NATION IN BRIEF: Teen survives compacting

Police in Milwaukee on Wednesday said a teenage boy survived after being accidentally dumped into the back of a recycling truck and compacted. Police said the 14-year-old ran away from a boot camp-style school for teens Monday and hid in a recycling bin filled with cardboard. The bin was picked up by a Waste Management truck and dumped into the vehicle’s rear compactor. A spokeswoman said the truck continued on its collection route, compacting cardboard several times. The boy was discovered semiconscious when the truck dumped its load at a recycling center, but police said his injuries weren’t life-threatening.

Jogger runs for aid as fox hangs on

An Arizona jogger attacked by a rabid fox ran a mile with the animal’s jaws clamped on her arm and then drove herself to a hospital. The Yavapai County sheriff’s office said the woman told deputies she was on a trail near Prescott on Monday when the fox attacked and bit her foot. She said she grabbed the fox by the neck when it went for her leg but it bit her arm. The woman wanted the animal tested for rabies so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off and tossed it into her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital. The sheriff’s office says the fox later bit an animal-control officer. He and the woman are both receiving rabies shots.

Religious plates sold despite suit

South Carolina has begun taking online orders for Christian-themed license plates that are the subject of a lawsuit by a group that tries to keep religion out of government. The new plates depict a stained-glass window with a cross on the left and the words “I Believe” across the top. The Department of Motor Vehicles said it will begin making the plates only if it gets at least 400 prepaid applications. If not, those who did send in money will get refunds. Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued state officials on behalf of two Christian pastors, a humanist pastor and a rabbi, along with the Hindu American Foundation.

Bloomberg to cut tax breaks, jobs

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he will eliminate two popular pieces of property tax relief because the city’s economy is in distress and can no longer afford it. One of them is a $400 property tax rebate, which he said just six weeks ago he would retain. The other is a temporary 7 percent property tax break put into place last year. Bloomberg also is cutting hundreds of jobs, raising fees and fines, cutting library hours, closing dental health clinics that serve poor children and reducing nighttime staffing at five firehouses.

Zoo euthanizes rare salamander

The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., euthanized a rare Japanese giant salamander this week that had liver disease and a skin infection, officials said. The salamander, a female, had been in declining health. It was the only one at the zoo and had been on exhibit at the Asia Trail. Only six other zoos in the United States exhibit the species. The National Zoo got the salamander two years ago from Cincinnati’s zoo, where it had been for 20 years, but officials said they did not know its age.