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CLARIONLEDGER.COM 2A LI THE a 1 1 1 i WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007 MSA astronayt aees dhmurd attempt A i .11 'it 1 i si The Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. A NASA astronaut accused of trying to kidnap a romantic rival for a space shuttle pilot's affections was charged with attempted first-degree murder Tuesday and released from jail after posting $25,500 bail. "The intent was there to do serious bodily injury or death," said Orlando police Sgt. Barb Jones, referring to a new steel mallet, knife, rubber tubing and large garbage bags that police found in Lisa il Marie Nowak's possession. Nowak, a 43-year-old Navy captain and married mother of three, already had been charged Oefelein with attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery.

A judge earlier Tuesday said she could be freed on $15,500 bail provided she stayed away from the other woman and wore a monitoring device. But the judge increased that amount after prosecutors filed attempted murder charges. Nowak was released from jail late Tuesday afternoon with a jacket covering her head. She was escorted by chief astronaut Steve Lindsey and a bail bondsman on her way to get fitted for an ankle bracelet that would track her whereabouts. If convicted of attempted murder, she faces between 30 years and life in prison, authorities said.

Lindsey, who flew with Nowak to the international space station last July aboard Police said Nowak drove 900 miles, donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted a woman she believed was a competitor for the affections of Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, an unmarried fellow astronaut. Oefelein, 41, piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He and Nowak Tne Associaiea Press Attorney Donald Lykkebak appears Tuesday before Judge Mike Murphy on behalf of his client, astronaut and Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak (center), who was arrested on attempted kidnapping and battery charges.

Nowak later was charged with attempted first-degree murder. rmiMJiMiuuun Okla. teen suspect in slayings of 5 TULSA lliee arrested a teen suspected of killing five people in the same drug-infested neighborhood since November, including a woman and her adult son and a man who was robbed of $3. Joshua Julius Anderson, 19, initially was arrested on a rape allegation, but detectives added five complaints of first-degree murder on Monday. All the victims were found within blocks of each other.

Four of them a third of the city's homicide victims this year were killed in the last two weeks. Man posing as kid faces more counts OKLAHOMA CITY Investigators said Tuesday they will recom mend felony molestation charges against a sex offender who passed himself off as a schoolboy, saying they have video of him having sex with an 11-year-old Oklahoma boy. Police identified Neil H. Rodre-ick II, 29, in the video by marks on his body, El Reno Police Lt. Van Gillock said.

Rodreick was arrested last month when officials at a charter school in Arizona questioned the authenticity of his birth certificate and other enrollment documents. He had enrolled in four charter schools posing as a 12- or 13-year-old, records show. Authorities said he shaved and wore pancake makeup to help him appear younger. Police believe that Rodreick also pretended to be a 13-year-old when he lived in El Reno from 2003 to 2005, Gillock said. 9 from Ky.

family killed in house fire BARDSTOWN, Ky. Lana Meier was awakened by a woman pounding on her door with terrifying news the house next door was engulfed in flames with nearly a dozen people still inside. "She was just hysterical," Meier said. "She said, 'I can't get in the house. It's on fire, and my baby's Firefighters arrived six minutes later, but it was too late.

Nine people, including six children, were dead inside the house, and another adult died later at a hospital. One adult survived the fire, which broke out shortly before dawn, and was hospitalized, authorities said. Officials did not release the relationships and ages of the victims, though a relative said a grandmother, her boyfriend, two of her children and six of her grandchildren had died. Romney formally to toss hat in ring WASHINGTON Republican Mitt Romney will formally announce his candidacy for president next week in Michigan, his native state, campaign aides said. The former one-term Massachusetts governor will mafce his announcement on Tuesday and then will visit Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina the first states to hold 2008 contests.

Romney, 59, created an exploratory committee in January and then held a major fundraiser that netted $6.5 million in contributions and pledges. Snickers pulls ad called homophobic HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. A commercial for Snickers candy bars launched in the Super Bowl broadcast was benched after its maker got complaints that it was homophobic. The ad showed two auto mechanics accidentally kissing while eating the same candy bar and then ripping out some chest hair to do something "manly." The Web site also featured video of players from the Super Bowl teams reacting to the kiss. "This type of jeering from professional sports figures at the sight of two men kissing fuels the kind of anti-gay bullying that haunts countless gay and lesbian school children on playgrounds all across the country," Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese said in a statement.

From wire reports I Whom to call: House Dems slate Iraq vote for Officer: Suspect planned to kill 75 NEW WESTMINSTER, British Columbia An undercover officer who shared a jail cell with a pig farmer accused in the deaths of women from a gritty Vancouver neighborhood said the man told him he planned to stop at 50 killings and then kill 25 more women after a break. The officer who cannot be identified under a court order told the 12-member jury that he posed as a man who was facing attempted murder charges and gained the trust of Robert Pickton during their incarceration in February 2002. Pickton is charged with 26 counts of murder. 2nd letter bomb hits British firm WOKINGHAM, England A suspected letter bomb exploded at an outsourcing company Tuesday at the start of the work day, officials said, injuring two employees in the second attack of its kind this week. An item of mail "likely" ignited and caused a "small explosion," Thames Valley Police said in a statement.

Officials said two people in the office of Vantis PLC, a tax and accounting company, were injured. On Monday, a padded envelope exploded at an office belonging to Capita Group PLC, which administers a $16 daily charge aimed at cutting traffic congestion in central London. The company also collects television license fees. Police thwart suicide attack RAWALPINDI, Pakistan Police thwarted a suicide attack on the airport serving Pakistan's capital late Tuesday, officials said. A shootout about 200 yards from the international terminal killed the assailant and wounded three police.

It follows a Jan. 26 suicide bombing at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said it was the sixth militant attack in the past 15 days mostly suicide bombings in Pakistan's northwestern frontier near the Afghan border. "They (the attacks) are interlinked," he said, without elaborating. Bolivian miners protest tax hike LA PAZ, Bolivia More than 20,000 miners from across Bolivia marched into the capital Tuesday, tossing sticks of dynamite that sent booming explosions echoing through the streets in a protest of President Evo Morales' plans for a steep hike in mining taxes.

The hard-hatted miners whistled and chanted as they marched through the center of La Paz to protest the tax proposal, which they say would unfairly burden hundreds of small independent miners' cooperatives. Police said they confiscated some 284 sticks of dynamite, along with hundreds of detonators and rolls of fuse. After negotiations with the miners Monday night, the government announced the cooperatives' taxes would be frozen at current levels until further notice. The proposed tax increase would be directed instead at larger private mining companies, officials said. Man fined in saving his dog from eagle BERLIN A German appellate court in Stuttgart proposed $19,500 fine Tuesday against a 70-year-old man who fatally beat an escaped golden eagle with his walking stick after it attacked his dachshund.

The court agreed with a lower court's decision that a wildlife center that let the eagle escape was partly responsible, but it attributed even more blame to the pensioner, more than doubling his penalty. According to the court's proposed settlement, the wildlife center would pay only $662 for the dog's veterinary expenses. The court will hand down a decision on Feb. 23, should the parties not agree to the proposed settlement. From wire reports AaCflHEflCOUKTES Mon- Wkend Sun.

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to pay to expand Iraq's own army, police force trained together but never flew a mission together. Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities found a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Oefelein and Colleen Shipman. They also found a letter "that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr.

Oefelein" and Shipman's home address, the arrest affidavit said. Police said Nowak told them that she only wanted to scare Shipman into talking to her about her relationship and didn't want to harm her. "If you were just going to talk to someone, I don't know that you would need a wig, a trench coat, an air cartridge BB gun and pepper spray," Jones said. "It's just really a very sad case." Defense attorney Donald Lykkebak said Tuesday that he believes the attempted murder charge was filed because police were unhappy Nowak would be released on bail. "I guess they didn't like the ruling in court this morning, did they? You think they would have done it if she was still in jail?" he said.

According to authorities, Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Oefelein, and when she found out Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, she decided to confront her early Monday, according to the arrest affidavit. next week than planned. Tina Jonas, the Pentagon budget chief, said that Bush's 2008 budget proposal includes $3.8 billion for the expansion and that the other $2 billion is contained in his request for an additional $93.4 billion to cover overall war costs for the remainder of the current budget year, which ends Sept. 30. Vice Adm.

Stephen Stanley, a top budget official on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that the Iraqis are responsible for the cost of training and equipping 19,000 of the 34,000 additional troops and police. The United States would pay for the other 15,000. findings are unreliable because Trasylol tends to be used in more complex operations and the researchers' statistical analysis did not fully account for the complexity of the surgery cases. The study, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, intensifies questions about how best to track the safety of drugs after they have gone on the market. The study followed 3,876 patients who had heart bypass surgery at 62 hospitals in 16 nations.

Researchers compared patients who received aprotinin to patients who got other drugs or no anti-bleeding drugs. Over five years, 20.8 percent of the aprotinin patients died, versus 12.7 percent of the patients who received no anti-bleeding drug. HOME-DELIVERED SUBSCRIPTION RATES CHCUATION MARKETING AREA Mon- Wkend Sunday 7 days Sat. Holidays Holidays 1 Month $16.50 $10.75 $10.50 $8.75 Circulation Marketing counties: Adams, Claiborne, Franklin, Issaquena, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, Lauderdale, Leflore, Neshoba, Newton, Pike, Sharkey, Walthal, Warren, Washington. EZPAY OPTION Save up to $1 on your monthly subscription rate (certain restrictions apply).

Choose our EZPay option for subscription payment. For more details, call Customer Service at (601) 961-7200. The Associated Press WASHINGTON The U.S. government will pay $5.8 billion to help Iraq expand further its army and police force, which are too small for its security needs, senior Pentagon officials said Tuesday. The expansion, announced Monday as part of President Bush's 2008 budget plan, would increase the Iraqi security forces to 362,000.

The Bush administration has made the development of competent Iraqi security forces a centerpiece of its strategy for eventually withdrawing U.S. military forces. But the process has been slower The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Democ-ratic-controlled House is planning to vote next week on opposing President Bush's Iraq troop buildup in a wartime clash between Congress and the commander in chief. The precise nature of the non-binding measure remains to be determined, officials said Tuesday, although Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said it would focus on "our opposition to the surge" in troops. The Pentagon is in the midst of implementing Bush's order to raise troop levels by 21,500, part of a plan to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad.

Across the Capitol on the Senate side, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year if daunting conditions including sub- NBC reporter to testify in CIA leak trial The Associated Press WASHINGTON On grand jury audiotapes played at his trial on Tuesday, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby said he learned about a CIA officer from Vice President Dick Cheney, forgot it, then learned it again from NBC News reporter Tim Russert later. The complicated history of Lib-by's recollections is at the heart of his perjury and obstruction trial in exposing of the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA employee. She is married to war critic and former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Russert is expected to testify today and will be a key witness because his recollection is at odds with Libby's. Libby said he called space shuttle Discovery, and fellow astronaut Chris Ferguson attended the earlier hearing. "Our primary concern is her health and well-being and that she get through this," Lindsey told reporters later. "Her status (with the astronaut corps) has not changed." Ferguson said he was "perplexed" by Nowak's alleged actions. dued violence and political reconciliation are met.

In Iraq, however, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the Baghdad security operation that the buildup was designed to help was starting slowly and insurgents were responding by killing as many people as possible. The U.S. announced two American deaths a soldier killed Tuesday at a security post southwest of Baghdad and a Marine who died Monday in Anbar province and eight Iraqis were killed by car bombs in Baghdad. In all, more than 50 people were killed or found dead in Iraq. Under House rules, Democratic leaders have the authority to advance a measure to the floor for three days of debate and a vote.

That stands in contrast to the Senate, where Republicans have so far blocked an attempt by Democrats to hold a full-fledged debate. The Associated Press "Scooter" Libby Russert to complain about NBC colleague Chris Matthews and Russert brought up Plame. "Did you know that Ambassador Wilson's wife worked at the CIA?" Libby recalled Russert asking. "No, I don't know Libby said he replied. Russert said Plame never came up in the conversation.

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The researchers said replacing the drug aprotinin, sold by Bayer AG under the brand name Trasylol with other, cheaper medications for a year would prevent 10,000 deaths worldwide over the next five years. The findings were more bad news for Trasylol: The same scientists found the drug raised the risk of kidney failure, heart attacks and strokes in a study published last year. Most of the deaths in the study were related to those problems. Bayer said in a statement that the PRKWW MARKET COUNTES Wkend Sin Local 7days Sat. Hofdays Hoteys Agent 1 Month $15.50 $10.25 $10.00 $7.50 $18.75 Primary Market counties: Attala, Copah, Covington, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Jelferson Davis, Lawrence, Leake, Lincoln, Madison, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Yazoo MAI RATES Weekend Sat.

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