Nation digest 12/11/01

Shuttle astronauts take maintenance spacewalk

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Two spacewalking astronauts went out on a repair job Monday and wrapped thermal covers around a pair of motors that turn the international space station's giant solar wings.

NASA hopes the covers will shield the motors against the temperature extremes of space and eliminate power spikes and stalls. The motors keep the solar wings pointing toward the sun and generating electricity.

Astronauts Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani floated out of space shuttle Endeavour and grabbed onto the ship's robot arm for a 50-foot ride up the side of the space station.

"A beautiful Earth down there," Godwin observed as the linked spacecraft zoomed 250 miles high.

Endeavour is scheduled to return to Earth Sunday.

Microsoft changes settlement of lawsuits

BALTIMORE -- Microsoft on Monday unveiled changes to its offer to settle private antitrust lawsuits by donating reduced-price software, computers and training to schools. The changes are designed to answer criticism the donations will extend the company's market dominance.

Microsoft lawyer Tom Burt urged U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz to accept the settlement, saying schools, not the software giant, would benefit from the settlement plan.

Changes include the way the foundation that will oversee the money will pick its board members. Microsoft said two other software makers are joining the foundation.

The foundation, not Microsoft, will oversee the doling out of $90 million in teacher training funds that are also part of the settlement.

Foster father loses children over his weight

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A 500-pound foster father was forced to say goodbye Monday to three boys he has raised for six years after a court ruled that he is too fat to care for them properly.

Brian Jones, 38, said his inexplicable 200-pound weight gain over the past two years left him unable to defend himself in court, but not incapable of raising the 9-, 10- and 16-year-old brothers he hopes to adopt.

Barely mobile, Jones said he seldom leaves his house because taxis and wheelchair transportation services cannot accommodate him. Desperate to attend last week's Family Court hearing, he asked furniture stores to drive him in a delivery truck. They refused.

Judge Marjorie Mix ordered the children removed after a caseworker reported that Jones supervises the children mostly from his bedroom and relies on the oldest to do chores like cooking and shopping.

Schwarzenegger breaks ribs in bike accident

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Arnold Schwarzenegger was hospitalized with several broken ribs after a weekend motorcycle accident, his publicist said Monday.

The 54-year-old star of the "Terminator" movies was resting at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica after the Sunday afternoon crash, publicist Jill Eisenstadt said.

Schwarzenegger, who is negotiating to appear in a third "Terminator" film, was "in good spirits, feeling sore, but otherwise fine," she said.

Details of the motorcycle accident, which also occurred in Santa Monica, were not immediately available.

His new movie "Collateral Damage," which was postponed after the Sept. 11 attacks because it's about terrorism, now is scheduled to open in February.

Cop sentenced for unleashing dog on man

GREENBELT, Md. -- A former police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for setting her police dog on an unarmed homeless man.

Stephanie C. Mohr, 31, a one-time member of the Prince George's County force in suburban Washington, received the maximum sentence.

Mohr was unrepentant, saying she was doing her duty when she allowed her dog to attack Ricardo G. Mendez outside a Takoma Park building in 1995. Mendez's leg was severely gouged.

-- From wire reports