Actress finds body floating in Potomac

Lynda Carter, who portrayed Wonder Woman in the 1970s television series, found a body floating in the Potomac River this week while she was rowing.

In an interview, Carter, 56, said she was alone in the boat when she saw the body. She said she did not have a cellphone so she yelled to some fishermen to call police. She waited until rescue boats arrived and directed them to the body. "I didn't do anything special," Carter said. "I did what anybody would have done."

Police identified the dead woman Friday as Helen Johnstone, 47. Authorities suspect suicide, one source said. Johnstone's family owns a well-known sailboat manufacturer, J/Boats, in Rhode Island.

New York

Crane inspector charged with bribery

New York's acting chief crane inspector signed off on inspections he didn't perform and helped crane operators cheat on licensing exams in exchange for thousands of dollars in bribes, but his actions do not appear to be connected to two recent fatal crane collapses, authorities said Friday.

James Delayo, 60, acting chief inspector with the Department of Buildings' cranes and derricks division, was released without bail after he was arraigned Friday. He is charged with bribe receiving, tampering with public records, falsifying business records, filing a false instrument and receiving unlawful gratuities. He entered no plea.

Delayo accepted thousands of dollars in bribes over several years from a Long Island crane company, Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said. The company was not identified.

Delayo's actions apparently had no connection to two crane collapses this year that left nine people dead, Hearn said. Delayo, who has worked for the Buildings Department since 1982, earns $74,224 a year. A department spokesman said he would be suspended without pay.

Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Attic installed on new space lab

The space station's huge new Japanese lab got bigger Friday when the astronauts attached an attic to it for extra storage.

The attic — a 14-foot shed, or closet, for spare tools and equipment — was popped atop the 37-foot Kibo science laboratory by astronauts operating the international space station's robot arm.

Shuttle Discovery's commander, Mark Kelly, said Friday that the billion-dollar, bus-size Kibo may not smell like a new car, but "it has a new car feel to it."

Today, astronauts will test drive the lab's 33-foot robot arm, which will be used once the Japanese research platform, or porch, arrives next spring.

Emmaville, Minn.

Storms again pound Midwest; twister hits

Storms smashed houses, deluged neighborhoods, toppled trees and left thousands without power across the Midwest on Friday in the latest round of fierce weather. No injuries were reported.

A tornado raked a half-mile-wide path of destruction in northwest Minnesota, where a house overlooking Pickerel Lake near Emmaville was destroyed, its contents spilling down a hill.

In Illinois, the Chicago Department of Aviation said high winds and storms caused delays and cancellations Friday night at O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport.

Washington

Senate ends debate on climate bill

Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a vote on legislation that would cut greenhouse-gas emissions, but the bill's supporters said they'd keep working to prepare a stronger version for the next president.

The Senate voted 48-36 on a motion to end a GOP filibuster, or prolonged debate, on the Climate Security Act. Sixty votes are needed to end a filibuster. President Bush had threatened to veto it, and Republican opponents had complained it would raise gasoline prices and increase taxes.

Among other things, the bill called for a reduction in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 70 percent by 2050.

Also

Fine: Eastern Michigan University has agreed to pay $350,000 in fines for covering up the rape and killing of a student, Laura Dickinson, in her dorm room by telling reporters and her parents there were no signs of foul play. The university earlier paid Dickinson's family $2.5 million.

Peterson case: Scott Peterson will be heading to trial again for the 2002 death of his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, this time in civil court. Laci Peterson's parents have filed a multimillion-dollar, wrongful-death lawsuit against him.

Seattle Times news services