HOUSTON — Annise Parker has been sworn in as Houston mayor, officially making her city the nation’s largest to be led by an openly gay person. Parker took the oath of office in a private ceremony at City Hall on Saturday, two days before a public inauguration during which she will be sworn in again. The 53-year-old Parker took the oath before state District Judge Steven Kirkland and alongside her partner, Kathy Hubbard. The charter in the nation’s fourth-largest city required a mayoral transfer of power on Saturday.
169 held after cockfight raid
About 169 people have been arrested in a cockfight raid northwest of Fort Worth. Authorities said sheriff’s deputies also seized 114 roosters Saturday near Poolville in north Parker County. Sheriff Larry Fowler said Child Protective Services workers also took custody of 10 to 15 children ages 7 to 15. He said drugs and cash were seized and dead and injured roosters were found. He said the raid site had been under surveillance for two weeks.
Hawaii: ‘Mighty Mo’ repairs
The battleship Missouri is scheduled to return to Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor this week after three months of maintenance and preservation work. The 887-foot “Mighty Mo” is expected to leave drydock at noon Thursday for the 2-mile return to its previous pier a few hundred yards away from the sunken battleship USS Arizona. The Missouri underwent an $18 million renovation that included painting, stripping its hull, replacing its mooring lines with chains, and building a new enclosure for events on the fantail.
New York: Heroin guidebook
A New York City-funded guidebook for heroin users offers information on how to prepare drugs carefully and care for veins to avoid infection. DEA special agent-in-charge John Gilbride said the handout is disturbing. A health official said the goal is to promote health and save lives. Assistant Commissioner Daliah Heller said instructions on how to perform injections were included because there’s “a less harmful way to inject.”
Georgia: Obama doll hanged
The U.S. Secret Service said it is investigating an effigy of President Barack Obama found hanging from a building in the hometown of former President Jimmy Carter. A spokesman said the large black doll was found Saturday morning along Main Street in the small town of Plains. Footage from WALB-TV shows the doll was hanging by a noose in front of a red, white and blue sign that says “Plains, Georgia. Home of Jimmy Carter, our 39th President.” A witness told the station that the doll had a sign with Obama’s name on it.
Afghanistan: 4 U.S. service members die in blast
NATO said today that four U.S. service members have been killed in a roadside bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan. The British Ministry of Defense separately reported the death of one of the country’s soldiers in an explosion. A statement from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said the explosion that killed the U.S. service members took place Sunday in southern Afghanistan, but did not give further details on the location or the victims’ branch of service. The deaths are the first U.S. fatalities attributable to hostile action in Afghanistan this year. One U.S. service member has died of noncombat causes so far in 2010. The British soldier died while on foot patrol Sunday in Helmand province, the ministry said.
Iran: Drug smugglers kill police
Iran says a shootout with drug smugglers in an eastern desert region has left 11 policemen dead. The state IRNA news agency said gunfire erupted when police stopped a smugglers’ convoy on Friday near the town of Birjand, about 500 miles southeast of Tehran. The report late Saturday says seven policemen died at the site of the shootout while four died later of their injuries. Clashes between police and smugglers are common in the area, which is a known route for narcotics destined for Arab countries in the Persian Gulf.
Germany: 737 slips off runway
A jet veered off the runway at an airport Sunday, but no one was injured, authorities said. The pilot of the Air Berlin Boeing 737-800 had braked to abort the takeoff from Dortmund airport because of a “technical irregularity,” but the plane left the runway in wintry conditions, an airline spokeswoman said. It came to rest with its nose pointing down a slight, snow-covered slope. None of the 165 passengers and six crew members was hurt, and the plane was undamaged, she said.
Switzerland: Avalanche deaths
At least four people were killed in two separate avalanche incidents Sunday in the Swiss Alps, police said. A group of skiers was hit by an avalanche shortly before midday in the Diemtig Valley about 25 miles south of the capital Bern, police said. Rescuers who came to their aid were then hit by a second avalanche at the same spot, police said. Among those killed was a doctor who was part of the rescue team. In a separate incident, a man was killed by an avalanche near the town of Verbier, police said.
From Herald news services
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