Colorado

Biblical quote brings death sentence appeal

A man convicted of killing a woman wants his death sentence thrown out because the jury allegedly invoked a Bible passage calling for punishment of “an eye for an eye.”

Robert Harlan was convicted in 1995 of kidnapping, raping and murdering Rhonda Maloney, 25. Harlan shot and paralyzed a passerby, Jacquie Creazzo, after she tried to help.

Defense attorney Kathleen Lord filed the motion in Brighton asking that his death sentence be thrown out after interviewing five of the 12 jurors. She said at least two jurors had Bibles with them while they deliberated on whether to sentence Harlan to life in prison or death.

Lord contends that using religious works during deliberations is improper under Colorado law.

Jurors have not denied that some people quoted from the Bible during deliberations.

Washington

Spotted owl population continues to decline

The northern spotted owl population in Washington state continues to drop, experts say, despite federal efforts to protect the threatened species.

The number of spotted owls dropped by 5 percent to 8 percent annually between 1992 and 2002, even though the Forest Service tightened logging practices on public lands nearly a decade ago.

“If things continue at this rate it’s not too long before you are out of birds,” said Eric Forsman, a Forest Service official in Port Townsend who has studied spotted owls since the 1960s.

The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan revamped logging practices on federal lands to protect the 18-inch-long owl.

While spotted owl populations appear to be stable in Oregon, their decline in Washington state is occurring on both sides of the Cascades, in national parks and on state and private land.

Montana

Bankruptcy closes 113-year-old bar

The M&M Cigar Store in Butte, a landmark saloon for miners, gamblers and cowboys once described by beat poet Jack Kerouac as the ideal bar, closed for the first time in 113 years, right after the business manager filed for bankruptcy.

“It was not profitable any more,” said Charles Bugni, 78, who had leased the business for nearly three decades. “This isn’t a young man’s joint and the old-timers are passing away.”

Last call for drinks came at 7:17 p.m. Tuesday, and the doors were locked a few minutes after 8 p.m. Many of the patrons were crying. Those who tried to take mementoes were stopped by a bankruptcy trustee.

Kerouac, a Beat poet, visited the M&M Bar and described it for Esquire magazine in 1970: “What characters in there: old prospectors, gamblers, whores, miners, Indians, cowboys, tobacco-chewing businessmen! … It was the end of my quest for an ideal bar.”

Atlanta

College president out after accreditation loss

The president of 122-year-old, historically black Morris Brown College has resigned, one week after the financially troubled school lost a bid to win back its accreditation.

Morris Brown’s board of trustees said Tuesday it had accepted Charles E. Taylor’s resignation and appointed chemistry professor Leroy Frazier as acting president of the private school, which has a debt of about $27 million.

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether the college fraudulently received and spent federal student aid.

The school lost its accreditation in December because of its financial problems, and on April 7 the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools denied the college’s appeal.

The decision disqualified students for federal financial aid. Nearly 90 percent of the school’s 2,500 students relied on that aid.