■ United States
Shuttle scares locals
Dozens of frightened Californians called police to report a shooting early on Tuesday, but the loud noise that woke them up was the sonic boom of the Discovery shuttle returning to Earth, police said. Shortly after 5am, two sheriff's offices in Antelope Valley, north of Los Angeles, fielded several calls from people reporting loud detonations. "They heard a loud boom," said Dan Moore, an employee at the Lancaster city sheriff's department, which received some 20 calls. "They were pretty scared." NASA decided to move the landing to California due to bad weather over the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
■ United States
Ex-nurse helps convict
A former prison nurse opened fire on guards escorting her shackled husband from a Tennessee courthouse on Tuesday, killing one guard and escaping with her husband in a sport utility vehicle, authorities said. Convict George Hyatte, 34, shouted "Shoot 'em" to wife Jennifer Hyatte, 31, and she opened fire with at least six shots from a handgun, scattering dozens of witnesses outside the Roane County courthouse in Kingston, police said. Three bullets struck a guard, who died at a hospital. Jennifer Hyatte was once a nurse under contract to the Tennessee Department of Corrections in Tiptonville, but her contract was terminated when she struck up a relationship with her husband, a spokeswoman said.
■ United States
E-passports on the way
The US will begin issuing electronic passports in December to help tighten border and identity security, the State Department said on Tuesday. A computer chip will be embedded in passport covers and will hold the same information that is written on the inside: name, date of birth, gender, place of birth, dates of passport issuance and expiration, passport number and a photo. The chip will also have a unique digital signature designed to protect the data from tampering.
■ United States
Officer busted over Bush
An air force reserve officer could face criminal charges for allegedly vandalizing cars parked at Denver International Airport bearing bumper stickers supporting US President George W. Bush. Lieutenant Colonel Alexis Fecteau, director of operations for reserve forces at the National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs, is believed to be responsible for defacing at least 10 vehicles, police said on Tuesday. A bait car left by police was also defaced, allowing them to track down Fecteau, who turned himself in on Friday. Fecteau is suspected of blacking out the Bush bumper stickers and then spraypainting an expletive and the president's name on the vehicles.
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