Michigan put thousands of lower-income children at risk by authorizing sex offenders and other criminals to provide day care over a period of more than two years, according to a state audit released Tuesday. The Department of Human Services licensed, registered or enrolled about 1,900 "unsuitable" day care providers, including child abusers and 31 people listed on the public sex offender registry, said Auditor General Thomas McTavish. About 4,600 children were potentially at risk between October 2003 and March 2006, according to the audit. More than 400 unsuitable providers were previous perpetrators of child abuse or neglect, and 28 had committed crimes such as murder and rape. A vast majority of the providers were relatives of the children or aides caring for them in the children's own homes, not licensed homes or facilities.

Plane makes emergency landing

A Continental Airlines flight carrying former presidential candidate Ron Paul and six other members of Congress to Washington, D.C., made an emergency landing in New Orleans after a loss in cabin pressure. The seven congressmen, all from Texas, were trying to get back in time for a Tuesday night vote on an aviation safety bill when the flight landed without incident, a spokesman for one of the representatives said. No injuries were reported among the 128 crew and passengers. The emergency landing was the third time in two days a plane was diverted over cabin pressure issues.

Railroad will pay millions for wildfire

Union Pacific Railroad Co. has agreed to pay $102 million to the U.S. Forest Service for a 2000 wildfire north of Sacramento, Calif., in a landmark settlement that dramatically increases the stakes in punishing those responsible for setting forest fires. The settlement marks the most money the Forest Service has received in a lawsuit and was undergirded by a first-of-its-kind ruling by a federal judge, officials said. U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. said Union Pacific was not only responsible for the cost of firefighting and lost timber but also for damage to young growth, soil, wildlife, habitat, recreation use and views.

More troubles for texting mayor

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is now charged with exchanging romantic text messages with additional women in the scandal that has him fighting allegations that he lied under oath about an intimate relationship with his former chief of staff. An investigator's report says the Wayne County, Mich., prosecutor's office has determined that Kilpatrick, 38, sent and received text messages with "intimate or romantic content" to several women who were not his wife or former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty. The report says the office was able to locate and identify the women, but it does not list their names. The allegations led the prosecutor's office to amend current charges against the mayor.

Air Force nominees vow to restore trust

The two men nominated to replace the ousted Air Force leadership said at a Senate confirmation hearing that they will work to restore trust and confidence in the beleaguered service, under fire for poor handling of its nuclear duties and other missteps. Michael Donley, the nominee for secretary of the Air Force, and Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, nominated for Air Force chief of staff, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Man talked down from Senate ledge

A New York man climbed onto a 7th-floor ledge overlooking the atrium of a Senate building in Washington, D.C., and held police negotiators at bay for more than eight hours before agreeing to climb down to safety, U.S. Capitol Police said. Yuan Fang, 66, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct about 2 a.m. Tuesday, after he left the ledge of the Hart Senate Office Building, a Capitol Police spokeswoman said.