Kentucky

University student dies of injuries from dorm fire

A university student died Wednesday night of injuries she suffered early Sunday in an intentionally set fire at a dormitory.

Katie Autry, 18, a freshman from Pellville, died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., Western Kentucky University said in a statement.

Autry had suffered third-degree burns, as well as abrasions and puncture wounds on her neck and face. Police said the fire had been set but would offer no other details, saying it could compromise their investigation.

Western Kentucky University is in Bowling Green.

Florida

2000 ballots to be preserved

Florida’s chads are hanging around.

The ballots from Florida’s disputed 2000 presidential election will be kept in the state archives for their historical value.

Secretary of State Glenda Hood sent a letter this week to election supervisors directing them not to destroy the ballots, which will be transferred to Tallahassee this summer.

Supervisors normally would have destroyed the ballots by now because they take up so much space. But Florida’s Department of State, which oversees elections, extended the normal 22-month preservation deadline.

Hood said in the letter that she made the decision after consulting with archives staff and others.

Houston

Columbia accident board settles on wing theory

Investigators have picked a leading theory to explain why the space shuttle Columbia broke apart on re-entry, proposing that superheated gases penetrated the spacecraft through damaged thermal panels on its left wing.

Investigators were still hesitant to attribute a direct cause of the damage, even though evidence points to a collision with foam insulation from the shuttle’s external fuel tank during launch as the likely culprit.

“We now know enough,” retired Navy Adm. Harold Gehman Jr., the board’s chair, said during the group’s weekly news conference Tuesday. “We’re at the point where we should focus our efforts.”

But Gehman was quick to point out the board still needs more evidence to prove what damaged the left wing. The board was careful in discussing its theory, calling it a “working scenario.”