Virginia: Gay couple moves near Falwell’s church

A gay couple is renting a home across the street from the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s church to correct what they see as misinformation spread by the pastor and show that homosexuals can lead Christian lives.

“We just want Lynchburg to see us an old gay couple and realize that we’re as boring as they are,” said the Rev. Mel White, 62, who moved into the cottage Tuesday with Gary Nixon, 52.

White, a minister with Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles, ghost-wrote Falwell’s autobiography and has known Falwell for more than 15 years before White announced his homosexuality.

White said he started planning a trip to Lynchburg after Falwell blamed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in part on gays.

“It broke our hearts to see what he was doing,” White said. Falwell later apologized for the comments.

Minnesota: Police officer mistook real gun for stun gun

A police officer who thought he was using a stun gun to subdue a suspect mistakenly fired a bullet into the man’s back, investigators said Friday.

The victim, Christofar Atak, was listed in fair condition.

An investigation into the Sept. 2 shooting found that Greg Siem thought he was holding a stun gun, Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson said.

The stun guns used by Rochester police look like handguns. They use an electric shock to temporarily incapacitate a person.

Atak, a refugee from civil war in Sudan, was drunk and acting violently at the time, police said.

“This family moved to get away from violence and they find themselves right back in it,” said Atak’s lawyer, William L. French.

The police chief said he spoke Thursday with Atak to apologize and explain the findings of the investigation.

Peterson said that Siem and a second officer who had both been on leave since the shooting could return to work.

Pennsylvania: Soldier faces charges over photos of building

A soldier was indicted on federal charges for allegedly taking photographs of the top-secret military facility where he worked and trying to sell them to a Philadelphia publication.

Army Spc. Maurice D. Threats, 22, of Cascade, Md., who worked as a security guard in the Alternate Joint Communications Center, was charged Wednesday with transmitting defense information, bribery and seeking a gratuity as a public official.

The heavily guarded center, better known as Site R, sits inside a hollowed-out granite mountain near the Pennsylvania-Maryland border and is one of several relocation sites for government leaders during national emergencies. Designed during the Cold War to withstand a nuclear attack, it houses several buildings and features amenities such as a barber shop and post office, the Army has said.

Threats’ court-appointed attorney, Thomas Thornton, said his client was trying to sell photos of the outside of the facility because he was having financial problems.