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Oklahoma Christian runner blows away the competition at the recent time trials in...becomes fastest in the country

Runner sues Attorney General over ballot wording SACRAMENTO • State Sen. George Runner is suing California Attorney General Jerry Brown for crafting what Runner calls an “overtly biased” summary of a ballot measure the senator created to prevent voter fraud. “I believe he has misrepresented what this initiative does,” said Runner, R-Lancaster, in an interview Monday. “That’s a tremendous disservice to the citizens of California.” Earlier this year Runner submitted ballot measure Vote SAFE, which would require voters to present photo identification at the polls, allow county Registrar of Voters additional time to count military votes and protect the identity...

The BBC has seen the birth certificate of South African athlete Caster Semenya, which states that the new 800m world champion is female. Ms Semanya, 18, has been told to take a gender test after several remarkable improvements in recent performances.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius won his appeal Friday and can compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 21-year-old South African is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes, overturning a ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations. CAS said the unanimous ruling goes into effect immediately. "As you can imagine, I have been struggling to hide my smile for the last half an hour," Pistorius told reporters in Milan, Italy. "I can definitely say the truth has come out. We have the opportunity once again to...

Peter Norman, the Australian sprinter who shared the medals podium with Tommie Smith and John Carlos while they gave their black power salutes at the 1968 Olympics, died Tuesday of a heart attack. He was 64. Athletics Australia chief executive Danny Corcoran announced his death. Norman won the silver medal in the 200 meters at the Mexico City Games. Smith set a world record in winning the gold medal and Carlos took the bronze, and their civil rights protest became a flash point of the Olympics. Smith and Carlos stood shoeless, each wearing a black glove on his raised, clenched...

Well, it seems as if the rank and file elitist Country Club Republicans are flexing their muscles in the High Desert, not to mention down the hill, too, when it comes to who backs whom for the 59th assembly district race and why. When it comes to the two most likely frontrunners in the Victor Valley—encompassing Hesperia and Apple Valley—longtime GOP grass-roots crusader and people’s champion, Barry Hartz, versus government bureaucracy insider and recipient of Supervisor (San Bernardino County First District) Postmus’ back-scratching political favors, Anthony Adams, the battle lines have clearly been drawn and it’s easy to see, when...

GRANADA HILLS - State Sen. George Runner and Assemblyman Keith Richman announced legislation Monday that would break up the 727,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District into at least 15 smaller districts. The two lawmakers promised greater accountability would come from community-based school systems, calling the nation's second-largest district a "bureaucratic behemoth" that was failing students. Under identical bills proposed in the state Assembly and Senate, any California school district with more than half a million students - L.A. Unified is the only one large enough to qualify - must split into districts no larger than 50,000 students by 2010. A...

Stories You Hate to Hear Newport Beach, California : A group of 40 sea lions has been making itself rather unwelcome in this upscale community. The creatures keep residents awake by barking most of the night. They climb aboard residents’ prized boats : fouling and damaging them. In one case, all 4o climbed aboard a small, pricey sailboat – causing it to sink. Residents are at their wit’s end , because the sea lions are protected by a 1972 federal law , which says the creatures cannot be killed,harmed, or harassed. (It is, incidentally, a law Newport Beach residents lobbied...

The Arab world is all one big happy family again. OK, dysfunctional, but happy. No, well, unhappy and as twisted as usual. While visiting Kuwait today, Palestinian presidential front-runner, Mahmoud Abbas, apologized for his people’s support of Saddam’s invasion of the Gulf emirate in 1990. Isn’t that special? (remember Dana Carvey as the “Church Lady” on SNL?). This happened just after Kuwait’s sultans (or whatever they’re called) forgave the Palestinian people for supporting Saddam’s invasion. Kuwait’s leadership went so far as to say they didn’t even expect a public apology for Palestinian support of the 1990 war. Now, isn’t that...

ATHENS, Greece -- A defrocked Irish priest with a history of disrupting sports events was given a one-year suspended sentence and fined $3,600 Monday for grabbing a runner who was leading the Olympic marathon with three miles to go. Cornelius Horan was convicted by a misdemeanor court of violating Greece's laws on extracurricular sports for knocking Vanderlei de Lima into the crowd on Sunday. De Lima continued running, but he soon lost his lead and finished third.

BAGHDAD -- Carrying the symbolic dreams of a new Iraq on her shoulders, Ala'a Hikmat sprints around a garbage-strewn dirt track during her evening practice, hopping over a yellow hose-pipe at every turn. The 19-year-old runner from Baghdad, the only woman in Iraq's 45-member delegation to Athens, will compete at the Olympics next month against a vastly faster field in the women's 100- and 200-meter races. She doesn't expect to win. But her path to the Olympics -- and the exceptional cheer and optimism she's brought to bear on a year of frustrating training in an uncertain war zone --...

The best way for area aerospace industries to address the growing shortage of engineers may be to "grow their own" from within the Antelope Valley. To that end, the Math, Science, Engineering and Technology Consortium is working hard to establish a full four-year engineering degree program here, as well as increase and improve math and science education at the lower school levels to provide engineers for the future. "It's incumbent on the Valley to make sure we train the workforce to support our Aerospace Valley and aerospace industry," said state Sen. William J. "Pete" Knight, R-Palmdale. "It is in the...

SACRAMENTO - A bill to protect soldiers from hate-initiated violence was signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis on Aug. 1. Assembly Bill 187 by Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, creates penalty enhancements for committing assault or battery against a soldier because of his or her military service. "Our troops deserve nothing less than our support," said Runner of her first bill signed into law since she was elected to represent the 36th Assembly District in November. "This new law defends those who have fought to protect our freedom." AB 187 increases penalties on individuals who commit assault and battery on...

For 12 hours on that hot August morning a year ago today, two Antelope Valley teenagers stared death in the face, prisoners of a convicted felon who kidnapped them from a remote lovers lane in a quiet desert town. For hours on end, an army of law enforcement men and women scoured the Southland, issuing makeshift Amber Alert broadcasts and tracking down leads. As one emotional hour after another passed, a community feared the worst, but fervently prayed the girls would be found alive and return home safely. When word finally came just before 1 p.m. that Jacqueline Marris and...

SACRAMENTO - Assemblywoman Sharon Runner encourages taxpayers, after paying what she deems an illegal car tax imposed by Gov. Gray Davis, to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles for a refund. The refund form, available on Runner's Web site, www.assembly.ca.gov/runner, will allow taxpayers to pay the increase and then request a refund from the DMV, she said. The refund form also will aid in a lawsuit against the Davis car tax, Runner said. It includes a letter from Runner and instructions regarding how to complete the refund form. The assemblywoman advises taxpayers to keep a copy for their personal...

Amber Hagerman's mother made her way to the White House on Wednesday with a heavy heart and as much pride as a mother can muster. Amber disappeared seven years ago in northern Texas. Thanks to the law President George W. Bush signed with Amber's mother at his side, her name will be linked nationwide with the missing-child alerts that have helped save at least 64 children. "It's a bittersweet thing," Donna Norris said before the Rose Garden ceremony. "My little girl was abducted and butchered for this bill to even exist. But it's saving children's lives. It's just a bittersweet...

Officials aren't sure whether the painting of a Nazi swastika on the garage door of a U.S. Air Force reservist being deployed to Germany today was a hate crime or vandalism. The man, who has asked to remain anonymous, reported the incident at his home in the 44500 block of Sandhurst Lane about 5:45 p.m. Saturday, sheriff's Lt. Gordon Carn said. When deputies arrived, the man already had washed off the swastika, Carn said, adding, "There was no visible damage." Deputies were investigating the incident as a "possible hate incident," although the actual motive remained unclear Sunday. "The man has...

LANCASTER - The California Poppy is said to have inspired the nickname "La Tierra del Fuego," or "Land of Fire," by early visitors to the state inspired, perchance, by blazing hills of orange and yellow. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the poppy's designation as the state flower and favorable weather this winter and spring has brought forth bountiful blooms in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, a marked improvement over last year's paucity of poppies. To honor the poppy's centennial and the city of Lancaster, which hosts an annual springtime poppy festival, 36th District Assemblywoman Sharon Runner presented...

What began for California right here in the Antelope Valley is now headed to President George W. Bush's desk where his signature will mean the introduction of a national Amber Alert system. Fear that legislation drafted by the House that would implement a national system might be snagged in the Senate because of unrelated language added to the bill was quashed late Thursday when it was unanimously approved by the Senate. "I'm just glad they've been able to reach a compromise," said former Assemblyman George Runner, who drafted the legislation for the system in California last year after the idea...