Stolen George Washington letter found in New York

ORANGE, Va. (AP) — A letter written by George Washington in 1788 and stolen from a home in Virginia has been found in New York City.

The letter, valued at $500,000, had been sold to a collector in New York for far less than its value, authorities said Tuesday. It was to be retrieved Thursday by Orange County sheriff’s officials.

Thomas Paytes, 35, of Orange County, was charged with grand larceny in the Feb. 25 theft. Paytes worked for the owner of the letter and had access to his home, the sheriff’s department said. He was arrested in Washington during the weekend.

Orange County Sheriff C.G. Feldman would not identify the letter’s owner.

The letter was written to Washington’s personal secretary, Tobias Lear, nine months before Washington became president. In it, Washington discusses Virginia’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution, which had taken place three days earlier on June 26.

Independent council validates Clinton charges

WASHINGTON (AP) — A final report by Independent Counsel Robert Ray concluded Wednesday that prosecutors had ample evidence for criminal charges against President Clinton in the scandal involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

“President Clinton’s offenses had a significant adverse impact on the community, substantially affecting the public’s view of the integrity of our legal system,” stated the report.

“The independent counsel’s judgment that sufficient evidence existed to prosecute President Clinton was confirmed by President Clinton’s admissions,” the report stated. “President Clinton admitted he ‘knowingly gave evasive and misleading answers”’ about his sexual relationship with Lewinsky.

It wasn’t until Clinton’s next-to-last day in office that he finally put the investigation of allegations of perjury and obstruction in the Lewinsky matter behind him.

The president’s lawyers cut a deal with Ray that spared Clinton from criminal charges in the Lewinsky controversy.

Fossil indicates dinosaur, bird connection

(AP) — Paleontologists working in China say they have unearthed the first fossil of a dinosaur that appeared to have mature feathers identical to those of modern birds, including long, showy plumage on its tail and hind legs.

The U.S.-Chinese research team said the 3-foot fossil should settle once and for all the acrimonious debate over whether birds and dinosaurs are related.

It also reinforces the idea that dinosaurs were not cold-blooded after all, as the textbooks said for generations, but warm-blooded creatures that needed feathers for warmth, not flight.

The specimen is believed to be about 128 million years old. It is a small, fleet-footed theropod, a two-legged carnivore that could not fly and belongs to the same family as the larger and more fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The researchers said the evidence of feathers consists of feathery impressions in the rock as well as what they described as “feather residue.”

Earthquake in Philippines causes eight deaths

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) — A strong pre-dawn earthquake rocked the southern Philippines on Wednesday, causing at least eight deaths, forcing thousands to evacuate a tidal wave zone and bringing destructive tremors to several rural towns.

The pre-dawn quake caught many people at home. Heavy debris crushed two people in the southern town of Lake Cebu while falling construction blocks in nearby Sarangani province killed another two, regional army spokesman Maj. Julieto Ando said. The number of dead and injured could rise as more rural towns report losses, Anda said.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, struck around 5:15 a.m. and was centered about 10 miles under the sea, about 150 miles southwest of General Santos, said Mylene Carlos of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Fire spreads in southeastern Arizona mountains

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Gusting wind spread a fire over steep, rugged slopes in southeastern Arizona’s Huachuca Mountains as a growing contingent of firefighters tried to contain the blaze Wednesday.

The fire, worsened by a lack of rain or snow, has caused no injuries and wasn’t threatening homes or other structures, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Joan Vasey. More than 935 acres had burned.

Officials said the fire likely spread from an abandoned campfire sometime Friday. One road and 10 mountain trails were closed, as was the Ramsey Canyon Preserve.

About 200 firefighters and support staff, some from Tennessee and North Carolina, fought to keep the blaze from approaching scenic Ramsey Canyon, where some homes are tucked into the forest.

Astronauts succeed in risky Hubble power-unit repair

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
(AP) — Two astronauts stepped out into the vacuum of space Wednesday and successfully performed the riskiest surgery yet on the Hubble Space Telescope, a power-unit replacement that was likened to a heart transplant.

The operation required that Hubble be turned off completely for the first time in orbit, a frightening prospect for astronomers. But after a four-hour, 25-minute shutdown, the newly installed unit was powered up and, to everyone’s relief, passed its initial test.

“A postoperative report: We have a heartbeat,” Mission Control informed the astronauts. Within minutes, power was surging through other telescope systems.

Football fan found guilty in airport security breech

JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) — A football fan whose dash past security guards shut down the Atlanta airport for four hours was sentenced to 10 days in jail Wednesday after pleading guilty to misdemeanor trespassing.

Michael Lasseter, 33, was sentenced to five weekends in jail and 500 hours of community service. He also was barred from attending University of Georgia football games this fall.
“I made a mistake, and my family and I have suffered greatly for it,” Lasseter said in court. “I’m here today to accept responsibility for my actions and the response from the court.”

Lasseter was trying to catch a flight to a Georgia game in Mississippi on Nov. 16 when he ran past guards and down an “up” escalator.

Thousands of passengers had to be re-screened after the airport was evacuated. Flights were canceled, causing delays for fliers.

United Airlines mechanics get first raises in eight years

CHICAGO (AP) — United Airlines mechanics and aircraft cleaners approved a new contract that will give them raises for the first time in eight years, ending a bitter two-year dispute that prompted presidential intervention.

The ratification — approved by 59 percent of the voting membership — averted a strike that could have started as soon as Thursday. Analysts had said a walkout would have grounded United and forced it into bankruptcy.

The 12,800 mechanics and cleaners resoundingly rejected a previous contract offer three weeks ago and authorized a strike. But United sweetened the terms of the five-year pact and negotiators reached a tentative agreement Feb. 18, barely 36 hours before a walkout that could have shuttered the airline.

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