NEWS BRIEFS

Would-be burner OKs plea deal

BARTOW, Fla. - A Florida minister who was arrested Sept.

11 while attempting to burn 2,998 Korans at a Polk County park has accepted a plea agreement that will prohibit him from returning to the county for six months.

As part of Tuesday’s deal, prosecutors have agreed to drop a felony charge of unlawful conveyance of fuel against Terry Jones.

On Sept. 11, Jones and members of his congregation in the Dove World Outreach Ministries in Manatee County entered the Mulberry area to burn Korans in memory of those who died in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Lakeland Ledger reports that Jones was in a truck pulling a cooker laden with kerosene-soaked Korans when he was arrested.

  • The Associated Press

Ex-sportscaster joins conservative council

WASHINGTON - Former college football broadcaster Craig James has joined the conservative Family Research Council, where he says he’ll fight the kind of “religious bigotry” he blames for his firing by Fox Sports after expressing opposition to gay marriage.

James, who will serve as an assistant to council president Tony Perkins, was a longtime color commentator for ESPN. He quit to run for the U.S. Senate two years ago in Texas, where he grew up and starred at Southern Methodist University. James finished fourth in the Republican primary.

During a campaign debate, James said he opposed gay marriage and that gay people would one day “have to answer to the Lord for their actions.”

Fox Sports let him go, saying he was a “polarizing figure.” - The Associated Press

Chicago cardinal to resume chemo

CHICAGO - Chicago Cardinal Francis George will not travel to Rome for the canonizations of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II later this month because of the resumption of chemotherapy to treat his cancer.

The 77-year-old spiritual leader of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s more than 2 million Roman Catholics was released from the hospital March 21 after being treated for dehydration and flu-like symptoms.

Treatment of the cancer near his right kidney was interrupted by the infection. George survived bladder cancer eight years ago, but the cancer returned in 2012.

  • The Associated Press

Churches continue to fight lawsuit

HONOLULU - Attorneys representing churches being sued over renting Hawaii public school buildings for services say there’s nothing new in an amended lawsuit.

A judge previously dismissed a lawsuit claiming the churches owe more than $5.6 million in rental fees, saying it didn’t contain the required level of detail for a case alleging fraud.

Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of Church and State founder Mitchell Kahle and public advocate Holly Huber later filed an amended suit.

Religious liberty group Alliance Defending Freedom filed another motion to dismiss, reiterating its previous argument that the state Department of Education knew how the facilities were being used. ADF attorney Erik Stanley said Monday the amended suit doesn’t include new information.

Religion, Pages 12 on 04/12/2014

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