Nation briefs 8/25/06

Ramsey slaying suspect arrives in Colorado

BOULDER, Colo. -- After a flight on a state police plane, John Mark Karr arrived Thursday in the city where 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was slain to face charges in a homicide case prosecutors acknowledged is still in its "very early stages." The three-hour flight from Los Angeles landed shortly after 5 p.m. at the Jefferson County airport. Karr, in handcuffs both as he entered and exited the plane, was put into a black sport utility vehicle and driven in a convoy to the Boulder jail, with news helicopters trailing overhead. Karr's first few hours at the jail will include physical and mental evaluations, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said. He will be locked alone in an 8-by-10-foot cell, away from the other 480 inmates.

Tropical Storm Debby no threat to land

MIAMI -- Tropical Storm Debby was expected to strengthen in the Atlantic, while another system north of Venezuela verged on becoming a named storm, forecasters said Thursday. Debby was expected to remain far from land and threatened only ships, said Jamie Rhome, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center. At 10 a.m., Debby had top sustained winds near 50 mph, well below the 74 mph threshold for a hurricane. It was centered about 955 miles west-northwest of the Cape Verde islands, which are about 350 miles off the African coast, moving west-northwest near 20 mph and was expected to continue on that path for the next day, the National Hurricane Center said.

Teens shot at after they walk by 'haunted' house

WORTHINGTON, Ohio -- Someone shot at a car full of teenage girls, critically wounding one of them, after some of them had stepped near a house that had been rumored to be haunted, police said. A man who lives in the house, Allen S. Davis, was arrested Wednesday in the shooting of 17-year-old Rachel Barezinsky the night before. He told reporters Wednesday that he was trying to drive off trespassers and didn't intend to hurt the girls. Barezinsky remained in critical condition Thursday at Ohio State University Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said. Davis' home, across from a cemetery and overgrown with trees and weeds, had a reputation among local teens for being haunted. Students at Thomas Worthington High School in suburban Columbus had been daring each other to knock on the door or go in the yard, police Lt. Doug Francis said.

Explosion rocks La. bomb recycling plant

DOYLINE, La. -- More than 10 explosions rocked a bomb recycling plant in northwestern Louisiana on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of an entire town and more than 400 prisoners from a nearby jail, authorities said. No injuries or deaths were reported. A fire at the Explo Systems Inc. site at Camp Minden triggered a major explosion involving two military bombs about 8:30 a.m., state police said. In the ensuing hours, more than 10 explosions -- some intense, some minor -- went off inside the plant as the fire continued to burn and thick smoke billowed from the plant, authorities said. Authorities evacuated Doyline, a town of 800 people 22 miles east of Shreveport, closed two schools and emptied the Webster Parish jail, said Bobby Igo, chief deputy for the Webster Parish sheriff.

-- From wire reports