Around the Nation

GEORGIA

Energy official to head state’s colleges

ATLANTA — Erroll B. Davis Jr., a first-generation college graduate and career energy executive, was named yesterday as chancellor of Georgia’s public university system, the University System of Georgia, becoming the first black leader to hold the position on a permanent basis.

The 61-year-old chairman of Alliant Energy Corp. announced months ago his plans to retire next year from the multibillion-dollar firm he ran for seven years as chief executive officer.

While he has much less experience in academia than his predecessors and he doesn’t hold a Ph.D., Mr. Davis “has the perfect combination of business acumen and people skills required to be successful in the chancellor’s post,” said J. Timothy Shelnut, chairman of the USG’s Board of Regents.

KENTUCKY

Brothers die in crashes minutes apart

LOUISVILLE — Sheriff’s Deputy Andy McDowell was forced to live a parent’s worst nightmare twice in a matter of minutes.

After he was taken to the site where one of his two sons died in a car crash early Wednesday, Deputy McDowell was driven past another fatal accident. Only later did he learn that the fiery wreck took the life of his only other child.

Rory McDowell, 23, lost control of his truck coming out of a curve and the vehicle struck a tree shortly before 1:30 a.m., authorities said. About 15 minutes after the first crash, the 1984 Porsche of Cory McDowell, 21, veered off another rural road, went into a spin, struck a tree and burst into flames, authorities said.

CALIFORNIA

Governor hears clemency case

SACRAMENTO — Lawyers for Stanley “Tookie” Williams yesterday took their case to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a last-ditch effort to spare the founder of the Crips gang from execution.

The private meeting offered defense lawyers and prosecutors 30 minutes each to argue the fate of Williams, 51, who is scheduled to die Tuesday for murdering four persons during two 1979 robberies.

Defense attorneys say Williams should be spared because his teachings from behind bars have helped many gang members change their ways. Prosecutors and other law-enforcement authorities say that the Crips are responsible for thousands of deaths and that Williams has refused to own up to his crimes and inform on his gang cohorts.

FLORIDA

Tropical stormfades over ocean

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Epsilon petered out over the Atlantic yesterday, perhaps bringing an end to the record-breaking hurricane season more than a week late.

“It’s about time,” the National Hurricane Center in Miami wrote in its final advisory for the storm.

Epsilon was the 26th named storm and 14th hurricane of the record-breaking Atlantic storm season, which officially ended Nov. 30 after a ruinous run that included Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Epsilon never threatened land.

Yesterday, its winds were blowing at 35 mph, below the 39-mph threshold for a tropical storm.

LOUISIANA

Tulane announcesfaculty layoffs

NEW ORLEANS — Tulane University plans about 230 faculty layoffs and the elimination of some programs to cope with revenue lost after Hurricane Katrina struck.

In a set of budget cuts totaling about $100 million, the university plans to phase out about 50 faculty positions in undergraduate and professional degree programs and 180 its medical school.

The university put the cost of recovering from the storm so far at $200 million and said it expects a costly drop in enrollment.

MISSISSIPPI

Lawyer, ex-judges charged with bribery

JACKSON — Lawyer Paul Minor and two former state court judges have been indicted on new federal charges of conspiracy, bribery and fraud.

Mr. Minor stood trial this summer on charges of using cash, loans and gifts to secure favorable decisions in cases before Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr., former Circuit Court Judge John Whitfield and former Chancery Court Judge Wes Teel.

On Aug. 12, a federal jury cleared Justice Diaz of all charges and was unable to reach a decision on some charges against Mr. Minor, Mr. Teel, and Mr. Whitfield.

The new indictment was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, accusing Mr. Minor of bribing Mr. Whitfield and Mr. Teel.

MASSACHUSETTS

Governor scraps pill exception

BOSTON — Gov. Mitt Romney abandoned plans yesterday to exempt Roman Catholic and other private hospitals from a new law requiring them to dispense emergency contraception to rape victims.

Mr. Romney, a Republican, had initially backed regulations proposed earlier this week by his public health commissioner, Paul Cote Jr., who said the new law conflicted with an older law barring the state from forcing private hospitals to dispense contraceptive devices or information.

The governor, who is considering a run for president in 2008, said at a press conference yesterday morning that he asked his legal advisers to review the matter after members of both parties criticized the regulations. He said that the lawyers determined that the new law superseded the old law and that all hospitals should be required to offer the so-called “morning-after pill.”

NORTH CAROLINA

Judge throws out oath lawsuit

CHARLOTTE — A judge threw out an ACLU lawsuit aimed at allowing the use of non-Christian texts in courtroom oaths, saying the civil liberties group had no legal standing to file the suit.

The North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sued in Guilford County in July, saying it was acting on behalf of members statewide who prefer to swear courtroom oaths on religious texts other than the Bible.

Superior Court Judge Donald Smith tossed out the case because there is no pending instance of someone prohibited from using a text other than a Bible, ACLU lawyer Seth Cohen said yesterday.

PENNSYLVANIA

Egyptian deported for visa violations

PHILADELPHIA — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents here returned Mohamed Ahmed Hassan Ghorab, a 47-year-old Egyptian national and the imam of the Ansaar Allah Islamic Society in Philadelphia, from the United States to his native Egypt for violating terms of his visa.

Mr. Ghorab first entered the United States in March 2000 on a business visitor visa via New York. He was arrested in March 2003 by ICE agents assigned to the Philadelphia Joint Terrorism Task Force and placed into deportation proceedings for violating the terms of his visa.

In April 2003, an immigration judge allowed Mr. Ghorab to be released from custody after he posted a $50,000 bond, but a year later, the judge ordered that he be deported — which prompted an appeal by Mr. Ghorab to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

In May 2004, ICE agents took Mr. Ghorab back into custody for violating the terms of his bond — the same day Internal Revenue Service agents, along with agents from ICE and the FBI, executed criminal search warrants at the Ansaar Allah Islamic Society facility, at Mr. Ghorab’s home in Philadelphia.

TEXAS

Man recovers lost lottery ticket

AUSTIN — A $25,000 lottery ticket was easy money for Mike Sargent — until he lost it.

Then it meant days of searching fields and ditches — even sifting through a trash bin — before help arrived from an unexpected source.

Finally, five days after he lost the winning Wheel of Fortune ticket Nov. 15, Mr. Sargent got a call from Gerardo Ruiz, a water-meter reader from Midlothian who found it while working five houses down from the store.

“I went home and I showed my wife and I said, ’Look, Jesus gave us a $25,000 ticket,’ ” Mr. Ruiz recalled. “She said, ’Well you better call that guy, maybe you can get a reward, because God is going to punish you if you don’t return it.’”

Mr. Sargent gave Mr. Ruiz $2,500 and immediately wrote a $1,750 check to his own church.

WASHINGTON

One escapee caught; one still at large

YAKIMA — Another of the nine inmates who escaped from a four-story jail using bedsheets tied into ropes has been caught, leaving just one of the men still at large.

Gianni Alaimo, 26, surrendered without incident Wednesday when officers surrounded a residence. Police said they were acting on a tip motivated by a $3,000 reward offered by community groups.

Alaimo being held on assault charges at the time of the group’s escape from the Yakima County Jail in November.

From wire dispatches and staff reports