Nation briefs 1/27/05

Accuser spells out church sex abuse charges

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A man who says he was molested as a boy by Paul Shanley, the now-defrocked priest at the center of the Boston Archdiocese sex scandal, tearfully testified Wednesday that Shanley would pull him from catechism classes and rape and fondle him in the church pews, the confessional and the rectory. His voice cracking, a hand over his face, the 27-year-old man also said Shanley would wait for him in the bathroom with the lights off. He recalled seeing Shanley silhouetted against the hallway light, his hands outstretched in a priestly pose.

AG nomination pushed through to Senate vote

WASHINGTON -- A Senate Judiciary Committee divided along partisan lines advanced Alberto Gonzales' nomination as attorney general to the full Senate Wednesday despite Democratic complaints that he is too close to President Bush to be effective as the nation's top law enforcement official. "It's hard to be a straight shooter when you're a blind loyalist," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Republicans muscled Gonzales' nomination through the panel on a 10-8 party line vote and are expected to use their 55-44 advantage to confirm him there next week at the earliest.

Thirteen children, drivers injured in bus crashes

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. -- Two school buses toppled over Wednesday morning in Florida and West Virginia, injuring 13 children and both drivers. The elementary school bus north of Tampa overturned completely with 24 children aboard, sending eight to the hospital. In Logan, W.Va., at around the same time, a school bus hit a patch of black ice near a railroad crossing and turned on its side, causing minor injuries to the bus driver and five children, four of them elementary school pupils.

Student is 27th homicide in Baltimore this month

BALTIMORE -- A Johns Hopkins University senior was killed in her off-campus apartment in the second slaying of an undergraduate there in nine months. The death of Linda Trinh appeared to be a crime of "opportunity" and unrelated to that of Christopher Elser in April, said Baltimore homicide Maj. Richard Fahlteich. Trinh, who was found dead Sunday, had been asphyxiated. Trinh's death is the 27th homicide in Baltimore this month -- compared with 16 at the same time last year.

HUD gives $1.4 billion to homeless programs

LOS ANGELES -- Thousands of local homeless programs throughout the nation will receive a record $1.4 billion in Housing and Urban Development grants. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson said Tuesday that 4,400 local projects, including an increasing number of faith-based organizations, will receive the federal funding. It's the fourth year HUD has provided record funding for homeless assistance. The Bush administration has a stated goal of eradicating chronic homelessness, defined as an individual who has been homeless for more than a year, by 2010.