Local
Two pedestrians killed; police witness accident
(AP) - One man is facing charges after two pedestrians were hit by a car and killed while trying to cross the street.
Ronald McClellan, 38, of Albuquerque and an unidentified woman died at the scene of the accident, which happened at about 9 p.m. Saturday, Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Ahrensfield said.
Although the driver of the car fled the scene, an on-duty police officer saw the accident and followed the vehicle, she said.
"He hit them, then did a 180 (degree turn) and drove down the wrong side of the street," Ahrensfield said.
State
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Company promises to remove nuclear waste
SANTA FE (AP) - The company that wants to build a nuclear fuel plant in New Mexico has made a written commitment to remove the plant's nuclear waste in a "timely manner."
Louisiana Energy Services promised in a letter Saturday to Gov. Bill Richardson to store the waste at its proposed site only temporarily. LES president Jim Ferland wrote, "there will be no disposal or long-term storage (beyond the life of the plant) of uranium byproduct cylinders in the state of New Mexico."
LES plans to use uranium enriched at the plant, which would be built near Hobbs, to fuel nuclear power plants around the world. Opponents are concerned the plant's radioactive waste could end up stored on the plant site indefinitely because there is no place to get rid of it.
National
Cincinnati mayor wants stun guns in cops hands
CINCINNATI (AP) - Cincinnati's mayor on Sunday urged the city to buy stun guns for its police force in response to the death of a man following a struggle with six officers a week ago.
"I am looking for any avenue to avoid another struggle," Mayor Charlie Luken wrote in an e-mail to City Council members Sunday that asked them to find $1 million in the 2004 budget to pay for the non-lethal weapons.
"While it is unclear whether the incident would have changed if our officers had the latest technology in Tasers, I believe we must equip our police with the very best equipment," Luken wrote.
Nathaniel Jones, 41, died Nov. 30 after the scuffle in a restaurant parking lot. A police cruiser videotape showed the 350-pound man lunging at one officer before he was brought down and struck repeatedly with metal nightsticks.
Kidnapping suspect's sister warned police
CROOKSTON, Minn. (AP) - The sister of the suspect in the case of a missing University of North Dakota student pleaded with a local police officer to keep tabs on her brother after his release from prison in May because she feared he might strike again.
Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, has been charged with kidnapping in the disappearance of Dru Sjodin, 22. The student has been missing since Nov. 22, when police believe she was abducted from a mall parking lot in Grand Forks, N.D.
Rodriguez's sister, Ileana, called Sgt. Gerry Moreno several times following her brother's completion of a 23-year prison term for stabbing and trying to kidnap a woman. She asked Moreno to keep her brother, who had previously pleaded guilty to rape, locked up or away from the community.
Moreno told The Forum of Fargo, N.D., that he wasn't in a position to help her.
"Once a person does their time, they have no ties to probation," Moreno said in Sunday's edition of the newspaper.
International
Iraqi rebels kill soldier, injure two others
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Guerrillas killed a U.S. soldier with a roadside bomb in northern Iraq on Sunday, and a U.S. military commander said insurgent attacks might not abate even if American troops kill or capture Saddam Hussein. A soldier from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division died and two others in his unit were wounded when rebels detonated a bomb as their convoy drove through the center of Mosul at midday, Master Sgt. Kelly Tyler said.
