In the Nation

ELDORADO, Texas - Ambulances were being sent last night to a polygamist compound in West Texas as authorities prepared "for the worst" in a conflict with members of the compound. Prosecutor Allison Palmer said sect leaders refused to let authorities search a temple for a 16-year-old member who reported being physically abused.

Palmer told the San Angelo Standard-Times that medical workers were being sent "in case this were to go in a way that no one wants." She said that law enforcers were "preparing for the worst."

A search warrant authorized troopers to enter the retreat run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Child welfare officials said they removed nearly 200 women and children from the religious retreat built by polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints broke away from the Mormon church after the latter disavowed polygamy more than a century ago.

- AP

CHICAGO - The flood season in the nation's midsection started early this year, and there's no letup in sight, spurring federal, state and local officials to brace for what looks likely to be an unusually watery spring.

At least 16 deaths were linked to heavy flooding across Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and other states in March; another was tied to flooding Friday in Kentucky. Last week, snows that could set off more flooding blanketed parts of the Midwest. National Weather Service hydrologist Noreen Schwein said the recent flooding had been caused by large frontal low-pressure systems, more common in fall and winter, that linger over a region for long periods.

State and local agencies and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been ramping up their readiness efforts: stocking up sandbags and other emergency supplies; inspecting levees for groundhog holes and errant trees that can take root and weaken them; and holding regular multiagency meetings.

- Washington Post

SALT LAKE CITY - Faithful Mormons stood by the thousands with upraised hands yesterday, officially installing their first new leader in 13 years.

Thomas S. Monson took over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February after the death of 97-year-old Gordon B. Hinckley, but the faith traditionally calls for a sustaining vote by members in a ceremony known as the solemn assembly.

Each church organization took its turn - from its top leaders down to youth groups - standing when called to cast votes in the packed conference center, which holds 21,000 people. Monson, 80, is the youngest church president since 1973 and the 16th president of the American-born denomination, which claims 13 million members worldwide. Mormons last held an assembly in April 1995, when Hinckley was named president.

- AP