Air Force Academy starts steroid testing

AIR FORCE ACADEMY -- The Air Force Academy has begun randomly testing everyone from cadets to civilian employees for steroids amid an investigation into the use of the drug among students. The tests began last month and include active-duty military personnel at the school and students at the academy's preparatory school, along with civilian workers and about 4,000 cadets. Four cadets, including two members of the Air Force football team, were charged with possession or distribution of steroids, the school announced last week. A fifth cadet is under investigation, academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker said. (AP)

Police interview tape allowed in Kobe trial

DENVER -- A secretly taped interview police conducted with basketball star Kobe Bryant about 24 hours after a 19-year-old woman said he raped her last year will be admitted as evidence at his upcoming trial, a judge ruled yesterday. The defense for the Los Angeles Laker had tried during five rounds of hearings to persuade the judge to throw out the interview. The judge found that Bryant, 25, spoke freely to police. District Judge Terry Ruckriegle also ordered that evidence from a sexual assault examination conducted on Bryant at a hospital would not be admitted at next month's trial because he had not given consent. (Reuters)

WASHINGTON, D.C.

NASA urged to weigh manned Hubble bid

NASA should not rule out the idea of using astronauts to keep the Hubble Space Telescope working, a panel of specialists told the space agency Tuesday. The group's report almost certainly will increase pressure on NASA's chief, Sean O'Keefe, to consider a manned mission to Hubble, even though he has said repeatedly that such a mission would be too great a risk for astronauts. (Orlando Sentinel)