Shuttle cleared for flight home

Their work in orbit accomplished, space shuttle Endeavour’s astronauts got the green light Saturday to return to Earth, but were warned “pretty iffy” weather at the main landing site could send them across the country or keep them up an extra day.

On Saturday afternoon – 24 hours before the planned landing – Mission Control informed the seven astronauts that Endeavour had been cleared for re-entry following analysis of data beamed down from a final thermal survey of their ship. The space shuttle was found to be free of any serious defects caused by space junk that could jeopardize the descent.

Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff was especially eager to come back: He’s been off the planet, away from his wife and 3-year-old twins, since the end of May.

Endeavour originally was supposed to land Saturday, but mission managers kept the astronauts at the space station an extra day to help with the balky urine processor. The weather was beautiful Saturday at Kennedy Space Center, but a cold front was expected to bring stiff wind and possibly thunderstorms today and even worse conditions on Monday. NASA called up its backup landing site in California, Edwards Air Force Base, just in case.

Chicago

Newlyweds share their first kiss

Won’t kiss on the first date? How about waiting until marriage?

Chicagoans Melody LaLuz and Claudaniel Fabien shared their first kiss Saturday at the altar. The two teach abstinence at the city’s public schools and practiced what they preached to their teenage students.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the couple had never kissed and that they had never been alone together in a house.

A friend of LaLuz said wedding guests cheered and stomped during the two-minute smooch between the 28-year-old bride and the 30-year-old groom.

Markle, Ind.

Police say deer jumped off overpass

Police in Indiana said five deer that wandered onto a highway overpass have jumped to their deaths on Interstate 69, one of them crashing through a tractor-trailer’s windshield.

Indiana Department of Natural Resources spokesman John Salb said the deer may have been spooked by cars as they were crossing the overpass Friday. They fell 20 to 30 feet onto the highway.

Police said the driver of the tractor-trailer rig struck by one of the deer was not injured.

Late fall is stressful for deer because it is hunting season, DNR spokesman Phil Bloom said.

Farmers are also removing the last of their crops from the fields, reducing the animals’ food supply as the animals’ breeding season is in full swing.

Sacramento, Calif.

Bishop resigns; successor named

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop William K. Weigand, who headed the Sacramento, Calif., Roman Catholic diocese for nearly 15 years, and appointed Bishop Jaime Soto as his successor, Archbishop Pietro Sambi announced Saturday in Washington, D.C.

Soto, 51, became coadjutor bishop in Sacramento last year and is one of 26 active Hispanic Catholic bishops in the United States.

In 1986, Soto received a master’s in social work from Columbia University in New York. In 1987, he helped several immigrants apply for amnesty, which he said quickly immersed him in the issues facing the Hispanic community.

Weigand, 71, in September asked the pope for permission to retire, citing age and health problems.

Weigand drew national attention in January 2003 when he called on Gov. Gray Davis and other Catholics who supported abortion rights to abstain from receiving Communion.