LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The firefighters did an excellent job evacuating the area, which certainly prevented additional civilian injuries and saved many lives.”

Springfield, Mass., Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, praising the actions of city firefighters who responded to reports of a gas leak before an explosion that damaged 42 buildings Article, this page

California crash kills 4, injures 5

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Two children were among four people killed when a car collided with a minivan on a rural Northern California highway, authorities said.

Five other people were hurt when a Toyota Prius crossed the center line on U.S. 50 near Placerville on Saturday night and struck a Toyota Sienna minivan “broadside,” said California Highway Patrol spokesman officer John Frizzell.

Three people in the Prius - a 39-year-old man driving the car, a woman and a child - were killed in the crash, Frizzell said. Another child in the car suffered moderate injuries.

Of the five people in the minivan, a 4-year-old girl was killed, Frizzell said. The four others - the 35-year-old female driver, a 51-year-old man and two 1-year-olds suffered minor to moderate injuries. No names were released.

McCain eases on Rice nomination

WASHINGTON - The top Republican to oppose a nomination of Susan Rice as new secretary of state softened his opposition and said Sunday that he was open to hearing her explain why she declared that the burning of the U.S.

Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was part of a protest rather than a terrorist attack.

“I’d give everyone the benefit of explaining their position and the actions that they took,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on Fox News Sunday. “I’d be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with her.”

Also Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a critic of how the administration handled fallout from the Benghazi attack, said President Barack Obama more than Rice is responsible for her television comments.

But if Obama sends Rice’s nomination to the Senate for confirmation as secretary of state, Graham said, “There will be a lot of questions asked of her about this event and others.”

Lawman: Anthony evidence missed

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Florida sheriff’s office that investigated the disappearance of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony overlooked evidence that someone in her home did a Google search for suffocation methods on the day the girl was last seen alive.

Orange County sheriff’s Capt. Angelo Nieves said Sunday that the office’s computer investigator missed a June 16, 2008, Google search for “fool-proof” suffocation methods. The agency’s admission was first reported by Orlando television station WKMG.

It’s not known who performed the search. The station reported it was done on a browser primarily used by the toddler’s mother, Casey Anthony, who was acquitted of the girl’s murder in 2011.

WKMG reports that sheriff’s investigators pulled 17 vague entries only from the computer’s Internet Explorer browser, not the Mozilla Firefox browser commonly used by Casey Anthony.

Prosecutors Linda Drane Burdick and Jeff Ashton didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment Sunday.

But Ashton told WKMG that “it’s just a shame we didn’t have it. This certainly would have put the accidental-death claim in serious question.”

Front Section, Pages 3 on 11/26/2012