help from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which also manufactured the vaccine.
Tennessee: Man allegedly kills 6
A Fayetteville woman and her husband, who is accused of killing her and five other people in two states, had been having marital troubles and were not living together, a man who says he knew the couple said Sunday. Jacob Shaffer, 30, faces six counts of homicide. His wife, 38-year-old Traci Shaffer, her son, Devin Brooks, and neighbor, Robert Berber, both 16, were found dead Saturday in her home, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. The Shaffers had a 4-year-old daughter that police said was home during the killings but wasn’t hurt. The bodies of Traci Shaffer’s brother, Chris Hall, 34, and father Billy Hall, 57, were found in a home across the road. Jacob Shaffer is also accused in a killing at a business in Huntsville, Ala., about 30 miles south.
Illinois: Pollution linked to lower IQ scores in children
Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain. The results are in a study of 249 children of nonsmoking New York City women who wore backpack air monitors for 48 hours during the last few months of pregnancy. They lived in mostly low-income neighborhoods and had varying levels of exposure to typical kinds of urban air pollution, mostly from car, bus and truck exhaust. At age 5, before starting school, the children were given IQ tests. Those exposed to the most pollution before birth scored on average four to five points lower than children with less exposure. The study in the August edition of Pediatrics was released today.
Florida: Slain couple’s daughter to care for 13 children
The adult daughter of a slain Florida couple known for adopting 13 special-needs children said she is planning to move into her parents’ home and raise the children as her own. Ashley Markham, 26, told the Pensacola News Journal that she and her husband intend to care for the children, saying it was her mother’s wish. Byrd and Melanie Billings were found slain at their home in what authorities described as a well-executed invasion captured on surveillance video. Nine of the couple’s children were in the home during the attack, though none were injured.
D.C.: Obama slips in polls
Heading into a critical period in the debate over health-care reform, public approval of President Obama’s stewardship on the issue has dropped below the 50-percent threshold for the first time, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Since April, approval of Obama’s handling of health care has dropped from 57 percent to 49 percent, with disapproval rising from 29 percent to 44 percent. Barely more than half approve of the way he is handling unemployment, the poll found. The president’s overall approval rating remains higher than his marks on particular domestic issues, with 59 percent giving him positive reviews and 37 percent disapproving.
From Herald news services
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