In the Nation

PHOENIX - An anonymous benefactor has purchased and wants to preserve a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home that had been threatened with demolition, a real estate broker, city officials, and a preservationist group said Thursday in separate announcements.

Wright designed the 1950s home for his son and daughter-in-law. It was twice sold in recent years, and preservationists objected last summer when they learned a development company planned to demolish the home in order to split the property.

The Chicago-based Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy said the new buyer wants to remain anonymous. The property was purchased through a corporation that will transfer it to a not-for-profit organization, which will restore, maintain, and operate the home for educational purposes, the conservancy said.

Robert Joffe, a broker who marketed the property, said the home sold for $2,379,000. - AP

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Attorney General's Office sent out $6 million in checks Thursday to 59 victims of last year's deadly Indiana State Fair stage collapse. The payments bring to $11 million the amount the state has paid to victims of the collapse. It had already paid $5 million, the limit for tort claims under Indiana law. The supplemental payments were approved this year by the General Assembly.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller said the second round of checks would take care of medical expenses for victims whose injuries were not permanent. The state is also covering medical expenses for those who were paralyzed or who require ongoing care, said Paul Mullin, special deputy attorney general. - AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A federal judge upheld Ohio's new restrictions on exotic animals Thursday after several owners sued the state over the law, which was enacted after a man released dozens of his wild creatures last year and then committed suicide.

U.S. District Judge George Smith sided with the state, saying the court recognizes some businesses may be negatively affected and some owners may not be able to keep their beloved animals, but the owners failed to prove constitutional rights were violated.

The owners who sued plan to appeal, said their attorney, Robert Owens. They said the regulations force them to possibly give up their animals without compensation. - AP

A meat company

that wants to resume domestic horse slaughter for food is suing the federal government, alleging that inaction on its application was driven by emotional political debates and has cost it hundreds of thousands of dollars. Valley Meat Co. of New Mexico is seeking to force the Department of Agriculture to resume inspections necessary to open what would be the nation's first new horse slaughterhouse in more than five years.