New Orleans marks 2nd Mardi Gras since Katrina; weary residents join with rowdy visitors

By: Associated Press | Tuesday, February 20, 2007 3:12 PM PST ∞

NEW ORLEANS -- Thousands of hurricane-weary residents joined with rowdy visitors for Fat Tuesday, taking a break from rebuilding New Orleans to put on wild costumes and celebrate the second Mardi Gras since Katrina.

John Ferguson, who is still rebuilding his house almost 18 months after the storm, said of the celebration: "We never needed it more.

"I work all day at my job, then I work all night and all weekend on my house. I just want to eat, drink and have fun today," Ferguson said.

Many spectators spent the day along the parade routes or in the French Quarter, where the first Mardi Gras parade of the day was staged by the 1,250-member Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, a predominantly black group that wears grass skirts and blackface makeup in parody of stereotypes from the early 1900s, when it was founded.

"I'm hyped up," said Ike Williams, a 42-year-old Atlanta contractor who is black. He who wore black face, a frizzy black wig and a grass skirt as he marched in his first parade as a member of Zulu's Walking Warriors. "I couldn't sleep last night. This is the center of the universe right now."

Earlier in the day, Mayor Ray Nagin rode a horse down St. Charles Avenue.

"We're going to make it happen," Nagin told the crowd at Gallier Hall, which served as city hall for over a century. "We're going to rebuild this city regardless."

Nagin urged tourists to spend money. "We need the tax revenue bad," he said.

The crowds appeared larger than last year, when an estimated 700,000 people were in the city for the final weekend and Mardi Gras. The city's 30,000 hotel rooms were 95 percent occupied, according to Fred Sawyers, president of the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association.

Along some parade routes, crowds listened to Pete Fountain's Dixieland jazz as his Half Fast Marching Club kicked off the day. It was the 46th time the Grammy-winning clarinetist had made the march from Commander's Palace restaurant in the uptown section to the Mississippi River.

"This is like old times," said Fountain, 76, who lost his house along with his gold records and collection of instruments in the hurricane. "New Orleans will always get ready for a party."

Corinne Branigan, 40, wore a brown T-shirt with the slogan, "New Orleans. Established 1718, Re-established 8-29-05," referring to the date Katrina struck the city.

"This is everything that's great about New Orleans rolled into three days," Branigan said. "Food, music -- we've got the best marching bands in the country. It's like a big neighborhood. Everything else is forgotten for the time being."

In the French Quarter, the celebration was more raucous as revelers swapped flashes of flesh for beads tossed from balconies.

Costumes ranged from the glamorous to the satirical.

Judy Weaver, 49, and R.M. Elfer, 50, wore nuns' habits with camouflage capes as the Angry Little Sisters of the Apocalypse. They carried rulers bearing the slogan "weapons of mass instruction," and what they called novena bombs -- originally, toilet floats -- and rapid-fire rosaries.

"We are cleaning up crime in the city," said Weaver.

Associated Press reporters Michael Kunzelman, Becky Bohrer and Cain Burdeau contributed to this report.

Boat carrying children on school trip capsizes in India; 22 drown, many missing

COCHIN, India (AP) -- A river boat carrying children on a school trip capsized in southern India on Tuesday, and at least 18 children and four teachers drowned, a local official said. Sixteen children were missing as night fell.

Three boats were carrying more than 100 students and staff down the Periyar River in the Thattekkad bird sanctuary when one boat capsized, said Mohammad Haneesh, a top official of the district. All the children were younger than 11.

As darkness fell, 16 children were still missing, and 10 had been admitted to a local hospital, he said.

It was not clear how many children were in the boat that capsized.

The Thattekkad sanctuary is about 25 miles east of Cochin, the commercial hub of the southern state of Kerala.

Man suspected in death of wife, daughter was on leave from nuclear plant for mental problems

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- A nuclear power plant worker suspected of strangling his wife and daughter and then killing himself had been placed on leave from his job to deal with mental problems, the plant owner said Tuesday.

Steven Lessard, an engineer at Unit 2 of the Indian Point Energy Center, killed his wife Kathy, 48, and 14-year-old daughter Linda in their bedrooms, then killed himself, state police said Monday. It was not clear how Lessard died, police said.

Police found the bodies Monday after being called by relatives concerned that they could not reach the family by telephone. Authorities said the killings apparently happened late Thursday or early Friday.

Jim Steets, a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns the Indian Point complex in Buchanan, said Lessard dealt with planning projects and had no connection with the operation of the nuclear reactors.

Lessard, who had worked at the plant since 1995, would have undergone psychiatric testing when first hired and have had regular background checks since, Steets said.

Fellow workers noticed on Feb. 8 that Lessard "was overly stressed and just behaving somewhat irrationally at work."

A supervisor sent Lessard to a nurse at the plant. Lessard declined help within the company's employee assistance program, saying he was already seeing a doctor, but agreed to a leave of absence, Steets said.

"They thought it would be good if he could just take some time off to deal with what was bothering him," Steets said.

Lessard had an appointment with a psychologist or psychiatrist last week, Steets said, but "we don't know whether he saw that doctor."

On the Net:

Entergy: http://www.entergy-nuclear.com/

Smith boyfriend says she was adamant about son's burial, expressed wish to be buried with him

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Anna Nicole Smith wanted to be buried next to her son in the Bahamas, where she lived, her companion testified Tuesday in the latest round of legal battles surrounding the model's death.

Smith's boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, and her estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, were in a Florida court arguing what to do with her remains, while another hearing in California dealt with questions about the paternity of the former centerfold's infant daughter.

Stern testified Smith was adamant about burying her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, in the Bahamas, where he died just days after Smith's daughter was born there in September.

"Anna and Daniel were inseparable. Daniel was without question the most important person in Anna's life," Stern told Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin.

At Daniel's funeral, "she said 'if Daniel has to be buried, I want to be buried with him,' " Stern said.

Without written proof of Smith's own wishes, Seidlin is forced to hear testimony from those who claim to know what Smith wanted.

Arthur wants Smith brought home to her native Texas, insisting that despite their estrangement, she has the right to bury her own daughter, not a man to whom Smith wasn't even married.

Stern, who was ordered to be in court, testified Smith "was my best friend, lover, the mother of my daughter -- everything to me."

She always thought she was going to die young, Stern said. "She thought she was going to be like Marilyn Monroe."

In Los Angeles, Stern's lawyers argued the paternity issue Tuesday with attorneys for Smith's ex-companion, Larry Birkhead, who says he fathered the girl.

That hearing was closed to the public, but James Neavitt, a lawyer for Stern, said afterward that Superior Court Judge Robert A. Schnider declined to relinquish control over the paternity case but suggested there were still questions pending about which state has jurisdiction.

Attorney Debra Opri, who represents Birkhead, asked the judge to take emergency jurisdiction of the baby and bring her to California, Neavitt said. The judge denied that request and "questioned whether he has jurisdiction," Neavitt said.

Frederic von Anhalt, the husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, has filed a separate paternity challenge to Stern's claim.

At the Florida hearing, Seidlin first suggested to lawyers that he needed to know who the father was in order to decide the burial issue.

Ron Rale, an attorney for Smith who also is representing Stern in his paternity case, said that paternity is irrelevant to the burial question.

"You want to have your cake and eat it," Seidlin shot back.

But after a brief private conference with all sides, he said he was going to try to answer the burial question without knowing that.

"It would help the court if I knew who the natural father is to speak on behalf of Dannielynn," Seidlin said. "Right now, the moment's not right."

Since Smith's death Feb. 8 in Florida, the baby has been living with Stern in the Bahamas. The cause of Smith's death is under investigation. She was 39.

Smith was the widow of Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, whom she married in 1994 when he was 89 and she was 26. She had been fighting his family over his estimated $500 million fortune since his death in 1995.

Associated Press writer Ana Beatriz Cholo in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Florida doctors to keep miracle preemie in hospital a little longer, delaying Tuesday release

MIAMI (AP) -- A premature baby who doctors said spent less time in the womb than any other surviving infant will remain in a hospital a few extra days as a precaution, officials said Tuesday.

Amillia Sonja Taylor, born Oct. 24 after just under 22 weeks in the womb, had been expected to be sent home from Baptist Children's Hospital on Tuesday.

However, routine tests showed her white blood cell count was low, an indication she could have an infection, said Dr. Paul Fassbach, who has cared for the baby since shortly after she was born.

"She has been fine," Fassbach said, but doctors are being extra cautious "now that she's going into the world."

Doctors say Amillia is the first baby known to have survived after a gestation of fewer than 23 weeks. She was just 9.5 inches long and weighed less than 10 ounces when she was delivered by Caesarean section. Full-term births come after 37 to 40 weeks.

Amillia, the first child for Eddie and Sonja Taylor of Homestead, now weighs 4.5 pounds and is just over 15.5 inches long.

She has suffered respiratory and digestive problems, as well as a mild brain hemorrhage, but doctors believe the health concerns will not have major long-term effects.

Amillia was conceived in vitro and has been in an incubator since birth. She will continue to receive a small amount of supplemental oxygen even after she goes home.

She was delivered because her mother was suffering from complications. Fassbach said that if doctors had known Amillia's real gestational age, they might not have intervened. He said he thought she was at least 23 weeks, and doctors were shocked when the Taylors' fertility specialist pinpointed the exact date of fertilization.

Fassbach cautioned against rushing to redefine the medical standards for fetus viability.

"We just don't know which 21- to 22-weekers are going to do well and which are not going to do well," he said. "I don't think we should change what we do, but it shows us we need to do more research and find out where our edge of viability is going to go."

Preterm births occur in about 12 percent of all pregnancies in the U.S., according to the National Institute of Health.

Nicole Richie's lawyer enters not guilty plea in DUI case

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Nicole Richie's lawyer appeared in Superior Court in Glendale without her client Tuesday and entered a not guilty plea on Richie's behalf to a driving under the influence charge.

The complaint alleges Richie was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and an unspecified drug when she was arrested Dec. 11. A pretrial conference was scheduled for April 2.

Richie, who starred in the TV reality show "The Simple Life" with Paris Hilton, was not required to appear for arraignment because the charge is a misdemeanor.

Richie, 25, was arrested after 911 callers reported seeing her car headed the wrong way on a freeway in Burbank about 12:30 a.m. She was found alone in her SUV, which was stopped in a car-pool lane but facing the right way when California Highway Patrol officers arrived.

She was arrested after she failed a field sobriety test.

CHP Officer Todd Workman said at the time that Richie, the daughter of pop singer Lionel Richie, volunteered that she had smoked marijuana and taken the prescription painkiller Vicodin, but no drugs were found on her or in the car.

Richie's reality show co-star has had similar problems recently. Last month, Hilton pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving stemming from her Sept. 7 arrest in Hollywood and was sentenced to 36 months probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines. That case was reduced from an original charge of driving under the influence.

In addition to the single count, the Richie case contains an allegation that she had a prior misdemeanor DUI conviction in June 2003.

The California vehicle code specifies that if convicted of DUI twice within 10 years, a person can be sentenced to between 90 days and a year in jail, fined between $390 and $1,000, and have driving privileges suspended.

Lawyer: Wiesel accost suspect needs mental help

SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) -- A man accused of roughing up Nobel laureate and Holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel at a San Francisco hotel earlier this month needs mental help and should not be jailed while awaiting trial, his lawyer said Tuesday.

A judge in New Jersey denied a request by the lawyer to move Eric Hunt, 22, to a psychiatric or medical facility so he can continue an unspecified regimen of medication he was taking before his arrest at a behavioral health clinic on Saturday.

The judge also denied a request that Hunt, of Vernon, be released on bail.

He faces charges in California that include attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, elder abuse, stalking, battery and the commission of a hate crime, according to San Francisco police.

"I am concerned for his mental well-being," lawyer James Addis told the judge. I've spoken with Mr. Hunt and I do not think he is a danger to anyone, or a danger to flee."

Hunt is accused of accosting Wiesel, 78, outside a Feb. 1 peace forum at the Argent Hotel in San Francisco. Police said Wiesel was approached in the lobby by a white man in his 20s who asked for an interview.

Authorities said Wiesel agreed to talk in the lobby, but the man insisted the interview be conducted in a hotel room, and got into the elevator with Wiesel. Once on the sixth floor, the suspect dragged Wiesel from the elevator, police said.

Wiesel began yelling, and the suspect ran away down the elevator, police said.

Police have said they were aware that a man claimed responsibility for the attack in a posting on an anti-Semitic Web site registered in Australia.

In that posting, a man identifying himself as Hunt took credit for the attack, saying he wanted to force Wiesel to admit that his most famous novel, "Night," an account of his time at a Nazi concentration camp, was fiction.

"I had planned on ... getting Wiesel into my custody, with a cornered Wiesel finally forced to state the truth on videotape ... exposing the 'Pope of the Holocaust religion' for being nothing but a genocidal liar," the posting read.

Addis said he had only spoken briefly with Hunt on Tuesday, adding that Hunt didn't mention the alleged incident in San Francisco.

Asked if Hunt had evidenced any violent or anti-Semitic tendencies or opinions, Addis replied, "No. None whatsoever."

Hunt, who did not speak during the five-minute hearing, was being treated at the Carrier Clinic in Montgomery Township when New Jersey authorities, acting on a request from police in San Francisco, located him there and arrested him. Addis said he does not know if Hunt checked himself into the facility, or was brought there be relatives or acquaintances.

Hunt still must be formally arraigned, but no hearing date was immediately set. Addis said he does not know if Hunt will fight extradition to California.

Wiesel, who survived the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during World War II, has worked for human rights in many parts of the world and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

Wiesel couldn't immediately be reached for comment Tuesday at Boston University, where he teaches, or through his institute in New York.

Australian teen held in hospital attack on 91-year-old patient

COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) -- An Australian teenager was arrested on attempted murder and elder abuse charges after a 91-year-old man was attacked in his hospital bed, police said.

Authorities believe 18-year-old Joshua Matthew Drougas, who lives in Costa Mesa, walked into the hospital Sunday night and tried to smother Ted Mastos of Balboa Island, police Sgt. Bob Phillips said.

Mastos, who was being treated for pneumonia at the Mesa Verde Convalescent Hospital, woke up and fought back, yelling as he forced the pillow off his face, police said.

Hospital workers found Drougas standing by Mastos, hospital administrator Tom Skiba said.

The teen willingly sat in a chair outside the hospital room until police arrived, he said.

Drougas and Mastos had never met before the incident and, except for a couple of minor bicycle infractions, Drougas has no criminal record, Phillips said.

"This is just a bizarre, weird thing," he said. "It just seems to be completely random."

Detectives are waiting for blood results to see if Drougas was intoxicated. He was being held on $1 million bail and was to be arraigned Wednesday.

Illinois basketball player charged with felonies in crash

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- University of Illinois basketball player Jamar Smith -- charged Tuesday with drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident -- apparently believed the teammate in the passenger seat of his car had died, authorities said.

Smith, a sophomore guard, was driving a 1996 Lexus last Monday night when it struck a tree in heavy snow. He then drove the car a little more than a mile to the apartment complex where he lived.

Bystanders called 911 after seeing the badly damaged car in the parking lot, with Smith's passenger, teammate Brian Carlwell, still inside, Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said. A number of other team members were gathered at the apartment, Rietz said.

"It appears that Smith was distraught, as he believed Carlwell had died in the crash," Rietz said in a written statement.

Smith's blood-alcohol level was .176 after the crash, more than twice the legal limit of .08, Rietz said.

Rietz said university police investigating the accident found that Smith and Carlwell had been drinking tequila and beer with others at an apartment in his complex, and left just after 11 p.m. The release doesn't say where they went.

Smith lost control of the Lexus -- registered to his grandparents -- which hit the tree on the passenger side, authorities said.

Carlwell, 19, suffered a severe concussion and spent four days at Carle Foundation Hospital Urbana before being released last Friday. He was well enough to sit on the bench at Sunday's game against Northwestern at Assembly Hall, and could play in the postseason, basketball Coach Bruce Weber has said.

Smith, a sophomore guard, was taken to the same hospital by unidentified coaches and university police, Rietz said. He was treated for a minor concussion and released early the next morning.

Witnesses reported seeing the Lexus pull into the apartment parking lot, then saw a tall man wearing University of Illinois sweat pants leave the car and enter the apartment building, leaving an unconscious Carlwell in the car, Rietz said. Shortly afterward, the tall man returned with a second man, then left and went back in the building, she said.

Smith was not in custody Tuesday, Rietz said. She said he is expected to appear in court at a date to be set.

Smith's attorney, Mark Lipton, was in court Tuesday and not available for comment, his office said.

Weber was not available for comment, said Kent Brown, spokesman for the university's sports program. Brown had no immediate comment.

Aggravated driving under the influence is a Class 4 felony that carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison. Leaving the scene is a Class 3 felony and carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, Rietz said. Someone convicted of either charge, though, could be placed on probation, she added.

Smith's only previous traffic infraction was a 2004 citation for failure to stop or signal a turn, according to the Illinois Secretary of State's office.

Weber said last week that Smith would sit out the rest of the season, calling it a mutual agreement that would allow Smith to "focus all of his attention on the physical, emotional, academic and other related issues he will face in the coming weeks."

Smith was selected to the Big Ten All Freshman Team last season, leading the conference in three-point shooting by hitting 48 percent of his 137 shots.

This season Smith had struggled to find his form after a pair of ankle injuries. He hit just 32 percent of his three-point shots before leaving the team.

Carlwell has averaged 1.7 points a game as a reserve.

Smith's traffic accident wasn't the first legal issue for the team.

Senior guard Rich McBride was arrested Sept. 29 and charged with driving under the influence. He has not entered a plea in the case, which is scheduled for a hearing on March 1. McBride was suspended for six games early this season because of his arrest.

Woman gets 15 years for starving handicapped son, who weighed just 15 pounds at age 5

CORTLAND, N.Y. (AP) -- A woman was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for starving her 5-year-old handicapped son, who weighed just 15 pounds when he was found in a playpen infested with cockroaches and lice.

Judy Gratton, 49, was convicted in January of assault and other offenses.

The boy, Harley Morgan, has Down syndrome. Several doctors testified that he had been starved for several months and was near death. A typical 5-year-old should weigh about 40 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gratton and her live-in boyfriend, Joseph Kahn, were arrested during a drug raid at her home last March.

Two of the endangering charges involved Gratton's older children, a 12-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy who also were malnourished.

State investigators found that the Cortland County Department of Social Services missed repeated opportunities to prevent harm to the boy. County social workers made at least nine home and school visits in the six months before the raid.

Kahn, 45, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and possession of marijuana, and was sentenced to nine months in jail.

O.J. Simpson ordered to pay past but not future royalties to family of slain Ron Goldman

By: - SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) -- A judge on Tuesday ordered that O.J. Simpson's income from past work in movies, television and commercials go directly to the family of murder victim Ron Goldman, but he rejected the family's bid to collect Simpson's earnings on future projects.

Simpson was acquitted in October 1995 of murder charges in the June 12, 1994, slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman, but a civil court jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit and ordered him to pay $33.5 million. Most of that debt remains unpaid.

Lawyers for both sides portrayed Tuesday's ruling on royalties or other earnings by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg as a victory.

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said royalties Simpson he receives from past work for films such as the "Naked Gun" movies and the TV show "1st and Ten" amount to almost nothing.

"Last year Simpson's royalty checks from all of his movies were less than 39 cents," Galanter said.

"They got kicked to the curb again," he added. "Every door they're banging on gets slammed."

However, Goldman attorney David J. Cook said the ruling on past royalties was a step in the right direction, indicating the family would seek to determine what Simpson's royalties really amount to.

"We presume there is money and we're not going to take their word for it," Cook said.

Rosenberg deferred ruling on a third request by the Goldmans, to collect any advance money Simpson may have received for the book and TV show "If I Did It." He scheduled a hearing on the matter for March 13.

The "If I Did It" project, in which Simpson was to explain how he might have committed the killings, was abandoned amid public outrage. Simpson, who maintains his innocence, has said he took part in the project to secure his children's financial future and that his advance for the project has already been spent.

Three patients at Italian hospitals given organs from HIV-positive donor

ROME (AP) -- Three patients at hospitals in Tuscany were mistakenly given organs from an HIV-positive donor, raising serious concerns about transplant procedures in Italy.

A 41-year-old woman's kidneys and liver were taken after she died of a brain hemorrhage at Florence's Careggi hospital and were implanted due "to a tragic human error," the hospital said in a statement Monday. The director of the regional transplants agency said the patients' chances of infection are high.

The HIV test on the organs had come back positive, but "unfortunately the expert who did the report wrote down 'negative' for all the tests, including this one," said Careggi director Mauro Marabini.

The three patients have been told of the mistake and will undergo tests to determine if they have been infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The three were receiving anti-retroviral drugs.

"They asked immediately if the transplanted organ was working, and it was working perfectly," Marabini said. "They reacted quite calmly."

Franco Filipponi, director of the regional transplant agency, told the news agency ANSA that the likelihood of infection is high. "Even if the implanted organs do not carry blood the virus can still be present in some cells and can therefore be transmitted," he said.

Prosecutors in Florence opened an investigation, ANSA reported.

Health Minister Livia Turco pledged to improve safety measures once the inquiry was completed, but stressed that the transplant system has saved many lives. "I cannot hide my preoccupation for an excessive alarm that could reduce trust in this system and slow the growth of donations, leading to further damage for other patients," Turco said.

Italy's public health system is not new to scandal. Last month, authorities ordered nationwide inspections after a magazine report on Rome's largest hospital showed images of corridors soiled with dog feces and garbage, unguarded radioactive material, abandoned medical records and workers smoking next to patients.

Police found that about 17 percent of hospitals, mostly in southern and central Italy, had problems serious enough to recommend possible judicial investigations against 111 people.

Three ultra-athletes endure sand, heat to run across Sahara Desert

IN THE WESTERN DESERT, Egypt (AP) -- Three ultra-endurance athletes have just done something most would consider insane: They ran the equivalent of two marathons a day for 111 days to become the first modern runners to cross the Sahara Desert's grueling 4,000 miles.

"It will take time to sink in ... but this is an absolutely once in a life time thing. They say ignorance is bliss, and now that I know how hard this is, I would never consider crossing the Sahara on foot again," said American runner Charlie Engle, 44, hours after he and the others completed the run at Egypt's Red Sea.

Engle said he, Canadian Ray Zahab, 38, and Kevin Lin, 30, of Taiwan, ran the final stretch of their journey that took them through the Giza pyramids and Cairo to the mouth of Suez Canal on four hours of sleep. Once they hit the Red Sea, they put their hands in the water to signify crossing the finish line.

"We touched the water in Senegal at the beginning, and we touched the water in the Red Sea at the end. They were the bookends of our journey," Engle, of Greensboro, North Carolina, said on the telephone from a hotel room in Cairo.

In less than four months, they have run across the world's largest desert, through six countries -- Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya and finally Egypt.

A film crew followed them, chronicling the desert journey for actor Matt Damon's production company, LivePlanet. Damon plans to narrate the "Running the Sahara" documentary.

The trek is one of extremes. The relentless sun can push temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, but at night it sometimes dips below freezing. Strong winds can abruptly send sand swooping in every direction, making it difficult to see and breathe.

Running through turbulent conditions is nothing new for these athletes who have traveled the world competing in adventure races. But they say nothing has tested their physical and mental limitations like the Sahara.

Throughout the run, the runners have been stricken with tendinitis, severe diarrhea, cramping and knee injuries all while running through the intense heat and wind -- often without a paved road in sight.

"This has been a life changing event," Engle said.

The runners say they undertook the challenge to see if they could accomplish something that many have called impossible. They use GPS devices to track their route and teamed up with local experts and a host of sports professionals who also followed them, along with the documentary crew, in four-wheel drive vehicles.

Typically, the three began each day with a 4 a.m. wake-up call. About an hour later, they started running. Around noon, they took a lunch break at a makeshift camp, devouring pasta, tuna and vegetables. A short nap on thin mattresses in a yellow-domed tent usually followed before they headed out on the second leg of their day's run.

Finally, around 9:30 p.m., they called it quits each day, returning to camp for a protein and carbohydrate-packed dinner before passing out for the night.

Despite the preparation and drive to finish, the runners said they often questioned -- mostly to themselves -- what they were doing. Zahab described stopping one recent day for a bathroom break only to discover the wind was blowing so harshly that he couldn't keep the sand out of his clothes. "And I thought to myself, 'What the hell am I doing?"' he said.

But Zahab kept going, as did the other two, never skipping a day. Most days the three ran a total of 44 to 50 miles -- sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.

They were interviewed by The Associated Press on Saturday -- day 108 -- on the side of a road about 112 miles from Cairo in Egypt's harsh Western Desert, part of the greater Sahara.

At several points in their trek, the athletes stopped near sparsely populated wells to talk with villagers and nomads about the difficulties they face finding water. That marked another goal of the run -- raising awareness for the clean water nonprofit group H2O Africa.

"We have seen firsthand the need for clean water, which we take for granted in North America. It's such a foundation for any community," Zahab said during day 108's lunch break. The three plan to fund-raise for the group after they return home and finish recuperating.

"It started off as a huge motivator, especially as we passed through countries where the water wasn't clean," Engle said.

But as the trio's bodies became more depleted, the focus was "the day-to-day battle to stay alive and keep moving," he said.

On the Net:

www.nationalgeographic.com/runningthesahara

www.h2oafrica.org

www.charlieengle.com

www.rayzahab.com

www.kevin-life.com

Bahamas immigration minister quits after Anna Nicole Smith photo controversy

By: MANUEL RIVERA - Associated Press

NASSAU, Bahamas -- The leader of the main opposition party in the Bahamas scolded the government Monday for not acting sooner to remove the country's immigration minister over his seemingly preferential treatment to Anna Nicole Smith.

Hubert Ingraham, leader of the opposition Free National Movement, said Prime Minister Perrie Christie should not have waited until Immigration Minister Shane Gibson offered his resignation on Sunday night to remove him from the Cabinet.

Gibson had been under fire since four days after Smith's death when a local newspaper published photos of him embracing her on a bed.

"It is a scandal that has done much damage to the country," said Ingraham, a former prime minister, at a news conference in the capital of Nassau.

Ingraham accused Gibson of abusing his post by fast-tracking Smith's residency permit because of his friendship with the former model who died Feb. 8 in Florida. Smith's death has set off a battle over her 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, and her potential inheritance.

Ingraham said Gibson "rushed through" the approval of permit for Smith, who he said was "not a suitable person" for Bahamas residency because of her notoriety.

By law, the prime minister must call elections in 2007 but a date has not been set.

Ingraham's criticism resonated with some Bahamians.

"My opinion is that Shane Gibson should have resigned on the first day," said Patrice Stuart, 36, as she walked past the pink parliament building in Nassau.

"He should have resigned the first day, with dignity," agreed Ana Lang, who was walking with Stuart.

Gibson refused to resign until Sunday, announcing on state TV that he had quit but insisting he had done nothing wrong. Gibson, who is married, called accusations that he had an affair with the former model and gave her special treatment "vicious and wicked lies."

The photographs in the Tribune of Nassau showed Smith and Gibson embracing fully clothed on a bed.

Newly discovered film of Kennedy motorcade just before assassination unveiled

DALLAS (AP) -- A recently discovered home movie shows a brief but clear glimpse of President Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy just seconds before his assassination.

The silent, 8 mm color film is "the clearest, best film of Jackie in the motorcade," said Gary Mack, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum, which focuses on Kennedy's life and assassination. The film was unveiled Monday on the museum's Web site.

The film shows a clear glimpse of President Kennedy and the first lady a few blocks from Dealey Plaza and roughly 90 seconds before the killing. Also visible is Secret Service agent Clint Hill riding on the back of the car.

The assassination is not shown in the 40-second clip.

The film ends with some footage the next day outside the Texas School Book Depository, the building from which assassin Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shots on Nov. 22, 1963.

Amateur photographer George Jefferies, 82, took the footage and held onto it for more than 40 years, Mack said. Jefferies mentioned it in a casual conversation with his son-in-law, Wayne Graham, and the two agreed to donate it to the museum.

At least 150,000 people lined the motorcade route, and Mack said he believes there are more film and photographs out there.

"I know there are pictures out here that have not surfaced," Mack said. "The museum is always on the lookout for pictures. The bottom line is don't throw anything away."

British judge's ruling in Diana inquest challenged

LONDON (AP) -- Lawyers on Monday challenged a coroner's decision to preside without a jury at the inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, arguing her decision to act alone gave the appearance of impropriety.

The legal appeal is being launched at London's High Court by Mohamed al Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed, together with the family of the couple's chauffeur and lawyers for the al Fayed-owned Ritz hotel in Paris.

The millionaire owner of Harrods department store, al Fayed is dissatisfied with Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss' decision that she would hear evidence and determine what caused the couple's deaths.

"We believe there should be a jury to aid the coroner and come to a decision," said Michael Cole, al Fayed's spokesman.

The lawyer for the Ritz, Michael Beloff, argued that because Butler-Sloss had been the deputy coroner of the Queen's Household, there would be the perception that she "lacked independence," to assess the allegation that Diana and Fayed had been murdered.

The appearance of independence and impartiality was important "when the death under investigation is the death of a royal princess, mother of a future king, in controversial circumstances, and where royal princes and the royal princess' sister are interested persons," Beloff said.

Beloff also complained that Butler-Sloss had been involved in a police investigation, which concluded the couple's death was a tragic accident.

"She cannot sit. If she can, she should not. If she does, she must not sit without a jury," Beloff said

Butler-Sloss, Britain's former top female judge and a member of the House of Lords, made the decision last month to sit alone during the inquest, which is expected to begin in May. Butler-Sloss said in her January decision that a jury could find it difficult to cope with the volume and detail of the evidence.

The inquest -- which is likely to have more than 30 witnesses testifying, some by video link from Paris.

The inquests could only begin after the investigations into the August 1997 deaths of Diana and Fayed, was complete. A two-year French investigation, a three-year Metropolitan Police inquiry and repeated legal action by al Fayed have delayed the inquest by nearly 10 years.

Diana, 36, and Fayed, 42, were killed along with chauffeur Henri Paul when their Mercedes crashed in Paris' Pont d'Alma tunnel. The only survivor, bodyguard Trevor Rees -- formerly known as Rees-Jones -- was badly hurt.

Al Fayed's legal team had pressed the judge to call a jury, saying it was the only way the public would be satisfied that proper care was taken over the issues surrounding the crash.

Tasmanian aboriginals sue British Natural History Museum over skeletal remains

LONDON (AP) -- A Tasmanian aboriginal group is suing Britain's Museum of Natural History to keep it from conducting tests on bones, teeth and skulls taken from the island, saying Monday that the experiments would desecrate the corpses. - The museum agreed last year to return the bones -- mostly obtained during the 1940s -- to Australia, but indicated it wanted first to run tests on them, as they represented some of the few remaining pieces of objective data about the region's original inhabitants.

Tasmanians were almost completely exterminated after the 19th-century arrival of white settlers to their island. Out of a population of 4,000, only 200 remained in the 1830s, and the last full-blooded Tasmanian died in 1876. Those who remain today are of mixed descent.

The Tasmanian Aboriginal Center, which has been awarded custody of the remains, said any tests on the bones would defile the remains of victims of genocide.

"They would never dare to do these experiments to the human remains of Jews or Roma or Scots or Manx Islanders," the center's lawyer, Michael Mansell, said in a statement. "They intend to mutilate our ancestors without our consent."

The museum said would meet with the aboriginal group, but that it would continue to fight the suit, which goes to court on Thursday.

The museum wants to measure, photograph, X-ray and make casts of the bones, along with drilling and shaving off microscopic bits of material from the teeth and skulls to extract genetic material.

The group from Tasmania, a southern island state of Australia, questioned whether the experiments would yield any useful information.

"The Natural History Museum's tests were 'genetic prospecting' which would desecrate the spiritual beliefs of the community from whom the skulls and bones were taken by grave robbery," Mansell said.

Aboriginals believe a soul is in torment unless the body rests in its native land.

The museum has acknowledged that the remains, drawn from 17 individuals, were either looted or taken coercively, but said the aboriginal demands should be weighed against the scientific value of the bones.

"We see the strength of both the (aboriginal) view and the scientific view, and the decision (to conduct tests) is aimed to meet the primary interests of both groups," museum spokesman Claudine Fontana said. "We will be returning these remains permanently, and it is only the information about them that we will keep."

The Natural History Museum has a collection of almost 20,000 human remains, taken from all over the world and dating back 500,000 years. Most were taken from Britain.

Australia's government has backed the aboriginals' argument. In a letter addressed to the museum and to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Australian High Commissioner Richard Alston said Friday that the issue was "already causing considerable distress in the community of origin of the remains," and urged a negotiated settlement.

The return of indigenous bones has proven contentious in the United States, where the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act required all federally funded museums and institutions to return any Native American remains and spiritual objects that could be traced back to Indian nations.

Disputes over the Kennewick Man and the Spirit Cave Man, 9,000 and 10,600 years old respectively, have pitted U.S. archeologists against American Indian tribes in legal battles.

Airport shuttle buses collide on dark road; 2 dead, several injured

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Two airport shuttle buses collided head-on in the dark near the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, killing a driver in one bus and a passenger in the other, authorities said.

The eight other people aboard the two buses were hospitalized, two of them in critical condition, an airport spokesman said.

The Broward County Aviation shuttle buses collided around 11 p.m. Sunday on a road that circles the airport, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Public Information Officer Mike Jachles said Monday. He said fire rescue crews worked through the night to remove the bodies from the buses so the roadway could be cleared.

Authorities believe one of the victims, bus driver George Pitter, was driving in the eastbound lane with one passenger when a westbound bus, with seven passengers and the driver, crossed the center line of the road at hit him.

In addition to Pitter, 64, of Hollywood, passenger Jameer Fyzool, 71, of Sunrise, was killed in the crash, according to a statement from the Broward County Sheriff's office.

Emergency crews took eight people to a hospital with conditions ranging from serious to critical, the sheriff's statement said.

Meyer said officials hope to have wreckage cleared by mid-morning. Detectives are still investigating the cause of the crash.

Romanian priest sentenced to 14 years in prison for nun's death in exorcism ritual

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- A Romanian priest who led a dayslong exorcism ritual for a young nun that ended with the woman's death was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison. Four nuns were also sentenced in the case.

The dead nun, Maricica Irina Cornici, believed she heard the devil talking to her. She was treated for schizophrenia, but when she relapsed, Daniel Petru Corogeanu -- a monk who served as the priest for the secluded Holy Trinity convent in northeast Romania -- and the four other nuns tried exorcism.

Cornici, 23, was tied up for several days at the without food or water and chained to a cross. She died of dehydration, exhaustion and suffocation.

The court in the northeast city of Vaslui convicted Corogeanu and the nuns of holding Cornici captive, resulting in her death. One of the nuns, Nicoleta Arcalianu, was sentenced to eight years in prison, and the other three -- Adina Cepraga, Elena Otel and Simona Bardanas -- received five-year sentences.

Dozens of Corogeanu's supporters packed the courtroom and prayed for the priest; several burst into tears when the verdict was announced.

The defendants' lawyers plan to appeal.

Cornici's death prompted Romania's dominant Orthodox Church to promise reforms, including psychological tests for those seeking to enter monasteries.

The Orthodox church, which has benefited from a religious revival in recent years, condemned the ritual at the convent as "abominable" and banned Corogeanu from the priesthood and excommunicated the four nuns from the church.

In 1999, when the Vatican issued its first new guidelines since 1614 for driving out devils, it urged its priests to take modern psychiatry into account in deciding who should be exorcised.

Orthodox churches also regularly perform exorcism rituals, but Corogeanu's methods were criticized by church officials as excessively harsh, noting that he had dropped out from the church's religious education program.

Woman wins cars at different casinos

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- You can call Claudette Osborn double-lucky.

Last week she won her second brand-new car in nine months while gambling in a casino. In June, she drove home in a $30,000 silver Saturn Sky convertible from Spirit Mountain Casino after playing the penny slots.

Last week it was a $20,000 shiny-red Volkswagen Beetle she won in a drawing at Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville.

"I must be living right or something," said Osborn, a retired state revenue agent who works part-time inspecting rental properties.

Osborn and her husband, Dale, had driven to Seven Feathers for a Valentine's Day dinner and to do a little gambling. Her name was called as one of five finalists in the car giveaway.

"I was playing poker in the poker room, and I had gotten a full house when I heard my name," Osborn said. "I thought, `Oh no, I can't leave. This is the first good hand I've had."'

A friend encouraged Osborn to leave the game, pointing out that the most she could win in the poker game was less than $100. Osborn left and won the car.

"You can't believe how many people gave me hugs and kisses," she said. `It's the first time on Valentine's Day I got a decent present!"

She traded in the Saturn Sky for a 2005 Toyota Camry plus cash. And the VW? She's not sure.

"It drives really nice and it's a beautiful little red car," she said. "But I love my blue Camry. I'm going to let this one sit in the garage awhile and think about it."

Bones found in 1968 still not buried

BEDFORD, Pa. (AP) -- "Mr. Bones" died nearly a half-century ago, but he's still not resting in peace.

The unidentified skeletal remains won't be buried anytime soon because prosecutors here contend that they contain evidence of an unsolved crime.

The remains were found in October 1958 in a marshy area near a turnpike plaza in Bedford Township, about 85 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

Authorities believe he was shot in the head in 1956. Police found a large sum of cash with the body, leading them to believe robbery was not a motive.

Mr. Bones, a nickname given by police, was nearly buried in 2001. The sheriff and his employees found a donated cemetery plot, gravestone and casket. A preacher had been lined up.

But the then-district attorney got a court order to stop the burial, and the remains were handed over to the state police.

"It's really an unusual case," prosecutor William Higgins said. "But the bottom-line is that you really have to preserve any evidence you have, just in case someone would come forward."

Man finds class ring 20 years after losing it in the ocean

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- If you lose your class ring swimming in the Pacific Ocean, the odds of finding it aren't exactly high -- especially more than 20 years later.

Apparently, suburban Philadelphia resident James Costantini has some kind of luck.

His parents recently presented him with his long-lost 1984 class ring from William Tenant High School. He had lost it swimming off the coast of Hawaii while on vacation with his family when he was 18 -- more than 20 years ago.

A California man found it a year later while snorkeling off Maui and kept it as a souvenir. The finder, Phil Winter, says the topaz ring sat in his wife's jewelry box until recently, when his daughter saw it and wanted to wear it.

Winter decided that he should try to track down the owner and did so with the help of one of his daughter's teachers. The ring was returned in a box from a Maui jeweler, arriving at the Upper Southampton Township home of Costantini's parents on Saturday.

"I thought a fish ate it," said Costantini, now 41.

U of Zzzzz: Indiana University South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- The idea of a nap club at Indiana University South Bend started out as a joke. Then some people slept on it.

Students Michael Duttlinger and Joe Spencer, president and vice president, respectively, point to studies that say napping can heighten creativity, boost memory and increase alertness.

The Nap Club consists of a quiet room with the shades drawn, a few desks and chairs, and six air mattresses, purchased through a small sum allotted to campus clubs.

Up to 15 people can come in to doze. A moderator wakes them up at the appropriate time and "makes sure no one messes with you or your stuff," Duttlinger says.

The room is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

So far, the club has attracted a steady stream of nappers, and there are 30 to 35 people on its e-mail list.

The club started simply enough. "We were being funny and talking about starting a club, and I'm, like, 'What should we do?"' recalls Duttlinger. Spencer suggested Duttlinger do something he liked, and napping came to mind.

Gunmen kill four members of musical group in western Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Gunmen shot to death four men identified as members of a musical group as they returned from a performance in the western Mexico state of Michoacan, a state prosecutor's spokeswoman said Monday.

The shooting early Sunday in Puruaran, 300 kilometers (185 miles) southwest of Mexico City, killed four men between the ages 21 to 37 who were part of a group known as the Banda Fugaz, spokeswoman Magdalena Guzman said.

A fifth man was shot several times, but survived, Guzman said.

The band was returning from a Saturday night performance in the nearby hamlet of Las Caramicuas when the attack occurred.

Guzman said the band wasn't known to sing controversial songs about drug trafficking, known as "narcocorridos." No other motive was identified, and officials had made no arrests in the case.

The killings were the latest in a string of fatal shootings of Mexican musicians.

On Nov. 25, Valentin Elizalde, a norteno singer, was shot to death along with his manager and driver shortly after performing in the city Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas. Police have not yet established a motive in that case, but are investigating a possible connection between the killing and a video posted online set to one of Elizalde's songs, "A Mis Enemigos," or "To My Enemies."

The 3-minute video posted on Youtube.com shows a collage of grisly photographs of people killed in drug-related violence, wanted posters of former soldiers who authorities say joined the Gulf cartel, and footage of an alleged hit man for the cartel being shot in the head.

In December, another musician, Javier Morales Gomez, 28, of the band Los Implacables del Norte, was shot to death in a park in the town of Huetamo, Michoacan. Officials have not released a motive in that case, either.

Michoacan has been plagued by gunbattles, executions and beheadings involving drug gangs. In early December, federal troops and police agents launched a large-scale operation to quell the state's violence.

Original wire story (q6825):

Brother of Philadelphia mayor arrested on 2 outstanding traffic warrants

MOORESTOWN, N.J. (AP) -- A brother of the mayor of Philadelphia was arrested Monday on outstanding traffic warrants, authorities said.

T. Milton Street, who says he is running for his brother's office, was arrested at a 7-Eleven in this Philadelphia suburb, said police Lt. Howard Mann.

One of the warrants, from Moorestown, carries a $2,500 penalty and the second, from nearby Pennsauken, carries a $750 fine, Mann said. He did not have details about the violations.

Street paid the fines and was released after about five hours. He told reporters outside the courthouse that the tickets were up to a decade old and that he thought they had been resolved.

Street, who has been a hot-dog vendor, community activist, state senator and tour operator, is the brother of Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street.

He said last week he would run to succeed his brother, who cannot run again because of term limits.

However, he faces questions about his residency, since he recently lived at least part-time in Moorestown. In addition, he was named in November in a federal indictment involving $2 million in questionable airport consulting fees that he is suspected of failing to report on tax returns.

Fire erupts at shopping center after gunman orders liquor store clerk out

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Fire engulfed a liquor store in a shopping center Monday just moments after a gunman barricaded inside began negotiating with police.

The gunman is believed to have died in the fire, but his body was not immediately recovered, said Lt. Thomas Chase, a spokesman for the Frederick Police Department. No other injuries were reported.

The gunman entered Jim's liquor store in the Antietam Village Shopping Center shortly before 1 p.m. and ordered a clerk to leave, Chase said. The clerk ran to a neighboring store and called police. When officers arrived moments later, they were fired at but not injured.

Frederick police had contacted the man by phone and were negotiating with him when the fire started about 3 p.m., Chase said. The fire spread to neighboring stores and sent dark clouds of billowing smoke over the western Maryland city. The other stores in the mall were evacuated.

Festive weekend before Mardi Gras has French Quarter businesses smiling

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The final weekend leading up to Mardi Gras has been a boon for hotels, restaurants and bars, with business generally brisker than last year, the first Carnival since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

"The weekend was surprisingly busy," said Earl Bernhardt, co-owner of two bars and a blues club in the French Quarter. "The crowd is bigger and they're spending a lot of money."

Merchants, hotel operators and others felt the crowd would exceed the 700,000 the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau said visited the city during the same time period last year.

"It was an excellent weekend," said Michael Valentino, managing partner of three French Quarter hotels. He said, "There is clearly more demand this year. It's feeling more like our normal Mardi Gras pressure."

More than 95 percent of the city's total available rooms were reserved for Mardi Gras weekend, said Fred Sawyers, president of the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association and general manager of the New Orleans Hilton.

That's up from 92 percent occupancy for the first weekend of Carnival, Feb. 10-11, he said.

The city was eager to stage its annual pre-Lenten celebration last year to show tourists that they could return.

The first Carnival since Hurricane Katrina was scaled down -- 68 daily flights into the city, 42 parades rolled and 600 restaurants open, according to the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. Of the 20,000 hotel rooms habitable last year, only 13,000 were available to visitors. The rest were taken by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, volunteers and contractors.

This year there are 30,000 hotel rooms, 1,648 restaurants open, 110 daily flights and 50 major parades, according to the marketing corporation.

One of the lingering problems for restaurants and bars is the lack of employees. Since Hurricane Katrina scattered the city's residents, many places have scrambled to get workers.

At Pat O'Brien's, the famous Quarter bar and patio that is home to the rum drink the Hurricane, visitors did not seem to mind the shortage, said Shelly Waguespack, vice president of administration.

"People seem to understand," she said. "It's a happy group. They aren't complaining."

Teen shoots teen in the face at hospital's emergency room entrance

MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) -- A 14-year-old boy chased down a 15-year-old boy and shot him in the face at the entrance to a hospital emergency room, where the victim immediately sought treatment, authorities said Monday.

The suspect was tackled by a hospital security guard and placed in handcuffs as he tried to follow the victim inside Sunday evening, said Cindy Jakubick, a spokeswoman for MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital.

People waiting in the lobby may have seen the shooting, but no one else was hurt, said Mansfield police Sgt. Ken Coontz.

The victim, Jacques Sutton, was treated at the hospital and then flown to Columbus Children's Hospital, where a spokeswoman said he was in critical condition Monday.

The suspect, whose name wasn't released, was being held in a juvenile detention facility, Coontz said. A court appearance was set for Tuesday.

A hospital employee heard several teenage boys arguing near the street, and the altercation then moved toward the hospital in this city about 60 miles northeast of Columbus, Jakubick said.

Sutton apparently punched the 14-year-old in the face and tried to flee, then was shot once in the right cheek by a .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun, Coontz said. It was not clear whether the gun was fired intentionally, Lt. Dave Nirode said.

Teen shoots and injures another at emergency room entrance in Ohio, police say

CHICAGO (AP) -- An Iranian immigrant accused of using a 3-pound hammer to beat his wife, sister-in-law and mother-in-law to death and then repeatedly stabbing them told police that the women had "disrespected" him, authorities said Monday.

After the attack, Daryoush Ebrahimi, 55, struck himself several times on the head with the same hammer in an apparent attempt to kill himself, said Police Cmdr. Thomas Byrne. Police also found a 12-inch knife investigators believe was used in the attacks.

"It was a very difficult scene, and that would be indicative of that type of anger," Byrne said of the two apartments where the bodies were found Saturday on the city's far North Side.

Ebrahimi told investigators after the attacks that "the women had disrespected him and told him he was not a man," Assistant State's Attorney Sanju Oommen said.

Police found cell phone video messages and a letter that Ebrahimi left at one of the apartments, Byrne said. The FBI was helping translate the messages and letter, which are in Farsi.

"Right now I wouldn't say it's a suicide note ... but it's more about, again, how he feels disrespected, and that's pretty much a (recurring) theme in the note," Byrne said.

Ebrahimi told police at the scene and hospital officials that he had killed the women, authorities said.

A phone call to the public defender's office Monday afternoon went unanswered.

Ebrahimi was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Karmin Koshabeh, 44; his sister-in-law, Karolin Khooshabeh, 40; and his 60-year-old mother-in-law, Ileshvah Eyvazimooshabad. He appeared in court Monday afternoon and a judge denied a request for bail.

Koshabeh and Khooshabeh were found in an apartment in the city's West Rogers Park neighborhood, and Eyvazimooshabad was found in an apartment around the corner.

Detectives believe Ebrahimi killed his wife around 2 a.m. Saturday, then called and "lured" his sister-in-law to the same apartment around 6 a.m., Byrne said. He then went to his mother-in-law's apartment and attacked her, returning to the bodies of his wife and sister-in-law to call 911, Byrne said.

Ebrahimi also called another family member, who notified police, Byrne said.

Ebrahimi and his wife and daughter arrived in the United States on Nov. 29 from Iran and are refugees of Assyrian descent, said Cmdr. David Sobczyk.

Startup hopes to create online marketplace for open parking spaces

BOSTON (AP) -- Finding a parking spot often requires drivers to summon their inner caveman: Scan the horizon for the target, then bag it before someone else does.

A startup company is betting it can chip away at that anachronism and transform the search for parking just as eBay Inc. changed auctions.

SpotScout Inc. hopes to create an online marketplace where drivers armed with mobile phones can not only reserve private spaces in garages and driveways, but also swap public parking spots in real time, with vacant spaces going to the highest bidder.

Analysts who track emerging online applications say the fledgling venture could successfully capitalize on the growing popularity of mobile Web-surfing and big-city parking frustrations.

But they also question whether SpotScout can make online parking searches sufficiently quick and easy to win over a critical mass of consumers willing to abandon the old-fashioned way of hunting for a spot.

The Cambridge-based company's founder believes there are enough tech-savvy drivers frustrated over parking to make the venture a success.

"In the 21st century, you shouldn't have to look for a parking space anymore," said SpotScout CEO Andrew Rollert, a 32-year-old software engineer. "I hate the term, 'I have to go look for a parking space."'

SpotScout envisions drivers posting information about their planned departure times and offering the space to the highest bidder. Garages and owners of driveway spaces periodically left vacant also will offer reservations by posting information about times when spots will be empty -- a process the company calls "SpotCasting."

Rollert says bidders can avoid doing business with chronic laggards through an eBay-style feature that will allow users to rate their experiences with other users. Those with bad reputations could get shut out. So-called SpotCasters also could earn a poor rating by leaving a public spot early, making it available for any driver to snap up.

SpotScout plans to begin offering test versions of the service this spring by posting information about garage and other private parking spots available for reservation in Boston, New York and San Francisco, with eventual rollouts planned in other large cities. The auction system for on-street public spots won't be introduced until next year.

The 12-employee company is trying to line up its first venture capital deal to finance operations currently funded by individual investors.

But some analysts say mobile Web surfing isn't yet widespread enough in the U.S. to enable SpotScout to quickly build up a broad customer base. Only about 10 percent of U.S. mobile phone customers regularly use the devices for Web access.

"You're not reaching the mass of people who drive around if you use that application," said Charles Golvin of Forrester Research.

Some drivers may find it easier to use new services that rely on wireless technology to find a spot without the complexity of SpotScout's public parking auctions. If SpotScout's application proves cumbersome, drivers could stick with simpler methods.

"There's a certain number of cases where people say, 'I need a spot now,' and that's where a quick user interface is critical," said Golvin.

And then there's always finding parking the old-fashioned way.

"I think SpotScout is a good application, but some people might not like the idea of paying for access to a parking spot when they could just find one on the street by looking," said Julien Blin, an analyst at the research company IDC.

City officials also worry about the prospect of citizens trafficking information about public spots that are supposed to be available first-come, first-serve and can't be reserved. Boston's top parking official worries SpotScout customers will gain an unfair advantage over others unaware a public spot is about to open up.

Boston Transportation Commissioner Thomas Tinlin said he worries about setting up "a system of the haves and the have-nots."

Rollert hopes to meet with municipal parking officials in each city before beginning operations there. He believes any legal troubles over private transactions for public parking will be cleared up.

"Our society is based on a free flow of information," he said. "There's nothing that prevents me from walking down the street and saying to someone, 'I'm leaving this spot at this time, do you want to know about it?"'

SpotScout will compete against other new parking services made possible by mobile phones and handheld computers, Global Positioning System navigation and sensors that track whether a parking spot is occupied.

Today, electronic signs at several airport garages show how many spaces are available, and a company called MobileParking enables customers to get real-time information on nearby parking availability by phoning a toll-free line and speaking with an operator. A service called PayMint allows customers to pay for parking using cell phones, cards or radio-frequency identification tags.

In New York City, a space-efficient robotic garage lets drivers park on a pallet and leave. A contraption similar to an elevator takes over from there, moving the vehicle into a vacant spot.

With SpotScout, all payments will be made electronically with credit cards or with the online payment service PayPal.

SpotScout plans to keep a 15 percent cut of garage and private parking space transactions, and is still working out how it will make money from auctions of public spots. One possibility is posting advertisements from local businesses such as restaurants that could pitch themselves to SpotScout members parking nearby.

"I just think with this being the 21st century, you shouldn't have to look for a parking space anymore," Rollert said. "Let's relegate that to the 20th century."