The nation in brief

By DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PRESS SERVICES

Posted: July 28, 2009 at 5:16 a.m.

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LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY "There is no doubt that the state government and the federal government has to address the situation. They can't let something like this happen again." Bill King, attorney for Montejo Gaspar, legal guardian of a seriously brain injured illegal alien sent back to Guatemala by a U.S. hospital Article, this page

Oklahoman charged in 2 deputies' deaths

SEMINOLE, Okla. - An Oklahoma man jailed in the shooting deaths Sunday of two deputies was wanted on suspicion of trying to strangle his mother, who told authorities that she and her other children were afraid of him, court records show.

Two years ago, his sister said in a filing for a protective order that she feared he would kill somebody.

Ezekiel Holbert, 26, was arrested Sunday after two Seminole County deputies were killed while trying to serve an arrest warrant for Holbert at his mother's home, State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Jessica Brown said.

Holbert was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree murder and was being held in the Seminole County jail.

7 N.C. men charged, called jihad plotters

RALEIGH, N.C. - A father, his two sons and four other North Carolina men are accused of military-style training at home and plotting "violent jihad" through a series of terror attacks abroad, federal authorities said Monday.

Officials said the group was led by Daniel Patrick Boyd, a married 39-year-old who lived in an unassuming lakeside home in a rural area south of Raleigh, where he and his family walked their dog and operated a drywall business. But two decades ago, Boyd, who is a U.S.

citizen, trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan and fought against the Soviets for three years before returning to the United States, authorities say.

An indictment released Monday does not detail any specific terrorist plans or targets overseas although it claims that some of the defendants traveled to Israel in 2007 with the intent of waging "violent jihad" and returned home without success.

The seven men made their first court appearances in Raleigh on Monday, charged with providing material support to terrorism. If convicted, they could face life in prison.

Sources: 4 big cities won't get police aid

WASHINGTON - Four major cities - New York, Seattle, Houston and Pittsburgh - will get no money from a $1 billion economic stimulus program to help cities avoid laying off police officers, officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details publicly, said about 7,000 state and local agencies applied for aid under the COPS program that is part of the $787 billion stimulus package passed earlier this year. Only about 1,000 were approved.

Justice Department spokesman Hannah August declined to comment in advance of the official announcement.

Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder are to appear in Philadelphia today to announce who gets what.

The roughly 1,000 places getting COPS aid include: Philadelphia; Rochester, N.Y.;

Kalamazoo, Mich.; Mobile, Ala.; Mesa, Ariz.; Tulare County, Calif.; Monroe County, Fla.; the Seminole Tribe of Florida; Baltimore; Providence, R.I.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Huntington, W.Va.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 07/28/2009

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