The head of a militant Islamic prison gang and three others were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of planning terrorist attacks against National Guard facilities, the Israeli Consulate and other L.A.-area targets.
‘ PEACE MOM HITS ROAD: Cindy Sheehan packed up her campsite outside President Bush’s Crawford, Texas, ranch Wednesday and took her war protest on the road, ending a nearly monthlong vigil that drew thousands and ignited an antiwar movement. Sheehan plans to be in the Austin and Houston areas on Thursday.
FDA OFFICIAL QUITS: Susan Wood, a high-ranking Food and Drug Administration official, resigned Wednesday in protest over the agency’s refusal to allow over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception. The FDA last Friday postponed indefinitely its decision on whether to allow the morning-after pill, called Plan B, to be sold without a prescription.
GIRLFRIEND DEATH: A man charged with strangling his pregnant girlfriend was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on first-degree murder charges. LaToyia Figueroa, 24, of Philadelphia had been missing for more than a month when police arrested Stephen Poaches as he allegedly tried to move her body in Chester, Pa., not far from where Figueroa disappeared.
FAKE DRUG STING: A federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., indicted three businesses and 11 people Wednesday in a conspiracy to sell $42 million worth of counterfeit, stolen and illegally imported prescription drugs, including the popular cholesterol drug Lipitor.
TOXIC SPILL: Two freight train cars derailed Tuesday night, causing a tanker to spill 30,000 gallons of highly flammable ethanol into a ditch and forcing the evacuation of about 50 homes in South Hutchinson, Kan., authorities said. No injuries were reported.
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Compiled from news services and edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Scott Kleinberg (skleinberg@tribune.com)
