CONNECTICUT SCHOOL SHOOTING
Church leaders in Newtown receive ovations
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Church leaders in Newtown are receiving standing ovations from parishioners they are helping to cope with the massacre at an elementary school.
Monsignor Robert Weiss of the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic church received applause at Sunday Mass and said he is grateful to everyone in the community for giving him strength to get through the week. Eight of the 20 children and two of the six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School belonged to his church.
The Rev. Kathleen Adams-Shepherd at Trinity Episcopal Church also received an ovation and kisses from a long line of parishioners. She offered a prayer for the 26 victims at the school as well as the gunman and his slain mother.
Weiss calls it says the "worst week" of his life, but says the pain is surely not over for victims' families. In a church bulletin, he writes: "We know that some hearts in this town will be broken again on Christmas morning when that one special person is not there to open their gifts." He urged people to celebrate Christmas with prayers for hope, healing and peace.
CONNECTICUT SCHOOL SHOOTING-NRA
NRA: Public wants armed guards in every school
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Rifle Association is forcefully sticking to its call for placing armed police officers and security guards in schools.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Wayne LaPierre says any new efforts by Congress to regulate guns or ammunition would not prevent mass shootings. He says the American people think it would be "crazy" not to put armed guards in every school.
Former congressman Asa Hutchinson tells ABC's "This Week" compares the NRA's plan to the air marshal program which he says has provided a deterrent and made flying safer.
But the NRA's response to the Newtown shooting is being panned on several fronts. Congressman Chris Murphy of Connecticut calls it "tone deaf" and "revolting."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says putting armed guards in schools would turn them into armed camps for kids.
And Sen. Charles Schumer says LaPierre and the NRA blame everything but guns for the recent spate of mass shootings.
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS-BRIDGE PROTEST
Brooklyn Bridge candlelight vigil in support of stricter gun laws
NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of people have staged an anti-gun protest on New York's Brooklyn bridge.
Demonstrators calling for tougher gun control legislation marched Sunday evening from the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides to the middle of the span. There they staged a candlelight tribute to the dead in the Connecticut school massacre. The names of the victims were read aloud.
Participants included a civil rights attorney and a lawmaker.
OREGON MALL KILLINGS-SURVIVOR
Oregon mall shooting survivor tells her story
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A teen who survived the Dec. 11 shooting at an Oregon shopping mall says she didn't realize the gun that shot her was real until bullets started whizzing past.
KPTV shared on Saturday 15-year-old Kristina Shevchenko's perspective on what happened that day, when two other people died.
The teen was walking home from school and took a shortcut through the mall.
When she heard the first shots, she hid behind a pillar with her best friend, but when she looked down, she realized she had been shot in the chest.
She says she initially thought Jacob Roberts, who was dressed in black and wearing a mask, was pulling a prank.
Her father says it's a miracle that she survived. He says Kristina is the family's Christmas gift.
OKLAHOMA-SCHOOL SHOOTING PLOT
Mom: Okla. teen didn't seriously plan violence
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) — The mother of an Oklahoma teen accused of plotting to attack his high school says her son has symptoms of possible mental illnesses, but did not seriously plan violence.
Jessie Chavez told the Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/TgzIsZ ) that 18-year-old Sammie Eaglebear Chavez sent her a text message two days before his Dec. 14 arrest saying he wanted to "shoot up" Bartlesville High School because he thought students were talking about him behind his back.
She says she showed the message to therapists but had not decided whether to take further action by the time he was arrested.
He's charged with conspiring to cause serious bodily harm or death to other students.
His arrest came hours before a gunman shot and killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school.
INOUYE-SERVICES
Memorial service for Sen. Inouye held in Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) — A Navy commander says the late Sen. Daniel Inouye (ih-NOH'-way) was "an irreplaceable American."
More than 1,000 people attended a memorial Sunday for Inouye at Honolulu's National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Dignitaries included President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Hawaii's congressional delegation and a number of other senators and cabinet secretaries.
A 19-gun cannon salute was fired as Inouye's coffin arrived at the cemetery. The service also featured a flyover by F-22 military jets and the playing of "Taps" by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana.
His final resting place is also where more than 400 members of the storied Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team — of which Inouye was a part — are buried.
Inouye was the first Japanese-American elected to both houses of Congress and the second-longest serving senator in U.S. history, at 50 years. He was 88.
OBIT-MCBRIDE
Ex-Florida governor candidate McBride dies at 67
MIAMI (AP) — Bill McBride, the Florida Democrat who defeated Janet Reno for the party's gubernatorial nomination in 2002 but lost to Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, has died at the age of 67.
His wife Alex Sink said Sunday that McBride suffered a fatal heart attack Saturday while visiting with family in Mount Airy, N.C. Sink was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2010, losing to now-Gov. Rick Scott. The couple lived outside of Tampa.
Sink said McBride, an attorney, had long suffered from heart problems.
McBride defeated Reno, who was U.S. attorney general under President Bill Clinton, in the Democratic primary to run against Bush. Before entering politics, he was managing partner at the prestigious Holland & Knight law firm.
Sink said McBride's true legacy was as a longtime civil rights champion.
US-AFGHANISTAN-SEAL DEATH
Official: Navy SEAL died of apparent suicide
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. military officials are investigating the apparent suicide of a Navy SEAL commander in Afghanistan.
A U.S. military official says SEAL Team Four member Cdr. Job W. Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pa., died Saturday of a non-combat-related injury that the official says "appears to be the result of suicide."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the death is still being investigated.
Troops from SEAL Team 4, which is based in Virginia Beach, Va., are part of the mission to train Afghan local police to stave off the Taliban in remote parts of Afghanistan
CRAPO-DUI ARREST
Police: US Sen. Crapo arrested, charged with DUI
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Authorities say U.S. Sen. Michael Crapo (KRAY'-poh) has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence in suburban Washington, D.C.
Police in Alexandria, Va., said Sunday that the Idaho Republican was pulled over early Sunday morning after his vehicle ran a red light. Police spokesman Jody Donaldson said Crapo failed field sobriety tests and was arrested at about 12:45 a.m. He was transported to the Alexandria jail and released on an unsecured $1,000 bond about four hours later
Donaldson said he didn't immediately know what Crapo's blood alcohol level was.
Crapo has a Jan. 4 court date.
The senator issued a statement late Sunday saying he was "deeply sorry" for his actions and would deal with whatever penalty comes his way.
A Mormon, Crapo has been in the Senate since 1998, and served for six years in the House before that.
YEMEN
Yemen army strikes gunmen for oil pipeline blasts
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni security officials say the military has launched a new round of strikes against armed tribesmen with links to attacks on oil pipelines and electricity stations.
The officials say the army used tanks and rockets to strike at the tribesmen Sunday in Marib province, east of Sanaa, the capital. There was no immediate report on casualties.
The military killed two tribesmen earlier this month in a similar offensive in Marib after an attack on an oil pipeline just after it was repaired.
Also Sunday, the officials say a police officer guarding an Interior Ministry facility was shot dead by unknown assailants in Sanaa. No further details were given about why the officer was targeted.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
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