Nation briefs 5/4/06

House committee to approve military bill

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon would be permitted to add thousands of ground troops under a House bill, reflecting lawmakers' concerns that U.S. forces must be increased, particularly during wartime. The provision is part of a massive measure the House Armed Services Committee planned to approve on Wednesday. The bill sets Defense Department policy and spending levels of roughly $510 billion for the military for next year, including $50 billion to cover the first portion of next year's costs for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawmakers shaped the bill to address concerns arising from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, including plans for more generous recruitment incentives, pay raises and combatting roadside bombs.

Mont. governor pardons 80 convicted of sedition

HELENA, Mont. -- It was a black mark on dozens of family histories that lingered for nearly nine decades -- until a journalism professor and a group of law students examined what happened to citizens who spoke out against the government during World War I. On Wednesday, nearly 80 people convicted of sedition amid the war's anti-German hysteria were to receive the first posthumous pardons in Montana history. Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the state was "about 80 years too late" in pardoning the mostly working-class people of German descent who were convicted of breaking what was then one of the harshest sedition laws in the nation.

Fire in N.Y. home kills 4, spreads to church

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Fire swept through a home early Wednesday, killing a woman and three of her children and damaging four other buildings, including a neighboring church. The father managed to alert his oldest daughter in time for her to escape and then jumped to safety from a second-floor window, fire chief Clifford Colgan said. Emergency crews found Michael Ray, 56, and his daughter Courtney, 17, on the front lawn. Michael Ray was listed in fair condition Wednesday afternoon. Courtney Ray was treated and released.

Laura Bush announces school library grants

CHALMETTE, La. -- School libraries wiped out by hurricanes Katrina and Rita are getting grants worth $500,000 to help them rebuild, along with a rare magazine collection, first lady Laura Bush and media executives announced Wednesday. Bush, a former librarian and public school teacher, announced the grants at Chalmette High School in St. Bernard Parish, where every building was flooded. Seven public and private schools in Louisiana and three in Mississippi will receive the money from the Laura Bush Foundation's Gulf Coast Library Recovery Initiative.

-- From wire reports