Mourners across US grieve for Fort Hood slain
KIEL, Wis. (AP) — The hundreds of people who lined the main street of a small Indiana city Saturday fell solemnly silent as a white hearse passed by on its way to the church. Mourners streamed into a Wisconsin gymnasium to remember a soldier who once promised to take down Osama bin Laden. Across the country, many stood before several flag-draped coffins during funeral services for several of the 13 victims of the Nov. 5 shootings in Fort Hood, Texas.
Ohio: 1 lethal injection drug should end lawsuit
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state's decision to replace a three-drug lethal injection with a powerful dose of one anesthetic is raising the possibility of what may have seemed unthinkable not so long ago: a truce in the long-running legal challenges to death penalty injection across the country. Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray put it bluntly: A one-drug method would "render moot" his state's current injection lawsuit, which raises some issues found in other states regarding the potential for pain and suffering.
New Yorkers worry about trial for 9/11 mastermind
NEW YORK (AP) — The move to put the self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind on trial just blocks from ground zero raises a host of legal, political and security questions, chief among them: Can a fair-minded jury be found in a city still nursing deep wounds from the attack on the World Trade Center? Some also worry that the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will make New York an even bigger terrorist target, and that he will use the proceedings to incite more violence against Americans.
Pa. swim club accused of bias to file bankruptcy
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A suburban swim club accused of discrimination last summer after revoking the memberships of mostly black and Hispanic children plans to declare bankruptcy, a newspaper reported Saturday. Valley Swim Club president John Duesler sent an e-mail to club "friends and families" Friday saying the board of directors had voted to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy this week, The Philadelphia Daily News reported.
Child sex case for Mo. family expands with arrest
LEXINGTON, Mo. (AP) — The case against a family accused of child sex abuse expanded with the arrest of a sixth relative — a 72-year-old Florida man who had called the allegations against his kin repulsive and appalling. Darrel Wayne Mohler has been charged with raping two children in Missouri more than 20 years ago. His arrest Friday came a day after he told The Associated Press that the alleged child abuse by his relatives was "unspeakable."
Hawaii's famed white sandy beaches are shrinking
KAILUA, Hawaii (AP) — Jenn Boneza remembers when the white sandy beach near the boat ramp in her hometown was wide enough for people to build sand castles. "It really used to be a beautiful beach," said the 35-year-old mother of two. "And now when you look at it, it's gone."
FBI digs into backyard of Ohio home with 11 bodies
CLEVELAND (AP) — FBI agents sifted through dirt with rakes and shovels Saturday in the backyard of a suspected serial killer's home and ran a thermal-imaging device across the ground near the area where the decomposing bodies of several women were found. The agents worked for about four hours at the home of Anthony Sowell, crawling beneath the front porch and removing bricks and other debris. One agent had a tape measure, while another snapped pictures and a third marked locations with orange paint. They finished up around 1:30 p.m.
Madoff's personal belongings up for auction in NYC
NEW YORK (AP) — As Bernard Madoff sits in a North Carolina prison serving a 150-year sentence, remnants of the fallen financier's once lavish lifestyle are going on the auction block at a Manhattan hotel. Around 200 items — ranging from a half-used sticky pad to expensive jewelry — are being auctioned off Saturday in the grand ballroom at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers.
3 dead in medical helicopter crash north of Reno
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A medical helicopter crashed early Saturday north of Reno near the Nevada-California state line, killing three crew members aboard, officials said. The helicopter, an Aerospatiale AS350, crashed about 29 miles northwest of Reno in Lassen County, Calif., around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor. All three people aboard were killed.
Woman widowed by cop husband's suicide sues NYPD
NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Pigott was an experienced NYPD lieutenant with an elite team trained to deal with the most hostile scenarios. He was calm under pressure. A good leader. Last fall, Pigott responded to a call of a naked man teetering on a building ledge and jabbing at officers below with a long fluorescent light bulb. Among New York police work, not an extraordinary case. Pigott made a split decision to order an officer to fire a stun gun, but the order backfired, leading to the man's death — and Pigott's eventual suicide.
