New York man sentenced for giving women AIDS

MAYVILLE, N.Y. -- A man accused of infecting least 13 young women with the AIDS virus through unprotected sex was sentenced Monday to four to 12 years in prison.

Nushawn Williams, 22, struck a plea bargain after only two victims agreed to testify. Some of the other women never came forward.

Investigators said Williams traded drugs for sex with young women and teens he approached in schools and parks.

The case spread fear across rural western New York when it became public in October 1997. State confidentiality laws prevent people who are HIV positive from being identified. But prosecutors persuaded a judge to disclose Williams' identity and allow for his photo to be distributed.

Williams, who is already serving a prison sentence for selling crack, pleaded guilty to statutory rape for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He also pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment for having unprotected sex with another teen-ager. She later contracted the AIDS virus.

Rice and beans blow roof off of Arkansas house

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Rice and beans can be an explosive mixture in their own way. Adding dry ice doesn't help.

Steve Tate's roof is proof.

Tate's garage was damaged and a hole blown through his roof after a mixture of beans and rice he packaged with dry ice in a group of 6-foot-long pipes exploded. He had intended to bury the food near his cabin at Berryville, Fayetteville Fire Chief Mickey Jackson said.

"We strongly recommend to the public they not try things like that," Jackson said.

Poet laureate selected for unprecedented third term

WASHINGTON -- Robert Pinsky, who emphasizes that poetry should be an integral part of everyday life, was given an unprecedented third term Monday as America's poet laureate.

Pinsky, 58, is the country's ninth poet laureate since Congress created the title in 1985.

Associated Press
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