Nation briefs 3/5/07

Suspect in wife's murder arrested in state park

HARBOR SPRINGS, Mich. -- Wearing neither coat nor shoes, a fugitive suspected of killing and dismembering his wife was found hiding under a fallen tree Sunday in a snowbound state park after a bitterly cold night on the run, authorities said. Police tracked down Stephen Grant about 225 miles north of the suburban Detroit community where body parts believed to be those of his wife were discovered. He was in stable condition and was being treated for frostbite and hypothermia under police guard at a hospital. Grant, 37, will be returned to Macomb County for arraignment in the death of Tara Lynn Grant, a 34-year-old businesswoman and mother of two who disappeared last month.

NAACP president resigns after 19 months

NEW YORK -- NAACP President Bruce S. Gordon is quitting the civil rights organization, leaving after just 19 months at the helm, he said Sunday. Gordon cited growing strain with board members over the group's management style and future operations. "I believe that any organization that's going to be effective will only be effective if the board and the CEO are aligned and I don't think we are aligned," Gordon said.

Cherokee tribe votes out freedmen descendants

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Cherokee Nation vote this weekend to revoke the citizenship of the descendants of people the Cherokee once owned as slaves was a blow to people who have relied on tribal benefits. In Saturday's special election, more than 76 percent of voters decided to amend the Cherokee Nation's constitution to remove the estimated 2,800 freedmen descendants from the tribal rolls, according to results posted Sunday on the tribe's Web site. Marilyn Vann, president of the Descendants of Freedmen, said the election results undoubtedly will be challenged.

-- From wire reports