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  A Missouri House committee Wednesday examined possible changes to the state’s probation and parole system that could save the state millions and reduce the prison population by hundreds of inmates.

A special state task force recommended the changes, and the House committee has been meeting to study the criminal justice system before lawmakers return to the Capital next month.

The recommendations could save $7.7 million to $16.6 million over five years while reducing the prison population by 245 to 677 inmates. Missouri was incarcerating 30,777 people at the end of November, and the Legislature this year included more than $600 million in the total budget for the Department of Corrections.

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Kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart “couldnt feel more worthless and degraded” than the day she was raped by her captor, she revealed. “It was the worst feeling I could ever have felt,” the now 24-year-old university student recounted yesterday. Smart, who was abducted from her Utah bedroom at knifepoint at the age of 14, was then tethered to a metal cable strung between trees and raped multiple times a day for nine months by deranged, menacing drifter Brian David Mitchell, who is now serving a life sentence. It was the first time Smart has talked publicly about the details of her captivity, and she cried as she spoke at a Salt Lake City fundraising event for her charity the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which educates children on how to protect themselves from danger.

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Tampa, Florida –  Tampa Police homicide detectives are on scene at Ace Cash Express on North Florida Avenue where they say a woman was stabbed multiple times.

A male who was found with her is in police custody and considered a person of interest at this time.  He is being questioned at headquarters in downtown Tampa.

Police say they were called to the scene around 1am after a passerby saw the man and woman in the parking lot.  When officers arrived on scene, they found the woman unclothed and unresponsive, suffering from multiple stab wounds.

She was taken to St. Jos

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Somehow, the U.S. economy appears to be getting better, even as the rest of the world is looking worse.

In the midst of the European debt crisis, lingering instability in the oil-rich Middle East and concerns about a Chinese economic slowdown, the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped last month to 8.6 percent, its lowest level in two and a half years. The Labor Department also said that the nation’s employers added 120,000 jobs in November and that job growth for the previous two months was better than initially reported.

That looks like good news for President Barack Obama as he heads into the 2012 presidential election — especially since just a few months ago the end seemed to be nigh.

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D.C. police have released a composite sketch of a man suspected of a sexual assault in Northwest Washington, and they are asking the public to help identify him.

Around 2 a.m. on Nov. 1, police said, a woman was walking in the 100 block of Hamilton Street NW near Fort Totten Park when a man pulled her into an alley and sexually assaulted her. The suspect is described as a black male with a light complexion, 20 to 25 years old with a thin build, and last seen wearing dark colored pants and a red-and -black North Face style jacket.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (202) 727-9099 or 1-800-673-2777.

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ATLANTA (AP) — Herman Cain is keeping supporters in suspense as he readies an announcement on whether he’ll abandon his White House bid following a string of sexual harassment allegations and a claim of an extramarital affair.

The Georgia businessman is set to say on Saturday whether his campaign will move forward at what was supposed to be the festive grand opening of a new headquarters in Atlanta.

Uncertainty is hanging over Cain’s embattled effort to win the Republican nomination, his poll numbers plummeting and his fundraising stalled.

Some campaign aides say they expect Cain to exit the race.

Cain’s spokesman J.D. G

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Voters overwhelmingly think the “tea party tape” of the conversation of John Key and John Banks was a breach of privacy and should have been wiped without being made public.

But they are divided over whether it was sensible to prevent aspects of a publicity stunt from being reported.

By a narrow margin they believe there is no such thing as a private conversation in public.

The results from a Fairfax Media-Research International snap poll suggest Mr Key’s strategy of attacking the media but refusing to confirm or debate the content of his discussion with Mr Banks is working for him.

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Marjorie Young (left), 90, and Julia Moore, 70, eat lunch at an Oakland care center run by Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay.

The announcement is the result of a settlement, reached Thursday, between state officials and advocates for the program. Those advocates sued over Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to wholly eliminate Adult Day Health Care in a bid to save the state about $170 million a year.

Under the agreement, the state’s approximately 275 Adult Day Health Care centers will remain open in their current form through Feb.

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BOSTON (AP) 1 A published report says the Boston Archdiocese’s roster of 159 clerics publicly accused of abusing minors is missing 7 people because of the church’s selective method of compiling it.

The Boston Globe reports the roster released last August is limited to priests originally from the Boston Archdiocese.

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A world-renowned institution is seeking a litigator to join Investigations and Enforcements team within one of the leading financial market exchanges.

You will:

Lead investigations and formal disciplinary proceedings of regulated companies;

Analyse factual information and prepare and present reports for senior management; and

Be involved in developing policy and procedure for enforcing the Rules.

You will need to have:

A legal qualification;

4 PQE in litigation and Financial Services.

Investigation experience.

Ideally, capital markets exposure.

Proven drafting skills.

This role is a unique opportunity to make the transition from a pure litigation role to an environment where you will be integral to the long-term development of the regulatory framework of one the most successful growth markets in the world.

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