AP - The head of a labor recruiting company accused of exploiting 400 workers from Thailand and forcing them to work on U.S. farms pleaded not guilty Friday, part of what the FBI calls the largest human-trafficking case charged in U.S. history

AP - A federal judge declared a mistrial Friday after jurors told him deliberations had grown hostile in the marriage fraud case of Mexican-born actress Fernanda Romero and her husband.

Reuters - A federal appeals court judge on Friday denied bail for former Enron Corp Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, according to a court document.

Emergency calls placed minutes after a gunman entered the Discovery Channel's headquarters include descriptions of the propane tanks strapped to his body and a blinking device in his left hand.



Discovery Channel - Propane - Television - Silver Spring Maryland - Arts

AP - The mother of an Oklahoma man believed to have been killed by an Arizona prison escapee has filed a $10 million claim against Arizona and a wrongful death lawsuit against the private company that operates the prison that housed the fugitive.

A former US Airways Express pilot will spend nine months in prison for selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was "100 percent" effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests.



DrugTest - US Airways Express - Truck driver - Shopping - Recreation

Reuters - A man accused of breaking into the home of celebrity socialite Paris Hilton armed with knives pleaded not guilty on Friday to a charge of attempted burglary, officials said.

AP - A witness in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy trial recanted statements Friday that he saw defendant Howard K. Stern give the celebrity model excessive drugs.

The administrator of the premier bicycling bulletin board in Minneapolis is calling it quits:

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AP - A man accused of showing up at Paris Hilton's house wielding two knives has pleaded not guilty to attempted felony burglary.

AFP - The United States is collaborating with Mexico in bringing a recently arrested top drug lord to justice, a State Department spokeswoman said Friday refusing to say whether the United States was seeking his extradition.

AP - A 13-year-old boy and his 12-year-old girlfriend will soon face capital murder charges in a Dallas-area double-shooting after the second victim died, authorities said Friday.

Federal investigators have decided a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee was arson.



Construction - Arson - Tennessee - Islam - Tools and Equipment

AP - The former treasurer of the National Republican Congressional Committee pleaded guilty Friday to embezzling more than $840,000 from a variety of political committees, including an NRCC account for annual fundraising dinners with President George W. Bush.

Candidates endorsed by Sarah Palin have won two-thirds of the time. A little more than half of those winners were non-establishment or Tea Party candidates.

Somewhere in disussions about the power of Sarahcuda, I caught this comment, worthy of a Snark Award:

I can see November from my house!

It is important to keep in mind that almost all the elections where Palin’s horse won were primaries. The dynamic is different when it is a Democrat against a Republican. People still tend to vote for the team instead of the candidate.

But I can’t help but grin when I think of all the leftoids who tried to dismiss Palin as a rube who’s 15 minutes expired two years ago.

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Reuters - The former treasurer of a top Republican campaign committee pleaded guilty to embezzling $845,000 over 6-1/2 years and likely will face three years in prison, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday.

AP - A federal appeals court has overturned a businessman's tax fraud conviction because the Los Angeles judge didn't postpone the case so the man could be at his son's deathbed.

Four men have been killed in a shooting in southwest Chicago.



Chicago - Recreation - Guns - Competition Shooting - School

General rule of thumb: when looking to buy marijuana, don't text the sheriff. Authorities said a Helena teen sent out a text message last week in search of pot, but instead of contacting the drug dealer, he hit a wrong number and inadvertently sent the message to Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton.



Sheriff - Cannabis - Illegal drug trade - Lewis and Clark County Montana - Law Enforcement

AP - An appeals court has scheduled a hearing for lawyers for the father of Michael Jackson to argue that he deserves a role in decisions involving his son's multimillion dollar estate.