STUDENT FATALLY STABBED

Student fatally stabbed
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death Friday in a hallway at his high school in an affluent Boston suburb, and a classmate was charged with murder after blurting out, "I did it, I did it," authorities said. Investigators would not comment on a motive for the attack. John Odgren, 16, pleaded innocent in the killing of 15-year-old James Alenson and was jailed without bail. He was to be tried as an adult. John's attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, said the teen has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, and has been taking medications for many years. The two boys got into a fight in a bathroom, and it spilled out into a hallway at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High in Sudbury, authorities said. The suspect stabbed Alenson twice with a long knife -- once in the abdomen and once in the heart, prosecutor Daniel Bennett said. "The timing of the stabbing strongly suggests that Mr. Odgren planned this premeditated murder," Bennett said.
World's oldest woman dies
MONTREAL -- Julie Winnifred Bertrand, the world's oldest woman at 115, died in her sleep in a Montreal nursing home, according to Canadian media reports Friday. Bertrand, born Sept. 16, 1891, in the Quebec town of Coaticook, passed away in her sleep early Thursday at the nursing home where she has lived for the last 35 years, her nephew told The Gazette in Montreal. "She just stopped breathing," said Andre Bertrand, 73. "That's a nice way to go." Bertrand became the world's oldest woman last month, after the death of Elizabeth Bolden, a Tennessee woman born Aug. 15, 1890, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Bride's parents charged
PROVO, Utah -- A woman whose parents are charged with kidnapping her on the eve of her wedding says she isn't about to forgive them. Julianna Myers, 21, suggested she doesn't want her mother to see her baby, who is due in May. "We have to protect our new baby. I don't trust my mom," she told the Deseret Morning News in a story published Friday. Myers said she's tired of hearing her parents describe her in TV interviews as a disobedient child who wants to see them in prison. "I'm past forgiveness," she said. Myers' parents, Lemuel Redd, 60, and Julia Redd, 57, are charged with kidnapping her Aug. 4 to stop her from getting married the next day. Myers went ahead with the wedding a few days later than planned, marrying Perry Myers on Aug. 8 in the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City. "It's so frustrating. They look like this innocent farm family," Perry Myers said. "People simply don't want to believe." Perry Myers said Julia Redd once looked him in the eye and declared: "In this family, I am in charge, and you will do exactly what I say."
Richardson plans run
WASHINGTON -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson intends to take the initial step toward the Democratic nomination, hoping his extensive r & eacute;sum & eacute; will fuel a campaign to become the first Hispanic president. Richardson plans to announce Sunday that he will soon file the papers to create a presidential exploratory committee, several officials with knowledge of his plans said Friday. The governor is scheduled to appear on ABC's "This Week." His entry would make the Democratic race the most diverse presidential contest in history. Besides Richardson's bid to be the first Hispanic chief executive, Sen. Barack Obama would be the first black president and likely candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the first female president.
Good news for stone fruit
FRESNO, Calif. -- It took just five nights of bitter cold to ruin nearly 1 billion in citrus and other produce, but some crops thrived in the frigid temperatures. Peaches, cherries, apples and grapes are maturing nicely thanks to the ongoing chill, which helps trees and vines bloom properly to produce quality fruit. And citrus growers who didn't suffer a total loss might have a better year for their remaining harvestable fruit, state Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura said Friday. "In a short market, if you're the only one who has a crop that looks good you'll be at the top of the heap," Kawamura said. "For stone fruit and the grape industry certainly a good solid chill on these plants is a good thing." The freeze hit a broader geographic region and a wider array of crops than were damaged in 1998 citrus freeze, Kawamura said. Strawberries, leafy greens, cabbage, celery, onions and the nursery industry have all been affected by the freeze, which could also keep avocado trees from blooming and cause problems for coastal lettuce.
Turkish journalist killed
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Hrant Dink, who frequently went on trial for condemning the mass killing of Armenians by Turks, predicted in his last newspaper column that he would continue to suffer as a result of being labeled an "enemy of Turkey." "My computer's memory is loaded with sentences full of anger and threats," Dink wrote on Jan. 10. "I am just like a pigeon. ... I look around to my left and right, in front and behind me as much as it does. My head is just as active." On Friday afternoon at the entrance to the newspaper's offices, a gunman pumped two bullets into the journalist's head. Dink was 52.
Associated Press
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