New York City: Attack in bar called racially motivated

A heavily armed black man allegedly shot three people Sunday and tried to set patrons at a Manhattan bar on fire before being wounded by officers and arrested in what police said was a racially motivated attack.

Steven Johnson, 34, was charged with attempted murder.

Johnson was carrying three loaded guns, 153 rounds of ammunition and a samurai sword when he approached four white people walking in the East Village and told them: “I have a problem with you,” police said. Johnson shot one of the men in the upper body, followed him as he ran to the door of the bar and shot him again, police say. Johnson then entered the bar and ordered up to 40 patrons to the kitchen, police said.

Johnson then sprayed the crowd with kerosene and fired occasional shots at police cars outside before he was subdued.

Witnesses told police that Johnson was “ranting about white people and vowed revenge for thousands of years of suffering.” Johnson said that he was having “fun,” police said.

St. Louis: Home Depot stores won’t deal with feds

The Home Depot Inc., the nation’s largest hardware and home-improvement chain, has told its 1,400 stores not to do business with the U.S. government or its representatives, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.

Thirty-six of 38 Home Depot managers interviewed by the newspaper in 11 states said they had been instructed by their corporate headquarters earlier this month not to take government credit cards, purchase orders or even cash if the items would be used by the federal government, the newspaper reported.

The notice, obtained by the Post-Dispatch, detailed how the policy was to be implemented but didn’t explain the reason, the newspaper said.

Texas: Bush spends holiday fishing, working in yard

President Bush, like many an American father, spent Sunday working in the yard and doing a little fishing.

Unlike the others, he worked in a couple of telephone chats with world leaders.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush telephoned Mexican President Vicente Fox to wish Mexico luck in today’s World Cup soccer match with the United States in South Korea.

“May the best team win,” Bush told Fox, according to a press statement from Fox’s office. Fox also wished the U.S. squad luck, McClellan said.

Bush received a call earlier from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, McClellan said.

Washington, D.C.: Survey examines housing concerns

Half of America’s low- and moderate-income families see down payments and closing costs as major obstacles to buying a home, according to a study released Sunday.

Forty-one percent believe the lack of affordable homes is a very or fairly big problem, says the study commissioned by the Fannie Mae Foundation, a groups that advocates affordable housing.

Researchers commissioned by the foundation surveyed 300 “working families” metropolitan-area households with children and at least one employed adult and incomes up to $54,000, the national median. They also polled 1,004 adults nationwide.

“For many working Americans, squeezed between incomes that aren’t rising nearly as fast as housing costs, the result is that more and more worry about finding a home in a community where they are comfortable living,” said Stacey Davis, CEO and president of the Fannie Mae Foundation.