National Briefing
A federal judge ordered a one- to two-day halt to jury deliberations in Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial to accommodate a juror whose father died.
Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to bring an alternate juror onto the panel so deliberations could continue, but the judge declined. The first two days of deliberations have been marked by reports of stress and violent outbursts in the jury room, and Sullivan said jurors might benefit from a break.
Sullivan said he would speak with the juror Sunday night and determine whether she could return Monday. He said he might delay deliberations until Tuesday or call in an alternate.
If an alternate is tapped, jurors would start deliberating anew. Stevens, 84, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, is charged with lying on Senate financial disclosure documents to conceal $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts from his friend, millionaire oil contractor Bill Allen.
CAMPAIGN '08Style worth more than policy?
An acclaimed celebrity makeup artist for Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin collected more money from John McCain's campaign than his foreign policy advisor.
Amy Strozzi, who works on the reality show "So You Think You Can Dance" and has been Palin's traveling stylist, was paid $22,800, according to campaign finance reports for the first two weeks of October. McCain's foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, was paid $12,500, the report showed.
McCain's campaign said the payment covered a portion of her work in September and a portion of October. An earlier report showed Strozzi was paid $13,200 for part of September.
CAMPAIGN '08
Joe McCain says sorry for 911 call
The brother of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said he would withdraw from campaign activities after calling 911 to complain about traffic. He also apologized for making the call.
Joe McCain, who lives in Alexandria, Va., told Washington radio station WTOP that he was returning from a campaign event in Philadelphia around 2 a.m. on Oct. 18 when he got stuck in traffic on Interstate 495. His account of the date differed from the police, who said the call was made on Oct. 21.
Frustrated, he called 911 to find out what was going on. The operator asked him to "state your emergency."
"Well, it's not an emergency, but do you know why on one side at the . . . drawbridge of 95, traffic is stopped for 15 minutes and yet traffic's coming the other way?" he asked.
