WASHINGTON — The House rejected an attempt Wednesday to block the government from imposing major new power lines in areas where states or local communities oppose them.

The issue has been contentious in parts of the East Coast and in the Southwest, where two high priority transmission corridors for power lines were proposed. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., warned colleagues that unwanted power lines could come to their district.

"How will you explain to your constituents ... that you had a chance to slow this down and you didn't do it?" Wolf said. "How are you going to tell them that you sided with the power companies and not with the citizens?"

Supporters say the power line corridors are needed to keep up with growth and to prevent blackouts like the one in 2003 that swept from Ohio to Canada and New York City.

"America needs available power, and especially electric power," said John Peterson, R-Pa. "We have a system that has not worked."

PITTSBURGH — A former school security guard accused of keeping a runaway in his home for a decade and having sex with her has been returned to jail from a state hospital, where he had been held since attempting suicide four months ago.The move paves the way for Thomas John Hose to stand trial on Tuesday. He was returned to jail earlier this month, according to the Allegheny County jail.Hose, 49, of McKeesport, attempted suicide just before his planned trial in February. The trial was delayed again in May, when his attorney said Hose still had anxiety problems and wanted to hang himself. He has been held in Mayview State Hospital near Pittsburgh.Hose is accused of taking in a 14-year-old girl and, for a decade, keeping her from leaving the tiny home he shared with his parents and son. The girl, Tanya Nicole Kach, has said the two regularly had sex.Hose had been a security guard at Kach's school, and Kach went to live with him in February 1996. Now 25, she has said she had a crush on him.

AVALON — Confusion over a natural gas valve apparently caused a house explosion that injured three people, including two hospitalized for burns, officials said.Two men accidentally turned on the home's gas line valve while trying to repair a leaky shower knob Tuesday, Avalon building inspector Chuck Kovacs said."As far as we know, a cigarette likely ignited the gas, (or) possibly incense," Kovacs said.Deputy Allegheny County Fire Marshal Don Brucker said the basement valves in older homes can lead to confusion."A lot of gas valves on older homes look like water valves," Brucker said.Two victims, identified only as Adam Krepps and Eric Franklin, were still in Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh today in serious condition.