Robot Bums-Rush. AP writer Greg Bluestein has this story about a homemade remote controlled robot built by ex-marine Rufus Terrill. The 300 pound waist high robot marked “security” patrols the street in front of his Atlanta bar after dark, running off vagrants with bright lights, a loudspeaker and a water cannon. The electronic vigilante has enraged neighborhood activists, but Terrill assures that his actions are innocent. He believes the police now patrol more, the parks are safer and there have been no break-ins since the robot hit the streets last September.

Virginia v. Moore: The Associated Press has this take on today's decision to uphold a police search even though the arrest turned out to be improper.

Technicality Puts Lifer on Parole The Charlotte Observer reports that North Carolina murderer Ronald Earl Small was approved for parole after serving a life sentence given to him in 1977 for first-degree murder and assault. Small confessed to brutally beating Alexandria Hill, 18, for refusing to have sex with him in September 1976. Days later she died from her injuries. Because he was convicted before 1994, when the state revised its sentencing laws, Small was eligible for release on parole.