Utah: Backpack explosive prompts evacuation

Three high school students were arrested after a sheriff’s deputy found a homemade bomb in the backpack of a student sent to the principal’s office, authorities said.

Scott Doubek, principal at Parowan High School, said a 14-year-old student was in his office Wednesday being questioned on an unrelated disciplinary matter when a sheriff’s deputy posted to the school searched the boy’s backpack.

A carbon-dioxide cartridge packed with black powder and a fuse was found inside, Doubek said.

Doubek said the student told him he planned to set off the explosive, but not at the school in rural southern Utah.

The school’s main office area was evacuated while officials removed the cartridge and detonated it in a nearby canyon, Doubek said. The rest of the 379-student school was not affected, he said.

The students, including a 16-year-old and another 14-year-old, were arrested as juveniles. They were expected to appear in court later Friday.

Alabama: Ban on sex toys unconstitutional

An Alabama law banning the sale of sex toys was struck down by a federal judge in Birmingham as a violation of the right to privacy.

“The fundamental right of privacy, long recognized by the Supreme Court as inherent among our constitutional protections, incorporates a right to sexual privacy,” U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Jr. said.

He said the state did not prove it had a legitimate interest in banning the sale of sex devices for use in private, consensual relationships between adults.

The 1998 law part of a package of legislation strengthening the state’s obscenity law banned the sale of devices designed for “the stimulation of human genital organs.” It was challenged by six women who either sell sex aids or said they need them for sexual gratification.

Los Angeles: Shipping lines say dock work rate down

The pace of longshoremen’s work at West Coast ports was down about 25 percent Friday because dockworkers showed up late or didn’t show up at all, the shipping association said.

The union said any delays were the aftermath of a 10-day lockout that ended under court order Wednesday at 29 major ports.

The lower work rates varied by port and by terminal within each port, said John Pachtner, spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association.

“So far, production levels are not meeting our hope or our expectation,” he said.

Officials at the longshoremen’s union have said the docks are congested.

“You’ve got a logistical nightmare out here caused by their lockout,” said Steve Stallone, spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

The lockout cost the economy up to $2 billion a day by some estimates.

Washington, D.C.: Company to repay millions to consumers

Household International Inc., the nation’s leading lender to consumers with poor credit histories, agreed Friday to repay tens of thousands of borrowers up to $484 million to settle charges that the company tricked customers into paying too much for mortgages and insurance. The company also agreed to change some of its lending practices.

The settlement the largest ever in a state or federal consumer case came as part of an agreement by attorneys general and financial institution regulators in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Ultimately the settlement may include all 50 states, said William Aldinger, chairman of Household, which owns Household Finance Corp. and Beneficial Finance Corp. He said the company agreed to the settlement “to get this behind us quickly.”