Michigan

Doctors use stem cells in heart experiment

Doctors said Wednesday they were attempting an experimental procedure to heal a teenage patient’s heart by infusing it with the boy’s own blood stem cells. It could take months to know whether it works, but doctors say they are already seeing encouraging results.

Doctors at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak said the procedure on 16-year-old Dmitri Bonnville was believed to be the first of its kind.

Animal studies have shown that stem cells can be injected to grow new muscle and blood vessels, and researchers have expressed hope that the research could eventually help repair human hearts and other tissue.

Dmitri was working on a house remodeling project Feb. 1 when a co-worker playing with a nail gun accidentally fired a 3-inch nail into his chest. Doctors removed the nail, but Dmitri soon suffered a heart attack that caused serious tissue death, severely reducing his heart’s pumping efficiency.

Colorado

Air Force Academy resignations sought

A Colorado congressman on Wednesday called for the removal of the top commanders at the Air Force Academy, saying he doesn’t believe they can change the culture that led to 25 female cadets alleging they were raped.

Rep. Tom Tancredo also called for any Air Force servicemen accused of rape at the academy to be court-martialed.

At least one of the alleged victims lives in Tancredo’s district.

Tancredo’s office began investigating the academy in early September after it heard from cadets who said they were raped, spokeswoman Lara Kennedy said.

Tancredo’s letter said academy Supt. Lt. Gen. John Dallagher and Brig. Gen. Sylvanus Taco Gilbert, who oversees the cadets, should be forced to retire.

Houston

Student can start gay-straight club

A school district settled a federal lawsuit Wednesday in a deal that will allow a 17-year-old student to establish a gay acceptance club at her suburban high school.

The 1984 federal Equal Access Act ensures the right to form noncurriculum clubs in schools that receive federal funding. Such clubs at Klein High include Christian athletes, chess players and anglers.

Maria Dukler and 16 classmates applied to establish a “gay-straight” club last October. The district said the club application presented it as a support group to promote tolerance and nondiscrimination regardless of sexual orientation.

After getting no answer from the district, Dukler sued the Klein independent school district and school officials.

The settlement allows for the club to be established and protects a district policy that requires written parental permission for students to participate.

Colorado

Former forestry worker sentenced for wildfire

A former U.S. Forest Service employee was sentenced Wednesday in Cripple Creek to the maximum of 12 years in state prison for starting the biggest wildfire in Colorado history.

Terry Lynn Barton, who in June started a 138,000-acre blaze that destroyed 133 homes and one business, already had been sentenced to six years on federal charges. The state and federal terms will run concurrently.

Barton’s lawyer, Sharlene Reynolds, said she would contest the sentence because state District Judge Edward Colt said before issuing it that smoke from the fire had forced him to leave his house. Reynolds said she would have asked for a different judge had she known Colt was affected by the fire, which caused an estimated $29.9 million in damage.