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He was taken by ambulance to Palmetto Health Richland, police spokesman Brick Lewis said.

The man walked about 50 feet and knocked on apartment doors for help after the 4:10 p.m. shooting.

Police don’t have any suspects. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (888) CRIME-SC.

- Lee Higgins

Family spokesman Brian N. Davis said Aaron Baughman, 14, had surgery for about 10 hours Friday to repair spinal damage from the wreck on I-95. He is still listed in critical condition.

Scott Baughman, 44, will have surgery today and is listed in serious condition.

Lindsey Baughman, 19, is still in the hospital and in stable condition.

Debbie Baughman, an assistant media specialist at Wateree Elementary School in Lugoff, died Thursday when the car she was riding in was hit head on by a Mazda going the wrong way on I-95.

Elizabeth Hawkins, 17, of Columbia, was not wearing a seat belt when her car rolled over twice. She died at the scene from multiple body trauma, according to a news release from Lexington County Coroner Harry O. Harman.

A passenger in the vehicle, who has not been identified, was taken to Palmetto Health Rich-land with serious injuries.

The wreck happened at about 12:51 a.m. The speed limit on the road is 45 mph, and officials believe speed was a factor in the crash, said Lance Cpl. Jeff Gaskin with the state Highway Patrol.

Evette Nannette Vaught, 29, and her daughter Namia Vaught, were reported missing Friday night at about 9 p.m. by a family member, said Loris Police Chief Joe Vaught, who is not related.

Namia Vaught is about 3 feet tall, weighs 22 pounds and has brown eyes and was last seen wearing a black T-shirt and a diaper.

Evette Vaught is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds.

Police think they are with 25-year-old Marco Murice Vaught - about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 145 pounds with brown eyes.

The storm's stregthened from a tropical depression, and promised to bring much-needed rains to the eastern Carolinas before it was predicted to slip out to sea.

At 2 p.m. EDT, the center of the storm was about 100 miles east of Charleston and about 225 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.

The National Hurricane Center said Cristobal (pronounced crist-TOE'-ball) was moving northeast at about 7 mph.

Although the center of the storm, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, was forecast to remain off the coast through the weekend, tropical storm warnings were in effect from the South Santee River in South Carolina to the North Carolina-Virginia state line, including Pamlico Sound.

Gasoline costing $5 a gallon at marinas — nearly $2 more than last year — has curtailed cruising.

“We don’t pleasure ride like we used to,” said Ben Sharpe, of Prosperity.

This summer, he and many other boaters are sharing rides instead of going solo to restaurants — or they’re choosing to boat closer to home.

“We don’t run all over the lake like we once did,” Lee Ayers, of Ballentine, said. “Now it’s boat-pooling.”

“Let us be glad and rejoice, for one of our own was lost and now is found,” said Air Force Chaplain Steve Mays.

For Mauldin’s survivors, Friday’s ceremony brought closure to what had been a heart-wrenching search.

“It’s like something very heavy has been lifted off me,” said Mauldin’s widow, Margot Robinson of Easley. “We can come (here) and we know where he is.”

A native of Germany, Robinson met the Pickens native after World War II when he was stationed at Simmershausen, Germany. They married, moved to the United States and had two children.

But 9-year-old Taylor Ludy knew her. Every morning at 7:10, the third-grader at Wateree Elementary School would look up to see Baughman open her car door and say hello to her mom and 3-year-old sister.

Lugoff is a place where people measure time by their kids’ ages. It’s a place where, if you need to find someone on a Saturday, Wal-Mart would be the first place you’d look.

And it’s a place that values people like Debbie Baughman.

“I didn’t know her,” said Jill Ludy, Taylor’s mom. “But I can remember the impression she made on me.”

The girl fell asleep as she was returning to Killian Elementary from a trip to the movies at the Village at Sandhill. She was taken by family members to a hospital for evaluation, authorities said.

Dehydrated, the girl was given fluids and released, said Carter Clark, chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands.

A club employee was fired Friday and two other employees remain suspended without pay, Clark said.

A Richland 2 bus driver was first put on paid leave but is now no longer employed, district spokeswoman Theresa Riley said.

Diamond L. Ross, 21, is charged with murder in the death of 21-year-old David M. Holder of Columbia, Maj. Jackie Brothers said.

Holder died at the scene about 5:30 p.m. from a stab wound to the neck, Brothers said. He had several additional stab wounds.

Ross is at Lexington County jail awaiting a bond hearing in circuit court.

Brothers said police are still working to find a motive for the stabbing.

Sentenced were:

• Maurice Jovan Andrews, aka “Reese,” 27; 10 years, one month

• Cameron Cornelius Hammond aka “Lil Pappa”, 24; 10 years

• Glenn Plange Matteer aka “Geeze”, 22; 11 years

Tony Lawton, the city’s executive director of business opportunities, unveiled the negotiations at a community meeting this week as part of the city’s ongoing effort to shore up the Eau Claire/North Columbia corridor.

“It was like they dropped a bomb in the meeting,” said Rhett Anders, president of the Windemere Springs Neighborhood Association.

Anders, a real estate agent and community activist, is among dozens of North Columbia leaders working to bolster the city’s most economically and racially diverse community.

Keith McIver, a former president of the Hyatt Park Neighborhood Association, said he worried that locating a fast food restaurant on the site “doesn’t seem to jibe with efforts we’ve put forth in trying to make a more economically diverse neighborhood.”

The crowd today — retirees, office workers, other preachers and public officials — is 175 strong. People sit for a meal, chat and sing “Though I May Speak With Bravest Fire,” accompanied by a well-tuned seven-foot Steinway grand piano.

There’s a prayer, and then the Rev. Sinclair Ferguson, First Presbyterian’s senior pastor, rises.

In the high-ceiling room, softly lit by stained glass windows, he begins his “message” — not quite a sermon but more than a talk.

His topic at the lunch ministrytoday: “All You Need Is Love? — Reflections on 1 Corinthians 13.” It’s the passage by the Apostle Paul that begins, “If I speak in the tongues of men ... but have not love ...”

Two brothers are charged with murder in what Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott called a drug deal gone bad.

Just after midnight on June 20, brothers Kenyatta D. Banister, 17, and Wilbert D. Guider, 19, met Kentjuan D. Wilson-Davenport in a parking lot on Rice Meadow Circle to buy an ounce of marijuana from him, Lott said.

There was a dispute over the price and shots were fired, according to police. Both Banister and Guider had guns, Lott said.

Officers arrived and found 23-year-old Wilson-Davenport of Gaston lying on the ground, according to an incident report. A gun and marijuana also were found at the scene.

Friday, Clemson trustees approved a 5.5 percent increase for the coming school year. That means in-state students will pay an additional $542. Out-of-state students will pay 7.5 percent more, or $1,632 a year.

For the 2008-09 academic year, in-state tuition at Clemson will be $10,412. Students from elsewhere will pay $23,432.

Clemson joins the University of South Carolina and Winthrop University in raising tuition this summer as colleges cite higher costs for energy and health care and lower support from the state. The General Assembly cut the money it devotes to higher education by roughly 3 percent.

Last month, USC trustees voted to increase tuition by $500 next year. Winthrop’s annual tuition will now top $11,000 — the highest public college tuition in the state.

The four cubs born to Brynn on June 7 have been joined by a cub born to Lindsay on June 13. Brynn and Lindsay are sisters, and Zuri is father to all five cubs.

Zoo officials had hoped Cub 5 wouldn’t have to be hand-reared by keepers. Lindsay at first was doing a good job of nursing her son, and the cub was thriving, according to zoo officials.

But on the 13th day, Lindsay’s health began to deteriorate quickly. Keepers had to take Cub 5 away from his mother, and rush Lindsay to the zoo’s hospital.

Lindsay had a ruptured uterus that had become infected, said zoo veterinarian Keith Benson.

Joseph “Joey” Pettigrew Sanders IV, 44, was arrested Friday morning by Easley police and charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Sanders is accused in arrest warrants of sexually assaulting the girl, now 12, in 2005 at a Comfort Inn in Easley.

A call to Sanders’ cell phone seeking comment Friday was not immediately returned. His attorney, Bill Coates of Greenville, issued a statement on his behalf.

“Mr. Sanders absolutely denies the charges, and he expects to be exonerated,” Coates said. He said Sanders turned himself in to authorities voluntarily.

Shawn Sadler, aka Tagulifu Barber or Carlos T. Watts, 37, of Ladson, was sentenced to 20 years and 10 years of supervised release. Sandy Sandiford, 37, of New York, was sentenced to 5 years, 10 months in prison, and five years supervised release.

Sadler and Sandiford were arrested in July 2002 sitting in a car outside a Northeast Richland County home after a deputy found $120,000 in cash in the trunk. Officers obtained a search warrant and found more than seven kilograms of cocaine inside the home and a car with electronically controlled hidden compartments for drug smuggling in the garage. Service records found inside indicated Sadler had driven the car.

Other members of the conspiracy have been sentenced.

Agents believe Harry Michael Lane, 56, distributed, transported, exhibited, received, exchanged or solicited materials containing visual images of minors engaged in sexual activity.

SLED agents also believe the suspect obtained these illegal material through a file sharing network at his home.

SLED’s Computer Crimes Center has investigated 165 sex crimes dealing with minors, including child pornography, criminal sexual conduct, sexual exploitation and online enticement from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008.

Staff writer Ishmael Tate

Lawyer Delewis Scott II, 35, and Derrick Lamont Rich, 36, both of Anderson, are accused of falsifying timesheets for themselves and others and benefiting from money while working as school resource officers.

SLED agents started their investigation May 2, 2008, at the request of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Sustained winds topped 30 mph at 11 p.m.

“It’s just something to keep an eye on right now,” said forecaster John Quagliariello of the National Weather Service’s Charleston office. “At this point, it’s still trying to get itself organized.”

The storm system is moving slowly up the Atlantic off the Carolina coast and poses the greatest threat to South Carolina today, Quagliariello said. Current models show some movement off the coast after today, but Quagliariello said that the storm’s early development can rapidly change its predicted track.

Today’s forecast calls for heavy rain and gusty winds as the storm moves northeast near the coast.

But the investigative tool requires finding the right relative to provide a DNA sample to match — and a little luck.

Scientists needed mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited through the mother’s bloodline, because it’s plentiful and can last for years, according to the Joint POW Accounting Command. The genetic material needed to positively identify Mauldin came from a nephew of the pilot’s mother.

The military services search for eligible donors so that all remains of missing service members might be identified, said Larry Greer, a spokesman for Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.

The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, which conducts the research, holds monthly meetings around the country with family members to collect DNA material.

Paul Anthony Bliem, 29, of Bluff Road, is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.

Police said the alleged victim told them Bliem gave her drugs and alcohol to incapacitate her and raped her.

Bliem is 5 feet 7 inches tall and 168 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information should call CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or go online to sccrimestoppers.com. A cash reward up to $1000 is available for information that leads to an arrest.

Alan Carruthers, 56, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and three years supervised release, said U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins.

Carruthers is serving a 30 year state sentence for a prior unrelated conviction for criminal sexual conduct with a minor and has been in jail since July 2004.

State Law Enforcement Division officials found the child pornography on a computer during their investigation of Carruthers on the state charge, Wilkins said. More than 300 images were on the computer.

Kershaw County’s IMPACT —a group of community activists and government leaders dedicated to improving life for county residents — is establishing Leading Individuals Forward Together, a program to give families and individuals one place to apply for services.

The various agencies — United Way, Mental Health America, Consumer Credit Counseling, the Family Resource Center, among others — have different forms and means to apply for help, making it difficult for families to get assistance easily.

The new one-stop shop will help families not only with financial assistance but budget management, counseling, drug and alcohol rehabilitation sessions, education classes and job training, among others, according to Donny Supplee, executive director of the United Way of Kershaw County.

The agencies “began to feel fragmented, like they were not accomplishing what we should, which is addressing families in crisis,” Supplee said.

Spearheading the program, the United Way of Kershaw County and Christian Community Ministries in Camden hope to start the program with six families by the end of this month.

If you would like to contribute or volunteer: Contact the United Way of Kershaw County at (803) 432-0951 or 110 E. DeKalb St., Camden, SC 29020.

Council has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal at 6 p.m. July 22 at 2020 Hampton St. It’s the latest in a series of requests to boost recreation facilities. Since the early 1990s, only once has County Council approved an infusion of new capital in recreation.

While the timing is bad — with a struggling economy and a likely tax increase on the way for transportation needs — recreation advocates say the costs will only go up if they are turned down now.

“There’s a desperate need for more playing fields and parks in the Northeast,” Council member Val Hutchinson said. “We’re growing so rapidly, and we’re not keeping up with it in terms of recreation.”

Lower Richland is growing too, and leaders in those communities feel they’ve been underserved for years.

RICHLAND SHERIFF

Wild Hickory Lane, 500 block, between 5 p.m. July 7 and 8:30 a.m. July 8. Someone kicked in the door to a home, causing $700 in damage.

PROPERTY TRANSFERS

832 Goldeneye Court, Blythewood, from Capitol City Homes Inc. to Terry Major, $150,858

AMERICAN LEGION CHAPIN POST 193 received 11 awards at the state convention; this is the second consecutive year the group has been recognized for its membership increases and community service. Awards included Post Honor Ribbon, 2008 “Big Pup Award,’ Post All-Time High, National Certificate of Meritorious Service, Department Award of Excellence: 100 percent Membership Goal, Department Post Achievement Award, Big “1” 100 percent Membership by Convention (103.97 percent) and third place Department Community Service Award. Individual honors went to Russell Baker of Chapin High School, Eagle Scout of the Year; John Rowley was presented the Department Hamilton Award for his work with Dorn VA Hospital visitations; and Post Commander Robert Haggard received the National Commander Certificate of Appreciation for all of the achievements of Post 193.

THE COLUMBIA HOUSING AUTHORITY recognized public housing and Section 8 residents at its June 12 Education Achievement Awards ceremony. Good Parent Awards ($25 gift cards) were presented to Sakinah Abdallah, Sheila Allen, Alaina Anderson, Gail Banks, Alisa Corbin, Patricia Felder, Tanjii King and Tashara Prophet.

MILITARY

NAVY SEAMAN RECRUIT JONATHAN P. MABE recently completed basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. He is the son of Prima L. and Harold Mabe of Irmo.

NEW YORK — The outlook is increasingly bleak for Wachovia Corp., and the Charlotte-based bank’s mortgage portfolio will continue to lose value, “seriously jeopardizing” the company’s ability to generate earnings, an influential analyst warned Tuesday.

The latest note of caution about the bank — South Carolina’s largest — came as government regulators and President Bush moved to reassure people their money is safe in the nation’s banks.

Yet Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Tuesday the fragile economy is facing “numerous difficulties” despite the Fed’s aggressive interest rate reductions and other fortifying steps. And fears about the nation’s financial system persisted, as financial stocks dropped lower Tuesday in another tough day for Wall Street.

Oppenheimer Co. analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded Wachovia stock early Tuesday, citing a “very real scenario” of declining assets and rising losses. Whitney’s analyses are closely followed after a series of sharp calls she has made during the credit crisis about troubles at other banks, including Citigroup.

Typically, off days mean hitting the beach between turns in the batting cage. On this day, the two were taking turns logging on to the USC athletics Web site for a glimpse of the school’s new baseball stadium via a Webcam.

At 10:39 a.m., the first rolls of Bermuda Tifway 419 were unfurled on the stadium’s infield between first and second base by Carolina Green Landscaping.

“Me and Whit have been trying to get online,” Mack said. “That’s the first thing we’re doing. It’s a whole different thing (when) the sod — the playing surface — goes down.”

In less than an hour, half the infield was covered. By day’s end, the diamond was complete.

ALBEMARLE, N.C. — Jeff Carstensen was spooked when he learned his grandmother planned to buy him a $100,000 life insurance policy — and name herself the beneficiary.

“She told me that people of our stature have insurance policies on each other,” he said. “That way, if something happens to you, you take care of me, and if something happens to me, I take care of you. It was all too suspicious. So I got out of there any way I could, as soon as I could.”

As he and many others who came into Betty Neumar’s orbit have learned, bad things tend to happen to the people around her.

The 76-year-old Georgia woman sits in a North Carolina jail, accused of hiring a hit man to kill fourth husband Harold Gentry. Authorities are re-examining the deaths of her first child and four of the five men she married, including Gentry.

WASHINGTON — Now that the federal government has thrown a lifeline to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers could be on the hook for billions more if the crisis of confidence spreads.

There were encouraging signs Monday for the rescue plan, but also signs of concern — notably on Wall Street, where shares of the two companies slumped further — that the plan won’t be enough.

Other banks already are teetering: National City Corp. shares fell nearly 15 percent on rumors of financial trouble, even though it said it was experiencing no unusual depositor or creditor activity. And Washington Mutual Inc.’s shares fell 35 percent, to a paltry $3.23, amid worries about whether it had enough cash to handle the mortgage market downturn. WaMu said it did.

And worried customers lined up Monday to pull cash out of their accounts at IndyMac Bank, seized Friday by the federal government.

Meanwhile, Miss Venezuela was crowned Miss Universe 2008 at the event in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

The new Miss Universe, Dayana Mendoza, was once kidnapped in her homeland and says the experience taught her to remain poised under pressure.

Tension got under the skin of Miss USA, Crystle Stewart of Texas, who tripped on the train of her bejeweled evening gown as she made her entrance.

During the 2007 Miss Universe contest in Mexico City, Miss USA Rachel Smith also tumbled during the evening gown competition and became an unintended star on YouTube, where the video was shown repeatedly.

Sanford today said talk shows only give you a second or two to respond and "sometimes your brain works well; sometimes it doesn't. But that's being human."

Political observers online and on television Monday wondered if a gaffe-filled Sunday TV appearance by Sanford has eliminated him as a viable Republican vice presidential candidate.

Sanford was interviewed on CNN Sunday morning, billed by the network as a candidate on presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s short list of vice presidential options.

When the governor was asked by Wolf Blitzer, the host of “Late Edition,” how McCain can draw distinctions between himself and President Bush on the economy, Sanford lost his train of thought, struggling for several seconds to come up with an example.

David Peyton, regional coordinator with Nader’s campaign, said Nader’s goal was to make sure Democrats and Republicans keep their promises to voters.

“Without third-party candidates, we won’t be able to hold the two major parties accountable,” Peyton said.

“He stands by his principles. He’s not going to back down. He’s not going to let one failure stop him.”

Nader has been a fixture on the presidential ballot, appearing on at least one state’s ballot every year since 1992. Peyton said the campaign plans to petition Nader onto 45 of 50 states’ ballots.

Marine Cpl. John Wimunc, 23, was also charged with first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the death of his wife, Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, of Dubuque, Iowa. Her body was found Sunday, three days after a suspicious fire at her Fayetteville apartment.

In May, Wimunc secured a temporary restraining order against her husband. She told authorities he got drunk and held a loaded handgun to her head and his. At the time of her death, the couple was going through a divorce.

Authorities also charged Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Alden, 22, with first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.

Wimunc’s death is the third homicide of a young North Carolina-based female service member in the past seven months.

The charges are the first to be brought against a sitting head of state by the five-year-old court. While it remains to be seen whether it will help to end the conflict in Darfur — the vast western region of Sudan that for six years has been racked by fighting between government-backed militias and several rebel factions — human rights groups said that al-Bashir’s indictment was a step toward ending impunity for war crimes.

The court’s prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina, said that he had chronicled state-sponsored violence in Darfur over the past five years and had concluded that al-Bashir had “masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa,” the three main ethnic groups in Darfur.

In response to a rebel uprising in Darfur, Moreno Ocampo said, al-Bashir sent government forces and Arab militias known as janjaweed to destroy villages inhabited by those three groups. On al-Bashir’s orders, pro-government forces slaughtered some 35,000 civilians beginning in March 2003 and raped thousands of women and girls, he said.

Al-Bashir, who became president in 1989, also has used his near-total control over Sudan’s political and security structures to thwart efforts to help the nearly 2.5 million Darfurians who’ve become refugees in their own land, Moreno Ocampo said.

Bush talked tough Monday, appearing in the Rose Garden and explaining that: “With this action, the executive branch’s restrictions on this exploration have been cleared away. This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress.”

There are two bars to offshore drilling, one first imposed by Congress in 1981 and another signed by Bush’s father in 1990 and renewed in 1998 by President Clinton. The government bans exploration and drilling on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and most of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, to protect U.S. beaches and fisheries from pollution.

There have been some signs recently that the political climate is changing.

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said last week that he was open to some drilling. A June 26-29 CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 73 percent of people surveyed favored more drilling.

Prominent S.C. Republicans have embraced drilling offshore in recent weeks. U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson of Springdale changed their opposition to drilling last month and now support it.

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and Republican Party chairman Katon Dawson have joined an effort to encourage drilling in South Carolina in recent weeks.

The illustration on the issue that hit newsstands Monday, titled “The Politics of Fear” and drawn by Barry Blitt, depicts Barack Obama wearing sandals, robe and a turban and his wife, Michelle, dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder — standing in the Oval Office.

The couple is doing a fist bump in front of a fireplace in which an American flag is burning. Over the mantel hangs a portrait of Osama bin Laden.

“The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton. “But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”

In a statement Monday, the magazine said the cover “combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are.”

1870: Georgia became the last Confederate state readmitted to the Union.

1870: Manitoba entered confederation as the fifth Canadian province.

1918: The Second Battle of the Marne, resulting in an Allied victory, began during World War I.

1958: President Eisenhower ordered U.S. Marines to Lebanon, at the request of that country’s president, Camille Chamoun, in the face of a perceived threat by Muslim rebels.

The city that is Lexington County’s anchor for U.S. 378 is stretching itself to keep pace with the county seat, whose growth has exploded in the past 20 years.

West Columbia sees its future westward, toward Interstate 20, where it eventually will meet the ballooning borders of the town of Lexington — and possibly double in size in the next 15 years.

West Columbia government and business leaders also are capitalizing on the city’s other assets — especially its proximity to downtown Columbia and, therefore, cheaper commutes when gasoline is exceeding $4 a gallon.

“We’re trying to redevelop older parts of the city as well as take advantage of the river,” Mayor Bobby Horton said.

The world’s most famous celebrity couple were joined in emotion during the birth of their twins — a boy and a girl — and all “are doing marvelously well,” the doctor who delivered the babies in a seaside hospital on the French Riviera said Sunday.

The newborns — Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline, born one minute apart Saturday evening — are the ultimate million-dollar babies, with experts estimating their first photos will fetch a fortune.

For now, mother, father and newborns are resting out of the public eye on the fifth floor of the Lenval hospital, behind blue mirrored windows that provide sweeping views of Nice’s sun-drenched beaches.

Jolie’s obstetrician, Dr. Michel Sussmann, said the 44-year-old Pitt was at Jolie’s side during the delivery, looking on as the doctor performed a Caesarean section to deliver Knox, weighing in at slightly over 5 pounds, and Vivienne, who weighed 5 pounds.

It could also be a burden to local law enforcement, Chief Magistrate William Womble said.

The law, which went into effect last month, was discussed for years as a way to keep people from swearing out a warrant against neighbors or loved ones out of vindictiveness.

The new law prevents magistrates from issuing arrest warrants — which put people in jail right away — for misdemeanors when requested directly by individuals, not police.

Instead, in those cases, magistrates and municipal judges now must issue courtesy summonses, similar to traffic tickets.

The attack on the American troops began around 4:30 a.m. and lasted throughout the day. Militants fired machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars from homes and a mosque in the village of Wanat in the mountainous northeastern province of Kunar, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

“Although no final assessment has been made, it is believed insurgents suffered heavy casualties during several hours of fighting,” NATO said in a statement.

U.S. officials say militant attacks in Afghanistan are becoming more complex, intense and better coordinated than a year ago. Monthly death tolls of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan surpassed U.S. military deaths in Iraq in May and June. And last Monday, a suicide bomber attacked the Indian Embassy in Kabul, killing 58 people in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001.

U.S. officials are considering drawing down additional forces from Iraq in coming months, in part because of the need for additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan. U.S. officials have said they need at least three more brigades in Afghanistan — or more than 10,000 troops.

The nation’s economic downturn and record gas prices slowed tourism just enough to deny businesspeople the right to start selling their wares before 1:30 p.m. on the Sabbath, preliminary tax collection figures show.

The shortfall will please residents who want to protect Sunday as a day of worship and family time.

In the world of commerce, the restrictions are mere inconveniences, the Rev. Ben Sloan has said. “But to Christians, it is a matter that goes to their souls.”

State blue laws ban Sunday morning sales except in counties where voters approve it or where accommodations tax collections reach $900,000 in any fiscal year.

The Federal Reserve said it granted the Federal Reserve Bank of New York authority to lend to the two companies “should such lending prove necessary.” If the companies did borrow directly from the Fed, they would pay 2.25 percent — the same rate given to commercial banks and big Wall Street firms.

Secretary Henry Paulson said the Treasury is seeking authority to expand its current line of credit to the two companies should they need to tap it and to make an equity investment in the companies — if needed. Such moves will require congressional approval.

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a central role in our housing finance system and must continue to do so in their current form as shareholder-owner companies,” Paulson said Sunday. “Their support for the housing market is particularly important as we work through the current housing correction.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac either hold or back $5.3 trillion of mortgage debt. That’s about half the outstanding mortgages in the United States.

Chairman Ben Bernanke and his central bank colleagues are expected to approve a plan today that will crack down on dubious lending practices that have hurt many of the riskiest “subprime” borrowers — people with tarnished credit histories or low incomes.

Proposed rules made public in December would:

• Restrict lenders from penalizing risky borrowers who pay off loans early.

• Require lenders to make sure those borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance.