National news capsules

Man who killed reporter in '76 dies

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The man convicted in the 1976 car-bomb slaying of an Arizona Republic reporter has died in prison, authorities said Tuesday.

Max Dunlap, 81, was serving a life sentence for the killing of Don Bolles.

Arizona Department of Corrections officials said Dunlap was found unresponsive Tuesday morning at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson. Prison staff performed CPR before declaring Dunlap dead of what appeared to be natural causes.

In 1993, Dunlap was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder for arranging Bolles' killing. Bolles' car exploded as he backed out of a parking lot at a Phoenix hotel where he had gone to meet a tipster. He died of his injuries 11 days later.

Suspect IDs leader in Florida slayings

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — One man planned a Florida home invasion and fatally shot a couple who had several adopted special needs children, one of eight suspects in the case told investigators.

According to court documents released Tuesday, Fredrick Thornton, 19, said martial arts instructor Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 35, organized the July 9 attack and killed Byrd Billings, 66, and Melanie Billings, 43. Gonzalez proclaimed his innocence in a statement he read at a court hearing after his arrest.

Thornton, who is one of seven people charged with murder, made the comments during a recorded interrogation in jail.

Cal State raises student fees 20%

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The California State University system raised student fees Tuesday by 20 percent as part of a budget plan that would also shrink enrollment and furlough nearly all employees for two days a month.

The Board of Trustees voted 17-1 to raise undergraduate fees by $672 a year to $4,827 in the nation's largest four-year university system, which has about 450,000 students.

The fee increase, which follows a 10 percent hike approved in May, is part of the university's plan to close a $584 million budget shortfall caused by an unprecedented drop in state funding to the 23-campus system.

Pesticides endanger mountain frogs