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Bust of Frank Zappa to grace Baltimore library - 12/17/2009
It took more than a year, but Baltimore officials finally decided where to put a bust of rocker Frank Zappa that was given to the city by his fans in Lithuania. The eccentric musician's statue will be erected outside a public library. Zappa never visited Lithuania, but his music was popular there among the avant garde. A Li

NY cases being reopened over police lab misconduct - 12/17/2009
New York officials say prosecutors across the state will have to review closed criminal cases because a now-dead forensic scientist routinely failed to perform mandatory tests and then fraudulently wrote up results. New York state Inspector General Joseph Fisch says in a report released Thursday that the misconduct by Garry Veeder wen

Fla. man exonerated after 35 years behind bars - 12/17/2009
James Bain used a cell phone for the first time Thursday, calling his elderly mother to tell her he had been freed after 35 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Mobile devices didn't exist in 1974, the year he was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping a 9-year-old boy and raping him in a nearby field. Neith

Natural gas plant fire in Alaska destroys building - 12/17/2009
An explosion and fire has leveled a maintenance building adjacent to a natural gas plant north of Anchorage. Matanuska-Susitna Borough officials say no one was injured in the Thursday morning blast at a Fairbanks Natural Gas-operated facility at Point MacKenzie. Borough spokeswoman Patty Sullivan says crews doused tanks tha

Rumsfeld buys Montana ranch - 12/17/2009
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his wife have purchased a 940-acre ranch on the Big Hole River in Montana's Madison County, his spokesman confirmed Thursday. "Mrs. (Joyce) Rumsfeld was born in Montana, she has relatives in the state and the Rumsfelds have always thought very well of the state," spokesman Ke

Family contesting deathbed marriage of Ky. man - 12/17/2009
Denton Cooper and Izetta Johnson's second marriage didn't last long _ just hours, in fact. And that led his children to suggest the deathbed wedding was sham. Cooper and Johnson were wed just hours before the groom died on June 10 in eastern Kentucky. Cooper's three daughters by his first wife have gone to court, seeking to have the m

Wis. cops have jolly good time in Christmas video - 12/17/2009
The Christmas spirit seems to be in full swing at a police department in Wisconsin. Kenosha police officers have made a Christmas video that features their version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The cops sing about gifts from their chief that include bullets, guns, jelly doughnuts, night shifts and coffee breaks.

UN tackles problems with terror sanctions - 12/17/2009
The Security Council unanimously approved new measures Thursday aimed at ensuring that U.N. sanctions target the right people, companies and organizations for links to al-Qaida and the Taliban. Since the council imposed sanctions against the Taliban a decade ago, questions have been raised about the fairness of the list and the rights

12 charged in upstate NY airport immigration sting - 12/17/2009
Authorities say a dozen workers at a warehouse at an upstate New York airport have been charged with using forged immigration documents to get jobs. State police say the employees of Empire Warehouse Solutions at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh have been charged with falsifying business records and offering a false instrumen

Police: Vt. woman killed mom, had son bury remains - 12/17/2009
Vermont State Police say a 78-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease who was reported missing in 2006 was killed by her daughter, who then burned the body in the backyard and had her son _ the victim's grandson _ dispose of it. Fifty-nine-year-old Jeanne Sevigny told police her mother, Mary Wilcox, had Alzheimer's disease and wandere

Texas parents, school tangle over boy's long locks - 12/17/2009
Taylor Pugh has been suspended from pre-kindergarten because he likes his hair a little on the floppy side. The 4-year-old sat with a teacher's aide in a suburban Dallas school library on Thursday during the fourth week of his in-school suspension. Taylor's locks _ long on the front and sides, covering his earlobes and shir

Moms of US hikers in Iran left in dark about case - 12/17/2009
The families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal say they were trekking in northern Iraq on July 31 when they allegedly wandered into Iran and were arrested. Relatives say it was a harmless hike, but Iran's foreign minister said this week that the three would be tried in court. The minister didn't specify charges, but an Iran

Ariz. teacher on leave for taking choir to Hooters - 12/17/2009
An Arizona music teacher whose students performed at a presidential inauguration event is on administrative leave after taking 40 high school students to a Hooters restaurant. Paradise Valley school district spokeswoman Judi Willis says choir director Mary Segall accompanied the students to a performance in downtown Phoenix last week,

What were they thinking? Let's review - 12/17/2009
Every decade has its mistakes, of course, but one nice thing about the past 10 years' foibles, foul-ups and flubs is that so often they came with neat, two-word monikers, almost like keepsakes: "Wardrobe malfunction." "Mission Accomplished." "Balloon boy." Here's a review of 10 what-were-they-thinking mom

NC woman accused of hiding corpse appears in court - 12/17/2009
A woman accused of hiding her elderly mother's corpse for seven months in the family's North Carolina home asked Thursday for a court-appointed defense attorney. Amy Stewart made her first court appearance before a district court judge in Wilmington. The 47-year-old did not enter a plea. She was charged Wednesday with conce

2 get prison time in NJ sex video blackmail case - 12/17/2009
Two men convicted in a videotaped sex sting against an Atlantic City councilman are going to prison. A judge on Thursday sentenced Ronald Callaway to nine years behind bars. He'll be eligible for parole after four. Floyd Tally was sentenced to 12 years, with parole eligibility in six. The judge told the men the c

Tenn. boy, 4, caught with beer, stolen gifts - 12/17/2009
Tennessee investigators say a 4-year-old boy was found roaming his neighborhood in the night, drinking beer and wearing a little girl's dress taken from under a neighbor's Christmas tree. The child's mother, 21-year-old April Wright, tells WTVC-TV the boy "wants to go to jail because that's where his daddy is." Wright says s

Ohio's Traficant contemplates return to Congress - 12/17/2009
Former Rep. James Traficant, who was recently released from prison after serving seven years for corruption, said Thursday that he is "proud of being an ex-con" and may try to return to Congress. Traficant, a Democrat who was elected to nine terms from Youngstown before he was kicked out of the House, said he will circulate

11 years for ex-SC deacon in robbery attempt - 12/17/2009
A former South Carolina church deacon has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for trying to rob a bank. Bruce Windsor's family in the past blamed the crime on troubles related to the financial meltdown, though relatives said Thursday he has mental health issues. More than 100 supporters crowded into a Spartanburg courtroom

Vt. court eyes value of love of man's best friend - 12/17/2009
Vermont's highest court is being asked to decide what a dog's love is worth. The state Supreme Court on Thursday began hearing a case that started in July 2003, when Denis and Sarah Scheele, who were visiting relatives, let their mixed-breed dog wander into Lewis Dustin's yard and he fatally shot it. Now the Scheeles, of An