Nation briefs 6A

Memorial honors fallen New York firefighters

NEW YORK -- Thousands of firefighters from around the world packed Madison Square Garden and the surrounding streets Saturday for a solemn memorial ceremony to honor 356 city firefighters killed in the line of duty -- 343 of them at the World Trade Center.

Many in the audience of 25,000 inside and 30,000 watching on television screens outside the arena cried quietly as pictures of the firefighters smiled from the screens.

The memorial began with thousands of firefighters, led by color guards, bagpipers and drummers from the Fire Department of New York.

Amid the procession, 356 firefighters, some from as far away as Japan and Australia, each carried an American flag representing an FDNY member lost in the line of duty since October 2000.

As the final name was read in a roll call of those being honored, the arena erupted into a five-minute standing ovation.

Judge denies request to lock up Columbine tapes

DENVER -- Four videotapes made by the Columbine High killers -- showing the teen gunman brandishing weapons they used in the attack and donning the clothes they wore -- will remain in lawyers' offices.

The tapes are evidence in a lawsuit brought by a Columbine survivor against the pharmaceutical company that made an anti-depressant taken by gunman Eric Harris.

The parents of Harris and Dylan Klebold had sought to keep the videotapes under locked up during the trial, for fear they would be leaked to the media.

But U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer turned the parents down Friday, saying: "In preparing a case for trial, you need to have the matters you will deal with to work on, and you need it in your office."

Small plane crashes into mobile home park

PHOENIX -- A small plane crashed into a mobile home park near an airport Saturday, damaging three homes and killing the pilot. One resident had minor injuries.

One mobile home was hit by the plane and two others were damaged by fire, said Suzanne Luber, a spokeswoman for Sky Harbor International Airport, which oversees the smaller Deer Valley Airport about a mile from the crash.

The pilot reported a problem with oil pressure and was trying to return to the airport, she said.

Residents of the two fire-damaged homes were accounted for, Luber said, though rescue crews combed through the site to check for possible victims.

Justice Dept. probes policy on mental patients

NEW YORK -- The Justice Department is looking into whether New York's policy of releasing mentally ill patients from state hospitals to locked units in nursing homes violates civil rights laws, according to a published report.

Lawyers are interviewing officials and mental health experts and will consider whether a full-scale investigation is needed.

The presence of secure units in nursing homes for former mental patients was first reported last week by the Times.

Since these homes are not psychiatric facilities, residents typically do not have the same legal protections as people who are in such facilities, including the right to a lawyer and to a hearing to contest having their freedom taken away.

-- From wire reports