Atlanta

Three children killed in early-morning blaze

While a single mother was apparently working the night shift, her three unattended children died in a house fire early Saturday despite efforts by neighbors to rescue them.

The body of 11-year-old Jasmine Jones was found in the home, Atlanta Police Sgt. Kevin Iosty said. Jones’ brothers, 14-year-old Christopher and 13-year-old Marty, were pulled from the front and back doors of the house but were pronounced dead at Grady Memorial Hospital.

No adults were in the house when the fire was reported shortly before 3 a.m., said Capt. William Bostwick of the Atlanta Fire Department.

Police and neighbors said their mother, Christine Jones, worked at night several times a week.

Authorities were investigating whether any criminal charges should be filed against Jones, who neighbors said usually left an adult to watch her children.

Idaho

Four people killed in bar; suspect shoots self

A man fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and three other people in a Oldtown tavern, then killed himself hours later as sheriff’s deputies approached him in his car, authorities said.

The shooting Friday at the Stateline Bar apparently stemmed from a dispute between the suspect, Ralph Reeves, and the ex-girlfriend.

Bonner County Sheriff Phil Jarvis said deputies from Pend Oreille and Bonner counties had had the car under surveillance for some time Friday night and “as we approached, the man shot and killed himself.”

Reeves, 51, was homeless and lived in his gray Ford Crown Victoria, the sheriff said.

Oldtown, a community of about 200, sits along the Idaho-Washington border, about 50 miles north of Spokane, Wash., and about 40 miles from Canada.

The four victims, whose identities were being withheld pending notification of relatives, were shot between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, Jarvis said.

Chicago

Review of fatal fire reveals confusion

Locked stairwell doors and confusion over the location of trapped victims contributed to the deaths of six people in a fire in a downtown high rise earlier this month, Chicago emergency officials said.

The city released its first detailed report Friday on the Oct. 17 fire at a Cook County administration building. Their timeline showed fire officials knew within minutes that people were trapped in smoke-filled stairwells, but did not find victims until as much as 90 minutes later.

“Ninety minutes sounds like forever. It’s not forever when you’re working on a scene like this,” said Fire Commissioner James Joyce.

New York City

Survey: GOP leading in governor’s races

A Republican congressman leads in Kentucky, and former national GOP chairman Haley Barbour has an edge in Mississippi heading into the last 10 days of the two Nov. 4 gubernatorial races, according to polls conducted for The Associated Press and other news organizations.

In Kentucky, the Ipsos-Public Affairs survey found 52 percent of likely voters said they’d back Republican Rep. Ernie Fletcher and 43 percent would support Democratic state Atty. Gen. Ben Chandler if the Nov. 4 gubernatorial election were today. Fletcher would be Kentucky’s first Republican governor in 32 years.

In an Ipsos poll in Mississippi, 50 percent said they’d vote for Barbour, and 45 percent would re-elect Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.

Kentucky and Mississippi are the only states with gubernatorial elections Nov. 4.