Houston

Plane sent to pick up Bush’s father crashes

A private plane scheduled to pick up former President George H.W. Bush for an overseas trip crashed in dense fog Monday morning while attempting to land at Houston’s Hobby Airport. The plane’s occupants — two pilots and a flight attendant — were killed.

Firefighters and airport officials said there was evidence that the Gulfstream jet clipped a 125-foot light pole on Beltway 8, which was later shut down because it was covered with jet fuel and debris from one of the plane’s wings.

The former president was scheduled to board the aircraft at 7 a.m., just 45 minutes after the plane went down, to fly to Ecuador, where he was scheduled to give a speech Monday afternoon. Bush has flown at least once on the Gulfstream III involved in the crash and on other aircraft operated by Jet Place Inc., a charter jet company based in Tulsa, Okla., Bush spokesman Tom Frechette said.

“I was deeply saddened to learn of the plane crash this morning,” the former president said. “I had flown with this crew before, and knew them well. I join in sending my heartfelt condolences to each and every member of their families.”

Bush plans to reschedule the trip to Ecuador.

Washington, D.C.

Blacks largest target of hate crimes last year

Racial prejudice, most often directed at black people, was behind more than half of the nation’s 7,400 reported hate crime incidents in 2003, the FBI said Monday.

Reports of hate crimes motivated by anti-black bias totaled 2,548 in 2003, more than double the total hate crimes against all other racial groups. There were 3,150 black victims in these reports, including four who were murdered, according to the annual FBI figures.

The overall total of 7,489 hate crime incidents reported in 2003 was slightly above the 7,462 reported in 2002, the lowest number since 1994. Race bias was behind 3,844 of the 2003 cases.

By far the most reports of hate crimes based on religion involved Jews, with 927 incidents in 2003, about the same as in 2002.

The report also found more than 1,200 hate crimes based on sexual orientation, including 783 against male homosexuals. That included six murders.

New York City

Ex-presidents to help with 9-11 memorial

New York Gov. George Pataki announced Monday that the four living ex-presidents would serve as honorary co-chairmen of a foundation that will raise money for a victims’ memorial at Ground Zero.

The names of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton would add substantial weight to a fund-raising effort that floundered through much of this year as Pataki struggled to attract prominent figures to steer it.

Pataki also said he and Mayor Michael Bloomberg would announce next week the names of more than 20 people nationwide who have agreed to serve on the foundation’s board of directors. Monday, he declined to say if he had found a chairman.

MILWAUKEE

Study finds obesity increases brain atrophy

Using brain scans after tracking weight gain in women over nearly a quarter century, researchers made a disturbing finding: As the body gets larger, the brain gets smaller.

The study and other reports appearing today in the journal Neurology are the latest in a growing amount of research suggesting that traditional heart disease risk factors such as obesity and diabetes can increase the odds that a person will develop dementia.

There are several possible explanations for how being overweight contributes to brain cell loss. Excess fat likely contributes to a “vascular milieu” that is unhealthy for the brain, said the study’s lead author, Deborah Gustafson, a Medical College of Wisconsin researcher.

Overweight people are more likely to have high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels and diabetes, conditions that can contribute to blood vessel damage and blockages in the heart as well as the brain.

Beyond that, fat tissue is metabolically active, in that it increases levels of various hormones and other substances that can contribute to brain cell death, Gustafson said.