BOYFRIEND SLAYING
Jury in Jodi Arias trial resumes deliberations
PHOENIX (AP) - The Phoenix jury deciding whether Jodi Arias should be sentenced to life in prison or death resumes deliberations a day after reaching an impasse and being told to keep trying. Deliberations are scheduled to resume at 10 this morning.
The panel started deliberating Arias' sentence Tuesday, after the former waitress addressed them and asked them to spare her life.
The jurors told Judge Sherry Stephens they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict Wednesday morning after only about two and a half hours of deliberations. Stephens instructed them to continue deliberating, identifying areas of agreement and disagreement as they work toward a decision.
The same jury earlier this month convicted Arias of first-degree murder in the 2008 killing of her lover.
ABDUCTION ATTEMPT-ARREST
Scottsdale police make arrest in abduction attempt
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Scottsdale police say they've arrested a man in the attempted abduction of a female jogger.
Police identify the man arrested Wednesday evening in the attempted kidnapping as 22-year-old David Vincent Talkington. Police say Talkington lives in an unincorporated area of Maricopa County near Scottsdale.
Police say he was arrested in the attempted abduction Wednesday of a 19-year-old woman who was jogging along Dynamite Road when a man in a parked car got out and grabbed her.
The man tried to drag the woman but she fought her way free and called police as the man drove off.
A witness followed the man's car into a nearby neighborhood before losing sight of it.
Police say they don't know whether Talkington has an attorney.
CENSUS-ARIZONA
Phoenix, Buckeye high among US population gainers
PHOENIX (AP) - Two Arizona municipalities rank among the fastest-growing U.S. cities and towns during the year that ended last July 1.
The Census Bureau reports that Phoenix had the sixth-largest population increase in terms of numbers, increasing its population by nearly 25,000.
Phoenix's estimated population last July 1 was just under 1.5 million.
Meanwhile, a Phoenix suburb, the town of Buckeye ranked ninth nationally in terms of population increases by percentage.
Buckeye's population increased by 4.14% to approximately 55,000.
SOLAR PLANE
Solar plane completes 2nd leg of trip in Texas
DALLAS (AP) - A solar-powered plane has landed in Texas, completing the second leg of a trip across the United States.
The Solar Impulse is making the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across the U.S.
The plane landed early Thursday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after taking off Wednesday from Phoenix.
The plane flew its first leg from California in early May. From Dallas, it will fly to Lambert-St. Louis airport, Dulles airport near Washington and New York's John F. Kennedy airport.
Each flight leg takes 20 or so hours, with multiday stops in each city.
Pilot Andre Borschberg is 1 of the plane's creators along with Bertrand Piccard.
ARIZONA GUARD-PROBE
Dem lawmaker sets hearing on AZ Guard misconduct
PHOENIX (AP) - A Democratic state lawmaker plans to hold a hearing into misconduct at the Arizona National Guard revealed in a newspaper and National Guard investigation.
Rep. Debbie McCune Davis of Phoenix is holding the hearing next week with only Democrats. Republicans who chair Senate and House committees responsible for overseeing the Guard refused her request for hearings.
The hearing will review a report done by the National Guard Bureau and released this month. That report found misconduct uncovered by the Arizona Republic last year was more pervasive than previously known. Allegations included sexual abuses, narcotics trafficking, retaliation against whistle-blowers and abuses of power.
Gov. Jan Brewer asked Guard commander Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar to submit a remediation plan but also said the report showed the state Guard "is not broken."
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