The world at a glance . . . United States

Seattle

Cop killer is killed: A career criminal suspected of having shot and killed four police officers this week was himself shot to death by a police officer following a massive, two-day manhunt. Maurice Clemmons, 37, allegedly gunned down four uniformed officers execution-style in a coffee shop near Tacoma, Wash. Authorities said a Seattle officer recognized Clemmons and shot him repeatedly when he refused to stop walking and show his hands. Clemmons had been released from jail last week, pending charges of second-degree child rape. In 2000, his prison sentence in Arkansas was commuted by then–Gov. Mike Huckabee, after Clemmons had served 11 years on robbery and burglary charges. “If I could have known nine years ago this guy was capable of something of this magnitude,” said Huckabee, who is believed to be considering another run for the GOP presidential nomination, “obviously I would never have granted a commutation.”

Spanish Fork, Utah

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Cave tragedy: A cave in which a 26-year-old man died last week after becoming trapped will be sealed permanently, with the victim’s body still inside. John Jones, a University of Virginia medical student, became wedged head-first in a vertical shaft about 18 inches wide in the 1,500-foot-long Nutty Putty cave, south of Salt Lake City; despite intensive rescue efforts, he died 100 feet below the surface after about 28 hours. Jones was married, with a 13-month-old daughter and another child due in June. He was the cave’s first known fatality, though rescuers have been called at least five times in the past decade.

Chicago

Giant fish kill: Illinois wildlife officials are poisoning a six-mile stretch of a major shipping canal to keep a voracious fish from invading the Great Lakes via Lake Michigan. Authorities are targeting the Asian carp, which can weigh up to 100 pounds and whose appetite threatens the food supply of several native species. Carp, which were introduced to the U.S in 1963 to control aquatic weeds, are normally kept out of the lakes by an electric barrier. While engineers perform maintenance work on the barrier, authorities hope to keep them at bay with the toxin rotenone. The poisoning is set to last five days at a cost of $2 million and is expected to kill 100 tons of fish.

Baytown, Texas

Convict escapes: A convict serving a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault and two stabbings escaped from two guards, despite being confined to a wheelchair that he had said he needed for mobility. Arcade Comeaux, 49, was being transferred from a Huntsville prison while shackled to the wheelchair when he pulled out a gun and ordered his guards to pull over and release him. After handcuffing them together, Comeaux escaped on foot in one of their uniforms. “Supposedly, he was paralyzed on his left-hand side,” said a police spokesman. “He had been in a wheelchair for something better than a decade. Certainly, that’s something we’re gonna look at.”

Washington, D.C.

Reform and premiums: The Democratic health-care reform bill now being debated in the Senate got a boost this week when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that most Americans’ insurance premiums would stay the same or drop slightly under the plan. Republican critics have been arguing that the

$848 billion proposal would increase the average family’s coverage by thousands of dollars. The budget office acknowledged that the legislation would lead to greater costs for the self-employed and others who buy their coverage directly from insurers. But it also said that federal subsidies would reduce insurance payments by an average of almost 60 percent for low- and middle-income households. Senate debate over the bill is expected to last several weeks, making a final vote before the holiday recess uncertain.

Atlanta

Tight race: A runoff election that could yield Atlanta’s first white mayor in 36 years was too close to call this week and appeared to be headed toward a recount. Democratic former state Sen. Kasim Reed, an African-American, led his white opponent, city Councilwoman Mary Norwood, an independent, by just 758 votes out of more than 83,000 cast, or a margin of 0.92 percent. Under Georgia law, a candidate who loses by less than 1 percent of votes cast may call for a recount, and Norwood is expected to take that step. The fiercely contested runoff drew almost 11,000 more voters than the general election on Nov. 3, which ended without any of the candidates capturing the requisite majority.