Retailers get off to strong start for holidays

Retailers get off tostrong start for holidays
NEW YORK -- The nation's retailers had a strong start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at mall-based stores. One big exception was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which said it expects to report same-store sales in November below its already lackluster forecast. According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks total sales at more than 45,000 mall-based retail outlets, total sales rose 6 percent to 8.96 billion Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season, compared to the same day a year ago. Wal-Mart, however, estimated it will post a 0.1 percent decline in same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year, in November. That's slightly below its original projections for flat sales for the month, compared with the year-ago period.
Calif. jury clears man ofnegligently infecting wife
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- A jury decided this week that a former San Luis Obispo County resident did not negligently infect his ex-wife with a sexually transmitted disease, likely the first case in the state to be decided using a California Supreme Court ruling on the issue, legal experts said. The panel of San Luis Obispo Superior Court jurors returned a 10-2 verdict late Tuesday in the case of Janet Smith v. Patrick Neiland Smith, court officials said. Janet Smith claimed her ex-husband was unfaithful during their marriage, contracted the human papillomavirus, or HPV, and negligently infected her. She underwent a hysterectomy and was left fearful of having contracted other sexually transmitted diseases, her civil suit stated. The jury disagreed, saying Patrick Neiland Smith was not negligent.
Cops fatally shoot groom
NEW YORK -- Police opened fire early Saturday on a car full of men driving away from a bachelor party at a strip club, killing the groom on his wedding day after an undercover officer was rammed with the car. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said it was too early to say whether the shooting was justified. At least three officers were injured, he said. The deadly incident stemmed from an undercover operation inside the club, Kelly said. Kelly said the car also rammed into an unmarked police minivan. Police fired least 50 rounds at the car. The dead groom was identified as Sean Bell, 23. Two others in the car were taken to the hospital. Kelly said there may have been a fourth person in the car who fled the scene.
Missing woman found deadbehind bookcase at home
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. -- A woman missing for nearly two weeks was found dead in the home she shared with family members looking for her, wedged behind a bookcase in her room. Mariesa Weber, 38, returned home Oct. 28 and greeted her mother, then wasn't seen again. Her family thought she had been kidnapped and contacted authorities. Family members scoured her room for clues but found nothing, though they did notice a strange smell. Late one night Weber's sister went into her bedroom and looked behind a bookcase, where she saw a foot. Using a flashlight the family saw Weber was wedged upside-down behind the unit. Weber's family thinks she may have been trying to adjust a plug to a television that was behind the bookshelf.
Irish Protestant militantcharged with murder try
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- An infamous Protestant militant who tried to barge into the Northern Ireland Assembly with a bag of pipe bombs was charged Saturday with trying to murder the leaders of the main Catholic party as well as unarmed guards who blocked his way. Michael Stone, who was tackled Friday at the entrance to Stormont Parliamentary Building in full view of journalists and television cameras, was arraigned in Belfast Magistrates Court on five charges of attempted murder. He also was charged with possession of weapons for terrorist purposes, including explosives, several nail bombs, an ax, a strangulation device and a fake handgun.
After racist rant, actorwill appear with Jackson
CHICAGO -- Michael Richards will appear on the Rev. Jesse Jackson's nationally syndicated radio program today to discuss his racist rant at a Los Angeles comedy club, the civil rights leader said Saturday. Richards' participation in the "Keep Hope Alive" program is a chance to reach out and apologize to the black community, Jackson said. "He is embarrassed," said Jackson, who spoke to Richards by telephone this week after being contacted by the actor's publicist. While he called Richards' words "hateful," "sick," and "deep-seated," Jackson said his inclusion in the radio show would be a chance for a broader discussion about black actors, writers and directors' "cultural isolation" in the entertainment industry.
Combined dispatches