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Around the Nation

Newsboys deliver rock

When Peter Furler stepped aside as lead singer of the Newsboys last spring, it was akin to U2 losing Bono.

Newsboys deliver rock

Madoff accomplice denied bail, again

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge in New York challenged the government to prove that jailed financier Bernard Madoff's former finance chief is a valuable cooperator Wednesday, implying he may only be pretending to help prosecutors in the hopes of garnering a lighter sentence.

ACORN pleads not guilty to 13 counts of Nevada vote fraud

LAS VEGAS — Lawyers for the political advocacy group ACORN and a former voter registration supervisor pleaded not guilty Tuesday to illegally paying canvassers to register Nevada voters during last year's presidential campaign.

US border agency personnel tied to array of misconduct, crimes

EL PASO — One immigration agent was accused of running an Internet pornography business and enjoying an improper relationship with an informant. Another let an informant smuggle in a group of illegal immigrants. And in a third case, an agent was investigated for soliciting sex from a witness…

US border agency personnel tied to array of misconduct, crimes

Man sentenced to 3.5 years for hindering murder prosecution

One of three men charged with first-degree murder in the November 2008 shooting death of a Tucson man was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to hindering prosecution.

Charge against teen in fatal beating is dropped

CHICAGO — A first-degree murder charge was dropped Monday against one of four teens accused in the brutal beating of a Chicago honor student that was recorded in a cell-phone camera video.

Charge against teen in fatal beating is dropped

The expert witness: an inexact system

Contract attorneys hired by the county spent almost five times as much taxpayer money on expert witnesses as the prosecutor's office and other public defenders combined.

Strategy, as well as cost, factoring into hiring experts

Cost is just one thing attorneys consider in hiring expert witnesses.

Testimony of Anna Nicole Smith sexual liaison barred

LOS ANGELES — Saying he wanted to avoid "a circus sideshow," a judge barred prosecutors Thursday from asking a witness whether a sexual relationship existed between celebrity model Anna Nicole Smith and the female psychiatrist accused of providing her with excessive medication.

Testimony of Anna Nicole Smith sexual liaison barred

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Local holes-in-one

Pam Brunelle

Tales on the wild side

Our readers came through with some gems about encounters with wildlife when we recently invited you to send us tales and photos of memorable experiences in the great outdoors.