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Sunday, August 17, 2008; A05

Pelosi Might Consider Offshore Drilling

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled on Saturday her willingness to consider opening more coastal areas to oil and gas exploration.

In the Democratic Party's weekly radio address, Pelosi (Calif.) said opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling will be part of energy legislation that House Democrats intend to put forward in the coming weeks to address oil dependence and high gasoline prices.

Just weeks ago, Pelosi seemed resolved to block any votes to allow offshore drilling. New oil drilling is allowed now only in federal waters in the western Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska.

Pelosi's radio remarks were the latest to hint that Democrats are budging on the issue.

"This comprehensive Democratic approach will ensure energy independence which is essential to our national security, will create millions of good-paying jobs here at home in a new green economy, and will take major steps forward in addressing the global climate crisis," said Pelosi, who criticized Republicans' "drill only" plan.

Republican leaders called Pelosi's proposal a ruse.

She "is deliberately misrepresenting the facts about our plan in order to shift attention away from the Democrats' shameful record," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio). "Her new effort appears to be just another flawed plan that will do little to lower gas prices."

MEMPHIS -- An early Saturday morning fire killed five children and two adults, but three youths escaped and were being treated for burns.

The two teenagers and an 11-year-old boy who escaped were hospitalized with second-degree burns on their faces and hands, Fire Department spokesman Lt. Keith Staples said.

The cause was under investigation. Authorities were unsure how the survivors escaped, Staples said.

Next-door neighbor Lamar Boyce said two survivors escaped by jumping from a second-story window.

Authorities did not immediately release the identities or ages of the victims. Relatives identified the mother as Melissa Poole, 38, and said she lived in the home with her four children. A niece and nephew were visiting when the fire broke out, they said.

Alicia Bradley, 31, who said she is Poole's cousin and was speaking on behalf of the family, said three girls, ages 7, 4 and 9; two boys, ages 1 and 5; and an 18-year-old male were killed.

SCOTLAND, Tex. -- Authorities held out hope Saturday that they could find a clerk who was abducted at gunpoint in a crime captured by the security cameras in a rural grocery store. Officials were questioning a suspect.

Archer County Sheriff Ed Daniels said law enforcers were searching for Mindy Daffern, 46, a day after her abduction. "We're still hoping we can find her alive," he said. About 20 investigators focused their search in an area of farmland and mesquite brush about 10 miles south of Scotland, near Wichita Falls in north Texas.

Earlier Saturday, officials found a black sport-utility vehicle parked outside a motel in Bowie, about 40 miles east of where Daffern was taken. The SUV matched the description of the vehicle used in the abduction, Daniels said.

Activists Are Arrested in Hawaii

HONOLULU -- A group of Native Hawaiians claiming to be the state's legitimate rulers occupied the grounds of a historic palace for two hours before being arrested by state officers in the second recent takeover of its kind. A staff member of the Iolani Palace said she was assaulted and slightly injured during the takeover Friday night, then snubbed by city police. Gov. Linda Lingle said Saturday that there would be an investigation into the police response and that the people who invaded the palace "have to be shown it's not going to be acceptable."

Ex-Lawmaker Ney Is Released

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Former congressman Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) has been released from a halfway house in Cincinnati after serving a sentence in connection with a public corruption scandal. Ney has served nearly a year and a half of a 2 1/2 -year prison sentence. It was reduced after he completed treatment for alcohol problems. Ney admitted trading political favors for gifts and campaign donations arranged by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates.

Schwarzenegger Injures Knee

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pulled out of an environmental conference Saturday to have his knee examined after injuring himself while exercising. The knee has been bothering him all week, Schwarzenegger spokesman Matt David said. A doctor was expected to examine the knee for a possibly torn meniscus.

-- From News Services

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