Nation briefs 12/20/04

Bush named Time's Person of 2004

NEW YORK -- After winning re-election and "reshaping the rules of politics to fit his 10-gallon-hat leadership style," President George W. Bush for the second time was chosen as Time magazine's Person of the Year. The magazine's editors tapped Bush "for sharpening the debate until the choices bled, for reframing reality to match his design, for gambling his fortunes -- and ours -- on his faith in the power of leadership."

Rumsfeld in hot seat over automated signature

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has decided to personally sign condolence letters to the family members of U.S. troops killed in action rather than letting a machine affix his signature. Republican and Democratic members of Congress criticized the embattled Pentagon chief on Sunday for not signing the letters himself all along. In a statement Friday, Rumsfeld announced the change in policy and said more than 1,000 condolence letters had gone out to relatives of Americans killed in military action during the global fight against terrorism.

Kia Spectra fails frontal crash test

WASHINGTON -- The Kia Spectra is the first vehicle since 2001 to get the insurance industry's worst safety rating in a frontal crash test, according to results released Sunday. The Spectra, a small, four-door sedan that starts at $13,240, got the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's lowest rating of poor after a crash test dummy's head, chest and legs were injured in the 40 mph crash test. The last car to get that rating was the Chevrolet Cavalier in 2001.

White House chief: FDA doing 'spectacular job'

WASHINGTON -- The federal drug safety agency is doing a "spectacular job" of protecting the public, the White House chief of staff said Sunday. The assessment drew an immediate outcry from a Senate critic who charged that government oversight under the Bush administration has proved "a catastrophic failure." The debate about the effectiveness of the Food and Drug Administration comes days after the agency began advising doctors to consider alternatives to Celebrex, the leading arthritis painkiller, for their patients. A study had shown that the Pfizer Inc. medication increased the risk of heart attack and strokes at high doses.

Suspect in Smart case files for divorce

SALT LAKE CITY -- The woman accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart with her husband so the man could keep the girl as a second wife has filed for divorce, according to court documents. Wanda Barzee, 59, has been at the Utah State Hospital since the beginning of the year after a judge ruled she was mentally incompetent to stand trial. She filed for divorce on Nov. 23 in Provo. Barzee and her husband, Brian David Mitchell, are charged with kidnapping the then-14-year-old Smart from her bedroom in 2002.

Man arrested after four bodies found in Jeep

DETROIT -- Police discovered the bodies of four missing people inside a Jeep on Sunday and arrested a man suspected in their slayings, authorities said. Police believed the bodies were those of four people who disappeared from their home Saturday -- Alicia Jackson, 24, Gloria Pitts, 17, and Jackson's two children, Jamon Wilmer, 6 or 7, and I'jannia Jackson, 4. Authorities said a friend called police after suspecting something was wrong at the victims' home. Officers found Pitts' 1-year-old child unharmed in a closet, but the others were missing.

Eighty-vehicle crash closes Pa. interstate

MERCER, Pa. -- About 80 vehicles crashed in snowy weather Sunday on Interstate 80 near the Ohio border, closing westbound lanes for more than eight hours, Pennsylvania state police said. State police from the Mercer barracks said no one was killed in the late-morning crash in Lackawannock Township, but did not know how many people were injured or how serious the injuries were. The lanes were reopened Sunday night. Lori Braun, nursing supervisor at Sharon Regional Hospital, said 11 people were treated for minor injuries and released and one person was admitted. Another 77 people declined treatment at a triage center set up at a hotel, Braun said.