Nation briefs 06/09/03

NASA delays launch of first of two Mars rovers

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Storms and high wind on Sunday forced NASA to delay launching a rocket carrying the first of a pair of rovers destined for Mars on a mission to search for evidence of water on Earth's neighbor.

The launch aboard a Boeing Delta II from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was rescheduled for this afternoon, but there was only a 40 percent chance that storms would clear by then. The weather was expected to improve by Tuesday.

The second rover is scheduled for launch later this month, and both vehicles are to arrive at Mars in January.

The rovers were officially named on Sunday. Third-grader Sofi Collis, 9, of Scottsdale, Ariz. chose the name Spirit for the first rover and Opportunity for the second in a nationwide contest that drew 10,000 entries.

Teen faces arraignment today in officer slayings

FAYETTE, Ala. -- A teenager faces arraignment today on capital murder charges in the fatal shooting of two policemen and a dispatcher who were gunned down as they booked the teen on a car theft charge.

Devin Moore, 18, will be charged with capital murder in the slayings early Saturday at the Fayette police station, Fayette County District Attorney Chris McCool said.

The policemen and disptacher were killed after Moore allegedly snatched one of the officer's guns and opened fire. He then fled in a police vehicle but was captured about 3 1/2 hours later in Mississippi, about 12 miles west of the Alabama border.

Signs of grief could be seen all over Fayette, a rural community of about 5,000 people approximately 45 miles north of Tuscaloosa. Black ribbons were placed on the front grills of police cruisers.

"This is probably the worst day in Fayette's life," said police chief Euel Hall. "We've never had an officer killed in the line of duty, and now all of a sudden we have two."

Officer Arnold Strickland, in his mid-50s, Cpl. James Crump, 40, and dispatcher Leslie "Ace" Mealer, 40, were killed. Crump was engaged and had a young son, while Strickland had three children and at least one grandchild.

Mayors ask for more homeland security funds

DENVER -- Frustrated and angry over delays, a coalition of the nation's mayors asked federal officials on Sunday to bypass state governments and give them the money they need to beef up homeland security.

"I'm not asking for a handout, I'm asking for a partnership," Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson told Undersecretary of Homeland Security Michael Brown at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Brown said the federal government does not want to break up partnerships it has forged over the years with state governments through agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which handles natural disasters.

However, he said Congress recently ordered 80 percent of the funding for homeland security projects to go to first responders in cities and counties, and limited to 20 percent the amount state governments can keep.

Mayors had complained that states were skimming federal money for prevention, while they need it to equip and train police and firefighters who treat casualties.

N.C. college student electrocuted at concert

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Authorities are investigating the death of a college student who was electrocuted while walking barefoot on a wet stairway during a concert by Snoop Dogg and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Ashley Faris, 26, was pronounced dead at a hospital Friday, police said. A passer-by who tried to help him was treated at the hospital for electric shock, but was released Saturday.

Police said Faris, a UNC-Charlotte student, was walking Friday night on a lighted, concrete stairway with metal edges at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre when he was electrocuted.

Verizon officials have declined to answer questions about the incident, providing only written statements.

-- From wire reports