Washington, D.C.: NASA satellite to fall uncontrolled to Earth
A 7,000-pound science satellite will fall from the sky this week, and NASA says a few pieces of metal could hit the Earth, although probably not in a populated area.
The space agency announced Tuesday that the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer should make a final plunge to Earth between 9 p.m. CST today and 7 a.m. on Thursday.
Most of the spacecraft is expected to come apart and burn up in the atmosphere during its high-speed fall. NASA engineers, however, said it was possible that up to nine stainless steel and titanium pieces, weighing up to 100 pounds, will reach the Earth's surface.
The satellite pieces, if they survive the fall, are expected to land in a belt around the middle of the Earth that stretches as far north as Orlando, Fla. and as far south as Brisbane, Australia. This belt includes such highly populated areas as Mexico City, Bangkok and Miami.
California: Suspect surrenders in botched bank robbery
His hostages gone and the bank where he was holed up surrounded by more than 100 police, sheriff's deputies and FBI agents, a lone robbery suspect ended a seven-hour standoff Tuesday by surrendering.
Police said the man had walked about 9:30 a.m. into the Cathay Bank about 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, claimed he had a gun and demanded $50,000.
But a teller tripped a silent alarm, and officers surrounded the place.
Detectives said the suspect took nine hostages, all bank employees. But he released two, and the rest escaped out a bathroom window while he was talking to police negotiators by telephone.
Dallas: Mother gets life for confining girl
A woman was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for confining her severely malnourished 8-year-old daughter in a filthy closet.
Barbara Atkinson and her former husband, Kenneth, were arrested last June after the girl, who weighed 25 pounds, was discovered near death.
Atkinson, 30, pleaded guilty last week to a charge of bodily injury to a child. She faced between five years and life in prison. She will be eligible for parole in 30 years.
An East Texas couple tried to adopt the child at birth. They are now her foster parents and are seeking permanent custody. They say the girl has gained weight, enrolled in school and is doing well.
Virginia: Lawmakers overrule objections to flag salute
The Virginia House of Delegates decided Tuesday to keep opening daily sessions with a tribute to the state flag that was written by a member of a Confederate heritage group.
Black delegates had proposed striking the salute from the daily routine, but the House voted 50-48 to reject the rule change after emotional appeals from both sides.
The salute is part of the daily opening ceremony, along with the Pledge of Allegiance. Black delegates and some of their white colleagues now stand silently facing the flag each day while their colleagues recite the words:
"I salute the flag of Virginia, with reverence and patriotic devotion to the 'Mother of States and Statesmen' which it represents the 'Old Dominion,' where liberty and independence were born."
Washington, D.C.: New poison hot line available nationwide
Anyone facing a poison emergency can now get help by calling a toll-free hot line that links callers from anywhere in the country to medical experts at local poison control centers.
The number (800) 222-1222 is funded by the government and quietly went active late last year, said Rose Ann Soloway, associate director of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. The group is launching a campaign today to inform the public about the 24-hour hot line.
Existing poison control hot lines will continue to work, Soloway said.
More than three-quarters of poison exposures can be treated over the phone with help from poison experts, according to the poison control association.
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