News For Thursday Aug 21, 2008 News For Thursday Aug 21, 2008

U.S. U.S.

Grand jury issues 3 indictments in polygamist case - Added 10 minutes ago

A grand jury issued three new felony indictments Thursday against members of a polygamist sect raided here in April. Schleicher County Clerk Peggy Williams confirmed the grand jury issued indictments against three...

Opening statements begin in Fallujah case - Added 11 minutes ago

A former Marine charged with killing unarmed detainees in Iraq did what he did to save his comrades, his attorney said Thursday as opening statements in the defendant's first-of-its-kind federal trial began. Jose Luis...

'World's Greatest Dad' gets 3-20 years in prison - Added 16 minutes ago

A 33-year-old man who authorities say wore a "World's Greatest Dad" T-shirt to have sex with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl has been sentenced to three to 20 years in prison. Oakland County Circuit Judge...

Texas man gets life for child sex club conviction - Added 25 minutes ago

!!-- pobj:TXTYL102-0821081643 -->!!-- pobj:TXTYL101-0821081641 -->An auto body shop worker was convicted and swiftly sentenced to life in prison Thursday for grooming children as young as 5 to perform in sex shows at a...

Report details fire in NYC tower rife with hazards - Added 33 minutes ago

!!-- pobj:NYBM102-0821081320 -->They had no water, hardly any air and no way out. In frantic, confused radio dispatches from inside a burning toxic skyscraper near ground zero last August, firefighters made a series of...

Student killed in shooting at Tenn. school - Added 34 minutes ago

!!-- hobj:197 -->A student fatally shot a 15-year-old classmate Thursday at a high school, police said, as other teenagers watched in horror as the victim clutched his chest and fell to the floor. Police identified the...

Collapsed snow cave traps 2 teens in Wash. state - Added 36 minutes ago

Search and rescue crews are trying to dig out two teenagers trapped in a collapsed snow cave near a mountain summit east of Seattle. Snoqualmie (snow-'KWAHL-mee) Pass Fire Chief Matt Cowan says hikers with the teens...

Congress: Terror database upgrade failing - Added 40 minutes ago

A congressional committee on Thursday asked for an investigation into a counterterrorism database software upgrade that it says is months behind schedule, millions over budget and would actually be less capable than the...

FCC proposes ban on some wireless microphones - Added 45 minutes ago

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a ban on certain types of wireless microphones and has begun an investigation into how the industry markets its products. Consumer groups alleged in a complaint last...

Military halts shipment of deadly toxins - Added 45 minutes ago

Military leaders have suspended some activities at biological research laboratories to review safety rules for some of the world's deadliest germs and toxins, including how they are shipped through FedEx and other...

Judge delays execution of condemned Texas inmate - Added 51 minutes ago

A federal judge delayed the planned execution of an inmate Thursday pending an evaluation to determine if the inmate is able to understand why he is to be put to death. Jeffery Wood was to have been executed Thursday...

Jurors in Idaho murder case cry at graphic videos - Added 1 hour ago

Jurors cringed, cried and some desperately looked away as they were shown a series of deeply disturbing and graphic videos taken by a convicted child killer as he tortured, sexually abused and nearly killed a 9-year-old...

Feds: Fire took down building next to twin towers - Added 1 hour ago

Federal investigators said Thursday they have solved a mystery of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: the collapse of World Trade Center building 7, a source of long-running conspiracy theories. The 47-story trapezoid-shaped...

HHS: Doctors can refuse to provide abortions - Added 1 hour ago

The Bush administration on Thursday proposed stronger job protections for doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions because of religious or moral objections. Health and Human Services...

Sex offender found guilty of killing Fla. teen - Added 1 hour ago

A jury in Florida has convicted a sex offender of second-degree murder in the death of a teenage girl in 2005. Prosecutors say David Lee Onstott strangled 13-year-old Sarah Lunde of Ruskin, Fla., and left her body in a...

NTSB: Firefighting chopper lost power before crash - Added 1 hour ago

An initial investigation into a deadly helicopter crash that killed nine people in Northern California earlier this month has found that the chopper's main rotor lost power during takeoff. The Sikorsky S-61N helicopter...

Gators among those fleeing Fay's Florida deluge - Added 2 hours ago

As if a fourth straight day of rain from Tropical Storm Fay wasn't enough, weary residents are now dealing with quintessentially Floridian fallout: alligators, snakes and other critters driven from their swampy lairs...

Border agents find pot in entertainment centers - Added 2 hours ago

Some furniture inspected by customs agents at the Arizona-Mexico border gives new meaning to the term "entertainment centers" _ they were allegedly used to hide $2.7 million worth of marijuana. U.S. Customs and Border...

Fla. deputies Taser Plop-Plop the unruly emu - Added 2 hours ago

Bay County Sheriff's deputies were forced to use a Taser to subdue an escaped emu named Plop-Plop. The large female bird escaped from a farm last weekend and on Monday, she holed up with some horses and goats in a pen. ...

Man: Friend's raccoon 'went crazy' and attacked me - Added 2 hours ago

A man said his friend's raccoon went crazy before it attacked him. Police say Steven Hines called police early Tuesday morning to report that he had been bitten. Hines had agreed to watch the animal for a few days and...

Man denied refund for condoms accused of calling 911 - Added 2 hours ago

Police said a man called 911 and reported a robbery after a gas station employee refused to give him his money back for an unopened box of condoms. Police said officers responded quickly to the call on Sunday and found...

Cops: Woman marks birthday by aiding son in heists - Added 2 hours ago

Police in Wisconsin say a woman celebrated her birthday by helping her teenage son rob two gas stations. Officers in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield say the 37-year-old woman acted as the getaway driver while her...

Angel the dog credited with saving kittens - Added 2 hours ago

You've heard of man bites dog. What about, dog saves cats? A two-year-old dog that had been turned over to the Nevada Humane Society's shelter in Reno is being credited with rescuing six abandoned kittens. Shelter...

Illinois sheriff does jail time - voluntarily - Added 2 hours ago

The Lake County sheriff is behind bars _ voluntarily. Sheriff Mark Curran said his goal is to talk to inmates so he can see the jail from their perspective. That way he can try to solve potential problems, such as...

Man drives home 53rd new Cadillac in 53 years - Added 2 hours ago

There are loyal customers, and then there's Joseph Macko. The 84-year-old Flint man has bought or leased a new Cadillac every year since 1955, the year Disneyland opened in Anaheim, Calif., and Rosa Parks refused to...

Wis. woman arrested, booked over library fines - Added 2 hours ago

A Grafton woman has been arrested and booked for failing to pay her library fines. Heidi Dalibor, 20, told the News Graphic in Cedarburg she ignored the library's calls and letters as well as a notice to appear in...

Man arrested just 12 hours after release from jail - Added 2 hours ago

A 22-year-old man was back behind bars about 12 hours after he was released from jail, accused of stealing a car and beer and leading police on a high-speed chase. Darren E. Roberts was released from the Sullivan...

Utah politician seals deal with horse kiss - Added 2 hours ago

Lose a bet, kiss a horse. That's how Davis County Commissioner Alan Hansen found himself kissing a 3-year-old sand-colored horse named Reno. The smooch stemmed from a contest between employees at Davis County and the...

Suit accuses restaurant of giving man big tapeworm - Added 2 hours ago

A man who contends he got a 9-foot tapeworm after eating undercooked fish has sued a Chicago restaurant. In the lawsuit filed Monday, Anthony Franz said he ordered salmon salad for lunch from Shaw's Crab House in 2006...

Ohio student aces ACT and SAT tests - Added 2 hours ago

An Ohio high school student who says he has been taking practice tests since sixth grade has received perfect scores on both the SAT and ACT college entrance exams. Ray Wang had a perfect 2,400 on the SAT earlier this...

Corpse kept upright for 3-day wake in Puerto Rico - Added 2 hours ago

A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing _ even in death. A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his...

Canadians receive free Ohio dinner, 15 years later - Added 2 hours ago

A Canadian couple finally took a restaurant up on an offer that arrived 15 years ago _ by balloon. For its 1993 grand opening, Nicky's Restaurant in Canton released balloons with attached cards good for a free dinner...

Monkey eludes dragnet at Tokyo train station - Added 2 hours ago

Morning train commuters in Tokyo were joined on their way to work by an unusual companion Wednesday: a wild monkey. A security guard spotted the monkey near ticket gates in Shibuya Station, said Norihiru Masui, a...

Calif. says green cars need more noise pollution - Added 2 hours ago

Electric and hybrid vehicles may be better for the environment, but the California Legislature says they're bad for the blind. It has passed a bill to ensure that the vehicles make enough noise to be heard by visually...

Wisconsin couple each win $350,000 in lottery - Added 2 hours ago

This couple won't have to argue about how to spend their lottery winnings. That's because the Mount Horeb husband and wife each won their own $350,000 jackpots in this weekend's SuperCash state lottery. Lottery...

Colo. residents debate cow and bear confrontation - Added 2 hours ago

It sounds like this cow had a beef with the bear. Neighbors spotted a cow and a wild bear nuzzling noses Sunday and playing in a pasture. The bear later dashed away, but no one's sure whether the cow wanted the pasture...

Soldier to plead guilty to lower desertion charge - Added 2 hours ago

A soldier who fled to Canada when his unit was deployed to Iraq plans to plead guilty Friday to a reduced charge of desertion, his lawyer said. Pvt. Robin Long, 25, of Boise, Idaho, faces up to three years in prison...

US, Iraq reach deal to pull US troops out by June - Added 2 hours ago

Iraq and the U.S. have reached preliminary agreement to withdraw American forces from Iraqi cities by next June, six years into the increasingly unpopular war, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday after...

Company acknowledges Ohio voting machine error - Added 2 hours ago

The maker of the most widely used touch-screen voting machine in Ohio has acknowledged the machines have a programming error that led to about 1,000 votes being dropped briefly in the March primary. Premier Election...

Mom of missing Fla. girl released on $500,000 bail - Added 2 hours ago

The mother of a missing toddler was released from jail on $500,000 bail Thursday and returned to her parents' home, where authorities will monitor her with an electronic ankle device. Casey Anthony, 22, said nothing as...

RI bishop wants US to halt mass immigration raids - Added 2 hours ago

Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop is calling on U.S. authorities to halt mass immigration raids and says agents who refuse to participate in such raids on moral grounds deserve to be treated as conscientious...

Ky. high court won't rehear death row inmate case - Added 2 hours ago

A Kentucky death row inmate's plea to die for the slayings of two children cleared its last mandatory hurdle Thursday, potentially setting the state on course for its first execution in nine years. The Kentucky Supreme...

Mass. businesses battle over Lizzie Borden legacy - Added 3 hours ago

Two Massachusetts businesses are battling over the macabre legacy of a former Sunday school teacher who was accused in the hatchet deaths of her wealthy father and stepmother more than 110 years ago. The owner of the...

Suspect holds authorities at bay in Md. motel - Added 3 hours ago

A burglary suspect wanted in four states was holed up Thursday in a western Maryland motel with a woman police believed was his pregnant girlfriend, and doctors were standing by in case she went into labor, authorities...

Melting Arctic Ocean opens new shipping frontier - Added 3 hours ago

Rapidly melting ice on Alaska's Arctic is opening up a new navigable ocean in the extreme north, allowing oil tankers, fishing vessels and even cruise ships to venture into a realm once trolled mostly by indigenous...

2 NJ girls trapped in Georgia now safe with Dad - Added 3 hours ago

Two little girls from New Jersey were reunited with their father Thursday and could be returning home within a few days after being trapped by violence in the Republic of Georgia for two weeks. Ashley Evans, 7, and her...

Former La. police officer arraigned in Taser death - Added 3 hours ago

A former police officer accused of repeatedly jolting a handcuffed man with a Taser before he died pleaded not guilty Thursday to a manslaughter charge. Scott Nugent, 21, also pleaded not guilty to a charge of...

Widow of slain Demo chairman to attend convention - Added 3 hours ago

The widow of slain state Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney will fill his spot at the Democratic National Convention in Denver next week, the governor said Thursday. Gov. Mike Beebe said Rebecca Gwatney accepted an...

Bush's evolving rhetoric on US-Iraq timetables - Added 3 hours ago

Changes in the Bush administration's rhetoric over the past 16 months on a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq: April 3, 2007: _ "I think setting an artificial timetable for withdrawal is a significant...

Justice delays new rules on terror investigations - Added 3 hours ago

The Justice Department has agreed to delay new rules giving the FBI greater leeway in investigations of suspected terrorists, deferring to concerns by senators that innocent Americans might be targeted. In a letter to...