Nation in brief: Radiation wasn’t harmful, feds say

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the small amount of radiation detected at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is not significant.

Specialist John White has told ABC News that there is no indication that radiation at the plant exceeded or even approached regulatory limits.

The commission sent investigators to the central Pennsylvania plant after a small amount of radiation was detected.

About 150 employees were sent home Saturday afternoon, but officials say there is no public health risk.

Exelon Nuclear spokeswoman Beth Archer said the radiation was quickly contained.

The unit has been shut for refueling and maintenance since Oct. 26. Workers are being tested for radiation exposure.

A partial meltdown occurred in Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 reactor in 1979.

Palin dines, prays with Rev. Graham

MONTREAT, N.C. – Sarah Palin on Sunday dined and prayed with the Rev. Billy Graham, who has counseled presidents and other politicians for decades.

Graham had never met Palin, who is scheduled to stop at Fort Bragg in eastern North Carolina today to promote her memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life.” She and members of her family flew into Asheville, then went to Graham’s mountaintop home in nearby Montreat for dinner.

Billy Graham said it was an honor having Palin in his home to join his family for dinner and that they took the opportunity to pray together.

“I, like many people, have been impressed with her strong commitment to her faith, to family and love of country,” he said in a statement.

“I appreciated hearing her speak of her own spiritual journey and her life in Alaska.”

Graham’s son, Franklin, who leads the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which his father founded decades ago, got to know Palin early this year in Alaska and he invited her to North Carolina.

UC demonstration ends peacefully

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Officials at the University of California, Santa Cruz said dozens of protesters who were occupying the university’s main administrative building have ended their protest.

Campus spokesman Jim Burns said the nearly 70 or so protesters who had occupied the university’s Kerr Hall since Thursday in a demonstration over fee hikes walked out of the building around 8 a.m. Sunday. No arrests were made, but Burns said the students who took part in the protest are facing criminal charges or student judicial sanctions.

Subway stabbing victim identified

NEW YORK – A subway passenger stabbed to death in front of horrified straphangers has been identified as 36-year-old Dwight Johnson, of Brooklyn.

Authorities said some 30 passengers watched as Gerardo Sanchez, of the Bronx, stabbed Johnson at around 2 a.m. Saturday in an argument over a seat. Police said the passengers were trapped with the knife-wielding attacker and his victim until the train arrived at the station at Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street. Police said Sanchez was standing over the bloodied victim when the train doors opened. Johnson was pronounced dead when the train arrived at the station.

Mild earthquake hits Big Bear Lake

LOS ANGELES – A magnitude 3.7 earthquake has rattled Southern California’s Big Bear Lake area, followed by a sharp aftershock.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the first quake struck at 7:55 a.m. Sunday, about seven miles north of Big Bear City.

The same area was rocked by a 2.4 magnitude aftershock two-and-a-half minutes later.

A San Bernardino County sheriff’s dispatcher said there have been no reports of damage or injury.