Seattle

Feds give killer whales a ‘threatened’ listing

Two years after denying Endangered Species Act protection to killer whales that live much of the year near Washington’s San Juan Islands, the federal fisheries agency said Thursday it planned to list the struggling population as a threatened species.

A federal judge last year had ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service to reconsider its decision on the whales after eight environmental groups and concerned individuals filed suit. The threatened-species designation could become final a year from now.

In 2002, the fisheries service had concluded that the orcas did not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act because the population did not meet the definition of being biologically distinct from other killer whales.

Montana

Bison hunting around Yellowstone to resume

The hunting of bison that wander from Yellowstone National Park in search of winter forage will resume next month, more than a decade after the practice was canceled amid a barrage of protests from around the country.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission approved a limited hunting season for the animals Thursday. The 4-1 vote authorized 10 bison hunting licenses to be issued between Jan. 15 and Feb. 15 in an area north of the park where migration is most likely.

Critics told commissioners it was the wrong time to resume hunting of bison and suggested more study.

Baltimore

Security guard at fire site charged with arson

A security guard at an upscale housing development was arrested Thursday on arson charges in a series of fires that did $10 million in damage to homes being built at the subdivision, prosecutors said.

Aaron L. Speed, 21, will appear today in federal court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

No motive was immediately known, and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said she did not know how many arson charges Speed faced.

Speed is an employee of Security Services of America, a company hired to guard the development 35 miles south of the nation’s capital.

Denver

Court tosses 12-year sentence for wildfire

An appeals court Thursday threw out a former U.S. Forest Service employee’s 12-year prison sentence for starting the biggest wildfire in Colorado history.

The Colorado Court of Appeals said state Judge Edward Colt gave Terry Lynn Barton too harsh a sentence and had at least “the appearance of prejudice” because smoke from the fire had prompted the judge to leave his own home for a night.

The court ordered a new sentencing before a new judge for Barton, who admitted starting the June 2002 fire when she burned a letter from her ex-husband in a drought-stricken area.

The Attorney General’s Office said it had not decided whether to appeal.

Philadelphia

Soldier charged with staging own shooting

Police have arrested a soldier they say had his cousin shoot him so he wouldn’t have to return to Iraq.

Army Spc. Marquise J. Roberts, of Hinesville, Ga., suffered a minor wound Tuesday to his left leg from a .22-caliber pistol, police said. He was treated at a hospital, then arrested after he and his cousin allegedly admitted making up a story about the shooting.

After giving differing accounts of the incident, “they just broke down and confessed that they concocted the whole story so he didn’t have to go back to the war,” Philadelphia Police Lt. James Clark said Thursday.

Police charged Roberts with filing a false report and charged his cousin, Ronald Fuller, with aggravated assault and other charges.

Seattle

GOP to sue over 573 newly discovered ballots

Republicans prepared a lawsuit Thursday to try to prevent King County from including 573 newly discovered ballots in a hand recount that could erase their gubernatorial candidate’s razor-thin margin of victory.

The GOP expected to file a motion today in Pierce County Superior Court seeking a temporary restraining order against King County officials. A judge was tentatively scheduled to hear the motion the same day.

Election officials in King County, a Democratic stronghold that includes Seattle, want to count the ballots, which they say are valid votes that election workers mistakenly rejected.

Republicans want those ballots to stay rejected — or at the very least, they want King County to investigate further before adding them to the mix.

Washington, D.C.

Annan tells Powell U.N. will help in Iraq election

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, fending off Republican demands for his resignation over alleged corruption, said Thursday he would expand U.N. support for Iraqi elections if need be. He said he was not offended that President Bush did not ask to see him during this visit to Washington.

The allegations of abuse in a U.N. oil and aid program hung over Annan as he made his rounds visiting outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell and Powell’s nominated replacement, White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Both U.S. diplomats, along with Iraq’s interim government, have lobbied the United Nations to do more to help carry off the elections scheduled for Jan. 30.