NATIONAL BRIEFS

COLORADO: Firefighters to get coverage

President Barack Obama will make federal health insurance available to about 8,000 temporary firefighters, a White House official said Tuesday. The 8,000 firefighters aren't covered because they are temporary seasonal employees and, under federal personnel rules, they can't buy into federal health insurance plans. Temporary firefighters make up more than half of the 15,000 wildland firefighters this busy wildfire season. The decision came after stories by The Denver Post, The Associated Press and others about the firefighters' dilemma. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney visited a food bank in Colorado Springs and helped box up food for firefighters and people displaced by the fires. The GOP presidential candidate urged Americans to visit Colorado despite the fires to keep its tourism industry thriving.

WASHINGTON: Blocking false medal claims

The Pentagon plans to establish a searchable database of military valor awards and medals, hoping to fix the problem of people lying about earning military honors. Press secretary George Little said the intention is to have a digital repository of records on a range of valor awards and medals going back as far as possible. The move is in response to a June 28 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a law making it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other decorations. An authoritative database would make it easier to check on award claims, and perhaps deter some from making false public claims.

FLORIDA: Teen loses arm to gator

An alligator at least 10 feet long lunged at a teenage swimmer and bit off his right arm below the elbow, state wildlife officials said Tuesday. Kaleb Langdale, 17, survived the encounter Monday in the Caloosahatchee River west of Lake Okeechobee. Wildlife officers who caught and killed the alligator retrieved the arm, but doctors were unable to reattach it. His friends told Fort Myers television station WBBH that, while the arm could not be reattached, Langdale was in good spirits.