White supremacists plan outpost in Pennsylvania

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The white supremacist Aryan Nations want to establish a branch in Pennsylvania where supporters can gather after the loss of the white supremacist group's Idaho compound.

The new location in Ulysses, Pa., will allow members to "gather and worship without interference of the media and so-called authorities," August B. Kreis III, the group's director of information, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler, 83, long maintained a 20-acre compound near Hayden Lake, Idaho, that was a home and meeting ground for his followers. He lost a civil rights lawsuit last year, which resulted in a declaration of bankruptcy and the sale of the compound.

Butler has since been living in a home -- paid for by a supporter -- in nearby Hayden, Idaho.

"The headquarters will stay here," Butler said by telephone Wednesday. The Pennsylvania property will be a branch of the group.

Divorced father kills ex-wife, young son, self

HIGHLAND PARK, Texas -- A divorced father shot his 14-year-old son in the back as the boy ran from his own home, then turned the gun on the boy's mother and their youngest son, killing both before committing suicide, police said.

The teen-ager, Craig Loss, was the only survivor.

Steven Loss, 43; his ex-wife Bonnie Loss-Murphy, 42; and their youngest son, Evan Loss, 7, were all found with gunshot wounds to the head, Detective L.R. Millican said. Loss-Murphy's new husband was away on a business trip when the shootings occurred late Wednesday, he said.

Friends told police that Loss-Murphy had recently hired an attorney to try to collect late child support payments from her ex-husband, Millican said. He said Loss, who was from St. Louis, had arranged to have dinner with his sons Wednesday night.

Truck driver drove on sidewalk to scare child

ALBANY, N.Y. -- An ice cream truck driver who drove onto a sidewalk and toward a 12-year-old boy to frighten him has pleaded guilty to felony reckless endangerment.

"He seemed to find some humor in scaring kids with an ice cream truck," Assistant District Attorney Mark Caruso said.

Raymond Delgado, 20, will serve six months in jail and five years of probation under Wednesday's plea agreement.

Delgado was driving his tune-playing Mr. Ding-A-Ling Ice Cream truck when he swerved toward the boy, who was walking his scooter to a store to buy soda. The truck crossed the opposite lane, hopped the curb and stopped on the sidewalk in front of the boy, who scrambled to get out of the way.

The boy's mother saw the incident and flagged down the driver.

"He indicated to the victim's mother that he was just kidding around and he said this is something they do with kids all the time," Caruso said.

Caffeine to combat noisy frog problem in Hawaii

HONOLULU -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved using caffeine to kill the tiny Caribbean tree frog, an invasive species known for its piercing mating calls.

The state Department of Agriculture requested an exemption from federal law to allow the use of a pure caffeine spray to control the population of the amphibians.

The EPA exemption allows the use of caffeine only by pesticide applicators certified by the state. Permits from the department will be required.

Individual homeowners will not be allowed to use caffeine to control the noisy frogs, according to a statement Monday from the state agency. The caffeine spray causes cardiac failure.

The frogs, beloved in their native Puerto Rico, are about the size of a dime but each male chirps up to 90 decibels -- comparable to a lawn mower. The frogs now infest 226 Big Island sites, compared with just 11 in 1998.

-- From wire reports