U.S. National News

Liam Neeson, left, embraces an unidentified man after exiting the American Irish Historical Society where the body of Neeson's wife, Natasha Richardson, was lying in repose, Friday March 20, 2009 in New York. Richardson died Wednesday after suffering a head injury while at a Canadian ski resort. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
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AP

Doctor: Lack of medical helicopter cost actress

AP - 1 hour, 11 minutes ago

NEW YORK - As a steady stream of celebrities pay their last respects to Natasha Richardson, questions are arising over whether a medical helicopter might have been able to save the ailing actress.

  • In this Feb. 11, 2009 file photo, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin listens to a question during a news conference, in Juneau, Alaska. Palin reinforced her conservative credentials when she announced she would not accept nearly one-third of the federal stimulus money offered to the state, but a day later, was fending off critics who said it will hurt Alaskans. (AP Photo/Chris Miller, File)
    Alaska Democrats pile on Palin over stimulus money AP - Sat Mar 21, 5:30 AM ET

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin reinforced her conservative credentials when she announced she would not accept nearly one-third of the federal stimulus money offered to the state, but Democrats are charging the move will hurt Alaskans.

  • Feds say NY man helped solve Wis. eco-terrorism AP - Sat Mar 21, 5:28 AM ET

    DETROIT - Ian Wallace is a graduate student in anthropology in New York who has studied fossils in Kenya, combed excavations in Syria and France and written about his research in scholarly journals.

  • In this security videotape released by Middlefield Police Department showing Chris Mason, center, and her husband, James Mason, right, collapsed and limp in a pool Monday, June 2, 2008 in Middlefield, Ohio. Sitting in a wheelchair is Maryanne Vallandingham, mother of Chris Mason. Chris Masson pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless homicide in the death of her husband. She is due for sentencing Friday. (AP Photo/HO, Middlefield Police Department)
    Surprising marriage ends in bizarre Ohio killing AP - Sat Mar 21, 1:54 AM ET

    MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio - James M. Mason knew his wife since she was born a boy. The janitor and former military man was a boarder in the child's home and was treated like family.

  • The home of AIG executive Douglas Polling is seen Friday March 20, 2009 in Fairfield, Conn. Pillars of the community are now pariahs fearing for their safety in a ritzy area of Connecticut home to many executives at American International Group Inc., hit with a backlash over bonuses it paid to top brass even as it accepted federal bailout money. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey)
    AIG bonus outrage has employees living in fear AP - Fri Mar 20, 10:05 PM ET

    FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Longtime pillars of the community are now pariahs living in fear, hiding behind locked gates and security guards amid the public outrage over bonuses paid with taxpayer bailout money.

  • Kolan McConiughey, left, talks with his foster mother, Jan Pardy at Colonial Lanes in Ann Arbor, Mich., Friday March 20, 2009. McConiughey, who is cognitively impaired, has bowled five perfect games since 2005. President Barack Obama made an offhand remark on 'The Tonight Show' Thursday comparing his bowling to 'the Special Olympics or something.' He quickly apologized and told the Special Olympics chairman he wants to have some Special Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
    Special Olympics bowler: I can beat the president! AP - Sat Mar 21, 2:40 AM ET

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. - So President Barack Obama thinks he bowls like a competitor in the Special Olympics?

  • Attorneys Bill Monaco, Charles Willinger and Matthew Newman, from left, discuss Tuesday March 17, 2009 Bridgeport, Conn. their suit on behalf of Charla Nash who was mauled by a chimp which was owned by Sandra Herold. The family of a woman mauled by a chimpanzee filed a lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages against the primate's owner, saying she was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control 'a wild animal with violent propensities.' (AP Photo/Doug Healey)
    Connecticut biologist voiced concerns about chimp AP - Sat Mar 21, 1:53 AM ET

    HARTFORD, Conn. - A Connecticut biologist warned state officials nearly five months ago that a 200-pound chimpanzee who mauled a woman last month could seriously hurt someone if he felt threatened, according to a memo released to state lawmakers Friday.

  • Small plane crash in SoCal kills pilot, passenger AP - Sat Mar 21, 1:41 AM ET

    CORONA, Calif. - A small plane crashed in a heavy fog shortly after takeoff from Corona Municipal Airport on Friday, killing the pilot and a passenger, authorities said.

  • 8 plead not guilty in Ky. election-rigging case AP - Fri Mar 20, 6:07 PM ET

    LONDON, Ky. - An eastern Kentucky judge, school superintendent and county clerk have pleaded not guilty in federal court a day after being indicted on charges they bribed voters in a scheme to rig several elections.

  • NC pediatrician accused of abuse forfeits license AP - Fri Mar 20, 5:47 PM ET

    RALEIGH, N.C. - A well-known North Carolina pediatrician accused of conducting improper genital exams on five patients reached an agreement Friday with North Carolina regulators that will keep him from practicing medicine in the U.S.

  • In this June 21, 2002 file photo, visitors and residents spend the day on the beach in Belmar, N.J., on the first day of summer. The New Jersey Cosmetology and Hairstyling Board ended its move toward a ban on genital waxing altogether after two women reported being injured. Both women were hospitalized for infections following so-called 'Brazilian' waxes. (AP Photo/Brian Branch-Price)
    NJ scraps plans to ban genital waxing AP - Fri Mar 20, 4:33 PM ET

    TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey is smoothing out differences over a plan to ban bare-it-all bikini waxing.

  • Tim Coco, right, sits in his Haverhill, Mass. office Friday, March 20, 2009 as he speaks to his husband, Genesio 'Junior' Januario Oliveira Jr. via a video conference call. Oliveira, who is in Brazil, was forced to leave the United States in August 2007 when his application for asylum and an appeal were denied. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to grant asylum to Oliveira who has been married to Coco since 2005. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
    Kerry seeks asylum for gay man married in Mass. AP - Fri Mar 20, 8:07 PM ET

    BOSTON - Sen. John Kerry has asked the Obama administration to grant asylum to a gay man who was forced to return to Brazil after he married a U.S. citizen in Massachusetts.

  • This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service shows Rocco DeSimone, a Rhode Island native and former art dealer convicted of tax evasion after selling a painting by impressionist Claude Monet. DeSimone is scheduled to be released Saturday, March 21, 2009, for his tax fraud sentence, but is being arraigned Friday, March 20, 2009, on new charges that he swindled investors out of roughly $6 million. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshals Service, File)
    Convicted RI art dealer denies new fraud charges AP - Fri Mar 20, 7:09 PM ET

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Whether it's impressionist paintings by Monet, protective headgear or medical tubing, federal investigators claim Rocco DeSimone can turn it into a scam worth millions of dollars.

  • Tony Gonzales of Unique Concrete replaces a pool main drain return vent covering with a new version which is suppose to help prevent suction accidents Wednesday March 18, 2009 in Miami. Pools around the country are modifying their drain equipment to comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act passed last year in the wake of a highly publicized injury, and ultimate death, of a Minnesota girl who was partially disemboweled when she sat on a drain. (AP Photo/David Adame)
    Summer's coming: Are pool drains safe for kids? AP - Fri Mar 20, 3:44 PM ET

    MINNEAPOLIS - Nearly three months after a federal deadline to make public swimming pools safer, many have yet to be fitted with equipment aimed at keeping children safe from the powerful and sometimes deadly suction of drains.

  • Sudanese refugees line up for water while an UNAMID truck, unseen, which is carrying water donated to the camp, unloads at the Zamzam refugee camp, outside the Darfur town of al-Fasher, Sudan Thursday, March 19, 2009. Tens of thousands newly displaced Sudanese arrived at the overcrowded refugee camp of Zamzam in the last several weeks. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
    Prosecutor slams Sudan's president over aid groups AP - Fri Mar 20, 7:51 PM ET

    UNITED NATIONS - The Sudanese president's decision to expel 13 foreign aid groups from Darfur shows the International Criminal Court is right to pursue him on war crimes charges in the region, the court's chief prosecutor said Friday.

  • Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, receives congratulations from Kathy Stickel of South Royalton, Vt. in Montpelier, Vt., Friday, March 20, 2009. The senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-0 on Friday to advance a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state and that was the topic of an emotional public hearing on Wednesday that drew hundreds to the Statehouse. The full Senate is expected to take up the bill next week.(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
    Vermont Senate panel approves gay marriage bill AP - Fri Mar 20, 5:15 PM ET

    MONTPELIER, Vt. - A state Senate committee unanimously approved a gay marriage bill on Friday, moving Vermont one step closer to allowing same-sex couples to legally wed.

Crimes and Trials News

  • In this Jan. 26, 2009 file photo, music producer Phil Spector listens during a hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles. Jurors in the Phil Spector retrial can consider involuntary manslaughter instead of second-degree murder in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, a judge ruled Friday, March 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
    LA jury can consider lesser charge in Spector case AP - Sat Mar 21, 12:36 AM ET

    LOS ANGELES - Jurors in Phil Spector's retrial can consider the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter instead of second-degree murder in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, a judge ruled Friday.

  • Music producer Phil Spector is seen here arriving at the Clara Shortridge Foltz court house, on March 5, in Los Angeles, California. Jurors in Spector's murder retrial can consider a lesser involuntary manslaughter offense instead of second-degree murder for the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, a judge has ruled.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Charley Gallay)
    Phil Spector could see lesser murder charge AFP - Sat Mar 21, 12:21 AM ET

    LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Jurors in music titan Phil Spector's murder retrial can consider a lesser involuntary manslaughter offense instead of second-degree murder for the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson, a judge has ruled.

  • This photo provided by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department shows Emma Leigh Barker. Authorities on Thursday March 19, 2009 found the body of a toddler believed to be an 18-month-old girl Emma Leigh Barker, reported missing by her mother, who said someone knocked her out while she was putting the child into her car seat. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Sheriff's Department)
    Mom says LA toddler found dead not kidnap victim AP - Fri Mar 20, 8:55 PM ET

    PALMDALE, Calif. - A woman who reported her 18-month-old daughter missing now says the child died accidentally and that she dumped the body near a freeway, authorities said Friday.