Coming Soon.

In Texas, the case of Andrea Clark is bringing forth a groundswell of attention to the little-known topic of medical futility practices.

Andrea is a 54-year-old woman who suffered brain injuries following open-heart surgery at Houston's St. Luke's Hospital and was apportioned both a respirator and dialysis treatment in the hopes of promoting her recovery.

Andrea Clark's life hangs in the balance in Houston, Texas as her hospital, St. Luke's, is preparing to remove medical care from her Tuesday, based upon the "ethics" committee opinion that treatment is "futile care" in her case.

The life of Andrea Clark hangs precariously in the balance at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston.

The life support of the 54-year-old woman was to have been removed Sunday after the hospital ethics committee decided under the Texas Futile Care Law that it would be futile to prolong the life of the heart patient and recommended that she be removed from life support despite her family's wishes and the wishes of Andrea herself.

Today, May 1, is Law Day, the day that pompous asses in the judiciary and Bar pat themselves on the back and try to tell us what a phenomenal job they're doing protecting our constitutional rights by the rule of law.

"America's legal system is central to protecting the constitutional principles on which our Nation was founded. As we observe Law Day, we celebrate our heritage of freedom, justice, and equality under the law", is the introduction to the proclamation for Law Day issued by President George W. Bush.

In America, pushing the envelope used to mean advancing technology; pursuing new creative summits in literature, music and art; breaking down the separating walls between classes; becoming more outspoken when wrongs are apparent; setting trends and changing hearts and minds. In sum, positive and intuitive actions by courageous and creative minds held the power to alter our social landscape for the better.

CLEARWATER, FLA--Sixth Circuit Court Judge Crockett Farnell, one of the judges in the contentious guardianship case of Terri Schindler Schiavo, has indicated that he will not seek reelection to another six year term.

Let's keep this simple.

Everett Rice is perfect for the top FDLE job. (Florida Department of Law Enforcement)

Rice, sheriff of a major metropolitan big department operation, it's one of the best in the country. That's the truth. http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/042306RiceRace.html

BUFFALO---The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court had determined that "holy cows" can't be harbored in the village of Angelica in western New York.

NEWPORT NEWS, VA---A woman and her adult son face up to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit extortion from a Cracker Barrel restaurant.

Although the specifics of the cases involving Andrea Clark and Terri Schindler Schiavo are different, the key issue is the same----should government be the one who makes the decision whether a vulnerable, incapacitated person should live or die and whether or not it's "futile" to treat them.

Individuals wishing to get involved in the Andrea Clark case may find the information listed below helpful.

FULTON COUNTY---For the second time this month, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court has ruled that Fulton County Family Court Judge David G. Jung violated the rights of a woman he had sentenced to six months in jail even though he knew she was lodged in the Schenectady County Jail and couldn't appear in the case before him.

Michael Schiavo, the Florida man who killed his wife last year by removing her feeding tube by order of Pinellas County probate court judge George Greer, is scheduled to be the lead speaker Sunday afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics in Philadelphia.

HOUSTON---Emotions for the Andrea Clark family were up and down like a roller coaster Friday but as of late Friday afternoon, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital had reportedly agreed not to remove the life support from the disabled woman until at least Tuesday while the search continues for a facility where she can be transferred.

LAKE GEORGE---A grand jury has charged a Capital Region couple with theft and securities fraud stemming from a scheme in which they sold non-existent stock and other securities in companies purporting to distribute gourmet frozen foods.

DENVER, CO---Just one year after the U.S. Marshals Service announced the apprehension of more than 10,000 violent fugitives as part of Operation FALCON (Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally), the USMS has done it again. U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez and Marshals Service Director John F. Clark have revealed that more than 9,000 fugitives, including 1,102 fugitives wanted for committing felony sex offenses, violent sexual assaults, and failure to register as sex offenders, had been arrested during Operation FALCON II, which took place from April 17 to April 23. Some 140 fugitives were arrested in Colorado.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY---A Queens woman who masqueraded as a magazine publisher has been sentenced for defrauding more than 43 small businesses around the U.S. of nearly $125,000.

ALBANY---The son of Schenectady Police Chief Michael Geraci Sr. surrendered to Albany City Police Friday after being charged with the felony filing of a false police report and misdemeanor assault.

TALLAHASSEE - A suspended Kissimmee attorney has been sentenced to five years in prison for his participation in an elaborate scheme to defraud investors. Stanley Craig Wakefield must also pay victims of his scam more than $220,000 in restitution. The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution.

MANHATTAN---Finding that the prosecution had failed to prove each defendant guilty of each charge, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Neil Ross found the 18 members of the Granny Peace Brigade not guilty of disorderly conduct following a seven day non-jury trial.

TALLAHASSEE - A former pharmacy owner has been arrested for defrauding the Florida Medicaid program out of almost a quarter million dollars. Paul Magnum, now a Lake County resident, formerly owned a Miami pharmacy that billed thousands of dollars of prescriptions to Medicaid but never provided the prescriptions to patients.

TALLAHASSEE - A St. Lucie County physician has been sentenced to 50 years in prison following her conviction on manslaughter and other charges stemming from the prescription drug overdose death of one of her patients. Dr. Asuncion Mendoze Luyao was convicted last month for manslaughter, racketeering and trafficking in controlled substances.

TALLAHASSEE - A free service for parents of teenagers attending their high school's annual prom allows parents to register through a website and send their teen a free text message expressing those parents' desire that prom night be an enjoyable but safe experience.

TALLAHASSEE - A Hillsborough County woman was arrested for her involvement in a scheme that defrauded people seeking federal and state grants. Karen A. Kiehl of Valrico claimed she could help people secure grants, but instead swindled her victims out of more than $140,000.

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Attorney General's office has reached a settlement with a debt relief company that calls for the business to provide $230,000 to reimburse consumers who paid fees to the company but failed to gain debt relief. The agreement resolves consumer complaints about the business practices of Emergency Debt Relief, Inc., formerly of Jacksonville, and requires the company to revise its business practices.

ATLANTA, GA---A newly appointed special prosecutor has dismissed a felony arrest warrant against Paul Howard, Fulton County's district attorney but says that the courtroom incident prompting the warrant will be thoroughly investigated.

ANAHEIM, CA---A woman who was spanked in front of other employees at a Fresno firm has been awarded $1.7 million.

In the last 90 days, there have been over 2 million hits here at The North Country Gazette. The website has been growing at a phenomenal pace, reaching a diversified audience literally worldwide.

But it's not without cost. Unfortunately we are contemplating shutting down operations on May 15.

CUYAHOGA COUNTY---Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner of Oak Harbor, Ohio, is currently facing 32 criminal charges of intimidation, retaliation, falsification and possession of a criminal tool----a computer---for having the audacity to exercise her right of free speech, freedom of expression, to make public allegations of corruption and even worse, criticize a several judges, in particular, retiring visiting judge Richard Markus who operates a private judicial service while at the same time uses taxpayer resources to conduct his judicial business.

ANAHEIM, CA---The California based firm Alarm One Inc. seems to have a unique program to motivate employees and because of it, a former employee is seeking $1.2 million from a jury, alleging discrimination, assault, battery and inflection of emotional distress.

A just-released report on "The Future of Religious Freedom in America" exposes one of the nation's best-kept secrets: Civil discourse across deep religious and political differences is alive and well in the United States.

Ten state Attorneys General sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Thursday for failing to adopt strong emission standards to reduce air pollution from new power plants across the nation. The District of Columbia and the City of New York also joined in the legal action.

BUFFALO---A Buffalo landlord has pleaded guilty to directing the payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in relation to his role in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Robert Palano, 51, formerly of Clarence, pleaded guilty to frand larceny in the third degree, a class D felony, and scheme to defraud in the first degree, a class E felony. He faces two to seven years imprisonment.

ALBANY---The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Division of Water did not follow proper procurement procedures when it expended million of dollars on services from two organizations for floodplain mapping and water pollution control activities, according to an audit released Thursday by State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi.

ROCKVILLE CENTRE---The former treasurer of the William Covert School's PTA has been arrested and charged with taking money from the organization.

LAKE GEORGE---The U.S. Coast Guard has recommended that operators of small boats raise weight estimates for passengers from 140 pounds to a single standard of 185 pounds.

ALBANY---State Sen. Ada Smith turned down a deal offered by the Albany County district attorney's office on charges that she threw coffee in the face of a former staff member and threatened to kill her.

Efforts are continuing to save the life of Andrea Clark, a patient at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas, sentenced to die by the hospital's ethics committee under the state's Futile Care Law.

Democrats and Republicans, the left and the right have united in their effort to save the life of Andrea and others like her.

The life of Venlang Vo also hangs in the balance at St. David's North Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas.

Michael Schiavo, the Florida man who killed his wife last year by a 13-day dehydration at the behest of Pinellas County probate court judge George Greer is scheduled to be the lead speaker Sunday afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics in Philadelphia.

ARLINGTON, VA---Nearly six months after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed eminent domain reform, and almost one year after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its now infamous Kelo decision (allowing non-blighted homes to be taken for someone else's private gain), the U.S. Senate has yet to act on legislation that would restrict this awesome power of government.

ALBANY---The state Attorney General's office and state Insurance Department has reached an agreement with ACE, Ltd, a Bermuda-based holding company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange, and its United States subsidiaries to resolve allegations of bid-rigging and improper "finite reinsurance" transactions.

New York State local property taxes increased 42% from 2000 to 2005 - or more than three times the rate of inflation - growing from $26 billion to $38 billion, according to a research brief on property taxes issued Wednesday by New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi. New York State's local property taxes are nearly 50% above the national average and are the fourth highest in the nation per capita.

FAIR HAVEN, CONN---The same judge who sentenced former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland to a year and a day in prison has sentenced two more individuals to prison that were involved in a Pay to Play scheme.

YONKERS---The former head of the Yonkers City Democratic Party and chief marshal for the City of Yonkers has pleaded guilty in White Plains federal court to obstructing the Internal Revenue Service and failing to file federal income tax returns.

CREEK COUNTY, OK---The attorney for former district judge Donald Thompson, charged with indecent exposure for allegedly using a penis pump beneath his black robe during a murder trial, has moved to dismiss some of the charges because he claims the during the preliminary hearing the prosecution didn't establish the elements need to bring the charge.

MIAMI---Florida Attorney General, vying to be the state's next Governor, has asked the Florida Medical Examiners Commission to investigate autopsies conducted by Bay County Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Siebert that may have contained "fundamental flaws".

VENTURA, CA---Henry Nicolle of San Buenventura, a former Montanan, former Marine and a California citizen for the past 20 years, will announce his candidacy as Representative from California's 24th Congressional District to the House of Representatives in Congress at a formal press conference Friday.

NEW YORK---The New York Civil Liberties Union has brought suit against the Department of Defense in federal court, charging that the Department is violating American high school students' privacy rights and federal law by maintaining an unauthorized database of personal student information for use in military recruitment efforts.

HOUSTON---Houston's St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is giving the family of Andrea Clark until Sunday to find another facility to take Clark as a patient or doctors, under direction of an ethics committee, will remove her from life support.

The practice of euthanasia was easily established and advanced in the United States under the pretense of end of life wishes, choices, compassion, dignity, and self rights to the public through introductions by various means.

NEW YORK---Eight individuals charged with enterprise corruption and other felonies in connection with a multi-million dollar residential mortgage fraud scheme. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer also announced the filing of a civil forfeiture action seeking the recovery of more than $8 million from the defendants.

WESTCHESTER---In acknowledgement of this year's National Crime Victim's Rights Week (April 23-29) Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore is recognizing the formulation of a multi-faceted team approach to child abuse and safety in Westchester County.

DUNEDIN, FLA---A father who thought his 22-year-old son was spending too much time playing games on the computer is in the Pinellas County Jail, charged with attempted murder.

DAUPHIN COUNTY, PA---A Dauphin County sheriff's officer, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Local 89, has been suspended without pay after he was charged with stalking a neighbor by sending her nude pictures of himself and sitting naked on a picnic table behind the woman's residence.

HAYWARD, CA---Down through the chimney like old St. Nick---or so he thought.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL---A resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush for willfully violating his oath of office is in the Democratic-controlled state Legislature of Illinois and if passed, Illinois could be the first state legislature to pass such a resolution.

Medicare has announced that more than 30 million Medicare beneficiaries are receiving prescription drug coverage, including more than 8 million beneficiaries who have gotten new, individual prescription drug coverage since the program began. More than 93 million prescriptions were filled for these beneficiaries with drug coverage during March -- averaging 3 million prescriptions filled per day.

QUEENS---A New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) engineer has been charged with possessing images of underage child sexual activity on a government computer that he used at a DOT field office in Bayside, Queens.

ALBANY---The New York State Senate will act on a comprehensive package of DWI legislation that will keep repeat DWI offenders off the streets and increase the penalties for drunk driving, especially drunk drivers that severely injure or kill innocent victims.

TALLAHASSEE - Florida and 26 other states have reached an agreement with a California-based company resolving solicitation and billing complaints against the company. Yellow Pages, Inc., will pay $535,000 to affected consumers and has agreed to modify its business practices. States will receive an average of $19,800 of the reimbursement funds, while Florida's share is $25,000.

HOUSTON---The countdown has begun on the life of Andrea Clark, a patient at St. Luke's Hospital.

Six days left.

No, she's not terminal, her family says and she's not brain dead. Her sisters say that she wants to live. The Houston hospital is going to unilaterally remove a woman from life support, apparently based on the decision of a lone physician even though her family wants her to continue to receive care.

On April 30 and May 1, the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics will be hosting their 10th annual symposium. Their case study for this year's gathering has been titled "The Legacy of the Terri Schiavo Case: Why is it so hard to die in America?"

ALBANY---As part of an ongoing probe of high gasoline prices after Hurricane Katrina, the state Attorney General's office has filed price gouging lawsuits against three service stations.

ALBANY---While funding for health care has been cut by Gov. George E. Pataki, the enacted State Budget includes $11.2 billion to support school construction in New York City. The $11.2 billion consists of $1.8 billion in school construction aid and a $9.4 billion authorization for New York City Transitional Finance Authority to issue bonds for the modernization and expansion of school building infrastructure. The $9.4 billion in State authorized bonds will be evenly funded by the City and the State.

NEW YORK---A New York City administrative law judge has ruled that it's okay for municipal employees to surf the web or play computer games at taxpayer expense.

I am just one of many taxpaying citizens who has been led to the slaughter house by the hands of their own unethical dishonest lawyer with the blessings of the court/legal system.

CHESTERTOWN---Do as I say, not as my family does is the message Chester Town Justice James McDermott is struggling to deliver from the bench.

But the hypocrisy isn't sitting well among some local residents who ask who is James McDermott to be sitting in judgment of anyone when his own backyard isn't clean.

ALBANY---The NAACP says that the state Commission on Judicial Conduct is recommending the removal of Queens Supreme Court Justice Laura D. Blackburne rather than imposing just a censure because she's black.

ALBANY---A total of $737 million was paid to New York State, New York City and individual counties last week under the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), according to an announcement by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

HICKSVILLE---A Columbian native will serve one to three years in state for her planning and execution of a scheme to defraud victims of immigrant families who paid her to obtain green cards for themselves and their family members.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week on a variety of issues including if the three chemicals which are used in Florida's lethal injection method of execution cause pain, making the execution of convicted cop killer Clarence Hill cruel and unusual punishment.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

  The good news is that Guy Tunnell, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, has resigned after becoming caught in an attempted cover up in the beating death of a black teenager at a Bay County boot camp that he helped establish. He tried to hide the videotape showing the beating, much like Michael Schiavo and George Greer tried to keep the public from seeing videotapes of Terri Schiavo.

MANHATTAN---The trial of 18 women, many grandmothers and great-grandmothers, will resume Monday.

Washington, DC - A scathing indictment of attorney discipline agencies nationwide, HALT's 2006 Lawyer Discipline Report Card  has issued grades to disciplinary systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than half the states received grades below C. Utah flunked outright. No state earned an A. While Connecticut took top honors, it received only a meager B-minus.

NEW YORK---An attorney who submitted a “fictionalized version of his legal experience in a resume” and his failed attempt to obstruct justice by extorting money in exchange for testimony, has resulted in his disbarment by the Appellate Division, First Department.

Probate, the legal process by which you prove a will is valid and settle an estate, is among the most common legal procedures in the U.S. Yet the overwhelming majority of state courts fail to offer legal consumers basic online information and resources, according to a survey conducted by HALT - An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, a Republican candidate for governor, seems to have a lot to say now about the Terri Schiavo case.

   Where was he last March when he should have performing the duties of his office?

CHENANGO COUNTY---An ex-pastor who is accused of taking a 15-year-old parishioner to Maryland is in the Chenango County Jail, being held in lieu of $1 million bail or twice the amount in real estate, one of the highest bails ever set in the county.

TALLAHASSEE---In the midst of a firestorm of controversy surrounding his handling of the Bay County boot camp beating death of a black teenager, Commissioner Guy Tunnell of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement suddenly resigned Thursday following a meeting with Gov. Jeb Bush.

"After more than a decade of corrupt, one party rule in the state, Ohioans are fed up", William Mason, Cuyahoga County prosecutor, a Democrat, said last week in making an endorsement for Ted Strickland for Ohio Governor. "They are fed up with the scandal-a-day atmosphere swirling around Ohio's state government".

WASHINGTON---A former Port St. Lucie, Fla., resident has been sentenced to 25 months in prison and three months of supervised release for selling and offering to sell in interstate commerce more than $200,000 worth of endangered species in violation of the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act.

LANSING, MICH---The Michigan Supreme Court has ordered that District Court Judge David Bradfield be suspended indefinitely without pay and undergo a psychiatric exam to determine if he is fit to remain on the bench.

COHOES---A former special education teacher employed by the Cohoes City School District is expected to surrender to police as the result of a warrant being issued for her arrest for allegedly defrauding the district out of thousands of dollars by falsely claiming that she had cancer.

TROY---The city of Troy is fortifying its legal staff with ousted judges.

Former Albany Supreme Court Judge Thomas J. Spargo, removed from the bench last month by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct for multiple counts of misconduct, will assume his new position as deputy corporation counsel for Troy on Monday.

Theodore Roosevelt's words relating to immigrants and their status in America need to be crammed down the collective throats of our elected officials, day and night, 24/7, for their truth begs so loudly, and their need is greater now than any other time in our history.

I am writing in regard to an article published on April 4, 2006, entitled "NYSBA Wants Commission to Study Eminent Domain". http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/040406NYSBADomain.html

EAST GREENBUSH---A home health aide who was charged in March with sexually abusing a physically and mentally disabled teenager in her care was indicted Friday by a Rensselaer County Grand Jury on rape charges.

NASHVILLE – A federal appeals court decision will delay Tennessee’s production of an anti-choice specialty license plate while the American Civil Liberties Union seeks U.S. Supreme Court review of a ruling upholding the plate as constitutional.

The Terri Schiavo case was built on a lie.

While Florida Governor Jeb Bush conducted a dog and pony show claiming that he tried to save her life, the sincerity and earnestness of his actions is seriously tarnished by his inane act of calling a news conference to announce his intent to enter into the Woodside Hospice to take the vulnerable adult into protective custody. Had he earnestly had an intent to save the incapacitated woman's life, he would have quietly performed his constitutional duty.

Federal officials have opened up yet another front in their increasingly aggressive efforts to control information. The primary target is the press, but the inevitable result will be to homogenize political discourse and sanitize this nation's memory of its past.

ALBANY---Three weeks after opting out of a securities fraud class action against Qwest Communications International, Inc., New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi announced Thursday that, as the sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, he has filed an individual suit against the company and its auditor, Arthur Andersen claiming that the Fund sustained $250 million in losses as a result of phony accounting that artificially inflated the company's stock price.

QUEENS—A Queens man has been indicted for his role in an identity theft scheme that allegedly defrauded financial institutions of more than $1.5 million. The indictment charges that Fayyaz Ahmed fraudulently obtained the personal identifying information of two Staten Island residents, and used their home as collateral, to apply for home equity loans and lines of credit from a variety of financial lenders, and then stole the money.

TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist today praised the Florida House for its unanimous approval of the "False Witness" bill, which would make it a criminal offense to knowingly provide false or misleading information to law enforcement officers as they conduct felony or missing person investigations.

ALBANY-- The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that the danger of fires is high in areas across the State and is expected to continue over the next several days. The State's warning comes on the heels of "Red Flag Warnings" issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) that include most of Eastern New York and Long Island.

ALBANY-- To help close the "justice gap" in New York, the New York State Bar Association is pursuing a creative way to secure more money to help fund legal services to the poor.

ALBANY--- Imagine trying to explain to your 93-year-old mother that she needs to move to a new long term care facility where she won't recognize her surroundings or any of her caregivers.

NISKAYUNA---New York State will create the first State Park in Schenectady County on a 107-acre nature preserve along the Mohawk River in the Town of Niskayuna. The new Mohawk River State Park is located near Lock 7 of the Erie Canal and the Hudson-Mohawk bike path; it is the 175th State Park and the 25th the Governor has opened since 1995.

MINEOLA---A Pennsylvania zoning officer has been charged with 12 counts of attempted disseminating indecent material to minors in the first degree after being caught in an online sting operation.

LOS ANGELES---Alison Ann Heruth, who claimed to be the lead in a television series to be based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, pleaded guilty Thursday to concealing an investment scam related to the show.

The California Supreme Court has refused to review a November decision by the California Commission on Judicial Performance to remove Judge Kevin Ross from the bench for denying defendants their constitutional rights, fabricating stories, altering documents and making "material misstatements or omissions" to the judicial panel.

ALBANY--A study of the I-87 corridor from New York City to the Canadian border commissioned by the state Department of Transportation calls for a new Canadian border checkpoint near Champlain and improved wireless communication in the Adirondacks.

TOLEDO, OHIO---The nursing home which failed to report an assault which resulted in the death of a resident has been informed that effective May 6 the Ohio Department of Health has terminated the payment of Medicare and Medicaid for new admissions.

TOLEDO - A jury has finally been chosen for the murder trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson, believed to be the first trial in the United States of a Roman Catholic priest accused of killing a Roman Catholic nun.

TALLAHASSEE -- A state social services worker and a health maintenance organization (HMO) employee have been arrested for their roles in an unlawful compensation scheme in which cash bribes were exchanged for information on the benefits eligibility of Medicare and Medicaid recipients.

JOHNSTOWN---The former Johnstown varsity swim team coach and fourth grade teacher at Fonda-Fultonville Central School will likely be sentenced to a year in jail following his guilty plea Wednesday, admitting that he had sex with a 16-year-old female member of the swim team.

PUTNAM VALLEY---A former New York State Corrections Officer faces charges of grand larceny, insurance fraud, perjury and tax evasion as the result of an alleged workers compensation scam.

POMPANO BEACH, FLA---An aircraft parts supplier has been charged with fraud in connection with sales to the U.S. military.

MIAMI-- Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a specially designated terrorist, in violation of U.S. law.

TIOGA COUNTY---Tioga County officials' poor management of a federal grant caused the county to lose more than $1 million after Howland Brothers Co., Inc., a now-defunct dimension lumber and furniture manufacturer, defaulted on a $1.75 million loan, according to an audit released by New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi. The money lost could have been used to provide loans to more companies to expand and create jobs in the county.

LOS ANGELES---A man who falsely claimed to be related to the late publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst has admitted that he deceived the U.S. Marine Corps and other corporations into paying for advertising in publications when the advertisements and the publications didn't exist.

Brandee Adams, 17, of Naples, Fla., is missing and may be in the company of an adult male relative. Have you seen her?

TALLAHASSEE---Students from three Tallahassee universities held a peaceful, organized sit-in at the office of Florida Governor Jeb Bush Wednesday to protest the handling of the Martin Lee Anderson case and they said they’re not leaving until their demands are met.

MANHATTAN---A Manhattan lawyer who has been indicted on charges of using two teenage girls as prostitutes and then trying to bribe them to dissuade their cooperation with law enforcement has been indicted on a new 43-count indictment which charges him with having sex with a third under-aged girl.

TOLEDO, OHIO---A federal judge has ruled that a Ten Commandments monument can stay on the Lucas County courthouse lawn.

New York---New York State Banking Superintendent Diana L. Taylor has designated the Village of Holland Patent in Oneida County as the state's 24th Banking Development District—a step that is expected to provide vital banking services and promote new investment, economic growth and job creation for the area's more than 7,700 residents.

RALEIGH, NC---A former state judge and aide to U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms has been arrested after being indicted in a tax fraud conspiracy.