Weather 'iffy' for shuttle landing

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Their work in orbit accomplished, space shuttle Endeavour's astronauts got the green light Saturday to return to Earth, but were warned "pretty iffy" weather at the main landing site could send them across the country or keep them up an extra day.

On Saturday afternoon -- 24 hours before the planned landing -- Mission Control informed the seven astronauts that Endeavour had been cleared for re-entry following analysis of data beamed down from a final thermal survey of their ship. The space shuttle was found to be free of any serious defects caused by space junk that could jeopardize the descent.

The astronauts noticed a small strip of material floating away as they checked out their flight systems, but Mission Control told them not to worry. It was merely a 3-inch label.

Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff was especially eager to come back: He's been off the planet, away from his wife and 3-year-old twins, since the end of May.

Pastor who helped get 'under God' in Pledge dies

ALEXANDRIA, Pa. -- The Rev. George M. Docherty, credited with helping to push Congress to insert the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, has died at 97.

Docherty died on Thanksgiving at his home in central Pennsylvania, according to his wife, Sue Docherty.

She said her husband of 36 years had been in failing health for about three years.

"George said he was going to live to be a hundred and he was determined," she said in a telephone interview Saturday. "It's amazing that he was with us this long."

Docherty, then pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, just blocks from the White House, gave a sermon in 1952 saying the pledge should acknowledge God.

Fetus found at Detroit wastewater plant

DETROIT -- Investigators in Detroit say they have little to go on in the case of a fetus found in a municipal wastewater treatment plant.

The fetus, estimated at 3 to 4 months of development, was found Friday in the sewer system intake of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department facility.

Detroit police spokesman James Tate told The Detroit News on Saturday there is no indication where the fetus came from. The plant takes in wastewater from Detroit plus 76 other communities in the surrounding region.

Tate said investigators are not even sure if a crime occurred.

He said the fetus could have come through a toilet as a result of a miscarriage.