The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Our purpose

has never been to

hold the attorney general in contempt.

Our purpose has

always been to get the information the committee needs to

complete its work - that it is not only entitled to but

obligated to do.”

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.,

on the vote to recommend holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in a dispute over internal Justice Department documents related to a botched gun trafficking operation Article, 1A

Mercury-rule bid

fails in Senate

WASHINGTON - The Democrat-controlled Senate defeated a bid Wednesday to block the Environmental Protection Agency from setting the first federal standards to reduce toxic air pollution from power plants.

The 46-53 vote was four short of the 50 needed to proceed to a vote on the resolution. Five Republicans voted against moving ahead, but five Democrats sided with Republicans in support of it.

The White House, in a statement released Wednesday, said the outcome shows “a bipartisan group of senators stood with President [Barack] Obama supporting sensible steps to reduce dangerous pollution” and“against misleading attacks.”

The measure would have overturned a regulation to slash mercury and other toxic emissions from the oldest and most polluting oil- and coal-fired power plants.

Meteor sightings ground fire planes

BELLVUE, Colo. - Authorities grounded firefighting aircraft battling an out-of-control blaze scorching central Colorado on Wednesday, reacting with caution to witness reports of meteor sightings.

The temporary move came amid several reported sky sightings near the fire burning 1,100 acres, or nearly 2 square miles, west of Colorado Springs.

Chaffee County Sheriff W.

Peter Palmer said his office received multiple reports, including one person who thought a meteorite might have landed in a wooded area north of Buena Vista. Palmer said officials could not confirm that report.

The Colorado sightings corresponded with reports of a possible meteor filed by the crews of two commercial aircraft over Liberal, Kan., said meteorologist Scott Entrekin of the National Weather Service in Boulder.

Other sky sightings were reported in Raton, N.M., Entrekin said.

Fired New Orleans teachers win suit

NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana judge ruled Wednesday that thousands of New Orleans school employees were wrongfully fired after Hurricane Katrina shut down the city and its schools in 2005.

Judge Ethel Simms Julien awarded more than $1 million to seven people who filed the class-action suit against the New Orleans School Board and the state.

Her decision cleared the way for more damages to be awarded to an estimated 7,000 others.

It was not immediately clear whether the defendants - including the Orleans Parish School Board, the state school board and Department of Education and the state itself - would appeal.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 06/21/2012

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