Maryland: Friends remember worker killed in Jordan

Laurence M. Foley, the U.S. aid worker killed in a possible terrorist attack in Jordan, was remembered Saturday as a big, boisterous man whose humor and mischievous charm won him and his country countless friends.

About 250 people attended a memorial service at a Unitarian Universalist church in Silver Springs outside Washington that was marked by more talk of his zest for life than his violent death.

Foley, 60, was shot at close range Monday in front of his home in Amman. The gunman escaped. No arrests have been made, but Islamic extremists are suspected.

He is survived by his wife and three children.

Miami: Sharpton seeks release of Haitian migrants

The Rev. Al Sharpton called the treatment of more than 200 Haitian migrants detained in South Florida a “moral outrage” Saturday, and pledged to organize rallies and marches to demand their release.

A boat carrying over 200 Haitians reached Florida shores last week. Dozens of men, women and children on board the wooden freighter plunged into shallow waters and scrambled onto a major highway.

“We are here because we think it is a moral outrage, what occurred off the shore of Miami last week,” Sharpton said. “This is a human rights issue, not an immigration issue.”

Sharpton had originally planned a march to demand the immigrants’ release; no march took place, however, and organizers offered no explanation.

North Carolina: Funeral homes offer rides to polls Nov. 5

Funeral homes in Durham are giving voters no excuse to be deadbeats on Election Day: They’re offering free rides to the polls in limousines.

The Durham Voter Coalition has enlisted Ellis D. Jones Funeral Home and Burthey Funeral Services to ferry voters between homes and balloting stations on Nov. 5.

The coalition, formed this year to focus on neighborhood problems, tried the experiment for the Sept. 10 primaries. It was a big hit.

“People who took advantage of it really enjoyed it,” said Melvin Whitley, the coalition’s political director. “It was the talk of the town.”

The Durham Literacy Council is also offering rides, and J&R Charter Service will send a van for large groups of 10 or more.

Los Angeles: FBI files on rappers sought in alleged plot

In a bizarre twist to the case of a right-wing Jewish leader accused of trying to blow up Muslim-related sites, defense attorneys have requested records of an FBI probe into whether the suspect’s group tried to shake down rap stars Tupac Shakur and Eazy-E.

Jewish Defense League leader Irv Rubin is being held without bail along with group member Earl Krugel on charges of plotting to blow up a mosque and the office of an Arab American congressman. They have pleaded innocent.

In papers filed this week in U.S. District Court, Rubin’s lawyers asked a judge to order prosecutors to hand over records of the FBI probe, claiming it provides evidence of bias against the league.

Shakur was killed in a 1996 shooting in Las Vegas, and Eazy-E died of AIDS-related complications in 1995.