NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Grand Ole Opry showcases old-time country music every week, but some older country stars complain they are being shuffled off the stage at the historic radio show.

Charlie Louvin, Stonewall Jackson and others say they joined the Opry cast decades ago with an understanding: Faithfully make appearances at the Grand Ole Opry at the peak of your career for less than you could earn elsewhere, and the Opry would offer security and a place to perform when the hits stopped coming.

Now they say the Opry has reneged on that unwritten deal and is pushing older stars out. Jackson, 74, has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the owners of the Opry, the storied home of country music.

"The only ones they want to see in the audience and on stage are young people," said Joe Edwards, a musician in the Opry's house band for about 45 years before he says he was asked to leave along with a number of other veteran musicians in 2000.

Gaylord Entertainment Co., which bought the Opry in 1983, denied all of Jackson's claims in court papers. It said Opry members are not Gaylord employees, and the company has no obligation to offer them a certain number of performances.

And, in fact, the Opry regularly features older singers like Little Jimmy Dickens, Porter Wagoner and Bill Anderson. But the cast of about 65 members also includes contemporary hitmakers such as Trace Adkins, Martina McBride and Brad Paisley.

"The Opry has been evolving for 81 years and will continue to evolve in the future," said Steve Buchanan, vice president for media and entertainment at Gaylord. "That evolution is what has helped the Opry remain a vibrant and relevant entertainment icon."

In the 1950s, when Louvin and his brother Ira were topping the country charts as the Louvin Brothers, the duo would hightail it back to Nashville many Saturdays to fulfill their obligations to the Opry.

Opry members were required to appear on the radio show at least 26 Saturdays a year. The acts were paid a small amount for their performances - $15 a show as Louvin remembers. That was nowhere near what they could earn on the road.

If a country act was making $2,000 a night, it cost the act $52,000 a year to remain a member of the Opry, Louvin said. The artists did it because they thought the Opry was good for their career and for their future, he said.

"You definitely thought you were building loyalty," said the 79-year-old Country Music Hall of Famer. "Everybody was told that if you keep your nose clean, you always had a home at the Opry."

Louvin said his appearances on the Opry have dwindled to about 15 a year, causing him to lose health insurance coverage for his wife through The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists. The union provides coverage to members based on their performance income.

Jackson, an Opry member since 1956, sued Gaylord and 44-year-old Opry general manager Pete Fisher for $20 million earlier this year, claiming age discrimination and breach of contract.

Jackson echoes Louvin's claims about an unwritten agreement. He said that his appearances declined after Fisher was hired in 1998 and that he lost his health insurance.

The format at the Grand Ole Opry has changed little since it started in 1925. Performers march on and off stage, doing two or three songs apiece. Today there are three or four shows a week, each up to 2.5 hours long. Members and guest artists share the performance slots, which can range from eight on a Tuesday show to 18 on a Saturday night.

For many years, WSM - the radio station that started the Opry and still broadcasts it - helped members get bookings during the week. Even now, the Opry has a trust fund that helps members and others in the industry when they fall on hard times.

But it is unlikely they were promised lifelong security, said writer Craig Havighurst, author of the forthcoming book "Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City."

"I never heard one person indicate in any way any expectation of a retirement benefit or a lifetime ticket to the stage," Havighurst said.

Vince Gill, a 17-year member, balked at the suggestion of age discrimination, but said veteran members have some legitimate gripes. He said there were times in the Opry's long history when the hitmakers of the day did not join the cast, but stalwarts like Louvin and Jackson showed up week after week to keep the institution going.

"If I had been at that place 40 years and done the things those folks had done, I'd feel slighted too sometimes," Gill said. "But the management has bosses, too, and they want to see it grow and only have so many slots a night to get filled."

Gill advocates a return to a mandatory minimum number of appearances for cast members, plus a cap on the maximum. That would make more room for older stars, and ensure that the more contemporary members do their part, he said.

On the Net:

Grand Ole Opry: http://www.opry.com

Georgia truck driver claims half $390 million lottery jackpot

WOODBINE, N.J. - A Georgia truck driver has claimed half of the $390 million Mega Millions jackpot, but somewhere there's a second winning ticket for the richest lottery prize in U.S. history, and it has yet to surface, New Jersey Lottery officials said Thursday morning.

"I just hope it's a person that really deserves the money, someone that really needs it," said Jim Schroder, the owner of Campark Liquors in Woodbine, where that winning ticket sold.

In Georgia, winner Ed Nabors wasn't answering his phone Thursday morning.

"I'm still numb," the 52-year-old trucker said in a deep southern drawl Wednesday as he held his oversized lottery check reading $116.5 million. He said he wanted to buy a home for his daughter, and added: "I'm going to do a lot of fishing."

Nabors had bought the ticket with his weekly cup of coffee at a convenience store in Dalton, Ga. - the self-proclaimed "Carpet Capital of the World" - near a carpet mill run by his employer, Mohawk Industries.

When he discovered around 9 a.m. that morning that he had won, he sat stunned in his rig until a dispatcher radioed wondering what was going on.

"He was shaking so hard they sent him home from work," said his mother, Doris Nabors, who shares a home with her son in Rocky Face, Ga., about 90 miles north of Atlanta.

Since Nabors chose a lump sum rather than annual installments, his pay out is $116.5 million before taxes - more than $80 million after.

Nabors said he wants to buy a house for his daughter, who has wanted to move out of her mobile home for a long time, and planned to keep working - "at least two more days." His mother said the whole family was in shock.

"We just can't believe it," she said from the door of the rural home she shares with her son. An American flag waved over a patch of daffodils, and a small camper and fishing boat were parked outside.

The other jackpot winner has exactly 365 days from Tuesday's drawing to turn in the New Jersey ticket to state lottery officials.

The winning numbers were 16-22-29-39-42, with the Mega Ball 20. The jackpot odds: 1 in 176 million.

The previous largest lottery jackpot in the U.S. was $365 million in 2006, when eight workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant won the Powerball drawing. The Big Game, the forerunner of Mega Millions, paid out a $363 million jackpot in 2000.

Mega Millions tickets are sold in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington state.

- Associated Press writers Harry Weber in Atlanta and Dorie Turner in Dalton, Ga., contributed to this report.

On the Net:

Mega Millions: http://www.megamillions.com

Former teacher pleads guilty in connection with son's underage drinking party

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A former English teacher who had been a semifinalist for the state's 2007 Teacher of the Year Award pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with a teen drinking party at her home.

Allegheny County prosecutors agreed to drop more serious charges of corruption of minors against Christine Kosik in exchange for Wednesday's plea.

Kosik, 56, resigned from suburban South Fayette High School in January. Prosecutors said they will also pursue a case against her husband, John Kosik, 55.

Forty to 50 teenagers attended the Dec. 30 party thrown by the couple's 17-year-old son, according to authorities. Police believe someone else brought alcohol to the house but said the Kosiks were responsible because they were home at the time.

Police were called when the party became unruly. About 30 teens, including the Kosiks' son, were cited for underage drinking, police said. The teens face a hearing in June.

Defense attorney Romel L. Nicholas said Christine Kosik has not reapplied for her teaching job and didn't know if she would remain a teacher.

Turkish court orders access to YouTube blocked, citing insult to Ataturk

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Four college students on Thursday asked a Turkish court to revoke the ban it imposed on YouTube for running videos that prosecutors said insulted the founder of modern Turkey. - The group condemned the videos in question but said blocking access to the Web site violated their rights to free speech, the private Turkish news agency Dogan reported.

"Banning access to the Web site does not punish those who did that (posted the videos) but the citizens of the Turkish republic," said student Kursat Cetinkoz, reading from a petition the group submitted to the court in Istanbul.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman declined to comment on the ban, telling a news conference Thursday that it was a court matter.

Insulting the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is a crime in Turkey punishable by prison.

Turk Telekom, the country's largest telecommunications provider, immediately began enforcing the ban Wednesday. Those who tried to access the YouTube site from Turkey encountered the message: "Access to this site has been blocked by a court decision!…"

"We are not in the position of saying that what YouTube did was an insult, that it was right or wrong," the head of Turk Telekom, Paul Doany, told the state-run Anatolia news agency. "A court decision was proposed to us, and we are doing what that court decision says."

A message in both Turkish and English at the bottom of the page said, "Access to www.youtube.com site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/384 dated 06.03.2007 of Istanbul First Criminal Peace Court."

The court - acting on a petition from Turk Telekom - ruled later Wednesday that it would revoke the ban as soon as it ascertained that the offending videos had been removed from YouTube. YouTube is owned by internet search engine giant Google.

In recent days, Turkish media publicized what some called a "virtual war" between Greeks and Turks on YouTube, with both sides posting videos to belittle and berate the other.

The video prompting the ban allegedly said Ataturk and the Turkish people were homosexuals, news reports said. The CNN-Turk Web site featured a link allowing Turks to complain directly to YouTube about the "insult."

On its front page on Wednesday, the newspaper Hurriyet said thousands of people had emailed YouTube and that the Ataturk videos had been removed from the site. "YouTube got the message," the headline said.

Turkey, which hopes to join the European Union, has been roundly condemned for not doing enough to curb extreme nationalist sentiments and to protect freedom of expression.

British Muslim convicted of soliciting murder in protest against Prophet cartoons

LONDON (AP) - A British Muslim man was convicted Wednesday of two counts of soliciting murder during a protest in London against the publication of Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Prosecutors said Abdul Muhid, 24, led a crowd chanting "bomb, bomb the UK" and produced placards with slogans such as "annihilate those who insult Islam" during a demonstration in February of last year.

Judge Brian Barker ordered Muhid to be held in custody while awaiting sentencing.

Muhid was one of six men charged after the demonstration, in which some 400 people walked from a mosque to the Danish Embassy in London.

South Carolina lawmakers consider cutting prison time for inmates who donate organs

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Inmates in South Carolina could soon find that a kidney is worth 180 days.

Lawmakers are considering legislation that would let prisoners donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for time off their sentences.

A state Senate panel on Thursday endorsed creating an organ-and-tissue donation program for inmates. But legislators postponed debate on a measure to reduce the sentences of participating prisoners, citing concern that federal law may not allow it.

"I think it's imperative that we go all out and see what we can do," said the bills' chief sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ralph Anderson. "I would like to see us get enough donors that people are no longer dying."

The proposal approved by the Senate Corrections and Penology Subcommittee would set up a volunteer donor program in prisons to teach inmates about the need for donors. But lawmakers want legal advice before acting on a bill that would shave up to 180 days off a prison sentence for inmates who donate.

South Carolina advocates for organ donations said the incentive policy would be the first of its kind in the nation.

Federal law makes it illegal to give organ donors "valuable consideration." Lawmakers want to know whether the term could apply to time off of prison sentences.

"We want to make this work, we really do," said Republican Sen. John Hawkins. "But I want to make sure no one goes to jail for good intentions."

Mary Jo Cagle, chief medical officer of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville, urged senators to find an allowable incentive.

"We have a huge need for organs and bone marrow," Cagle said.

But Melissa Blevins, executive director of Donate Life South Carolina, said any incentive would break the law and the principle behind donations.

"It really muddies the water about motive. We want to keep it a clearly altruistic act," she said.

Under the proposals, money for medical procedures and any prison guard overtime would be paid by the organ recipient and charitable groups. The state would also decide which inmates could donate.

Corrections Department Director Jon Ozmint said he believes inmates would donate even without the incentive.

"There are long-term inmates who would give if they knew a child was dying," he said. "They're lifers. They know they're going to die in prison."

More than 95,300 Americans are awaiting an organ transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. About 6,700 die each year.

1 killed in explosion at Houston manufacturer's warehouse; no other injuries reported

HOUSTON (AP) - An explosion at a rubber maker's warehouse killed a man and blew out the building's windows and walls on Thursday, authorities said.

No other injuries were reported in the midday blast inside the American Elastomer Products warehouse in southeastern Houston.

The cause was being investigated, but early reports suggested failure of a metal container used in manufacturing, Assistant Fire Chief Omero Longoria said.

Surrounding buildings in the industrial park were not evacuated, and no toxic chemicals were released.

About 45 employees work at the warehouse, part of Houston-based American Packing and Gasket Co., which makes and distributes hydraulic seals, industrial hose couplings and other rubber products.

On the Net:

http://www.apandg.com/customrubberproducts.html

NASA fires astronaut charged with attempted kidnapping; Nowak will return to Navy

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Lisa Nowak was in the astronaut corps for a decade before she took her first and only space shuttle flight last summer during Discovery's 13-day trip to the international space station. - It took only a half year from her return to Earth for her to lose her job as an astronaut.

NASA dismissed Nowak on Wednesday, a month after she was charged with trying to kidnap a woman she regarded as her romantic rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot.

Nowak's dismissal did not reflect the space agency's belief in her guilt or innocence, NASA officials said. The agency said it lacked an administrative system to handle the allegations because Nowak is a naval officer on assignment to NASA, rather than a NASA civil servant.

If Nowak were a civil servant, NASA would have the choice of placing her on administrative leave, leave without pay or indefinite suspension until the charges are resolved, said NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston. But because she is an officer, those options are not available.

Nowak, a Navy captain, instead will return to the military.

She will be assigned to the staff at the Chief of Naval Air Training in Corpus Christi, Texas, starting in two weeks, Navy Cmdr. Lydia Robertson said. Robertson said she didn't know what specific job Nowak would be doing.

The space shuttle pilot who was the object of Nowak's affections, Navy Cmdr. Bill Oefelein, remains on active duty while working for NASA. Robertson said she could not speculate whether his status is under review.

Chief astronaut Steve Lindsey notified Nowak late last month that she was to be terminated from the astronaut corps. After her arrest, NASA placed Nowak on a 30-day leave, which was to end Thursday.

It was the first time NASA has publicly fired an astronaut, according to space historian Roger Launius of the Smithsonian Institution. She is also the first active astronaut to be charged with a felony, he said.

Nowak didn't respond to a call to her Houston home seeking comment, and a spokeswoman for her attorney said she didn't have any immediate comment.

Nowak, a mother of three, is accused of confronting Colleen Shipman, the woman who had become Oefelein's girlfriend, at the Orlando airport after driving from Houston. She wore an astronaut diaper so that she would not have to stop during her 900-mile trip, authorities said.

She allegedly pepper-sprayed Shipman through a partially lowered car window. Police said they found a BB gun, new steel mallet, a knife and rubber tubing in Nowak's possession.

Nowak, 43, pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault and battery. She was released on bail wearing a monitoring device on her ankle.

She received a commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1985 and joined the astronaut corps in 1996.

Sharon Stone speaks of service at Edinboro U. honors luncheon

EDINBORO, Pa. (AP) - Actress Sharon Stone is best know for her roles as a sexpot in movies like "Basic Instinct" and "Casino."

But when Stone, a Meadville native, came back to Edinboro University to speak at an honors banquet Wednesday, she didn't talk about her steamy roles on the silver screen - she talked about serving others.

"Life is a service job," Stone said during her 15-minute keynote address at the eighth annual Frank F. Pogue Honors Scholarship luncheon. "You've got to figure out how you serve people the best and do it."

Pogue, the state-run university's first black president, is retiring June 30 after 11 years at the school. The luncheons in his honor have so far raised $900,000 for scholarship funds.

Stone majored in creative writing and fine arts at Edinboro in the 1970s and attended on a writing scholarship, but she left school before graduating to pursue a modeling career.

Stone also talked about her Pennsylvania roots and entering her first beauty pageant on a $50 bet.

"It is very hard to be from here," Stone said. "Pennsylvania's a tough place with tough people. The weather's tough, it's tough to get work, it's tough politically. But it has served me so well and I am so proud to be from here."

Mosque leaders sentenced to 15 years for role in money laundering scheme

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Two leaders of an Albany mosque who were snared in an FBI sting involving a fictional terror strike were sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison. - The former imam, Yassin Aref, professed innocence before his sentencing and criticized the government's treatment of Muslims.

"I never had any intention to harm anyone in this country," said Aref, a 36-year-old Kurdish refugee. "And I don't know why I'm guilty."

Pizzeria owner Mohammed Hossain, a founder of the Masjid As-Salam mosque, said in a voice choked with emotion that he knew nothing about bombs and terrorism.

"I do not know why it was me who was chosen. I was not a criminal," he said. "I was not even thinking of committing a crime."

The two were convicted in October for their roles in a money laundering scheme involving an FBI informant who posed as an illegal arms dealer.

The informant asked Hossain to launder $50,000 from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile from China that would be used to kill a Pakistani diplomat in New York City, authorities said.

The informant said he needed to conceal the source of the income and asked Hossain to take the money and return it through a series of $2,000 checks, according to court documents. Authorities said Hossain agreed to issue checks from his businesses and planned to keep $5,000 for laundering the money.

Aref, spiritual leader of Hossain's mosque, acted as a witness to the transactions.

Though the assassination plot was fictional, prosecutors in 2004 accused the pair of supporting terrorism.

Aref was found guilty of 10 of 30 charges. In addition to counts related to the money laundering scheme, he was found guilty of lying to FBI agents about having known a terrorist leader, Mullah Krekar, when he worked for a Kurdish political organization in Syria.

Hossain, 52, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Bangladesh, was convicted on all 27 charges, including three counts of conspiracy.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak argued during federal trial that Hossain wanted money, while Aref was drawn into the plot by ideology.

Defense attorneys claimed the transactions were innocent, noting that Muslims often lend money to each other with clerics serving as witnesses. Aref and Hossain said they didn't believe any talk about a missile in New York.

U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy cited the men's lack of criminal records, their character and a high level of community support in giving them lesser sentences than the maximum 30 years to life in prison.

Man guilty of rape, murder of Delaware university student; defense says he's mentally ill

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A man accused of raping and killing a University of Delaware student in 2005 was found guilty Thursday on all counts.

James E. Cooke Jr. broke into 20-year-old Lindsey M. Bonistall's apartment in May 2005, then raped and strangled her before placing her body in a bathtub and setting the apartment on fire, prosecutors said.

Defense attorneys had urged the jurors to find Cooke mentally ill.

Cooke, 36, will face either life in prison or the death penalty. He was charged with murder, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, theft, and reckless endangerment.

9 dead in NYC house fire; woman tried to save other children by dropping them from windows

NEW YORK (AP) - An extended family trapped in their burning Bronx row house screamed for help in the night, and one woman tossed children from a second-floor window to try to save them, witnesses and authorities said Thursday. Nine people died.

Eight of the victims were children, including 7-month-old twins and boys ages 4 and 9, according to authorities and relatives. A woman in her 40s also died, and 10 people were hospitalized.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned the death toll could increase.

Twenty-two members of the extended family from the west African nation of Mali lived in the three-story house, the mayor said. A space heater or an overloaded power strip may have started the blaze, the city's deadliest since the 1990 Happy Land nightclub fire, not including the Sept. 11 attacks, he said.

Outside the charred house, a few blocks from Yankee Stadium, neighbors described how a woman had hurled children from the broken windows amid the blaze.

"All I see is just a big cloud of white dust and out of nowhere comes the first baby," said Edward Soto, who caught the child. He said he caught a second child moments later as screams of "Help me! Help me!" were coming from the house.

Neighbor Elaine Martin said she saw another woman, shoeless and in a nightgown, on the street. She was shivering in the bitter cold and frantically worrying about her children.

"My kids is in there! my kids is in there!" Martin quoted the woman as saying.

Among the dead, according to family members, were Fatoumata Soumare and her three children: a son, Dgibril, and 7-month-old twins, Sisi and Harouma. Their father, Mamadou Soumara, was driving his cab in Manhattan when he received a frantic phone call from his wife.

"She said, `We have a fire!' She screamed," Soumara recalled. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I love her. I love my wife."

Soumara rushed to the building in his cab, arriving to see his children trapped inside but unable to help. Five children from another family perished in the blaze while their father was visiting their homeland.

Mousa Majassa, an official of the New York-based High Council for Malians Living Abroad, was headed back to New York after receiving the grim news that nearly half of his 11 children were dead, said council representative Bourema Niambele.

The fire destroyed the basement and first floor. Fire investigators were on the scene trying to determine the cause. The home had two smoke alarms, but neither had batteries.

Fatoumata Madassa, a relative of the victims who lives across the street, said four families lived in the building with 17 children among them.

"The kids were always playing, either in the yard of their home or on the block with water guns and scooters," said neighbor David Robinson.

At least one of the families ran an import-export business, according to neighbors. A public records search lists African American Import Export at the address. No building violations had been reported at the home, built in 1901, said Kate Lindquist, a spokeswoman for the city Buildings Department.

Fire Department spokesman Seth Andrews confirmed the death toll early Thursday. At least 10 people were injured, five seriously. The injured included four firefighters and another emergency worker who were hospitalized with minor injuries.

Five children ranging in age from 2 to 6 were taken to Jacobi Medical Center with smoke inhalation and burns, hospital spokesman Michael Heller said. He said three were in critical condition. One of the victims, an infant, died, he said.

Three other victims - a woman in her 40s and boys ages 4 and 9 - were dead on arrival at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, hospital spokesman Errol Schneer said.

The fire was reported shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters had it under control about two hours later.

The smell of smoke lingered around the house hours afterward. Windows of the house were broken out, and parts of the building were charred and scorched. Adding to the misery, the victims were displaced on one of the coldest nights of the year.

"It's obviously terrible for anyone to perish like this," Bloomberg said. "It just seems more painful and more unfair when children die. When children die, everyone around them seems to die a little as well."

Death toll at Florida biker rally rises to 6 after head-on collision kills 2

DELTONA, Fla. (AP) - The death toll at one of the nation's largest annual biker gatherings rose to six after two motorcyclists collided head-on and died, state troopers said.

Brian Charles Greene, 31, was trying to pass cars ahead of him near Deltona on Tuesday when he hit Charles Forest Bigbee, 46, police said. The men, both of Deltona, died at the scene.

The accident marked the third straight day of deaths related to the annual Bike Week rally.

A man from Midland, Mich., died Monday when he lost control of his speeding motorcycle in Port Orange.

In Seminole County, a St. Petersburg couple returning home from Bike Week events died Sunday when their motorcycle tire blew out.

A St. Augustine man died Tuesday from injuries suffered Saturday when he was weaving through traffic, lost control of his bike and slid beneath a stopped van in Ormond Beach.

Bike Week began March 2 and continues through Sunday.

There are a handful of deaths each year. Last year, there were 20 deaths, which was the highest number ever.

Sex offender fired from job as youth prison guard in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The state's probe into sexual abuse allegations in the Texas youth prison system has resulted in the firing of a correctional officer who is a convicted sex offender.

David Andrew Lewis, 23, was fired Wednesday from the Texas Youth Commission's Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, an all-male facility, several newspapers reported.

State leaders on Tuesday dispatched law enforcement officials to all 22 youth facilities and the commission's headquarters to investigate claims of sexual abuse of inmates by employees.

Ed Owens, the commission's acting executive director, said a facility employee had warned agency officials months ago that Lewis was a sex offender, but the officials didn't act on the matter.

The facility, about 30 miles northeast of Angelo in the town of Bronte, is run by the private contractor GEO Group. GEO Group officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Lewis was 15 when he was convicted in 1999 of indecency by exposure with a 5-year-old girl, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety Web site listing sex offenders. He is required to register annually as a sex offender.

Spokesman Tim Savoy said the agency's contracts with the private operators prohibit hiring registered sex offenders, but the agency doesn't "have any control over who they hire."

Jay Kimbrough, who was appointed last week by Gov. Rick Perry to be the youth commission's special master, said his investigation will include re-running background checks on all youth commission employees to confirm their status.

Death penalty possible for Jessica Lunsford's kidnapping, rape and murder; girl buried alive

MIAMI (AP) - The sex offender convicted of kidnapping, raping and then killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford by burying her alive behind his trailer could now face the death penalty.

Jurors deliberated for about four hours Wednesday before finding John Evander Couey guilty. They'll return Tuesday to consider whether he should face life in prison or death.

"With capital cases, I'm all for the death penalty. It's an eye for an eye," the girl's father, Mark Lunsford, said Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show."

Jessica was snatched from her central Florida bedroom in February 2005 about 150 yards from the trailer where Couey, 48, had been living. Her body was found in his yard a month later encased in two black plastic trash bags and buried in a shallow hole.

The little girl had been clutching a purple stuffed dolphin when she suffocated but had managed to poke two fingers through the bag.

Her disappearance led to a crackdown around the country on people convicted of sex crimes. Couey, a convicted sex offender, hadn't told authorities he was living near the Lunsford home even though he was required to do so.

In court Wednesday, Couey stared straight ahead and swayed slightly as the verdicts were read on charges of first-degree murder, sexual battery on a child, kidnapping and burglary. Lunsford, who has helped push efforts for tougher monitoring of sex offenders, showed no emotion.

Outside the courtroom, Lunsford said that he knew "justice would prevail" but that the case wouldn't be complete until the sentence was imposed.

Circuit Judge Richard Howard will ultimately decide Couey's sentence. He is not required to follow the jury's recommendation, but judges typically give the recommendation great legal weight.

A psychologist testified for the defense that Couey, who spent much of the trial drawing with colored pencils, has signs of mental illness and mental retardation - mitigating circumstances that could help spare him the death penalty.

He admitted to investigators shortly after his arrest that he committed the crime, but the confession was thrown out because he did not have a lawyer present as he had requested.

"I felt confident that we had an overwhelming amount of facts we could present to the jury," said Brad King, chief prosecutor in the case, outside the courthouse after the verdict.

The evidence at trial included DNA from Jessica's blood and Couey's semen on a mattress in his bedroom, as well as Jessica's fingerprints in a closet in the trailer.

Jail guards and investigators testified that Couey repeatedly admitted details of the slaying after his arrest and that he insisted he had not meant to kill the third-grader but panicked as police searched for her.

Couey had previously been arrested in 1991 on a charge of fondling a child. In 1978, he was accused of grabbing a girl in her bedroom, placing his hand over her mouth and kissing her. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case but paroled in 1980.

Jessica's killing prompted Florida and a number of other states to pass new laws cracking down on sex offenders and improve tracking of them through databases and satellite positioning devices.

Mark Lunsford, Jessica's father, is now working with the group "Stop Child Predators," which advocates for stricter penalties and an integrated nationwide sex offender registry.

"I can't get my hands on the guy that murdered my daughter so I've made it my job to make the rest of these sexual offenders and predators' lives miserable, as miserable as I can," he said.

Guardsman fatally shoots man in New Orleans who threw glass, then pointed a BB gun at officers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A National Guardsman shot and killed a man who threw a piece of broken glass at a group on patrol and later pointed a BB gun that officers mistook for a rifle, police said.

Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting, but the guardsman, whose name was not released, appears to have acted appropriately, said Sgt. Joe Narcisse, a police spokesman.

The dead man did not carry identification, Narcisse said.

The National Guard members saw the man at about 1 a.m. holding a hacksaw while riding a bicycle through an area that remains largely vacant since Hurricane Katrina. The Guard has been patrolling less populated areas of the city since June to allow the depleted police force to concentrate on areas where people have returned since the hurricane.

"As the guardsmen approached the man, he produced a knife, threatening the military men and then threw a piece of broken glass at them, cutting a sergeant's arm," Narcisse said in a news release.

The man ran into a rundown house, he said. When police and guardsmen entered the house and approached the man, he pointed a BB gun that looked like a rifle at them. A Guardsman shot the man several times, police said.

Police investigate suspicious package on White House grounds

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Secret Service was investigating a suspicious package found on the White House grounds Thursday and part of Pennsylvania Avenue was closed.

The package was found near the Pennsylvania Avenue fence around 7:30 a.m., a Secret Service spokesman said.

Two blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue that are normally open only to pedestrians were closed off with yellow police tape, as was Lafayette Park, and more than a dozen fire and police vehicles were on hand. News camera crews normally stationed on the north side of the White House were moved away while officials investigated whether the package posed any threat.

Colorado woman in vegetative state for 6 years awakens for 3 days, talks to family

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A woman who went into a vegetative state more than six years ago awoke this week for three days and spoke with her family and a local television station before slipping back.

"I'm fine," Christa Lilly told her mother on Sunday - her first words in eight months. She has awakened four other times for briefer periods since suffering a heart attack and stroke in November of 2000.

"I think it's wonderful. It makes me so happy," Lilly told television station KKTV-TV. She also got to see youngest daughter, Chelcey, now 12 years old, and three grandchildren.

Before her relapse on Wednesday, Lilly told the station her biggest frustration was learning how to talk again.

After years of being fed from a tube, eating was no problem. "I've been eating cake," she said.

Her neurologist, Dr. Randall Bjork, said he couldn't explain how or why she awoke.

"I'm just not able to explain this on the basis of what we know about persistent vegetative states," he said.

A vegetative state is much like a coma except Lilly's eyes remain open. Bjork said that he's never seen a similar quality of awakening.

Bjork said that unlike the much publicized case of Terri Schiavo, Lilly is minimally conscious. He said she could awake again.

After Lilly relapsed her mother and caregiver Minnie Smith said: "The good Lord let me know she's alright, he brings her back to visit every so often and I'm thankful for that."

Wisconsin man burned, second charged after they try to copy stunt featured in 'Jackass' movie

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) - Attempts to duplicate a movie stunt landed one man in the hospital with burned genitals and another facing criminal charges.

The men were trying to do a stunt from one of the "Jackass" movies, in which a character lights his genitals on fire.

Jared W. Anderson, 20, suffered serious burns to his hands and genitals, according to the criminal complaint. Randell D. Peterson, 43, who sprayed lighter fluid on Anderson and lit him on fire, was charged with felony battery and first-degree reckless endangerment Tuesday in Eau Claire County Court.

Witnesses told police that Anderson, who was drunk, volunteered to do the stunt Sunday after watching the movie, the complaint said.

After Peterson ignited Anderson, he ran into the bathroom, jumped into the tub and put the flames out, according to the complaint. He was taken to Luther Hospital, and eventually treated at the Regions Hospital Burn Unit in St. Paul, Minn., for second-degree burns.

Anderson told police that he didn't want anyone to get in trouble because of the stunt.

Peterson was freed on a $2,000 bond. He has a hearing scheduled April 16. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Suspected Detroit serial killer convicted of murdering prostitute, charged in 6 other killings

DETROIT (AP) - A man who police say is one of the most prolific serial killers in the city's history will spend life in prison after being convicted of murdering a prostitute.

A jury on Wednesday found Shelly Brooks, of Detroit, guilty of first-degree murder in the 2002 slaying of Pamela Greer, 33. The charge carries an automatic sentence in Michigan of life without the possibility of parole. He's to be sentenced March 22.

Greer's beaten body was found in an abandoned apartment building on the city's east side.

Brooks, 38, also faces murder charges in the slayings of six other prostitutes dating back to 2001, including a woman whose body was found five months earlier in the same apartment building as Greer's. Brooks is expected to stand trial next week in the 2002 death of Rhonda Myles, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News reported Thursday.

The victims, whose bodies were found in abandoned buildings or vacant fields, were killed with objects such as cement blocks and a table leg. A surviving victim testified she smoked crack with Brooks, who then sexually assaulted her and struck her with a brick. He faces rape and assault in her case.

Police suspect Brooks may be responsible for the killings of seven other prostitutes in a murder spree that began in 1999.

Man pleads guilty to fatal shooting of director at Oregon retirement center

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) - A man who shot his retirement home director to death in December pleaded guilty to murder and will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

James Parrott, 65, is scheduled to be sentenced to life in prison next month, but he would be eligible for parole after 25 years.

"Should he by some chance survive until he's 90, he's not going to be much of a threat to society when or if he gets out," District Attorney Ed Caleb of Klamath County said after Wednesday's hearing. "Basically, from the district attorney's point of view, it's a death sentence."

Parrott admitted killing Debra Chapman, 51, on Dec. 5.

According to court documents, Chapman was meeting with another resident in the community room of the Klamath View Retirement Center. Parrott joined them, became upset and left. He returned with a rifle he had in his room and shot Chapman.

Parrott was accused of firing more shots and pointing the rifle at three others.

Prosecutors dismissed three counts of attempted murder as part of the plea negotiation.

Duke University grad tries to reclaim college life with beer-tossing fridge

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - When John Cornwell graduated from Duke University last year, he landed a job as software engineer in Atlanta but soon found himself longing for his college lifestyle.

So the engineering graduate built himself a contraption to help remind him of campus life: a refrigerator that can toss a can of beer to his couch with the click of a remote control.

"I conceived it right after I got out," said Cornwell, a May 2006 graduate from Huntington, N.Y. "I missed the college scene. It embodies the college spirit that I didn't want to let go of."

It took the 22-year-old Cornwell about 150 hours and $400 in parts to modify a mini-fridge common to many college dorm rooms into the beer-tossing machine, which can launch 10 cans of beer from its magazine before needing a reload.

With a click of the remote, fashioned from a car's keyless entry device, a small elevator inside the refrigerator lifts a beer can through a hole and loads it into the fridge's catapult arm. A second click fires the device, tossing the beer up to 20 feet - "far enough to get to the couch," he said.

Is there a foam explosion when the can is opened? Not if the recipient uses "soft hands" to cradle the can when caught, Cornwell said.

In developing his beer catapult, Cornwell said he dented a few walls and came close to accidentally throwing a can through his television. He's since fine-tuned the machine to land a beer where he usually sits at home, on what he called "a right-angle couch system."

For now, the machine throws only cans, although Cornwell has thought about making a version that can throw a bottle. The most beer he has run through the machine was at a party, when he launched a couple of 24-can cases.

"I did launch a lot watching the Super Bowl," he said. "My friends are the reason I built it. I told them about the idea and hyped it so much and I had to go through with it."

A video featuring the device is a hit on the Internet, where more than 600,000 people have watched it at metacafe.com, earning Cornwell more than $3,000 from the Web site.

Cornwell said he has talked to a brewing company about the machine, but right now only one exists. Asked if he might start building some for sale, he said: "I'm keeping that option open, depending on interest."

When Cornwell was a student at Duke he participated in the engineering school's robotic basketball contests, said mechanical engineering Professor Bob Kielb. He said students tried to build a robot that could retrieve a pingpong ball and toss it into a small hoop.

"He always did well in it," Kielb said. "He came up with completely unique ideas."

Virginia county clerk candidate won't conceal his nude photo shoot for Playgirl magazine

HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) - Charles "Benny" Neal, candidate for Rockingham County Circuit Court clerk, wants voters to know the naked truth about his past.

Twenty-eight years ago, he posed in the buff for Playgirl magazine.

"I am not going to run from this," Neal said. "I am going to run with it."

Neal, 49, figured his past would be exposed anyway after his own Internet search turned up a reference to his failed attempt to parlay the modeling job into a music career. So why not come forward from the start?

Good call, said James Madison University political science professor Bob Roberts, who predicted some voters will give Neal credit for confronting the issue head-on. His advice to Neal: Take a humorous approach.

Neal, a self-employed businessman and one of eight candidates for the clerk's job, said that's his plan.

"If I can get them to smile about it, I might get their vote."

U.S. animal rights group condemns dog extermination plan in Chinese town

BEIJING (AP) - A U.S. animal rights group Thursday condemned a plan to kill all pet dogs in an anti-rabies campaign in a district of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing.

The Humane Society of the United States/Humane Society International said in a statement that a vaccination campaign would be a better way to control rabies.

"Rabies is a serious matter, but local, provincial, and national government officials in China must recognize that vaccination campaigns are the most effective way to ensure public safety now and in the future," said Andrew Rowan, the group's chief executive officer.

"Killing animals indiscriminately like this is unnecessary and inexcusable, especially if they're already vaccinated," he said.

According to a statement on the Wanzhou district's official Web site this week, residents of the district have until March 15 to hand over their dogs.

"All the dogs in the area should be killed. A compulsory cull phase will begin after March 16. The forced cull will be carried out by the police," it said.

Officials have rounded up dogs in other cities, such as Beijing, in a crackdown on strays and unregistered pets.

A Wanzhou's Health Department spokesman refused to comment further.

On Wednesday, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted Wanzhou health official Ran Hua as saying the kill would combat rabies in the area. He said three cases have been reported in the last year, and the paper said one person died last month.

Soldiers dig for boy buried in landslide triggered by Indonesian quake

BUKIT TINGGI, Indonesia (AP) - Rescuers dug through dirt, sand and rocks Thursday for an 8-year-old boy torn from his neighbor's grasp in a landslide unleashed by a powerful earthquake, which killed up to 74 people in Indonesia.

Elsewhere, markets reopened in Sumatra island towns hit by the magnitude 6.3 quake and a strong aftershock about 660 miles west of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Many people remained too traumatized to return home, while others complained of receiving no emergency aid.

The boy, Rahmat, was on his way home from fishing when the quake hit. His neighbor, Nur Aini, grabbed the 8-year-old and her own son and ran toward a nearby mountain at Sianok Canyon. But the cliff rained up to 10 feet of rock, sand and dirt on the three.

"I was buried chest-high, while both Rahmat and my son slipped free from my hands," Nur Aini said. She managed to free herself and found her son alive, but Rahmat was missing.

Rahmat's mother, Rina, watched rescue workers dig with spades and high-pressure water to loosen the soil because heavy machinery could not reach the landslide, which left dust clouds lingering in the air.

"The important thing is I can see him," said Rina, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

The quake collapsed scores of homes, offices and government buildings.

Many people were still living outside their damaged homes, fearful they would fall down in another quake.

"I want to (go) back to my home as a soon as possible but I am still afraid," said Januar, who was huddled under a blue tent. "We didn't have anything to eat yesterday, and today we got rice from our relatives."

Ahmad Arsnal, an official at the provincial emergency relief agency, said cities have received aid including rice, water and instant noodles, but assistance has been slow to reach victims in surrounding areas.

Agencies gave conflicting death tolls, as is common in disasters here.

A presidential spokesman said Wednesday that 52 people died, revising the toll down from 70 reported on the day of the quake. But on Thursday, West Sumatra vice governor Marlis Rahman said 74 people died. Another regional official put the toll as 72.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The country was hardest hit by the Asian tsunami that killed 160,000 people on Sumatra's northern tip in 2004.

Since then, two other deadly quakes have occurred, along with landslides, floods and volcanic eruptions. A quake in Java Island last year killed nearly 5,000 people.

Private plane crashes in Malawi, killing 2

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) - A senior Australian mining executive in charge of the development of a new uranium mine in this southern African country died Thursday when his chartered plane crashed. The pilot also was killed.

The Perth-based company, Paladin, identified the passenger as Garnet Halliday, 50, executive general manager for operations and development.

The light aircraft was on its way to the site of a planned mine when it crashed in Dowa, 25 miles northwest of the capital, Lilongwe.

George Kalungwe, who lives in the area and was one of the first to arrive at the scene, said the plane appeared to be attempting an emergency landing on a road. It hit a tree and crashed into a maize field about 500 yards from the road. There had been some fog in the area.

Police spokesman Willy Mwaluka initially said that eight engineers plus the pilot were thought to be on board and feared dead. Later, Malawi's transport minister told parliament that there were three dead.

Carlos Kaufulu, an official at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, said the morgue had received two bodies.

"We were told there were three, but we have only received two so far," he said, adding that the bodies were so mangled it was difficult to identify the body parts.

Paladin last month signed a 10-year agreement with the Malawi government to establish the Kayerekera mine in the region of Karonga, some 250 miles north of Lilongwe and near the Tanzanian border. It is the second uranium mine developed by the company in Africa after Namibia.

The $270 million project sparked concern in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, about the environmental impact of the mine. The company had tried to ease concern by promising to build local schools and infrastructure.

The government, which holds a 15 percent stake, said the project would provide vital foreign investment and create some 800 sorely needed jobs in a country that largely relies on subsistence agriculture.

North Korea slaughters animals after foot and mouth disease outbreak

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Impoverished North Korea has slaughtered hundreds of cows and pigs after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, according to the World Organization for Animal Health.

The outbreak occurred in January at a farm in the capital, Pyongyang, sickening 431 cows, according to a North Korean government report dated Wednesday that was posted on the Web site of the Paris-based animal health agency, known by the initials OIE.

Since the outbreak, quarantine officials have killed 466 cows, including the sickened ones, as well as 2,630 pigs to prevent the spread of the disease, the North's Agricultural Ministry said. Some 100,000 animals within the 44-mile radius of the outbreak site will be vaccinated, it added.

The sickened cows were imported from Tieling, China, the report said.

The communist North has been suffering from food shortages since the mid-1990s, when natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy and led to a famine estimated to have killed some 2 million people.

The last outbreak of foot and mouth disease in North Korea occurred in 1960, it said.

The disease is not known to be a threat to humans, but it is highly contagious among other mammals. The disease affects cows, sheep, goats and other cloven-footed animals, causing blisters on the mouth and feet.

Japan empress suffering from stress-induced ailments attends flower show

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's Empress Michiko attended a flower arrangement exhibition Thursday, her first official duty outside the moat since the palace said earlier this week she is being treated for stress-related ailments.

The 72-year-old Michiko ventured to a Tokyo department store to view the flower show before taking a scheduled 10-day break later this month to recuperate, said Yasuo Moriyama, an Imperial Household Agency spokesman.

The popular wife of Emperor Akihito, Michiko was the first commoner to marry into the world's oldest hereditary monarchy. The palace announced earlier this week she is undergoing treatment for intestinal bleeding and other stress-related ailments.

Michiko has not been feeling well since she caught a cold and high fever in mid-February, according to the palace.

Michiko has previously suffered from stress. In the early 1990s, she was unable to speak for months after suffering a nervous breakdown over unflattering stories in gossip-oriented magazines.

In September, she looked elated at the arrival of her first grandson, Prince Hisahito. The prince's birth to Michiko's second son, Prince Akishino, defused a looming succession crisis for the royal family, which had produced no male heir in four decades.

Michiko's daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Masako, is also recuperating from stress-induced health problems brought on by the pressures of palace life.

Strong earthquake hits seas off Japan's eastern coast; no tsunami danger

TOKYO (AP) - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 struck in Pacific Ocean waters off Japan's eastern coast Thursday, but there was no danger of a tsunami, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The earthquake, which occurred at 2:04 p.m., was centered 87 miles below the earth's surface, near the island of Tori-shima, the agency said. Tori-shima is about 360 miles southeast of Tokyo.

Japan sits atop four tectonic plates and is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.

Thieves steal body of shooting victim from Mexican graveyard

VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) - The body of a man killed in a shootout during a clandestine horse race last weekend was stolen from its freshly dug grave in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz, an official said Wednesday.

Four armed men broke into the cemetery in the city of Poza Rica Tuesday night, State Interior Secretary Reynaldo Escobar said.

The men tied up the caretaker and carted off the coffin containing the body of Roberto Carlos Carmona Gasperin, 33, after smashing his headstone with hammers.

There were no arrests and police did not comment on a possible motive for the theft of the corpse.

Carmona was shot to death late Saturday in the town of Villarin, outside the port city of Veracruz, after an argument over the winner of a tight race erupted into violence. He was buried Monday in Poza Rica.

A second man who has not yet been identified was killed in the same shootout, which state authorities said may have involved organized crime figures. His body was under guard Wednesday at the medical examiner's office in Veracruz city.

Three other people were wounded, including a 12-year-old boy who was hospitalized with gunshot wounds to his legs, according to state police.

Fire in New York's Bronx kills woman, 8 children from extended family, injures many

NEW YORK (AP) - Screams poured from the burning building along with smoke and flames: "Help me! Help me! Please! Please!" Bystanders looked up to see a woman toss her children out the window one at a time to those below. - The scene unfolded early Thursday during New York's deadliest fire in nearly two decades - a blaze that killed eight children and one adult, part of an extended family led by African immigrants who shared a row house near Yankee Stadium.

The woman who tossed her children jumped from the building. Her fate and that of her children were not immediately known.

Investigators believe the fire started overnight with a faulty space heater or overloaded power strip, ignited a mattress in the basement and quickly raced up the stairs of the four-story structure. Most of the 22 residents - 17 of them children - were stranded on the upper floors as the blaze raged out of control.

Neighbor Edward Soto ran toward the fire, then stared in disbelief as an infant was tossed from the building.

"All I see is just a big cloud of white dust, and out of nowhere comes the first baby," said Soto, who caught the child while with another neighbor. Moments later, he caught a second child. At least one of the children was not breathing.

Firefighters worked for two hours in freezing predawn temperatures to bring the flames under control. The home had two smoke alarms, but neither had batteries. Police said there was no evidence of a crime.

The dead were found throughout the house, mostly on the upper floors, with babies still in their cribs. The victims included five children from one family, along with a wife and three other children from a second family.

Word of the fire spread grief across two continents, from the Bronx to villages in Mali, a West African country about twice the size of Texas and one of the poorest nations in the world.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," said a devastated Mamadou Soumare, a livery cabdriver whose wife, son and 7-month-old twins died in the blaze. "I love her. I love my wife."

Soumare was driving through Harlem when he received a frantic cell phone call from his wife, Fatoumata, who relatives said died in the fire. "She said, `We have a fire,"' Soumare recalled. "She was screaming."

Soumare rushed home in his cab, only to stand on the street and watch helplessly as their home turned into a fiery tomb.

Moussa Magassa, an official of the New York chapter of the High Council for Malians Living Abroad, was headed back to the city from a business trip to Mali after receiving the grim news that nearly half of his 11 children were dead, said council representative Bourema Niambele.

"He's the best in our community," said Imam Mahamadou Soukouna, a Muslim cleric and family friend. "It's very, very, very sad what has happened to us today."

Magassa was flying home from Bamako, the capital of Mali; he arrived in New York about 15 years ago, friends said. One neighbor said Magassa and Mamadou Soumare were brothers.

Fatoumata Soumare was from the village of Tasauirga and left Mali for the Bronx about six years ago, friends said.

Neighbors described a close-knit family, with the children often seen playing in the yard or in the street with water guns and scooters.

The death toll might have been higher if not for the efforts of Soto and another neighbor, David Todd.

Todd, 40, who lived in an adjoining apartment building, said one child was already on the ground in the yard when he arrived with Soto outside the burning home. "Please God, help my children!" the woman inside screamed while tossing her children out - and then jumping from the window.

Another neighbor, Elaine Martin, said flames were shooting from the building when she arrived, and a shoeless woman in a nightgown stood crying in the street.

"My kids is in there, my kids is in there," the woman wailed to Martin.

Neighbor Charles O'Neal, 21, watched as firefighters passed along babies still clad in their pajamas. Later, O'Neal saw two of the children dead, splayed across white plastic on the ground near their home.

There were reports of 19 injuries, including four firefighters and an emergency medical worker. A 7-year-old girl remained in critical condition, while a pair of 6-year-olds were upgraded from critical to good condition.

Part of the problem, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was that residents apparently tried to extinguish the fire themselves.

"Once they were notified, the Fire Department was on the scene in a little more than three minutes," the mayor said. "Sadly, that was not enough time."

The home was not equipped with a fire escape, and was not required to have one under city building codes. There were no complaints or violations on record against the building, constructed in 1901.

Neighbors said at least one of the families ran an import-export business, and a public records search lists African American Import Export at the address.

The dead, according to family members, included Fatoumata Soumare, 42, and three children: a son, Dgibril, and 7-month-old twins, Sisi and Harouma. A fourth child, 7-year-old Hasimy, escaped the carnage, her father said. The family members provided different name spellings than the authorities did.

Authorities identified the members of the Magassa family as four brothers: Bandiougou, 11, Mahamadou, 8, Abudubucary, 5, and Bilaly, 1; and their sister, 3-year-old Diaba.

Multiple spellings of the family's surname were provided after the fire, but property records and phone listings have it as Magassa.

Investigators probe Indonesian jetliner fire that killed 21

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Investigators probing the crash-landing of a Boeing 737-400 that burst into flames after careening off a runway, killing 21 people, said Thursday the jetliner's front wheels had snapped off as it touched down.

"We are trying to find out why the wheel broke," said investigator Marjdono Siswo Suwarno.

Forensic doctors struggled to identify the dead from Wednesday's crash-landing and fire of the Garuda Airlines jet, with many burned beyond recognition.

Suwarno said that after the plane's front wheels broke off, fuel tanks in the right wing were ruptured, enabling the fire to spread.

About 117 dazed and bloodied survivors staggered from the plane after it broke through a fence and came to rest in a rice paddy. Most escaped without major injuries, although several suffered burns and broken bones.

Those killed were trapped in the wreckage of the plane after it caught fire, sending billowing clouds of black smoke and orange flames high into the air. The plane had been carrying 140 passengers and crew, officials said.

The accident at Yogyakarta international airport on Java island was the third plane crash in as many months in Indonesia, raising urgent questions about the safety of the country's booming airline sector.

At least four Australians were among the dead, Indonesian officials said. One other Australian was feared dead, but her body had not been formally identified yet. Two other people remained unaccounted for.

Australian and Indonesian crash investigators examined the blackened fuselage and other parts of the plane scattered over a brilliant green rice paddy at the end of the runway, taking photos and notes as they worked.

Both of the plane's flight data recorders had been found and would be sent to Australia for analysis, investigators said.

"It is clear there are no indications of sabotage or intentional explosions in this crash as yet," said Joseph Tumenggung, the head of the investigation team.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to help the Indonesian government investigate.

Alessandro Bertellotti, a journalist with Italian broadcaster RAI, said the plane was going at a "crazy speed" as it approached Yogyakarta airport after a 50-minute flight from the capital, Jakarta.

"It was going into a dive and I was certain we would crash on the ground," Bertellotti told the Italian news agency ANSA. "I was sitting behind the wing. I saw that the pilot was trying to stop it, but it was too fast. It literarily bounced on the strip."

Several survivors said pilots and flight attendants opened emergency exits and directed passengers to them. The evacuation was orderly for the most part, with some passengers able to take their hand-luggage with them.

"A stewardess opened the door behind me and I was among the first people to get out," Bertellotti told ANSA.

Australian forensic experts were helping Indonesian doctors working to identify bodies in the morgue of the city's Sarjito Hospital. Some relatives argued with doctors, demanding permission to take bodies home they thought they recognized before dental or DNA checks were performed.

"I definitely recognize the body of my brother," said Salamun, who goes by a single name. "We asked doctors to bring him home because as Muslims we want him buried immediately, but doctors required dental records of my brother. This bureaucracy is making us crazy."

As of Thursday, the bodies of 16 victims had been identified, doctor Col. Slamet Pornomo said.

The Indonesian government ordered an investigation into the crash, the latest in a series of accidents in the country.

On New Year's Day, a jet plummeted into the sea, killing all 102 people aboard. Weeks later, a plane broke apart on landing, though there were no casualties. There have also been several ferry sinkings, one of which killed 400.

In response, the government has said it would ban commercial airlines from operating planes more than 10 years old, but most experts say maintenance must be improved and the number of flights per day limited.

Some also have called for Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa to resign.

"He should not be allowed to wash his hands of this," Burhanuddin Napitulu, senior lawmaker from Indonesia's ruling party. "The public has lost all trust. They are too scared to take planes, trains or ferries any more because the disasters are never-ending."

Dozens of airlines have emerged since Indonesia started deregulating the industry in the late 1990s, and the rapid expansion has raised concerns that growth has outpaced the supply of trained aviation professionals, regulatory oversight, parts and ground infrastructure.

Although Garuda has had nine plane crashes in the past 30 years, killing 330, the airline has made strides recently on improving its safety regulations and training pilots, experts said.

Third Indonesian plane accident this year puts spotlight on aviation safety

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - One Indonesian jetliner plunged to sea from 35,000 feet, killing everyone on board. Another's fuselage split in half after a hard landing. This week, a Boeing 737 careened off a runway and burst into flames, leaving 21 people dead.

Three accidents in as many months have raised urgent concerns about the safety of Indonesia's booming airline sector, with experts saying poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of trained professionals may be behind the disasters.

Dozens of airlines emerged after Indonesia deregulated its aviation industry in the 1990s, making air travel affordable for the first time for many across the sprawling island nation, and luring passengers away from ferries and trains.

Passenger numbers have risen more than 20 percent every year since 2000, putting the system under strain, according to the Indonesia's Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Last year, a plane crashed, had a near-miss, skipped a runway, made an emergency landing or reported a technical problem every 12 days on average, government statistics show.

"I'm terrified to fly," said Barry Tontey, 50, who lost his daughter in the New Year's Day crash at sea. She was supposed to graduate from medical school in July.

"I don't believe the government or the airlines are committed to safety," he said.

Indonesia's safety record in 2007 was worse than the average African nation, according to Ascend, a London-based global aviation consultancy firm, basing its figures on the rate of passengers killed per million departures.

"Fixing a safety record is a long-term cultural challenge" that requires improving discipline and communication between pilots and crews, said Martin Craigs, president of Hong Kong-based Aerospace Forum Asia. "It's not about quickly ticking boxes in a technical manual … It's got to be inbred in the system."

Investigators probing Wednesday's crash-landing of a Garuda Airline jetliner said its front wheels snapped off as it touched down, but declined to speculate on the cause of the accident.

Garuda has had nine plane crashes in the past 30 years, killing 330 people, but has made progress recently in improving its safety regulations and training of pilots, experts said. Before Wednesday, its last major incident was in 2002, when a plane made an emergency landing on a river, with the loss of one life.

"As a whole, it is one of the best airlines in Indonesia, probably the best," said aviation analyst Dudi Sudibyo.

The flight data recorders of the Adam Air plane that crashed into the sea on New Year's Day, killing all 102 people on board, have not yet been recovered and the wreckage is still lying on the ocean floor. And when another of the airline's planes broke apart on landing weeks later, without causing serious injuries, company spokeswoman Natalia Budihardjo tried to downplay the incident, at one point telling a reporter it was "normal."

Video footage taken by a passenger aired on local television Thursday showed panicked passengers on another budget carrier, Lion Air, taking safety into their own hands this week. They scrambled to put on life vests after the jet hit heavy turbulence, ignoring flight attendants' pleas that they not do so.

The main concern, experts say, is failure by air carriers and aviation officials to comply with Indonesia's regulations, which are considered by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to be quite strong.

"There is always collusion between operators and regulators," said Frans Wenas, the head of Indonesia's transport ministry's safety committee. "Sometimes we may uncover problems, and it's only on paper that they are rectified," he said. "There is no way I can check all the aircrafts."

When an accident does happen, it is rare that anyone is held accountable, adding to public mistrust. Often, proposals made by senior government officials after a crash fail to address the root problems.

Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa, who is also facing criticism over a string of ferry disasters, announced a plan last month to ban local carriers from operating jetliners more than a decade old as part of a new government safety campaign.

"It's ridiculous. By most standards a 10-year-old plane is new," said Patrick Smith, a U.S.-based airline pilot and aviation commentator, noting that if America implemented such a regulation, half its fleet would be grounded.

"It's not the age that matters, its how it is operated," he said. "That's what makes an airline safe."

Doggone No Longer: Dachshund, missing a year, found in Bronx

NEW YORK (AP) - It's a doggone long tale - 17 months to be exact - with an ending that's short and sweet. - Ruthie has finally, and happily, been reunited with her family.

The story goes back to October 2005. Ruthie the dachshund, then 8 months old, was sitting on the back seat of the family car when her human dashed into a Long Island store.

When Nancy Noel returned a few minutes later, Ruthie was nowhere in sight.

Noel and her husband, Lincoln Werden, contacted Nassau County police, put up fliers around their Manhasset neighborhood - and even hired a private investigator.

But no sightings of Ruthie were reported.

Until last week.

Someone dropped Ruthie off at a Manhattan shelter after spotting her roaming around the Bronx - 25 miles from where she was taken on that fateful October day.

Following procedure, shelter workers scanned Ruthie for a possible microchip - and wouldn't you know it - she had one implanted under her skin. It yielded her family's name and address.

"I was just shocked," Pedro Rosario of Animal Care and Control of New York City told the Daily News. "We called her and she said the dog had been stolen a year ago."

Ruthie was immediately reunited with Noel and her daughter, Sara Werden.

"We never thought we would see her again," Werden said. "We were just stunned."

She's no longer the tiny pup they last saw. In fact, Ruthie gained 10 pounds.

Ruthie also has a new companion to play with.

The family had gotten another dachshund, named Holly, after losing hope of ever finding Ruthie.

On the Net:

NYC Animal Care & Control: www.nycacc.org

Mexican suspect held in kidnapping of Florida teen from school bus stop last month

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A Mexican man accused of abducting a 13-year-old from a school bus stop and abandoning him in the woods was brought back to Florida on Thursday to face charges.

Vicente Ignacio Beltran-Moreno, 22, fled to Mexico after the Feb. 23 abduction of Clay Moore, who managed to free himself, authorities said. Beltran-Moreno turned himself in Wednesday at the border near McAllen, Texas, after an FBI agent negotiated his surrender by phone.

The former farmworker, who authorities said had lived in the U.S. illegally, waived extradition and was flown to Florida, where he was booked into jail, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said.

Beltran-Moreno, charged with kidnapping and aggravated assault, will go before a judge at the jail Friday, sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow said. He did not yet have an attorney.

Clay was abducted in Parrish, about 25 miles south of Tampa, by a gunman who pulled up in a pickup truck. Detectives believe Clay was grabbed because he happened to be closest to the street.

Tied to a tree about 20 miles east, the teen escaped hours later by using a safety pin he had put in his mouth to pick apart the duct tape binding his wrists.

Beltran-Moreno became a suspect after investigators took an artist's sketch of Clay's abductor to migrant worker camps east of Bradenton.

Investigators believe the aim was to leave the boy tied until a ransom was paid.

AIDS clinic dispute in Puerto Rico forces rationing of medicine

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The U.S. has halted payments to clinics that treat AIDS patients in Puerto Rico, forcing hundreds of poor people to go without free medicine in a U.S. territory with an AIDS rate nearly double that of the mainland. - Puerto Rican officials blame the FBI, saying agents investigating fraud seized documents clinics need to get reimbursement for drugs and services. The FBI denies it is responsible.

Patient advocates blame the San Juan city government and other island agencies, saying the problem is a result of mismanagement in a program that has a history of corruption.

The 21 clinics, which are privately run under the administration of the San Juan city government, say they stopped receiving reimbursement from the U.S. in late 2006, but the rationing and cutbacks only began in recent weeks as their budgets have started to run low.

Some clinics have reduced their hours, staff levels and the amount of medicine they distribute.

"We're in the middle of a terrible crisis where patients are missing their treatment, and the disease will gain the upper hand," said the Rev. Samuel Agosto, director of Caribbean Youth House, a suburban clinic that has cut back staff dramatically and turned away about 15 percent of its 700 patients. "When they come back to their treatment they won't be the same."

Others clinics say they will face similar problems within days.

"We've maxed out two lines of credit and we've had to start fundraising," said Dr. Jose Vargas Vidot, director of the Community Initiative clinic in the Hato Rey neighborhood. "We can hold out maybe another 15 days."

More than 26 out of 100,000 people in Puerto Rico have AIDS, a rate nearly double that of the U.S. mainland, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control. Intravenous drug use has helped push the AIDS infection rate in the island of 4 million.

Puerto Rico also has a per capita income about half that of the poorest U.S. states and a majority live below the poverty line set by the American government.

The Caribbean territory receives $58 million annually under the Ryan White CARE Act, a U.S. program that supports clinical services for poor patients.

Since 2005, invoices in the AIDS program from Puerto Rican health agencies have had extra scrutiny in Washington because of past management problems, said Tina Cheatham, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

A scandal broke in the 1990s after 12 administrators of the now-defunct San Juan AIDS Institute were exposed for embezzling $2.2 million in federal funds. Yamil Kouri, the former director, was convicted in 1999 and released from prison in October after serving half of a 14-year sentence.

In December, FBI agents raided four San Juan city government health offices that manage the AIDS funds as part of a fraud investigation. No arrests have been made and authorities have declined to discuss the investigation.

But Maria del Carmen Munoz, director of federal affairs for San Juan, said agents seized invoices and other documents that the local government needed to process claims for reimbursement to the clinics, ignoring warnings about the potential outcome.

Munoz said health officials had to request new invoices from the clinics and verify their authenticity, and proceeded more slowly out of concern about the investigation.

"We are hopeful that within this month, all the … invoices will be paid," she said.

FBI spokesman Harry Rodriguez declined to discuss the investigation but said the agency "takes the appropriate measures to ensure the public is not affected in any way."

So far, about 2,000 patients in the San Juan area face rationing of their medication, receiving only enough to last five to seven days each month, said Anselmo Fonseca, co-director of an AIDS advocacy group. Clinics in other parts of the island are receiving the Ryan White funds and operating normally.

"People's lives are in danger," Fonseca said.

Last week, Bill's Kitchen, which offered nutrition counseling for nearly 1,000 HIV patients, canceled the service and laid off six employees. The organization has kept its doors open as a food bank, director Sandy Torres said.

Cheatham said problems in distributing funds from the U.S. program are not uncommon, and the agency is offering technical assistance to help the city make payments. But some advocates question whether delays would be tolerated on such a wide scale in the United States.

"One of the most difficult things is getting the mainland to recognize Puerto Rico as being part of the country," said Guillermo Chacon, vice president of the New York-based Latino Commission on AIDS.

Former Fort Worth priest convicted of abuse, sentenced to 25 years

EASTLAND, Texas (AP) - A former priest was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison after being convicted of molesting an 11-year-old boy in the early 1990s.

The Rev. Thomas Teczar, 65, of Dudley, Mass., was a priest in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese until his departure in 1993.

The victim, now in his late 20s, testified Wednesday that Teczar used threats, persuasion and the use of his Mercedes to entice him to have sex and keep it a secret when he was 11 years old. Teczar told him he could have him taken away from his mother, the man testified before a state district judge.

Teczar was convicted on three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child. He was sentenced to 25 years for each assault charge and 15 for the indecency charge; all sentences will run concurrently, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in its online edition Wednesday.

In 2005, the Fort Worth diocese settled for $4.15 million a lawsuit with two of Teczar's accusers, including one who filed the criminal complaint in Eastland.

Before moving to the Fort Worth area, Teczar had worked as a priest in the Worcester Diocese, where he was forced out after being accused of inappropriate behavior with a teenage boy. He is no longer in active ministry.