TimesLeader.com

Planes ready to leave Brunswick, Maine Navy base - 11/20/2009
The rumble of Navy patrol aircraft flying overhead will soon be a thing of the past as the remaining P-3 Orions depart from Brunswick Naval Air Station. While much of the nation prepares for Thanksgiving, air crews from VP-26 are prepping to ship out for a six-month deployment to El Salvador, Italy and the Horn of Africa. After that,

UC students occupy buildings to protest fee hike - 11/20/2009
Students barricaded themselves inside buildings on University of California campuses to protest a 32 percent increase in student fees and budget cuts that have led to slashed programs and lost jobs. Demonstrators at UC Berkeley occupied Wheeler Hall on Friday and hung a sign from a window that read "32 Percent Hike, 900 layoffs,&

Terror plot ringleader gets 13-year prison term - 11/20/2009
The ringleader of a group of men convicted of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices has been sentenced to 13 1/2 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard issued the sentence Friday in Miami for 35-year-old Narseal Batiste. Prosecutors had sought the maximum 70-year sentence. Four other men c

Calif. launches probe into scam targeting churches - 11/20/2009
California is investigating several companies suspected of bilking churches nationwide of hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent computer leasing schemes, authorities said Friday. State Attorney General Jerry Brown said as many as 30 Southern California churches may have been defrauded, with the same companies suspected o

Police: NC girl raped, killed on day she was taken - 11/20/2009
A 5-year-old North Carolina girl was raped and killed the same day she was taken from her home, according to an arrest warrant released Friday. Shaniya Davis was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her mother reported her missing from the trailer park where she was staying, according to the warrant. Authorities embarked on a near

Pa. judges in juvenile kickbacks case win immunity - 11/20/2009
Two former Pennsylvania judges accused of taking kickbacks to supply private detention facilities with juveniles have been granted partial immunity from civil liability. U.S. District Judge Richard Caputo said Friday that former Luzerne County Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella (shiv-uh-REL'-uh) are entitled to partial immunit

Murder trial move to LA a setback for transit cop - 11/20/2009
The decision to move Johannes Mehserle's trial to Los Angeles County is a setback for the former transit officer charged with killing an unarmed man on New Year's Day. Jurors throughout California are typically sympathetic to police, and the former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer could've expected a leg up before the start of trial in

SC lawmakers to take up impeachment of governor - 11/20/2009
South Carolina lawmakers plan to formally consider impeaching Gov. Mark Sanford for the first time next week, the chairman of the committee beginning that work said Friday. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison told The Associated Press he is appointing an ad-hoc committee of four Republicans and three Democrats who will beg

Teen pleads guilty in violent Border Patrol murder - 11/20/2009
A 17-year-old pleaded guilty Friday to murdering a Border Patrol agent who was shot eight times in head, neck and torso in the mountains east of San Diego. Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez admitted entering the United States illegally to rob a Border Patrol agent, the U.S. attorney's office said. Alvarez said he lured Agent Robert Rosa

Lawyer: Ohio's legal injection a human experiment - 11/20/2009
An attorney for a condemned killer says Ohio's new lethal-injection plan is so untested it would amount to human experimentation if used for the first time next month. Lawyer Tim Sweeney said Friday there's no reason for federal courts to allow the scheduled execution of Kenneth Biros (BY'-rohs) in about two and a half weeks given the

Pa. university students must pass fitness class - 11/20/2009
A Pennsylvania university's requirement that overweight students take a fitness course to graduate has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts. Officials at historically black Lincoln University said Friday that the school is simply concerned about high rates of obesity and diabetes, especially in t

Panel: Extending nuclear weapons life successful - 11/20/2009
An independent panel says the United States can extend the life of aging nuclear weapons for decades with existing programs, a finding that activists contend means there's no need for the nation to design replacements for the nuclear arsenal. The findings of the JASON committee are classified, but an unclassified summary released Thur

Atty: Hospital hearing set for Fort Hood suspect - 11/20/2009
An attorney for the Army psychiatrist charged in the mass shooting at Fort Hood says his client will have his first court hearing in his hospital room on Saturday. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's civilian attorney, John Galligan, said Friday that military prosecutors notified him of their plans for the hearing at the Brooke Army Medical Cent

Giuliani back in spotlight _ but what's the show? - 11/20/2009
Whether he's planning another run for the White House or a bid for senator or governor, or he just misses the spotlight, Rudy Giuliani is suddenly back and talking about the topic that made him a national star _ Sept. 11. Over five days this week, the former New York mayor gave several national TV interviews and a news conference _ th

UN committee targets Iran's rights violations - 11/20/2009
A key U.N. committee approved a resolution Friday urging Iran to halt the persecution of political opponents following the country's disputed presidential election. Citing arbitrary arrests, detentions and the disappearance of Iranians exercising their right to freedom of assembly and expression following the June 12 presidential elec

Resort island reels after deadly attack by gunman - 11/20/2009
The Pacific resort island of Saipan was reeling Saturday from one of the most violent attacks in its history, when a gunman killed five people, including two small children and himself, in a rampage that ended at a World War II historical site. "The commonwealth has never experienced a tragic situation like this, and we are sadde

Diocese: Pedophile priests should get benefits - 11/20/2009
The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington is obligated to pay retirement benefits to six priests who are confirmed pedophiles, church officials argued in a bankruptcy court filing seeking permission to keep making the payments. After filing for Chapter 11 protection last month, the diocese agreed not to make payments to priests accused of se

Wrongfully convicted NYC man freed after 17 years - 11/20/2009
A prison system official says a New York City man is free after spending nearly two decades behind bars for murder before a judge declared him innocent. Fernando Bermudez was released from the Sing Sing prison in Ossining at about 2:10 p.m. Friday. A Manhattan judge overturned Bermudez's 1992 conviction last week, saying it stemmed fr

Militia movement resurfaces across nation - 11/20/2009
Norm Olson's genial tone belies his reputation as a radical militiaman, yet here he is, at 63, an affable grandfather explaining why Americans should arm themselves against their government. Walking stick in hand, clad in military fatigues, he strolls a trail in the woods near his home, located on 22 acres near Nikiski, a small, uninc

U. of Neb. board votes down stem-cell rule changes - 11/20/2009
The University of Nebraska's governing board has voted down a proposal to restrict the school's rules governing embryonic stem-cell research beyond what the federal government allows. The eight-member Board of Regents voted 4-4 Friday, defeating the resolution that would have restricted stem cell experiments to cell lines approved und