Tulsa World: Nation Briefs

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | WIRELESS

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Nation Briefs

By Wire Reports
Published: 11/25/2009 2:30 AM
Last Modified: 11/25/2009 6:09 AM

S.C. lawmakers want more info on disappearance

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A group of South Carolina House lawmakers wants sworn statements from the governor's staff and others, detailing the events leading up to Gov. Mark Sanford's five-day disappearance in June.

Those details, they say, will help determine whether Sanford should be impeached for his secret trip to visit his lover in Argentina.

Tuesday, the seven House members met for the first time to consider a resolution to try the embattled, two-term Republican governor. They hope to wrap up their work by Christmas and send a recommendation on impeachment to the full Judiciary Committee.

The committee also voted to delve into 37 charges made by the State Ethics Commission, including claims Sanford used campaign cash and state aircraft for personal reasons.

Under the state constitution, Sanford must be guilty of a serious crime or other serious misconduct to be impeached.

Sanford's attorneys have said repeatedly that the governor's disappearance does not rise to the level of impeachment nor do the ethics charges, which they have deemed "minor" and "technical."

The food strikes back: Deen gets hit by ham

ATLANTA — Celebrity chef Paula Deen got an unexpected serving of ham — across her face.

The Food Network star was helping unload 25,000 pounds of donated meat for an Atlanta food bank on Monday when someone threw one of the hams like a football and accidentally smacked her. Deen told WGCL-TV: "I thought it busted my lip, but it didn't."

Though smiles and laughter, Deen added: "I'm OK. It just knocked me for a little bit."

She says she was unloading hams when she tossed one to a man, who then said "Back at 'ya." Thinking he meant it only as a sentiment, she turned around to get another ham when the errant swine came at her.

"He really meant, 'Back at 'ya,'" she said.

Crowd welcomes Palin to big battleground state

THE VILLAGES, Fla. — Sarah Palin, who says the 2012 presidential election isn't on her radar, took her "Going Rogue" book tour to the biggest of the battleground states Tuesday, including a stop in the retirement community where tens of thousands of people gave her star treatment in the 2008 presidential election.

The crowd was far smaller than when she made a September 2008 campaign stop as Republican John McCain's running mate, but no less passionate for the former Alaska governor. About 700 people, some who arrived a full 24 hours before the signing, waited for Palin as country music blared. Several signs encouraged her to run for president in 2012.

When she arrived, the crowd chanted "Sarah! Sarah!" She made brief remarks — including a gleeful "You can read my story thus far — unfiltered by the media!" She sat down to a Fox News interview, during which there were shouts of "We love you Sarah! We love you and we want you to be president!" and, "Take back the Constitution! And the Bill of Rights!"

The Villages is a massive, heavily Republican retirement community about 60 miles northwest of Orlando that draws huge crowds for political events.

Attempted-bombing trial in Dallas is postponed

DALLAS — A Jordanian man charged with trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper with what he thought was a car bomb will go on trial next summer.

A federal judge has moved Hosam Smadi's trial to June 7.

The 19-year-old Smadi had been scheduled for trial starting Dec. 7. But the judge found the case was complex and agreed more time was needed to interview witnesses and review evidence.

Authorities allege Smadi parked a truck in a garage beneath the downtown office tower in September. Once he was at a safe distance, Smadi dialed a cell phone he thought would detonate a bomb in the truck, but the device was actually a decoy provided by FBI operatives posing as al-Qaida members.

Smadi has pleaded not guilty.

4 men accused of trying to support terror group

PHILADELPHIA — A grand jury in Philadelphia has indicted four men for an alleged plot to support the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.

The indictment comes just a day after officials in Philadelphia said they disrupted a similar scheme to acquire anti-aircraft missiles and send them to Syria — though in that case, authorities have yet to accuse anyone of trying to help a specific terror group.

The indictment filed Tuesday says two suspects sought to provide roughly 1,200 Colt M4 machine guns to Hezbollah, but their efforts were thwarted by an undercover operative. The indictment charges a total of eight others with lesser offenses related to schemes to traffic in stolen or counterfeit goods.

Catholic Diocese in Alaska agrees to pay $9 million

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks in Alaska and representatives of almost 300 alleged victims of sex abuse by clergy have agreed on a settlement of almost $10 million.

The agreement was discussed at a status hearing Tuesday in federal bankruptcy court and will need to be finalized.

Plaintiffs' attorney Ken Roosa says some of the payoff would be put aside to pursue as much as another $100 million from two of four insurance companies for the diocese that have balked at paying.

The rest would be divided among alleged victims, depending on the severity of abuse.

Complaints of sexual abuse of a minor have been filed in recent years against the diocese, with some allegations dating back 50 years. By Wire Reports

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