In the Nation

TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas has suspended income-tax refunds and might not be able to pay employees on time, the state's budget director said yesterday.

The state lacks enough money in its main budget account to pay its bills, prompting Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to suggest transferring $225 million from other accounts throughout state government. But the move required approval from legislative leaders, and Republican leaders refused yesterday.

Budget Director Duane Goossen said that without the money, he was not sure the state could meet its payroll. About 42,000 state employees are scheduled to be paid again Friday.

Sebelius accused Republicans, who hold majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, of blocking the accounting maneuver to "play political games." - AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California lawmakers were trying again yesterday to approve a $42 billion budget-balancing plan that state leaders say is needed to stave off fiscal calamity, but appeared to be one vote short of passage.

The state Senate and Assembly reconvened after a marathon weekend session that produced no deal on the most contentious part of the plan - $14.4 billion in higher taxes.

Lawmakers have been trying to pass a combination of spending cuts, tax hikes and additional borrowing negotiated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and party leaders. The Republican governor and leaders from both parties warn that California faces insolvency unless the Legislature enacts a midyear budget fix.

State workers have been furloughed, 2,000 public-works projects are on hold, and tax refunds and payments to vendors have been delayed. The state controller says the state will run out of cash at the end of the month if lawmakers do not act. - AP

DALLAS - A fireball that streaked across the sky and alarmed numerous Texas residents was most likely just a big meteor and not wreckage from two satellites that collided, experts said yesterday.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Roland Herwig said the fireball seen across a wide stretch of the state Sunday probably was a natural phenomenon and not debris from last week's collision.

The Williamson County sheriff's office in central Texas said it received so many emergency calls about the light in the sky that it sent deputies out in a helicopter to look for a plane crash. - AP

A 175-pound chimpanzee kept as a pet was shot and killed by a police officer yesterday in Stamford, Conn., after it attacked a woman visiting its owners' home, leaving her with serious facial injuries, authorities said. The chimpanzee's owner and two officers also were hurt, though the extent of their injuries was not immediately known. The chimpanzee was well-known around Stamford.