NATIONAL BRIEFS

MICHIGAN: $2.2B blueprint for Great Lakes

The Obama administration disclosed a five-year blueprint for rescuing the Great Lakes, a sprawling ecosystem plagued by toxic contamination, shrinking wildlife habitat and invasive species. The plan envisions spending more than $2.2 billion for long-awaited repairs after a century of damage to the lakes, which hold 20 percent of the world's fresh water. Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, released the document Sunday in Washington. Among the goals is a "zero tolerance policy" toward future invasions by foreign species, including the Asian carp, a huge, ravenous fish that has overrun portions of the Mississippi River system and is threatening to enter Lake Michigan. Others include cleanup of the most heavily polluted sites, restoring wetlands and other crucial habitat, and improving water quality in shallow areas, where runoff from cities and farms has led to algae blooms and beach closings.

FLORIDA: Train kills 3 teens on trestle

Four teenagers marched past a "no trespassing" sign and braved a 200-foot railroad trestle over a creek. As they joked and took pictures at the bridge's halfway point, a train barreled down the tracks, its whistle howling alarm. Onlookers yelled for them to run or jump into the slow-moving water 20 feet below, but only a young boy could sprint to safety. The three others, all girls, were killed Saturday, police and witnesses said. The teenagers had been hanging out in Melbourne's downtown area, known for its shops and nightclubs, when they decided to cross the trestle around 6:30 p.m., Lt. Curtis Barger said. Their parents had dropped them off at a mall, and then they took a bus downtown where they were "just goofing off," he said. Bruce Dumas, 53, who was fishing under the bridge, warned them to be careful, but he said they didn't pay attention.

TEXAS: 2 arrested, suspects in arson spree

Two men who once attended church together were charged Sunday with intentionally burning down a church in east Texas and are suspected in a string of similar blazes, authorities said. Jason Robert Bourque, 19, and Daniel George McAllister, 21, face one count of felony arson for a church fire in rural Smith County near Tyler, about 90 miles east of Dallas, said Tom Crowley, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Bond is set at $10 million apiece. They could face life in prison if convicted. Bourque, of nearby Lindale, was arrested early yesterday in Van Zandt County, site of four of 10 church fires in east Texas this year that authorities believe were intentionally set, Crowley said. McAllister was taken into custody in San Antonio.