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Police Chief Valerie Harris confirmed Friday afternoon that a Placer High art teacher hid a suspected gunman in his classroom during Monday's full-campus lockdown. "Our investigation did reveal that Evangelista was in Mr. Covich's classroom during the lockdown," Harris said Friday. "Information came to our attention after students were being released, and has in fact been a very concerning fact of the incident. Further investigation is being conducted and at this time I need to limit my response on the issue." Ceramics teacher Tobin Covich allegedly hid Francisco Evangelista in his classroom Monday during the lockdown. Officers arrested Evangelista late...

Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio ended any speculation about who would be the Jaguars' starting quarterback on Friday, naming David Garrard as the team's starting signal caller for the 2007 season. Del Rio had reinstated Byron Leftwich as the team's starting quarterback on Feb. 22. Friday afternoon, Del Rio announced Leftwich will either be traded by Saturday's six p.m. roster-cut deadline or he will be released.

Now that Republican Sen. John Warner has announced that he will not seek re-election in 2008, the vice president list on the Democratic side might soon shrink. That's because Democrat Mark Warner, the popular former governor of Virginia who gave serious consideration to a presidential bid in 2008, is leaning toward getting into the Senate race, according to Democrats familiar with his thinking. If Mark Warner gets into the Senate race, his advisers acknowledge that it will effectively remove him from consideration for the No. 2 spot on the Democratic presidential ticket. Warner has been seen by Democratic strategists as...

I'm eavesdropping on a locker room conversation, one guy showing another his girlfriend's picture on a cell phone, a younger man talking about how he struggles to find reliable help for his restaurant, another talking about his nephew playing in a big all-star game in Las Vegas, three others piping about woman trouble, an older man cautioning against contradicting an officer of the law. And I'm lost. Everybody in the locker room in this YMCA is speaking English, and, at times, I feel as if I can't understand them. "I'm telling ya, bruh, both y'all's messed up." "Turn up the...

Hardline Islamic law could be introduced across Malaysia under reforms proposed by the country's chief justice. As the nation in south-east Asia celebrated 50 years of independence from Britain yesterday, its government was preparing to discuss a plan that would revolutionise the legal system put in place by its former colonial administrators. Prince Andrew looks on during a parade at the historic Merdeka Square in downtown Kuala Lumpur As Kuala Lumpur witnessed celebrations that included parades, fireworks and a fighter-jet fly-by attended by the Duke of York, the proposal pointed to the deep differences which locals say are poisoning social...

When it comes to statistics about religion, Europe is an urbane continent full of empty cathedrals, while America offers rows of suburban mega-churches. Consider what happens when the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life asks a basic "salience question" to determine the level of interest in faith-related matters around the world. Participants are asked to answer "yes" or "no" in response to this statement: "Religion is very important to me." About six out of 10 in the United States say "yes," noted political scientist Luis Lugo, who has directed the research center since 2004. "There is not a place...

£87,000 Government grant for... dead dog museum By ANDY DOLAN Last updated at 08:24am on 31st August 2007 Even by the barmy standards of modern Arts grants, it sounds a barking mad scheme. One of Britain's most bizarre museum collections has just been awarded an £87,000 grant - to spruce up its display of 88 stuffed dogs. It was part of a new £4million funding package from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and charitable body the Wolfson Foundation for an array of projects in 43 museums and galleries across England. Yesterday the Natural History Museum at Tring, Hertfordshire,...

DURHAM, N.C. - Mike Nifong, the disgraced former Durham County district attorney, was held in criminal contempt of court Friday for lying to a judge when pursuing rape charges against three falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players. ADVERTISEMENT Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III sentenced Nifong, who has already been stripped of his law license and has resigned from office, to a single day in jail. He had faced as many as 30 days in jail and a fine as high as $500. "If what I impose with regard to Mr. Nifong would make things better or different for...

U.S. Marines with Viking Red Section, Mobile Assault Platoon, Regimental Combat Team 2, observe an Iraqi personal security detachment fire AK-47 rifles on a firing range at Camp Gannon. The Iraqis are training to be personal security officers for local judges. Viking Red Marines Train Iraqis to Keep Judges Safe Troops employ visual cues to bridge language barrier. By Cpl. Eric C. Schwartz 2nd Marine Division CAMP GANNON, Husaybah, Iraq, Aug. 31, 2007 — It’s not news to read that politicians, famous athletes and even entertainers have bodyguards protecting them from dangerous people, but in Iraq, their judges need...

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A bunch of aging hippies from Farmington Peace Action have been holding a vigil at the Monument in Rochester for long time, long enough to agrivate the hell out of a few of us. We met up under cloudy skies at Big Heads Bar and Grill and proceeded to set up on Main Street across from the monument with flags and signs supporting our troops and their mission. The first commie to show was the Ur hippy with a cane, white hair, shorts and sandles. The next was a scrawny guy with a correctly folded American Flag, looked like he...

FORT LEWIS, Wash., Aug. 31, 2007 – There’s a sense of giddiness here as families prepare for their “Arrowhead Brigade” Strykers to return home after a 15-month deployment to Iraq. An advance party from the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) is slated to arrive at neighboring McChord Air Force Base on Sept. 3, finalizing groundwork for almost 4,000 more troops to fly in beginning Sept. 11. Jubilant and frequently tearful reunions will play out again and again over the next week to 10 days, as one plane after another touches down to bring the full...

David Hans Schmidt, aka the "Sultan of Sleaze," has finally learned what the potential consequences are of peddling his shadily procured wares back to their original owners. Having attempted to shake down Tom Cruise with stolen photos from Cruise's lavishly mounted Italian fairytale wedding, a guilty-pleading Schmidt is finally looking at serving up to two years of hard time............

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2007 – Afghan national security forces, advised by coalition forces, defeated an insurgent attack yesterday near Regay Village on the east side of the Musa Qalah Wadi in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. The combined force was on a combat patrol when insurgents attacked from multiple compounds and trenches using small-arms fire, 82 mm mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. The Afghan forces repelled the attack with accurate small-arms fire and artillery. When the insurgents reinforced their fighting positions with additional fighters, Afghan forces requested coalition close-air support. Coalition aircraft performed precision air strikes on the insurgents, killing a number of...

An 'urban heat island' effect, fed by the city's growth, is trapping heat and making temperatures soar. ___ Arizona is poised to take another record. No. 1 in the nation for most illegal immigrants crossing the border, or No. 1 in the nation for identity thefts. This "one" directly corresponds with another No. 1 – its status as the fastest-growing state in the nation. While news of global warming becomes as common as the wheeze of air conditioners here, Phoenix is fighting a different, if related, problem. In part because of heavy growth – particularly in the Phoenix metro area...

I was willing to entertain the thought of you as a refreshing, charming, surprising second-tier candidate whose eloquence and wit would serve the party well (although trashing the Club for Growth was really pushing it). But a national smoking ban? You're not running a health spa; it's a country, and you will never win friends in North Carolina talking like that. These big-time pound-shedders cum health nuts. You applaud them as they get healthy, but be careful putting them in power-- they'll take your food and other vices away from you quick as look at you. Because they know what's...

Q. What is America's National Health Plan? A. This is actually a variation of the phrase, "HEY MOE". Its roots go back to a concept pioneered by Moe of the Three Stooges, who discovered that a patient could be made to forget the pain in his foot if he was poked hard enough in the eye. Q. If I join The Plan, how difficult will it be to choose the doctor I want? A. Just slightly more difficult than choosing your parents. Your insurer will provide you with a book listing all the doctors in the plan. The doctors basically...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2007 – Five terrorists were killed and 37 suspected terrorists were detained today as coalition forces continued to put pressure on al Qaeda’s operations in Iraq. Military officials reported the following details of today’s operations: -- In the Tigris River Valley, coalition forces targeted an al Qaeda leader southwest of Balad who orders, finances and carries out attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces in Salah ad Din province. Reports indicated this leader recently assumed a position coordinating terrorist logistics between Baghdad and Mosul, and may have been trying to obtain chemical weapons for use in attacks against...

The attorneys who successfully challenged Hazleton's illegal immigration ordinance in federal court want the city to pay their legal fees and costs totaling close to $2.4 million. A 28-page petition filed in federal court Friday blames the city for driving up the fees for the attorneys pursuing the case, who represented several of Hazleton's Hispanic residents, landlords and community groups. Since passing the first ordinance of its kind in July 2006, the city passed at least three additional versions of the ordinance in an attempt to improve its chances of winning the lawsuit. The often unexpected changes made the case...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2007 – A new U.S. command in southern Afghanistan is working to improve the martial capabilities of local police who confront battle-hardened Taliban insurgents, a senior U.S. officer said today. “We have to teach the police how to act militarily,” Army Col. Thomas J. McGrath, commander of Afghan Regional Security Integration Command South, told Internet reporters and “bloggers” during a conference call from Afghanistan. Afghan police are the first responders to incursions by heavily armed Taliban militants, McGrath explained. Therefore, the police need infantry skills, appropriate weaponry and other resources, he said, so they can effectively engage...