National Briefs for Oct. 25

Janitor charged in slaying of N.J. priest

MORRISTOWN, N.J. -- A janitor was charged with murder yesterday in the slaying of a priest whose body was found in the rectory of his New Jersey church.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said that Jose Feliciano, 64, stabbed and cut the Rev. Ed Hinds 32 times on Thursday after the pair argued.

Hinds, 61, was killed in the rectory kitchen of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Chatham. His body was found Friday after he failed to show up for Mass.

Bianchi said investigators found the priest's cell phone, bloody clothing and a bloody towel at Feliciano's Easton, Pa., home.

Documents tie Young to corruption case

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Documents filed in federal court directly link U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, to a wide-ranging corruption investigation.

Young is identified as "United States Representative A" in the documents filed in connection with the sentencing next week of Bill Allen, a key figure in the corruption probes of state lawmakers and former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. R-Alaska.

The filing alleges Young illegally received gifts totaling nearly $200,000 over 13 years from VECO Corp., Allen's now-defunct oil field services company. Allen was the lead witness in the botched corruption trial of Stevens. Charges against Stevens were thrown out in April after the Justice Department admitted that it failed to turn over evidence favorable to the defense.

Nev. woman convicted in school kidnap stunt

LAS VEGAS -- A woman was convicted of conspiracy and false imprisonment after she harbored a 6-year-old boy who was snatched by her friend to protest what the women claimed was lax security at a Nevada elementary school.

Elaine Clermont, 40, could face up to six years in prison.

Clermont's friend Laurinda Drake was acquitted after a separate trial where she testified that she meant no harm. Drake admitted taking the unattended boy after he strayed from Jo Mackey Elementary School in North Las Vegas in September 2008. Both women had children attending the campus.

Drake, 41, said she took the boy to demonstrate how easily someone could kidnap a student. Police said she took him to Clermont's home. The two women called media outlets and turned the boy over to authorities.

Thousands urged to leave area of blast

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Thousands of people living on the outskirts of a burning fuel-storage site in Puerto Rico were urged to relocate yesterday to avoid toxic smoke billowing from the fire.

More than 1,500 people were evacuated after Friday's earthshaking explosion at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. in the suburb of Bayamon, just west of the capital of San Juan. A few people were slightly injured by the blast, which broke windows, tore doors off their hinges and shook the ground.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Jettisoned bomb at Utah base destroyed

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Military explosives experts destroyed a 500-pound bomb yesterday that had been jettisoned by an F-16 pilot making an emergency landing.

The pilot jettisoned two bombs and two fuel tanks on Thursday when he experienced problems seconds after takeoff. The plane landed safely and the pilot was not injured.

-- From Wire Reports