The Hubble Space Telescope recently completed its 100,000th orbit around the Earth in its 18th year of exploration. Hubble peered into a small portion of the nebula near the star cluster NGC 2074 on Sunday. The region is a firestorm of raw stellar creation, perhaps triggered by a nearby supernova explosion. It lies about 170,000 light-years away.

courtesy of nasa and the european space agency

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SAN FRANCISCO — A laptop computer containing personal information from 33,000 travelers who applied to a program for bypassing airport security lines was probably stolen and returned, not just misplaced, investigators said Monday.

The Transportation Security Administration announced last week that it had suspended new enrollments to the program, known as Clear, after the unencrypted computer disappeared from a locked office at San Francisco International Airport.

The day after TSA's announcement, the laptop reappeared in a locked cabinet in the same office.

Verified Identity Pass Inc., which runs the Clear program, said at the time that the company did not know whether its computer had been stolen or just overlooked.

Investigators are now treating the disappearance as a theft and are interviewing Verified Identity Pass employees to figure out who took the laptop and why, said San Mateo County Sheriff's Sgt. Wes Matsuura.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California's top payroll official are headed for a court fight over the governor's attempt to cut the pay of about 175,000 state employees until lawmakers approve a budget.

A lawsuit against state Controller John Chiang was filed Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court. The suit says the state Constitution and several sections of law prohibit the state from paying full wages without approval of a budget.

The controller, a Democrat whose office is responsible for paying state employees, has balked at carrying out the Republican governor's July 31 executive order cutting employees' pay until a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 is approved. Lawmakers are divided over how to close a $15.2 billion deficit.

Schwarzenegger directed that the pay of nearly 140,000 rank-and-file employees be cut to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour. About 30,000 management employees would be paid $455 a week, and another 8,000 workers, mostly doctors and attorneys, would get nothing. All those workers would get the remainder of their normal paychecks after the budget is approved.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man accused of failing to report that his cousin produced and possessed the deadly poison ricin pleaded guilty Monday to the felony charge.

Thomas Tholen, 54, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony — knowing about a crime but failing to report it. Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend that he receive probation rather than prison time at sentencing, set for October.

Tholen's cousin, Roger Bergendorff, pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to federal possession of a biological toxin and weapons charges but denied any criminal intent and said he never intentionally or accidentally released any of the lethal powder.

HOUSTON — The wife of Republican Rep. Ron Paul was in serious but stable condition Monday at a Houston hospital, a spokesman for the congressman said.

Carol Paul was in the critical-care unit at an unidentified hospital, spokesman Jesse Benton said in a statement.

Benton would not disclose why Carol Paul was admitted to the hospital Monday, only saying "she has had several abdominal surgeries."

Paul "appreciates the outpouring of concern and good wishes during this difficult time," Benton said.

A Texas congressman from Lake Jackson, Ron Paul was the Libertarian Party nominee for president in 1988 and ran unsuccessfully for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. His campaign, which was a sensation on the Internet, drew support from Republicans, independents and Democrats.

ATLANTA — A federal judge on Monday upheld a gun ban at the world's busiest airport, dealing a blow to gun-rights groups that argued a new Georgia law authorized them to pack heat in certain parts of the Atlanta airport.

U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob expressed concern that allowing guns at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport could cause significant economic damage and could be a "serious threat to public safety and welfare."

His decision rejected a request by GeorgiaCarry.org that would have temporarily allowed gun owners to carry their weapons in the airport until his final ruling on the gun ban — a challenge that could likely last months.