News briefs

Mobile home blaze kills 2 adults, 3 kids

MARION JUNCTION, Ala. (AP) — Authorities are saying five people, including three children, have been killed in a mobile home fire in central Alabama.

Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman tells The Selma Times-Journal that it appears the fire early Saturday was an accident. The fire occurred in Marion Junction, which is about 60 miles west of Montgomery.

Huffman says the bodies of a man, woman and three children, ages 3, 6 and 7, were sent to the state forensics lab. Huffman says a neighbor noticed the fire and called 911 shortly after midnight. Volunteer firefighters and deputies responded.

E-mail compares first lady to chimp

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The CEO of Tennessee's hospitality association is apologizing for sending an e-mail to a group of public figures that compares first lady Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee.

The Tennessean of Nashville reports that Tennessee Hospitality Association CEO Walt Baker's e-mail compares the first lady to Tarzan sidekick Cheeta. At the bottom of the e-mail is a photo of Obama, caught in an awkward moment with her lips pursed, and one of a chimpanzee wearing a similar expression.

Baker apologized in an e-mail to Nashville Metro Council members Saturday saying the message was not intended to be malicious but meant as "political humor." Also Saturday, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau said it would drop its contract with Baker's marketing firm.

Historic metal forge destroyed by fire

GROVE CITY, Pa. (AP) — A historic metal forge that made ashtrays for the ill-fated German airship the Hindenburg and did custom work for Walt Disney has been destroyed by a fire.

Saturday's fire at the Wendell August Forge workshop and gift shop is believed to have started in the workshop, where lacquer was sprayed on bronze pieces such as awards and trophies, spokeswoman Danielle Elderkin said. All employees and customers escaped unharmed.

The Wendell August Forge had been in business in Grove City, in the heart of scenic western Pennsylvania, since 1932. Its building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Police said the cause of the forge fire hadn't been determined.

3 deaths blamed on custody dispute

DARIEN, Ill. (AP) — Prosecutors say a suburban Chicago man encouraged a friend to kill the mother of his son and her family over a custody dispute.

Twenty-eight-year-old Johnny Borizov and 23-year-old Jacob Nodarse are charged in the shooting deaths of three members of the Kramer family at their home in Darien.