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WORLD & NATION UPDATE: AT HOME

Compiled from news dispatches

January 12, 2009

In a rare Sunday session, the Senate advanced legislation that would set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness. Majority Democrats assembled more than enough votes to overcome GOP stalling tactics in an early showdown for the new Congress. Republicans complained that Democrats did not allow amendments on the massive bill, which calls for the largest expansion of wilderness protection in 25 years. Supporters hope the House will follow suit.

A Chicago boy died after he was mauled by his family's Rottweiler yesterday. Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez said the 4-year-old boy was found yesterday afternoon in the backyard of his home in the city's Southwest Side. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, but died of his wounds by the time he arrived. Rodriguez said the boy's family has more than one dog and that the Rottweiler had been taken away by the Chicago Department of Animal Care and Control.

More than half of all states with lotteries have reported rising sales over the past six months, and some researchers say financial insecurity might be driving people to risk more money than usual on $1 and $5 instant scratch-offs and other daily games in hopes of a big payoff. Driven by regulars and a growing number of occasional players, 25 of 42 states with lotteries have experienced higher sales of scratch-off and daily lottery games since July, according to Scientific Games, a maker of scratch-offs.

Joe the Plumber has set aside his wrenches to become a rookie war correspondent, covering Israel's side of its military offensive in Gaza. The Ohio man, who rocketed to fame during the U.S. presidential campaign for asking Barack Obama about his tax plan, was in the southern Israeli town of Sderot yesterday to tell readers of the conservative pjtv.com Web site about the rockets that rain down from the Gaza Strip. The people of Sderot "can't do normal things day to day" like get soap in their eyes in the shower, for fear of rockets, said America's most famous plumber, whose real name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. "I'm sure they're taking quick showers," he said. Wurzelbacher's rookie status was evident when he stood in front of a pile of spent rockets and said: "I have ... questions but I can't think of the right one."