RUNAWAY'S MOTHER TAKES PRIDE IN SON'S ESCAPADES

Runaway's mother takespride in son's escapades
LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- The mother of a 9-year-old boy who boarded flights from Seattle to Texas and is suspected of leading police on a high-speed chase said in a television interview that she was stunned but proud of her son's actions. "He just showed me that, 'Mom, I'm going to achieve anything I want to do. I'm going to just do it.' So he did it, from driving a car to getting on an airplane," said Sakinah Booker on the syndicated TV show "Inside Edition." In the interview, her son, Semaj, describes using a man's name he overheard on a loudspeaker page at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to get a boarding pass from Southwest Airlines, according to a press release issued by the program. Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Beth Harbin said she had not heard about Semaj obtaining a passenger's name that way. "We are talking to every possible person we can to make sure we understand what happened," Harbin said.
Soldiers face extended tour
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has decided to extend the combat tour of 3,200 soldiers from a 10th Mountain Division brigade in Afghanistan for four months in hopes of quelling the violence. The decision comes a week after Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with commanders in Afghanistan and heard a request for more troops. Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, at first asked for about 1,200 troops. Gates said he was "strongly inclined" to meet the commander's request but wanted to consider other options before deciding how many to hold over. Ben Abel, a spokesman for Fort Drum, N.Y., where the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division is based, confirmed that Gates had decided to extend the brigade's tour.
More ethics chargesfiled against prosecutor
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The state bar lodged new and more serious ethics charges Wednesday against the district attorney in the Duke lacrosse case, accusing him of withholding evidence from the defense and lying to both the court and bar investigators. Mike Nifong -- who withdrew from the case earlier this month -- could be disbarred if convicted by a disciplinary board. The bar previously charged Nifong with making misleading and prejudicial comments about the athletes under suspicion. The new charges are tied to Nifong's decision to use a private lab for DNA testing as his office investigated allegations three men raped a 28-year-old stripper at a team party last March. Those tests uncovered genetic material from several men on the woman's underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player. The bar complaint alleges that those results were not released to the defense and that Nifong repeatedly said in court he had turned over all evidence that could benefit the defense.
World's oldest person dies
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Emiliano Mercado del Toro was born when Puerto Rico was still a Spanish colony and trained as a soldier the year World War I ended. On Wednesday, having spent just a month as the world's oldest person, he died at his home on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, his grandniece, Dolores Martinez told The Associated Press. He was 115. "He died like a little angel," Martinez said. Mercado del Toro never married and had no children. In the seaside town of Isabela, he became a local celebrity after he was recognized by the Guinness World Records for his longevity. "We're all crying, but we knew this day would come," said town spokeswoman Rosa Luciano.
Atlantic City gives OKto partial smoking ban
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Casinos here are a breath away from partitioning their floors into smoking and nonsmoking areas after a compromise of an earlier proposal to snuff cigarettes passed an initial vote Wednesday. If the plan passes the city council, a quarter of each casino's gaming floor would be designated smoking areas. The final vote is expected in two weeks. The original plan to completely ban smoking in casinos would have made New Jersey the nation's largest gambling destination to do so. Supporters of that proposal, like Vince Rennich, say that plan should not have changed. Rennich, a 25-year table games supervisor with the Tropicana Casino & amp; Resort, blames his lung cancer on having to breathe secondhand smoke for so long. "They cut a back room deal on this and betrayed us," he said. "They stuck it to us pretty good." The council came up with the compromise after furious opposition to the ban from the casino industry, which feared the loss of 20 percent of its revenue and 3,400 jobs. Councilman Dennis Mason said the smoking areas would be walled off from floor to ceiling and equipped with powerful ventilation systems to suck smoke out of the air and carry it out of the building.
Associated Press