AP source: Deputy wounded in Calif gunbattle dies

AP source: Deputy wounded in Calif gunbattle dies 

Law enforcement officials respond after Christopher Dorner, the fugitive ex-Los Angeles cop sought in three killings, engaged in a shootout with authorities that wounded two officers in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear Lake, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013.

BIG BEAR, Calif. (AP) -- A man police believe to be the fugitive ex-Los Angeles officer wanted in three killings was barricaded inside a burning cabin Tuesday after a shootout in a California mountain town Tuesday that left one deputy dead and another wounded.

The developments raised the possibility that the nearly week-old hunt for America's most wanted man might be coming to an end.

The cabin was on fire and smoke was coming from the structure in the late afternoon after police surrounded it in the snow-covered woods of Big Bear, a resort town about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.

Authorities have focused their hunt for Christopher Dorner there since they said he launched a campaign to exact revenge against the Los Angeles Police Department for his firing.

Authorities say Dorner threatened to bring "warfare" to LAPD officers and their families, spreading fear and setting off a search for him across three states and Mexico.

"Enough is enough. It's time for you to turn yourself in. It's time to stop the bloodshed," LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said earlier in the day at a news conference held outside police headquarters in Los Angeles, a starkly different atmosphere than last week when officials briefed the news media under tight security with Dorner on the loose.

If the man inside the cabin does prove to be Dorner, it will both lower tensions among the more than 40 targets police say he listed in an online rant. It would also raise them for law enforcement officers who are engaged in a standoff with a former Navy reservist who has warned that he knows their tactics as well as they do.

Until Tuesday, authorities didn't know whether he was still near Big Bear, where they found his burned-out pickup last week.

Around 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, deputies got a report of a stolen vehicle, authorities said. The location was directly across the street from where law enforcement set up their command post on Thursday and not far from where Dorner's burned-out pickup was abandoned.

The people whose vehicle was stolen described the suspect as looking similar to Dorner. When authorities found the vehicle, the suspect ran into the forest and barricaded himself inside a cabin.

U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Miller said the first exchange of gunfire involved state Fish and Wildlife wardens at 12:42 p.m., and then there was a second exchange with San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies, two of whom were shot.

Police say Dorner began his run on Feb. 6 after they connected the slayings of a former police captain's daughter and her fiance with an angry Facebook rant they said he posted. Threats against the LAPD led officials to assign officers to protect officers and their families.

Within hours of the release of photos of the 6-foot, 270-pounder described as armed and "extremely dangerous," police say, Dorner unsuccessfully tried to steal a boat in San Diego to flee to Mexico and then ambushed police in Riverside County, shooting three and killing one.

Jumpy officers guarding one of the targets named in the rant in Torrance on Thursday shot and injured two women delivering newspapers because they mistook their pickup truck for Dorner's.

Police found charred weapons and camping gear inside the truck in Big Bear.

Helicopters using heat-seeking technology searched the forest from above while scores of officers, some 

using bloodhounds, scoured the ground and checked hundreds of vacation cabins - many vacant this time of year - in the area.

A snowstorm hindered the search and may have helped cover his tracks, though authorities were hopeful he would leave fresh footprints if hiding in the wilderness.

Dorner's anger with the department dated back at least five years, when he was fired for filing a false report accusing his training officer of kicking a mentally ill suspect. Dorner, who is black, claimed in the rant that he was the subject of racism by the department and fired for doing the right thing.

He said he would get even with those who wronged him as part of his plan to reclaim his good name.

"You're going to see what a whistleblower can do when you take everything from him especially his NAME!!!" the rant said. "You have awoken a sleeping giant."

Chief Charlie Beck, who initially dismissed the allegations in the rant, said he would reopen the investigation into his firing - not to appease the ex-officer, but to restore confidence in the black community, which long had a fractured relationship with police that has improved in recent years.

One of the targets listed in the manifesto was former LAPD Capt. Randal Quan, who represented Dorner before the disciplinary board. Dorner claimed he put the interests of the department above his.

The first victims were Quan's daughter, Monica Quan, 28, a college basketball coach, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, 27. They were shot multiple times in their car in a parking garage near their condo.

Dorner served in the Navy, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and pistol expert medal. He was assigned to a naval undersea warfare unit and various aviation training units, according to military records. He took leave from the LAPD for a six-month deployment to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.

Search for fugitive ex-LA cop slows border traffic

Search for fugitive ex-LA cop slows border traffic 

San Bernardino County Sheriff's officer Ken Owens searches a home for the former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner in Big Bear Lake, Calif, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. The hunt for the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings entered its fourth day in the snow-covered mountains on Sunday, a day after the police chief ordered a review of the disciplinary case that led to the fugitive's firing and new details emerged of the evidence he left behind.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- U.S. border inspectors are warning of unusually heavy traffic at California border crossings into Mexico amid the search for a fugitive ex-police officer wanted in the slayings of three people.

Customs and Border Protection said Monday that it has joined efforts to find 33-year-old Christopher Dorner in Southern California. Heightened vehicle inspections are producing delays at San Diego's San Ysidro (ee-SEE'-droh) border crossing into Tijuana.

Baja California state police agents assigned to search for American fugitives have been given photographs of Dorner. International liaison Alfredo Arenas says the Mexican agents have been warned to consider the suspect armed and extremely dangerous.

Dorner was charged Monday with murdering a police officer and attempting to murder three others in Riverside County.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

A fugitive ex-Los Angeles police officer was charged Monday with murdering a Riverside police officer and special circumstances that could bring the death penalty.

Christopher Dorner was also charged with the attempted murder of another Riverside officer and two Los Angeles Police Department officers, Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said.

The LAPD officers and the Riverside officers were fired on in two separate shootings early Thursday after Dorner became the target of a manhunt suspected of killing a former LAPD captain's daughter and her fiance the previous weekend.

"By both his words and conduct, he has made very clear to us that every law enforcement officer in Southern California is in danger of being shot and killed," Zellerbach said.

Authorities obtained a no-bail arrest warrant, which allows Dorner to be apprehended anywhere, Zellerbach said.

Southern California authorities were investigating more than 600 tips after offering a $1 million reward for information leading to Dorner's arrest.

"We need the community's help in this, there's a lot more of you than there are of us," said LAPD Deputy Chief Jose Perez.

The manhunt for Dorner, 33, has left the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department stretched thin.

Along with responding to routine calls for service, police have been protecting dozens of families considered possible targets of Dorner, based on his alleged Facebook rant against those he held responsible for ending his career with the LAPD five years ago.

Police and city officials believe the reward, raised from both public and private sources, will encourage the public to stay vigilant.

"Now it's like the game show `Who Wants to be a Millionaire,'" said Anthony Burke, supervisory inspector for the U.S. Marshals regional fugitive taskforce. "Instead of one contestant, we've got 100,000, and there's only one question you have to answer. All they have to answer is where he's at, and we can take it from there."

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck deflected questions about whether the reward would be paid if Dorner was found dead or alive. He called the phrase "ugly" and said he hoped no one else was injured in the ordeal, including the suspect.

As the search dragged on, worrisome questions emerged: How long could the intense search be sustained? And, if Dorner keeps evading capture, how do authorities protect dozens of former police colleagues?

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the department has deployed 50 protection details to guard officers and their families who were deemed possible targets.

And there are no plans to reduce protection until Dorner is in custody, Los Angeles police Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.

"We realize it costs money and it gets expensive," said Chuck Drago, a Florida-based police consultant. "But this is as clear of a threat as you can get. The money is always an issue but not when it's somebody's life at stake."

One tip led police to surround and evacuate a Lowe's Home Improvement store on Sunday in the San Fernando Valley, but a search yielded no evidence that Dorner had been there.

Residents remained on edge in suburban Irvine, where the first two killings occurred. Some residents have kept their children at home, others no longer walk their dogs at night.

"If he did come around this corner, what could happen? We're in the crossfire, with the cops right there," said Irvine resident Joe Palacio, who lives down the street from the home of retired police Capt. Randal Quan, who is being protected.

"I do think about where I would put my family," he said. "Would we call 911? Would we hide in the closet?"

Monica Quan and her fiance were found shot dead on Feb. 3 in Irvine. Dorner was named as the suspect on Wednesday.

A federal agent who requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation said officials had determined a call telling Randal Quan that he should have done a better job of protecting his daughter was a prank.

The violence escalated Thursday, when police say Dorner got into a shootout with police in Corona, grazing an LAPD officer's head with a bullet before escaping. Authorities believe Dorner then used a rifle to ambush the two Riverside police officers, killing one and seriously wounding another.

Until Sunday, police had withheld the names of victims, fearing Dorner might target their families. But Riverside police said the officer killed was Michael Crain, 34, an ex-Marine and 11-year department veteran.

Officials decided to proceed with the identification and public memorial despite the possible dangers, Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz said.

"We're not going to fail our officer and our hero," Diaz said. "We're going to bury him."

In Torrance, a pickup truck was peppered with police bullets during the manhunt, prompting a lawyer for the driver to accuse officers of being reckless.

Surfer Dan Perdue was driving to the beach Thursday when his Honda Ridgeline was stopped by officers guarding the home of a law enforcement official.

After driving away, the Ridgeline was hit by a squad car. It spun around and officers began shooting.

Perdue wasn't wounded, his attorney Robert Sheahen told the Daily Breeze of Torrance.

A police statement said officers took appropriate action as Perdue's truck, which resembled the Nissan Titan of Dorner, was leaving the area.

Late last week, the manhunt focused on Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains, where authorities found Dorner's burned-out truck with weapons and camping gear inside.

Authorities searched there for the fifth day on Monday, using helicopters equipped with heat-sensing technology.

Pope's bombshell sends troubled church scrambling

Pope's bombshell sends troubled church scrambling 

In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI reads a document in Latin where he announces his resignation, during a meeting of Vatican cardinals, at the Vatican, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. Benedict XVI announced Monday that he would resign Feb. 28 - the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years. The decision sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- With a few words in Latin, Pope Benedict VXI did what no pope has done in more than half a millennium, stunning the world by announcing his resignation Monday and leaving the already troubled Catholic Church to replace the leader of its 1 billion followers by Easter.

Not even his closest associates had advance word of the news, a bombshell that he dropped during a routine morning meeting of Vatican cardinals. And with no clear favorites to succeed him, another surprise likely awaits when the cardinals elect Benedict's successor next month.

"Without doubt this is a historic moment," said Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, a protege and former theology student of Benedict's who is considered a papal contender. "Right now, 1.2 billion Catholics the world over are holding their breath."

The move allows for a fast-track conclave to elect a new pope, since the traditional nine days of mourning that would follow a pope's death doesn't have to be observed. It also gives the 85-year-old Benedict great sway over the choice of his successor. Though he will not himself vote, he has hand-picked the bulk of the College of Cardinals - the princes of the church who will elect his successor - to guarantee his conservative legacy and ensure an orthodox future for the church.

The resignation may mean that age will become less of a factor when electing a new pope, since candidates may no longer feel compelled to stay for life.

"For the century to come, I think that none of Benedict's successors will feel morally obliged to remain until their death," said Paris Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois.

Benedict said as recently as 2010 that a pontiff should resign if he got too old or infirm to do the job, but it was a tremendous surprise when he said in Latin that his "strength of mind and body" had diminished and that he couldn't carry on. He said he would resign effective 8 p.m. local time on Feb. 28.

"All the cardinals remained shocked and were looking at each other," said Monsignor Oscar Sanchez of Mexico, who was in the room at the time of the announcement.

The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said Benedict decided to resign after his March 2012 trip to Mexico and Cuba, an exhausting but exhilarating trip where he met with fellow-octogenarian Fidel Castro and was treated to a raucous and warm welcome.

As a top aide, Benedict watched from up close as Pope John Paul II suffered publicly from the Parkinson's disease that enfeebled him in the final years of his papacy. Clearly Benedict wanted to avoid the same fate as his advancing age took its toll, though the Vatican insisted the announcement was not prompted by any specific malady.

The Vatican said Benedict would live in a congregation for cloistered nuns inside the Vatican, although he will be free to go in and out. Much of this is unchartered territory. The Vatican's chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he isn't even sure of Benedict's title - perhaps "pope emeritus."

Since becoming pope in 2005, Benedict has charted a very conservative course for the church, trying to reawaken Christianity in Europe where it had fallen by the wayside and return the church to its traditional roots, which he felt had been betrayed by a botched interpretation of the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

His efforts though, were overshadowed by a worldwide clerical sex abuse scandal, communication gaffes that outraged Jews and Muslims alike and, more recently, a scandal over leaked documents by his own butler. Many of his stated priorities as pope also fell short: He failed to establish relations with China, heal the schism and reunite with the Orthodox Church, or reconcile with a group of breakaway, traditionalist Catholics.

There are several papal contenders in the wings, but no obvious front-runner - the same situation as when Benedict was elected after the death of John Paul. As in recent elections, some push is expected for the election of a Third World pope, with several names emerging from Asia, Africa and Latin America, home to about 40 percent of the world's Catholics.

The Vatican stressed that no specific medical condition prompted Benedict's decision, saying he remains fully lucid and took his decision independently.

"Any interference or intervention is alien to his style," Lombardi said.

The pope has clearly slowed down significantly in recent years, cutting back his foreign travel and limiting his audiences. He now goes to and from the altar in St. Peter's Basilica on a moving platform to spare him the long walk down the aisle. Occasionally he uses a cane.

As early as 2010, Benedict began to look worn out: He had lost weight and didn't seem fully engaged when visiting bishops briefed him on their dioceses. But as tired as he often seemed, he would also bounce back, enduring searing heat in Benin to bless a child and gamely hanging on when a freak storm forced him to cut short a speech during a youth festival in Madrid in 2011.

His 89-year-old brother, Georg Ratzinger, said doctors recently advised the pope not to take any more trans-Atlantic trips.

"His age is weighing on him," Ratzinger told the dpa news agency in Germany. "At this age, my brother wants more rest."

Benedict emphasized that to carry out the duties of being pope, "both strength of mind and body are necessary - strengths which in the last few months, have deteriorated in me."

"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited" to the demands of being the pope, he told the cardinals.

In a way, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Benedict himself raised the possibility of resigning if he were too old or sick to continue.

"If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign," Benedict said in the 2010 book "Light of the World."

But he stressed that resignation was not an option to escape a particular burden, such as the sex abuse scandal.

"When the danger is great, one must not run away. For that reason, now is certainly not the time to resign. Precisely at a time like this one must stand fast and endure the situation," he said.

Although popes are allowed to resign, only a handful has done it - and none for a very long time.

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism, a dispute among competing papal claimants. The most famous resignation was Pope Celestine V in 1294; Dante placed him in hell for it.

There are good reasons why others haven't followed suit, primarily because of the fear of a schism with two living popes. Lombardi sought to rule out such a scenario, saying church law makes clear that a resigning pope no longer has the right to govern the church.

When Benedict was elected in 2005 at age 78, he was the oldest pope chosen in nearly 300 years. At the time, he had already been planning to retire as the Vatican's chief orthodoxy watchdog to spend his final years writing in the "peace and quiet" of his native Bavaria.

On Monday, Benedict said he plans to serve the church for the remainder of his days "through a life dedicated to prayer." The Vatican said after he resigns he will travel to Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer retreat south of Rome, and then live in the monastery.

All cardinals under age 80 are allowed to vote in the conclave, the secret meeting held in the Sistine Chapel where cardinals cast ballots to elect a new pope. As per tradition, the ballots are burned after each voting round; black smoke that snakes out of the chimney means no pope has been chosen, while white smoke means a pope has been elected.

There are currently 118 cardinals under age 80 and thus eligible to vote, 67 of them appointed by Benedict. However, four will turn 80 before the end of March. Depending on the date of the conclave, they may or may not be allowed to vote.

Benedict in 2007 passed a decree requiring a two-thirds majority to elect a pope, changing the rules established by John Paul in which the voting could shift to a simple majority after about 12 days of inconclusive balloting. Benedict did so to prevent cardinals from merely holding out until the 12 days had passed to push through a candidate who had only a slim majority.

Contenders to be Benedict's successor include Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan; Schoenborn, the archbishop of Vienna, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian head of the Vatican's office for bishops.

Longshots include Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. Although Dolan is popular and backs the pope's conservative line, being from a world superpower would probably hurt his chances. That might also rule out Cardinal Raymond Burke, an arch-conservative and the Vatican's top judge, even though he is known and respected by most Vatican cardinals.

Monsignor Antonio Marto, the bishop of Fatima in central Portugal, said Benedict's resignation presents an opportunity to pick a church leader from a country outside Europe.

"In Africa or Latin America, there is a freshness, an enthusiasm about living the faith," Marto told reporters. "Perhaps we need a pope who can look beyond Europe and bring to the entire church a certain vitality that is seen on other continents."

Cardinal Antonio Tagle, the archbishop of Manila, has impressed many Vatican watchers, but at 56 he is considered too young.

Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana is one of the highest-ranking African cardinals at the Vatican, currently heading the Vatican's office for justice and peace, but he's something of a wild card.

There are several "papabiles" in Latin America, though the most well-known - Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras - is considered far too liberal to be elected by such a conservative College of Cardinals.

Whoever it is, he will face a church in turmoil: The sex abuse scandal has driven thousands of people away from the church, particularly in Europe. Rival churches, particularly evangelical Pentecostal groups in the developing world, pose new competition. And as the pope himself has long lamented, many people in an increasingly secular world simply believe they don't need God.

The timing of Benedict's announcement was significant: Lent begins this week on Ash Wednesday, the most solemn period on the church's calendar that culminates with Holy Week and Easter on March 31. It is also the period in which the world witnessed the final days of John Paul's papacy in 2005.

The timing means that there will be a spotlight cast on Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Italian head of the Vatican's culture office who has long been on the list of "papabile." Benedict selected him to preside over the Vatican's spiritual exercises during Lent.

And by Easter Sunday, the Catholic Church will almost certainly have a new leader, Lombardi said - a potent symbol of rebirth in the church on a day that celebrates the resurrection of Christ.

'Argo' named best film at Britain's Oscars

'Argo' named best film at Britain's Oscars 

George Clooney, left, and Ben Affleck arrive for the BAFTA Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in London.

LONDON (AP) -- Iran-hostage drama "Argo" continued its journey from awards-season outsider to favorite Sunday, winning three prizes, including best-picture, at the British Academy Film Awards.

Ben Affleck was named best director for the based-on-reality story of a longshot plan to rescue a group of American diplomats from Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the film also took the editing trophy.

Affleck, who has made a remarkable journey from little-regarded actor to award-winning director, dedicated his directing prize for "anyone out there who's trying to get their second act."

George Clooney, a producer of "Argo," quipped: "I don't know what you're going to do for a third act."

Daniel Day-Lewis won his universally expected best-actor trophy for "Lincoln" - the only prize out of 10 nominations for Steven Spielberg's historical biopic.

Emmanuelle Riva, the 85-year-old French film legend, was named best actress for Michael Haneke's poignant old-age portrait "Amour." It also was named best foreign-language film.

Made-in-Britain French revolutionary musical "Les Miserables" won four prizes, including best supporting actress for Anne Hathaway. James Bond adventure "Skyfall" spied some elusive awards recognition, winning trophies for music and best British film.

The British awards, known as BAFTAs, are increasingly glamorous - despite a well-earned reputation for dismal weather - and ever-more scrutinized as an indicator of likely success at the Hollywood Oscars. In recent years they have prefigured Academy Awards triumph for word-of-mouth hits such as "Slumdog Millionaire," `'The King's Speech" and "The Artist."

This year they spread their honors widely, with multiple trophies for "Life of Pi," `'Silver Linings Playbook," `'Amour" and "Django Unchained," as well as "Argo."

Kathryn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden thriller "Zero Dark Thirty" was shut out of the prizes, despite five nominations.

This season's movie with momentum is crowd-pleaser "Argo," which has been building steam with big prizes at ceremonies such as the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild of America Awards.

It is now considered a front-runner for the best picture award at the Oscars on Feb. 24, even though Affleck was not nominated for best director.

"Argo" marks a change for Affleck, whose first two features as director - "Gone Baby Gone" and "The Town" - were set in his native Boston. In "Argo" he stars as Tony Mendez, a CIA agent who poses as a sci-fi filmmaker in a risky plot to rescue Americans in Tehran.

"I wanted to get as far away from Boston as I could," Affleck said. "I ended up in Iran."

"Skyfall," the highest-grossing film in the Bond series' 50-year history, was named best British film - rare awards-season recognition for an action movie. Thomas Newman's score also won the best-music prize.

Director Sam Mendes said he was accepting the trophy on behalf of the "1,292 people" who worked on "Skyfall."

"We all had high expectations for this film and it's fair to say all of them have been exceeded," Mendes said. "Here's to the next 50 years."

Quentin Tarantino picked up the original screenplay award for "Django Unchained," and Christoph Waltz was named best supporting actor for playing a loquacious bounty hunter in Tarantino's slave-revenge thriller.

Waltz said his victory was entirely due to Tarantino - "you silver-penned devil, you."

Tarantino also revealed that he plans another film that sets out to right an historical wrong, after anti-Nazi saga "Inglourious Basterds" and "Django Unchained."

"I think there is something about this that begs a trilogy," he said. "I don't know what the third one's going to be yet."

Hathaway said she was "overjoyed" at being named best supporting actress for her brief but powerhouse performance in "Les Miserables." She said she was so taken aback that "I almost walked past George Clooney without hugging him."

She also expressed sympathy for co-star Eddie Redmayne, who had been due to present an award but - co-presenter Sally Field informed the audience - was vomiting backstage.

"Feel better," Hathaway said. "I mean I'd be holding your hair back, but, you know..."

Writer-director David O. Russell won the adapted screenplay prize for "Silver Linings Playbook," a comedy about characters confronting mental illness.

"Les Mis" also took trophies for production design, sound and makeup/hair, and "Life of Pi" received honors for cinematography and visual effects.

Before the ceremony, stars including Clooney, Affleck, Hugh Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper braved a chilly rain that turned to snow outside the Royal Opera House.

For once it was hair, even more than frocks, that drew attention - many stars opted for dark colors, though Marion Cotillard defied the dull weather in a canary-yellow gown. Beards were de rigeur among male stars including Clooney, Affleck and Cooper, while Helen Mirren turned heads with a pink `do, sported in honor of breast cancer awareness.

Sunday's ceremony also saw director Alan Parker receive a BAFTA Fellowship, the academy's highest honor, for a career that includes "Midnight Express," `'Fame" and "Mississippi Burning."

Authorities announce $1 million reward for Dorner

Authorities announce $1 million reward for Dorner 

California Highway Patrol officers search a vehicle for former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner at a checkpoint near Big Bear Lake, Calif, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. Law enforcement officers working in falling snow searched the Southern California mountain for Dorner, who is accused of carrying out a killing spree because he felt he was unfairly fired from his job.

  

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Seeking leads in a massive manhunt, Los Angeles authorities on Sunday offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, the former police officer suspected in three killings.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the reward, raised through several private and public donors, at a news conference at LAPD headquarters.

"Our dedication to catch this killer remains steadfast," Villaraigosa said. "We will not tolerate this reign of terror."

Meanwhile, authorities said camping gear was found along with weapons inside Dorner's burned-out pickup truck. The vehicle found Thursday in the ski resort town of Big Bear Lake was so charred that investigators couldn't be more specific about the nature of its contents, Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.

Also Sunday, police investigated a taunting phone call that may have been made by Dorner to the father of the woman they believe he killed last week. Two law enforcement officers who requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation told The Associated Press they are trying to determine if the call days after the killing was made by the 33-year-old fugitive or a man posing as him.

SWAT teams with air support and bloodhounds fanned out for the fourth day to search for Dorner, who has vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career.

The effort was significantly scaled back as the weekend went on, with 25 officers and a single helicopter looking for clues in the forest and going door-to-door at some 600 cabins in the San Bernardino mountains, about 80 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

On Saturday, Chief Charlie Beck said officials would re-examine the allegations by Dorner that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues. While he promised to hear out Dorner if he surrenders, Beck stressed that he was ordering a review of his 2007 case because he takes the allegation of racism in his department seriously.

"I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do," the chief said in a statement.

Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that have left three people dead. Authorities say he has vowed revenge against several former colleagues. The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide protection to 50 families, Beck said.

A captain who was named a target in the manifesto posted on Facebook told the Orange County Register he has not stepped outside his house since he learned of the threat.

"From what I've seen of (Dorner's) actions, he feels he can make allegations for injustice and justify killing people and that's not reasonable," said Capt. Phil Tingirides, who chaired a board that stripped Dorner of his badge. "The end never justifies the means."

Investigators have been examining the truck to determine if it broke down or was set ablaze as a diversion. Police say the truck had a broken axle. Investigators are trying to determine whether it was already broken when they found it, or whether it was damaged when it was towed away.

Also, newly released surveillance video showed Dorner tossing several items into a Dumpster behind an auto parts store in National City on Monday. The store's manager told FOX5 in San Diego that an employee found a magazine full of bullets, a military belt and a military helmet. Majid Yahyai said he and the employee took the items across the street to a police station.

On Friday night, authorities served a search warrant and collected evidence from a Buena Park storage unit as part of their investigation. Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen wouldn't elaborate on the nature of the evidence or say who had rented the unit.

Earlier Friday, another warrant was served at a La Palma house belonging to Dorner's mother. Officers collected 10 bags of evidence, including five electronic items.

In his online manifesto, Dorner vowed to use "every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordnance and survival training I've been given" to bring "warfare" to the LAPD and its families.

Dorner served in the Navy, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and a pistol expert medal. He was assigned to a naval undersea warfare unit and various aviation training units, according to military records. He took leave from the LAPD for a six-month deployment to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.

The flight training that he received in the Navy prompted the Transportation Security Administration to issue an alert, warning the general aviation community to be on the lookout for Dorner. The extent of his potential flying skills wasn't known, the bulletin said.

Feb. 1 was his last day with the Navy and also the day CNN's Anderson Cooper received a package that contained a note on it that read, in part, "I never lied." A coin riddled with bullet holes that former Chief William Bratton gave out as a souvenir was also in the package.

Police said it was a sign of planning by Dorner before the killing began.

On Feb. 3, police say Dorner shot and killed a couple in a parking garage at their condominium in Irvine. The woman was the daughter of a retired police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his firing.

Dorner wrote in his manifesto that he believed the retired captain had represented the interests of the department over his.

Hours after authorities identified Dorner as a suspect in the double murder, police believe Dorner shot and grazed an LAPD officer in Corona and then used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday, killing one and wounding the other. A funeral for Officer Michael Crain, an 11 year veteran, was scheduled for Wednesday.

The crime spree spanned across a wide swath of Southern California, prompting several police agencies, including the FBI and US Marshall Service, to form a joint investigative task force.

DA: Uncle Ordered To Trial In Beating Death Of 6-Year-Old Nephew

DA: Uncle Ordered To Trial In Beating Death Of 6-Year-Old Nephew

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Wallingford man waived a preliminary hearing and has been ordered to trial for the November 2012 beating death of his 6-year-old nephew.

Authorites say 38-year-old Paul Adams Jr. mercilessly beat young Tyreece Charlow with a belt because the boy wouldn’t lay out his school clothes for the following day.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Chicago remembers teen victim of city gun violence

Chicago remembers teen victim of city gun violence 

FILE - This undated file family photo provided by Damon Stewart shows 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton of Chicago who was was shot Jan. 29, 2013 while she talked with friends in a park about a mile from President Barack Obama’s Chicago home. First Lady Michelle Obama will join some of Illinois’ most recognizable politicians and clergy to mourn the 15-year-old honor student whose death has drawn attention to staggering gun violence in the nation’s third-largest city.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Hundreds of mourners and dignitaries including first lady Michelle Obama packed the funeral Saturday for a Chicago honor student whose killing catapulted her into the nation's debate over gun violence.

Yet one speaker after another remembered 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton not so much as a symbol but as a best friend, an excellent student with dreams of going to college and a sometimes goofy girl with a bright smile and big personality. They said she was a typical teen who wanted to borrow her friends' clothes and who never left home without her lip gloss.

And to her mother, Pendleton was the daughter she tried to keep busy so she'd be beyond the reach of the seemingly endless gang violence in the nation's third-largest city.

"You don't know how hard this really is, and those of you who do know how hard this really is, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Cleopatra Pendleton told the packed South Side church. "No mother, no father should ever have to experience this."

Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed Jan. 29 as she stood with friends at a park about a mile from President Barack Obama's Chicago home in the Kenwood neighborhood. Just days before, the band majorette was among the performers during events for Obama's inauguration. Police say Pendleton was an innocent victim in a gang-related shooting.

Michelle Obama met privately with the family and some of Pendleton's friends before the service.

Obama, who grew up on Chicago's South Side, then accompanied the girl's mother to the open casket at the front of the Greater Harvest Baptist Church. She put her arm around Cleopatra Pendleton and patted her back as the woman threw her head back and wailed.

Moments later, the hundreds in attendance rose to their feet to begin the service with a round of applause "to the strength of this family." The nearly four-hour funeral was punctuated with a choir singing hymns so triumphantly that at times the floor shook.

Some of Illinois' most recognizable politicians and clergy were in attendance, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

But Pendleton's family said they didn't want the day to be about politics.

None of the dignitaries spoke during the service. Instead, close friends, holding back tears, got up to remember her.

One said she felt Hadiya was "still here with us, whispering the answers in chemistry." Another said Pendleton always told her to do her best in school so they could go to college together. The captain of the King College Prep majorettes presented Cleopatra Pendleton with the girl's team jacket.

Still, the girl's death resonated with the city and beyond in a way other Chicago slayings have not.

Her godfather, Damon Stewart, said someone on Facebook had asked what made Pendleton's death more noteworthy than those of more than 40 people who had already been slain in Chicago this year - many without so much as a mention in local newspapers. The response, he said, was obvious to him.

"She's important because all those other people who died are important," Stewart said. "She's important because all of those lives and voices of those families who were ignored, she now speaks for them. ... I don't believe in coincidence. God needed an angel. God needed to send somebody for us to change."

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a prominent Chicago priest, said Pendleton was the face of an "epidemic of violence causing funeral processions around the country."

"Sisters and brothers, I beg you," he said. "We must become like Jesus. We must become the interrupters of funeral processions."

Police have said the shooting appears to be a case of mistaken identity involving gang members who believed the park, which is near Lake Michigan and north of the University of Chicago, was their territory. No charges have been filed.

Pendleton's death brought new attention to Chicago's homicide rate. It came in a January that was the city's deadliest in a decade. In 2012, Chicago recorded 506 homicides.

A glossy, eight-page funeral program included photos of Pendleton and details about her life, including her favorite foods - cheeseburgers, fig cookies, Chinese and ice cream - and the numerous school and church organizations she was involved in. The program also included a copy of a handwritten note from President Obama addressed to the girl's family.

"We know that no words from us can soothe the pain, but rest assured that we are praying for you, and that we will continue to work as hard as we can to end this senseless violence," it said.

Other dignitaries at the service included Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett - all of whom are from Chicago.

Authorities finish search at home of ex-cop's mom

Authorities finish search at home of ex-cop's mom 

A San Bernardino County Sheriff SWAT team returns to the command post at Bear Mountain near Big Bear Lake, Calif. after searching for Christopher Jordan Dorner on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. Search conditions have been hampered by a heavy winter storm in the area. Dorner, a former Los Angeles police officer, is accused of carrying out a killing spree because he felt he was unfairly fired from his job.

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities hunting for an ex-Los Angeles police officer suspected of three killings have wrapped up a four-hour search of his mother's Orange County home.

Irvine police Lt. Bill Whalen says his department and U.S. marshals removed 10 paper grocery bags of evidence from the home Friday in La Palma. He didn't elaborate.

Computer forensics lab technicians removed five items as evidence.

Whalen says Dorner used to live at the home, but nothing indicates he's been there recently. Dorner's mother and sister cooperated with the search.

Dorner is suspected in a spree of violence as revenge for being fired from the Los Angeles force.

A former LAPD captain's daughter and her fiance were killed in Irvine last weekend. A pair of shootings Thursday killed one officer and wounded two others.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

All that was left were footprints leading away from Christopher Dorner's burned-out pickup truck, and enormous, snow-covered mountains where he could be hiding among hundreds of cabins, deep canyons and dense woods.

More than 100 officers, including SWAT teams, were driven Friday in glass-enclosed snow machines and armored personnel carriers to hunt for the former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a deadly rampage to get back at those he blamed for ending his police career.

With bloodhounds in tow, officers went door to door as snow fell, aware to the reality they could be walking into a trap set by the well-trained former Navy reservist who knows their tactics and strategies as well as they do.

"The bad guy is out there, he has a certain time on you, and a distance. How do you close that?" asked T. Gregory Hall, a retired tactical supervisor for a special emergency response team for the Pennsylvania State Police.

"The bottom line is, when he decides that he is going to make a stand, the operators are in great jeopardy," Hall said.

As authorities weathered heavy snow and freezing temperatures in the mountains, thousands of heavily armed police remained on the lookout throughout California, Nevada, Arizona and northern Mexico.

Police said officers still were guarding more than 40 people mentioned as targets in a rant they said Dorner posted on Facebook. He vowed to use "every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordinance and survival training I've been given" to bring "warfare" to the LAPD and its families.

At noon, police and U.S. marshals accompanied by computer forensics specialists used a search warrant to remove about 10 paper grocery bags of evidence from his mother's single-story house in the Orange County 

city of La Palma. Dorner's mother and sister cooperated with the search, and a police spokesman said.

The manhunt had Southern California residents on edge. Unconfirmed sightings were reported near Barstow, about 60 miles north of the mountain search, and in downtown Los Angeles.

Some law enforcement officials said he appeared to be everywhere and nowhere, and speculated that he was trying to spread out their resources.

For the time being, their focus was on the mountains 80 miles east of Los Angeles - a snowy wilderness, filled with thick forests and jagged peaks, that creates peril as much for Dorner as the officers hunting him. Bad weather grounded helicopters with heat-sensing technology.

After the discovery of his truck Thursday afternoon, SWAT teams in camouflage started scouring the mountains.

As officers worked through the night, a storm blew in, possibly covering tracks that had led them away from his truck but offering the possibility of a fresh trail to follow.

"The snow is great for tracking folks as well as looking at each individual cabin to see if there's any signs of forced entry," said San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon.

The small army hunting him has the advantage of strength in numbers and access to resources, such as special weapons, to bring him in.

In his online rant, Dorner baited authorities.

"Any threat assessments you generate will be useless," it read. "I have the strength and benefits of being unpredictable, unconventional, and unforgiving."

Without the numbers that authorities have, Dorner holds one advantage: the element of surprise.

"He can be behind every tree," Hall said. "He can try to draw them into an ambush area where he backtracks."

Authorities said they do not know how long Dorner had been planning the rampage. It's not clear if he is familiar with the area, or has provisions, clothing or weapons stockpiled in the area. Even with training, days of cold and snow can be punishing.

"Unless he is an expert in living in the California mountains in this time of year, he is going to be hurting," said former Navy SEAL Clint Sparks, who now works in tactical training and security. "Cold is a huge stress factor. ... Not everybody is survivor-man."

Jamie Usera, an attorney in Salem, Ore., who befriended Dorner when they were students and football teammates at Southern Utah University, said he introduced him to the outdoors. Originally from Alaska, Usera said, he taught Dorner about hunting and other outdoor activities.

"Of all the people I hung out with in college, he is the last guy I would have expected to be in this kind of situation," Usera, who had lost touch with Dorner is recent years, told the Los Angeles Times.

Others saw Dorner differently. Court documents obtained by The Associated Press on Friday show an ex-girlfriend of Dorner's called him "severely emotionally and mentally disturbed" after the two split in 2006.

Dorner served in the Navy, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and pistol expert medal. He was assigned to a naval undersea warfare unit and various aviation training units, according to military records. He took leave from the LAPD for a six-month deployment to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.

Last Friday was his last day with the Navy and also the day CNN's Anderson Cooper received a package that contained a note on it that read, in part, "I never lied." A coin riddled with bullet holes that former Chief William Bratton gave out as a souvenir was also in the package.

Police said it was a sign of planning by Dorner before the killing began.

On Sunday, police say Dorner shot and killed a couple in a parking garage at their condominium in Irvine. 

The woman was the daughter of a retired police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his firing.

Dorner wrote in his manifesto that he believed the retired captain had represented the interests of the department over his.

Hours after authorities identified Dorner as a suspect in the double murder, police believe Dorner shot and grazed an LAPD officer in Corona and then used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

The incident led police to believe he was armed with multiple weapons, including an assault-type rifle. That detail concerned officers whose bullet-proof vests can be penetrated by such high-powered weapons, said LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese.

As a result, all LAPD officers have been required to work in pairs to ensure "a greater likelihood of coming out on top if there is an ambush," Albanese said. "We have no officers alone right now."

In Big Bear Lake on Friday, residents were on edge about the manhunt even as ski slopes remained open.

"A lot of people are frightened by it," said Dennis Pitner. "A lot of people are at home locked in their houses and probably won't come out for a couple more days, maybe even longer."

Snowstorm hits NYC, Boston; 1 to 3 feet feared

Snowstorm hits NYC, Boston; 1 to 3 feet feared 

A man walks his dog past the snow covered "Boy and Bird" fountain in the Boston Public Garden in Boston, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency Friday and banned travel on roads as of 4 p.m. as a blizzard that could bring nearly 3 feet of snow to the region began to intensify. As the storm gains strength, it will bring "extremely dangerous conditions" with bands of snow dropping up to 2 to 3 inches per hour at the height of the blizzard, Patrick said.

BOSTON (AP) -- A storm that forecasters warned could be a blizzard for the history books began clobbering the New York-to-Boston corridor on Friday, grounding flights, closing workplaces and sending people rushing to get home ahead of a possible 1 to 3 feet of snow.

From New Jersey to Maine, shoppers crowded into supermarkets and hardware stores to buy food, snow shovels, flashlights and generators, something that became a precious commodity after Superstorm Sandy in October. Others gassed up their cars, another lesson learned all too well after Sandy. Across much of New England, schools closed well ahead of the first snowflakes.

"This is a storm of major proportions," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said. "Stay off the roads. Stay home."

By Friday evening, Boston had just 2.5 inches of snow and New York City had just 2, but parts of southeastern Massachusetts had more than 6 inches and central Rhode Island had more than 8. And the National Weather Service warned the worst was still to come.

The wind-whipped snowstorm mercifully arrived at the start of a weekend, which meant fewer cars on the road and extra time for sanitation crews to clear the mess before commuters in the New York-to-Boston region of roughly 25 million people have to go back to work. But it could also mean a weekend cooped up indoors.

Rainy Neves, a mother of two in Cambridge, just west of Boston, did some last-minute shopping at a grocery store, filling her cart to the brim.

"Honestly, a lot of junk - a lot of quick things you can make just in case lights go out, a lot of snacks to keep the kids busy while they'd be inside during the storm, things to sip with my friends, things for movies," she said. "Just a whole bunch of things to keep us entertained."

In heavily Catholic Boston, the archdiocese urged parishioners to be prudent about attending Sunday Mass and reminded them that, under church law, the obligation "does not apply when there is grave difficulty in fulfilling this obligation."

Halfway through what had been a mild winter across the Northeast, blizzard warnings were posted from parts of New Jersey to Maine. The National Weather Service said Boston could get close to 3 feet of snow by Saturday evening, while most of Rhode Island could receive more than 2 feet, most of it falling overnight Friday into Saturday. Connecticut was bracing for 2 feet, and New York City was expecting as much as 14 inches.

By Friday evening, the New York-to-Boston corridor was experiencing blizzard-like conditions, with blowing, swirling snow and freezing rain. Early snowfall was blamed for a 19-car pileup in Cumberland, Maine, that caused minor injuries. In Rhode Island, 34,000 homes and businesses lost power.

Forecasters said wind gusts up to 75 mph could cause more widespread power outages and whip the snow into fearsome drifts. Flooding was expected along coastal areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy, which hit New York and New Jersey the hardest and is considered Jersey's worst natural disaster.

Meteorologist Jeff Masters, of Weather Underground, said the winter storm was a collision of two storms and may end up among the Boston area's Top 5 most intense ever.

"When you add two respectable storms together, you're going to get a knockout punch with this one," he said.

It could break Boston's all-time snowstorm record of 27.6 inches, set in 2003, forecasters said. The storm also comes almost 35 years to the day after the Blizzard of '78, a ferocious storm that dropped 27 inches of snow, packed hurricane-force winds and claimed dozens of lives.

Masters said the region could get a break from warmer air trailing behind that is expected to push temperature up to the 40s by Monday.

"It's going to be not that difficult to dig out, compared to maybe some other nor'easters in the past, where it stayed cold after the storm went through," he said.

Drivers were urged to stay off the streets lest their cars get stuck, preventing snowplows and emergency vehicles from getting through. New York City ran extra commuter trains to help people get home before the brunt of the storm hit.

Amtrak stopped running trains in cities around the Northeast on Friday afternoon. Airlines canceled more than 4,300 flights through Saturday, and New York City's three major airports and Boston's Logan Airport shut down.

Interstate 95 was closed to all but essential traffic in Rhode Island, where the governor said power outages remained the biggest threat.

"With tree branches laden with heavy, wet snow, the winds picking up and the temperatures plunging all at the same time, it's a bad combination," Gov. Lincoln Chafee said.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick enacted a statewide driving ban for the first time since the Blizzard of `78. Hours before the ban went into effect at 4 p.m., long lines formed at gas stations, some of which were almost out of fuel.

James Stone said he was saving the remaining regular gas at his station in Abington, south of Boston, for snowplow drivers.

"It hasn't snowed like this in two years," Stone said. "Most people are caught way off-guard."

In New York, Fashion Week, a series of designer showings with some activities held under tents, went on mostly as scheduled, though organizers put on additional crews to deal with the snow and ice, turned up the heat and fortified the tents. The snow did require some wardrobe changes: Designer Michael Kors was forced to arrive at the Project Runway show in Uggs.

For Joe DeMartino, of Fairfield, Conn., being overprepared was impossible: His wife was expecting their first baby Sunday. He stocked up on gas and food, got firewood ready and was installing a baby seat in the car. The couple also packed for the hospital.

"They say that things should clear up by Sunday. We're hoping that they're right," he said.

Said his wife, Michelle: "It adds an element of excitement."

The snow was too much of a good thing in some places. In New Hampshire, the University of Connecticut's Skiing Carnival was canceled because of the snowstorm. In Maine, the National Toboggan Championships in Camden were postponed from Saturday to Sunday, and the Camp Sunshine Polar Plunge was put off until March.

At Rosie's Liquors in Abington, customers were lined up eight to 10 deep Friday, snapping up rum, wine and 30-packs of beer.

"We've been absolutely slammed. It's almost been like Christmas here," manager Kristen Brown said. "A lot of people are saying, `I'm going to be stuck with my family all weekend. I need something to do.'"

Crosswalk confrontation: Harrisburg man suing over alleged abuse, retaliation by city cop | PennLive.com

Crosswalk confrontation: Harrisburg man suing over alleged abuse, retaliation by city cop | PennLive.com

State judge's ruling will end fight over sale of Harrisburg's Wild West artifacts | PennLive.com

State judge's ruling will end fight over sale of Harrisburg's Wild West artifacts | PennLive.com

Scouts face pressure before vote on no-gays policy

Scouts face pressure before vote on no-gays policy

Stephen Cyr, 13, left, and his brother Paul Cyr, 15, of Boy Scout Troop 21 in Oak Cliff, Texas, attend the ìSave Our Scoutsî Prayer Vigil and Rally in front of the Boy Scouts of America National Headquarters in Irving, TX Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. The Boy Scouts of America said Wednesday it needed more time before deciding whether to move away from its divisive policy of excluding gays as scouts or adult leaders.

 

It promises to be a campaign as passionate and dramatic as any big election. For the next 14 weeks, the Boy Scouts of America will be the focus of prayers, petitions and pressure tactics aimed at swaying a vote on 

whether to ease its ban on gays as Scouts or adult leaders.

The decision will be made the week of May 20 by the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council. The policy was supposed to be settled Wednesday by the Scouts' 70-member national executive board, but the board concluded the issue was so complex that the organization needed more time to study it.

At stake is a proposal to ease the ban by allowing sponsors of local Scout units to decide for themselves whether to admit gays. Gay-rights groups say the plan is inadequate, and that no units should be allowed to discriminate. Some conservative religious leaders and advocacy groups want the ban to stay in place nationwide.

Both sides are girding for intensive lobbying between now and late May, hoping to influence the outcome.

"Keep the pressure on," was the message Thursday from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to its supporters.

GLAAD, which has been active in several recent campaigns opposing the ban, provided information on how to telephone or email BSA headquarters and offered suggestions for how to advocate using Twitter and Facebook.

"Take action!" GLAAD exhorted. "Send a message to the Boy Scouts that we won't rest until they end the ban."

The Human Rights Campaign, a major gay-rights group, said it will caution the BSA's corporate donors that they would lose points in an annual "equality index" if they continued to support the Scouts as long as any units were allowed to exclude gays.

Similar campaigns were being waged by conservative groups seeking to keep the ban in place.

"This is far from over," wrote Tony Perkins of the Family Research Center in an online message. The center "will continue in our efforts to help the BSA stand strong against the corporate executives and activists who care more about conformity than character."

Perkins said the efforts would include outreach to Scouting parents, liaisons with religious denominations that sponsor Scout units and an extension of an ongoing campaign to flood BSA offices with calls and emails.

Several other conservative groups have joined in an online campaign calling for the resignation of BSA executive board member Randall Stephenson, the CEO of AT&T, who said last year he would try to move the Scouts away from the ban on gays.

"It seems Stephenson's mission is to destroy the Boy Scouts of America from within," said the American Family Association. "As an executive board member, he is using his corporate influence to bully the BSA into gay assimilation."

Under the executive board's timetable, Stephenson is set to become its chairman in 2014. An AT&T spokesman, Mark Siegel, said neither Stephenson nor the company had any public comment about the BSA membership debate.

While the executive board includes several high-powered business executives and civic leaders, the national council is more reflective of Scouting's nationwide grassroots. Members include regional presidents and representatives of the Scouts' 290 local councils.

Given the impassioned views on two sides of the debate, the BSA risks alienating large segments of the national Scouting community no matter what the decision is in May.

Ian Mitroff, who runs a crisis-management consulting firm and is an adjunct professor at the University of California-Berkeley, said he would advise the BSA to move toward an easing of the ban.

"More and more in our society, people are saying, `We're not going to put up with inequality of any kind,'" he said.

But he acknowledged the risk of a backlash from those who oppose any change. "You're going to have a PR problem, no matter what," Mitroff said.

About 70 percent of all Scout units are sponsored by religious denominations, including many by conservative faiths that have supported the ban, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon church, and the Southern Baptist Convention.

Frank Page, president of the SBC's Executive Committee, was relieved that the BSA had delayed a decision.

"At least this gives all segments of the Scouting family an opportunity to express their views," he told Baptist Press, the SBC's official news agency.

The Mormons are the largest sponsor of Scout units, with more than 420,000 boys in nearly 38,000 units, according to BSA figures. While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has supported the ban on gays, it has made no official statement about the proposal that would give troop sponsors leeway to set their own policy.

"We caution others not to speculate about our position," Mormon church spokesman Michael Purdy said. 

"Neither has the church launched any campaign either to affect or prevent a policy change."

On the liberal side of the religious spectrum, a leader of the Reform branch of American Judaism released the text of a letter to BSA President Wayne Parry, urging the ban on gays to be lifted nationwide. Reform synagogues have been discouraged from sponsoring units since 2001 because of the ban.

"We look forward to the day we can encourage our congregations to return to their historical role in hosting BSA troops," wrote Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. "Indeed, we hope that day may be soon."

In Houston, civil rights lawyer and scoutmaster Bill Helfand worries that the eventual outcome might fracture the Scouting movement.

"Whatever decision is made, there will be people absolutely certain it is wrong," he said. "I hope Scouting doesn't suffer for whatever the decision is, because it is the boys who will suffer."

Helfand says his Troop 55, one of the country's largest with 225 Boy Scouts, will abide by whatever rules the BSA leadership sets, but he hopes the end result is a uniform policy for all Scout units.

"I don't think it's productive for Scouting's goals to have different rules for different troops," he said.

While some gay-rights activists criticized the BSA for delaying a decision, Richard Socarides, a former Clinton White House adviser on gay issues, expressed empathy.

"It's important for gay groups to keep the pressure up ... but the Boy Scouts may have done the right thing for now," he said. "If they need more time to get people on board with the new policy, I'm fine with that. Getting it right is more important than getting it fast."