Unemployment drops to lowest rate since 2001

WASHINGTON -- Employers stepped up hiring in January, boosting payrolls by 193,000 and lowering the nation's unemployment rate to 4.7 percent, the lowest since July 2001. The fresh snapshot of the jobs climate, released by the Labor Department on Friday, suggested that the economy started the new year on fairly good footing. Although the 193,000 gain in payroll jobs in January fell short of the 250,000 new jobs that economists said to anticipate before the release of the report, it still marked a sturdy showing and was the biggest increase in jobs since November. Moreover, job growth in December turned out to be stronger than previously thought. Revised figures showed payrolls expanded by 140,000 -- an improvement over the 108,000 new jobs first estimated a month ago.

Apparent kidnapping ends with shootout

HOUSTON -- A gunman apparently kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and her daughter near Dallas and forced them on a 200-mile drive, firing at other motorists and police until the car crashed and officers fatally shot him, police said. Jeremy Ethon Roberson, 29, had refused to drop his shotgun when officers shot him to death inside the wrecked car, police said Friday. Andrea Nichole Allen and her 4-year-old daughter, Kiara Renee, were treated at a hospital and released late Thursday.

Idaho tribe to hunt bison near Yellowstone Park

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Members of the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho plan to hold a bison hunt in Gallatin National Forest this week, as a three-month limited and controversial hunt in Montana winds down. Nez Perce youth will kill up to five bison during a ceremonial hunt, which was set to begin Friday and run through Sunday, said Adam Villavicencio, chief of conservation enforcement for the tribe. An 1855 treaty between the United States and the Nez Perce allows tribal members to hunt bison on public land near Yellowstone National Park. Montana in November opened its first hunt in 15 years of bison that leave Yellowstone.

13 hurt when car crashes into Los Angeles clinic

LOS ANGELES -- A car crashed through the front doors of a health clinic Friday, injuring 13 people, six of them critically, fire officials said. The driver appeared to have been under the influence of alcohol or narcotics and was taken into custody, deputy police chief Earl Paysinger said. Authorities said two people had been driving erratically on a nearby street, trying to pass each other, when one of the cars hurtled into the corner entrance of the clinic in South Los Angeles shortly before 10 a.m. Six people injured in the crash were hospitalized in critical condition, said assistant fire chief Ralph Terrazas. He said two others were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, two had non-life-threatening injuries and three were treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Motorcycle officer in Bush motorcade injured

ALBUQUERQUE -- A motorcycle officer escorting President Bush's motorcade was injured Friday when he apparently lost control of his motorcycle on an interstate, authorities said. The police officer was taken to a hospital with cuts and bruises, but he was coherent and responsive, said Bernalillo County Sheriff's spokeswoman Erin Kinnard. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the officer to crash on Interstate 25, Kinnard said. The officer's name was not released. White House press secretary Scott McClellan also said the officer was conscious and breathing after the accident.

-- From wire reports