TAMPA - A federal judge sentenced Samuel Valiant Shannahan to 56 months in prison on Wednesday for illegally transferring guns later linked to a plot to blow up Islamic centers and mosques.
Shannahan was arrested in September, after authorities found an arsenal that included two light antiarmor rockets, handguns, a .50-caliber rifle and homemade bombs in the Seminole home of Robert Goldstein.
Goldstein pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up a mosque. He was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison. There was no evidence Shannahan knew about Goldstein's plot. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of illegally transferring weapons.
Ten Commandments judge to speak in Tampa
TAMPA - Roy Moore, the Alabama Supreme Court chief justice who refused to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a state building, will speak tonight at Without Walls International Church.
Moore, who became nationally known because of the controversy, was suspended in August after failing to heed a federal court's order to remove the monument.
The topic of his half-hour speech will be the issue of religion and the Constitution.
He will speak at 7:40 p.m. in Without Walls' main auditorium. The event is free to the public; doors open at 6 p.m. The church is just off N Grady Avenue, a block west of Dale Mabry Highway and a block south of Columbus Drive. For more information, contact the church at 813 879-5673 or visit its Web site at www.withoutwalls.org
Judge refuses to delay removal of feeding tube
CLEARWATER - A circuit judge refused Wednesday to delay next week's scheduled removal of the feeding tube keeping a brain-damaged woman alive.
Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had asked Pinellas Circuit Judge George W. Greer to delay the Oct. 15 removal of her feeding tube so they could appeal Greer's decision denying therapy that could determine whether their daughter could eat and swallow on her own.
Terri Schiavo, 39, suffered severe brain damage following a heart attack 13 years ago and remains in a vegetative state. Her parents have waged a long legal battle to stop their son-in-law, Michael Schiavo, from disconnecting the feeding tube.
Michael Schiavo contends his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially, and state courts have supported his right to remove her feeding tube. The Schindlers say their daughter responds to them and could be rehabilitated, despite court-appointed doctors saying she can never recover.
A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments Friday on a lawsuit filed by the Schindlers to try to get Michael Schiavo removed as their daughter's legal guardian. They are also asking that judge to order swallowing therapy to determine if she can eat and drink on her own.
Motorcyclist, 32, hits brick wall and dies
TOWN 'N COUNTRY - A man from Town 'N Country died Wednesday when he lost control of his motorcycle, authorities said.
Hillsborough sheriff's deputies said the 32-year-old man was traveling north on Countryway Boulevard on his 2003 Honda motorcycle just before 5 p.m. when he lost control of it near Old Memorial Highway and hit a brick wall.
The man died at the scene. Deputies had not notified the man's relatives late Wednesday and did not release his name.
Teen faces manslaughter charge
ST. PETERSBURG - A teenager who punched a man during a disagreement over a lawn chair has been charged with manslaughter.
Prosecutors said Timothy D. Reid, 17, an 11th-grader at Osceola High School, did not intend to kill Clarence Holley when he punched him in the face Sept. 22.
But Holley, 55, fell and struck his head on the ground, police said. Holley died two days later at Bayfront Medical Center.
Reid's original charge of aggravated battery was changed to manslaughter Tuesday.
The incident began at 2475 18th Ave. S just after midnight when Holley confronted a group of teens about a broken lawn chair, police said. Reid, who was sitting in Holley's chair, may have broken it and placed the chair on Holley's doorstep.
4,500 lose power near city's center
ST. PETERSBURG - About 4,500 customers lost power Wednesday after a short in a breaker at a Progress Energy substation.
The power failure lasted 11/2 hours and affected 1st Avenue S and 22nd Avenue N to 30th Street and 37th Street N, said Aaron Perlut, Progress Energy spokesman.
The breaker at the substation at 40th Street and 22nd Avenue N disrupted service to three lines that feed electricity to neighborhoods in north-central St. Petersburg.
Power was restored to customers by 10:30 a.m., Perlut said.
