NATION NEWS BRIEFS

COLORADO / Engine forces jet landing

An engine shut down on a United Airlines jetliner Sunday, forcing it to make an emergency landing in western Colorado with 125 passengers and crew on board. The Boeing 757 was flying from Denver to Los Angeles when one of its two engines shut down, and the flight was diverted to Grand Junction Regional Airport. The plane landed safely about 11:44 a.m., Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. No injuries were reported. United spokesman Charlie Hobart said he didn't know the details of the problem, or whether the crew shut down the engine or it stopped on its own. Amy Jordan, deputy director at the Grand Junction airport, told the Denver Post that "the engine had problems shortly after takeoff."

TEXAS / Plan: Unmanned border

In a rugged, remote West Texas terrain where wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy, federal authorities are touting a proposal to open an unmanned port of entry as a security upgrade. By spring, kiosks could open up in Big Bend National Park allowing people from the tiny Mexican town of Boquillas del Carmen to scan their IDs and talk to a customs officer in another location, at least 100 miles away. The crossing would lead to a vast expanse of rolling scrub, cut by sandy-floored canyons and violent volcanic rock outcroppings. The desert wilderness is home to mountain lions, black bears and roadrunners, sparsely populated by an occasional camper and others visiting the 800,000-acre national park. If the crossing is approved, Border Patrol would have eight agents living in the park in addition to the park's 23 law enforcement rangers.

VIRGINIA / Gunman's kin offer prayers

The family of a man who investigators say gunned down a Virginia Tech police officer offers its condolences and prayers to the family of the slain officer. In an unsigned statement sent Sunday to the AP, the family of Ross Truett Ashley, 22, also requested that their privacy be respected. Investigators say Ashley killed Deriek Crouse at the Blacksburg campus and died of a self-inflicted gun wound.