In the Nation

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of visitors streamed into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as it opened yesterday for the first time since a guard was killed Wednesday by a man authorities identified as a rifle-toting 88-year-old white supremacist.

Few signs of the shooting remained outside. The crime-scene tape was gone, and the bullet-scarred front doors had been replaced. Officials said the crowds seemed to be about the same size as usual this time of year. Many visitors said they were determined not to let the shooting keep them away.

"To say that we can't do this because of this event is that man winning," said Liz Johnson, leading 12 Girl Scouts from Dallas. "We're not going to let him win." - AP

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Justice Department has moved to dismiss the first gay-marriage case filed in federal court, saying it is not the right venue to tackle legal questions raised by a couple already married in California.

The motion, filed late Thursday, argued that the case of Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer did not address the right of gay couples to marry. It questions whether their marriage must be recognized by states that have not approved gay marriage.

In a separate filing, the California attorney general moved Thursday to dismiss the state lawsuit by the same couple, saying their marriage was unaffected by Proposition 8, the voter-approved gay marriage ban. - AP

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who has struggled with depression, alcoholism, and addiction for much of his life, said yesterday that he has checked into a medical facility.

The Rhode Island Democrat, who sought treatment three years ago after an early-morning car crash near the U.S. Capitol, said in a statement that his recovery is a "lifelong process" and that he will do whatever it takes to preserve his health.

Kennedy, the son of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D., Mass.), did not say what he was being treated for, or where.
- AP

A 390-pound gorilla

grabbed some low-hanging bamboo to scale a wall at the Columbia, S.C., zoo yesterday, escaping his enclosure and tackling a worker, causing minor injuries, before returning to his pen about five minutes later.

Nearly 5,000 new swine flu cases have been confirmed in the last week, due partly to its spread in the Northeast, bringing the total to nearly 18,000 cases and 45 deaths, the government said yesterday.