LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.”

President Barack Obama Article, 1A

Dozens of cars pile up in Ohio; 1 dies

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - Authorities said a southwest Ohio highway pileup involving at least 86 vehicles has left one person dead.

The Interstate 275 crash was one of four pileups that snared dozens of vehicles around the state Monday. Parts of the state saw scattered snow showers Monday, with isolated pockets of heavier snowfall.

A 12-year-old girl died in the I-275 pileup outside Cincinnati and at least 20 people were injured.

A state Highway Patrol dispatcher said as many as 50 vehicles were possibly involved in a pileup on Interstate 75, between Middletown and Monroe. Minor injuries were reported.

The patrol said four semitrailers and about 20 cars were involved in an afternoon pileup on Interstate 71 near Mansfield.

Lanes of Interstate 270 were reopened Monday afternoon after a multi-vehicle crash near Columbus.

House unveils plan to defer debt limit

WASHINGTON - House leaders on Monday unveiled legislation that would suspend the debt limit for three months and permit the government to continue borrowing money through May 18 to stave off a first-ever default on U.S. obligations. It is set for a vote Wednesday.

After suspending the limit for three months, the nation’s borrowing authority would be automatically increased from $16.4 trillion to accommodate the money the U.S. Treasury borrowed during those three months. The Senate also would have to agree on the measure.

However, the House suspension plan is accompanied by a caveat: Congress must pass a budget resolution for the next fiscal year by April 15. If either the Senate or the House fails to pass a budget resolution by that time, pay for the members of that chamber will be withheld in an escrow account until they approve one or, at the latest, to the end of the 113th Congress.

Under Congress’ budget procedures, a congressional budget resolution is a nonbinding measure that tries to set parameters for future legislation setting agency budgets and curbing federal benefit programs like Medicare.

Iran report says bail set for U.S. pastor

WASHINGTON - Iran’s semiofficial news agency said Monday that a jailed American pastor of Iranian origin is to be released after posting $116,000 bond.

His wife in the U.S. said Tehran has no intention of freeing him and that the announcement is “a game to silence” international media reports.

The news agency, ISNA, quoted Saeed Abedini’s lawyer, Nasser Sarbazi, as saying his client stood trial Monday in the Revolutionary Court on charges of attempting to undermine state security by creating a network of Christian churches in private homes. The pastor, who was jailed in September, has rejected the charges.

In Tehran, ISNA quoted Sarbazi as saying the court would issue its verdict later, but that Abedini would be released within the next few days after posting the bond.

ISNA said the lawyer indicated that the pastor would be allowed to leave Iran and meet his family in the U.S. Abedini’s father attended Monday’s court session.

However, the pastor’s wife, Naghmeh, said in a statement that the Iranian regime had repeatedly promised to free Abedini on bond but he remains in detention.

“After the judge told Saeed’s lawyer that bail was back on the table, the family in Tehran ran around in circles today to make sure Saeed was let out on bail,” said his wife, who lives near Boise, Idaho. “But again, the bail officer rejected [the] bail.”

3 die in murder-suicide, police say

LAS VEGAS - Authorities said Monday that a Las Vegas police lieutenant and two family members were dead in an apparent double murder and suicide in Boulder City.

Clark County Sheriff Douglas Gillespie and other officials didn’t identify the officer, pending word from the Clark County coroner.

Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said a man called 911 around 8:20 a.m. Monday and said he killed his wife and child, set his house afire and would shoot if anyone came close.

Paul said the man was in the doorway with a gun when police arrived, but went back inside before apparently killing himself.

Special Weapons and Tactics officers later found three bodies inside.

Clark County assessor records show the homeowner is Hans Walters, a Las Vegas police lieutenant who is married to a former police officer.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/22/2013