Ariz. adds young children at fastest rate in nation

PHOENIX -- Arizona, long thought of as a retirement state, is adding young children to its population at the fastest rate in the nation, according to census figures. Census Bureau estimates show that between April 2000 and July 2003, Arizona had the highest growth rate of children under age 5. By July 2003, census officials estimated there were 436,170 children under 5 in Arizona out of an overall population of 5.6 million. The majority of the increase is attributed to families moving to Arizona from other states and from Mexico because of a promising economic environment and the low cost of living, according to economists.

Tenet: White House didn't misrepresent Iraq facts

WASHINGTON -- CIA director George Tenet denied on Tuesday Democratic allegations that the Bush administration misrepresented facts about Iraq's weapons programs to make a case for war. Pressed by Senate Democrats, Tenet said he has told policy-makers when they were mischaracterizing intelligence, and he planned to call Vice President Dick Cheney to tell him he had referred to a discredited document in a newspaper interview. Tenet also made clear that he believes policy-makers are entitled to flexibility in how they interpret and describe intelligence. Tenet appeared before the panel to present his annual worldwide threat assessment.

Ohio school board OKs evolution-creation lesson

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state school board Tuesday approved a lesson plan for teaching evolution that includes a religious theory for the creation of life. Scientific groups objected and critics said they expected a lawsuit. After six hours of testimony, the board voted 13-5 in favor of "Critical Analysis of Evolution," an optional set of lessons for schools to use in teaching science for a new graduation test. Critics say the lessons contain elements of a theory called intelligent design, which states a higher power must have been involved in the creation of life.

Search continues for 3 missing from water taxi

BALTIMORE -- A second person has died as a result of the weekend capsizing of a water taxi in Baltimore Harbor, and recovery crews spent another day Tuesday trying to find the bodies of three people still missing. The 36-foot pontoon boat overturned Saturday near Fort McHenry when a sudden thunderstorm struck the harbor with wind gusts of up to 55 mph, throwing all 25 people on board into the chilly water. Three people -- a couple who planned to marry and a 6-year-old boy -- disappeared. The woman who died Monday evening was the daughter of another victim, JoAnn Pierce, 60, of Cumberland County, N.J., according to one of Pierce's bosses.

Bush to expand on time before Sept. 11 probe

WASHINGTON -- President Bush will privately answer all questions raised by a federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, the White House said Tuesday, apparently dropping a one-hour limit on the president's testimony. The shift came on the heels of accusations by presumed Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry that Bush was "stonewalling" investigations of the terrorist attacks and U.S. intelligence failures. It was the administration's second change of heart about the commission. Bush originally had opposed the panel's request for a two-month extension of its work but he eventually relented.

Study: STD rate for teens similar despite pledge

PHILADELPHIA -- Teens who make a one-time pledge to remain virgins until marriage catch sexually transmitted diseases about as often as those who don't pledge abstinence, according to a study of the sex lives of 12,000 adolescents. Those who make a public pledge to delay sex also wind up having fewer sex partners and get married earlier, the research shows. But the two groups' STD rates were statistically similar. One of the problems, researchers found, is that virginity "pledgers" are less likely to use condoms. Data from the study, presented Tuesday at the National STD Prevention Conference, was taken from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. That study was funded in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

1993 storm tops new winter rating system

WASHINGTON -- The superstorm of 1993 was the most devastating blizzard to strike the Northeast in at least a century, according to a new system that rates the impact of East Coast winter storms. The new 1-to-5 rating system, somewhat similar to the scales for hurricanes and tornadoes, was announced Tuesday by winter experts from the National Weather Service and The Weather Channel. In their study of 70 major Northeastern storms, only two -- the storm of March 1993 and the January blizzard of 1996 -- fell into the "extreme" category with a 5 rating, reported Paul Kocin, winter weather expert at The Weather Channel, and Louis Uccellini, director of the Weather Service's National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

Another change of venue possible in Peterson trial

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Scott Peterson's attorneys said Tuesday they may ask to move the murder trial a second time, telling a judge that too many prospective jurors have already concluded their client is guilty. Lawyer Mark Geragos cited an initial look at the 23-page questionnaire that about 600 potential jurors have filled out since jury selection began last week. Peterson, 31, could get the death penalty if convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son.

Senate panel OKs huge rise in indecency fines

WASHINGTON -- Congress is inching closer to making it much more expensive for a radio or TV station to air something indecent. The Senate Commerce Committee, following its House counterpart, voted Tuesday to increase the fine for indecent programming from $27,500 to $500,000. The bill also would delay the Federal Communications Commission's new broadcast ownership rules from taking effect until investigators at Congress' General Accounting Office can study any relationship between media consolidation and indecency.

-- From wire reports