Mon, Dec 01, 2008
Firefighters from the volunteer fire department in Lacey's Spring, Ala., battle a mobile home fire at Aladdin Trailer Park on U.S. 231 S. The fire Monday morning left the mobile home a total loss, but the family was able to get out uninjured.
robin conn / the huntsville times
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Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.25.2007
Georgia
Mall robber suspect shot, later arrested
DECATUR — A robbery suspect was shot and wounded by police in the parking lot outside a suburban Atlanta mall on Monday, authorities said.
The suspect was later arrested at a home a few miles from The Gallery at South DeKalb, authorities said. His wounds were not life-threatening, DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said.
Police chased the suspect through the parking lot on foot after a man told an off-duty police officer working security at the mall that he had been robbed. The suspect showed a gun during the chase, police said.
New York
Juror cites pressure to convict black
RIVERHEAD — A juror who helped convict a black man of fatally shooting a white teenager said he felt pressured by other jurors and the judge to change his vote to guilty during a marathon deliberating session.
The jury convicted John White of second-degree manslaughter Saturday in the August 2006 shooting of 17-year-old Daniel Cicciaro Jr. White, 54, remains free on bail and plans to appeal. He faces a prison term of five to 15 years.
The case drew national attention after defense attorneys argued that he feared a "lynch mob" had come to attack his family when a group of angry white teenagers gathered outside his home. The teens wanted to confront White's son.
Juror Francois Larche, who is white, said he and another juror changed their votes after enduring "a lot of psychological tactics" from fellow jurors during an unusual weekend session ordered by the judge over jurors' protests.
Mississippi
Former Lt. Gov. Gandy dies at 87
JACKSON — Former Mississippi Lt. Gov. Evelyn Gandy, the only woman elected to three statewide offices in Mississippi, has died after a long illness. She was 87.
Gandy died around 9 p.m. Sunday at her home outside Hattiesburg, said Carroll Ingram, a law partner of Gandy's who served in the state Senate while Gandy was lieutenant governor.
Gandy had suffered from progressive supranuclear palsy, a disease similar to Parkinson's disease, Ingram said.
"She, or course, is absolutely a very historic person in this state with respect to her long record of public service," he said.
Gandy's body will lie in the state Capitol Thursday morning, and a memorial service will be held there later that day, said James Winstead of Hewlett Winstead Funeral Home in Hattiesburg. The funeral will be Friday in Hattiesburg, he said.
Texas
Ex-pastor kills wife's boyfriend, self
AMARILLO — A former youth pastor shot and killed his estranged wife's boyfriend, then committed suicide, police said.
Michael Beckworth, 30, entered the home of Joe Lee, 31, and shot him repeatedly Sunday, police said. Then he shot himself in the head, said Lt. Gary Trupe, of the Potter/Randall Special Crimes Unit.
Several people, including Beckworth's estranged wife, witnessed the shooting, but Beckworth made no attempt to harm any of them, Trupe said. He said Beckworth had previously threatened to harm Lee.
The Westover Fellowship Church in Amarillo fired Beckworth several months ago, Trupe said.
California
Former 'Lost' star starts jail sentence
LYNWOOD — Former "Lost" star Michelle Rodriguez will be spending the holidays in jail.
Rodriguez reported to a Los Angeles County jail on Sunday to begin a six-month sentence for failing to complete community service and alcohol monitoring as part of her probation from a drunken driving incident, authorities said.
She was booked into the Century Regional Detention Facility just before 4 p.m., said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Aura Sierra. It's the same jail where Paris Hilton served much of her sentence earlier this year.
Rodriguez received the jail time in October after she admitted violating her probation by failing to provide proof of community service and by drinking alcohol while wearing a monitoring device.
Ohio
Churches allowing online donations
CINCINNATI — No cash for the collection basket at church? No problem.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati has made online giving an option for its 230 parishes and 110 parochial and diocesan schools in its 19-county region.
"It's a way to make things a little easier for people and for them to be a little more regular in their giving to the church," Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk said.
With the online donation option, the diocese joined a growing group of churches nationwide that are using technology and the Internet to make weekly giving easier.
Churches in St. Louis enlisted online charity firms, and others, including in Georgia and California, have used ATMs placed inside the church.
Illinois
Man who rammed TV studio stressed
CHICAGO — A man charged with a felony after allegedly driving a mini-van into a downtown Chicago television news studio Sunday night at the beginning of the 10 p.m. CST newscast has shown behavioral problems in the past, his aunt said Monday.
Lillian Richardson said her nephew, Gerald Richardson of Evanston, Ill., also had lost several family members in recent years, including his mother, two uncles and a grandmother.
"It's very difficult for us during this time, because we are a family that really celebrates together," she said. "I really truly don't know why this happened, but it gets really hard during the holidays."
Gerald Richardson, 25, was charged with criminal damage to property after crashing his Mazda MPV into WLS-TV studios, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. He also was ticketed for reckless driving and operating a vehicle without insurance.
No one inside the studio was injured, police said, but the loud impact unnerved anchor Ravi Baichwal, who shouted and looked off camera.
Wire reports