New York

Police: Retiree held teen as sex captive

A 67-year-old retiree allegedly kept two women chained as sexual captives in a concrete bunker built under his yard and he may have had more victims, police said Thursday.

Retired handyman John T. Jamelske is accused of abducting a 16-year-old girl and abusing her while holding her captive since October at his home in DeWitt, a Syracuse suburb.

He was arrested Tuesday night with the girl in his car after she managed to secretly make two phone calls to her family while they visited a couple of businesses, police said.

Onondaga County prosecutor William Fitzpatrick said a 26-year-old woman also identified Jamelske as the man who held her hostage and sexually assaulted her two years ago.

Washington, D.C.

NASA releases images of Columbia in orbit

NASA has released six new images captured by an Air Force telescope in Hawaii showing the shuttle Columbia in orbit days before it broke apart during its return to Earth.

The images — three photographs and three infrared images — were studied in detail by the board investigating the disaster but appeared to be of little use to officials. Columbia flew most of its mission upside down relative to Earth, so the images showed only the top of the spacecraft.

Investigators suspect Columbia suffered crippling damage to the lower part of its left wing when a 2-pound chunk of insulating foam smashed against it 81 seconds after liftoff. The six slightly grainy images do not show obvious damage to Columbia’s left wing.

New York city

9-11 memorial to honor victims ‘equally’

The agency in charge of redeveloping the World Trade Center site decided Thursday that a single memorial will honor all Sept. 11 victims equally, angering groups who say firefighters and others deserve special recognition.

Members of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. voted unanimously to “honor the loss of life equally and the contributions of all without establishing any hierarchies.”

The move threatened to revive friction between family members of the rescue workers killed at the trade center and relatives of non-uniformed victims.

Atlanta

CDC: More smokers only lighting up occasionally

Statistics released Thursday show a growing number of U.S. smokers aren’t lighting up as often, but federal officials say cutting back without quitting is just as dangerous as not quitting at all.

A comparison of annual state surveys conducted from 1996 to 2001 shows that while the percentage of smokers remained steady, the number who said they smoked only occasionally rose in 38 states and the District of Columbia.

Analysts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention point to increased cigarette prices, higher taxes and smoking bans in public areas as likely reasons people are lighting up less frequently.

Washington, D.C.

House panel OKs special-ed overhaul

Emotionally or physically disabled students who break school rules could face the same punishment as classmates under a special-education overhaul approved by a House committee Thursday.

The bill would free school officials from having to determine whether unruly behavior is linked to a disability.

Special-education students could be moved from school to an alternative setting for up to 45 days for a range of violations, not just ones involving weapons or drugs, as current law says. Removals could be longer if state law allows, but education would still be provided.