The Record, Bergen County, NJ

Corzine has Faced 40 Threats Since Taking Office, Police Say ; at Least 1 Forced Change of Routine

TRENTON Governor Corzine has received 40 threats since being sworn in to office 17 months ago, and at least one was potentially serious enough for state police to stall the governor's arrival at an event. The threats many by the same person have come in e-mails, letters and calls to the governor's office, according to state police.

Law Allows Domestic Abuse Victims to Break Leases

ALBANY, N.Y. Domestic violence victims who feel unsafe in their apartments will be able to ask a judge to terminate their leases, under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Eliot Spitzer. The new law allows domestic violence victims with an order of protection against a batterer to seek a separate court order that would allow them to terminate a residential lease without penalty.

Murder Rate Rises in Big U.S. Cities

WASHINGTON Big-city murders rose sharply in 2006 as violent crime increased nationally for the second straight year, the FBI reported Monday. Homicides committed in small towns and midsize cities took a dramatic downswing resulting in an overall 0.3 percent increase in the murder rate across the country, the new preliminary data show.

'The Rope Around Us Is Getting Tighter and Tighter' ; Museum Unveils Diary of 'Polish Anne Frank'

JERUSALEM The diary of a 14-year-old Jewish girl, dubbed the "Polish Anne Frank," was unveiled Monday by Israel's Holocaust museum more than 60 years after the teenager vividly described the world crumbling around her as she came of age in a Jewish ghetto. "The rope around us is getting tighter and tighter," Rutka Laskier wrote in 1943, shortly before she was deported to Auschwitz. "I'm turning into an animal waiting to die."

Around the Nation

Congressman faces 14 counts in bribery WASHINGTON Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, money-laundering and soliciting more than $400,000 in bribes in connection with years of trying to broker business deals in Africa.

Bush to Press Missile Defense ; Showdown with Putin Expected

PRAGUE, Czech Republic President Bush will spell out today his vision of a new ballistic missile-defense system that he wants to build in Europe, one that's fraught with controversy over whether it can work, is necessary and is worth the large economic and political costs it's already incurring. Bush is expected to press his case for the system in a speech here today, in meetings with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and in a face-to-face session later this week with Russian President Vl...

Iraq Veteran Defends Role in Protest ; Marine Wore Uniform at Anti-War Rally in D.C.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. An Iraq war veteran accused the Marine Corps on Monday of causing a "disgusting waste of government resources" by holding a hearing about whether he should be punished for wearing his uniform during an anti-war protest. Marine Corps officials argue they are enforcing military codes in the case of Cpl. Adam Kokesh.

Around the Nation

Congressman faces 14 counts in bribery WASHINGTON Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, money-laundering and soliciting more than $400,000 in bribes in connection with years of trying to broker business deals in Africa.

Group Says It Killed Three U.S. Soldiers ; Military: Manhunt in Iraq Will Continue

BAGHDAD Insurgents linked to al-Qaida issued a video Monday claiming they killed all three U.S. soldiers captured in an ambush last month. "They were alive and then dead," a voice said during a sequence of images that included the military IDs of two Americans still missing.

Unsettling Reminder of the Berlin Wall

Bystanders gazed in curiosity and disgust Monday at the razor- wire-topped fence that will separate Group of Eight leaders from the rest of Germany during this week's summit part of security measures that, for some, evoke memories of life behind the Iron Curtain. "It's not good given the history of Germany we had it in East Germany, and now it's up again," said Ralf Klonschinski, on vacation from a home in eastern Germany, as he looked at a security camera and floodlight perched atop the 8-...

Terror Charges Dropped Against Detainees ; Judges' Decisions Cloud Guantanamo Trials

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba Military judges dismissed charges Monday against a Guantanamo detainee accused of chauffeuring Osama bin Laden and another who allegedly killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, throwing up roadblocks to the Bush administration's attempt to try terror suspects in military courts. In back-to-back arraignments for Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen and Canadian Omar Khadr, the U.S. military's cases against the alleged al-Qaida figures dissolved because, the two judges sai...

Record Reporter Threatened with Arrest ; but School Officials Fail in Attempt to Keep Him From Covering Meeting

PARAMUS - A Record reporter was threatened with arrest Monday outside the Paramus School District administrative offices on Spring Valley Road, minutes before the school board was scheduled to meet in the public building. The reporter, Michael Gartland, broke the story about contaminated soil that was found six months ago at West Brook Middle School, but which district officials did not publicly disclose until May 23. Gartland and a lab technician were arrested at the school on Saturday after...

Knock in the Night Leads to Deportation After 22 Years ; Man has to Leave Wife, Daughters

Fuat "Juan" Cumsille went to bed in his Cliffside Park apartment on April 12 feeling triumphant. He learned his temporary factory job would become permanent. The next day, he would mark 22 years in the United States.

Chaotic Day in Paramus ; Kids Head to New School; Adults Blast Board Actions

Teachers and parents protested outside the Paramus school district's administration building Monday while they waited for the Board of Education to emerge from a closed-door meeting. The angry crowd stood outside the building at 4 p.m. with signs protesting the district's failure to notify them about contaminated soil found six months ago at West Brook Middle School - ordered shut down last week by Mayor James Tedesco. A smaller group of protesters showed up by 7:30 p.m., when the meeting was...

Rabner Sees No Preset Agenda On a Good Court

Governor Corzine's choice to lead the New Jersey Supreme Court is considered an apolitical prosecutor who has dropped few hints about his judicial philosophy. Stuart Rabner, a Harvard-trained lawyer now serving as attorney general, is Corzine's pick to lead the court and its six sitting justices, the governor said Monday.

Arrests Double in Crackdown On Illegal Immigrants in N.J.

Immigration arrests in New Jersey have more than doubled in the last two years, an upswing that is likely to continue with the imminent addition of more agents devoted to arresting and deporting illegal immigrants. In the last year, immigration agents arrested 1,772 people in New Jersey living in the country illegally. The year before May 2005 to May 2006 they arrested 860.

Shot 6 Times by Police, Disabled Man Clings to Life ; Struck Car, Clifton Officer at End of Low-Speed Chase

A 42-year-old Garfield man, described by his family as developmentally disabled, remained in critical condition Monday evening after being shot six times by Clifton police Sunday night following a low-speed highway chase. Police opened fire after John Kubasta pulled over on Route 19, but then put the car back into gear, hitting an officer and a patrol car, Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano said Monday.

Airports Get 'Fence' of Detectors

A virtual fence with state-of-the-art heat, movement and video sensors to detect and deter terrorists is being installed around the metropolitan airports, including Newark Liberty International and Teterboro. The system, modeled after those at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport and Baghdad's airport, is designed to tip off police to a plot like the one unveiled Saturday that aimed to blow up a fuel line inside John F. Kennedy Airport.

Quit Downplaying These Homegrown Terror Threats

In 2004, Tom Kean's 9/11 commission came up with an all-too- polite way of describing America's clueless strategies for defending against terrorism. "Failure of imagination," the commission declared in its report.

People in the News

Paris survives night Paris Hilton completed the first night of her probation sentence as morning arrived Monday in her new surroundings a Los Angeles County jail cell that will be her home for much of this month.