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In the Nation

Construction workers at the Murfreesboro, Tenn., mosque, opposed by critics of Islam. MARK HUMPHREY / Associated Press

Posted: May 30, 2012

U.S. air agencies relinquish probe

U.S. aviation-accident investigators have asked Canada to investigate a collision Monday between two small planes that were owned by employees of separate federal aviation agencies.

A plane owned by a National Transportation Safety Board employee collided over Sumerduck, Va., with another small aircraft owned by a Federal Aviation Administration employee, the NTSB said. Two people in the NTSB employee's plane died, the agency said. The sole occupant of the FAA-owned plane survived.

Because the accident involved U.S. government employees, officials of both agencies asked Canada to handle the inquiry. - AP

IRS: 1 in 189 high earners pay no tax

The percentage of U.S. taxpayers reporting adjusted gross income exceeding $200,000 who paid no U.S. income taxes increased in 2009 to 0.53 percent from 0.51 percent, meaning that one in 189 high earners avoided taxation, an Internal Revenue Service study found.

The filers reported tax-exempt interest along with deductible charitable contributions, medical expenses, and other items to legally reduce their taxable income.

The number and percentage of U.S. households with income exceeding $200,000 declined from 2008 to 2009. In 2009, 3.9 million households, or 2.8 percent of the population, had adjusted gross income at that level. That was down from 4.4 million and 3.1 percent in 2008. - Bloomberg News

Judge halts plan for Tenn. mosque

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A judge in Tennessee ruled Tuesday that the public wasn't properly notified about a meeting where local officials approved the plan for a proposed mosque, meaning construction of the disputed project will be stopped.

Chancellor Robert Corlew noted that his ruling didn't stop the Rutherford County Planning Commission from reconsidering the issue and again approving the site plan in Murfreesboro, a city southeast of Nashville.

Opponents of the mosque have fought for two years to stop construction. In 2010, they presented testimony that in effect put Islam on trial. A string of witnesses questioned whether Islam was a legitimate religion and promoted a theory that American Muslims want to replace the Constitution with extremist Islamic law. - AP

Elsewhere:

The San Francisco Bay Area's top U.S. prosecutor said Tuesday that a four-month undercover effort targeting violent offenders, robbery crews, and criminal organizations in Oakland resulted in charges against 60 suspects. Seized were 92 guns and many kilograms of methamphetamine, marijuana, and other drugs.

A New York veterinarian - who took payments to properly dispose of euthanized pets over several months - has been charged with dumping 35 carcasses along Westchester County's Hutchinson River Parkway, the county SPCA said.

Supporters of a lesbian mother will present a petition at the Boy Scouts of America's annual meeting in Orlando to protest her removal in April from a troop in Ohio.