RENO, Nev. — Federal agents raided 11 McDonald’s restaurants in northern Nevada and made dozens of arrests Thursday as part of an investigation into illegal immigration. Agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made at least 56 arrests in Reno, Sparks and Fernley after raids at the restaurants and a franchise corporate headquarters in Reno, an agency spokesman said. “They are people suspected of being in the country illegally. As far as I know, they were all McDonald’s employees,” he said. The investigation began five months ago and was sparked by an identity theft complaint, he said.
Texas: Student Navy flier ejects
A Navy student pilot ejected safely just before his T-45 Goshawk jet trainer crashed Thursday on the King Ranch in South Texas. The student with Training Squadron 21 was returning from a routine training flight, a spokesman for the chief of naval air training in Corpus Christi said. The student was taken to a hospital in Kingsville with minor injuries, he said.
D.C.: Senate expands hate crimes
The Senate on Thursday approved an expansion of federal hate-crimes law to include protections for gay men and lesbians, defying a presidential veto threat by attaching the measure to a high-priority defense bill. Republicans said they would try to remove the provision in final negotiations with the House, but if that effort fails, GOP leaders urged President Bush to follow through with his long-standing veto threat.
Edwards accepts public financing
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards reversed course Thursday by signing onto the public financing system he once rejected with the belief he could raise more money on his own. The 2004 vice presidential nominee claimed higher moral ground in the debate over money in politics while announcing the change. But it is a consequence of him bringing in far fewer dollars than his top rivals Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. “It is worrisome seeing the amount of money that is being raised in this campaign,” Edwards said on CNN.
Illinois: Teen’s parents sentenced
A judge sentenced a man to 14 days in jail and his wife to community service for letting a group of teenagers drink alcohol the night of a crash that killed two of them. Jeffrey and Sara Hutsell, both 53 of suburban Chicago, were convicted of violating the state liquor control act, endangering the life of a child and of obstructing justice by lying to police. Prosecutors say the couple allowed their teenage son to have a party in their basement on Oct. 13 with beer and rum.
California: Agents seize pot treats
Federal agents said Thursday that they shut down a factory that made marijuana-laced barbecue sauce, chocolate-covered pretzels and other “enhanced” snacks intended for medical users of the drug. The Drug Enforcement Agency said it arrested three people Wednesday and is looking for a fourth who operated Oakland-based Tainted Inc. Agents also seized 460 marijuana plants and other laced products including candy bars, cookies, marshmallow pies, ice cream, peanut butter, jelly, energy drinks and “Rice Krispy treats.”
Panama: Syrian teenagers freed
Panamanian authorities said Thursday they had freed two Syrian passengers and found no terrorist links to four others still in custody after they allegedly tried to enter an airplane cockpit during a flight from Cuba. The two male youths, who authorities said were 16 or 17 years old, were released Wednesday. The passengers were detained when the COPA Airlines flight landed in Panama City on Tuesday because the pilot reported that three of the Syrians tried to open the locked cockpit door. The men reportedly told police they had confused it with the bathroom.
Mexico: Hurricane Lorenzo
Lorenzo strengthened into a hurricane off Mexico’s Gulf Coast and was expected to make landfall early today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Officials issued a storm warning from Palma Sola to Cabo Rojo, canceled classes and set up shelters as steady rain drenched the coastline of Veracruz state. No evacuations were immediately planned, however. The storm was forecast to hit land near Tuxpan in six to 12 hours, the center said.
Spain: Cancers linked to divorce
People who develop cervical or testicular cancer may face another harsh reality: they are more likely to get divorced than those without the disease, a new study says. In research presented Thursday at a meeting of the European Cancer Organization, Norwegian experts found cancer patients were no more likely to get divorced than people without cancer, except for those with cervical and testicular cancer. The divorce rate actually dropped slightly in the years following diagnosis for most cancers, they said.
Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
