Drain accident victim dies at age 6

MINNEAPOLIS - A girl, 6, whose intestines were partially sucked out by a swimming pool drain, leading to tougher safety legislation, has died, her family's attorney said yesterday. Abigail Taylor's parents were with her when she died Thursday at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where she had surgery to receive a new small bowel, liver, and pancreas several months after she was injured. Her parents lobbied for tougher regulations to help prevent similar injuries, and in December, Congress approved legislation to ban the manufacture, sale, or distribution of drain covers that don't meet anti-entrapment safety standards. (AP)

WEST PALM BEACH - A boater killed when a ray jumped out of the water in the Florida Keys and hit her face died of skull fractures and brain injuries, not from the animal's poisonous barb, a medical examiner said yesterday. Judy Kay Zagorski, 57, of Pigeon, Mich., was in the front of a boat going 25 miles per hour on Thursday when a 75-pound spotted eagle ray leapt from the water and hit her in a freak collision. The medical examiner, Dr. Michael Hunter, determined that the cause of death was "blunt force" head injury. (AP)

JACKSON - The last defendant in the bribery case that brought down powerful plaintiffs' attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs - his son - pleaded guilty yesterday in a deal with federal prosecutors that could keep him out of prison. Zach Scruggs pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, which means he had knowledge of a felony but didn't report it. (AP)

NEW YORK - A federal immigration official who was recorded demanding sex from a young Colombian woman in exchange for a green card was arrested on corruption charges, prosecutors said yesterday. The woman, who is married to an American citizen, said she gave in to one demand for oral sex because she was afraid, but she also used a hidden mobile phone to record the encounter. She told The New York Times her story and called the district attorney's office. "I want sex," he said on the recording, the Times said. "One or two times. That's all. You get your green card. You won't have to see me anymore." (AP)

The explosion of a star halfway across the universe was so huge it set a record for the most distant object that could be seen on Earth by the naked eye. The aging star, in a previously unknown galaxy, exploded in a gamma ray burst 7.5 billion light years away, its light reaching Earth early Wednesday. (AP)