INTERNATIONAL
 
Death toll in Indonesian tsunami, volcano reaches more than 300
 
MENTAWAI ISLANDS, Indonesia (AP) — The death toll from a tsunami and a volcano rose to more than 300 Wednesday as more victims of Indonesia’s double disasters were found and an official said a warning system installed after a deadly ocean wave in 2004 had broken from a lack of maintenance.
 
Hundreds were still missing after Monday’s tsunami struck the remote Mentawai islands off western Sumatra, where officials were only beginning to chart the scope of the devastation. At least 311 people died as the huge wave, triggered by an undersea earthquake, washed away wooden and bamboo homes, displacing more than 20,000 people.
 
About 800 miles to the east in central Java, the Mount Merapi volcano was mostly quiet but still a threat after Tuesday’s eruption.
The eruption sent searing ash clouds into the air, killing at least 30 people and injuring 17. Among the dead was a revered elder who had refused to leave his ceremonial post as caretaker of the mountain’s spirits.
 
 
American actor released from custody after citizenship dispute
 
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Actor Randy Quaid and his wife Evi have been released from a Canadian detention facility after she was declared a Canadian citizen.
 
The Quaids were arrested last Thursday in a shopping area of a posh Vancouver, British Columbia, neighborhood and were subsequently jailed on outstanding U.S. warrants related to vandalism charges.
 
The Quaids are wanted in Santa Barbara, Calif., where they missed a court hearing Monday on felony vandalism charges.
 
The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed in a statement Tuesday that Evi Quaid is a citizen of Canada.
 
 
NATIONAL
 
Longest snake living in captivity dies Wednesday in Ohio zoo
 
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio zoo said the longest snake living in captivity has died.
 
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said workers found the 24-foot python Wednesday  morning.
 
It died from an apparent tumor.
 
The snake, named Fluffy, held the Guinness World Record as the longest snake living in captivity.
 
It was about as long as a moving van and as thick as a telephone pole.
 
It weighed 300 pounds.
 
The 18-year-old reticulated python had drawn large crowds since the zoo got it in 2007.
 
Reticulated pythons are named for the cross-hatching patterns on their skin and average 10 to 20 feet long.
 
The largest recorded one was 32 feet, 9 1/2 inches long when it was killed in 1912 in Indonesia.
 
 
STATE/LOCAL
 
3 officers fired from New Orleans Police Department on Wednesday
 
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three New Orleans police officers — two accused of mistreating police dogs and one charged with illegally shooting his gun — were fired Wednesday, said Superintendent Ronal Serpas.
 
Officers Jason Lewis, Nikia Adams and Patrick O’Hern were dismissed for violating department rules, Serpas said.
 
Lewis, a 13-year veteran, and Adams, an eight-year veteran, each pleaded guilty to animal cruelty.
 
O’Hern, who was on the force for 13 years, was fired for illegally discharging his weapon and drinking while on duty.
 
Lewis pleaded guilty last month to misdemeanor animal cruelty for the death of his police dog.
 
The dog, named Primo, was a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois. The dog was left in a closed police car where he apparently died of a heat stroke.
 
 
Gov. Bobby Jindal continues to garner high approval ratings
 
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal continues to have a high approval rating with Louisiana voters.
 
That’s according to a new poll by Washington-based Clarus Research Group.
 
Sixty-three percent of the voters surveyed approved of Jindal, a Republican who’s been in office since 2008 and is running for re-election next year.
 
State election officials hope for a 35-percent voter turnout for Tuesday
 
(AP) — Louisiana elections officials are hoping turnout will reach 35 percent in Tuesday’s election.
 
If that expectation from the Secretary of State’s Office is met, that would be far short of the state’s last round of congressional elections in 2008, when a heated presidential election battle drove 65 percent of Louisiana’s voters to the polls.
 
 
 
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