Washington

Church trial begins for lesbian minister

Dozens of demonstrators were arrested Wednesday as they tried to stop a church trial that could remove a lesbian from the Methodist ministry for living openly in a lesbian relationship.

The Rev. Karen Dammann last week married her partner of nine years, Meredith Savage, in Portland, Ore., where Multnomah County officials have begun allowing same-sex marriages. The couple have a 5-year-old son.

United Methodist officials have said the trial is the first against a homosexual pastor in the denomination since 1987.

Dammann pleaded not guilty.

Outside, about 100 people demonstrated loudly but peacefully, and many blocked church officials from entering the building. Police arrested 33 people when they refused to move.

Washington, D.C.

National Zoo granted full accreditation

The National Zoo was granted a full five-year accreditation from the American Zoo and Aquarium Assn. on Wednesday.

The zoo had been operating under a provisional accreditation for the past year, after the deaths of two dozen animals in the past several years. A year ago, two red pandas died after eating rat poison; in 2002 a lion that died of complications from anesthesia.

When the association decided not to renew the zoo’s accreditation last March for the usual five-year term, it cited concerns about crumbling buildings, insufficient funds and the relative inexperience of zoo director Lucy Spelman.

The National Zoo attracts nearly 3 million visitors a year, many of whom come to see the giant pandas.

Las Vegas

Police arrest suspect in Ohio sniper shootings

The man wanted in a deadly string of sniper shootings that terrorized Ohio drivers was captured at a motel Wednesday after a tipster spotted him at a Las Vegas casino reading a newspaper story about himself.

An unshaven and disheveled Charles A. McCoy Jr., 28, was arrested without incident less than 36 hours after Ohio authorities released his name as a suspect in the attacks.

The arrest brought relief to Ohio residents who have been living in fear since the 24 shootings began in the Columbus area last year. The gunfire pierced homes and a school, dented school buses, flattened tires and shattered windshields, killing one person.