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Car strikes crowd outside Ala. school, 1 killed - 11/20/2009
Police say a woman has died after being struck along with nine children by a car outside an Alabama middle school. The nine children were injured in the accident Friday afternoon in Fairfield, about eight miles southwest of Birmingham. Three of the injured were listed in fair to serious condition at Children's Hospital in Birmingham.<

Occupation of UC Berkeley building ends - 11/20/2009
The occupation of a campus building at the University of California, Berkeley, in a protest over fee hikes and budget cuts has ended peacefully. UC Berkeley spokeswoman Claire Holmes says 41 demonstrators who had barricaded themselves inside Wheeler Hall were arrested on suspicion of trespassing around 5 p.m. Friday. The group, which

No appeal of dismissed conviction in MySpace case - 11/20/2009
Prosecutors say they will not appeal the dismissal of a woman's convictions in a MySpace hoax directed at a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide. Friday's announcement effectively ends the case against Lori Drew. Federal Judge George Wu threw out Drew's conviction on three misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without

Resort island reels after deadly attack by gunman - 11/20/2009
After going on a shooting rampage that left a trail of victims on the Pacific resort island of Saipan, the gunman drove to a scenic, rocky cliff where untold numbers of Japanese men, women and children plunged to their deaths to avoid capture during World War II, according to police and witness accounts. He parked his van and walked t

Army relents, will allow media at Palin book event - 11/20/2009
The U.S. Army said Friday it would open Sarah Palin's appearance on Fort Bragg to media, a reversal from earlier in the week when the military wanted the event closed out of fears it would prompt political grandstanding against President Barack Obama. The attempt to ban media at the event scheduled for Monday was met with protests fro

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

Prosecutor: Alleged Maui spy is difficult but sane - 11/20/2009
A Maui man accused of spying for China is difficult to work with and makes wild exaggerations but is legally able to stand trial, a federal prosecutor asserted Friday. But at the close of a competency hearing, the lawyer for Noshir Gowadia contended the defendant suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, which causes him to make

Obituaries in the news - 11/20/2009
Nao Takasugi SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ Former state Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (NAH'-oh tah-kah-SOO'-gee), who was sent to a Japanese internment camp during World War II, has died. He was 87. Takasugi, a Republican from Oxnard, spent six years in the Legislature before he was termed out of office in 1998. He had been the mayo

3-year-old leads toddler to safety in Ariz. fire - 11/20/2009
A 3-year-old Arizona boy helped his 1-year-old sister escape Friday from a house fire that killed their mother and injured two other adults, authorities said. Fire crews responding to the fire in the Pinal County community of Maricopa south of Phoenix found the mother, 22-year-old Michelle Mariano, lying just a couple of feet from the

Driver loses control, hits 11 people in Alabama - 11/20/2009
Police are investigating after a woman lost control of her car and struck 10 children and an adult outside a middle school in Alabama. Witnesses told the Birmingham News that the woman in her 60s was trying to avoid children playing in the street when the crash occurred Friday afternoon. Fairfield Police Chief Patrick Mardi

Porn mogul's son to be tried in girlfriend's death - 11/20/2009
The son of a late San Francisco pornography mogul will stand trial on accusations that he crushed his ex-girlfriend's skull with a baseball bat. Marin County Judge Kelly Simmons ruled Thursday the evidence was sufficient to put 27-year-old James Raphael Mitchell on trial for first-degree murder in the July 12 bludgeoning death of Dani

Authorities: Man tied lizards to chest at airport - 11/20/2009
Federal officials say they arrested a man who strapped 15 live lizards to his chest to get through customs at Los Angeles International Airport. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday that 40-year-old Michael Plank of Lomita, Calif., was returning from Australia when U.S. Customs agents found two geckos, two monitor lizards an

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

Levi Johnston's mother gets 3 years in drug case - 11/20/2009
The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned to marry has been sentenced to three years in prison. Sherry Johnston was sentenced Friday in Palmer, about 45 miles northeast of Anchorage. She pleaded guilty in August to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin. Five o

GOP report: Deal with Sacramento mayor was rushed - 11/20/2009
Two congressional Republicans say federal prosecutors rushed into a settlement with a nonprofit operated by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson that had been accused of misspending government grants. Rep. Darrell Issa of California and Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa released a report Friday concluding that a settlement in which Johnson and hi

Senator: USPS to resume North Pole Santa letters - 11/20/2009
North Pole elves have good reason to celebrate again, thanks to a decision by the U.S. Postal Service to resume a Santa Claus letter program that's thrilled children from around the world for decades. "It's great!" Gabby Gaborik, chief elf among several dozen volunteers, said of the agency's Friday announcement that it's rev

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,364 - 11/20/2009
As of Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, at least 4,364 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes nine military civilians killed in action. At least 3,476 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

35 students rescued from burning bus on NYC bridge - 11/20/2009
A bus carrying 35 elementary school children on an outing has caught fire on a New York City bridge, but the children and their escorts have been rescued. The bus was transporting students from Brooklyn's P.S. 5 on Friday morning when it burst into flames near the Staten Island-bound toll plaza of the double-decked Verrazano-Narrows B

Robbery motive in deaths of 5 in rural Arkansas - 11/20/2009
Thieves shot to death five Arkansas family members and burned their bodies for the meager bounty of a set of wheel rims and some flat-screen televisions, court documents said Friday. Samuel Conway and Jeremy Pickney, both 23, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of capital murder, aggravated residential burglary and arson, Garland Cou

Wyoming challenges Yellowstone snowmobile rules - 11/20/2009
The state of Wyoming filed a federal lawsuit Friday seeking to block the National Park Service from further restricting snowmobile numbers in Yellowstone National Park. The Park Service issued a temporary rule on Friday that would allow up to 318 snowmobiles and 78 snowcoaches per day into the park starting next month and continuing t