TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. -- The "D.C. Madam" hanged herself Thursday, just weeks after she was convicted of running a call-girl ring that catered to Washington's power elite in a case that had some scared she would name names.

Officers were outside the mother's white and pink home in the community of mostly retirees.

Blanche Palfrey had no sign that her daughter was suicidal, and there was no immediate indication that alcohol or drugs were involved, police Capt. Jeffrey Young said.

A man who answered a phone listed for Palfrey's mother declined to comment.

"This is a tragic news and my heart goes out to her mother," said attorney Preston Burton, who represented Deborah Jeane Palfrey in her trial.

A federal jury convicted Palfrey on April 15 of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington's political elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. She was convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering.

Palfrey had denied her escort service engaged in prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex acts for money, they did so without her knowledge.

NEW YORK -- In her 15 years, Jingle Luis has never walked on the bottoms of her feet.

Born in the Philippines with feet so clubbed they twist backward and upside down, she uses crutches to hobble on what should be the tops of her feet.

"I can accept it," Jingle said Wednesday in a voice so soft it was barely audible.

But Jingle may not have to accept the condition much longer. She and her mother have journeyed from the Philippines to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx for surgery and follow-up treatment that will consist of slowly rotating her feet until she can walk normally.

The surgery took place Thursday and went well, hospital spokesman Steven Osborne said.

Jingle's case is more severe than those usually seen by doctors in industrialized countries.

"Generally speaking, with modern technology, it doesn't get to this point," said Dr. Terry Amaral, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who performed the surgery at Children's Hospital at Montefiore.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Military authorities say two pilots have died in a jet crash at Sheppard Air Force base.

A public affairs spokeswoman says a high-altitude, supersonic T-38c Talon went down about 7:45 a.m. Thursday. The plane was assigned to the 80th Flying Training Wing, which trains combat pilots for NATO.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.

Wichita Falls is about 135 miles northwest of Dallas.

At least four outbreaks of measles are underway around the United States, the largest resurgence in years of the once-common childhood disease, federal health officials reported Thursday.

At least 64 cases were reported in nine states between Jan. 1 and April 25, and four outbreaks are ongoing in Arizona, New York, Michigan and Wisconsin, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That is the largest number of cases reported for that time period since 2001.

"I am concerned. This is different from what have been seeing in the last few years," said Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The outbreaks appear to have been triggered by cases imported into the United States from other countries, particularly Switzerland and Israel, which are fighting very large outbreaks, Schuchat said. The disease apparently was able to take hold in this country because of pockets of children who were not immunized, either because they were too young or because their parents objected for religious or other reasons.

Officials, who have been growing increasingly worried about parents shunning vaccines for their children because of safety concerns, said the measles outbreaks illustrate the danger.

WASHINGTON -- Children who participate in the $1-billion-a-year reading initiative at the heart of the No Child Left Behind law have not become better readers than their peers, according to a study released Thursday by the Education Department's research arm.

The report from the Institute of Education Sciences found that students in schools that use Reading First, which provides grants to improve grade-school reading instruction, scored no better on reading comprehension tests than peers in schools that don't participate. The conclusion is likely to reignite the long-standing "reading wars," because critics argue that the program places too much emphasis on explicit phonics instruction and doesn't do enough to foster understanding.

Reading First, aimed at improving reading skills among students from low-income families, has been plagued by allegations of mismanagement and financial conflicts of interest. But the Bush administration has strenuously backed the effort, saying it helps disadvantaged children learn to read. About 1.5 million children in about 5,200 schools nationwide participate in Reading First.

The congressionally mandated study, completed by an independent contractor, focused on tens of thousands of first-, second- and third-grade students in 248 schools in 13 states. The children were tested, and researchers observed teachers in 1,400 classrooms.

No Child Left Behind was enacted in 2002 with support from President Bush and a broad bipartisan majority in Congress. The law, a signature domestic achievement for Bush, required an expansion of standardized testing in schools and authorized other measures meant to help close achievement gaps, including Reading First.

That reading program, which drew on conclusions in a 2000 report by the National Reading Panel, has been widely promoted by Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. It requires participating schools to use instructional techniques supported by scientific research. Proponents of a whole-language approach, which teaches skills through reading stories, say Reading First favors methods that emphasize explicit phonics instruction.