News For Wednesday Nov 19, 2008 News For Wednesday Nov 19, 2008

U.S. U.S.

Woman whose dogs mauled neighbor gets 15 to life - Added 8 weeks ago

A woman whose dogs viciously attacked and killed her neighbor in the hallway of their apartment building seven years ago was sentenced Monday to 15 years to life in prison. Marjorie Knoller was convicted of...

Prosecutor: Accused cat killer was jealous - Added 8 weeks ago

A former minor league baseball player was "washed up" and had "zero income and no prospects" last year when he became jealous and killed his girlfriend's cat, a prosecutor said Monday. Joseph Petcka, who pitched in the...

Police say officer feared insulin pump was weapon - Added 8 weeks ago

Police officers in two Detroit suburbs are accused of beating a motorist who was suffering a diabetic episode on a freeway. Lawyer Arnold Reed says 59-year-old Ernest Griglen had brain surgery after the June 15...

Congress hustling to pass rail reform after crash - Added 8 weeks ago

After a fatal commuter train collision, Congress is hurrying to pass new laws that would limit hours engineers work, mandate technology to stop trains on a collision course and enact the rail industry's first other...

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 525 - Added 8 weeks ago

As of Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, at least 525 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department....

Police: Pa. landlord spied on female tenants - Added 8 weeks ago

A suburban Philadelphia landlord placed hidden cameras throughout his apartments and secretly videotaped female tenants for years, investigators said Monday. Thomas Daley, 45, of Phoenixville, is accused of...

Man names 4.68-carat diamond 'Sweet Caroline' - Added 8 weeks ago

The good times have never seemed so good for one Michigan man who found a diamond Saturday in an Arkansas state park. Richard Burke, a retired high school counselor and golf coach from Flint, found a 4.68-carat white...

Oregon woman accused of setting tow truck on fire - Added 8 weeks ago

A Portland woman who allegedly set a tow truck on fire as the driver was preparing to take her car faces arson and criminal mischief charges. A twenty-year-old woman was arraigned last week. Court papers said the tow...

Construction workers complain about nude skater - Added 8 weeks ago

Portland Police took a waterfront Lady Godiva down a notch this week. Barely. They were getting calls about a nude skater whizzing past tourists and rush-hour commuters. But you can do that in Oregon, where occasional...

Texas mayor to request $2.3B in aid from Congress - Added 8 weeks ago

As repair crews work to make this hurricane-ravaged island city inhabitable for the thousands of residents set to return this week, the mayor is seeking more than $2 billion in emergency federal aid. The final price...

Man pleads not guilty in Ark. beauty queen killing - Added 8 weeks ago

A man accused of killing an Arkansas beauty queen in 2005 has pleaded not guilty to a capital murder charge. Gary William Dunn appeared in Pope County Circuit Court on Monday. The 29-year-old is accused of bludgeoning...

Airliner nearly hits small plane at Pa. airport - Added 8 weeks ago

A United Express flight had to brake and swerve at 140 mph to avoid by about 10 feet a small plane on the same Pennsylvania runway, airport and federal officials said Monday. The flight crew of Chicago-bound Flight...

Wyoming governor's team wins 1-shot antelope hunt - Added 8 weeks ago

Wyoming bested Colorado in the One Shot Antelope Hunt over the weekend, despite Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal failing to kill his animal with the required single shot. "It is a great country when you can miss your shot...

Judge rejects no-contest plea in SF Bay oil spill - Added 8 weeks ago

A federal judge on Monday refused to accept a no-contest plea to felony charges from the operator of a container ship that struck a bridge in the San Francisco Bay last year, spilling 54,000 gallons of oil into the...

Court: US govt can't block detainee photos release - Added 8 weeks ago

The United States cannot conceal pictures of abusive treatment of detainees by its soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan by saying their release might cause enemies to hurt someone, a federal appeals court said Monday in...

2 jailers under scrutiny in Md. inmate death probe - Added 8 weeks ago

County officials in Maryland say two corrections officers have been identified as "people of interest" in the probe of an inmate found strangled in his cell. Ronnie White was found dead in the Prince George's County...

Alamo denies fostering marriages among young - Added 8 weeks ago

Since Tony Alamo's start as a California street preacher more than 40 years ago, the self-styled evangelist's story has been colorful and checkered. When his wife died of cancer, Alamo claimed she would be resurrected...

Retrial of Hamas financing case begins in Dallas - Added 8 weeks ago

Federal prosecutors Monday started a second attempt to convict leaders of a Muslim charity on charges of financing terrorism after the first trial last year ended with a mistrial on most of the allegations. The Holy...

GAO: Nuke detection equipment to cost $3.1 billion - Added 8 weeks ago

It will cost at least $1 billion more than the Bush administration expected to deploy advanced radiation detection equipment at the country's ports, government auditors said Monday. The Government Accountability Office...

Industry lobbyists open next phase in campaign - Added 8 weeks ago

Financial industry lobbyists joined the Bush administration Monday to press for swift action on the government's planned bailout of the financial markets instead of adding consumer-friendly proposals supported by...

Court must reconsider asylum for Mali woman - Added 8 weeks ago

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has rebuked a midlevel federal court on behalf of a Mali woman who fears genital mutilation if sent home. It's rare for the nation's top law enforcement officer to reject rulings issued...

DA: Suspected La. serial killer to plead guilty - Added 8 weeks ago

A man who police say confessed to slaying 23 men in south Louisiana during a serial-killing spree that spanned several years is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to eight counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors said. ...

Georgia death row inmate presses innocence - Added 8 weeks ago

One by one, nine witnesses took the stand against Troy Davis to say he was the man who gunned down an off-duty Savannah police officer. In 1991, their testimony helped send the Georgia man to death row. However, in the...

Afghans want military force at Pakistan border - Added 8 weeks ago

Afghanistan wants to set up a joint military force that would have the power to operate on both sides of the border with Pakistan, where militants have found safe haven. Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said...

US aims to boost aid to Jordan - Added 8 weeks ago

The Bush administration is hoping to lock in for the next five years a massive boost in aid it gave to Jordan in 2008. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Jordanian Foreign Minister Salaheddine Al-Bashir on Monday...

UMass officials quash credit-for-campaigning offer - Added 8 weeks ago

University of Massachusetts officials on Monday quashed efforts by an Amherst campus chaplain to offer two college credits to any student willing to campaign in New Hampshire this fall for Democratic presidential...

Protesters set up camp outside Florida mom's home - Added 8 weeks ago

Each night, a half dozen protesters plant lawn chairs across the street from the home of missing 3-year-old Caylee Anthony, demanding a confession from her mother and grandparents. "Baby killer," one woman's sign reads....

NYC Trade Center dig exposes Ice Age landscape - Added 8 weeks ago

Crews excavating the World Trade Center site this summer for the foundations of a new skyscraper have uncovered features carved into the bedrock by glaciers about 20,000 years ago, including a 40-foot-deep pothole. ...

Ex-Dallas school official sentenced to probation - Added 8 weeks ago

A former Dallas schools deputy superintendent accused in a corruption case involving technology contracts has been sentenced to one year of probation. William Coleman III also must pay a $5,000 fine and complete 80...

Ga. courthouse shooting trial opens, security high - Added 8 weeks ago

Prosecutors played a haunting audiotape of a 2005 courthouse shooting rampage that left four people dead as they launched their case against the alleged gunman Monday, while his attorneys said he was so deluded he...

Gambler's $20M lawsuit against casinos tossed - Added 8 weeks ago

A federal judge has dismissed a $20 million racketeering lawsuit against seven casinos by a former New York City attorney who said they had a duty to stop her from gambling. In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District...

Dog helps save elderly Fla. couple from fire - Added 8 weeks ago

Tampa fire investigators say an elderly couple's dog may have helped save them from an early-morning blaze. Authorities said 82-year-old Alice Ferrari and her 83-year-old friend Ted Kolanko were asleep around 4 a.m....

Salt shortage, high prices may mean slippery roads - Added 8 weeks ago

A shortage of road salt and skyrocketing salt prices could mean slippery roads this winter in communities across the nation as officials struggle to keep pavement clear of snow and ice without breaking their budgets. ...

Judge approves fast-tracking Texas rental-ban case - Added 8 weeks ago

A federal judge Monday agreed to fast-track a lawsuit challenging a Dallas suburb's ordinance that would essentially bar illegal immigrants from renting homes there. U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle, who earlier this...

Airliner overruns O'Hare runway, no injuries - Added 8 weeks ago

An American Airlines Boeing 757 blew a tire and ran off a runway Monday during an emergency landing at O'Hare International Airport, aviation officials said. No injuries were reported, the Federal Aviation...

Stevens witness list a who's who of Washington - Added 8 weeks ago

!!-- AUDIO:08229075,08229074,08229073 -->As many as five senators and a former secretary of state may take the stand at the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens in coming weeks, a federal judge said Monday. Former...

Mobster: ex-FBI agent received protection money - Added 8 weeks ago

Boston mobsters paid former FBI agent John Connolly roughly $235,000 over the years for protection and information that included fingering gang turncoats, a jailed gangster testified Monday at the agent's murder trial. ...

Pentagon budget, disaster aid set to advance - Added 8 weeks ago

Congress is scrambling to pass the Pentagon budget, aid for flood and hurricane victims and $25 billion in loans for Detroit automakers in a late-session burst of activity that's flying under the radar compared with...

Man arrested for stuffing dead animals in lockers - Added 8 weeks ago

Police have arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of stealing dead animals from a veterinary hospital morgue and stuffing them into empty lockers at a Bay Area high school. Police say the man admitted that he took...

Vt. orchard wakes the neighbors with hail cannon - Added 8 weeks ago

Things have really been booming at Southern Vermont Orchards. And it's been keeping people up at night. After a series of hailstorms devastated the orchard's apple crop in 2007, the owner resorted this summer to using...

Grisly find: Dog brings child's foot to Ala. home - Added 8 weeks ago

A family dog brought home a child's severed foot, but searchers combing surrounding woods in northwest Alabama found no signs of any other remains and don't know where the child might be. No children have been reported...

Elvis Is Alive Museum up for sale again on eBay - Added 8 weeks ago

The Elvis Is Alive Museum is once again for sale on eBay. The museum's owner, Andy Key of Mississippi, says military duties will keep him away from home for at least five months. The 39-year-old Key set a minimum...

Retrial begins in Muslim charity terrorism case - Added 8 weeks ago

Federal prosecutors are trying again to convict leaders of a Muslim charity on charges of financing terrorism. The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development was back on trial Monday in Dallas. The charity is...

NYC's anti-smoking weapon: gross matchbook images - Added 8 weeks ago

Before New Yorkers light up, the city health department wants them to have a look at the ravaged lungs, rotting gums and large tumors smoking can cause. Graphic images of such health problems are printed on a new line...

Defendant testifies in boat hijacking, killings - Added 8 weeks ago

A man accused of helping hijack a charter fishing boat named "Joe Cool" and murdering the four people aboard says he was tricked into the crime and that he lied to authorities because he was scared and confused. ...

3 charged in Mo. tiger attack that hurt volunteer - Added 8 weeks ago

The owners of an exotic animal park and one of its board members have been charged with evidence tampering for allegedly trying to cover up a tiger attack on a volunteer. The owners of Wesa-A-Geh-Ya in Warren County,...

Gov. contractor pleads guilty to passport snooping - Added 8 weeks ago

A State Department contractor has pleaded guilty to illegally looking at the passport information of nearly 200 celebrities, athletes, actors and politicians over a three-year period. Lawrence C. Yontz, of Arlington,...

Iraq to begin paying Sunni volunteers next month - Added 8 weeks ago

The Iraqi government will begin paying the salaries of about 54,000 of the mostly Sunni fighters in Baghdad Province who joined the fight against al-Qaida, the No. 2 U.S. commander there said Monday. While the transfer...

Gates: Record spending for National Guard - Added 8 weeks ago

Funding for the National Guard has reached a record level amid the largest mobilization of America's citizen soldiers since World War II, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday. With the increased spending, nearly...

Galveston area remains dangerous in Ike's wake - Added 8 weeks ago

Businesses were beginning to reopen, cell phone service was improving and power was coming back, but leaders warned that Galveston remains dangerous more than a week after Hurricane Ike's devastating assault. Fuel and...