Gwinnett Daily Post

Senator citing health woes, won't seek re-election

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Sen. Jim Jeffords, who single-handedly upset the balance of power on Capitol Hill four years ago when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, announced Wednesday he will retire at the end of his term next year, citing his own health problems and those of his wife.

Virginia woman pleads not guilty in pit bull attack

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. - A woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the death of an 82-year-old woman attacked by a pack of roaming pit bulls.

Deanna Large faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and three misdemeanor counts of allowing a dangerous dog to run loose. If convicted of all charges, she faces up to 13 years in prison.

Judge to accept Moussaoui plea

WASHINGTON - Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person in the United States charged in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, plans to plead guilty to charges that could bring him the death penalty, officials said Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema scheduled a hearing Friday in Alexandria, Va., at which Moussaoui is expected to plead guilty to all six counts of a federal indictment first filed against him in December 2001, the officials said.

Prosecution calls Neverland guard

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A former security guard at Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch testified at the pop star's child molestation trial Wednesday that a notice once was posted in a guard station saying the boy who is now the singer's accuser was not to be allowed to leave the estate.

But the prosecution witness, Brian Barron, also said under defense questioning that it would have been appropriate to keep child guests on the estate if their parents weren't present and that guards probably would not let any children leave if they were unsupervised.

- From wire reports