Billboard links Obama, jihadists
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. -- A billboard showing President Barack Obama wearing a turban has sparked a lot of attention at the suburban Denver used car dealership that put it up.
The sign, completed Friday by artist David Lee, of Arvada, shows a grinning, cartoonish Obama and bears the words: "PRESIDENT or JIHAD?"
Underneath the image is a yellow square with the phrase, "BIRTH CERTIFICATE, PROVE IT!"
The words "WAKE UP AMERICA! REMEMBER FT. HOOD" appear at the bottom of the billboard at Wolf Interstate Leasing and Sales, about seven miles west of Denver.
General Manager Wayne Means says the dealership has seen strong opinions about the sign, both for and against it. The left-leaning advocacy group MoveOn.org called the billboard "racist" and is asking customers to boycott the business.
Court: Teacher can't take gun to class
MEDFORD, Ore. -- The Oregon Court of Appeals has rejected a request by a high school English teacher to carry a handgun at school, the latest legal setback for the teacher who says she needs the gun for protection from her former husband.
Shirley Katz had argued the Medford School District lacked authority to set a policy banning employees from carrying firearms.
But the appeals court on Wednesday upheld a Jackson County trial judge who ruled the school district could prohibit guns on campus. District officials said they were pleased with the decision because it affected work rules intended to ensure staff and school safety.
Army will allow media at Palin event
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The U.S. Army said Friday it would open Sarah Palin's appearance on Fort Bragg to media, a reversal from earlier in the week when the military wanted the event closed out of fears it would prompt political grandstanding against President Barack Obama.
The attempt to ban media at the event scheduled for Monday was met with protests from The Associated Press and The Fayetteville Observer. The military then proposed limited media coverage, but lifted that plan Friday.
The Army now plans to allow any interested media to cover Palin's appearance, including allowing interviews with people who attend the event and rotating journalists into the building where Palin will be signing books.
Palestinians to set date for elections
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian officials announced Friday that a new date for parliamentary and presidential elections will be set next month now that President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to postpone the January vote, though the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers maintain they will boycott the voting.
The elections were supposed to be a central component of an Egyptian-mediated effort to reconcile Abbas and his rivals in the Islamic militant group Hamas. Months of talks, however, have failed to produce a deal, and Abbas had decided to move ahead with elections anyway, angering Hamas.
Organized-crime reporter missing
MEXICO CITY -- Authorities in the western Mexican state of Michoacan are investigating the disappearance of a journalist who wrote about organized crime.
Michoacan state's attorney general says police are looking for people who had contact with Mexican reporter Maria Esther Aguilar before she disappeared on Nov. 11.
