NATIONAL BRIEFS

NATIONWIDE: 59% back Arizona's new law

A new poll shows that 59 percent of Americans approve of Arizona's new law cracking down on illegal immigrants while only 32 percent disapprove. Fully 73 percent endorse the law's provisions requiring people to show police officers documents proving their legal status when asked. And 67 percent approve of police detaining anyone who can't prove their legal status. The heavily criticized law takes effect July 29 unless legal challenges are successful. The Los Angeles City Council, meanwhile, approved a ban on future business with Arizona in protest of the law, the largest U.S. city to impose such an economic boycott.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Sanford sees Argentinian again

Gov. Mark Sanford said Wednesday he spent last weekend in Florida with his Argentine lover, hoping to rekindle the affair that wrecked his marriage and brought a formal rebuke from legislators for embarrassing the state. At a news conference in Columbia, Sanford did not mention Maria Belen Chapur by name when asked about a weekend trip out of state. Questions arose after the website Gawker posted comments from tipsters who reported seeing Sanford in the Florida Keys with a brunette. Meanwhile, Jenny Sanford has been a popular talk show guest and will be on "Dr. Phil" tomorrow. And on Friday, she'll be campaigning for state Rep. Nikki Haley in her GOP primary for governor.

HAWAII: Ignoring repeat queries by 'birthers'

The state government can now ignore repetitive requests for President Barack Obama's birth certificate. Republican Gov. Linda Lingle signed into law Wednesday a bill allowing government agencies not to respond to follow-up requests for information if they determine that the subsequent request is duplicative. The law is aimed at so-called "birthers," who claim Obama is ineligible to be president. State Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino has previously said she's seen vital records that prove Obama was born in Hawaii.

TEXAS: Cop acquitted in shooting athlete

A Houston-area policeman has been acquitted of shooting an aspiring major league baseball player who he mistakenly believed was armed and in a stolen vehicle. A jury found Bellaire police Sgt. Jeffrey Cotton not guilty Tuesday of aggravated assault by a public servant for the 2008 shooting that injured Robert Tolan, the son of former major leaguer Bobby Tolan, ending the son's baseball career. Cotton, a 10-year police veteran, shot Tolan in the chest at his family's home early New Year's Eve 2008, after officers mistakenly tried to arrest him and his cousin for driving a stolen car.