AP U.S. NewsBrief at 12:55 p.m. EST

Balloon boy parents get jail time, tough probation

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — The parents who carried out the balloon boy hoax were sentenced to jail Wednesday and given strict probation conditions that forbid them from earning any money from the spectacle for four years. Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail, including 60 days of work release that will let him pursue his job as a construction contractor while serving his time. His wife, Mayumi, was sentenced to 20 days in jail.

US dad hopes to regain custody of son in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — An American father is cautiously hopeful that he will be reunited with his son in Brazil on Wednesday after a five-year custody battle that went to the highest levels of both governments. David Goldman won a big legal victory late Tuesday when Brazil's chief justice upheld a lower court's ruling that ordered his son, Sean, returned to him. The 9-year-old boy has lived in Brazil since Goldman's ex-wife took him to her native country in 2004. Last year she died in childbirth.

Northeast train problems strand holiday travelers

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — An electrical problem outside New York City put train service at a standstill up and down the East Coast for three hours Wednesday, leaving commuters and holiday travelers stopped in their tracks or scrambling for alternatives. Service was restored around 11:30 a.m., Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said, but residual delays were expected.

Major winter storm taking aim at West, Midwest

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A major winter storm is promising to bring a white Christmas to much of the nation's midsection, though countless holiday travelers faced slick roads and scattered flight delays and cancellations Wednesday that only looked to get worse. Snow was forecast across a large swath of the Plains and the Midwest, with a foot or two possible by Christmas Day. The storm also was expected to dump sleet and heavy rain as it treks eastward. Blizzard warnings were likely on Christmas Eve in Kansas.

Reindeer dung ornaments, jewelry net Ill. zoo $20K

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) — Necklaces and Christmas ornaments made from dime-sized pieces of reindeer droppings have earned a Bloomington, Ill., zoo nearly $21,000 this holiday season. The Miller Park Zoological Society made about $5,000 selling reindeer-dropping ornaments last year. It added necklaces this year when customers asked if jewelry was available.

Ohio mom calls cops on her shoplifting 6-year-old

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman who asked that police be called after she caught her 6-year-old daughter shoplifting a package of stickers said Wednesday that she was just trying to teach the girl a lesson early in life. Diane Lyons said she doesn't believe she overreacted when she discovered the girl, Shiane, had taken the $3.11 package of stickers used to make temporary tattoos. An older 10-year-old daughter told Lyons about the theft.

Warrant says NC woman's corpse hidden since June

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — When coastal North Carolina authorities found the nearly mummified corpse of an elderly woman in a bed where her family had hidden it for seven months, they thought they might have a homicide case. Now officials say they're collecting evidence to charge 87-year-old Blanche Matilda Roth's daughter with fraud. They say Amy Stewart continued to receive Roth's benefits after she died in June.

Teresa Heinz says she's fighting breast cancer

BOSTON (AP) — Teresa Heinz says she is being treated for breast cancer discovered through mammography and argues that younger women should continue undergoing the tests despite a federal panel's recent recommendation to reduce their frequency. The 71-year-old wife of the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, of Massachusetts, told The Associated Press that the cost of mammography is far lower than the physical and personal tolls women ages 40 to 60 face if their cancer goes undetected early and they later have to be treated with aggressive chemotherapy.

Conn. prison: Inmate slit guard's neck with blade

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — An inmate at the state's highest security prison slashed a guard's throat with a homemade blade during a routine security check, prompting a lockdown, authorities said Wednesday. State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance said the officer was taking the prisoner out of his cell Tuesday for a routine security check at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers. The inmate punched the guard, slashed him with the weapon and continued fighting until other guards restrained him, Vance said.

Terrorist attack feared after Jackson arrest

NEW YORK (AP) — Police concerns that media-hungry terrorists would attack Michael Jackson's trial as a "soft target" led to a request for federal help, according to FBI files kept on the late pop star. The documents also show that the FBI helped facilitate interviews in the Philippines by California authorities investigating Jackson over allegations that he had sexually abused boys. The FBI monitored Jackson for more than a decade, but the files contain no major revelations about his private life and the bureau apparently never developed any solid evidence against him.