Arizona

Wildfire starter won’t be prosecuted

The woman who got lost in the wilderness and set a signal fire that exploded into a devastating wildfire will not face charges, Arizona’s federal prosecutor said Thursday.

Residents attending a news conference booed as U.S. Atty. Paul Charlton made the announcement regarding Valinda Elliott.

Charlton said there was insufficient evidence of criminal intent. He said the facts would have supported a defense that she acted out of necessity.

Elliott, 31, said she had been lost for two nights on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation when she used a lighter to set fire to a bush June 20 and get the attention of a news helicopter, which rescued her.

The fire she started eventually merged with another to form the biggest wildfire in Arizona history. The combined inferno destroyed at least 467 homes, scorched nearly 469,000 acres and forced about 30,000 people to flee their homes before it was contained earlier this month.

Houston

Texas woman mauled to death by pet pit bulls

Four pit bull terriers fatally mauled a woman who had raised them from puppies, authorities said Wednesday.

Dorothy Carter, 52, was found Tuesday night by her husband after he returned to their home in Splendora, 35 miles northeast of Houston. The dogs, which weighed between 45 pounds and 100 pounds, were standing over her body.

Bernard Lee Carter, 50, said the dogs had always protected his wife and had never been aggressive. He said his wife recently had a seizure and the dogs tried to get her to get up by pulling on her hair. He suggested the same thing happened Tuesday.

But a preliminary finding from Harris County medical examiners concluded she was killed by the dogs.

“There were a lot of bites all over her,” police Sgt. Mark Seals said. “It’s probably the worst I’ve seen.”

Dallas

West Nile virus spreads

The West Nile virus has spread to Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska the farthest west it has been found prompting officials to begin spraying creeks, ponds and anywhere there is standing water to eradicate mosquitoes that carry the deadly virus.

As the virus marches west across the United States, health officials say people should be cautious, but not overly concerned.

Less than 1 percent of the mosquitoes where the virus has been found carry it, and less than 1 percent of bites from those cause serious illness, said Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Health.

From its discovery in 1999 in New York City, the virus has infected at least 149 people and killed at least 18 nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Iowa

Judge upholds ruling on pregnancy tests

A state judge upheld his decision that pregnancy test records aren’t confidential and ordered Planned Parenthood to turn over records to help investigators find the mother of a newborn whose body was dumped in the trash.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa has until Aug. 17 to turn over records of pregnancy tests it administered.

Planned Parenthood will appeal the decision to the Iowa Supreme Court, said Jill June, president of the Greater Iowa chapter. June has said she’s willing to go to jail to protect the records.

Investigators say the records would help them find the mother of a baby boy whose body was dumped in a compost bin May 30 in Storm Lake.

Medical records are confidential under Iowa law. The judge ruled that the records weren’t medical records because the staff who provide pregnancy tests were nurses.