Washington, D.C.

Bioterrorism-funding bill sent to White House

The Senate, itself the target of an anthrax attack last year, sent President Bush a broad bioterrorism bill on Thursday devoting $4.6 billion to stockpiling vaccines, improving food inspections and boosting security for water systems.

The Senate approved the bill on a 98-0 vote after the House passed it Wednesday. Bush is expected to sign it when he returns from a trip to Europe.

The bill would spend $640 million to produce and stockpile smallpox vaccines for vast numbers of Americans in the event the eradicated disease is reintroduced by terrorists. The measure also expands the availability of potassium iodide for communities near nuclear plants to treat radiation poisoning in case of terrorist attack.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Senate OKs trade bill

In a display of bipartisanship, the Senate approved legislation Thursday night that strengthens President Bush’s ability to negotiate global trade deals while providing billions in new benefits for American workers hurt by imports.

The bill, passed on a 66-30 vote, represents a compromise between the White House’s call for enhanced negotiating power and a demand by Senate Democrats for health care and other benefits for workers who lose their jobs to import competition.

It would give Bush the authority that most chief executives have had for the past quarter-century to negotiate international trade deals subject to a yes-or-no vote in Congress. The last president to wield that power, President Clinton, failed to win a renewal from the GOP-controlled Congress when it expired in 1994.

St. Louis

Unmanned fighter jet makes first flight

The sliver of an airplane designed by engineers at Boeing Co. to replace the manned fighter jet on exceptionally dangerous missions has made its first flight.

The X-45A, or Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle, made the successful flight on Wednesday, a trip of just 14 minutes above Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Unveiled in St. Louis two years ago, the 8,000-pound X-45A is designed to carry 3,000 pounds of weaponry, making it twice as efficient as the typical manned fighter.

It is projected to cost just $15 million, also about half of the typical manned fighter.

Colorado

Tabloid plans to publish Columbine crime photos

The National Enquirer plans to publish leaked crime-scene photographs showing the bloodied bodies of the two teen-age gunmen who three years ago stormed Columbine High School in Littleton.

The Boca Raton, Fla.-based supermarket tabloid announced on its Web site that it will publish the pictures of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in today’s edition. Two photos show them lying side-by-side, a shotgun and rifle nearby.

Enquirer editor David Perel refused to say how he got the pictures or whether he paid for them, though he said money was spent investigating the case. He said no photos would be published depicting any of the 12 students and one teacher the gunmen killed April 20, 1999.

Alabama

Admitted dog killer faces new charges

A man arrested on animal cruelty charges after admitting to the deaths of nearly 2,000 greyhounds may face additional charges for feeding farm animal carcasses to other animals, an investigator said Thursday.

Robert L. Rhodes, 68, hauled away downed or dead livestock for other farmers and used the ground meat to feed greyhounds and hogs he raised, said Gerald McGough, an investigator for the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.

Feeding dead livestock to swine is prohibited because it could pass disease and pose a health threat to humans, McGough said.

San Francisco

New trial sought in dog-mauling case

The woman convicted of second-degree murder after the huge dogs under her care mauled a neighbor to death in an apartment building hallway is seeking a new trial.

Lawyers for Marjorie Knoller argued in papers filed Thursday that her conviction should be dropped because the judge improperly allowed prosecutors to associate Knoller with a white supremacist prison gang.

Lawyers also argued that Knoller cannot legally be convicted of both murder and involuntary manslaughter in the January 2001 death of college lacrosse coach Diane Whipple.

A jury in March convicted Knoller. Her husband, Robert Noel, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.