hAnthem competition

hAnthem competition
WICHITA, Kan. -- John Paul Eichelberger, 12, sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" during a competition at Exploration Place. The event was hosted Friday by the National Anthem project during one of 50 stops in a yearlong tour to re-teach the lyrics by Francis Scott Key to an estimated two-thirds of the U.S. public.
Virus in cancer patients
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a surprising discovery, researchers say they have found a virus in some prostate cancer patients, a finding that opens new research avenues in the most common major cancer among men in the United States. The virus, closely related to one previously found only in mice, was found in cancerous prostates removed from men with a certain genetic defect. The researchers, with the University of California, San Francisco and the Cleveland Clinic, warn that they have not discovered any links between the virus and prostate cancer.
Progress in Al-Qaida trial
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A pool of 86 potential jurors was filled Friday for the sentencing trial of Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui as the judge tried to reassure defense lawyers the panel wasn't stacked against their client. The 37-year Frenchman pleaded guilty last April to conspiring with Al-Qaida to fly planes into U.S. buildings. He says he was not involved in Al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001, plot but rather was training to fly a 747 jetliner into the White House as part of a possible later attack.
Bribery for contracts
WASHINGTON -- A defense contractor admitted Friday he paid a California congressman more than $1 million in bribes in exchange for millions more in government contracts in a scandal that prosecutors say reached into the Defense Department. Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiring with former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to bribe the Republican lawmaker with cash, cars and antiques over four years, and to help him evade millions of dollars in tax liability. The payments helped bring MZM Inc. of Washington, which Wade started in 1993, more than $150 million in government contracts since 2002.
Fight to the death
WASHINGTON -- Death row inmates in more than a dozen states are fighting lethal injection, and with surprising success. Judges from California to Louisiana, and even at the nation's highest court, are entangled in disputes between state prison officials and inmates who contend their executions may be painful. The eventual outcome of the cases could be sweeping because every state that has capital punishment, except for Nebraska, has lethal injection. Nebraska uses only the electric chair.
Accident kills 1, injures 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Two students "horsing around" in a college dormitory crashed through a third-floor window early Friday and fell to the concrete below in an apparent accident that killed one and critically injured the other, school officials said. Keith Shawn Smith, a 20-year-old sophomore from Greensboro and a resident assistant at the dorm, died at UNC Hospitals, hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Crayton said. Tyler Joseph Ely Downey, a 19-year-old freshman from Asheville, was in critical condition Friday morning.
Driving certificates ended
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee stopped issuing driving certificates to illegal immigrants Friday after investigators learned out-of-state applicants were using fake papers and bribes to get cards. The program could be scrapped altogether after a review by state investigators, Safety Commissioner Jerry Nicely said. In January, federal prosecutors filed charges that state license examiners in Murfreesboro accepted bribes to provide out-of-state illegal immigrants with driver's licenses and certificates.
Anti-tax author sentenced
LAS VEGAS -- Anti-tax crusader and author Irwin Schiff was sentenced Friday to more than 13 years in federal prison for advising people that no U.S. law requires them to pay income tax. Schiff, 78, accused the government of trying to suppress the truth, while his lawyer argued he was mentally ill. Schiff's earlier boast from the witness stand that he had helped thousands of followers avoid paying $2 billion in taxes was used against him at sentencing.
Associated Press