Jury deliberates in trial of Springer show guest

Jury deliberates in trialof Springer show guest
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Jurors began deliberating Monday about whether a man killed his ex-wife hours after they appeared on a "Jerry Springer Show" episode about secret mistresses.
Ralf Panitz, 42, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 24, 2000, death of Nancy Campbell-Panitz, 52, who was choked and stomped hours after the segment aired.
Campbell had won a restraining order against Panitz earlier that day and a judge ordered him out of the home they shared.
In the episode taped in May 2000, the couple appeared along with Panitz's new wife, Eleanor. The segment was titled "Secret Mistresses Confronted" and featured their contentious love triangle.
The couple had been divorced since 1999 but continued living together off and on, even after Ralf Panitz secretly married Eleanor in March 2000.
Defense attorney Geoffrey Fieger argued during the 10-day trial that Campbell died from a heart attack suffered during a fight with someone other than Ralf Panitz.
Judge restricts wherewoman can smoke
NEW YORK -- A judge has ordered a smoker to stop lighting up at home or in her car if she wants continued visitation rights with her 13-year-old son who has complained about her pack-a-day habit.
Justice Robert Julian, of Utica, issued the ban although the youth is not allergic to tobacco smoke and doesn't suffer from a health condition, such as asthma, that would be worsened by it.
Citing studies showing the health dangers of secondhand smoke, the judge's 22-page decision issued Friday said the mother's puffing was not in the boy's "best interests."
Where the child's health is involved, the judge said, the court would intervene, even if it meant overriding the parents' religious beliefs.
The woman was identified in court papers as Johnita D., 39. The boy lives in Rome, in upstate New York, with his father and his paternal grandparents, none of whom smoke.
The mother's lawyer, Joan Shkane, denounced the ruling as intrusive. Shkane said she didn't know if they would appeal.
Shkane and the child's mother say the father and paternal grandparents are behind the boy's smoking complaints.
China bans U.S. warshipfrom Hong Kong
HONG KONG -- Apparently angered over U.S. dealings with Taiwan, China has refused permission for a U.S. warship to make a routine port call in Hong Kong.
The U.S. Consulate said today that Beijing's rejection of the request by the USS Curtis Wilbur came March 18 -- one day before the Chinese government accused Washington of committing a "series of erroneous acts" in the weeks since President Bush's visit in February to China.
Beijing was angered by a U.S. decision to let Taiwan's defense minister, Tang Yiau-ming, attend a private defense convention this month in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador Clark T. Randt to express its displeasure.
Barbara Zigli, a U.S. Consulate spokeswoman, said "no reason was given for the disapproval." She declined to speculate on China's motives.
The Curtis Wilbur, a guided missile destroyer belonging to the U.S. Seventh Fleet based in Yokosuka, Japan, had sought clearance to visit here from April 5-9, Zigli said.
Dispute over Big Ben
LONDON -- Big Ben, the world-famous clock tower, will not stop chiming even though the government is in a contract dispute with its cleaner, the House of Commons said Monday.
The clock, which stands along the River Thames near the Palace of Westminster, is scheduled to get its biannual overhaul this weekend.
That prompted Mervyn Lee, director of Thwaites & amp; Reed -- the clock makers who have maintained Big Ben for years, to announce that the government's failure to renegotiate his contract could delay the work.
Without such vital maintenance, experts said, it was possible that Big Ben's main bell would have to fall silent. The clock is wound three times a day but its old age -- the bell was installed in 1856 -- means stopping it for long periods could create problems.
But Monday night, the House of Commons said it terminated Lee's maintenance contract March 18 because he demanded more money before the contract expired.
The legislature then hired the two company workers who were maintaining the clock.
Associated Press