N.C. officials: Fatal twister could have been worse

"We just got inside the door frame when I was pushed inside ... then everything went," said Parker, tears welling in her eyes as she described the chaotic scene during a brief discussion with reporters near her demolished home in central North Carolina.

Neighbors helped the 36-year-old Parker and her two children -- a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old -- out of the ruins that used to be their home, and the three survived with barely a scratch.

"We're blessed," she said.

A crash course in true political science

WASHINGTON -- Daniel Suson has a doctorate in astrophysics and has worked on the superconducting super collider and a forthcoming NASA probe. Now he's heading back to school to take on an even trickier task -- getting elected to public office.

He is among a growing number of scientists who feel slighted and abused in the public debate in recent years and are mobilizing for a new effort to inject "evidence-based decision-making" into public policy.

Today Suson, dean of engineering, mathematics and science at Purdue University Calumet, will join more than 70 other scientists, engineers and students at a hotel at Georgetown University for a crash course on elective politics.

"I've always been interested in politics, but my participation has been limited to yelling at my television," said Jason Haeseler, a Florida engineer and former registered Republican who will take the class and hopes to run for office as an independent.

Nevada judge faces misconduct charges

LAS VEGAS -- Elizabeth Halverson is a judge. But the way courthouse staffers see it, she expects to be treated like a queen.

Her former bailiff, for example, says Halverson made him feel like a "houseboy." He says the judge -- who is obese and uses a motorized scooter to get around -- made him put her shoes on her feet, massage her back, cover her with a blanket for naps and make sure her oxygen tank was filled. He says she asked him, "Do you want to worship me from near or afar?"

Halverson also surrounded herself with her own hired guards, saying she did not trust the courthouse security force to protect her. Another time, she allegedly had her husband sworn in so that she could ask him under oath if he had completed chores at home.

Since then, the 50-year-old Nevada district judge has been locked out of her Las Vegas courtroom, suspended from the bench and brought up on judicial-misconduct charges that include not only misusing her position and treating her staff like personal valets, but also tainting juries and falling asleep on the bench.

Nevada's judicial discipline commission is preparing for a week of open hearings next month that could put an end to Halverson's career.

Many lawyers are unwilling to talk publicly about the case because of the powerful figures involved, but expect the proceedings to be entertaining, to say the least.

Halverson denies the allegations.

Man who lost homes in Katrina claims $97M Powerball prize

BATON ROUGE, La. --A construction company owner who lost two homes in Hurricane Katrina claimed a $97 million Powerball prize, a jackpot won off a ticket he bought at a convenience store where he stopped to buy his wife a gallon of milk.

When he turned in the winning ticket, Carl Hunter became the largest Powerball winner in Louisiana's history. He won the jackpot in January, but the 73-year-old small businessman waited nearly four months to claim the prize.

An avid lottery player, Hunter said he already had bought a Powerball ticket on Jan. 16 at the gas station less than two blocks from his home in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. But he stopped at the station again that day to buy milk -- at the request of his wife, Dianne -- and got a second "quick pick" ticket.

"I had some change, and one dollar was used to buy this ticket," Hunter said Thursday at the Louisiana Lottery Corp. headquarters in Baton Rouge, where he claimed his prize.

"It's all about milk," his wife said, smiling.

Mo. woman enters Alford plea in kidnapping case

UNION, Mo. -- A Missouri woman accused of slashing a young mother's throat, kidnapping her newborn and passing off the child as her own for five days has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

Shannon Torrez, of Lonedell, Mo., appeared in court on Friday and entered an Alford plea. Under the arrangement, she does not admit guilt but concedes there is sufficient evidence for a guilty verdict.

Seven-day-old Abby Woods was kidnapped on Sept. 15, 2006. Authorities said Abby's mother allowed Torrez into the family home.

Once inside, authorities said Torrez first held Stephenie Ochsenbine (OH'-shun-byn) at gunpoint then slashed her throat before leaving with the baby. The woman survived the attack.

Fans long to have ashes scattered on sporting sites

NEW ORLEANS -- Even though he's only 37 and in good health, Nathan Davis has already made out his will. In it, he bequeaths money to the University of Alabama athletic department and his ashes to Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Davis, whose heavily tattooed body is a living tribute to his beloved school, wants his remains to become an actual part of it.

"I spell it out in my will," Davis said. "My first choice is to spread my ashes at the stadium, second is on the Walk of Champions, and third is on Bear Bryant's statue."

Davis is one of an apparently large number of people who feel there's no better place to spend eternity than the place they cheered on the old home team or otherwise celebrated their favorite sport.

A couple of years ago Christopher Noteboom ran across the field during a Philadelphia Eagles game scattering his mother's ashes as he went. Noteboom said Mom was a big Eagles fan and he couldn't think of a more fitting tribute.

Mourners pay respects to slain Philadelphia police officer

PHILADELPHIA -- Hundreds of mourners lined up in the pouring rain outside a cathedral Friday to pay their respects to a Philadelphia police officer killed in the line of duty.

A horse-drawn caisson traveled about a mile through city streets before dawn to bring Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski's casket from police headquarters to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, where a funeral Mass was held.

Liczbinski, 39, a 12-year veteran of the police force, was fatally shot on Saturday as he responded a robbery at a bank inside a supermarket.

One of three suspects in the holdup was killed shortly afterward by police. A second man was taken into custody on Sunday and a third suspect was captured late Wednesday night.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, speaking to pews packed with officers and loved ones, said Liczbinski's death "represents the kind of heroism that takes place throughout the country every single day by the men and women in uniform."

"Steve is not a hero in my mind because of how he died," Ramsey said. "He's a hero because many years ago he made the decision, he answered a call, he knew that he wanted to help others. ... He chose to become a police officer."

Outside the packed cathedral, hundreds of people gathered to watch the funeral Mass on video screens.