Texas
Governor says indictment against him is abuse of power
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas Gov. Rick Perry vowed Saturday to fight the indictment against him, calling it an “outrageous” abuse of power.
“This indictment amounts to nothing more than abuse of power, and I cannot and will not allow that to happen,” Perry said at a news conference a day after he was charged with violating state law.
On Friday, a Travis County grand jury indicted the Republican on two felony counts of abuse of power for making good on a veto threat.
The indictments are related to Perry vetoing funding for a Travis County unit investigating public corruption last year because the Democratic official heading the office refused to resign after being convicted of drunken driving.
Montana
Democrats choose new Senate candidate
HELENA, Mont. – Montana Democrats on Saturday selected a little-known state lawmaker named Amanda Curtis as their candidate for U.S. Senate after Sen. John Walsh dropped out amid plagiarism allegations from his time at U.S. Army War College.
Curtis, a first-term representative from Butte, now faces the challenge of introducing herself to Montana voters and making her case for them to choose her over well-known and well-funded Republican Rep. Steve Daines with less than three months until the Nov. 4 elections.
Republicans need a net gain of six seats in November to take Senate control, and Montana is a prime target to pick up a seat that’s been in Democratic hands for more than a century.
New York
Sheriff says pair may have plotted to kidnap more kids
CANTON, N.Y. – A couple accused of kidnapping two young Amish sisters were prowling for easy targets and may also have planned to abduct other children, a sheriff said Saturday.
Stephen Howells Jr. and Nicole Vaisey, both of Hermon, New York, were arrested Friday on charges they snatched the 7-year-old and 12-year-old girls from a roadside farm stand in front of their home near Canada.
St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells said at a news conference Saturday that more charges may be filed, and investigators are looking into whether the pair had plotted or carried out other abductions.
Police say woman stole 800 LEGO sets worth $60K
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – A New York woman is charged with stealing 800 LEGO sets worth almost $60,000 and trying to sell them on eBay. She was arraigned Friday on charges of grand larceny.
Nassau County detectives say the 53-year-old woman lifted the toy sets from a storage facility in Island Park and took them to anther storage facility in Rockville Centre.
Illinois
U.S. service members complain private cars missing
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – Hundreds of U.S. service members are reporting that their privately owned vehicles have gone missing or been damaged while being shipped to and from overseas bases, according to a newspaper report published Saturday.
After months of complaints, the military is sending teams starting this week to find the vehicles at supply-chain staging areas across the globe, the Belleville News-Democrat reported. The survey teams are from U.S. Transportation Command, which is run out of Scott Air Force Base in southeastern Illinois and is responsible for air, land and sea transportation for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Associated Press
