Senate grants telecoms immunity
The Senate voted Tuesday to shield from lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on their customers without court permission after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. After nearly two months of stops and starts, the Senate rejected by a vote of 31 to 67 a move to strip away a grant of retroactive legal immunity for the companies.
12 hurt in highway pileup
The California Highway Patrol says about a dozen people have been injured and 50 vehicles damaged in a fog-related pileup south of Fresno. The chain-reaction accident Tuesday morning scattered broken glass and mangled cars along a three-mile stretch in Kingsburg. Visibility was just 50 feet when CHP officers got to the scene. Police said three people had to be extracted from a car that slammed into a big rig.
Snow and ice hit multiple states
Snow and ice spread across the Ohio Valley on Tuesday, closing schools, knocking out power for thousands of homes and businesses and collapsing a bakery roof. First lady Laura Bush canceled appearances, and ice was an inch thick in southern Illinois. The Pittsburgh area was bracing for up to 8 inches of snow, the National Weather Service said. Warnings were posted into New England.
Teen gets life for killing baby
A judge in Cincinnati sentenced a teenager to life in prison Tuesday for killing a 1-year-old boy by repeatedly swinging him against a wall because he was frustrated with the child’s toilet training. Authorities said Derris Smith, 18, the mother’s boyfriend, repeatedly slammed Malakai Glenn against the wall when he became frustrated last June while trying to toilet train him.
AND FINALLY …
Bank doesn’t want your meth
Credit unions accept deposits — just not of methamphetamine. A woman who allegedly dropped an envelope containing money and a bag of meth at a Kitsap Credit Union in Bremerton, Wash., was arrested and charged with drug possession, according to court documents. A bank employee reported the deposit to police, who contacted the 18-year-old customer. Officers said she might have mistakenly included the bag when she got money out of her pocket for the deposit.
