Small-town mayor stoned to death in drug-plagued western Mexico
MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — A small-town mayor and an aide were found stoned to death Monday, the fifth city leader to be slain in Mexico since mid-August. Soldiers have destroyed more than 20 meth labs in the region in the last year, and several police officers have been killed by suspected drug gang members.
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Flood waters ruin crops in Nigeria as food shortages remain serious
GUDINCHIN, Nigeria (AP) — Flood waters that rushed through northern Nigeria now cover about 34 square miles of farmland there. As the bright sun begins to slowly dry the fields, all the farmers have are ruined stalks and dying plants — the latest strain on food in a region where other nearby countries face serious shortages. The floods have come at the worst possible time — just before harvest — when it is too late for farmers to replant their fields.
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Protestors blast raids on anti-war activists in Chicago, Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Hundreds of protesters gathered outside FBI offices in Minneapolis and Chicago on Monday, bearing signs and shouting chants condemning the agency’s recent searches of homes and offices of anti-war activists in both cities.
About 150 people protested in Minneapolis, and roughly 120 people marched in Chicago, chanting, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! FBI raids have got to go!”
Search warrants had indicated investigators were looking for connections between the activists and radical groups in Colombia and the Middle East.
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Telescope in Hawaii discovers potentially hazardous asteroid
HONOLULU (AP) — An asteroid that will come within 4 million miles of Earth in mid-October has been discovered by a University of Hawaii telescope.
The university’s Institute for Astronomy said Monday that the object located by the Pan STARRS PS1 telescope has a diameter of about 150 feet. It’s the first potentially hazardous object it has been used to discover. A university member of the PS1 Scientific Consortium says the object won’t hit Earth in the immediate future.
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Empty wrappers found outside stolen Little Debbie delivery truck
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say whoever stole a Little Debbie delivery truck left a trail of empty boxes and snack cake wrappers after abandoning the vehicle.
The truck was taken around 4 a.m. Monday from outside a Walmart store. KFDI-AM reports the vehicle was driven into a shallow canal — but not before the thieves apparently pulled out some of the thousands of dollars worth of snacks.
Police are still looking for the thieves. Three wreckers were used to pull the truck from the canal.
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Homicide experts arrive in New Orleans amid 2-year-old’s slaying
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A team of Justice Department experts is in the city to evaluate the police department’s homicide unit as the mayor on Monday called on witnesses to help solve a high-profile fatal shooting of a toddler.
Police are searching for the gunman who fired a stray bullet that killed 2-year-old Jeremy Galmon in a parked car two blocks from a “second line,” a traditional New Orleans walking parade Sunday afternoon.
The investigation coincides with the arrival of a team from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas invited the experts to help the troubled police force improve how it conducts homicide investigations.
Serpas, who called on the shooters to turn themselves in, said detectives are following up on leads and “making headway” on the case.
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Louisiana man charged in hate crime at junior high school
MONROE (AP) — A north Louisiana man accused of helping hang a dead raccoon in a noose outside a junior high school to intimidate black students has been charged with conspiring to commit a hate crime. The four-count indictment also charges 33-year-old Christopher Shane Montgomery with tampering with a witness and lying to an FBI agent.
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UNO faces tough budget future without federal stimulus money
(AP) — The University of New Orleans is receiving $26 million less in state general funding this year than two years ago. And with $17 million in stimulus money used up, UNO faces difficult financial decisions. State lawmakers have warned that the state likely won’t be able to use other funding sources when stimulus funding disappears in the upcoming budget year, leaving UNO and other colleges facing sharp budget cuts.
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