Tip leads to Texas surrender of Missouri murderer, guard
VICTORIA, Texas (AP) -- A convicted murderer and the Missouri prison guard who allegedly helped him escape were awaiting extradition Saturday after a tip to "America's Most Wanted" led investigators to their trailer-park hideout.Terry William Banks, 26, and Lynette J. Barnett, 27, had not been seen since Oct. 29 when Banks, who was serving a life sentence for a 1992 murder, walked out of the maximum-security Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron, Mo., wearing a prison guard's uniform.
The pair surrendered peacefully in a trailer park on the outskirts of Victoria about 7:30 a.m. Saturday, officials said. They had barricaded themselves inside a recreation vehicle briefly, according to a statement from the FBI.
L.A. civil rights lawsuit targets police misconduct
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court seeks more than $100 million from the city and county of Los Angeles for alleged police misconduct that led to a man's incarceration for more than two years.
The lawsuit, which was filed Friday, contends Los Angeles police officer Michael Montoya and police homicide detectives framed Raul Rodriguez for a November 1996 slaying at a Los Angeles bar.
Montoya is one of more than a dozen police officers who have been suspended as part of an ongoing corruption probe at the department's Rampart Division.
As a result of the probe, four people have been released from prison and seven convictions overturned. The district attorney's office is reviewing some 3,000 cases to determine if they were tainted by corruption.
Judge tosses palimony suit against Simpson's lawyer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A judge threw out a palimony suit filed against celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran Jr. by a woman he had a relationship with for 20 years, ruling she waited too long to bring it.
Patricia Ann Cochran's right to sue Cochran, who is best known for defending O.J. Simpson, expired in 1987, a year after the relationship ended, the judge said.
The lawsuit sought financial support as well as $1 million in punitive damages.
Cochran contends the attorney is the mother of her son and that she took his last name to hide the fact they weren't married. Cochran does not deny the relationship and has said he paid for education and other support for the child after he married another woman.
Ex-Atlanta mayor undergoes successful prostate surgery
ATLANTA (AP) -- Former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador Andrew Young was released from the hospital Saturday following what his doctor called successful surgery to remove his cancerous prostate gland.
Young, 67, was in good spirits as he left Emory University Hospital. His doctors said Young is on course for a full recovery.
Dr. Fray Marshall, chief of urology, said there was no sign the cancer had spread beyond his prostate. Young will be monitored and, if tests remain clear over the next year, he could be declared cured.
Rain clouds again delay Discovery flight to Hubble
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Poor weather once again forced NASA to delay Discovery's flight to the Hubble Space Telescope on Saturday, and shuttle managers considered making one last shot at launch before giving up for the year.
It was the ninth postponement for the Hubble repair mission and the third in as many days.
NASA called off Saturday night's launch attempt before fueling had even begun. Dark rain clouds hovered over the Kennedy Space Center as the announcement boomed over radios.
Liftoff tentatively was rescheduled for 7:50 p.m. Sunday, with a final decision on whether to proceed expected in late morning.
Terra satellite lifts off to observe land interactions
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) -- A NASA satellite was launched Saturday on a $1.3 billion-plus mission to observe the interactions between Earth's land masses, atmosphere, ocean and biosphere.
The Terra satellite, carrying five sophisticated instruments, lifted off the pad at 10:57 a.m. PST atop a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket.
The mission originally was scheduled for liftoff Thursday, but a computer aborted the launch moments before ignition. The problem turned out to involve a ground system.
NASA wanted Terra to be the first part of a bi-coastal double bill: a West Coast launch followed by a Florida launch of space shuttle Discovery. But the shuttle flight was canceled.
NASA described Terra, which carries U.S., Canadian and Japanese instruments, as the "flagship" of its Earth Observing System because it carries instruments with measurement and accuracy capabilities that have never before been put in space.
U. of Chicago approves payments over overbillings
CHICAGO (AP) -- The University of Chicago has agreed to pay the government millions of dollars to settle allegations that its hospitals for years overbilled the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
The proposed agreement disclosed Friday in federal court is intended to end a lawsuit filed against the University of Chicago Hospitals.
The Chicago Tribune quoted legal sources as saying the amount was eight figures, or at least $10 million.
The hospitals were accused of bilking the government programs out of millions of dollars from 1991 to 1997 by billing them for more expensive treatments and procedures than were provided.
But the hospital said its staff was dealing with a complicated system and simply disagreed with the government's interpretation of reimbursement rules.