Nation briefs 12/10/03

Fifteenth shooting added to investigation in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A bullet hole found in a van at a used car lot on U.S. 23 has been linked to a string of shootings along a stretch of Interstate 270 in Ohio, bringing the total number of cases under investigation to 15, authorities said Tuesday. The van shooting was reported Nov. 15 and was the sixth shooting police have connected through ballistic tests. On Monday, workers put up cameras on I-270 in an attempt to find who is behind the shootings. Police are offering a $20,000 award for information leading to an arrest and charges.

Honesty could cost Air Force cadet her career

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- In a striking example of how discipline is changing at the Air Force Academy in the wake of its sexual assault scandal, a cadet may be expelled after turning herself in for taking a single sip of whiskey. New commanders, trying to erase the image of a school that ignored assault victims, have demanded that sophomore Christina Fifer, 19, reveal the name of the senior cadet who gave her the alcohol. They accused her of showing "misplaced loyalty" by refusing a direct order. "I'd rather leave with my integrity intact than stay without it," said Fifer, of Inverness, Fla.

Jackson cleared months ago of molesting accuser

LOS ANGELES -- Child welfare investigators earlier this year found there was no basis for allegations that Michael Jackson had abused the boy now accusing him of molestation, according to a confidential memo. The memo from an administrator with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services was based on an investigation last February and was leaked to the Web site thesmokinggun.com, which posted it Tuesday. The memo was dated Nov. 26, 2003 -- a week after the Santa Barbara County district attorney announced child molestation allegations against Jackson. Both the boy and his brother told investigators Jackson had not sexually abused them, according to the memo.

Sheriff confirms blood is missing student's DNA

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Missing college student Dru Sjodin is probably dead, the sheriff said Tuesday in confirming that preliminary DNA tests found Sjodin's blood in the car of the man suspected of kidnapping her. In an interview with The Associated Press, Hill also revealed that searchers found a shoe belonging to the University of North Dakota student near the Red Lake River after she disappeared. Sjodin (pronounced sha DEEN) was last heard from Nov. 22, calling her boyfriend on a cellphone from the parking lot of a Grand Forks mall where she worked at a Victoria's Secret. The shoe was identified by a college roommate of Sjodin, 22. It is the only piece of clothing recovered so far, Hill said.

Company, government scuffle over pop-up ads

WASHINGTON -- Those flashy pop-up ads that annoy millions of Internet users each day are getting a legal test, thanks to a pair of 20-year-old college students who are challenging the government's effort to regulate the advertisements. The Federal Trade Commission accuses the students' small California company of committing "high-tech extortion" by using a feature inside popular Windows software to generate pop-up ads as frequently as every 10 minutes. Ironically -- and a key factor in the government's case -- the students' pop-ups tout software designed to block such ads. The company, D-Squared Solutions LLC of San Diego, has countered that the government's allegations go too far and that its ads are "no more harmful than roadway speedbumps or television commercials."

-- From wire reports