Security criticized after mansion fire

June 20, 2008

AUSTIN - The lone state trooper guarding the Texas governor's mansion the night an arsonist torched it was ill-equipped to properly guard the grounds and should have had help, an official said yesterday. He told a commission that oversees the department that the trooper on duty when the fire broke out early June 8 wasn't adequately trained to monitor the security system, which wasn't working properly. Surveillance video shows someone igniting an object and throwing it onto the porch of the 152-year-old mansion. The official said the trooper, who was on his second shift of the day, was turned away from the security console and working on a computer. (AP)

RALEIGH - Officials battling a massive wildfire in eastern North Carolina say it could be months before they get the rainfall needed to extinguish the blaze. Fire command center spokesman Dean McAlister said yesterday forecasters aren't predicting more than 2 inches of rain in and around the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge for either June or July. But he said a hurricane or tropical storm could change that. The fire has burned roughly 64 square miles in the sparsely populated area of three counties. It remains 70 percent contained. (AP)

COLUMBIA - A group that advocates separation of church and state filed a federal lawsuit yesterday to prevent South Carolina from becoming the first state to create "I Believe" license plates. The group contends that South Carolina's government is endorsing Christianity by allowing the plates, which would include a cross superimposed on a stained glass window. Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed the lawsuit on behalf of two Christian pastors, a humanist pastor, and a rabbi, along with the Hindu American Foundation. The bill sailed through the Legislature with little discussion. Governor Mark Sanford let it become law without his signature because the state already allows groups to create license plates for any cause. (AP)