NATION NEWS BRIEFS

NEVADA / Amtrak-truck crash kills 2

Two people were killed and about 20 others were injured in a fiery crash in rural Nevada when a semitrailer crashed with an Amtrak passenger train. An Amtrak spokesman says 204 passengers and 14 crew members were aboard the California Zephyr en route from Chicago to Emeryville, Calif., about 300 miles west of the crash site. A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper says the big rig ran into the train around 11:25 a.m. Friday at a crossing on U.S. 95 near Reno.

SOUTH DAKOTA / Show used live rounds

One of the participants in a mock Old West gun battle in South Dakota fired live ammunition instead of using blanks, wounding three tourists, authorities announced Friday. More than 100 people attended the show a week ago staged by the Dakota Wild Bunch re-enactors, who perform several times a week in Hill City, a tourist town in the Black Hills. Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom said information gathered by investigators will be given to state and federal prosecutors next week to determine whether criminal charges are filed. "What it boils down to is, was it accidental or was it intentional," Thom said. A member of the group fired four live rounds at the June 17 show, Thom said. There was no immediate comment from re-enactors. On its Facebook page, the group has said their members are not allowed to bring live rounds to performances.

INDIANA / Judge blocks cuts to group

A federal judge has blocked part of a new Indiana law that cuts off some public funding for Planned Parenthood of Indiana because it provides abortions. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on Friday granted Planned Parenthood's request for an injunction striking down the part of that law. The organization's attorney, Ken Falk, has said Indiana was the first state to deny Medicaid funds to the group for general health services such as breast exams and Pap tests. The law signed May 10 by Gov. Mitch Daniels cut off about $1.4 million. The state is expected to appeal Friday's ruling.