New York City

Suicide reported at ground zero

A 25-year-old from Georgia who was apparently distraught over President Bush’s re-election shot and killed himself at ground zero.

Andrew Veal’s body was found Saturday morning inside the off-limits site, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A shotgun was found nearby, but no suicide note was found, Coleman said.

Newsday, citing a police source it did not identify, reported Sunday that Veal opposed the war in Iraq and was apparently distraught after the election.

New York

56-year-old expected to deliver twins

Aleta St. James is expecting the best gift of her life for her 57th birthday this week: newborn twins.

St. James, a motivational speaker and the eldest sister of Guardian Angels leader Curtis Sliwa, is set to shatter conventional limitations of childbirth Tuesday when she is slated to deliver a baby boy and girl at Mount Sinai Hospital, three days shy of her birthday.

That would make the Manhattan mom-to-be — who conceived through in-vitro fertilization — the oldest American woman to give birth to twins.

New Orleans

‘Support hose’ device aids weak hearts

A polyester mesh stocking pulled up over the wide bottom of a weak heart can help it pump better and even shrink back to a more normal size, a study found.

About 150 heart failure patients who got this novel and simple device felt better, were less likely to need heart transplants or other operations, and improved in other ways when compared with people who did not get the fabric wrap.

“There was a 75 percent overall improvement. It is a sort of breakthrough technology,” said Dr. Douglas Mann, the Baylor College of Medicine cardiologist who led the study and reported results at an American Heart Assn. conference.