NATIONAL BRIEFS

GEORGIA: Aid to military spouses suspended

Military spouses were enthusiastic when the government started offering them grants last year of up to $6,000 for college or career training. They signed up by the tens of thousands, a response so heavy that it nearly busted the fledgling program's budget, prompting the Defense Department to suspend it abruptly. More than 1,200 outraged spouses, a group that can use extra help because their frequent moves hamper work careers, have joined a Facebook group to vent their outrage.

WASHINGTON: Breaking rank on gays

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday he opposes ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military, the most senior officer to break publicly from the Obama administration's push to end "don't ask, don't tell."

Patriot Act extended

Key provisions of the USA Patriot Act would be extended for a year under a bill passed by the House on Thursday evening after Democrats retreated from adding new privacy protections. The House voted 315-97 to extend the act, sending the bill to the president. The privacy protections were lost because Senate Democrats lacked the 60-vote supermajority.

CALIFORNIA: Gunfight at mobile home

A gunman opened fire Thursday on authorities who tried to serve search warrants at his mobile home in Fresno, killing a detective and critically wounding a police officer before barricading himself in. After both sides stopped shooting, it was found that the man himself was dead. Deputies and a fire official had attempted to serve warrants connected to arson and shooting cases.

PENNSYLVANIA: Acela kills two teenagers

A high-speed Amtrak train struck and killed two teenage girls Thursday. The Acela traveling from Boston to Washington hit the girls in Norwood, 10 miles southwest of Philadelphia. The 10th-graders had been in school, but had left.