NATION IN BRIEF

· NEEDLES, Calif. -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. apologized for desecrating the sacred site of an American Indian tribe where it built a $15 million water-treatment plant, which the company pledged to remove as soon as another can be built. Topock Maze, near Needles, is claimed by the 1,100-member Fort Mojave tribe as part of its heritage.

· YAKIMA, Wash. -- The cleanup at Mount Rainier National Park will take weeks after nearly 18 inches of rain fell in 36 hours. The deluge forced park officials to close the gates for the first time in 26 years. Montana's Glacier National Park received close to a foot of rain, causing widespread flooding and damaging the popular Going-to-the-Sun Road.

· LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop the city of Las Cruces from using three Christian crosses on its logo. Three plaintiffs had contended the city government's use of crosses -- three overlapping crosses in the center of a sun -- violated the First Amendment by endorsing and advancing a religion. Las Cruces means "the crosses" in Spanish, and U.S. District Judge Robert C. Brack said the city's use could be considered secular.

· NEW YORK -- Vandals beheaded a statue of George Washington at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, leaving a dollar bill on what was left of the neck, police said. The statue is part of a church collection of historical figures spanning 2,000 years.

· HOUSTON -- Texas has awarded more than $450,000 to a man who was exonerated by DNA evidence after spending 18 years in prison after a sexual-assault conviction. Arthur Mumphrey was released in January.

-- From News Services