Washington, D.C.

Nebraskan to be next poet laureate of U.S.

Great Plains poet Ted Kooser of Nebraska will be the next poet laureate of the United States.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington planned to officially announce the appointment today.

“Ted Kooser is a major poetic voice for rural and small-town America and the first poet laureate chosen from the Great Plains,” Billington said. “His verse reaches beyond his native region to touch on universal themes in accessible ways.”

Kooser, 65, replaces Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Gluck in the eight-month position.

The post includes an office at the Library of Congress, a $35,000 salary and an obligation to deliver and organize readings.

Kooser’s work has appeared in a number of periodicals including The New Yorker, The Hudson Review and Prairie Schooner.

Egypt

U.S. disputes claim of CIA agent’s beheading

An Islamic Web site carried a videotape Wednesday that appeared to show militants in Iraq beheading a man identified as a CIA agent. The authenticity of the videotape could not be verified immediately.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said CIA officials have accounted for all employees and no one is missing. U.S. officials were working to determine if the tape was authentic, the official said.

The Internet site, which Islamic extremists often use to post tapes and statements, displayed footage of eight militants surrounding a seated man. A sign around the man’s neck showed his photograph and carried a message saying he was a CIA agent and what appeared to be an official pass bearing the word “visitor” written in English.

California

Fire forces evacuations from Shasta Lake resort area

A wildfire destroyed at least 40 structures Wednesday near Shasta Lake in northern California and forced evacuations from the resort area.

The fire spread from 100 acres to 800 acres in less than four hours and was moving toward the Jones Valley resort. People were evacuating the area on the lake’s eastern edge by boat, according to a California Department of Forestry spokeswoman.

More than 700 firefighters worked to contain the blaze amid temperatures that climbed above 100 degrees. At least 300 other structures were threatened, authorities said.

In Washington state, an 850-acre fire near Dryden forced residents to evacuate 24 homes, and dozens of other residents were on evacuation alert. No structures have burned.

Also in north-central Washington, a helicopter pilot was killed while ferrying supplies to firefighters in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

In the Yakima area, one house was evacuated and a dozen others were put on notice as a blaze there doubled in size to 2,600 acres, said Jim Kohl, a county fire official.