Dad killed kids in hotel, then called front desk

A man killed his three young children at a downtown hotel room, then called the front desk to report their deaths Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
Police officers who responded to the 10th-floor room at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards found the three children's bodies and Mark Castillo, 41, with minor cuts that appeared to have been self-inflicted, police spokesman Sterling Clifford said.
"Why he brought them here to do this is something we don't know yet," Clifford said.
Police identified the children as Anthony, 6, Austin, 4, and Athena, 2.
Castillo was taken to a hospital for treatment and was being questioned by investigators, the spokesman said.
Clifford said investigators had not determined how the children died, but said they hadn't been shot or stabbed.
The children's mother was notified, Clifford said. It wasn't clear who had legal custody of the children, he said.
An online search of Maryland court records showed Mark and Amy Castillo of Silver Spring, which is about 35 miles south of Baltimore, were involved in a child custody dispute.
A telephone call Sunday night by The Associated Press to a number listed for Amy W. Castillo in Silver Spring was answered by a voice mail message that said the caller had reached the home of Amy Castillo and Anthony, Austin and Athena.

College student missing almost two months

The more the snow melts, the more the mystery deepens: What happened to Nicholas Garza? The disappearance of the 19-year-old Middlebury College freshman missing since he walked out of a dormitory February 5 continues to puzzle searchers, with no trace of him on campus, no suggestion he left and no indication of foul play.
On Thursday, for the first time in more than a month, a large-scale search was conducted using dozens of Vermont State Police members and search experts, but it turned up nothing.
The hope had been that the gradual disappearance of the snow pack could end the uncertainty. Tom Scanlon, a police spokesman, said searchers would try again in two weeks.
Members of the Vermont State Police's search-and-rescue team, with help from the Colchester Technical Rescue Squad and New England K-9 Search and Rescue, scoured the campus for Garza's body or clues to his disappearance.
Garza was last seen leaving Stewart Hall at about 11:05 p.m., headed for his dormitory, about 500 yards away.
When friends couldn't find him the next day, they notified campus security, but his mother didn't file a missing persons report until five days later because friends thought Garza might have left campus to go to a cabin that was out of cell phone range.
Searches of the 350-acre campus have yielded no clues as to what happened to him. The last large-scale search ended February 23, though there have been spot searches since then. All 109 buildings on campus have been searched twice, as have roofs.
On Thursday, searchers used long Fiberglas poles, search dogs and global positioning systems to keep track of the areas covered. They looked near Otter Creek and in the north end of campus, where students were on spring break.
The poles were used to poke holes in the snow, in the hope that the holes would lead to a scent that the dogs could respond to, said Scanlon, who called it a recovery operation, not a rescue.
Snow depth has been a major concern throughout the investigation, as New England has endured one of the snowiest winters on record.
Garza's mother, Natalie Garza, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who has maintained a constant vigil here, was not talking to reporters Thursday, hoping to keep the focus on the search, according to Middlebury College spokesman Stephen Diehl.
Foul play is not suspected, police said. A $20,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Garza's return.
"There's always been the hope for Nick's safe return," said college spokesman Sarah Ray. "It's just a sad situation and people continue to deal with it as best they can."

Dozens killed as Iraq fighting rages

Forty-two people were killed Thursday in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq's Interior Ministry said, the latest casualties in three days of clashes between militias and Iraqi security forces.
Iraq's offensive against what it characterizes as "outlaws" of hard-line Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia began Tuesday in Basra, Iraq's second largest city.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has been overseeing the operation in southern Iraq, has given militants an ultimatum to surrender their weapons by Saturday.
The fighting, which also saw Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone -- home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government -- come under fire, has threatened to unravel a delicate al-Sadr cease-fire credited with reducing bloodshed between Sunnis and Shiites.
Since Tuesday, clashes in Basra and throughout Iraq's Shiite heartland have left more than 100 dead and many wounded in Basra, Baghdad, Hilla, Kut, Karbala and Diwaniya.

Toddler rescued after 27 hours in well

A two-year-old girl was rescued Wednesday after spending 27 hours trapped inside a narrow well outside the Indian capital of New Delhi.
Video footage from the scene showed a man emerge carrying the girl, named Vandana.
She fell 45 feet into the uncovered well while playing Tuesday night in a village near Agra, a northern Indian city outside New Delhi. The girl was being taken to a hospital.
Earlier, India's army was called in to help, and rescuers dug a parallel well to tunnel into where Vandana was trapped. Officials said the girl frequently asked for fruits and sweets, which was sent to her with the help of a rope. Oxygen was also pumped inside the well through tubes to prevent any suffocation.

U.S. says missile parts mistakenly sent to Taiwan

The U.S. Defense Department accidentally shipped non-nuclear ballistic missile components to Taiwan, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Four nose-cone fuses for intercontinental ballistic missiles were shipped instead of helicopter batteries that Taiwan had requested, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said.
The fuses were shipped to Taiwan in the fall of 2006 and kept in a warehouse there. The Taiwanese military informed the United States last week about their presence on the island.
"There are no nuclear or fissile materials associated with these items," Wynne said. "The United States is making all appropriate notifications in the spirit of candor and openness in an effort to avoid any misunderstanding."
An investigation is under way, he added.
"In an organization as large as DOD, the largest and most complex in the world, there will be mistakes. But they can not be tolerated in the arena in strategic systems, whether they are nuclear or only associated equipment, as was in this case," Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Ryan Henry said.
He said the parts were 1960s technology, designed for use with Minuteman ballistic missiles.
Officials said China, which considers Taiwan to be a renegade province, has been notified about the mistake.
Wynne said the missile components were first shipped from F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming to Hill Air Force Base in Utah in 2005.
On arrival at Hill, they should have been placed in the classified storage section, Wynne said, but were instead moved to a storage area for unclassified items.
He said stocks at the Utah base should be checked quarterly and a key part of the investigation will be determining how those checks did not turn up the missile parts before they were shipped to Taiwan.

U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 4,000

Four U.S. soldiers died Sunday night in a roadside bombing in Iraq, military officials reported, bringing the American toll in the 5-year-old war to 4,000 deaths.
The four were killed when a homemade bomb hit their vehicle as they patrolled in a southern Baghdad neighborhood, the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq said. A fifth soldier was wounded.
The grim milestone comes less than a week after the fifth anniversary of the start of the war.
"No casualty is more or less significant than another; each soldier, Marine, airman and sailor is equally precious and their loss equally tragic," said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, the U.S. military's chief spokesman in Iraq.
"Every single loss of a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine is keenly felt by military commanders, families and friends both in theater and at home."
Of the 4,000 U.S. military personnel killed in the war, 3,263 have died in attacks and fighting and 737 in nonhostile incidents, such as traffic accidents and suicides. Eight of those killed were civilians working for the Pentagon.

Bill Richardson to endorse Obama

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico plans to endorse Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic race for president Friday. Richardson plans to join Obama at a rally in Portland, Oregon, at 12:30 p.m. ET Friday.
In an e-mail to supporters, Richardson said Obama will be a "historic and a great president, who can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad."
Richardson also said in the e-mail that he was touched by Obama's recent speech on race in America, saying he "understands clearly that only by bringing people together, only by bridging our differences can we all succeed together as Americans."
Richardson is the nation's only Hispanic governor. Hispanics have tended to support Obama's rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
But Richardson's endorsement will have an impact beyond Latino voters, CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley said.
"This is an endorsement that may help with the Latino voting bloc around the edges, but if that were Richardson's target he would have done this before the New Mexico and Texas contests, both of which Obama narrowly lost, largely due to the Latino vote," Crowley said. "So this is a larger message to superdelegates, those elected officials and party officials who in the end may well decide who the nominee will be."
Richardson said the country is blessed to have two great American leaders and great Democrats running for president.
"My affection and admiration for Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton will never waver," Richardson wrote in his e-mail. "It is time, however, for Democrats to stop fighting amongst ourselves and to prepare for the tough fight we will face against John McCain in the fall."
Richardson, who served as United Nations ambassador and energy secretary in the Clinton administration, dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination on January 10.
He drew 5 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary and 2 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses.

Obama: Wright flap has 'shaken me up'

Sen. Barack Obama told CNN on Wednesday the recent uproar over his former pastor's sermons has reminded him of the odds he faces in winning the White House.
In some ways, this controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit and gotten me back into remembering that the odds of me getting elected have always been lower than some of the other conventional candidates," the Illinois senator told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an exclusive one-on-one interview.
Obama declined to speculate on whether the controversy surrounding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons may damage him politically, but said his campaign does best when it doesn't follow the "textbook."
"If I was just running the textbook campaign doing the conventional thing, I probably wasn't going to win because Sen. [Hillary] Clinton was going to be much more capable of doing that than I would be," he said. "We had tremendous success, and I think we were starting to get a little comfortable and conventional right before Texas and Ohio."
The exclusive interview came one day after Obama delivered a speech on race and politics in Philadelphia, during which he denounced some of Wright's comments, but said he could not repudiate the man himself.
"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother. These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love," Obama said in the speech.
Asked why he didn't denounce the controversial comment when he first heard of them more than a year ago, Obama noted Wright was on the verge of retirement.
"I told him that I profoundly disagreed with his positions. As I said before, he was on, at that stage, on the verge of retirement. You make decisions about these issues. And my belief was that given that he was about to retire, that for me to make a political statement respecting my church at that time wasn't necessary."

Five years later, Bush says Iraq war must go on

President Bush marked the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war on Wednesday by calling the debate over the conflict "understandable" but insisting that a continued U.S. presence there is crucial.
"The answers are clear to me," Bush said in a speech at the Pentagon on Wednesday, five years from the day the war began in 2003.
"Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win."
Almost 4,000 American troops have died in the war, a painful toll that Bush acknowledged.
"No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure, but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq," the president said.
Bush contends the so-called troop surge he ordered in January 2007 has been a success and was necessary at a point when "the fight in Iraq was faltering."

Supreme Court hears arguments on gun ownership

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took up gun control, hearing arguments concerning a District of Columbia ban on handguns more than two centuries after the Second Amendment gave Americans the right to "keep and bear arms."
Lawyers for both sides tried to strike a moderate tone before the court, arguing that there was an individual right to own a weapon, but that governments could impose reasonable gun-control legislation.
Alan Gura, arguing against the ban on Tuesday before the court said the city "simply doesn't trust the people to protect themselves in their homes."
But Walter Dellinger, a lawyer for the District of Columbia, said there should be a "a reasonable standard" to allow cities to pass gun-control legislation.
More than 100 people stood in line outside the court for a chance at one of the few seats to hear the arguments in person.
Jason McCrory and his friends were the first in line, having arrived Sunday.

Tornado takes 'Mrs. Bonnie,' animal lover

I met Bonnie Turner seven years ago when I was looking for a puppy.
There was just simply no one better to turn to than the eccentric grandmother who loved animals so much that her 86-acre North Georgia farm was home to donkeys, goats, high-priced show dogs and even a few wayward deer.
On Saturday, nothing was left of that bucolic sanctuary after a 130-mph tornado ravaged it. Bonnie died, thrown 50 feet from her home as her husband, Michael, cried out her name, their neighbors Joe and Jamie Wheeler said.
Her death has shaken me. Images of the animals that died -- at least 35 dogs and 100 still missing -- make my voice crack when I speak about her.
But I want her to be remembered as more than a victim, as probably does the family of the tornado's second victim in Floyd County.

Dupre's MySpace page evolves with scandal

In three days, Ashley Alexandra Dupre went from being an unknown 22-year-old aspiring musician to the fifth most-searched subject on Google because of her alleged sexual encounters with New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
After she was identified by The New York Times, throngs of journalists staked out her home.
At the same time, she appeared to have jumped on her MySpace page, which was identified by the Times, and a Facebook profile with the same name and photos.
It seemed she was trying to stay one step ahead of journalists, attempting to limit what information they could access.
She was seemingly aware that the press would have access to her friends and every word, photo and comment on her profiles, so she began by deleting connections between her friends on Facebook.
Facebook and MySpace have become one of the go-to background tools for journalists in the past couple of years, allowing members of the press to put a face to the subject of their story and find out more about them.

Spitzer's escort: 'I love who I am'

When the Emperors Club VIP said it was sending Kristen, a call girl it described as a "petite, very pretty brunette, 5 feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds," Client 9 was pleased.
"Great, OK, wonderful," he told the escort service's booking agent, according to a federal affidavit.
Client 9, later revealed to be New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, was caught arranging the liaison on a federal wiretap. It was the beginning of the end for him.
For the woman at the heart of the prostitution scandal, it was just another step on what she calls an "odyssey" of degrading abuse and high aspirations.
Court documents reportedly identified Ashley Youmans -- now known as Ashley Alexandra Dupre as Kristen, the high-priced prostitute who met with Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on February 13.
Dupre is a 22-year-old would-be singer from New Jersey, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
She has not been charged with any crime.
Dupre made a brief appearance Monday in U.S. Magistrate Court as a witness against four people charged with operating Emperor's Club VIP, the prostitution ring, the Times said.
Spitzer announced his resignation Wednesday as governor of New York, two days after reports of his connection to the Emperors Club VIP emerged.

Obama Win Defined By Race

Illinois Senator Barack Obama easily captured a majority of Mississippi's 33 Democratic delegates Tuesday as his one-on-one battle with Hillary Clinton race verged once again on deeper racial turmoil. With 90% of all precincts reporting, Obama led Clinton in Misissippi by a margin of nearly three to two.
Obama's win — his second in four days — came at the end of a day of cross-campaign, finger-pointing following comments by the party's 1984 Vice Presidential nominee, Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton supporter who suggested that Obama's front-runner status owed more to his race than his talent or effort. Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod accused the Clinton campaign of quietly countenancing such divisive comments; later in the day, Hillary Clinton called Ferraro's comments "regrettable." Obama called Ferraro's remarks "absurd."
The steady erosion in relations between the Obama and Clinton camps — less than a week has passed since Obama's foreign policy adviser (and TIME columnist) Samatha Power called Clinton "a monster" — was almost certainly one reason why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared on Tuesday that the chances of a joint ticket between the two Democrats to now be impossible.
Broken down, the Mississippi vote had an unmistakable racial descant — and unmistakable limits for Obama. Exit polls revealed once again an emerging racial divide that has opened in the Democratic party between whites who tend by healthy margins to favor Clinton and blacks who overwhelmingly favor Obama. African Americans comprised nearly half of the Democratic vote in Mississippi — and 90% of those voters, according to exit polls, pulled the lever for Obama, his strongest showing yet among African Americans. But Obama did poorly among whites, winning only 30%, according to exit polls. While this split was visible in Alabama and the border state of Tennessee earlier this year, it was visible in Ohio's primary last week, too.
Mississippi is one of the most reliably Republican states in presidential elections. Only a Democrat who could win 35 to 40% of the white vote, while holding onto a lopsided percentage of blacks, could put the state in play in a head to head match with a Republican in the fall. Obama's 30% showing in the primary against Clinton falls short of that target.

Spitzer 'cannot hold on to his job'

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's hold on office seemed less certain Tuesday, as a legislative staffer said gubernatorial aides were in transition talks with the lieutenant governor and Democratic sources said Spitzer had no choice but to step down.
"It is a 'when' question on the resignation. Not an 'if.' He knows that," said a Democratic source with firsthand knowledge of the issue.
"It is hard to come to terms with, and there are legal issues that are related to any big political decisions. But Eliot knows he cannot hold on to his job here. He might want to, but he is absolutely aware of his predicament."
A Democratic campaign veteran with ties to the Spitzer team added, "A resignation was part of the discussions early yesterday but was tabled. The political people were clear about the options. There are none -- not for him."
If Spitzer resigns, Lt. Gov. David Paterson, 53, would become the state's first black governor and the fourth in U.S. history. The former Senate minority leader is legally blind and is the son of Basil Paterson, a longtime Democratic operative in New York City.
No further information was immediately available about the reported meetings between Spitzer and Paterson staffers.
Political opponents quickly called for Spitzer's resignation after federal investigators linked the Democratic governor to a high-rolling prostitution ring.

Two slain students from Georgia mourned at services

Heartbroken mourners searched soul and scripture Sunday to understand why someone would fatally shoot a popular University of North Carolina student body president and cut short a life with such promise.
For the hundreds gathered at Athens First United Methodist Church, Eve Carson should still be in school, studying political science and biology, teaching science to grade schoolers or planning her next trip abroad.
"We should not be here this afternoon," senior minister Bill Britt said, angry that the 22-year-old was not instead celebrating spring break or watching the mighty Tar Heels play basketball.
"It is too soon to be remembering the life of Eve Marie Carson," he told the mourners who gathered here in her hometown. Some came down from the university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Many wore Carolina blue ribbons in her honor.
During the nearly two-hour service, there were just as many references to her beauty, intelligence and leadership as to her kindness, dedication to service and concern for others.

Florida, Michigan re-votes come down to money

Democrats agree that new voting is needed to determine convention delegates for Florida and Michigan, but they can't figure out how to pay for it.
Both states held their Democratic presidential preference primaries early, in January. For that, the Democratic National Committee followed through on its warning and stripped both of their delegates for violating party rules by scheduling their primaries too early.
The Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state, and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who won both states, was the only top-tier candidate on the ballot in Michigan.
Florida and Michigan moved up their primaries because the states wanted to be sure their political clout was not lost to the four states that had Democratic Party permission to vote before the official kick-off of the primary season on February 5. Those four were Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
Now, neither Illinois Sen. Barack Obama nor Clinton will be able to attain the 2,024 delegates needed to clinch the nomination without delegates from Florida and Michigan.
"People are now looking to Florida and Michigan as overtime, that we're going to finish a sense in a tie, and Florida and Michigan could actually help tip the balance one way or the other," Democratic strategist Dan Gerstein said.
"With two outstanding candidates battling so closely for their party's nomination, there's no way you can tell nearly 2 million Florida voters they don't count," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, said.

Student fatally shot; car found miles away in flames

An Auburn University student was found fatally shot on a highway just before her car was discovered in flames on campus, several miles away.

Auburn police were investigating Tuesday's death of Lauren Burk as a homicide but made no immediate arrests.
"As soon as we know more we might release it, but what information we have now we're holding it close to our chest," police Capt. Tom Stofer said.
University officials advised students in an e-mail around noon Wednesday that there was "no indication of additional danger to campus or student safety." But the school said the police presence on campus had been increased.
Burk, an 18-year-old freshman from Marietta, Georgia, was found wounded on Alabama Highway 147 around 9 p.m. Tuesday, and Auburn police said her Honda Civic was found engulfed in flames at the campus about 20 minutes later. She died Tuesday night at a hospital.

Clinton: Campaign has 'turned a corner'

Sen. Hillary Clinton Wednesday said her campaign had "turned a corner" with dramatic wins in Ohio and Texas Tuesday night.
The New York Democrat broke a 12-contest winning streak by her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama.
Clinton also won Rhode Island, while Obama won Vermont. Cinton's victories mean the Democratic race will continue at least through the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.
Clinton attributed her wins to the belief of voters that she would be the best candidate to protect the nation.
"For me, this election has always been about who can be the best president, and, you know, that includes who can be the best commander in chief," she told CNN Wednesday.
Voters also choose her because she would be the best candidate to challenge Sen. John McCain, who locked up the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night, on national security issues in the fall, she said.
"People who voted a month ago didn't know who the Republican nominee was going to be. They didn't perhaps factor in that it will be about national security because, indeed, with Senator McCain, that's what it will be about," she said.

Brett Favre Set to Retire After 17 Years

Brett Favre has decided to retire from the NFL after 17 seasons. FOX Sports first reported Tuesday that the Green Bay Packers quarterback informed the team in the last few days. ESPN.com said that according to Favre's agent the quarterback told coach Mike McCarthy of his decision.
The team did not immediately confirm or deny the report. An assistant to Packers general manager Ted Thompson said he was in meetings all day but would release a statement later Tuesday morning.
The news was a surprise to at least one of Favre's teammates. Most players expected Favre to return after a successful 2007 season.
"I just saw it come across the TV," Packers wide receiver Koren Robinson said, when reached on his cell phone by The Associated Press.
The 38-year-old Favre, a three-time NFL MVP and one of the NFL's grittiest players, has made his annual flirtation with retirement a winter tradition in Wisconsin. He has taken weeks and even months to make his decision after recent seasons, with Cheeseheads hanging on his every word.
But unlike the final game of the 2006 season — when Favre provided a cliffhanger by getting choked up in a television interview as he walked off the field in Chicago, only to return once again — nearly everyone assumed he would be back this time. They were wrong.
Only two years removed from perhaps his worst season, Favre had a resurgence in 2007. He broke several career records. Among them was Dan Marino's career mark for career touchdown passes. He powered the Packers to an NFC North title and a 13-3 regular-season record and earned his ninth Pro Bowl spot.
Surrounded by an underrated group of wide receivers who proved hard to tackle after the catch, Favre had a career-high completion percentage of 66.5. He threw for 4,155 yards, 28 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions.
It was a remarkable turnaround from 2005, Favre's final season under former head coach Mike Sherman, when he threw a career-worst 29 interceptions as the Packers went 4-12.
Given Favre's career resurgence, it was widely assumed that he was leaning toward returning for the 2008 season.
He even said as much just before the Packers' Jan. 12 divisional playoff game against Seattle, telling his hometown newspaper that he wasn't approaching the game as if it would be his last and was more optimistic than in years past about returning.
"For the first time in three years, I haven't thought this could be my last game," Favre told the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald. "I would like to continue longer."
Those comments sent premature shock waves across the state — all the way up to the governor's office, where the political version of a false start was committed.
"Like all Packer fans, I am thrilled that Brett Favre will return to action next year for the green and gold," Gov. Jim Doyle said in a statement. "Brett Favre's tremendous work ethic and willingness to go out and play hard every day represent the true spirit of Wisconsin. I am hopeful that with this announcement behind us, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers can focus on the task at hand: defeating the Seattle Seahawks."
The governor's office later amended the statement to say Doyle was "excited to hear Brett Favre talking about returning to action next year."
It was another example of the state's fascination with the future of its favorite quarterback.
Favre then finished the season on a sour note, suddenly showing his age in the Packers' 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game.
Favre struggled in subzero temperatures, throwing an interception on the Packers' second play from scrimmage in overtime to set up the Giants' game-winning field goal.
After that game, Favre was noncommittal on his future. McCarthy said he wanted Favre to take a step back from the season before making a decision. But it was widely assumed he would be back.
"I think he's going to come back," Packers receiver Donald Driver said in early January. "I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back. He's having a great year, so it'd be great to see him come back if he decides to."
Retiring Packers chairman Bob Harlan figured Favre would be back, too.
"Yeah, I think he'll be back," Harlan said, on his final official day as the Packers' top executive. "And I felt that way the last couple years, when we've had these long debates about it. I just think he's such a competitor that as long as he feels he can compete, he's going to keep coming back."
Still, in the week leading to the playoff game against Seattle, Favre said his injuries were starting to linger.
"I'm not getting any younger," Favre said. "I wake up some days and think I can't even touch my toes. I think about that. I think, well, next year is not going to be like some refreshing, awakening season where all of a sudden you're going to feel great. That's not going to happen.
"I carry some of these things with me that maybe you wouldn't see. I tend to dwell on them, at least internally, more than I used to. I don't write them off as quickly as I used to."

Some crack convicts could soon be set free

New sentencing guidelines were expected to lead Monday to the early release of more than a dozen federal inmates convicted on crack-cocaine charges.

Approximately 1,600 federal inmates are currently eligible to ask a court to reduce their sentences because of December's decision by a federal agency to make retroactive reduced sentences for some crack-cocaine related convictions.
The decision was based on the stark difference in terms handed out for crack convictions versus those convicted on charges for powder cocaine.
Judges could reduce sentences for nearly 20,000 inmates following the decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission -- an independent federal agency that advises all three branches of government on sentences. Advocates of the sentence reduction say it is only fair, but the Justice Department counters and says that the move will allow dangerous criminals back on the street.
The Justice Department is concerned "that so many people would be released all at once -- people who have shown that they are repeat offenders, and without the possibility of any kind of transition or re-entry program to bring them from prison back to the streets.