COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Prosecutors will seek the death penalty when Joseph Edward Duncan III goes to trial on charges that he bound and killed three people in northern Idaho. The Kootenai County prosecuting attorney made the announcement Tuesday after Duncan’s arraignment. Not-guilty pleas were entered on Duncan’s behalf to charges of murder and kidnapping. Douglas said he would seek the death penalty on all six charges against Duncan: three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree kidnapping.
Florida: Air academy admits girls
The Florida Air Academy in Melbourne is letting girls enroll for the first time in its 44-year history. Officials announced the decision last fall after years of requests from parents, and on Monday about 55 girls began high school – 20 of them boarders. “It’s exciting knowing we’re the first girls here, and we can set the bar,” said Kelcee Newton, a freshman from Satellite Beach. Many of the girls had siblings or other family connections to the school, and some also attended summer school to ease the transition.
Colorado: Vandalism reassignment
An Air Force officer accused of vandalizing bumper stickers supporting President Bush has been reassigned to a nonsupervisory position, a military spokesman said Tuesday. Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau faces criminal mischief charges for allegedly blacking out Bush bumper stickers on cars at Denver International Airport and then spray-painting an expletive over them. Fecteau’s lawyer declined to answer questions about his client’s motives.
Texas: Hacker gets Air Force data
A suspected hacker tapped into a military database containing Social Security numbers and other personal information for 33,000 Air Force officers and some enlisted personnel, an Air Force spokesman said Tuesday. That figure represents about half of the officers in the Air Force, but no identity theft had been reported as of early Tuesday, a spokesman at the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base said. On Friday, the people affected were notified of steps they can take to protect their identity, he said.
Illinois: ‘Rapid detox’ questioned
Internet ads for “ultra rapid detox” using anesthesia promise pain-free withdrawal from heroin and prescription painkillers. But the technique can be life-threatening, is not pain-free and has no advantage over other methods, a new study of 106 patients found. The study, the most rigorous to date on the method, showed that patients’ withdrawal was as severe as those of addicts undergoing other detox approaches. The study appears in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
Georgia: Law limits panhandling
Panhandling is now illegal in parts of downtown Atlanta after the mayor signed an ordinance passed by city lawmakers Aug. 15. It was delivered to the city clerk Monday. The new law is aimed at making tourist attractions, including the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, more welcoming for tourists. Opponents included activists for the poor and civil rights groups, who complained the ordinance is a mean-spirited attempt to hide homeless people.
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