American Scene

ARIZONA

Man sentenced in terror-funding case

PHOENIX | An Arizona man who acknowledged lying to FBI agents investigating a Muslim charity group that raised money to help the terrorist group Hamas was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison.

Akram Musa Abdallah’s plea deal to the charge of making false statements to the government called for a sentence of 18 to 24 months, although he could have gotten up to eight years.

U.S. District Judge Neil Wake of Phoenix said he chose the lowest sentence possible because there was little actual harm to the government.

Abdallah’s lawyer argued that his client should not be sentenced using a terrorism enhancement, but government lawyers said his lies impaired the investigation of the charity group.

Judge Wake ruled that the terrorism enhancement applied.

CALIFORNIA

3 teachers removed over choice of heroes

LOS ANGELES | Three Los Angeles elementary school teachers accused of giving children portraits of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul to carry in a Black History Month parade have been removed from their classrooms, a school district spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Children from other classes at the school displayed photos of more appropriate black role models, such as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Obama, Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman Gayle Pollard-Terry said.

The incident occurred Friday at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles, where the student body is more than 90 percent Hispanic.

District Superintendent Ramon Cortines placed the teachers - all white men who teach first, second and fourth grades - on administrative leave on Tuesday while an investigation is conducted, Mrs. Pollard-Terry said.

The issue was brought to district officials’ attention by the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People after the organization received a complaint early Monday, chapter President Leon Jenkins said.

Mr. Jenkins said he thought the teachers acted in concert to mock black heroes and children’s innocence.

Simpson, a former NFL star, is serving a nine-year prison sentence for robbery and kidnapping. He was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife and her friend.

RuPaul is a drag-queen performer. Mr. Rodman, a former NBA star, has gained notoriety for bad-boy behavior on and off the basketball court.

FLORIDA

15 states, District named grant finalists

MIAMI | The U.S. Department of Education named 16 finalists Thursday in the first round of its Race to the Top competition, which will deliver $4.35 billion in school reform grants.

Selected from a pool of 41 applicants are Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. The winners will be chosen in April, and a second round of applications will be accepted in June.

“These states are an example for the country of what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said.

The grants are designed to reward states that have adopted and will continue implementing innovative reforms to improve student performance. The money is part of President Obama’s economic stimulus law, which provided an unprecedented $100 billion for schools. Much of that has gone toward preventing teacher layoffs and addressing other budget concerns. The $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund is targeted specifically for education reform.

MARYLAND

27 arrested after basketball game

COLLEGE PARK | Police arrested 27 people, including some University of Maryland students, after hundreds of basketball fans turned confrontational near the College Park campus, authorities said Thursday.

Police spokesman Cpl. Larry Johnson said about 1,500 people poured onto Route 1 near a stretch of clubs and bars in Prince George’s County at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday after No. 22 Maryland beat No. 4 Duke 79-72.

The initial celebration, with people cheering and jumping, turned chaotic as some paraded around with detached street signs. County police, campus police and mounted units from the Maryland-National Capital Park Police responded.

Cpl. Johnson said the crowd blocked the busy road and caused a “major disturbance,” with some throwing snowballs and ice at officers and damaging several signs. One officer and three people who were arrested suffered minor injuries, he said.

NEW YORK

Imam pleads guilty in terror case

NEW YORK | An imam has pleaded guilty to charges he lied to FBI agents investigating a foiled suicide-bomb plot against New York City.

Ahmad Afzali appeared Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court.

Afzali faces up to six months in prison after sentencing, set for April 8. Under the deal, he must leave the country within 90 days of finishing his sentence.

Authorities arrested Afzali last year during the investigation of admitted al Qaeda associate Najibullah Zazi. Zazi has pleaded guilty to plotting to use homemade bombs in a “martyrdom operation” against the subways.

VIRGINIA

Fundraising halted for slavery museum

RICHMOND | Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder has notified the state that he is no longer raising money for his planned slavery museum in Fredericksburg.

Mr. Wilder told the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in a letter dated Feb. 26 that the U.S. National Slavery Museum had closed its offices and “is not soliciting contributions at this time” because of the weakened economy. He said he still intends to build the museum.

The group owes more than $81,600 in delinquent real estate taxes. The property is eligible for a tax sale on Dec. 31, which would enable the city to collect the amount.

From wire dispatches and staff reports