WASHINGTON -- Some police departments in the United States are saving money by hiring civilians to respond to minor calls rather than sending sworn officers.The practice first came about in the 1980s but died after the economy improved and departments beefed up following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, USA Today reported Monday. With the economy slowing again, some municipalities are returning to the practice.Among those using or planning to use civilians are the ... [full story]

TORONTO -- Toronto's York University has 21 days to review allegations by the Ontario Human Rights Commission that canceling classes for Jewish holidays is discriminatory.Investigator Kim Hanson wrote a report seen by the Toronto Star that concludes the practice of canceling three days of classes for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur violates the provincial Human Rights Code's protection against discrimination based on a person's "creed."A report prepared by York professor Thomas Klassen shows Jews represent ... [full story]

DALLAS -- A U.S. task force raided several Latino commercial establishments arresting 49 alleged illegal aliens working for a security company in Dallas, officials said.The raid by U.S. immigration and other federal authorities Saturday focused on 26 businesses in a northwest Dallas suburb, The Dallas Morning News said Monday.The Dallas County district attorney declined to identify the security firms allegedly employing the undocumented immigrants.Five of those arrested face charges of falsifying documents to get licensed ... [full story]

OTTAWA -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police force is investigating coast guard activities that led to four seal hunters drowning during the weekend.A guard vessel was towing a disabled 40-foot seal hunting boat through ice-choked waters Saturday when the fishing vessel capsized off Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Two men were rescued by another hunting boat. Three others drowned and a fourth man is missing and presumed dead, officials said.The Canadian Department Fisheries and Oceans and ... [full story]

PHOENIX -- U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. president, begins a nationwide tour to help U.S. voters get to know him better.His weeklong "Service to America Tour" features speeches on family, the military and professional milestones of McCain's life, The Arizona Republic reported."What you'll see over the course of the week is John McCain connecting his past to the present to the future, talking very directly from personal experiences and stories ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. political campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., isn't paying some of its bills in order to spend money on advertisements, The Politico said Monday.Several media planning companies is spreading the word that the Clinton campaign owes them money. One company told The Politico that Clinton's campaign stopped taking phone calls or responding to e-mail regarding the overdue payments.Jay Carson, a spokesman for the Clinton camp, responded to earlier assertions by Politico ... [full story]

HOUSTON -- Federal authorities are investigating a dead fetus found aboard a Continental Airlines plane by a cleanup crew at a Houston airport.An autopsy was scheduled for Monday to determine if the fetus was alive at any point.The crew discovered the fetus in the rear bathroom of the airplane about 6 p.m. Sunday, about an hour after the passengers deplaned, The Houston Chronicle said.Shauna Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said the event would fall ... [full story]

TORONTO -- Toronto firefighters faced an unprecedented rescue when they took an hour to extricate three men from an overturned armored truck, a spokesman said.Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Cam Woolley said the Brinks armored truck was apparently traveling too fast Sunday afternoon when it left a highway exit ramp and flipped repeatedly down a grassy embankment near the airport.Toronto Fire Capt. Jamie Franks told the Toronto Sun the majority of firefighters anywhere have never tried ... [full story]

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Republicans opposed to U.S. President George Bush's war policy say they're finding a candidate they can endorse in Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.The so-called Obamacans' opposition to the war in Iraq alienates them from the party's presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who supports the war, The New York Sun reported Monday.Among Obama's supporters are Lincoln Chaffee, a former U.S. senator of Rhode Island; Douglas Kmiec, senior legal adviser to Mitt Romney's ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson reportedly will resign Monday, which observers say would hurt efforts to fix the housing crisis.U.S. Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., sent a letter to U.S. President George Bush earlier in March, urging him to ask for Jackson's resignation, saying accusations of wrongdoing made him ineffective, The Wall Street Journal reported. Jackson has denied any impropriety while leading HUD. HUD runs the Federal ... [full story]