Nation briefs 8/20/06

Man shoots at firefighters for not rescuing cat

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- There was no fire -- just a fired-up gun-toting man who wanted to save a cat. Firefighters called out to extinguish a blaze at 58-year-old Jeffrey Cullen's home Thursday found no flames. Instead, Cullen told firefighters he wanted a cat rescued from his tree, and that he knew they would only respond to a fire call, Hualapai Valley Fire Department spokeswoman Sandy Edwards said. When they denied his request, Cullen "went back into the house, got a small black revolver and came outside shooting," she said. No one was injured, but Cullen was arrested and charged with four felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Judge: No change of venue for serial shooter

PHOENIX -- The trial of two men accused in a string of random late night shootings will remain in Phoenix, for now. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James H. Keppel rejected a motion from lawyers for Dale S. Hausner to move the trial outside the county. His arrest Aug. 3 drew intense local and national media coverage. Keppel said it's too early to decide whether potential jurors in Maricopa received too much information about the case to give Hausner a fair trial.

Idaho man loses 'mark of the beast' appeal

BOISE, Idaho -- Sorry, Lawrence Lewis: Even if your Social Security number is the biblical "mark of the beast," you still need it to get a driver's license. That was the message from the Idaho Court of Appeals, which denied Lewis' lawsuit in which he claimed supplying the government-issued number burdened his right to exercise his Christian religion. Lewis said the number is either the "mark of the beast" or its precursor. But the appellate court ruled Thursday that a federal law requires that the state collect Lewis' Social Security number before it issues him a driver's license. Lewis was issued a Social Security number in 1963.

-- From wire reports