Nation in brief: Sheriff announces Hilton release date

Paris Hilton will be issued her get-out-of jail card on Tuesday after spending almost 3 1/2 weeks in the slammer.

The release date, announced Friday, was determined by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Inmate Reception Center. The exact hour of Hilton’s release was not disclosed.

The 26-year-old Hilton, who was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case, surrendered on June 3.

Although her sentence was for 45 days, authorities have said all along that with time off for good behavior and because of crowded jail conditions Hilton was likely to serve only 23. Tuesday will mark the 24th day since she surrendered following an appearance at the MTV Movie Awards.

Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

Shuttle back from two-week mission

Atlantis and its seven astronauts took a cross-country detour and landed safely in the Mojave Desert on Friday, ending a two-week mission of construction on the International Space Station and bringing a crew member home from the outpost.

NASA had hoped to bring Atlantis home to Florida, but bad weather two days straight forced them to divert it to California – a move that will cost $1.7 million because the shuttle has to be ferried back to Kennedy Space Center atop a jumbo jet.

NASA’s first manned flight of the year provided a much needed image boost for the space agency. It had been dogged by distractions this year including a bizarre astronaut love triangle and a murder-suicide involving a disgruntled contractor that sullied its reputation.

Casper, Wyo.

New senator will be conservative

Surgeon and Republican legislator John Barrasso, who became the nation’s newest U.S. senator on Friday, has left little doubt that he will be a conservative voice in this traditionally conservative state.

“I believe in limited government, lower taxes, less spending, traditional family values, local control and a strong national defense,” Barrasso said in his application for the seat fellow Republican Craig Thomas held until he died June 4.

“In the state Senate, in addition to receiving an ‘A’ rating from the NRA, I have voted for prayer in schools, against gay marriage and have sponsored legislation to protect the sanctity of life.”

Barrasso, an orthopedic surgeon and state senator, was appointed Friday by Gov. Dave Freudenthal. The Democratic governor had to choose one of three nominees state GOP officials had given him. He will serve until the beginning of 2009. A special election in November 2008 will decide who will finish Thomas’ term, which runs to January 2013.