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Ex-chief now questions '86 Bishop shooting probe - 02/16/2010
A former suburban Boston police chief now says he has serious questions about the investigation done when an accused university shooter killed her brother in 1986. Amy Bishop is accused of shooting six colleagues, three of them fatally, at the University of Alabama-Huntsville on Friday. In 1986, she killed her brother with a shotgun i

Pelosi: Pa. Rep. Murtha was friend to military - 02/16/2010
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is remembering U.S. Rep. John Murtha at his Pennsylvania funeral as a friend to men and women in the military. Pelosi spoke at Tuesday's service and says Murtha's vocal opposition to the Iraq War in 2005 taught people "to make a difference between the war and the warrior." Murtha died Feb. 8 a

Rescue effort resumes at Mount St. Helens crater - 02/16/2010
The effort resumed at dawn for a climber who fell into the crater of Mount St. Helens. Skamania County Undersheriff David Cox says officials have asked for a military helicopter to reach the climber, identified as 52-year-old Joseph Bohlig of Kelso. But Cox says conditions Tuesday morning would not permit flying because of

Clearing roads in winter requires snowphistication - 02/16/2010
The forecast: a mighty winter blizzard sure to dump a record-setting blanket of snow that will grow from inches to feet overnight, just in time for rush hour. When it happened this month in Washington, they called it "Snowpocalypse" and an overwhelmed city couldn't keep its streets clear. When it happened last week in Chicag

Defense says NYPD prosecution lacks evidence - 02/16/2010
The lawyer for a Brooklyn policeman accused of sodomizing a handcuffed suspect with a police baton says there's no solid DNA evidence to support the prosecution's claims. John Patten gave his closing argument in Brooklyn on Tuesday for his client, Richard Kern. The officer is charged with aggravated sexual abuse and assault

Out-of-town-jury to hear Mo. teen's murder trial - 02/16/2010
An out-of-town jury will hear the murder trial of a central Missouri teenager accused of slaying a 9-year-old neighbor girl because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. A judge decided Tuesday to select a jury from outside of Cole County as an alternative to a request by Alyssa Bustamante's attorneys to move the trial

Spokesman: Ulcer sent NJ's Lautenberg to hospital - 02/16/2010
A bleeding ulcer is behind the hospitalization of longtime New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, an aide said Tuesday. Chief of staff Dan Katz said that no discharge date is set, but that he expects the 86-year-old Democrat to be released soon. The senator was taken to a hospital Monday after becoming lightheaded and falling at

Flight cleared after bomb threat at Philly airport - 02/16/2010
An airline spokeswoman says it was a domestic dispute that led to a bomb threat and forced security to sweep a flight at Philadelphia International Airport. Nothing suspicious was found and the plane has been returned into service. Air Wisconsin spokeswoman Annette Daly says a passenger on the flight from Norfolk, Va., to P

Chilly weather can't stop New Orleans' big party - 02/16/2010
Pete Fountain, clarinet in hand and looking dapper in a white tuxedo and fedora trimmed in gold, kicked off Mardi Gras with his "Half Fast Marching Club" the way they have for 50 years: with beads and jazz. Fountain, 79, has marched every year except the year after Hurricane Katrina hit, when he had bypass surgery. <

Feds: Pa. torture death might be hate crime - 02/16/2010
Pittsburgh's federal prosecutor is reviewing the torture murder of a mentally disabled woman under a new federal law banning hate crimes against people with disabilities. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Cessar (SES'-ar) says Tuesday it's too early to tell if his office will file charges against any or all of the six suspects under the new

SD zoo gets big Valentine's gift _ a baby elephant - 02/16/2010
The San Diego Zoo got a big gift for Valentine's Day _ a baby elephant. The zoo's Wild Animal Park says the African elephant calf was born around 2 a.m. Sunday. Officials say visitors camping at the zoo were awakened by elephants trumpeting _ a common behavior when a calf is born. The calf hasn't been named and details abou

Lamont to announce candidacy for Conn. governor - 02/16/2010
Ned Lamont is poised to announce his candidacy for Connecticut governor. Lamont, who challenged U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman four years ago, is expected to announce his bid for governor Tuesday at the Old State House in Hartford. Lamont won the 2006 Democratic primary against Lieberman, but the senator ran in the general electio

Man caught hawking police goods at NJ Taco Bell - 02/16/2010
Police in Trenton, New Jersey say a man sneaked into police headquarters and stole a police radio, a computer monitor and a sergeant's attache case. Anthony Williams was arrested Sunday after authorities say he tried to sell the radio to customers at a Taco Bell drive-through. Police say a video shows Williams attempting to

Woman dies after walking into train in Dallas - 02/16/2010
For the second time in a week, a pedestrian has been killed by a commuter train in Dallas. Officials say the woman walked into the Trinity Railway Express train during the afternoon rush hour Monday. Dallas Area Rapid Transit spokesman Morgan Lyons says the industrial area was closed for two hours after the accident. Lyons

Spokesman: Unruly passenger took a swing at Romney - 02/16/2010
A spokesman for Mitt Romney says the former Republican presidential candidate was threatened by an unruly airline passenger on a flight out of Vancouver. Spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom (FERN'-strum) says Romney and his wife were on an Air Canada flight to Los Angeles on Monday when Romney asked the passenger sitting in front of his wife, A

Man who held hostages at Clinton office in court - 02/16/2010
The New Hampshire man who took hostages at a Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign office in 2007 faces a bail hearing after he cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet. Leeland Eisenberg was found in his Dover apartment last week, a day after he cut off the device. He was returned to jail. Eisenberg fled a day aft

Final arguments for NYer accused of killing wife - 02/16/2010
The lawyer for a man who confessed three times to killing his wife gets one last chance to persuade jurors that the confessions weren't genuine. Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday in the case of 68-year-old Werner Lippe (LIHP'-ee). He's accused of murdering 49-year-old Faith Lippe in 2008. Werner Lippe confessed tw

The nation's weather - 02/16/2010
Snowy weather was expected to persist in New England and the Northeast on Tuesday. A low pressure system was forecast to move northeast from the Ohio River Valley, allowing for flow around the system to pull moisture onshore from the Atlantic Ocean. Due to cold temperatures in the teens and 20s in the Northeast, the region could see b

Taliban's top military commander captured - 02/16/2010
The Taliban's top military commander has been arrested in a joint CIA-Pakistani operation in Pakistan in a major victory against the insurgents as U.S. troops push into their heartland in southern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group's No. 2 leader behind Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Oma

Small plane crashes at mid-NJ airport, killing 5 - 02/16/2010
A small plane trying to land broke apart and tore through a snowy field next to a runway Monday afternoon, killing all five people aboard, including a teenager and a child, and scattering debris over 200 feet. The crash was reported at 3:45 p.m. at Monmouth Executive Airport, about 35 miles east of Trenton, said Federal Aviation Admin