Colorado snowstorm blamed for plane crash

DENVER -- A winter storm that brought up to 3 feet of snow to parts of Colorado's high country Saturday was blamed for a fatal plane crash and an avalanche that temporarily shut down Vail Pass. A twin-engine plane trying to land in heavy snow crashed less than a quarter-mile from the runway at Cortez-Montezuma County Airport in southwestern Colorado, reported the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office. The pilot, the only person on board, was killed. Meanwhile, westbound lanes of Interstate 70 on Vail Pass were closed for about three hours after an avalanche left about 6 feet of snow on the road. No one was caught in the slide.

Lawyer: Child killer to sign plea agreement

MIAMI -- A teenager whose life sentence for murdering a 6-year-old playmate was thrown out will sign paperwork accepting a plea deal today, further clearing the way for his release from prison, his mother's attorney said Saturday. Lionel Tate spoke with his mother, Kathleen Grossett-Tate, in a conference call Saturday, said Henry Hunter, Grossett-Tate's attorney. Hunter said Tate, who turns 17 this month, will sign papers agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree murder and receive a sentence of three years in prison -- most of which he has already served. He also will serve one year of house arrest and 10 years probation.

Mourners remember 12 victims of mudslide

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Mourners swayed to rousing hymns and wailed as they watched a slide show Saturday recalling 12 people -- many of them children -- who were swept away in a Christmas Day flash flood at a church campground in the San Bernardino Mountains. More than a thousand people attended the memorial service at Church of God Prophecy. The victims were attending a Christmas gathering at St. Sophia Camp, a Greek Orthodox facility, when the mudslide roared through. Thirteen people were killed, and 11-year-old Edgar Meza is missing and presumed dead.

Images of distant comet show jets of dust, gas

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA said Saturday it has captured dozens of close-up images of a distant comet that show the frozen ball of rock and ice spewing jets of dust and gas into space. The Stardust spacecraft took 72 images of the dark nucleus of comet Wild 2 during a derring-do flyby Friday that occurred 242 million miles from Earth. Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory began poring over the black-and-white images as the pictures and other scientific data reached Earth on Saturday. The images cover about 40 percent of the surface of Wild 2, which appears pocked with sinkholes formed where scientists believe the comet has lost material through sublimation -- solids turning to gas without an intermediate liquid phase.

Judge dismisses Hillary Clinton from Flowers suit

LAS VEGAS -- A federal judge has dismissed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton from a lawsuit that accused her of conspiring with political advisers to discredit Gennifer Flowers after Flowers said she had an affair with Bill Clinton. U.S. District Judge Philip Pro ruled in late November that the conspiracy claim against the former first lady was barred by Nevada's four-year statute of limitations, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Saturday. According to the Web site for Judicial Watch, the public interest group that represents Flowers, the organization plans to appeal.

Study: Football hits similar to car crashes

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Football players were struck in the head 30 to 50 times per game and regularly endured blows similar to those experienced in car crashes, according to a Virginia Tech study that fitted players' helmets with the same kinds of sensors that trigger auto air bags. University researchers are compiling a database of blows to the head their starting players endured this year, with plans to study how much trauma the brain can take.

-- From wire reports