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

U.S. U.S.

Man accused of urinating on arresting officer - Added 5 days ago

A 35-year-old man faces charges after allegedly driving drunk and then urinating in the back of a squad car and on the arresting officer. A criminal complaint said the man was pulled over early Wednesday after an...

Today in History - Nov. 14 - Added 5 days ago

Today is Friday, Nov. 14, the 319th day of 2008. There are 47 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 14, 1851, Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale" was first published in the United...

Democrats hunt for support for auto bailout - Added 5 days ago

The auto industry and business groups mounted a lobbying onslaught Thursday to thwart GOP opposition to a Senate vote next week on Democrats' plan for a $25 billion emergency loan plan for U.S. carmakers. Senior...

Mormon aid on gay marriage ban generates complaint - Added 5 days ago

A California gay rights activist filed a complaint Thursday accusing the Mormon church of failing to report the full value of the work it did to support the state's new ban on same-sex marriage. Fred Karger, the...

Obituaries in the news - Added 5 days ago

C. Harmon Brown SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ C. Harmon Brown, a pioneer in sports science and medicine who advocated for female athletes, died Tuesday. He was 78. Brown died of cancer, USA Track & Field said in a news...

Charges added to Ariz. Congressman's indictment - Added 5 days ago

A racketeering charge and other counts have been added to an indictment against Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi. The indictment made public Thursday also adds another defendant in the case against Renzi, a three-term...

White powder sent to Mormon temples in Utah, LA - Added 5 days ago

Letters containing a suspicious white powder were sent Thursday to Mormon temples in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City that were the sites of protests against the church's support of California's gay marriage ban. The...

Texas executes NY ex-convict for soldier's slaying - Added 5 days ago

Texas executed a former New York City hair stylist with a long criminal record Thursday for the robbery, rape and murder of an Army medic at her apartment near Fort Hood. "From Allah he came and from Allah he shall...

Calif. man indicted in nationwide anthrax hoax - Added 5 days ago

A federal grand jury indicted a Sacramento man Thursday on 13 charges related to a series of anthrax scares across the country that turned out to be hoaxes. The indictment accuses Marc Keyser, 66, of mailing...

Neb. parents rush to leave kids before law changes - Added 5 days ago

The mother was running out of more than patience when she abandoned her 18-year-old daughter at a hospital over the weekend under Nebraska's safe-haven law. She was also running out of time: She knew that state...

Pentagon to brief Obama team on key decisions - Added 5 days ago

The Pentagon will give President-elect Barack Obama's transition team a rundown of "key decision points" it will face in his first 90 days as commander in chief, a senior official said Thursday. Eric Edelman, the...

Probe finds FAA hid Dallas airport safety errors - Added 5 days ago

A Transportation Department investigation has concluded that Federal Aviation Administration officials covered up safety errors at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the second such admonishment in the past three...

SC priest: No communion for Obama supporters - Added 5 days ago

A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and...

Former IRA militant testifies in deportation case - Added 5 days ago

A former IRA militant facing deportation after nearly 25 years in the United States testified Thursday that he is fighting to stay because he has built a life for himself. Pol Brennan had been living in Northern...

US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 555 - Added 5 days ago

As of Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, at least 555 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...

Labor Department finalizes new family leave rules - Added 5 days ago

The Labor Department on Thursday announced final revisions in the Family and Medical Leave Act, including new rules defining how families of wounded service members will be able to take unpaid leave to care for them. ...

Trooper cites pair for DUI in single traffic stop - Added 5 days ago

A Montana Highway Patrol trooper cited two men with drunken driving in one traffic stop. Trooper Darvin Mees stopped a suspected drunk driver Wednesday afternoon. While he had the driver out performing a field sobriety...

Russian Orthodox church stolen _ brick by brick - Added 5 days ago

Wanted: One missing Russian church. Last seen in July. Reward for its return. Orthodox officials in a central Russian region say an abandoned church building that was to be put back into use has been stolen by local...

Cast of millions puts on Calif. earthquake drill - Added 5 days ago

People across Southern California on Thursday looked like they had stepped out of a disaster movie. Children ducked under their desks. Victims with fake blood lay on the ground. First responders sprang into action to...

NY Rep. Rangel hires accountant in ethics mess - Added 5 days ago

New York Rep. Charles Rangel has hired an accountant to pore over his personal finances as he faces an ethics committee investigation. Rangel, a powerful Democrat who heads the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, has...

Idaho sign advertises Obama 'public hanging' - Added 5 days ago

!!-- pobj:IDSAN101-1112081420 -->The Secret Service is investigating a sign erected by a northern Idaho landowner that advertises a "free public hanging" of President-elect Barack Obama and other political figures. ...

Bush defends capitalism on eve of economic summit - Added 5 days ago

President George W. Bush fervently defended U.S.-style free enterprise Thursday as the cure for the world's financial chaos, not the cause. He warned foreign leaders ahead of a weekend summit not to crush global growth...

Deal paves way for dams' removal on Western river - Added 5 days ago

An agreement signed Thursday lays the groundwork for removing four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River to help one of the West Coast's most beleaguered salmon runs and end a longstanding environmental dispute. ...

King family seeks to cash in on MLK-Obama items - Added 5 days ago

Zealous guardians of his words and his likeness, the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is demanding a share of the proceeds from the sudden wave of T-shirts, posters and other merchandise depicting the civil...

Robber threatens to complain after finding no cash - Added 5 days ago

Police say a central Pennsylvania man tried to rob a bank _ but tellers' empty cash drawers thwarted his attempt. Springettsbury Township Police Lt. Scott Laird said the tellers were waiting for their cash drawers to be...

NTSB: Design errors caused 2007 bridge collapse - Added 5 days ago

Undersized steel reinforcing plates were cited Thursday as the chief cause of last year's deadly collapse of a highway bridge in Minneapolis. Federal investigators also said the plates were overstressed by almost 300...

Gunshot report at Virginia Tech is a false alarm - Added 5 days ago

An exploded cartridge from a nail gun produced sounds similar to gunfire near a Virginia Tech dormitory Thursday, briefly scaring a campus still scarred from mass shootings last year. The scare was the first use of the...

Children left under Nebraska's safe-haven law - Added 5 days ago

Nebraska's safe-haven law, which doesn't have a specified age limit, lets parents abandon their children at a hospital without fear of prosecution. Since it went into effect July 18, it has been used to drop off 33...

Special prosecutor to handle Texas dragging case - Added 5 days ago

Under pressure from the victim's family, the district attorney prosecuting the death of a black man who was run over and dragged about 70 feet has recused himself because he once represented one of the murder suspects. ...

AP NewsBreak: Gulf War vet health research lacking - Added 5 days ago

Even as possibly hundreds of thousands of veterans suffer from a collection of symptoms commonly called Gulf War illness, the government has done too little to find treatments for their health problems nearly two...

Suits claim election-night abuse by Chicago police - Added 5 days ago

!!-- pobj:CX110-1113081636 -->A lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that while a huge Chicago crowd celebrated the election of the first black U.S. president, some white city police officers committed hate crimes against a...

What world leaders want from Washington summit - Added 5 days ago

World leaders are gathering Friday and Saturday in Washington to grapple with the global financial crisis. There are conflicting ideas about how to deal with the problem, what reforms are needed and what should fall...

Toxic trailers sold to public as scrap - Added 5 days ago

The government is selling travel trailers to the public that were banned from use as emergency housing in disasters because many had toxic levels of formaldehyde. These units are being sold through the General Services...

Life sentence for co-defendant of 'Sopranos' actor - Added 5 days ago

A reputed low-level mob associate convicted of killing an off-duty New York police officer during a botched burglary has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. His co-defendant, former "Sopranos" actor Lillo...

Va. scientist set to enter plea on China sales - Added 5 days ago

A scientist accused of selling rocket technology to China and bribing Chinese officials to win a $4 million contract for his Virginia company is scheduled to enter a plea Monday, according to court records. Quan-Sheng...

Man charged in Obama plot says grand jury skewed - Added 5 days ago

One of two white supremacists charged with plotting to kill President-elect Barack Obama and dozens of other black people argued Thursday that a federal grand jury was racially stacked against him. Daniel Cowart, 20,...

Obama top aide apologizes to Arabs - Added 5 days ago

President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff apologized to the Arab-American community on Thursday for remarks his father made to an Israeli newspaper. Last week, Benjamin Emanuel talked about his son Rahm...

Fired aide to Sen. Boxer faces child porn charges - Added 5 days ago

A high-level aide to California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer has been charged in federal court with receiving and distributing child pornography. The aide, Jeff Rosato, 32, was arrested last Friday. Boxer's office...

CIA: Hunt for bin Laden still a top priority - Added 5 days ago

Osama bin Laden is isolated from the day-to-day operations of al-Qaida, but the terrorist organization he built is spreading its influence in Africa and the Middle East, CIA Director Michael Hayden said Thursday. ...

Mom was right: NJ tree heads to Rockefeller Center - Added 5 days ago

The centerpiece of Christmas at New York's Rockefeller Center will be a tree from western New Jersey that its owners call a "miracle." Workers cut down the 8-ton, 72-foot-tall Norway spruce at the home of the Varanyak...

Slaying victim in La. Klan case described as loner - Added 5 days ago

!!-- pobj:LAORS101-1111080417 -->!!-- pobj:LAORS102-1111080418 -->A Tulsa woman shot to death after she tried to leave a Ku Klux Klan initiation in rural Louisiana was a gentle, lonely and troubled person who likely...

2 charged in restaurant slayings near St. Louis - Added 5 days ago

Two Illinois brothers were charged Thursday in the shooting deaths of a waitress and cook at a restaurant where the suspects had worked. Anthony Akins Jr., 20, and Oundr'e Akins, 19, were each charged with two counts...

Cheneys welcome Bidens at vice president's mansion - Added 5 days ago

Vice President-elect Joe Biden is getting a tour of his new home from the outgoing occupant, Vice President Dick Cheney. Biden arrived Thursday at the Naval Observatory, the home for vice presidents, with his wife,...

Banks say they're using bailout money for loans - Added 5 days ago

Some of the nation's largest banks sharing in the $700 billion government bailout of the financial industry tried to assure lawmakers Thursday they are using the money to make more loans and help financially strapped...

Philadelphia's Chinatown seeks to keep out casino - Added 5 days ago

!!-- pobj:PAMR103-1112081328 -->!!-- pobj:PAMR102-1112081331 -->!!-- pobj:PAMR101-1112081328 -->Many who live and work in the city's small but vibrant Chinatown were dismayed and angered, but not surprised, when state...

NH man convicted of capital murder for killing cop - Added 5 days ago

A man authorities were seeking after a series of shootings and armed robberies was convicted Thursday of capital murder for killing a police officer in a case that could result in New Hampshire's first execution in...

In bad economy, boat owners abandon their vessels - Added 5 days ago

From Southern California to Maine, the foundering economy, high fuel prices and poor fishing have driven boat owners to abandon perhaps thousands of vessels on the waterfront, where they are beginning to break up and...

Threats won't tame Iran, experts say - Added 5 days ago

President-elect Barack Obama, plotting his strategy on Iran, is getting this advice from a panel of American diplomats and other experts: Don't pile on economic and military threats; it doesn't help. "An attack would...

Beer truck driver accused of driving drunk - Added 5 days ago

A contract beer truck driver has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after his rig flipped over. Police said the man, 56, was eastbound on Colorado 58 about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when he took an exit ramp for...

Death on Mount Hood: A widow's quest for answers - Added 5 days ago

Shivering, weak and injured in a snow cave, on a mountain he and two climbing companions had tried to conquer, Kelly James managed to reach his wife on his cell phone. "Hey baby," he said. "Hi honey, I love you,"...