Nation briefs 1/28/05

Planned Parenthood head resigns after eight years

NEW YORK -- Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for the past eight years, has resigned, the abortion rights organization announced Thursday. "Gloria made her decision to step down after a long 30-year career, and she has not made any announcements about her next step," federation spokeswoman Elizabeth Toledo said. A national search for a new president will begin immediately, Planned Parenthood chairwoman La Don Love said in a news release. Karen Pearl, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, N.Y., will serve as interim president.

Auto worker shoots three, then himself at Ohio plant

TOLEDO, Ohio -- An auto worker wired a shotgun to his body and burst into a Jeep assembly plant, killing a supervisor and wounding two other employees before killing himself. The alleged gunman, Myles Meyers, 54, had met with plant officials to talk about a problem with his work the day before his fatal spree Wednesday at a Jeep Liberty Plant, authorities said. Killed was supervisor Roy Thacker. One of the wounded men was in critical condition and the other was in fair condition Thursday, said a nursing supervisor at St. Vincent Medical Center.

NASA pauses to honor astronauts killed

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA observed a moment of silence across the country and in orbit Thursday in memory of the 17 astronauts killed in America's three spacecraft tragedies. "NASA remembers our heroes," the space agency said on its Internet site against a black backdrop, flashing photos of the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia crews. Aboard the international space station, commander Leroy Chiao asked colleagues in Mission Control to pause with him to "honor our fallen."