Congress toughens FOIA penalties

Congress passed legislation yesterday to toughen the Freedom of Information Act and increase penalties on agencies that don't comply. The White House would not say whether President Bush will sign the legislation, which unanimously passed the House by voice vote yesterday, a few days after it sailed through the Senate. Without Bush's signature, the bill would become law during the congressional recess that begins next week. (AP)

SAN DIEGO - A teenager whose appendix ruptured at sea, hundreds of miles from help, got safely to shore yesterday after an unusual rescue in which the Navy airlifted her from a cruise ship for emergency surgery. Laura Montero, 14, fell ill aboard the Dawn Princess cruise ship off the coast of Baja California. The Bahamian-registered ship sent out a distress call Friday that was answered by the USS Ronald Reagan, which was on training maneuvers about 500 miles away. The nuclear carrier was the closest ship with a hospital facility, according to a news release from the Navy. It steamed overnight toward the cruise ship, about 250 miles northwest of Cabo San Lucas when the call went out. Montero was loaded into a basket, lifted into a helicopter, and flown back to the Reagan for an appendectomy. (AP)

SACRAMENTO - The first of a series of storms forecast for the state brought much-needed rain to depleted reservoirs this week but raised fears of mudslides in wildfire-scarred Southern California. The downpour is part of a wave of storms expected into the new year. Since July 1, California has received 61 percent of its normal precipitation. Reservoirs were at 83 percent of average for Dec. 1. (AP)