Hostage situation ends peacefully at NY school

Hostage situation ends peacefully at NY school

PINE PLAINS, N.Y. — Upset by the treatment of U.S. military personnel, a 42-year-old father of an Army veteran sneaked a disassembled shotgun into a middle school just after classes began Tuesday, put it together in a bathroom, then held the principal hostage for more than two hours before surrendering without firing a shot, police said.

At 7:45 a.m., minutes after the bell signaled a start to the school day at Stissing Mountain Middle School, Christopher Craft Sr. loaded a single round into the shotgun, walked into the main office and confronted Principal Robert Hess, police said. Students were herded into the cafeteria’s kitchen or huddled under desks.

Craft ordered Hess at gunpoint into an inner office where he restrained him and threatened to kill him to try to compel school officials and police to talk to media about his message “concerning the wrongful treatment of United States Military personnel,” court documents said.

Craft surrendered peacefully at 9:52 a.m.

Anti-abortion activist: I killed doctor to save lives

WICHITA, Kan. — An anti- abortion activist says he’s the one who killed a Kansas abortion provider — and did it because it was necessary to save lives. But one of his attorneys says there’s no such thing as a “necessity defense” in state law, and that is not the strategy the defense team plans to present at his trial.

Scott Roeder told The Associated Press in a telephone call from jail Monday that he plans to argue at his trial that he was justified in shooting Dr. George Tiller to protect unborn children.

“We have explored that possibility,” public defender Steve Osburn said a day after his client’s confession. “That does not seem to be the approach that is viable, nor is it the approach we intend to use.”

Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., is charged with one count of first- degree murder in Tiller’s death and two counts of aggravated assault for purportedly threatening two ushers who tried to stop him during the May 31 melee in the foyer of the doctor’s Wichita church.

Judge: License plates with cross violate Constitution

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that South Carolina can’t issue license plates showing the image of a cross in front of a stained-glass window along with the phrase “I Believe.”

U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie’s ruling said the license plate was unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment ban on establishment of religion by government.

Within hours, a private Christian group said the ruling doesn’t stand in the way of its “plan B” to get a similar plate issued using a state law that permits private groups to issue tags they design.

Astronaut pleads guilty in action against rival

ORLANDO, Fla. — A former astronaut who drove 1,000 miles from Houston to Orlando to mount a bizarre attack on a romantic rival pleaded guilty Tuesday to reduced charges and was sentenced to a year on probation.

Lisa Nowak, a Navy captain, pleaded guilty to third-degree felony burglary and misdemeanor battery. She originally had been charged with two felonies — attempted kidnapping and burglary — along with misdemeanor battery. She could have faced up to life in prison under the more- serious felony charges.

Nowak confronted her romantic rival, Colleen Shipman, in the parking lot of Orlando International Airport in February 2007 after driving from Houston.

Philippines volcano alert

MANILA, Philippines — Scientists say the cone-shaped Mayon volcano in the central Philippines has shot an ash plume into the air and are advising nearby residents to be ready to move in case of eruption.

Chief state volcanologist Renato Solidum says Mayon’s alert level remains the same, but if magma continues to rise below the glowing crater it could erupt within weeks.

Jackson funeral cost $1M

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s private family funeral was fit for a king and had a price tag to match: roughly $1 million, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Although Jackson died in June and had a large public tribute at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in July, the private family funeral Sept. 3 appeared to have been arranged with urgency.

Legal requests for payments filed with estate administrators by attorneys for Michael Jackson’s mother only three days before the scheduled burial noted that if payment was not received by the funeral home and the Glendale Police Department by Sept. 1, “the funeral will not proceed.”

Associated Press