NATION BRIEFS

GEORGIA/Ex-soldier releases hostages

A former Army soldier seeking help for mental problems took three workers hostage at gunpoint Monday at a Georgia military hospital before authorities persuaded him to surrender. No one was hurt and no shots were fired at Winn Army Community Hospital on Fort Stewart, about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, said fort spokesman Kevin Larson. Military officials said the hostages were able to calm the gunman and keep him away from patients until he surrendered. Military police arrested the gunman and he was being questioned Monday. His name was not immediately released.

LOUISIANA/Bodies of four found

Southwestern Louisiana authorities are investigating the killings of four people whose bodies were found in a mobile home. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said police are looking for a dark blue 2000 Ford Explorer that was often parked near the home where deputies found the bodies of two men and two women Monday morning. Police say a woman who hadn't been able to get in touch with her daughter went to check on her at the Lake Charles trailer park. Mancuso said all four victims probably were in their early 20s. He said they died of trauma but did not elaborate.

ALASKA/GOP candidate cited in collision

The Republican candidate who defeated Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska's primary election has been cited for his role in a recent three-car collision in Fairbanks. Joe Miller was involved in the crash in his hometown three days after the Aug. 24 election and before the conservative lawyer's surprise victory. State troopers said Miller's vehicle rear-ended one driven by Denali Park resident James Raisis, who then rear-ended a car driven by Mark Lewis of Fairbanks. Miller was cited last week with failing "to exercise due care to avoid a collision" in the Aug. 27 wreck on Geist Road. Troopers said no one was hurt. Lewis also was cited.

CALIFORNIA/Man arrested after scaling tower

San Francisco police have arrested a man who scaled the exterior of a 58-story downtown skyscraper and unfurled an American flag at the top. Police tell KCBS Radio that the man is veteran skyscraper climber Dan Goodwin, 54. Goodwin used suction cups but no ropes to scale Millennium Tower, a residential building. Police say he ignored orders to stop climbing. The San Francisco Fire Department says Goodwin was too high to reach by the time firefighters got to the building. Goodwin reached the top just before 5:30 p.m. Monday.