Key legislator to back Kennedy

Albany, N.Y.

Despite early reservations, New York state's most powerful legislative leader said he'll support Caroline Kennedy for the U.S. Senate if the governor names her to the seat expected to be vacated by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told the New York Post he's rethinking his views on Kennedy because he thinks Gov. David Paterson will soon pick her to replace Clinton, President-elect Obama's choice as secretary of state.

Flagstaff, Ariz.

No therapist for suspected killer, 9

A judge has denied a defense motion to appoint a therapist for a 9-year-old boy accused of killing his father and another man, saying defense attorneys did not adequately address his concerns.

The boy's lawyer, Benjamin Brewer, has said the boy was having trouble sleeping in juvenile detention and would like someone to talk to for emotional support, stress management and healing.

The boy, who turned 9 Monday, faces two counts of premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 shooting deaths of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, in the eastern Arizona town of St. Johns.

Among other things, the judge questioned the $100 an hour the defense sought to pay the therapist.

Salt Lake City

Payments ordered to dead miner's kin

A coal company and an insurer have been ordered to pay full benefits to the family of one of the six miners killed in the 2007 collapse of the Crandall Canyon Mine.

An administrative judge for the Utah Labor Commission ordered Genwal Resources and Rockwood Casualty Insurance to pay $565 a week for 312 weeks from the date of the cave-in to the family of Juan Carlos Payan, the Deseret News reported Thursday. That's a total of more than $176,000.

In addition to the six miners killed on Aug. 6, 2007, three more people died in a later collapse during a failed rescue attempt. The mine was closed and the miners' bodies were never recovered.

The companies are considering an appeal.

Dayton, Ohio

Speeding car slams fence, pole; 5 die

A car estimated to be going 54 mph over the speed limit struck railroad tracks on a street near downtown, went airborne and crashed early New Year's Day, killing all five people inside, Dayton police said.

Police Lt. Larry Faulkner said the 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix was damaged so extensively by slamming into a fire hydrant, a utility pole and a fence that it "essentially disintegrated."

The five victims, including an 11-month-old boy, were pronounced dead at the scene.

The carload had been returning from at least one New Year's Eve party, said police, who suspected alcohol was a factor in the crash.

ALSO: Two passengers died late Thursday when an airplane crashed at Joliet (Ill.) Regional Airport, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Seattle Times news services