As Duke lacrosse players recover from their championship loss to Johns Hopkins last Monday, the returning players found out that the NCAA has granted a fifth year of eligibility to nonseniors from the season that was canceled because of the infamous rape allegations, the Chronicle reports.
In a "mean-spirited" prank, an "elusive" and unidentified man hired three homeless men to paint over a landmark muralon the side of a Chinese restaurant near the University of North Carolina, the Daily Tar Heel reports. Perhaps deciding that sea-foam green was a more apropos look for an establishment named "Jade Palace," a man calling himself "Larry Hayes" picked up the three men and promised to pay them. According to the report, "Larry Hayes" was seen driving away from the scene in a blue Subaru with an Enterprise Rent-A-Car-tag. —Christina Mueller
A new Ohio law will put a crimp in at least one Ohio University student's plans to pay for college, the Post writes. The state Senate passed a law that says exotic dancers must be at least six feet away from patrons at all times, a restriction that would prevent performers from doing private dances and having drinks with patrons—times when they make the majority of their money, says one dancer mentioned in the story. Customers pay up to $300 to share a drink with a dancer, who keeps a percentage of the profit. The legislation, which takes effect in August, is "an attempt to put a 'scarlet letter' on girls in the business," adds the dancer. —A.G.
AP - A violent crime spike in four cities led the Justice Department on Friday to dispatch additional teams of federal agents to combat guns, gangs or surging murder rates in Mesa, Ariz.; Orlando, Fla.; San Bernardino, Calif., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
AP - The U.S. is not preparing for war against Iran and Vice President Dick Cheney supports that policy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says, taking a swipe at a U.N. official who says he's worried about "crazies" who want to start bombing.
AP - President Bush challenged lawmakers on Friday to pass an immigration bill that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants despite the harsh criticism they're hearing from voters and interest groups on both sides of the issue.
A tuberculosis patient who may have defied health officials' warnings by going on a wedding trip to Europe appears not to have gotten married, a Greek official said Friday. Andrew Speaker is now in a Colorado hospital suffering from a drug-resistant form of TB. Speaker and Sarah Cooksey's wedding announcement in a Georgia newspaper said their May ceremony in Santorini, Greece, would be followed by "an extended honeymoon in Europe."
A Brazilian judge Friday indicted two U.S. pilots and four Brazilian air traffic controllers on manslaughter-related charges stemming from the deadliest air disaster in Brazil's history, court spokesman Fabio Paz said.