The nation in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY “I think Speaker Boehner has a contentious caucus, as his caucus is tough on him

sometimes so he doesn’t want to look like he’s giving in to me somehow because that might hurt him in his own caucus.” President Barack Obama, in an interview in which he said he was hopeful of a “change in attitude” from Republicans on raising taxes on the top earners Article, 1ADetectors eluded in courthouse suicide

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A worker who killed himself inside an Alabama federal courthouse Thursday went through an employee entrance to avoid a security check that could have caught the gun, officials said.

The U.S. Marshals Service said the worker used an access card to enter the Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse in Birmingham. The card system is being used intermittently while renovation work is done on the main entrance.

The man, identified by authorities as Building Services Director David Lee Williams, 50, of Birmingham, did not walk through metal detectors that are staffed by security officers to prevent weapons from entering the building, the Marshals Service said.

Police Sgt. Johnny Williams said the worker shot himself once in the head in a first-floor clerk’s office. It was unclear how open or public that area of the office is, and officials would not elaborate Thursday. No one else in the building was threatened, Williams said.

Courthouse business was delayed briefly after the shooting, but the building remained open.

Bills direct VA to offer procreation aid

WASHINGTON - Wounded veterans and their spouses who want to have children could get the government to pay for treatments such as in vitro fertilization under legislation beginning to move through Congress in the waning days of the session.

By voice vote, the Senate passed a bill Thursday to update the Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical coverage for one of the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: trauma to a soldier’s reproductive organs.

Nearly 2,000 servicemen suffered such wounds between 2003 and 2011. But when wounded veterans went to the VA for medical help in starting a family, they were told the VA doesn’t provide that kind of care.

A similar bill is pending in the House. Supporters said the Senate’s action increases its chances of becoming law before Congress adjourns.

The legislation is estimated to cost $568 million over five years, to be covered through savings from scaling down military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Governor gets emergency-manager bill

LANSING, Mich. - The Republican-led Michigan Legislature cleared the way Thursday for GOP Gov. Rick Snyder to sign a replacement for an emergency-manager law struck down by voters.

On the final day of the legislative session that capped an acrimonious week in the state capital, the Senate approved the legislation mostly along party lines. It contains key provisions from a law rejected in November but includes more choices for local school districts and communities deemed by the state to be in a financial emergency. The House passed the bill Wednesday night.

The new version proposed by Snyder and GOP legislative leaders gives four options for financially troubled governments: accept an emergency manager, undergo bankruptcy, enter into mediation or join the state in a partnership known as a consent agreement - similar to the one involving Detroit.

The legislation also includes a $770,000 appropriation to cover managers’ salaries, a provision that would prevent a second defeat at the polls because spending bills are legally shielded from referendums.

Sergeant convicted in soldier’s death

FORT CARSON, Colo. - An Army sergeant was convicted of unpremeditated murder in the killing of a fellow Fort Carson soldier on Thursday.

A military panel reached the verdict against Sgt. Vincinte Jackson after several hours of deliberation. The panel of eight Army officers and enlisted soldiers - the equivalent of a jury in a civilian trial - also acquitted Jackson of premeditated murder in the stabbing and choking of 28-year-old Spc. Brandy Fonteneaux of Houston.

Fonteneaux was found dead in her barracks room Jan. 8.

She was stabbed 74 times.

In his closing statement, Capt. Jeremy Horn, one of Jackson’s defense attorneys, told the panel that a combination of heavy drinking and a prescription antidepressant left Jackson unable to control his own actions or form any kind of plan to commit murder.

Prosecutor Capt. Jason Quinn scoffed at the defense’s claim, saying Jackson made a conscious decision to leave his room and walk to Fonteneaux’s, where he stood over her while she slept.

Jackson, an eight-year Army veteran from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was with the 576th Engineer Company, 4th Engineer Battalion. Fonteneaux was a food-operations specialist in the 4th Engineer Battalion.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 12/14/2012

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