Detroit Mayor Pleads Guilty And Agrees To Resign: According to a story in today's New York Times by Susan Saulny, the mayor of Detroit, Kwame M. Kilpatrick, 38, has pleaded guilty and agreed to resign this morning after months of refusal as part of a deal with prosecutors. He agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice and no contest to a felony count of assault on a police officer; to pay restitution to the city of $1 million; to surrender his law license; forfeit his state pension to the city and be barred from elective office for five years; and to serve 120 days in the Wayne County jail, followed by five years’ probation.

Ohio Mom Spared Death Penalty After Microwaving Baby: A story, by James Hannah from the Associated Press, reports that China Arnold, convicted of murdering her infant daughter by microwaving her, was spared from the death penalty Wednesday when a jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision. Ohio law provides for a life sentence, rather than retrying the penalty phase, when the jury cannot agree. The defense had argued that Arnold was drunk when the offense occurred and had no motive, while prosecutors had called the crime "heinous" as they argued for the death penalty. Montgomery County Judge Mary Wiseman is now limited to sentencing Arnold to life in prison without parole, life without parole for at least 30 years, or life without parole for at least 25 years. The sentence will be announced on Monday. Assistant Prosecutor David Franceschelli said: "If this is not the time for the death penalty, when is the time?" It's time to scrap the single-juror-veto rule.

Principal Pleads No Contest To Not Reporting Sex: A South Gate principal has pleaded no contest to charges of failing to report a sexual encounter between a student and a substitute teacher, according to a story from The Associated Press. While the incident occurred in March 2007, authorities say the two administrators learned about it seven months later. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Jesus Angulo, principal of South East High School, entered the plea Wednesday to one misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse. Angulo was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. The school's assistant principal Maria Sotomayor faces a similar charge and is due to appear in court Sept. 9. The teacher, Jesus Saenz, was fired and faces a felony charge.

Guilty Plea In Bomb Plot That Killed Pizza Man: A story by AP writer Ramit Plushnick-Masti reports that Kenneth Barnes, 54, admitted in federal court Wednesday that he helped plot a bizarre bank robbery that ended when a bomb strapped around a pizza deliveryman's neck exploded and killed him. This is the first conviction in the 5-year-old case. Barnes pleaded guilty to conspiracy and a charge of aiding and abetting at a hearing in which prosecutors also revealed new details, based on a statement by Barnes, about deliveryman Brian Wells' involvement in the scheme. According to Barnes, Wells got cold feet on the day of the robbery, refusing to put on the collar bomb after realizing it was real. Another plotter then fired a single shot from a gun, scaring him into putting it around his neck. Barnes could be sentenced to life in prison. Wells walked into a PNC Bank on the outskirts of Erie on Aug. 28, 2003, with a pipe bomb locked onto his neck and left with about $8,700. He was cornered by police a short time later and told officers the bomb had been put on his neck at gunpoint. It exploded, killing him, as police waited for a bomb squad to arrive.