Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 7

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2006 DECATUR, ILLINOIS NATION A7 www.herald-review.com BRIEFS News Service Reports CALIFORNIA Fire suspect charged RIVERSIDE Authorities on Thursday filed murder and arson charges carrying the death penalty against a man suspected of setting a Southern California wildfire last week that killed five firefighters. The suspect, Raymond Lee Oyler, 36, was already under arrest on suspicion of setting two other wildfires over the summer. Officials were investigating whether he was involved with more than three dozen fires since May. Last week's blaze was the deadliest for firefighters since July 1994, when 14 were killed near Glenwood Springs, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Sheriff, officials charged ROANOKE A sheriff and 12 current and former officers in a hard-luck rural county that once billed itself the "Sweatshirt Capital of the World" were charged Thursday in a scheme to resell drugs seized from criminals.

A former postal worker, a former probation officer and five other people also were indicted by federal prosecutors. The charges included racketeering conspiracy, narcotics distribution, obstruction of justice and perjury. H. Franklin Cassell the sheriff of Henry County, a former textile hub about 50 miles south of Roanoke was quoted by investigators as saying the only way to acquire wealth is to be "a little crooked and not get caught." I JACK PEIPSD Justice Dept. sting nets nearly 11,000 WASHINGTON (AP) Nearly 11,000 sex offenders, gang members and other fugitives were swept up in what the Justice Department on Thursday called a sting targeting the "worst of the worst" criminals on the run.

Last week's roundup, led by the U.S. Marshals Service, included Allen Marksberry, an unregistered sex offender in Rickman, who was baby-sitting several young children when he was arrested on Oct. 24. Also nabbed were Demetrius Avery Jackson, an accused cop killer in Birmingham, and Eric Dewayne Meneese, a Crips gang member, in Nashville, Tenn. The weeklong sting, code-named Operation Falcon III, also led to the shooting death of a Georgia fugitive who was killed by authorities as he came out of his house, officials said.

Additionally, the neighbor of a fugitive in Florida fired at but missed police approaching her home. Both incidents are under investigation, said John F. Clark, director of the Marshals Service The roundup, in 24 states east of the Mississippi River, targeted "the worst of the worst fugitive felons in the country," Attorney General Albert Gonzales said at a Washington news conference "America's neighborhoods are safer today, thanks to Operation Falcon III," Gonzales said. Two earlier stings Falcons I and II were held in April over the last two years. Gonzales and Clark denied that next week's elections played any part in scheduling the latest crackdown.

Evangelical leader accused of gay sex COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) The leader of the 30 million member National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday after being accused of paying for sex with a man in monthly trysts over the past three years. The Rev. Ted Haggard, a married father of five who has been called one of the most influential evangelical Christians in the nation, denied the allegations. His accuser refused to share voice mails that he said backed up his claim.

Haggard also stepped aside as head of his New Life Church while a church panel investigates, saying he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations." "I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity," Haggard said in a written statement. "I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date" Assorted Varieties Assorted Varieties CI A1 wVSwir Saturday Onlv 16 aoDd am OPOP Girl, 10, dies of rabies INDIANAPOLIS A 10-year-old girl who was diagnosed with Indiana's first confirmed case of rabies in nearly half a century died Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Shannon Carroll had been bitten by a rabid bat in June and had been hospitalized since early October. More than 30 of the girl's relatives, friends and classmates were offered injections to prevent the spread of the disease Rabies is a viral disease transmitted to humans and other animals through saliva, usually in a bite Three found slain in ditch COLUMBIA Three people were found slain Thursday in a drainage pipe near an apartment complex, and police said a former boyfriend of one of the victims would be charged with murder. The bodies of a woman who had been stabbed to death and two men who had been fatally shot were found by a neighbor near the woman's apartment, officials said.

Charles Gamble, 24, who was the woman's ex-boyfriend and the father of her son, turned himself in earlier Thursday for questioning. He also will be charged with first-degree burglary and possession of a firearm in commission of a felony, he said. Thursday, Friday and Sunday Sirius Satellite Radio Sony PSP or Portable DVD Player m.msmm Live Radio Remote on Saturday Nov. 4 BERGNER'S El MM THE 2006 WORLD CHAMPIONS! '-w4f i I vv 0 Waterford Crystal baseball Order your limited edition numbered Waterford Crystal commemorative baseball. Each solid crystal baseball is numbered and measures One heart leader oniy at st.

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