The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We’re at the bottom of the totem pole socially, but we have muscle and we’re flexing it. Ignore our numbers at your peril.”

Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, on increasing numbers of people identifying as religiously unaffiliated. Article, this page

Storm kills hunter, starts mudslides

SEATTLE - A storm bearing down on the Pacific Northwest claimed the life of an elk hunter on the Oregon Coast and hit the region with mudslides, high winds and mountain snow.

Chief Perry Sherbaugh of Nehalem Bay Fire and Rescue in Oregon said a fir tree crashed on the hunter’s tent Monday, killing him instantly. Wind gusts of more than 70 mph have been reported along the coast.

Meanwhile, a mudslide carried a tree into a Washington State Patrol trooper’s car and another vehicle, causing both to start burning.

The trooper crawled out of his car and escaped uninjured and then was able to free the driver of the other car.

She suffered a sore neck.

The National Weather Service said more Pacific storms that started rolling across the region over the weekend are expected through Thanksgiving week.

Oklahoma rejects expanded Medicaid

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma will not establish a state-run health insurance exchange under the federal health-care law or expand its Medicaid eligibility to provide coverage to thousands of low-income, uninsured citizens, Gov. Mary Fallin announced Monday.

The Republican governor’s move puts Oklahoma’s insurance exchange, required under the health-care overhaul, in the hands of the federal government.

Fallin, who cited the potential costs to the state of operating a health insurance exchange, also rejected the idea of a federal-state partnership in operating the exchange.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt was among the state attorneys general who filed a lawsuit alleging the health-care law was unconstitutional, and even after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the act constitutional, Pruitt amended his lawsuit to challenge its implementation.

The governor on Monday also rejected the Medicaid expansion, saying Oklahoma couldn’t afford the costs.

97 in House to Obama: No on Rice

WASHINGTON - A group of 97 House Republicans sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Monday, saying that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice misled the nation about the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya and is unfit to be a candidate to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The letter, organized by South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan, said Rice’s “misleading statements” about the attack that led to the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans “caused irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world.”

Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have promised to block her nomination if Obama picks her to take over the State Department after Clinton steps down.

Obama has defended Rice, who became a target when she went on the Sunday talk shows five days after the attack on the Benghazi diplomatic mission on Sept. 11 and said that, from the best information she had at the time, the attack was a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Muslim video and not a premeditated attack. That assessment later proved to be incorrect.

Indianapolis blast probed as homicide

INDIANAPOLIS - Authorities launched a homicide investigation Monday into the house explosion that killed a young couple and left numerous homes uninhabitable in an Indianapolis neighborhood.

Indianapolis Homeland Security Director Gary Coons made the announcement after meeting with residents affected by the Nov. 10 blast and shortly after funerals were held for the victims, who lived next door to the house where investigators think the explosion occurred.

Search warrants have been executed and officials are now looking for a white van that was seen in the subdivision the day of the blast, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said. Federal authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information in the case.

Curry said the investigation is aimed at “determining if there are individuals who may be responsible for this explosion and fire,” but neither he nor Coons took questions or indicated if investigators had any suspects.

Officials have said they think natural gas was involved in the explosion, which destroyed five homes and left dozens damaged, some heavily. Investigators have been focusing on appliances as they search for a cause of the explosion, which caused an estimated $4.4 million in damage.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 11/20/2012

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