News For Thursday Oct 9, 2008 News For Thursday Oct 9, 2008

U.S. U.S.

AP IMPACT: GPS could save airlines time and fuel - Added 5 weeks ago

A World War II-era air traffic network that often forces planes to take longer, zigzagging routes is costing U.S. airlines billions of dollars in wasted fuel while an upgrade to a satellite-based system has languished...

States cut spending, put projects on hold - Added 5 weeks ago

With the economy in a slide and the credit markets seized up, states are slashing budgets, eliminating jobs, putting major construction projects on hold and nervously waiting to see whether their shriveled pension funds...

Leaping dolphin gives Fla. boaters cuts, bruises - Added 5 weeks ago

A woman is recovering in Florida after a dolphin hit her when it leaped aboard the boat she was in. The Coast Guard says witnesses called 911 Thursday after seeing the dolphin jump from the Intracoastal Waterway and...

Correction: Oct. 8 Shot by Stove story - Added 5 weeks ago

In an Oct. 8 story about a woman struck by ammunition that fired accidentally from her stove, The Associated Press, relying on a report by the Peninsula Daily News, reported erroneously that the fragment came from a...

Correction: Shot By Stove story - Added 5 weeks ago

In an Oct. 8 story about a woman struck by ammunition that fired accidentally from her stove, The Associated Press, relying on a report by the Peninsula Daily News, reported erroneously that the fragment came from a...

Contract worker breaks leg in NM lab's rocket test - Added 5 weeks ago

Investigators say a worker suffered burns and a broken leg after a rocket motor ignited prematurely during a test at a federal laboratory in New Mexico. The contractor for Transportation Management Services Solutions...

Ark. plans to drop unmarried foster parent ban - Added 5 weeks ago

Arkansas plans to reverse course and allow unmarried or same-sex couples to take on foster children on a case-by-case basis, even as voters prepare to decide the issue in November, the state Department of Human Services...

Calif. firefighters brace for predicted Santa Anas - Added 5 weeks ago

Federal officials moved heavy firefighting equipment into Southern California on Thursday ahead of predicted Santa Ana winds, as a large wildfire at a Marine base was contained with little damage and no injuries. The...

Obituaries in the news - Added 5 weeks ago

Bruce Dal Canton CARNEGIE, Pa. (AP) _ Bruce Dal Canton, a former high school teacher who turned a good showing at a tryout camp into a lengthy career as a major league pitcher and coach, died Tuesday. He was 66. Dal...

Judge nixes forced treatment request in Smart case - Added 5 weeks ago

Federal prosecutors say they plan to proceed soon with charges against a man accused of kidnapping Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart in 2002. The state's case stalled earlier Thursday when a judge denied a request to...

Correction: Nancy Hicks Maynard obituary - Added 5 weeks ago

In Sept. 21 and Sept. 22 obituaries for journalist Nancy Hicks Maynard and a Sept. 25 corrective, The Associated Press, relying on information from The New York Times, reported erroneously that she was the first black...

Ohio charity accused of terrorist ties sues feds - Added 5 weeks ago

An Ohio-based charity that the U.S. government says is linked to Hamas is demanding that officials unfreeze its assets. Attorneys for Kindhearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development sued Thursday in federal court in...

Ice chunk falls through roof, hits woman in bed - Added 5 weeks ago

A woman was slightly injured on Wednesday after a six-pound chunk of ice fell from the sky through her roof as she slept. The source of the ice wasn't immediately known, but experts said it might have fallen from an...

Man to hold 'I was stupid' sign outside Wis. plant - Added 5 weeks ago

A man who caused damage at a waste water treatment plant in Eau Claire has decided to pick public humiliation over jail time to pay for his crime. Eau Claire County Judge Paul Lenz gave Shane McQuillan an option after...

Strong-arm robber in Mich. ends up $30 in the hole - Added 5 weeks ago

Police said a strong-arm robber got locked in a chokehold by his intended victim and ended up $30 in the hole. Police in the Detroit suburb of Warren said the robber approached a 36-year-old man and demanded money on...

Woman allegedly pours hot water on husband's groin - Added 5 weeks ago

Authorities say a woman has been arrested in west Florida after pouring scalding hot water on her husband's groin. Manatee County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested a 52-year-old woman on Wednesday on a charge of...

Cops nab pair in same vehicle for drunken driving - Added 5 weeks ago

Fargo police said two men were arrested for drunken driving in the same vehicle. Police Lt. Pat Claus said an officer pulled over a 23-year-old man early Thursday morning. Claus said while that man was taking a sobriety...

Lump sum too big a gamble for $42M lottery winner - Added 5 weeks ago

A winner of a $42 million Mega Millions jackpot in Michigan may do something almost unheard of: receive the money in installments rather than getting a smaller, one-time cash payment. The winner of the Oct. 3 jackpot...

A built-in deal: Free house, if you'll haul it off - Added 5 weeks ago

Is the credit crunch keeping you from getting a home loan? Well, here's a little beauty you can have for free. You just have to pay to haul it away. Jacquie Jones of Kaysville, Utah, is offering a three-bedroom brick...

Police: Mall shooting suspect upset over purchase - Added 5 weeks ago

The fatal shooting of a store employee and gun battle with police in a Knoxville shopping mall began as a complaint over a clothing purchase, authorities said Thursday. William Johnson _ who faces charges of murder,...

Police: Murder-suicide at heart of Ky. house fire - Added 5 weeks ago

A man found dead this week after a gasoline-fueled blaze at his Kentucky house shot and killed his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself, police said Thursday. Police and firefighters also came under fire...

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,180 - Added 5 weeks ago

As of Thursday, Oct. 9, 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...

2 Colombian warlords get lengthy US sentences - Added 5 weeks ago

Two right-wing paramilitary warlords extradited with 12 others from Colombia in May amid great fanfare were ordered Thursday to spend decades behind U.S. bars after pleading guilty to roles in a far-reaching cocaine...

Report: NSA listened in on personal military calls - Added 5 weeks ago

The Senate Select Intelligence Committee is looking into allegations from two U.S. military linguists that the government routinely listened in on phone calls of American military and humanitarian aid workers serving...

Tenn. college student charged in e-mail threat - Added 5 weeks ago

A 19-year-old student at Middle Tennessee State University has been arrested on terrorism charges after threatening e-mails forced the cancellation of classes. Murfreesboro Police spokesman Kyle Evans says Justin Davis...

Kan. woman pleads guilty in Mo. baby-stealing plot - Added 5 weeks ago

A woman charged with abducting a pregnant Missouri teen and plotting to cut the child from the womb has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and first-degree assault. Eighteen-year-old Alisa Betts pleaded guilty Thursday as...

Immigrant death defendant complains about school - Added 5 weeks ago

A Pennsylvania teen charged with killing a Mexican man has lost a bid to be sent to private school on the taxpayers' dime. Brandon Piekarsky is charged with third-degree murder in the July beating death of 24-year-old...

Iowa teen left at Neb. hospital back with family - Added 5 weeks ago

An Iowa teenager who was abandoned at an Omaha hospital under Nebraska's safe-haven law is back home after her grandparents dropped her off to teach her a lesson but soon changed their minds, officials said Thursday. ...

Courts: Obese inmate can be given lethal injection - Added 5 weeks ago

A federal appeals court and Ohio's high court have rejected a death row inmate's argument that he is too fat to die by lethal injection. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and...

Bus packed with Amish clips semi in Mich.; 14 hurt - Added 5 weeks ago

A bus overloaded with members of an Amish church group clipped a semitrailer Thursday, flipping the bus onto its side and sending 14 people to the hospital, including several children, authorities said. Most of those...

Jet reports problem, lands safely in San Diego - Added 5 weeks ago

Officials say an American Airlines jet has landed safely in San Diego after a warning light indicated a problem with an engine. Airline spokesman Tim Smith says Flight 1802 had just taken off from San Diego...

Killer of 5 apparently hangs self in Ind. prison - Added 5 weeks ago

An illegal immigrant serving five life terms for the strangling deaths of his wife, three young daughters and a neighborhood girl apparently took his own life Thursday by hanging himself, authorities said. Simon Rios,...

NY mayor accused of power abuse in term-limit deal - Added 5 weeks ago

A group opposed to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bid to change the city's term-limits law so he can run again filed a complaint Thursday alleging he abused his power by striking a deal to win over a potential foe. Common...

Bodies of US reps' brother, his girlfriend found - Added 5 weeks ago

The bodies of the brother of two Southern California congresswomen and his girlfriend have been recovered from the waters off Los Angeles, days after the couple disappeared during a boat trip, authorities said Thursday....

Massachusetts judge rejects Holocaust memoir suit - Added 5 weeks ago

A woman who admitted fabricating a best-selling memoir about surviving the Holocaust by living with wolves cannot be sued by her former publisher because the lawsuit was filed too late, a Massachusetts judge ruled. ...

Bush plans economic statement to assure Americans - Added 5 weeks ago

As the stock market plunged to its lowest level in five years, the White House on Thursday sought to assure anxious Americans that the United States is working aggressively to stabilize the nation's chaotic financial...

U. of Texas ends fight over dorm-room Obama signs - Added 5 weeks ago

Facing a free-speech uproar, the University of Texas backed down Thursday from punishing two students who refused to remove political signs from their dormitory window. Connor Kincaid and his cousin and roommate, Blake...

Nuclear Weapons complex changes advance - Added 5 weeks ago

The Energy Department moved ahead Thursday on further restricting the nation's most dangerous nuclear material, part of a plan to scale back and modernize management of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The...

Product Recalls: Nerf blasters, gas vent dampers - Added 5 weeks ago

The following recalls have been announced: _ About 330,000 units of Nerf N-Strike Recon Blasters, manufactured in China by Hasbro Inc., because the plunger can pull the user's skin when the blaster is fired. The...

Product Recalls: Nerf blasters, gas vent dampers - Added 5 weeks ago

The following recalls have been announced: _ About 330,000 units of Nerf N-Strike Recon Blasters, manufactured in China by Hasbro Inc., because the plunger can pull the user's skin when the blaster is fired. The...

NYC manhole explosion kills 1 worker, injures 2nd - Added 5 weeks ago

The New York Police Department says a manhole explosion in New York City has killed one utility worker and injured another. Consolidated Edison spokeswoman Elizabeth Clark says two workers were splicing cable when the...

3rd climber of NY Times building pleads not guilty - Added 5 weeks ago

A Connecticut man has pleaded not guilty to endangering the public by scaling part of The New York Times' skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. David Malone was arraigned Thursday on charges of misdemeanor trespass and...

Intel report: Afghanistan facing 'downward spiral' - Added 5 weeks ago

The situation in Afghanistan now is the worst since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001 and the country is in danger of a "downward spiral" into violence and chaos, according to an intelligence report draft. The nearly...

Calif. measure would require more space for hens - Added 5 weeks ago

!!-- pobj:FX101-0910081003 -->!!-- pobj:FX103-0910081113 -->!!-- pobj:FX102-0910080938 -->!!-- pobj:FX104-0910081024 -->At the J.S. West and Cos. poultry farm, half a million chickens are squeezed six at a time into...

Tenn. court awards book rights to caregiver - Added 5 weeks ago

The woman who took care of science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton in the final years of her life in Tennessee has been awarded the copyrights and royalties to most of her works. In an opinion published this...

Democratic senator to testify for GOP icon Stevens - Added 5 weeks ago

Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska has called one of his oldest friends, Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, as his first defense witness at his corruption trial. Federal prosecutors have accused Stevens of...

Syria frees detained US journalists - Added 5 weeks ago

The State Department says two American journalists who were detained by Syrian authorities have been released and are safe at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. A department spokesman said Thursday that Holli Chmela and...

Who-dunnit: Owl found on animal hospital doorstep - Added 5 weeks ago

Who? Who? Who left an owl outside a suburban New York animal hospital? Technician Joe Marchionni got a surprise when he arrived at the Tuckahoe Animal Hospital: an injured owl was huddled in the doorway. Says...

Judge sentences rap music fan to Bach, Beethoven - Added 5 weeks ago

A defendant had a hard time facing the music. Andrew Vactor was facing a $150 fine for playing rap music too loudly on his car stereo in July. But a judge offered to reduce that to $35 if Vactor spent 20 hours listening...

Feds go forward with NYC airport experiment - Added 5 weeks ago

Federal officials are pushing ahead with an experiment to reduce rampant flight delays around the nation by auctioning off takeoff and landing times at New York City-area airports, where most delays begin. Bush...