Connecticut

Fire in home kills mother, three children

Fire broke out in a three-family home Monday, killing a mother and three children and critically injuring the father.

The blaze started shortly before dawn in the frame building on the city’s west side, and the house was fully engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived, Assistant Fire Chief Fred Haschak said.

The woman and a 14-year-old boy were pronounced dead at the scene. An 11-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the Bridgeport hospital, and a 3-year-old girl died at another Bridgeport medical center.

The children’s father was in critical condition in the Bridgeport hospital’s burn unit, hospital spokesman John Cappiello said.

Bruce Collins, the city’s fire marshal, said many of the windows in the apartment were covered with bars. He compared the practice with “entrapping people” or “padlocking a door.”

The Bridgeport deaths came one day after a blaze in Philadelphia killed five children, three of them siblings and the others their young cousins.

Attempts to rescue those children were also hampered by security bars on some windows.

Chicago

U.S. mayors agree to meet Kyoto Protocol

The U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously passed a resolution Monday requiring their cities to try to meet or surpass emissions standards set by the Kyoto Protocol, the international global-warming treaty ratified earlier this year without the United States.

The resolution also urges federal and state governments to meet or beat the goal of reducing global warming pollution levels to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

The cities’ efforts will include reducing dependence on fossil fuels by accelerating development of fuel-efficient technologies such as wind and solar energy, efficient motor vehicles and biofuels.

President Bush opposes the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the U.S. administration questions the certainty of scientists’ views that “greenhouse gases” such as carbon dioxide are causing temperatures to rise. U.S. officials also argue the Kyoto requirements would increase energy prices and cost millions of U.S. jobs.

Los Angeles

Federal agents make arrest in hate-mail case

A Los Angeles man was arrested Monday on charges of mailing 56 threatening letters denouncing Jews, blacks, Latinos, Asians and homosexuals to a spectrum of private citizens and public officials.

Most of the letters that Stanley C. Jaroszenski is accused of sending also contained hypodermic syringes with needles, authorities said.

Jaroszenski, 64, was taken into custody without incident at his downtown residence after being named in a 117-count federal grand jury indictment accusing him of mailing threatening letters and injurious devices.

Last June, federal officials said, the field office of Rep. Linda T. Sanchez, R-Calif., was evacuated after one such letter arrived, warning, “CIA to kill Sanchez.”

In February, they said, one floor of a children’s hospital was evacuated after a letter arrived declaring “Kill Chinese murderers” and “Chinese Poison (plus) + Cancer in Your Body N-O-W.”

The most recent letter, mailed April 2, was sent to Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton and accused him of being a child molester.

Washington

Judge allows effort to recall mayor

A recall petition drive against Mayor James E. West over a gay sex scandal can proceed, a judge ruled Monday.

Benton County Superior Court Judge Craig J. Matheson threw out two of the recall allegations against West. However, the allegation that West improperly offered city jobs to men he met in gay online chat rooms should be put before voters, the judge ruled.

The recall campaign was launched by Spokane resident Shannon Sullivan, who has said she began the effort after finding herself at a loss to explain newspaper reports of West’s alleged behavior to her son.

West’s lawyers had argued that Sullivan’s petition should be dismissed as “factually and legally insufficient.” Attorney William F. Etter said he would consult with West about appealing the remaining recall charge to the state Supreme Court.

West, 55, is a former GOP state Senate majority leader who long opposed gay rights. He now acknowledges having relations with adult men and visiting gay Web sites.