SOUTHWEST

COURT UPHOLDS RULING IN DELAY CASE, THROWS OUT FELONY COUNT

AUSTIN, Texas – An appeals court yesterday upheld a judge’s ruling throwing out a felony conspiracy charge against the former House majority leader, Tom DeLay.

Mr. DeLay, who announced this month that he is resigning his congressional seat, still faces a money-laundering charge and another conspiracy charge stemming from the financing of state legislative races in 2002.

A lower court judge dismissed a conspiracy charge against DeLay in December, agreeing with defense arguments that the conspiracy law did not cover election code violations in 2002; the Legislature amended the law in 2003.

Prosecutors had argued before a three-judge panel of the 3rd Court of Appeals that conspiracy to violate the election code had always been a crime and that the 2003 change merely clarified the law.

– Associated Press

MIDWEST

JUDGE SAYS TEN COMMANDMENTS CAN STAY AT TOLEDO COURTHOUSE

TOLEDO, Ohio – A display of the Ten Commandments at the county courthouse does not promote religion and can remain in place, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge James Carr said yesterday that the granite monument, which has stood on the courthouse lawn for almost 50 years, can stay because the motives for placing the Commandments outside the courthouse are secular and do not endorse a specific belief.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sued Lucas County in 2002 to have the display removed, saying it was unconstitutional and promoted religion.

Judge Carr’s decision closely followed a ruling last year by the U.S. Supreme Court that addressed displays of the Ten Commandments. The Supreme Court in June upheld a 6-foot granite monument on a 22-acre lot surrounding the Texas Capitol.

– Associated Press

WEST

WOMAN HAS RARE CASE OF BUBONIC PLAGUE

LOS ANGELES – A woman is in stable condition with bubonic plague, the first confirmed human case in Los Angeles County since 1984, health officials said yesterday. The woman, who was not identified, was admitted to a hospital April 13 with a fever, swollen lymph nodes, and other symptoms. A blood test confirmed the bacterial disease, and she was given antibiotics, officials said.

Bubonic plague is not contagious, but if left untreated it can morph into pneumonic plague, which is. Bubonic plague is usually transmitted to humans from the bites of fleas infected by rodents. Health officials said they suspect the woman was exposed by fleas in her home and that there was no cause for alarm.

– Associated Press

EAST

WIDOW, 84, WINS RECORD $10 MILLION SLOT JACKPOT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – For 84-year-old Josephine Crawford, the golden years just got a lot more golden. About to call it quits after a night playing slot machines, the Galloway Township widow hit a $10 million jackpot late Tuesday, the biggest in the history of casino gambling here.

The retired waitress knew when the nickel slot machine’s bells went off that she’d won something but didn’t know what. When a slot attendant at Harrah’s Atlantic City casino told her it was $10,010,113.48, she didn’t believe him.

“I said, ‘Oh, come on.’ But he just stood there and I figured, why is he staying there?” she said yesterday.

– Associated Press