Nation roundup for June 19

Colo. wildfire is
50% contained

LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — Firefighters faced dangerous conditions across much of the Rocky Mountain region Monday, as they toiled in hot, dry weather to battle a wildfire that has charred nearly 92 square miles in northern Colorado.

Authorities said they determined eight more homes have burned in the fire near Fort Collins. The blaze started June 9 and now has destroyed at least 189 homes — the most in the state’s history. The fire is 50 percent contained.

The wind was relatively calm Monday, despite forecasts of gusts of up to 50 mph, fire information officer Brett Haberstick said. Temperatures, however, were in the mid-90s, and the relative humidity was extremely low at 3 to 5 percent, he said.

Other wildfires were burning in warm, arid weather from Wyoming to Arizona to Southern California, where a blaze that prompted the evacuation of at least 150 homes was 30 percent contained Monday. Fire officials warned that the 907-acre fire in eastern San Diego County still threatens 200 houses, sheds and other buildings. The fire has destroyed at least one home.

Man saved after whale hits boat

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Northern California man was rescued after his 50-foot boat was struck by a whale while he sailed alone about 40 miles off the western coast of Mexico, authorities said.

The impact from the collision knocked out the sailboat’s steering and the vessel began taking on water late Tuesday, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Pamela Boehland said.

Max Young of Sacramento stuffed a mattress into the hole caused by the whale, turned on four bilge pumps and was “trying to bail out water as fast as he could, because he didn’t know how long it would take to be rescued,” his wife, Debra Young, said.

He also activated an emergency beacon, which alerted the Coast Guard in Alameda, Calif.

With that information, officials at the command center were able to immediately direct a merchant ship, which was about 60 miles away, to the sinking craft.

Stomach surgery,
booze abuse linked

CHICAGO (AP) — The most common type of obesity surgery may increase patients’ chances for alcohol abuse, according to the largest study to demonstrate a potential link.

Patients who had gastric bypass surgery faced double the risk for excessive drinking, compared with those who had a less drastic weight-loss operation.

Gastric bypass surgery shrinks the stomach’s size and attaches it to a lower portion of the intestine. That limits food intake and the body’s ability to absorb calories. Researchers believe it also changes how the body digests and metabolizes alcohol; some people who’ve had the surgery say they feel alcohol’s effects much more quickly.

after drinking less, than before the operation. The study suggests that may lead to problem drinking.

The researchers asked nearly 2,000 women and men who had various kinds of obesity surgery at 10 centers nationwide about their drinking habits one year before their operations, versus one and two years afterward. Most didn’t drink excessively before or after surgery, and increases in drinking didn’t occur until two years post-surgery.

More than two-thirds had gastric bypass surgery and were most at risk. Two years after the surgery, almost 11 percent, or 103 of 996 bypass patients, had drinking problems, a 50 percent increase from before surgery.

By contrast, about 5 percent of patients who had stomach-banding obesity surgery drank excessively two years later, similar to the pre-surgery numbers. Too few patients had other types of weight-loss surgery to make strong comparisons.

The study was released online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

About 8 percent of U.S. adults abuse alcohol by drinking excessively. The study authors say their results suggest that an additional 2,000 people each year will develop drinking problems because of obesity surgery.

More than 200,000 stomach-reducing surgeries are performed each year. Gastric bypass, also called stomach-stapling, is the most common and generally results in more weight loss than other methods. The benefits of gastric bypass surgery include sometimes reducing diabetes and heart disease risks.

Patients should be screened for alcohol problems before and after surgery and told about the risks, said lead author Wendy King, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s graduate school of public health.

Dr. Robin Blackstone, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, said the results echo findings in smaller studies and clearly show an alcohol-related risk from gastric bypass surgery.

“We in the medical community are going to take that seriously,” said Blackstone, an obesity surgeon in Scottsdale, Ariz. The findings are being presented at the medical group’s meeting in San Diego this week.

She noted that obese people are often socially isolated because of their weight, and that drinking often increases when patients have slimmed down and pursue a more active social life. Blackstone said she and many other doctors routinely warn patients that they may be more sensitive to alcohol, and that the study reinforces that advice.

Patients seeking obesity surgery often undergo psychological evaluations to make sure they are stable enough to handle the operation and life changes afterward. Guidelines recommend against the surgery for people with substance abuse problems including excessive drinking, said psychologist Leslie Heinberg, director of behavioral services for Cleveland Clinic’s bariatric and metabolic institute.

Study results were based on patients’ responses on questionnaires about alcohol use.

Problems included frequently having at least three drinks or at least six drinks on one occasion; needing to drink in the morning; and forgetting events because of alcohol use.

Two years after surgery, these problems were more common in gastric bypass patients, and in men, young adults and smokers after either type of surgery.

Stomach banding involves surgically putting an adjustable band around the stomach to decrease the amount of food it can hold. It is reversible but less common than gastric bypass in the United States.

Obama pick for Iraq envoy withdraws nomination

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration’s pick to be the next ambassador to Iraq withdrew from consideration Monday as Senate Republicans suggested his confirmation was endangered because of his behavior and judgment while working at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in 2008.

Brett McGurk’s nomination, which was scheduled for a vote Tuesday by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, became endangered after the release on the Internet of sometimes racy emails he sent to journalist Gina Chon while he was married and was negotiating a security agreement with the Iraqi government during President George W. Bush’s administration.

The emails indicated McGurk had an intimate relationship with Chon. McGurk has since married Chon, who resigned from The Wall Street Journal last week after acknowledging that she violated in-house rules by showing McGurk unpublished stories.

In a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, McGurk said he was removing himself from consideration for the job with a “heavy heart.” He said he was doing so after consulting Chon because he believed it was in the “best interests of the country, and of our life together, to withdraw my nomination and serve in another capacity.”

McGurk said that Iraq badly needs a U.S. ambassador to succeed outgoing envoy James Jeffrey, but that the furor over the emails was a distraction that would delay the replacement. “The country is in the midst of a political crisis and our mission is undergoing rapid transformation,” he said.

The controversy over the emails and the effect it had on Chon was a major part in his decision to withdraw, McGurk said.

“The most difficult part of this process, however, was watching my wife become a part of it,” he said. “She is the most precious thing in the world to me, and the depiction of our relationship has been both surreal and devastating.”

In a separate letter to friends and supporters, he wrote: “This is one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made.”

When six Republican members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee asked Obama last week to withdraw McGurk’s nomination, they cited the emails. They also complained that McGurk had failed to defend American interests in Iraq during the security agreement negotiations

Some of the emails contain crude sexual references, and the senators said his use of an official State Department email account for the exchanges raised questions. There were also questions about whether McGurk had given Chon sensitive information about the negotiations.

“The public release of information detailing unprofessional conduct demonstrates poor judgment and will affect the nominee’s credibility in the country where he has been nominated to serve,” the senators said.

The senators could have scuttled McGurk’s nomination entirely or held it up for weeks, even months.

The administration — as well as Jeffrey, the current ambassador to Iraq, and his two predecessors in Baghdad — had staunchly defended McGurk as the right person for the job given his extensive experience in Iraq and knowledge of the situation and political players. It also said he had been thoroughly vetted for the job.

The White House said Monday it appreciated McGurk’s years of service to the country and was disappointed by his decision to withdraw.

“He has proven himself to be a skilled diplomat willing to take on some of the toughest challenges at the toughest times in a difficult region,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said. “While we regret to see Brett withdraw his candidacy there is no doubt that he will be called on again to serve the country.”

Once a Supreme Court law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, McGurk worked as a lawyer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. He joined Bush’s National Security Council staff, where in 2007 and 2008, when the emails were written, he was the lead U.S. negotiator on security agreements with Iraq.

After a brief stint outside government with the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank, he returned to Baghdad last year as a senior adviser to the U.S. Embassy.