Today's News, Monday Dec 17

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - The Altoona Mirror is reporting that
Pennsylvania school superintendents will cost taxpayers millions
when they leave their jobs because of contracts that include
payment for unused sick days and free health care in retirement.
The analysis shows compensation beyond publicly disclosed salaries,
and many costs occur after the superintendents leave, retire or
die.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A U.S. Airways Express flight from
Philadelphia slid off the runway as it tried to land on Sunday at
T.F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island. The plane was
carrying 31 passengers and three crew members. No injuries were
reported, but spokespeople told the Providence Journal that the
airport had to close its runways for about 2 1/2 hours.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A retrial is scheduled to begin today in
Hagerstown, Maryland, for a local man accused of a March 2004
homicide. Twenty-six-year-old Tyshawn Jones is accused of the
shooting death of Jonathan Dennis of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.
Jones' conviction in the case was overturned on appeal.

MORGAN, Pa. (AP) - Dozens of Mayview State Hospital employees
are protesting plans to close the Allegheny County mental health
institution. The workers held a snowy candlelight vigil late
Sunday. Workers fear that when the facility closes in December 2008
patients will not get equivalent care in community centers. Mayview
serves five counties in western Pennsylvania.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Army Corps of Engineers will clean up more
than 50,000 tons of nuclear waste in Armstrong County, but will
leave behind other materials containing potentially dangerous heavy
metals. The corps will remove all radioactive materials from the
1950s-era nuclear burial grounds that was used by companies that
produced fuel for nuclear submarines and power plants.

DETROIT (AP) - Some parts of the country from the Great Lakes to
the Northeast are covered by up to a foot-and-a-half of snow from a
blast of wintry weather. High wind is whipping up mounds of snow in
upstate New York. Icy roads are being blamed in eight weekend
deaths.

HILLSBOROUGH, N.H. (AP) - Former Democratic vice-presidential
nominee Joe Lieberman is supporting Republican John McCain in the
2008 presidential race. McCain and Lieberman made a joint
appearance on the New Hampshire campaign trail this morning.
Lieberman is an independent, but caucuses with Senate Democrats.

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin says he'll take a
job as prime minister if the candidate he supports is elected as
his successor in March. The Russian prime minister post is less
powerful than the president's and Putin says he plans to keep it
that way.

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - The White House says it's encouraged by
Democratic concessions in a more than 500 billion dollar spending
bill. The measure mostly sticks within President Bush's spending
limits for domestic programs. The bill is expected to pass Congress
this week and allow lawmakers to head home for Christmas.

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) - Two New Jersey inmates have escaped from
a county jail by hiding holes they made in the walls with posters
of women in bikinis. The pair broke out of the jail over the
weekend. Authorities are searching for the men while launching a
security review of the facility.