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Rita already causing havoc on approach
Sep 23 2005 11:25PM (CT)
BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) - Hurricane Rita steamed toward refinery towns along the Texas-Louisiana coast with 120 mph winds Friday, creating havoc even before it arrived: Levee breaks caused new flooding in New Orleans, and as many as 24 people were killed when a bus carrying nursing-home evacuees caught fire in a traffic jam.
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Owners of R.I. club file for bankruptcy
Sep 23 2005 11:16PM (CT)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The owners of a nightclub where a fire killed 100 people filed for bankruptcy Friday, saying they face a staggering amount of debt and cannot pay creditors.
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Vegas driver said to see 'demons' in crowd
Sep 23 2005 11:12PM (CT)
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A man accused of killing two tourists and injuring 12 others on the Las Vegas Strip told police he steered his car into the crowd on the sidewalk because they were staring at him like demons.
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British ex-PM: No easy solutions to Iraq
Sep 23 2005 11:10PM (CT)
STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) - Former British Prime Minister John Major said defeating terrorism and winning the war in Iraq won't be quick or easy and victory will take more than military might.
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Man suspected of raising millions in fraud
Sep 23 2005 11:09PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Authorities arrested a man Friday for allegedly bilking investors out of $5.5 million by fraudulently claiming to be producing a government-backed television show about the Department of Homeland Security.
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Boston archbishop released from hospital
Sep 23 2005 11:07PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - Boston's Roman Catholic Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley was released Friday from a hospital after a three-day stay for an acute inner ear infection, the archdiocese announced.
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Bus fire kills 24 Texas rest home evacuees
Sep 23 2005 10:58PM (CT)
WILMER, Texas (AP) - A bus ferrying nursing home residents away from Hurricane Rita caught fire and exploded Friday while stuck on a gridlocked highway south of Dallas, killing as many as 24 people.
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Psychologist says Pfc. England depressed
Sep 23 2005 10:55PM (CT)
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) - A psychologist testified Friday that Pvt. Lynndie England suffered from depression and that her mental condition, coupled with an overly compliant personality, made her a heedless participant in abuse of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison.
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New prisoner abuse investigation opened
Sep 23 2005 10:50PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Army has opened an investigation into a Fort Bragg soldier's allegations that he witnessed and heard about widespread prisoner abuse _ including torture and a beating with a baseball bat _ while serving at a base in Iraq.
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American U. president pays school $21,000
Sep 23 2005 10:49PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Suspended American University president Benjamin Ladner has provided a $21,000 check to cover limousine bills and some of the other expenses under investigation by school trustees.
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Mothers plan opposing war marches on D.C.
Sep 23 2005 10:27PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Diane Ibbotson and H. Elaine Johnson are grieving mothers. Both lost sons in Iraq, and both feel strongly enough about the war to travel to the nation's capital for demonstrations. That is where the similarities end.
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Best-laid plans weren't enough in Texas
Sep 23 2005 10:22PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - It was envisioned as the anti-Katrina plan: Texas officials sketched a staggered, orderly evacuation plan for Hurricane Rita and urged people to get out days ahead of time.
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American held in Iraq tells of torture
Sep 23 2005 10:07PM (CT)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - An American contract worker who was kidnapped in Iraq and held more than 10 months says in an interview that his captors kept him blindfolded and bound throughout the ordeal.
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Rita inflicts fresh floods on New Orleans
Sep 23 2005 10:03PM (CT)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Hurricane Rita's wind-driven storm surge topped one of New Orleans' battered levees and poked holes in another Friday, sending water gushing into already-devastated neighborhoods just days after they had been pumped dry.
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Research institute in N.J. receives $25M
Sep 23 2005 9:46PM (CT)
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) - The Institute for Advanced Study has received a $25 million donation, the largest in its history, from a fund started by a Hungarian-born billionaire who helped Microsoft create Word and Excel, officials said Friday.
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Seattle City Council nixes monorail plan
Sep 23 2005 9:26PM (CT)
SEATTLE (AP) - The City Council yanked its support Friday for a proposed 14-mile monorail, but rather than give up on a civic dream, the monorail board rushed a shorter, less costly proposal onto the November ballot.
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Ohio jury convicts man of kidnapping girl
Sep 23 2005 9:18PM (CT)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Jurors convicted a man Friday of kidnapping a 5-year-old girl, but acquitted him of a rape charge that could have brought a mandatory life sentence.
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Smuggling probe finds Peruvian artifacts
Sep 23 2005 9:09PM (CT)
MIAMI (AP) - More than 300 ancient Peruvian artifacts, including a 3,500-year-old clay pot and a burial shroud used by royalty, have been recovered in south Florida as part of a smuggling investigation, federal officials said Friday.
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Siblings not surprised about cage charges
Sep 23 2005 8:45PM (CT)
CLEVELAND (AP) - When Jesse and Jenna Gravelle heard the stories about a couple forcing their 11 adopted children to sleep in cages, they weren't surprised to hear their father and stepmother's names.
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Lesbian reaches deal on yearbook tux photo
Sep 23 2005 8:40PM (CT)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A lesbian student has reached an out-of-court agreement about six months after her senior portrait was banned from the yearbook because she was dressed in a tuxedo.
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Egyptian-born MD gets $2.5M in search suit
Sep 23 2005 8:17PM (CT)
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A federal jury awarded an Egyptian-born radiologist nearly $2.5 million for invasion of privacy after a property manager searched his apartment and called police on Sept. 11, 2001.
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Calif. duo plead not guilty in terror case
Sep 23 2005 8:13PM (CT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A father and son pleaded not guilty Friday to a new indictment that boosted the charges against the son, who is accused of attending an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan.
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Woman gets nine to 30 for Pa. baby kidnap
Sep 23 2005 8:04PM (CT)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A woman convicted of kidnapping an infant during a fire, then raising the girl as her own for years, was sentenced Friday to nine to 30 years in prison.
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U.N. must now turn words into action
Sep 23 2005 7:52PM (CT)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - After the world's largest-ever gathering of world leaders and a week of follow-up speeches that ended Friday, the 191 U.N. member states now have the job of taking action to reduce poverty, fight terrorism and reform the United Nations.
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Report: U.S. needs to get screening right
Sep 23 2005 7:37PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government has spent millions since Sept. 11, 2001, to develop a system to ensure terrorists don't board planes. But they still can't get it right _ and shouldn't do any more work on it until they do, an oversight panel said Friday.
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Calif. Rep. tries to make point about ANWR
Sep 23 2005 7:22PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Want to buy a national park? Get a deal to drill for oil off the coastline? Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., is proposing to sell off such assets to make a point about worse alternatives to drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, his spokesman said Friday.
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Ind. man agrees to transfer exotic animals
Sep 23 2005 7:05PM (CT)
FLAT ROCK, Ind. (AP) - A man agreed Friday to transfer several bears and tigers to rescue groups after his squalid exotic animal farm was raided by state wildlife officials.
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No evidence of crime found in cadet's fall
Sep 23 2005 7:04PM (CT)
DENVER (AP) - Air Force investigators on Friday said they found no evidence that anyone pushed or threw an Air Force Academy cadet who broke his back in a fall from a dormitory window.
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Iraq war vet makes plea deal in Vegas slay
Sep 23 2005 7:03PM (CT)
LAS VEGAS (AP) - An Iraq war veteran agreed to plead guilty to a weapons charge Friday in a deal with prosecutors that requires him to get counseling but drops murder and attempted murder charges.
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Holdouts dim prospects for nuke test ban
Sep 23 2005 5:58PM (CT)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The nuclear test ban treaty has been ratified by 125 countries, but after nine years its prospects of entering into force are grim because of 11 holdout nations _ including the United States _ whose support is essential.
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Couple to aid evacuees with $258M jackpot
Sep 23 2005 5:17PM (CT)
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) - A couple who were the sole winners of a $258 million Mega Millions jackpot say some of their winnings will go to help Hurricane Katrina victims.
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Mob concerns ice NYC fish market move
Sep 23 2005 5:09PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A judge put the relocation plans of the nation's largest wholesale fish market on ice Friday after hearing claims that it could be vulnerable to Mafia infiltration when it moves to its new site.
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Taxi driver accused of raping passenger
Sep 23 2005 4:07PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A taxi driver has been arrested and jailed for allegedly raping a passenger, and police on Friday were asking any other victims to come forward to help the investigation.
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Man sentenced in Chicago trucking scandal
Sep 23 2005 3:56PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - A man who ran one of the biggest companies involved in Chicago's scandal-plagued trucking-for-hire program was sentenced Friday to about 14 months in prison.
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Rita's rains breach two New Orleans levees
Sep 23 2005 3:49PM (CT)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Hurricane Rita's wind and rain breached two of New Orleans' battered levees Friday and sent water gushing into already-devastated neighborhoods just days after they had been pumped dry.
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Md. arson suspect may have set new fire
Sep 23 2005 3:34PM (CT)
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) - One of the men accused of setting fire to houses in an upscale suburban development may have set another fire while awaiting trial, prosecutors said.
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2 inmates hurt in California prison riot
Sep 23 2005 3:32PM (CT)
CHINO, Calif. (AP) - A racial clash between inmates at a California prison erupted into a three-hour riot involving 200 inmates, critically injuring two, an official said Friday.
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Katrina housing turmoil drags on
Sep 23 2005 3:23PM (CT)
VACHERIE, La. (AP) - Beefy arms crossed, knees bouncing impatiently, Don Schwab held his tongue as a FEMA official schooled a roomful of local officials in the basics of her agency. Finally, unable to sit still any longer, he cut her off.
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Beaumont evacuates remaining residents
Sep 23 2005 3:04PM (CT)
BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) - At the Beaumont Convention Center, where the last bus out of town was scheduled for noon Friday, a long line of the old, the sick and those in between climbed aboard, carrying all they could manage.
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Brief power outage affects 40,000 in L.A.
Sep 23 2005 2:51PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A brief power outage hit 40,000 utility customers Friday morning, and officials said it was unclear whether mechanical or human error was involved.
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Gay bishop predicts Anglican church split
Sep 23 2005 2:49PM (CT)
PLYMOUTH, N.H. (AP) - The first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church is predicting a division in the Anglican Communion two years after U.S. church leaders triggered global outrage by approving his election.
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Agency overhauls English proficiency test
Sep 23 2005 2:48PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - For American students, tests like the SAT, ACT and GRE mark the path to college and graduate school. But for hundreds of thousands of international students hoping to study in the United States, a major concern is proving their language skills on the TOEFL _ the Test of English as a Foreign Language.
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'Dumb and Dumber' bank robbers sentenced
Sep 23 2005 2:47PM (CT)
DENVER (AP) - Two Australian men whose bumbling robbery of a bank earned them the nicknames "Dumb and Dumber" were sentenced to prison Friday by a federal judge who said even an inept bank robbery is a serious crime.
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N.M. court considers treasurer's decision
Sep 23 2005 2:28PM (CT)
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico's highest court is considering whether the state treasurer can step down temporarily until federal charges against him are resolved.
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New Orleans' Ninth Ward under water again
Sep 23 2005 2:06PM (CT)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Hurricane Rita's steady rains sent water pouring through breaches in a patched levee Friday, cascading into one of the city's lowest-lying neighborhoods in a devastating repeat of New Orleans' flooding nightmare. But levees on other canals were holding their own.
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Poor New Orleans neighborhood floods again
Sep 23 2005 1:24PM (CT)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Hurricane Rita's steady rains sent water pouring through breaches in a patched levee Friday, cascading into one of the city's lowest-lying neighborhoods in a devastating repeat of New Orleans' flooding nightmare.
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Houston adds patrols to prevent looting
Sep 23 2005 12:57PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - When Houston-area residents heeded warnings to flee Hurricane Rita, they left behind nearly abandoned neighborhoods and stores _ and a potential playground for thieves.
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Ex-border patrol agent sentenced to prison
Sep 23 2005 12:56PM (CT)
ODESSA, Texas (AP) - A former border patrol agent convicted of letting drug couriers slip through a checkpoint was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in federal prison.
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Man sentenced to death in cop slayings
Sep 23 2005 12:53PM (CT)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A judge rejected a jury's call for mercy and sentenced an admitted drug dealer to death Friday for the murders of three police officers gunned down as they entered a crack house.
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Red Cross renews plea for hurricane aid
Sep 23 2005 12:18PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The American Red Cross asked Americans to give more to help hurricane victims, saying the $853 million donated for Katrina is less than half what's needed. Rita will require even more.
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Feds promise to deliver fuel to evacuees
Sep 23 2005 10:59AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal authorities began counting down to Hurricane Rita's arrival with last-minute promises to deliver fuel to hundreds of thousands of evacuees fleeing the shifting storm that covered half of the Gulf of Mexico.
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Man who fled Katrina shot dead in Tenn.
Sep 23 2005 10:19AM (CT)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A man who sought safety from Hurricane Katrina in Tennessee was gunned down in the street and died, possibly during a robbery of his Red Cross relief money.
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Small quake shakes area north of L.A.
Sep 23 2005 10:15AM (CT)
WHEELER RIDGE, Calif. (AP) - A magnitude 3.6 earthquake shook an area north of Los Angeles early Friday, one day after a series of quakes rumbled through the region.
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Katrina survivors struggle with depression
Sep 23 2005 9:11AM (CT)
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Tom Leynes once was a carpenter, a popular man with an apartment just a block off the beach, "a happy guy." Today Leynes lives in a fly-covered pup tent. He's bearded and haggard, each day wearing the same camouflage green shorts and thousand-yard stare. He's trying to fend off a deepening depression with cans of beer and Valium, and on some days the 49-year-old man is barely coherent.
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Bus carrying evacuees catches fire; 1 dead
Sep 23 2005 7:17AM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - A bus filled with Hurricane Rita evacuees caught fire early Friday on gridlocked Interstate 45, killing at least one person and injuring others, a television station reported.
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Search for Katrina victims a nasty ordeal
Sep 23 2005 7:00AM (CT)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Firefighters Jorge Remedios and Edan Jacobs arrive at the pancaked house, and there they are: The same three German shepherds that had charged them the day before. The dogs emerge again, snarling, from the wreckage.
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Rita produces new crop of storm refugees
Sep 23 2005 6:59AM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - Thousands of Texans fleeing Hurricane Rita battled hours of gridlock and shortages of gasoline and hotel rooms, arriving at shelters across the state with everything from a handful of clothes to bags of belongings _ and, in one case, a cow.
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Katrina turns the poor into the destitute
Sep 23 2005 6:52AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Before Hurricane Katrina, they were among the poorest of America's poor. In the hardest hit counties, some 305,000 people not only lived in poverty, their families' income fell below 50 percent of the poverty line _ about $7,500 for a family of three. Now, many live in strange towns with only a few dollars in their pockets.
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School expels girl for having gay parents
Sep 23 2005 6:05AM (CT)
ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) - A 14-year-old student was expelled from a Christian school because her parents are lesbians, the school's superintendent said in a letter.
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Beatty rips Schwarzenegger for policies
Sep 23 2005 5:29AM (CT)
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Actor Warren Beatty leveled a blistering political assault on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday night, accusing him of governing "by show, by spin, by cosmetics and photos ops."
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Firm hired to fix Los Angeles hospital
Sep 23 2005 5:24AM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The company hired to turn around a troubled inner-city hospital inflated its own expenses by double-billing airfare and charging for unrelated travel, according to a newspaper review.
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Katrina turns the poor into the destitute
Sep 23 2005 5:12AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Before Hurricane Katrina, they were among the poorest of America's poor. In the hardest hit counties, some 305,000 people not only lived in poverty, their families' income fell below 50 percent of the poverty line _ about $7,500 for a family of three. Now, many live in strange towns with only a few dollars in their pockets.
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New indictment comes in Calif. terror case
Sep 23 2005 4:35AM (CT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A man already being held on charges of lying to authorities about attending a terrorist training camp in Pakistan has been indicted on federal charges alleging he intended "to wage jihad in the United States."
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Reputed capo charged in double murder
Sep 23 2005 3:09AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - According to local lore, Thomas and Rosemary Uva were bandits so brazen that the gangsters they dared to rob at gunpoint honored the couple by dubbing them "Bonnie and Clyde" _ before putting bullets in their heads. No one was charged in the Uvas' deaths until Thursday, nearly 13 years after the Christmas Eve 1992 killings. Authorities picked up a reputed captain in the Gambino organized crime family, Dominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia, and charged him with murder.
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Fleeing evacuees jam Houston airports
Sep 23 2005 2:07AM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - Residents fleeing the Texas Coast ahead of Hurricane Rita jammed Houston's two major airports, stretching an already thin supply of screeners and finding no way out without a ticket.
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Tips for coping following a disaster
Sep 23 2005 2:05AM (CT)
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - People typically experience a range of emotions following a disaster, starting with fear, excitement and relief during the event, and then stress, sadness and anger later on. Psychology experts offer several suggestions for coping in the aftermath of a catastrophic event:
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