Ill. wrongly reported early release prisoners

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Nearly six weeks after Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn halted an early prisoner release program that set free hundreds of potentially violent inmates, his administration is still struggling to identify which criminals — or even how many — got out.

Corrections Department records released after inquiries from The Associated Press indicate the agency misidentified more than 200 inmates let go under the program called "MGT Push."

The agency released a corrected index Thursday night of 1,745 offenders. That's an increase of 27 convicts from the 1,718 Quinn said were sent home when he halted the practice and announced prison reforms, responding to reports about what had been a secret program.

An AP review of the two lists further shows the names of 250 new offenders were added and 223 who hadn't benefited from MGT Push were removed — for a net increase of 27. The Corrections Department confirmed those totals Friday.

Omitting 250 inmates who should have been included means nearly 15 percent of the first list Quinn released was incorrect.

Corrections officials have not detailed the reasons why inmates were added or deleted. They updated the list after the AP questioned why 101 inmates serving short terms last fall were not included on the first log.

MGT Push, which got its name from accelerating inmate awards of good-conduct credit, or "meritorious good time," continues to cause problems for Quinn, who is up against state Comptroller Dan Hynes in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary for governor.

Hynes has made the botched program the center of his attacks on the incumbent. Quinn has been seemingly inconsistent in his explanations of the program and what he knew about it.

The gaff that included inmates incorrectly and missed hundreds of others was caused by a search of an archaic computer system that was inadequate, said Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith.

The administration also acknowledged MGT Push started earlier than Quinn had previously stated. The AP reviewed a dozen MGT Push inmates released Sept. 11, five days earlier than the announced date of Sept. 16.

MGT Push involved awarding up to six months of good-conduct credit to prisoners as soon as they entered the gates and before they had time to show they deserved any good-behavior time off.

Corrections also dropped a 61-day minimum stay for all inmates, meaning scores of prisoners spent a total of less than three weeks behind bars, including county jail time. They served, on average, 26 days in the state pen, from as few as seven to 60, just below the old minimum.

On the updated list, at least 230 released early were convicted of violent crimes or those that involved weapons.

Quinn has said the inmates spent an average of 37 fewer days in prison than they would have before the 61-day rule was abandoned. If they hadn't received any good-behavior credit, they would have spent an additional four months locked up, on average.

After shutting down the practice, Quinn reinstated the 61-day minimum sentence and signed it into law last week. Upon recommendations from a former appellate justice who continues to study the issue, Quinn's recommended other reforms.

Corrections agents started "intensive compliance checks" early this month on the MGT Push parolees. They forced them to abide by strict new rules — right down to abstaining from alcohol — or be returned to prison to finish their terms. In just three weeks, they've picked up 250 and sent them back — combined with earlier returns, more than 300 are again behind bars.

Huge US storm curtails Christmas celebrations

CHICAGO (AFP) – A massive winter storm forced scores of US churches to cancel Christmas Eve services Thursday as blizzards and freezing rain brought treacherous holiday travel conditions for millions of Americans.

At least 19 deaths were attributed to the nasty storm system which began Wednesday and was not expected to clear before Saturday.

"This is a holiday mess," Chris Vaccaro, a spokesman for the National Weather Service, said of the second brutal winter blast to sock much of the United States in the past week.

"The storm is spanning two thirds of the country," Vaccaro told AFP.

"Its effects run the gamut from severe thunderstorms in the Gulf Coast to ice in New England to really what is a raging blizzard in the lower plains."

The northern parts of the massive system were expected to drop up to two feet (61 centimeters) of snow by Christmas Day while blizzard warnings were issued from North Dakota to Texas.

In north Oklahoma "a band of very heavy snow along with isolated thunder... was producing up to four inches of snow per hour," the Oklahoma City National Weather Service field office warned.

"Stay indoors until conditions improve. Only travel if absolutely necessary," the office said.

In North Dakota, weather forecasters said snowfall would reach up to 16 inches (41 centimeters) in some places, as well as temperatures as low as -34 degrees Fahrenheit (-36 degrees Celsius).

Flood and tornado warnings were issued further south with roads in the state of Alabama underwater and freezing rain and ice storms also threatened the states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, the Washington capital region and the Appalachian mountains.

Churches in several states cancelled services for Thursday as well as Christmas Day, citing the treacherous conditions.

"Significant amounts of ice accumulations will make travel dangerous or impossible," the weather service warned.

"Ice accumulations and winds will likely lead to snapped power lines and falling tree branches that add to the danger."

South Dakota, Texas and Oklahoma declared states of emergency and called up national guard troops to help dig out stranded travelers.

"I am urging all Oklahomans to take winter storm precautions and stay off the roads unless travel is absolutely necessary," Governor Brad Henry said.

South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds declared a state of emergency before the storm's arrival and also urged residents to stay off the roads.

"It's better to be safe than stranded somewhere. The best gift to give your loved ones is to be safe," he said.

Betsy Graupe lost count of the number of vehicles she saw in the ditch while driving from Chicago to see her family in Minneapolis, a journey of some 350 miles (570 kilometers).

"It was very, very bad out," said Graupe, who ended up pulling off the highway and spending Wednesday night in a hotel.

"It was poor visibility, and icy and the road was rutted... it was quite an adventure."

The Kansas highway patrol reported five fatalities on the prairie state's icy roads.

"We're becoming pretty inundated with slide-offs right now," spokeswoman Edna Buttler told AFP.

"Here in Topeka it's starting to pelt down ice and sleet and it's expected to turn to snow," she added. "That will increase the dangerous conditions."

Six people died on Nebraska roads -- including a Christian singer on his way home from a ministry training session and a fire captain -- the Omaha World Herald reported.

Three people were killed after a dust storm near Phoenix caused a 22-vehicle pileup, the Arizona Republic reported.

Three others were killed on the slippery roads in New Mexico, and one person died in a Minnesota crash, local media reported.

And along the southern US Gulf Coast, a powerful thunderstorm left one Louisiana man dead after a tree fell on his house, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled Thursday at airports stretching from Minneapolis to Dallas.

It is the second major weather system to sweep the United States in recent days, after a record-breaking snowstorm slammed the eastern seaboard at the weekend. That storm created travel chaos and cut short sales on what were traditionally major shopping days ahead of Christmas.

Storm turns holiday travel dangerous in Midwest

MINNEAPOLIS – A blustery storm spread snow and ice across the heartland Thursday as Americans rushed to get home for the holidays, grounding flights, stranding drivers on white-knuckle highways and forcing churches to cancel Christmas Eve services.

"I don't think God wants anyone to get killed or break a hip or break a knee or something," said the Rev. Joseph Mirowski of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration in Mason City, Iowa, where up to a foot of snow and sleet was expected.

A foot or two of snow was forecast in parts of the Plains and the Midwest by Christmas Day. Blizzard warnings were issued for Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin, and drivers were encouraged to pack emergency kits before setting out during what is normally one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

The storm was also expected to glaze highways in the East with ice on Christmas.

Slippery roads were blamed for at least 18 deaths this week as the slow-moving storm made its way across the country from the Southwest.

The snowstorm also put the brakes on some last-minute Christmas shopping. At the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., some shoppers had entire stores to themselves.

"It doesn't bother me any," said Steve Burns, who was browsing for shirts and other gifts with his teenage daughter.

High winds blowing snow across icy roads were a concern elsewhere. Interstates were closed in Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. Texas Gov. Rick Perry activated military personnel to help drivers. North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven placed additional state troopers and the National Guard on standby.

The wind gusted to 40 mph in central Kansas, and gusts up to 60 mph were forecast in Oklahoma. Winds gusting at up to 65 mph in Texas drifted the snow as deep as 5 feet in some areas.

"The wind is killer, especially when you're empty," trucker Jim Reed said during a stop in Omaha, Neb. "Anything that's boxed, like a refrigerator trailer like I have, becomes like a giant sail in the wind."

Tony Glaum of Leavenworth, Kan., was traveling with his wife and daughter to his parents' home north of Manhattan. He said they were thinking about staying overnight rather than making their usual Christmas Eve trip back home.

Still, he said, he is looking forward to a white Christmas: "I think snow would be pretty nice."

The storm closed Oklahoma's biggest airport. Mark Kraneneberg, a spokesman for Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, said there were about 100 stranded passengers and some airport employees were stuck as well.

Robert Smith of Denver was in Oklahoma City visiting family members and friends, and planned to fly home Thursday but had to cancel those plans.

"We are going to wait it out," he said. "We went to the grocery store to get stuff. We've got the generators ready just in case we need to use them."

Nearly 100 flights from the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport were canceled by midday. By late afternoon, though, a spokesman said most flights were getting out. The Oklahoma City airport shut down one of its three runways and canceled nearly 30 flights. Two-hour-plus delays were reported at Houston's Hobby Airport, though by Thursday evening that was down to 15 minutes or less. Chicago's O'Hare had hour-long delays and more than 30 cancellations.

The Rev. Roger Claxton canceled Christmas Eve services at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Wabasha, Minn., after the area got at least 8 inches of snow. Claxton feared his congregation's senior citizens would feel compelled to attend.

"I'd rather have people stay home than do their funerals in a couple weeks," he said.

The Rev. Mark Kelm told parishioners to stay home if they didn't feel safe, though he planned to hold services even if he was the only one there at St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church in White Bear Lake, a suburb of St. Paul, Minn.

"If I have to make it on cross-country skis, I'll be here," Kelm said. "The best way I can explain it is, it's just like a pregnant woman — if the baby is coming, the baby is coming. For us, the Christ child is going to be celebrated."

Karen Scholten said her family would conduct a mini-service at home after the Eagle Grove, Iowa, church she has attended since 1965 canceled its Christmas Eve service for the first time she could recall.

"I'm sure we will read the Christmas story and listen to some Christmas hymns," she said.

Since Tuesday, icy roads have been blamed for accidents that killed at least seven people in Nebraska, five people in Oklahoma, four in Kansas, one in Minnesota and one near Albuquerque, N.M.

___

Associated Press Writers Martiga Lohn in Minneapolis, Jean Ortiz and Josh Funk in Omaha, Neb., Michael J. Crumb in Des Moines, Iowa, James MacPherson in Bismarck, N.D., John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., Tim Talley in Oklahoma City, and Caryn Rousseau and Michael Tarm in Chicago contributed to this report.

Pope knocked down by woman at Christmas Eve Mass

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI's Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica got off to a tumultuous start Thursday after an apparently deranged woman jumped the barriers and knocked him down on his way to the altar.

In his homily, delivered unflappably after the incident, Benedict urged the world to "wake up" from selfishness and petty affairs, and find time for God and spiritual matters.

The 82-year-old pope was unhurt after his fall, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini.

Earlier, in Bethlehem, thousands of pilgrims from around the world descended on the traditional birthplace of Jesus, for the most upbeat Christmas celebrations the Palestinian town has seen in years.

While the Holy Land's top Roman Catholic clergyman reminded followers that peace remains elusive, while the threat of sectarian violence in the Islamic world and the lava spilling from a volcano in the Philippines clouded the celebrations for other Christian communities across the globe.

At the Vatican, witness video obtained by The Associated Press showed a woman dressed in a red hooded sweat shirt vaulting over the wooden barriers that cordoned off the basilica's main aisle and rushing toward the pope before being swarmed by bodyguards. She grabbed the pope's vestments as she was taken down, with Benedict seemingly falling on top of her.

The commotion happened as the pope's procession was making its way toward the main altar and shocked gasps rang out through the public that packed the basilica. The procession came to a halt and security rushed to the trouble spot.

Benedettini said the woman who pushed the pope appeared to be mentally unstable and had been arrested by Vatican police. He said she also knocked down Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who was taken to hospital for a check up.

"During the procession an unstable person jumped a barrier and knocked down the Holy Father," Benedettini told The Associated Press by telephone. "(The pope) quickly got up and continued the procession."

In Bethlehem, residents hemmed in by an Israeli security barrier and still recovering from years of violence, celebrated their town's annual day in the spotlight along with pilgrims and tourists. Visitors milled around Manger Square, mingling with clergymen, camera crews and locals hawking food and trinkets.

Christmas in Bethlehem has its incongruous elements — the troops of Palestinian boy scouts who wear kilts and play bagpipes in one of the town's holiday traditions, for example, or the inflatable Santa Clauses hanging from church pillars and storefronts looking out of place and overdressed in this Middle Eastern town with not a snowflake in sight.

Jeffrey Lynch, 36, a sanitation worker from New York City, was taking a tour through the Church of the Nativity, the fourth-century Crusader era structure built atop the grottos that mark the spot believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

"It's a miracle being here on Christmas Eve. It's a lifetime opportunity. I wish everybody could be here," he said.

But the Holy Land's top Roman Catholic cleric, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, reminded listeners in a holiday address that peace remains out of reach. "The wish that we most want, we most hope for, is not coming. We want peace," Twal said after he passed into Bethlehem in a traditional holiday procession from nearby Jerusalem.

Twal and his convoy of dozens of vehicles entered Palestinian-controlled territory through a massive steel gate in Israel's heavily guarded West Bank separation barrier, escorted by Israeli soldiers and police in jeeps.

The barrier and the heavy Israeli security presence served as reminders of the friction and hostilities that have thwarted peace efforts.

Only hours later, an Israeli man was shot and killed in the West Bank in an attack by Palestinian gunmen. Such attacks, once common, have become rare in recent years as the West Bank has regained a semblance of normalcy.

The Israeli military identified the man as a resident of a nearby settlement, and a little-known Palestinian faction took responsibility in an e-mail sent to journalists.

Some Christians in other far-flung parts of the world also saw gloom edge out the holiday cheer.

Baghdad's small remaining Christian minority was to celebrate midnight Mass in daylight for security reasons, and churches were under heavy guard. A bombing this week targeting a 1,200-year-old church in Mosul killed two passers-by, underscoring Iraqi Christians' concerns.

A marble palace once occupied by Saddam Hussein housed an impromptu Christmas celebration for U.S. soldiers and others far from home.

"I have mixed emotions," said Lt. Col Timothy Bedsole, 52, an Army chaplain from Alabama who was marking his second Christmas in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. "It's a very happy time for us as Christians and a very sad time to be away from our families."

Few were celebrating at a tent camp 220 miles southwest of Islamabad, Pakistan, erected to house Christians left homeless by a rampage of looting and arson by Muslims in August.

The Christians say they have received cell phone text messages warning them to expect a "special Christmas present." They're terrified their tents will be torched or their church services bombed.

"Last year I celebrated Christmas full of joy," said Irfan Masih, cradling his young son among the canvas shelters and open ditches of the camp. But now "the fear that we may again be attacked is in our hearts."

Far to the east, in the shadow of the erupting Mayon volcano in the Philippines, thousands of families were spending Christmas Eve in shelters as the volcano belched out 20 gray ash columns Thursday, some of them a mile (1.5 kilometers) high.

Government workers and volunteers tried to keep some 47,000 displaced residents entertained with games, movies and concerts, a heavy burden during the Christmas season in this majority Roman Catholic country.

Noodles, fruit and corned beef were distributed at the shelters for Christmas Eve dinner. Children in one evacuation center gleefully lined up for ice cream.

Prison expert: Accused Smart kidnapper incompetent

SALT LAKE CITY – A federal prison psychologist says that the suspect in the abduction of Elizabeth Smart understands the accusations against him but isn't competent to stand trial.

Dr. Richart DeMier of the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., said he had determined that Brian David Mitchell is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

DeMier said during a competency hearing for Mitchell in U.S. District Court Wednesday that Mitchell is not making rational decisions about his criminal defense.

"If he believes he's going to be miraculously delivered from prison by God in two years time, that's not a rational thought process," said DeMier, who evaluated Mitchell over 45 days a year ago.

Mitchell participated in less than five hours of formal interviews and talked at length about his religious beliefs but shut down when DeMier raised issues related to his mental competency, the psychologist said.

Mitchell also directed staff at the Missouri hospital to refer to him by his religious name, Immanuel David Isaiah, the prophet, DeMier said.

But DeMier said that Mitchell does understand the charges against him, the court process and the roles of the judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Mitchell, 56, has been indicted on federal charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines.

Smart was 14 when she was taken from her home at knifepoint in June 2002. In October, she testified she was raped after being forced into a religious marriage with Mitchell within hours of the kidnapping.

Federal prosecutors contend Mitchell is competent. A New York forensic psychiatrist said he is faking or exaggerating symptoms of mental illness to avoid prosecution.

Mitchell's federal public defenders claim he is unable to assist them with his case.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball will ultimately decide if Mitchell can proceed to trial in the federal system. A ruling is not immediately expected when the hearing ends.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Paul Whitehead, a Utah State Hospital psychologist, said the treatment team that cared for Mitchell believed he was close to being found competent for state proceedings in 2005.

Mitchell's refusal to cooperate with an evaluator, however, ultimately forced the hospital to say it was impossible to make a determination about his competency, Whitehead conceded.

Whitehead said that as Mitchell's treating physician, he had no official opinion about Mitchell's competency.

However, he said he was initially skeptical in 2005 that Mitchell had mental illness, but after nine months of observation he diagnosed Mitchell with delusional disorder.