Student convicted of killing principal
A high school student was convicted Thursday of fatally shooting his principal as homecoming festivities were about to begin last fall.
The jury deliberated for nearly 6 1/2 hours after closing arguments Thursday before deciding on the first-degree intentional homicide charge against Eric Hainstock, 16.
Hainstock had brought his father’s shotgun and .22 revolver to Weston Schools, a rural school about 65 miles northwest of Madison, on Sept. 29. He told detectives in an interview that day he was angry Principal John Klang and other teachers had done nothing to stop other kids from teasing him.
Hainstock’s attorneys rubbed his back before he was led away. The teen could face up to life in prison at his sentencing, which was scheduled for this morning.
LOS ANGELES
Minister faces prison for drugs
A minister accused of distributing marijuana through his church was convicted of a drug charge Thursday.
The Rev. Craig X Rubin, 41, faces up to four years, eight months in prison for possessing marijuana for sale, said Jane Robison, a district attorney’s spokeswoman.
Rubin and some 400 members of Temple 420 say that marijuana is a religious sacrament. They burn and smoke pot during services.
The reverend, who has appeared in episodes of the Showtime comedy “Weeds,” said he won’t appeal his conviction.
“If my society believes I’m a danger and a threat, it’s better off without me,” he said in a telephone interview. “Hopefully people will be nice to me inside. I barely ever had a ticket before.”
Rubin was ordained in 1990 by the Universal Life Church, which will ordain anyone for a fee. The Beverly Hills-born minister was arrested last fall and freed after posting $20,000 bail.
ATLANTA
Breast-feeding ending too soon
Nearly three-quarters of new mothers in the United States are breast-feeding their babies, but they are quitting too soon and resorting to infant formula too often, federal health officials said Thursday.
A government survey found that only about 30 percent of new moms are feeding their babies breast milk alone three months after birth. At six months, only 11 percent are breast-feeding exclusively.
Formula isn’t as good at protecting babies against diseases, eczema and childhood obesity, experts say. Ideally, nearly all mothers should breast-feed their babies for six months or more, said Dr. David Paige, a Johns Hopkins University reproductive health expert.
The annual random-digit-dial survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the percentage of women who start breast-feeding rose slightly from 2000 to 2004, from 71 percent to 74 percent. That’s a new high, CDC officials said, and is based on nearly 17,000 responses.