Free Republic

SACRAMENTO (AP) ― The FBI is investigating allegations that an executive at a nonprofit founded by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson obstructed a federal inquiry into the group's spending practices. The revelation comes two months after Johnson and his nonprofit, St. HOPE Academy, agreed to repay nearly $424,000 in federal grants to settle an investigation into whether the group misused federal money. Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown said he asked the FBI's Sacramento division to determine whether e-mails written by Johnson were deleted during the earlier investigation.

Move America Forward raised $1.5 million in their recent Web telethon. News video from KCRA 3 features Melanie Morgan of Move America Forward

SAN JOSE -- South Bay authorities Wednesday revealed details of a year-long undercover operation targeting copper theft that yielded more than 150 arrests including an alleged Fremont bomb maker who prosecutors say is the first person in the country charged with making a cell phone detonated improvised explosive device.

Garth Stapley, one of The Modesto Bee's lead reporters on the Scott and Laci Peterson case, shares the story behind the story in a column Sunday. He describes staking out jurors in a parking garage and debunking a defense theory that Laci was captured by Satanists.

WASHINGTON -- Gary Condit's legal and financial travails just keep worsening. An Arizona judge has ordered the former Ceres congressman to pay $42,680.42 for filing a frivolous libel lawsuit. Condit's lawsuit against the tiny Sonoran News for a story referring to murder victim Chandra Levy amounted to harassment, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kristin Hoffman ruled this week. Condit's actions showed "he was aware the lawsuit should never have been brought," Hoffman added.

<p>Adam Housley reports a ship from Guatemala had written in the hold "This Nitro is for you George Bush."</p>

For parents Richard and Kathy as well as brother Shawn Wood, June 25, 1996, always will be a day of infamy. That's when Airman 1st Class Justin Wood of Modesto was killed. Just a month before his 21st birthday, the Downey High School graduate was one of 19 Americans who died in a terrorist attack on Khobar Towers, a U.S. military housing facility in Saudi Arabia. As his parents relive the worst night and day of their lives, Kathy's eyes fill with tears. Richard's posture stiffens. Justin's older brother, Shawn, watches his parents. Justin wasn't supposed to be at Khobar...

WASHINGTON — Susan Levy tried the tango. She rides horses. She exercises, furiously. She sings her heart out; and still, with the dawn, all distractions fall away and she comes back to remembering. "I wake up every morning," Susan said, "and the first thing I think is, 'My daughter isn't here.'" Chandra Levy was last seen in the nation's capital on April 30, 2001. Eventually, her skeletal remains were found in Rock Creek Park. Investigators say they have identified a "person of interest," and they continue to conduct interviews, but her murder defies solution. What come unbidden now are ghostly...

Once on fast track to be captain, Kirk Lippold now works at a desk. Last in a two-part series. WASHINGTON -- For 5½ years, the Washington military and political establishment has not known quite what to do with Kirk Lippold. Cmdr. Lippold was the skipper of the USS Cole when al-Qaida terrorists committed a suicide bombing in the Yemen port of Aden on Oct. 12, 2000. The attack, from a small barge that pulled alongside the Cole, blew a 40-by-40-foot hole in the guided-missile destroyer. Seventeen sailors died and 42 were wounded. After he led an intense three-week effort to...

Ex-Cole skipper says he wasn't warned of danger before attack. First of a two-part series. SHARPSBURG, Md. -- In October, as he had done on the same day in each of the four previous Octobers, a middle-aged man with an upright military bearing approached a grave at Antietam National Cemetery. The man stood in silence for a minute, then lowered his head in tribute to a fallen seaman: Patrick Howard Roy, one of 17 sailors killed when al-Qaida operatives blew a huge hole into the USS Cole in the Yemen port of Aden on Oct.12, 2000. The man who attended...

An FBI informant testified Monday in Sacramento federal court that al-Qaida’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, lived in Lodi during parts of 1998 and 1999. Naseem Khan, who is a critical prosecution witness in the trials of two Lodi men charged with having terrorist ties, testified he was living in Lodi in 1998 and 1999 and "every time I would go to the mosque (al-Zawahri) would be coming or going" from the mosque. Khan said al-Zawahri, known to the FBI as Osama bin Laden’s personal physician and top adviser, "disappeared" sometime in 1999.

Protest planned at soldier's funeral Church: God angry with U.S. over gays BEE STAFF REPORTS Last Updated: February 27, 2006, 05:09:12 AM PST An anti-gay group has plans to picket the Turlock funeral of Army Sgt. 1st Class Chad Gonsalves today. The Westboro Baptist Church, a group that has protested at other military funerals in California, is calling for followers to picket at today's 1 p.m. service at Monte Vista Chapel, according to the church's Web site. Gonsalves, a Green Beret, was killed in Afghanistan after a bomb hit his armored vehicle Feb. 13. He is survived by his wife,...

Commission claims two misspent campaign funds.A state agency is suing former Rep. Gary Condit's children for $2.4 million because they allegedly misspent $226,000 in funds the congressman originally raised to advance his career. The Fair Political Practices Commission filed suit against Chad and Cadee Condit this week in Sacramento County Superior Court. The lawsuit says they enriched themselves with political action committee funds that should have been used for political, legislative or government purposes. The agency alleges they paid themselves $226,000 for work they were not qualified to undertake. It also says the two did not produce the services for...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An Islamic religious leader held on immigration charges as part of an investigation into terror activity in the agricultural community of Lodi agreed Friday to be deported to Pakistan along with his son. Muhammed Adil Khan, 47, and his 19-year-old son, Mohammad Hassan Adil, admitted overstaying their visas. In exchange, immigration authorities at a brief hearing in an immigration court dropped other allegations that the two misrepresented themselves to obtain religious visas.

Ceres (CA) police chief says shootings support worry over rising militancy By DARYL FARNSWORTH and PATRICK GIBLIN BEE STAFF WRITERS CERES — Gangs aren't just criminal organizations anymore. They are domestic terrorists. That's the evolving view of Ceres Police Chief Art de Werk, who was forced to endure one officer being shot to death two weeks ago and another critically wounded. The man who ambushed them, 19-year-old Andres Raya, was identified by police investigators as a Norteño gang member. He also was a U.S. Marine visiting his south Modesto home while on weekend leave from Camp Pendleton in Southern California....

RALLY FOR THE TROOPS — 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., near a flag display to be set up at Sisk Road and Standiford Avenue, near Vintage Faire Mall. The public is invited to tape audio messages for the troops from noon to 1:30 p.m. Written messages also will be collected. All of the messages are to be included in “Community Winter Care Packages” that will be sent to troops in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Organizers said the event will include refreshments. Presented by the Modesto Support Our Troops Committee and Central Valley- Modesto Blue Star Mothers &...

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Horns were honking, passersby waved and gave thumbs up signals to 35 patriots gathered on the corner of Sisk and Standiford in north Modesto on Saturday. Blue Star Moms, Support Our Troops Group members, and FReeRepublic FReepers proudly and lovingly carried photos of their family members serving in our Armed Forces as well as signs and flags - lots of flags -in honor of our brave warriors.The well traveled intersection near the entrances of the Vintage Faire Shopping Center just east of the 99 Freeway has served as a rallying point every Saturday for the last 12...

<p>A child's doll lies in a pile of straw in a crib before the city's welcome sign on Patterson Road, rekindling the spirit of the season and the perennial question of who put up the Nativity scene.</p> <p>No one is owning up. The scene, including figures of Mary, Joseph and Jesus and the three wise men, is on city property -- a potentially questionable place for any religious display, City Manager Richard Holmer acknowledged.</p>

Sunny skies with mild winds were the order of the day as fifteen patriots gathered to rally the citizens of Modesto, CA to Support Our Troops. The blowing winds kept all the flags of the Armed Forces and Old Glory flowing for all to see. Moms and Dads shared the news that "My daughter is home" or "My son is home." And while we all shared in their joy, still others have sons and daughters still in harm's way. One of our moms shared that she doesn't know where her son is located - only that her Marine is deployed...

While attention has been focused on the Laci Peterson case in recent days here in Modesto, several Patriots of Modesto continued their campaign to focus attention on the need to Support Our Troops. Blue Skies and 70 degree temperatures today as 25 Patriotic Citizens once again gathered on the corner of Standiford Ave and Sisk Rd. VFW Post 3199 provided flags of the armed forces, Old Glory, POW/MIA, Korea and Vietnam Wars.Proud parents and loved ones of our nation's heroes presented posters and photos of their family members serving in the Middle East. One Mom and Dad proudly displayed their...