The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Any suggestion that the agency is still in the detention business is uninformed and baseless.”

Preston Golson, CIA spokesman, in response to a claim that the CIA had detained people at a secret facility in Benghazi, Libya. Article, 1A

Panetta studies post-drawdown plan

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT OVER THE PACIFIC - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday the Obama administration is nearing a decision in the next few weeks on how many U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan - and for what purposes - after the U.S.-led combat mission ends in 2014.

Panetta told reporters aboard his plane en route from Hawaii to Australia that Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has developed several options on a post-2014 presence.

Panetta also was asked about his future at the Pentagon.

While he declined to reveal his plans, he suggested he still had work to do on the job he took in July 2011.

“It’s no secret that at some point I’d like to get back to California,” he said. Panetta is from Monterey, Calif.

He added that there are a number of important defense issues awaiting resolution, including a budget impasse and the future of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan - suggesting that he would not leave immediately.

“Right now, my goal is to basically meet my responsibilities with regard to dealing with those issues,” Panetta said.

Pressed to say whether he would rule out staying for all four years of a second Obama term, he replied, “Who the hell knows ?”

Kentucky quake not tied to mining

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Geologists said the 4.3 magnitude earthquake that shook eastern Kentucky over the weekend was too deep to be induced by the region’s underground mining activity.

The epicenter was about 10 miles west of Whitesburg, in the heart of Kentucky’s coal country, where underground mining and surface blasting are common.

The head of the University of Kentucky’s Geologic Hazards Section, though, said Saturday’s quake occurred about 12 miles below the surface, far too deep for underground mining to have been a factor.

Zhenming Wang said it came near the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, an area that receives a 4-magnitude quake every five to 10 years.

Horton said mining and hydraulic fracturing - used by the natural gas industry - can possibly be a contributor to earthquakes, but not in this case.

First bisexual elected to Congress

PHOENIX - Former Democratic state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been elected to represent a new Phoenix-area congressional district, emerging victorious after a bitterly fought race that featured millions of dollars in attack ads.

Sinema becomes the first openly bisexual member of Congress. Her victory came in a year when three states approved same-sex marriage, and at least five openly gay Democrats were elected to House seats. A Wisconsin congressman also became the first openly homosexual person elected to the Senate.

Sinema had a narrow lead on election night that made the race too close to call. But she slowly improved that advantage as more ballots were tallied in recent days, and now has a nearly 6,000-vote edge that is too much for Republican Vernon Parker to overcome.

Sinema, 36, said Monday she was “honored and ready to start working for the people of Arizona.”

Parker, 52, conceded with a promise to “continue my public service.”

One other congressional race remains undecided in Arizona. Rep. Ron Barber, the hand-picked successor to Gabrielle Giffords, had a lead of a few hundred votes over Republican Martha McSally in the Tucson-area district.

Fire kills 4, started with pizza boxes

ORRINGTON, Maine - A predawn fire that killed a 30-year-old man and his three children and hospitalized the mother was caused by empty cardboard pizza boxes stored too close to a wood-burning stove, Maine fire officials said Monday.

The family likely used the boxes to help start the fire in the stove after they returned to their Orrington home from bowling late Friday night, fire investigators said. A container of lighter fluid found nearby probably accelerated the spread of the fire once the boxes stored outside the stove ignited after family members had gone to bed.

Fire Marshal Joe Thomas called the fire a tragedy. It was the deadliest fire in Maine in 20 years.

“It was purely accidental,” Thomas said.

Christine Johnson, 31, remained hospitalized for smoke inhalation on Monday. The fire killed her husband, Benjamin Johnson III, along with their children: two boys, 9-year-old Ben and 4-year-old Ryan, and one girl, 8-year-old Leslie.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 11/13/2012

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