HONOLULU

Moms who stole toys for kids surrender to police

Four unemployed single mothers surrendered to police after they were seen on surveillance footage taking items from a Hawaii toy store before Christmas, Honolulu police said Wednesday.

The women, ages 22, 25, 26 and 30, were arrested Tuesday at the Kaneohe police station, near the Windward Mall Toys R Us where police say there were among a group seen hauling away about $1,000 worth of merchandise on Dec. 1. They were arrested on suspicion of second-degree theft, booked and later released pending further investigation, said Caroline Sluyter, a police spokeswoman.

Several of the women contacted attorney Myles Breiner last week after police released the footage and asked the public for help finding them. The remorseful women took the toys as gifts for their children, he said, and he made arrangements for police to take the 24 items, most of which were taken to his office gift-wrapped, to be returned to the store’s manager.

Some of the women’s children, all younger than 10, had received some of the toys as presents only to have them taken away. “As I understand, the kids were distressed,” Breiner said. “They had to give them up.”

One of the women is six months pregnant, Breiner said. A fifth single mother and a man were not on the island and are expected to surrender by Monday, he said, adding that the man is not a parent.

One of them had a job until news of her arrest got her fired, Breiner said.

SOMERVILLE, N.J.

Educator filmed boys in school shower for years

An educator using a secretly installed camera videotaped teenage boys in the shower at a Catholic high school for nearly three years, authorities said.

Patrick J. Lott, who was arrested last week, was arraigned Wednesday on charges he videotaped students in a communal shower area at Immaculata High School in Somerville starting in January 2008. He did not enter a plea.

The prosecutor’s office said that there were at least 22 victims and that nine boys identified in the videos are currently under the age of 16. To protect the boys’ identities, they were referred to only by their initials in court filings.

Lott, 54, is an assistant principal at a public middle school who volunteered at the Catholic high school.

WASHINGTON

U.S. set to sell fighter jets to Saudi Arabia for $30 billion

U.S. officials say the Obama administration is poised to announce the sale of nearly $30 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

Officials say the deal will send 84 new fighter jets and upgrades for 70 more, for a total of $29.4 billion.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the sale has not been made public.

About a year ago, the administration got the go-ahead from Congress for a 10-year, $60 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia that included F-15s, helicopters and a broad array of missiles, bombs and delivery systems, as well as radar warning systems and night-vision goggles.

WASHINGTON

‘Gump,’ ‘Bambi’ among films added to registry

Bambi, Forrest Gump and Hannibal Lecter have at least one thing in common: Their cinematic adventures were chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the world’s largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), a harrowing psychological thriller about the cannibalistic serial killer Lecter, and “Forrest Gump” (1994), starring Tom Hanks as the guileless hero who thinks “life is like a box of chocolates,” were critical and commercial successes that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The animated Disney classic “Bambi” is among the most beloved movies ever made.

A majority of the 25 titles chosen this year for inclusion in the National Film Registry are lesser-known, including silent films, documentaries, avant-garde cinema and even home movies. The registry began in 1989 and now includes 575 films.

ATLANTA

Formula suspected as third infant sickened by bacteria

An Oklahoma baby is the third infant this month sickened by a rare type of bacteria sometimes associated with tainted powdered infant formula.

The child, from Tulsa County, was infected with Cronobacter sakazakii but fully recovered, health officials said Wednesday. An Illinois child also rebounded after being sickened by the bacteria. A Missouri infant who was 10 days old died.

The Missouri child, Avery Cornett of Lebanon, had consumed Enfamil Newborn powdered infant formula made by Illinois-based Mead Johnson. Powdered formula has been suspected in illnesses caused by the bacteria in years past.

But health officials say the Oklahoma child had not consumed Enfamil. And Mead Johnson this week reported that its own testing found no bacteria in the product.

U.S. officials are awaiting results from their own testing of powdered formula and distilled water – also known as ‘nursery water’ – used to prepare formula.

DES MOINES, Iowa

Two pastors urge Santorum or Bachmann to quit race

Two politically active pastors in Iowa’s robust evangelical conservative movement said Wednesday that an effort has been under way to persuade either Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann to consider quitting the Republican presidential race and endorsing the other to avoid splintering this influential voting bloc’s influence in the state’s caucuses.

“Otherwise, like-minded people will be divided and water down their impact,” said the Rev. Cary Gordon, a Sioux City minister. He said he asked Santorum several weeks ago to consider exiting the race but has since endorsed the former Pennsylvania senator, who is rising in polls.

The Rev. Albert Calloway, a retired pastor from Indianola, said he asked Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman, several days ago to consider quitting the race.

A group of voters that united behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s winning caucus campaign in 2008 fear that this year’s caucuses could be won by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. Neither track as closely to the religious right as Santorum, Bachmann or Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Santorum, long dismissed and short on money, has diligently campaigned in Iowa for more than two years. A CNN poll of Iowa caucus-goers released Wednesday showed Santorum leaping into third place in Iowa behind Romney and Paul.

APIA, Samoa

For Samoans, time change means Friday won’t exist

The tiny South Pacific nation of Samoa will jump forward in time today as it crosses westward over the international dateline to align itself with its other 21st century trading partners throughout the region.

At the stroke of midnight on Dec. 29, time in Samoa will leap forward to Dec. 31 – New Year’s Eve. For Samoa’s 186,000 citizens, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, will cease to exist.

The time jump comes 119 years after some U.S. traders persuaded local Samoan authorities to align their islands’ time with nearby U.S.-controlled American Samoa and the U.S. to assist their trading with California.

But the time zone has proved problematic in recent years, putting Samoa nearly a full day behind neighboring Australia and New Zealand, increasingly important trading partners with the island nation.

In a bid to remedy that, the government passed a law in June that will move Samoa west of the international dateline, which separates one calendar day from the next and runs roughly north-to-south through the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Under a government decree, all those scheduled to work on the nonexistent Friday will be given full pay for the missed day of labor.

WASHINGTON

Panel: Post office selection process didn’t use best data

The U.S. Postal Service relied on questionable data to identify more than 3,600 post offices and other retail operations to study for closure, an oversight panel has concluded.

In many cases the selection process ignored whether an alternate post office was nearby, which closures would reduce costs the most and lacked sufficient data and analysis to make the best decisions, the Postal Regulatory Commission said.

“We certainly challenge their methodology,” the commission’s chairman, Ruth Goldway, said Wednesday.

“They had a simple screening process,” she said. “But it did not optimize the choices. They don’t have really good data that tells them which post offices will continue to grow or be on a downhill path.”

As it fights plummeting mail volume, the Postal Service announced plans in July to close about 3,600 of its 32,000 post offices. Another wave of 600 to 700 closures was planned last year. Hundreds of stations and branches also could be jettisoned to stem operating losses expected to hit $14.1 billion in 2012.

About 2,500 of the 3,654 sites targeted for possible closure will be replaced by a clerk in a local store, gas station, library or town hall in a new business model the Postal Service describes as a “village post office.”

– From news service reports