Cleveland Oh

The sign on the door says Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, but don't let that fool you. Beyond the door lies only a modest suite of offices. The walls are lined, it is true, with original album cover art and photographs of Jimi Hendrix, Roy Orbison and other rock luminaries. But the really valuable stuff--Buddy Holly's eyeglasses, Elvis Presley's cape, Hendrix's guitar--all are kept either in a locked room here or in bank vaults. Even K.

Authorities are investigating whether a murder suspect whose home and yard harbored the remains of at least 11 people is connected to any killings in places he lived while in the military, including California, Japan and the Carolinas. The FBI will investigate any leads in the case against Anthony Sowell, 50, who served in the Marines from 1978 to 1985, said Scott Wilson, an FBI spokesman in Cleveland. Sowell was stationed at various times at Parris Island, S.C.; Cherry Point, N.C.; Okinawa, Japan; and Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Thirty current or former Cleveland police officers were among 47 people named in federal indictments unsealed Thursday in Cleveland following a 2 1/2-year FBI undercover probe of corruption. The charges include extortion, obstruction of justice and narcotics and gambling violations--all stemming from two gambling operations established and operated by undercover FBI agents.

Onlookers cheered as students entered their Cleveland high school for the first time since a classmate opened fire last week, wounding four people before killing himself. The students filed through a newly installed metal detector at SuccessTech Academy and sent their bags through a scanner. "I'm excited. Worried? Not at all," senior Jasmine Lawrence, 17, said. "About the incident that happened Wednesday, I was scared that day, but I feel that was just one person out of everyone who goes here."

Onlookers cheered as students entered their Cleveland high school for the first time since a classmate opened fire last week, wounding four people before killing himself. The students filed through a newly installed metal detector at SuccessTech Academy and sent their bags through a scanner. "I'm excited. Worried? Not at all," senior Jasmine Lawrence, 17, said. "About the incident that happened Wednesday, I was scared that day, but I feel that was just one person out of everyone who goes here."

The head of Cleveland's Roman Catholic schools, who was a leading proponent of the city's landmark school voucher program, has announced she will step down in June. Sister Carol Anne Smith, 54, played a key role in the fight for vouchers that culminated in June with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that state money can go to Cleveland children who want to use vouchers to attend religious schools.

The Cleveland Clinic said it is the first institution to receive review board approval of human facial transplants for people disfigured by burns or disease. Several independent medical teams around the world also are pursuing the procedure. The Cleveland Clinic said its approval on Oct. 15 followed 10 months of debate. It has no current patients or donors for the procedure. "We are at this point ready to begin screening patients," said Dr.

Cleveland may be the butt of some metropolitan jokes, but it is paradise enough for lovers of symphonic music. The revered Cleveland Orchestra, which has a long and exacting tradition of excellence, has a newly refurbished home in Severance Hall. And starting in September 2002, it also has a new music director, Franz Welser-Most. The Austrian conductor has also been a favorite in Los Angeles since his debut with the Philharmonic in 1991.

The Justice Department has closed its investigation into possible antitrust violations in the closing of the Cleveland Press, and no indictments have been returned, an official said. Until it was closed five years ago, the Press, an afternoon paper, competed against the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Justice Department spokesman Mark Sheehan said: "We closed this investigation for the same reason we close any investigation, and that is that we did not find sufficient evidence to proceed any further."

Ralphie Parker and Brian Jones know what it's like to want something. For Ralphie, the object of desire was an official Red Ryder, carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle. For Jones, the gotta-have-it item was Ralphie's house -- the one in "A Christmas Story," the quirky film that has found a niche alongside such holiday classics as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street."

A commuter plane carrying more than 70 people ran off the end of a snowy runway and pierced a fence after landing at the Cleveland airport, officials said. No injuries were reported. The Embraer 170 came to a stop more than 150 feet past the end of the runway, a Cleveland Hopkins International Airport official said, with the engines partially buried in snow and the tip of the plane's nose resting on a roadway that links the airport and perimeter buildings.

Ralphie Parker and Brian Jones know what it's like to want something. For Ralphie, the object of desire was an official Red Ryder, carbine-action, 200-shot, range model air rifle. For Jones, the gotta-have-it item was Ralphie's house -- the one in "A Christmas Story," the quirky film that has found a niche alongside such holiday classics as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street."

A federal judge in Cleveland threw out new state rules governing voter registration drives, saying they appeared to violate the 1st Amendment and hurt efforts to sign up new voters. Effective immediately, voters should ignore references to criminal penalties on the registration forms, U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley said. She gave the secretary of state's office five days to remove references to the rules and penalties on its website.

Before her shift at McDonald's, Cathy Thomas makes her regular visit to a decaying building. The sidewalk out front crumbles under her feet. The two-story building, stuck between a liquor store and a weed-choked church, sags from neglect. Shards of glass frame the back upstairs windows, revealing rooms with burnt floral wallpaper and rusted pipes. Most of the first floor has been covered in whitewashed plywood. The empty structure once was home to vandals and drug dealers.

Authorities determined a house fire that killed nine people May 21 was deliberately set, fire officials said Tuesday night. City fire investigators and the state fire marshal concluded that the blaze was arson, said Lt. Clayton Cunningham, a spokesman for the Cleveland Fire Department. Cunningham did not know what evidence the two agencies used to reach their finding, which reversed an initial determination that the fire was accidental and not suspicious.

The Cleveland Clinic said it is the first institution to receive review board approval of human facial transplants for people disfigured by burns or disease. Several independent medical teams around the world also are pursuing the procedure. The Cleveland Clinic said its approval on Oct. 15 followed 10 months of debate. It has no current patients or donors for the procedure. "We are at this point ready to begin screening patients," said Dr.

President Reagan, stymied by the government's failure to make a dent in the nation's record trade deficit, found sunshine Monday in the gloom of that imbalance: The flow of foreign capital to this country is a sign that the United States is a sound investment, he said.

Witnesses said they saw an explosion shortly before a mail plane crashed early Sunday, killing the two men aboard. Authorities said they had no reason to suspect sabotage, however. The DC-9 cargo jet fell upside-down onto the snow-covered main runway at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Capt. David Reay and First Officer Richard Duney were killed. Officials would not speculate on the cause of the crash or whether the U.S. mail cargo aboard the jet might have contained an explosive.

They say you can't go home again, and Art Modell hasn't bothered trying. In the seven years since he moved Cleveland's beloved Browns to Baltimore, Modell has gone back to his hometown only to testify in court. There, he's seen as a carpetbagging scoundrel unworthy of the Hall of Fame despite his enormous role in shaping the NFL as we know it.

The head of Cleveland's Roman Catholic schools, who was a leading proponent of the city's landmark school voucher program, has announced she will step down in June. Sister Carol Anne Smith, 54, played a key role in the fight for vouchers that culminated in June with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that state money can go to Cleveland children who want to use vouchers to attend religious schools.