The Canadian Senate Wednesday passed a US-style bill to have federal elections on fixed dates every four years. An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act requires that an election be held on the third Monday of October four years after the last federal election, although the chief electoral officer has limited discretion to change the date if it's found to be inappropriate for some reason. Opposition parties can still force an earlier vote if a minority government loses a confidence vote in the Canadian House of Commons. The bill is scheduled to receive royal assent and become law Thursday.

Former Minister for Democratic Reform Rob Nicholson introduced the bill last year on behalf of Canada's new Conservative government to promote "greater fairness" in the Canadian electoral system, since current rules let the prime minister choose the date for the general election and tell the governor general to dissolve Parliament. According to Prime Minister Stephen Harper [official profile], this allows the ruling party to set the time of the election to its own advantage.

Persing could get up to 20 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, defense lawyer Deb Newton said after the verdict. The case will be appealed, she said.

A crestfallen Persing declined comment as he left the courthouse. Among the release conditions imposed by Fox prior to sentencing is that Persing only fly on commercial and private aircraft traveling to and from court appearances.

“He’s devastated,” Newton said. “By defending his right to be left alone on an airplane and by defending his civil rights, he lost his job. I admire my client. If more citizens would have stood up for their civil rights, we wouldn’t have these problems.”

Persing, 41, is a mechanic at a port in California. Similar charges against fiancee Dawn E. Sewell, 40, were dismissed Tuesday by Fox.

The couple were on a Southwest Airlines flight on Sept. 15 that was bound for Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The flight originated in Los Angeles and stopped in Phoenix. While on the ground there, the couple were observed by flight attendants “embracing, kissing and acting in a manner that made other passengers uncomfortable,” according to a criminal complaint signed by an investigating FBI agent.

Trial testimony by crew members established that Persing put his head in Sewell’s lap, and refused the request of a male flight attendant to stop. Several passengers testified they heard Persing warn the attendant to “get out of my face” and he appeared to be intoxicated.

After being refused mixed drinks on the flight, Persing told the flight attendant there would be a “serious confrontation” between the two, according to the complaint. Crew members testified Persing was verbally abusive on other occasions during the flight.

The FBI met the couple when the aircraft landed in Raleigh.

Persing never got out of his seat during the flight and put his head in Sewell’s lap to rest because he didn’t feel well, Newton said in her summation. The flight attendant, she said, was the real aggressor because he didn’t like the pair showing affection of any sort, she said Thursday.

A man accused of having a sexual affair with an underage student while working as a Sherburne-Earlville High School janitor pleaded guilty in County Court.

Shawn M. Clark, 28, County Rd. 24, Sherburne, pleaded guilty to 3rd degree rape, also known as statutory rape. Originally he was charged with third degree rape, third degree criminal sexual acts and endangering the welfare of a child. Clark never had any prior legal trouble with law enforcement and had maintained a relationship with the 16-year-old, who is now 17.

The couple allegedly had consensual sex and had family approval said Clark’s Public Defender Alan Gordon.

The allegations apparently came to light after the relationship ended on bad terms and the girl came forward said investigators.

Keith set a sentencing hearing for June 28 and ordered a pre-sentence investigation. Norman faces up to a year in jail, a $1,000 fine and possibly other sanctions, including community service.

A grand jury indicted Norman in April 2006 in the shooting death Erin Hamley, 21.

The grand jury's findings detailed Norman's action when responding to the scene on U.S. 412 west of Tontitown, where police had Hamley surrounded, mistakenly thinking he was prison escapee Adam Leadford.

Norman disregarded his orders, played the radio in his police cruiser too loud to hear dispatches and did not communicate with other officers before fatally shooting Hamley, according to the grand jury's report.

Several of Hamley's family members, including his mother, attended Thursday's hearing but declined comment afterward.

"They were satisfied with the fact that Norman stood up and admitted guilt, and for the judge to determine the sentence," Prosecutor Van Stone said. "Both sides felt it would be best to let Judge Keith make the determination."

Norman waived his right to a jury trial in his plea and also waived right to appeal.

"The family didn't want to have to go through a trial," the prosecutor said. "It's a good way to resolve this particular case, given all the circumstances."

The Legislature approved a $1 million payment to Erin Hamley's estate because of the death. State police did not admit wrongdoing.

The agency granted Norman medical retirement last year because of what his attorney called an "enormous psychological overlay" from the shooting.

Norman had been on the scene less than one minute before shooting Hamley, who was lying on his back when shot. The grand jury's report stated Hamley may have been trying to turn on his stomach, as Norman ordered, instead of reaching in his pockets, as Norman said he suspected.

The slug Norman fired hit the pavement first, grazed Hamley's arm, then entered his body.

Some of the incident was captured on film by cameras mounted on police vehicles. The film will be made public after the sentencing hearing, Stone said.

Other evidence will be opened to the public the same day, including hours of interviews conducted by the grand jury with Norman and other officers on the scene.

Instead, he will remain behind bars at least 12 years and for the rest of his life will be classified -- and must register wherever he lives -- as a sex offender.

Three of the four women De La Fuente Jr. sexually assaulted had admitted they were prostitutes. The fourth, a 15-year-old, denied being a prostitute and said she was kidnapped by De La Fuente Jr.

De La Fuente Jr. wiped tears from his eyes as the judge read each count and asked for his plea.

"Guilty, your honor," De La Fuente Jr. said after each count.

Meanwhile his father, City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, rubbed his eyes and shook his leg as the pleas were entered. At times he stared at his son. Other family members, including De La Fuente Jr.'s mother, cried.

De La Fuente Sr. and the rest of his family left the courtroom without comment.

Deputy District Attorney Brian Owens said the plea was not a surprise given the testimony of three of the women.

"The witnesses were credible and their testimony powerful," Owens said. "I believe that is why he decided to no longer fight and admit his guilt."

Three of the four victims, including the 15-year-old girl, had already testified in the trial.

Each victim described similar events leading up to being raped and sexually assaulted.

They described how De La Fuente Jr. picked them up in the Fruitvale and drove them to secluded areas of the city. Each victim said he parked his car with the passenger side against a building or fence to block her exit. They all said De La Fuente Jr. forced himself upon them without using protection. And when he was finished, the witnesses said, De La Fuente Jr. threw them out of his GMC pickup truck and drove away.

Although De La Fuente Jr.'s defense team attempted to discredit the witnesses, the jury believed the rapes and sexual assaults had occurred, Owens said after he interviewed the jury.

"They felt the women were credible and believable," he said. "They were leaning towards conviction."

But defense attorneys Robert and Anne Beles continued to argue Thursday that those accusing De La Fuente Jr. of rape and sexual assault did not appear credible on the stand.

"I thought the complaining witnesses that testified did very poorly, their credibility was impeached," Robert Beles said.

But, Beles said, the fact that there were four witnesses caused a "cumulative effect" that was overwhelming for De La Fuente Jr.

"It's his decision to take a compromise," Beles said.

De La Fuente Jr. will be sentenced to 14 years behind bars but might be able to be released after 12 years, Owens said.

If the jury had convicted De La Fuente Jr. of all five counts, he would have faced 25 years to life because of enhancements, such as kidnapping, placed on each charge.

Goodling has become a focus of congressional investigators because she played a central role in identifying eight U.S. attorneys who were fired last year. The latest disclosure that she also was involved in the hiring of assistant U.S. attorneys shed new light on her clout at the Justice Department and raised more questions about how the agency has operated under Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales.

"This is a troubling assertion that, if true, suggests politics infected the most basic operations at the Justice Department," said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "This only underscores our commitment to hear directly from Ms. Goodling about her role in this process, and at the Justice Department, to establish who should be held accountable."

The department's investigation, however, could delay the date when lawmakers hear from Goodling. Conyers' panel is trying to win a grant of immunity from prosecution for Goodling, who has said through her lawyer that she would assert her right against self-incrimination if called to testify.

But the Justice Department is unlikely to support immunity while its own probe is pending. The issue of immunity is ultimately decided by a federal judge. Justice Department officials are supposed to weigh in with a recommendation next week.

Department spokesman Dean Boyd declined to provide details about the investigation of Goodling, beyond a three-paragraph statement.

Goodling, the department said, is being investigated in connection with helping review candidates for career positions in certain U.S. attorneys' offices around the country.

The agency declined to say what "prohibited considerations" Goodling might have taken into account, but said that it is against policy and possibly federal law to consider "party affiliation" in deciding whether to hire a career lawyer.

According to people familiar with the investigation, who requested anonymity because the probe is ongoing, Goodling allegedly sought information about party affiliation while vetting applicants for assistant U.S. attorney positions.

Goodling has become a focus of the scandal because she was part of a group of young White House and Justice Department politicos with little or no prosecutorial experience who acted as gatekeepers for U.S. attorney positions. She had also worked in the department's public affairs office, and the office that oversees U.S. attorneys.

Her lawyer, John Dowd, declined to comment Wednesday.

Goodling's activities, the department said, were confined to offices that were headed by interim or acting U.S. attorneys.

The Justice Department has been criticized for using a little-known federal law to appoint interim U.S. attorneys, who do not require Senate confirmation. The practice has triggered allegations from Democrats that the administration is trying to circumvent long-standing checks and balances.

Interim and acting U.S. attorneys do not usually have the authority to hire personnel, the theory being that career prosecutors often outlast their political bosses, and should be selected only when the U.S. attorneys have been Senate-confirmed.

The Justice Department statement Wednesday indicated that the department had granted waivers to a number of those offices so they could hire personnel. But it declined to provide specifics.

Also Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued new subpoenas to Gonzales, seeking e-mails in the possession of the department involving presidential advisor Karl Rove.

White House officials said little about the subpoena except to reiterate their previous offer that Rove answer questions behind closed doors without a transcript.

"I know they like to get headlines more than they like to get the facts," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "But if there's still any interest in the facts up there, the easiest way is to simply accept our offer to have Karl and others in for interviews."

Dina Habib Powell, a senior aide to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, resigned Wednesday to join a Wall Street investment bank, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.

Powell, 33, was assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs and deputy to Underscretary of State Karen P. Hughes before her resignation.

Powell said she resigned for personal reason.

She is one of the youngest senior State Department diplomats, and a key architect of a Rice initiative to improve the United States' image abroad.

Powell, who emigrated from Egypt to Texas with her parents, is the highest-ranking Arab American in the Bush administration.

Days before Powell's resignation, Barry Lowenkron, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, resigned to join a private charitable foundation. In addition, one of Rice's two deputies, foreign aid director Randall Tobias also quit due to involvement of sex scandal. ?