Inquest ordered in WA death after police struggle

SEATTLE (AP) -- The King County executive has ordered an inquest into the September death of an armed West Seattle man after a confrontation with police who used a stun gun on him during a struggle and restrained him.

County Executive Dow Constantine's office said Thursday that Seattle police responding Sept. 6 to a call from Mike Chen found him slumped on the ground with a sword in front of an apartment door. Police say they used a stun gun several times when Chen grabbed the sword and started to sit up. Chen showed no pulse after being handcuffed and restrained so police say they administered CPR. He was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he died several days later.

US seared during hottest year on record by far

WASHINGTON (AP) -- America set an off-the-charts heat record in 2012.

A brutal combination of a widespread drought and a mostly absent winter pushed the average annual U.S. temperature last year up to 55.32 degrees Fahrenheit, the government announced Tuesday. That's a full degree warmer than the old record set in 1998.

Breaking temperature records by an entire degree is unprecedented, scientists say. Normally, records are broken by a tenth of a degree or so.

"It was off the chart," said Deke Arndt, head of climate monitoring at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., which calculated the temperature records.

Obama to tap budget expert Lew to lead Treasury

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will nominate White House chief of staff Jack Lew to be his second-term Secretary of the Treasury, turning to one of Washington's most knowledgeable budget experts to manage prickly fiscal negotiations with Congress and steer the still-shaky national economy.

Lew's nomination, expected Thursday, accelerates the overhaul of Obama's top advisers, with new leaders at the Pentagon, State Department, Central Intelligence Agency and Labor Department. Obama also must replace Lew with a new chief of staff, and that could have a ripple effect through the West Wing's senior ranks.

Vt. Air Guard hopes for jet, but others fear noise

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) -- Plans on where to base the U.S. military's next-generation fighter jet, the F-35, concern people in communities from California to Florida to Maine who worry the aircraft are too loud.

In Vermont, where the Air National Guard has flown planes from Burlington International Airport for more than 60 years, opponents are especially vocal. But in other communities, even some long accustomed to the roar of military aircraft, the noise of the F-35 has been an issue.

South Burlington City Council President Rosanne Greco, a retired Air Force officer, said she favored bringing the F-35 to her community until she read the draft environmental impact statement released last spring.

Colombia firm makes armored clothes for kids

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A Colombian firm that makes bulletproof vests is now creating armored clothing for children.

Factory owner Miguel Caballero said he never thought about making protective clothes for kids until requests came in following the deadly attack on Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut last month.

"After the tragedy in Connecticut, we started getting emails from customers asking for protected (clothing) because they were afraid to take their kids to school," Caballero said.