News For Tuesday Oct 7, 2008 News For Tuesday Oct 7, 2008

U.S. U.S.

Mass. police officers protest civilian flaggers - Added 6 weeks ago

Dozens of police officers disrupted the work of a road maintenance crew Tuesday when they heckled civilian flaggers who have replaced law enforcement officers at construction sites under new state rules. Woburn Police...

Pa. widow sues US over Iraq vet-husband's suicide - Added 6 weeks ago

The widow of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide while in outpatient care for depression at a Veterans Administration hospital has sued the federal government for negligence. Tiera Woodward, 26, claims in her...

Execs' posh retreat after bailout angers lawmakers - Added 6 weeks ago

Days after it got a federal bailout, American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on a posh California retreat for its executives, complete with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings, according to lawmakers...

Schwarzenegger warns of more cuts to state budget - Added 6 weeks ago

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned Tuesday of future cuts to the state budget that was signed into law just two weeks ago and insisted something must be done to address California's mounting financial problems. The...

No jail for WA man who posted he'd shoot up mall - Added 6 weeks ago

A man pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct Tuesday for writing on a newspaper Web site that he was going to shoot up a shopping mall one day after a shooting spree in another Washington state town. Jeffrey Gargaro, 28,...

Scientists go chatting to hear kids' drug concerns - Added 6 weeks ago

It's nothing to LOL about. Students these days often have ready access to marijuana, alcohol and tobacco but they don't feel comfortable talking about the ramifications. So, some of the nation's government scientists...

14-year-old Iowa girl abandoned under Nebraska law - Added 6 weeks ago

A 14-year-old Iowa girl was abandoned Tuesday in Nebraska under its safe haven law, but the person who left her could face prosecution in the girl's home state, Nebraska health officials said. The Nebraska Department...

Police blame Mich. townspeople for moose's death - Added 6 weeks ago

An adult moose was shot and killed Monday when it became agitated after curious onlookers followed it around a Michigan town and authorities decided the animal posed a safety risk, police said. Police Chief Jim Bjorne...

Budget deficit hits record $438 billion, CBO says - Added 6 weeks ago

The federal budget deficit hit a new record in the just-completed 2008 budget year under the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. The record $438 billion shortfall for the budget year that ended last...

Iowa AG decision means Chicago cop will be freed - Added 6 weeks ago

A Chicago police officer could be released within days after the Iowa attorney general's office announced Tuesday it would not seek a state Supreme Court review of his case. Last week, the Iowa Court of Appeals found a...

Border agent fired at driver at US-Mexico crossing - Added 6 weeks ago

The Border Patrol says an agent fired a gun at a driver who ran over an agent's leg at a vehicle checkpoint on the U.S.-Mexico border east of San Diego. Border Patrol spokesman Jason Rodgers said the driver was not...

Boat of congresswomen's brother believed found - Added 6 weeks ago

Sheriff's divers searching offshore Tuesday located a sunken boat believed to belong to the missing brother of U.S. Democratic Reps. Loretta and Linda Sanchez. The boat was found upside-down at a depth of 150 feet,...

Man accused of binding teen's hands on flight - Added 6 weeks ago

A 29-year-old man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly binding the hands of a teenager sitting next to him on a Southwest Airlines flight and trying to tape her older sister's hands as well. The U.S. attorney's office...

Killings put counselors on alert about money woes - Added 6 weeks ago

Mental health counselors were on the alert Tuesday for calls from people depressed or possibly suicidal about money woes, after an unemployed financial manager killed five family members and himself. The widely...

Defense: Phoenix suspect's roommate is real killer - Added 6 weeks ago

The former roommate of the man accused of leading the notorious Serial Shooter attacks two years ago is the real person responsible for killing eight people and attacking 20 others across Phoenix, a defense attorney...

DMV: Driver in Calif. crash lacked bus license - Added 6 weeks ago

The bus that crashed and killed eight people on a Northern California road was driven by a man who wasn't properly licensed and owned by another man who had claimed to be the vehicle's only driver, state officials said...

Second lottery win makes Kansas man flush - Added 6 weeks ago

A Kansas man whose girlfriend was physically stuck to the toilet in their home wins $20,000 in the state Lottery, for the second time this year. Kory McFarren cashed in his winning $2 Bonus Crossword ticket in Great...

Ala. sheriff says inmate hid hacksaw in Bible - Added 6 weeks ago

Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes said an inmate's bid to escape the county jail on Saturday was foiled by a correctional officer. Hughes said a 19-year-old man used a hidden hacksaw to cut through a cell bar, but an...

Duo claim record by watching 57 films in 123 hours - Added 6 weeks ago

You may want to try this at home. Suresh Joachim, of Toronto, and Claudia Wavra, of Petersburg, Germany, claim to have broken the Guinness World Record for movie-watching, after seeing 57 films in 123 hours in a...

FBI: Chicago Playboy Bandit stole cash, not hearts - Added 6 weeks ago

The beefy looking gunman doesn't look like the trim, ascot-wearing Hugh Hefner. But the FBI dubbed him "The Playboy Bandit" after he robbed a suburban Chicago bank while wearing a cap with the distinctive bunny logo. ...

Authorities say man skipped jury duty to drink - Added 6 weeks ago

Curtis Lemons was supposed to report for jury duty in a drunk driving case. Instead, according to authorities, the 50-year-old Cape Girardeau man skipped the jury duty so he could drink himself. Lemons received a...

Police: Angry airline passenger flings foot powder - Added 6 weeks ago

Boston police said a passenger who was angry because his flight was delayed tried to get back at the airline by throwing foot powder around the plane. Arthur Nicolson, of Framingham, was arrested Monday after the U.S....

Mom brings rabid bat to school, lets kids touch it - Added 6 weeks ago

About 90 elementary school students in Montana have started a series of rabies shots after a parent let them touch a dead bat that was later confirmed to be diseased. The mother of two students gave presentations in...

Navy blames crew, command for fire aboard carrier - Added 6 weeks ago

A fire aboard the nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier resulted from a failure to properly store hazardous materials and other missteps that allowed the fire to burn unchecked for more than eight...

Mom says at KC trial she waited for girl to die - Added 6 weeks ago

The mother of a little girl long known as "Precious Doe" testified Tuesday she knew the injured 3-year-old needed medical attention but that she feared going to jail and instead waited for the child to die. Testifying...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,180 - Added 6 weeks ago

As of Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008, at least 4,180 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians...

Safety board reviews foreign-made bus regulations - Added 6 weeks ago

The federal investigation of a fatal Texas bus crash zeroed in Tuesday on foreign-made passenger buses that operate in the U.S. but don't meet minimum U.S. safety standards. Witness testimony revealed shortcomings in...

New indictment in AIM slaying days after dismissal - Added 6 weeks ago

A new federal indictment has been handed up against a Canadian man who was days from being tried in the 1975 slaying of a fellow American Indian Movement member when a judge threw out the original charges. Federal...

Body found on island pushes Ike death toll to 72 - Added 6 weeks ago

An animal control officer stumbled across the body of a Hurricane Ike victim on an island near where the storm slammed ashore last month, bringing the national death toll to 72. The Galveston Medical Examiner's Office...

Yosemite visitors, workers evacuate rock fall area - Added 6 weeks ago

Authorities are evacuating the Staircase Falls area of Yosemite National Park after a rock slide. Park ranger Erik Skindrud said both tourists and park workers were leaving the area but he couldn't immediately say how...

Ex-Mich. teacher gets 180 days for upskirt photos - Added 6 weeks ago

A former Michigan teacher convicted of trying to take photos up a 15-year-old student's skirt during class has been sentenced to 180 days in jail. Forty-one-year-old Steven Sanger also received 30 months of probation...

Divers reach steamship that sank off Mass. in 1898 - Added 6 weeks ago

Five Massachusetts men became the first divers to reach the wreck of a 19th-century steamship that sank in one of the most destructive storms in New England history, and say they saw an array of artifacts like dishes...

Ike windstorm costs insurers $550M in Ohio damages - Added 6 weeks ago

Winds from Hurricane Ike will cost insurance companies at least $553.1 million to cover property damage and other losses in Ohio, making it the state's most expensive natural disaster in more than three decades, a trade...

Ill. gov to convicted fundraiser: Tell the truth - Added 6 weeks ago

Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday called on Antoin "Tony" Rezko to tell the truth, a day after federal prosecutors strongly hinted that the political fundraiser, convicted in a state corruption scandal, might be...

Bush to America: Hang in there - Added 6 weeks ago

!!-- AUDIO:186,185,178,177,176 -->President Bush on Tuesday told a country engulfed by dire economic news that it should not expect a sudden recovery, but rather a gradual rebound that will test people's patience. ...

Ohio top court mulls Planned Parenthood files - Added 6 weeks ago

Ohio Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Tuesday that an abortion clinic's medical records on other patients are relevant to a lawsuit brought by parents of a 14-year-old girl who had an abortion without their...

Former officials say Iran helped on al-Qaida - Added 6 weeks ago

In an effort to help the United States counter al-Qaida after the 9/11 attack, Iran rounded up hundreds of Arabs who had crossed the border from Afghanistan, expelled many of them and made copies of nearly 300 of their...

House Democrats unveil draft climate change bill - Added 6 weeks ago

With the presidential election less than a month away and the economy reeling, House Democratic leaders on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to reduce the gases blamed for global warming from power plants, transportation and...

Police: 4 were dead before southwest Michigan fire - Added 6 weeks ago

Police say a fire at a southwestern Michigan home was intentionally set to cover up the shooting deaths of a mother and her two sons, and the fatal beating of a son's girlfriend. Ottawa County sheriff's Lt. Mark...

Judge orders release of Chinese Muslims into US - Added 6 weeks ago

A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States, a dramatic ruling that could set the course for releasing dozens of other...

Questioning of jurors begins in Fort Dix case - Added 6 weeks ago

Prospective jurors discussed their attitudes toward religion and immigrants Tuesday as a complex process began to seat a jury in the case of five men accused of planning to attack Fort Dix. Lawyers asked questions of...

Museum agrees to ax Lizzie Borden name, ending row - Added 6 weeks ago

A museum and a bed and breakfast have settled a trademark dispute over the macabre legacy of Lizzie Borden, a Sunday school teacher accused in the hatchet deaths of her father and stepmother, a museum official said...

Police: Pa. teen plotted to bomb sleeping family - Added 6 weeks ago

A suburban Pittsburgh teenager tried to kill his sleeping family by placing homemade chlorine bombs while they slept, police said. Christopher Janney, 16, of South Fayette, was charged with attempted homicide for...

High court dispute over who gets retirement money - Added 6 weeks ago

If William Kennedy had updated all his financial paperwork in accordance with his divorce decree, chances are his daughter would not have been at the Supreme Court on Tuesday fighting for the $402,000 she thinks should...

Polygamous sect sues to regain control of trust - Added 6 weeks ago

Members of a polygamous church are suing to regain control of a property trust, claiming court reforms since 2005 have stripped it of its constitutional rights. Filed Monday in U.S. District Court, the lawsuit contends...

Simpson's future now hangs on armed robbery appeal - Added 6 weeks ago

O.J. Simpson's attorneys in his armed robbery case could be fighting long odds to convince an appeals court that he was a victim of racial prejudice and payback for his murder acquittal, legal experts say, but there may...

Former contractor pleads guilty to Iraq fuel theft - Added 6 weeks ago

A former Army contractor pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing nearly $40 million worth of jet and diesel fuel from a U.S. Army base in Iraq and selling it on the black market. Lee W. Dubois, 32, of Lexington, S.C., faces...

Unregulated swaps hastened Wall Street collapse - Added 6 weeks ago

It can be a fine line between investing and gambling. But in Las Vegas, you know the odds. On Wall Street, that's not always the case. Especially when it comes to the $62 trillion market in arcane financial contracts...

Alum gives Harvard $125M for bioengineering center - Added 6 weeks ago

A Harvard Business School alumnus has given the university its largest individual donation ever _ $125 million to start a bioengineering institute, the school announced Tuesday. Hansjorg Wyss, an engineer and...

Stepbrother charged in upstate NY girl's slaying - Added 6 weeks ago

!!-- pobj:NYSYR101-1007081412 -->A man was charged Tuesday in the strangling death of his 11-year-old stepsister who was starved by her parents and slept a locked room inside an upstate NY house filled with garbage and...