■ UNITED STATES
Hurricane troubles NASA
Worried about Hurricane Dean, Mission Control considered scaling back yesterday's spacewalk at the orbiting space shuttle and station complex to allow for a possible early end to Endeavour's mission. NASA wants to keep its options open for moving up Wednesday's shuttle landing by one day, and shortening the spacewalk would be one way to do it, said Le Roy Cain, a ranking member of the mission management team. Shuttle managers also decided on Friday to put off fuel-tank preparations for the next launch until engineers decide how to best solve the latest foam-loss problem.
■ UNITED STATES
Principal pleads guilty
A former middle school principal accused of selling crystal methamphetamine from his office and home pleaded guilty to drug charges. John Acerra, 50, pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of felony delivery of methamphetamine and one count of felony possession with intent to deliver. He faces at least two years in prison. Acerra was principal of Nitschmann Middle School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, when he was arrested in his office during a police sting. Prosecutors have said there was no indication that Acerra sold the drug to students. Acerra resigned a few days after his arrest.
■ UNITED STATES
Experiment lawsuit settled
Iowa has agreed to pay US$925,000 to unwitting subjects of an infamous 1930s stuttering experiment -- orphans who were badgered as children by University of Iowa researchers trying to induce speech impediments. Judge Denver Dillard issued an order approving the settlement on Friday morning. The six plaintiffs, for whom the experiment left lifelong psychological and emotional scars, had originally sought US$13.5 million. "We believe this is a fair and appropriate settlement," Attorney General Tom Miller said. The 1939 experiment has come to be known as "The Monster Study" because of its methods.
■ UNITED STATES
Heat death toll rises
Authorities in Tennessee and Alabama reported 10 more heat-related deaths, bringing the toll in the southeast and midwest to at least 47 since oppressive high temperatures settled over the region last week. In Memphis, Tennessee, heat has been blamed as a factor in 10 deaths, mostly elderly victims, in nine days. A 62-year-old man was found dead in his home on Friday, the Shelby County Medical Examiner's office said. The heat reached 38.9oC in Memphis on Friday. In Alabama, one reactor at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant remained idle on Friday and two others were operating at reduced power because of overheated water in the Tennessee River, used to cool the plant.
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