LAS VEGAS — Assailants shot six young people Tuesday at a school bus stop, wounding two critically, in a midday attack that followed a fight over a high school girl, authorities said.
School police arrested three teenagers in the fight hours before the shooting in northeast Las Vegas, Sheriff Doug Gillespie said. Investigators were still seeking two gunmen.
An 18-year-old man was in critical condition and a 17-year-old boy was upgraded to serious condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Four people, including at least two boys and a girl who are under 18, were treated for gunshot injuries to their arms and legs and released, she said.
D.C.: Bush pardons 29; not Libby
President Bush granted pardons Tuesday to carjackers, drug dealers, a moonshiner and a violator of election laws, but not to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, his vice president’s former top aide who was convicted in the case of the leaked identity of a CIA operative. In all, Bush pardoned 29 convicts and reduced the prison sentence of one more in the end-of-the-year presidential tradition.
Democrats back off on energy bill
Despite a threatened veto, Senate Democrats decided Tuesday to push ahead with billions of dollars in oil industry taxes as part of an energy bill, but they abandoned a requirement for utilities to use wind and other renewable energy to produce electricity. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he hoped to have a vote on the tax proposals Thursday, followed by a vote on the overall energy bill.
Military base closures cost more
The Pentagon plans to spend about $10 billion dollars more than originally estimated on base closings and realignments and expects about $200 million less in savings, the Government Accountability Office said in a report. Also, the GAO said the Pentagon will have trouble meeting a mandated September 2011 deadline for implementing the base-closing recommendations.
Puerto Rico: Campaign for pets
Puerto Rican officials launched a campaign Tuesday to improve the treatment of animals after allegations of inhumane killings of cats and dogs drew international condemnation and led to millions of dollars in lost tourism. Dozens of pets were seized by an animal control company in October from housing projects and hurled from a bridge to their deaths. The island will build new shelters and create animal protection units within every police department, the tourism department said.
Illinois: Suspect seeks donations
A former police officer suspected in his wife’s disappearance has set up a Web site to ask for financial help with his legal defense. Drew Peterson’s site says he wants to collect money from people who believe he deserves a defense without going broke. Peterson, 53, a longtime member of the Bolingbrook Police Department until he quit after his wife disappeared, has denied any involvement in Stacy Peterson’s October disappearance.
Russia: Prime Minister Putin?
The day after President Vladimir Putin threw his colossal political weight behind Dmitry Medvedev, first deputy prime minister, in the 2008 presidential race, Medvedev returned the favor Tuesday, urging Putin to accept the post of prime minister. If he chooses, Putin appears ready to retain effective power for the next several years. With the Kremlin’s money, media and political machinery behind him, Medvedev seems assured of victory.
Dominican Republic: Storm Olga
Olga strengthened and became a tropical storm Tuesday as it drenched the Dominican Republic, forcing the evacuation of low-lying communities ahead of the rare December cyclone. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph Tuesday evening, and forecasters warned it could trigger dangerous floods by dumping as much as 10 inches of rain in some parts of the Dominican Republic and neighboring Haiti.
Gaza Strip: Israelis move in
Israeli tanks and bulldozers pushed into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing five Islamic militants and trapping hundreds of people in their homes, while another extremist died from an airstrike elsewhere in the territory. The incursion came a day before the first Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in seven years, casting a pall over the negotiations. The offensive focused on an area that is a main launching ground for rocket and mortar assaults on Israel, Israeli officials said.
Mexico: Cannibal suspect dead
A murder suspect dubbed “the cannibal” was found dead in his prison cell of an apparent suicide Tuesday, two months after police found cooked and seasoned bits of his girlfriend’s corpse on a fork and plate in his apartment. Jose Luis Calva, suspected in at least three murders, was found hanging from his belt in his Mexico City jail cell Tuesday morning, the city department of corrections said in a statement.
From Herald news services
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